GOURDS

Gourd [gawrd, gohrd, goord]:

noun

the hard-shelled fruit of any

of various plants, especially

those of Lagenaria siceraria

 (white-flowered gourd or 

 bottle gourd), whose dried

shell is used for bowls and

other utensils, and Cucurbita

pepo (yellow-flowered gourd),

used ornamentally.

xx

THIS MOMENT: BEST FRIENDS

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. xx

TOMATOES

''Home grown tomatoes,
 home grown tomtoes,
 what would life be without
 home grown tomatoes.
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and
and home grown tomatoes."

~John Denver 

If I could only grow one vegetable

in my garden it would be the tomato.

I do not EVER buy them from the market,

so when they come in season it

is a really big event.

We plant Siberian tomato seeds

in the green house and then set

out the plants in the garden when

they were hardy enough. This is
the second year we have grown
Siberian's and I really do like the
texture and the flavor for eating.
For canning we use Roma's which
have more 'meat' to them. 

We have been eating a lot of

tomatoes fresh and the rest we

have been turning into sauce

for pasta, pizza or into soup
to eat with a sandwich.
The Roma's are pressure cooked
and stored for winter use.

I adapted Elizabeth's recipe

just a little to work for our

family. I chop the basil and

add it fresh to the cooked

tomato and garlic mixture

along with a little kosher

salt, then blend everything

with an immersion blender.

For soup, I exchange fresh

dill for the basil and add

a little butter and yogurt.

The tomato plants are just

about done and will be
pulled this weekend.

The count down begins

until next year!

xx

What are you growing?



YARN ALONG

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Linking with Ginny.

I know I'm breaking the
rules by posting more
than one picture, but
I am here alone and just
can't get a decent shot
of the wrap I finished
[well, except for weaving
in a few ends and blocking].
I love this pattern. My
edge does not have the
points that are shown
in the original pattern
pictures and I'm not sure
why since all my numbers
came out, but that's okay
because I still like it.

I am still reading
The Girl Who Played With Fire
and while it is a little
[a lot] disturbing, it
does hold my attention.

What have you been up
to this week?
xx

JULY IN THE SOUTH

“It is better to play
 than do nothing."..

~Confucius

...but we're playing inside
since triple digit temperatures
make me melt.
How are you playing in
the heat?
xx
Bowls inspired by Amanda's book.

WEEKENDING: A BIRTHDAY

weekending, my favorite part of the week. a time to relax, live, love, just to be. if you'd like to share your weekend either with words, photographs, or both, leave a link to a weekend post in the comments.  Joining with Amanda for her weekending post.

This weekend was...

Spent Saturday doing some
much needed house-loving...
furniture was oiled, hardwood floors
were polished, bathrooms
scrubbed and clutter was
tossed. Prepared Heather's
summer pasta since it was
too hot to turn the stove
on and then spent several
hours under the ceiling
fan reading and relaxing.
Sunday was getting up
early and preparing for
a [an early] birthday
celebration for the youngest
of the son's turning 14 [7-25].
There was spicy shrimp,
lemon rice, roasted okra and
of course birthday cake. Gifts
were given, stories were
shared and laughter was heard
all over the house. 
It was a good weekend...
just too short.
xx

THIS MOMENT

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. xx

PEACHES

"The ripest peach
 is highest on the tree”

~James Whitcomb Riley

Every year I have trees
loaded with peaches...
so many peaches that I'm
afraid the branches will break...
and I usually only harvest enough
to make one or two pies because
the bugs always devour the fruit.
This year I was prepared.
As soon as the trees started
putting on fruit, I started spraying
with a mixture of dishwashing
liquid, garlic and water.
I actually remembered to spray
every week and I was rewarded
with tons of bug-free fruit.
We have been eating them
fresh from the trees, baking
pies and making fruit leather
for the first time. I found
a very easy recipe and
I don't think my oven has
been turned off in days!
While you wait on fruit
leather, you can carve little
baskets with the pits...
no waste! xx

YARN ALONG

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Linking with Ginny.

The Ladawan's Shawl that I began
last week is almost complete. I have
discovered that I really need a much
longer circular needle cable
than the one I am currently using. 
I am not quite up to 300 stitches,
the final shawl has 560, and the
yarn is bunching tight on the needles.
The pattern has been very easy to
follow and this is a project that has allowed
me to watch old movies, talk with my
family and knit at the same time.

I finally bought The Girl Who Played With Fire,
the second book in Stieg Larsson's Trilogy.
I have just read a few of chapters, but so
far the writing is in keeping with the first
book which I enjoyed. I was a little sad
to learn that the the author, Stieg Larsson,
passed away from a heart attack in 2004
so there won't be any more books.

What have you been reading and knitting? xx

CHANGE

"Change is the essence of life.
Be willing to surrender what
you are for what you could become.”

~Unknown

How do you accept change?
Me?
Not so well...
but I'm trying.
xx