Tantrum Over

The rain and wind came, and the heat broke. (For now)

I have been so crabby and out of sorts husband took pity on me (or maybe himself) and took me to Bedrock Gardens in the southern part of the state today. It is a 37-acre parcel that was landscaped over 30 years as a hobby by husband and wife and now is in conservation.

This takes so much work and patience I just love the look. 

There were hidden gardens all over the property. 

And specimen trees everywhere. Trees not native to us. 

The woman of the original gardeners sculps with scrap pieces of iron. Knock, Knock anybody home?

Well, hello! this is made from all found objects. 

She has done lots and lots of bugs all through the property and yes sometimes the bugs do seem that big. (His body is a spring, legs saws, etc.)

We walked around sat in the swings enjoyed the day it took us over 2 hours to just enjoy. 

There are over 200 sculptures throughout the property. 

I was so pleased to meet John Forti while I was there. It really was just a chance meeting, but he was so kind to chat with us and he signed his book for me. 

It you are a gardener and on facebook you really should follow him.

The Heirloom Gardener 

even if gardening is not your thing, he also tells lots of folklore surrounding nature

 

And before we leave the garden, I had to show the beehives they were buzzing too! wrapped in electric fence to keep the bears out. 

We went out to a lovely lunch. I had the shark bite. Really a Cosmo fancied up. I even ate the gummy shark. 

 ****

Well, that was my day. this evening is so cool and crisp I will need a blanket to sleep with isn't that grand!!

Have a wonderful week! 

It Must Be The Heat

My Russian sage is taking over my garden like any other good Russian dictator would. 

This is day four of low 90's high humidity. I hate this kind of weather we have no air conditioners, and a fan just doesn't cut it! My poor gardens are looking worse for wear I have not gotten out in them to weed. I throw some water on them early morning and that is it. 

So, in order to save electricity, I bought several of these.

 

To plug into the back of our 4 TV's I read that the average resting tv uses about 35 to 50 cents an hour of electricity. x4 and that is a lot of money a month. This helps us to shut it down with one click when we are not watching them. (See below)

Lauren is right I got my numbers wrong, but it still estimates between 8 and 10 dollars a month and that is not with all the new rise in rates. 

Which saving electricity is a bit of a joke now that we have a pond installed.  We do shut it down before we go in for the night if that helps at all. It still needs landscaping and some tweaking, but it is a wonderful sound.  

Husband went a few towns over and bought us a couple of blueberry muffins from a semi famous baker in the area. She is a young woman who won second place on the food network baking show. 

I think I am just an old cranky cook. But they had a streusel on the top like these and then they were plastered with a sugar glaze.

(Picture from the internet)

To me that was a blueberry cupcake the crumb was a fine crumb a cake would have. I prefer basic, rustic muffins. I ripped off the top and threw it away and ate the stump. Which was tasty but not a muffin. And that is my complaint for today. lol.

I told you the heat was doing me in! 

The heat is supposed to break tonight with some storms. 

I am looking forward to the lovely summer air we were having before this mess came in. To those of you who suffer with this type of weather all summer you have my sympathy. I could not do it. I would take 6 feet of snow over this. I am a true New Englander! 

Have wonderful week everyone!

W.I.P.

I have more than my fair share of cookbooks and books in general.

But still I buy more. I need to weed out some of the books I have. But it is a W.I.P (work in progress)

My day lilies are in bloom I love them just wish they would last longer. 

These are my fancy ones I have.

Now that the pictures are on here, I see how dark they are. 

But I am getting to the border, so I had to make some decisions.

There will be one row (beauty line) then the border will be a mix of the two brown wools. Always a work in progress. 

But our biggest W.I.P is our new waterfall. Now this was supposed to be something small easy to care for no big fuss. 

But as you can see husband's motto is "Go big or go home!"

As you can see it is very close to our porch. It will sound so nice to sit and listen to when it is done. 

 

My great pleasure is to get magazines in the mail, get a big coffee and flip through the shiny pages. But I have cut out some of them. They have just gotten too expensive. I will keep a few favorites, but it is time to cut some out. 

I will end with a smile. 

Have a wonderful week!

Is This The Start?

I was offered this cappuccino maker for free. It had only been used a couple of times. The only issue is there is no book of instructions. I will hunt you tube I am sure I can figure it out. I asked why she was giving it away she said she prefers Dunkin Donuts! She paid a lot for this. I have grand plans to have a little coffee bar.  

I started a new book today very sweet, again about England WW2

As long as the deer stay out my gardens, they are looking pretty good.

I have to tell you my geraniums are doing so well after wintering them over. This is one of 4 pots! 

This is how they started!! Crazy right? 

My garden flox is in bloom and it smells so nice. 

This is the back yard and all the burning bushes so green and pretty, right?

Fall is that you??? To early go away for another month at least.

