Dogwood Day

Another perfect day, nice breeze and a few clouds rolling by.  Had a first lesson with a new piano student today and it went well. The other two regular Wednesday piano students had to take the day off due to school overload but I appreciated the time off. I begun the much needed second coat on the porch floor and admired the blossoming dogwoods in front of the house. The quiet today was much appreciated after the 3 hours spent on a school bus loaded with middle school girls yesterday, the things I do for the sake of music!(I was accompanying for a Choral festival)

 

 

For lunch, I made my easy baked curry. On days when I have chores to get done I like to make dishes that cook slowly in the oven. The food cooks while I get my stuff done.

Boneless chicken, carrots and onion go into a roasting pan along with a jar of Trader Joes curry simmering sauce

add a can of coconut cream

Stir and throw into 400F oven for 1 hour, stirring once after 30 minutes

Make some rice, 2 cups jasmine rice and 3 cups water in a pot, bring to boil, turn to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

Season with salt to taste, done!

perfect fluffy rice every time

serve with some steamed spinach

Out in the backyard, the containers I planted last fall continue to bloom and "swell" from the warm weather.

Violas, Hobbits foot sage and Burrows Tail Euphorbia

My favorite groundcover Euphorbia, it grows everywhere!

our purple plum with neighbor's flowering cherry in the background

First 2 official days of Spring

my white colored "redbud" came into bloom today

Spring officially arrived yesterday, and here in Georgia, it means it is already halfway through. The weather has been lovely in the last few days, mostly sunny and not too hot. It has been nice to not rely on artificial means for cooling and heating the house. I am enjoying the fresh air while I can, soon the pine trees will "bloom" and everything will be dusted yellow.

Japanese flowering cherry on the edge of our neighbor's yard

Purple plum, occasionally, we get plums if the weather is just right

 

Dogwood buds are beginning to swell

Looking forward to Thalia daffodils

Artemisia "oriental limelight", a very showy and vigorous perennial

"Leather & Lace" loropetalum, finally blooming again after being moved 2 years ago

Chinese Snowball viburnum I got as a birthday gift last year is budding nicely

After a crazy 2 weeks of nonstop gigs and what not, today was a day without appointments for a change. My plan was to get caught up on laundry and also some much needed gardening. I was happy the nice weather has held up but I am hoping we get some rain soon, the garden will need it. For breakfast today, quick and easy was my motivation since I wanted to maximize my outdoor time.

silicone poach pods for eggs, not as pretty as a regular poach egg but a lot easier

My favorite bacon!

A balanced meal when you add soem steamed farm spinach

 

 

Leucojum transplanted from a friends yard last year blooming nicely

Almost sunset on the 2nd day of Spring

For dinner, another quick and easy meal:

Tilapia baked in curry with brown rice and pistachios