You're soooo talented...

Over the weekend, I met a several interesting people at a local craft and vendor show!

Beverly is a very talented lady that loves to create handcrafted cards and gift tags. Her blog is full to the brim with plenty of unique papercrafts. It includes lots of photos and clever designs to inspire you. She has a wonderful blog over at "Country Frog Creations". So hop on over there and give her a look!...Tell her Suzy sent ya!

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I also met Bob and Christine from Patterson Images. They're a husband and wife team and the wildlife photography is outstanding ... Of course, the shots of flowers are my favorite! I know that you'll enjoy browsing through their website as much as I did ... so why not stop by?

See it Sunday...

is a photo meme with a different theme each week.

The theme for this week is : TINY

Why don't you join us over at See it Sunday?

Will the winter be wooly?

When I was a little girl, I often heard my grandparents talk about the wooly caterpillar and the prediction of winter. This fall, I've seen several in my flower bed and they were all marked this same way:

" Some people believe that the coat of a wooly bear caterpillar can be used to predict how bad the coming winter will be.

There are many wooly bear caterpillars in the United States and Canada. They can be seen anytime from May to October.
They believe that if a wooly bear caterpillar's brown stripe is thick, the winter weather will be mild and if the brown stripes are narrow, the winter will be severe.

In the late 1600s, farmers relied on weather history to predict weather. For that reason, they looked for something in nature to help them. They found the wooly bear caterpillar. Reports about the weather, along with a comparison of wooly bear stripes, made people think that the wooly bear's coat was a good signal about weather. Some people still believe the wooly bear caterpillar can be used to predict weather."

Author Unknown

Hope your wooly caterpillars all have a WIDE brown stripe!!!!

A little inspiration motivation....

Success
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of
honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even
one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.

If you would like to join us for " Thought for the Day"...click here!

The sun was shining this morning….

And then the wind kicked up and the dark gray clouds started to roll in. I could feel the temperature dropping. They are calling for the first snowflakes of the season tonight! I still had a few garden ornaments and pots to store away for the winter, so I got an early start on that.

All the while I was thinking… “ This is soup weather”!!!
So………
I decided to do some cooking for today and the rest of the week. I had a couple of chicken dishes I wanted to try. They are in a book called “The Low-Carb Bible” that I got for two dollars in the clearance section at the book store!

First, I thawed a bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I’ll cook the whole bag at once and use it in several recipes. Sometimes I just brown the breasts in a little olive oil in a large skillet or I melt some butter on a cookie sheet, dust the chicken with some whole wheat flour and bake it ‘til golden brown.

Here's the recipe:
Chicken and Vegetable chowder

4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup sliced carrots
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
½ cup chopped onion
½ cup whole kernel corn
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 cans of reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 can condensed cream of potato soup
1/3 cup half-and-half

Slow cooker directions:
Combine all ingredients except half and half in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours until vegetables are tender and chicken is no longer pink in center. Next, stir in half and half. Turn to high. Cover and cook 15 more minutes or until heated through.
Variation: If desired, add ½ cup shredded swiss or cheddar cheese to thicken chowder, stirring until melted.
Makes 6 servings~
Calories:389
Carbs:13 grams
Fat: 17 grams

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Lemon Garlic Chicken

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1teaspoon grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts
Directions:
Combine oil, garlic, lemon peel, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Brush oil mixture over both sides of the chicken to coat. Lightly oil grid of outdoor grill to prevent sticking, (I think I’ll use my George Forman) Grill for 10 minutes, turning once.
Makes 4 servings~
Calories:199
Carbs:1 gram
Fat: 10 grams

Just in case you were wondering...

Do you know pumpkins are a fruit?

***

The largest pumpkin ever grown was 1,689 pounds.

***

The top pumpkin production states are

Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and California.

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In early colonial times, pumpkins were used as an

ingredient for the crust of pies, not the filling.

***

Using pumpkins as lanterns at Halloween is based on an ancient

Celtic custom brought to America by Irish immigrants.

A little inspiration motivation...

Thursday's thought of the day:
~ GRATITUDE ~

By Melody Beattie

Say Thank You until you mean it.

Thank God for Everyone and everything sent your way.

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.

It turns what we have into enough, and more.

It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.

It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home,

a stranger into a friend.

It turns problems into gifts, failures into successes, the unexpected

into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events.

It can turn an existence into a real life, and disconnected situations

into important and beneficial lessons.

Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today,

and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Gratitude makes things right.

Gratitude turns negative energy into positive energy.

There is a solution, it is gratitude. There is no situation or circumstance so

small or large that it is not susceptible to gratitude’s power.

We can start with who we are and what we have today,

apply gratitude, then let it work its magic!

Say Thank You, until you mean it.

If you say it long enough, you will believe it.

If you would like to take part in "Thursday's thought of the day"

please join us over at Lisa c writes !