A Second Look--July 31, 2013

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

While some tiger lilies are still blooming, many are dropping their petals as you can see behind and to the right of this one.

The hydrangea are still going strong.

These two begonias were both yellow when they were planted. However, the one on the right was exposed to more sun and turned orange.

While some day lilies are done blooming, a few colors are still making a show.

The ever-faithful spirea.

These celosia are all volunteers from last year.

One of the sparrow eggs has hatched. When this baby first hatched yesterday, it had no down on it. I have seen a lot of growth in just 24 hours

I found four more eggs in the bluebird nest. That makes three clutches in one season. This is an unusual but not an unheard of occurrence.

Quilts

Quilts from museum exhibit

I love quilts. So when the neighborhood museum opened their exhibit on quilts, I hurried in to see it. On display were many quilts made by local quilters. Some of the quilts were old and some were new, but all of them were beautiful.

 As I was perusing the exhibit, I thought about the quilts I grew up with. I had one with a flannel backing for the winter and a lighter weight one for the summer. I slept with one of those two quilts every night for years. They were made by my grandmother for me and all of the work was done by hand. However they looked different than the quilts I was seeing in the exhibit as neither one of my quilts had a particular pattern with regard to color or shape. My grandmother used whatever inexpensive source of fabric she could find whether or not they matched. Those quilts were very representative of much of the way my family was (is)--very practical.

I also remembered another quilt of my youth--one that I started as a teenager using squares of fabric cut from old jeans that I had. I pieced several squares together, but never got much further than that until a couple of years ago when I got it out and decided that I was going to finish it. I got additional fabric and made it big enough to fit a twin bed. However, I ran out of steam. Maybe someday I will finish it. In the meantime I like to look at it and remember the different jeans that are represented and what was going on in my life when I wore them.

Now, I have a new quilt interest--barn quilts. These are large quilt squares painted on wood and hung on the side of barns or other outdoor structures. I see them occasionally in my travels and it's always fun to find them. Also, Uncle Billy has started to make them and if I can figure out how to hang one, he will make one for me.

Did I mention, I love quilts? See some of them below.

Part of the quilt exhibit at my local museum.

Quilts made for me by my grandmother. Left: Winter, Right: Summer

Lucy checking out my in-progress quilt.

Some of Uncle Billy's Barn Quilts.
(Patterns in a clockwise direction: Lemon Star, Bear Paw, Rolling Star) 

Another one of Uncle Billy's Barn Quilts. (Pattern: Indian Maze)
 (Picture from Shelley at Intermittent Farm Report.)

Thankful Sunday--July 28, 2013

I am thankful for blueberries.

Wally picking blueberries in Uncle Billy's patch.

I am thankful that something that tastes so good is so good for you.  We've been picking recently in Uncle Billy's blueberry patch and have had plenty of fresh blueberries to eat. Yum.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--July 26, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste 

NONE

  Hooray! 

This Week's True Food Confessions 

  

This week was more organized than last week, so we only ate out once. I think we were more successful  because we had something to focus us--produce from Uncle Billy's garden. We used the new potatoes to make a hearty soup with the roast we had last week and other fresh vegetables to make sandwiches. We were eating blueberries by the handful and every morning for breakfast. Also, we had a spinach pie one night and another night we had a tuna and squash casserole that was very good. This was a good way to use squash and tomatoes that we had and I've included the recipe. You can play with this recipe many ways, but here's how I made it. I think the fresh tomato on the top sets it apart from the standard tuna casserole. It was a hit with everyone here and you may enjoy it at your house.

Tuna Squash Casserole

--2 6 oz. cans of tuna drained

--2 medium size squash--one crook neck, one zucchini

--6 oz. of dry egg noodles cooked according to package directions

--1/2 cup no fat Greek yogurt

--1/2 low fat mayonnaise

--1/2 teaspoon ground thyme

--1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

--1 tomato chopped

--Preheat oven to 350° F 

--Cut squashes in 1/2 inch pieces and cook until tender-firm. (That took me about 5 minutes in the microwave.)

--Mix yogurt, mayonnaise, tuna, thyme, and 3/4 cup cheese together in a large bowl.   Add noodles and put into casserole dish. 

--Bake covered for about 30 minutes or until you just start to see bubbling around the edges.

--Take out of oven and add the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese and tomato on top of that.

--Bake another 10-15 minutes.

--Enjoy

Until next time...

