Another Garden Update

It has been a very strange season in the garden.

A combination of perfect conditions and mixed results

The cool, wet Spring allowed everything to grow without

stress; then the heat set in followed by non-stop rain.

The garden doesn't seem to know exactly where it should be!

Speaking of which, the Bees have been busy

(of course they have)

which resulted in a tremendous cucumber crop,

climbing up the cattle panels and actually onto 

the chicken wire fencing.  

Almost every weekend, and sometimes in between,

we are canning either pint or quart jars of pickles:

cucumber slices, spears, mixed vegetables.

Taylor's had a smiley face!

She (my granddaughter) made a few jars to 

bring back to her place.

The tomatillos are just everywhere

and we have made several jars of 

salsa verde.

Now these are the good parts; however, there is also the bad.

Now the squash bugs have decided to appear, much

later than last year.  I was killing those things left and 

right, every single day, last season.  Now I find them

mating on top of the tomatillos

(love in a hot air balloon?)

so I inspect with duct tape, sticky side out,

wrapped around my hand and get the adults before

they can make the babies, although I am certain I will

soon find the eggs beneath my squash leaves.

We saw a little bird flitting from tomatillo to 

tomatillo so I hope it's a special 

Squash Bug Eating Sparrow or something.

On a lighter note I am progressing with my

Bee-Utiful quilt along sponsored by Moda.

It's been fun watching how to do the embroidery

stitches and experimenting with color and applique.

I can't say I'm "good" at it but coming along and 

learning from my mistakes.

A Buggy Time of Year

The cicadas are singing their little cicada tunes

this time of year, shedding their exoskeletons

to leave a ghost body literally hanging onto

whatever they last rested on.

The bugginess has really arrived in the garden.

Other than a few early worms we have been quite lucky

until my husband found our first squash bugs mating

on his tomatillos. Unfortunately for one couple, 

the honeymoon was cut short.

I will start my annual ritual of wrapping duct tape

around my hand, sticky side out, while inspecting 

the underside of leaves for their eggs, 

beautiful little gems from which emerge such

a horrible plague of squash sucking beasts.

Occasionally I miss a few and return to find

tiny juveniles clustered together.  I quickly

push my duct taped hand to them so they are 

literally glued to it, fold over the tape and squeeze.

My husband says Mama squash bugs warn their

children that they must be good or 

the sticky handed lady that will visit.

This is the thing squash bug nightmares are made of.

The fight is on-

just as soon as a tomato begins to redden

something rips it off the vine, leaving only teeth marks

but not consuming the fruit.  That's the frustrating thing.

It's one after the other after the other,

We have water in a ground level tub so it's not thirsty.

It obviously does not enjoy the tomato, why go for more?

Raccoon?  The pretty Fox that walked by me?

We're not sure but my husband is on the warpath.

Then there is this sneaky little pest.

Poison ivy hiding among the weeds.

Luckily I pull that area with gloves

but I'll grab the trimmers this weekend and 

cut this back as much as I can.

On the bright side, my hibiscus bloomed!

Magnificent!  The bumbles are happy and 

I am glad for another pop of color in August.

Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Zucchini Boats

My husband and I changed our eating habits and have lost 

about 110 pounds between us:  he has lost 50-55 and I have lost

almost 60 lbs since October.  We've drastically cut or eliminated

most carbs and sugars while eating more vegetables, protein

and fats- the good fats such as animal fat, not the fake fats.

Some might call it Paleo, some may call it Keto

but it's really a variation of either.

I developed ulcerative colitis and diabetes which meant I had

to make some changes quickly and the diets that the doctors

suggested didn't really work well for me.  Then my husband 

mentioned the Keto Diet.  I saw the results with a girl I have

worked with for several years and was convinced. 

I still have a few carbs due to the requirements of 

two conditions but it's minimum.  Wheat Thins with 

my block cheese slices and a bran cereal in the morning. 

My husband's physical in January came back with terrible results.

