my first batch of pickles

This year I decided to grow cucumbers for the first time:  one pickling cucumber plant and one regular cucumber plant.  I planted them in pots and put in a small trellis so I wouldn't have to worry about having enough room for the vines to grow, nor would I have to worry about them being forgotten under the leaves. Plus I just didn't want to dig a garden.

But what to do with them since only my husband likes cucumbers? Pickle them, of course!  Although I've learned how to do canning, I didn't have nearly enough cucumbers to do more than one jar of pickles so I opted for a refrigerator pickle recipe.  (At this point I had only two pickling cucumbers so far.) All I had to do was cut up the cucumbers, mix the ingredients, put them all in a jar and stash them in the fridge overnight. Pickling the cucumbers was also an excuse to use the fresh dill from my garden.

Here's the recipe I used:  Easy Dill Lovers Refrigerator Pickles

Here are the pickles before they went into the fridge. A couple days later the level of liquid rose almost to the top, because the salt in the brine released water from the cucumbers.

Overall I liked this recipe. They're so fresh-tasting and crispy. Much different from jarred pickles from the grocery store. (And notice they're not Army Green-colored!) I tried another one a couple weeks ago and it just didn't taste like a sour dill pickle should taste. I think I'll be sticking with this recipe. A word of caution, though:  if you're not used to fresh pickles, brace yourself for the first bite--it will put hair on your chest!

homemade blackberry jalapeno jelly

Alright, I've depleted my supply of homegrown jalapenos, so here's my last batch of jalapeno jelly for the season (unless I decide to go buy some jalapenos, which I may do!).

This time we have blackberry jalapeno. I LOVE blackberry jam and figured this would be a good combo, and it is! Lucky for me I found blackberries at three 6 ounce containers for $10.00, which is a good price. Usually they're about $5.00 per container and I refuse to spend that much on something that may or may not turn out good. I've learned the hard way that I should wait for a sale when making certain recipes for the first time. There's nothing worse than spending a bunch of money only to have the dish turn out bad.

I used this recipe:  Blackberry Jalapeno Jelly. What I like about this recipe, even though it is slightly more work, is that it produces a seedless jelly. I love blackberry jam/jelly, but I hate the seeds. They're just annoying, and I don't like being annoyed while I'm trying to enjoy my food. I was able to put the berries in the food processor, which saves a ton of time and effort, and then mash them through my fine-mesh sieve. It wasn't difficult or time-consuming like I thought it might be. Note:  Make sure your food processor is big enough to handle all the berries at once. If not, break them into batches. When you puree the berries they tend to go up the sides of the food processor bowl and can ooze out between the lid and the bowl...onto your white counter top. Deep purple oozing out on to a white surface that stains very easily is not good. Thank the universe for the Magic Eraser! (Come to think of it, a blender would have been easier and less mess I think.)  I increased the jalapenos on this since the ones I had left were small and not as mature as the ones in my previous batches of jelly. It worked out just fine. As with the other jellies, the heat mellowed out overnight and the result was a pleasant, but present, heat. Also, this jelled firmer than my other jellies. It was likely a combo of this recipe calling for two packages of pectin instead of one, and boiling the jelly after the pectin is added for three to four minutes, rather than just one minute.

Marty was back to work, after an extended visit at the vet, and supervised this batch. (I can't tell if he approves or not?) Whenever I'm cooking, this is his spot.

Here's the finished product. I brightened up the picture a bit so the peppers are easier to see; blacberry jelly is pretty dark.  Although the recipe says it makes eight jars, I only got six full jars and one half-full jar, even though I used more blackberries than what the recipe says to use. Not sure what happened there. Maybe I didn't mash the pulp enough to get more juice out? No matter, it's still a lot of jelly that will take me awhile to use.

Since I have a very old house that has limited storage, and I have a lot of crap stuff as it is, I've been storing my jellies on one of the shelves of the hutch. It works for now. 

