SOFT SUGAR COOKIES

 3 1/2  cups cake flour  or all purpose  flour
 2  teaspoons baking powder
 1     8 ounce cream  cheese  (I use whipped)
 1   cup soft butter
 3   3/4  cup confectioners sugar  (powdered)
 3/4  cup  granulated  white  sugar
 2  eggs
 1  teaspoon  lemon  flavoring
 1  teaspoon  vanilla

 Mix as for other cookies... Drop by spoonful onto cookie  sheet...
 Sprinkle colored or plain granulated sugar on top...Bake  18 minutes @ 300 degrees F.
Or:  Refrigerate dough until firm..Then roll between 2  sheets floured
 wax paper to 1/4 inch thick..cut out with cookie cutters.
 Bake  12  to  15  minutes  @  300 degrees F.
Or:  Roll  into rolls  and refrigerate until firm...Slice and bake...

This is such a good flavored cookie...actually very easy to make.  I
 usually drop by spoonfuls  as that is the easiest......You could use colors in the dough for more festive  looking cookies.....

Red Hydrangea

This bloomed so nicely this summer...I have the blue  and the pink Hydrangeas  so this  was  a good addition to my garden...I have it in a pot so far but one of these years I should find a spot  for it in the ground....  As a focal point or as a hedge, Hydrangeas  make  a showy addition to any yard...These also make nice house plants...

National Barndance and "Cackle Sisters"

     Yesterday PBS had a program on "The National Barndance and The Hayloft Gang".  I'm glad someone had the foresight to film  a lot of that...And that the people put together the PBS program so we could hear some of these talented people again...One of the talents was The DeZurik Sisters....They also worked as  "The Cackle Sisters"...They had quite a yodeling style and a long career...They were apparently the first women to be stars on both  The National Barndance and The Grand Ole Opry..
Wayne Daniel wrote a nice article about The DeZurik Sisters on  hillbilly-music.com      ..If you are an old timey music fan, you  will find this an interesting article...

Country Radio Past

Back in the 1940's and 1950's  we didn't have a lot of country music on the radio here in the Puget Sound Area... KVI was the station that had some....Sagebrush Serenade was on mid-day.....at 5:30 pm was Chuckwagon Jamboree...At 10:30 pm was Ranch House Roundup until about midnight...So we listened to  those programs ...Harry Long and Buck Ritchie  were the main DJs...When KAYO  got going on full time country, Buck and Harry went  there..I think that was in the late 1950's. ..Bobby Wooten and Gary Vance soon joined KAYO also....KAYO brought entertainers in to play at the Opera House after the Century 21 Fair ended in 1962..also to the Evergreen and Puyallup  Fairs and some of the club venues...By that time  more and more country music  was taking root and expanding  bringing more country radio stations into  the area...Also with TV gaining more stations, came country programs  there.. This was great for  all of us who were country music fans...Country Music  told stories of real life....

PURPLE VARIGATED IRIS

This is an iris that  a neighbor, a couple of years ago, told me to take a piece of so I would have it  in my iris bed. So I did..This year it had two blooms.  I was pleased to see that it made it through.   I hope next year it will bloom again..  I have so many  iris but this is the most different....Enjoy!!!

Nostalgic Magazines

These are a few of the older magazines that were out many years ago.  Country Song Roundup came by mail for me....The rest we would look for where magazines were sold... Songbooks were found in music stores...Music stores have all but disappeared in most places...They used to sell sheet music, song books, records and some did  music instruments also... After so many other stores started carrying records, cassettes and so on, the music stores as we knew them  faded almost away.

We could go to the record store and listen to the record before we bought it...Now we do the same thing on our computers with the digital downloads and all.  Times do change..

Music was segregated  a bit differently than it is today..easy listening, pop, country-western.  On AM radio could find  Music Hall Varieties, opera and  Scandinavian etc. music.
                    Sometimes I wonder if we have really progressed.

It is fun to go through some of these  books and magazines and remind myself of all the songs ..Some of them are still heard today on classic music stations..Occasionally someone will record one of the oldies.  So that is nice.

The Old Flour Sacks

R. I. P.

We have lost so many this spring...The following will be greatly missed..
In March 2012   went  Eric Lowen of  Lowen  and  Navarro...
Then came  Adam  Yauch  of the Beastie Boys..
And then  George Lindsey  who played  Goober Pyle on the Andy Griffith  Show...
May they rest in peace.....