Yes, I have been sighing a lot lately. 

Husband has been sick AGAIN! He really over did the family vacation. No one else got sick. He went to the Dr and had tests 

to make sure all is well. He is on an antibiotic and seems to be on the mend. 

We got our annual house insurance bill it went up 35 percent! We have never made a claim. Our light bill starting August will go up 50 percent, and lord knows what the heating bill will be we have not been offered any prebuy as yet. I know you are all facing the same thing. I met my friend for drinks and apps last Tue. We always have one drink each order 2 apps and split them. Our bill is usually around 25.00 each This time we each had to pay 33.00 each (includes tip)

That is why we do not go out much at all. My friend and I used to meet often, and husband and I went out weekly. We have not done either much at all. 

When I think about retiring another bill hits me in the face. And I know you are all in the same boat but oh it is a leaky boat. 

***

I hope your summer is a good one. The weather could not be better.

We do need some rain and we are going into some humid weather but nowhere near as bad the rest of you have had. 

Have a wonderful week!

Pizza Anyone?

My lavender is still going and going so happy to save some to sniff this winter when the snow flies.

I am reading a very old author. I am really enjoying it. 

I will get back to the Hamilton book at some point. 

I have had some time in the evenings to hook.

I added the moon, the tulip, red star, and the vines to make it my own. Getting down to the wire at this point. I just need to choose a border color. (Sorry I did not want to take it off my frame better picture soon.) 

I need to stay off this computer!!!! I keep buying patterns!

ugg. Ok look how cute he is!

My brother-in-law rented a hunting cabin on 400 acres in Maine. It is owned by a family of Maine Guides. They take hunting parties out in season. (My grandfather use to do that too) It can sleep a lot of people! there is a bunk house that is just bunks up and down the walls where the kids slept. In the main cabin there was sleeping for 10, then there was a game cabin with air hocky, pool, Ping-Pong, fuzzball total teen hang out. So, the family gathered. 

There was also a pond with fishing. (Brother and sister giving it a try)

floating ducks (my grand with her friend and my Neice on the other float)

And docks for jumping off from (cousins)

My daughter in the middle with her two aunts. Uncle on the left and way in the back her dad lol. My brother-in-law brought a suite case filled with very old family pictures. We all went through and took what we wanted 

It was all fun and games they are a very blessed family while not perfect they still try to gather often. Lots of memories. 

On to the pizza dough. I have had several requests for this recipe.

So here goes no fancy equipment needed.

Put 1 3/4 cup of warm water in a bowl 

2 tsp of yeast (I use quick yeast but use what you have)

4 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

2 tsp of kosher salt

2 tab of olive oil. 

mix all together the dough will be shaggy

put on a board to knead. they said use a dusting of flour I use a bit of oil on my board.  Knead 4 to 6 minutes until smooth.

cut into 4 equal pieces let rise over night in the frig or freeze which is what I am going to do with the 3 bags on the left. I kept one ball out to use tomorrow. 

You can use the dough right away, but it may not be as stretchy. 

To bake preheat the oven to 450. I put a bit of olive oil in this cast iron pan spread the dough out and top as you wish.

bake 20 to 25 minutes (I check the bottom of the pizza to make sure it is brown and crispy) 

You can use any pan you wish or a pizza stone. 

I use lots of leftovers on the top of a pizza. so much cheaper than buying one. Oh, and do yourself a favor if you think this is for you buy an extra bag of flour for this winter. Not sure what is going to happen there as we will not be getting wheat from Russia and Ukraine. 

Smile for the day.

I do hope your summer is a good one. We have had the most perfect weather! No complaints here. Ok maybe a little more rain.

Have a wonderful week. 

It Is The Small Things In Life

e

Husband is officially over Covid he tested negative. 

To Celebrate he bought us donuts at one of our favorite shops a few towns over. It has been several years since we have had any from there. A very nice treat on with my morning coffee while sitting on the porch. 

My lavender is very happy. I showed the wands I made I just may make some more. I have several plants that go around a stone wall. 

And now that my old fashion roses are past. The fairy roses have started. 

They will bloom like this until the frost this fall.

But no fragrance at all, just beautiful. 

A very bad picture of a very good pizza. BLT pizza.

I had made my own crust and froze some so I thawed it out to see how it would be. It was perfect! So, I will make a double batch to have in the freezer for future pizza. (It can be cooked on the grill)

***

We went to a gathering to celebrate a wedding this past weekend. The daughter of my sweet friend who passed almost 5 years ago got married. Her mother would be over the moon. I was so pleased she asked us to join in the celebration but so sad her mom could not be. there. Her dad died very suddenly 18 years ago, so it is just her and her brother left. Very bittersweet

***

The rain is lightly falling tonight, my little veggie garden is happy.

I am off to bed I have work tomorrow. 

Have a wonderful week.