what kind of tree do we have?

This tree and flower bed is in our front yard. I planted the jonquil and tulip bulbs in the fall and am glad they survived our unusually cold winter. There are also iris bulbs that will bloom soon and 3 hydrangea bushes with lots of green leaves.

This tree has red leaves and is blooming with little pink flowers. It is really pretty and I have not seen one anywhere else in my neighborhood or town.
We did not plant it, it was planted by the first family that lived in this house, around 2000.

I hope someone out there knows what kind of tree this is.
I would really like to know its name.

Thank you all for your help. You left so many helpful comments, and after reading them and doing some intenet research, I am pretty sure that my tree is a
flowering plum tree - even though it does not ever have fruit.

Friday night supper

We had a great supper last night
Roast beef with carrots, potatoes and asparagus.
After watching films like King Corn and Food Inc and reading books like The New American Diet, we have been shopping for meat carefully.
The roast last night was bought at a local grocery store, IGA, and is from The Premium Natural Beef company. I am not sure if their way of growing beef fits every health experts criteria but I think it's pretty good. And it is sure better than not knowing at all where your food came from.
I am not a big meat fan, I could be a vegetarian very easy, but Jeff and Theo would not be happy if every meal was meatless. I really did enjoy last nights roast.
The beef was tender and smelled good from it's raw state all through the cooking.
I also bought some of their ground beef and cube steaks and am looking forward to trying them. That is really saying something for me.

Black and White Easter

Poetikat is not hosting Sepia Saturday this week but I wanted to share this fun Easter snapshot.
From left to right
the silly boy on the clothesline pole is my brother, he is now a very successful writer and professor, hard to believe from this picture, huh?
I am second
then my friends Sissy and Rebecca
My other brother is on the right - the one eating an egg - he is an electrician and the guy you want to wire your new home if you want it done right.
This picture would of been Easter afternoon while we outside in our little neighborhood hunting eggs.
First on Easter morning, the Easter Bunny would of filled our baskets with candy and hid them around the house. Then we would get dressed in our new Easter clothes and go to Sunday School and Church.
Mom would cook a wonderful Easter lunch, and then we kids would play outside.

Wishing you all a special Easter tomorrow!

weekly words to live by

"Oddly, it is not real cooks who insist the finest ingredients are neccessary to produce a delicious something...Real cooks take stale bread and aging onions and make you happy" - Susan Wiegand

more WORDS at Tracy's Notes from a Cottage Industry

Sepia Saturday

This picture is my great grandparents on my dad's side of the family.
John was the Pastor for "The Church Of The Brethren" church in rural Cordell, OK. Photo taken probably in Cordell, Oklahoma, about 1915.


They are dressed very conservatively in this one.
In the front row - John Pitzer, Marie, my grandmother Minnie Maye and Annie Elizabeth.
In the back row - Gladys, James and Alice. James disappeared in 1938, the family believed he was robbed and murdered as he was carrying a large amount of cash after a sale, but nobody ever found out for sure.


Gladys, Marie (in wagon) Alice standing in back and Paul with his dog Bounce.
this picture is earlier, my grandmother was not born yet for it


This photo was around 1935. I guess the Church of the Brethren had a not so strict dress code by this time too.


more Sepia Saturday family photos and histories