: homemade salsa : dahlias : getting books from the library : this beautiful jewelry : sweet corn : cute flannel : sunflowers : fireflies : this lovely post by Keri Smith : road trips on back roads : farmer's market : giraffes : paint-by-numbers : vintage hankies : barbecuing : polka dots : old Journey songs : fresh basil : embroidery : this photo :
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
~ Mary Oliver
Have a nice weekend!
I thought I would share one of my favorite pasta recipes. Have a nice day!
Greek Pasta Salad
1 pound penne pasta, cooked
1 pound chicken breast strips, cooked
1 red pepper, chopped
1 handful of baby spinach
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/4 c kalamata olives, chopped
1 small handful of feta cheese
1/3 c olive oil
2 T red wine vinegar
1 t Dijon mustard
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 t Greek seasoning or oregano
dash crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t salt
pepper
Combine first seven ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the remaining ingredients. Pour over pasta salad and toss. Serves 4-6.
Hi there! Sorry for my absence lately, but I think I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. We have had the perfect summer weather the past few days, it's wonderful. A lot of sweet corn has been eaten around here lately. That's one of my favorite things this time of year. Also the flowers. The glads are from my mother-in-law. I need to grow some next year. Oh, and we have finished the patio, yay! It looks really nice (photos soon), but a lot of work though. Last night we had a fire going in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows. I've always dreamed of having a nice patio with some lovely potted flowers, eating a great summer meal out there and later sitting under the stars. Another dream that came true :-)
Revelation is the marriage of knowing and feeling.
~ Marya Mannes
I'm just going to post photos for the rest of the week, I need a little break from blogging. Have a nice week!
How's it going? I went to an antique mall today and bought a couple things. A small ceramic cat, which I think I'll paint over. Maybe paint a flower or something on it too. Plus a bag of foreign stamps. I'm thinking I should have bought another bag, they are all so pretty.
The hubby is going to order our new pavers for the patio this evening. We returned the other ones and amazingly got all our money back. I was expecting another problem from them. Thank goodness that's all over!
Now I'm off to make dinner- pizza, and I'm making the dough from scratch (thanks Heather!)
Hi :-)
I have to tell you about the meal I made last night. I made roasted fingerling potatoes for the first time and they were wonderful! Have you tried them? They were kind of pricey at the farmer's market, but it was a nice treat. We also had grilled hamburgers- hubby is the grillmaster, but I prepare the patties. This time I used a tip I read in Cook's Illustrated magazine. I took 1/2 cup of pieces of bread (1/4" cubes) and 2 T milk and mashed them into a paste (or panade) and added it to 1 1/2 lbs ground beef. The result was the most tender burger, it was so good! Do you have any tips for great grilled food? Have a nice day :-)
Follow your bliss and don't be afraid and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.
~ Joseph Campbell
I try to keep this a positive place, but I gotta vent. These past five days have been so frustrating. It's the patio. We ordered three pallets of pavers. So we put down all the tan pavers from the first pallet and got about 1/4 done with the patio. We started putting down the second pallet (labeled tan) and realized they were red. Looked at the third pallet (labeled tan) and they were the wrong color too. So after some thought, we decided to see what it would look like using the two different colors. Maybe we could work with the mistake. So I tore up half of what we had put down and started over with the two different colored bricks. It looks awful. The two different pavers turn out to also be two different thicknesses. Hubby talked to one of the managers by phone who was a jerk, of course (to fellow midwesterner's: this home-improvement store starts with the letter "M". Beware! I've found a lot of complaints about them online too). So now we're getting angry. We want to get what we paid for, so we're marching over to that store with a red and tan paver in hand this afternoon to get this resolved. What an ordeal! They will be getting a complaint letter from us, that's for sure.
Well, something good did happen too. I now have a herb garden. I can't wait for fresh basil and the cats are extremely happy with their new catnip plant :-)
update: We've returned from the store. The manager my husband spoke to yesterday on the phone left some notes on our invoice which we happened to see today. On it he referred to my husband as an idiot. Yeah. Great service.
I'm joining in on Cassi's "Thoughtful Friday". Every Friday you post a photo along with a quote. I think it's a lovely way to end the week :-) Have a nice weekend!
The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us.
~ Ashley Montagu
New fabric for another lap quilt I'm planning to make- more vibrant fabrics for this one compared to the other. Also a new little wall quilt I made for our sunroom. I managed to whip that one up in a day. Have a good one :-)
Did you have a nice holiday weekend? We got a lot done this weekend, including finishing the vegetable garden.. finally! It's a raised bed with a fence around it and contains bell peppers, snow peas, cucumbers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, poblanos, thai chiles, tomatoes and herbs. I cannot wait for fresh vegetables! We're thinking about using an organic pesticide. Do any of you have any recommendations?
So it's on to another project. Later in the week we'll start work on a paved patio. I hope the rain holds off and it isn't too humid. Have a nice Monday!
When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self -respect.
~ Adlai Stevenson
I made a baguette yesterday for the first time ever and it was wonderful. I've always been a little intimidated by the recipes I've seen for this in the past. The other day I discovered this easy recipe (found via Rachel.) It's a dense bread and it was so good dipped with a little olive oil and some herbs. Now I've mad a list of things I want to try and I think homemade pizza dough will be the next one. See ya!
Yesterday we went to one of my favorite art shows, one that I've been going to since I was a kid. It was so nice getting there before the crowds. The gold bracelet was exactly what I was looking for, I'm so happy I found it. There were some beautiful wood vases there that I regret not buying. Oh well, next time. Happy Monday!
