Citrus time

Winter brings some cold, dark, and bleak times. Winter also brings some special times - cuddling up to get warm, holidays with family, the freshness after a rain, and even rainbows. One of the things that I look forward to in winter is the ripening of the lemons on my tree. I have a dwarf Meyer lemon in my backyard. The tree grows sweet lemons that remind me of the lemon tree at my childhood home. Dad always talked about the Meyer lemons and how they were the best kind. Turned out that my mother-in-law thought the same thing - they were the star of her Lemon Meringue pie. Its so nice to see the lemons on the tree now -- almost as if they were giant ornaments on the tree.

Dinner at Pedros

Saturday night would have been Mom and Dad's 56th Anniversary. Even though Dad passed on back in 2001, I think an anniversary is a good thing to remember. To mark the happy day, we took Mom out for a special dinner at Pedros. I was happy to see Mom celebrate with a Strawberry Margarita. Their marriage was built on the strong love that they shared, and their wedding was the beginning of our "Willey family". I smile when I think of the bunch that we've become! Certainly a time to celebrate!

Holiday Candle

This candle is the last decoration that was still left out from the holidays. I figured that I could leave it out longer since it was red -- it was appropriate to welcome in Valentine's Day. Now it is time to put it away .... I guess I didn't want to let the holidays "go". I'll cherish my many memories ....

Christmas Grapes

I love berries and grapes and their appearance has always fascinated me. I've tried to paint them before, but I've always been disappointed at the result. It has been a challenge for me to try to capture their shapes. My mother recently gave me some special, Christmas Grapes, which are supposedly only sold around the holidays. Ah... before I could eat them I was faced with another opportunity to try to paint the grapes. I kept looking at them, and looking.... wondering how I could paint them. One night I got brave and gave it a shot. This is what I came up with. At last I was able to eat the grapes - very tasty. Sometime I'll have to try painting raspberries ....

Family favorites - the Coffee Cake

My son recently asked me to send him a family favorite recipe - a coffee cake. The recipe came from my grandmother's friend a long, long time ago. In this 2-page spread I've included a copy of my original copy of the recipe, written in my little-girl handwriting many years ago, a bit of the more modern and healthy version that I found in the newspaper, and the email THANK YOU I received from my son for the recipe.

It warms my heart to think of this recipe being handed down 4 generations. Raising 3 boys, who would have thought that cooking would create such a bond with my boys and cooking. It makes me smile!!

An unexpected surprise

I've been quiet a bit due to computer problems and other time commitments.... but I'm back!

I came home Friday from work and found an expected package, but there was an unexpected surprise inside. What fun to discover a SURPRISE! Just what I needed at the end of a long week.