Overlooked Potatoes

Can you see what is in the bowl?
I had to laugh at myself when I found these growing, since I overlooked some potato starts, and left them all neglected in a spare room.
They just HAD to grow and they did.
I think they are kind of cute and surreal and artistic and maybe I will plant them in the garden.
These little potatoes have a strong will to live, as you can see.

Me on a donkey and castle walls in Turkey

Here is a change of pace for my blog: two photos from my college days in Turkey.
One is of me riding a donkey to a picnic spot on the Island of Buyukada, near Istanbul.
Turkish college friends created a feast including shish-kebob which they cooked there, feta, olives, sturdy bread, rose petal jam,  borek and baklava for dessert.
The other photo shows a friend standing on the ramparts of Rumeli Hisar, right below our college which is built on the heights of Bebek, in Istanbul. From the college we could look down to see the Rumeli Hisar fortress, and the Bosphorus, a mighty river that runs from the sea through Istanbul.

And oh friends, my new book is available on Amazon at
Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts: Stories to Celebrate and Wisdom to Bless Moms
Hardcover, full color and less than $12.00; reviewers suggest it as their go to gift for new moms, or for baby showers, or for you.

Happy Birthday USA

Proud to be An American
Originally uploaded by architekt2
Oh America, I love you. I love our emphasis on freedom for the individual, freedom of worship, freedom to own guns for sport and defense, freedom to dissent and for your beauty in our mountains and streams and pastures and people.

Here is a quote by President Woodrow Wilson, our 28th President:

"America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."

And a favorite quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:
"For what avail the plough or sail, or land or life, if freedom fail?"

I Like Bees

bee
Originally uploaded by staflo
"Bees do have a smell, you know,

and if they don't they should,

for their feet are dusted

with spices from a million flowers. "

by Ray Bradbury

When I hear bees humming in our garden, I smile, because I know they are working pollinating flowers, and making honey too.

Oh, and friends, my new book is available on Amazon at

Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts: Stories to Celebrate and Wisdom to Bless Moms
Scrapbook of Motherhood Firsts

Chard Gone Wild

Here I am standing next to our ancient two year old six feet tall chard plant. We dug up all our Rainbow chard plants except this one, which is now more than six feet tall.

I am five feet four and the chard towers above me, so this photo shows it is actually seven feet tall. We took this photo on June 15, 2012. Last night my husband picked a few leaves and cooked them, though they are a bit tough. Rainbow chard is also called Bright Lights chard, and the stems are red, yellow, fuchsia pink, and green.
We have 4 baby chards planted and may keep this old one as a sort of science experiment to answer the burning question, how long can chard live?
See the Buddha in the garden? I have Buddha in the vegetable patch and the Virgin Mary amongst the flowers. She is near a rose bush I call the Mary Rose. You can't see her or the roses in these photos, and I will post some photos of her again.
If you search my blog subjects list you can find photos of Mary and the beautiful pink Mary roses.
Can you see my garden is wild? The songbirds and skunks and possums love it here. Hey, it is all organic.

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful

101006-144626-Mysore-India
Originally uploaded by PnP!

Yes, my husband and I saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel movie and we think it is best appreciated in the theater, so you can absorb some of the atmosphere of India, the street scenes, the market stalls, the buildings.

I recommend this movie, with the main characters being in the over 60s in age set, and include Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy.

They are living on tights budgets in England and all receive brochures touting the magnificence of a hotel where British retirees will be pampered. The full name of the hotel is cute: The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel for the Elderly and Beautiful. Trusting the brochure each character decides to move to India. The hotel is managed by a sweet optimistic young man, played by Dev Patel. He is enthusiastic in his belief that his hotel, woefully run down, will be renewed.

I won't say more, don't want to give away the plot.

Gondola on Wordless Wednesday

Gondola
Originally uploaded by Stoper

I love Venice though I have not been there and last night finished reading A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon, the mystery series set in Venice.
This is the sixth book in the series, and the first is Death in a Strange Country (as I recall).