This Perfectly Imperfect Life

That I am now a writer for The #gardenchat Blog and I've just posted my first Adventures In Gardening column! (Click here to go directly to the post). Again, I'd like to extend my thanks to Brenda of BGgarden and #gardenchat guru extraordinaire for this exciting opportunity and for her friendship & support. I will continue to provide the links for each post on Diggin' Around so be sure to follow me over there! A safe & happy New Year's Eve to all!

(Click on photo for larger view). Beautiful Orchids at a local store. I see now why they're so addicting! Sent on the Sprint Network via my Blackberry Style.

Head on over to New Jersey Through My Eyes for a slideshow of Christmas At History House by clicking here . I hope everyone had a lovely day yesterday!

Sandy Hook/Fort Hancock is just about my favorite place to go, especially off season when The Hook is returned to the locals and we can explore to our heart's content in the quiet of nature by the sea. An annual favorite is going to Christmas At History House (aka Christmas In The 40s) when History House is decked out with World War II era Christmas decorations and reinactors throughout the house dress in WWII era Army Officers uniforms and civilian dress. Depending on what weekend you attend, there's often hot spiced cider and musicians playing Carols in the foyer. I think Hubbs has bored of it by now, but I love going every year. Hard to explain beyond finding it magical. I can't help but wonder if all of this activity stirs up the houses' memories of the past. If you're interested: For the NPS description of the event, click here and scroll to "History House" and "Christmas at History House." For information on Sandy Hook and Fort Hanc...

(Our tree - click on pic for larger view). The last of the gifts are wrapped, the last of the cards we received are hung on the mantle, Santa's riding fire trucks in the neighboring town, the kitties are snoring under the tree, Doctor Who on one tele, A Christmas Story on another. And on the 11th day of Christmas, as true loves we gave to thee, clogged ears & possible sinus infections! Plus Hubbs has a fever. (Ah well, it's inevitable in our household really!) All in all, it's been a bittersweet day. After filling the bird feeders & watching Little Women on TCM this morning, the blues set in. As of tomorrow, my favorite time of year is officially over until October rolls around again. Some years it hits me harder than others. With December feeling more like Spring for the most part, it hasn't felt like Christmas-time for either of us. (At least cold air arrived today!) Annual get-togethers with two of the bff's have been postponed until after Christmas t...

Head on over to my (original) blog for two new "Keeping It Local" posts: Christmas Shopping Good Eats I'm working on a "Whispers Of Our Past" slideshow of Christmas At History House which I'll hopefully have up soon. I didn't realize I took so many photos when we were there last Saturday!

(click on photos for larger view) Though I tend to do more browsing in this tiny shop than buying, I love popping in from time to time to see what's new, especially at Christmas time. On the other side, which I didn't think to take photos of, there are all manner of sea related things like decorative shells, lighthouses, seagulls & so on. It's housed in a very old building in which there are more than half a dozen more tiny shops, selling new & old alike. But this one is my favorite. Enchanting, like another time. A place to enjoy pretty things, dream & find a small treasure.

The diner downtown is owned & run by wonderful people and their food is delish. They've made subtle changes since taking over and have created a warm, cozy and inviting atmosphere. If we want a home-cooked meal without having to make it ourselves, this is where we head. (And they're the only place in this area - heck in central NJ - that serve grits!)

Welcome #gardenchat friends & blog friends alike! For our #cookieparty event on Twitter tonight, (for info, click on #gardenchat above), I'm going to share a simple recipe for Almond Cookie Rounds. Forgive me for not having pictures to go along with this post but I assure you, you'll be able to make these without a show & tell. Ingredients: 1 cup softened butter 1/3 cup sugar 2/3 cup ground blanched almonds (or finely chopped & pounded sliced almonds) 1 2/3 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp cinnamon Preheat oven to 325*. Mix together the butter, sugar and almonds in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Incorporate the flour & salt mix into the butter, sugar & almonds, stirring together until well mixed. Make golf ball sized rounds from the dough and place onto an un-greased cookie sheet leaving roughly 1.5 inches between each round. Bake at 325* for 14-16 minutes until set, not browned! (They'l...

Well, the decking the Dogwood Tree that is! (Click on pic for larger view).

I do love a Moon rise! I took the top photo from out front and the bottom photo a little later from our kitchen. And now as I type this on my Blackberry, I'm on the treadmill in our spare room (aka my studio), looking out the windows at the twinkling Christmas lights on the homes across the street! (Funny, though, if I try to read a book while I'm on this thing I get motion sickness!) Such a pretty view! Thankfully our stockade fence to the right of the windows blocks the view from the sidewalk so we still have privacy. (Since Hurricane Irene, we've lost so many trees along the chain-link back fence from storms & the power company tree service that we'd really be exposed without the stockade section). Yes, I'm treadmilling. Not much choice in the matter! Thankfully no heart damage was found from all of the tests the cardiologist did nor do I have afib but my heart is Very out of shape and in order to get it back in shape along with correcting a couple of other i...

Some of my December blooms.

Miracle On I-40 by Curtiss Ann Matlock My rating: 5 of 5 stars Summary from Goodreads.com: "A journey home to the heart . . . Lacey Bryant is the ever-hopeful waitress at Gerald's Truckstop Restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a spot that is clear across the country from her home and family in North Carolina. It has been eleven years since Lacey, pregnant and unmarried, ran away from her angry father. Now she wants to go home again. A single mother struggling to raise her own children, she longs for her father's forgiveness, her mother's sweet embrace and to share with her aging parents the grandchildren they have never seen. Cooper is every inch a Scrooge who wants no part of traveling across country with two children, but he has promised to help out a friend, and so he loads Lacey and her brood into his eighteen-wheeler and carries them along with him on his trip down Interstate 40. As the miles roll under the big truck's wheels, it turns ...

Happy December everyone! I know, you're looking at these pictures and thinking that this is anything but normal! However, in my case as a person living with disease, having my first iv session today since June of 2010 brought a sense of comfort I hadn't expected! I've spent much of this week trying not to worry myself sick that history could repeat itself on me - I know what happened after that last iv I had (the infection, the kidney stones, nearly kicking the ole bucket & losing my left kidney) was pure coincidence and wasn't directly related at all to the iv but worrying is my second nature! I didn't feel reassured until after I was all hooked up when I thought, with a smile, that things are Finally getting back to some kind of 'normal'! (Once I'm no longer wearing this pesky heart monitor, things will feel all the more normal!) Normal is different for everyone and striving to achieve what's perceived as thr social norm, I think, is highly ove...