A Few Gardening Ideas

We have lost some big limbs on some of our trees from previous ice storms and the bark broke away from the limb and I saved it.  I put two halves together and made a container for the fern.
The next is a small clump of monkey grass and I put this metal rooster in it.  And over the years I have collected rocks at various places and I made a little mound of stones.  Actually, in Scottish tradition these were called cairns.  Although, I don't know that mine are stacked correctly to call them a cairn.  I just piled them up there.
And last is something Gary made me.  It was a step that went in front of an outdoor building that we had.  The building is gone and I wanted to keep the step so I put it in my flower bed.  My goal for this is to eventually have different succulents growing around it.  The one succulent you see (I don't know the name) makes it threw our winters.  I eventually want different ones all the way around this piece.
I love garden art.  I watched a garden show yesterday the had Chihuly glass pieces through out their garden.  It was the Gardens in Atlanta, I think it is their arboretum, it was absolutely beautiful.  I have seen pretty glass pieces that are a copy of his art (like glass spikes) at the Greenhouse in Norman.    Something in your garden to catch the sunlight.  Really pretty!

Fun in the Garden

I've really had fun the last couple of days working at creating a space on the north side of our home.  It's coming together and I'll take a shot of the entire space when I get everything done.  Gary and I refurbished my potting bench.  The base was in good shape but he took off the top part and we redesigned it with an old window and an antique sink that I had been saving.

My rooster, I love and I just had a bunch of rocks and stones around the base in no particular order.  I was at the Lowe's in Norman yesterday and they had their succulents on sale for .50 cents for a four pack.  I had to get some, I love succulents and I've always had good luck with them making it through the winter if I cover them up.  I ended up doing something totally different with the succulents.  I started cleaning up the rooster and got the idea to incorporate the succulents in with the rocks.  I think it turned out really cute.  I'm very happy with it.  And as you can see, I'm using a galvanized tub as a container and I have put a variegated grass in it. 

Anyway, a great day gardening!

My Beloved Susie!

As I was sitting and drinking my coffee this morning my sweet Susie popped up on the flower pot and was beckoning me to come outside.  Of course, I couldn't resist.  I put on my old work clothes and took a special treat for her and went outside.  It was dawn and the sun had not yet shone its bright and beautiful face. 

I spent some time with Susie.  Her mother disappeared a couple of weeks ago and I know she has been a little lost.  They were always together and slept together.  We have two other cats but she has nothing to do with them.  Isn't that a cat for ya!

I've been transplanting some flowers and rearranging some things in my flower beds.  I was thinking this morning that I absolutely love working in my flower beds and working with flowers.  It's one of my many passions.  I just wish it wouldn't get so hot because I could stay out all day doing things.  There is always so much to do around here.  Picking, planting, weeding, watering and creating.  The list goes on and on.

Enjoy life~

Farm Woman Extraordinaire, LOL!!!

It was really hot today and I needed to mow today because I will not be home the next two days to mow.  Wanted to share with you some of my tips for keeping cool.  Big straw hat, long sleeve thin shirt, wet cool towel around your neck and peppermint essential oil across your shoulders.  I had heard that putting peppermint oil on your shoulders would keep the heat away from your head.  It worked very well and was cooling when the wind blew.  And always drink lots of water.

You know.......we can do anything we set our minds too! It really ended up being a beautiful hot summer day.  The lawn looked great and I'll have my weekend free to do the things I really wanted to do today.    Only thing missing was a big piece of cold watermelon. 

Theta Burger

Yesterday was a very busy day for us.  I had some hamburger meat for burgers for dinner.  I was really tired of my usual mustard burger with lettuce, tomato, onion and dill pickles.  I had been thinking about a theta burger and so I thought I would see if I could create one. It turned out wonderful and this is what I did.

Put a little butter on the inside of two buns and toast it in a pan. Then mayo on both sides. Then put a little puddle of barbeque sauce on one side, next a good amount of cheddar cheese over barbeque sauce, then put your hot hamburger patty over the cheese and then dill pickles over the hamburger patty.  I hope you will try it I think you will love it.

If you are as old as I am and live in Oklahoma City you will remember the Split T on North Western.  I've eaten many theta burgers from that place.  Then Johnnie's started making them after the Split T.  Johnnie's has a great Theta also. 

I really didn't even think about a picture at the time.  If you want a little something different than your regular burger, you'll have to give this a try.

Vegetables and Rice

Having chicken tenders tonight and had everything for salad and was trying to think of what I could fix to go with salad and chicken.  I had one yellow squash, one zucchini, one bunch of green onions, and a half of a red bell pepper and a box of long grain wild rice.  The rice was a box of Rice-a-Roni.  I do keep their Mexican rice when I having Mexican food it's good and easy. So this is what I did and it really turned out tasty.

