went absolutely cuckoo...

About that cheesecake...

I believe I mentioned before that my sis-in-law and I are on a cheesecake making binge.  Our first was many, many years ago; back when I was still in the little cottage with the blue door. It was a Caramel Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake and was perfection! 

With that under our belts we went for the chocolate for our second attempt.  Mmmmm.... (click the link for a reminder of what that looked like and the description/link to recipe)

February was my sil's pick and she chose Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, pictured above. The recipe wasn't hard, (we haven't tried a water-bath bake yet) and it looked and sounded great in the recipe. The flavors were great as we went along but I couldn't help thinking something just wasn't right.  It turned out beautiful, zesting by sil, lime twist by me, and when we cut into it, well... it just didn't have the consistency of a cheesecake.

It tasted good, but something was just off about it.  I don't think either of us was happy about it. I'm going to try it again this summer, I don't like to let recipes defeat me.  I THINK I know what went wrong and if I'm right it was something left out of the recipe, but...

Well, 2 out of 3 aren't bad, right?  I get to choose our cheesecake for May and have already picked one that I think will be great.  If it turns out I'll share a link to the recipe for it.  And when I remake the Key Lime, if it turns out good, I'll share and link to it with my adjustments.

Anyhoo...

I'm in the middle of painting my bedroom and making it my own.  I've been really inspired by Kate from littlebohocottage on the utoobs. I love her style and am trying to find my own now.  After almost 8 years, it's time to stop letting this place feel like a rental.  Even if I found my dream home tomorrow, I would not regret making this place more me.  I promise pictures when I can.  

And speaking of promises...I'm still trying to figure out how to get that flip through video to fit on here.  I may just have to put it on my own utoobs and link it here.  We'll see.

I'm off...I have appointments all but one day this week, the weather is going from winter to summer then back to spring, so the garden is calling.  My poor garden was completely neglected last year.  Those blackberry runners are everywhere and I've a LOT of digging of roots to do to try to get them all out. 

I did get these in some pots this past Tuesday and did a little bit of clean up.  Yesterday I spent an hour outside cleaning up an area I had started several years ago so I could have more flowers.  Of course, it's become overtaken a bit by forsythia but I'm working on digging it out and getting it ready.  I was at the garden store for potting soil the other day and went absolutely cuckoo for cocoa puffs at the seed selection. Oh man.  I'll get a picture of them for next time, promise.

I really do need to go; it is late here, and the DST switch really throws me off balance.  I've still quite a few things to do before I can toss myself in bed.

What are you up to this week? Is it garden time in your neck of the interwebs?

thanks for being here...

love & kisses & magical wishes...

always & forever...

~*~ 

friday in the garden...

Just a few snippets from my garden today...

A blue-tailed skink climbing down the fence...

What I think are cicadas mating in the roses (they flew off right after I took the photo and were still attached)...

A cucumber almost ready for me to pick...

Million bells, salvia and zinnias in what I'm calling the Goddess Garden...

A few green beans, but the stalk has tons of flowers blooming so I'm hopeful there will be more...

A pretty green dragonfly that followed me around while I took photos...

One of the many hydrangea blossoms...

Some Roma tomatoes getting big, hoping they'll start to turn soon...

And today's harvest... pretty small as the blueberry bush is almost spent, and I could only find a few beans ready to be picked.  I'll add those to the few I picked a couple days ago and add them all to the mess I bought at the farmer's market on Wednesday.  

I also saw another black snake (not the same one from the last post as his/her face shape is different) but I didn't have my camera with me at the time.

It's been hot here this week.  I think we topped out today at 89F, but the heat index hit 100F.  The rest of the week was in the 90's.  I've been working on a big project in the heat for the last two weeks but I finally finished it up late this morning.  That heat really knocked me for a loop and took every bit of energy I had.  I've basically been a vegetable all afternoon.  :-)

Tell me, what's catching your attention in your garden this week?

Thanks for stopping in for a read...

love & blessings
~*~

 
 

 

 

in my garden...

I've spent a bit of time in the garden this week.  Some good, some bad.  

The blueberries are done for the season, but the cherry tomatoes and the jalapenos are doing well.  The lemon balm has exploded and I've baby blooms on my volunteer pumpkin.  I don't know that anything will form, but it's fun to watch.

My Lady of Shallot is blooming and smells so very divine!  I really need to decide where to plant her and get her in the ground and some support so it could take off.  

The blooms on the hydrangea are stunning and vary from light pink to a deep blue, deep purple to light blue.  Just lovely.  If you look closely at the photo of the hydrangea, to the left you will see my brand new, fabulously wonderful, air conditioning unit.  Ahhhh...just in time too, as the temps are to hit the high 90s coming this week.

