Life at a "Swell's" pace

Growing an Avocado Plant

We've taken up the trend of growing avocado trees from seed. We have been saving our avocado seeds throughout the year and trying our best to get them to root. We've has a bit of success and therefore we've planted them in small pots and then combined them into a large pot all together. They've struggled a bit, but they are growing. We haven't read about how long it takes for them to grow larger, but for now we are happy with what we've created. The plants currently share a pot with some ginger found in the back of our refrigerator a few months ago. Waiting to see what happens with that, as well.

There's different way to get them to root, but I've always found that the toothpick balanced on the top of a glass has worked best for us.

I like to wait until there's a good group of roots showing and a small sprout coming from the seed before transferring them to soil.

These are the plants that the seeds above created. This is about a year's worth of growing. There is ginger in the pot with these, but overall there's definite success with the seeds. It's kind of satisfying to know that you can eat the avocados and with a little patience allow it to continue on with life. Everything in this world has a purpose, and I feel that sometimes giving other living things a chance to continue on living, is a great way to appreciate life on a different scale.

Easy Sugar Cookies

Sugar cookies are one of the first things I learned to bake once I was out on my own. But having to ice them and decorate them, is mostly something for holidays and special occasions, unless you have the time and patience. Just having a simple sugar cookie on any day of the year, or even just a quick cookie to take somewhere, or to eat on throughout the week, is something a lot of us enjoy. Sugar cookies, just baked and left by themselves, is such a simple cookie to mix together. The key to these easy sugar cookies is to roll them in sugar before baking, without the hassle of cookie cutters, or icing. Here is my version of "Easy Sugar Cookies" that you can make any time of the year. And the best part, they're soft.

Here's how to make these easy, soft sugar cookies:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking power
3/4 tsp. sea salt
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Using a stand mixer, mix wet ingredients together starting with the butter. Combine butter and sugar, and add the eggs. Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients and mix well. Form into balls, about two tablespoons for each ball. Roll in granulated sugar, or colored sprinkles, flatten just slightly and lay on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for about 30-45 minutes, or freeze at this point to bake later.

Bake for 12-16 minutes at 350 degrees.

I would add to allow them to cool before eating, but nothing is better than a warm sugar cookie straight from the oven, so enjoy!

Five Simple Things (January 10)

Hello.

Here are five things things this week.

1. This park.

We took a walk through Avery Park in Corvallis, Oregon, this week. There was a small cargo train derailment near the park, so we watched some of the cleanup efforts, as well. We have always loved this old coal engine that's setup in the park for people to climb on. It was once the backdrop of our holiday cards one year when Skylar was four and we still had Baz with us. This picture with Skylar and Hardy are perfect to go with the one of him and Baz all those years ago.

2. This art.

I bought this painting from a Twitter friend. She used spray paints and was feeling down about how it turned out, so I bought it. I love the Scream movies, and this painting is so quirky that it's perfect for what I want to use it for, which is a library, or possibly a studio later. The Ghost Host on Twitter is a cool person to follow, too, if you're into horror and Scream.

3. This game.

My sister and I used to play Skee-Ball at an arcade in Hot Springs, Arkansas. My dad would take us to the Hot Springs Mall and give us about $5 and let us play games. The place was called Aladdin's Castle and to this day I have great memories of doing that. My dad tried hard to connect on our level, and I think he did a good job taking us to different places when we were growing up. I think back on that time period and my dad was younger than I am now, and had two girls. We would go to play games at Aladdin's Castle and have corndogs at Corn Dog 7. I found this mini desktop Skee-Ball game. I ended up sending it to my sister in hopes that it would bring back those old memories for her, too.

4. This day.

It was a weird morning-type of week this week. No wind, not mist, just fog and flat. We are still in the winter months here, so it's to be expected. But, with the wind not blowing even a little, it made these flags look eerie. Which, I do love.

5. These papers.

Skylar made us all, including the animals, honorary members of his railroad company, Deer Pacific. We feel special.

One last thing:

I bought this 12 Days of Beauty from Whole Foods and I waited until December 25 and kept opening until January 5. Those are the 12 days of Christmas. I loved everything in the different advent windows. I couldn't pick a favorite, because they were all great!