tonight's dinner. Four enchiladas would have been enough for Mike and I, but NO! I had to go and make many, many more. We'll be eating good for days. Luckily, enchiladas only get better in the freezer.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Oh Yeah!
Sometimes, I go a little crazy when I make Mexican food. Case in point...
tonight's dinner. Four enchiladas would have been enough for Mike and I, but NO! I had to go and make many, many more. We'll be eating good for days. Luckily, enchiladas only get better in the freezer.
tonight's dinner. Four enchiladas would have been enough for Mike and I, but NO! I had to go and make many, many more. We'll be eating good for days. Luckily, enchiladas only get better in the freezer.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
In The Garden - May 6
Flower update:
The irises are amazing this year. The stalks are long and the blooms...well, as you can see, the blooms are lovely.
Viburnum plicatum plicatum. My favorite shrub to hate. This year, definitely a favorite year. The thing looked like we'd had a heavy snow fall. Some years, there're about three blooms total. Epic fail. lol. Years like this make me want to plant another one.
Up close view of the funky flowers on the viburnum. Cool, huh?
My baby lilac. My goal is to have this plant grow tall enough that I can smell lilac blooms through the kitchen window. At the moment, though, it's only about three feet tall. And the flowers are so heavy that they droop. Poor little guy!
Up close view of the droopy flowers. This cultivar is double-flowered which is why they're so heavy, I guess. They're also very fragrant. I wasn't sure they would be as fragrance seems to be the first characteristic to disappear when breeders start messing with flower structure.
South gate to the backyard lined with soapwort. Kinda cool, I think. Especially since I only planted 5 small soapwort plants originally. They are the epitome of the word 'self-seeding'. At the moment, it works for me. If they start coming up everywhere, I might not be so sangfroid about it.
Close up of the soapwort blossoms. Each one is less than a half inch across, but what they lack in size, they make up for in number!
The irises are amazing this year. The stalks are long and the blooms...well, as you can see, the blooms are lovely.
Viburnum plicatum plicatum. My favorite shrub to hate. This year, definitely a favorite year. The thing looked like we'd had a heavy snow fall. Some years, there're about three blooms total. Epic fail. lol. Years like this make me want to plant another one.
Up close view of the funky flowers on the viburnum. Cool, huh?
My baby lilac. My goal is to have this plant grow tall enough that I can smell lilac blooms through the kitchen window. At the moment, though, it's only about three feet tall. And the flowers are so heavy that they droop. Poor little guy!
Up close view of the droopy flowers. This cultivar is double-flowered which is why they're so heavy, I guess. They're also very fragrant. I wasn't sure they would be as fragrance seems to be the first characteristic to disappear when breeders start messing with flower structure.
South gate to the backyard lined with soapwort. Kinda cool, I think. Especially since I only planted 5 small soapwort plants originally. They are the epitome of the word 'self-seeding'. At the moment, it works for me. If they start coming up everywhere, I might not be so sangfroid about it.
Close up of the soapwort blossoms. Each one is less than a half inch across, but what they lack in size, they make up for in number!
Saturday, May 5, 2012
New Carpet!!!!
I can hardly believe that I can actually say that we have new carpet. But we do! First, a look at the lovely, cushy, new stuff.
in the living room
in the family room
close up of the texture
In truth, none of the pictures is terribly close to the true color. The carpet is actually more golden brown than these photos would lead you to believe. And there is no way that photos can begin to show how cushy and comfy that this carpet is. Such a huge change from the old ratty original.
And that brings me to my second point. Twenty six years is just too long to wait to replace carpet, especially builder's grade carpet. Mike and I have had MAJOR differences of opinion about making this change. Now that it is finally done, he has been making comments like "well, maybe we should go ahead and replace the upstairs carpet, too" (upstairs carpet is also 26 years old.) Methinks that spending some time on the new cushy loveliness has helped him realize just how awful the old stuff was. At last.
Monday, April 23, 2012
In The Garden - April 23
We've had a beautiful, albeit unusually dry spring. Most years, spring is my favorite season as the yard looks wonderful without much effort. This year is no exception!
A shot of the new clematis (montana rubens) growing on the new pergola. This is only one year's growth! I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this variety years ago for the other side of the pergola.
