Some Cards and Some Blue Apron Food

Hi there everyone.....yeah, I am a bit behind in posting these cards again. Made these cards at Betty's a week ago Wednesday. Oh gosh, it has been sooooo hot, I just have not felt like doing ANYTHING!!!!!

Today has been nice...tolerable. The weather will be in the high 70's and low 80's for the next week or so.....I can handle that. Until at least I can get a new air conditioner in the kitchen window.

So here are some cards I made at Betty's last week. Doesn't this card look yummy and cool. Pop-cycles!!! Remember when the Good Humor Man came around in his little white truck, oh and then there was the ice cream man on his bike pushing a refrigerated box full of pop-cycles.....ah yes, the good old days!!!!

I love this old lady.....she was fun to color too. While working on her all I could think about was the stamp that says......"dance, as if know one is watching".

This was a fun card....lots of pre-made embossed and die cuts....easy, peasy to put together.

Now this card was really nice...Christmas in July....Betty borrowed my snow flake stamp and turned it into this lovely card. Betty usually has the background embossed and the die cuts made, all we do is put it together and add the gems on the snow flake. Pretty, pretty card, the light does not do it justice.

So these were my two Blue Apron meals. I think these will be my last ones for a few months....at least till the summer is over and the weather gets a bit cooler. It was much too hot to cook in my kitchen and I did not feel like putting on the oven. So no, only want to make easy-peasy things that don't take up a lot of energy and make things too warm in the kitchen.

The above meal, "Za'atar Chicken Burgers & Oven Fries with Feta-Labneh Spread & Garlic Chips" I think, what I like with each of these meals, is that I learn something new every time. I loved make the oven fries this way....just cutting them, oil, salt and pepper and back till they crisp. Garlic chips....slice the garlic and fry in oil till crisp and top the burger with the chips. I think the next time I make this I will use beef.....the only seasoning was lemon zest, parsley and the za'atar seasoning, salt and pepper. Then fry in oil. I guess the burger was supposed to have a Greek flavor to it. To tell you the truth, I was not impressed....guess that is why I will try beef next time.

This meal was "just okay". "Roasted Pork and Summer Salsa with Zucchini-Scallion Rice" I enjoyed the salsa, rice and zucchini more then the meat. It was a little tough. Plus......so hot in the kitchen, I did not roast in the oven. I sliced the pork and fried in a pan.

The salsa was a peach, cut up real fine added lime zest and a shallot-lime juice mixture, drizzled oil and tossed thoroughly and combined with salt and pepper. This was layered on the pork. (last night I mixed the rest of the salsa with some sour cream and mayo and put on some toasted naan bread with a sliced cucumber on it. very refreshing.)

We really liked the Zucchini...diced and cooked in oil till tender, add the minced garlic and scallions (bottom part) then the cooked rice added and cooked till heated.....oh, don't forget the salt and pepper. We really enjoyed that, then of course the peach salsa and onion  added a sweet touch. Yeah, I would do this again. BUT on a cooler evening.

So I shall monitor the next few months of meals on Blue Apron, to see if there is something I would like to make. I can always get their recipes off the site. So if there are some meals I want, I can get the recipe and buy the food myself. We shall see what transpires....in the mean time I have lots of great recipes and a few favorites I will try over and over again.

Well, time to go walk Kylie....oh my, it is after 6pm....I sure can get lost doing this post. Time to close. I got some new stamps today and I want to go downstairs and play with them.

You all have a great evening and keep looking up.....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

A Walk In Kathy's Garden

Hi there everyone. Hope you are keeping cool in this HOT, HOT, HOT weather!!!  My air conditioner does not work. We put it in the window and after about an hour of working, it started spitting water all over the place. Oh well....shut 'er down. and turn on the fans!!! When I get a little bit of extra $$$ I am off to buy a new air conditioner, for sure!!! This chick needs to be refrigerated and will spoil in hot weather!!!!!

I have been sleeping in the basement the last couple of days....it is just a wee-bit cooler down there....so needless to say, when I do come upstairs it's like 5am or 6am in the morning and much cooler outside. Wish there is a way to draw the cool air outside into the house. Ummmm....when winter comes, I will wish it was warm again....when will I be happy???? I know, when the weather stays an even sunny 70's - 80's with a wee bit of breeze...perfect weather.

 

So today I took some pictures of Kathy's garden......now I forget what she called the flower above....but it sure was a pretty one. She also has a pink one that was going to bloom in a few days....

