THANK YOU

My friend Jen gives fabulous gifts. Not just for special occasions. All the time. Even though she can seem quite forceful until you're used to it, I've learned that it's best to to just relax and accept when I'm around her. She has a knack of giving presents I quickly come to love--even if I've never heard of them and don't know how to use them. Here's what I carried in my car on the way back from visiting her in Spokane:

one tomato plant


one Ziploc container of sour bread starter


one lily of the valley bulb


one silly striped pot

Here's what happened with this trunk load of presents:

The Tomato Plant is growing happily on my kitchen window sill, where it will stay until it gets big enough to withstand the mean and ugly slugs outside. I have to turn it around each day because it is so tenacious about growing towards the sun. Happy tomatoes to come!

The Yeast Starter did look a little scary.....

But it yielded a most delicious apricot pecan bread. It reminded me of a breakfast bread I had in Florida. It so good that I craved for months afterwards.

So the next time I made it, I tried adding dried cherries and plums, raisins, walnuts and cranberries to the recipe. Breakfast bread cravings were satisfied! Mmmmmm.....

I put the Lily of the Valley bulbs to bed under the tree in our back yard. I'm sure they are saving up sweet smelling dreams for next spring.

The Silly Pot happened to match a very silly plant I own. And my pillow.

It also has the added benefit of making me smile every time I walk into our bedroom.


Thank you, JEN!