The doctor suggested that he start statin drugs right away

and to eat lean with no fats.

My husband said he would change some things and come back in six

months for additional testing.  I will tell you that his numbers 

are now stellar.  The doctor can't quite believe it.

So, Google the Keto diet or search for Keto on Facebook 

for more information.  I am providing a great recipe that 

we made tonight using our own home grown zucchini plus

one of the chickens we processed!

Ingredients

1 very large zucchini or 2 large ones

2 TBL melted butter

Shredded cheddar cheese (use the block cheese) to taste

1 Cup broccoli florets

1/2 chicken shredded (we boiled ours but you can use a rotisserie chicken)

3 strips bacon, chopped and fried crisp

4 TBL sour cream

green onion, chopped, to taste

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F

Slice the zucchini open long ways

Scoop out the center of the zucchini leaving a sturdy base (1/2 inch thick wall)

Pour half of the melted butter into each half zucchini

Salt and pepper 

BAKE 20 minutes, or fork tender, on a cookie sheet

While baking:

Mix broccoli, shredded chicken, half the bacon and sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Set aside

Remove zucchini from oven when the zucchini is tender

fill with the chicken, bacon, broccoli, sour cream mixture

Sprinkle on the other half of your bacon

Top with shredded cheddar to taste 

BAKE until cheese is melted and started to brown

We turned on the broiler at the very last to get the cheese nice and bubbly

Top with green onions and, if desired, more sour cream.

*** use BLOCK CHEESE, not pre-packaged shredded cheese.

Read the ingredients in the shredded cheese.  The block cheese

has basic ingredients:  milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes

but the shredded has a lot of ingredients that are not natural

such as powdered cellulose! 

Slice and season, add melted butter

Broccoli, chicken, bacon, sour cream mixture

We added additional sour cream

Place in oven until melted

Broil at the end if you want the cheese browned nicely 

Top with green onions

Delicious and filling

One Squash, Two Squash . . .

Our squash is finally coming in!! 

Everything is late this year due to the cool spring;

however, we are in a hot period now and things

are starting to happen!

I normally plant enough squash to feed an army,

only because my seeds all come up, every one of them.

This year I selected plants, only two, so I would have

two nice plants rather than 10.

Well, the two pots each had thee seeds that "took"

and I couldn't just pick the strongest and throw the

rest away.  What if the two I chose didn't make it?

So, I planted all of them and figured that the weak

ones would die a natural death.

I was wrong.

I now have five or six plants.

Back to square one.

So, what to do?

Grilled squash, pickled squash, sliced and pan fried squash . . .

I saw this and thought I'd give it a try.

Please go to the link on the photo credit

to see the ingredients.

Photo credit 

I'll let you all know how it turns out.

We're in a Pickle

Oh boy, do we ever have a lot of pickles!  

We have been canning pint jars every few days

before the cukes get too big.

Some of them are hotter than others, 

my husband adds hot peppers or hot pepper

flakes to his, but mine are just garlic dills.

The first batch were not very crispy,

normally we add Pickle Crisp to it but 

it must have been too old.

He did a batch or two of pickled sweet onions too

for burgers and anything else you want to top 

with onions.  If we get enough squash this year

I'll make some relish out with it like we did last year.

I grew dill to add as well but we're almost out!

We have lots of cucumbers to go through.

Now if the tomatoes would only get red!!

A Little Rain Must Fall

I had a wonderful break in the weather a couple of days ago, 

clear skies and beautiful blooms on the garden wall.

The cone flowers stand out right now, typically 

covered with bumbles that flit from cone to cone.

I noticed only one of these little guys and found the other

when I moved the photo to my computer.

Click to enlarge.

They are sitting on one of the flowering weeds that

are very invasive and try to take over the garden.

Some get to stay because they are pretty.

My rose, which seems to be a hedge type, blooms 

furiously in the spring and then not much happens

but I do see some new growth now.

