Let The Fun Begin

Tomorrow is a long day of travel......but Saturday morning my view should be this.......

Maybe even this.....

Very possibly with one or all of these sitting next to me......

Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair......

See you soon!

Second Blooms

I love crepe myrtles....I really do.  We had a bit of landscaping done this summer and  they planted 2 nice sized crepe myrtles.  It was 100 degrees at the time, hot wind blowing and the bushes began to suffer.  The leaves started to curl, the blooms were wilted so I got out the pruning shears (actually my scissors).  I cut off all of the blooms and watered the heck out of them.  In no time they began to perk up.  You know transplanting during the blooming season is very hard on plants, much less when the weather is so HOT.

Buds began to reappear:



And blooms opened:



And once again the crepe myrtle blooms:



I trim the blooms off every year when they start to die and get two sets of beauty. I read this in southern living years ago and I'm here to tell you this trick works!! I love it.

Pastel Visitors

I almost missed these two beauties.....





Aren't their colors perfect?

Sometimes you just have to slowdown and look closely to see the beauty right before your eyes.

Side Salad

I've had a page tagged in one of my cookbooks just waiting until I had fresh tomatoes and cucumbers.  After my visit to the farmers market this week I decided to use the cherry tomatoes for this salad.

I knew I would love it cause it has vinegar in it. 



I wasn't disappointed.....it was delicious. (all gone now)

Marinated Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Dressing:
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
3 T sugar
1 T olive oil
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad:
2 cups chopped tomatoes
2 cups chopped cucumbers
1/2 cup finely chopped onion

Combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Combine salad ingredients. Add dressing to salad and mix. Marinate 4 to 24 hours (if you can stay out of it)

I made half a recipe since I figured I would be the only one eating it. Perfect side salad for almost anything.

Magicicada

I try to get outside early in the morning to water the tomatoes, shrubs, flowers, etc. This morning I thought it sure was loud outside. Then I spotted this:



Looked up in the tree and saw another:



I decided this must be the year of the locust. So I came inside and googled year of the locust.....first line of the article was, Do not call Cicada locust. They are not locust!

I wonder if it would be acceptable to call them Katydid?  That's what we always called them/ha
I remember being a Brownie Scout and our meeting place was a little building in the middle of many pine trees.  The year the katydids came we all had a race to see who could collect the most from the trees.  We had so much fun.  The pine trees were covered with them.

From Wikipedia:

The nymphs of the periodical cicadas live underground, often at depths of 30 cm (1 ft) or more, feeding on the juices of plant roots. They stay immobile and go through five development stages before constructing an exit tunnel in the spring of their 13th or 17th year. These exit tunnels have a diameter of about 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in).

The nymphs emerge on a Spring evening when the soil temperature at about 20 cm (8 in) depth is above 17 °C (63 °F). In most years, this works out to late April or early May in far southern states, and late May to early June in the far northern states. Emerging nymphs climb to a suitable place on the nearby vegetation to complete their transformation into an adult cicada. They molt one last time and then spend about six days in the leaves waiting for their exoskeleton to harden completely. Just after this final molt, the teneral adults are white, but darken within an hour.

Adult periodical cicadas live only for a few weeks—by mid-July, all have disappeared. Their short adult life has one purpose: reproduction. The males "sing" a species-specific mating song; like other cicadas, they produce loud sounds using their tymbals. Singing males of a single Magicicada species form aggregations (choruses) that are sexually attractive to females. Males in these choruses alternate bouts of singing with short flights from tree to tree in search of receptive females. Most matings occur in "chorus" trees.

Receptive females respond to the calls of conspecific males with timed wing-flicks, which attract the males for mating. The sounds of a "chorus"—a group of males—can be deafening and reach 100 dB. In addition to their "calling" or "congregating" song, males produce a distinctive courtship song when approaching an individual female.

After mating, the female cuts V-shaped slits in the bark of young twigs and lays approximately 20 eggs in each, for a total of 600 or more eggs. After about six to ten weeks, the eggs hatch and the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow and begin another 13 or 17-year cycle.

