A great day!

I seemed to accomplish many things on my long list of chores.  I was able to get a couple tomato plants yanked up and buckets of chicken manure compost dumped in those beds.  I am wanting to plant my delphiniums I started from seed this past spring in that spot soon. 


The yanked up plants were loaded with tomatoes still, mostly green, I did retrieve the ones turning red and have them on my kitchen counter to continue ripening, this variety is a sauce tomato.  The ones to the right are Brandywines and I am going to leave those for another week in high hopes of getting some more to ripen.  I have a lone deer coming around at night taking a bite out of any he can access so I left some on the ground for him to nibble. 

We have had our first frost, a light one but still a frost.  It did not prove fatal for my geraniums or even my Angels Trumpet.



I need to move that one to my mom’s sunroom to overwinter, I just do not have anywhere that gets enough light to keep it healthy. 

I still have a few Casablanca lilies trying to bloom.  What a lovely way to end my growing season, one last hurrah, a beautifully scented one.  I may have to cut it and bring it in the house. 



I whipped out my D40 for dummies book again, I learned some new things on the information panel, like how to get the battery life info and how many photos the SD card will hold.  The one I have now says 2000 photos, not bad at all.  I also learned how to manipulate settings with one button instead of having to go into the menu area.  The more I am learning the more I get the feeling I should’ve done this long ago!

I took some photos of my Japanese Maples. 



The one above I do not know the name of, but the one below is Cherokee Red.



Then Spring Delight. This one stays this delightful bright green all season long. 



I started working on the shawl I mentioned in my last post.  Here is the first half of a motif.  It is an intermediate in difficulty pattern but not bad, you just have to pay attention, once I get the pattern down it will move faster but I am already liking it.
I did get stuck on one unfamiliar stitch.  I Googled it and up pops a great site called “Learn A Stitch A Day” and it had a step by step video that was perfect.  I never would’ve figured it out on my own.

I love the internet!

Unfortunately the color of the yarn is not coming thru true in the photo but you get the drift.



I think I will go work on it now.  A nice way to unwind after a busy day! 
Enjoy your evening!



2011 Summer’s End Party

My summer is one big long party for me, when I get to spend it in the garden.  There is no greater joy for me than to be outside on a warm summers day up to my elbows in dirt.

How fitting after our first storm of the season and our first frost overnight, to be in on a summer’s end party.  I am just recapping some of my favorite shots of my garden this summer.  I have more photos than you really want to see so I dug thru my files and chose a few to share.

Some you have seen in previous posts and others you have not.

This morning glory was one of my surprises this summer, it grew up the rose trellis attached to the chicken house.  Each morning this past month I was greeted with fresh unique blossoms, no two were ever alike! They made my heart sing.



My other surprise late in the season, this Pink Swirl hibiscus.  It was in a pot all winter in my greenhouse, I had forgotten what it was and the marker had been misplaced, it was a mere bare stick when I plopped it into the ground about July.  It struggled and grew a mere foot or two high, then finally I recognized the foliage but I did NOT think it would bloom this year. And yet, here she is in all her girly glory!



This Heavenly morning glory grew in one of my window boxes, the blue jays planted it for me.  I caught them again just this past week tucking more seeds into my hanging pots.  Why, I have not a clue but it shall be interesting to see what morning glories I get next year.



My favorite garden decoration is my Ladies.  I do not let them roam outside of there pen much, we have neighborhood dogs that love to chase them.  Every now and again I let them out while I can sit outside and watch over them.



One of my new plants, Tomato Soup echinacea, it was a stunner! I also have an orange one called Tiki Torch and for some reason I did not get a good photo of it. 



Some of my favorites were the out of no where volunteers.  This Rose Campion cropped up and made it’s home in amongst the Black Eyed susies.  The color literally glowed.



Some areas not tended at all this year thrived despite the neglect.



And looked just as good as areas better treated!



Another new favorite I started from seed, Cappuccino rudbeckia.  This flower was a full 5 inches across, it was huge and gorgeous.  The one plant is thick with blooms and stay upright, no need to stake.



I have only a couple of these Leopard Lilies but they never fail to thrill me.



If the frost has not terminally damaged my geraniums by tomorrow I will shake the dirt from their roots and hang them in paper bags in my basement. 

 Last year I overwintered them in the house but they did not seem to do that well.  I have read about the basement trick and we shall see if it works.  If not I have a bazillion seeds to start fresh one next season and a ton of seedlings now in the greenhouse. 

I have turned loose of summer and am getting ready for my winter projects.  I have a new crochet wrap pattern I am dying to make. I bought the yarn today.  This is what it should look like when done but in a seamist color instead of the taupe.
click on link below to access this pattern
http://www.naturallycaron.com/projects/vail_mountain/vail_mountain_1.html

What I like most about it is that it is done in the individual squares then you put them together so it will be easy to cart it with me to work on whenever I have to sit and wait somewhere or as I sit with my hubby while he watches t.v.  I can’t seem to just sit and watch t.v., I have to be busy doing something.
(I have to correct the statement above, I thought it was individual squares but it seems that you crochet them on when you make the squares)

I had a great day today, we ran to the Valley to do some shopping.  The golden hills along Hwy 4 were lovely, lots of baby calves in the fields with their moms.  I was wishing I had my camera with me. 
Later all…

Learning my Nikon D40 in 10 minutes a Day

How is that for a long winded title.  I have drooled over the Nikon D7000 for awhile now. Costco had the kit (body and lens together) for a killer price this past year.  I do not know if they still do, you know with Costco it is usually grab it when you spot it as next time it won’t be there.

But since it is a superfluous purchase and definitely not in the budget I have determined to learn to use my Nikon D40 more fully.


It has features and buttons that I have never fully explored or utilized and it is time I did. 

I use my camera daily but I never seem to have the time to explore all it can really do and it is a great camera.  I just have found some of it’s limitations in areas I would like a bit more flexibility. 

I take lots and lots of photos of my garden, the flower photos get me thru the long months of being buried in white (aka: snow).  I also use it for my blog post, website and custom sign photos. 

In my previous post I showed you a photo of my Luna Pink Swirl trying to bloom.



The next morning it opened.  (I am just sad that I only was able to enjoy it one day, we may get a freeze tonight and it rained all yesterday and today. Glad I took the photo when I did!)



Though the photos do not look bad I do know I can improve them once I learn my camera better.

All that being said I have whipped out my Nikon D40 for Dummies book, dusted it off and learned the first thing that may help in getting sharper photos.  

Did you know you can adjust your viewfinder focus? 

 I did not and doesn’t it make sense that as we mature and our vision begins to blur that looking thru that viewfinder can trick us into thinking we are getting a clear shot when in reality it only looks that way to us?

So I followed the directions and sure enough my viewfinder was one click off and it was easy enough to adjust. 

It took me longer to read the instructions than to actually make the adjustment.

I also learned that a faster SD card will improve my continuous shooting mode.  That is one thing I found disappointing in this camera, it is rather sluggish in continuous shooting.  Any improvement will be appreciated.  Now to price a faster card. 

So my goal is to take at least 10 minutes a day to learn the next feature, trick or anything about my camera.  They say if you tell someone else about what you’ve learned then you remember it better.  Repetition for retention. 

So you get to hear about what I learned.  Now we will see how well I stick with the daily 10 minute plan.

On another note, let’s see if you can guess what this is going to be.  It shouldn’t be too hard.  I have wanted to do one way too long and am now just getting around to it.





I will leave you with that and now I shall go relax with some crocheting.

A Lazy Sunday.

this was written Sunday, Oct 2

My DSL has been fritzy all day, something wrong with our phone line.  There is a lot of static on the line when you make a call and the DSL goes in and out, mostly Out.

So, thank goodness for Live Writer.  I can still do a blog post and just save it for later.

The temps have dropped enough to have a fire in the morning to break the chill in the house. 

I rather enjoy sitting by the cozy fire with my coffee in the morning, not as much as touring my garden at first light in summer but it is a close second.  Now that it is dark until nearly 7am I sit by the fire, sip my hot coffee, read my emails, check up on a few blogs I enjoy and play a couple hands of email scrabble.  (my one weakness)

I do tour my garden still, when I finally get out the door in the morning to feed my chickens.  I have another hibiscus trying to bloom and I am can’t wait for it it open fully.  Just the buds are fabulous and I can tell I am going to love this pink.

I am finally getting a few Brandywines tomatoes to ripen, I doubt I will get many but the one I have had the privilege to eat last night was delish!  They certainly have a superior flavor.  

I know it is hard to tell in these photos but these are nearly as big as a large grapefruit.  I really should’ve photographed the one I had for dinner, I could barely fit it on my hand.   I ate it still warm from the late afternoon sun. 

The morning glories are slowing down but now I have a million seeds.  I should collect as many as I can or they will be taking over the back yard next year.  What the blue jays do not snap up and bury everywhere. 

They are the culprits that put these seeds here.  My only morning glory plants were a good 30 feet away by the greenhouse.  I know it was the blue jays as I kept seeing them last Fall poking stuff into the ground all along this area, I wondered what they were up to.   Only when I had quite a few morning glory plants start popping up all along this area did figure it out.

Though I felt like a slug all day I did manage to get some things moved into a more protected area, we are expecting some rainfall this coming week, it is to be measurable so I needed to get things put away.  I had some wooden bookcases outside (I need to paint them), some tools  and some scrap wood I want to use for a future project that needed putting away.

I had some signs to prepare for shipping and I while I was in the studio I did slap a bit of paint on one bookcase we shoved in.  It takes up quite a bit of space but I will just have to work around it as I paint it.  I may use it to display some of my painted items and signs in a local art/gift shop that specializes in local artist’s offerings.

