We found butterfly eggs on the parsley in the garden and brought in a few sprigs of parsley to hatch the eggs.
Today we have six little caterpillars on the parsley.
In a few days I’ll post the set up of the fish tank we use for raising caterpillars.
~~Rhonda
DD#2’s cat, Zilli, is a very relaxed kitty.
She slept like that for about 20 minutes, but we disturbed her slumber with all the funny pics we were taking of her. 🙂
~~Rhonda
Little plants, called proliferations, sometimes grow from the daylily flower stem. When the stem starts to turn brown, we cut them off and pot them.
Here’s a closeup of one.
A week ago last Wednesday, DH potted 27 daylily proliferations. ‘Little Fat Dazzler’ had 17. It was loaded with them last year, too. The other plants had 1-4 each.
While working around the yard, I took a few pictures. Naturally… 🙂
We haven’t had many rabbits in the garden this year. The outdoor cats take care of population control. This one lives under the hedge on the west side of the front yard. I see another one in the east yard every time I mow.
The cats haven’t managed to catch the fish, but they do like getting a drink from the pump barrel.
Malva sylvestris ‘Zebrina’
This is a great little plant if you don’t mind pulling out some of the seedlings every spring. It reseeds like crazy. Which can be an asset or a liability, depending on your perspective.
It’s nice to see some fresh flowers here and there, though the yard is definitely thinking “autumn.”
~~Rhonda
DD has half an hour of piano practice and half an hour of guitar practice five days a week. She doesn’t practice on the day of lessons and she gets to pick one other day of the week as a “no music practice” day. She chose today this week, so I asked if she would like to make banana chocolate chip muffins. Who would say no to that??
She thinks it’s exciting to gather all the ingredients and mix the recipe.
I figured if she made the treat, she’d own the treat…more likely to want to eat them. 🙂
The recipe made 18.
I changed the recipe just a smidgen and had DD use 1 c. all purpose flour and 1/2 c. whole wheat flour, and we used margarine instead of butter. Next time we’ll try it with 1/4 c. margarine and 1/4 c. applesauce.
Chocolate-Chip Banana Muffins from cooks.com
1/2 c. (1 stick) margarine, softened (or butter)
1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sour cream
2 bananas, mashed well
1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (6 oz.) pkg. Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate morsels (or 1 c.)
Paper muffin cups
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add eggs and mix well.
3. Dissolve baking soda in the sour cream. Let it “rise” for a minute, then add it to the butter and egg mixture. Mix well with beater on medium speed. Add bananas and blend in.
4. Add flour and baking powder together. Mix in thoroughly, but no longer than necessary. Add vanilla. Stir in chocolate chips by hand. Fill muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Recipe makes 18 muffins.
I should have taken a picture of the sour cream and baking soda mixture. DD was VERY impressed with all the bubbling and rising!
DD takes a snack to school each day and wants to take a muffin tomorrow. Success, I’m thinking.
~~Rhonda
I made Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu several weeks ago and DH and DD both loved it. Easy to make and delicious. We had it again yesterday.
The cast of characters:
crockpot (sprayed with cooking spray)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (flattened)
ham slices
Swiss cheese slices
toothpicks (optional)
1 can cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. milk
My butcher shop has the largest chicken breasts I’ve ever seen. Must be giant chickens. For this recipe, the chicken breast should be flattened. Put it between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound it with a mallet or with a rolling pin until it’s about 1/4 thick. Or, you can do as I did, and ask the butcher to put the chicken through the cuber. I didn’t pound the chicken any thinner and it worked great.
Place a slice or two of Swiss cheese on the chicken. How much you use will depend on how large the piece of meat is.
On top the cheese, layer a slice of ham. I used Virginia baked ham from the deli.
Roll the chicken and the cheese and ham layers together. You can use a toothpick or two to hold the roll together, if needed. My rolls stayed together fine without the toothpicks. I set them into the crockpot with the seam side down.
Nestle the four rolls into the crockpot.
Mix together the cream soup and the 1/4 c. of milk.
Spread the sauce over the chicken.
Cover and cook on high for four hours.
Supper was chicken, steamed green beans from the garden, tomatoes from the garden, corn, and spinach salad with strawberries and pecans.
The pieces were large enough that half a piece made a nice size portion. That left us with plenty of leftovers. I’m sure we will be making this again in the near future.
~~Rhonda
Yesterday DD and I tried our hand at making focaccia, an Italian flat bread. I used this recipe, which was good, but am going to try a different one next time (using milk instead of water), in an effort to find one we LOVE. I added 1/2 tsp. salt and about a tablespoon of olive oil to the dough because my instincts told me to. Good reason or not? Not sure… 🙂
Anyway, DD enjoyed making bread and the recipe is very easy. The bread was good, but I think we baked it a little too long. I’d like it a bit softer.
After mixing the dough, we kneaded it. I did most of this, as the dough was very stiff and it was difficult for DD to knead by herself.
After the bread rose and was punched down, we stretched it into a rectangular shape and placed it on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. DD brushed olive oil over the top and I sprinkled freshly grated sea salt over the oil.