Now for the bad...  Last time I posted about my garden I showed the progress of my san marzano tomatoes and cucumbers.  Yesterday, I shrugged on my determination and with hiccoughing sobs, and tears running down my face, I pulled them all out and disposed of them.  

You see, a few days after I posted that last post about the garden, our landscaper came along to spray the clover in the grass.  Apparently, this is something that is done every year because certain people in the neighborhood (my next-door neighbor being one of them) find clover offensive to their sensibilities and what kind of yard they want to see.  

I'd planned to ask the landscaper to skip my back area because I am highly sensitive to this particular herbicide (as in my skin breaks out with rashes if I get it on me and I cannot breath until the stuff has completely dried).  I'd been trying to keep an eye out for him, but I just (literally like 3 minutes) missed him.

A few days after he'd sprayed, I noticed the cucumber plants looking very bad and the cucumbers that had been growing becoming deformed (as well as the tomatoes).  It took me a little bit to figure out what was happening.  They just kept getting sicker and it took me time to give up on them.

So now I have no san marzanos, no cucumbers and a bunch of brown spots in the lawn (that I've been told won't be seeded with grass until the fall?!? - FTW?!?).  

It's days like this, days where everything about this place gets on my last nerve (and the next-door neighbor being falling down drunk a lot, certainly doesn't help) makes me want to move.   In fact, I've an appointment this coming Thursday to change my rent status of this place to an own status.  But right now I really don't want to do it.

After drying my tears and cleaning up yesterday I spent a few hours searching the internet for properties.  Part of me wants to just pack up everything in storage, get in my car and drive until I find my place.  Ugh...

Anyhoo...

How are things growing in your garden?  

Thanks for stopping in for a read...
love & blessings
~*~


ps... FTW is my version of WTF.  So instead of saying What the F*@k, I say F*@k the What.  :-)

pps...I've had several questions about the pig pickin cake I mentioned in my last post.  I'm planning a post coming up that explains the cake and also gives the recipe.  I'll need to make another one (oh the hardship!) and hopefully I can get that done this week.  

lately...

Lately, you can find me in my little patio garden, monitoring the progress of my baby cucumbers (only 1 so far, but tons of blooms!) and the tomatoes;  picking jalapenos and blueberries; or admiring the local wildlife and my flowers.

Or you can find me in my studio, playing with new supplies, exploring new lessons in art making and getting my hands dirty.

I'm not sure which one I have the most fun with, the garden or the art.  Both are top of my list right now.

Of course, all of this is dependent on the weather.  I'm outside early and late but spend the middle inside with the blinds closed to keep the worst of the heat out.  My air conditioning is not working and hasn't for almost two weeks.  It isn't so bad right now, but I'm hoping it will be fixed before the major heat waves come in.

Another place you can find me is my neighbor's kitchen.  I've been helping her with cooking for company she's had for three weeks and a bridge game she has today.  I've cooked my grandmommy's pig pickin cake, homemade spaghetti sauce (2 batches), 3 batches of caramel layer squares, grilled chicken, something my neighbor calls "trash" but is like a chex mix type of thing, and honestly, I can't remember what else.  I have one more day to cook (Sunday) for my mum's birthday, but it is basically hamburgers/hot dogs on the grill with sides.


One thing you won't find me doing, is worrying about that pesky issue I talked about in my last post.  I decided not to approach my dad about taking a test, but my brother has said he would do it, so if I can ever get it done and sent in, it will be interesting to see what the results show.  

I have contacted several of the "2nd cousins" ancestry says I match to in an effort to find out how we are connected.  One of them replied very quickly and gave me a name, but it isn't one I've ever heard of before.  I'm waiting to hear back from another.  

Oh well...

I'm going to go back to my arting and my gardening... 

What have you been up to lately?  Any cooking/baking?  Arting?  Writing?  Seen any good movies?  :-)

Thanks for stopping by for a read...
love & blessings
~*~

PS...I'm having a lot of trouble with Bloggers comments, not getting email notifications and can't figure out how to respond to each one.  But I'm reading them and really appreciate you taking the time to comment.  I'm trying to figure a work around.  So please don't think I'm ignoring you.  :-)  xoxo

 

A Little Garden Visit...

I don't have much of a garden here but a few things are growing well.  This is the first year I've planted basil in the ground instead of a pot and I'll never pot it again.  It is so prolific and I love it!  I also love the tiny frogs I find hiding on the basil leaves when I water in the mornings.

With the little pond directly behind my building, I'm enjoying the dragonfly antics.  I'm not sure what it means when they stand with their bodies pointed up, but it was interesting to watch.  The one in the last picture was resting on a paver.  I love the colors and textures, especially on the wings.

I haven't had as many san marzano tomatoes as I'd hoped but I've had enough to make a nice spaghetti sauce.  My plan had been to make a basic tomato sauce, but I didn't know what I was doing.  My first version was just tomatoes, garlic, peppers and spices.  That was really good served over rice.  I later added ground beef and mushrooms and more seasoning.  Yum!

