Road Trip

The day was sensational! Warm! Clear! Sunny! The ride to the orchard and to the produce stand was so enjoyable and successful that I'm almost beside myself.  Be alerted, you might want to sit a while to view the pictures I took. Be alerted! THERE ARE MANY HERE and... I took even MORE!!

I start out with the feral black cat that often fishes at the edge of our lake. I have actually seen it leap into the water to catch a fish. And then the flock of turkeys flew away before I could catch them and there must have been a couple of dozen!

Please don't leave, it gets better. We are headed to Jayne's Orchards!

Stick with me, please! We then stopped at La Rue's produce stand on the way home; bought some sweet corn, tomatoes and tri-colored sweet peppers not shown here.

Home Sweet SWEET home!  And the fun begins. Did I mention I missed getting pictures of the two deer that crossed the road in front of us?

Darling Henry has been demoted to a lower level.

Please click on image to see LARGER!

Season's Ending

I love the little Portulaca plants I bought this year and how well they developed. They needed little watering and the assorted flowers were pleasing. I think (and hope) they are self-seeding for another year of prettiness. They needed very little care.

May 19

May 31

Aug 18

Sep 14

And, of course, the sedum are turning pink and falling over. I meant to trim them down before they budded so they wouldn't get top heavy, and only snipped a few tops off. It's my fault and I'll just have to do better next year. They really are beautiful, however.

                             please click on image to view larger

Sundial Mix Portulaca

Medium flowers on durable, heat and drought tolerant plants. For garden or pots.  Plant in full sun 18"-24" apart. Grows up to 4 inches tall.

Peach Pastry Perfect

I took my peach freezer jam, spread it onto a pastry sheet, rolled it up and baked it. WOW! Sooooo GOOD! (Soooo bad too!)

Since the middle of the "loaf" wasn't baked as thoroughly as I like, I sliced it and re-baked the slices. Now it is PERFECT!!

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I love to have experiments turn out well.

James Bomb

He is so beautiful with his new attire that I'm NOT ABLE to choose my favorite picture so be aware: This is a James BOMB!

James Marshall Folkner, Spiritual Guardian of Cabin Tranquillity

Be sure to click on image to view larger

Remembering 9*11

We were in South Carolina and had just come in the door to our place after grocery shopping. The TV was turned on as we unloaded the bags - to the shocking sight of the second hit on the tower. We just couldn't believe this was happening. It was a terrible day for so many and we don't ever forget the loss and pain this event caused. 

Every year since, we stop and remember as the day approaches and then is here. The Mister bought this t-shirt during the following week in 2001 and has worn it every year since. 

2015

2016

Pretty Nana

Nana is my friend's former mother-in-law and is age 87. They are very close. When she sent me her image, I just had to manipulate it so the true background would disappear and the picture would do her justice. I think I succeeded. At least in my own opinion I did. It was difficult because of the wisps of hair and I don't have any program such as photoshop. iPhoto and Preview are my built in applications. They work well for me. 

Let me introduce you to "Nana looking pretty." The photos start with the original and then the stages to b/w.

MY PERSONAL FAVORITE

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Sweet Notes

My Key Lime pie was a hit. Absolutely delicious if you love sweet/sour and lime flavor. Here is the recipe. Simple!

Key Lime Pie

5 egg yolks, beaten

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lime juice (I squeezed my own.)

1 drop green food coloring (I didn’t use.)

1 prepared graham cracker pie crust

Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together egg yolks and condensed milk. Stir in lime juice and food coloring. Poor into prepared pie crust. Bake for 15 minutes at 375°F Garnish with whipped cream if desired.  (I garnish when serving)

aaaaa

My granddaughter, the mommy to be, is waiting for her baby girl to arrive any day. The little man is my great grandson, her nephew. Sweet photo!

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Holiday Hullabaloo

Well now things are settling down and back to "normal" whatever that is!

Our grandson and his girlfriend caught some large bass. After photos, they released them!

Today I felt ambitious and made my first key lime pie. I used real limes (they are a bit pricey for my budget) and I also used a prepared graham cracker crust. They will be after-supper dessert today. I have no idea how good or awful it will be. If good, I'll post the recipe. Sure was easy peasy! (I did NOT use the green food coloring as was listed in the recipe.)

Since I had egg whites left over, and never throw out anything that is useful,  I also made a batch of meringue cookies. Tasty little devils!

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Meringue Cookies

                                                                      Preheat oven to 225°F.

Ingredients:

• 4 egg whites at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon Cream of Tartar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
• (or 1/2 vanilla and 1/2 mint extract)
• Food color optional

1. Beat egg whites in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until frothy. (If using a freestanding mixer, use wire whisk attachment.) Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to medium-high. Add sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until sugar is dissolved and stiff peaks form. Beat in extract and food color(optional) until well blended. Gently stir in chips, if desired.
2. Drop by rounded measuring teaspoonfuls about 1 inch apart onto 2 large non stick foil-lined baking sheets. Spray with Pam as well. 
3. Bake both sheets of meringues at the same time 45 minutes. Turn oven off. Let meringues stand in oven 1 hour or until completely cooled.

To make different shapes of meringue, spoon meringue mixture into large resealable plastic bag. Snip off a corner of the bag and gently squeeze to pipe meringue onto baking sheets. Pipe into various shapes, such as hearts, "kisses," letters, numbers, etc.                            

Labor Day Weekend

Of course James celebrates the Labor Day weekend.

I think that this is a hornet because I know yellow jackets are fatter in the middle. There is no fuzz on it so it’s not a honeybee. Honeybees are gathering around as well. Whatever it is it also loves the nectar of the sedum blossoms, as does the bumblebee.  I sure don’t need to be stung. I no longer have an Epipen. I grabbed the camera to take a photo of the beautiful dragonfly that had landed on the sedum but it flew away before I could capture it.

The mushrooms are growing again at the root of our large Douglas Fir on the beach side of the road. I find mushrooms very interesting. Yesterday a young teen walked by, spotted it and tip-toed over to get a closer look. I think he thought it was an animal. I think it is a Boletus Edulis but never would eat it even though I love edible mushrooms. It is also called a "Penny Bun."

The white geranium plant in the old piece of pipe being used as a planter did very well this season. 

I’ll end this with a promise of next year’s Oxheart tomatoes being the best ever!

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