Bugs, Birds & Flowers (Oh, & a promotion!)

Quick update .... Raining here today (in the city). Haven't had a lazy Sunday afternoon in forever. Got my underwear drawer cleaned out, pictures downloaded from camera & a doing a few loads of laundry.

Have found a few weird bugs lately & thought I would share pics of them. Click to bigefy.

I have no idea what any of them are, just thought they were interesting. Not sure if that last one has a baby on top or if they are mating?

We also had an unwanted visitor move in at the country house this past spring.

Not that I don't like swallows, I think they are lovely birds. I just don't want one right . above . the entry . door. We'll have to encourage them to build their nest somewhere else next year, as I hear they come back to the same spot year after year.

We also ran across this beautiful plant along the fence line. I think it's called a Spider Lily? You could tell there were many more that had bloomed but we must have missed them by a week or so. This was the last one & it was falling apart by the end of the weekend.

I also planted some sunflowers at the city house this year that did great. Too bad I started them too late to help with pollination. I think they are Mexican Sun Burst?

w/bee

w/o bee

And last but not least, a few weeks back I got a promotion at work. New management had moved in & this was totally unexpected as I had figured I would remain a Director until I leave. Guess I impressed them without ever meaning to. I will now retire as a Vice President!

Oh well, that's all I've got for now. Still a few more events to catch up on from the summer but I'll write about those in separate posts.

Quilt Retreat 2014

Earlier this year I took a trip to another quilt retreat in VA. I first stopped at my friends for a couple of nights at their farm (more on it later). She wound up not being able to attend the retreat due to their just getting pregnant ewes so I continued on by myself. Just a few hours drive north to meet up with additional friends.

We were staying at the same house we stayed at last year but they had converted the garage into the sewing room. It was perfect.

On the way, it started sleeting & then snowing. I am from the south & not at all accustomed to driving in that mess. I kept having to stop to scrape my windshield. I also stopped for gas & had to bust away the sleet in the card reader in order to pay! This is what my vehicle looked like the morning after my arrival.

We pretty much stayed in & quilted the week away. One of the ladies attending this time, is a master quilter & actually teaches classes at a nearby shop. Here is a pic of one of her quilts:

Beautiful. I hope to make one of these.

This room was great as it had plenty of table space to work on & house ironing boards & also a railing to hold all our projects.

Here's what I worked on this time:

Bedside table runner. I made 2 of these for the country house.

Chenile throw.

Pillow top (made another one of these after I got home).

Thread catchers.

One of my friends had made & given us all different versions of the above thread catchers. She brought the pattern so I made one each for 2 of my friends from home.

Someone had purchased a special tool for making these swirly table runners.

Actually I think everyone made one.

We also made memory pieces as well. Everyone used materials in a project they had worked on & then 'signed' muslin pieces & sewed them together. Great idea.

I had a great time, I really enjoy spending time with these women. All are great cooks, love to can, are self sufficient, smart, funny & above all else, very nice.

Catching up ... Briann First

Yeah, I've not done much documenting lately. I'll just use the lazy & busy excuse.

Now I'm back & will start with my Niece Briann (Brooke's younger sister). This year was her senior prom, graduation & then I gave her & her friends a beach trip.

First her prom. She & her friends (most since pre-school) posed for pictures before heading out for the big night. They are all so very beautiful (inside & out).

Back of her dress

Friends since pre-school.

Most of these kids have been together many many years & all are very smart, well behaved, spiritual kids. Several in her class got 100% Bright Futures Scholarships & many 75% and are going away to the big FL schools for continuing education. She doesn't do so well on tests & got 25% so she is going to one of the most accredited nursing schools in the East. She's very smart & was in the top honor program at her high school. She gave the opening prayer for the graduation ceremony & did a great job. I wouldn't have been able to stand up in front of over 700 people & give prayer the way she did!. Greg & I are so very proud. The 12 or so kids that have 'grown up' together had a post graduation party that my sister & the other parents organized.

All the kids decorated their caps & this is what Briann did.

On the field, after the graduation ceremony

All parents created a memory table.

It was a nice party with a picture booth, corn hole, a DJ & lots of food.

Finally, since the friends were all going their separate ways I decided I needed a beach vacation & invited her & some friends to the beach for a week.

Typical teenagers with their faces in their communication devices.

But they did have time for some fun & a pic in the water.

Pausing between GoPro antics.

Yes, they multiplied. One extra came before the week was out.

Me & my beautiful niece the day they left.

We had a great time & I am very happy to see her continuing on with her life & growing into the beautiful person that I know she will be from now & forever.

Country Garden Weed Control (or not) Update

Warning .... picture heavy.

March 2013 Mowing Weeds

More Weeds

All pretty & neat - why won't it stay this way?

August 2013 - It was as if we hadn't done anything.

Lots of Weeds

More Weed Whacking

 

Trying black plastic on a few beds

March 2014 - plastic helped somewhat in the beds but in
between was another story so we decided to put down
cardboard & pine bark mulch.

Different angle

Looks all nice & neat again.

Wish it would stay this way.

May 2014 - better but those weeds left are deep! And,
they seem to have taken a liking to cardboard. I think
they think it's some kind of fertilizer instead of a deterrent.

 

Added more cardboard & mulch to the other walkway.

It was all helping but not controlling & since I'm not up there (yet) to be able to tackle the weeds on a regular basis we decided to spray. NOT something that I wanted to do but we've got to get the upper hand at some point. So we did what we did. We'll see if the spray helps kill it back so we can mulch thicker & on a regular basis.

We didn't spray the asparagus beds which are doing much better because I have thicker mulch & some cow poo & more leaves on them & the few weeds that spring up are manageable - no pic. I plan on putting in crowns as soon as I can get some, may be too late for them again this year but if so, I'll put them in next spring.

