Aaron and the Owl

E.T. the Owl came to visit the bird store where Aaron works. The owner of the owl, an older lady, has had this owl in her possession for 26 yrs., hence the name, E.T.(I believe E.T. came out in 1982?). She travels around with this bird and three others, giving seminars and showing the birds.

First, I can't believe that E.T., the movie is that old....

Second, I couldn't believe the same person has owned this bird since it was a wee thing.

Lastly, Owls are so cool and one of my favorite birds for sure!

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Straw Bale Garden Update

My little bale garden has produced beyond our expectations this year. We have so far avoided the dreaded wilt or fungus on the tomatoes, so I hope I am not jinxing myself by writing this. The tomatoes have become a little leggy but are still flowering and you can see from the pictures, I'm still picking some everyday. I have been sharing them with the girls at work along with eating them everyday in various dishes. One of my favorite way to fix them so far is this recipe:

Prepare a baking dish by drizzling olive oil in the bottom. Slice the tomato into 1/4" slices. Use the small ones because they end up being the perfect size to just pop in your mouth! Place the sliced tomatoes in the baking dish and cover with a slice of the soft mozzarella cheese and drizzle a little more olive oil on top. Bake at 400 x 20 minutes and allow to cool. Grate fresh pepper on top and enjoy!

Another recipe is this one:

Fresh Salsa

Cubed tomatoes x 4
chopped onion x 1
1 can corn rinsed
1 can black beans rinsed
1 bunch cilantro rinsed and chopped

Mix all together and refrigerate x 2 hours, stir and serve. MMMMMMMmmmmmmm!

Well, hope that made you hungry! Time for lunch....of course it will be a tomato and cheese sandwich!

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♪♪♪♪ Mamma Mia ♪♪♪♪

What a great little movie! I know some would not care for all the singing and dancing but I enjoyed every song and every dance! This movie's scenery was absolutely gorgeous - the island, buildings and water were sooo beautiful! I've never been much on traveling but this movie makes me want to see the world. I can only imagine the things I would see if I could just pack up and embark upon such a journey! Of course, I should have never questioned whether I would like it or not, because there are quite a few singing movies that I have loved.

Here's a few: ( Imagine the singing...♪♪♪)

The Sound of Music....♪♪♪♪The hills are alive with music......♪♪♪

Tom Sawyer...74 version

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers

The Fiddler on the Roof....♪♪♪Sunrise, Sunset....♪♪♪

Grease ....♪♪♪You're the one that want...♪♪♪♪

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Peter Piper Picked a Peck

Of pickled peppers!

Yep, my banana peppers have been unbelievable this year. We've been picking and eating and getting over run with them! lol

While there are only so many ways to eat them, we've found sprinkling them on top of our pasta salad is the best way when fresh. And trust me you can only eat pasta salad so many times a week. I was getting way more than we could eat, so I knew I needed to try some way to preserve the surplus. With all the time spent nurturing them to fruit I wanted something to show for our efforts!

We've been buying the hot pickled peppers rings from the store to put on our brats. So, last Saturday, I decided the answer to my pepper problem would be to make pickled pepper rings. I chopped the ends off, cut them into slices and placed them in a salt brine to sit overnight. I rinsed them Sunday morning and packed them into sterile jars. The pickling solution was water, vinegar and garlic boiled and poured over the peppers in the jars. I put the lid/rings on and placed them in my canner on the stove. Using the water bath method, I allowed them to boil for 10 minutes, then took them out placing the jars on a towel to cool. Within 30 minutes the tops had popped and sealed.

Wasn't too hard or time consuming and I have to say they look pretty cute in their little jars.

My recipe recommended waiting 3 weeks before eating to allow them to season. So until then they are going to sit on my counter so I can admire my handiwork.

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High Tech and Free of course!

Well, here you go!

My industrious water collection system from our A/C condensate lines. You can see the 5 gallon sheet rock/paint buckets I recycled into collection containers. The upstairs line empties into the 5 gallon. The downstairs line empties into the black 2.5 gallon bucket. When each one fills up, I exchange it with an empty one. This way I pretty much have one waiting on me to use for watering my herbs as well as the potted plants on the porch. I also get enough to do the front flower beds. I just rotate the watering on a daily basis to each group of plants. Works great and I don't have to pull the hose anywhere! I do though, carry the water in 2 plastic wide mouth containers that used to hold bird seed. I can quickly fill them up and away I go. I'm amazed at how much I collect and best of all it's FREE!(Even though I am on well water, I just like the idea I am recycling something that would ordinarily be wasted.)

Give it a try!

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Holiday planning..

Holiday Planners!

There's no time like the present to start planning for the upcoming holiday.I saw the idea of making them on another blog. However, their version of the planner was made from a junior notepad. While I liked the idea, I felt it may not hold up in our pocketbooks. So, as I was perusing Michael's I came across these journal books in the $1 bin. They had flowers on the front covers, but that didn't matter as I planned to cover them anyway. I had already ordered the scrapbook paper online, along with a few rubber stamps in preparation for the project. Hours later I had the first one done, adding to it the more I played with the idea. I decided we need a pocket for receipts, quick notes and the like. Then, I decided we had to have a calendar to keep track of paydays, upcoming events, special occasions, etc. That left the rest of the journal pages to jot down ideas, gift lists, recipes, to do lists and expenses. And lastly, I decided they needed our initial to dress the covers. The finished planner is quite nice and definitely one of a kind!

I love how they turned out!

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Colors of Summer

The colors of some of my flowers are absolutely so pretty.

Purples and Yellows -- cosmos, zinnia's and black-eyed susan.

The Dahlia flowers are perfect-something you can't fully appreciate until you see them up close. Prettier than any picture!

The black eyed Susan is certainly taking center stage, it will surely become one of my favorite summer flowers. This one plant has looked fresh with blooms ever since putting out the first ones. Amazing and it thrives in very dry conditions. My kind of plant!

Hope you're enjoying this nice(and hot)sunny day! Phew!!!

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