On the Coffee Table

A Moment to Enjoy Some Blooms

On the coffee table are a few of my plants that I have in bloom for the week.

One is my amaryllis.  

It's so lovely to see it again.  Do you save your bulbs every year?  Mine go out in the garden in the spring in a slightly shady spot in well drained soil and I enjoy the foliage during the summer. Once in awhile I can be lucky to have one bloom in the garden. In the fall they get dug up and the roots cut off, the bulbs get cleaned and sit out and dry for a day or two.

I then put them in a paper bag and store them in the back of my refrigerator until after Christmas.  

I take them out and put them in a sunny window in bulb vases. Give them a drink and let them come back to life.

They then go in to a pot of new garden soil and I wait.

They start to bloom around the end of February and into March.  What a treat. I like this timing for amaryllis bulbs rather then trying to do this at Christmas time when so much is going on.

This one was from White Flower Farm and is on it's second bloom here.

I also find that it's a great deal to buy your bulbs after Christmas. I bought six new bright red amaryllis bulbs that were marked down from $16.00 to $2.00.  They bloomed for Valentines Day. 

I hate when they flop over...

So I made this support out of regular garden wire and tape.  Then I just prop the flower over the wire and they stand up. 

  

Second up is my Jasmine.

I can't take any credit for this.  It's a new gift from my husband from our weekend trip to the garden center.  During the winter we try to go to greenhouses every couple weeks to walk around and enjoy the plants.  

 

Wish I could share the wonderful smell from this plant.

And it's a beauty!

Twirling and spinning toward the sun.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by, I love your comments. 

Enjoy

♥

Jules ~

Looking Up & Blue Birds

Hello 

& 

Happy March !

♣

Can you BELIEVE

We made it through another winter !

There are a lot of gardening changes being planed for this year, however there is a little time still to enjoy the trees without their leaves on.

Time to look UP !

Happy  March  from 

The Dragonfly On Iron Gate 

to you ! 

See my visitors in the branches ! 

They really don't visit. 

 They live here year round.   

We have up to three nesting pairs of Blue Birds each year.

Such a pretty time of year.  

Just before the focus on the garden goes to the ground where the flowers tend to steal the show.

I could live under blue skies everyday.

 With the SUN gaining strength everyday the color is so rich.

 

This is my Blue Bird tree. 

They like this spot in the yard.  Soon the bugs will be out and we will be getting a show of blue as they flutter about trying to catch bugs. 

This is my number one box.   

Taken already as you can see.

 

 Well, Happy March !

Leave a Comment, I love them so !

I'll leave you with this poem.

Winds of March

Winds of March, we welcome you,

There is work for you to do.

Work and play and blow all day,

Blow the winter cold away.

                                                                        -Unknown

Enjoy !

Paperwhites, Herend & Bunnies AKA: Superbowl Widows Unite

Happy the month of  January is over !  

That means we are 31 days closer to spring ! 

Can't complain about the weather this winter.   

We've had a few snowflakes, they look pretty coming down but don't stick.  

Outside I can see things coming up in the gardens, but in the house I have buckets of bulbs in bloom.   

Though I'd share my very 

Girly Superbowl Widows Dinner 

 table with you.

Yes, It's SPRING in the House !

Some of my little bunnies have escaped the Easter box and ended up on the table early this year. 

I  LOVE  ♥ Herend ♥ 

And  I  Love Paperwhites !

Some of the Herend pieces I've had for years, they still fascinate me.  

The little rosebuds they use are amazing.

And they mix and match with other sets well !

  

 

 I love the daises on this set of dishes!

LOOK ... YIKES I turn my back on the window and it started to snow!

 Sigh... I love my kitchen fireplace. The contractor didn't understand why I wanted it so high. We just love it. Some mornings I come down to a fire and coffee already made and waiting for me ...  

Yes, being a Superbowl widow isn't all that bad.

 ♥
So come on in and sit by my fire and warm up.

 ♥

   

 Soup 

  and 

My  Mothers Chicken Mandarin Orange is on the menu !

Chicken Mandarin Orange

Serves 6 to 8
(one large casserole dish, bake at 350  for 40 minutes covered, and 20 minutes uncovered.)

4 Large Chicken Breast

½ Cups of Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

¼ teaspoon Pepper 

A few fresh leaves of Rosemary, chopped 

Butter to Brown Chicken

1/2 Cup of Soy Sauce

1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar 

1 teaspoon Mace

2 - 11oz cans Mandarin Oranges (open cans separate juice and oranges, set aside)
1 Large Orange, (Grate whole orange, set aside, juice orange, set aside).
1/2 Cup of Cashews
1/2 Cup of Pea

1.   Cut chicken breast in to smaller pieces. I like strips.  Set aside.
2.   In a bowl mix the following, flour, salt, pepper, rosemary.  Toss all the chicken in and mix to coat.  Remove chicken and brown in butter on stove top.  You only have to brown the sides, it will finish cooking in the oven.
Remove chicken and place in casserole dish.
3.   In a separate bowl mix the following, soy sauce, brown sugar, mace, orange grating, orange juice, juice from mandarin orange cans. pour over chicken in casserole dish.
4.   Sprinkle with cashews, cover the dish and bake for 40 minutes.
5.   Remove from oven add the mandarin oranges, and peas. Give the dish a shake or to and return it to the oven uncovered for the last 20 minutes. 

Serve over rice.


Enjoy!  Jules ~

  

 My   Mom !

Look how hip she is on vacation !

 

( Now that you've seen the beach, back to winter. )

♥

Strawberries and Clotted Whipped Cream for Dessert.

Ummmmmmmy ! 

♥ 

My strawberry dish. 

And this little bunny is thinking, pay no attention to the snow in the window behind you.

 

Back to Paperwhites

  ♥

  
♥

♥

Bunnies on the loose around here !

  
Thanks so much for your visit today.
   
When I go missing off my blog, I'm usually treating my chronic lyme disease.

When I have time to blog it makes my day !

I love your comments, feel free to drop me a note here or on my facebook page.

  Superbowl Widows Unite !  Jules ~

I'll be found at the following Blog Parties:

  

 

Happy Thanksgiving ! 

Field Trip

Field trip this week to....  

Dunis Tile Studio

My one and only favorite tile company !

Stay tuned !

Clover

Hi Everyone!

As I was walking in my yard I noticed I still had clover growing and how beautiful it was. 

When thinking of fall I tend to think oranges and yellows.  But this was so pretty I wanted to share.

Such a pretty burst of color !

♥

Happy Tea Day !

 

I do have hot water ready to make my cup of tea, but it's not coming near this piece of linen I brought home from Scotland. All I need is a tea stain!

I've used my scissors so much the center screw is loose!

Sigh... basket weave....

Look at the variegation in this one leaf.  

Stunning .. 

And to think that this is just a weed to some.

I'm planing to save these pictures for the dead of winter and put it into a small sampler.

Are we relaxed yet?

Do you think of this as an arrangement? 


When I was a child I  would pick the smallest flowers I could find and put them in jelly jars. It would keep me busy for hours.

Another sigh....  Belleek

I think the china gods made this.

If china could be Fey... this would be it!

 Enjoy.....

People ask me all the time why I am so happy.  

Am I a cup half full or a cup half empty?

I think no mater what is in your cup you aren't stuck with it. 

So dump it out! 

There is nothing like an empty cup .

Possibilities !

It's yours. All the way. You get to pick what goes into it. 

Fill it up !

Here's to all the empty cups in our lives !

Happy Tea Day !

This Weeks Parties: