Orange and Lemon Marmalade

My SIL and I are making hampers for Christmas, as presents for our parents and one or two others. We will be making somewhere between 6 and 10 hampers. The list of things to go in the hampers is long and impressive - jam, chutneys, shortbread, florentines, choc covered with crushed candy cane, knitted/crocheted dishclothes, crocheted market bag (possibly), sets of magnets... you get the idea. We will also be making green shopping bags, which will also act as the hampers. Today, with the hampers in mind, I made marmalade. It took about six hours from start to finish, but I did leave it alone while I made tea. It is really cool!!! Here is the recipe that I used. I ended up using about a cup less of the sugar, as my water, juice and peel mixture reduced to about a third, instead of just to about a half. Also, before slicing the peel, I turned each skin inside out and peeled off the membranes leftover from juicing (some of which went into the "muslin" (gold coloured gauzy stuff) to flavour the mixture). This huge jar is for my MIL, who apparently loves mamalade. I think the long strips of peel look absolutely gorgeous! You can tell I took the photo right after putting the plastic covers on. I have since straightened the rubberbands, but still need to wipe the outsides of the jars.

According to the recipe this will keep for a year unopened. Once opened it will keep in the fridge for a month. I think I will probably be doing another batch of marmalade as this only made 3 jars that I am happy to give as presents. One jar doesn't have enough peel in (the one right at the front), and Julian and I will be eating this ourselves!This was so cheap to make - I really encourage you to try it if you are on a tight budget. These four jars used: 5 oranges (or was it 6 - can't remember anymore!), 2 lemons, water and 1.75 kg sugar (though I used less). Really economical - and one batch could well last you an entire year.

Cute Free Online Games!

One of my facebook friends posted a link to a wonderful, musical, beautifully animated site called Orisinal. It is full of free online games that are just absolutely adorable. As in the SOOOO CUUUUUUTE sort of beautiful. Take a look!

Little Things

Drying cherry tomato seeds.Checking the progress of The Onion that Wanted to Grow.Wondering how long it will be until the rose bush outside my kitchen window will burst into all its yellow glory.Sticking my thesis around my loungeroom wall...... so I can edit it more easily.
It's been a good day.

50 Things I Want to Do

Here is just a little list of 50 things I want to do by the end of 2009. I have printed off a copy that I am going to stick to my wall, though I would like to get it laminated first. I hope this inspires you to think about specific things you would like to achieve over the next year!

1. Become proficient at making all our bread (sourdough)
2. Start having homemade pizza regularly (sourdough bases)
3. Make yoghurt regularly (every second night)
4. Make Quark (cheese from yoghurt)
5. Make soap
6. Make dandruff hair rinse for Julian (1:1 white vinegar and water, rinse before shampooing)
7. Go to the gym regularly (twice a week)
8. Get a job over summer
9. Grow my own mushrooms
10. Do the dishes every day for 30 consecutive days. Go out to dinner after completion of this goal!
11. Knit dishcloths (set of three would be nice—could do cool thematic thing)
12. Make some more kiwi fruit jam. Yum!
13. Knit a hot water bottle cover
14. Finish off all my embroidery projects
15. Get my ‘frame-worthy’ embroidery projects framed (Teddy bears picking apples longstitch, teddy bear fishing cross-stitch, house longstitch)
16. Finish quilting my lapquilt. Or pay my husband's sister to do it!
17. Grow my own herbs
18. Make fruit cordials (and another link)
19. Make chutney
20. Make red onion jam (great for pizzas, apparently!)
21. Make all my Christmas and birthday cards—have a stash of handmade cards on had for all card emergencies!
22. Acquire a preserving kit and jars
23. Make a nativity set (dough or fimo)
24. Get into a routine of cleaning my bathroom/toilet every week
25. Get my driver’s license
26. Learn how to make cheesecake. Become comfortable with making it!
27. Get into a routine of getting up at a regular time (6:30 or 7) to have my ‘Quiet Time’ with God
28. Get a pasta machine and start to make my own FRESH! pasta
29. De-worm my cat, and perhaps get him vaccinated too!
30. Make ice cream (or frozen yoghurt) that is light and fluffy
31. Switch from commercial cleaning products to homemade ones
32. Make my own crackers and dips
33. Grow sprouts
34. Start a cell group (kind of like a Bible study group but different!)
35. Stop biting my fingernails
36. Go to the dentist
37. When tomatoes are in season preserve a whole lot (sauces, chutneys etc.)
38. If I find a cool way of preserving cherries, do so when they are in season
39. Make my own apple sauce
40. Make my own vinegar
41. Make whipped butter for spreading on bread (for every cup of butter, add ½ cup water, and if you want also half a cup of olive oil… I think)
42. Infuse oils and vinegars—find some awesome tall skinny jars/bottle for this
43. Learn to weave baskets—or at least get a really good book on it
44. Paint the bookshelf. Perhaps paint both bookshelves to match?
45. Get a beautiful teapot, and start brewing my own tea
46. Make iced tea
47. Keep thinking of our dream house—start collating pictures and ideas we love
48. Stop shaving, start waxing. (Well, getting waxes.)
49. Cook one meal a week in the slowcooker
50. Make bagels

Ten Things

Well, I tried to use my blog as a motivational tool, but it hasn't really worked. And yes, I am a bit behind on the thesis front of things... Which brings me to today's topic: Ten Things I Am Grateful For! I've seen many other people list ten things they are grateful for, some occasionally, some on a regular basis. So... what am I grateful for today?

1. My husband, who buys me chocolate whenever I need it "if it will help me study better." And because he loves me. He has also been doing a lot more of the cooking lately, which has been great!

2. My new hot water bottle (even though it's heading into summer lol!) and it's oh-so-cute cover! (Noooooo. Not homemade. Store bought. Sorry. Though I could knit one myself: I have a pattern that just uses garter stitch and embroidery)
3. My diningroom table: a beautiful old, extending table, with THE MOST COMFY dining chairs in the world. I kid you not. I can sit in them ALL day and still not have a sore back (or backside) when I finally get up. Great for studying! Speaking of studying...

4. My thesis supervisor, who has great faith in my ability to write quickly yet well. He has been really encouraging! Hopefully he won't be disappointed!! Also speaking of studying...

5. My new fitball!!! It is totally awesome because it is pink!!! I bought it for studying, as they are great to sit on. Not only are they great for balance, but also for your posture. Having said that, I am sitting on it now, and am slouching over because I have my knees tucked up strangely. I can sit on it crosslegged. But it is very dangerous. If the opportunity ever arises I shall get my husband to video me attempting to sit on it crosslegged, and then falling off. I may use it for exercising in the unforeseeable future.
And here it is more in context: in my "study space". If you can, look past the mess to see the diningroom table and chairs!6. My basketful of lemons. I am still deciding what to make with these... lemon curd? lemon butter? lemon marmalade? Heaps of lemon icing? Some of each (there are 8 of them). Hmmmm. Any suggestions?

7. My sourdough starter! Oh, the adventures that await!

8. The new ink cartridge in the printer!!! Yay yay yay yay yay!!!! Now I can print out the recipes I want to try, instead of writing them out by hand! And I can also print out the thesis drafts so I can edit it more easily. Not so 'yay' but still very good.

9. Friends and family. Generic I know, but I have been going through something really tough over the past month, and I have been surrounded by people who love me. I really appreciate it!

10. Not living with a fussy person who can't cope with a bit (a fair bit) of mess. (I don't clean when I have essays due! Too busy playing solitare, checking Facebook or reading blogs!) Speaking of mess... does anyone want to clean my kitchen??? (Spot the yoghurt maker... Hint: it is pink! Like my fitball!! It is currently making nectarine flavoured yoghurt! Yummy!)

Thesis Update No.1

As you might know, I am doing Honours in English this year. Well, it is officially four and a half weeks to go until the thesis is due. I thought I would put my blog to some actual use and turn it into a motivational tool by posting updates on the progress of my thesis a couple of times a week. No doubt my mind shall gradually go crazier and crazier as my thesis progresses, so I shall try to report on that too :)

Anyway, after that little introduction, here is my first update:

Progress on thesis: 600 words out of 12,500 are written, though perhaps 50 to 80 of those are still in point form. But I am counting them anyway! It's my Right!!! Also printed out an article (which I still have to read) and thought some more about how I want to structure the main body of the thesis. I am fairly happy with the current plan of doing a close reading (of two children's novels by Nan Chauncy) and then applying theory to the close readings to come to a better understanding of how the texts work and the impacts they have upon children's perceptions of Tasmanian Aborigines.

State of Mind: Relatively calm, considering the personal crisises that have been taking place (all totally unrelated to the thesis) and the looming deadline. And considering I have a 5000 word essay to write AS WELL!!! by the 13th of October. Yup, thats 17,000 words I still need to write in 4 1/2 weeks. Well, 3 1/2 weeks really because the thesis needs to be finished early so my supervisor can go over it and so that I can get it bound. That's nearly a thousand words a day!!! Okay, I think I need to update my state of mind since writing this paragraph. Now feeling ever-so-slightly overwhelmed. Ah well, I'm sure I'll get over it!

Days left until the due date (24th October): Thirty. Yup that's all. 30. Three-zero.

Issues: Somewhere between now and the 11th of October I need to buy a nice black cardigan/cute jacket and dress shoes and a wedding present! I love weddings but this is really awkward timing. I need to buy some new pantyhose, too.

Good Things: My husband bought a new ink cartridge for our printer so now I can print out stuff at home. This will be really helpful when I come to editing my thesis (if I have enough time for that haha!) because it is so so so so so much easier to see mistakes on paper than it is on a screen. Don't ask me why. Another good thing is that once I get this in I will have four months of holidays. And while I am writing it I can eat as much chocolate as I like and not feel guilty!

Optimistic Requests: Can someone send me brownies??? Or chocolate mud cake???

Tickled Pink!

I have received my first blog award from Maria, from The Goddess's Kitchen! I am so excited!! Thank you Maria, it has made my day even better. (And I was already having a pretty great day too! - imagine how good it is now!)

The rules of the award are:
1. Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and their contribution to the blogging community.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of Arte Y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Show these rules.

I am not going to pass this award on to any blog in particular, but I really encourage you to scroll down and have a look at the "Blogs I Enjoy" list on the side of the page. I think all of them are worthy of the award!! If your blog is on there, please feel free to put the award on your own blog.

(That includes you, Maria, even though you already have it!)

Birthday Time!

It was my sister-in-law's b'day the other day (check out her blog here). She and her family have just moved house, and my husband (her brother) offered to set up their computer and internet. So anyway, he asked me if I minded him going over there after soccer training, and I said "Yeah, that's fine. Ask if she wants me to cook tea for them. It will be soup." So he asked her and she said "YES!"

So my SIL thought she was getting this: But she didn't know she was getting this as well: A bit belated but only one day late :) (Please ignore the stuff in the background! I was in a rush!!)

I have done a seperate post about the cake, NOT that it deserves it, but the frosting does!

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting and Spiced Yogurt Pound Cake

The making of this cake reminded me of the story of the Ugly Duckling.

The Spiced Yogurt Pound Cake was awful to make (1 cup butter = 225grams and 325F = 160C). It would have been fine if I had electric beaters or a mix master. But I don't have one (though now I want one more than ever!) I just have a stick blender with some attatchments, which works fine for just about everything I usually make. Anyway, because of the huge amound of butter and sugar that need creaming, it was really difficult. I ended up putting it in a tall jug (the yellow one that used to belong to you, M) and used the whisk attatchment on the stick blender to "cream it". Beating the whole mixture was pretty much impossible and very messy. I have pretty much cleaned my carpet now though :)

I had to use my 25cm springform tin to cook it in, which was fine, but after following the instructions and greasing and flouring the tin the cake was stuck to the bottom after being cooked!!! Well, I was in despair and thought I would have to make another cake, but it eventually come off - though there was a fault line running through the middle!

