Valentine's Visuals.......

today was an absolutely stellar day... the sun shining, the crocus and primulas blooming.. and the bees!!!!

there are some hives at a neighbour's and for the past 2 years, the bees have arrived early, unfortunately if there is a cold snap or snow it could be disasterous for them..... but for the moment, i had a great time, just sitting and watching them be 'in love' with each and every flower... 

 i got to sit and bask in the sun... my vitamin D fix!!

 'just hanging around'  

  

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Wanna see........

 my new deck!!!  and with the extension to the small shed... originally it was supposed to just be the upper part then do the rest later when i had more money... but i changed my mind, the idea of 'running out to the shed' without walking in muck was very appealing... so much against my better judgement i bit the bullet and did it all at once... and yesssss i'm sooooo happy.... i can't wait for summer to have it all painted or solid stain... the half with the table and chairs is covered, the lower half is not.. later later!!  my handy dude put up a great gutter system which will drain into some of my barrels... just can't get enough rainwater in the summer.. every drop is precious!

i'm afraid my greenhouse dream has been put on hold for this year... but am thinking of making some cold frames with the windows that i got from freecycle... will have to scrounge up some more boards for them, but since it's only early February, i'm not too concerned yet...i need to be content with cruising the internet for ideas and watching diligently for freebies... for this year i'm going to use my big shed for starting my seedlings, i already have the lights and racks set up, it's not large, but enough for me... i'm thinking that my new deck will cheerfully be graced with potted peppers and tomatoes... mmmmm can't wait!!! 

i've been checking on the garden to see what is growing... my rhubarb is peeking out, the swiss chard is looking very soggy and just hinting at waking up, i still have brussel sprouts to use up and the kale is wonderful... green and lush looking...just daring me to pick and cook... my favorite way is steamed and top dressed with butter and sweet pickle juice... yum yum!!!  i've found some recipes online for a Portuguese Green Kale Soup so my next soup will be some sort of variation of it.. i love to make soups, nothing says warm and comforting that a big bowl of soup, besides what better way of getting rid of leftovers....

A walk in the woods......

turned up a very lovely suprise... beautiful orange fungi

i wish i knew what kind it is, but i'm fungi challenged.. i've never really gotten into mushrooms, beyond buying them from the store, at one point many many years ago i did pick some shaggy manes and did a stirfry with them but that was it... i'm afraid i'm hesitant to go out in the woods and pick dinner... anyways if you scan the fungi, you will see 'someone else' is having some dinner!! Someone once said to me 'don't you get tired of viewing things through your lense... i don't.. and as you can see, this is why... when i looked at the fungi with a naked eye, i didn't see those wee critters, it was only when i uploaded the pictured did i SEE... if you click on the photo you will get to see a larger version... if anyone knows what kind of fungi and or insect i'd love to know!!!

another one

whatever they are, they turn into this gelanitious blob

as i mentioned in an earlier post, i've been going through old photos and on a buggy note here is a photo of a very large and exquisite wasp 'abode'... i'd had some foamies rolled up in the garage.. one was green and one was cream coloured... the wasps had utilized the foam to make their home...i wish that i'd gotten a better picture

this picture didn't do it justice.. nor does it show the size of the nest.... it was HUGE, this was only one portion of it.. originally i'd gone into the dark garage, spotted a blanket which i'd been looking for... went to grab it and realized that it was moving!!... it wasn't a blanket at all, it was wasps, thousands of them!!! anyways... sadly, i had to get someone in to 'remove' them ... did i feel bad? Yes... us gardeners KNOW that wasps are equally good, just don't get in their way!!!