 

A Second Look--July 24, 2013

As I sat down to write this post, I just saw a fox trot across the yard. That is a somewhat unusual occurrence for daytime and it got all of the cats on alert. I'm glad there is a window between them.

The days continue to be warm and humid with an occasional thunderstorm. On my way inside one day as one of these storms began, I discovered both tussock moth caterpillars and monarch butterfly caterpillars on the milkweed. I hope that we will eventually see a monarch emerge from a cocoon, but it's not looking too promising right now. Despite our best efforts, the tussocks outnumber the monarchs 100/1. Also, there have been two more eggs added to the sparrows nest and the mama is sitting on them. The day lilies and tiger lilies continue to bloom as well as the marigolds and daisies. (And the beetles continue to feast on them.) Many butterflies are fluttering by-especially around the tiger lilies. It's a beautiful time of year.

Here are a few of the things I saw this week during a Second Look.

Day lily

Black swallowtail on tiger lily

Hibiscus buds

Tiger swallowtail on tiger lily

Marigolds

Day lily

Left: Monarch caterpillar eating from behind. Right: Tussock caterpillars eating, eating, eating.

Sparrow's nest. Two eggs and more feathers have been added since last week.

Today...

Today I am going to stand out from the background.

Six-spotted Green Tiger Beetle

Some days it is easier to just go with the flow, but today I am going to put forth the extra effort to standout from my normal status quo. I'm going to do that by trying something out of my comfort zone. So many things to choose from.

Caterpillar Wars

For several years now, I have had milkweed growing in one of my flower beds. This is the host plant for monarch butterflies, so it is often recommended as a native plant for your yard. Even though it grew like a weed and was sometimes unsightly in my planned bed, I left it alone. However after watching it for several years and never seeing any sign of monarchs, I pulled it out. But it came back.(Did I mention the growing like a weed part?) This year, it has been particularly vigorous and was starting to takeover, so I decided that I was going to try to pull it out again or at least try to replant it in a more desirable area. However, when I checked it again this weekend, I found it covered with orange and black fuzzy caterpillars. Upon further investigation, I learned that they were tussock moth caterpillars. There were several descriptions of them, but all included the fact that they are voracious eaters. Maybe this was the natural way that I was going to get rid of the milkweed.

I took Ward out to show him these colorful worms and they had already stripped leaves from several plants and were hungrily working on more. And do know what we saw among them? A monarch butterfly caterpillar! There was no way this one monarch* was going to compete, so we set out to remove as many of the tussocks as we could. The spines on the tussock caterpillars can sting, so we used gloves, a stick, and teamwork to try to rid the milkweed of these hungry eaters. During this tedious process, we found another monarch caterpillar. Wow, two in one year! Now, it is a watching and waiting game to see what develops--monarch butterflies and/or tussocks moths. I know what I'm hoping for.

In addition to being a host plant for butterflies and moths, bees like  milkweed's late spring blossoms. This is when the eggs were probably being laid.

Milkweed Tussock Caterpillars devouring a leaf.

After stripping the leaves from this plant, the tussocks moved onto the next one.

The two monarch butterfly caterpillars we found. Notice the one of the left has eaten away half of the leaf.

If we knew much about monarchs, we would have realized that this skeleton leaf pattern that we saw earlier is common for young monarch caterpillars. At this stage, they don't eat the entire leaf like above.

*Monarchs often only lay one egg per plant to make sure the growing larva has plenty to eat.

Thankful Sunday--July 21, 2013

I am thankful for thunderstorms.

The view out our window during the storm last night.

Last night, we had a thunderstorm--the kind that happens at the end of a hot humid day. We turned out the lights and watched the show outside, and today we are thankful for the cooler weather it brought.

(When I see a storm, it often reminds me of Theo and his observations about them when he was little.)

The Good Earth--a book review

I've been meaning to read The Good Earth since I first heard about it in grade school. The author, Pearl S. Buck, was born in West Virginia and was part of my WV history lessons back then. This month I finally joined the other millions (billions?), who have read the book when I read it as part of my book club.

The Good Earth was published in 1931 and follows the life of Wang Lung in pre-revolutionary rural China. The book begins with a young Wang Lung preparing for his wedding day and follows his life until he is old and close to death. He values the land and farming above all else which leads him from humble beginnings to being a rich man. Along the way, we see him suffer through famines and personal hardships and watch the way his eventual wealth affects him and the next generation.

