Sunny days

Tags

postaday2016, roses, sunny days

I have been wishing for rain for the past week, we were supposed to get rain on Tuesday, unfortunately the rain clouds passed us by, it is really dry up here in Blandford. There is the river alongside route 8 on our way down to New York, it is at the lowest I have seen in years, not good for the reservoirs, gardens or agriculture. I have been watering, but what I really want is for Mother Nature to do it for me so that I don’t have to lug the hose around and then put it away, yes I’m feeling lazy!

Some of the red roses almost look bleached by the sun which I don’t mind in the bunch, it gives more texture to the look.

My apricot roses have just bloomed so they are still fresh and bright, the rose bush has doubled in size from last year which surprised me since many of my other plants suffered more than usual from last year’s uneven winter.

Slightly decadent banana bread

I found that buying bananas in the summer months is a mistake, bananas are more of a winter fruit, but my mistake yielded us a delectable delight, banana bread! I looked up the Starbucks recipe which I included at the bottom of this post along with the baking directions, however I made some changes to the ingredients, not big changes more like a tweak or two. I used a cup of whole wheat flour and a cup of un bleached flour, I used 3/4 cup of sugar, I used a 7 oz of Fage 2% plain Greek yogurt, I put all of the walnuts in the batter and I used 1/3 cup of sunflower oil, I didn’t use any buttermilk, I figured the yogurt was an adequate substitute for the buttermilk and the missing portion of oil. The resulting banana bread was a hit, it was just as moist if not more so than Starbucks version, I felt pretty good about eating it, what with whole wheat flour, the yogurt, the lesser amount of sugar and of oil, the changes I made didn’t alter the baking time or the oven temperature, I followed the directions to the letter without a problem.

I’m glad I put all of the walnuts in the batter, for me banana bread isn’t complete without walnuts and the more the better, bananas and walnuts are a marriage made in tasty heaven.

It’s hard not eating more than one slice a day, one thing about banana bread is that it is caloric, 400 calories a slice, so my willpower is being tested lol.

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan and dust with flour.

Blend the flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Mix the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil until combined.

Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and when blended, add the buttermilk, vanilla, and mashed bananas; mix well.

Fold 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

Top the batter with remaining 1/3 cup of walnuts.

Bake for 45-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 1⁄8 cups sugar

1⁄2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons buttermilk

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 ripe medium-large bananas, mashed

1⁄2 cup chopped walnuts

1⁄3 cup chopped walnuts (in addition to 1/2 cup)

My favorite flower

Tags

postaday2016, sunflowers

My husband sweetly bought me a bouquet of sunflowers this past weekend because he knows just how much I adore them. They are my favorite flower in the entire world, I don’t love them for their smell, I love them for their sunny faces. My love affair with the sunflower began during my childhood trips to France, I remember staring out various car windows gazing at fields and fields of sunflowers looking up towards the sun and being captivated by their beauty. Their sunny and happy faces imprinted strong feelings of optimism and happiness, feelings that have never left whenever I see a sunflower.

A trio of faces

Tags

dogs, postaday2016

These faces only a mother can love lol, I’m just kidding of course, I think they are adorable. I have a confession to make, whenever Stanley comes over with his huge mouth open with slobber hanging down from his tongue, either I grab a paper towel to wipe his face before he’s allowed near mine or I tell him to go lay down, anything to not get that gooey slobber on me. Lulu and Jack don’t have that issue, but they have their own foibles. Jack is the mastermind behind holes dug all around the perimeter, taught Lulu and Stanley how great it is to sit on people even if the person doesn’t want to be sat on and the barking even when it’s not necessary. Lulu is stubborn and when she doesn’t want to move, she becomes stiff as a board and dead weight on top of it, trying to physically move her is difficult because she doesn’t help, she makes it as awkward to move her as possible with all four legs straight out. She also wakes you up at ungodly hours in the morning bringing the other two in on her morning wake up call. She leads the brigade up onto the bed, lays her head on yours and snorts in your ear until you move, however I burrow further under the covers and forcefully say “go away” that works most of the time. Thank goodness for the small things lol.

My trio of renegades, I’m teasing, I wouldn’t trade these three for the world, they keep us hopping and make us laugh at least once a day.

The little pansy that could

Tags

gardens, perennials, postaday2016

Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me, last year I had planted pansies galore, knowing fully well that by virtue of being annuals they weren’t coming back, yet here is one in last year’s planter, defying the odds just like the pansies that are in the pond garden, they decided to prove me wrong as well, apparently pansies can come back when they feel like it.

