Sitting on the Front Porch

Hi there everyone....how are you all doing??? Hope you are keeping Cool. Cool. Cool!!!! I am not, we still have not replaced the air conditioner....I had it on for about a half hour last night and then it started spitting and had to shut it down. But, it was on long enough to cool things down a bit in the kitchen. I felt a little cooler, but the coolness did not last long.

About 10pm Kylie and I went and sat on the porch for about an hour...it sure was cooler outside with a slight breeze AND there were no mosquitos.....goodness, could they not find me???? I almost fell a sleep a couple of times. The trickle of the water in my fountain and the crickets chirping had a very hypnotic affect on me.

So, in the pictures below.....you will find me sitting on the front porch, again. Yeah, it's a place to go when I want to take a time out......"my mini vacation" to dream about places I would like to go if I had the money. The last couple of days my wishing has taken me to places where I would be close to water and could sink my toes in some sand.....gosh that sounds heavenly to me about now. But for now, I shall have to dream on my porch and listen to the water fountain trickle on the porch or in the back yard.

So here I am, camera facing east. In the foreground is a big butterfly....it's sitting in my fountain. In the very last picture you will see the water fountain with flowers, flamingo's, light, fall leaves and the butterfly. In this picture you see my brown eyed Susan's and my privacy wall of star climentus. And yes, we have eaten on the porch....not a lot, but some.

That's my glider chair....it's a nice place to fall asleep on. When our air conditioner worked in the kitchen, I would bring that chair in the kitchen and slept in it all night long....very comfortable. Next to the chair on the railing is my 3 pots of basil. I have been drying the leaves for later use and putting the leaves in grilled cheese sandwiches and salads......yum!!!

Oh look.....my tosey's!!!! Just relaxing. So in the front view are my petunia's and that green plant you see is my Christmas Ponsetta.....yep, it's still growing. One of these days (not sure when) I shall have to stick it in the closet or some dark place so the leaves get red. Maybe I better google "ponsetta plant care" and see what the prescription is.

In this view, are my roses, among the roses is lemon mint (that I need to dry and make mint jelly with), petunia's and brown eyed susan's. If you look through the screen and porch railings you can see Hissop growing. That's another plant that I need to bring in the leaves and flowers and dry them for tea.

Finally, my camera is facing south-west and you see my white wicker chair (which I have painted every couple of years), we have had that chair for 25 years now and who knows how long the neighbors had it before us. Anyways, in this picture are my geraniums....they are two years old. JP brought them in for the winter and managed to keep them going. I think they like this spot, cause they get lots of sun.

Here is a closer picture of the geraniums, they are sitting in a pot that straddles the porch railing. I want to find another pot like that.....I think I got it at Shopko...but have not seen another one as yet.

Last, but not least is my little trickling water fountain....water looks a little green, I better change the water. Yeah, this is a nice place to sit....I wish my computer could go out here too, but alas, I do not have a lap-top.....that would be nice though (I think).

Well, time to close, it's 5pm and I need to get some pictures up in my Etsy store. Finally!!!! I have been working on cards, but just too lazy to take pictures and get them in the computer then into Etsy....but today I shall do a couple of cards and maybe a couple cards tomorrow. My next post will be the cards that I put up in my Etsy store.....stay tuned.

Have a great day and keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

Just a Few Garden Pictures and a Blue Apron Meal

Hi there everyone...hope you had a wonderful day. One more hour and it will be JULY 1st!!! Are you ready for a new month? I still have not accomplished all that I wanted to in June....but, there is still 2 months yet to go, to get those projects done. By then, fall will be upon us, hopefully I can still enjoy the summer.

So I took a few pictures tonight of my black eyed Susan's in the front yard. They sure are prolific aren't they?

In this picture, you can see the plant next to the black eyed Susan's....it's a hissop bush. JP likes to dry the leaves (actually I dry the leaves) and make tea. The front of the house has lemon-mint growing, which has over taken the front yard. Tonight I made some mint tea....boiled the leaves and added some stevia...not a bad tea. I think I will make some mint jelly this summer...but I need to find a good recipe.

Along side the house are some more black eyed Susan's, Lillie's, star Clementius and purple Clementius, those purple flowers, I am not sure what they are.....they come back every year. They look awful when growing, almost like weeds, then they bloom these cute little purple bells....they dry up and then I pull them out....but they seem to come back every year.....hard to get rid of them.

So hey you guys, this meal was really delicious!! "Spicy Hoisin Turkey Meatballs with sautéed zucchini and brown rice" I just finished the last of it tonight. I need to make this again.

It was a pretty easy meal to make. Make the rice, quarter the zucchini, mince the garlic and ginger, slice the scallions. Add breadcrumbs, hoisin sauce and sambal oelek (spice) to the meat and make into balls. Cook the balls till browned and transfer to a dish and keep warm. Add the zucchini to the fond and cook to browned. Add the meatballs, remaining hoisin sauce and 1/2 cup water to the pan. Cook till the sauce thickens and the meatballs are thoroughly coated and cooked through. Place rice in a bowl, top with the meat and zucchini and top with scallion and sesame seeds. Yep, I would make this again.

Well, time to close this last post of the month....maybe July I will be more active. Showing you some of the things I have been making besides cards. Have a great day and keep looking up....better days are coming. Cheers ~ Louise