Iain Blake's Stone Footprints

Three in a Bed

If you haven't already seen this charming series of  stone footprints by Scottish photographer Iain Blake on Pinterest, scroll down for a dose of cuteness!

Follow the Leader

United Colors

Leave only Footprints

Family Circle

YingYang Feet

Paw Prints

Spot the Difference

Step Forward

Misala Handmade

Tell me you are not smitten by these adorable coin purses handmade by Michelle Chan from Dubai !! Originally from Hong Kong, Michelle moved to Dubai with her husband when he was based in the UAE. Each purse is hand-crafted and designed in Michelle's home studio in Dubai.

Pork Chops

This recipe seems to be popping up everywhere! Something this  popular  has to  be  good  so  I  thought I'd give it a try. And it was soooooo good !  Even Rodney who's not a big fan of my cooking gave it the thumbs-up!

I added a  little mustard and a spoonful of Ranch dressing to give it some  oomph.  And  since  I  had  a tray  of  button mushrooms in the fridge, I chopped up some and added them to the soup mixture.

Here's the original recipe


Ingredients
6 pork chops
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon seasoning salt
2 egg, beaten
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups Italian-style seasoned bread crumbs
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup white wine
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Rinse pork chops, pat dry, and season with garlic powder and seasoning salt to taste. Place the beaten eggs in a small bowl. Dredge the pork chops lightly in flour, dip in the egg, and coat liberally with bread crumbs.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat

Fry the pork chops 5 minutes per side, or until the breading appears well browned. Transfer the chops to a 9×13 inch baking dish, and cover with foil.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. While baking, combine the cream of mushroom soup, milk and white wine in a medium bowl. After the pork chops have baked for an hour, cover them with the soup mixture. Replace foil, and bake for another 30 minutes.


This is possibly the best pork chops I've ever tasted!!

Charlotte Mann

British  artist Charlotte Mann turns blank walls into detailed life-sized murals using only a black marker. Her dizzying creations are like wallpaper adorning the boring walls of basements, lofts and even museums.

Another Blogging Hiatus

Sorry pallies, for slacking in the blog department. Don't know why but I seem to lack the inspiration or motivation to blog these days. Blame it on the lousy weather we're experiencing - the heat just sucks out whatever energy that's left in you or maybe it's this turning 50 thing - you wake up one day and realize that you don't want to squander away whatever that's left of your mortality though you haven't the faintest idea what you wanna do. But  I missed you, my dear online buddies! I really don't have anything to blog about so I took a couple of pics of Oreo, our pet guinea pig just to get my blog going.
Isn't  she adorable?

It took quite an effort to persuade Josh to stand in front of the camera. It was so much easier when they were kids!

Applique Designed By Jane

Found these exquisite felt brooches by British designer Jane Smallcombe. Jane loves all crafts and has been able to knit and crochet since she was about five years old.

Birdies

Vintage Bouquet Felt Brooches

Owlie

A Pocketful  of Posies

Over The Rainbow felt brooches

W/W - Happy 50th Birthday To Me

Yes, I turned the big 5-0 last week and I'm freaking out!  The years have spun by too quickly, too soon. Is hitting the half-century mark supposed to be a milestone of some proportion? It scares me that while some of my peers  are already grannies, my eldest son is only 15 years old.  And the thought that I haven't achieved half the things on my bucket list isn't very comforting either.
At 17, I thought I would be at the highest rung on the corporate ladder by the time I was 40. Nope, it didn't happen. And by the time I'm 50 I should have travelled the world - sadly, still not there.

Sorry pallies, I have no life-changing epiphanies or any deep experiences to share, just a few things I've learned  from surviving half a century.

Here are some random thoughts

1. I'm officially over-the-hill. Gulp!
2. Menopause is a bitch.
3. Karma is a bigger bitch
4. Kelly Clarkson is right - What doesn't kill you makes you stronger
5. Don't sweat the small stuff - life is really too short.
6. Happiness is a choice - you either move on or fester in your misery
7  Whatever you do, if your intentions are bad, your plans always backfire. Let your conscience be your guide.
8 It's OKAY to be afraid of growing old - that means you are forced to make changes to your life.
9. Used to be, video calls existed only in Sci-fi movies....... now we Skype.
10. Used to be, filling in the gender blank in forms was either male or female.... now we have several options.
11. I am not a bad person - some people just bring out the worst in me.
12. The lyrics from Joni Mitchell's The Circle Game keep playing in my head -
                    "We're captive on the carousel of time,
                     We can't return, we can only look behind
                      From where we can
                      And go round and round
                      And round in the circle game"

To all the baby boomers out there, Congrats! We have made it to 50! 

So some dreams and goals were lost along the way but there will be new dreams, maybe better dreams and plenty before the last revolving year is through.

Sharing this beautiful quilled card  made by my talented bloggy buddy from Romania - Aurelia Eugenia @ http://aureliaeugenia-ideisicreatii.blogspot.com/

My quilled birthday cake. Isn't it absolutely adorable!!

And oh, one more thing - Hair mascara is man's greatest invention!

Kathy Klein's Danmalas

These stunning flower circles or danmalas (in vedic sanskrit dān: the giver, mālā: garland of flowers) are the creations of Kathy Klein, a devout lover of plants, animals, people and the divine presence within all.She creates the danmalas by first centering herself in a meditative devotional space. Next she gathers flowers and natural objects while her mind is kept in mantra, resting in the immaterial. Then, through an act of grace and giving to all, she allows the materials to fall to the will of creation patterns.

In Situ