Good Friends, Good Food, Good Fellowship, Good Fun!

We had a small get together with friends Friday night, it was absolutely picture perfect weather for an evening out on the patio…

Our new umbrellas being put to good use!

This is a group of dear friends, our Small Group from Church that we meet with regularly during the school-year, and we try to make sure to get together a couple times in Summer. 

We enjoy having friends over, but don't get around to it often… like most people these days our lives are quite busy.

Jeff the Grill-master!

Jeff got to use both his smoker (for Ribs) and his grill (for Chicken)… he loves being the Grill-master at home, and I'm happy to leave this part of the cooking to him.

The shade from our new umbrellas made our deck just that much nicer for those (like me) who are a bit more fair skinned & sensitive to the sun… we were able to hang out there for a few hours…

And for those who wanted sun there was plenty of that as well, and it was a comfortable temp (unlike our weather the last day or so) for the sun-lovers.

Jim & Jeff hanging out while Jeff is busy grilling...

It was Pot Luck, so everyone brought something to contribute to the meal… and it was all Yummy!!

We brought out an extra table & chairs for dinner (too many to fit on just one table) & moved the second umbrella by the tables, so everyone (except Susan our mega-sun-loving friend) was able to eat dinner in the shade.


We had such a good time… I love this very special group of Christian friends… We are So Blessed!!

Garden Visitors...

Other than the bunnies, who continue to be voracious rodents, I've had some other visitors to the garden lately… most are regulars, and I enjoy their company…

Bumble Bee at the Honeysuckle….

I don't mind Bees… I actually enjoy their company… I was fortunate to have a family whose members included some Beekeepers, and I learned very young how to act/react around Bees… and luckily I'm not allergic to their sting (amazing since I'm allergic to just about everything else)… I especially enjoy the Bumble Bees, they are a bit slower in their movements so as not to startle me, and they have a beautiful buzz…  They are happy to come very near to me, frequently I'll be ready to dead-head a flower & I'll hold the flower & wait for the bee to finish before I do my job...

Chickadee at the Feeder.

I love Chickadees, they're just so darned cute!!  I really impressed myself with this shot, its hard to get a good picture of these little cuties (I only have a little Cannon PowerShot) because they move so fast…

Nuthatch on the Oak Tree.

The Nuthatches are another favorite local bird… I love the way they like to cling face down to the bark of my Oak trees… 

Tiny little grasshopper on the leaves of a Day Lily.

Another tiny grasshopper on a Salvia bloom cluster.

Ok, I know grasshoppers can be destructive, but I've not noticed any damage from these little guys, and I don't often see them… so I enjoyed these tiny little guys - they were kinda cute!!


Hope you enjoyed meeting some of my friends!!

Ouch!!

Well, I went and did it… I put my back out… and that's had me on forced rest… 

Resting under the umbrella on my deck...

 I've never been good at being sick, don't like to be forced to keep still… and there's never anything good on TV in the middle of the day :(


I can't complain too much… the company was good (I have a very sweet kitty who liked having my lap available)… my hubby was very helpful… and I ended up enjoying some beautiful weather just sitting on my deck & listening to the birds singing… yep, roughing it ;)

Kitty doesn't seem to mind my change of pace...

Kitty's got laying around down to a science...

My deck was filthy (see my cat on my filthy deck - above), and I was finally feeling a bit better today… so I cleaned my deck… it felt good to be able to accomplish something!!

Same umbrella kitty & I were under before, but now
the deck is clean :)

The other umbrella, positioned to shade the outdoor dining area...

One really good thing that happened during my forced rest is that I received some study materials for a class I'm getting ready to teach on the book of Revelation… I've taught it before but needed to study it again for myself to get ready to teach this particular class.


I figure God had a reason for slowing me down this week… I certainly feel blessed!!

The latest crazy stuff...

Ok, its really just life as usual, but it seems like life has been very full lately… a little crazy that way…

I decided to plant my Herbs & some of my Peppers in
pots & planters on the deck… keeping the bunnies away!

I've been busy as a bee in my garden… keeping up with maintenance, planting seedlings & new plants, trying to keep the critters from eating the desirable plants (why don't bunnies eat clover?)… as always I love getting in my garden, but it can be a lot of work - very time consuming… to see the latest news from my garden click here.

I've also been busy in the kitchen… I'm finally happy with my new extremely simple method of making Sourdough Sandwich Bread (follow the link to learn more).

Jeff & I went to downtown Minneapolis to the Mill Street Farmers Market… we were amazed at the Mississippi, much rougher than usual (likely due to the terrible flooding up North of us)…  We tooled around the city a bit, visited a couple interesting places… and decided that we're going to spend our anniversary weekend (coming up later this Summer) discovering more of downtown Minneapolis.

