The Flowers and the Rockery

Okay I admit these were taken probably three weeks ago now, but you'll get the idea of what's happening in our garden.  

Backyard Shots:

Pathway to deck with awning.  

 Backside Patio looking onto deck.

 Front Yard Shots:

The bend in the road...I always curse this bed because of the number of weeds it gets.  I should take another photo from the road looking in...you'll see all the rockery I added to avoid weeds, but alas they still grow in landscaping fabric!  

 The front island garden, last year I added a bunch of rock in here again to try and cut down on the amount of weeding required, well they're easier to pull out but still happen...

This is the front walkway gardens, kinda dark picture was midday - if I could just think of it in the morning!!

 Oh, a little person!  "You take my picture Mommy?"  "Yes dear, you're in it!"

 My new Summer Sun echinachea, LOVE this colour!

 Some lillies, have a few different colours.  Managed to hack off a bunch weeding and trimming the other night - whoops!

Close up of these pretty things!

 Front island looking out from house.

 In the thick of it!

 Yellow Rudbeckia, just about to go crazy in blooms.

Some new blue delphiniums I couldn't say no to.  I like that they're miniatures!

Donkey's Ears and Yellow Lustrife - so vibrant.

The last of the Shastas, I've pulled all the others in the front beds by the house, they were looking a little tattered.

Sedum?  Hmmm, I dunno but I like it!

Fountains are finally working!  Yeah!

 Backyard Bay Leaf tree and garden

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Thrifty Find: Embroidery Hoops to Earring Holders

I recently bought some new earrings at a crafters clearance sale.  I love the notion of wearing earrings but I never get to see the selection I have.   I had some left over pieces of burlap coffee sacks which worked perfectly with the little holes for them to go through.

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Greek Lima Bean Dip

If you like humous you'll love this!

3 cups cooked lima beans (two 15 ounce cans, drained and liquid reserved)
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced fresh dill
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/3 cup minced red onions
s & p to taste

Add beans to food processor and blend smooth, if you need more liquid add a little of the reserved bean juice) place into bowl and stir in the remainder ingredients.  Serve with crackers, pita, tortilla chips or baguette - yummers!

Lots of protein, low fat and really flavourful!

Great for a party and keeps for a couple days in the fridge.

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Simple Veggie Sushi at Home

It is super easy to make sushi rice.  Who says it has to be all fancy and wrapped?  I felt like veggie sushi tonight so I made this super quick.  "Talk about super satisfying too", says Carb Barb.  It's fun to decorate too.  One of my tricks in loosing weight is presentation and that includes some of my thrifty finds as new dinner sized serving plates.  Oh, that reminds me I have a few I should show.  The fish was hand made and I just love him.  He is the only part of this dish that is fish.  The best part of sushi is there is little or no fat - a real winner on the waist line.

Here is a plate of sushi I made for a ladies night a little while back that I hosted.  It's not entirely hard to wrap sushi once you get the hang of it either.  They were smoked tuna and salmon and veggie rolls.  If you're wondering what is up and to the left they are Kale Chips.

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Thrifty Find: Table

Okay, $5 how could I not?!  I'm not sure if it's teak or not, it has some of those mid century lines to it.  Here's my plan, I'm going to convert my front closet into a bench and coat rack area with baskets etc.  I'm not sure if I should paint it yet or not.  Perfect height for sitting.

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Thrifty Find: Olive Green Bottle

I'm so addicted to bottles these days!  I found this lovely green arched bottle.  Originally Ikea, wow!  I think it goes great with the aqua bottle.

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How does your garden grow?

I headed off this morning to scoop up some deck chairs on sale at Walmart and these flowers decided to stalk me through the store, followed me out, and got into my trunk.  I pretended I didn't notice.  They sure knew who to pick on!

So how does your garden grow?  The weather is much to be desired, is it finally here?  Will it be short or an Indian Summer as they call it?  All I know is my flowers and vegetables sure would like a little heat!

This year I decided to try container gardening in these rope bin tubs you see everywhere.  I drilled some holes in the bottom and who thought they would be such a success?  I also invested in some 4X4 raised beds you will see below.  I've encountered a little bit of a 'cat'astrophe, in the 4X4 beds, one by the name of Nappy.  Either that or he was the one that only got caught a few times.  Well, let's just say he's not really going in them anymore, we had a little talk and I've had to drape these trellises over the beds to keep him out.  I estimate probably $50 or more in seed that won't have made it.  I think I've planted areas in these now at least 3 times.  

