menu plan monday ~ august 17, 2009

August 17, 2009 – 11:19 am

School starts this week, so the menu has to take that, and several meetings and lessons, into account. DD and I are going to make Honey Peanut Butter Cookies this afternoon. I think the protein laden cookies will be nice for a quick it’s-the-first-day-of-school-and-we-need-to-hurry breakfast snack, along with some fresh strawberries and bananas. Later in the week, I plan to make some breakfast muffins (we’ll call them cupcakes to please the youngest member of the family). I haven’t decided which recipe to try. I’ll share that later in the week. Hopefully, I’ll remember to take some pictures…

Monday
fridge food

Tuesday
enchiladas
refried beans / sour cream / salsa
chips
Mexican Salad

Wednesday
grilled pork steaks
grilled corn on the cob
grilled potatoes
coleslaw with peanuts and craisins

I plan to make the above potato recipe in foil packets instead of in a foil pan. I can individualize the packets for each of us. That means I can add onion to mine! 🙂

Thursday
spaghetti
garlic bread
corn
peas
Italian chopped salad

Friday
turkey in the crock pot
rice
corn
fruit salad
sauteed zucchini and yellow squash

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
grilled chicken
spinach salad with strawberries
corn
green beans
homemade rolls

homemade vanilla ice cream
Fudgy Coffee Brownies

For more recipes and menu ideas, visit Menu Plan Monday.

Today, I need to make a few lists of things that need to be done before the holiday season…a little painting, a little repair, a little this and that. Time is rushing by and these little jobs need to be done. DH and I discussed some of them last evening. Seems there is always a list of some kind, doesn’t it?? And it’s time to think about trying a few new cookie recipes for our annual Christmas open house. Soon, we’ll be doing this ~

cookies

If you are wondering what some of the cookies are, click on the picture and it will take you to my flickr site. Scroll over the picture there and you’ll see the labels for some of the cookies.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Tagged , | Comments (0)

cards are done

August 16, 2009 – 9:20 pm

I spent a lot of time this week working on our Christmas cards. I ordered the cards from Dayspring. We like to use cards that are not only pretty, but share the news of Christ’s birth, and include a Scripture verse. I chose two designs this year. This one and this one.

addressing Christmas cards

They are signed and addressed. Now I’m working on the Christmas open house invites. I chose a picture of a vintage postcard and added the invitation to the picture. Printed those and added some glitter details. I’m waiting for an order of embossing powder to finish those off. I’ll be putting the invitations on a background mat of red card stock that I have leftover from last year.

The above picture also shows some of the holiday magazines I’m working on (to the left). I pull the pages that have ideas I want to keep, then slip them into page protectors. They will go into the binders (under the invites and the cards).

I like to put our Christmas cards in the mail on the day before Thanksgiving. I include our open house invitations in the Christmas cards and mailing the day before Thanksgiving gives as much notice as possible for our guests to plan to attend the open house on the first Sunday in December. November is extremely busy for us as we decorate and prepare for the big party. When Thanksgiving gets here, I am going to be so thankful I have these cards ready to go!

I understand the reasons people give for no longer sending Christmas cards, and that’s fine for them. But I love giving and receiving them. It’s an important part of the holiday for me. So I plan ahead and work it in! ~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Christmas, Christmas prep | Tagged , | Comments (1)

garden update

August 11, 2009 – 8:00 pm

After two months of cooler than normal temps, we’re back to hot and humid weather. And when it gets hot and humid, I tend to stay indoors, except to mow the lawn when it needs it. But today, I ventured out to take some pictures, since it has been so long since I’ve done that.

There are large swathes of black eyed Susans in the yard. And they are still producing lots of bloom and color.

black eyed Susans

black eyed Susans

Miscanthus sinensis 'Zebrinus'

There are still quite a few daylilies showing off their final blossoms.

‘Carolicolassal’

daylily 'Carolicolassal'

‘Lavender Luxury’

daylily 'Lavender Luxury'

This unknown daylily is in full bloom right now. It is taller than I am and is the latest bloomer in our collection of daylilies.

UNK daylily

And one of my favorites…we gave this one the garden name of “Paprika” because we don’t know its real name.

"Paprika" [GN]

The garlic chives are beginning to bloom. A large bunch of these is really pretty, with the stems all bending in the same direction and the buds opening a few at a time until there’s a sea of white.

garlic chives

garlic chives

The ‘Royal Standard’ hostas are blooming. A beautiful bright white, they have a wonderful sweet fragrance. This particular plant lost its sheltering redbud tree last year. We need to move it to a better location. Somewhere it won’t get so much sunburn.

hosta 'Royal Standard

hosta flowers

hosta 'Fringe Benefit'

I don’t remember which hosta these purple flowers were on.

hosta flowers

The crepe myrtle is a great shrub for color this time of year.

crepe myrtle

The garden bench under the mulberry tree is a bit overwhelmed by hostas and elderberries.

hosta bench

Aren’t the elderberries pretty?

elderberry

elderberry

elderberry

We had a little sprinkle of rain this afternoon, but it didn’t amount to more than a few drops on the redbud leaves.

redbud leaves

We can see this hibiscus from the kitchen windows. The flower is about 12″ across and a beautiful rosy pink color. It’s called ‘Sante Fe.’

hibiscus

We don’t have many annuals or container plants, but I do love this large pot of coleus that sits by the back door.

coleus

I hope you enjoyed the garden walk. If you would like to see other gardens with beautiful blooms, click on Bloomin’ Tuesday.

