'Round Here

1. Columbine
2. Clematis
3. New sage plant
4. Flowering cilantro/coriander
5. Clematis trellis

The gardens are coming along beautifully. I planted our spring garden the other day. I'll add some photos once the seeds sprout. Today, I'll try and plant the rest of it. I have seeds to start too. So much to do. I love this time of year. Best get going.
Have a wonderful weekend.

'Round Here

It's been sunny, windy, rainy, cool and warm. The perfect mix of spring weather for me and the garden. It's still too wet to till the garden. If we don't get rain this week, I may be able to till by Thursday. Here's hoping!

1. Black violas
2. Lilac bush
3. Onion seedlings
4. Bachelor Buttons

Happy St Patrick's Day

I bought this collar for Althea on Etsy for St. Patrick's Day. She's wearing it with her other collar. Guess she likes the layered look. I tried to get her to pose for a decent photo. No way. Finally, I just brushed her fur out of the way and shot a picture.
The corned beef is on the stove for tonight's dinner of corned beef and cabbage. No green beer here, but I did think about putting green food coloring in the key lime pie that I'm making.

From our home to yours, Happy St. Patrick's Day~

'Round Here

 Our crazy weather continues. We're breaking temperature records left and right. The rain continues to come down. Yesterday, I was able to get a lot of work done before it began. When it finally did begin to fall, it brought with it pea sized hail. Today, the forecast is the same. It stopped long enough for me to head outside, get some fresh air and snap some photos.

That was what the sky looked like last night, at sunset, after the storm passed! Everything glowed orange.

I dug up some turnips in the turnip bed that we planted last fall. Normally, they would not have survived the winter. Since it was so mild here, they continued to grow. A nice surprise! I got a fabulous recipe from a woman I met on twitter for tofu turnip soup that I'll be making this weekend.

While I'm waiting for the ground to dry out, I decided to plant some onion sets in some of our large pots.

The bachelor buttons are beginning to bloom. I harvested these seeds years ago, down the road at the edge of a field. I like to think that they once grew in the cottage garden of one of the families that settled this area.

Last year, I moved our herbs closer to the house. It is so much easier to run outside to snip a piece or ten when we need fresh herbs. I dug up a few chunks of oregano. Looks to me like they love their new home.

The parsley plants are still alive and looking pretty good, although they'll soon be seeding out. They're usually dead, but the mild winter.....

I moved the lemon balm too. It's growing next to the rose trellis. I think she'll be happy there.

And our cilantro is also alive and kicking. It will soon be seeding out too.

Today is half over. Here's hoping that we don't get any of that golf ball size hail that I saw on TV last night.

Wordless Wednesday

This Week I.....

am enjoying the last of our oranges and grapefruits. Citrus season is almost over.

made herbed yogurt cheese. I had planned on posting a photo of the finished product, but it disappeared; along with the pepperoni and black olive french bread that I baked.

ground and froze some beef. I love our new grinder!

and spent a lot of time looking at the sky through the blossom laden Bradford pear trees.

After The Rain

Garlic bed

Daffodils

Snowdrops

Thyme

Chives Rosemary Parsley

Wordless Wednesday

Pink

When I was a wee bit of a BlackStar, my favorite color was pink. I had a pink room. A pink carpet. My mother even painted my furniture pink. My stuffed animals were all pink. I had a pink and gray poodle that I would tie to the tree in the front yard. I would put him in a sitting position and there he sat, with a bowl of water. Blame my parents. They wouldn't let us have pets. Don't worry. I more than made up for it when I moved out on my own.

I outgrew my pink phase long ago. I'm more of an earth tone kinda girl now. Something's happening. I can't put my finger on it, but I find myself looking at pink things. Again. And I have several pink pieces in my shop. I don't think John will have to worry. I'm not planning on painting the walls pink. But I did have on a long sleeve pink t-shirt this morning. Actually, it was dusty rose. As long as I don't tie any stuffed animals out in the front yard, I think I'll be OK.

Sweet Potato Fries

I love sweet potatoes. I used to grow them, but they take up so much room in the garden. Now I just buy them after Thanksgiving and store them in the kitchen in an old wooden crate.
One of my favorite things to make lately are sweet potato fries sprinkled with cayenne/garlic salt.
I slice the sweet potatoes about 1/8" thick. You can also slice them thinner and make sweet potato chips. Drop them in the deep fryer for 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and dust with the salt mix. You can also bake them in the oven, but you'd have to Google it because I've never made them that way.

Here's how to make the salt:
I use twice as much salt as the other ingredients. Example: 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne.

Worn

Some of the antler tips in my last order were chipped and worn, naturally. I know that some folks wouldn't be happy if I sent them a chipped antler necklace, so I make a separate listing for them. They hang from a nut brown suede cord and tie simply behind the neck at the length you choose. Worn antler tips. Easily worn.

Seed Starting

The first day of March turned out to be a gorgeous day. Sunny and warm. Very warm. Too warm for this time of year. I spent part of the afternoon starting seeds for the 2012 garden. We've had these seed starting flats for 20+ years. They are fabulous. I can't say enough good things about them. Easy to use, self watering, they stack easily for off season storage and they have tops that you can use to turn them into mini green houses. We have two sizes. All of the seeds that we start that don't get sown directly into the garden begin here.

I make my own seed starting mix. The recipe can be found here, but you can find some wonderful ready made mixes these days.

Yesterday I started broccoli, garlic chives, two varieties of onions and parsley. I'm looking forward to seeing the green sprouts. I'm ready to get my hands dirty. Let the gardening begin.

About That Lion

This is the only lion we saw around here today. The unseasonably warm weather continues. Bulbs are blooming. Flowering trees are blooming or budding. Spring storms popped up yesterday and are predicted for tomorrow. And after all of the rain, frogs started singing.  But on this first day of March, all is calm and quiet and sunny. Very sunny. And warm. Althea is in need of a pair of sunglasses. Must check Etsy.
I got some onion sets in the ground before the rain yesterday. Today I started broccoli, onions, parsley and garlic chives in flats. I'll post some pictures tomorrow, when it's raining again.
Hope you too are enjoying an early spring.