Decking decisions.....

had to be made this week... my wee porch is just that... WEE, only 6 1/2 x 7,  so i wanted some sort of addition, i wanted a greenhouse, i wanted a sunroom.... i wanted i wanted... but had to settle for something multipurpose... at least for this year...

i now have an 8x10 deck addition which will have a clear polycarbonate roof next week.. this ensures that i won't lose much light in the kitchen window or the bathroom window.... i've requested it to be built so that eventually it can be enclosed and become a 'sun/greenhouse room, with steps and a lower deck leading to my small shed.... oh and did i mention in my 'dream' a small hot tub sitting on the lower deck... . one day!!! in the real world i'll be saving for my 'real' greenhouse, you know the kind.. with automated vents, glass windows.. good flooring... and enough space for a comfy chair for when i'm old grey and needing a good warm sit in the early spring.... okay okay... back to reality .... i'm very excited about this new addition... it maybe small but when one lives in a single wide mobile... any addition is a good one!!!

not only is there a new deck in the works, a new raised bed!! YAY.... now my lilacs and mulberries will have a home!

   in case your wondering about the pictures... i took the above one many years ago... a few houses ago... fond memories of sitting in the shade, on my balcony, with my new Canon SLR camera, experimenting with different shots... my Oakley's when i didn't need glasses and a gorgeous begonia flower...

 

i believe (please correct me, if i'm wrong) that this was a ladybird larva.... there were several attached to piece of grass ....i love insects, as long as they don't eat my veggies or bite me or my dogs... RAIDDDDDDD .... just kidding!!!!

Monday Monday....

is dark and dreary and rather blustery.... a typical January morning.... a cup of coffee and one puppy snuggled behind me, another at my feet, life is pretty darn good...on Saturday i went for a bit of a drive, cabin fever finally getting to me, and ended up at Russel's Farm Market....  they had red peppers and cauliflower on 'special' so ended up with a big bag of red peppers and a couple of heads of cauliflower.....
daughter has been hinting at the fact that there was no more red pepper relish left and could i make some...
the jar of relish that she had actually was made by a friend.. so i got the recipe from my friend and sunday morning was spent making relish...
the recipe is very simple, not a lot of ingredients, the hardest part was chopping and grinding the peppers the night before and then doing the same in the morning for the apples....

 Red Pepper and Apple Relish


12 Red Peppers
10 Apples

grind peppers and put in a colander, sprinkle with
2 tbsp of pickling salt

let drain minimum of 4 hrs, best overnight

in the morning
grate or grind peeled and cored apples
add to drained and lightly rinsed red peppers
add
3 cups of white pickling vinegar
5 cups of white sugar
2 tbsps of pickling spice in a spice bag

cook till peppers and apples are soft, and thickened, about 40 mins at about medium low... or low if sticking to bottom of pot...
ladle into hot sterilzed jars, seal

this relish reminds me of a sweet, slightly vinegary jam and is delicious on rice, with meat, on crackers with cream cheese.....

also this past weekend i was sorting out my photos... yes REAL negatives, with REAL pictures... not digital... i must admit i really miss film... it's getting harder and harder to find and expensive to process.. which has encouraged the digital age... unfortunately i think that a great deal of our history will simply vanish... the quick turnover in technology will see to that... remember the 'floppy disc'? cds which are soon becoming defunct, replaced by huge storage external hard drives which will be replaced by..... ???  i still have floppy discs and one very old laptop which i've saved because it still has a compartment for floppy discs... anyways... you see where this is going.... the mom and pop history will vanish quicker than the dodo bird...
i've scanned a few of my pictures just to post here...
i took these 2 pictures in Alberta, about 100 miles south of Calgary.. i don't know if those are 'pre-tornado' clouds or not, but definately not something i'd seen before... imagine the wind blowing, distant thunder and standing on the edge of a field in the middle of flat land... was very cool!! i left the date on the picture, just for historical sake... i should actually hunt down the negatives and scan them.. some day!

if you've noticed some changes in my blog your correct... i've been trying hard to organize it, so one could find that old recipe of Grandma Wilson, or how to made Antipasto... i've change the header, put in a spot for 'home' so i can change the photo once in awhile and added a few more links to some great blogs...

just a quick mention of a GREAT blog, done by a friend of mine...

Rambling Jill  if you haven't checked it out please do.. you will see some truly spectacular underwater photography.... jill and her husband are friends of mine, on 'vacation'... national geographic move over!!!

