Random 5 Friday - 01/31/2014

1.  YAY!! I did it! I made bagels and they turned out great! :) I used this recipe with the brown sugar option.

2.  The weather has been unseasonably warm here for the past few weeks while most of you have been dealing with Polar Vortexes.

3.  As a result, my fruit trees are trying to bud out. This does not bode well for the fruit harvest this summer.

4.  On the other hand though, my winter garden is doing great! Spinach, radishes, carrots, kale, beets, turnips, rutabagas and snow peas are all coming along nicely.

5.  It's time to get the outdoor cats, Bert and Ernie, "fixed." Somekitty sprayed in Jerry's shop yesterday.

Hmmm...pretty random ramblings today. Linking up with Nancy for Random 5 Friday.

Tuesday's Tails - 04/30/2013

This is most definitely NOT the kind of tail we like seeing here at the Lazy J Bar C!

This rattlesnake got himself tangled up in the bird netting covering the dwarf peach tree. Since there was NO WAY I was going to try and cut him free, Jerry sent him to snake heaven with the shotgun. Now, before you guys get to thinking we are snake haters, go here to see how we saved the gopher snake from the bird netting two years ago. This is actually only the second rattlesnake we have seen on our property in the eight years we have lived here.

Random 5 Friday - 04/19/2013

1.  My roses are blooming like crazy! I didn't get around to pruning them over the winter and they seem pretty happy about that fact.

2.  The big storm that brought or is bringing big rain to a lot of you just brought us big winds earlier this week.

3.  I made a new rule, Candy doesn't have to cook supper on Thursday. I do a good job of making meals from scratch the rest of the week but Thursday is kind of like my Friday and I'm tired of being in the kitchen every day by then. I don't care if we go out, eat sandwiches or have leftovers...I'm just not cooking! ;)

4.  The new season of Longmire starts May 27th on A&E! Woo-hoo!

5.  I have started taking my shower at night, there were days when I would still be in my jammies at noon because I would get busy with my baking. Now, I can just get dressed when I get up. When I was young, we always took a bath at night. How about you, do you prefer a bath or a shower, at night or in the morning?

Linking up with Nancy for Random 5 Friday.

Tuesday Muse - 04/02/2013

I was really taken with the color of this pansy, the blue was just so beautiful!! :)

Joining Nancy for Tuesday Muse.

Random 5 Friday - 03/22/2013

1.  I love perennials and enjoy seeing them return every year. I picked up a six-pack of calendula plants last weekend and put them in my new flower bed interspersed with some gladiolus bulbs.

 

 

2.  The hollyhocks I planted last year are making a return.

 

 

3.  I planted one echinacea in this barrel almost seven years ago, it has multiplied and comes back every spring.

 

 

4.  I have two barrels of irises, these have been here for about five years now. I really, really need to thin them out, huh? ;)

 

 

5.  I gave my big wormwood plant to one of my friends a couple of weeks ago but found this little volunteer and decided to plant it in my new herb bed. They can get pretty big but are very pretty with their silvery foilage.

 

Linking up with Nancy for Random 5 Friday.

Windowsill Gardening

Our local Wally World has some beautiful, locally grown potted herbs available in the produce department. I resisted buying any for several months but I just couldn't take it anymore and picked up an oregano plant and a lovely basil plant. The basil was three times bigger than this when I bought it! I pruned it back and froze some using this method.

Since I spend so much time in the kitchen, I really enjoy having fresh herbs in the window over the sink. :)

Linking up with Nancy for Tuesday Muse.

Edited in PSE11 using Nancy's Candy texture (can't help it, love the name!) at Soft Light 75% and Multiply 50%. Border added in Pixlr.

Photo Art Friday - Abstract

For Photo Art Friday this week, Bonnie challenged us to create a composite (collaged) piece of ABSTRACT photo art. We were to utilize at least two of her backgrounds/textures and one or two additional images, preferably our own. This was certainly a challenge for me as I don't normally do this kind of "art!" I gotta say, I'm really, really pleased with how it turned out! :)

Here are the elements I used. All editing was done in Photoshop Elements 11.