There are some peaches remaining that the squirrels

and deer didn't get; however, I don't spray them so

they end up all buggy.  Funny, one side looks ripe

and the other is just as green as it can be.

Even weeds are interesting if caught at the right moment.

As I was finishing up some photos of flowers and bees

I heard what appeared to be heavy traffic traveling at 

 a high rate of speed on the county road down the way.

Then I realized I should not hear THAT MUCH traffic out here.

Then it dawned on me . . .

That's Rain!!

I scampered to the porch just in the nick of time.

It came down in buckets, for all of about 15 minutes

and then it was sunny once more.

Those poor bees drinking on the fountain edge.

I hope they flew away in time!

They Bee Thirsty

All lined up at the Bee Bar!

My fountain has become the bees' favorite drinking spot,

so much so that it's hard to turn it on unless we make

certain all the bees are out of harm's way.

They prefer this warmer water, rich with algae over

their clean tub with nice stepping rocks so they have

a better footing,

I saw an unofficial survey of beekeepers that came to 

the conclusion that they really don't care for the cleaner water.

There are frequently 10-20 bees drinking at the various levels.

It has three bowls plus the deeper bottom section.

The wasps prefer the bird bath, of course there are 

bees in it too but more so the fountain.

The bumbles are thick this year.

Really, they are probably carpenter bees but 

they are great to watch and are good pollinators.

We live in the woods so there is plenty of wood for them.

They don't seem to care how close I get, in fact,

they sometimes hover right at your face level

to see what you're up to.  I just talk to them and 

they buzz back a bit before flying off.

Sometimes I think they get so much pollen they get drunk.

I find them almost listless, hanging onto the flower center

but very much alive!  They like my tomatillos and squash too.

I try to keep a good collection of flowers for them.

It's been a crazy year though.  Cool and wet in the early Spring,

almost swamping everything and then suddenly changing to hot

and dry. (And me without a drip system!)

It's cooler and we're getting more rain now so things are looking up.

Friday Afternoon at the River

We left work an hour early on Friday, a little perk we usually get

before a holiday, which gave me time to stop at the store and 

pick up a picnic dinner before jumping into the boat on the 

only dry day of the long weekend.  

I tucked my hair up in a cap and packed my towel

and some necessities that I might need.  You never

know how wet you might get or how cool the breeze

may be, even if your own backyard is pretty hot.

My husband is the boat driver.

I hate the ride, just hate it, because we travel through

water that is only inches deep and we're going pretty fast to do it.

When the river's deep, I love it.  I can face forward, 

uncover my eyes and enjoy the view!

We traveled light this time, knowing we would be there only

a few hours in the late afternoon when the sun would start

to go behind the hills and shade the beaches.  The water was cold,

too cold to take a swim that day, so we sat on the beach,

opened the cooler and dined on hard salami, crackers,

cheese, fruit and a selection of olives from Dierberg's olive bar.

(a very nice grocery store in St Louis)

There were green ones, giant green ones stuffed with blue cheese,

kalamata olives, feta cheese crumbles, marinated peppers and 

small chunks of hard parmesean, all in wonderful olive oil.

Even though it was a holiday weekend, we had the place to ourselves.

Hardly any boaters were on the river that early.  There were a few

jet skis and a boat here and there but for the most part it was quiet.

After a bit we knew we had to head back so we could

wait our turn to put out.  We could take a slower ride home

and look at all the vines and wildlife, in fact an eagle flew over

with another bird chasing it!  We talked to a guy setting

out jugs for fishing and watched people setting up 

their camping spots on the gravel bars with car access.

It's almost always pretty there, really pretty in the snow

but I have been on the river in snow maybe once or twice before.

We caught the sun at just perfectly to capture the reflection

of the bank on the glassy water.  

The next few days were almost completely rainy, a continuous,

steady rain that we needed.  It must have soaked in well since

we didn't see any flooding but our culvert filled up and that is a 

sure sign that we have had a lot of rain!