I'm thinking I'm done with jelly for the moment, although if the mood strikes I still have some pectin left. I have a lot of herbs in my garden, so I'm thinking I may try my hand at making herb jelly. I'm guessing I would use for glazing chicken on the grill or mixing it with goat cheese to make a spread, since rosemary (or sage or thyme) jelly on toast doesn't sound all that appetizing. Although I'm sure someone out there would enjoy that.

homemade jalapeno jelly

Yup, more jelly! I told you I had a lot of jalapenos to use up. And I'm finding I like this whole canning thing.  Once I figured out the timing of when I should start the empty jars to heating, when to start the jelly on the stove, etc., it got easier and not such a big project. I also decided to chop all the peppers ahead of time using my food processor, which made it flow a lot better. Plus, I'm quite happy that I've had only one jar fail to seal out of four batches of jelly. That's way better than when I first tried making jelly many years ago. That...didn't go very well.

For this recipe I used the Jalapeno Jelly recipe I found on Kraft's website.  Kraft makes CERTO, which is the liquid pectin I use to make the jelly gel, so it seemed like this would be the easiest and most fool-proof. There are SO many recipes out there for jalapeno or hot pepper jelly, and even when you Google "jalapeno jelly with liquid pectin," you get a ton of recipes that call for powdered pectin, which I didn't have on hand. Powdered pectin can be used, but there's a different order in which you assemble and cook the jelly. Since I'm new at this, I wasn't comfortable trying to adapt a recipe for liquid pectin.

As you can see, it looks pretty good even though Marty wasn't there to supervise this batch. (He loves to sit in the pass-through from the dining room to the kitchen and watch me cook.) I'm happy to say it jelled up firmly and isn't runny. It has a pleasant heat and isn't very spicy at all. I'm finding that the jelly has a lot of heat at first, but as it sits overnight it tends to mellow out. Because of this, my plan next time is to leave more of the jalapeno seeds intact--that's what holds most of the heat.

So, what will I use this for? I already gave away several to friends and family. The remaining jars will likely be used for making a goat cheese panini with jalapeno jelly. Messy, but delicious! I could also mix it with cream cheese to make a dip or spread. 

Next on this list is blackberry jalapeno, as I have several more jalapenos on my plant to use up before the end of the season. I LOVE blackberry jam, so I'm thinking this will be a good combination. Although blackberries are expensive, so I will wait until I see them on sale. 

homemade strawberry jalapeno jelly

OK, I'm officially on a jelly-making kick!  I just made strawberry jalapeno jelly and it's so yummy!  Marty supervised again, but I didn't get a picture of him this time.

The recipe I made was actually for strawberry habanero jelly, but I had jalapenos on-hand and needed to use them, so I just used more jalapenos. I couldn't figure out how many jalapenos would be required to replace three habaneros, and Google failed me this time on that front, so I just guessed. I used five and left most of the seeds in, which is where a lot of the heat comes from. It worked out just fine:  after leaving one jar of jelly in the fridge for 24 hours (jar didn't seal properly), the heat had mellowed out and the result was a sweet, very mild heat. When I first tried the jelly it was quite hot from the peppers, so letting it sit for a bit helped tone it down quite a bit.  Actually, I'd consider adding more jalapenos next time, or just leaving in all the seeds.

I'm not sure if it's because the jar didn't seal properly, or if I didn't boil the jelly long enough after adding the pectin, but it didn't set firmly like jelly normally does. It came out more like jam, which is fine because I actually prefer jam.  It just makes it more difficult to eat on a hot bagel or piece of toast.

As you can see, all the strawberries and peppers floated to the top. That happens with homemade jelly. Since you're not supposed to disturb the jelly once you take it out of the canning pot, you really can't shake it up while it's hot; you run the risk that the jar won't seal properly. That's OK. All I need to do is stir it up once it's opened at some point in the future.

This is the recipe I used:  Strawberry Habanero Jelly.  I used two 16 oz. containers of fresh strawberries to make this, along with five jalapenos. This made eight, 8 oz. jars.

Next I'm making hot pepper jelly. Then it's crab apple jelly using the crab apples from my own trees--I have six of them!

homemade pineapple jalapeno jelly

So, what to do with all the jalapenos that are growing in my garden? And how about all those canning jars I have? Make pineapple jalapeno jelly, of course!

