Sunny Days

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a beautiful warm and sunny week of weather. We got a chance to dry out from the flooding rains and I hope those who needed rain received some.

It was nice to be outside and enjoy the garden, visit friends at their farm, and get some work done in our yard. We brought home farm fresh eggs and juicy sweet peaches from the farm. I made a peach pie from this easy recipe. And we finished a simple but much needed landscape project, removing some overgrown ornamental grass and replacing it with sedum, cactus and sedge grass, all better suited to the hot sunny location.

Summer Solstice Weekend

 

 

Summer, my favorite season!
Happy Weekend Everyone!

 

In the Garden. . .

This week in the garden. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the lotus are starting to bloom in the koi pond

 

we have an adorable tiny turtle living in the small goldfish pond

 

the perennials are in full bloom

 

Jasper loves the morning sun!

 

Say So Long to August. . .

Summer always seems to go by so fast. . .

Summer Days

Welcome long summer days, short warmer nights, the sound of birds and flutter of butterflies. Welcome farm fresh produce, enjoying meals outdoors, concerts in the park, days by the pool or beach and all that summer means to you.

Welcome Summer!

Enjoy your weekend!

Just Peachey!

A summer favorite. . . peach pie made from fresh, ripe peaches.

This pie is just out of the oven and still warm.
I wanted to share this simple and delicious recipe with you.

Peach Pie
You'll need a single pastry crust.
To save time, I used a Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust from my grocer's dairy case.
6 peaches, peeled and sliced
Filling:
1/3 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla
Mix these five ingredients together and pour over the peaches.
Bake at 350 degrees for an hour.

When cooled, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and enjoy one of summer's best treats!

In the Garden

This week in the garden. . . the perenials are in full bloom.

Hummelo attracts the bees.

Pink astilbe in the shade garden.

Milkweeds in the vegetable garden will hopefully attract Monarchs.

This cute little toad is a garden visitor.

A close-up of a hygrandea bloom.

This bright magenta monarda, or bee balm, is a favorite of both bees and hummingbirds.

It's Summer!

Happy first day of Summer!

Happy Birthday America!

Wishing Everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!

Outdoor Living

We've been doing some cleaning, sewing, painting, and even a little bit of construction, to spruce up our outdoor living space. Everything on our screened porch always needs a good scrubbing in the spring. And, a little touch up painting keeps everything looking good and protected from weathering.

Our patio of brick pavers had become very uneven due to tree roots that had grown and spread over the years. We had the tree trimmed earlier in the season, so my husband decided it would be safe to trim the tree roots, too. He pulled up the uneven bricks and chopped out the offending roots. He also repaired a drain line to take water away from the house. After adding a little bit of sand for filler and replacing the bricks, the patio is as good as new.

I made new cushion covers for our furniture on the porch and added some comfy pillows for lounging. The pretty tropical print fabric that I found on clearance sale a while back looks great with all our flowers and plants surrounding the porch.

Here is the end result!

A view from inside the porch.

Momma bluebird stopped by to feed the babies while I was taking these photos.

Our cats love to spend time relaxing on the porch.

This is Sabrina in her morning sunbath ritual.

A view from the porch out on to our refurbished patio.
It feels great to have everything clean and refeshed - ready to enjoy all summer!

Do You Have a Favorite Food?

When recently asked the question, What is Your Favorite Food?, I wasn't able to come up with just one answer. I love to cook and I love great food, but my tastes often change according to the seasons and circumtances. Some people would automatically say "a great steak", "Mom's special lasagna" or "anything chocolate". My current tastes run the gamut of all the wonderful, seasonal, fresh fruits and vegetables found in the garden and farmers' markets this time of year, especially here in the Midwest. Warm, fresh from the garden tomatoes - I love a thick slice on a hamburger or a BLT. Or how about some sweet, buttery corn on the cob? This is a sampling of vegetables fresh from my garden.

And then there's all the luscious, juicy fresh fruits - peaches, apples and blueberries. So I decided my favorite for the day is fruit desserts, specifically blueberry crisp. Then I had to make some for dessert and thought I'd share the recipe. This is a super simple fresh baked dessert. You could use mixed berries instead of just blueberries, or add fresh sliced peaches to the blueberries, a great combination!

Blueberry Crisp
(4-6 servings)

3 cups fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/3 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
cream or ice cream

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Arrange blueberries in an ungreased baking dish, 8x8x2 inches. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, cinnamon and salt; sprinkle on top. Bake until topping is light brown and blueberries are hot, about 30 minutes. Serve warm with cream.

Do you have a favorite food?