Here are some cone flowers....I like these. I need to get a cluster of these growing in my back yard. Kathy gave me some of these to plant in my yard....I have the place, just need to plant them.

These are flux flowers....they really fill in a lot of places....sure looks nice here.

More Cone flowers and flux in these two pictures.

Kathy called this lilly flower a "spider" lilly....interesting looking flower. She said she has 100 lilly bulbs planted and they have multiplied......lots of lilies and different colors too.

I have to remember this for next year....planting these two plants together. Petunia's and, and, and....gosh, I forget the name of these leafy plants.

More Cone Flowers.....I like these.

And look what she has growing in her back yard......grapes!!! How neat is this?!?!?!?!?  I used to have a wild grape vine growing....but it never produced, I think the birds got the grapes when they were real young. Would have been fun to make some grape juice.

I took some lemon mint tea leaves to Kathy's....so she can make some mint tea. I have a whole slew of mint growing in the front yard....yeah, they are invasive....but I sure have had some beautiful roses this year and lots of mint tea. I want to make some mint jelly this year, nice thing is that the mint keeps growing all summer long....so no worries of it dying on me.

I hope you enjoyed a walk through Kathy's garden, I always enjoy it...fun to see how a garden grows. When I get done with my gardens.....I will walk you through mine also.

Well, I am cooled down now, it's going on 7pm...time to take Kylie for her walk, at least it is not so hot for her. Don't want her little paws to get hot from the hot cement.

You all have a great night and keep looking up, better days are coming....Cheers ~ Louise

Simple Rhubarb Crisp and a Quiche from Blue Apron

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good day....Friday and Sunday is coming!!!! And in between those two days is SATURDAY!!! Have to love those Saturdays. It's suppose to be in the 80's, a little bit warmer then today, but I enjoyed this day too, didn't have to put the fans on. JP finally brought up the window air conditioner....it just has to go into the window now. Maybe tomorrow.

So today I made this "Simple Rhubarb Crisp". It's kind of my recipe, mixed with another. I had a lot of frozen rhubarb in the freezer and pulled it all out....I guess I had about 9-10 cups of rhubarb. So I thought, why not make a crisp following the pie recipe I had. Here's the recipe:

Spray a 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 pan or glass dish. Mix together:
5-6 cups rhubarb, 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (one cup if you like real sweetness), 2 eggs, 1/2 cup flour, stir and pour into the sprayed pan or glass dish.

Mix together: 1/2 stick butter (softened), 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 to 3/4 cup flour, mix till crumbly and sprinkle over the rhubarb mix.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and bake 15 minutes. Turn oven down to 350 degrees and bake for 40 - 50 minutes, depends on your oven. Cool down a bit and slice, top with ice cream or whip cream...very yummy!!

My Blue Apron recipe. "Zucchini & Cherry Tomato Quiche with Tomato-Arugula Salad" Yep, this is a keeper too. The zucchini was diced, cherry tomatoes quartered. Make a paste out of the garlic by zesting it. Zest the lemon and quarter the lemon. Make a dressing with the lemon zest, 1/4 of the garlic paste and juice of all 4 lemon wedges. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook the zucchini and season with salt and pepper, cook down till lightly browned and slightly softened. Add half the tomatoes and the remaining garlic paste and season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat.

Make the filling, crack 2 eggs in a medium bowl, beat till smooth, add 1/2 cup ricotta cheese and whisk till combined. Add the cooked vegetables, whisk well and pour into small pie shells and top with Fontina cheese and Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 425 degrees for 18 - 20 minutes till the crusts are browned and the filling is set and cooked through. Serve with lettuce and the rest of the cherry tomatoes, pour over the garlic-lemon mixture with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Yep...I would make this dish again also.

Tonight is pizza night from Schwan's and left-overs.....so JP will be eating pretty well tonight after work. I hope he appreciates me and my cooking and making sure he eats well. My only problem is I enjoy my cooking also....so hard to lose weight in this house....so maintaining is all I can muster.

Well, you all have a great evening and keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise.

PS Just a note....I was so sorry to hear of the attack on innocent people in Nice, France by a truck driver. It is so sad to think these terrorist think nothing of human life. Too bad, they have been deceived by the evil one and they think killing people (and themselves) will get them "73 virgins in Heaven"........I think they shall be shocked. As per Rush Limbaugh here is his link.