The first and last time I canned anything was probably about 20 years ago. I had a cookbook for jams and jellies that I'd bought thinking, "I'm going to make delicious jams and jellies! I'm going to can them all! I'm going to sell them at farmer's markets!"  That's usually how my thought process goes with anything new and crafty I try...just like my mom. And, as usual, I lose interest quickly, either because I'm not as good at whatever "it" is, or it doesn't produce results quick enough, or any other excuse I can think of. I differ from my mother in that way; she'd follow through.  It might not always be a success, but she stuck with it to the end and then moved onto something new.

Armed with my new jam and jelly cookbook, I made the strawberry jam recipe a couple times and decided I wanted to can it, since there's only so much strawberry jam you can use at one time. It...didn't go very well. I must not have stirred it enough, or maybe the burner was too hot,because every time I ended up with a browned mess on the bottom of the pot. The jam itself was good, though. (I made it at my parents' house one time years ago, and my mother kept telling me I "burned" her pot. I disagree...)  The jars never sealed even though I followed the canning directions. Although I'll admit that I'm not good at reading through directions or a recipe BEFORE I start, which sometimes leaves me very surprised that I was supposed to X before doing Y, or I need to do something with a certain ingredient before using it, and that's why the recipe or whatever I'm doing doesn't go quite according to plan. A long way to say, it was probably me and not the recipe or the directions for canning, or an equipment failure. Pilot error...

On to the garden.

I have two raised bed gardens since I can't be bothered, at least right now, with digging a garden. Also, I'm a reformed plant killer and two 4x8 raised beds makes gardening easy and there isn't too much space in which to kill things. I have one bed for tomatoes and green beans (OMG the beans are producing big time right now!) and one for all my herbs; some are perennial, like sage and thyme, and others are annual, like basil.  I also planted one lonely green pepper plant; I got a whole two peppers off of it so far!  Anyway, I normally plant jalapenos, but I ran out of room in the garden. I planted one plant in a large pot this year, and it's really taken off. I'm glad I planted only one, because I have a TON of jalapenos!

I made jalapeno poppers last year, and those were pretty good, but I wanted to do something different this year. I decided to try my hand at jelly-making! I have plenty of jelly jars I've never used. although I do use them for homemade seasoning mixes sometimes. But what kind of jelly should I make? Something with jalapenos obviously. I thought about what combo I like most when eating something hot and spicy and the answer was easy:  pineapple and jalapeno. I'm always buying pineapple salsa (probably next on my list to make since, as you can see, the tomatoes are starting to ripen), so it made sense to make pineapple jalapeno jelly.

As usual, there are tons of recipes for the same thing. This is the recipe I settled on:  Jalapeno Pineapple Jelly.  It's just pineapple, jalapenos, red pepper, white vinegar, a little salt, liquid pectin, and a TON of sugar, which explains the sugar content in just a small amount of jelly. (Large amounts of jam/jelly on a bagel is something I really miss after gastric bypass; I can eat it, but definitely not as much as I used to.) It made six 8 oz. jars.

The process was easy enough, but, man, was the kitchen HOT! Not only because I had to stand in front of the pot and stir constantly for 10 minutes once it got boiling, but because of the pepper fumes.  I made the mistake of leaning over the pot to enjoy the scent of peppers--bad idea! Don't do that! I also had to prepare the jars for canning. That was a little tedious, but only because I have a small kitchen and haven't done it in many years.

As you can see, Marty supervised the whole process and kept me on track. He was there from start to finish.

No special canning equipment needed other than the jar lifter (special tongs). You also need a wide-mouth funnel to make the process of putting the screaming hot jelly into the jars, but it's not a requirement; it just makes it much less messy. I used my huge stock pot and the rack from my Instant Pot as the insert to do the canning part.

Batch #1

The finished product is delicious! It gelled up just the way it should. It has some heat, but it's a pleasant amount of heat. It looks pretty, too. It's a golden yellow color with red and green specks of pepper (I chopped them in my mini food processor) with some little bits of pineapple. I really want to dive into the jar, but the sugar content works out to 21g for one ounce (and 84 calories)! One ounce of jelly is a lot, though--a more realistic serving size is probably half that. I just used ounces since it was easier for entering the recipe into My Fitness Pal.

Isn't it gorgeous?! Liquid gold!

