Photograph courtesy of Pampe/WetCanvas Reference LibraryToday is the anniversary of the Invasion of Normandy. Gratitude should fill all our hearts today for those who served. You can read a brief history of Normandy here: Normandy
Rusty, our Maine Coon Cat, is a beautiful animal…but unfortunately when he isn’t hiding from the ringing of the doorbell or other “intrusive” noises, he is rather grumpy.
My grandsons, even though they’ve received nothing but hissing and growls from Rusty, can’t seem to give up on him. Sweet boys…they create toys for him out of pipe-cleaners and talk to him with soft voices, precious overtures in hopes of making friends with him. Rusty’s response…well the old cliche a picture says a thousand words is the perfect explanation.
Oh dear…it’s sad but true, you are never going to please some pets, just as you won’t please some people. Love them…but get over attempting to make them happy and move on. Happy Thursday to You!
Pineapple on sale…only $1.99 apiece. Terrific! Only problem is I don’t like eating pineapple by itself…hmmm…grandchildren over for dinner, how best would they like to eat the pineapple? I decided on baked pineapple casserole. When I looked for a recipe on the Internet all I found were recipes for canned pineapple. Not an option when you have a gigantic pineapple waiting to be eaten. Finally on the site Big Oven, I found a recipe for a fresh pineapple casserole. You can find that recipe here: Fresh Pineapple and Cheese Casserole
I cut the pineapple up into small chunks as instructed, and began putting the casserole together, only to discover I did not have the proper ingredients. I had no Ritz crackers, and my shredded cheese was flavored for Tacos. RATS! What to do with all the pineapple I had cut? I decided to use what I had on hand. Soda crackers and the Taco flavored cheese would have to stand in for the proper ingredients. I also chose to add a bit of brown sugar to the recipe to mimic the richness of the Ritz Crackers.
Oh MY! The casserole was delicious. Everyone from young to well, hmmm…older, enjoyed the pineapple cheese casserole and asked for more. Here is my altered recipe. I am sure Big Oven’s recipe is terrific too since most of the ingredients listed were also in my casserole.
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Butter (melted)
1 c Fresh pineapple; chunks ( make the chunks smaller rather than larger, a few of mine stayed a little hard)
3 tbs Flour
1 1/4 Cups soda crackers; crushed into small and large crumbs
1 Cup shredded Taco seasoned cheddar cheese
2 TBS brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13 x 9 baking pan or dish. Mix sugar and flour together. Stir pineapple into the flour and sugar. Pour into a greased baking dish. (I like glass for this recipe, you can also use a large round casserole dish) Sprinkle with taco cheese in an even layer on top. Add 1/2 cracker crumbs dry, spaced evenly. Drizzle with half the melted butter. Mix remaining crackers and butter in small bowl. Sprinkle this evenly over top of casserole. Sprinkle 2tbs brown sugar evenly over the top of casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes until the topping is crispy and slightly golden brown with bubbly edges. Remove and cool till set. (10-20 minutes) The casserole can be served hot or at room temperature. This recipe reheats easily in microwave or stovetop. You also could bake it a bit, but it might dry out.
This months Plant Parade challenge at WetCanvas Florals and Botanicals is the magnificent peony. Oh my! What gorgeous reference photographs Marionh has included with this month’s challenge. I have included two of the photographs here, courtesy of Mariohh and Maltman. There are many more reference photos to choose from and you are also able to use your own. The challenge is open to anyone, but if you wish to include your artwork in the challenge posts you must join WetCanvas. Joining Wetcanvas is free…give it a try. Here is the link to this months challenge: WetCanvas Plant Parade – June 2014
In the WetCanvas Watercolor Studio Yorky (Doug) has chosen Clumber Church, in Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire, England, once part of Sherwood Forest, as June’s Challenge. You can see more posts and Yorky’s watercolor of this church at this link: Watercolor Studio Challenge – June 2014
These two past blog posts have been combined and reblogged. If you press flowers now is the time to consider creating a “Pressed Flower Farm.”
I love my gardens, and I love pressing flowers, within that statement lies my dilemma. If I pick from my gardens too extensively, I lose the appeal of their mass of colors. I’ve learned over the years to grow the flowers I press in separate containers in an out-of-the-way place. When I grow my pressed flowers this way I can lift the containers onto my potting bench for easy picking, and my gardens don’t begin to look like lush foliage without bloom. The flowers planted in containers also gather less soil on their petals in rainstorms or heavy winds. I buy most of my containers at the dollar store and fill them with inexpensive soil. They do great and having them all in one area saves time too.
