A-Z 2014 Challenge! C is for Cerrado

Loreto Bay, March 18, 2014

Cerrado = Closed

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Welcome to the 2014 A-Z Challenge!

Here's the link so you can enjoy

even more A-Z Challengers!

And there's still time to sign up!

Here's the link:

A to Z Challenge

The A-Z Challenge means we have to

blog each day except Sunday

for each letter of the alphabet! 

So today the letter is C.

A-Z Challenge B is for Barraca

Clam Shack March 12, 2014

Barraca = Shack

Pam, Harry and Russell March 12, 2014

Here we are at the Clam Shack

not too far from Punta Chivato

which is a bit south of Santa Rosalia.

Excellent and tasty food! Yum.

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2014 A-Z Challenge

Almost every day during April

I will be posting for this challenge!
The A to Z challenge means we have to blog 
each day (except Sundays) 
for each letter of the alphabet,
 so today the letter is B. 
Enjoy!

A-Z Challenge 2014 A is for Abierto

Loreto Bay,  March 14, 2014

Abierto = Open

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Welcome to 2014 A-Z Challenge!!

Come join in on the fun or just

enjoy what everyone is posting.

Here's the link:

A-Z Challenge

The A to Z challenge means we have to blog 

each day (except Sundays)

 for each letter of the alphabet, 

so today the letter is A. 

Cheers and have fun!

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Looking back on the A-Z Challenge

Old Apple tree in Etna California

May 2013

A little over a month ago I heard about

the 2013 A-Z Challenge. Since I had

in the past challenged myself to produce

year long blogs "A Snap a Day" and "A Word a Day"

http://kathewsnapaday.blogspot.com/2012/04/photo-119-2012.html

http://kathewordaday.blogspot.com/2012/04/word-113.html

I knew that the A-Z Challenge would be

not only be fun, but would give me the 

opportunity to  discover new blogs and 

bloggers that otherwise I never would have.

By and large it was a good experience and

I'll participate next year!  

The rules were simple and I was a bit surprised

that some folks could not follow them.

How hard is it to comment? 

The worst offenders were the ones that had

so many ads etc on their blogs that created

in a way a "traffic jam" on my lap top.

Some of that was due to my lap top being older

and our internet service up here in the

mountains can be iffy. 

 I learned to avoid those type of blogs. 

Looking forward to following the bloggers I

"met" during the A-Z Challange.

 Enjoy your day and have a great year!

~~~~~~~~~ 

Z is for Zest! and Zesters!

Z !!

Zest is best

Adding spice and tang to life

High energy



This completes the 2013 A-Z Challenge

It was fun and I enjoyed reading as many others

as I could. There were about 1500 participants.

Next year I'll have to play again!

Whew!

To see the list of all the others

 and read some more just go here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

Y is for Yummy Yams

Y !!

Lip smacking

Versatile vegetable

Yummy yams

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery Sweet Potatoes(Yams)

10-12 servings

Time about 2 hours

5 pounds sweet potatoes/yams

1 cup coconut milk

1T Thai red curry paste

1/2 c dark brown sugar

4 T unsalted butter

1 t salt

1. Heat oven to 375 F. Bake potatoes on a baking sheet

until very soft-about 1 hour. When cool enough to

handle, peel and mash.

2. Heat coconut milk with curry paste over low heat.

Mix coconut mixture, 1/2 the sugar, 1/2 the butter

and all the salt into the potatoes. Keep warm until

ready to serve or cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

3. At least 30 min before serving, heat oven to 425 degrees F.

Put potatoes into baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 min.

Uncover potatoes, dot with remaining butter and sugar and

broil until brown and crusty on top, checking often so

they do not burn!!!!

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To read more A-z Challenges go here:
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

X is for eXcellence

X !!

Change your words

Change your world

During this A-Z April Challenge some of us have been

in a sense "painting with words".

 This video is a wonderful example of showing the power of words.

I saw this video on a fellow bloggers eXcellent A-Z Challenge

yesterday and just had to share it today.

You can see more of Dana's The Daily Dose here:
http://dana-thedailydose.blogspot.com/
and her fabulous Haikus here:
http://www.pulitzerremix.com/titles/rabbit-is-rich/april-26-shrouding-the-treetop/

Have a great weekend!
To see other Six Word Saturdays go here:
http://www.showmyface.com
and don't forget to check out other
A-Z Challengers by going here:
http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html,

V is for Vegetables!

V !!

What would we do without our delicious

home grown or Farmers Market vegetables?

Yesterday I had great fun prepping and planting

in my deer fenced garden.  So far I have planted

spinach, red onions, garlic, potatoes and herbs.

More will be planted once it's warmer.

Have a scrumptious day!

Early Thursday morning......beyond the garden
you can see the beginnings of the greenhouse
that Russell is building. Next year we will be 
able to start our veggies a lot earlier! 

U is for Unbelieveable Crime Scene

U !!

Unbelievable

It had to be a bear that ripped apart

the bird feeder and evidently made off

with a local farmer.....only some clothes

were left and no sign of life anywhere.

What do you think happened?

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For other A-Z Challengers go here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

Eric Alders Monday Photo Prompt T is for Tunnel

photo by Eric Alder

Underground

Subterranean connection

Links borders

~~~~~~~~~~~

More of Eric Alder's fine photos can be found here:

http://bifocalunivision.blogspot.com

and to read and see more A-Z Challengers go here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

S is for Siblings

S is for Siblings

Three ewes equal six baby goats!

Our neighbors have 6 baby goats....

each mother had twins! So cute.

Here's two more siblings...

Russell and one of his many bothers-er brothers.

Rick is 18 months younger.

They are holding their high school graduation photos.

It would be fun to have all 8 of the siblings

lined up with their high school photos!
Do you still have your high school photos?
I am not sure I could find my graduation photo....

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R is for Remnants and Romance

R is for Remnants and Romance

Baking a pie leads to kisses!

We take good care of each other....

I keep cooking good meals and Russell

keeps working hard on our new home!

What a team!

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For more A-Z Challengers hop over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/

And to see other Six Word Saturdays sidle this way:

http://www.showmyface.com

P is for Peaches

P!!!

Big sweet bites

Sticky juice dripping off my chin

Peachy bliss

Last summer I bought some lovely ripe local peaches.

Some were devoured immediately and some went into

becoming delectable Ginger Peach Jam.

The others became a Peach Pie.

!!YUMMY !!

O is for Onions, Oatmeal and Oh my!

O!!!

Onions are an important staple in our home!

A lot of our favorite recipes begin with

"first chop one onion".

Oatmeal! A great way to begin your day!

We prefer the Steel cut oatmeal to the dull flaky kind.

Add some raisins and Golden Lyme syrup for a real treat.

OH MY!

We were so surprised to see these birds

yesterday morning at the bird feeder.

Evening Grosbeaks- very gregarious, travel

in large groups and are monogamous!

I apologize for the blurry photo- but it was

the best I could do at the moment!

More info here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evening_Grosbeak?oldid=id

for more A-Z Challengers ooze over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

N is for Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums

Warm sunny colors

Sweetly beckon the hummingbirds

bees and butterflys

I always plant nasturiums not only because

they are so pretty, but they attract all sorts

of pollinators that we love to watch and enjoy

their busy-ness of life. Nothing better than

sitting in the sun enjoying life around you.

The flowers and leaves are also quite tasty

in a salad or used as a fancy garnish.

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To read other A-Z Challenges fly over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

It's M for Eric Alder's Monday Photo Prompt!!!!

Every Monday Eric Alder posts one of his fine images

for us to dwell on and create something based on the photo.

Thanks Eric!

Photo by Eric Alder

There once was a Greek named Diogenes

Who searched all his life for honesty

He lived in a jar

Acting very bizarre

Growing old he became quite crotchety

"Where is that honest man???"

~~~~~~~~~~

To see more of Eric Alder's Monday Photo Prompts go here:

http://bifocalunivision.blogspot.com/2013/04/monday-morning-photo-prompt-41513.html

and to see more A-Z Challengers gallop over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

M is for Magpie Tales and Marriage

Spring, 1935 by Kuzma Petrov-Vodin 

Looking out 

We took the leap of deep friendship

Love rewards

~~~~~~~

Twenty-three years ago today my sweetie pie

and I got married. It's been wonderful and

rewarding being married to my very best friend.

I could not ask for a better life partner

Thanks to Tess Kincaid for Magpie Tales

I've been participating on her Magpie Tales since 

May 1st 2010. It's been so much fun learning how

to write poetry from all my fellow bloggers.

Not to mention all the nice people from all over

the world that I have "met".

Cheers everyone! Have a lovely week!

Here's the link to this weeks Magpie Tales:

http://www.magpietales.blogspot.com/2013/04/mag-164.html

and here's the link to April's A-Z Challenge:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

L is for Lemons and Limes along with Six Word Saturdays

L is for Lemons and Limes

As we drove back home

I saw this lovely field of yellow

and immediately thought

"I must have some lemon pie" 

Fortunately we always have lemons

and limes on hand.

YUM...

~~~~~~~

To see other A-Z Challengers

step sweetly over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html
and to see more Six Word Saturdays:
http://www.showmyface.com

K is for Kale

K is for Kale

Home Harvest 2012

Survives frost

Steaming deliciously into soup

Soothing meal

close up of our Kale 2012

Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and rich in calcium. Kale is a source of two carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin.^[3] Kale, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane (particularly when chopped or minced), a chemical with potent anti-cancer properties.^[4] Boiling decreases the level of sulforaphane; however, steaming, microwaving, or stir frying do not result in significant loss.^[5] Along with other brassica vegetables, kale is also a source of indole-3-carbinol, a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and appears to block the growth of cancer cells.^[6][7] Kale has been found to contain a group of resins known as bile acid sequestrants, which have been shown to lower cholesterol and decrease absorption of dietary fat. Steaming significantly increases these bile acid binding properties

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For other A-Z participants somersault over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/p/2012-to-z-challenge-sign-up-list.html

J is for Jam and It's Feline Friday!

J is for Jam

  

There's the jam you put on your toast

Then there's the cat

stuck in a box jam.....



And then there's the jam Dexter the

 cat gets into when his human

makes him look ridiculous!

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For more A-Z posts hop over here:

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
I am also linking to Feline Friday here:
http://comedyplus.blogspot.com/2013/04/feline-friday-32.html