June 12th is Red Rose Day. The meaning of the red rose is LOVE.
Celebrate by giving a red rose to someone you love.
Posts Tagged ‘holidays’
A Christmas Wish
December 23, 2013
A Merry Christmas wish
to you, my friends, and family,
and a special thank you to those
of you who leave a comment to let me know
your spirit had been lifted,
or your mind was filled with something new.
I wish everyone health, peace, and sun-filled days,
gardening power, sweet flowers,
and a boundless harvest
in every aspect of your life.
God Bless you,
Make sure to follow me on facebook.com/inandaroundthegarden
Holiday Balance
December 5, 2013
The days have been hectic since the last post. I had several blogs in the works, and then all was put aside for the joyful preparations of Thanksgiving’s family gathering and a major deadline still in the works. And now arises the next holiday.
During the coming days, most of us will be, if you aren’t already, overcome with a list of Christmas tasks. New on my list this year is to send a ‘few’ greeting cards. It’s been years since I mailed Christmas cards. Family members will be shocked. Small as this task seems, I now wonder what inspired me to take on yet another project. Perhaps it was Vista Print’s irresistible special.
There are holiday events I’d like to attend. Scenes I’d like to capture. But sometimes we have to put our desires aside to bring balance and rest into our lives.
Today is one of those days when physical needs and holiday preparations push the normal everyday tasks (and my impending deadline) to the far left. I have a hunch your December days are the same or soon will be. So I share this amazing beauty outside my back door. I hope you feel the gift of joyful balance and rest in this photo or more importantly in something or someone near and dear to you.
Merry Christmas!
Dianne Marie Andre
Autumn Light
October 31, 2013
I am fortunate to love gardening and even more so to live in wide open space where the sun can emit beams on rolling hills along landscape foliage. Autumn, second to spring, is the most beautiful time of the year. Some people say autumn is the finale of things present and past, but for me autumn is about new beginnings when I can shed old and tired layers, make plans for rest, gather renewed strength, and reserve stories for coffee shop friends on wintry days and with family during holiday meals.
The autumn sun never fails to appease me as I comb the grounds for desirable light connecting with agreeable vegetation. There is something calming about autumn foliage made brighter by rays. I am fortunate to walk among this short-seasoned phase, to look for the autumn sunlight and to capture it, if I can. Sunlight is the most natural and pleasant thing in the world to receive.
(This is Photo 1 in what I hope a series of Autumn’s Light)
Happy Halloween!
Hearts for Your Table and Your Tummy
February 13, 2012
By Bernadine Chapman-Cruz
Valentine’s Day is associated with the conventional cupids, flowers, candy and hearts. Keep the loving feeling all month long with a ‘hearts at the table’ theme incorporated into simple imaginative foods and heart themed table settings. A little thought and a bit of creativity can bring a special kind of love to your table. Inexpensive novelty décor tableware can be purchased for pennies on the dollar during the frenzy of the Valentine’s Day rush. Discount stores also offer a variety of suitable themed merchandise. Table covers, napkins, plates and decorative accessories, combined with whimsical creative homemade dishes will become the memories that seal family traditions for years to come. Bring a special kind of love to mealtime, one that’s guaranteed to warm the tummy and the heart.
Breakfast:
Cut French toast into heart shapes and serve with berry syrup and strawberries
Serve an egg in a basket – also known as, hen in a nest, chicken egg nest, sunshine toast, moon egg or cowboy egg. Prepare bread by cutting out a hole with a large heart shaped cookie cutter before breaking egg into the center.
A bowl of oatmeal topped with a heart shaped dollop of strawberry jam
Lunch:
Heart shaped sandwich with cream cheese and strawberry jam filling
Steaming tomato soup with a heart shaped grilled cheese sandwich
Ambrosia, garnished with a maraschino cherry, served in a heart shaped bowl
Molded heart shaped cottage cheese and strawberry salad
Appetizer: Heart shaped pieces of cheese with assorted crackers
Entrée: Baked chicken breast or pork chop with rice or baked potato, accompanied by salad with raspberry vinaigrette dressing garnished with strawberries
Dessert: vanilla ice cream drizzled with cherry cordial
Dinner can be served with wine atop fancy linens accompanied by candlelight
From my heart to yours – enjoy!
Easy Ambrosia Salad
1 can mandarin oranges – drained
1 can crushed pineapple – drained
1 cup miniature marshmallows
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup sour cream
Mix all ingredients – refrigerate overnight
Bernadine Chapman-Cruz Copyright 2012
Child’s Day
April 20, 2010
Editor-in-Chief Phyllis Hoffman Depiano of Victoria magazine wrote in the May/June issue about a fantastic holiday she and a friend created when their children were growing up, Child’s Day.
It all came about when Phyllis’ six-year-old twin sons noticed that the calendar prompts the world to celebrate moms and dads, and grandparents, but not children.
They were right!
We also honor teachers, secretaries, and bosses. So, why don’t we hold a yearly observance for the children in our lives?
Phyllis and her friend chose June 30.
Every year these two Moms had set this date aside to mark their childrens’ importance. An outing, games, a bag full of goodies and trinkets was all it took. How special they must have felt on Child’s Day . . . and for how Phyllis listened to her little boys and took action in a way that said I heard you. I love you. Now that’s worth celebrating.
In and Around the Garden 