Although the greens in this pressed flower composition have faded into brown, it is still a good example of how well the actual flowers and leaves hold up over time. This pressed flower picture was an entry in the Philadelphia Flower Show in the early 1990’s. The Category was “City of Brotherly Love,” and the piece was supposed to portray a quilt. Considering the span of time, near twenty years, I think it has held up very well.
Most foliage and greens will age to a tan or brown over time. Many flowers, however, will retain a good bit of color. The flowers above are: delphiniums (dark blue), verbena (maroon) and lobelia (light blue.) Many other flowers will hold onto their hues. A few of these that come to mind are buttercups, purple verbena and larkspur. I’ve also had good luck with spring bulbs, although their moisture content can be a problem and they do best using a microwaved book. Many of the techniques and tips I’ve learned can be found here:
Pressed Flower Tips and Techniques
It’s time to begin pressing emerging miniature pieces of foliage and tendrils. Wildflowers will soon be blooming too. Buttercups are one of the earliest and press very well. (Pinch out the hard center first) Happy Pressing!
“I believe that each of us comes from the Creator trailing wisps of glory.” Maya Angelou
A brilliant and admirable woman. Maya, you are now back with your Creator in that land of glory…God bless.
The stunted violet in yesterday’s post will never become an attractive plant again. What to do? Toss it and buy another, or attempt to start a new plant from a few of the healthier leaves. Since it is summertime, most of my houseplants are having a vacation on the outdoor porch. I have plenty of room on my indoor plant table so this is a perfect time to root some cuttings inside.
First I will take a cutting with an inch or two of stem. While searching the Internet for good information on taking cuttings I came across a new garden site I hadn’t seen in the past. Take a look at this informative page: The Garden Helper/Cuttings
I’ll let the leaf-cutting dry for a few hours to harden the end of the stem a bit. I’ll prepare a container of sand and loose potting soil, and make a hole with the end of a pencil. After dipping the cutting in honey I will place it in the dirt, firm the soil around the stem, and close the top to keep in the humidity. In about six weeks I should be able to see small leaflets forming at the base of the stem. I’ll update the progress in a month or two.
Two of my African Violets have stunted, misshapen leaves in the middle of the rosette. I have encountered the problem in the past, and often, I give up and throw the plant away. This time, I decided to start new plants from leaf cuttings, but first, I wanted assurance the leaves were not diseased or infested.
Plants with this type of stunted growth can be infested with spider mites. Oh my! I have battled these little pests on other plants. I inspected the violet in question with a magnifying glass but didn’t find any spider mites.
A few other possible causes:
Cool temperatures – Yes, we keep our house cool in the winter.
Too little light – Yes, I did move them to a window with very little afternoon sunshine.
Too much fertilizer – A possibility, but the problem would be caused by pre-fertilized African violet soil, not from anything I added. From now on, I’ll try to water from the top with a squirt bottle. Using this technique, I will avoid getting the leaves or crown of the violet wet, and salts and other toxins in the soil will be washed out of the bottom.
A normal violet below:
Our yard has been visited quite often this spring by a red-bellied woodpecker. We weren’t aware of him until he began singing. His warbling song is very unique. At first it almost sounded like a spooky laugh of some kind. I have had quite a few different woodpeckers and nuthatches at the suet feeder this year. I am going to keep it full through the summer since I have found a suet that is not supposed to melt. We’ll see….
Flickr
Photo courtesy of Dawn Hornvolt
To view more pictures on Flickr or the photographs of Dawn Hornvolt please click on the links above.
My town puts on a grand parade every memorial parade…come celebrate the day!
“To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
The Lifeguard stand at Lake Nummy, Belleplain State Forest.
Ocean City Boardwalk crowded with bikers, surreys, runners and people. The boardwalk has separate lanes marked out for all of the aforementioned categories.
Unfortunately, our favorite beach town, Strathmere, New Jersey, suffered terrible beach erosion this winter.
