Good morning, dear ones! 🙂

Over the past several months I’ve had numerous requests to share what camera I use, what photographic equipment I employ, and what editing program I utilize for the photos I post here five days a week. So – drum roll please! – today is Camera Confession Day!

Camera: Nikon Coolpix L20 – though mine is rather the worse for wear since the battery hatch no longer closes and I can’t take a photo without holding down the spring-loaded hatch with one hand while I press the button with the other.  Those batteries like to fall out at the most inopportune moments!

Photographic equipment: non-existent. Unless you count my knees, which allow me to kneel in mud, grass and water, and also work beautifully as a tripod when necessary.

Photo editing program: Picasa – used to turn photos right side up and crop. Alas, that’s all I know how to do.

The End. 🙂

Moral of the story: don’t let anyone tell you you have to wait for expensive equipment or have mad skills at editing before you can capture beautiful moments.

A friend of mine tells me regularly: “Start where you are.” I love that!!  We may be poor-ish (check), sick (check), and have responsibilities that overwhelm (check), but we can all do something to make our lives a bit more beautiful each day, and, if we’re lucky, share them with others so they can be cheered too.

I just finished reading “The Martha Rules” by Martha Stewart, and while I gleaned much from it, one thing in particular stood out to me. She said that at the top of her to-do list every day she writes three words: Make it beautiful. As she organizes her day she plans ways to make life more beautiful for herself, her family, friends, co-workers and customers. What a gorgeous way to live!

So, my beloved readers, I can’t send you beautiful magazines or fancy chocolates or whisk you away on fancy vacations to exotic climes, but I can share the little things that make my life beautiful each day. I hope that they might brighten your day a little too, wherever you are.

Speaking of beautiful things, here are a few that delighted me this week.

Almond Hot Chocolate on a rainy afternoon.

A blue sky reflected in a placid stream.

A very mossy tree.

Sunshine streaming through my windows onto my bedspread after a terrific rainstorm.

And, last but not least, delicious Baked Asparagus with Browned Butter and Parmesan.

What is making your day beautiful today?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend, dear ones, and I’ll see you on Monday. 🙂

Baked Asparagus with Browned Butter and Parmesan

Ingredients:

one bunch asparagus, rinsed and trimmed

1/4 cup butter

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Arrange asparagus in a skillet and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer until just tender 4-6 minutes. Remove and drain.
  3. Put butter in saucepan over medium heat and melt. Continue cooking until butter begins to brown, stirring constantly. Cook for 1 more minute, watching carefully so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat.
  4. Arrange asparagus in casserole dish, drizzle with browned butter, dust with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with Parmesan.
  5. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes until asparagus is cooked through and Parmesan begins to toast.