~Pamela Susan~

My evening with the bumblebees, flowers, and fairies

I was going to pop on tonight real quick to share pictures of the girls' new play room, but instead I find myself sharing pictures I took during my 10 minute walk through my backyard this evening.  Actually, I went out to shoot just one picture of a gorgeous lone red rose perched beautifully above all the other flowers in our fairy garden...

but then the beautiful flowers and buzzing bumblebees sucked me into their world and I just couldn't stop snapping pictures. Such a gorgeous evening here in Portland, Oregon!

This bumblebee is enjoying the blue blossoms of this California Lilac...

And here is our first poppy already sleeping the evening away...

This fairy house was what I treated myself to from the OPA (Oregon Pottery Association) show last month...

Perhaps it's supposed to be a bird house, but it is the perfect fairy house for our fairy garden, if you ask me!

Another bumblebee happily doing what bumblebees do...

Yes, the Spanish Lavendar is quite the popular attraction these days with these little guys!

Chives in full blossom...

and our carrots are growing!

At this point during my walk everything in the garden looked beautiful to me--even the grass growing against the raised beds. :)

A strawberry!  Those darn slugs better not get this one tonight... it is allllmost ready to pick!  Thanks to those on facebook who gave me the tip to surround my strawberries with crushed eggshells to prevent the slugs from getting to the strawberries--I'm hoping it works. :)

And here's what I've been worked on today--making teepees out of my Dad's apple branch prunings for our beans and peas to grow on.  (The bigger teepee on the far left was made using bamboo sticks purchased from Fred Meyers.)

I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out. :)

Grow peas and beans, groooow!

Oh, and I couldn't leave the garden without taking a picture of Miss A's "army of pinecones" that she surrounded her pinecone fairy house with.

Our little fairy seems to not mind them much...

Happy Monday night to you all!

 

xo,

Pamela, a gal who's happy to have her nails dirty with dirt right now after a long day's work in her garden

 

(post edit: After a long day spent outside, I am just now reading the news of the devastating tornado that killed so many in Oklahoma today.  So incredibly sad--those poor children, poor families.  My heart aches for and with you.  Big prayers to you.)

Where I've been for the past week...

in my backyard!  It's my little piece of of heaven, I tell you. I've got most of the garden planted and I've been pulling weeds like a madwoman.  And much to my pleasant surprise my little eyes spied something exciting back there 2 days ago...

baby grapes! 

Annnnnnd...

baby blueberries!

I love being able to capture them at all the different stages, from the blossoms to the green berries. 

I would've even had a red, ripe strawberry to enjoy by now if it wasn't for the darn slugs.  But believe you me, I've got enough slug killer out there now to kill an army of 'em!  Slimy little suckers.

Now, if only I can muster up some energy to spend some time in my house working on some projects!  I'm very excited about some new fabric I recently got from Hawthorne Threads.  Our new grey couches are just waiting for me to sew up their new pillows...

maybe tomorrow??

Maybe.  We'll see.

 

xo,

Pamela, a gal who is still madly in love with her new house and garden

 

p.s. sorry I didn't get on here to wish all you mamas out there a Happy Mother's Day.  To be completely honest, I was in a bit of a funk on Sunday, but am feeling better now.  But I hope you had a great day celebrating with the ones you love.

Happy Earth Day!

And what a gorgeous day it was here in Portland.  Absolutely perfect!  Once the girls came home from school we celebrated this special by planting some seeds in our backyard garden.  First the carrot seeds went in...

followed by the zinnia flowers.  I'm so excited to have a flower bed with beautiful flowers to fill up the many vases sitting in my cupboard!

But I wasn't alone out there!  What's that I see in the back on the left-hand side?  A blue pointy hat?!

Yes it is!

Let's take a closer looksy...

Meet White Beard, Miss A's little garden gnome.  I gave each of the girls a miniature gnome of their own a couple weeks ago that they got to name and find a home for in the garden.  I tried finding the other two this evening but Miss A and Miss C hid them well!

But do you spy anything special in the following picture?  Perhaps three little fairy houses?  Look hard!

Starting from the left, there's an acorn fairy house...

a mushroom fairy house...

and a pinecone fairy house...

Aren't they the cutest?!?  My dear aunt gifted the girls with them for their house-warming gift.  The herb garden has become their new home, which is just perfect, I think.  Actually, we now call it the fairy garden.  There are 4 other fairies hiding somewhere in there--perhaps their having a party with the two other gnomes!

And here's some more garden art--two happy, pudgy piggies I made years ago and a sunface that my Mom sculpted...

 

And before walking back into the house, I just had to kick off my sandals and let my bare feet soak up some grass goodness.  I need to do that more often.  It is so calming connecting with the earth.  So wonderful.

And lucky for me there were some pretty flowers ready to greet me while I washed up the dinner dishes...

I hope you had a joyous day celebrating this beautiful earth that we live on!