One of the best aspects of summer: camping, bicycling and barbecuing
I enjoy making ordinary items my own by adding embellishments, or in the case of paper products, creating a collage. This project was constructed on an ordinary notebook with pictures from an out-of-date Mary Engelbreit calendar. To create a personal notebook you will need: paper images, a glue stick, scissors and a background to use for making the collage. The project, start to finish, only took fifteen minutes. Cut out images, place on surface, move images around until you are pleased with the arrangement, apply glue stick, put into pre-determined place. Finished!
Happy gluing!
Growing in my garden this week: Columbine aquilegia – These are from packets that I purchased in Gettysburg in the spring. They are blooming, but I was hoping for more blooms and a larger diameter. I guess I will have to wait for next year.
Prairie Bonnet Columbine – Unique version of columbines. These are much hardier than the aquilegia version of columbine.
Chives – These blossoms are really giving my herb garden some pizazz right now. They are very reliable and return every year with wider girth and more flowers. Chives are a terrific garnish and also add a light onion taste to food.
New Guinea Impatiens – These grow well in sun or shade…I love the color
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Allium – These are very reliable bulb plants and come back every year. As of now, they haven’t done any spreading or multiplying
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Torenia (Yellow Moon) – A Terrific plant that will bloom all summer for me. It can be grown in shade, but I have best luck in half sun/half shade
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Zinnias (dwarf) in hanging basket to lure hummingbirds
Candy Corn Plant (Manettia luteorubra) – This is in a hanging basket and since I have brought it home from the nursery the tendrils have been twirling and twining all over the place. It seems very happy in sun with late afternoon shade. I’m plan to bring it inside in the Autumn and overwinter indoors. I’m hoping this plant will draw hummingbirds and butterflies. This is the first time I have found this plant in a hanging basket for outdoor growing conditions. This plant is also known as the Firecracker Plant.
Blue Lagoon Rose Bush – Well, it does not quite appear to be blue or even lavender, but it is very, very pretty, so I guess it can stay in my garden. I love the name of the rose…a favorite movie of mine.
There are many more plants and seeds sprouting, but they have not yet reached camera-worthy presentation. Thanks for looking at my garden with me today.
It’s inevitable…I will lose a few plants to errant balls, foam noodle battles, rambunctious squirrels, or foraging chipmunks. This pot had two Roma tomato plants, but one was broken off by one of the above. 😦 I am betting on rambunctious squirrels.
Happily for me one of last year’s problems, squirrels biting into ripe tomatoes, is the solution to this year’s broken tomato plant. In summers past, when I found a chewed tomato I often just picked it and let it drop beneath the plant in hopes the squirrels would eat from the easy pickings on the ground and leave my plants alone. This usually didn’t work, but it did deposit numerous seeds into the soil, and now I have sweet little volunteer seedlings growing everywhere. I will plant a few into the big pot and see if they will thrive. Most likely, it will be close to September before I will harvest tomatoes from these vines, but hey, I have plenty of other tomato plants, and I can wait on these babies. Hooray for volunteers!
Last year my grandson created a fairy house out of natural and interesting items I had collected. This year we pulled out cartons of new treasures and he and his little brother created another house and a “school” for this year’s fairies. My grandson told me, “Nanny, try to find more interesting things.” I will do that…when I walk or ride my bike I will make sure I have a bag and bring home sticks and stones and pieces of moss for the fairy house building.
The boys have decided they are going to make a whole town. Oh my! They are so like me…one is never enough!
This is a newly planted combination of plants that I have chosen by browsing on Pinterest and other idea boards and sites. I love the look of the Persian Shield, Star Flowers and Sweet Potato Vines. As they grow they will be even lovelier.
I finally identified this amazing bird as a brown thrasher. A close relative of the mockingbird, he/she has been singing me beautiful songs throughout the day. Here is a short video of a brown thrasher’s beautiful singing. (Thank you to krab1110’s youtube channel)
I am at a loss as to why there are two images of the same youtube video…I’ve worked at getting one deleted to no avail. I guess this is just one of those times I am bamboozled by the html, and will have to let it stay “as is.” Apologies!
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“Sacred Harp singing (also “Shape-note singing” or, of the repertory, “Shape-note hymnody”) is a tradition of sacred choral music that flourished in the American South of the United States. The name is derived from The Sacred Harp, a ubiquitous and historically important book of Sacred Harp music.” Wikipedia
I love the sound of this type of singing. Some of my ancestors came from the south, I am sure many of them participated in this type of praise. This Sacred Harp video also includes beautiful and moving portraits of Native Americans. Enjoy!