Their "Koran" was wrongly translated and the "73 virgins" they think they are getting is actually "73 raisins"....what a shock!!!

I pray their eyes will be opened and Jesus will give them visions of the REAL HOLY God of the Universe and many Muslims will be saved.

90th Birthday Card and Roses

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good evening. I thought I would do a short post tonight....I do believe this is my 700th post....goodness how time flies. Doing nothing special, nope, no give-a-ways. Maybe on my 750th or 800th post I will do a give-a-way or something...who knows.

So in these two pictures, are the card I made and sent to my step-father in Las Vegas. He said he wanted to make it to 90 and then he could die. I said, nay, you will probably go to 100!!! He says he prays every night that God will take him, but he doesn't. So I said, maybe he has got something more for you to do....no response. I thought this saying was very approapoe (well bummers, the spell check is not working) for him. "Life isn't a matter of Milestones...but of Moments"

In these next three pictures are some of the roses growing around my house. I think I would like to get a red rose growing. Hopefully this fall I can get one going someplace. I give my roses a shot of coffee....they really seem to like that. Someone said to try Epson salts....not sure what that does, but that is next on the agenda.

This rose was planted probably 20 years ago...it has its good years and bad years....must depend on the weather. But every year I cover white plastic around the base fill it with leaves. This seems to be all the protection it needs in this Wisconsin weather.

This is a pretty yellow rose, it sits next to the rose above and seems to like it's place. I guess my flowers are loving to bloom where they are planted.

This pretty "long stemmed" white rose gets the same treatment as the others, coffee, water, and leaves in the fall.

Yep....I think I will look for a new place to plant a red rose....something to work on this summer....geez...what is left of it.

Well,  you all have a great evening and keep looking up.....better days are coming. I am going to make Kylie some hamburger and rice...she has not been feeling well and she likes rice and hamberger to eat....so does mama with a little bit of taco sauce on it. Yum!

Cheers ~ Louise

Summertime Projects #2

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a good Saturday......sometimes, I wish every day was Saturday. But then, I guess we would get tired of that.....and maybe less would get done, or, maybe more????

So, today I thought I would show you my "drawer project". My neighbor was throwing these drawers out and I asked if I could have them. This is what I did to them. I know, if you have been reading my blog regularly you would have seen this picture already. (Perhaps I should have up-dated this one, as the plants are bigger now.)

I repainted the blue drawer (all 4 drawers were painted blue on the front and I just painted this drawer with the blue I had and continued all around the drawer) This drawer has radishes, onions, and swiss chard growing in it. English cucumbers are growing in the wheel barrel.

This drawer started with a bright green, I ran out, then sprayed the front with yellow, leaving the bright green on the sides and back. This one has onions and sunflowers. The sunflowers are much bigger now and I transplanted them into larger pots. Maybe by the end of July I will transplant them again in their final home.

These two drawers are pink and red. I have run out of red and need to get some more....probably Walmart will have the cheapest at this point.

So here is the pink drawer with it's legs.....this was a sudden "light bulb idea" I had these blocks laying around from some skids I picked up.....wah-la....they became legs. I glued them with "liquid nails". Can you see, they are already sliding off the drawer.

So I stopped them with a stick and braced the drawer up with a couple of small boards that were laying around, Then layed bricks on the legs for weight. The drawer sat like this for a day or so. Giving the liquid nails a chance to dry. Then, I sprayed the front part of the drawer legs and the back part of the legs the next day.

So here you see the finished project (almost), The knobs are on, the silver plates are from my kitchen cabinets and the pink knobs from Micheals for $.50 a knob. I should add here, I have not spent a penny on spray paint as yet, as I had all these colors from last year and kept them downstairs for the winter. Oh, I did buy the liquid nails and dirt, so there is not a whole lot of $$$$ involved in repurposing these drawers.

Next thing is to drill holes in the drawer for water seepage, spray the inside with acrylic spray, line and staple with black garden material, pile in the dirt and plant some flower seeds and set the drawer someplace in a sunny spot.

 In this picture you see the yellow (filled with onions, and sunflowers, the pie tins are to deter the squirrels and chipmunks) the red drawer (unfinished) and pink drawer.

 Here you see the red drawer and my plans for it. I found this old crate with wood in it and thought it would be a good idea to add it to the red drawer and place it in my "red garden" this drawer will have fall plantings of lettuce in it. I shall paint the crate red also and secure it.....haven't figured out how to do that yet.