On Friday, I spent about an hour and a half pulling up rogue grasses, etc. in the garden.  I made a good dent before I had to stop due to back pain.  It has been so cool in the mornings (low 60's) and I've been able to get my walks in before the heat returns later in the day.  If I can get myself up a little earlier in the mornings I could walk and then spend some time in the garden.  That is the plan anyway. 

I'm contemplating trying to plant some collards soon.  I think I have some seeds and I figure I could plant them between the tomatoes since those will probably get pulled out soon. 

Do you have a garden?  How are things growing for you?

thanks for stopping by,

blessings

~*~

frost and other things...

 It has been a busy few days since my last post.  Sometimes I'm not sure if I'm coming or going.  Lots of plans being plotted and things being made for the upcoming party.

Yesterday I was talking with my flower friend from the farmer's market (say that five times fast!) and she mentioned that frost has been predicted for our area this weekend.  I was so upset!  You see, a week or two ago I placed a spring flowering bulb order.  As our area doesn't usually see first frost until the first week of November, I thought I had plenty of time to get them in the ground.  Apparently not!

So today was bulb planting day.  I hadn't even decided how I wanted to lay them out.  So I sat down and came up with a plan.  Of course it involved prepping a new bed to put them in.  It took almost 3 and a half hours but they are all planted. (photo is about halfway through).  I'll see how this does next spring.  If I don't like the mixture I can always move them next fall.  

I took a long hot bath in the tub after I was done.  That was my instant gratification reward for all my perseverance.  Next spring, when I have pretty flowers to look at, that will be the big reward.  

{Warning: Spider photo below.}  The other day I went out to do something (I forget what) and found this little girl starting her web building.  She was right under my back door.  I caught her in the jar then took her off to the small wooded area that surrounds our property to let her go.  This is the second black widow I've seen.  The first was a few years ago at the cottage garden.  It's weird seeing one here.

I'm still doing Inktober every day.  Sometimes it is hard to feel anything through the pen.  But I keep trying.  That's point, isn't it?

 Day 7 - in honor of my baby brother's birthday

 Day 8

 Day 9

 Day 10

 Day 11

 Day 12 

It's a candle light night, tonight.  

Oh, I made salsa yesterday.  My first time.  I didn't have a recipe, just an idea of what went in it.  It's missing something, or I'm just so used to store bought.

 

Hope you are having a good week.  How's your weather out there?

thanks for stopping by, 
love & blessings
~*~

a walk through the garden...

Things are so hectic right now, days full of wrapping, packing, sorting and culling.  Plus the hunt is still on for my new home.  I'd found one I just loved and am hopeful it will work out, but am still looking just in case.

I'm trying to stroll through the garden every day at least once, to have a bit of connection with nature, to see what is growing and to say goodbye.  It will take a little time to bid adieu to my little cottage and gardens.  But I'm looking forward to my next adventure.

 The honeysuckle is blooming madly and smells so divine in the evenings...

 Mulberries are ripening and the birds are crazy for them...

 The peonies are just starting to open...bliss...

The squash is blooming, the cucumbers and beans are growing, and the tomatoes getting bigger... I hope that perhaps I'll have a chance to harvest a few cucumbers and beans, maybe a squash or two before moving day.  Hopefully the new owner will like the veggies I planted.

The foxglove...oh, the foxglove!  I love these flowers so so much and it thrills me so to see them in bloom.  I'd actually forgotten they were there and when they started to come up was thrilled!  

I plan to take several flowers with me, the foxgloves and peony for certain, as well as the lily of the valley, hellebore, the dahlias (if I can find them in the jungle!) and hopefully at least 1 of my hydrangeas (they were all three gifts from my step-mother so I'd like to have at least one of them with me).  I also hope to try to take my joe pye weed or at least harvest some of it before I go.  We will see when the time comes I guess. 

I'm off to pack a little bit more.  The head has been quite unbearable the past several days and I lost Tuesday to resting.  So much to do, I'd best push on.

See you soon!
blessings
~*~

stepping back in...

It feels like I haven't been here in years.  It feels like I haven't been anywhere really.  I haven't posted, I haven't visited.  I've mostly just been in my own little world.  And the world of books...I've lived so many lives in the books I've read over the past several months.

I'm just going to share a few images that have captured my eyes the past several months.  I'm hoping to post here more often. I'm starting to make the rounds again, seeing what everyone has been up to.  I hope everyone is well.

 (a visitor that I've seen around my house)

 (this was made by the most wonderful Nina Bagley of Ornamental)

 (the first rose)

 (one of the raised beds planted with blue lake beans, basil, cherry tomato, jalapeno and big boy tomato)

I'm off for a to watch a few season finales.  Be back soon...I hope!

blessings
~*~