This Perfectly Imperfect Life

For my Cranberry Almond Rounds, you'll need: 1 cup melted butter (which is equal to 15 tblspns) I use unsalted butter 1/3 cup sugar *or* 1/2 that amount in regular sugar & 4 sweetener packets 2/3 cup ground sliced almonds *or* 1/3 cup of the almonds & 1/3 cup of dried cranberries 1 & 2/3 cup flour 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup confectioners sugar 2 tsp cinnamon My step by step appears below in the slideshow. If it moves too quickly for you, just click on it to be taken directly to the web album where you can view each photo individually. You're wondering about the " Happy Accidents In The Kitchen " part?  Well, it all started when I made myself a Bloody Mary (or two!) *before* making these from scratch! Before today, they were just Almond Rounds.  In fact, I posted my bff's recipe for them here for last year's cookie party, but, without photos, which is why I wanted to do them again this year! Well, I messed up today's first batch somethi...

Welcome everyone!  Here at Diggin' Around I share about gardening, writing, reading and my day to day.  Depending on the time of year, you'll often see that garden photos take center stage! Gardening has been a life-saver for me and given me more joy & healing than I ever thought possible. It is my shelter.  It is my church.  It is my connection.  It is a deeply rooted (no pun intended!) part of me and something I cannot not do.  Living with disabilities tends to be very isolating because you're stuck at home much of the time, unable to do so much, while your friends & family are out working and socializing.  Twitter and more specifically #gardenchat has also been a life-saver in many respects because it has given me the ability to interact with others and share my love of my garden and gardening in general.  It has led to meeting such wonderful and like-minded folks, many who are in the same boat as I am.  It also led me to w...

Pic 1: Snowdrops Pic 2: Crocus Pic 3: 'Strawberries & Cream' Hydrangea Despite temps in the 30s, I took my first "official" garden walk of 2012 this morning in my garden! So exciting to see the garden awaken. I have much to catch up with so more posts are soon to follow! Hope y'all are well and don't forget to Spring Forward tonight when you go to bed!

To read my newest column on The #gardenchat Blog , please click here .

(Autumn Joy Sedum - click on pic for larger view) Even in the bitter cold, my garden warms my heart when I need it most! If you're a fellow gardener on Twitter, tweet your garden photo post link or your photo directly to Twitter including the #gardenwalk & #gardenchat hastags and you may be featured on The #gardenchat Blog for today's #gardenwalk Thursday ! Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

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...

Thanks to our amazing & creative #gardenchat guru Brenda Haas , #gardenwalk has come to The #gardenchat Blog for #gardenwalk Thursday Picks ! All you have to do is include the #gardenwalk & #gardenchat hashtags in with your tweets of the pictures you share on Twitter of your garden and on Thursdays each week and you may be the highlight on the #gardenchat stream as well as The #gardenchat Blog for the day! I want to extend my sincerest thanks to Brenda for this idea and for inviting #gardenwalk to be a part of The #gardenchat Blog ! To visit our #gardenwalk Thursday Pick page on The #gardenchat Blog , click here or visit the Blog and click on the #gardenwalk Thursday Pick page tab at the top right of the homepage. You can also visit the GardenWalk page on Diggin' Around by clicking here , or just click on the tab which appears under the header at the top of my blog. You can see my guest post over the The #gardenchat Blog by clicking here . I'll see you on Twitt...

Yours truly! I am utterly surprised, touched, honored and proud! After all we've been going through pre & post Hurricane Irene, I can't begin to tell you how this has lifted my spirits & made me smile! My heartfelt thanks and appreciation again go out to: ~ The great folks at Costa Farms ~ Talented gardening friend & all around wonderful lady Brenda Haas, BG Garden , who nominated me ~ The incredible #gardenchat #gardenwalk & #rosechat communities on Twitter. Scrolling through past gardens of the month, I see what incredible company I am in - I still can't quite believe all of this!

To read my first (ever!) guest blog post entitled, "Sharing Through 'Chatting' & 'Walking' Leads To Community" on #gardenchat's new official blog, please click here .