This And That

Well, life has kept me happily occupied these last two weeks!  

Here's a little of what I've been up to.

Precious Daughter and her family got tickets for Mother’s Day to the St. Louis Muny Opera, a lovely outdoor theatre venue in Forest Park, St. Louis.  We live about an hour away so she and I left mid afternoon and did a little shopping before eating at a 

lovely French bristro in the Central West End section of St. Louis.

Precious Daughter ordered trout with asparagus while I enjoyed this delicious spring tart.  We were both very happy with our meals!

Then we were off to the Muny to see 1776!  It was really good, and put us in the 

mood for the 4th of July! 

 Forest Park is a large and beautiful municipal park in west St. Louis and was the site of the 

1904 World's Fair.  There are lovely structures throughout the park as well as a golf course, numerous ball fields and trails, museums (Art, History and Science), our wonderful St. Louis Zoo and, of course, the Muny!  The St. Louis area LOVES Forest Park!!

Favorite Son was home for awhile!  He and J went on a hunting trip to 

Argentina the first week of July.  

Precious Daughter and her handsome husband went to Chicago for a short vacation so little Jack's Grammy and Cami stayed home and spent a lot of fun, quality time with our little grandson and each other!  We took GG (Great Grandma) to brunch one day.  Jack had a great time, too!

Even though our vegetable garden has had a slow start this year with all of the rain and cool weather, THIS week I've been busy with some of the vegetables that are coming in.  We're enjoying cucumbers, peppers, beets and the last of the lettuce.   

 The green beans in the raised bed have been great!  We've had lots of fresh beans for dinner and I've been able to put up 12 quarts and 5 pints.  

More beans have been planted where the peas were so, hopefully, we will have another good harvest in late summer. 

Our county fair has been this week.  I was asked to judge the open class (non-4-H members) on stitching, crochet and quilting.  Here is a fun example of one of the quilts.  The lady who entered was 75 years old!!  Isn't it beautiful?  

Our Master Gardener group has a demonstration garden at our county health department.  Another MG and I put in this succulent garden in an elevated raised bed.  This bed is on legs which makes it higher and easily accessible for those with bad backs.  It has a tendency to dry out quicker than our other raised beds so we decided to see how succulents do.  It actually looked really pretty when we finished.  We will see how each variety does in this environment.

The day lilies and wildflowers around our house are gorgeous now!

Coneflowers

 Vervain

Rudbeckia

And I have to leave  you with a darling picture of J with our little Jack.  

Isn't this a sweet photo?

Thanks for stopping by!  I'm wishing each of you lots of blessings this week!!

Zenda

Summer Solstice in the Gardens

The first day of summer has just occurred but it has not felt 

like a normal Missouri summer yet.  We've had so much rain and the temperatures have remained relatively cool.  The upcoming forecast is including some HOT, HUMID weather so it seems summer will finally come waltzing in!

I'm not too excited about hot and humid weather but the vegetable garden is really needing some warm, dryer times to get going.  The squash and okra plants are just peaking their little heads above the soggy soil, after being replanted several times.  Let's hope the third time is the charm!

This post is just a little walk around our house (in my mud boots) 

to see what's blooming.  

These are some of the lilies starting to bloom as you walk down to the Secret Garden on the north side of the house.

I believe these white and maroon lilies are called Cecil.

These two different shades of yellow are pretty but I'll be adding 

several different orange lilies to this garden for next year. 

In the Secret Garden,

the hostas have filled out nicely. 

I have two Viburnum bushes a friend gifted me the year before we moved.  She said to keep them in their pots and plant them at our new place.  She was right!  They have really taken off!

 

The berm near the front of the house is also filling in.  It's planted in mostly natives and perennials.  Russian Sage, Blazing Star, Oak Leaf Hydrangea, Coneflower, Cosmos, and more!

 

Common Milkweed has become a coveted plant in our our area as it's a favorite 
egg-laying site of the Monarch Butterfly.

I've seen a couple of Monarch caterpillars this spring, sorry no pictures.  The bumble bees are sure loving them these days.  I noticed several Japanese beetles, as well.  Sure wish those bumbles would chase the beetles away.

Shasta Daisies

Blazing Star with a little honey bee on top!

This is my view on my walk to the mailbox. 