To Bee or not to be......

the past few days i'm seeing bees ... not a lot but bees nonetheless... in January... i'm sad to say their lives will be shortlived with a change of the weather....i'm afraid it's much too soon, not many flowers out... my snowdrops ( all of a dozen at best) are looking lovely.. but not enough to feed a hive..aside from the bees there are an incredible number of other insects flying, walking, crawling around....and not even February!!

El Nino is busy busy heaping rain, hail and tornado warnings at California... some places having over a foot of rain this past week while we got a bit of a break this week and as much as i'd love to be digging in the garden, it's soggy and not safe to dig in....

today was a beautiful balmy day here on Vancouver Island...i took a pic, just because i really didn't believe that with just a hoodie and vest, i was nice and toasty, the warmth of the sun on my face.... ahhhh rejuvenation!!

what on earth?

was snooping around in an old bird bath i have, recycled as a stone bath, since it no longer holds water and there was one of my treasures... it's a 'rock' that my old Shadow brought home one day.. one of his rock treasures... and dropped it at my feet "here mom, see what i got for you!" so being the wonderful mom of 4 legged critters, i scooped it up and heaped praises upon him "what a good puppy" YAY.... then actually looked at it.. it wasn't just any 'rock', it was a fossil print of a shell... i have a habit of collecting rocks, one day when i'm too old to garden, maybe i'll have a rock garden with just a few herbs and some pots of tomatoes and peppers...

Just shut your eyes and imagine.......

SUMMER!!!!!!!! unfortunately it's only 3/4s of the way through January but yesterday was a pleasant treat.. it was sunny and about 45 plus degrees... balmy for January... any day that is sunny is a day to be outside, so after school pick up, grandbaby and i went for a short walk, with dogs in tow, actually us in tow.... there is a flat road just down from grandbaby's house and thats where we went... in our world, the ditches would be clean, no garbage, no dead animals, nothing but pristine earthly beauty... in reality there was garbage everywhere, remnants of carcasses, bits of bones, and the worst of all...... PLASTIC!!!! it's interesting to see through the eyes of a young one, who was dismayed by the garbage, fascinated by the carcass and bones, and wonderously excited by the view of the distant mountains.... she couldn't understand WHY people would just dump their garbage on the side of the road... in one patch there were about 10 garbage bags full of leaves, something that could well have been composted in someone's backyard, or even taken to our local compost company who love such items... as i explained to her, it's not so bad that they deposited the leaves, but to leave the garbage bags was a sin, that worms and other insects will eat the plastic and think they are full.. and die of starvation.... grandbaby's lesson 101 in ecology

on the way back to the car we found some pussy willows of which we picked one small branch to take home..it now resides on the windowsill in a jar beside the resident plants, waiting for some roots to sprout, and eventually will be planted in a back corner of the yard...

i wasn't quite done with 'summer' and as i drove home i thought about dinner...something light and airy was on my mind.... Falafel wraps... southwestern... mmmmm good!!!

Garbanzo beans/chickpeas in my mind are one of the best beans of all for cooking, extremely versatile and nutritious.... i don't have a good recipe for Falafel from scratch, so i keep on hand a few boxes of Falafel mix.. easy to whip up in short notice....

Falafel Wraps

wraps of your choice

1/2 box of Falafel mix made into falafel patties (directions on box) (lazy i know ;) )
1/2 tomato chopped

cucumber sliced or chopped

cilantro chopped

parsley chopped

sunflower sprouts

small can of corn kernels

small can of black beans

mayonaise and small can of chipolte pepper 'sauce' ... mixed to you spicy liking

spread the mayo and chipolte pepper sauce on the wrap... 'sprinkle' the wrap with the rest of the ingredients... roll and EAT!!!!

once again, my recipes are vague, but this is definately a throw together meal... tasty and nutritious :D

i love chipolte peppers... yum yum... a wonderfully rich smoky spicy kick of which i can never use the whole can at once.. so i put it in tiny containers and freeze, thus always having some when needed...the leftover falafel, black beans and corn i'll turn into some other southwestern dish or maybe just another round of 'summer wraps'........ MMMMMMM