 

xo,

Pamela, a granola cruncher at heart and proud of it :)

 

p.s. Okay, this is totally random, but it does fit into the whole Earth Day category so I'm going to share it with you--did you know you can clean and polish your stainless steel appliances with good old fashioned olive oil?  It's true!!  Just pour a little bit on a soft cloth and buff away!  I thought I was going to have to go out and buy some special cleaner filled with icky chemicals to clean our fridge, dishwasher, stove, and microwave, but I learned this great natural trick here.  Try it out and let me know how it worked for you!  I was quite pleased myself. :)

a haiku about my day picking tomatoes from my father's garden... oh, the simple things in life!

 

 

Harvesting garden,

glorious sun warms my face.

My heart loves today.

 

xo,

Pamela, a gal who loves a good homegrown tomato

p.s. Melanee--thanks for the inspiration!

Random Goodness

Hello everyone!  

Okay, so I have a lot of fun randomness to share with you but first I have to report on the Ray LaMontagne concert.  It was AMAZING!  I wish I had my camera to show you pictures (I did take a few with Aaron's iphone but they didn't turn out so great).  I love his music.  LOVE it.  It is definitely folk rock at its best.  Also, it was surprising how shy Ray was.  He kinda had a hard time looking at the audience and the only time he spoke to us was when he thanked everyone for their applause after his singing.  But you know what?  I was totally fine with that.  His shyness almost makes him more endearing.  He has definitely found his niche.  And luckily the weather was perfect because it was an outside concert at McMennamins in Troutdale, Oregon.  The setting was beautiful.  Absolutely beautiful.

The following day I had the extreme pleasure of taking a few pics of one of my best friend's family.  They are adorable.  Take a gander...

 

Told you they were cute.

Here's the lovely couple, Erica and Brad...

and their three adorable children...

(look at those eyes!)

These next two are twins...so cute!

Thank you, Erica, for letting me play "photographer" with your family!

 

We then visited my dad for the day.  Miss C enjoyed decorating him with flowers...

 

He didn't seem to mind.  :)
    
 

We then strolled through his garden to see if we could find a side-dish for dinner.  And look what we discovered... tomatoes!  This was the first harvest of this particular variety.  Beeeautiful.

 We also picked some delicious corn.  Yum, yum, yum.  Oh, how I love my dad's garden.

Here are a few shots I took of the girls...

Here's Miss A after she realized one of her flowers broke...

And here's Miss C sassin' it up...

 

 Okay--on to more randomness--yesterday I tried out a new cupcake recipe for a baby shower that Avey and I hosted for a friend last night.  If you are looking for a nice basic white cake recipe this is for you.  I also made this buttercream frosting.  I tried this new one out because it calls for butter only-no substitutes.  I don't like to consume hydrogenated oils if I don't have to--not good for the body at all. Let me know if you try out the recipes--I think you'll like them!  

 

(I purchased the pearlized pink balls at Michael's--you gotta love that store!  Here's a * printable 50% off coupon *that is good until 9/18--go use it!)

And have you ever made Martha Stewart's tissue "puff balls"?  Actually, I have no idea what she calls them but "puff balls" works for me.  Avey showed me how to make them a little while ago--I couldn't believe how simple they were to make!  And fast, too.  I made a few for the shower--I think they added a nice playful touch to the room.  Let me know if you want a tutorial on how to make them.

 

 

Ooh!  One more thing.  Look what I scored for the baby shower.  A stack of rectangular glass party plates!  Guess how much I got them for.  Nope, guess lower.  Lower.  Even lower.  You got it--I payed ten cents a plate.  TEN CENTS!  Yes, I love me a good bargain.

 

Have any of you found any great deals lately?  Do tell!  

Well, that's it for today... Happy Wednesday!!

 

xo,

Pamela

Hens and Chicks (& eggs, too!)

Yesterday, I just had to get out of the house.  Though I was a bit worried about taking all three girls out by myself for the first time I did it anyway, and Canby, Oregon was our destination.  We drove the 1 1/2 hour drive to my hometown so we could visit my Dad and younger sister, Holly, who is flying back to New York tomorrow.  I'm happy to report the girls did great!  Jane slept the entire way and Avery and Clara watched a video on our portable DVD player.  I used to be against doing that sorta thing but now I'm a fan.

Before heading back home I visited my parents' backyard to gather a few Hens and Chicks to bring back home.  No, not those kinds of hens and chicks but these kind...

  

Succulents!  I would have never thought to care for these plants inside the house until I saw the idea at Anthropologie a couple months ago.  Thank you, Anthropologie...that's just one more reason to love you.

 

And of course while we were there Avery and Clara helped Papa gather the  eggs from real hens. I think they collected five but Dad sent two dozen home with us!

I LOVE fresh eggs.  Store-bought eggs don't even come close to comparing to them.  We used six of them this morning to make a big batch of pancake mix to use for the rest of the week.  Thanks, Dad! 

 

I love the color and size variation.

 
 
Well, that's it for today!  I hope you are all happy and well.  Until next time...

xo,

Pamela 

 
 

Delicious Sweet Corn, Anyone??