Close up of the Clematis montana rubens flowers. They are quite lovely, I think. And, they're also lightly scented. Very nice!
Another close-up of the clematis.
Full view of the lilac near the garden fence. So far, I am really happy with this shrub. I knew when I planted it that I would need to keep up on the pruning as we have no need of a 12 foot tall behemoth in this spot. An annual renewal pruning has thus far kept the plant in bounds and kept the flowers within sniffing distance of my nose. And Peri's nose, too...notice the blooms near the ground. I've found Peri standing there sniffing flowers several times. lol.
Close up of the big lilac spikes. And the fragrance - c'est magnifique!
A 'Dukat' daffodil in a pot on the patio. I'm really pleased with these. Bought on sale at Lowes last fall.
My renegade species tulips by the steps from deck to patio. They are everywhere this year! No one would know that I dug up about a hundred of them last year to give to Nathan and Carin. And the flowers are much bigger than most years. I think I started out with five tiny bulbs of each color (I also have yellow ones that bloomed a few weeks ago.) I'm still looking for some bulbs of the lavender color of species tulips. Would love to have some of those, too.
A shot of the new clematis (montana rubens) growing on the new pergola. This is only one year's growth! I'm kicking myself for not thinking of this variety years ago for the other side of the pergola.
Close up of the Clematis montana rubens flowers. They are quite lovely, I think. And, they're also lightly scented. Very nice!
Another close-up of the clematis.
Full view of the lilac near the garden fence. So far, I am really happy with this shrub. I knew when I planted it that I would need to keep up on the pruning as we have no need of a 12 foot tall behemoth in this spot. An annual renewal pruning has thus far kept the plant in bounds and kept the flowers within sniffing distance of my nose. And Peri's nose, too...notice the blooms near the ground. I've found Peri standing there sniffing flowers several times. lol.
Close up of the big lilac spikes. And the fragrance - c'est magnifique!
A 'Dukat' daffodil in a pot on the patio. I'm really pleased with these. Bought on sale at Lowes last fall.
My renegade species tulips by the steps from deck to patio. They are everywhere this year! No one would know that I dug up about a hundred of them last year to give to Nathan and Carin. And the flowers are much bigger than most years. I think I started out with five tiny bulbs of each color (I also have yellow ones that bloomed a few weeks ago.) I'm still looking for some bulbs of the lavender color of species tulips. Would love to have some of those, too.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Unusual Guest
This morning, as I walked past the sliding glass door in the family room, I noticed something white flying across the backyard. At first, I thought it was a plastic bag drifting along on the wind. I was wrong.
Not my best photo, I know, but I was shooting through the sliding door, on a rainy day, in cloudy conditions. lol. Excuses aside, what a treat to see! A white dove! She was all white, no markings anywhere that I could see while he is a soft grey brown. At least, that's my best guess as to gender as the grey brown bird was considerably bigger than the white one. They only stayed in the yard for around a minute, so I'm glad I took my none-too-perfect picture when I did.
Not my best photo, I know, but I was shooting through the sliding door, on a rainy day, in cloudy conditions. lol. Excuses aside, what a treat to see! A white dove! She was all white, no markings anywhere that I could see while he is a soft grey brown. At least, that's my best guess as to gender as the grey brown bird was considerably bigger than the white one. They only stayed in the yard for around a minute, so I'm glad I took my none-too-perfect picture when I did.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
In The Garden - April 12
All of a sudden - Poof!- it's spring around here. Everything's blooming, everything's growing and if it's not doing either, it's time to plant it or prune it!
There are dozens of these little pea plants. They look so sturdy and green against the brown soil. Can't wait until they start producing those yummy peas!
My very disappointing asparagus bed. With about 50 square feet of asparagus bed, I'd hoped for more than 3 spears at a time. Grrr.
Looks silly, I know, but this method has been working pretty well for the last couple of years. After laying the beet and carrot seeds in the bottom of an appropriately deep trench, I fill the trench with sand. The sand doesn't crust over like our soil does so that the seedlings don't struggle to come through. I still add a few radish seeds to each row to help mark the row and because I like having a few radishes at a time.
