Around My Garden Two Weeks Ago

My little pot area.

My thorn less blackberry bush planted two years ago, it's just now getting going.

All my hosta flowers are finished and I cut them all off, or else I think they look a bit messy, in the wrong way.

I dug this plant out of my garden, it must have seeded itself from another nearby bush and planted it in a big pot, but it's like it slightly mutated or changed, because each flower has a double head and the original bush they only have single heads, plus it falls a little different, quite interesting.

 Mr Bit Brit ruthlessly cut this honeysuckle back it was woody and too thick.  It really has come back nicely.

Well today I'm off getting ready for the Grad Party.  Guess what after all that blazing sun and 99f temps a cool rain came in and it's total cloud cover today.  The rain has been great for the garden and greened it up a lot.  Cool weather is great for cooking too, as we have no air conditioning so I'm happy for that.  Now if only the sun comes out tomorrow and dare I say it, just a tad warmer.

OK these are my plans, don't know about you but I'm a list and Excel spread sheet person.  So we expect about 60.  People are so busy in the summer going every which way.

I'm baking a turkey and a ham, making a salad and coleslaw.  I have friends bringing Sloppy Joes and rolls, meatballs and rolls, southern fried chicken, Rob's favourite.  We have had over the years a lot of friends from the South and he's grown up on Southern cooking at many different get togethers.

• Ham
• Turkey
• Meatballs
• Sloppy Joes
• Stuffed Shells
• Lasagna
• Pasta Casserole
• Corn souffle
• Cold pasta dish
• Potato salad
• Green Salad
• Mixed Salad
• Coleslaw
• Fruit Salad
• Blueberry pound cake
• Cheesecake
• 6 x different Deserts
• Humus and Pita Bread
• Chips, tortillas & dip
• Sodas
• Iced tea home made
• Coffee
• Assorted hot teas

I think that's it.  Plus a ton of things that will now all fall until tomorrow because of the rain.  Lights to put up, tent to put up, tables to be put out, chairs to be rented, pull all my other stuff out of garage, set up tables with flowers and candles and just see what last minute creativity comes to my mind.

Plus I have been looking out for Queen Anne's Lace growing wild, so tomorrow morning I'm going out and cutting some of that for table decorations.

Rain, rain go away come again another day.

Christy

Gladioli My Flowering Garden

This is what is blooming in my garden.  After weeks of hot dry weather, just not enough rain, the garden is looking parched so by July this is what is flowering.  I do love the gladioli, but they are such short lived beauties along with the cleome.  Where do the cleome originate from because they seed themselves everywhere, but I do love them, I call them Pink Sparklers

I did think I should have had the Grad Party earlier in the Summer when all was green and the roses were out, but that would have had to have been the end of May and just too much was going on.  Yes Roses at the end of May, everything blooms earlier and earlier.

Now I've got to gear up for the party this Saturday.  The trouble is there is only so much you can do before and everything has to be done on the day before and the day of.  There should be about 65 friends coming and many are contributing to the fair so that will help.  I'm sure it will all come together.

Christy

Country Club Graduation Party For Brother and Sister

 Rob and I

 Brother and Sister 2012 Graduates

Friends sharing 

 The beautiful setting

A little sixties time warped at the Country Club, but we loved these chandeliers, especially the round crystals.

Well I'm working on Rob's Graduation party but it will by no means be as grand as this one.  A good time was enjoyed by all.  And it's always fun to dress up, how often do you get to do so?  Plus I love to dance.

Christy

Fireworks at The Eiffel Tower Bastille Day

Christy

New Shelving Unit and Gadget Corner

A friend at work gave me this corner shelving unit. Thank's Jen.  It's nice and sturdy and just right for all my electric gadgets.  Plus it freed up my counter space in my pantry area.

In a small kitchen there's no point in having electric gadgets unless you have easy access to them and if you don't I've found you just don't use them.

So here's my collection including 1980's brown and cream wedding gifts.  Yes my sunbeam mixers still work great, both of them.  Plus a wonderful hand mixer I picked up at a charity shop in UK in it's original box.

This is my traditional Brit mixing bowl I bought on my last trip to the UK.  It's big and I had to carry it on as hand luggage, stuffed inside another bag I had bought for a friend.  Creative packing.

Christy

Lost, Leak

Yes today at work I lost it over a leak.  I came into work this morning and the air-conditioning unit had leaked all over my desk on top of all my job jackets.  These are spec jackets with job and info for different print jobs.

There has been on on-going air conditioning problem in our office ever since we moved in a year and a half ago.  Eventually they replaced a unit on the roof and one that sits above the ceiling of my reception area.

That was finished just two weeks ago, walls painted and carpets cleaned.  I have had to vacate my desk numerous times.  This was like the last straw, as the unit that leaked does not even service our office but services the business office next to us.  With flex space walls can be moved, but what is in the ceiling above stays there.  Consequently my problem their air-conditioning.

