Ray took a vacation day friday and helped me "company clean" the house before our company arrived. "Company cleaning" is when you add a bit more shine to everything more than you normally do.
Ray's brother Bob and his wife Ursula came in from Pikeville, KY to stay with us saturday afternoon. I had just pulled some lasagna out of the oven when they arrived. The lasagna was a big hit and after some of us had seconds, the rest was sent to Ray's sister Cindy's house. We had a nice visit as we always do.
Bob & Ursula spent saturday night with us. Sunday afternoon they left for Ray's dad's house for a few hours before the trip back home.
Ray & I joined them at dad's a bit later and we had a nice visit there too.
Ursula taught my mother-in-law Gay & I how to french braid our hair. I'm gonna need more practice before I master that one, but I did come home with a nice braid of my own.
Gay won first and second place in our annual art show saturday afternoon too. She also sold another painting on commission for $150. We were all so proud of her and she was beaming when she showed us the ribbons. She's quite the talented artist
Today, we're gonna relax with our feet up and do as little as possible.
This is my favorite time of the evening. The chores are finished for the day, Ray's gone to sleep and now I have some time to myself. This is when my mind wanders through days past. Some are distant memories of time spent on my grandparent's farm.
I remember fertile harvests of corn, kale, pole beans, green beans, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes, and cucumbers. The hours granny and I spent breaking beans, blanching freezing and canning. Our endless conversations on everything and about everyone. When we ran out of things to say, that was ok too. She was someone you could feel good with even if you didn't do anything at all.
Sometimes I'd catch her extended glances my way. I could tell that her mind was drifting too. When I'd ask her what she was thinking, she'd share how much like her mother I looked. It pleased me because it pleased her.
My great grandmother Ophelia, "Momma"
Granny was a petite, soft-spoken and loving woman. She was never too busy and was always happy to see me. I felt safe, secure and loved in her presence.
She taught me how to garden, sew, crochet, and embroidery too. But most of all, she taught me how to live.
I will always cherish the time I had with her because the love and memories we shared will always remain with me.
After working in the garden yesterday, I spent the afternoon making one of our favorite dishes, chunky chicken salad. I kept the camera close by and took a photo journal as I worked. It's a tasty recipe and one I hope you'll enjoy too.
Dressing: 2 cups mayonnaise 1 cup Half & Half 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper
The first thing you want to do is preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Wash your chicken breasts and place them on the cookie sheet. Rub with olive oil and then season with salt & pepper.
Roast the chicken breasts between 45-50 minutes. Remove from oven and allow them to cool.
Now it's time to "shock the broccoli". Funny term isn't it. But just wait until you see the end result. I too was shocked at just how nice it looked.
Cut only the flowerets from the stalks and wash them well. I wash just about everything that can be washed in the food line. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Next, fill a large pan about 1/2 full of water and bring it to a boil.
Add the broccoli flowerets to the boiling water and boil them for exactly 2 minutes.
While the broccoli is blanching, fill a large bowl about halfway with cold water and add about 2 trays of ice cubes.
Drain the blanched broccoli and place it into the bowl of ice immediately. This technique is called "shocking" and it allows the broccoli to remain this beautiful bright green.
While the broccoli is cooling in the ice, wash and half the grape tomatoes.
Slicing the tomatoes in half opens their flavor.
Now it's time to put it all together into a container you can store in the refigerator.
Now that the chicken breasts have cooled, peel the skin off, cut the breasts from the bones, cut into 1/2" chunks and add them to the vegetables.
In a separate bowl, whisk or mix together these ingredients... 2 cups of mayonnaise 1 cup of Half & Half 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Add the dressing to the chicken & vegetables. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. If you can leave it there overnight, then do that. The flavors will have time to "marry" and the taste is out of this world. Ray & I eat this along with butter crackers like Ritz. This recipe makes four servings. We absolutely love it!
I was a bit productive yesterday. I planted some corn and curled kale with some heirloom seeds I ordered a few weeks ago.
The corn is called "Country Gentleman" and will reproduce if I save some seeds. It was first introduced in 1890. It's a sweet Shoepeg variety which means the kernals grow in random patterns and not in perfect rows on the cob. I'm gonna need a step ladder to pick it too because the stalks can grow 10 feet high. It will mature in 90 days. I hope that's tall enough to keep the deer from it. But I doubt it.
The kale is called "Dwarf Blue Curled". It grows 12" to 15" with finely curled blue/green leaves. It takes 60 days to mature. This was the variety my grandparents grew. I remember how good it was seasoned with a slab of bacon.
Bella is keeping me company while I post this. She enjoys sunny windows.
I took a few more photos on the morning walk. The orange tiger lillies are starting to open now.
And the "gloriosa daisies" in the front flower garden are looking good too.
This hollyhock is into it's third year now. It's going to have pretty pink blooms in a few more days. Did you know that tea made from hollyhock flowers helps to soothe inflammation in the mouth and throat?
The peppermint is smelling good too. I'm going to make us some tea with it soon.
I caught this busy robin on the wire above.
Also planted some chives in various places and picked a handful of strawberries too.
