Excuses

Why haven't I posted anything in so long??? I can come up with a million excuses. But I am only going to give you my top two.

1- I got a new phone.  I take most of my pictures with it and they don't look good at all when I post them to Pie Hole.  ie-too lazy to grab my camera

2-I get so mad that blogspot doesn't keep me signed in. I have to remember my password and to retrieve it is painful.  Seriously...if you knew how many password recovery emails I have in my inbox for just this post you would think I'd never touched a computer or used a password.  The problem is that I have too many and they all have to be changed at different times.  ie-too lazy to write them down

Soooo... Mary Ann gave me a brilliant idea this morning.  She suggested that I keep my password on my phone. Dang she is smart.

Below is what inspired me to actually get out my camera and retrieve my password.  This is what I gathered from my back yard this morning. Now it's time to get to work!

Going Bananas

Mary Ann and I like bananas, but we both feel that there is a small window of time that bananas are just the right ripeness.  Usually we have one or two that get over ripe before we want it.  So I just toss it in the freezer and wait for a chance to make some banana bread.  This morning as I was tossing two more into the freezer I noticed that I already had 20 in there.  It was time to do something with them.  I made four loaves of banana bread. I added chocolate chips to two loaves and toasted almonds to the remaining loaves.

The banana bread only used 8 bananas so I thought I would make a treat for the dogs.  In a food processor I added the remaining bananas along with a half cup of peanut butter.  We also had a few dried banana chips that I added for texture. I scooped the mixture into mini muffin tins and froze.  They are great treats for hot summer days.

Frosty Bananas

Herb Garden Green Bean Potato Salad

I know that green bean potato salad doesn't sound very exciting, but it is one of my favorite dishes to take to a potluck, picnic, or cookout.  Today I am going to my first cookout/potluck of the year.  Cleaning up the herb garden last week inspired me to make this salad today.  There isn't really a recipe. I roast new potatoes and blanch green beans.  Then I toss them in a dressing of lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, a little sugar and load it up with whatever herbs are in the garden.  Today it includes chives, oregano, and thyme.  This salad is a winner!

Herb Garden Maintenance

I had one thought that got me through another Monday work day.  The thought was getting outside in the evening, and working on the herb garden.  Every spring I am always amazed by how much of the herb garden survives the winter.  But you can tell by the looks of it that it needs some TLC.  

This is what I started with this evening.

I trimmed a lot of the dead parts of the plants away.  The rosemary is looking really rough. I hope it makes it, but I'm not going to hold my breath.  I also was able to replace the gnome that was in very bad shape.  My good friend Georgia gave me a special gnome over the holidays and today she made her debut in the herb garden.  Thanks Georgia!

There is still work to do, but I am pleased with how it looks now.  

Signs of Spring

My walk around the back yard confirmed what I think to be true.  Despite the chill in the air, Spring is here.

Signs that the strawberry plants I put in the ground last weekend may actually bear fruit.

The first run of raspberries are getting ready.

And the 2nd run of raspberries are beginning to peak through the earth.

First planting

I can't believe I am creating two posts in one week.  But it finally feels like Spring is here and it is very motivating.  Yesterday I picked up my strawberry plants and this morning I got them in the ground.  Below are some pictures of what I have to do to ensure the dogs can't get to them.  This is temporary because at some point I assume the runners will want to hang on to the fencing and I really don't want them to do that.  I will also need to get some straw or something similar for the berries to rest on.  There is still a lot to do, but it sure does feel good to get started.

I hope that everyone is able to get outside this weekend and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Spring

As I look at the weather forecast for this weekend I can't help but get excited.   My "to-do" list gets longer and longer when I see that temperatures will be reaching 60 degrees and showers are expected Sunday evening.

Besides committing to going to art show openings Friday and Saturday night, I've also told Mary Ann that I would make brownies, petite palmier, and ginger cookies for a work function on Tuesday.   But the thing I am looking forward to most is planting strawberries and grass.  Our yard has taken a beating this past year.  The drought, a wet winter, and big active dogs does not equal a manicured back yard.  I plan on fencing off 1/4 of the yard and trying to get grass growing again.  Strawberries are a new crop for me.  I always try to plant a couple of different items a year and see how well they do.  I am picking up 12 plants Saturday at City Folks Farm Shop.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I will try to take some pictures and share later.