Mediterranean Pot Luck

Here are some photos from the Mediterranean themed pot luck dinner we hosted over the Labor Day weekend. My husband put up these bright fabric banners with dowels to hang from our porch ceiling. They really lend a festive air as do the lights and lanterns.
As is our usual fashion, we had lots of food, great food- spanakopita, lasagna, Greek salad, home made pizza, roast peppers, lemon chicken, grilled duck breast with lavender sauce, lamb lollipops, bruschetta, among many other yummies.

I made a white nectarine tart with an easy recipe from Food and Wine Magazine. It turned out delish with the most basic and fresh ingredients. I also scored by finding this tart pan for a buck at our local thrift store.
Luckily, I've been burning off a few calories gardening, including lots of flowering plants in containers. (I feel a lot of responsibility when I garden in planters, like I am adopting a plant "pet" that is completely dependent on me for all its needs- soil, sun, water, pruning, feeding, drainage. It's different then when I transplant plants into the soil, it's like they are more independent.)

Thank you so much for your visit and please let me know what you've been up to, foodwise, gardenwise, or any wonderful (or not so wonderful) thing. (I am an equal opportunity blogger with broad shoulders and decent listening skills).

I also wanted to sincerely thank, acknowledge, and show abundant appreciation to my fellow teammates at The Motivation Station blog. They, along with all my other dear, dear bloggy friends, have been a major source of inspiration, perspiration, and Motivation this past year. Happy One Year Birthday, TMS!!! High 5 and a Booty bump!! Please stop by The Motivation Station and consider becoming a follower, we are trying to reach 100 followers. And we are thisclose to 100, so thank you!

Coffee Makes the World Go Around - Motivation Station Show and Tell

When I first became a nurse almost thirty years ago, I went to work in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit for surgical patients. A strong cup of coffee is as essential as scalpels, sutures, and bandages in the surgical theater and environs, and I soon became experienced at "making the coffee", and even improvising when we ran out of coffee filters, by using an always available present paper towel. An essential work skill btw.

Even though I now telecommute, I still relish a good cup of coffee first thing in the AM. The essential ingredients to brewing a good cup of coffee are high quality coffee, (Kona, Sumatra, and Jamaican Blue Mountain are some of my favorites), cold filtered water, a generous measuring spoon, and the Right Tools. In this case, a Krups electric kettle for boiling water, my insulated non breakable French Press (made for camping, yields 4 cups), and, for entertaining, the Mr.Coffee Thermal Carafe coffee maker for up to 8 cups.
Mr.Coffee makes a fine pot of coffee, but to get the best tasting coffee Ever, a French Press can't be beat!

What tools and tips do you have to brew your beverage of choice? Thank you so much, and for more fun and inspiration around the kitchen, please visit The Motivation Station Show and Tell.

Midweek Mashup Plus*

I am recovering from a "week off" from work that I spent with my extended family for my parent's 60th Wedding Anniversary. Trying to fit two years of relationships into 5 days with family can be a bit much. In addition to the anniversary party in San Diego, we went to the beach, hung out at the pool, and ate like Kings and Queens. Some of the meals I prepared included: Roast Pork Loin with whole cranberry/balsamic vinegar/rosemary glaze with roast potatoes and vegetables, Alaskan crab legs with fresh summer corn and drawn butter, Grilled steaks with asparagus at the pool for a neighborhood potluck, and, Carnitas, tortillas, spanish rice, and refried beans from our local Cocina. Still, it's great to be getting back to the normal routine of work, chores, and family.

Our parents' 60th Wedding Anniversary party was truly delightful and joyous. My dad played with his band and my brother, sons, nephew, mom, and sister also performed. I had a great time dancing.
This is a photo of one of the two bouquets my sister and I got our parents. There are six different types of flowers, one for each decade of marriage, including blue delphiniums to represent the March birthstone color of their late son, our brother, Jim.

We've done a lot of traveling this Spring and Summer with visits to Mammoth, Coronado, and San Diego. I've learned that as much as I dislike packing and preparing to go out of town, that I don't mind unpacking, which I do almost immediately upon our return.

I also learned something else from my travels, specifically from the breakfast buffet at the hotel where we stayed, that you can use a slice of bread to drain and absorb the oil from fried and fatty foods, like bacon and sausage. Very impressive.

This week the boys start school, 10th grade for our oldest, 7th grade and a new school, (Junior High School!!) for our youngest. I have been shopping the sales for both school supplies and clothes, and have saved an average of 40% overall. Using select coupons and buying the loss leaders of 1 cent pencils and notebooks really helps. I also told the boys that they would have to make these supplies last the year and no poaching from my supply stash!

Please, how about you? What is new with you? What have you learned about yourself or the world this week?

*Also posted over at The Motivation Station (except for the cool photo of the boys getting silly on the cannon).

The Midway Museum in San Diego

Last month, we visited the San Diego area and paid a visit to the Aircraft carrier museum, The Midway.

This carrier had a crew of approximately 4,500.




The control tower as seen from the flight deck/runway area.

The engine control room complete with mannequin sailors.

This plane is one of the "Shamrocks", part of the Fleet Replacement Squadron.