Overall, the first run through was a bit tiring, but I did it again last night and it went much easier this time. I prepared all the peppers first, then prepared the canning jars and pot for canning, then did the cooking. It was still a very hot process, and the whole house smelled like peppers and vinegar (sorry, dear!), but I found it easier this time. This time I used my big food processor for the chopping and it came out chunkier. I like chunky, so I'll probably stick with using the big one. I found that the mini food processor kind of pulverized the peppers and pineapple. That's fine, though, if you like a smoother product.

Batch #2
The jars are still hot and steamed up. Plus my phone camera sucks sometimes.

Some of the jelly is going to a family member and the rest is staying with ME!! (It's shelf stable for about 18 months.) I'm thinking I'll need to mix some of this with cream cheese to make a dip, or spread for bagels or crackers. Crackers are probably a better bet since bagels are my kryptonite...

Next on the list:  strawberry jalapeno jelly, hot pepper jam (or jelly), and crab apple jelly (I have crab apple trees in my yard).

salmon with lemon and fresh dill

I've been wanting to try my hand at cooking salmon for several years, but never quite gathered enough courage (or motivation, really) to do it. Until recently.

I planted a raised-bed garden this year, which is entirely herbs. (The other bed is tomatoes and green beans.) I decided I would plant dill this year, since it's something I like, but wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to buy fresh at the store. Last year I was able to buy it from a little farm market my neighbor runs out of his garage, which was really convenient. I figured it would be even more convenient if I grew it myself. Great idea, but I neglected to look to see how tall this plant grows--it's about 5 1/2 feet tall right now! Not only that, but it grew VERY quickly.  So, that means I have A LOT of dill. And a little dill goes a very long way, which means I need to find a way to use this stuff.  I also have a parsley plant I wanted to start using.

See my pretty tomatoes and beans!? Also a jalapeno, which I'm growing in a pot this year.

One day I got brave and bought a package of individually frozen salmon fillets. (I didn't want to shell out a bunch of money on fresh and then ruin it.) They were the perfect size:  4 ounces cooked.  I also grabbed some lemons, since I know that lemon, dill and parsley go well together.

All I needed now was a (easy) recipe.  I found many that called for making a cream sauce. I wouldn't mind that, as it looked pretty easy, but I didn't want to have to buy more ingredients, like heavy cream.  I found one that called for lemon slices, fresh dill and parsley, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Basically, you just put it all on the fillet and then bake it, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until it's done. That's it!

I made the recipe as-is, which called for putting the lemon slices on top of the salmon, then adding all the other ingredients. It seemed strange to me that the flavorings, other than the lemon, wouldn't touch the fish, but I made the recipe anyway. It was good, but I was right in thinking the order of ingredients strange. I didn't taste anything other than lemon and the olive oil. Next time I make this I will add all the flavorings and then add the lemon as the last item.

I have to say, I really loved the fact that the fillet was exactly the right portion size. Not a bit of it went to waste or got packed as leftovers. (As a matter of fact, there was only a bite or two left, which was awarded to Leia, my ginger girl.) I feel like I never finish a meal due to the weight loss surgery, which means I always bring food home from the restaurant, have a bunch of leftovers at home, or it just goes to waste because it's something my husband won't eat. And if I do finish, it's because I've cooked myself about a half of a portion, or I got soup or an appetizer only when eating out. This is something that is still hard for me as a post-op, but that's life now.

my first batch of homemade salsa

Now that summer is pretty much over, I find myself with lots of tomatoes and jalapenos, which I grew myself thank you very much! There's a certain amount of pride in the fact that I grew these edible items in my own backyard.

My regular tomatoes are finally ripening (I'm STILL waiting on the Romas....), which means I need to find a use for them fast. I'm not a fan of the seeds and goop that's inside a tomato, so eating them in a salad or on a sandwich is out of the question. Plus I generally don't eat salads and sandwiches anymore. I figured my options are: tomato sauce, salsa, roasted tomatoes, on pizza, or chopped up for tacos. I decided on salsa since I needed to use the jalapenos, too. I Goggled for a recipe and found one easily.

Making the salsa was incredibly easy. Probably because I picked a "fresh" recipe (no-cook) and used my food processor. I was done in like 10 minutes, which includes peeling and chopping the veggies.