 I need to wrap my brain around how to best display everything and talk with the shopkeeper to see what she thinks about using my potting bench as I staging area and these bookcases.  They would need securing to a wall or something, they are quite tall but they would be great for placing items on.  

This past year I have discovered a paint I love using.  It has great coverage, applies beautifully and looks great but what has me really sold is no fumes. 

Benjamin Moore Natura brand.  I can work with this in my studio all day and there are no stinky fumes to make your head swim and throat hurt.  Zero VOC’s.  

My studio is rather compact, 12’ x 12’ and well insulated.  In the winter the doors and windows are shut tight against the cold so having a paint that does not choke me is important. 

I base paint my signs with it and now I am trying it out on some furniture pieces.  It is more expensive than regular latex, I pay about $18 a quart but it is well worth it to me to be able to breathe and not have toxic fumes knocking me over.

Until next time.. tomorrow is another beautiful day. 

Oven Roasted Tomato Sauce with a twist

I know I promised this a couple days ago and I said I would try to get it posted before now but as is typical, life happens. 

I love this method of processing my garden fresh tomatoes as it is so easy and versatile. At least for me.

And this time around it was even easier as I had read on this post Roasted Tomato Sauce by An Oregon Cottage that said she doesn’t even bother to peel the tomatoes first. 

Normally, I do the dip in hot water until the tomato peel begins to split and remove from water and put in a sink of ice water.  The peel just slides off with ease but if one step can be successfully eliminated I am all for it.  I am not afraid to eat some tomato peels. 

I did use my strawberry huller to remove the core.



This little handy dandy tool saves a lot of time.  This one is by Pampered Chef. 
Measure about 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a turkey roaster. I like using a pan with high sides to prevent spillage when I stir every half hour or so (smells to high heaven burning on the bottom of your oven, trust me)



I also quarter a yellow onion, peel about 5 or 6 cloves of garlic and press them into the tomatoes then put into a 400 degree oven.

This batch I altered a bit as I had some fresh jalapenos on hand, I did seed and remove the white membrane from them.

I had lots of Zucchetta squash on hand and decided to toss it in too.  I just cut it into large chunks.  It all cooks down easily enough without the added work of chopping stuff smaller. 


I place it in a 400 degree oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes I stir it all and put it back in for another 30 minutes and I stir again.  I let it cook down in 30 minute increments until it is the consistency I want.  These were all sauce tomatoes, Costoluto Genovese and San Romanos so it only took a couple hours, plus I did not have as many as I do at other times.

Here is the original recipe I altered to suit my needs.

4 pounds tomatoes, stemmed and quartered
1 large red onion (or 2-3 small), roughly chopped.
(OK to substitute yellow or other onions)
2 Jalepeno peppers (remove seeds for less heat)
16 cloves fresh garlic
1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 Tbs dry oregano
(or a bunch of fresh oregano & basil) Combine ingredients in a 9x13 inch pan.
Roast at 450°^F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until juices get thick.
Tomatoes will get a bit blackened and will smell wonderful.
Let cool, and run through a food mill to remove skins & seeds.
The resulting puree will be nice & thick; no need to reduce.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I don’t have a food mill so that is why I had previously skinned my tomatoes and I don’t mind the seeds at all so I never worried about that one either.  Here is her variation to do a LOT of tomatoes at one time:


Roasted Tomato Sauce in Quantity

After my first taste of this sauce, I decided I wanted to make big batches. I switched to using my big turkey roasting pan. I put heaps of cut tomatoes into the pan, drizzle on a good cup of olive oil, and start roasting. As they cook down, I add a few more quarts of cut up tomatoes and drizzle on more olive oil. Along the way, I add several quarts each of chopped peppers and onions, 5 or 6 heads' worth of garlic cloves, and a handful of hot peppers. Toward the end, I throw in several handfuls of fresh basil leaves. This quantity takes 5-6 hours to cook down at 450'F. Give it a stir about every half hour so more tomatoes get a chance to blacken. From a batch that starts with 40 or 50 pounds of tomatoes, I generally end up with about a gallon of thick, rich sauce.

My sauce is more generic and toned down but it turns out wonderful.  I have and will again add the oregano and basil,  cooking them in before it is done and then it is ready as marinara when I pull it from the freezer.  I do not have a pressure canner so mine has to go into the freezer.  I freeze it in 2 cup batches.  We use the marinara version for our Chicken Parmesan and Pizza sauce.

I also use the base version for my Chili Colorado recipe and it is a winner as well.
Here is how this batch looked when done cooking:



I ran it thru the blender and it was very rich and tasty, I froze it in 6 cup measures for Chili Colorado, the Zucchetta seemed to add a depth of flavor that surprised me and it was YUMMY. 

Give this a try when you are loaded down with fresh tomatoes.  It is well worth the effort.  

I hope all are enjoying their weekend. 


ps: did anyone notice I changed my blog colors, I am just trying to get into this Fall stuff.



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