More cherry trees, a book to savor and a southern treat

- There seemed to be endless errands on Saturday, but I stopped long enough to admire more cherry trees in bloom.  It was a beautiful day - just look at that sky!

- One of the errands was to pick up this book, The Land of Green Ginger by Noel Langley, at the library.  I'm looking forward to reading it upon the recommendation of our friend Elephant's Child.  She blogged about it here.  Any book with character names, such as she describes, must be a delight.  Thanks EC! 

Photo from Google Images

- The 79th Masters Golf Tournament will be held beginning April 9 at Augusta (Georgia) National Golf Club.  I always hear Masters buzz around (one coworker listens to coverage via his computer while he's working.)  Me - I'm not that excited about golf, but WAS excited when I spotted the recipe for the Augusta National Concessions Pimento Cheese Sandwich!  (Apparently available for the low price of $1.50 if one attends that event.)  I've heard about this sandwich forever.  Here's the recipe - I'd like to try it and will make it soon for a potluck or when I have company:

How to Make a Masters-Style Pimento Cheese Sandwich

You'll need:
3 cups shredded white cheddar cheese
2 cups shredded yellow sharp cheddar cheese
4 oz crumbled blue cheese
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 (4-oz) jar sliced pimentos, drained
1 cup light mayo
2 tbs Dijon mustard
Slices of loaf of white bread
Combine cheeses, pimentos, mayo and mustard in a food processor and process until smooth. Cover and chill. Spread on bread slices. Makes four sandwiches.  (Lynn's note - really?  That seems like a lot of cheese for just four sandwiches!  I'll report back.)

Pimento Cheese sandwiches were always a big deal in our house when I was growing up.  My mother used to shake her head when we visited as adults and always asked for her version which was much simpler - sharp cheddar cheese, Duke's mayo, pimentos and a little salt.  I have never quite duplicated hers.

Neighbors, March is busting out all over and good eats

 "She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

   She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

   And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

   And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbor:

   "Winter is dead."

- A.A. Milne

- That poem is called "Daffodowndilly" - it seemed to fit the photo and the mood of my city this week as it shrugs off winter - although it is supposed to drop to the freezing mark tonight.  We'll have to cover the Japonicas, as my dad used to say.  I always think of that when this kind of weather happens, although as far as I know, they didn't have any Japonica in their garden - I think that phrase might have been passed down from my grandmother.

  - The cherry trees are in full blossom this week (this photo snapped on work errand).  Photos never seem to do them justice.  There is even a cherry blossom festival in the city of my birth, Macon, Georgia, this week.  The head of a family owned real estate business in Macon, William A. Fickling, Sr., planted one Yoshino cherry tree on his farm near Macon.  He shared seedlings for others to plant, and now there are more than 250,000 cherry trees spread around our state.  

 - And I've been inspired to cook light and springy things, such as this Grape Tomato, Olive and Spinach pasta.  It was for lunch at work all week.  So good.  You can find the recipe here.  I was using up a box of Ziti pasta, but next time will use Penne, as the recipe suggests.

The funny thing about the photo at top:  I spotted the dandelion and her neighbor, the purple vine flower in front of my car as I was leaving work on Wednesday.  I was squatting down with my phone on the pavement, snapping the photo, when a coworker was leaving the building and called out, "Are you OK?"  He just shook his head when I reported "Just taking a photo of a flower."  :)  May fun and quirky things happen to you this weekend, my friends.  Have a great one!

Gazebo, Tea for Two and the blue door

- More photos from the magical courtyard of the coffee place in Grayton Beach, Florida.  I'll bet they have great weddings and receptions here.  I can just imagine a couple standing in that gazebo, saying their vows.

- I titled this photo "Tea for Two."  I wish we were there having some tea and scones right now!

- Love that ray of sunlight coming through the middle of the photo there.  Click to enlarge any of these for a better view.  Even the exit door looks inviting.  Just imagine the sun-filled delights beyond that blue door.  It puts me in mind of one my favorite books "The Secret Garden." 

Happy Tuesday!

Luck of the green, a walk in the park and Lenten Roses

I know I said that I would have more photos of the coffee place in Grayton Beach today, but decided to post them next Tuesday.  I just have to show you the beauty that is popping out in Atlanta right now in honor of the first day of Spring - starting with Mr C's sign.  :)

- From Mr C's sign on St. Patrick's Day, 7:30am:  "The more green you spend - the luckier you are." (Click to enlarge.)  The large SUV to the right realized I was taking a phone pic of the sign and hung back so it wouldn't block me.  Unexpected, but nice.

 - After work yesterday - a head clearing walk in the park.  How I have missed this park on the Atlanta Beltline.  There were lots of walkers and the children's playground was full of little ones, parents and nannies chatting.  Everything is just budding out.

- Beautiful Lenten Roses on the banks of Tanyard Creek that runs through this park.  I'm always mindful when I see blooming things such as this along the path, that this was once someone's garden.  I'm glad that the legacy from that person who planted these lives on.