As you can see, it's a little chunky, but not much. And it's more on the thin side. It tastes great; however, I was skeptical at first. It definitely doesn't taste like your standard store-bought salsa, which is cooked and contains vinegar and/or sugar. I was tempted to fiddle around and add more of this or that, but I resisted. It tasted like there was too much onion and it didn't seem to have any heat even though I used two jalapenos (minus the seeds). I waited a couple hours and the heat started growing. Then the next day I tasted again and it was perfect. The heat had mellowed and it tasted less like onions. (I was later told that fresh salsa takes at least a day or more for the flavors to meld and develop; they were right!)

The verdict for my first time making salsa? It tastes great, it was super easy, and I used up some tomatoes. I'd make it again.

Here's the recipe.

Fresh Salsa

6 garden tomatoes, cut into quarters
2 jalapeños, seeded and roughly chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt

Toss it all in the food processor and pulse until it's at a consistency you like. Taste and adjust the seasonings as necessary.

Note: The flavors of the salsa will change the longer it sits in the fridge. If you don't need it right away, you might want to wait until the following day to make adjustments.

homemade flavored goat cheese

I think by now everyone knows I LOVE goat cheese. I spread it on toast and top it with a fried egg. I put it in my sausage and goat cheese egg muffins. I spread it on crackers. I even make paninis with it.

Recently I found myself with three (THREE!) 11 oz. logs of plain goat cheese. What to do?

I also recently started growing herbs outside:  parsley, rosemary, sage, lavender and basil. While the others are growing nicely, the basil plant has pretty much exploded with leaves. That's normally great, but I typically only use basil when I make caprese salad. Since my tomatoes aren't ready yet, and I don't want to spend a small fortune on buying grape tomatoes and mozzarella (and there's really only so much caprese salad I should be eating--very caloric because of the oil and cheese), I decided to Google and see if there are any recipes for making flavored goat cheese. Of course, there are many.

I found a recipe similar to the one below; however, it's supposed by be a coating for the goat cheese log, not really a mix-in. (I prefer the cheese to be flavored throughout.) But I wanted to use this one, because I could use up some of the lemon I have in the fridge as well as some of my basil. It calls for fresh oregano, though. I loathe buying fresh herbs, because I never use them all before they wilt. However, our neighbors up the road, who moved in last year, have a huge garden and are selling their harvests. Guess what they have this week? Fresh oregano! They also have dill and cilantro; I bought both.

I made two goat cheese spreads with the herbs I got today. One is based on a recipe I found online and the other I just made up and totally guesstimated the amount of lemon and dill. You'll need to taste and see what works for you. I'd say there's a strong lemon tang in both of these, so if that's not your thing just use less lemon. Also, if you want to use dried herbs instead, that's fine. Just use roughly 1/3 of what the recipe calls for below and let the finished spread sit longer in the fridge.

Goat Cheese with Basil and Oregano

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 TB fresh lemon juice
1 TB extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp chopped fresh oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 to 12 oz. of plain goat cheese, room temperature
(if you like the herb flavor really strong, use 6 oz. of cheese; if you like it less potent, add more cheese)

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for a bit to develop the flavors. Spread on crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Goat Cheese with Lemon and Dill
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 TB chopped fresh dill
6 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for a bit to develop the flavors. Spread on crackers, crusty bread, etc.

Lemon and dill on the left (make sure you chop your dill a little more than I did.); basil and oregano on the right.

my garden is growing!

I'm a recovering plant killer, so I'm pretty excited that my vegetables, which I've never planted before, are starting to grow and bear fruit.

My first two tomatoes of the season.  These are going to be cherry tomatoes. I keep trying to find grape tomatoes to grow, but no luck. I'm not good at growing from seeds, so cherry will have to do. I have roma tomatoes in the raised bed garden, although no fruit had come out yet.

Flat-leaf parsley, basil and rosemary. The basil and parsley seem to be exploding with growth, so I'll have to start using them. Basil is easy:  caprese salad!! Parsley...I'll have to figure that one out.

My first peppers. Look how tiny they are!  They popped out fast, though--I just planted them last Sunday.

