My Wonderful Neighbor!

This is my watering buddy Chloe...
She follows me around the yard, like she is helping me out, by the time we had made our rounds she was warn out!!! LOL

Last week I took care of the cat and the flowers for the next door neighbor while they were away for a few days...

We have lived next door to each other for about 15 years, she is the one who inspired me to plant more flowers. I have always loved looking at all her flowers and herbs she has planted since she moved in...

We have become great friends and love sharing flowers with each other over the years...
Sitting on the porch in the evenings, talking and laughing....
My little Secret Garden is even Named after her Grand Daughter....
Summer is definitely our time of the year....

But I started planting and I haven't stopped...

Her containers are beautiful...


She just has that eye for planting in so many unique containers, and they always look fabulous!

Look how cute this looks!!!

This one she named after a dear friend... Her Linda Lily...

She shared this one with me but it still hasn't bloomed yet...

A beautiful back yard, with this wonderful garden and a beautiful antique bird bath I just love...

Lots of Black eyed Susan's in full bloom...

This was a great find last summer at the beach, my husband would have never let me bring something this big home from the beach!!! LOL Besides it would never fit in the car with everything else!!!

Another great planter of Galardia and Lobilia...

This one is Clarie,one I planted from seed this spring, Why do hers look better then mine???

Naked Ladies, they are just now blooming and beautiful!!!

See they are beautiful...

And Naked no leaves...

So you can see why I love living next to this wonderful neighbor, I hope we grow "YOUNG" together. RIGHT NEXT DOOR!!!

Have A Good One,

Lynn

Spaghetti Squash and 200th Post Giveaway...

It is Foodie Friday, I can't wait to see all the goodies there will be today at Designs by Gollum
so go check it out!!!

DON'T FORGET TO CHECK TUESDAYS BLOG FOR INFO ON THE GIVEAWAY FOR MY 200TH BLOG...

Nothing better than a summer meal out of the garden...

This was my first attempt at spaghetti squash. I had never even seen one, but it was amazing. It won't be the last time I fix it that's for sure! One of my neighbors grew it and dropped one off for me to try. I have fixed a lot of squash in my day but never this one... I called a good friend to ask what I was to do with it!!! So here we go...

Here is the recipe I used:

Spaghetti Squash

1- spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

2 Tbs. veg. oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced (or a little more I like garlic)

1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes

crumbled feta cheese (to taste)

2 Tbs. chopped fresh basil

1 Sm. yellow squash diced

1 Sm zucchini diced

salt and pepper to taste

Opt. 4-5 links hot Italian sausage

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet.

2. Place spaghetti squash cut sides down on the prepared baking sheet, and bake 30-45 minutes in preheated oven, or until a sharp knife can be inserted with only a little resistance. Remove squash from oven, and set aside to cool enough to be easily handled.

3. While waiting for squash to cook, Cook and brown sausage.

4. While squash is cooking, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and diced squash until tender. Add garlic, and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes,sausage and fresh basil and cook until desired thickness.

Squash after it has baked... It is beautifully golden brown !!!

Scrape out stringy pulp from the squash,with a fork or large spoon and place on your plate...

It really does look like spaghetti!!! How funny...

Add your sauteed vegetables, feta cheese and a little basil. Parmesan is good on it also. Serve warm... ENJOY...

Zucchini Cake

This was desert, since I had an abundance of zucchini I just made Zucchini Cake...

Ingredients

3 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 2/3 cups packed brown sugar

2 cups grated zucchini

2 Tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3 Tsp. ground cinnamon

1 1/2 Tsp. baking powder

1 Tsp. baking soda

1 Tsp. salt

1/2 cup Craisins (sweetened dried cranberries)

1/2 cup walnuts

Directions

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs well. Add oil,brown sugar,zucchini, and vanilla; stir well. Blend in flour, cinnamon, baking powder,soda, and salt. Stir in Craisins and nuts. Pour into a greased bundt pan.

2. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool.

You can frost this with your favorite frosting but I just prefer it plain, warm right out of the oven...

Have a good one,

Lynn

Giveway for 200th post...

Today is my 200th post, I can't believe I have posted 200 times this year. So I am going to have a giveaway!!!

All you need to do is post a comment and if you join this blog as a follower I will put you in twice...

The day I started this blog it was just on a whim, I thought who would look at my blog. I had never even blogged before. I went on the search of some garden bloggers just to get some idea about what others were doing in their yards and gardens. I never imagined I would find so many!!! I have met some amazing gardeners and some have found some wonderful new friends. There are so many blogs I follow on a daily basis. I have gotten so many great ideas from so many of you! I hope you continue to follow, and I will keep trying to find new things to share with you. This has been such an amazing year.

This is one of my hand painted candle jars, then there will be some surprise items tucked in with it. You'll just have to wait and see what's in that package!!! I will draw the name one week from today.

ADDED NOTE: I TURNED ON THE COMPUTER THIS MORNING AND THE PICTURE OF ALL MY FOLLOWERS IS GONE. HAS ANYONE HAD THIS TROUBLE BEFORE? WHY WOULD IT JUST DISAPPEAR! NOW WHAT DO I DO TO RETRIEVE IT?

This is my new favorite Geranium, it is the Appleblossom Rosebud. Just look at that bloom it looks just like a rosebud. Last year I went to a friends house and saw it on her porch and fell in love. It was September and it was still blooming like crazy. She let me take a piece off of it and I babied it all winter. It rooted beautifully and now look at it. I will be taking this one in this winter for sure to use as a mother plant!!! This was the first one of these I had ever seen....

These are my Mumsey Marigolds, they are new for me this year. One of the seeds my daughter gave me for Christmas. They are growing like crazy all the way across my front flower beds. So different from my French Marigolds I have planted for a few years. They really do look like a Mum...

This is a seed from Park Seed Co. It is called Galliardia "Dazzle Mix". It is an annual Galliardia and it is my first year for this one too. They are beautiful, so far I have two different ones. They are really full . I sure hope they put on seeds for me to save, because it is a keeper... The petal reminds me of the Galliardia called Freenzy, they are cone shaped so the hummingbirds love them...

I told some gals tonight at our Master Gardner Meeting I just love the whole process of planting seeds, growing the plants then waiting for the seeds to appear.

I really wish I had a greenhouse to work in all winter and propagate and plant seeds. That is what I want to do when I grow up!!! Maybe when I retire. How crazy is that retire just so I can go to work somewhere else!!!

Have a Good One,

Lynn

Tranquil float trip down the river...

It was an extraordinarily pleasing day to be on the river. This is where we put the canoes in this morning. The weather wasn't too hot, it had rained a little the day before. But not enough to muddy the water. Just a comfortable kind of day in the water...This will give you an idea how far our trip actually was. From the highway it is really a short trip, but by river it was quite a nice little trip... It looks like the Florida Panhandle.... and after about 3 hours it felt like it!!! LOL But it was beautiful...
We even had a few hot thirsty visitors as we started our journey. They seemed to enjoy a little dip in the water...
And a few treats while they were cooling off...

So off we went on our journey down river. It was about a 4 hour float on the part of a river that has no houses and we didn't see a single person the whole time. It was so quiet and tranquil the entire trip...

Beautiful morning skies lead us down the quiet little riffles of the mountainous river, going in and out of the valleys... The picturesque still of the water and mountains with all the brilliant green trees and lush foliage, right after a day of rain was magnificent....

My "Gondolier"/wonderful Husband was paddling me down the West Virginian/Venice, Italy style river in My Gondolia/Canoe!!! LOL

As I relaxed in luxury from a few moments of paddling.

A girl can "Dream" can't she!!!

Gazing at beautiful Blue Sky's as magnificent birds flew overhead.... Watching beautiful geese fly down the peaceful river in front of us, you wonder how it can be so quiet just a few miles from where we left that noisy street just a few hour back...

