'Tis the Season

The house is filled with flowers, cedar clippings, and a Christmas tree not yet decorated. 

I draped cedar clippings around the chandelier. I love the contrast between the organic and the crystal. 

I just love this time of year. 

White poinsettias are always a favorite of mine. I could fill the entire house with them but I only put them up high and out of reach of little arms.

These are clippings from a broken plant that toppled over. The cuttings last wonderfully long. 

I always start out with more elaborate plans for the mantle, but in the end left it sparse as usual. I just love the simplicity of evergreens all on their own. 

I made the little wreaths using some floral wire. I saw this in a magazine years ago and I'm just  getting around to doing it this Christmas. 

I didn't get a chance to force paper whites or amaryllis this year.  Perhaps for the New Year? They go on sale soon after Christmas, so perhaps I'll indulge then. 

The little cedar wreaths make the familiar so much more festive. 

The tree is standing with lots of lights (and hopefully freshly watered...why do I always think of checking the water late at night?), but not yet decorated. 

We'll see if we get to that before Christmas! 

We are finding enough time to eat lots of festive foods however. Mike made a pumpkin pie from the garden pumpkins and then there's those Christmas cookies... I just bought some fresh organic apple cider with some mulling spices, and hope that a warm cup of that is going to replace all desire for Christmas sweets. 

I'll let you know how that goes. 

Happy holiday season to you and yours. 

xo

Last Days of Summer

xo

September Garden

The cucumbers keep coming...

These are a little overgrown as Mike was out of town for over a week and I lost track of the garden. My mom was here while Mike was gone and I accomplished one million tasks (cleaning closets, dusting, doing laundry). However, picking cucumbers wasn't one of them! 

Our sweet little gardener is also a great pumpkin inspector! 

Mike carved the babies' names into one of our pumpkins. It has become our tradition to make something special for the babies' birthday in December with pumpkins from the garden. Last year it was pumpkin pie, but this year it will be pumpkin cake - yum!

We picked the last of the green beans. 

They are also tested for good roll ability.  Tomatoes are multi-faceted fruits and can also be harvested for use as toys. 

Unfortunately, tomatoes are not one of their favorite foods (unless in a sauce) so many of the tomatoes that the babies pick end up being dropped, rolled around and squished. 

We slice fresh tomatoes on just about everything. One of my favorite ways to eat a summer tomato is to have it in a sandwich with avocado and lettuce. I ate about a million of these when I was pregnant with the babies. 

Another favorite tomato dish is fresh made salsa. I don't follow a recipe per se. I tend to use the taste test method - a method that can alter the serving portions significantly. 

Salsa: 

Plump red tomatoes, diced (about four medium ones)

Fresh diced cilantro - about a 1/2 cup 

One jalapeno diced, without seeds - this typically results in medium spice

Red onion, diced - about 1/4 cup

Sea salt - to taste 

Add more or less of one thing or another. 

And again, lots of taste testing! 

xo

Morning Blackberries

I love blackberries, but the ones I savor most are those that we pick right outside our door. There's something about wandering out through the patio in your pajamas with an empty bowl in hand, and coming in with fresh, morning chilled fruit to begin the day, that makes them extra sweet. 

We've had a bumper crop this year.  We've been picking for over a week now, and as you can see, there are plenty of pink berries continuing to ripen. 

Best wishes on enjoying yet one more of the seasons of bounty in late summer.

Late Summer Pears

After such a long hot summer, I am so very excited to see signs of autumn on the horizon. Beautiful ripe pears are just the beginning of our transition into another gorgeous season. 

Here are a few scenes from the pear orchards early this morning...

Happy pear season to you! 

August Blueberries

Graham is a gardener at heart. He runs around the vegetable garden picking and then sampling right off the vines! Shown here, the blueberries bushes were no exception. He even sampled a blackberry that wasn't ripe. After he removed it from his mouth and threw it onto the grass, I could just hear him thinking...hmmm, another week and they'll be delicious.  xo

Our berry pickings from last year, here and here. 

In the Garden

xo

Refrigerator Pickles - with bite

Cucumbers always sneak up on us, seemingly magically appearing overnight. While out in the garden the other night, Mike picked a huge crop of them.  Later that evening (when everyone was fast asleep, including myself),  he made these delicious refrigerator pickles. They are good. 

