Christmas Notebook

walking the yard

May 9, 2008 – 4:57 pm

This afternoon, I took a walk around the yard to cut some iris that had fallen in the rain. We’ve had more than 3″ of rain since Wednesday, with more coming Sunday to Wednesday. DH stopped by on his lunch hour and we walked around the front yard to see the newly opened irises. But I began at the back door…

At the back door, this little garden bed holds a birdbath and a dogwood tree.

The dogwood leaves are the most lovely shade of green.

The hostas are looking great this year. This is ‘Samauri’ on the left and ‘Waving Wuffles’ on the right.

The fenced garden is looking nice.

How pretty is this mini geranium amidst the sedum?

At the front porch, the columbine bed is a mass of pale pink.

Zak watched as we went by the front porch.

In the front yard we have several beds full of the iris ‘Immortality,’ which has stood up to all the rain better than some of the other irises have.

Happy followed us all over the yard. She loves DH. I snapped a picture of her near one of the Korean lilacs. They are just starting to bloom this week.

Unknown Iris

Iris ‘Red at Night’

Iris ‘Feminine Fire’

Meadow sage in one of the daylily beds…

After the walk, on the way back into the house, I snapped this picture of my little pump fountain.

Love the yard this time of year! ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden, spring | Tagged cat, flowers, garden, hostas, iris, spring | Comments (3)

did you see that teddy bear?

May 8, 2008 – 10:27 am

What teddy bear??

As we drove through a small town yesterday, DH saw this dumpster with bear. I missed it first time around, but he asked if I wanted to go back for a picture (I always carry my camera when possible). So we drove around the block and there was teddy, topping the dumpster pile.

An added note of amusement…that’s an 8-track box next to teddy. I wonder how long they were hanging on to that???

I like the picture. Something sort of sad and nostalgic about it, but a little humorous, as well. The weathered building, dilapidated window, etc., all add to the ambiance. 🙂

I was glad I had my camera. It was a fun shot that I would have been sorry to miss. It was actually the only photo set I took yesterday. With all the rain we’ve had, the garden was too wet for picture taking (hate to get my shoes wet) and I was so busy with other things, the camera didn’t see much action.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged teddy bear, trash | Comments (1)

chicken and noodles

May 7, 2008 – 4:39 pm

DD was excited to try her hand at making the noodles for supper for last night.

After simmering the chicken (in enough water to cover, with some dry onion, garlic, celery seed, about 1 tsp basil, 2 tsp chicken bouillon, and salt and pepper), I diced it and returned it to the broth, which I brought back to a boil.

DD gathered the noodle ingredients and made the dough.

1 cup flour
1 egg
2-4 Tablespoons milk (depending on dryness)

She did all the work except for the last of the rolling. It was hard for her to put enough pressure on the dough to make it thin enough.

She enjoyed cutting them…thought that was fun.

She even did the work of dropping them (carefully!) into the boiling broth.

I added one can of cream of chicken soup to the mix. Delicious! And we had enough left over to share with a friend.

DD enjoys cooking and we’re going to try other cooking lessons this summer. Teaching her to make noodles was not hard at all. And she really enjoyed eating them after she had made them herself. We’ll be making them again soon, I’m sure.

Added note…we’ve made these many times since. Easy to make and delicious with chicken or beef.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in family, Recipes | Tagged chicken and noodles, cooking, DD#3, kitchen, recipe | Comments (11)

first irises of the season

May 6, 2008 – 11:28 pm

The old old purple irises from DH’s family farm are always the first to bloom in our yard, along with the few early dwarf iris. Those vintage purple ones were blooming well when this picture was taken May 1.

This iris is more purple than the picture shows. We brought this one from our previous home where I had purchased it as part of a six piece collection from one of those generic sort of garden mail-order catalogs. That collection played a big part in sparking my interest in irises. So many colors! Who knew! Trouble is, I don’t remember the name of this one…

This small vintage iris came from the family homestead of DH’s great-aunt Lydia. The house is no longer there, but several years ago, as we drove by, we spotted these little white irises growing among the weeds and we liberated a few to bloom in our own yard.

And then there is ‘Immortality’…one of my very favorite irises. It smells wonderful! It’s beautiful, early, prolific and, as an added bonus, it is a rebloomer, given enough moisture. Because we don’t water the gardens once plants are established, we had no reblooming ‘Immortality’ last year due to the summer drought. I hope that is not the case again this year.