I hope your holiday weekend was very nice if you celebrate the 4th of July 

from wherever you are reading.  Sometimes I forget that I work for an 

international company and would return to e-mails from other countries

where they were not off work Monday but take a holiday that corresponds

to their country.  I'm thinking we need to be diverse and celebrate everyone's 

holidays (with a day off work!).  I'll even write a paper on their holiday.

So far the company hasn't taken me up on it!

Vacation: Seeds, Theme Parks, Battlefields and a Quilty Shop Hop

My husband and I have not had a vacation together for 

10 years!  Sure, we have had some time off but we

either stayed home, visited relatives or watched our 

granddaughter for the last 10 years.  

Not this year.  We took TWO WHOLE DAYS off work

and went to Branson, MO because I missed  Silver Dollar City.

Along the way there and back we stopped for other

attractions, one being Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in

Mansfield, MO which is just outside of Springfield.

The seed room was huge with every cubby holding 

packets of seeds, arranged in sections for vegetables,

flowers and herbs.  We were there on a Thursday

morning so really the only ones there which was perfect.

I hear when they have their festivals it is filled to the brim.

Here are some of the seeds I selected for the garden.

As a hint, if you have cucumbers that are getting eaten

by bugs, plant amaranth.  I discovered it accidentally 

when I had it growing wild and neglected to pull it out.

Then I found that all the bugs were eating it rather than 

my cucumbers- Perfect!!

In the second section of the building there are rooms devoted

to fabric, stitchery, candles, soaps and other crafts and hobbies.

You can see  the bee hive sign at the lower right.

They also have a library of various helpful books.

I picked up these Aunt Martha's hot iron transfers.

Next stop Springfield, MO

This is Bass Pro Shop's magnificent entrance,

it is stunning when you are actually there.

Any time we are in Springfield, MO we stop in.

My husband enjoys looking at the equipment

and I love the decor, just amazing.

This statue is made out of bronze, 

huge and incredibly beautiful.

Quilts and Quilts Branson, MO

There is a quilt Shop Hop going on right now, not just

in Missouri, not just in the U.S., but everywhere.

There is an embroidery pattern which is bordered by

this pretty bee fabric called Bee Creative by Deb Strain

through Moda.  It is difficult to find the fabrics since so many

have signed up to make the quilt (free on line) so I thought it 

was a perfect time to check out the shops in Missouri during our

trip.  As it turned out I found everything I need.

Now to start the embroidery, and catch up with my other

quilt along where we make a sampler out of six inch blocks.

Sew Simple in Ozark MO

We visited several quilt shops and a few were stunning,

amazingly stocked and everyone was so nice.

Each shop created a pattern called Row By Row with the 

theme of Home.  When you visit you can get the free pattern

or purchase a kit the contains the pattern plus material.

I purchased several kits so I would have the right material

and just took the free pattern in some cases.  Hopefully

I will find time for that when all the summer chores are complete.

We tried to find a little cabin where we could cook but 

last minute reservations were tough so we settled on a motel.

This was Ozark Valley Inn in Branson, MO and it was very nice.

It was not perfect but it reminded me of going to motels when

I was young and I love parking by the room- ours was the first 

floor which actually was the middle level here due to the slope

of the ground.  There were chairs in the covered hallway too

so you could pull then up to a table and stay out of the sun.

The hallway led to the pool and over to the office and 

breakfast room where they served a complimentary meal; 

however, due to my dietary needs we chose to go out

instead.  My husband is not thrilled with Cracker Barrel 

where we ate the first day but I liked it, also 

Stavin' Marvin's breakfast buffet the second day.

Ozark Valley Inn

Branson is still Branson only much more crowded.

We drove the strip and to the old downtown where 

we went into the old five and dime.  They have built up 

the old section of town, I would not have recognized it 

once you got to the river!!

Sorry that you got the back half of King Kong but

it was my only shot.  This is on the strip across from

the big Ferris wheel.  I think it was Ripley's Believe it or Not.