 I think we will go to Lowe's tomorrow after church. I heard they have red mulch, 5 bags for $10.00, I want to get some, if they are still there. That would be a cheaper price then what I have seen....3 bags for $7. Have not checked Menards.

This week, I will pick up some white spray paint to paint my two tires, the ladder, wicker stool, maybe an old wood chair and stool out back. I have an old bike downstairs....maybe pull that up and give it a shot of white spray also.  Maybe I will call this my "Spray paint week", if it is not too windy, hot or rainy.

You all have a good week and see you next time. Have a great day, keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

Summertime Projects

Hi there everyone....I hope you had a nice day off and enjoyed your 4th of July holiday. We enjoyed the day. Made a pork roast, corn and beans on the grill and played in my gardens, oh and got bit up with the mosquitoes.

Today I am going to show you some of my projects I have been working on. Just a few. These drawers were all blue and I repainted them, put handles on them, filled with dirt and planted onions, radish, swiss chard. In the wheel barrel is cucumbers.

In this yellow drawer is sunflowers and more onions. The pie tins and wire mesh were to keep the squirrels out.....but that did not stop the chipmunks though. Out of 15 seeds planted the chipmunk left me 8 plants. I did transplant the sunflowers into bigger pots and protected wire mesh.

These drawers are still in their re-purposed process, the pink one is ready to plant....I just have to get some dirt in there....maybe flowers for this one. The red drawer will probably have lettuce planted when things cool down a bit. I have to get some more red paint for that one yet. Along with some white paint to spray down an old ladder and wicker stool for the porch. (no pictures as yet). Still on the back burner is my "Freda the Frog and daisies painted on the shed door.

See my pretty red bench??? This is my "Red Garden" Eventually everything will be red. I want to get a bamboo 6 foot fence to hide the neighbors junk and make my "red garden" a little bit more private, but that may be down the road a bit. Also on the agenda is some red mulch. This area gets the morning sun and evening sun, will be a nice place to meditate. (hopefully minus the mosquitoes)

I am painting rocks too....I thought different colored rocks thrown around would add a bit of color here and there. A few other things I have been working on....stepping stones, I made one so far. Turned an old tea cup and saucer into a bird feeder, it is still drying, as I used A LOT of liquid nails on it....that might work. Fixed my old picnic table umbrella with liquid nails too....the stick broke and it is still drying.

This is what my neighbors side of the house looks like when I first pulled the weeds and planted some tomato, cabbage and pepper plants. I tried zucchini, but the seeds were too old. If I had not done that....the weeds would have taken over the side of their house. This picture was taken May 28th.

Here is what the side of their house looks like as it is growing....looking good. Least I can keep an eye on the plants and know when they need water. This picture was taken July 1st. Lots of growth, but the two cabbage plants on the left are not doing so good, I had to transplant them because the rain from the gutter was beating them down. Poor things, if they make it, it will be a miracle.

So there you have it....keeping busy outside and inside making cards.....maybe next post will be a few cards. We shall see. You all have a great day and keep looking up.....better days are coming.
Cheers ~ Louise

Happy Independence Day

Hi there everyone. Hope you are having a wonderful 4th of July!!! The day is beautiful and sunny here in Wisconsin. Perfect weather for fireworks, get togethers, picnics, cookouts and fun in the sun. Me....I will just lay around and maybe get a few things done around the house. Oh, and enjoy my gardens and hope the mosquitos don't find me and carry me away. (that would be a miracle)

So, as we enjoy this day, let us not forget all those men and women who fought for our freedoms. Our freedoms that seem to be dwindling more each day. Remember all those that went before us doing great things and accomplishing great things never before seen. Things that you won't hear on the news media that can only be explained, because God did the doing.

I thought I would share a few pictures and ideas for cards that I found on the internet. I did make a few cards via the idea above. Some of my ideas are in the banner above.

My Patriotic House Mouse's. They show up every year about this time.

Loved this poster when I saw it....I think I found this on Facebook along with the horse below.

Another card. I think my rendition of this card is in the banner above.

Happy 4th of July and celebration of the Birthday of the Declaration of Independence. We are still so very young as a Nation, with lots to learn.....but, we are one of the greatest Nations and still very much blessed by God. For now.

So keep looking up, better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise

God Bless America!!!!