We made the mistake of letting our cat Sarah in to play with her daughter Bella last night while we were watching tv. They both go nuts when they're together. They chase one another, wrestle and roll across the floor in one large furry ball. It's quite comical to watch. Last night though, not so much.
We had just finished eating our dinner on trays in front of the tv as always. Ray had just brought in our after dinner cup of coffee. I still had almost an entire glass of tea I hadn't finished yet that was still on the tray as well.
Suddenly, boom!
Sarah slammed right into my tray and the coffee and tea splashed all over the new sofa. I was too shocked to cry at that moment, but I sure wanted to. Ray grabs the first thing he can to begin soaking up the mess, a rag quilt I'd made for him this past winter.
After much dabbing, scrubbing and blow drying, the tea and coffee was gone before it could stain.
Sarah was put outside for the night and Bella was given a short time out in her sleeping quarters.
I washed the rag quilt in cold water and thankfully the tea nor the coffee stained it either.
Ray and I learned a valuable lesson last night, and that was to not let Sarah in during mealtime.
The election results are showing the tide is turning. My candidates won thankfully. Now it's on to the big one in November. One of the big-mouthed 30 year career politicans, Arlen Spector was shown the door last night. I just had to do a "happy dance" when I heard that news.
Now I can get back to more important things like tending the kitties and the gardens.
We've had so much rain we haven't been able to mow the lawn. We're supposed to get a break tomorrow though. We'll see.
The primary election is being held today and I can't wait! I'm voting against whoever the incumbant is supporting. That way I KNOW I'm choosing the right person. I'm voting for the underdogs, the candidate who hasn't been tainted by special interest money. I'm going for the new "Tea Party" candidates.
I've had it up to my eyeballs with these socialist progressives who think they can live my life better than I can. They can stay out of my kitchen and my healthcare! I'm searching for real leadership. Liberals haven't a clue how to run anything and history has shown that to be true beyond a reasonable doubt.
There's quite a bit of history here in this little railroad town of Hitchins. If coal mining was the "lifeblood" of the Appalachian people, then the EK Railroad was the "lifeline".
Yes, thanks to Ray's watchful eye, we were able to save the mockingbird, nesting in the smoke tree, from one of our cats, Sarah. It's constant twitting and singing was more than she could bare it seems, so up the tree after it she went. Ray, still in his PJ's, heads for the door in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, Sarah had climbed just out of reach and was confused by Ray's scolding and calling her from below. She wasn't about to budge at that point. So the only thing left to do, I thought, was to get the broom. It wasn't a second before Sarah began to climb back down, pounced to the ground, and flew to the side porch. lol
I have a feeling she won't be back up that tree again.
Thankfully, the mockingbird has decided to continue to nest in the tree.
It couldn't have picked a better tree for camouflage. Can you find it?
I'm not sure if any of you have posted here in the past day or so because there was a glitch in the new template or the template user. lol
Basically, they were lost and weren't posted to the blog. Although I did follow the template publishing directions to the letter, something was wrong, so I've gone back to the old template for now. I will try and spruce it up a bit with a few changes here and there, but it won't be as dramatic as it was.
Yes, it's a cloudy and rainy day here in Hitchins. The weatherman says it's gonna be wet for next few days. The seeds in the beds are going to be happy.
I took a short walk around the yard between showers this morning and took a few pics.
The strawberries are continuing to ripen. They're nice and sweet too. Not hard and odd tasting like those in the supermarkets. I've read they're full of pesticides, so be sure to wash them well before you eat them.
This is my first attempt at growing foxglove.
This is the plant's second year and it's multiplied already.
This is also the second year for this peonie.
Can't wait to see it in full bloom.
The birds are singing from the thicket and the earth smells fresh. I do believe it's time for a nap.
It's another lazy day in Hitchins. The sun is shining bright with the distant hum of lawnmower in the background.
"Bella" is napping and so is "Abby" nearby.
I paid some bills and put them in the mailbox for the afternoon post. The seed beds have all been watered for the day too.
The weathman is predicting scattered frost for Mother's Day morning around here, but I'm not going to worry too much about that. I think everything will be fine. A cold front is coming tomorrow evening with some showers for saturday morning. It's going to clear up by the afternoon and we'll see more sunshine then.
I've been surfing the web and looking at pretty aprons others have made. This lady has given me some ideas. Check out her blog... http://aprongoddesses.blogspot.com/
Yes, this morning I was blessed with another visitor. This time it was a beautiful male pheasant. He was a big fellow too! Sadly, "Mister" saw him too and before I could get my camera focused, "Mister" had set out after him. The good news is, the pheasant managed to get off the ground before "Mister" caught up to him. Although I know it won't do any good, "Mister" got a scolding just the same. Can't fuss at him too much for doing what he does best. He did catch a mouse for me already this year.
I've been busy planting purple coneflowers, black-eyed susan and sunflower seeds in beds all over the yard. I'm so looking forward to them blooming.
The last of the kittens, the calico, managed to steal Ray's heart last week so he's decided to keep her too. We've named her "Bella" as she is a pretty little thing. Like Ray said, "What's one more?"
