Morning all :) Sigh it's 20 here and snow still.No warm weather..hehe But we did have a white Christmas,first one in a few years. Sharon,of couse all your daylilies seedlings will be keepers.You always have beauties :) Wishing I had some daylily seeds to play with..hehe Winter is starting to get to me,sigh. Daylight saving time in March ..WOW...Come on March Congralulation Deb..what fun!! Dawn hunny..the Aunties are waiting,hehe More picture please hun :) Gardening catalogs YES Oh YES Now if hubby can only find a new job this spring. OH who's Mark??? Waving to all,sending Hugs Jean/Dirtpig

Happy Saturday! Well, our party was supposed to be in full swing by now, but I had to reschedule it. Called everyone yesterday afternoon when the weatherman confirmed the bad news. We're going to receive a present early--- 12 to 18 inches of snow, and it's only December 19th. Global warming? I think not!! Most of the dishes I prepared are in the freezer for the new date -- January 9. Hopefully, everyone will still be in the mood to party; we've promised to leave up our decorations and the Snow Village. I think it will work out fine, unless we get more snow that day! The weather is so bad, that DH and I have prepared ourselves for watching the JETS game in our home tomorrow. It drives me mad to know that we have tix to be in the stadium, but I don't think they can clear that snow out of all the seats by 1pm if it stops at 11am, and this gal does not sit on ice!!! Got a chicken dish in the oven on slow cook. Going to do a bit of preparation for Christmas dinner with DH's daughters, and then I'll have some time to finish wrapping gifts. We had time to run out this morning and pick up the rest of what we had. How does everyone deal with buying for seniors? (not that I'm far behind! LOL!!) This year, I bought my MIL enough goodies at Trader Joe's to make up a basket. We are going to attach a gift certificate to her hair salon. She just won't spend on herself but really enjoys the goodies when we bring them as a hostess gift. I've run out of ideas and am thrilled when I think of something! Going to go throw another log on the fire and try to coax DH to help me wrap those gifts. When I left the family room about 20 minutes ago, he was "watching" TV with his eyes closed and the remote slipping out of his hand. LOL!!!!!!!!!!! Later.............. Dee

Boy does life really take us on different journeys. Started 2010 taking down commercial holiday decor. Continued family fighting over estate matters for my Great Aunt. Decided to build our dream home on our land. Met a con artist contractor to facilitate home build. Fired con artist who stole our dream, building funds. Hired a lawyer to commence civil litigation regarding home build. Communication broke down completely with sibling (co-executor of Great Aunt's estate). Hired lawyer. Tried to talk our best friends from Scotland out of coming to Canada with 2 daughters (they booked for July in January) due to having no home to host them in. Had a mental health break down, tried to commit suicide. Got help - again. DH purchased weekend trailer day before our home sale closed for us to live in on our land. Home effects went into storage. Worked with lawyer to build a major lawsuit. Met more new friends (neighbours) who opened their hearts and doors to us. Helped us make a decision to fight back and stay here to fight for our 16 year dream. Found a new contractor equivalent to 'Mike Holmes'. God sent us a miracle. Continued fighting with family. Continued getting help, seeing doctors. DH went to doctor. Wore down from stress. House build commenced, health started to improve. Made our little trailer our home. Built flower gardens around trailer area with plants from previous garden. Experienced horrific winds that demolished outdoor tented area (had my clothesline....). BBQ blew over, awning tore off side of trailer...felt like I was going to Oz. Learned lifespan of plastic pail port-a-potty. Appreciated construction site toilet hut - luxury at last. Experienced bird baths in large buckets. Washed some clothes in large pot of boiling water. Traveled to laundry mat every 2 weeks. Finally got power to trailer, unhooked generator. Got telephone line and internet in the trailer - the world returned. Came home to KT. 6 months later, moved into new miracle home (downsized dream). Launched major lawsuit against group of individuals for original disaster home build. Continuing to work with lawyer for estate matters. Said good riddance to 2010. Starting new life with new hope. Promised myself to get back onto a healthier lifestyle and to enjoy the small things in life again.

That party sounds like fun! Even though the "I'll never be hungry again" line is one of the movie's most famous, food was not as much of a theme in a movie as it was it the book. Margaret Mitchell used food as a major theme in the book to contrast "before the war" and "after the war". On a plantation with hundreds of people to feed every day there are many descriptions of the bounty of food before the war. There were far more options on the table than the family could eat "so that everyone could have their favorites". Annie's description of what was available after the war is right on: dried peas - with a little bacon if they were lucky! A lot of the "ladies" died slowly of malnutrition and starvation after the war. Here's a blackeyed pea salad from The Neely's: Ingredients 1 large tomato, diced 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped 1 small red bell pepper, finely chopped 1 jalapeno, finely chopped 2 tablespoons chopped green onions 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves 1/4 cup unseasoned rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup canola oil 1/2 teaspoon sugar Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained Directions Combine the first 6 ingredients in a bowl. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, canola oil, sugar, and salt and pepper. Toss all together and let marinate for at up to 8 hours in the refrigerator before serving.