Poached, Purloined, Pilfered - The story of the missing Parsley

Caught in the act!  

This 'wascally'  Desert Cottontail regularly visits our backyard. We've become quite fond of him and call him Bunny Bun...seriously, we call out "Bunny Bun" and oftentimes he will appear, climb through our back fence and hop onto the lawn ready for some apple peelings or a carrot. 

See the mesh behind the wrought iron fence? Part of the reason we put that up was to keep rabbits out. But Bunny Bun started visiting our yard as a baby and could squeeze right through. 

 College Girl saw him touring the patio and peeking into the potted plants and herbs yesterday. Upon discovering the Italian Parsley he promptly decided to climb up the pot. Notice in the photo above the naked parsley stems, sans leaves?!

After his lunchtime salad, Bunny Bun is ready for a little 'shut eye' near the bee skep.  Sweet dreams, cotton tail!

Iced Tea at Four O'Clock

Happy Pink Saturday!

Look at what has just bloomed on our patio - pale pink Four O'Clocks! These charming flowers open late in the day and stay open all night.

 

 Night-blooming flowers tend to be pastel, not bright tones, as they rely on scent to attract pollinators during the night. Four O'Clocks are a favorite of Hawk Moths.

 

  These flowers sprouted from seeds left by last summer's Four O'Clocks - all I had to do was water them. It's funny to look outside late at night and see them nodding in the moonlight.

Treasured Times Rubber Stamps sent a Terrye French teapot stamp to me to make a card, and I decided to 'go pink.'

 I used:

• Bazzill card stock
• heart eyelet and ribbon
• doily colored with pink Distress Ink
• sewing machine for border seam
• Sizzix nestabilities die for matting
• Making Memories pearlized paint on teapot

The leaves and flower are stamped twice, fussy cut, and mounted on foam dots for dimension.

 What happened to June? College Girl helped me take out the 4th Of July decorations and place them here and there in the house. I scored the other day at Target by snagging a navy blue wire lantern at half off. I also picked up some cute patriotic paper napkins. With today's temperature rising to 95, it is officially iced tea season!

 To get you Started:

For the best sun tea, don't bother with the sun.

• Step 1: Combine cold water and tea in a glass (BEST!) or plastic pitcher at a ratio of 1 tea bag per cup of water. You can use loose tea leaves (1 1/2 teaspoon per cup) if you'd like, but save the good stuff for hot tea.
• Step 2: Place the pitcher in the fridge, not out in the sun. The flavor in the end is better, and it's safer to drink.
• Step 3: Wait 5 hours (more or less depending on how strong you like it).
• Step 4: Discard tea bags, sweeten tea as desired, and serve over ice. Store the leftover tea in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• Above info courtesy of The Food Lab

~Enjoy the last weekend of June~

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By the Light of the Perigee Moon

Handyman does our grocery shopping and he is so darn good at it! I've never liked going into overly cold air-conditioned stores and listening to elevator music while I filled my cart, so a few years ago he started going to the market. He leaves a grocery list on the kitchen counter and College Girl and I add whatever we need to the list. He is an early riser so by the time I awake the fridge is stocked! I know - I'm keeping him!!

He picked up six containers of raspberries from Costco the other day since they were a bargain. They looked and smelled wonderful. We decided to use half of them in a Raspberry Crisp.

Raspberry Crisp <click on this link for the directions at Food.com, but here are the ingredients:

4 cups fresh raspberries, divided
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cups quick oats
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cold butter

We crushed some of the berries, then added water. We poured the berry/water mix into a saucepan and combined it with sugar and cornstarch.

  

We cooked this mixture then added the remainder of the raspberries.

I prepared the oatmeal mix next, and cut in the butter. Half of the oatmeal got patted into the bottom of the baking dish.

The next step was to pour the berries over the 'crust,' then spread the remaining oatmeal over the raspberries.

Golden and bubbly, the finished dish filled the kitchen with a wonderful aroma!

I wish you could stop by. There's iced and hot tea and we could sit on the patio, eat warm Raspberry Crisp and talk about the Perigee Moon, or Supermoon. 

The full moon of June 22-23 is the closest and largest full moon of this year. Many call it a supermoon. There are three full moons in 2013 that meet the definition of a supermoon, but this June 22-23 full moon is the most super of the supermoons. A super-duper moon! 

 

 

Happy Pink Saturday - enjoy the Perigee Moon! 

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Fairy Breath of Summer~

Happy first day of summer!

Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. 

~Henry James

Are you doing anything today to celebrate the arrival of summer? 

  

 Each fairy breath of summer, as it blows with loveliness, inspires the blushing rose.  

~Author Unknown

 June 21 marks the beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere and simultaneously heralds the beginning of winter in the southern hemisphere.