Here's the raised bed garden Bob built.  I'm thinking next year I'll add one or two more. Much easier for me that digging a garden; I'm lazy.  The plants in front will be planted in my other garden. The ones on the left are something I wouldn't normally plant, but they're perennials, have a lot of color, and like full sun, which they'll get a ton of in the garden! The yellow flowers in the middle will go against the rock wall that's in the garden. I love the country look to them. My house is old, so they should look natural. They like full sun, too. The pansies I'll likely put near the house. They were half price and I couldn't resist.

And, finally, our new neighbor behind us was kind enough to have his landscaping guy use the big...whatever giant machine it is...to clear out the area next to the barn.  For free!  He also cleared behind the barn.  There was a ton of weeds and brush there--stuff you'd find in an overgrown field--and an invasive species of tree. I believe it was Tree of Heaven, but he thinks it was poison sumac. Anyway, it's gone now.  (Don't mind the mess in the yard. We did some weed-pulling and haven't cleaned it up, plus Bob is working on the fire pit.)

So, what do you all think I should plant here? Keep in mind it's next to a barn and have only about 30 feet to the side of it (to the other side of that bush on the right) and about 30 feet behind the barn, and it's in the sun most of the day. Also, the house was built in 1735, so I'd like something that fits with the property. I'm thinking rhododendron, as my childhood home had one and I absolutely loved it. The big fuzzy bumble bees loved it, too. It would also be nice to obscure the house behind it, so maybe something that grows fast to about 20 feet tall maybe?

meet Emily and Arlo

So, this happened Sunday afternoon. 

 Here they are in their cage before we took them home. 

Emily is on top of the condo and Arlo is in it.

Meet Emily and Arlo, the newest additions to our little family. They're four months old and, as you can see, kind of hard to tell apart.  There's a total of 4.5 pounds of cuteness there.

Bob and I had been thinking of getting a kitten for a few months now, mainly because we feel Marty needs a friend to play with to take his focus off of Leia and Louise; he likes to stalk them and just looking at Marty gets the two girls all in a tizzy, which has caused some frustrating behavioral problems with Leia.  Once we lost Thelma, that's when we got a little more serious about getting a kitten.

This weekend was tough:  we had my father's burial service. There were a few snags with the service, but it got done. We had a good time afterwards hanging out with the family, eating pizza and s'mores dip (marshmallows and Hershey bars baked together in the oven, served with graham crackers; yes, it's as delicious as it sounds!), and sending my dad off with lots of fireworks we shot off in the yard (they're legal in his state).  But it was an emotionally tough weekend overall, both because of the burial and other reasons.  We drove home late Saturday night and got home around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday morning; I was drained.

Sunday we spent some time doing yard work before we had to go somewhere. I finally got all the garden soil into the raised bed garden that Bob built for me (thank you!) and got my plants planted.  I planted three pepper varieties:  red bell, pimento, and jalapeno. I also planted three tomato plants and two lavender plants. I then planted one little corn plant.  (Oddly enough, I found a corn plant growing in my parsley plant. I think it came from some bird seed spilling near the pot. I'm going to see if it grows.)  As you can see, there aren't a lot of plants in here. I wanted to start small, since I'm not too good at keeping plants alive and tending a garden.  Also, the tomato plants need a lot of space to grow.

We then left to drive down to our old town. We stopped by the Stratford Cat Project to check out two kittens. We didn't plan to leave with them the same day, but since they're four months old, they were all set with shots, testing, and spaying/neutering.

Their first meal at home.

Having kittens in the house again is awesome! They're full of energy and love to play; they're a riot to watch. Arlo is the more affectionate one and loves a good belly rub. Emily is a little more diva-like, but likes some attention, too. It's only been a few days, but they're already running up to us and rubbing all over us when we go upstairs to visit. I've made few introductions to the other cats and it sent reasonably well. Tiffany was curious at first, but quickly got used to them; she was playing in the same area as them within 10 minutes. Max was cautiously curious and sniffing everything, but eventually turned tail and ran (interesting, because he's the biggest one in the house). Baily wasn't thrilled. He growled and fluffed his tail, then ran into the other room. Leo seems mostly indifferent. Marty is afraid of them (or mad). He hid under the bed in the other room. Once all the introductions are made--by way of bringing the other cats upstairs to them--we will open the bedroom door and let them explore. Should be interesting to see if Marty comes around quickly, considering he's the main reason we have them. But either way, I'm glad to have them. They're cute, fun, and there's the added benefit of having been therapeutic for me the last couple days.