It smelled good while baking!
To serve, I cut it into serving size pieces with a pizza cutter, lifted the parchment and dropped the whole thing, paper and all, into a bread basket. It was very good with our supper of spaghetti and meatballs.
Focaccia is delicious dipped in olive oil that has freshly grated black pepper in it. Yum!
~~Rhonda
We’re home after a short trip north. Saturday afternoon DH took DD to a water park while I enjoyed several hours in a book store.
Sunday we worshiped with my sister at her church, then spent the afternoon at her house. DD had a good time with her first cousin once removed, Tshepo. He and his mom (my niece) will be traveling to South Africa later this week to join his dad, where they will serve as missionaries for the next five years.
On the way home this evening, I took some pictures out the car window of the beautiful, long lasting sunset. I especially like this picture.
The coming week doesn’t have any big events scheduled. I think I’m glad. 😉
Monday
spaghetti / meatballs
green salad
corn / peas
foccacia
Tuesday
crockpot chicken cordon bleu
asparagus
corn
spinach salad
Wednesday
porksteaks on the grill
coleslaw
tomatoes
sweet ‘n sour cucumbers
green beans
Thursday
tilapia
corn on the cob
steamed red potatoes
green beans
green salad
Friday
shrimp
green salad
rice
broccoli / cauliflower / carrots
Saturday
leftovers
Sunday ~ dinner at church
crockpot lasagna
Triple Chocolate Mess
ice cream
Crock Pot Lasagna
You will need the following four items to make the lasagna:
Meat Mixture
Mix together:
1 pound ground round, browned (with a diced onion if you wish)
Sauce
3-4 c. spaghetti sauce of your choice
Noodles
8 lasagna noodles, dry and broken into pieces
Cheese Mixture
Mix together:
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2 c. ricotta cheese
3 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
3 eggs
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese
Spray a crock pot with cooking spray. Place enough spaghetti sauce on the bottom to cover the pan. Layer 1/3 of the noodles, then 1/3 cheese mixture, and then 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat with two more layers. Top with 1 c. mozzarella cheese.
Cook on high for three to four hours or on low for 6-8.
You’ll find more menu ideas here.
~~Rhonda
Yesterday, DH and I worked in the garden a bit. We pulled grass and weeds from the lettuce beds and prepared them for a fall crop. I took a few pictures around the yard.
The garlic chives are beginning to bloom. The flower stalks are pretty in a large group, making a striking picture. I wish I could capture what it looks like in the garden. The picture doesn’t do it justice.
Just beginning to open, these buds look like they’re sharing a first kiss.
The berries on the red stemmed dogwood shrub are beginning to ripen. A pretty shade of purple.
I’ve been using the flowers stalks from the hosta ‘Royal Standard’ in bouquets for church.
The redbud trees are beginning to get a few yellow leaves. A first step toward winter.
Blue this summer, now the hydrangeas are a soft pink.
I didn’t get a great picture of this little guy, but the hummingbird clearwing moth was fun to watch as he flew from flower to flower.
Here you can see the wings.
There’s always something new to see in the garden. I’m sorry fall is coming on already. It has its own beauty, but I love spring and summer the best. Especially spring. 🙂
~~Rhonda
Seems that fall is trying to inch its way in. The garden has that look…kind of tired. Parts are overrun with weeds, parts have plants that are just beginning their trip into dormancy with leaves starting to turn yellow. The dogwood tree has a few red leaves on it, and the elm trees along the edge of our property are dropping tired old leaves.
But there’s plenty of pretty left. The surprise lilies have been abundant and beautiful this year. I’ve used them in bouquets for church the last three Sundays.
I dug the original bulbs for the surprise lilies pictured below from Grandma Ruth’s garden, as well as some lily of the valley from the west side of her house. I’m glad to have them.
There are still some surprise lilies just opening. They have a beautiful shade of bluey-pink when first open.
The hostas are flowering, too.
Some in lavender.
Some in white.
In the fenced garden there are a few hollyhocks putting out fresh looking blooms, but most are about done and hard at work ripening seeds.
‘Zebrina’ looks like a miniature hollyhock, but it is actually a malva. A beautiful little flower that seeds itself all over the place. Could be good, could be bad. Depends on how willing you are to yank out seedlings when they come up where you don’t want them.
A great flowering shrub for this time of year are the crepe myrtles. Huge splashes of color in the yard. We have red, white, pink, and a red/white one called ‘Peppermint Lace.’ Here’s a pretty pink one.
The grasses are pretty this time of year, too, sparkling in the sunshine when the breeze moves the long arching leaves.
Out in the back of the yard, where we have a little woods, the ironweed is blooming. Such a beautiful shade of purple.
The ironweed blossoms are about half an inch wide.
The elderberries are ripening.
Near the back door, we have the potted plants that come out in summer and go back in for the winter. I don’t have many, as I’m not good with houseplants, but I do like the papyrus and the rubber trees.
It will be time to move those back in before I am ready, I’m sure. ~~Rhonda