My Dad called earlier this week to tell me that our friends had 2 tons of sweet corn given to them and wanted to know if I was interested in coming down to Canby to pick some up.  My reply was of course, "YES!!". 

 My Aunt Diane and I drove down the following day and loaded a fair amount into the back of my van.  Actually, this is only a portion, because she put some in her car too.

We headed back to her house so we could work on preserving the many, many ears of corn together.  We opted not to can the corn, but to freeze it instead...it's going to taste sooo yummy in the winter!

It was a wonderful family affair...

My cousins shucked the cobs (Thank you Adam, Stephen, Emily, and Avery!):

My Uncle Kevin helped boil them:

Aunt Diane and I cut the kernels off:

We drizzled melted butter over the bowlfuls of corn and sprinkled it with salt:

Quart-sized freezer bags became the new homes to these thousands of kernels:

I think we managed to freeze about 120 quarts altogether, and still had some leftover to give away to friends!  

Yes, I think it is safe to say we are the corniest people around, and are loving it!  hehe

*       *      *

Here's a big thanks to the Domans for the delicious corn!!! 

*       *      *

What am I planning to do with all this corn you're probably asking yourself??  Here's a little list:

1.  add it to chili/soup

2.  add it to cornbread

3.  make salsa with it

4.  eat it just the way it is, with freshly ground black pepper

Do you have any other ideas for me??

I hope everyone has a wonderful and corn-filled weekend themselves!

xoxo,

Pamela, a gal who loves corn very much :)

Mr. Frog

Meet Mr. Frog.

I found him relaxing in my parents' pear tree this past weekend.

Ribbit.

xo,

Pamela, the frog lover

Striped Applesauce, Anyone??

Last week was a treat.

I traveled down to Canby, OR not only to visit my Dad, Lane, and Ashley, but also

to pick blueberries at my friend's blueberry farm.  

Miriam is her name, and she has one smokin' blueberry patch.

We picked and picked, and talked and talked.  It was great seeing her again.

And check out this GIGANTIC blueberry I found! 

 How fun is that?!

So, I stayed the night at my parents' and planned on leaving the next morning to head back home, but before I left I strolled through their little orchard and then it happened.  My eyes spotted an apple tree...with RIPE apples!

I had completely forgotten that this particular variety, Lodi, was an early ripener.  There was no way I was going home that day!  Instead, we picked and picked so we could make applesauce.  

After canning a couple batches the event became a wee bit boring, so I decided to spice things up.

I asked myself, "Why not add some of my freshly picked blueberries to the sauce?  And why not include some boysenberries into the mix while I'm at it??"

And this was born:

But I couldn't stop there, because that got a wee bit boring after a while, too.

So I thought, "Heck--why not make STRIPED applesauce???"

 

And how about 'polka dots' with blueberries??

 

Ladies and gents...it is true.  I have way too much fun canning fruit.

If you are going to make applesauce this year I highly recommend giving this a try!  

You will not regret it!

Oh, and guess what?  I won a blue ribbon over the weekend!  There was a little arts/crafts/baking/canning contest at a picnic our church hosted and my striped applesauce won first place in the canning division!  I was very happy.  :)  I'm now thinking about entering a couple jars at our local fair.

One more thing before I let you go--just this morning I found out about a very cool website from my cousin.  Check it out if you are interested in canning this summer.

Simply Canning

It is a wonderful resource!

Until next time...

xo,

Pamela

p.s.  Tomorrow we find out if our little baby is a boy or girl!  We are very excited.  Stay tuned!

Cherries!

Hello everyone!  I'm sorry it has taken me sooooooo long to post pictures

of my cherry adventure from a few weeks ago.  Each time I visit my parents' place it seems there is a different fruit or vegetable that is ripe and ready to be harvested.  This particular visit presented a wonderful gift:

PIE CHERRIES!  

If you aren't familiar with this type of cherry I should tell you that they are NOT SWEET, but quite tart.  They are perfect for pies!  Do you have to add much sugar when making the pie filling you might be asking yourself??  Yes, but it is worth it!

Avery helped me pit them...she did a fantastic job!  I'm always surprised at her eagerness in helping me whenever I'm working with fruit.  She is a great little helper.

 

Isn't this little pitter (cherry stoner) the niftiest thing you've ever seen??  The only problem it presented was that it wasted a lot of juice, as you can see in the bowl.  I couldn't let it go to waste so I used it to make the most delectable treat.  Can you guess what it was???

 

Tart cherry syrup over vanilla ice cream and brownies!

  Let me tell you--if I owned a restaurant this little treat would be at the top of the dessert list!  If you have your own pie cherries and you want to try your hand at this, all you have to do is bring the juice to a boil and add sugar.  It's that simple! 

 And ohhhhhhhh so good!

Is it already Wednesday?!?  Yay!  We're half way to the weekend.  I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far!

Many xoxo's...

:) Pamela