Jeff continues to be busy with the Shoreview Northern Lights Variety Band, and I continue to enjoy hearing them play & being a shutter bug… here's the proof:

Warming Up!

Jeff being Joe Cool in his Sunglasses...

A crowd gathers...

A short intermission….

Local ducks seem to enjoy the music...

Side view of the little amphitheater...

Another structure across the pond...

Annette gets a little distracted by some flowers growing nearby...

Cute little garden area for the Condos right beside the pond...

Water feature at the edge of the pond...

Jeff playing his Euphonium...

We continue to be amazingly blessed!!  Praise The Lord!!

Until next time!!

What to do when it rains...

I've been busy lately, mostly outside in the garden (but there's more), and all that outdoor activity (as well as some indoor) has kept me quite busy!!

In the last week I've celebrated my Son's Birthday & Father's Day, Jeff & I gave a presentation during a Missions Forum (about our Ukraine mission trip), I went back to the Strawberry fields, I came up with a couple new recipes using Strawberries (Low Sugar Freezer Jam & Strawberry Yogurt Coffee Cake) that I've been picking from the local fields, I gave a Ten Thousand Villages presentation at a local Rotary Club, and I've been gardening like a lunatic despite the heat wave we've been having (see my latest blog post)… phew!!

Today is rainy & cool, but has also been a busy & full day... and its not even close to being over yet!!

Early this morning I started a loaf of no-knead Sourdough Sandwich Bread…  I'm working out the kinks in my method...

I started on the Laundry...

I did a load of Dishes…

More Laundry...

I met a dear friend for lunch - my friend Patsy was having a "big" birthday, it was a great opportunity to get together with & spoil a friend - what fun!!

Back home to the Laundry…

Baked the bread… only realizing later that I'd forgot to add the salt (it came out fine anyway)…  It has made the whole house smell wonderful…  I'm going to have to do this again soon, want to make sure it works as well when I have the salt in (and here I thought I was done with this creation)...

A bit more Laundry (lots of delicates & hand wash this time)...

Started getting caught up with my blogs… that's where I am right now…

I'm almost done with the Laundry…

I need to make a quick run out to the Grocery store & to Target...

I'd still like to get out in the garden, if time & the weather allows… I've still got some seedlings to plant (mostly tomatoes), and the brick edging to keep working on… as I type I'm hearing thunder...

Tonight we've got choir practice, we're prepping for church & for a special event - both on Sunday…

After choir practice we're going out to dinner for an early date night (Thursday has a conflict this week)…

Well… lots to do so I better get off this computer… hope your days are full and fulfilling as well!!

When the Going gets Tough….

When the going gets tough… I get constructive & creative… that was my day yesterday…

It was mid-day and I didn't want to eat, I was stirred up inside & it stole my appetite, until mid-afternoon that is… and even then I was moody & didn't know what I wanted to eat… so I munched on a bit of fruit & it hit me… so I came up with something completely new, a very Loony Lavash made with pineapple, chèvre, cinnamon… follow the link to read more, the smell & the taste were wonderful!!

Gooey, sweet, tangy, warm yumminess!!

After eating I was still in a "mood" so I headed out into the garden… I decided to stop hoping for a couple plants to behave themselves, one had caused me issues for years anyway (getting too large & blocking the walkway), so I dug them up and replaced them… I find there's nothing like being physically destructive & constructive to work out frustrations, except prayer of course (that goes without saying)…  so I have a couple new friends, you can read more about them at my Gardening Blog.  Getting outside was good, the weather was perfect for digging & planting (cool but sunny), the birds were happily singing, and before long I was seeing the bright side of things again (a call to my Mom also helped)...

My pretty new friend Aster… isn't she lovely?

Strawberry Fields...

I decided to stop waiting for my 2 small strawberry plants to produce, the slugs were getting most of the berries anyway :(

People picking their own berries in the fields...

So I took a trip to a local pick-your-own Strawberry Field… this one is Pine Tree Orchards Strawberry Field, North of White Bear in Minnesota.

It wasn't hard work, but I wouldn't want to do it all day… my knees got a bit damp (it had rained the night before)… it was a beautiful cool breezy day, and conversation with fellow-pickers nearby was friendly… We were taken out & back on a trailer pulled behind a tractor, we were assigned specific rows within a specific field…

This was my haul, 8+ pounds of fresh super-yummy & sweet Strawberries!!

One thing I did with my Strawberries was come up with a Low Sugar Strawberry Freezer Jam… check out the link to get my recipe…