A few things I loved about the Texas Renaissance Festival

My daughter (on the right) and two of her cousins enjoyed these adult sized swings.

I enjoyed the "magic garden" with these unicorn statues.

I loved watching the elephants. Thank you to this family (that we didn't even know) for letting me photograph them.

My daughter and I loved sharing this apple dumpling with ice cream.

Since my family's name is Griffin, I especially loved this majestic statue.

What I loved most of all: being there with my family. Here I am with my baby sister. Such a fun day!

not the sun!

No this is not the sun. It is the full moon rising over the trees in the same spot as the morning sun. So beautiful to step out into the cool evening yesterday and see this glorious yellow moon rising to take its place in the night sky.

Making my indoor garden

A few weeks ago, I started some plants outdoors. The weather has been very warm over all but we did get a few nights with temperatures in the 30's. I moved the plants inside and hope they will continue to produce.

I have mixed lettuces.

Basil

Kale

and spinach

I picked a variety of the greens. I got a surprising amount for the first picking.

I cooked some hot Italian sausage, onion, mushrooms and garlic together. Then I added the greens I picked and some crushed tomatoes. For supper, we had lentils topped with sausage and greens. It was wonderful-and fun to add the fresh greens that I grew myself. I still need to pick over half the lettuce and a lot of the spinach. That means we will have a fresh salad tonight.

Sweet/Salty Butterscotch cookies

Well, it seems as if all I am doing lately is baking. That is probably the last thing I need to do, but.....I love it.

These cookies are basic butterscotch chip cookies with a little twist. I made them sweet and salty by rolling them in a mix of 1/3 cup sugar with 1 teaspoon salt before baking. You can do this with peanut butter cookies or chocolate chip-just about any kind would be good, I think. I just used the recipe on the back of the butterscotch chip package and added my little secret topping. They were so good!

Freshly Baked Bread

  

Thank you Kathy for this wonderful bread recipe. I made 2 loaves the day before yesterday and they are almost gone. Here's the link for the original recipe Grandmother Bread 

Nothing is better than the smell and taste of freshly baked bread. Try it!

Pecan Pie Cake

Our local volunteer Fire Department had their annual fundraiser and I made this cake for the auction. It is a Pecan Pie Cake from Southern Living. It is actually easy to make and really good.

Pecan Pie Cake

Three layers of cake and 2 layers of filling

Pasty leaves made from refrigerated pie crust

Packaged and ready for the auction

Lee's new puppy

This is Cole. My son and a group of police officers found him and his 5 siblings on the road near the Law Enforcement Center. They were covered with fleas and hungry. My son brought this one home and added him to the 2 other dogs he adopted. Cole is growing, and he is fiesty, and he is one of the family now.