I TREATED MYSELF TO A NEW POETRY BOOK.

Its author is the man who wrote the quote I shared in my Blue Jay post here.  The book is called Nature’s Bounty by Justin Farley, who has become my favorite at this point in time. I loved the poem I am sharing with you today.

“Children of the Forest”

~Justin Farley~

I leave you my love of the forest

and the winding creek.

I gift you with believing you are poorest 

when the sun’s warmth is absent from your cheek.

I impart to you the language of nature

and the secret harmony of her song;

I leave with you an overture 

So you’ll know her arms is where you belong.

I grant you the skill of listening 

with ears in tune with the earth.

I bless you with the excitement of discovering 

The depth and extent of her worth.

My blood flows within you;

I see my spark with your eyes.

We are children of the forest through and through,

and our spirits soar when the eagles rise.

I hope you have enjoyed this poem. This is one that will stay with me for a very long time. I thought it was beautiful.

Thanks for looking and have a great day!

ODDS AND BODS - HOW DO YOU START YOUR DAY?

Good Morning

How do you start your day? Mine begins with one cup of black coffee. No more than one cup each day, but...

I know I drank the whole pot of coffee!!!!!!!!

        WHY!!!

Well, there I go, talking to the squirrels again. Too much coffee? However, this one tickled my funny bone. I just can't convince my dear other half to move into the woods. He already says I'm talking to the squirrels. Very true!

The older I get, the more I understand why people

live in the woods and talk to squirrels.

The world will adjust, be you and remember...

You don’t need to fix everything today.

Just be kind to yourself.

All you have to do is look in the mirror 

and smile. Squirrel decided to join in.

My coffee and I are debating if we feel like joining today's events.

Newspaper headline: "Give someone a reason to smile."

Dont forget that...

Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.

More wise words…

It’s okay to…not know it all…make mistakes…

have hard days…be yourself…ask for help.

A good way to ease into the day is put some music on, or if you are one of the lucky ones, play your own.

It’s time to show you today’s dream cottage. Open the gate and knock on the door.

We can have tea and crumpets by the fire.

When you are feeling a little upside down, conversation and a cup of tea will do you a world of good.

You can share your decorating tips and I will share mine. So what if the paint is peeling?

We won’t be bothered about that paintwork soon. We will be out in the garden picking spring flowers.

Word time!

Apricity (n.) The warmth of the sun in winter - origin: Latin.

Or…

Wifty (adj.) someone who is slightly eccentric,

 scatterbrained or a bit absent-minded; might seem

a little dreamy, distracted or whimsical, often

lost in their own thoughts.

A smoothie anyone?

Strawberry-Oatmeal Breakfast Smoothy

High fiber - Heart-Healthy - 10-minute Breakfast

Ingredients: 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)

1/2 banana - 1/4 cup rolled oats - 1/2 cup Greek Yogurt 

1/2 cup milk (any type) - 1 tablespoon chia seeds (optional)

Steps: add all the ingredients to blender. Blend until

creamy and smooth. Serve chilled with toppings.

Or how about this?

Easy Sponge Cake in a Mug - ready in 5-minutes 

Ingredients: 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar - 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg - 2 tablespoons milk - 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions: 1. In a microwave-safe mug, whisk flour,

sugar and baking powder. 2. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla.

3. Microwave on high for 1 minute 30 seconds - times may vary.

Soft, airy sponge cake in minutes - no oven needed!

Note: I haven’t tried these two recipes, but they are on my list. 

Time to finish this post. 

It’s a new dawn, a new day…hope yours is sprinkled with 

A little dilly dallying and lollygagging (and from me, we

could all do with a little break from being busy at times).

May your day begin with a giggle in your wiggle, and

End with a pep in your step.

I wish you Peace and always remember…

You are appreciated and Loved.

The world is much brighter because you exist.

Thanks for stopping by.

I think we can all do with some of this.

Sending you love and a big hug.

(My thanks to Pinterest for the inspiration.)

 

THE GOSSIPS...

...otherwise known as Blue Jays, taken at one of the feeders in our back yard a while ago.

Shrill, blue squawker...

Guardians of the forest gates.

Jay waits to cry out.

~Justin Farley~

McKEE'S BOTANICAL GARDEN, VERO BEACH, FLORIDA - SEWARD JOHNSON SCULPTURE EXHIBIT SEEN IN 2014 - PART 2

 This is the second post on Seward Johnson Sculpture Exhibit at the garden (January 2014).  I shared the first part last week, link here.  

