Memorial Day weekend - Sunday

On Sunday, our friend Handy Andy came over to give us our wedding gift. Crown moulding for the dining room. We went to Home Depot and picked out the 3 1/2" primed moulding. He did some strategic cutting so it would fit in his truck and be enough for the whole length of the wall.

Total time: 5 hours
Material cost: ~$62 (not including tools)

Before - no crown moulding


Cutting the angles. This takes some getting used to because you have to think "backwards".


Then Keith spotted the infamouse dark grey cat, so he got his "gun" out and was demonstrating it to Handy Andy.


Back to work. Start with the *longest run* and work your way around.


Keith being a good helper.


Nailing


These angles took the longest because they were all odd and required alot of trial and error.


After a long days work, off to the shore we went.


Party on Wayne! Party on Garth!

Memorial Day weekend - Friday & Saturday

This is the first weekend I have had to myself where I am not busy with the wedding. I spent all day Friday and Saturday tidying up the yard. Gardening can be so overwhelming that it has to be done in "layers".

PEONY-This is my pride and joy! Friday night, the peony was still just a little bud. By the next morning, it began to bloom.



By the evening, they were really opening up.


Earlier that day, we got the old parlor furniture. Keith set it up saying, "Every angle faces an opening. I saw that on HGTV". He's so funny. It's the best looking room in the house now. It's really comfy too. Now we can come out here and have our morning coffee or people watch.


Ah! I didn't plant those! Where did they come from? They love sitting on our front step because they like to pretend it's a movie theatre.


Boo! Gotcha! Don't they look like Cabbage Patch dolls.


As I was tidying up the garden, I found this unhatched egg. Poor baby.


To my surprise the cantelope germinated. I forgot I even had any.


I just couldn't stand having all those trays sitting on the deck anymore. Anything I could plant into the ground I did it. I just wanted to clean up the deck as much as possible and get this gardening thing over with. The rabbits haven't eaten the watermelon leaves yet, so I hope they won't eat these.


Some of my snow peas began to flower. I have to figure out what this means. They are getting taller and taller each day. I had to string them up.


Bright Cosmos - I threw these into the window box on the shed hoping they would bloom when the pansies are over. I didn't think they would actually germinate because I did a poor job in placing them. I was surprised to find they were all doing really well.


Cucumber - He's doing well. I upgraded his crib from the Gatorade bottle to an Ocean Spray bottle.



The Bell peppers are doing very well. I guess they needed really warm temperatures in order to germinate. I am going to wait another week to see if anymore germinate before planting them outside.


Arugula - My mom brought this over for me. It's really doing well.


The Perilla (sesame) leaves are doing well too. They've already started getting larger.


Alot of my herbs have germinated and were crowding one another, so I made up another planter and selected the strongest of all the seedlings. Then I made little tags for each.


For my friends, I made up these two planters with a tomato plant, basil and a chilli pepper plant. This is a great house warming gift as well.


I haven't decided what I am going to do with these yet. For now, they are acting as a centerpiece trio.


The Okra had two leaves on it, so I decided to plant it and cover it. It seems the rabbits are eating my okra leaves for some reason. They don't look like they taste good. They seem pretty tough.


My mom's precious squash or gourd of some kind.


Ah! Where did she come from?


I planted 2 more peony bushes; one on the side of the house and one on the side of the shed. It's not the time to plant peonies but they were just sitting in the pot which I was afraid would stunt their growth. There just won't be any blooms this year.



Lily


Then I mulched the front and side.



Home Sweet Home

Another blog that I am reading is this one of a couple in San Francisco.
http://jordanferney.blogspot.com/

Basil Melon Cocktail

On last night's Emeril Live, he did a 5 ways to use Tequila show. He made this yummy cocktail. I will definately have to try this over the summer since (hopefully) I will have tons of basil.
Mellow Melon
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2005
Show:
Emeril Live
Episode:
Tequila Five Ways

3/4 cup chopped fresh honeydew melon1 tablespoon fresh lime juice2 tablespoons Basil Syrup, recipe follows2 ounces reposado tequila3/4 cup ice cubesFresh basil and sliced honeydew, for garnish
Put the honeydew, lime juice, basil syrup, tequila, and ice cubes in a blender and mix until well incorporated, about 30 seconds. Pour into a margarita glass and serve garnished with fresh basil and a slice of honeydew.
Basil Syrup:1 cup granulated sugar3/4 cup water1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves In a 1-quart saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Put it over medium heat and stir to help the sugar dissolve. Once the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is hot, take it off the heat and add the chopped basil. Allow the syrup to cool for 15 minutes, strain it through a fine mesh sieve, and discard the basil. The syrup may be made up to 2 weeks in advance and refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to use.