My youngest daughter and her boyfriend love to kayak down this river, but the last time they were here the water was up a little and it took no time at all to take this trip. But today it was just a lazy kind of day on this calm river day!!!

Coming to the end of a wonderful float, this is where we took the boats out. There is a school on top this hill, it is the School I got my first job, working in the school system as a Special Ed. Aide. It brought back many wonderful memories. It just seemed so quiet around there with no children running about!

Now it was time to go back to my daughters to celebrate her boyfriends "30th" birthday with their friends and families....

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend,

Lynn

Foodie Friday

Today is Foodie Friday... At Designs by Gollum I haven't done one in quite a few weeks. So here we go...

I had a wonderful day yesterday, I had some very special friends over for lunch. Just a girl kinda day. We sat and talked and laughed the afternoon away!!! Some were friends from school some were neighbors and my daughters even showed up for a while... The summer is just going by so fast, faster then I want it too... I missed my friends from school, I hadn't seen them since school let out. Then with all this hot weather I knew we didn't have a chance for rain!!! Rain what is that? It was a beautiful day to walk around the gardens, even though they are dry and parched from all the heat, and the water barrels are DRY!!!

Here was the menu:

Gazpacho

Pack Along Pitas

Dip and Crackers

Peach Cream Crumble Pie

Key Lime Pie

Pink Lemonade

Iced Tea

Wine

Gazpacho is a Spanish style cold soup made up of uncooked vegetables in a tomato juice broth with lots of fresh herbs. Great for a summer lunch on a hot day!!!

This is what my aunt Jean called "Pack Along Pitas"

I bet I have had this recipe for 25 years and I still love making it... Here is the recipe:

1- 8 oz. cream cheese

1 or 2 cups of cream style cottage cheese (I use 1)

1 pkg. dry Mrs. Grass Vegetable Soup Mix

1/2 C. finely chopped Green Onions

1 tsp. sesame seeds
2 Tbs. lemon juice

6 hard cooked eggs- chopped

6 pita breads, halved

spinach and lettuce leaves

Mix first 7 ingredients together I just put everything in my Kitchen Aide mixer and blend well.

Let set overnight to blend flavors.

Line pitas with spinach and lettuce and top with about 1/3 cup egg mixture.

This is Peaches & Cream Crumble Pie.

I wish I could remember who's Blog I got this off of because I would love to thank them for the recipe it was AMAZING!!!

So if you are out there speak up please...

This is Key Lime Pie one of my favorites, but of course I had to have a piece of both today since it was the first time for the Peach Pie. I told everyone I was testing it out on them and I'm glad I did!!!
Of course we had plenty of Cool Whip to top them off with!!! LOL

My husband ask if the women liked the pies? I just looked at him and said what woman doesn't like pie!!! Da

Have a Great Weekend,
"WISH FOR RAIN"
Lynn

Food Food and more Food...

When you are at the beach you must eat... and eat and eat!!!
Of course there is always a birthday party, with candles that won't blow our!!! LOL
Then Funnel Cakes made by Momma Lynn "The carnival Lady"



Eating at a table that holds 16 is just the way to go, since we had 16 there. I think this is the biggest dinning room table I had ever seen....

Here we are again ,another night Eating Again.....

We all took turns cooking and cleaning up everyone had a job to do ...

Everyone taking turns in the kitchen one evening... Even Claudia our little Hoover!!!

One evening my family went out for dinner and our food was so pretty I took pictures... Imagine that!!!LOL

Everything was wonderful, we shared bites with each other...

Toms Dinner Halibut

My dinner Crab and Shrimp with a cream sauce and rice...WOW

Amanda's tortellini with crab and a cream sauce...

Colleens was amazing. Fried Lasagna with crab meat. It was beautiful and we had a hard time getting her to share that night...

Now I'm hungry, but it's too late for that...

Have a great Monday,

Lynn