days of our play care

weekend shots

on a tuesday.  yesterday was a day of no computer for me.  purposely done... i just wasn't interested in turning it on one bit.  not positive i am totally in to it this morning but i wanted to share my weekend shots.  just like me walking in the woods to see what is blooming, if i miss a weekend or skip my walk i will for sure miss something that is in bloom, as will you, i feel, if i don't share my shots.  it all happens so fast this time of year.  a few weeks ago the trees were bare and now you can't see through the woods for all the green.  i am enjoying every minute of spring this year and feel it is going way too rapidly.  i did get some thyme and mint planted after work yesterday, some rabbit cooked for friends sunday night, and my seventh yoga class on saturday.  

 the only morel i saw this year :(

katie bug... cleaning up the creek.

did you know?

that this "spit" that you see on plants is actually housing a bug?  it's called a spiddlebug.  females plant an egg into a plant stem and as the bug forms it blows little bubbles out of it's toosh that form it's protective spit until it's ready to fly off.  i always wondered what exactly this spit was.  i figured it was some kind of egg sack.  we learned this at the day care from this fantastic book.

lovin right now

Lovin right now... bath time edition!  Long overdue if you ask me!

Do we really take enough time out of our day or evening to enjoy a good soak in the tub?  

Well, last night I did!  These four things, along with some good music, candle light and a butler (Shaun) refilling my wine glass, are favorites and must haves when it comes to enjoying a good long dose of me time. 

My sister Tracy introduced me to Schick Intuition razors a month ago and I am loving it!  It has the soap already there for you so no shaving cream is needed.  The shave is good and close and the sensitive skin version seen here is what I use and what is needed, apparently, for my ever sensitive psoriasis skin.  So far it hasn't bothered them a bit!  Much thanks to you sister Tracy!

Mad Housewife, Sweet Red wine.... preferably chilled.  Aaaahh what a nice edition and something sweet and cool to sip on.  Pairs nicely with Pepperidge Farms chocolate hazelnut Pirouette wafer cookies which are my guilty pleasure for sure!  Sometimes I pretend they are cigars (nerd!).  

Lastly, my bath wouldn't be complete without my homemade bath oils.  Of course I have to give my tub a wipe down with Dawn after my bath but it is so worth it.  Using oils and herbal oils, I don't even have to use lotion when I get out.  You can use a tad of olive oil added to the water and a couple of drops of lavender essential oil and you'll be just fine.  I also enjoy a sprinkling Epsom salt that is combined with lavender flowers that float in the water yet leave a wonderful scent.  

Here's my personal recipe for bath oil.  Mind you, I have psoriasis and have studied different herbs that help with my skin condition.  You can add them or not, but if you have excessively dry skin, eczema or psoriasis, this combination will surely help.  I have steered more towards taking baths than showers and incorporating my bath oil specifically for my skin.  Showers, even though we have a filter on ours, tend to dry my skin out much worse than a bath and with the addition of oils I don't even use commercial lotions at all.  It has truly made a difference for me.  I know it contains a few odd ingredients to some.  If you only had a few, I would recommend the almond and jojoba oils, vitamin E oil and comfrey oil and maybe the lavender for relaxation.

As far as my scalp,itching and dry skin around my hair line goes, I recommend Paul Mitchell, tea tree shampoo and using it at least every other wash for mild itching and dryness or every wash until the itching and flaking is under control.  If it continues once you have backed off the tea tree you may want to consider the shampoo that you are using in the mean time as part of the culprit for dryness.

I am not any kind of a skin doctor... just a skin sufferer and one who has tried so many products until I have come to a semi-comfortable place.

cowgirl veggie burritos

Now here's one of my new favorite go-to's for lunch!  Cowgirl Veggie Burritos.  I kinda made this one up... along with a little help from a black bean dip recipe that used to be on the side of a can of black beans!  But, according to my new diet, I need to find other ways of getting protein besides eating meat... hence the black beans and brown rice.  They are a perfect combination for this easy recipe.  And if the tomatoes with chilies in the rotel isn't enough kick for you, the pepper jack cheese should do the trick.  I usually keep this mix in the refrigerator at work.  It's so easy for me to heat up and put together while I am making the kid's lunches.  We also have it as a quick lunch or supper at home.  

I first made these the last time we went to Windrock, four wheeling.  We always take our lunches while riding which generally consist of sandwiches and chips.  It was too much for me to think of what I could take to eat for lunch on the trail that wouldn't involve meat.  So I made a batch of these a few days before we left, wrapped them in plastic wrap and froze them.  I took them out of the freezer before we left and by lunch they were thawed out enough to eat.  Did I mention they are good cold too?  Shaun and I even snacked on them outside of lunch.  I also pre-made guacamole to take with chips too!  It felt so good to know that I had a good veggie lunch waiting for me in the cooler.

P.S. Here's where we went to Windrock this last time and here's a good vegetarian breakfast treat!

Do you have any vegetarian recipes that you just love? I'd really enjoy having more good go-to's that are fairly easy to make!  Please share!

pretty carnations

Do you know how easy it is to make paper flowers?  Well.. maybe not all paper flowers.  But tissue paper carnations are easy to do.  If you are from around here... do you remember the really big tissue paper flowers they used to make and sell at Opryland?  Gosh I miss that place.

These flowers aren't quite as big as those.  More real to life size.  You simply need a sheet of tissue paper, pipe cleaners (cut in half if you wish), scissors, a pencil and something round that you can trace.  I used a canning band.  A simple drinking glass will work well.  So, take your sheet of tissue paper and fold it over long ways, then fold it longways again.  Keep folding evenly until you have a square small enough for your glass to fit.  Then trace your glass leaving a penciled circle on the tissue paper.  Holding the paper with one hand, cut out the circle.  Next, divide the circles into a few piles with around ten to twelve circles each.  Make two holes in the center of a stack of circles with a thumbtack or if your pipe cleaners are strong enough just stick them right through.  Feed your pipe cleaner up through one hole, bend it about an inch and feed the bent end back through your second hole.  Twist the pipe cleaner to form your stem.

To crumple the flower into pedals, take the top circle and pull it together pinching as you go and crinkling the first pedal.  Follow this method with the remaining pedals (circles) one at a time, being careful not to make folds at the same place for each circle, until all circles are semi-crunched.  Waalaa... now you have a beautiful carnation.  What you do with it is up to you.

I am sure you can make much larger ones that this for swags or to hang from the ceiling at a party.  They could seriously bring a pop of color to any room!  I had one of my moms at the day care ask me if they were real before she got up close to them.  :)

I got a little carried away and made bunches!  Oh and you should get three or maybe even four flowers from one sheet of tissue paper.  How fun!

weekend shots

It's beginning to look a lot like summer!  With green hues in the trees, summer shorts, summer drinks and summer hair cuts.  I love it.  It's my favorite time of year.  I walked in the woods this weekend but didn't take my camera.  The wild iris were beautiful and the bellwort is about to bloom.  My whole family came over for Easter.  We had a terrific lunch, a fruity tea bar and an Easter egg hunt.  All on a beautiful day!

This is what kind of picture I get when I try and take one of Shaun and I by setting the timer.  We were trying to rid his shop of starlings and one flew out when the camera snapped.