This is a good news, bad news, pic. In the foreground is the incredibly productive Italian soft-neck garlic that I planted last fall. Every single clove produced a plant. They're growing great and will be an awesome addition to my salsa and tomato products. The bad news is the elephant garlic that is fizzling in the middle of the bed. I planted 12 cloves and only two came up. That is really disappointing. Behind them are the onion seedlings that I bought at Lambert Floral last week. They have the best onions!
My 'Rutgers' tomatoes are staying warm and cozy in their walls o'water. The temps have dipped to 28 since I planted the tomatoes, but they didn't even notice the cold. I also added two 'Early Girl' tomato plants (again from Lambert) to the bed. Those will be my own 'put tomatoes on everything' crop.
Close up of the Korean spice bush. So beautiful and sooooo fragrant!
The Korean spice bush in all its spring glory. The fragrance fills the back yard. I've even caught Peri sniffing the flowers. lol.
We had an unusual 'snow' storm yesterday. All these petals on the deck in the back yard came from the Callery pear tree in the front yard. The air was thick with the petals, a kind of sweet spring blizzard. The street in front of the house is covered as are the sidewalks, lawn and cars.
There are dozens of these little pea plants. They look so sturdy and green against the brown soil. Can't wait until they start producing those yummy peas!
My very disappointing asparagus bed. With about 50 square feet of asparagus bed, I'd hoped for more than 3 spears at a time. Grrr.
Looks silly, I know, but this method has been working pretty well for the last couple of years. After laying the beet and carrot seeds in the bottom of an appropriately deep trench, I fill the trench with sand. The sand doesn't crust over like our soil does so that the seedlings don't struggle to come through. I still add a few radish seeds to each row to help mark the row and because I like having a few radishes at a time.
This is a good news, bad news, pic. In the foreground is the incredibly productive Italian soft-neck garlic that I planted last fall. Every single clove produced a plant. They're growing great and will be an awesome addition to my salsa and tomato products. The bad news is the elephant garlic that is fizzling in the middle of the bed. I planted 12 cloves and only two came up. That is really disappointing. Behind them are the onion seedlings that I bought at Lambert Floral last week. They have the best onions!
My 'Rutgers' tomatoes are staying warm and cozy in their walls o'water. The temps have dipped to 28 since I planted the tomatoes, but they didn't even notice the cold. I also added two 'Early Girl' tomato plants (again from Lambert) to the bed. Those will be my own 'put tomatoes on everything' crop.
Close up of the Korean spice bush. So beautiful and sooooo fragrant!
The Korean spice bush in all its spring glory. The fragrance fills the back yard. I've even caught Peri sniffing the flowers. lol.
We had an unusual 'snow' storm yesterday. All these petals on the deck in the back yard came from the Callery pear tree in the front yard. The air was thick with the petals, a kind of sweet spring blizzard. The street in front of the house is covered as are the sidewalks, lawn and cars.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Finished - ish!
After about three months of daily effort and over six months of planning and researching, the living room/hallway is done! At least, the painting is done. I love it!
The new wall color is 'Belle Grove Buff' which translates in real life to 'just about the color of dry beach sand on a sunny day'. Here are a couple of shots that better show the contrast with the 'Ivory Lace' trim...
I used Valspar Premium eggshell paint and, as always, love it. It goes on smoothly and dries to a really beautiful finish. The chicken pox were well hidden with the first coat, but I applied a second coat anyway to ensure durability.
Still to be done: blinds in the bay window and a new coat rack on the wall behind the door. I'll also be warming up the sewing machine this week to make valances for the family room and kitchen. It's only been a year since I decided to do that! Quilt Etc. had a great sale last weekend so I was able to get the 'Sassy' by Moda yardage that I'd been drooling over at a great price! More on that later....
I used Valspar Premium eggshell paint and, as always, love it. It goes on smoothly and dries to a really beautiful finish. The chicken pox were well hidden with the first coat, but I applied a second coat anyway to ensure durability.
Still to be done: blinds in the bay window and a new coat rack on the wall behind the door. I'll also be warming up the sewing machine this week to make valances for the family room and kitchen. It's only been a year since I decided to do that! Quilt Etc. had a great sale last weekend so I was able to get the 'Sassy' by Moda yardage that I'd been drooling over at a great price! More on that later....
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