This book has been a classic since it came out. It won a Pulitzer Prize and also helped Buck win the Nobel Prize for Literature. (And if that weren't enough, it was chosen for Oprah's Book Club a couple of years ago). What all of this means is the book has been studied and talked about for decades now. Its historical significance and literary merits have been debated by many scholars as well as high school students. So there's a lot of information out there you can read for an in depth analysis of it. However, in the meantime I'm going to tell you what I thought about it when I read it as an afternoon pleasure read.

Buck's writing style is what impressed me the most about this novel. She writes in a simplistic way about profound events. It reminded me of Bible stories where powerful stories are told with just the simple facts. When I was describing this to Theo he said, “You mean she tells you the story, but doesn't tell you how to feel about it.” And I think that is a good description. But among this simple story telling are very rich details about Chinese culture which also play a major role in the plot. All in all, it is a very compelling read.

I thought the book could have ended sooner than it did. It seemed to me that the story plodded along a little longer than it needed to. However, another member of the club thought that Buck was slowing down the story just as Wang Lung's life did as he aged. In retrospect, this made a lot of sense to me. Maybe it ended at just the right time.

What did the other members of the club think? Everyone liked the book, including me, and it provided a good discussion. This is not always the case when everyone likes a book.

Recommendation: If you are one of the few like I was who have not read The Good Earth, give it a try. Unlike some classics, it is an easy, enjoyable read, but like many classics, it will give you much to reflect on.

_______________________________________________________________________________

But Wait, There's More:

--The Good Earth is the first book in a trilogy about this family. It is followed by Sons and a House Divided.

--I don't like to give away much of the story when I do a review, so I don't do that here. However, if you'd like to know more about The Good Earth, read here.

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--July 19, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions.

This Week's Food Waste 

 

I knew it was coming--a big food waste week. And this was the week it finally hit. There was a little bit of cucumber and sweet potato salad that went bad because no one really liked them. Also, we go in and out of cottage cheese phases around here and apparently we went out of one right after we bought this container. I hate to see all of this waste, but we will do better next week--unless we don't. :)

This Week's True Food Confessions

We didn't have cake balls this week, but I don't have pictures of anything else.

This week's food is more of a blur than it usually is. We were gone for a few days and had some delicious food during that time. We had chicken and dumplings made for us by a friend that were done to perfection. Another time, we had my favorite hot dog sauce made by my aunt. We also had a refreshing fruit salad made by one of my cousins that was served in a hollowed out watermelon with our family name carved on the side. There was also a chocolate chip cookie competition of sorts in which there was no clear winner. However, there certainly was no loser. :) When we were home, we went out for Theo's birthday for some more good food. Another night we had a frozen pizza and Wally made grilled cheese sandwiches yet another night. Tonight there is a delicious smelling roast waiting for us in the crock pot.

So there's the food jumble for this week. At least no one went hungry. 

Until next time...

 

A Second Look---July 17, 2013

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

The tiger lilies started blooming this week and the swallowtail butterflies really like them.

We saw our first Blackeyed Susan this week.

The sedum is just beginning to form buds. This is the first time I have noticed its buds and I find them quite interesting.

 The skipper butterflies have arrived to enjoy the coneflowers again this year.

Coreopsis

The baby bluebirds have finally fledged. We saw this one hiding in the grass and once again the parents were trying to scare us away from it.

The sparrow's nest now has two eggs in it.

Family Reunion--Part 2

My Family Reunions

My Grandmother and some the Cousins

When I was growing up, we had a picnic every summer to celebrate my grandmother's birthday in July. My aunts and uncles and 23 cousins would gather at The Farm my grandmother lived on to play and talk and eat. The Cousins would play in the creek and catch minnows and crawdads. The Aunts and Uncles would talk. And of course, we would all eat.
 

As the years passed, we grew up and the picnics stopped. There seemed to be too many other things going on in our "grown up" lives to be able to come, and my grandmother had passed away. 

However several years later, we began them again, still at The Farm. This time, many of the 23 Cousins had been joined by spouses and children. The next generation of Children found the creek a great place to play. They caught minnows and crawdads just as their parents had. The Aunts and Uncles smiled as they watched their grandkids and they talked. The Cousins now played horseshoes and croquet and tried to make sure the Children were okay in the creek. But mostly we talked. And of course, we would all eat.

And this year, we gathered again. Our picnic was at a park and not at The Farm, so the little ones played in the mud puddles instead of the creek. Many of the Aunts and Uncles have passed away, but were remembered in pictures and stories. The Cousins were talking about colleges and empty nests and the Children were texting their friends. But mostly we talked. And of course, we all ate.

