Tuesday, June 28, 2011

UP- NUMBERED!

All that painting this week made us think we should put up new house numbers. We found these numbers at the Ace Hardware. We customized them with spacers and green paint to match our newly painted shutters. That's what the real estate weenies call "making it your own."

When there is bright light on them, you see a drop shadow. NEAT!

ON THE ROOF WITH MR A

We're big on "painting it ourselves", so we've been changing the trim from plain old white to a nice sand color. Since Mr. A had to get up there to paint the little peak above the garage, he decided to paint the new siding on the chimney. It's looking good!

IN SINK!

There's something about the odor of prawns....

Izzy couldn't wait to get to the prawn shells!

PRAWNLICIOUS

For a Father's Day Weekend treat, I picked up some jumbo colossal Tiger Prawns from Freddies. Here they are plated up with wild rice mix and coleslaw.

They advertised these as 6-8 to a pound. I got six for a pound of almost lobster-like goodness when dipped in some garlic butter!

Skewered up, doused with Italian dressing and barbequed for about 10 minutes. Yummm!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

1944

Mom sent me this great "card-let" for my birthday. It's filled with fun facts about stuff in 1944, the year I popped out.

Who knew the average rent was $50. Gas was 15 cents a gal. A postage stamp cost 3 cents. Bread was 10 cents a loaf and coffee was 48 cents a pound. Of course, the average wage was about $2400 a year! You could go to the movies for 40 cents and get an ice cream for 5 cents.

My folks celebrated my birth by buying a 1941 Chevy Club Coupe to replace the very tired 1929 Model A they came to California in. Since my dad worked for IBM doing "essential war work" he didn't have to worry about gas rations.
It's tempting to think "times were simpler then", but of course D-Day had just happened 2 weeks before my birth and no one knew when the war would end.

Monday, June 13, 2011

BON APETIT!

It's Julia Child, blooming her head off!

I couldn't resist this lovely medium tree rose "JULIA CHILD" from Chet's Garden Center in Grants Pass! While Jack gets his "back jerked" I spend a quality 45 minutes or so at Chet's. Did I mention I always find something to bring home!

This medium size was just perfect to fit on the floor in the back seat of the FIT!
I'll keep her in a large planter since I don't have any flowerbeds done yet. Maybe she'll just stay in a planter on the patio...safe from Mr. Gopher!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

PEASATIONAL!

I planted all the peas on one trellis since I have limited room in my one raised bed.
So how to tell snow peas from pod peas? Simple! Plant yellow podded snow peas! Found this heirloom at the Grange.


Sure enough, you can see that they are a chartreuse compared to the regular peas.

Just about enough to harvest so we can do a taste test.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

OLIVE OYLE AT THE DOOR!

A mysterious package at my door! From Dewey Lucero of Corning, CA!
Two bottles of fantastic EVOO, one a special "Miller's Blend" and the other "Basil Infused"! But where did they come from?


I searched through the peanuts but didn't find anything...

Lucero is one of the premium olive oil growers in California...hum...who do I know that knows that? I better search in the box again...

Hidden in the folds of the box I found the answer on a Lucero notecard! It's from Susan & Chris! Am I a lucky mum or what!

How did they know I needed this for my recipe of chicken picata today?
So thoughtful! Thanks Susan & Chris