Bloomin' Tuesday

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in garden 2009, our garden | Tagged | Comments (4)

menu plan monday ~ august 10, 2009

August 10, 2009 – 2:56 pm

I’ve been either too busy or too tired to post lately. Been very busy. But I’ll try to get back into the swing of things now. Here’s the menu for the week.

Monday
hamburger / buns
grapes

Tuesday
crock pot chicken
rice
stir fried green and yellow squash
tomatoes

Wednesday
pork chops
mashed potatoes
green beans
corn on the cob

Thursday
tacos

Friday
chicken / noodles
spinach salad
homemade rolls

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
tortellini and ham with white sauce
green salad
garlic bread
corn
peas

To see other menus and recipe ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Comments (0)

there’s still a lot of color in the garden

July 31, 2009 – 10:38 pm

Now that the weeks of daylily blooms are almost over, I think there isn’t much blooming until I get out into the garden. After he got home this evening, DH and I took a spin around the yard. Yup, there is still a lot of color out there.

east front yard

There are surprise lilies all over the yard.

surprise lilies

surprise lilies

surprise lilies

Russian sage

surprise lilies

The grass ‘Morning Light’ is one of my favorites. It always looks great.

Miscanthus sinensis 'Morning Light'

And the zebra grass is another favorite.

zebra grass

The crepe myrtles are beginning to bloom.

crepe myrtle

This miniature crepe myrtle gets only about 12-15″ tall. I don’t remember the name. The blossoms are just beginning to open. Soon it will be covered.

miniature crepe myrtle

Here’s a good place for viewing the front yard.

garden bench

front yard

Yup, still pretty. 🙂

Hop over to Tootsie’s and click the links to see what is blooming in other gardens.

flaunt your flowers FRIDAY

~~Rhonda

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menu plan monday ~ july 27, 2009

July 27, 2009 – 9:48 am

Can’t resist showing you Buttercup’s new costume, designed by DD. Who’s the coolest cat around? That would be Buttercup, the rapper cat, complete with bling!

one cool cat

I must say, besides being totally cool, Buttercup is totally patient! She takes it all in stride.

Monday
hamburgers / buns
chips / dip
grapes

Tuesday
spaghetti / sauce
garlic bread
green beans
corn on the cob
spinach salad

Wednesday
salmon
baby baked potatoes
peas
corn
tomatoes / cucumbers

Thursday
tacos

Friday
tilapia
steamed red potatoes
green beans
green salad

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday
Crock Pot Chinese Lemon Chicken
rice
asparagus
corn
coleslaw

The crock pot lemon chicken is a recipe I haven’t tried before. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Check out more menus and recipes at Menu Plan Monday. And plan your own week’s menu while you’re at it!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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friday garden time

July 24, 2009 – 9:54 pm

Just a quick stroll through the garden to see what there is to see.

We have a bed next to the blue spruce that hasn’t received much attention. It’s out of the way, in a spot we don’t regularly walk by, so it is somewhat neglected. But there is a nice tangle of flowers in it right now.

tangled blossoms

Oh, my. Just look at all that catnip (Nepeta Cataria) that needs to be ripped out. The stuff spreads with abandon!

east yard

Hydrangea ‘Little Lamb’

We planted this compact hydrangea last summer and I’m pleasantly surprised by how well it is blooming this year. The plant is still so small, though, that the flower heads weigh the stems down. Should just get better and better each year.

hydrangea 'Little Lamb'

Miscanthus ‘Morning Light’

Pretty isn’t it?

'Morning Light'

Nearby, the daylily seed pods are maturing.

daylily seed pods

The honesty plants (money plant / Lunaria annua) are setting a lot of seeds. As usual. 🙂

going to seed

daisies

daylily

north from the fenced garden

The front porch in the fading light of the setting sun.

front porch

We have company coming late this evening to stay until Sunday afternoon. Lots to do yet, so I’d better sign off. I’ll check in tomorrow. If you want to see what other gardeners are doing today, check out Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie’s place. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it!

flaunt your flowers FRIDAY

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in garden 2009, our garden | Comments (5)

beautiful weather, beautiful flowers

July 22, 2009 – 8:40 pm

DH took DD and her friend to Six Flags today. They had a nice day for it. And, according to the occasional updates I’ve been getting, they are having a great time, too. I’ve certainly enjoyed a nice quiet day at home. I mowed the entire yard. Then said goodbye to my mower as it was taken off to the shop for a checkup and blade sharpening.