It's Lilac Blooming Time In The Valley

It's lilac blooming time again...Lilacs have always been one of my favorite flowers....Between lilacs and the apple blossoms our yard is very fragrant right now..I realized  some time back that ours is a spring yard.  I guess that is because I like all of the spring flowers so much...If I had it  to over I would probably do the same thing again..I have a flower bed where I have  more summer flowers..Then in the fall the  Lace Leaf Maples turn  brilliant red...so, needless to say  I like flowers and have since I was a little girl..  A person  can feel very at home in a flower garden..very peaceful..  Photos by Kari Scott

A FAVORITE RHODODENDRON---Photos

This  is the rhododendron  Mrs. G. W. Leak.  It is in full bloom right now.It is an earlier bloomer. The bush gets quite large..I call it leggy  but a person could trim it  more than I like to .  On these larger bushes, I like to let them go and  more or less do what they want to.  This is an older  name in rhodies..has been around for years..  If you have a yard  that will accomodate  a larger bush you might want to look for one of these  bushes in a nursery that caters to the older varieties of rhodies.   Photo by Kari Scott

First Iris Of Spring

This is the first Iris of this spring in my garden....a beautiful gold, fragrant one..I noticed  buds showing on some of the other  Iris plants too..It is always interesting to me to see how many bloom....A couple of years ago my family helped me put in a raised flower bed  and we moved most of the Iris and Peonies to that new bed..They are gradually  getting used to it so should have more blooms this year...The daffodils outdid themselves this spring so are at home in that bed now....

Odee Wright Rhododendron

Odee Wright, this yellow Rhododendron, is the first one of my rhodies to bloom in the spring...in fact it is in full bloom right now..  It is a pale yellow with a light pink tinge around the edges so is very pretty.. Many people overlook this  as it isn't as showy as one like  Jean Marie the beautiful red  favorite of mine, but it is pretty in  your garden setting.. ...Now, while rhodies and azaleas are coming into bloom is  the best time to look at them  with the thought of adding them to your garden....Flowers are a part of nature's music.. Have a good day............Photo by  Kari Scott..

Magnolia Soulangeana

 It is spring again  and the Magnolias are in bloom.  I am glad that  both the Soulangeana and Stellata   are hardy enough to live and do well  in our part of the world..I look forward to their blooms each spring....The picture above shows Soulangeana with Stellata in the background....Both pictures to the left are Soulangeana  up closer....Both Magnolias should be planted with plenty of room around them so they can grow and spread at will. The blooms on both come out  before the leaves do ...Then towards fall the big seedpods on Soulangeana  come on..with  bright red  seeds...Try planting some when your plant is big enough to produce seeds....  Stellata is also called  Star Magnolia...
Photos by  Kari Scott

Ruth Alexander Rose

This a picture of the old, old rose, Ruth Alexander..The bud is always so pretty..The rose is pretty too but opens up to a single  rose that does not last more than a couple of days..So I enjoy it while I can..There are so many roses, old and new  that you need to  visit rose gardens or friends' gardens while the roses are blooming to try to choose roses for your garden.  Ruth rose is a bit more golden orange than this picture seems to show..It has a very nice scent..... ....Picture by Kari Scott..

Spring Flowers & Olympiad Rose

OLYMPIAD   ROSE

The violets are blooming...Primroses are starting..Other plants are starting to show leaf buds..  So I start thinking about spring and lawnmowing again.  Yesterday and this morning we had snow...just enough to whiten the grass here...Other places not too far from here had 6 to 8 inches.   I looked through some of my rose pictures and decided to  share.. I guess you might say I am rose hungry about this time of year...This  is the rose Olympiad...At dusk  it looks almost fluorescent..one of the prettiest red roses , I think..  ..If you are looking for a red rose bush for your garden,  look for Olympiad.....Enjoy

WELCOME 2012

     Well, another New Year is with us..  2011  more than flew by..  I had so many things  in mind to do and I did get a good start on the list,  so I will continue with that  for this new year.
Will be interesting  to see how this fall's election turns out... I have always quite freely written to my legislators and congressmen...However, I haven't  seen much improvement, maybe more of a backsliding... But, I  keep voting..it is my privilege and responsibility..I keep hoping for changes and updating in government.
Happy New Year...