I interrupted their playtime in order to get this picture. I had to make a weird noise in order to get them to look at me.

what kind of plants are these?

Due to the surgery, I really haven't gotten outside to do any weeding in the garden so it looks like a jungle out there. Some of the weeds come up without any difficulty, but some of them are hard to pull up, and the pulling motion irritates my healing abdominal muscles. As a result, I have a few plants that I don't recognize, because I normally pull them out before they grow into anything.

Any gardeners out there who can help me identify these plants? I have flowers that came up at the edge of my garden this year and I have no idea that they are. I also have a bush in my garden that produces beautiful magenta flowers every year.

These are about two feet tall right now, maybe a little taller, and they have purple flowers on top of long stems with long, skinny leaves. I think last year I pulled them up before they got this big, thinking they're a weed. I've been Googling, but I haven't had any luck yet.

Here's a closeup, in case the other pic is hard to see.

This is the bush. It's probably about six feet tall and produces these gorgeous flowers in clusters. I'm thinking it's some sort of azalea. It's part of another bush, which I was able to identify:  scentless mock orange. They look very pretty when they're in bloom, as they bloom at the same time.

So, does anyone know what these might be?  I'm keeping a log of the plants and shrubs as I've been able to identify them, either by myself or with help from readers or friends.

the week in review

The crab apples trees are ready to bloom!

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd write an update.

I've been sick for over a week. Last Saturday I started with a scratchy throat. I thought, "OK. I'm getting a cold. This sucks, but no big deal." Wrong. Sunday I woke up feeling like I had razor blades in my throat. Every time I swallowed, I wanted to cry and die at the same time. It hurt in my ears, my glands were swollen, and I had a bad headache and a little congestion in my throat. This last for FIVE days. I went to the doctor for a strep test and it was negative, of course. (I was actually hoping it was strep so I'd get some antibiotics and it would be gone.) I tried things that I found online, such as a spoonful of honey. The relief lasted about three minutes. Honey is way too high in sugar for that to be a go-to option, so I scrapped that. I tried gargling with salt water and also mouthwash. Neither helped. I tried throat numbing spray and lozenges. Those helped slightly.  Wednesday night I was so desperate I started Googling:  "will dilaudid work on a sore throat." Dilaudid is the narcotic that was prescribed when I had the tummy tuck in February. I had some left and decided to save it for an emergency. I scrapped the idea of taking the dilaudid, since I didn't feel like I'd get much bang for my buck. I stuck with Tylenol and/or ibuprofen and DayQuil, which I used throughout the week and seemed to help take the edge off at least. I drank a lot of tea, too (in case anyone cares, my favorite is Bigelow Constant Comment).

So, on Thursday I then started with a cold. Wonderful. I was headed out of town to meet my cousin and since I didn't actually feel that bad anymore, I went. I continued with the cold medicine and switch to ibuprofen. I felt mostly OK. Much better than earlier in the week, anyway. I rested off and on in the hotel room, drank a ton of water, and used Halls throat lozenges when I didn't have water. My throat was pretty sore by the end of each day, but, again, not nearly as bad as earlier in the week.

Yesterday I'm driving home and it feels like I have something in my eye so I start rubbing it. By the time I got home, I had some discharge and my eye was tearing. It continued all evening and then started swelling and getting red. Bob thought it was pink eye. Fabulous. I've never had pink eye so I had no idea what it looked or felt like, or that it's highly contagious. Today I wake up and my eye is sealed shut from all the gunk (I know, TMI). It was also swollen and getting itchy. I decided to go to the walk-in clinic near my house, rather than waiting for tomorrow for the doctor. Diagnosis?  Pink eye. The doctor prescribed some eye drops, which I'm now taking.

Is there any bright side to this week+ of misery? Yes. I got to see my favorite cousin and we had a good time.  My incision is almost closed, which means I'll be headed back to my trainer soon.  And today I'm wearing pants without my compression garment. I tried going without it a couple weeks ago when I was wearing workout capris, but it was irritating to my belly button. For several weeks I've been going without it once I change out of my regular clothes, but still wore it with my work clothes. Seems to be OK now, though. Getting there!

