Cashews

I remember the first time I encountered a cashew tree, when I was living in Guatemala in the 1970s. We were on the coast, near a beach, and I recall the very pungent, even stinky, smell. I asked about it (with a good deal of distain), and was told with indignance that what I was smelling was actually a "delicious" fruit that bore the equally delicious cashew nut.

Although I continue always and ever to disagree on how anything that smells that awful should ever, or shall ever, go in my mouth, I do love the nuts it produces.

Most of us are unaware of how a cashew grows. I ran across this photos a few months ago, and wanted to share it, and what Wikipedia has to say about it. This is what I found:

Cashew is a tropical evergreen tree native to South America. It belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, which includes about 60 genera and 400 species. The tree can grow rapidly up to 20 m, but usually reaches 8-12 m height. It produces cashew nuts and cashew apples, an accessory fruit. The tree has green, elliptical, leathery leaves that are spirally arranged on the branches. It produces flowers arranged in multi-branched inflorescence called panicle. Cashew trees usually take about 36 months to bear fruit and have a fruitful life of about 3 decades. 

Interestingly, the article does not mention how awful the fruit smells! LOL...

My Favorite "Tennies"

It's such a silly thing...but there are days I just want to put on my favorite old pair of blue leather "tennies" to get through my day...

They never hurt my feet.

They work just as well with as without socks.

They never make my feet smell.

They look just as good with shorts as they do with jeans.

And they make my heart happy.

You really cannot hope for much more than that in a pair of shoes!

Mama's Dollhouse

About 12 years ago, I made a beautiful San Francisco Victorian Townhouse dollhouse for my granddaughter. My mom loved it so much and asked that I finish one that she had begun years ago with my niece.

So that year, I set about making this sweet little house look like and old farmhouse.

It has a downstairs kitchen, dining room and living room, and an upstairs bedroom, bathroom and sewing room.

Some of the tiny furniture she already had, and what she did not have, I found on E-bay. I sewed and cross stitched the pillows, curtains, little rugs, and blankets.

We had a great time collaborating on the design ideas and paint colors.

Granted, it took up a lots of time and my dining room table space for an entire month, but considering all the joy it has brought her and many of my small nieces and nephews, it was, indeed worth it!

While working on the few dollhouses I have put together, the #1 lesson I have taken away from the time spent "playing" with them is that The Joy Is In The Journey!

It is a lesson I try daily to apply to my life (not always with much success--but I try to remember that!)