Pear Trouble

anjou blossoms

For some reason, the moonglow pear tree is not blossoming this year. The anjou is very happy, though, so I'm heading over the bridge to see if I can find a blossoming pollinator. Elsewhere in the garden, there is another pair.

tulip and candlestick dance

The beach is open

guess who was the first one in?
it felt so good to swim.

someone had brought this net
and the girls got very interested in catching fish

the big picture

this is directly across from the swimming hole.
what is it? you tell me.

driving past the downtown park on the way home,
the 6yo shouted that someone was on a wire.
i circled the car back so we could take a close look.

the car was parked right next to this magnolia.

It was a glorious day.

Other People's Cats

I was outside hanging laundry when I heard the familiar meow of the neighbor's cat, Tony. It didn't take long in his tenure here to figure out that I am the one in the neighborhood with spare keys. When my neighbors are at work, Tony comes to my door and meows to be let in. I tell him I'll go get the spare keys and he can meet me across the street. He runs across and waits at the door and I come over and let him in.

The thing that made it odd this morning was that his owner was out in the yard, so I didn't pay any attention to his cries. I finished hanging the laundry and went inside. A few minutes later, the girls shouted, "Tony is on the roof!"





I managed to run into the house, grab the camera, and get this shot just before he figured out how to reach up and crawl in the open window he'd crawled out of. His owner informed me that he was being quarantined because he had caught a bat a few days earlier, and since they had tossed the bat out in their shock, Tony isn't allowed outside for a while.

A New Direction

Though the girls are only 8 & 6,
I look at this picture and see the future.
It looks beautiful.

sharing the garden

my first garden tragedy this year
i have been checking the tulips' blooming progress
yesterday afternoon, i found two of them had been decapitated

the girls and i were happy to discover this robin's nest yesterday

i found this bee hanging out here this morning

I had gone outside to take pictures of the remaining tulips.

tulips in the morning light

a long view of the side garden

pictures in color

I'm surprised my point-and-shoot camera was able to do this well.
I took the shot from the driver's seat, in the left turn lane at a stop light.
I saw this man standing in the rain on the opposite corner.
I managed to find my camera before the green light and zoom it for all it was worth!

Creative playground.

A snorg-tee model of a certain age...

The tulips are almost open.

Tonight's supper made a lovely picture, so the 8yo told me to take one!

Peace.

The potatoes are in!

artists who blog

Thank you all for inspiration.

Around the garden today

It has looked like rain without raining all day, so I was putting off watering the new plantings. I finally figured I better get out there. Here is what I found...

our very first peach blossom

the glowing forsythia

the tulip who had the misfortune to volunteer under the fence

peas and toes

Peace.

It feels like Spring

It was a perfect day for watering the mesclun mix while wearing my new shoes.


I also watered the new peach trees and blueberry bushes.

the red haven peach tree

two blueberry bushes stand as sentries
the lars peach tree is back by the compost bin

Crocuses

The crocuses in the main garden have come and gone. These ones are a little shady secret that arrive a week or so later. They always catch me by surprise. I always ponder moving them to a more prominent place. And I always leave them here.

What? No Bacon??

We are a bacon & onion pizza family. Our local shop offers a 2-for-1 deal, and we always get bacon & onion on both pizzas. A few months ago I started making my own [full disclosure: I still buy the dough from Trader Joe's]. I've been getting better and better at it. I planned to make pizza this weekend, but somehow never made it to the country store where we buy our bacon. So what to do?

According to the package directions, take the dough out of the fridge and let it set at room temperature for twenty minutes. While that's happening, put the pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 450F.

Warm olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add two small chopped onions. Cook until transparent. Add 7 or 8 chopped garlic cloves and about 2 cups of chopped chard (full disclosure: I used it straight from the Trader Joe's Rainbow Chard bag]. Stir.

Add fresh ground black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes, rosemary, basil, oregano. Stir and continue cooking until it smells delicious and the greens have shrunk. Add small splash of balsamic vinegar. Cook & stir until it's done sizzling. Turn off heat, but keep pan warm on the stove top.

Stretch & roll out dough(s). I made one a rectangle and put it on an oiled baking sheet (with edges). The other I made a circle on my cornmeal-sprinkled wooden pizza palette.

For cheese, I grated a blend of mozzarella, cheddar, and parmi.

For sauce, I just used crushed tomatoes (no salt added) straight from the can. There was enough seasoning on the greens to flavor everything perfectly.

Assemble and bake until bubbly and golden.

Yum.


Peace.

Eye Candy

"No man with a good car needs to be justified!"

Got Game?

The Garden, 8 April 09

With a few snowflakes falling, we put mulch down on the paths. Then, Jill and I rolled some stumps from down the street to make garden seats.

a view of the main garden with mulch & stump

a mulched path to the faucet really helps the stepping stones pop

and the hyacinths, too

ina at the top of the "tree" at her gardening best!

the back garden

the first and biggest stump
we would've stopped with this one
except my neighbor saw us struggling
and offered the use of his dolly

so we went back for a second
and a third

then finally a fourth
(hey, that's rhubarb!)

And now, I'm ready for a garden nap!