Refrigerator pickles are great because there is no canning involved, which makes them fast and easy. You basically make the brine, plop in your fresh picked cukes (or bought fresh from the farmer's market) and a few seasonings, and keep the large jar in your refrigerator.

After about forty-eight hours, they are ready to eat. They are so crisp and so fresh you'll have a hard time eating pickles from a jar again (even your own canned ones!). 

After a few rounds of pickles, if they don't have that same great pickle 'bite', you can just make another batch of fresh brine. 

Mike's recipe (as best as he can remember): 

3 cups apple cider vinegar 

9 cups water 

1/2 cup pickling salt 

2 tablespoons of sugar 

2 tablespoons of pickling spice 

12 fresh garlic cloves, peeled 

lots of fresh dill 

2 -3 lbs cucumbers, sliced (enough to fill the jar)

Onions are good in the jar too, but he didn't have any on hand this time around. 

Directions: 

Combine cider vinegar, water, pickling salt and sugar in a large pan. Bring to a boil while stirring occasionally. Cool to room temperature. 

Put dill, garlic and pickling spices in large jar.

Add sliced cucumbers. 
Pour in cooled brine. 

Wait 48 hours. 

For a sweet refrigerator pickle with less bite, you can use this recipe. 

For a good recipe to use for canned pickles, go here. 

A Few More Hydrangeas...

The north-facing hydrangea bed whose blossoms I highlighted last time does get direct afternoon to early evening sun. During the hottest days, the blossoms will wilt by the end of the day. On these days, I'm sure to give them an extra drink of water and thankfully, they do recover just fine. 

I received a lot of inquiries after the last post regarding which mountain we see in our north view. It is Mt. Adams, which is located just across the Columbia River from us in Washington state (we are in Oregon). The trailheads which lead up the mountain are about two hours drive from our porch. 

The ridges which you see in the middle of the frame are also in Washington state. The state line runs between the farmland in the foreground and those riges, along the deep canyon of the Columbia River Gorge. 

The Little Lamb hydrangea are doing well this year, their third growing season. Their blossoms are very similar in shape as the Limelight, but are much more creamy in hue. Even though they do receive lots of morning to mid-day sun on the east side of the house, they do great. I chose this variety because they are more sun tolerant than a lot of the other hydrangea varieties, who prefer mostly shade. 

So far, I haven't really been able to figure out how to better capture the mountain with my camera. It always seems to end up washed out. 

Bombshell hydrangea are proving to be a good choice for this south-facing bed. They receive full sun and fare very well, even through the hottest days. 

I planted these last spring (five bushes). I look forward to when they grow even taller and create more of a singular-looking hydrangea plume under the dining room windows. 

Hydrangeas

Our corner hydrangea bed is in full bloom. 

This bed consists of three Endless Summer plants and three Nikko Blue plants (along the chimney and under window).

This little guy is not a hydrangea at all, but he scampered by while I was taking pictures. We call him Peter Rabbit although he is wild so we won't be dressing him up in a cute blue coat.  

The Endless Summer hydrangea are a mix of colors. Some are pink. 

Some are a light lavender. 

Some are a mix of blue and lavender. 

This collage shows the variety in the Endless Summer blossoms. They are in their third growing season (planted as one gallon pots). 

Here is another Endless Summer example. 

And one more. 

The Nikko Blue have a more consistent hue from blossom to blossom.

Their view in the early morning light. 

Chirping Orchids

Some of our feathered friends decided to use our fireplace chimney to nest this year. The eggs have hatched and the nestlings are chirp, chirp, chirping. The babies walk over to the fireplace and look up at the orchids...Is it you that is chirping? 

Our living play room. 

Play, play, play...it's our favorite thing to do. 

xo 

Blackberries and Blueberries

Our blackberry bush is bursting with berries this year. 

So far (knock on wood), the deer have restrained from nibbling. 

Last year we had a nice crop that gave us a good week or so worth of pickings. This year will be even better and I'm so excited as there's nothing quite sweeter than fresh picked berries. 

The blueberry bushes are full of green berries as well. When we were out in the yard the other evening, I showed them to the babies as blueberries are one of their favorite foods. Margaret gave a few a little squeeze and determined that we'll have to wait a few more weeks before pickin'. 

Last season they weren't quite ready to eat blueberries, so it will be a special treat when we pick them this year.