This is inside one of the restaurants.

It's all glitz and Hollywood like sets

but not all the food is good.  My husband thinks

it is because we are used to St Louis restaurants

where the food is fantastic and well prepared.

I had to send back the calamari, it was so tough.

Here it is delightful, breaded with a tempura coating

and fried until tender, not chewy.

We did have a good dinner at Red Lobster, something I have

not had in years and years!  I had a lobster tail and grilled shrimp

and my husband lobster and steak . This was on their special 

menu for the season.  He thought his steak too well done, preferring

it red and cold in the center.  I think many restaurants are afraid to 

cook it that way or just don't know how to cook it that way.  To 

me it's raw so I can't really critique it.

Silver Dollar City was not as much fun this time.

As soon as we arrived we had a torrential storm with 

lightning, thunder and buckets of rain causing them to 

close down the rides and outdoor events.  I think they 

must have sold every poncho in their stores!

We were able to see some of the indoor artisans,

the Saloon show and ride Fire in the Hole plus

go through Grandpa's Mansion which is the fun house

sort of attraction.  Nothing scary, just off center so things

look like they are downhill but you are going up.  That sort of thing.

The atmosphere would have been better if it had been nice

but since we had a package deal we had to go or lose the 

admission price.  It was still good and maybe we will try again sometime.

Photo credit 

Just outside of Springfield is Wilson's Creek National Battlefield

where we stopped for a few minutes. My husband picked up

some books and I purchased a little hankie doll kit.  He and

his brother are going to go back down and spend the day there

sometime.  They should have a nice time.

plus a bonnet

to put my hair up in while I am gardening.  The bees seem to 

like my hair a lot, a whole lot, so I may see if it helps to 

cover it when I am up in their area, but not in a bee veil

which is too difficult to garden in.

We also stopped at Shepherd of the Hills Outlet where I 

found this perfect bee jewelry.  I don't wear much jewelry

but when I saw these bees I had to have them.  The best part

is that they must be on closeout because they were $2.99 each!!

Shepherd of the Hills Factory Outlet in Lebanon, MO

Some of the items here

We arrived home Saturday afternoon, tired and ready to be home.

I still have not caught up with cleaning the house.  I hope no one

comes over unexpectedly that we are not close friends with,

they might see what really happens here in the summer when

we work all day at our jobs and then back home to work for

hours in the garden, with chicks, bees and canning!

Day 1 vacation Saturday:  Chicken butchering/pickling

Day 2 vacation:  Breakfast at Denny's and trip to the river 

Day 3 vacation:  laundry, thrift shopping, gardening

Day 4 vacation:  Quilt Shop Hop for the Row by Row patterns

Jackman's Fabrics (Creve Coeur MO)
The Quilted Fox quilt shop (Frontenac, MO)
Merrily We Sew Along quilt shop (Valley Park, MO)

All are the St Louis County area

Yard Work: weed whipping, gardening 

Shopping:  Supplies at Wal-Mart 

Canning:  making pickles

Day 5 vacation:  Preparing for our Branson trip

Day 6 vacation:  Up at dawn, in the car and on the road!

Stopped in Mansfield, MO at Baker's Creek

Stopped in Springfield MO for quilt shop hopping

A trip into Bass Pro Shop

On to Branson MO for quilt shop hopping

Trip to the Branson strip and old downtown

Dinner at Red Lobster

Day 7 vacation:  Silver Dollar City

Torrential rain, lightning, thunder.  Rides closed, outdoor activities

delayed.  We saw some craftsmen, the saloon show and road

Fire in the Hole (indoor roller coaster with a mine theme)

Day 8 vacation:  Pack up for home, stopped by Ozark MO quilt shop,

visit to Wilson's Creek national battlefield outside of Springfield,

Shepherd of the Hills Outlet mall in Lebanon MO and back home

Day 9 vacation:  church, pickling, unpacking