Discovering Discovery Park

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Notice anything different about me today?

I'm wearing

SUNGLASSES  and NO COAT!!!!

Wooo hooo !!!

What a beautiful day it was in the Pacific Northwest today.

The perfect day to discover Discovery Park in Seattle.

I grabbed Maggie and left my chores for a later time.

Maggie was soooooo excited!!!

A 3-mile hike at Discovery Park.

We were in search of a nurse log -

a fallen tree which, as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings.

I'm sure there are nurse logs in Discovery Park but we didn't find any.

But we did find these little beauties ...

And these sweet cherry blossoms

And these magnificant views of the Olympic Mountains



And the Puget Sound.



Even 'The Mountain" - Mount Ranier - was out!

Of the dozens of cities in the many countries I have lived and worked in,

when the sun is out, Seattle and the

Pacific Northwest are by far the most beautiful.

Wishing you a warm and sunny hike as beautiful as mine!

Update:  Linking up to
Razamataz for the Friday Pet Photo Challenge

Spring Blooms!

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Spring is finally starting to show it's lovely blooms!

All of God's little creatures are singing His praises.

The frogs in the wetlands.

The herons roosting in the trees.

The eagles soaring through the sky.

The deer are back now that the trees and bushes have buds.

Today a couple even were peeking in the window this morning.

Perhaps because they could smell bacon.

My wonderful husband made the most magnificant brunch!

Poached eggs over english muffins.

Crispy bacon.

Sweet cherry tomatoes with tasty olive oil and cracked pepper.

Fresh fruit salad with drizzled honey.

Someone was very, very happy

and ate ... and ate ... and ate!

And my heart smiled.

Welcome back Sunshine!!

We missed you!

Live Simply. Love Much.

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This sweet card was inspired by two design challenges:

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday and

The Cuttlebug Spot.

Papertrey Ink's challenge this week is to make a card

with a partially embossed element.

The Cuttlebug Spot's challenge is to use twine

as a design element.

The top layer of this card was partially embossed

using a Swiss Dot impression folder.

The bottom 1.5" were left untouched and then

hand-punched using a Martha Stewart doily punch.

Twine was wrapped around the layers and

finished with a Papertrey Ink Vintage button and

a sweet little vintage postcard image from

the Graphics Fairy.

I love the Graphics Fairy!!  

So many darling images - so little time.

I also love Papertrey Ink's buttons and ribbon and felt!

I used the same image to make a gift tag. 

I think I'll make a matching card to go with it.

Don't you love the sentiment?

Live simply.  Love much.

Live simply. Love much dear friends.

Have A Wonderful Day!

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Inspired from two design challenges and

my Send Love Today assignment.

Design Challenge #1: CR84FN Color Challenge
I really struggled with these colors.
I guess that's why it's called a CHALLENGE!

Design Challenge #2: Get Sketchy #79

So, what do you think?

What elements work for you or

don't work for you?

Go ahead 

SOCK IT TO ME!

 

Another Card Challenge

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This card was inspired by two design challenges this week and

several very special people in my life who so graciously

remembered my husband and me this week for
our 9th wedding anniversary.

 

The first design challenge is from Get Sketchy #78.

The second design challenge is to use only the colors listed above
(aside from neutrals).

For this card, I used several papers from my stash. 
Orange and aqua happento be a favorite. 
The sentiment and buttons are from Papertrey Ink. 
Simple machine stiches were sewn to two layers
and the top layer was sand-distressed on the edges.
The large scallop die-cut was cut using Cricut Lacy Labels
and the small scallop die-cut was punched with a
Martha Stewart punch.

Several more people to thank - I better get crafting and make a few more cards.


3/19/11: Linking up to The Cuttlebug Blogpsot twine challenge.

Are You Prepared? - Part 1

Pin It With all of the recent destruction caused by the various earthquakes and other severe weather across the globe, emergency preparedness is at the forefront of most everyone' s mind - my family included.  So it's a good time to review your Emergency Readiness Plan (ERP).  Today's post is the first of a series to provide information and resources that I have come across as I review my family's ERP.

The first step in taking the proper steps in an emergency, is to know that an emergent situation is occurring.  I know you are probably saying, "Duh!", but how many times have you heard a news report of some campers or hikers or boaters losing their life because they had no idea the weather had taken a turn for the worse? 

