Christmas Notebook

the garden in autumn

September 27, 2008 – 3:21 pm

The air has taken on that “autumn feel.” Sort of golden, and a little dusty and sweet somehow. Lots of pretty things yet to see when we walk the yard. The hydrangeas were beautiful this year. Most are fading to a soft rosy pink and a pretty green color.

I want to pick some for a winter bouquet and also need to get some for the Victorian Christmas tree. I might spritz them with a little white glitter spray for the tree. There is one fresh blossom. Seems a lot of the plants put out a few spring blossoms in the fall. Refreshing when everything else is fading.

The crabapple tree looked puny all summer. The leaves didn’t develop well. But it has put out a showing of fruit. Not as prolific as usual and maybe not as bright red as usual, but the birds will still enjoy the feast.

I think I showed you the asters before, but they are too pretty to ignore.

Surprise! A mushroom village erupted in the front yard this week. I like them so much, I mowed around them. 🙂

The little iris ‘Baby Blessed’ is blooming. It’s a great rebloomer. About 12″ tall, it will bloom off and on all summer. This week, we have quite a few blossoms. A whiff of spring in the midst of autumn.

Butterflies number three and four were released Thursday. They didn’t wait around for a photo op, but flew off as soon as they were out of the container.

The fifth butterfly to emerge (yesterday) was our first male. The male Black Swallowtail has a lot less blue than the female. Not sure why some are content to sit for a long time and others can’t wait to leap into the sky.

We still have twelve chrysalises and two caterpillars. The other day, DD watched one emerge, but I missed it. She pointed out another one and told me to watch it during the morning. She was sure it was ready to emerge. Well, sure enough…I walked into the kitchen about 10:00 a.m. and there it was, slowly waving its wings back and forth. Maybe I will be able to catch one of the remaining ones as the butterfly emerges. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden | Tagged autumn, butterfly, garden | Comments (1)

apple cake

September 25, 2008 – 5:40 pm

This morning I was perusing the internet and came across a recipe for apple bread on Kitchen Parade. I had the ingredients necessary so decided to try the recipe.

The recipe called for Granny Smith apples. I didn’t have those on hand, but did have Galas, so I used them instead.

I mixed the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, and chopped the apples (left the peel on). The only change I made to the recipe, other than the type of apple (and leaving on the peel), was to add some freshly grated nutmeg with the cinnamon. Freshly grated is a whole ‘nother animal from ground nutmeg. Not the same at all. FYI, I also like to add freshly grated nutmeg to fresh peach pie…oh, yum!

I mixed the dry into the wet, added the apples and stirred, and poured it into a pie plate sprayed with cooking spray. I would have used my dark red pie plate for this if anyone had been home to fetch it down for me. But this one was already on the counter and I don’t climb up to fetch pie plates (or anything else for that matter), so this one was elected by default.

The topping was an easy mix with this favorite kitchen tool. The recipe called for mixing by hand, but I don’t like the feeling of buttery stuff under my fingernails. 😛

Ready for the oven.

Smelled so good while baking! The recipe calls for 30 minutes at 400*. My oven runs a bit hot, and I should have taken it out at about 27 minutes for a lighter top, but it didn’t affect the flavor adversely.

Had to taste test it, didn’t I??…

Delish! DD had a slice for an after school snack and pronounced it “very good!” 🙂

I think I will make it again and try a few other changes…I want to try a T. of veggie oil, and 3 T. of apple butter (or applesauce) instead of the 4 T. of butter in the batter. Maybe I’ll add a tablespoon of milled flax. And I think I’ll try it with 1/4 c. of brown sugar and 1/4 c. of honey instead of 1/2 c. of white sugar…the honey might add a nice flavor.

I’ll let you know… ~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Tagged apple, apple cake, recipe | Comments (5)

bye bye, butterfly

September 25, 2008 – 9:49 am

The first butterfly emerged two days ago. Another one yesterday. And another one this morning!

We waited until DH came home after work to release the first one. He had to carefully take the screen off the top of the tank as two caterpillars have decided to attach to it to pupate. Silly bugs.

The butterfly is a female, which you can tell by the blue on her wings. She sat on DD’s finger for a long time. When we released the second butterfly yesterday, it didn’t wait for a photo op. It sprang into the air and took off for the top of the maple.

DD set the butterfly on a butterfly bush blossom and she seemed quite content to rest there.

DD was able to watch the third butterfly emerge this morning before I came downstairs. When I asked if she took pictures, she said, “No, I was too excited.” 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in caterpillars, our garden | Tagged butterfly | Comments (1)

autumn picture gallery

September 24, 2008 – 10:15 am

Cathy, this one’s for you. Savor autumn. ~~Rhonda 🙂

A walk through the little woods behind our house…

Goldenrod.

Elderberry bush sans elderberries…isn’t the pinky red a beautiful color?

The sassafras are beautiful every year.

I love to take pictures at the end of the day. The soft light is so pretty on everything. The trees are just beginning to show some real change. More pictures to come in the days ahead. ~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden | Tagged autumn, garden, woods | Comments (1)

first butterfly!

September 23, 2008 – 10:42 am

We now have eleven chrysalises in our butterfly tank and the first butterfly emerged today.

I’m posting this photo in a large size so you can see the amazing beauty and detail of the wing scales. Isn’t God’s gift of creation amazing?

Buttercup is fascinated!

We put some butterfly bush blossoms and a couple of purple coneflower blossoms in the tank to provide nectar. When she gets home from school, DD will release the butterfly in the back yard.

