~Corners~

A few corners, around our house, for Laurie’s Saturday Favorite Things.

 

Dining Room Corner

 

 

 

Porch Corner

A Corner Retreat

Found, this week, in a corner of the patio.

 

Happy Weekend!

~In the Garden~

 

June is bustin’ out all over~

 

You can see it in the trees
You can smell it in the breeze~

 

 

Look around! Look around! Look around!

 

Endless Summer Hydrangea

Hearth room sunshine happenings.

 

Panera-Saint Louis Bread Company Answer

The restaurant, Saint Louis Bread Company, mentioned in my previous post, and Panera are one and the same.  Panera is headquartered in Saint Louis.  Not positive, but I believe the restaurants started out as Saint Louis Bread, then bought by Panera.

Linking to Mary’s Mosaic Monday at Dear Little Red House.

Have a wonderful weekend.

(Carousel Lyrics~Rodgers / Hammerstein)

Table for Two…

…and a Diva!

Here I am breaking my new rule about three posts per week.  I just had to break the rule because I needed to write about Kelly’s e-mail yesterday.  I turned off the comments to that one, because it was an extension of the fireplace gate story.

Bear with me, while I am all over the place with this post! 

I am participating in the Bathroom Beauty Snapper Celebration at Shelia’s Note Songs.  I could not possibly miss showing off my powder room self portrait. 

Friday, I’ll visit Bathroom Beauty Snappers, in all their glory, all around the land of blog.

I also have plans to stop by Designs by Gollum.

 

It occurred to me it has been awhile since I posted a recipe or meal. 

Last Friday evening I prepared a pasta dish and served it on a simply set table, in the hearth room. 

 

Fusilli Pasta with Meat Sauce

Basic Meat Sauce

1 lb ground sirloin

fresh mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic minced

1 large can crushed tomatoes

A teaspoon of sugar can be used to sweeten the sauce, although, I didn’t add sugar for this particular sauce.

Add a tablespoon olive oil to skillet, saute onion, until opaque and add sliced mushrooms, then garlic. Cook until slightly tender and remove from skillet.  Add the ground sirloin to the skillet and brown. Return onion, garlic and mushrooms to skillet and add one large can crushed tomatoes.  Season with Italian Seasoning and Basil to taste and simmer, while pasta cooks in boiling water.  Drain pasta; do not rinse.  Toss pasta in olive oil and serve with meat sauce, bread and wine.

Stop by Michael’s Designs by Gollum for foodie-licious dishes from around the land of blog.

 

Lastly…

A Garden Update

This fountain was formerly in the garden by the dining room windows.  After several, unsuccessful, attempts to repair a leak in the upper bowl,  J moved the fountain to the garden on the north side of our home and planted it with annuals. The light green Licorice plant will trail over the edge of the shells.  The dark green is Fiber Optic Grass. It reminds me of the grass that grew in the pond, that was in the front yard of our home on the farm.  I don’t recall the name of the red. 

The garden includes, Hosta, Columbine, Iris, Day Lilies, Liriope, Ornamental Grass, and the latest addition, Lavender.

A glimpse of the patio Hosta garden.

Photography is my hobby; tending our gardens is J’s.

Happy Weekend & Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mommies!

~An Earth Day Story & Favorites~

 

 

Peppermint Twist Geranium

 

Salmon Rose Geranium

Norfolk Island Pine

We gave ourselves one day, Sunday, to rest from our drive home.  Well, J mowed the grass Sunday, so his day of rest was abbreviated.  Monday morning, we hit the ground running and ran every day.  J purchased landscaping blocks to build the tree ring.  He filled the center with mixed Portulaca/Moss Rose.  We’ve had great success with “moss”, in the past.  It has always returned, year after year.  We’re hoping this fills in nicely and returns next year.

Do you remember this tree from our visit in Ste Genevieve Missouri?

This is a Kwanzan Cherry.  At first we thought it was a flowering plum.  J can usually identify just about any tree, with or without it’s leaves.  I found photos, online, identifying it as a plum.  After we picked up the landscaping blocks, we drove out to our local nursery for a few things.  While there we asked about the tree, which they ID’d as Kwanzan Cherry.  In the end, we tagged a two inch tree that will be delivered and planted in the next few weeks.  We aren’t sure when, since we are at the bottom of the list.  We have a spot, in the back yard, picked out for planting.

 

Strawberry Sizzle Geranium

Secret Garden

This is a draw or natural drain, we call the creek. It runs behind our house. We left this area wild and love the look of it.  Molly likes it too, when there is water there. The secret garden is at the edge of the creek.  J transplanted Iris, last year, from his Aunt Ruth’s gardens.  There is a concrete bench, in the garden, as well as flowers, including Daylilies and ornamental grasses.  The purple Iris are the first to bloom.  I saw several different colors, about to bloom, when I was there this morning.

A glance over the back yard fence, on this 40th anniversary of Earth Day. 

Our new neighbor’s garage door is seen in the background.  When they were planning their home, they discovered they needed a larger lot.  An arrangement was made for them to purchase a portion of the small lot between ours and theirs.  There was a 20 foot section, from street to creek, left after their lot was expanded for the construction.  We were delighted to take that extra 20 feet and add to our lot.  This brought our lot size to around 3/4 of an acre. 

We were concerned about the trees, seen in the upper right of the photo, and wondered if they would stay when the new home was built.  Not to worry, we believe they will remain.  A few of them are on our side.  We will do our best to care for them.  Even though they are scraggly little trees, we think they are beautiful and worth saving.

J and I come from rural folks, gardeners and farmers and try to continue the family tradition of being kind to the land. 

This is my little Earth Day 2010 story.

 There are small glimpses of the back porch, in this post.  It is progressing along nicely.  We are driving to the lake, next week.  When we return home, we’ll bring the wicker chest.  When it is painted and placed on the porch, I’ll take photos and write about Our Back Porch 2010.

I’m adding this post link to Laurie’s Favorite Things Saturday.

&

Sandi’s Friday Favorites at Whistle Stop Cooking.

Happy Weekend!