Garden Glimpses

Today's Harvest

Victory, Sweet Victory!

It was the black licorice bits from the bulk foods section at Giant that did the trick!!  (If you only knew how desperate I was to catch this guy!)  Be assured, there are still some more of his/her buddies to catch!

Off we go for a little drive....

:)

Garlic Scape Season Has Arrived!

Hooray, my garlic scapes are finally ready for harvesting!!  They're a little small this year - not sure if it's because I didn't get my garlic planted until very late in the season last year, or what the case is.  But, either way, they will be yummy!

Tonight's dinner menu:

Roast Chicken

Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto

Strawberry Salad with Candied Almonds

Strawberry-Rhubarb Slab Pie

:)

PS -  The pie I baked yesterday totally bombed in every way, but I'm going to eat it anyway - it was way too much work and way too expensive to toss.  First of all, I broke my "eat-only-what-you-grow" rule because I had to buy strawberries since my strawberry crop was really skimpy this year.  (I put new plants in this spring, so should be in good shape next year, but this year was a bummer - only a handful here and there.)   Thankfully, my farm down the road had organic strawberries at a good price - cheaper than the non-organic strawberries at Root's! Then, when I was ready to bake the pie, I went out to the garden to harvest some rhubarb, only to discover I didn't have enough.  :(  :(  Since the crust was already made, and the strawberries already purchased, I headed off in search of rhubarb.  After driving all over the place and stopping at a number of roadside produce stands, I finally found some at  the sweet little Amish stand where I've bought some in the past. As I was finishing up the pie, I kept thinking, "I don't remember the recipe calling for orange zest, I don't remember it calling for this much rhubarb, I don't remember crust recipe calling for so much butter, etc., etc."  It wasn't until I sampled it (after I had WAY over baked it - note that I didn't say burned!), and it had bubbled out all over the oven that it dawned on me that I had used the WRONG recipe.   (I have no idea how that happened - I am pretty meticulous about my recipe file....)  I was so BUMMED!!!  This is one of my all-time favorite recipes, and I had been looking forward to making it all spring.  The final product is just not that good....  I made a huge pan to hand out and  freeze for future desserts, so I will be eating not-so-great Strawberry-Rhubarb pie for a long time to come....  

:(  :(  :(

Note:  Be assured that the link above is to the recipe I should have used!

Today's Harvest

Sugar Snap Peas

Today's Harvest

Mercury Free!

I am officially mercury free!!  After five visits to the dentist (not something for the faint of heart!), my mercury fillings have been safely removed and replaced, thanks to Dr. Allison.  

I am wearing this button proudly!

:)

Beauty Sighting

Bank Pillows

Aren't these cool?!  A friend asked me to stitch pillows out of some old bank bags she found when she was cleaning out her parents' home.  Her father worked for the bank in his previous life, so these have sentimental value for her.

:)

Garden Glimpses

Memorial Day...

For as long as I can remember, on the Sunday evening of Memorial Day weekend, my parents would make their annual trek to the local cemeteries to place flowers on the grave sites of close relatives that had passed on.  This rite was especially important to my father in later years.  So, this evening, the PA siblings carried on the sacred tradition in honor of our parents.

My favorite stop was this especially lovely old cemetery in Mercersburg, PA.  It was a spectacular spring evening and there was breathtaking beauty to behold in every direction, especially the enormous old trees...

Our final stop was my parents' burial site.  

So very bittersweet....

This Week's Loveliness

Love this pile of goodies I acquired this week!  

These "Old New 30's" fat quarters came in the mail from Shay's Etsy shop, Simply Sweet Fabric.

This embroidered piece and floss are from my weekly thrift shop browsing.  It's not like I needed any more embroidery floss, but I couldn't pass up the lovely colors, especially when the thrift shop's proceeds go to a good cause.

And, this sweet piece...

... and vintage twill tape are from my latest discovery, the Lancaster Creative Reuse, basically a thrift shop of sewing and crafting supplies - love it!!

:)  :)  :)

Farmette Farewell

My dear friends Elma & Leo are moving to a retirement cottage next week, so this was my last opportunity to photograph some of my quilts on their property.

I love their out buildings....

I've taken pictures of their property in the past as evidenced here and here.

Click here for more photos of the quilt photo shoot!

I forgot, beloved asparagus....

... that eating in season means eating asparagus at just about every meal....

Roasted Asparagus...

...Lemon Orzo Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Asparagus...

... Mushroom and Asparagus Risotto...

...Quinoa Salad with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Asparagus...

... Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Dressing...

...Pizza with Ricotta, Asparagus and Sun Dried Tomatoes...

Yum!  But, oh my....  And at the same time, I'm oh so grateful!

Contemplating Pansies

I never get tired of looking at this pot of pansies sitting on my patio table...

This pot was from last fall.  But then winter hit us early, fast and hard.

These pansies would have normally have ended up on the compost pile, but that never happened with the early snow and frozen soil.  So instead, I stuck the pot in the garage, planning to dump it in the spring.

But this fellow survived the cold garage with no light or water.

Come spring  when I went to dump it, I discovered it was still alive, even though very pale and leggy.  So, I gave it some water, moved it into the sunlight, and added some fertilizer. 

It's just now hitting its prime.

It has way more character and form than a 6-pack of pansies fresh from the greenhouse.

Makes me think about how God so graciously and miraculously restores and redeems our sickly lives....

I wanna look just like this some day!

Happy Mother's Day

Isn't this a lovely pitcher?  I picked it up at the thrift shop last month with visions of exactly this.

Love the detailing....

Lilacs remind me so much of my mother....  Her birthday was May 6th, and I would often pick a bouquet of lilacs from the enormous old bush that we had on the farm.in celebration of her birthday or Mother's Day.  She would have turned 85 this year.

My mother is gone - almost 11 years now.  That old lilac bush is gone too.  But, I love Mother's day, even though I no longer have a mother or grandmother who is still living, or have a mother-in-law, or children who can honor me.  But, I can honor and celebrate the day, the memories, and the mothering I enjoy doing to the children in my life.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today