Last year’s dianthus are surprising me every week as well, I find them peeking out from under the lilies and even from the stone urns I have surrounding the raised sand filter unit in front. Dianthus are perennials but sometimes even in the best of conditions they don’t come back, mine I guess were laying low and finally decided to bloom in mid June, I’m sure the almost constant shade from the neighboring lilies wasn’t helpful either, however I do love surprises so I’m not complaining.

June is the month of the lily or so I decided, I can’t believe we are already the 26th of June, time is flying by, I’m hanging on by the seat of my pants, at least that’s what it feels like and I’m not crazy about the feeling.

The purple sage and tick weed have come back, last year I made a point of adding more perennials to the front bed especially perennials that were mid to end of summer blooms in order to keep the front bed in color throughout the season. Professional landscapers make it look easy, but it’s not, not when you have an army of chipmunks living on your property and Northeast winters to deal with, what with their temperamental nature as such, for the five new perennials you buy, you are lucky if you get four to come back the following year. But no matter, I still try.

Independence Day, Resergence : a movie review

Tags

Independence Day, postaday2016, Resergence

My husband and I saw Independence Day, Resergence, we enjoyed it so much, it has been twenty years since the first one and they had peppered the sequel with as many of the original stars as possible. We liked that for the nostalgic feel that was given to the movie, they also brought back the concept that old technology and concepts don’t mean obsolescence, the old ways came to the rescue once again.

The effects were great, it’s amazing how CGI just gets better and better, it’s mind blowing and so much fun to see improvements on the big screen. My favorite part of the movie was when some of the characters came together to speak about how for twenty years, planet Earth hasn’t seen any armed conflict anywhere, mankind had finally learned its lesson. We are all human beings bound together in a common stewardship of this wonderful planet. I loved that message. Why can’t we learn it!?

Another CAT scan under my belt

Tags

CAT scan, postaday2016

This morning I had my CAT scan, this one was easy peasy, no Barium to drink, just some intravenous contrast, 15 minutes under the scan and boom I was done. The reason for the relatively short time between this CAT scan and the last PET scan is that the radiologist expressed some concern over a few spots on my lungs, they have grown over a short period of time and my doctors want to stay on top of it. I won’t complain because better to be proactive rather than reactive, playing catchup with cancer is tricky, so early testing is the best course of action.

I find out the results on Tuesday and until then I won’t think about it, I’m going to enjoy my weekend, it’s the only thing I can do and I’m going to do it well.

Back home!

Tags

back home, postaday2016

We’re back home! The puppies were so happy, the picture shows them fascinated by what my husband is doing, cooking up some beef is what he’s doing and their little noses are fully tuned in, lol. We beat our daughter back home, she arrived about a half an hour after us and that was a nice welcome back as well. Our son is away on a tour, he’s going to be gone for two more weeks :(, seriously, we are very excited for him, imagine being on the road, playing your instrument and singing your heart out in front of fans, isn’t that almost everyone’s fantasy at some point in their youth?

Midtown Manhattan views

Tags

Midtown, postaday2016

Yesterday I walked along 34th Street towards the Westside to meet my husband at Uncle Jack’s steakhouse on 9th Avenue. What I love about these pictures is the dynamism and vitality that the pictures show of New York City. You get a real sense of nonstop movement and energy primarily shown through the people of New York. However in the midst of all that energy you can still find Mother Nature’s stamp, small places of calm and beauty.

As I was walking towards 9th Avenue, I cam across the Skylight Diner, the same diner that I had taken my French friends, Claudine and Marc, for coffee and dessert, seeing the diner brought a smile on my face, I miss them as well as my cousin. We had such a lovely time when they had come for their photography trip, it will forever be ingrained in my memory bank.

More beauties to admire

Tags

flowers, postaday2016

This year I am conducting a garden experiment, I haven’t physically worked on it at all, I am allowing my garden to do as it pleases, my decision is based on my constant fatigue and my weekly absences from the garden due to being with my husband during his frequent trips out of town. Do I miss weeding? Perhaps a little bit, just the meditative aspect that proper weeding affords me. I have done a little bit of weeding because the Bishop’s Weed has taken the opportunity to spread throughout my little gardens, so I bend over and yank them out, but that isn’t the correct way to weed them. I would have to sit myself down for hours of digging out their insane extensive root system that spreads out by feet rather than inches and I don’t feel up to that challenge.

I can see that this experiment can only last this one season, Bishop’s Weed is too powerful a weed to leave unchecked for more than one summer if I want to keep my perennials healthy and alive. Bishop’s Weed can choke the root system of other plants quite quickly, so next year I will have my work cut out for me, I will need to start in the early spring snuffing out the tiny Bishop’s Weed before their root systems anchor themselves firmly in the middle of my perennials.