This is also my P52 Sweet Shot Tuesday submission and I will be linking up with Weekly Top Shot.

African Violets

I love my African Violets, they thrive despite my lackadaisical care! ;)
My grandmother always had a lot of African Violets in all different colors and I always thought they were so pretty. I have tried growing them through the years but never had any luck until we moved here.

It has been two years since I pinched them back and divided them and it looks as though the time has come to do it again.

I like the white edges of the foilage on this one.

I started about 10 plants by leaf cuttings a couple of years ago and they all grew, some better than others. I took six or so to the Farmer's Market when they started blooming and they sold well. This was the only one left and, as you can see, he's still in the plastic container. Ooops!!

I have my African Violets in a north facing window that never gets any direct sunlight because of the 10-foot porch roof overhang. I don't feed them special fertilizer, um, as a matter of fact, I don't fertilize them at all, and I water them from the top but underneath the leaves. I know I'm probably doing everything wrong but, seriously, they bloom almost constantly! :)

Sleeping Frog Farms

I wanted to share some more of the photos I took last week on our tour of Sleeping Frog Farms. I have serious garden envy but I also realize that they are professionals and I certainly am not!! LOL!! It was so nice to be able to tour their farm and learn from these wonderful people. Besides the produce, they have laying hens, dairy goats, honey bees and earthworms. They also offer an intensive internship program for anyone wanting to learn how to start their own Certified Naturally Grown farm.

This is my favorite picture, Elijah Blue in his froggie shirt with one of the many friendly barn cats! :)

Flower Art Friday - 09/28/2012

The roses have been blooming again this week and I wanted to show them off for the Friday memes. I took a bunch of pictures trying to come up with something that really made me say hmmm. I finally settled on these two. I like them but, eh, not my favorites... LOL!!

We have been enjoying the roses on the fireplace mantle anyway! :)
Linking up with Floral Friday Foto, Flower Art Friday and Photo Art Friday.

Vitex agnus-castus

This has got to be one of my favorite bushes/trees! Many years ago, I was studying herbal medicine of the Southwest and was given some Vitex seeds to be used to make a tincture. The next year, I had several volunteer plants coming up and I don't remember having the seeds outside at all! Ever since, I have considered this to be my special herbal partner. When the plants are small, they kind of resemble marijuana with their five-lobed leaves and I had to ask my herbal teacher what in the heck it was! :)

Vitex is a deciduous Mediterranean native hardy to Zone 7. It grows quickly and is easily started from seed. Here is a purple flowered plant that I dug up as a volunteer at a local nursery about six years ago. At first glance, it looks as though the ends of the branches are bare but those are the seeds that follow the flowers. There are a LOT of seeds on this one!

I bought a white flowered bush a few years later that we planted out front. It has done okay but it hasn't grown and thrived the way the purple one has; although, it did freeze to the ground during our 100-year freeze event in 2010 so I guess it's doing fine.

Then, last year, I had two volunteers come up in one of the barrels in the back yard. When they bloomed this year, the flowers were PINK!! Hmmm...I guess the plants cross pollinated. My plan is to transplant these two out near the garden to provide some shade and to attract more bees to the garden since they LOVE the flowers!

The pink flowers are just getting ready to open again. There is an initial heavy blooming period in late spring/early summer but they keep putting on more blooms as the summer wears on.

Not only are the plants beautiful when in full bloom but the seeds are used to make tinctures for womens' health issues covering all stages of life from puberty to menopause. Other names for the plant are Chasteberry Tree and Monk's Pepper because it is said to have an anti-aphrodisiac effect on men. When the seeds are fully ripe, they resemble black peppercorns.