In the fenced garden, the bare spots where DH took out all the over zealous lemon balm need to be filled in with something new. We’ll have to ponder that.

fenced garden

bench in the fenced garden

This bee seemed deliriously happy in the hollyhock.

busy bee

The surprise lilies are popping up all over the yard. Look at all those little ones coming on. There were surprise lilies in the yard when we bought the house, but these, in the fenced garden, are from my grandmother’s yard.

surprise!

The garden phlox is blooming like crazy. And it makes the garden smell so good.

garden phlox

The tallest daylily in our garden opened for the first time today. We don’t know the name of it. It’s a very late bloomer and extremely tall.

tallest daylily in the garden

east front yard

daisies and daylilies

ooo, pretty!

bench under the dogwood

bench in the front yard

Ack! What’s this?? Red sassafras leaves… You know what this means?? Before we know it, autumn will be here. ::sigh::

you know what this means???

And the little wild asters are starting to bloom, too. Another sign of fall.

purple cone flowers and asters

But I’m going to play Scarlett for now and think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day…

While I’m not thinking about fall, why don’t you join me as I peruse Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer’s blog. Let’s see what everyone else was up to today.

Outdoor Wednesday logo_thumb[2]

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in garden 2009, our garden | Tagged , | Comments (5)

flashback to springtime

July 22, 2009 – 12:31 pm

Gardening Gone Wild is hosting the Picture This Photo Contest for July. The theme is “flowering trees.” I perused my photos and settled on this one of the redbud tree east of the side porch.

front yard

When we moved into this house, there was one redbud tree. DH planted more and now we have twenty plus redbud trees blooming in our yard each spring. And with all the volunteers, we give a lot of them away each year, too! 🙂

The above photo is my contest entry, but, just for fun (and because the trees are so beautiful), here are a few other pictures of flowering trees and shrubs in our yard.

This photo shows the way the redbud blooms along the trunks and branches of the tree. The clumps of blossoms look somewhat odd, but I love the way the tree blooms so profusely.

redbud tree

Did you know the blossoms of the redbud tree are edible? Used most often in salads, or as a garnish, I’ve heard them described variously as nutty, pea like, fresh bean flavor, tangy, and/or slightly lemony. Next spring, try a few and see what you think. Caution: do not collect blossoms from any place where pesticides or insecticides may have been used.

redbud tree

Here you can see the star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) and a few redbud trees…and DD enjoying the fresh spring air!

redbud trees

And the dogwoods were beautiful this spring.

dogwood tree

Spring is my favorite season of the year.

fenced garden

Not all blooming trees bloom in spring, though. Currently blooming in our woods are the volunteer mimosa trees. They have a large fluffy pink flowers. I captured this photo of one of the blossoms that had fallen onto a mimosa leaf.

mimosa fluff

The Southern Magnolia is also blooming right now.

Southern Magnolia

The magnolias large, pure white blooms have a wonderful fresh lemony scent.

Southern Magnolia

I’ve rather enjoyed combing through my spring photos. But I’m not ready to go there yet. Our summer has been so lovely with its cool temps and enough rain to keep everything lush and beautiful. I’m enjoying every minute of right now!

~~Rhonda

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july garden weather that feels like october

July 21, 2009 – 8:54 pm

The air was damp and chilly today. Hard to believe that in July we would have the air conditioning turned off for days in a row. And who would believe we would need to close the windows against the chilly air. But we did! The garden has enjoyed all the rain we’ve had for the past few months.

center of the driveway

The black eyed Susans are a sea of color.

sea of orange

The tiger lilies are near the end of their bloom. A few last blossoms top the long lanky stems.

tiger lily

A helpful flickrite helped me ID this little green bug. I saw several of them on the tiger lilies. They are immature stink bugs. Never would have guessed that!

immature stink bug

After counting the new daylilies, we found we bought 14 new ones last weekend. Four or five of those were mini daylilies. Mini doesn’t necessarily mean a small plant. It refers to the size of the blossom. Miniature daylilies have blooms that are under three inches in diameter.

planting new daylilies

DH planted the mini daylilies in the fenced garden.

DH plants our new daylilies

Zak watched from the comfort of the birdbath.

Zak in the fenced garden birdbath

Near the edge of the woods, the garden phlox backs the last of the ditch lilies.

on the edge of the woods

I think I’ll get a blanket and watch one of my favorite shows…”Chopped.” I’ll see you in the garden tomorrow. 🙂 To visit other gardens (where it may be warmer!) click on over to Jean’s place for Bloomin’ Tuesday!

Bloomin' Tuesday

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in bloomin' tuesday, garden 2009, our garden | Tagged , | Comments (7)