Thursday, June 14, 2018

Waiting for Summer


Hello, Dear Friends, as we approach the summer solstice 
I am waiting for the sun.
It has been cool and damp, here in the Pacific Northwest. 


There is fresh snow in the mountains, 
and lovely fields full of wildflowers, 
which creates a pretty picture.  

But look at all those clouds! 



The forest loves the cool dampness,
 and everything is lush and green.  

Here, we see the delicate blooms of thimbleberry
growing along the edge of the forest. 



My roses are loving it, too. 



In between rain showers, 
I've been trying to catch up on all of my potting chores. 

These are tuberous begonias. 
I love these, as they will bloom in full shade. 
Creeping Charlie keeps them company. 




I've used white impatiens and creeping Jenny, 
for my window ledges. 



My succulents sent out off-shoots, so I 
potted up a few of those, too. 

The garden plaque belonged to my Mom. 

Although it is damp and cool here 
from late November until July, 
I am able to grow succulents by potting them 
in cactus soil and keeping them dry under the eaves. 

 I once had a tiny antique shop with my Mom, many years ago, 
on the upper floor of an old Victorian home. 

We named it 'Under the Eaves'. 
I still have the sign, hanging on the tool-shed. 

The beautiful old home was torn down for a parking lot
when a tire store moved in next door. 

'Progress'.......... sigh.........




I was craving a bit of color, so these coleus found 
a home on the tiny front porch. 
It is too dark and shady to grow flowers, 
but the coleus don't mind. 

I learned to grow coleus from seed 
when I was a beginner gardener. 
They were so easy that I had pots
 of coleus growing in every window!


All of this murky weather has me craving comfort food. 


A small batch of old-fashioned peanut butter cookies
satisfies the cravings. 

Here is the recipe. These are soft but delicately crisp on the edges. 

Small Batch Peanut Butter Cookies
Makes 15 - 3 inch cookies

Bake @ 350 degrees 8-10 minutes. 

1 cup peanut butter
4 tbsp softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 egg
pinch of salt 

Cream together butters and sugars until smooth. 
Add flour, egg and salt. 

Divide dough into 15 balls.
(About walnut size)

Press onto greased cookie sheet with a floured fork. 


The kitchen smells so good! 



I keep out only a few. 
Ramblin' Man has a sweet tooth. 

The rest are in the freezer. Hidden :)
He is known to gobble down several at a time. 
And he doesn't gain a pound. Imagine that! 

It's just not fair. 



I like to have one with a cup of tea or coffee in the afternoon.
(Depending on how much caffeine I need.) 


I am on the go all day long and by late afternoon 
I need a pick-me-up. 
Don't ask me what I do all day. 
I couldn't tell you. 

It is a million little things......
You all know what I mean. 
I may be retired, but that doesn't mean I have 
free time. My job description has increased 
in direct correlation to how much 'free time' I may have. 
Funny how that works. 


I always find time to read a good book, though. 
Mostly late at night. 
Hence, the need for caffeine..........!  

This is a sweet story of love at midlife, after 
difficult loss. 

It was written by a Seattle author and the story 
takes place at a bed and breakfast in the highlands of Scotland.  
Don't you just love the cover?


We'll be celebrating Father's Day this 
weekend with the whole gang,
on Saturday, so all of the Dad's get their own day.  

I love this photo of Papa with the little ones.
It's nice to take time to celebrate all of the unsung heroes 
in our lives that we call, 'Dad'. 

I am serving chicken enchiladas, Spanish rice, 
tacos, and something totally unrelated, 
but Ramblin' Man's favorite.....
Boston Cream Pie! 

And guess what? 
The forecast is calling for sunshine! 

xoxo

I hope you all have a lovely weekend, 
Dear Friends. 
xoxo
To get regular updates, follow me on Google +. 

Blogger is fazing out the Follower's button and 
my blog is not being updated on blog rolls. 

xoxo



21 comments:

  1. Gorgeous flowers! Oh to own an antique shop!! And I love the name! I have a friend who used to own a used book shop. That would be glorious too! I know what you mean about being super busy. There's never enough time in any day!!! Those peanut butter cookies looked so good...my mouth started watering! The book looked really good. We stayed in B&B's in Ireland when Mom & I went. I would love to go to Scotland. I bet the book is a good read. I have started working on my book again. Just had a little dry spell...having my Writer's Group here at the house Tuesday was a big help in getting my inspiration back! Hope you have a wonderful rest of June. Yes, it's far too cold at night for June! We haven't had a lot of rain, but have had some. I hope it warms up soon. All my best!

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  2. Hello, your flowers are all beautiful. I like the Creeping Charlie. Happy Father's Day to your hubby! The meal sounds yummy. Enjoy the sunshine.
    Have a happy day and weekend!

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  3. I'm in love with your kitchen and all the beautiful flowers you shared. Thanks for a small batch recipe. The trouble with a big batch one is lack of self control!

    Happy Fathers Day to your men!

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  4. You've had a lot more rain on your side of the state then we have had on my side. It's rained some but nothing major. Still cool for June but then again it doesn't usually get really hot here until July. Your flowers are lovely, the Coleus are colorful and the Fuchsia are perfect shade flowers. Oh and can you send me some of those Peanut Butter Cookies.

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  5. I know that you and your family will have a wonderful Father's Day celebration.

    Everything looks lovely inside and out there.

    Have a wonderful weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  6. Such a lovely post. I enjoyed seeing your garden and the flowers.
    Have a truly wonderful Father's Day, it's lovely to spend time together.

    All the best Jan

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  7. I just love your new blog background! So pretty! You have so many potted plants and you live amongst the wildlife, so I am wondering how you keep the little critters from digging in your pots. Honestly I have never had that problem until this year. We are overrun with squirrels in my yard. I planted pansies this year and they are digging them up constantly. Is it the pansies or are the squirrels just being extra naughty?! I went online and found that putting cayenne pepper around the plants should help. Nope! And I used ALOT. Have a wonderful weekend. Your meal sounds delicious.

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  8. Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos. I love your Kitchen.
    Beautiful Blog.
    Have a nice weekend
    Maria
    Divagar Sobre Tudo um Pouco

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  9. You are a great grower. It's quite difficult to grow succulents successfully.

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  10. Your pots of flowers, coleus, and succulents look so pretty. How nice to celebrate Father's Day today for all the special Dad's in your family. Thank you for the small batch of peanut butter cookies, too. I'd love one with a cup of tea. Enjoy your family today, dear Karen! xx

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  11. Love all of your gorgeous plants,I love coleus too.Love the beautiful Fuchsia,we called it "princess'earrings"!Happy Father's Day!It is always a pleasure visiting you!

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  12. Beautiful blooms!! I just love your Kitchen!!
    Thanks so much for stopping by!! That tornado came too close for comfort!
    Hugs,
    Debbie

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  13. I love the set up you have of the flowers on the window ledge, can enjoy on the inside and outside. I also agree it isn't fair how much more the guys can eat than we can.
    Sounds like you had a great menu for Father's day, hope you all enjoyed a wonderful day!!

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  14. I wish I could send some sunshine your way, we have more than enough. And if you wanted to send some coolness or rain, we wouldn't say no :-)
    Amalia
    xo

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  15. Always love my visits here Karen...
    Those White Begonias melt my heart💕
    Hoping for some warmer weather for you...we are sweltering again!
    Hoping for some rain for my thirsty gardens!
    Enjoy your week...
    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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  16. Karen, thank you for giving me a great little mini-vacation with this beautiful post! Your cookies look good! I did cookies this week that you might have fun with. Your Creeping Charlie took me waaaay back to when we and all our fellow apartment-dwelling friends had a gazillion house plants.

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  17. Dear Karen,

    Always love to come and visit your lovely place and the garden is wonderful.
    I know what you are saying that there is always so much to do around the house and garden keeping it looking lovely. The cookies look so good too.
    Happy Sunday
    hugs
    Carolyn

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  18. Another great post which I've only just discovered. Sending best wishes x

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  19. You have been enjoying transitions of seasons. Happy days to you.

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  20. Dearest Karen,
    Was missing you... and when I did scroll down on my blog's side line I found your blog from 3 months ago. It apparently is no longer loading to the newest posting!
    Just got back to 'normal' life again, whatever the term normal means. But for me it is without crutches after my 2 pelvic bone fractures healed. Quite a patience struggle for waiting till getting the signal to bike again and do things, like putting weight on your left hip side again. Not meaning 'gaining' weight but lifting things! And you know how that is doing the daily chores, we lift a lot!
    Grateful for all the things and I used my time by finally having all those mail bags with letters from my Mom and Pieter's Mom etc. scanned. All is digital and Pieter got to read them once again before we tossed things out. Talking about decluttering! So very proud of having tackled this and now we also know that back in October of 1988 when Campbell's Soup moved us up to Pennsylvania, we lost a box with things. A lot of Mom's letters were in there... So very sad. The ones I have I treasure and will share with my siblings one day. For Pieter it also was very special to once more read his Mom's and his two brothers' letters...
    So we move forward again and always looking at the future in a positive way.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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