This little brown iris was in the yard when we bought our home in 1994. Planted against a brick wall of similar color, it was lost. We’ve moved it around the yard and appreciate it’s early bloom.

My dear friend Liz gave a bag of irises to me years ago when we lived in our previous home. This is my favorite of those. Because I don’t know its rightful name, I call it “Liz’s big white.” 🙂

The Raspberry Blush are so beautiful this year. I plan to move some to the front yard this summer, as well as a few to the west side of the yard. Spread the wealth. 🙂

In the excitement of the robin rescue, I forgot to get a picture of ‘City Lights’ which also opened today. I’ll snap that one tomorrow.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden, spring | Tagged flowers, garden, iris, spring | Comments (2)

rescued robin

May 6, 2008 – 9:07 pm

While walking the yard this afternoon to take pictures of the newly opened irises, I found this poor robin hanging from a string wrapped around his foot. I snapped this picture while DD ran inside to get some scissors so we could rescue him.

Thankfully, he was low enough in the tree that I was able to grab the end of the branch and pull him down where I could get my hand around him. I cut the nylon string, then had to do a little detail work to get it off his foot. It was wrapped around the foot several times.

The string was not so embedded that I couldn’t snip it off with the tiny scissors. I thought DD (ten yrs old) did a great job with these pictures of the "surgery." That’s what I get for letting her play with the camera. 🙂

The robin looked very healthy overall. His eyes were bright and he didn’t look thin or dehydrated. He flew off to another tree as soon as I loosened my grip. DD was disappointed with that because she had found a nice fat worm to feed to him. His leg was hanging down as he flew, but DD saw him sitting in another tree. We are praying he’ll be fine in a day or two. DD was upset about the whole thing, but glad to see the bird was able to fly.

Last year DD20 found a robin in the wading pool. Chilled to the bone. We warmed a towel and got his body temperature back up. He seemed fine after that. DD10 is sure this is the same bird. 😉

“Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.” Matthew 10:29-31

Not only does God care for us, He cares for the sparrows. And the robins. 🙂

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in our garden, spring | Tagged bird, garden, rescue, robin, spring | Comments (5)

quilt-along, block #2 ~ snowflake quilt

May 6, 2008 – 1:12 pm

The second quilt-along block for the snowflake quilt is done. I had a little help this time. Buttercup was very curious about what was going on.

Finished block.

The first two blocks (of 13).

I wondered if there would be enough contrast between the lighter snowflake fabric and the white, but it works fine.

Here’s a sewing tip. When I have a piece of solid fabric which looks the same from both sides, I always put a pin on the right side before I wash it, and keep it on the fabric as I cut it as a reminder of which side is the "right" side. Though I can usually tell by looking at a selvage which is the right side and the wrong side, if the selvages have been cut off, the pin is particularly helpful.

This piece of fabric has been in my stash in the attic for more than 12 years. It went up there when we moved into this house and it’s been there waiting for me ever since. Today, when I needed it for the snowflake quilt top, there was the pin, telling me which side was the right side. Love it.

Happy sewing! ~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in quilting | Tagged quilt along, quilting | Comments (1)

quilt-along ~ block #2

May 6, 2008 – 11:41 am

Amandajean’s quilt-along is in week 2. It’s a star quilt.

I spent yesterday working in the yard, so didn’t get to the block until today, but it went together easily. I need to find some white fabric to go with the snowflake fabric in the second top I’m making in this quilt-along. I’ll post that block later.

Finished block.

The first two blocks. The center of the second block looks whiter in this picture than it actually is.

I’m making the first quilt top in muted pinks, yellow, and creams and plan to use it in the guest room which I am wanting to redecorate in a sort of shabby chic / country style.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in quilting | Tagged quilt, quilt along | Comments (0)

Menu Monday

May 5, 2008 – 9:32 am

One of the first things I do on Mondays is make a menu and a grocery list. It’s a helpful habit to get into and I encourage you to do the same if you don’t currently plan a weekly menu. It doesn’t have to be a Monday. Pick the day of the week that works best for you, but do give it a try.