My visit left me awed and humbled, and appreciative of the sacrifices of those in uniform, both past and present.

Thank you for stopping by,
and to see what else I've been up to, please visit me at

Have Surfboards, Will Travel- Santa Monica Scenes for Almost Wordless Wednesday

Have Surfboards, Will Travel. Eleven surfboards to be exact. I guess you just can't stop at one.

Every Sunday, the beach becomes a communal workout area for yogis and practitioners of the Brazilian martial arts.
The PVC pipes are some of the props used for poses.


I am posting today over at The Motivation Station on the topic of flexibility, please stop by. Thank you so much.

Camera Car for Almost Wordless Wednesday

Even though I have lived in Los Angeles for almost 17 years, it was in downtown San Diego a couple weeks ago where I finally got to see a camera car. Apparently, actors can't act and drive for safety reasons, and are often towed adjacent to a car that has an attached boom for the camera. The camera car is also painted a matte black so it can be digitally removed if needed. Pretty cool stuff and I still get star struck, even over autos.


Shameless Blog Cross Promotion Alert

I host every Wednesday at The Motivation Station which is an interactive support blog focused on helping you achieve your goals and hopefully some peace of mind too. Today, I have a fun little post about how astrological signs affect organizational style, please stop on over. Also, the TMS team and I invite you to become a host, whether occasional, guest, or on a regular basis. Please let me know if you would like to share your successes, struggles, tips, and ideas on staying Motivated, no matter what your personal journey holds. Thank you so much.

Playing in the Dirt for The Motivation Station Show and Tell

After an especially crazybusy two weeks with a ski trip, house guest, football game, and two Show Choir competitions in the mix, it was delightful to play in the dirt and give my benignly neglected garden some major TLC.

I trimmed the rosebushes which were going to take over my agapanthus. I also put down additional alyssum seed for more ground cover.

This photo is the Before of my overgrown wildflower/herb bed.

I cleaned up the black eyed susans and purple verbena to make room for spring mix lettuce, basil, yellow pear tomatoes, thyme, dill, and more wildflowers including sherbert colored zinnias. I also added compost to enrich the soil. (I have a very active compost pile and community of hard working worms.)

I will plan on sharing the "fruits" of my labors in a couple months when things start to bloom. Thank you so much for visiting for The Motivation Station Show and Tell!
I wish you a wonderful day and week and I hope you have time to play in dirt or whatever makes you happy.

If you want to clear your head, get your hands dirty.

Paradise Pastry is well, Paradise!

Some Sweets for the sweet at Paradise Pastry and Bakery in Glendale, California.


For more delectability, no matter what your favorite color or flavor, please visit-

Martha@Menagerie for The Color Carnival.
Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday.
For more Pink Saturday artistry, Enchanted Rose Studio.
Share what's new with Show and Tell Saturday at The Motivation Station.
For fun with words, books, and wit, Petty Witter has pretty banter.

Thank you so much and please tell me which confection you would like?

School Staff Treats

Today, I am participating in The Motivation Station Show and Tell Time where you feature a recipe, a must have kitchen gadget, a great new restaurant, or other foodie fun.
Recently, I have been quite busy with our sons' school activities, (a little too busy, really), and these activities often involve food. Not so much food for the students, but for Staff Appreciation lunches and the "Green Room" for the Show Choir Directors at our school competition.
I wanted to share a couple of the dishes I prepared which includes "Roll Up" wraps, of which I made three kinds, vegetarian style with hummus, olives, and green peppers, turkey with lettuce and mayo, and ham and cheese.




Yesterday, I made "veggie pizza" with a baked crescent roll crust-

Layered with a cream cheese, sour cream, and ranch dressing mix-
Then topped with sliced chopped vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, black sliced olives, a few onions, and shredded colby jack cheese.

Do you have any recipes for buffets and pot lucks that you rely on to keep the crew happy and well fed? Thank you!

The Lion(ness) lays down with the Lamb for Almost Wordless Wednesday

The lion will lay down with the lamb, or in this case, the Manx cat, Abigail will lay down with the Labradoodle, Charley. Sunbathing somnolence is a wonderful thing in all species.

If you want to share what Moves you, please visit The Motivation Station where I am host on Wednesdays. Thank you so much.

Health and Fitness Challenge at The Motivation Station

Hi, my name is Martha and I'm a chocoholic.

This month at the interactive and supportive blog, The Motivation Station, we are hosting a challenge to take incremental and realistic steps to support and sustain a more healthful lifestyle and improved well being. Such a lofty high-faluting statement, but what it really means to me is I need to cut down on my consumption of my most favorite food, Chocolate, and replace it with more fruits and veggies. Simple as that. Instead of making Chocolate, especially good chocolate like See's or Ghiradelli, one of my five food groups or Sometimes All of my five food groups, I need to make it into an occasional treat. By the act of identifying and posting about this goal, I am making myself accountable and hopefully increasing my chance of success for long term positive changes in my diet.

Please stop by the Motivation Station if you would like to play along and do you have anything that you are ready to change?

It's Time to Motivate, not Obviate

It's that time again, time to for my weekly post at The Motivation Station! Please stop by and Thank you!