Rainy Memorial Day 2017

As many of you are experiencing, our weather is wonky! We had 90 degree temperatures for two days earlier in May and this past week has been cool....and today we again have rain! Thankfully the past two days were partly sunny and the temperatures did get into the 60s.

Yesterday I went out and cut some plants - the rhododendrons are in bloom and one of the perennials is flowering. I also cut a few twigs off the shrubs to fill in and ended up with several nice displays that I've posted below.

One of the things I like about this kitchen is the small island. And lately I've been trying to use it as a display area. The reddish "flower" is from our rhododendrons and the fill is shrubs. We have a red maple tree in the front that is just lovely - and one or two branches are sticking out. So, I liberated them for this display. This shot is toward the breakfast area.

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Same bouquet other side of the island shot toward stairs to the lower level (the door is closed) and the dining room. See the picture on the wall? A close up from the Lake house. I've always liked to take flower pictures.

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To the left of the sink is a long stretch of counter topped by a "shelf" that is wide enough to use as a display area or a holding spot. This bouquet has some rhododendrons and a flower branch from the perennial planted two years ago. Anyone know what that is? The yellow and red go well together.

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And to the left of the vase above, is the final rhododendron flowers. You get a better view of the breakfast area. 

We are thankful to those who served and enabled us to enjoy this day.

Where are the May flowers?

While the calendar says May, the temperatures say very early spring. It's been abnormally cold the past several days - and cool temperatures continue into the weekend. The band of storms that caused so much damage earlier this week only gave us winds. While nothing you could call "damage", there was a lot of twigs and small branches down. I bought herbs and put them in a crate and have brought them in on two occasions due to low overnight temperatures. But, it is Spring and the trees are in bloom as are the azaleas and other flowering shrubs. 

B has been buying mulch by the car-full and we did put a lot of it down last week when we had warmer temperatures. We dumped a few bags over the past several days. These pictures were taken last week when the mulch was mostly in the bags. We are just about done!

 This lovely tree has both pink and white blossoms

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And you can see the bags of mulch all ready to put down

We replaced two azaleas and are leaving the one on the right in and pruning it. Spring wreath on the front door The front door can't be considered a "porch"!

 This pretty, small red maple is so lovely. We had a red maple at the South Jersey house. 

We have never had a "front porch" before. And even though it's facing front, it's really the side door that is next to the driveway and opens to the kitchen. It's the door we use the most. I've started on the decorations and still have a way to go.

And around the corner you can see a different view of the porch as well as a bit of the garage door. This is where we had all the mulch. 

We are anticipating warmer weather and look forward to putting some flowers in and getting those herbs planted! 

Spring in March

The warm weather continues! It was raining yesterday and today - we do need rain. As we walked around outside we both noticed the daffodils were in bloom. Well, only two but there are several more on the way!  And the bushes are budding. And it's only March 21st - however, spring is officially here.

 The flowers are blooming in the Spring!

And the buds are budding

And Honey is supervising.

Christmas Eve Day

Here it is 9:45 AM and I just finished a batch of Spritz cookies. I'm on a "break" and then will make pineapple squares, a recipe from my mother-in-law. B requested it.

The weather has turned cold so it feels rather wintry - Makes it seem more like Christmas. We are ready - and the decorations are minimal and high - so Honey doesn't get to them. While she is improving with age, she still gets into things - toilet paper is her "thing" this week! She also loves B's shoes and you know when you hear her run from one room to another, she has something she shouldn't!

Last night I made soup from a bit of leftover chuck roast. There was some pan sauce that I started with and added a can of beef broth and then some beef base and water. Added the diced roast. The pan sauce had onions, carrots and fire roasted canned tomatoes so we were good to go! I then added some frozen cut up cabbage I had frozen after making pigs (stuffed cabbage). There is always the inner leaves that are, for us, too small to stuff. Rather than throw it out or have it sit in the refrigerator in hopes I would do something with it (which means wait until it turns green and THEN throw it out) I chopped it and froze it. So I added a few handfuls of that and let it simmer one glass of wine in length. I drink my wine slowly and don't fill the glass up, so that would be about 20 minutes. I then checked the soup, added a bit more water, salt and pepper and then added pasta - a mixture of small pastas that were mixed together in a jar. And then, in about 15 minutes we ate. Now B is not a soup fan but he liked this. I served it with rolls - Hawaiian bread - that we had purchased at Sam's for Christmas dinner. The meal was very good and we both enjoyed it!

The brown blanket is a new one - A Christmas present from Aunt Mary. She loves it. She is next to B's chair. Honey is asleep and B is on the iPad - a favorite pass time for both of them!

And while at Sam's the other day we picked up some flowers. I put them on the breakfast area table and with the red table cloth it really looks nice. Of course, if we go out, the flowers get moved 'cause "the girl" would love to check them out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Catching up on my pictures

Back in May, Honey and I were spending some quality time in the living room. I had my IPad and find it works better up on the arm of the sofa since she often lands in my lap. When we first got her I was very adamant that she not be on the chairs or sofa. That didn't last very long! I cover the sofa with a sheet and have accepted doggie tracks on the two leather chairs by the front windows that she bounds into to see outside. The sofa still looks OK but it's hairy as she really sheds!

 We got a kiddie pool since our first lab loved to splash in the water. It's up on the deck that runs around the house and with the gates, that is an area that she can run around in. Well, she is interested in the water but looks upon the pool as a VERY large water bowl. Here I am trying to encourage her to "come on in".....

 This is as far as we got... and she still doesn't go in the water!! Thought labs were water dogs???

Maybe some day.

 My day lilies continue to look good. I took a lot of pictures because this is the first year they have done well. Really pretty.

 And it's not all fun and games around here, either!

I did a beer can chicken on the grill last night that turned out very good! Since it was a large 6 pound Purdue chicken it took about 2 hours but was worth the wait. I made potato salad that was exemplary, if I do say so. Along with that fresh green beans that B purchased the other day when he stopped off at the store for me. And he also purchased Kirby pickles so I could make another batch of Ma's pickles.  This time I purchased some dill at the store since my dill is not doing well. I also cut up 3 green peppers and put the vinegar/water mix on them as well. And, to fill up the final jar I added some sweet onions. Never did onions before with this recipe so it remains to be seen how that will taste. The pickles sit out for several hours and then into the refrigerator. Much easier than canning and very good! I think of B's mom and what good things she made whenever I make one of her dishes.

The Day Lilies are Blooming!!

When we first moved up here full time, I wanted to plant some flowers and was limited in where. I had planted daffodils and thought that since day lilies appeared to flourish up here they might also be deer resistant. The deer tend to eat just about anything including the lilac bush I planted (another story) So, I ordered a variety of bulbs and planted - and waited. They grew but after only one day the flower was eaten!! Perhaps the deer liked the color of the flowers as the ones that grow along the side of the road are orange.

This year is different - we have Honey who barks at the deer. And we have noticed less deer around the house and the deer we do see (and Honey sees them too) tend to stay back in the woods. So, this year I have flowers - lovely flowers. I've been going out to take pictures in case the deer do start eating but here we are about a week after they started to bloom and as you can see, they are still going strong! And they are quite pretty, if I do say so!!

I enjoy taking pictures of them. I hope you like them too!