we had company

we enjoyed a quick visit from my mother (donna) and sister (valerie) this week. charlie found an unexpected playmate in my mother. we made a pamida run, saw a nifty weedeater, courtesy of our neighbor, and had some excellent grilled chicken and strawberry pie. a good time was had by all - though we won't mention scrabble for awhile...they left yesterday morning on the next leg of their trip - sioux city to visit my brother (aaron). i'm taking it for granted that they had a good time there, as well.

this is for andrea:



this is for donna:




today, among other things, the lawn got mowed, charlie swam in the canal and tim experimented with some of his fresh basil. we have garlic roasting on the grill as we speak (so to speak)
(be sure to "click to enlarge" so you can see the lovely grill lines and basil flakesmmmmmm)

this is grilled sirloin featuring a basil/garlic marinade and a dipping sauce (served warm) made from:

steep together:
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
6 fresh basil leaves

add:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tomato pureed
2 tbsp fresh grated parmesan
1 tbsp minced garlic
flavor with a sprinkle of paprika, red pepper flakes, simmer to reduce to a thickness similar to barbeque sauce. mmmmm

easily distracted

saturday was a good day. the wind howled ferociously all day and snug inide i accomplished all the things i had in mind for that particular set of hours. tim and charlie ran some errands and at one point i found myself completely distacted by a pot of flowers that i promptly re-potted in the middle of my cleaning. you can see the cord to the vaccuum running along side of my mess.

it took the aid of a cutting mat to hold the marbles in place while i inserted the glass into the bigger jar and several hours later i undid the whole thing.
oh well.


it was also my mother's birthday so i spent some time on the phone with her. happy birthday, mom.


tim did the cooking that night and i only have these 2 skewers to bear silent testimony to the incredible shrimp we inhaled. jumbo shrimp, grilled to succulent perfection with just a hint of heat courtesy of a thai garlic sauce. they were as lovely as they were tasty and i didn't even think of pictures until it was too late. so when he bounded back into the kitchen calling where's the foil??!! i thought where's the camera!!??

he cored an apple, stuffed in some butter, brown sugar and cinnamon wrapped it in foil and set it on the fading coals for about 1/2 hour. i told him not to unwrap it until i was there and ready to record the event. he rolled his eyes but he did give me my cue when the time came. mmmm the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. so tasty. just enough for the 2 of us to enjoy.

father's day.

tim and i are fatherless - no grandpas either. these men are missed.

we had, and enjoyed, phone calls from both naphtali and jacob. charlie and i took tim for a walk this morning. he did school work, he's really enjoying this - his last - class,though it does require more time. it's challenging, sparking an interesting exchange of ideas and 'conversation' with fellow students and his prof. (charlie and i whisper 'teacher's pet' behind his back) he also grilled. steak (mine melted), chicken, burgers, shrimp. we'll have a selection of meat ready for supper all week - just throw together a salad mmmmm.

i took advantage of a very windy day (no mosquitos) to dig some sod. i've been kicking around the idea of a new flower bed in a spot that has been awkward to mow and the wind today cinched the deal for me. i have the sod dug, most of it hauled away, some of it redistributed in the yard, and the last bit turned to dry and wait for me to finish either tomorrow or tuesday. i'll need to spray and use landscape fabric which will create a horseshoe shaped path sandwiched between the the beds. this is the beginning phase. the grass in the middle is gone.

the roses have been prolific bloomers this year.

and here's a quick look in the bathroom door. i found the shelf at the goodwill. $10 took it home. a fresh coat of paint....


i had several garden club functions this week. we weeded, pruned, and planted a downtown corner on wednesday. thursday was the district meeting in kearney. i took three of my concrete rhubarb leaves along for the auction. they were the high-bid items for the day. a long day. i left at 7:15 and didn't get home until after 6. and saturday we took a garden tour in a little town about a 1/2 hour south-ish from here. we saw 6 different gardens. some practical, some whimsical, all intersting. and the columbines - wow!! our reaction was that odd combination of inspiring and depressing. lots of work at all of them. big bucks for some of them. they'd had hail and flooding in the area during the last few weeks so it was a special effort for some of these people to get everything cleaned up and functional let alone ready for the event. all in all - a fun day.