Photo-A-Day - Day 14!

"Purple" - a beautiful purple clematis!

(due to a migraine yesterday, I forgot to take a pic until it was 11pm, so I figured I would take it today :~)

Photo-A-Day - Day 10!

"Orange" - found these lovely roses at a rose garden in Rochester, NY! I especially love the ruffled edges of these roses.

Photo-A-Day - Day 2!

"Dry" ~ nothing like a dry pretty path to skip through the garden upon!

Photo-A-Day for June!

My poor neglected blog....lol I've been battling migraines so I haven't felt up to doing much blogging. So as I pulled it up so I could start this post, I was shocked to see that I'm getting close to 25,000 views! Less than 500 to go! Anywho, to revive my poor blog I decided the most sensalogical thing to do was a daily thing for a while! So for the month of June, I'll be doing a photo-a-day challenge!

1. Wet

2. Dry

3. Smiley

4. Sunny

5. Clever

6. Special

7. Unique

8. Crazy

9. Red

10. Orange

11. Yellow

12. Green

13. Blue

14. Purple

15. Words

16. Sky

17. Person

18. Place

19. Thing

20. Growth

21. Adventure

22. Life

23. Treasure

24. Action

25. Up

26. Down

27. Over

28. Under

29. Past

30. Future 

Today's is "Wet" so I bring to you a raindrop laden peony from our garden!

Science Saturday: Peppermint, Milkweed, and Queen Anne's Lace!

(Some peppermint from our garden!)

We absolutely LOVE peppermint! Currently we have peppermint, citrus mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, and lemon mint, growing in our garden!

A few interesting facts:

•   Peppermint is not native to the USA. It was brought over with English colonists. Peppermint was not native to England. Peppermint was a hybrid of two European mints (watermint and spearmint). 
• Peppermint is not very good as cross-pollinating. Instead it sends out underground runners which sprout genetically identical peppermint.
• Peppermint is probably one of the most well known flavors/scents
• Milkweed has very deep roots which enables it to continue to grow no matter how many times it has been cut back or dug up.
• Milkweed has a very unique way of pollinating. The surface of the flower is slippery and designed to have insect legs slide down until one of them has landed into a small hole in which pollen sacs are hidden. When and if the insect can get free, it transfers the pollen to another milkweed plant.
• Throughout every stage of it's life, it is edible! (If you want to eat it, if I were you, I'd research it to know how to prepare and eat it, etc.).
• Queen Anne's Lace is one of the most common abundant wildflowers! It's named after Queen Anne of England. We've all heard the story of how the red flower in the middle of the flower is a drop of blood from where "she pricked her finger while working on her lace."
• Queen Anne's Lace is related to carrots which is part of the parsley family! Celery, parsnips, parsley, dill, caraway, fennel, coriander, cumin, and anise (one of my favorite spices) are also related.
• Despite it being a wildflower, Queen Anne's Lace has a delightful scent!

Throwback Tuesday: Beatrix Jones Farrand

While working in the garden today, I was wondering if there were any women known for gardening. Beatrix Jones Farrand was a outstanding landscape gardener and landscape architect. She designed at least 110 different gardens at estates, public parks, botanical gardens, universities and the White House! Quite often she would use native plants to make the gardens look natural and pleasing to the eye.

An talented gardener indeed!

Throwback Tuesday: Harriet Beecher Stowe

An amazing lady who wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin and was a very active abolitionist. She wrote more than 20 books, including novels, three travel memoirs, and collections of articles and letters. She was influential both for her writings and her public stands on social issues of the day. (Via Wikipedia)

This picture was taken in the gardens of the Seward Mansion. William Henry Seward was also an abolitionist. 

Garden Delights!

Our tomatoes are ripening faster than we use them! So we have been making homemade sauce! :~D

We made smooth sauce the other day; today we made chunky!

 Here is the recipe! :) We made it in a stock pot this time instead of a frying pan. :)

We've also had an overabundance of zucchini! So we made pickled zucchini!! My Mom can't eat cucumbers because she is allergic to them, but she likes these because they taste just like pickles! I think she said they taste like Claussen. :~)

Our Gardens

Our tomato, broccoli, cauliflower, and herb garden. We have citrus mint, chocolate mint, and peppermint. In another garden we have lemon balm and spearmint. I want to get some wintergreen sometime, too. 

Pepper and broccoli garden.

Squash, eggplant, and watermelon.

Tomatoes, basil, and cauliflower.

Squash plants under a nearby shade tree.

Our veggie gardens.

Apples! I planted this apple tree when I was 7 or 8 and we might have apples this year!

Previous years we'd have frosts, and woodchucks. ;~) 

We love gardens and have several throughout the yard.

Whats in your veggie gardens?

Things I'm currently digging

(Who came up with that term?!?!?!?!  

      digging 

1. The action performed by a person or thing that digs.
2. A place where ore is dug, especially certain localities in California, Australia, etc. where gold is obtained.
3. (archaic, colloquial) region; locality)

Anyways:

Homemade laundry detergent!!! 

I have used it soooooooo many time. And I love how the clothes turn out. 

Christmas music: Denver and the Mile High Orchestra 

Timeless Classics (My favorite X'mas CD)

Child Training Bible

My Mom got this and I helped her put it together. It is an awesome resource for children's workers.

Richard Paul Evans' books

I think I have read about 75%-80% of his books. They are SO good. My Mom saw a children's one 

("The Dance", MOVING STORY!) by him, and said "Another book by Richard Paul Evans?" :~D

Pictures!!!

The lady in-charge of coordinating C.E.F.'s C.Y.I.A. training sent us our group pics! I put them up immediately in my room.

And a cleaned closet!

Things I am NOT digging:

1.  No camera.....mine is officially dead. I loved my camera....it was an awesome point and shoot. :~(
2. I am not DIGGING THE GARDEN!!! :~)

Have a wonderful gorgeous beautiful marvelous autumnal day!