This is my lawn. I love the Springtime when the lawn is covered in white and purple flowers. I know they technically weeds, but they look pretty. Shortly after I took this picture, Bob mowed over them with the tractor. 😥

It's gorgeous today and all the trees and flowers are in bloom. My two baby apple trees are blooming, as well as the established ones. The baby trees, although they are budding, will take several years to bear fruit.

Here are my two established apple trees. I think they're McIntosh, but I'm not sure.

Here's are the fruit clusters. I'm really hoping I have a big harvest this year. I got none at all last year.

This is my Liberty apple tree. When planting apple trees, it is recommended to plant several
different varieties so that they cross pollinate and produce more fruit.

As you can see, it's budding.

Here's my baby McIntosh apple tree.

It's budding, too! I wonder if it will produce any fruit this year?

My garden is blooming, too. Ignore all the dead stuff. I haven't gotten out there to weed yet. I have lots of daffodils, some tulips coming in, the poppies are starting to grow and the phlox is blooming nicely.

I have lots of frogs in my little pond. They all squeak and then jump in the water as soon as they see me coming.
I was able to take a picture of this guy, though.

Now that Spring is here, it's time to bury Felix's ashes. I'm thinking I may put him next to Thomas's grave. I'll need to find more kitty statues. I find them at tag sales typically and use them as grave markers. 

This is Thomas's grave. I got the two kitty statues at the Stratford Cat Project semi-annual tag sale last year. 

I'm hoping this illness goes away very soon and that this week is a better week. Have a great week, everyone!

WTF is this??

OK, someone needs to tell me WTF kind of plant/weed/bush this is.  Bob found it growing next to the barn while he was out splitting logs one day. It's weird looking, with spiky leaves, big spiky green "pods" (you can see them if you look closely), and big pink flowers. At first I thought it was some alien weed I'd never seen before, but then I saw it in someone's front yard as I was driving to the grocery store.  So, anyone have any ideas?

UPDATE:  I'm told this is Datura stramonium, AKA Jimson Weed.  Interesting....

tomatoes are almost ready!

My cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen finally.  I only bought one plant, just in case I kill them (I'm a known plant killer!).  But they're growing well this year.  Basil is doing well, also. Although I think it's going to take the entire summer to get enough tomatoes for a Caprese salad. It's worth it, though.

 

gardening

Look what I'm growing!  Cherry tomatoes!

I don't have a green thumb.  That's not something I inherited from my mom, who loved gardening and could grow anything.  I've never been able to keep anything alive, except for hostas; hostas live outside and require no maintenance. When I got my first house, I tried to have house plants, but the cats ruined that.  They either chewed the leaves or they knocked the pots out of the window sills, because that's their territory, not the plant's.  And cats are assholes. I don't bother with house plants anymore.

Now that I have this house and a much bigger yard, I'm making more of an effort to learn how to garden.  Although, I admit, it's not something that's exciting or relaxing for me.  It's more of a way to say, "Hey, I grew that all by myself!"  Or more accurately, "Hey, I didn't kill all the pre-existing plants and look, they're growing again this year!"

This is our second Spring in the house and I've decided to grow cherry tomatoes from seeds.  I bought one tomato plant last year, which I kept alive and actually got a couple tomatoes off of.  But I didn't get much, so I decided I'd try seeds this year and then transplant them into the garden (yet to be dug) or into containers (I have no idea how they will do in containers, or if it's even advisable to do that). I also started daisies and purple coneflowers (they look like purple daisies).  I wanted something perennial that would look natural; our house was built it 1735 and I want it to look like the flowers have been there all along.

Even though I'm using a seed starter kit that's pretty much fool-proof, I'm still absolutely amazed that the seeds sprouted and are growing.  I started this kit on March 10 and look how big they are! (Sorry for the awful picture quality.)

Now I just need to decide where to put them.  Dig a new garden or use containers?  I have a large side yard, but it faces the street and it pretty much my front yard, too, so I'm not sure if it would look weird to have a garden there.  I'm thinking I'll plant it somewhere near the barn, since it's behind the house.  I've never started a garden from scratch, so this should be interesting...