You load 16 tons & what do you get

Another day older & deeper in debt ...

Well ok, it wasn't 16 tons but it sure felt like it.

2 tons aggregate rock

Even though we live in the city, the directions to our house are "turn left off the hard road".  Yes, we live on a dirt road, one of only a handful left in this county. It is also a private road which means that the city doesn't maintain it. And it sometimes gets rough turning off that hard road. We had gotten tired of rattling our teeth upon entering the dirt road. Greg bought 2 tons of aggregate rock from a local rock yard in order to fill in some ruts. Here are a couple of pics of the bone jarring divets. They don't look that big but believe me they are rough.

We got up early this morning & shoveled it into the edge & most of those holes. We need bigger equipment than shovels to do a proper job but at least it evens it out a bit. No after shots, just not exciting enough.

We finally used our salt block last night. I had gone to a local farmer's market where there are a couple of guys selling flash frozen fish. I purchased a couple of red snapper filets & we decided to give the block a whirl.

First placed on a cold grill

Grill heated to 575 degrees.

Brush Canola Oil on once hot. It turned that dark color automatically.

Filets added.

Cooked snapper, sauteed dandelion greens & yellow rice.

Looks good right? It was terrible! Greg thinks I got snaffooed on the fish as it was very tendony. Lots of veins running in it. Sure hope it wasn't that expensive piece of salt! Gonna try a couple of ribeyes this week. Will let you know if they turn out better.

After we got back from shoveling, we put a pork roast in the crock pot for dinner. I have just now put on fresh snap beans & red potatoes. I'm starving!

On the gardening front I planted 8 basil plants today. Even though I have given away around 40 at work I still have more. Stephen, Duke or JUGM let me know if you need some, I'll be glad to share!

Last, but not least I scored at an estate sale this week. Look what I got for $2. It's a small collander, but what is so special you ask? It has holes all OVER. Almost all my newer heavy duty ones have 'dead' space in them & don't drain well. I am very happy with this purchase but that isn't all ...

The biggest bargain I got was this lovely Haverty's loveseat!

You see, we are going to eventually build a barn at the Country House & part of that will be a kitchen, dining area, sitting room & bedroom/office. We'll need furniture & I ran across this on Thursday. This sale had many over priced antiques but their furniture seemed priced low. This set was priced at $225. I didn't buy it but when I got back to my office I checked out Haverty's website & this loveseat/ottoman was priced at over $700! You bet I went back the next day & with the discount they were having I got them for $150! It is in great shape & I bet hasn't been sat in more than 20 times. It's a bit crowed in our living room for now but I just couldn't pass it up. Just wish I had room in my vehicle (& house) for that Alexander armoire for $200 (originally $800)!

Greg is getting ready to smash the taters. Did I mention, I'm starving!

Digging in the Dirt

Not much going on. Stayed in the City this weekend. Made yogurt yesterday. I wanted to dry some sage & oregano as they are going crazy in my whiskey barrel planters but we had errands to run in the afternoon & I just ran out of time. I did try a new Tart recipe ... Beet, Goat Cheese & Onion from the spoonfulblog.com.

It was very tasty but extremely time consuming to make. I had made the pie crust dough earlier in the week & had it in the fridge. Otherwise that would have added even more time. I am not a beet fan. I really really want to like them but just don't. I had received some Chioggia beets in my Veggie Bin last week and decided to make the tart. The linked recipe calls for separate tartlets but I only had a large size. I just increased the amount of goat cheese & used onions instead of leeks.

Other than that, we have an area along our driveway that is bare & we decided to put in daylilies. Found some on Craigs List & we drove to the 'Northside" this morning to pick them up. We decided on a white variety for along the driveway & some red ones for the end. We wound up with 33 plants which took about an hour to get in the ground.

One of the peace  lilies in the front.

My sister had given me three large peace lily plants from Brooke's funeral. One is placed on  my back porch but I really didn't have room in the house for the other two so we planted those in a shady area in the front yard. Hopefully they will make it.

On the other garden front, none of my herbs sprouted when I originally planted them. I chalked it up to my seeds being old. But, I really need basil throughout the summer so I decided to try again. Just in case the seeds were old I put a lot of seeds in each TP roll. Well wouldn't you know it, they came up like gangbusters this time! I gave away one roll & transplanted the rest this afternoon - 60 basil plants. Yes, you read that right ... 60. I had to double up on many because I ran out of small pots. I also transplanted 12 dill, 10 parsley & 8 thyme. Someone had also given me some tomato tree seeds that is supposed to be a perennial. Yeah right. I've never heard of them but of course I have to give it a try. I had 4 seeds, 3 came up so I transplanted those as well. We'll see what they do. All are back under the grow light right now.

Garden update: Just went outside to harvest some more Chinese Cabbage & Broccoli seed & noticed something new.

I rescued this butternut squash from the compost bin a couple of months ago & just stuck in down in one of the whiskey barrels. With the warmth we've been having, it has really taken off the past few weeks. Upon looking closer, look what I spotted.

The original squash was also in one of my Veggie Bin deliveries over the winter. I'm 95% sure it isn't an Heirloom but is probably organic. can't wait to see what it will do from here. There are 2 or 3 smaller blooms on it as well.

Greg bought this Himalayan Salt block from a Groupon that he found. You are supposed to put on a cold grill or oven, heat & then cook on it. We are going to try some cod on it tonight. Will post on how it does.

That's about it. Oh, except we got a call that our Driveway at the Country House is almost finished. We can drive on it but it will need a top cover of some sort. We're thinking maybe the least expensive way to go will be concrete aggregate if we can find some.