Rosemary Gladstar's book "Herbal Healing for Women" and Susun Weed's book "Menopausal Years The Wise Woman Way" provide the following information:
Vitex has a stimulating effect on the pituitary gland, which, among other functions, regulates and normalizes hormone production. It also increases production of luteinizing hormones, enhancing the progesteron cycle. At the same time, it inhibits the release of the follicle-stimulation hormone FSH and normalizes the estrogen cycle. It is beneficial in treating painful and irregular menstruation, infertility, PMS, menopausal problems and other hormonal imbalances. No side effects have ever been reported from extensive and extended use. It is one of the most useful herbs for women. It is a slow-acting herb and results become evident only after two or three months of daily use; permanent improvements requires about a year of daily use but the results are worth it.

Linking up with Wildcrafting Wednesday, Rural Thursday and Farmgirl Friday.

Sunday Photo - Melon

I had two of my Athena Cantaloupe plants grow to maturity and I ended up with exactly two beautiful cantaloupes. At least they are both nice and big, with firm flesh and really great flavor! :)
Linking up with the new Orange You Glad It's Friday, Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday, Mandarin Orange Monday and The Country Garden Showcase.

Flower Art Friday - 08/24/2012

This is the last gladiolus from the garden with some caryopteris and catnip thrown in. I love the combination of yellow and purple flowers.

Edited in Pixlr using Vintage Craquelure, a free texture from Bonnie at Pixel Dust Photo Art. (Layer Multiply 75%, duplicate layer Overlay 51%, flatten image, lighten image, add border, add watermark.) Jeez, I hope that makes sense! LOL!!
I want to thank everyone who puts that kind of info on their photo art, it is really helping me start to figure out how to do some of this stuff! :)

Linking with Flower Art Friday, Floral Friday Fotos, Weekly Top Shot and Your Sunday Best.

Garden Update - It's A Jungle In There!

We have been getting rain recently and it sure does make the garden grow! The tomato plants and summer squash plants completely fill their 4-foot by 4-foot boxes and the tomato plants are starting to break free!
I have been harvesting quite a few of the French heirloom Ronde de Nice zucchini (small picture far right) and the Bennings Green Tint Pattypan squash, enough so that I have been selling some at the Farmers' Market. Jerry will only eat so many squash, ya' know. ;-)
The picture on the bottom left is an Italian heirloom eggplant, Listada de Gandia. I just love them, not only are they pretty but I like the taste and texture better than the Black Beauty eggplant. The bright yellow guy is a Golden Sweet melon and while it is certainly golden, they aren't very sweet and they are small, only about 5 or 6 inches long. I won't be growing them again.
The cherry tomatoes and yellow pear tomatoes are producing nicely but I'm still waiting for the bigger tomatoes to ripen. I found a great site that talks about freezing tomatoes until you have enough to can a batch and you can even freeze the cherry tomatoes!
What I didn't show ya'll is the "wildlife" that is living in my garden jungle. You know, the squash beetles and grasshoppers! Grrrr...
Linking up with The Country Garden Showcase and Mosaic Monday.

Garden Update - August 06, 2012

The garden is starting to produce nicely! :) I have been harvesting bush beans, jalapeno, pepperoncini and bell peppers, scalloped squash and Ronde de Nice French heirloom zucchini, cherry and yellow pear tomatoes, and strawberries. The cantaloupe are growing nicely and one of the Kakai pumpkins has started to turn. The only fruit I am going to get from the trees this year is Kieffer pears and they are doing well too. The big tomatoes are all still green but I noticed one starting to blush today! YAY!! I'm still hoping for enough tomatoes to can and make into tomato sauce this year. So far, it looks as though that will happen.
Linking up with The Country Garden Showcase and Mosaic Monday.

The Neighbors' Carrots

Our very nice neighbors said we could have all the carrots we wanted from their garden...they had a LOT!! Jerry helped me dig up most of them the other day and this is what I did with them today. :)

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday and The Country Homemaker Hop.

