Bernie Blog

Monday, March 21, 2011

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

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Splendid Saturday

A mostly relaxing day! I got to sleep in till 10am. I was planning to do some gardening but decided I needed to rest up for the evening's Willy Wonka performance. Instead, I spent the day catching up on some cook book reading and houseplant care. I was excited to receive my recent selections from Amazon.com yesterday and I am really looking forward to baking a few new pastries in the next couple of weeks.

I was particularly delighted to discover that "Baked" bakery has a location in Charleston, SC in addition to the one in New York. I am looking forward to eating there next time I visit Charleston. The first recipe on my shortlist to bake will be the dark chocolate madeleines from the Essential Baker book. I have yet to bake a chocolate madeleine that is memorable, I am hoping this is it.

The four "bulldog" type Paphiopedilum or Lady Slipper orchids I got form the orchid show last weekend have begun to open up nicely. The buds always remind me of "Audrey II" from "Little shop of Horrors". Luckily they are not carnivorous.

I decided I needed a jolt of cafeine before showtime tonight and stopped by Gallery Row Coffeehouse for an ice coffee on my way to the Cultural Arts center. I was delighted to find out they now carry Elmwood Inn tea. To read more about Elmwood Inn, click the link below:

Elmwood Inn fine teas

After another successful Willy Wonka performance , I decided a little tea time would be perfect while doing laundry and watching the so called "Super Moon" we were experiencing this evening.

Friday, March 18, 2011

March Madness!

It has been quite the week!!

Monday to Thursday, I cooked lunch & dinner for 17
Monday and Tuesday evening , I played piano at Willy Wonka dress rehearsals
Wednesday, accompanied at the my regular St Andrew choir practice
Thursday:Willy Wonka opening night!

Today, I spent the day accompanying a choral class followed by another successful performance at Willy Wonka.

To say I am tired would be an understatement! I am looking forward to a leisurely Saturday.. at least till Willy Wonka in the evening. but since I did not get to blog for almost a week, here are a few photo highlights: