Monday Musings

Reflections

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.  Helen Keller

Saturday Simplify

A garden is a delight to the eye and a solace for the soul.  Sadi

photo by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Friday Food Feature

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

1 medium pumpkin, poached & peeled (or one large can of pumpkin puree)
1 stick butter, cut into small pieces
1 c onion, diced
1 c celery, diced
½ c all-purpose flour
1 c sherry
2 qts chicken stock
3 c cream
¼ c Maple Syrup
Salt & pepper to taste

Poach & peel pumpkin and set aside.  Add butter to a soup pan & melt.  Add onion and sauté until translucent. Add Celery and sauté.  Add flour & form roux.  Add sherry & de-glaze pan.  Add chicken stock; bring to a boil while mixing.  Drop to a simmer.  Add pumpkin, maple syrup, salt & pepper and blend.  Add cream, stir & serve. Yummy via Sunset Hill House. Image via Country Living.

Thinking Green

What to do with all those pumpkins from your garden???  How about making some pumpkin puree,  a pumpkin planter or feeding the wild-life in your backyard. Visit  Earth 911 to read further details of these suggestions as well as others in the useful blog post - 10 Uses for your Halloween Pumpkin.   Click on the caption below the pumpkin photo to be taken to their website.

10 Uses for Your Halloween Pumpkin

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

waiting by the shore by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Tuesday's Treasures

As many of you know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Today I am featuring a few Etsy Artists who are offering pink-inspired finds and also donating a portion of their sales of these products to Breast Cancer research. Click on the name of the shop below the photo to visit their shops:

Perfectly Paper

JulReDesignsLUXE

Art on Silk by Louise

Monday Musings

click to view in larger screen mode:

Reflections

 A wind has blown the rain away and blown the sky away and all the leaves away, and the trees stand.  I think, I too, have known autumn too long. ~ e.e. cummings

Photo by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Saturday Simplify

Calm your emotions and nourish your joy.

Friday Food Feature

via organic gardens network 

Thinking Green - Passive Solar Home

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

weathered and worn by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Tuesday's Treasures

Halloween is only a few weeks away but you still have time to purchase some fabulous costumes and goodies from these great shops on Etsy. Click on the name of the shop below the photos and visit their shops on Etsy:

Elegant Capes by Dallas

Cart Before the Horse

Nicole's Homemade Treats

Durette 

Monday Musings

Every October people across the country come together to raise awareness about breast cancer and work to find a cure. This week, I'm reposting a by-the-numbers look at the impact of the disease on women in America via Friday Facts.

Breast cancer’s impact:

108 ♥ Women who are estimated to die daily of breast cancer in 2011

119 ♥ Women who died daily of breast cancer in 1991

2.5 million ♥ Women with a history of breast cancer in the United States in 2010, more than half of whom were diagnosed in the last 10 years and more than half living cancer-free.

230,480 ♥ Women in the United States who are estimated to be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.

One in 8 ♥ Number of women in the United States who will develop breast cancer over the course of their lifetimes

3700 ♥ Women aged 40 and older who have had a mammogram in the past two years.

67% ♥ Lives that could be saved each year if 90% of women aged 40 and older have access to regular breast cancer screenings.

3.8 million ♥ Women covered by Medicare who have gotten a free mammogram this year

Be sure to check out the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month's website and don't forget to do monthly self checks!

Reflections

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free - Michelangelo

Saturday Simplify

Stop dreaming of having a great and happy life... Wake up and go for it!

Thinking Green

Rise Above...

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

A Full Moon by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Tuesday's Treasures

I thought a Fall theme would be apropos for today. I searched for Fall jewelry and accessories on Etsy and came up with a few I liked. Click on the link below the photo to be taken to their shop and indulge!

A beautiful Fall Headpiece by The Honey Comb

Fall Garden by Love Pie Designs

Fall Flowers by Stylin Stuff

Fall Flower by Alyssa Beth

Monday Musings

I love florals - one of my absolute favorite things in nature. They appeal to all my senses.

I especially love growing Hydrangea floral bushes and trees. We have a landscape that includes both sun-drenched as well as shaded garden beds.  I find the many of varieties of Hydrangea absolutely addicting. I have a compulsion to add new varieties each Spring. They are fabulous with their continuous color all summer (the blooming Blue Nikko above) through Fall (the Limelight variety below). 

Their beauty with changing texture and color unfolds as the seasons progress.  Here in the Northeast, in order to insure new blooms for next year you have to cut the flower heads off before the snow flies. You can let them dry naturally and they will provide lovely color indoors throughout the Fall and Winter. 

   

Here are just a few of the bushes in my backyard that I have to get busy pruning for next year. Summer has left us...sigh... but for today I will simply sit and enjoy the day and the beauty they provide.

Reflections

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in. ~ Morrie Schwartz

Saturday Simplify

Expect people to be better than they are; it helps them to become better.  But don't be disappointed when they are not; it helps them to keep trying.  ~ Merry Browne

Food Feature

Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake

Butter a 10” Spring form cake pan

The first layer

8oz Oreo cookies, crushed

¼ C Melted Butter

Mix and press into bottom of the spring form pan.

The second Layer

simmer ¾ c heavy cream and reduce heat to low

add 8 oz good quality dark chocolate

whisk until smooth

pour into crust and chill while making the third layer

third layer

combine 16 oz of good quality milk chocolate with1c heavy cream in a double boiler and stir until smooth.

cool until barely luke warm

sprinkle 1tbs gelatin into a ¼ c water in a saucepan

rest the gelatin for 10 min. and then stir over low heat until dissolved.

In a separate bowl  beat 2 c heavy cream 

while beating add  1 tsp vanilla and dissolved gelatin

bring to soft peaks

fold in milk chocolate mixture

pour mixture onto the other two layers and refrigerate until set ~ about 6 hours.

run a sharpe knife around the edge before releasing the sides of the cake otherwise crust will crack. Enjoy! Recipe via blogger Made Famous By

Thinking Green

Evan Gant of Altitude developed Sprout - a concept that helps home gardeners repurpose empty milk jugs for reuse as watering cans. All you need is an empty milk jug, add the "Sprout” and voilà - one very effective watering can. Watch the video below to learn more.

Sprout from EGant on Vimeo.

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

Tree Arch by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Tuesday's Treasure

Fall is upon us here in New England. It is my favorite time of year with trees transforming the landscape, offering all who view gorgeous bouquets of color. 

Here there be dragons

Raceytay is a shop on Etsy thats offers a unique array of photographs which give your home a pop of color with eye catching interest. As part of her Fall Celebration, all individual photos measuring up to 12 x 12 are 25% off. Click on the link and read the details of the sale in her shop announcement: Raceytay.

O Deer

Fall Signs

Monday Musings

My son Evan was a part of MassArt Made's Art Fete last Wednesday evening. The Fete was a special preview of fine arts from select group of talented alumni, students, and faculty from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. He was also interviewed by a local televsion station WEBN, for Boston Fashion Week. Evan Michael Industry is a lifestyle brand consisting of three collections: E, Evan Michel, and Industry. Feel free to read more about the three brands and to follow Evan's path to success on his Facebook page - Evan Michael Industry. It was a great night, we are so proud of you Evan!

 

Reflections

" I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about." Oscar Wilde

Saturday Simplify