Here is the brute after being seperated from the tin:Hmmm, bit UGLY!!! (btw that is the bottom of the cake - the top is prettier!) So I went on the search for "fluffy" Chocolate Frosting! Why? To give the cake a bit more height. It looked a bit short, especially on that huge platter :) I eventually found the perfect recipe, and I had all the ingredients. Yay! This is one frosting I will be making again. Here is the cake after it has been frosted: Much better, don't you think?? And a little decoration: It really is true that icing can fix anything (particularly if it is chocolate icing)! I was a bit worried the person I made the cake for would think the petal girl was a present, and wondered if I should announce that "The girl is not a present" as soon as the person saw the cake, but I didn't and the girl is still mine... (she was a present from my mum, so it is not like I am just really greedy and possessive).

Anyway. The cake, despite being horrible for me to make, was really delicious, and once I get some electric beaters I think I will make it again.

Here is the recipe for the frosting (which I originally found here) with a couple of little adjustments (i.e. weight conversions):

110 grams butter, softened
2 2/3 cups icing sugar
1/3 cup milk/half-and-half/unwhipped whipping cream (I used milk)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

With either 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (for light choc flavour)
OR 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (medium)
OR 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted (dark rich)
(I used between 1/3 and 1/2 cup. Result? Choc-a-licious!!)

1. Cream butter.
2. Blend in cocoa, icing sugar and vanilla, alternating with the milk.
3. Beat until desired texture is reached.

This recipe makes a quite a lot, but apparently it freezes well. I think I have enough left over from the cake to ice a bunch of muffins. But first I need to make some muffins!

Do you think he is comfortable?

Okay Dougal, I'll stop disturbing you now...

(While I was writing this he changed position so he is Right On Top of the back of the recliner, getting all the sun he can. This is in brackets so he doesn't realise I am still writing about him... don't want to make him grumpy!)

Best Banana Cake (or Muffins) in the WORLD

I had some bananas that were getting a bit ripe. I decided to see what the internet would turn up in the way of recipes. Hmmm... Banana Bread. No thanks. Hmmm... Banana and _____ (insert something either expensive or exotic) bake/dessert/muffins/whatever. No thanks - I didn't have the ingredients or the money to get them (ah, the student life!). All I really wanted was a recipe for banana muffins or banana cake, but nothing I found was quite right. Finally I came to my senses and turned to my bookshelf. I pulled out the Kids' Cookbook that I have had since I was eight years old. And in it was the perfect banana cake recipe. And I didn't even have to print it out! Yay!
This might be a picture of the first time I made this recipe, but I think it is actully of a banana and ginger cake I made (and slightly overcooked...) hence the crystallized ginger decorating it.
I made the recipe a couple of times as a cake (each time I doubled the recipe), but the third time I made muffins! Well... I used paper cases on a tray so I wouldn't have to washup the muffin tin, but they are not what I would consider cupcakes. Anyway, this recipe make the Best Banana Muffins Ever! So moist, delicious, yummy, simple to make (seriously, you do it all in a saucepan). And the recipe is so easily doubled. Just a note: if you do double it, cook it in a round cake tin instead of a ring tin. Unless you want a very tall cake. I learnt the hard way :)
See some more photos here.

Well, here it is in it's original form, with my extra notes in brackets:

Banana Cake

60g butter
1/2 cup caster sugar (I often use raw sugar, which works just as well. Plus it adds a 'rustic' element)
1 egg
1 tspn vanilla essence
1 cup SR flour (For each 1/2 cup of plain flour I add 1 tspn cream of tartar and 1/2 tspn bicarb of soda)
1/4 cup milk
1 ripe banana, mashed

Turn oven to 180'C (350'F) and grease a 20cm ring tin. Dust all over the inside of the tin with a little flour. (Use a round tin if you double the recipe, or a muffin tin if making muffins - a single batch makes about 9 muffins)

Gently melt butter in a big pan. Don't let it boil.

Take off heat and add sugar, egg and vanilla. Beat it well with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Sift in flour. Add milk and mashed banana. Stir until just mixed. (This explains why it is so good for muffins!)

Spread evenly into tin. Bake 30 minutes (about 15 if making muffins).

Take photos so you can share your achievement with the blogging world.

Eat them all before anyone else gets home!

Blog "Finds"

In my eratic ramblings through the blogging world I have found two blogs which are funny. They make me laugh... and cringe a little... they might make you laugh (and cringe) too!