Being kids at heart, we picked up a plastic 'kiddie' pool at the discount store to sit and splash in as the days heat up. Perhaps we will break it in this afternoon! Speaking of warmer days and sunshine, I made a summery card a few days ago. There seem to be plenty of birthdays in June, July and August so I am stocking up while having fun~

 I used: 

        

• Prima flowers
• Liquitex Modeling Paste for clocks (center)
• Liquid Pearls
• Sizzix weathered clock die cut
• Lindys Stamp Gang Starburst
• My Minds Eye The Sweetest Thing paper
• TCW 6x6" mini time travel stencil (used w/ modeling paste)
• K & Company sticker

 I used Lindys Stamp Gang to color the center flower golden and put a dot of Liquid Pearl in the two smaller teal flowers.

  You can see how this easel-style card stands up when displayed. For this Cherish The Journey greeting card I used half pearls as a the card rest. Lifting the card front over the pearls allows one to fold it flat. There is space inside to write a sentiment.

 Then followed that beautiful season...Summer
Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape
Lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood.
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The last few evenings we've been playing Yahtzee while listening to 70's c.d.'s - so much fun! It's official: summer is here!

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A Journal, a Pen and A Cup Of Tea

With a few fairies keeping me company, I took a break from trimming and watering in the backyard to catch up on my gardening journal. My tea today was a fragrant black loose leaf which was a gift from my sweet friend Patty in Texas. Here is a closer look at the dry and steeped tea. There are lovely pink rose petals in this tea~

I jotted some notes on seedlings, established plants, the condition of the new fairy gardens, as well as a list of the wild birds that frequent our feeders. If you look closely you'll notice that I did a little sketching too~

Prune ye my vines and fig trees,
With care my flowers tend,
But keep the pathway open
Your home is at the end.

Robert Frost

Our neighbors gave us a box of shortbread dipped in dark chocolate. It paired beautifully with my cup of tea!

  I used my Dansk Nine Patch cup and saucer  with the charming quilted design in blue.

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in--what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars.

Victor Hugo

This set has decorative black 'stitching' on the cup and saucer.

It's amazing how a short break and a cup of tea can energize you - especially when you have the opportunity to contemplate the flowers.

There's the same sweet clover smell in the breeze,

And the June sun warm,

Tangles his wings of fire in the trees,

Setting, as then, over Fernside Farm.

H.W. Longfellow

Ahh, happy teatime!

If I could put my woods in song

And tell what's there enjoyed,

All men would to my garden throng,

And leave the cities void.

R.W. Emerson

  

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Treat Yourself

 

It's Flag Day! We have a telescoping flag pole in our backyard and we fly the Stars and Stripes on National holidays such as Veteran's Day, July 4th, and today, which also happens to be my sister's birthday. When I spoke to her she said she was headed to the pool after eating cupcakes- sounds like a nice day.

 

 In the U.S, Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened on that day in 1777 by resolution of the Second Continental Congress. The U.S. Army also celebrates it's birthday on this date.

 I've been having fun using my new Treasured Times stamp. This little guy is perfect for sending a birthday wish.

 

I stamped him twice, then fussy cut the first stamping to remove the icing and the cupcake paper in order to layer it on the second stamping for dimension - see below.

I used:

• Glossy Accents on the cherry for shine
• Martha Stewart white flocking on the icing area
• Stickles for swirl lines over the flocking
• Distress Inks to color image
• vintage book page misted with red ink
• Spellbinders nestbilities for shaped matting
• Treasured Times Boneco Cupcake stamp

I think my sister would like this card, don't you?

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It's Overflowing
 

June

 

Happy June, everybody! The last couple of weeks have flown. I've enjoyed doing lots of 'nothing,' which means I've slept late, had some pajama days, did housework, kept the bird feeders filled and watched lots of silly television - episodes of Duck Dynasty and Deadliest Catch with Handyman, and The Vampire Diaries with College Girl! Yesterday I made Minestrone Soup from scratch and tomorrow I plan to try a new dish called Poffertjes, which are mini Dutch pancakes served with powdered sugar. I'll let you know how they come out. 

Here is a card I made the other day~

I used:

• Cuttlebug Hugs and Kisses embossing folder
• Spellbinders Nestabilities dies
• paper doily
• Bazzill card stock
• paper roses
• sticker for the sentiment
• Martha Stewart edge punch

We know it's June here in Southern California when we see harmless June Bugs buzzing around at night...

and wake up to June Gloom each morning~

photo is from laobserved.com

  Not to worry, the 'gloom' burns off by noon and the happy, unscheduled days fill our hearts with sunshine no matter the forecast!

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