Made ME Jump!

I was working away, pulling grass in the garden, when something moved practically under my hand! No, I didn't scream like a girl but I sure jumped and I think the tarantula was just as surprised as I was. :)
He/she wasn't in any big hurry so I ran inside and grabbed my camera. Jerry kept saying, "You know they jump, don't you? It's gonna jump on your head!" He thought he was real funny. :-/
The rains always bring out the tarantulas so I knew to be on the lookout, just not right under my hand. LOL!!
Linking up with Tones On Tuesday, Mosaic Monday and Macro Monday.

Garden Update - July 16, 2012

My garden seems to be slow to get going this year. Everything is doing well but I seem to be about a month behind where I was this time last year. I really hope I get a good harvest from my little garden and have enough tomatoes and green beans to freeze and can some for the winter. Now that our summer rains have started, it should really take off! :)
Linking up with The Country Garden Showcase, Mosaic Monday and Macro Monday.

Sunday Photo - July 08, 2012

The water lily in the Cowboy Fish Pond is sending up more flowers, this one bloomed Saturday. So, did you know that the flowers close up at night? I never did! LOL!! Linking up with Weekly Top Shot and Straight Out Of the Camera Sunday.

Nancy, at A Rural Journal, alerted a lot of her blogging buddies to the plight of Feral Woman who recently escaped with her life during the Ash Creek wildfires occurring in Montana. The fire changed direction so quickly that some of her horses and pets were left to fend for themselves, as were those belonging to many of the members of her small community. I had no idea this was even happening, it has not been on the news here.

Nancy has started a campaign to collect donations for the American Red Cross of Montana to help all of the victims of these wildfires. I have added the ChipIn! widget to my sidebar so that any of you who feel that you can will be able to make a donation and if you can't contribute, please visit Go West Feral Woman's blog and give her a hug or a few words of comfort. Her recent posts are absolutely terrifying and heartbreaking. If you feel so inclined, please post the ChipIn! widget to your own sidebar so that we can get the word out.

Gazpacho

The first time I had gazpacho I was in my early 20s and on a date with my soon to be husband (now ex). He took me to a nice seafood restaurant on the pier in Redondo Beach, CA. Being a girl from Kansas whose parents had pretty simple tastes, I had never even heard of gazpacho and cold soup, why that was just WRONG! Well, it was one of the best things I had ever eaten. :) Seeing as how it wasn't something that my now-ex would ever willingly eat, that was the last time I had gazpacho for many, many years.

Fast forward 30 years (yep, I'm getting old!). We stopped for lunch after the Farmers' Market a couple of weeks ago and it was so hot that all I wanted was a salad and maybe some soup. When the waitress told me they had gazpacho, I promptly ordered it. I gotta tell you, for our little town, we have some pretty good restaurants. The gazpacho was good but kind of reminded me of "thin" salsa. Since then, I've been on a mission to find a good recipe. I recently remembered that Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman, has a recipe for gazpacho in her new cookbook "The Pioneer Woman Cooks - Food From My Frontier" so I decided to give it a try. I highly suggest you give it a try too!!

I did a couple of things differently, I omitted the celery because I didn't have any, I used salad shrimp instead of grilled shrimp (the rest will be used for Cowboy Ceviche later in the week), I used Clamato instead of tomato juice which I thought paired well with the shrimp, and I omitted the chopped hard boiled egg as a garnish. You can find Ree's recipe here.

All of the vegetables I used came fresh from the Farmers' Market Saturday but if you are lucky enough to have a garden that is actually producing, it would be even better! And just so you know, Jerry thought this was excellent (after being initially skeptical) and just the thing for supper on a hot summer day! :)
Linking up with Heidi for The Country Garden Showcase.
P.S. My blogging buddy Nancy at Little Homestead In Boise is doing a giveaway to celebrate her one-year Blogiversary! Hop on over and sign up, she's giving away some really cool stuff!