Pretty amazing I think.

The ones I am hearing belong to Brood XIX, The Great Southern Brood:  AL, AR, GA, IN, IL, KY, TN, LA, MO, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, VA.

If you hear them (and believe me you will, if they are in your area)  take the kids out and teach them about the Cicada....it will be 13 years before they reappear!

Farmers Market

After seeing Paula and Bobby Deen frying squash this weekend, I couldn't get it off my mind.  I had to have fresh squash.  My taste buds would not rest until squash was given to them.  ha

Yesterday I went straight to Spring Park where the local farmers market is, in search of squash.  I was just in time and bought the last they had.  You see, the market is a small one.  I think it was larger earlier in the season, but is winding down.







The gentleman that I bought the squash from gave me double what I needed and added a basket of cherry tomatoes to my order. You don't get treatment like that from a store......These farmers have somehow kept there products alive through 100 degree weather with not much rain.... The squash was delicious!



Have you visited a market this summer?

Wordless Wednesday

80 Degrees

Yes, it was 80 degrees for a short while yesterday.  We had a nice rain and the temperature dropped to a very pleasant 80.  It was wonderful.  I turned the a/c off, opened the door and enjoyed  fresh air.



Trixie even went outdoors and enjoyed some time out of the house!

Five deer came out and grazed around the pond. Hummingbirds were circling the feeders making that neat little squeaking noise that I love to hear.

We all enjoyed the break from 100+.

Did you happen to see the moon last night? It was beautiful. Full and oh so bright.



Have a great Friday. I'm going out to mow the yard. I love to mow after a rain, no dust!

Sweet Tea

Relief!
We need a break from this heat wave!!
Iced tea doesn't stay in the pitcher long these days.

Last night I was reading the new issue of Food Network Magazine and saw a section on Tea Tips....thought I would share them with you.

• Don't squeeze tea bags when removing them: The tannins will make your tea taste bitter, plus the bag could break.  (I always squeeze mine....today I won't)
• Brew with filtered or bottle water - the mineral in tap water can make tea bitter or cloudy. (wondered why mine got cloudy....another use for my brita filter)
• Cover iced tea before refrigerating so it won't absorb flavors and aromas from other food...(never covered mine)
• Drink the tea within two to three days....(no problem here)
• Serve chilled tea in a pitcher without ice to avoid diluting the flavor: add ice to the serving glasses.

I didn't know there was so much to know about a simple pitcher of tea/ha

Now let's talk brand of tea.  You know how faithful I am to brands!  It's always been Lipton for me. 
Last week as I was in the tea section of Wal Mart a gentleman made the comment he was looking for Luzianne and I replied, "I'm a Lipton fan".  He said he was in a restaurant and commented on how great their tea tasted and they said it was Luzianne.  I noticed he put a large box of Lipton in his buggy and walked on....lol

I think I've told you about Paula Deen's Sweet Tea recipe being so good but didn't share it with you;

Bring 4 cups water to a boil , add 2 family size tea bags, turn off heat, place lid on and allow to steep for 1 hour.  Remove tea bags (don't squeeze), pour into a pitcher, add 1 cup sugar and 4 cups of cold water.  I use 1/2 cup, seems sweet enough to me.

Well that sums up Tea 101 for today.  Mine has been steeping for an hour so I'm off to add the sugar.
Have a great day and try to stay cool!

Hello Everyone!

Are you as busy as I am? 
 I hope you are having as much fun as I have been having. I've missed you and have to get caught up with what is going on in blog land......computer time is just hard to come by!
 I promise to  share photos of the past two weeks with you but for now I have to tell you about the book I finished last night!

"You don't have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book - you just have to love great storytelling." Rebecca Skloot

"This one-in-a-billion story....seems designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring." New York   (Amen)

This book is at the top of my all time favorites.  It's the kind that years from now when someone asks me for a recommendation of a good read, I will automatically say "Unbroken".  

I feel it is just a matter of time before a movie is made of this remarkable man's life.  I  want you all to read it.....NOW.....what are you waiting for?  ha