Anyway here are some of the before pictures:

Herb Garden:

Rhubarb (I realize this isn't a herb)

Rosemary

Purple Sage

Pineapple Sage

Sage

Oregano

Lavendar X 4

Chives

Lemon Balm

Parsley

Thyme X 2 kinds

Chocolate Mint

Spearmint

Peppermint

Pineapple Mint

Orange Mint

Sweet Onions (can't see)

Basil, Tarragon and Cilantro (just don't like the conditions...I think it must be the cedars and cats!)

Raised Bed #1

Tomatoes

Red Cabbage

Strawberries

Brussel Sprouts

Rainbow Chard * (* indicates 'cat'astrophe incident)

Purple Brocolli *

 Raised Bed #2
Peppers various
Basil
Tarragon
Rainbow carrots
White Crown Brocolli*
Califlower*

 Raised Bed #3
Purple Haze Carrots
Peppers various sweet and hot
and I can't remember!! ha!

 Container Gardening (Near to Far):
Yellow Zuch
Black Beauty Zuch
Yellow Raspberries and Strawberries
Gourds
Buttercup Squash
Acorn Squash
Scallopini Squash (flying saucers as my uncle calls them)
Yellow fingerling potatoes

 Purple Russian Poatoes

 Tall Sweet Bay Tree

I can't call these the after pictures, The During:

 Raised Bed 1:
Added Mesculins *** (doh!)

 Raised Bed 2:
Added rest of turnip seeds...hmmm need to thin!

 Raised Bed 3:

 Container Bins so far so good!
Left to right:
Purple Turnips
Salad bush cucumbers
Oregon Sweet Snow Peas
Beets
Parsnips
Red Raspberries
Purple Russian Potatoes
(Blue bin was added with Thornless Blackberries and strawberries)

 Exploding Potatoes - I can't wait to tip them all out!

 We should have some interesting Zuchs, I'm hoping they don't hit the ground.

 One lone cherry on our grafted tree.  We have Stella, Sam, Ranier and Bing on it - cool huh?  We also have an apple with five different kinds.

Other edibles we have include:
Green grapes
Red grapes
2 Fig Trees
Yellow Raspberries
Radishes in pots (yeah! no worms!)
Elephant Garlic
Sweet onions
Rhubarb

I think that is everything!  So far we've harvested some radishes:

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Recycling Dress Shirts

My husband has or should I say had, some great dress shirts that I found at a ridiculous sale at the Bay a few years back.  Some of them having great names like Nautica and Jones New York.  Well, sadly a few of the 'power shirts' as we called them, have lost their juice....the elbows blew out while at work.  The odd thing is, one week it seem to happen at least three or four times!  He asked me if I could fix them, "Well,.... no."  I said.  "Can you use these for anything?" he asked  "Maybe, I'll see, just toss them in this bag!"  So into the stash they went.

Well today that day finally happened!  On the one pillow I used a coffee sack on the one side, blue stripe shirt on the other.  The second pillow I used the "really good power shirt" and on the other side I dressed up with a dark denim.  I thought I was finished until I thought that some sisal rope as trim would look great, and it does!  The sisal rope was easier than I thought and it added that nautical feel I was looking for, I just used a small zigzag and the needle went through no problem.

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Thrifty Find: Old Stool Gets New Life

Below you will see the before, amongst a few other thrifty finds I found that day.  The stool was a steal at $3!  It is definitely antique and O-L-D I haven't given it the official test yet, but I'm hoping it'll hold yours truly.  I'm pretty happy with the outcome, exactly what I was hoping for and the kids can use it to get their shoes and boots on too.

I think my cat Aztec is sending me daggers at the moment, he took up residence on it for the last week while it was in the garage.  He also helped me recover it.  He's a little deaf now, or well we think, so he wasn't even phased by the staple gun going off right next to him.  Sorry kitty, could you please use one of your other dozen cat beds?

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Beach Glass From Treasure Beach

We went out to what the kids call "Treasure Beach" this morning, here are their finds.  It's amazing what can keep two young ones busy for hours.

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