Step 1:  First things first - make sure you have working fire and carbon monoxide detectors in your home. The time just changed last weekend and if you didn't check those batteries when you were turning your clocks ahead - shame on you.  Go do it - right now.  Here is a link with instructions to test your smoke alarms.  Your smoke detector is likely to be the first thing to alert you that an emergent situation (fire) is developing.  Make sure it is functioning properly.

Step 2: Make sure your weather radio is functioning properly.  What?  You don't own a weather radio?  You don't even know what a weather radio is?  Let me enlighten you.

Weather Radio

Weather Radios offer two significant functions. First, they are designed to receive the NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) service's broadcast of weather status and forecasts, providing regular, around-the-clock weather information. Second, they are designed to respond to the FCC's Emergency Alert System (EAS), which has replaced the older Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), and the alert signals sent by the NOAA Weather Radio service. When the weather radio receives an alert signal, it will respond with an audible alarm to attract attention. Many weather radios also provide a display that indicates what type of alert is being sent. This allows the user to be alerted to any dangerous situation as soon as possible.

Here is a good example of a weather radio.  I like this model in particular because of its extra features that would be helpful in case of loss of electricity - crank battery, built-in flashlight, built-in USB cellphone charger, etc.  I also like the portable version of this radio (below) to keep in the car just in case.










If you have a family member who is deaf or hard of hearing, check out the National Weather Radio's website (here) for more information on simple systems that can be used for these special needs.


By the way, NOAA also has a pretty cool all hazards monitor available at http://www.noaawatch.gov/.  They have an experimental email notification system underway that you can sign up for if you are so inclined.

Step 3:  Check with the Department of Emergency Management for your local municipality. Many municipalities have a website with many listed resources and links. In checking with the Jefferson County EMD, I learned that they have a mass notification service and all you have to do is sign up for alerts.  Does your local municipality (city, township, county or state) have a notification service you can sign up for?  How about your neighborhood block watch or homeowners association?

Note-Worthy Notification Services

NIXLE - Mass Communication Service 
Nixle a mass communication service providing a free commercial grade text-based notification platform to almost 5,000 agencies across all 50 states.  Check out their website to see if your municipality uses NIXLE services.

After creating an account at nixle.com, register your cellphone to received alert messages by texting your ZIPCODE to 888777.  Multiple zipcodes can be entered if for example you have multiple homes or areas of interest.


The Emergency Email & Wireless Network
Similar service as NIXLE above.  They claim to be the 3rd largest breaking news provider.  It appears that municipalities in all states use their service.  Again, you sign-up to receive email or text messages to your cellphone.


USGS Earthquake Notification Service (ENS)
An earthquake notification service provided by the US Geological Survey.  Subscribe for email notifications for earthquake alerts.  You can customize the alerts you want to receive (by location around the world, magnitude, time of day, etc).



Tomorrow, I'll be reviewing what's in our Disaster Supplies Kits for the home, car and office.

Be safe and God bless,



Why Are Bananas Never Lonely?

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Question:  Why are bananas never lonely?

Answer:  Because they hang around in bunches !! 

What to do with those few extra bananas

that are just a little too ripe to eat? 

Make cupcakes!!

This is another great recipe from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes

This is an awesome cookbook and worth the investment.

I'm baking my way through the collection and

enjoying the ride along the way.

I think Banana Cupcakes qualify as breakfast food,

and most certainly a delightful afternoon snack with a cup of tea.

Martha Stewart's Banana Cupcakes: 

Note - the recipe posted here is from Marthastewart.com.  It is similar to the recipe in her cookbook but not exact.  The recipe in the cookbook uses sour cream and also whipped egg whites which in turn yields an extremely light and moist cake.  The banana flavor is subtle - just right - not overpowering like in a banana bread.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 4 ripe bananas), plus 1 whole banana, for garnish (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Make a well in center of flour mixture. In well, mix together butter, mashed bananas, eggs, and vanilla. Stir to incorporate flour mixture (do not overmix). Dividing evenly, spoon batter into muffin cups.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cupcake comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Spread tops with Honey-Cinnamon Frosting. Just before serving, peel and slice banana into rounds, and place one on each cupcake, if desired. I also added a pecan for an extra touch.


Honey-Cinnamon Frosting:

1 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon honey
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat confectioners' sugar, unsalted butter, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth, 4 to 5 minutes.

These babies are headed to my folk's cottage. 

Go wild - delight in a banana cupcake today!

I'm Lovin my Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Cookboookand linking up to

and