Our menu for this week is

Monday
leftovers
coleslaw

We have leftover BBQ ribs, a few hamburgers, and some taco meat. All of which needs to be used. Monday is generally DH’s busiest day of the week and I can’t depend on a regular dinner time on Mondays, so I try to have something easy, something DD and I can go ahead and eat without making it an ordeal to have something for DH later. Leftovers fit the bill. Other usual Monday night meals are hamburgers, sloppy joes, tacos, etc.

Tuesday
chicken and noodles
salad
asparagus
corn (corn on the cob if I can get it, frozen otherwise)

I try to think “a green one and a yellow one” when deciding on veggies for a meal.

Wednesday
sloppy joes on whole wheat buns
veggies and dip

DD has music lessons after school and supper needs to be quick and easy, something I can fix in a hurry or have ready ahead of time. Wednesday is also DH’s day off, so time is at a premium, especially this time of year when we want to be outside in the garden, not inside fixing dinner.

Thursday
tilapia
coleslaw
peas
corn
salad

I put the fish in a single layer on a baking pan lined with no-stick foil sprayed with cooking spray.

Drizzle the fish with lemon juice if you like, or add some to the Parmesan/mayo mixture.

Mix 1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese and 3 T. light mayonnaise and spread on fish.
Mix 1/2 c. Italian bread crumbs, 1 T. basil, 1 T. oregano, 1 tsp. dry onion flakes, salt/pepper and sprinkle it over the fish.

Bake at 400*F for 10-15 minutes, depending on how many fillets you are using and how thick they are.

Friday
spaghetti with tomato sauce
salad
stir-fried sugar snap peas and cherry tomatoes (tomatoes are added at the last minute)
corn on the cob
garlic bread

I might make meatballs for myself. DH and DD don’t care for them, but I do. The easy, easy (and yummy!), four ingredient recipe I use is in this post.

Saturday is always leftovers.

Sunday is Mother’s Day. That means DH will grill.
pork steaks because I love them
salad
baked potatoes
veggies / dip
corn

There are a lot of blogs that talk about Menu Monday and the importance of making a weekly menu. You can google “menu monday” and come up with lots of sites for browsing for ideas.

I’m an Organizing Junkie has some useful information you might enjoy reading. At the end of each Menu Plan Monday post, she has links to many other blogs with their own menus for the particular week you are looking at. Lots of idea fodder there.

You can also google “menu planning” for more helpful sites. But don’t spend all your time browsing ideas. Write something down for your own menu! Having a menu in place does so much for making your week easier. You know ahead of time what you’re having, you have the ingredients on hand because you’ve already done your shopping, you can plan for healthier and better balanced meals, you don’t have to run to the store at the last minute wondering what to fix for supper (saves money!)…there are many benefits to planning ahead!

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu, Recipes | Tagged menu, Menu Monday, recipe, tilapia with parmesan cheese | Comments (0)

the-long-bed-under-the-big-oak

May 4, 2008 – 11:35 am

We have a lot of flowerbeds in the yard. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to designate them. We’ve never figured out how to name them in an organized manner, so some of them have long names. 🙂 This bed is under the Southern Oak (which we call “the big oak”) behind the house. I don’t remember just when we first made the bed, but it has been five or six years perhaps, maybe longer. The branches of the tree have grown enough to make it shadier than it used to be and the bed had been neglected for quite a while. We haven’t updated it over the years, haven’t kept it full. It gets enough “mulch” from all the oak leaves, that nothing takes root in it besides grape vines and Virginia Creeper. Friday evening we worked on removing those. When that was done, we could see there was quite a bit of filling in to do.

The first thing I wanted to move was the Lenten Rose from the front yard near the mail box to the long bed under the big oak. The Lenten Rose had been sited under flowering almond that had kept it sheltered and shaded. Last year, we had a late hard freeze in April which killed the almond all the way back to the ground. This year it has sprouted a few small stems and will make a come back eventually, but it isn’t able to shelter the hellebore any longer.

After the Lenten Rose was in, we shopped the yard for hostas to move into this bed.

DH was on call, so of course there were interruptions. He took care of them over the phone and didn’t have to leave, which was great.

We put lots of columbine in the bed. It makes a great filler, reseeds itself readily, which is nice in some situations. It is always easy to pull out or move the plants you don’t want in the bed. These came from the bed near the front steps where we have a small fountain in a sea of columbine.

The bed is finished for now. Once the daylilies on the sunnier west end have bloomed, so we can be sure what is what, we will pull out the ditch lilies and replant with some of our favorite varieties.