The Queen Anne's Lace, Rudbeckia, Meadow Weed, Wild Daisies and red clover are all blooming in our CRP fields 

(Crop Reduction Program, a 10-year agriculture program) 

We have planted numerous wildflowers in these areas to help the fields rejuvenate as well as attract lots of pollinators.

Here a two shots right around the house.  It's been a good spring for petunias.  I'll have to keep my eye on them as the temperature start heat up.

 What do you do with that awkward spot that's home to your satellite dish?  Make it your kitchen herb garden!  Sallie is showing off our efforts in growing parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.  
There's also lavender, oregano and lots of basil and dill!
This garden is just off our grilling porch which is right out of the kitchen door.  

YOU might see the ugly satellite dish first 
but Sallie and I see our beautiful herbs!!

I'll save the vegetable garden for next week....maybe it will look better in that time!  The raised beds are looking good, though.  

I hope you're enjoying your world whatever the season!  

Thanks for stopping by!  

Zenda 

Our Father's Day

Like many, we celebrated Father's Day with our wonderful J this past weekend.

It's been ages since I've posted a TABLESCAPE.  I must admit, I do set a nice table, even if it's just the two of us, everyday.  Over the top settings were never my style and pretty impractical for our family.  I set the table for this meal and thought, "Hey, that's not bad."  (LOL!)  So I decided to share it with you!

 

Precious Daughter's family has a pet rabbit and so I used some 
porcelain rabbits in my centerpiece. 

 Note Jack's spot!  :)  We also invited my dear mother-in-law.  
She lives on the farm, just up the lane.

A simple but special setting for the two fathers in our family.  My hubby and Jack's daddy.  This was his FIRST year getting to celebrate Father's Day!

Our Precious Daughter prepared the meal and brought it over Sunday afternoon.  (They have just moved into their new home and don't have all of their new furniture yet.)  She prepared Jalapeno Popper Chicken, roasted sweet potato slices, edamame (seasoned with Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute) and I made a leaf lettuce salad from my garden greens.  I also made a fresh cherry pie for dessert.  My brother and sister-in-law shared some of their harvest with us so the men enjoyed pie and ice cream.  It tasted better than it looked!  ;)
(I've included the links to the recipe and that great seasoning!)

It's also been awhile since I've shared any home photos so I'm including a couple of our dining room and great room.  

The little sign hanging on the knob says, "Blessed Beyond Measure" 
and that is certainly true in my case!

Just some candid shots, including several of Jack's toys 
stored under the coffee table.

The Looking Glass Begonia was a gift from one of my gardening friends.  Isn't it gorgeous?!  She tells me it's time to try to propagate it but I'm nervous about snipping some off.  What do you think?  Should I give it a go??

I have been able to root my basil.  These starts I've used as a little floral arrangement are all ready to be put into pots.  
Precious Daughter will be getting one of my basil pots for her new home.

Thanks for stopping by this week!  

I appreciate you all hanging in with me while I was taking my blogging break!!  The gardens are really staring to bloom and next week I'll be sharing more of the summer gardens.  Until then, have a blessed week!

Zenda 

Visit these great parties:

   Tuesdays At Our Home

Chunky Icelandic Baby Blanket

Hold on your hats, folks, it's three posts in three weeks!!  

I'm finally getting around to posting some of my winter projects.  This baby blanket was actually started before I knew we were having our grand baby, Jack.  

It was one of those "I need an easy project I can grab and go" and it's been on several trips, long car rides, and kept me occupied during many wintry evenings. 

It's a Chunky Icelandic Blanket (or Lemon Peel stitch) from All Free Crochet.

The pattern is very simple but it took some getting into a rhythm; it's made by simply alternating single crochet and double crochet stitches.

I had Jack a couple of days this last week and he helped with some photo shots.  

Isn't it amazing how much better things looks with a handsome model?!

 Here he is inspecting my border.

Yesterday, the weather was gorgeous - a sunny, breezy summer day!  

I included a few of our potted flowers in my shots, too.

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  I hope you have a fun week with those you love!

Zenda

Sharing at these fun parties:

   Make it Pretty Monday

   Metamorphosis Monday

   Tuesdays At Our Home

   Sundays At Home
   Dishing It and Digging It

   Tuesdays With a Twist

   Sweet Inspirations