Thanks for stopping by!  Amazing to thing that Mr C's and this park are within a mile of each other.  It shows that urban life is beautiful, too.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Sing Joy Love, peaceful wishes and musical bridge

- I'm having a hectic week and it's just Tuesday - starting with car trouble, which is behind me now hopefully - so I thought I would post a series of serene photos taken in Grayton Beach, Florida at a coffee shop with a beautiful courtyard.  I almost cropped out the cars in the photo above, but then you wouldn't have been able to see that beautifully painted fence.

- A fountain to wish upon.  I wish I could be there right now, but just feel a bit more peaceful looking at the photo.

 - This bridge was meant to be a tribute to Claude Monet's bridge at his garden at Giverny.  I love the reflection of those blue doors in the pond below and also that it plays music.  Click to enlarge.

Thanks for coming for this brief visit - three more pics of this peaceful place on Friday.  Cheers, y'all!

Sunrise in Atlanta, the party continues and marching on

- My friend Jay snapped and shared this photo of the sunrise in the Atlanta suburbs on Wednesday morning.  So beautiful.  And an urban blogger snapped the same sunrise from where he lives in downtown Atlanta.  You can see his photo here.  That same sunrise accompanied me all the way to work from the suburbs to my job in northwest Atlanta.  Lovely how it all comes together sometimes.

 - The party continues at my back porch bird feeder.  Click to enlarge.  I included the floor of the porch so you can see how much seed they spill.  There are always birds hopping about there, too - eating the seed.  I think these are Carolina Wrens - I hope someone builds a nest in that box there.

 - And I am back to workout mode - inspired in part by the purchase of a Fitbit activity tracker that measures the steps I take in a day.  I'm told I should get 10,000 steps each day (I did on Wednesday!)  The badges I get by email applauding my progress are hilarious - yesterday I received this badge for achieving 70 miles so far, with the message:  "Terrific! You've earned the Penguin March badge! With 70 lifetime miles, you just matched the distance of the March of the Penguins—the annual trip emperor penguins make to their breeding grounds. You're doing swimmingly well!"  I've been compared to a penguin!  How about that?

It's Friday!  So happy - it's been a week.  :)  Hope your weekend goes swimmingly well!

Castles in the sand, settling in and gnarly

- You'd have to click to enlarge to see the sandcastle someone built on the sand either early in the morning or the day before.  Photo taken last week on a misty, foggy morning on Seagrove beach.

- About 30 minutes later, when our walk on the beach ended, these friends were settling in to gaze at the ocean on plastic chairs they had hauled down many steps from the house above. 

- The houses on the beach are beautiful, but I kind of like these cottages that are a bit inland.  And these gnarly trees make me think of a haunted forest.  :)

I think this is it for the beach pics.  Loved my few days there...

Loving hands, kind hands and special and beloved

- This beautiful fountain adorns the wall at a shopping complex near Grayton Beach, Florida.  Just look at the detail!  I like to think of the unnamed potter/sculptor, who created this beauty, and imagine loving hands putting it together.

- My coworker's three-year-old grandson had to move to a new preschool and on his first day, another little boy was crying, and the grandson went over and sat with him and held his hand.  Kindness at an early, but pivotal age.

- And having a nice telephone conversation with my nephew Doug, also always very kind, who had a birthday yesterday.  He was snowed in with his parents at their home in Virginia, but was getting the dinner he requested:  turkey cutlets and scalloped potatoes, with pecan pie for dessert.  I had a memory flash of him at about five-years-old asking if we could please have turkey cutlets for dinner and we did then, too.  I'm glad he got the dinner he wanted - he's a beloved young man, who I don't post about enough.

It's the weekend already.  Woo hoo!  Hope you have a great one.

Off to a late start, along the way and the after party

- Traveling down to northwest Florida with friends for the 2015 half marathon and 5K Run (which we walked) to benefit the Seaside, Florida school.  One friend did run the half marathon and finished nicely - we walkers were WAY behind the pack (long story), as you can see.  We caught up to the women wearing tutus (click to enlarge) - they were a childless aunt (like me) and her two nieces.  I told her how much my nieces mean to me, too.

- I titled this photo "Lavender Morning" - that stand of trees is one of the most photographed images along this stretch of Highway 30A - and is along the race route. 

- Left behind.  The jackets, hoodies and sweatshirts that runners shed along the way.  A golf cart goes up and down Highway 30A, collecting them, and brings them to this pick up area.  The woman above was looking for her red turtleneck jacket.

- The host made us this post-race concoction - not sure what was in this blue drink, but it sure was pretty.

- The house we stay in belongs to our hosts, and is in nearby Seagrove.  This is the beach across the street yesterday - a lovely morning for a lovely walk.

 - We stopped for lunch on the way home yesterday in Eufaula, Alabama at this barbeque place that my dad would have LOVED because of the smoky chopped barbeque with a mustard based sauce.  We spotted a billboard last year on the trip down for Phil's which boasts, "Best Butts in Alabama."  I saved the cup from my iced tea to show you.  :)