I had to take all my paper work, some had to be reprinted and other pieces were spread out to dry, crazy.  Fortunately we have more offices and desk space than people so one can spread out.

You see I always keep a stiff British upper lip and when I lose it everyone thinks it funny.  Fortunately I can laugh at myself which I did.  So two hours later I was set up in another office, but time lost and rush jobs to get out.  What a day!

Christy

French Potato Nest Fryer

I know you're wondering what is that, and I wondered the same too when I first saw it at the Thrift.  But anything stamped with France on catches my eye, and this did too.  Fortunately it had a little instruction page with it.

This is for frying potato nests.  What you do is grate your raw potato put it inside the larger wire cage, lining it all around then you put the inner wire cage to hold it securely in place while submerged in the cooking oil.

Voila!  Fried potato nest to put peas or what ever you want to serve in there.  Does it work?  Yes and how often would you make them?  Just on special occasions.  But fun and I just love having a piece of authentic cookware.

Christy

Rooftop Cocktails New York City

Every year my company gives a summer party and a end of year party.  This year was rooftop cocktails and dinner in Manhattan.  Since our head office is in Manhattan and most employees work there it makes sense to have the party there.

I don't always go and this year nobody was going from our PA office, then at the last minute my boss decided to go, I think a guilt trip was on him for not going, and asked if anyone else wanted to go.  Rushed home changed, came back to the office and drove to catch the train from Trenton, NJ.  In the end five came up to New York from our office.

So this is cocktails on the roof top.  I had a wonderful mango mixed drink, it just hit the spot.  After coming up on the NJ Transit System; which I call the New Jersey Train Sit System, it's sooo slow.

Inside for more drinks and dancing, games and dinner.

It was fun and the weather was great to be out on a roof top.

Christy

Pot, Plant and Peel Vignette

The side of the garage was just dirt and looked so bare, in comparison with the area where the seating on new patio came up to it.  So I decided to use a few bits and pieces from around and create this little area.  With old garden edging, breeze blocks, pots, old trash find windows, my bonsai lemon tree and old wind chimes that fell down several years ago and never got put back up.  Just things I had around.

How do you like that crazy reeve light that I bought at IKEA on clearance several years ago.  It's rather fun.  Never really had a place for it.  It was I think about $3.00.

 It's nice to sit out here of an evening.

Christy

Sarah's Key by Tatiana De Rosnay

I ran across this paperback at my local library it was a .25c give away and I had always wanted to read it.

In keeping with Paris in July I read Sarah's Key and then watched the film.  The book is a must read. Read the book before you watch the movie, so many more shades to the characters than can be brought out in the film.

Set in Paris, July 1942 there is a great Jewish round up known as the Velodrome d'hiver Round-up.  Sarah a ten year old girl is caught up in this and taken with her family to the Velodrome.

Fast forward sixty years to a journalist Julia Jarmond and see how their two lives become twined to one.

I will post a book review of this on my Lil Bit Brit Lit Blog later.

Christy

Himalayn on the Oak Tree Patio

The cats seem to like the new Oak Tree Patio Area and Tinkerbell has adopted the Captain's chairs, especially this one.  These were also out for the Trash collector as we say in the States or the Dust Bin Man as we say in UK.  What ever it is Tinkerbell says thank you.

Tinkerbell has definite preferences as to what she likes to sit on, but shes very partial to rush seats and woven reed baskets.  I'm sure your little friends have their favourite places too.

I never knew that Himalayans and Persians cross their paws, it is the dearest little act.

Sorting through all my gathered objects in the garage, I came across these items to do some garden staging. little vignette type areas.

The shutters a friend gave to me and I've had them a while, the table was another trash find. I was pleased, I thought the amount of peeling paint matched quite well.  I know small things please us.  Good job too, because we don't get many large ones.

What I'm reading, a book a friend mailed to me The Fortnight In September, a Persephone Book.  It's a wonderful story, so well written, just delightful.  I will have to do a book review on it.  You must read it.  Basically it's a 1930's family who take a two week trip to the Seaside.  Sounds a little boring, not at all.

When I read a really good book I always keep a little journal of pages and write down thoughts and phrases that I especially like,  Hence the little tan Shakespeare Journal.  The end papers in Persephone books are always appropriate to the period and so well thought out.  A piece of fabric, a scarf or wallpaper design of the period.  With a matching bookmark.

So are you a trash picker and what are your finds?

Do you keep a little book review journal?

Christy

P.S.  Did I tell you that last Saturday in the 103 f heat we decided to go to the park, but not such a crazy idea as we went down to the creek, while trying to cross the creek Mr Bit Brit slipped in and I said why not, let's paddle, so with a throw back to child hood we paddled up the creek, it was great.  The birds were singing, the trees were shady and we even found an old rusted out sewing machine amongst the rocks, I wonder how long that had been there, it looked like an old treadle machine.  We brought home a couple of souvenirs, an old rusted door latch and two plastic clear cylinders very small, how did they manage to stay together?  They were wedged in a crevice.

It's one's own world there.