Busy Busy

I've been missing in action

~ ~ ~ ~

Our oldest three grand loves

have been spending the week.

~ enough said ~

click on photos to enlarge

I like the idea that Lynn

came up with for

'Tuesday Ten'

over at

Under the Table and Dreaming. 

So I thought I'd give it a try

~ Here are my 10 random things ~  

Our Grand love who without saying

a word screams Summer-fun!

~ Me ~

the luckiest kid in the world!

A wall tapestry find! Love it!

Sorry Sis, you still can't have it.

My dream greenhouse found online!

Our Fuscia from a few years ago.

I was blessed with the opportunity to

live in North Pole

and to breath in that fresh

Alaskan air

and to watch my husband

'dipping' for salmon

 I adore the young spirit of

my husbands Aunt

'may she never grow old'

and our niece catching the sunset in Ireland!

Naming Animals

Do you name wild animals?
We call this little fella Otto.  You see we have a friend named Otto who's nickname is 'Chip.'  And seeing how he is a little 'chipmunk' we decided to name him Otto.

DAD

Loved & Missed 
by many

Back in the Apron

I baked two pies today. 

~  Rhubarb Custard ~

and

~ Shepherd's Pie ~

 My geraniums have some 'filling out'

to do yet but I just had to share

what a great deal I found

earlier this spring!

TWO 16" cocoa fiber baskets with frames

for ninety nine cents each!

Wrecks gone wild!

This little garden sits on the backside of our lawn. It edges up to the wild property beyond. When we first moved here I had some plants given to me but no place to put them. So I tucked them into this area as we were working on flower beds, garden, yard work in general. Then I started rescuing broken but still cute enough to look at  pieces. I tucked tree branches through the holes in the benches to keep them in from blowing over in the wind. The little bench in the front is on its last legs but so far so good.  And I just added an old cracked planter and transformed it into a bird bath with a gold pan we bought with us when we moved down from Alaska.

And wouldn't you know it, all the plants I tucked away in there temporarily started growing and sending up babies.  So it became a little sweet spot in the yard and now I don't have the heart to move any of it.  It catches my eye from every window on the backside of the house.

The Green Gate Garden

Another project has been checked off our to-do list! The garden is completely planted and now its the waiting game to see how it turns out!  Last summer's weather was perfect for our gardens - and I'm hoping the same for this year.  If not, we do have four rain barrells set up and ready for back-up.  What started out as one single raised bed has expanded into four raised beds in a 20 ' x 30' fenced in garden.  That lasted for a year then we added a quick extension with a few temporary posts and wiring for 'just a few more' plants.  So with some getting down and dirty and a bit of blood, sweat and tears (oh wait - there were no tears) we've now got ourselves a pretty nice little set up. Of course we still pick up some produce from local sellers in the fall like potatoes, pumpkins etc. After all - we are just small time gardeners!  Oh! ~ one more thing, this year I did what's known as companion planting. Certain plants benefit others with pest control, flavor, production etc.

Pickled!

Do you like pickled beets?

Hey wait a minute ~

those aren't pickled beets!

But have you ever saved the juice
from the pickled beets

to make quick pickled eggs?

My man loves them

yours might too! 

Cheesecake Crepes

But to be honest - I made up the name!

As I used a crepe recipe but

I concocted the filling myself. 

Crepes:

Mix together 

3 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup water

3 tblsp. melted butter

1 cup flour

1 tblsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Brush small fry pan or crepe pan with small about of butter and/or olive oil and heat.  Add just enough batter to cover bottom of pan tilting pan to distribute evenly. Cook, turning once until delicately golden on both sides. Keep warm in oven until ready to fill.

* If you find the batter too thick just add a few more drops of milk to the remaining batter before using.

Filling:

8 ounces of riccotta cheese

one egg beaten

3 tblsp flour

8 ounces cream cheese

Mix by hand so the cheese doesn't break down too soft, leaving small chunks of cream cheese pieces to melt in your mouth.

Fill crepes, cover with canned pie filling of your choosing. Heat in pre-heated oven @ 350 degrees until heated through.  Approximately 15 - 20 minutes.

Glaze:

Combine a small amount of sour cream added to powdered sugar to make glaze.

Enjoy! 

Thank you Ali for the invite 
to link  this post with:
Sweet Tooth Friday

Garden 2011

I'm happy to announce that the

garden is finally planted. 

 and now comes the waiting game ...

 for the little sprouts to appear

and grow ~

and grow ~

and grow! 

Nesting

All four of the

 bluebird houses

we built

a few years ago

are in use!

We have two sets of

tree swallows

nesting

one pair of bluebirds

 and a pair of house wrens

I noticed that just like us

they each have their own

unique way of keeping house!

We have also found

the robins and sparrows

nesting in the trees

throughout the yard.

Now to find those tiny

little hummingbird nests.

I've joined up with this weeks Sunday Showcase Party at:

Under the Table and Dreaming

I Love Rocks

  I love rocks. 

From my childhood on

I  had to touch them, admire them,

love them. And now I have

rock gardens,

with even more rocks

 in my rock gardens. 

Overkill ~ I think not! 

this is one of my favorites

it reminds me of a shell

 Last springs' rock gardens

 My Dad loved rocks too ~

He split the rock with the stripes for me.

They are my absolute favorites!