May Photos - Something I Adore

I adore my neighborhood... and that I see these guys on the way home! These were taken the same evening...just blocks / seconds apart!

May Photos - Yummy with a Recipe

Geez... I don't think I've ever written about so much food in my life... and that includes writing a BOOK about cookies!

Memorial weekend, the bestie asked one our favorite Veteran's from the Vietnam War - her brother-in-law - to cook dinner for us. You would think it might be the other way around, but he likes to keep busy.

There's a burger and sausage. I made watermelon salsa (recipe below) and the bestie made Sam's cheesy potatoes. Since it was a late dinner, I was too hungry to wait to take a photo of the deslish cheesy garlic bread. Or the gorgeous red velvet cupcakes. My technique has greatly improved on those!

We all ate and watched some TED TALKS videos. This one about how mushrooms may be the key to saving the planet is AMAZING! Kinda long but makes you hopeful!

Watermelon Salsa

A local restaurant used to serve this with grilled meat in the summer and they stopped. It was so wonderful, light and refreshing...it screams summer! I've been craving it for years! It came out just as good as the restaurant version. 

1/2 a small watermelon or a whole Dulcinea melon

1 small pepper  - heat of your choice - diced

          (I used a yellow one between a bell and jalapeno, but would have preferred a serrano!)

3 green onions diced fine

1 handful of mint, chopped fine

Use a melon baller to cut small chunks of melon. Take about 3/4 of the balled melon and dice to small chunks and mix back into the larger pieces. Add the pepper and onions and mint and toss well. Refrigerate for two hours before serving.

May Photos - New

When I hike near Dirty Creek this time of year... I feel like I'm Gulliver! There are so many baby frogs, I can see the grass moving!

Do you see him?

 

 Here, let me help:

As I walk along, they hop, frightened by my presence. I'm constantly afraid I'm going to step on one.  Everywhere I look, there is movement! I don't know where they are going or why they are 25 - 50 yards from the water... seems like a vast distance for such a small creature!

How small are they? I dared pick one up just for you, dear readers. Please forgive my filthy fingernails but I had just come from a Mulberry feast!

So sorry it's out of focus... but you get the idea. I'm not picking up another... I love you guys, but not THAT much!

I counted 35 of these little fellows in a 20 yard walk... and those were just the ones I could see!

++++++++++++
I wrote this post and scheduled it over two weeks ago...but as I write this part, it is Memorial Day(night). We spent most of the day doing chores and waiting for my computer guy show and repair my dead-for-three-weeks laptop. Naturally, he showed around 4 and wasn't done until nearly 8... too late for a proper hike.

But there was a smidgeon of daylight left so we dashed to Dirty Creek...where these photos  were taken. OH the NOISE! Quite the cacophony! I'm now certain all these guys head to the water in the evening to create a symphony together! 

May Photos - Naughty Habit

This is Mabel on the sofa. Some part of me regrets I ever let her do this. For one thing, the sofa is nearly broken. It's starting to take on her "old dog" odor. But as a pup, every single time I went down the hall to the office, within minutes, she'd be up there. In spite of having NUMEROUS dog beds. I would drag her down and scold her over and over...and over.

Somehow this transitioned into her only getting up there when I was there. That's usually late at night when I give myself an hour or so of television / ipad time. Even if I stop working at midnight, Mabel will not go to bed without sofa cuddles!

On the other hand, I myself have become so accustomed to sofa cuddle time, the thought of not allowing her (or, dare I say it, any future dogs) on the sofa feels...wrong! It's like people who get a dog and leave them outside! Dogs are pack animals...they need to pack up to feel safe in the world. And isn't cuddling pack behavior? And seriously, I'm getting a little too old for floor cuddles!

May Photos - Evening Snack

These were a gift from the Bestie... isn't she evil???