This one is called Sailing the Seine and is based on the Eduoard Manet painting 'Argenteuil'.  You can see that painting at this link.

The style of clothing is very interesting and, in this case, very nautical. I wonder how women coped with all the layers they had to wear on a warm day. The men not so much. The original painting has them on a boat sailing the River Seine. 

And look, she's got dangly earrings? A girl after my own heart!

What do you think their conversation might be?

I would love to know your thoughts.

I will leave them here and moved onto the next exhibit (to be shared next Tuesday the 10th).

I hope you have enjoyed this 2nd instalment. It is always fun for me to look back. Florida is a place of wonderful botanical gardens, other places too, and I enjoyed my time there. The birdlife was amazing. 

Thanks for visiting,

and may your day be a great one.

SHEPHERD’S PIE WITH CHEDDAR

We made this recipe for the first time on Monday, 2-23-26. It is from a food blog called Pan to Plate Recipes, hosted by Julia who was a former restaurant head chef. The original recipe can be found at this link. It was excellent and we gave it a 10 out of 10. I have a similar recipe on here also, but I haven't checked to see the differences. I recommend going to Julia's food blog to review the original. She has a lot of great tips for this, and other  recipes to try. 

Shepherd's Pie with Cheddar 

Serves: 6

Calories per serving: approximately 620

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 45 minutes

Total time:1 hour 15 minutes

For the filling:

2 tablespoons olive oil (30g)

1 large onion, diced (150g)

2 medium (120g) carrots, diced

2 cloves garlic (6g), minced

1-1/2 pounds (680g) ground lamb (we used minced beef)

1 teaspoon (1g) dried thyme

1 teaspoon (1g) dried rosemary

1 cup (240g) beef broth

1 cup (150g) frozen peas

Salt and black pepper to taste

For the topping:

4 cups (950g) prepared mashed potatoes

1 cup (120g) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Position a rack in the center of oven and preheat to 375 degrees F. (190 degrees C.)  Having the oven fully heated ensures the pie bakes evenly and the topping becomes golden brown.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or Dutch Oven over medium heat. Add the diced onions and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened (about 5 to 7 minutes).  

Add the minced garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.

Add the lamb (or like us, add minced beef) to the skillet. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to break the meat into smaller pieces. Cook until it is browned all over, about 8-10 minutes. Carefully drain off any excess fat from the skillet.

Season the meat with the dried thyme, dried rosemary and the salt and pepper to taste.

Pour the beef broth into the skillet, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. 

Bring the mixture to a simmer, then reduce the heat to low. 

Let it gently bubble for 10 minutes, allowing the sauce to reduce and thicken slightly. 

Stir in the frozen peas during the last 2 minutes of simmering.

Transfer the meat mixture to a 2-quart baking dish, or an oven-safe skillet, and spread it into an even layer. 

Spoon the prepared mashed potatoes over the filling. Use a spatula to gently spread the potatoes to cover the entire surface, sealing the filling in.

Sprinkle the shredded cheddar cheese evenly over the mashed potatoes. Place the baking dish on a baking sheet to catch any potantial drips.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling around the edges and the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Carefully remove the Shepherd's Pie from the oven. 

Let is rest for at least 5 minutes before serving. This allows the filling to set, making it easier to slice and serve cleanly.

Garnish with fresh parsley (optional).

Shepherd's Pie can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days. To reheat place it in an oven preheated to 350 degrees. F (175 degrees C), and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until warmed through. 

You can also assemble the pie a day ahead, cover and refrigerate it before baking; you may need to add 10-15 minutes to the baking time.

Serving size: 1/6 of pie

Calories per serving: 620

We made a few changes. Firstly we used minced beef instead of lamb. 

We also added at the same time as the broth, a splash of Worcestershire Sauce, and also a cup of red wine. We usually do the latter for soups and stews but wanted to see if it made a difference with this shepherd's pie.  

There was more meat and added 2 lbs. instead of the 1 lb. We also added extra veggies, carrots, onions. 

It gave us leftovers and when the casserole was filled with both mixture and potato on the top, what was left was added to another dish to give us a meal for later. This will be frozen without the potato topping. I had it in my mind to use the meat mixture and put it over some mashed potatoes, similar to this I suppose but done separately. Or we might use it for another recipe. 

I think it would be a good idea to add extra thyme and rosemary too, for our own personal taste. We both felt it needed more and we love the taste of thyme.

Gregg said he would like more grated cheese also.

This is the full address for the recipe. I add this if you prefer copy and pasting instead of using the link at the top of the page.

https://pantoplaterecipes.com/shepherds-pie-with-cheddar

That's it for this week's recipe. If I have missed anything or you have a question, let me know in the comment section and I will do my best to answer.

HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE - SHORTER JOURNAL THIS WEEK

Weather forecast from yesterday February 28th to Sunday, March 8th, 2026. The weather is getting warmer.

From Sunday to Thursday I didn't write anything down. The weather was dreadful, icy wet snow overnight that fortunately didn't stick and rainy the other days. Our favorite walkabout places would have been a soggy mess. 

And talking about soggy messes...

someone put the yogurt right on the edge of the top shelf, and someone else opened the fridge door and let's just say, I won't do that again. What a mess! Gregg was a really good sport about it and insisted on cleaning up. I offered advice from afar, no, not really. 

Ah well, these things happen.

This old photo popped up yesterday and it caused a blast to the past conversation with hubby, chatting about each of them. We were all good friends. This is before he and I met and was taken 53 years ago. (They are the ones I went off to Austria for skiing holidays. We saved all year for those vacations and they were cheap back in those days. The hotel was great and had its own all night dance floor with a live band, and a coffee bar. So, we used to dance all night and then roll into the coffee bar without even having to go outside, from après-ski to expresso, a couple of hours sleep and then it was off to the slopes for skiing lessons. Gosh, I wish I had that energy now.)

 I'm the girl top right at the back in the red and blue flowered shirt. I can't remember who took it. They chopped it off a bit at the top, but I was very happy to find this photo again. My hair always looked like I had ironed it flat but I hadn’t. I envied my friends with curlier hair. The giant hair rollers I used to endure as I slept in them, good grief they were painful. I eventually gave up on those and wore it long, flat as a poker and almost to my waist. Hippy days says I with a smile. Back then Gregg used to think yogurt was hippy food so there was already a connection, ha! We had a few laughs at our younger selves, and the stories we told each other later especially. He enjoys eating yogurt now.

Getting on about the week, we ate out a couple of times, always can remember going out to eat, nothing fancy but once to our Bahn Mi favorite for a meatball sub, which is a 40-minute drive away (good job it's not around the corner or we would be in trouble). We have one about every three months. I have mentioned them before on here. 

Friday, 2-27-26 at 7:45 p.m: the other to McDonalds today, a little closer to home and that's a once-a-week thing, unless it is to another fast-food stop, like the chicken place.

Son came over last Wednesday night as he had dropped our dear d-in-l off at work. The weather was iffy so he drove her. That was a nice surprise and an extra treat one evening. He had already been over for his usual morning the previous Sunday. 

Driving out of the neighborhood, we had paused a little longer at the stop sign as we thought one of these ladies was going to walk across. They didn't and continued shouting across to each other, so of course I got a photo op. They were walking their dogs and probably wanted to keep them apart.

Someone arrived this evening. I had fed the birds earlier and apart from a couple of doves that turned up in the early part of the evening, there has been silence at the bird feeder. Then about half an hour ago I heard a noise and lo and behold I looked outside and there was our little raccoon. They don't usually show up until late night time and haven't been around for a few months. This was my first sighting. The temperatures have risen and I guess this one was hungry. They, as everyone probably knows, are opportunists. 

Saturday, February 28th, 2026: we got a call from our son and d-in-l. After a busy morning in Annapolis (Maryland), they had brunch at a restaurant called Miss Shirley's Cafe and sent these photos of their meal. They enjoy sharing photos too, happy to say. If you are on Facebook, you can see photos from their menu at this link. Those drinks are Bloody Marys and look like a meal. I can see from back to front, an okra, orange slice followed by a section of lime, celery stick, a green olive, a wedge of a green tomato with two slices of bacon hanging over the rim! Heck, you could just order your cocktail and that would be your meal! However, bottom left is son’s Shrimp and Grits, and bottom right is our sweet d-in-l’s Coconut Crème Stuffed French Toast with strawberries. I have just decided where my birthday meal is going to be in a few months. My conversation with waiter, “Excuse me dear, all I need is a Bloody Mary, could you throw in a slice of sweet potato?” 

Gregg and I had chats with family overseas and here this week also.

That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to some sunny, warm-ish days soon.

Hope you've all had a great week out there, and I'll wish you a great one ahead.