First there is The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks. As a student halfway through completing a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in English, how can I go past this? Looking at some (okay, MANY) of the blog "entries" I think that people use quotation marks where they should actually be "underlining"...Second there is Cake Wrecks. Some of these cakes are gross, others are morally wrong (one is even censored!), but there is an occasional gem. Here are some pictures from the site to inspire you to take a look... Enjoy!!

Recipes and Stuff

Since joining Blogger in January I have come across many recipes from other blogs, and have even made a few (!). I thought I would share with you the recipes that I have made, and tell you what I thought of them. And I might throw in a few photos, too...

From The Goddess's Kitchen there was Afternoon Tea Slices, which I like to call Choc Coated Anzac Slice. Read the recipe and you'll see why :) DELICIOUS!
This one isn't actually in a blog, but for the sake of alphabetical order I am putting it here and not tacking it on at the end of a post... CHOCOLATE CARAMEL SLICE! This is my husband's favourite type of slice and he loves this version. I have made it twice since discovering it one or two months ago. Sorry no pic! There may be only 2 of us, but it goes pretty darn fast (and the camera needed charging...)

Next (drum rolllllllllllll plllllllllease!), The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies (anyone seeing a theme??), from Good Things Catered. These are great, and the batter is some of the best I have EVER tasted... seriously addictive. Have also made these twice since discovering them not very long ago (less than a month). Go to the original post to see the pictures. As an aside, instead of putting in an extra 2 Tbspoons of flour, I put in cocoa instead. VIOLA! The Best DOUBLE Choc Chip Cookies! Also from Good Things Catered are Smooth Fudge Brownies, which are really yummy (and also unphotographed by me. Sorry). Check out the blog for yourself, you won't be disappointed (I hope!).

Julian LOVED these Cranberry and White Chocolate Flapjacks from Sweet and Simple Bakes, but I haven't made them again for one reason. Before I say (type) my reason, let me just tell you that I am not into low-fat, diets or anything like that, and most people who know me would think I was a little bit crazy if I did go on a diet. Okay, I've said it. Here is my reason: SOOO much Butter for such a small amount of slice! And when teemed with the sugar and golden syrup, the oats and cranberries look like they are in a bath. Just look at the square on the paper towel where a bit of slice used to be (I ate it!) to get the idea:That said, the slice was delicious and is well worth making. I didn't drizzle my white chocolate on because I was feeling lazy. And I had cut it up into tiny squares instead of bars :)

Another good find were the Chocolate Chip Oaties from Bombay Foodie. I have made these a couple of times, but I do douple the recipe, so as to end up with more than eight Oaties. Really yummy.

The Double Chocolate Brownies from Bake or Break were good. I think. I'm not sure, I can't really remember what they were like, but hey, they are Brownies so I assume they were good!

Key Lime Pie from Domestic Goddess in Training was great, though I made it with unsweetened condensed milk instead of sweetened condensed milk. I think I would like it much better with the correct ingredients. However, using unsweetened condensed milk made the dessert much more suble and I have a feeling it would be great with a coffee.

One of the most exciting recipes I have made was Homemade Pita Bread! This recipe from the blog Sugar and Spice (now moved to Brown Eyed Baker) was amazing to make! Seeing it puff up in the oven was very so exciting. Sorry no pictures, but I really recommend having a go at this if you don't mind working with yeast. A bit time-consuming and fiddly, but SO rewarding!

Last but not least were Korean Sweet Pancakes (Hoddeok), from My Korean Kitchen. If you aren't confident with yeast cookery this would be a great recipe to start on. You don't even have to do any kneading! These were really nice: the stuffing is delicious! I used almonds instead of walnuts, because they were the only nuts in the house (besides the one upstairs playing a computer game...) but it would have been much better with walnuts, I imagine!

There we go, the recipes I have tried (except for one that I really didn't like... I don't want to get in anyone's Bad Books). I apologize about the lack of photos... go to the original sites - their photos do much more justice to the recipes than mine would have!

No Excuses... I'm just lazy

My last post was on the 1st of May. That is more that 2 and a half months ago! I don't have any reason for abandoning the blogging world... I had no life-threatening events take place and I didn't forget how to use my computer.

Okay, so I do have one excuse: I had 3 massive essays due on the 26th of May (2 essays that were 5000 words each and an annotated bibliography that was 3500 words long), but since then I have been on holidays!!!