I cut the zucchini and yellow squash into fourths and on the thin side.  I sliced the green onions thinly and diced the red bell pepper.  Then I sautéed all of this in 2 tablespoons of butter for about 2 minutes.  I added the rice and sautéed it with the vegetables for about 3 minutes.  The rice calls for 2 cups of water so I added that and the packet of seasoning that comes with the rice.  Stirred it all today well and when it started to boil I lower the temperature to low and put the lid on the pan and let it cook for seven minutes.  I also turn the off the heat and let it set for about 10 minutes before serving.  It really turned out good.  Rice-a-Roni also has a chicken and beef flavored rice.  You could do the chicken flavored with these vegetables or you could do the beef flavored and add mushrooms, green onions, and thinly sliced broccoli.  The rice is not bad and it is definitely a time saver.

I also wanted to say that when I got those vegetables all cut up it was too much to go into the rice so I only used half of the vegetables. 

Salmon Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

These really turned out great.  It's sort of like a salmon patty in a mushroom. 

2 cans salmon, drained and flaked
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
1 cup porcini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
6 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1 tablespoon creamy horseradish
3-4 shakes of Tabasco sauce
juice from one lemon
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 large Portobello mushrooms
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl mix together salmon, eggs, bread crumbs horseradish, and half the Parmesan cheese, tabasco sauce, lemon juice.  Heat olive oil in skillet and saute porcini mushrooms and green onions for about 3 minutes and remove from heat and add to the salmon mixture.  Take the Portobello mushrooms and remove the stalk and go around the underside of the mushroom with a teaspoon and remove all the little hairs (that's what I call them). Then brush the top and underside of the mushroom with olive oil and place in a baking dish that has been sprayed with some Pam.  Divide the mixture into fourths and fill the mushrooms and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese over the top. 
Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes

A light green salad would go great with this.

Beautiful Thunderheads

I was mowing last weekend and looked up and saw these beautiful thunderheads!

The Last Part of Our Trip

This was the ranch where we attended the retreat with Mt. Adams in the background.  It was a beautiful place very peaceful and quite.

I guess what I want to say about this part of our trip is I'm a truth seeker.  About eight years ago one morning while praying, I heard "examine everything carefully and cling to that which is good."  I wasn't sure what that meant because I had come to the place where I had everything pretty well figured out and my beliefs were very neatly arranged in my box. Things started coming into my life that were out of my box and as I started to examine them I found that I had to ask myself some pretty difficult questions about my own beliefs.  So, I took my old sunday school teacher's advice which was if you are going to base your life on a belief you better make sure it's right. I've read and research quite a bit but the past two summers I've had the opportunity to travel to some places to look for answers.  I haven't found all the answers yet, and truthfully I don't know if I will but I have hopes that before I leave this planet I'll have a good idea of what really happened.  What I do now is hold loosely to what I think is right because I have found that knowledge just keeps increasing.  I don't have a label anymore, I'm just a person who loves God and wants to find the truth. 

I wanted to show you this picture.  One day we did a walking meditation and when we were finished we looked up and saw this.  I've never seen a rainbow turned like this and I saw an angel at the end but you may think it's something else.  I like to think God was smiling!

It was a wonderful trip and some memories you just never forget and this trip will be one.

Day 2 of Portland Trip

The next morning a local recommended Mother's for breakfast.  It was excellent!  I got scrambled eggs with sauted portabella mushrooms, fresh spinach and Gruyere cheese.  Oh my gosh, the best I've ever eaten.  Everything is homemade and it was wonderful and the restaurant had a great atmosphere. " I could have had a restaurant like this," I told my daughter.  Their story sounded a lot like our family.  This family had four children and they would all get together on Sundays for either breakfast or Sunday dinner.  The kids had such wonderful memories of this and their mother's cooking that one of the daughters started this restaurant. The menu is a lot of traditional dishes with a flair.

This gorgeous place is called Multnomah Falls and this has been on my daughter's bucket list.  I'm so thankful she knew about this place, it is absolutely beautiful.  We walked up and stood on the bridge and I told her at the time, "wouldn't this be a romantic place to get engaged."  Later she found out that one of her friends did become engaged at this place. Aw~   Huge ferns and beautiful wild flowers are in abundance everywhere.  I'm smelling of a bridal veil here in this picture.  This wild flower in Oklahoma isn't near this big.  According to Native American lore Multnomah Falls was created to win the heart of a young princess who wanted a hidden place to bathe. This falls never dries up.  It is situated in the Columbia Gorge.  While we were there I thought of all the pioneers that came this way to start a new life.  I couldn't imagine crossing those mountains in a covered wagon. Wow!  So, Katie was able to mark this spectacular place off her list.  Now we were ready to head for our destination.  Lucky for us, the falls was on the way. 

Katie had programed her play list into the rental car and as we were winding our way thru this beautiful scenery, the majestic pines and blue spruce, we were listening to the sound tracks from Braveheart, Apollo 13 and Forest Gump.  It was very moving and inspirational, a memory I'll never forget.  On the lighter side of things we started acting pretty silly the closer we got to the retreat.

