Summer

And all the fun and work that comes with it.

My new Tayberry bush is doing well.  This luscious fruit needs a special accompaniment

A Sabayon or if in Italy, a Zabaglione is the perfect answer. 
Recipe here

You will need a double boiler and a tireless arm. 

My Basil is perfect for picking and perfect for making Pesto.

It will go to seed in a few days. Must stock up on Pine Nuts and the very best olive oil I can find.

Apricots are ripe, ready for preserves.

Now this is the variety of Opium Poppy I don't like.  
I like simple flowers. 
When these poppies first opened I started to pull some of them out.

But then thought better of it. 

If I had pulled them all I would have missed these Beauties. 

I'm still bottle feeding Liesel.  

Sunflowers are volunteering in the Squash Patch.

Ronde de Nice or Rolly Pollies are ready.
They are the very best Summer Squash. 

And I have been painting a lot of tiles for new kitchens.  


It's another beautiful day here.  
Hope you are enjoying summer.  

Gina 

http://betweennapsontheporch.

Pineapple upside-down Cake

Or it will be

When I turn it over.  

Recipe follows.

Volunteer sunflowers from my Garden. 

They always bloom early. 

 The next group, the planted sunflowers, bloom much later.

The wonderful thing about Pineapples, they are always available.  

When not being used in a recipe they make fine centerpieces. 

Pineapple upside-down Cake

Line baking dish with

1 fresh Pineapple cut up into small pieces

4 Tb unsalted butter, melted

½ cup of brown sugar

Mix together

1¼ cups sifted flour

½ cup sugar

½ tsp sea salt

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup melted butter

½ cup of fresh orange juice

juice from ½ lemon and

2 Tb grated lemon peel

Mix all ingredients and add one beaten whole egg.

Stir batter two minutes by hand with wooden spoon.
Pour over Pineapple mixture.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let stand 5 minutes, turn upside down.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Gina 

http://betweennapsontheporch.net/

Sunflowers on Parade

So many pretty faces

All growing in a row in my garden.

Save the seeds.

The birds will try to beat you to them.

They grow true to variety from seed.

They make great cut flowers. 

Even just one flower makes a statement. 

 Almost black.

You will find at least one bee in every sunflower.

Turning their faces toward the sun.

Almost fooled you? It's a squash blossom which is climbing up on a sunflower stalk.

Early in the morning you will find bees asleep inside the flower.

Have a great weekend dear friends. 

I'm still waiting for the Italian Whites to bloom. 

Gina 

http://www.lavendercottagegardening.com/

Summer and Sunflowers

What's not to like

They go together.

You may recall that when thinning sunflowers have a look at the stems.  The green stem on the left will produce light colors and the darker stem on the right will produce the vivid reds and rust colors.  

A few Foxglove for contrast makes for a festive show. 

New fingerling potatoes look at home with apples and pears.  

These tuberous begonias have been in the same pots for years.  They go into the greenhouse before the frost where they are forgotten until they show new growth in the Spring. 

I didn't think that I would like these pale peach colored Foxglove...they have become one of my favorites. 

A few volunteer sunflowers show up in the potato and squash patch.  The planted seeds (on the left and growing in a row) always bloom a few weeks later. 

 This is the time of year we like to be outside, working in the garden and relaxing in the shade when the sun is high.  

Just gathered for a bouquet.

Don't forget to cut a few flowers to enjoy inside.

Sweet Peas always make me happy.  The odoratus type or old varieties still have that heavenly perfume.  



I'm getting ready to welcome visitors today and tomorrow.  
Our town is celebrating with a Blue Grass Festival and 
Gallery Stroll. 

A horse drawn wagon will bring visitors to my studio.


Have a wonderful week dear friends.  

Gina 

Volunteers

Volunteers

The dictionary defines a volunteer plant as a plant that 

springs up spontaneously.

Volunteer Sunflowers are one of the best gifts from my garden.  They bloom early and those sunflowers which I planted at the normal time will not bloom for another 3 weeks. 

We had a fantastic electrical storm 2 days ago. 
I turned off the computer and every other electrical gadget.
And then I heard a very loud bang.  
It was close by. 

I went outside to check on things.  
The top of the main house looked all right.  The chimney pots were not smoldering. 

The pineapple architectural pieces on top of the Guest house were still in place. 
They hadn't toppled off the roof. 

The stork towers were still solidly attached to the barn roof.

The metal balconies had not been hit.

Chimneys had not come down from the highest spot of all the buildings. 
All appeared to be A OK. 

We didn't have to call the Volunteer Fire Department.  

The hail didn't do too much damage and the rain that came pouring down was a welcome change.

 When it was all over the telephone didn't  work, nor did the television. 

And when it was time to close the gate for the night it wouldn't open or close.

Our gate is about 800 feet up the lane. 
It is operated by remote control from our kitchen, or barn or car. 

The lightning hit the circuit board in the barn and 
fried it (not my words but the electricians).

I'm surprised that our chickens survived because their coop is right next to the box which was hit.

However, they only laid two eggs the next day.  

The entire mechanism has to be replaced.  It is already on its way.  

Why did the lowest building of all of our buildings get hit.  And what about those tall trees? 

Take care dear friends and get to a safe spot when you see a storm brewing. 

Gina