Family Reunion--2013

Family Reunions

Never enough time to...

Remember those who have gone

And meet those who have joined us.

To catch up on new happenings

And remember the old times.

To enjoy food off the grill

And save room for dessert.

To hug everyone hello

And hug everyone goodbye.

Thankful Sunday--July 14, 2013

I am thankful for timers.

I use the timer on my microwave the most.

I use timers for many things, but the best thing they do for me is to get me started doing something I don't want to do. I set a timer for two minutes, five minutes, 30 minutes, etc., and then work on a chore for that amount of time. Before I start, I tell myself that I can stop when the timer goes off. Often, I have completed the task in the amount of time I set, or I have gotten over my inertia and continue working.

I might have a cat sitting on my lap all day long if I didn't have a timer to get me started with things. :)

Food Waste Friday and True Food Confessions--July 12, 2013

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. Also, I am using this public forum to encourage us to eat out less which includes better meal planning. You can follow how we are doing in this endeavor by reading True Food Confessions. 

                                This Week's Food Waste

                                Bread

We have entered the hot humid time of summer when the bread on the counter seems to mold overnight. Or at least that's what happened this week. Maybe we will only unfreeze a 1/2 loaf at a time to see if that works better.


                  This Week's True Food Confessions  

Among other things we had this week, I made more cake balls for a friend's birthday.

We ate in all week and cooked several things. However, amongst all of this home cooked food, we seemed to be somewhat lacking in fruit and vegetables. Gonna have to work on that next week. However, there was one vegetable that was not lacking--the first local corn-on-the-cob of the season. Aunt Martha brought it to a cookout that we had on Saturday and I've been having it at practically every meal since then. I wait for corn time all year and this corn was all that I had been dreaming about--tender and sweet.

The recipe I tried this week was Taco Meat Loaf that was inspired by this recipe (and reprinted below) from All You magazine. When I make meat loaf, it is usually inspired by whatever leftovers we have in the fridge that I need to use up. This one was a little bit like that in that we already had the chips and salsa on hand that it called for. The recipe is good especially if you like the taste of corn meal. That flavor from the chips came through even though it was just a small part of the ingredients. Also, depending on the your taste and the strength of your salsa, you may want to cut back on the ketchup and add more salsa. I thought the spiciness was just right of our loaf, but the others thought it was a bit bland. We solved that by serving theirs with salsa on top. Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.


Turkey Taco Meat Loaf
 

Prep: 10 min.
Cook: 1 hr.
Serves: 6
Cost per serving: 86¢
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. ground turkey (I used very lean ground beef.)
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup corn chips, crushed
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup salsa, plus extra for serving
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp. pepper
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with foil, leaving 3 inches of overhang on both long sides. Lightly mist with cooking spray.
2. In a large bowl, using your hands, gently mix all ingredients until just combined. Pat mixture into prepared pan, scraping sides of bowl with a rubber spatula if necessary; smooth top.
3. Bake until internal temperature registers 165°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes. Using foil overhang as handles, carefully lift meat loaf out of pan. Place meat loaf on a cutting board, peel back foil and slice. Serve hot with extra salsa, if desired.
Per serving: 283 Cal., 14g Fat (4g Sat.), 128mg Chol., 2g Fiber, 23g Pro., 15g Carb., 501mg Sod.



 

A Second Look--July 10, 2013

We've had hot, humid days with afternoon thunderstorms. Makes feel like I'm back in New Orleans where we lived for several years. Despite that heat, there are new colors of day lilies continuing to bloom along with the first blooms from the African Daisies. I think the baby bluebirds are still in the nesting box, but I haven't been able to look for several days to know for sure. If I even approach the box, the parents start swooping down over me. It's very unnerving, so I'd say they parents are doing a good job. Also, I have seen my first two swallowtail butterflies. I thought one of them had injured its wings, but upon closer examination, I think they just haven't unfolded all the way yet after hatching from the chrysalis.

Here's what I saw this week during a Second Look.

Various day lilies that are bloom right now

This is one of the few coneflowers the Japanese Beetles haven't been heavily feasting on.

Swallowtail butterfly with folded wings on milkweed blossom.

Hydrangea

Kaleidoscope Abelia

Daisies--Gerber and African

Pictures don't come out very well from a small dark nesting box. However, here are four babyblue birds over a three week span.