Portland, Oregon in a Day

My daughter and I took a trip over Memorial weekend to Oregon and over into Washington.  It was something I was looking forward to but it turned out to be so much more than I had ever anticipated.  It was a vacation/spiritual retreat.  We arrived in Portland on Thursday and the retreat didn't begin until Friday evening so at the last minute we decided to spend the night in Portland and see as much as we could before driving on to the retreat.  I want to say that Mt. Hood was very impressive as we were coming into Portland. I live in a land that is mostly flat with a few hills (and I love it) but mountains are always very impressive to me. 

I googled seeing Portland in a day and ran across a blogger who is afraid to fly.  She was driving and trying to work in seeing 6 states in a certain amount of time and asked for suggestions to see Portland in a day.  She had wonderful suggestions and it helped us to decided what we wanted to see.  I found it interesting that half of the people commenting on her blog mentioned a book store in Portland named Powell's.  They said," you have to go there."  One man said," every time he is in Portland he doesn't miss a chance to go to Powell's."  That really got my curiosity up and I ask my daughter if she would want to go there and of course she did.  She loves books too. But we couldn't imagine what could be so special about a book store.  I'm here to tell you, if you ever go to Portland, Powell's is a must.  It is a block long and three stories high.  It has a rare book section that you have to get permission to go into, a coffee shop (of course), and book shelves from the floor to ceiling and some unique and funny gifts.  You could literally spend days in there.  We only had a couple of hours and I had to keep telling myself, I was flying home and my suitcase couldn't weigh over 50 pounds.  I purchased several unique books for Dutch that I hadn't seen and said to myself I hope I can return someday. It had a wonderful vibe!

My daughter said, "Portland reminded her of a mini New York.  You find a place to park and then walk everywhere.  We took a trolley and covered most of the city.  They have a small China town with an impressive Chinese garden and also a rose garden.  We didn't get to tour those but it looked beautiful and everyone said to see them.  We met a lady at the bookstore who told us the drive to the Oregon coast was just an hour and a half.  The day was too far gone when we found that out.  We both wanted to see the Oregon coast and assumed it would be much further than that. We buzzed in and out of a lot of unique shops.  We walked our legs off and then had dinner at a seafood restaurant.  The restaurant was marginal not outstanding. 

The weather in Portland is conducive to growing beautiful flowers and plants.  What we in Oklahoma break our backs to achieve, comes naturally for people in Oregon.  The interstates were covered with beautiful flowers.  It just amazed me! The city is unique and has a beauty all its own but the people are not very friendly.  I was taken back when we were on the trolley ride and two little oriental ladies got on the trolley.  They were standing right in front of us and I smiled at them and they stood there with blank faces and just looked at me.  Can you imagine smiling at someone and the smile is not returned.  I think that is very sad for them.

Pictures of Mt. Hood and downtown Portland and Powells.  I'll tell you about day 2 tomorrow.

Strawberry Trifle

We celebrated the 4th of July last night with dear friends and family.  We have dear friends who always have a wonderful celebration on the 4th of July.  Lots of wonderful food and fellowship and the best presentation of fire works and patriotic music.  Great time!

I took this strawberry trifle.  We really love strawberry shortcake and I'm always looking for different ways to make shortcake or doing a little enhancement to change things up a bit.  I have a recipe called Cherries in the Snow which is a trifle using cherry pie filling.  I was thinking about what to take to the celebration.  I usually take pie or cake and I remembered this recipe and I thought I would change it up and use strawberries.  I turned out very well.  The angel food cake was soaked pretty good with strawberry juice and it tasted delicious.

Here is the recipe:

2 angel food cakes (you can rub off the brown from the cake if you want totally white) but tear the cake into 1 inch pieces.

Mix-
2 cups powdered sugar
2-8 oz cream cheese
1 cup heavy cream (whipped)
1 1/2 cartons of whipping cream ( I used two smaller containers)

With a mixer beat together powdered sugar and cream cheese until creamy. Then fold in heavy cream and cool whip.

Strawberry mixture-
2 cartons of frozen sliced strawberries with sugar (I use these because they produce a lot of liquid which you need).  Fresh berries with sugar on them don't produce enough liquid.
2-3 pounds of fresh strawberries cut in half (larger berries cut into fourths)
1/2 to 1 cup of sugar of these berries mix well and then combine with the frozen sliced berries with liquid.

To arrange the trifle start with angel food cake make a layer of cake the cover with half of strawberries, then cream cheese mixture, then cake rest of strawberries and top with remaining cream cheese mixture. You can garnish with fresh strawberries and fresh mint.

Suggestions:  You could use strawberries and raspberries.  I have tried these together and they are delicious together.  You could also use pound cake instead of angel food if you prefer.