Celebrate The Cherry Blossom

Due to the cooler weather this spring the 2018 Cherry Blossom Peak Bloom Forecast has been pushed back just a bit. Originally it was thought that blooms would appear around March 29th. But this no longer looks like it will happen. The colder weather has not left and there is more to come. The National Park Service and the Washington Post has decided to make a second prediction. The new prediction is that Cherry Blossoms will appear around April 8th to April 12th.

The later date is one of the latest predictions. One could blame the later date on the cooler days of March. February was warm but when we reached March it was cooler than normal. The warmth of February helped the cherry blossoms to get an early start but then it was slowed in the cooler temps.
The cooler temps held the buds in the "green buds" stage longer than usual. The cooler temps allowed only a little over 1/2 of the blossoms to be ready and present in the blossom stage.

Don't worry the Cherry blossoms will be ready soon and sights like these will be able to be enjoyed:

Cherry blossoms is a symbol of spring as well as beautiful flowers. The bright, cheerful colors offer a heavenly scent and perfect to offer as a pick up.

In Japan cherry blossoms signify not only the start of spring but also a new beginning, a time of renewal and fleeting nature of life. The short lives of the beautiful blossoms last only about 2 weeks. There are many Cherry Festivals celebrations. This gathering is known as hanami in Japan and means "watching blossoms" and takes part as many have picnics and socialize with loved ones underneath the trees. At night couples gather to watch the blossoms.

Many cherry trees in the United States were gifts from Japan.

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Sunday Features

Hodge Podge about Spring

On this first official day of spring tell us something (besides the weather) you're looking forward to in this season of the year.

I must say that the first official day of spring seemed more like winter was still here and that spring had not arrived. It left me looking forward to warmer days to get and enjoy nature and family times The warmer days definitely falls under the category of weather but family time is great year round. Spring is awesome for being with family and friends sitting around the fire pit, getting in the garden, the farmers markets and so much more.

When it comes to spring cleaning would you rather wash windows or wash baseboards? Clean out closets or clean out the garage? Dust ceiling fans or dust bookcases? Wipe down the patio furniture outside or wipe down the light fixtures inside? Any of these tasks recently completed?

It is most definitely time for spring cleaning Washing windows reminds me of great times with my daddy. Each spring he would wash windows for many elderly individuals and me and my sister would go work with him. Now days though baseboards would be more like the work around the house I do now. I need to clean out the closet and while I don't have a garage I do have storage sheds that need organized. I do the closets on regular basis and I believe cleaning the storage units would be fun just to see what all is in there. Heights are not my thing and washing off patio furniture would get me outside so I would choose the later.

Your favorite thing to make/eat that calls for cream cheese? Sour cream? Whipped cream?

My favorite thing that has cream cheese would be simple ritz crackers with cream cheese. My daughter would most likely say she loves my cheesecake treats that contains cream cheese or the appetizers with a Mexican flair . Sour cream is what I love to have on my baked potatoes it is also something I put in lots of recipes from mashed potatoes to dips like the sweet onion dip my family loves. Whipped cream is perfect for those summer treats as well to serve atop hot cocoa


I read here a list of commonly mispronounced words. What is a word that gives you trouble when it comes to pronunciation?

spelling is often frustrating for me, saying may be a stumbling block at times as well. It seems one word that I trip over a lot is aluminum foil. 

What's a song you love with the word 'rain' in the title or lyrics?




Insert your own random thought here.

My random thought is an experience I had just today. I work outside of the house and today is my payday. I put my entire check into the bank and went grocery shopping. I tried to use my bank card to pay and it was denied. That was just the start of the issue. What was to follow came as a large surprise 

I paid in cash for my groceries and headed home to call the bank. What I found out was that my privacy had been invaded. My bank had blocked use of my card as it had some odd transactions on it. For one thing in the past 3 weeks I had been in many different states using my card for things such as hotels, eats, drinks and etc... My card number had been stolen and in the morning my card will be taken to the bank to get a new one and my money is protected. I am happy to bank with a company like the one I have and sad to see that something like this could happen to anyone including me. 

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Hodge Podge Wednesday
all season linkup

Colorectal Cancer Awareness

It seems I write a lot about cancer awareness on my blog. My life has seen a lot of tragedy because of cancer. One of my first friends at the age of 6 died of leukemia, my cousin also had leukemia, I have had aunts and other adults to have cancer either change their lives or take them away as well. My own mother in law suffered, battled and eventually lost the battle to colon cancer. So today I want to bring a bit of awareness to colorectal cancer. 

Colorectal cancer is a cancer that starts in the colon or the rectum. Other names from this type of cancer can be colon cancer or rectal cancer. It all depends on where the cancer started. When cancer cells start growing out of control is when and where Cancer begins. Any part of the human body can become cancer and it may spread to other areas of the body as well 

Colorectal cancer often starts as a growth on the inner lining of the colon or rectum. These growths are known as polyps. Some polyps have the ability to change into cancer over time. Not all polyps will become cancer. Polyps normally take many years to turn into cancer and the chance of it doing so depends on the type of polyp it is. There are two main types of polys (1) adenomatous or adenomas these have the ability to change into cancer as they appear in the pre cancerous stage.  (2) hyperplastic polyps and inflammatory polyps these are the polyps that are more common but not pre cancerous. 

Polyps more likely to contain cancer include:

• the polyp is larger than 1 cm
• more than 2 polyps are found
• a polyp that is found to be dysplasia (pre cancerous) 

If cancer does form in a polyp it can grow into the wall of the colon or rectum. The wall of the colon and rectum are made up of many layers, cancer most often starts in the innermost layer and grows outward through the layers. Cancer cells can be carried away through blood vessels or lymph vessels. The cells can travel to lymph nodes or to other parts of the body. 

• read more about colorectal cancer here
  
  

The Wonderful Stories of Jesus Love

Doing a bit of reminiscing this evening thinking about a wonderful lady who like St. Patrick was a missionary. She was from a small little area in Illinois and went all the way to Taiwan. There she taught children school, English and about how a man named Jesus loves them. I can recall her many stories. By the time I was growing up in the same community she had returned from her time on the mission field and was then teaching children in small bible groups. What a wonderful time we used to have singing songs like these:


 







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really crafty party 

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friday at the firehouse

Make Up Some Easter Nest They will Love

1 package chow mein noodles
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
chocolate candy Easter eggs

Spray 2 mini muffin pans (12 cups each) with cooking spray. Set aside.
1. Pour chow mein noodles into a large bowl. In another microwave-safe bowl, combine milk chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. Put into microwave and heat until melted. Add peanut butter and stir until fully incorporated. Pour mixture over noodles and stir to combine.
2. Using two tablespoons, fill each mini muffin cup with chocolate noodle mixture until nests form. Place 3 chocolate Easter eggs on top of each nest and place muffin pans into the fridge to set. When ready to serve, simply remove each nest and enjoy!
Notes
Easter Nests will keep up to 1 week stored in an airtight container in the fridge or for up to 2 months in the freezer.

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The Edge
spring tft party