Regardless, the other beds aren't getting anything planted in them until next fall (2015) at the earliest, so hopefully, the bad stuff will have dissipated. I never planned on being an organic gardener to begin with but hoped to do more natural gardening. We'll see if that pans out after I am able to tend to it regularly.

Anyway, here's a few more pics of the trees & such. Not sure if I mentioned before it but we lost all 3 large oaks that we planted to some strange disease & lost the lemon & lime to freeze. So, I plucked a few oak seedlings & a bay laurel from the City property & planted those in March & so far, knock on wood, they haven't died. Plus we got a few fruit & maple trees in the ground as well.

The 'Orchard' - 2 apple & 2 peach

Lone Surviving Orange
Gets the worst wind & no wind break but
it survived the winter. The other 2 citrus
with wind breaks did not, go figure.

Bay Laurel about 3 ft. tall, dug up from City House.

1 of about 8 tiny oaks seedlings from City House - about 1 ft.

1 of 2 purchased Maples.

The fruit trees & Maples were purchased in early March 2013 from a Greenscape sale in the City. Prices were very good for decent sized trees ($10 - &15 each).

Last but not least, as MIL & FIL were fertilizing the crepe myrtles we planted last year (which are doing great by the way) we noticed this in one of the crepe myrtles. Anybody know what kind of snake it might be?

Snake skin in a crepe myrtle

Close up of skin

A Few Recipes

The pics an be found here: Food Pics

Amish Broccoli Salad (FB)

1 head broccoli, chopped
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar- can use substitute as well
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound bacon, fried and crumbled
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Combine the chopped broccoli and cauliflower in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, sugar, and salt to make a creamy dressing.

Add the dressing to the broccoli–cauliflower mix, stirring to evenly coat the vegetables.

Stir in the bacon and the cheese, reserving a small amount to sprinkle on top of the salad just before serving.

Carrot Souffle

Ingredients:

1 lb. carrots (peeled & cut into cubes)
1/2 c. butter (I used about a 1/3 c.)
1 t. vanilla
3 eggs (bring to room temp)
3 T. flour
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/4 - 1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c.)

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter a casserole dish (deep works better)

Mix dry ingredients & set aside.

Cook carrots in boiling salted water until soft but not mushy.

Put carrots in food processor & add butter immediately.

Pulse a few times until butter is melted & carrots are mushed.

Add vanilla & eggs.

Pulse a few more times.

Add dry ingredients & mix well.

Pour all into prepared dish & bake for about 45 minutes until puffy & top is lightly browned.

Serve warm. 

Bok choy Roll Ups

Baby bok choy

Chopped Onion

Sliced Mushrooms

Cubed Sweet potato

Grated Cheese

Meat (optional)

Cut stems from bok choy

Blanch leaves, cool

Chop stems

Saute stems, onion, mushrooms & sweet potato

Remove from heat & stir in cheese & meat. I had left over pork tenderloin which I chopped up.

Fill leaves & roll up

Steam for 10 - 15 minutes

Note: Any mixture of vegetables would work in this recipe. I just used what I had on hand.

Crunchy Granola (Food Storage)

1 ½ cups brown sugar
½ cup water
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
8 cups rolled oats
¾ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
¾ cup almonds, coarsely chopped
½ cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
½ cup shredded coconut
dried fruits, if desired (tropical fruit is good, raisins, blueberries, cranberries, cherries are all great.)

Heat oven to 275 degrees.

Combine brown sugar and water in a 4 cup microwave proof cup.

Microwave on high 5 minutes, or until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, mix oats and nuts & coconut

Add the brown sugar mixture.

Mix thoroughly.

Spread onto 2 cookie sheets and bake for a total of 45 minutes or until golden brown.

After 25 minutes, stir and put back in the oven for the rest of the time.

When granola has cooked completely, add dried fruits.

Broccoli and Cheese Mini Egg Omelets (Skinnytaste.com)

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli florets Or breakfast meat of your choice

4 whole large eggs

1 cup egg whites

1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar (Sargento)

1/4 cup good grated cheese like pecorino romano

1 tsp olive oil

salt and fresh pepper

cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Steam broccoli with a little water for about 6-7 minutes.

When broccoli (meat) is cooked, crumble into smaller pieces and add olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spray a standard size non-stick cupcake tin with cooking spray and spoon broccoli (meat) mixture evenly into 9 tins.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Add a touch of milk to the eggs prior to the beating.

Pour into the greased tins over broccoli (meat) until a little more than 3/4 full. 

Top with grated cheddar and bake in the oven until cooked, about 20 minutes. 

Serve immediately. 

Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to enjoy during the week.

Tidbits (food & such) Warning! - Picture Heavy

Not been doing a whole lot. Just trying a few new recipes from my CSA delivery & playing with my new camera (Christmas gift to myself). It's starting to get very hectic at work as we are going into our busy cycle which happens every 4 years. Also getting ready to head to another quilting retreat next weekend. This time for a whole week. I'll stop & pick up a friend in SC & then head on to VA, looking forward to it!

Without further adieu here's my food picture chronicle (click to bigefy):

Homemade crunchy granola

Homemade bun & sausage lentil soup

Super Bowl Nachos

Pork tenderloin, sliced & sauteed

Broccoli Amish salad

Bok Choy roll-ups

Cheesy Cornbread

Broccoli egg muffin

Husband's First ever omelet!

Cheese & Bacon egg muffins

Carrot top

Carrot Souffle

That Carrot Souffle is one of the best things I have ever cooked! I published the recipe over at Hot Flash Homestead since she had an overload of carrots. She served it as a dessert but we eat it as a side dish with fish or chicken. It's like a light version of sweet potato souffle but not even 1/2 as sweet. It's good leftover too!