The Electric Rose Bush

Good evening Folks ~ I hope you all are enjoying this holiday season. It warmed up a tad today, and it's supposed to get warmer over the next few days so that by Saturday our high should be around 80. From one extreme to another for the month.

This piece below caught my eye for a picture or two tonight, so I thought I'd share it with you. It is on a tiny bit of hall way, in between the living room and our bedroom. The entry into bedroom is still a work in progress, as is the rest of our bedroom actually. That's the raw wood archway to the right in pictures. I am standing in the bathroom doorway. You can look through the living room on the left and see my little creative space beyond.

I bought this painted iron light many, many years ago when we were going to the local flea market to set up and also to buy. I saw this in someones' spot and couldn't believe it. I asked them how much and they said $12. I had $10 and asked them if they would take that and they did. I love it.

The old watercolor above it was also bought at the flea market, if I'm not mistaken, also many, many years ago. It was painted in 1893.

Click on pictures for a larger view.

Below I used the flash.





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In the right light,

at the right time,

everything is extraordinary.

Aaron Rose

***

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Avocado Bread

My boss gave me several avocados and I found a great sounding bread recipe to use up some of them. The recipe makes up two loaves, we are eating one and the other is in the freezer. This is sort of like zucchini bread and is delicious! I used raisins and craisins.




The recipe is from AllRecipes.com

Avocado Quick Bread

Original Recipe Yield 2 - 9x5 inch loaves

Ingredients

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 7/8 cups white sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe avocado
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon grated orange zest

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the mashed avocado. Stir in the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk until just mixed. Fold in the chopped pecans, raisins and orange zest. Divide the batter evenly between the two loaf pans.
3. Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Allow loaves to cool in pan for at least 20 minutes before removing.

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Vegetables are a must on a diet.

I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.

Jim Davis

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Cold, cold, cold

It didn't get as cold as predicted, but it was 35 when we got up and with the windchill factor felt like it was 23. Folks, for us that is really cold. I went out to take a couple of pictures since DH said the bird bath had frozen over. It did this last year too. DH is working outside on a project, better him than me. Taking the pictures was enough for me. My fingers were numb, nose and cheeks cold. I even took pictures of myself all bundled up, and that isn't easy. :-)

Here is looking out the scullery window this morning.



The frozen birdbath.



Pink Pet is still blooming like crazy.



Here are some colorful berries on a shrub I think is a Schefflera.



Here I am on this cold winter morning in s.e. FL.

Not exactly smiling am I.

******

Winter is on my head,

but eternal spring is in my heart.

Victor Hugo

******

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Brrr !!!

Here we are cozily in our little cottage awaiting another cold front, and this one is colder than the last one we had. Right now at 7:15 p.m. it is 49 and feels like it is 37, because of the wind that we are experiencing. It has been horribly windy all day long. We are not used to this kind of weather. :-) It used to be cold like this when we were kids, but through the years it got warmer. Last year was our first really cold winter in a long time. Here we are having colder temps even earlier this year than last. Tonight the expected low is 28 and with the wind, will feel like it is 14. I did not cover any plants, I did bring some plants inside, but that's it. We are more or less protected by privacy fencing and hedging. ~ We just went outside to move my potted bay tree to a more protected area.

I want to thank all of you who left comments about our Christmas tree and decorations. The only ornament that I made in the pictures on the tree was the red crocheted piece with flowers. The other hand made ornaments were from others. The little ballerina my late MIL made in a porcelain class that she took. This is one of my favorite ornaments. She also made the lace angel hanging over the arch that leads to the Nativity and Heavenly Host area. Twelve of the ornaments along the ceiling are DH's from when he was living at home. Mr. and Mrs. Lion were the last two ornaments given to us by DH's mom before she passed away. DH made the creche. Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, the three wisemen and the donkey and cow, are little mud figures made in Spain, that we bought when we lived there in the early70's. I always go out and pick rosemary to put in the creche, as rosemary is for remembrance. In the silver s & p shakers at the front of the creche we have frankincense in one and myrrh in the other. The foil star in the shelf of angels was made by us as newlyweds in Spain. I got the idea to hang ornaments along the ceiling many, many years ago. I went around the ceiling with little brads and hammer in hand, placing the nails about 4" apart. I use Christmas tree hooks to hang them.

Today we did errands and one of our stops was Home Depot. We stopped at their Christmas tree display to see if they had any trimmings. DH had seen some the other day. I asked the salesperson there if they were free and he said yes, so I took a couple of nice smelly branches, thanked him and wished him a merry Christmas and we continued on our way. They do smell nice.

I made two loaves of Avocado Bread today, like zuchinni bread, only made with mashed avocados. I'll let you know how they taste. They smelled yummy while baking. Tomorrow I want to make banana bread, using up three ripe bananas.

Ok, before I fall asleep here at the keyboard, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The first three are Dainty Bess.









These next two are La Marne.






Confederate rose is next.






Here we have St. Vincent's Lilac.



And last but not least, tiny orchids, which are now indoors until the cold weather is past.



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If we had no winter,

the spring would not be so pleasant:

if we did not sometimes taste of adversity,

prosperity would not be so welcome.

Anne Bradstreet

******

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL