Please let this turmoil and strife
settle down.
I won't politicize any of my personal
views, I'm just praying for peace,
like this little guy.
☮☮☮
🙏
******************
So, in our little corner of the world
it feels like I'm on an endless loop of
"Groundhog Day".
Same thing every day.
Get up, make the bed then make breakfast.
Then piddle around with something
like the laundry, or cleaning up, or
reading, or the garden....
Then before you know it,
it's time for lunch.
We usually eat a sandwich or maybe leftovers.
Afterward I clean up the lunch dishes.
Maybe then I'll get back to whatever I left unfinished.
Then it'll be time to make dinner.
Same cycle, every day.
Not really a complaint.
I'm glad we're not sick and we can
still do the things we need to do.
Anyhoo....
As the days get hotter and muggy,
it takes an effort to get out in the garden.
Several of the tomato plants have died
off, but their replacements are about
ready to plant.
Bell Peppers
Brussels sprouts
I cut them off the stalk then wash them.
Then I prepare them for freezing.
We cut them in half, and put enough
for the 2 of us into a plastic ZipLoc
bag with a dash of balsamic vinegar,
a bit of garlic powder, some olive oil
and chopped red onions.
Then freeze the portions.
When I need some, I just take out a
packet, dump it onto a foil lined
pan and bake.
Simple.
Cucumber
These are enormous!
I sliced up 2 of them with some of the
red onions and cherry tomatoes.
The CEO likes to eat them with
a raspberry vinaigrette.
What a great salad!
It's good to be able to eat what
we grow and know that
its fresh with no pesticides.
Part of the harvest from the last 2 weeks
Some of the tomatoes are
being dehydrated so I can
use them throughout the year
in salads, my herbal blend, sauces
and oils.
🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅🍅
And yet another focaccia bread
with fresh veggies.
All I do is use a pre-packaged
refrigerated pizza dough,
roll it out and let it rise a bit.
Next, I sprinkle my herbal blend and a
bit of olive oil and press it into the dough
with the tips of my fingers, and let it rise again.
Then I place the veggies like a
still life.
This one has: fresh tomatoes, onions, bell
peppers, celery, basil, sage and oregano.
Then bake as per package directions.
When it's done, we slice it with a pizza cutter.
Tastes great served with our salads.
Simple.
(Simple is my mantra!!)
My overgrown herbs.
I'm behind on drying them because
the tomato crop was so big.
We have 2 dehydrators that were
going almost every day, and we still
had a bunch the we were able to give away.
Great to be able to share.
I make several types of herbal blends.
I do a mexican flavored one with cilantro
parsley and oregano and
an italian one with oregano, basil, thyme,
parsley and dried tomatoes. Then there's the
herbal one with a bunch of different flavors.
I also do a mint and stevia blend for tea.
*********************
Stargazer Lily
I don't usually cut flowers to bring inside
but,
it was raining hard and I was afraid
they'd get beaten down in the downpour.
Problem is....
they stink!
The CEO calls them Stink Lilies.
They smell a bit like urine.
Not fair that something so beautiful
smells soooo bad.
😝
Lantana.
Up close, you can see that they are
actually 3 different colors on the
same bush.
The butterflies and bees love these.
*********************
Ethel is getting
some one-on-one time with the
Chicken Whisperer
After the girls have pecked through
whatever morsels of feed they
prefer, the CEO sweeps up all the
picked over chicken feed
(because our girls are spoiled rotten)
and
puts it in a bucket to bring
to the small park near our home.
There are a lot of water fowl as well as
chickens and feral rabbits, that
love the feed.
Avoid giving them bread.
It's ok for a few small pieces, but
as a predominate diet,
it causes their gullets to swell
and causes an inability to get
needed nutrients.
It's like eating only junk food
for humans.
***************
And,
I leave you with
a bouquet of
wishes.....
May all of them come true!
💗