We’re hoping to watch a butterfly as it emerges. If we do, I’ll post some pictures.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in caterpillars | Tagged butterfly | Comments (0)

it’s bethany…calling from the philippines :)

September 22, 2008 – 10:32 pm

Sunday evening, the mission team that went to West Virginia this summer gave their report to the church. Bethany, who was on the team and is now in the Philippines, joined us via Skype which John set up. DH especially liked John’s high tech bucket. 🙂

After the report, while we had snacks, everyone got to talk to Bethany, and she was introduced to Margaret who was born after Bethany left. 🙂

It was great to see Bethany “face to face” and to have her input in the mission report. We all miss her a great deal!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Bethel | Tagged Bethel | Comments (0)

menu plan monday ~ september 22, 2008

September 22, 2008 – 9:08 am

How can it possibly be this late in the year already? Summer flew by. Autumn is here. I wish sleeping was unnecessary. I could use the extra time!

Laura’s theme for OrganizingJunkie’s menu plan monday is “Family Favorites” this week, so I have included a few of ours in this week’s menu. You will find other menu ideas and lots of family favorites on Laura’s site, if you care to pop over there to peruse them.

Monday *Family Favorite*
baby back ribs in the oven
baked yukon gold potatoes (microwave)
coleslaw with peanuts and craisins
corn on the cob

We all love ribs, and I made them myself for the first time this summer. So easy and so delicious. I placed them on a foil lined cookie sheet and baked them in a 250* oven for four hours. After two hours (turned them once), I slathered them with BBQ sauce and continued baking, turning them a time or two. I loosely covered them with foil after putting the sauce on.

When they were done, I removed the foil and put them under the broiler for a few minutes to char the BBQ sauce a little. So good!

Tuesday
crockpot chicken with homemade noodles *Family Favorite*
spinach salad with strawberries
asparagus

I plan to cook the chicken in the crock pot, but make the noodles on the stove top. I’ll add them, a teaspoon of celery seed, some ground pepper, and a can or two of cream of chicken soup to the crock pot when the chicken has cooked and is shredded. Some light sour cream stirred into the chicken and noodles just before serving makes them even better.

Wednesday *Family Favorite*
salmon with dijon mustard
steamed red potatoes
steamed broccoli
corn

Thursday
hamburgers / 40 min. buns
chips / veggies / dip

These hamburger buns are so easy to make. I’ll make four buns for supper and make the rest as rolls for snacking. DD loves them any time.

Friday Trying a new recipe…
taco stuffed pasta shells
green salad

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday *Family Favorite*
crockpot pork chops with stuffing
Brussels sprouts
corn
spinach salad

I leave the onion out of the pork chop recipe (DH is allergic to onions) and substitute about a Tablespoon of dry onion soup mix.

If you don’t plan a weekly menu, I encourage you to do so. Meals become much easier to prepare when you have a plan. And easier to prepare means you and your family will enjoy a more relaxed meal time atmosphere. That is always good!

~~Rhonda 🙂

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

caterpillar club

September 21, 2008 – 8:42 pm

We’re raising caterpillars we found on the parsley in the garden. We did the same two years ago. It’s fascinating to watch them grow and change, molting as they get larger.

We use a large fish tank to house them, and a piece of window screen with an elastic band to top the tank. To keep their parsley fresh, we use a small plastic container with holes in the lid. We filled the container with potting soil, soaked with water.

The parsley is pushed into the holes in the container lid. The water keeps it fresh and the dirt helps to hold it upright.

All the holes are filled with parsley. It’s amazing how quickly the caterpillars will eat everything put out for them.

In the tank, there is also a small vase with parsley. This is the “nursery” where we keep eggs and newly hatched caterpillars as they are too small to put with the larger ones. The larger caterpillars are becoming so voracious they might eat the parsley right out from under the tiny ones.

If you look closely, you will also see the sticks we put into the tank for chrysalis formation.

Newspaper lining the bottom makes cleanup easy. The caterpillars are eating and pooping machines. The only other things they do are rest and molt. 🙂 Here’s a video I took of one of our caterpillars eating a parsley leaf. In real time. I didn’t speed it up! Click here.

We now have ten chrysalises and another caterpillar will be a chrysalis by tomorrow. Two others have failed to develop properly. DH brought more parsley in this AM and found two newly hatched caterpillars on one stem. They are so tiny! We put them in the nursery vase and will keep an eye on them.

Because it is late in the season, the butterflies may not emerge until next April or May. We shall see!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in caterpillars | Tagged butterflies, caterpillars | Comments (1)

gotta new fridge

September 20, 2008 – 9:54 pm

We’ve had a lot of trouble with the old refrigerator. It finally died on Wednesday, and we ordered a new one. DH picked it up today. I didn’t even clean up the mess before taking a picture.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in home | Tagged kitchen | Comments (3)

autumn evening

September 18, 2008 – 8:11 pm

A few pictures from our garden this evening…

The cedar trees are making berries. I wish they’d stay on the tree through Christmas, but they are usually gone by then. They’d be so pretty in Christmas garlands and wreaths.

Of course, the goldenrod is in full bloom.

The dogwood leaves are beginning to turn. The trees are loaded with blossoms for next year. This spring there were not many blossoms at all…not sure why. But next year, there should be a bountiful crop.

The coneflowers keep putting out blossoms. And the goldfinches are eagerly eating all the coneflower seeds they can find.

This little brown moth didn’t mind at having his picture taken.

Most of the daisies are done blooming, but there are one or two pretty blossoms in each clump.

All over the yard there are single blossoms on flowers that were blooming prolifically not so long ago. As though they are putting out one last effort before winter arrives.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in flowers, our garden | Tagged autumn, garden | Comments (0)

Christmas Notebook

the garden in autumn

apple cake

bye bye, butterfly

autumn picture gallery

first butterfly!

it’s bethany…calling from the philippines :)

menu plan monday ~ september 22, 2008

caterpillar club

gotta new fridge

autumn evening

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