Watermelon and lettuce

Exciting news today. A squirrel got zapped down the block, so our block didn't have electricity this morning. Yessss! One less squirrel in the world!

Today I worked on tidying up the garden and tending to the things I have been neglecting like creating some nice defination where the mulch and grass meet. I also added around the tree in the front of the house, so it looks neat and tidy. In the back, I weeded the square garden bed to get it ready for my watermelon and lettuce. I rake the dirt into rows and "hills", so that water will run off from around the plant.



Then I planted the 7 watermelon plants I started indoors. I sprinkled lettuce seeds on the rest of the rows and just gently fingered the soil to mix them in. Then gently water.


Some chinese gourds. I don't know what they are called in English, but they are very large like zuchinni and grow a watermelon like vegetable that can be eaten in soups or stir fried.

May 17th-19th

For the last week I have been "toughening" my plants. To toughen your plants, put them outside for a small period of time (2 hours) and increase the time outdoors each day. On the 7th day, leave them out overnight. This allows the plants to get aclimated to the outdoors before planting.



The rabbits are nibbling at my Okra and eating my Cucumber plants entirely, so I had to place a gatorade bottle over it to protect it until the second leaves appear.


Garlic and some basil


The plants developed a deep green this week.


The potted okra is doing much better than the ones in the ground.


Watermelon


Then my mama came over to help me with my garden and give me a few more plants. She brought me a variety of chinese gourds, chili pepper, mint and a peach tree!


Mint


Peach Tree


This was the biggest surprise. Mrs. Bee was telling me about Pirella leaves. They are eaten with Korean BBQ (Bulgogi = Grilled Meat) where you grill marinated beef or pork, then roll it in lettuce, rice and kimchi. My mom got these from a Korean neighbor of hers. These seeds aren't available in the U.S. They have a very strong distinct flavor.


It was great that my mom came over to help me. I don't think I could have done it alone because there were so many plants. She showed me techniques with planting, weeding and trimming the leaves in such a way to promote growth. The best thing about this is that next year I won't have to do as much work because the plants will grow back due to the seeds that drop.

Fresh Floral Art Blog and Blume Box

Mrs. Bee posted this strawberry arrangement on Wedding Bee today. It's from floral designer Fresh Floral Art. Even florists have blogs now! This is a creative centerpiece for a outdoor wedding or shower, especially for the environmentally minded couples. It's also a great house warming present. I saw these strawberry plants (as well as blueberry and raspberry) at Home Depot for $9.99 and they already come boxed. The red box is from Blume Box and they are 100% recycleable.

Basil Gelato

For lunch, my coworkers and I went to Capogiro near Rittenhouse Square for some gelato. I had Basil gelato! It was soooo good. If you like basil, you will love this. It was pungent yet light and sweet. I wonder if I can make gelato at home. I'll definately have plenty of basil this summer.

Here's a thread I found on making ice cream and gelato.

In other news, I am surveying a building tomorrow so I wil be out of the office. And they might be sending me to St. Louis to survey another building. Woohoo I am working extra hard so they can send me. I have alot of reading to do to prepare for this building.

Eggplant bites

I have begun googling pictures of all my plants. I want to see what they look like, how tell they get and how wide they get. This will help me in spacing them correctly so they have enough room to grow without overcrowding one another. In addition, I need to know what kind of support they need. ie. I planted the cucumber along a fence because they need to climb.

While googling, I found some yummy pictures and recipes. I really need to play with my camera more and figure out how to take cool pictures like this. I love eggplant!

From blogger cookalmostanything:


Eggplant Bites
[Makes as many as you like]

Japanese Eggplants
Chermoula - I used the more basic version found here
Gemello - or your favourite soft cheese

Slice the eggplants into discs about 2cm/1 inch thick. Toss in a little olive oil and season with freshly ground salt.

Heat up a non-stick frypan and slowly sauté the eggplant slices until golden brown on both sides. Be careful not to overcook as you don't want them to become mushy. Drain on paper towels.

You can make these warm or cold, it's up to you.

Spoon a little chermoula onto each eggplant disc, top with a piece of Gemello and they are ready to serve.