I admit it - I have been a very, very lazy girl.

My dear bloggees, please forgive me and don't abandon me... posts are on their way!

Fresh Strawberry Scones - Recipe

These scones are soooo good! I made them a while ago, but just haven't got around to posting them yet. I am going to send these over to Ruth, at Ruth's Kitchen Experiments, for her Bookmarked Recipes.

I bought a whole lot of strawberries the other week, and rather than eating them all I thought I better cook something with them. I found this recipe in a book called Bread & Muffin Perfection. The fresh strawberries work so well in these scones: once cooked they are sweet yet tart. If you eat the scones while they are hot you won't need anything spread on them!

I actually doubled the recipe, but because I used a scone cutter which was bigger than what they specify I only ended up with an extra 3 scones! (Which is actually okay, considering my track-record in actually making the amount of biscuits etc the recipe says I should be able to!)
I think the reason my scones didn't go a gorgeous brown was because I put too much milk on for the glaze... :(

Fresh Strawberry Scones

225g (7 1/2oz) self-raising wholemeal flour I just used white flour...
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons caster sugar I just used white sugar - it was all I had!
100g fresh strawberries, chopped
1/2 cup (125ml, 4 fl oz) milk
extra milk for glazing

1. Preheat oven to 220C (425F, gas mark 7). In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Lightly rubin the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
2. Add the sugar, strawberries and enough mild to form a soft dough. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly (don't knead long or hard, unless you want springy scones!), then carefully roll to a thinkness of 2 cm.

3. Cut out 12 rounds (use a 5 cm cutter), and put them onto a greased baking tray. Brush with milk to glaze. Bake fir 8-10 min, until risen and goldren brown. Cool them on a wire rack. Or just eat them!!

Pear and Chocolate Muffins - Recipe

It all began when I had 3 extremely overripe pears and some good quality dark chocolate...

The result? A batch of yummy yet unusual muffins. To make these I followed a recipe for basic sweet muffins, added in some cocoa, and used pureed pears instead of buttermilk. After putting the batter into the muffin tin holes, I pushed half a square of dark chocolate into the centre, and made sure it was (only just) covered by the batter (I used my fingers to spead the batter over the chocolate, and then licked my fingers clean...).

These are not very sweet muffins: the pear taste is subtle, but the lump of dark choclate is absolutely heavenly. Ommiting the cocoa and using spices (maybe cinnamon and cloves) would probably be just as yummy. Hmm, might try that next time... Here's the recipe:

Pear and Chocolate Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

300g (10oz) self-raising flour

2 Tbspns cocoa

125g (4oz) castor sugar (I used normal white sugar, having no castor, though raw or brown sugar would probably compliment the pears really nicely)

1 1/2 cups (375ml, 12 fl oz) pear puree (about 3 ripe pears, cored and chopped-I left the skin on)

2 eggs

150g (5oz) butter, softened a fair bit

6 squares of dark chocolate, each chopped in half (0r, if the square are little, 12 whole squares)

1. Heat oven to 200C (400F, gas mark 6). Grease a 12 hole muffin tin. Sift the dry ingredients together. Make a well in the centre.

2. Puree pears (if not already done). Add in the eggs, one at a time, blending them in, and then blend in the softened butter. Make sure the mixture is quite smooth.

3. Add the pear mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix gently to combine. DO NOT over-mix, or your muffins will end up tough and springy. The batter should be lumpy.

4. Spoon the batter into the muffin holes. Push a bit of chocolate into each muffin, and then stick it in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen and golden and beginning to come away from the side of the tin.

Mmmmm... yummy. These were so moist. I think using fruit puree instead of buttermilk is genius, and can't wait until I have some more overripe fruit!! (Hopefully strawberries... !)

(Edited to add the whatsit below. Digital recipe card, I think it is called. See this post and this post to find out the backstory.)

Silly Animal!!

Someone was playing with crayons!(I think it might be lizard blood...)

Lovely Lilies!!

The lilies I got on Sunday have bloomed beautifully over the past week. This was Tuesday: And a close up:This was Wednesday:And Thursday:And Friday: