Poor Smitty accidentally got locked in his clubhouse all night. He was beating down the door when we got up this morning. We'd opened up the clubhouse for Sadie so she could hide out while our guests were here. We thought Smitty was on the catio and closed the door when we went to bed. No harm done, but it put him in a pensive mood this morning.
Since there was nothing much of substance to report from yesterday, I went out early and took a walk through the garden. I'm happy to say that the Gerbera Daisies have decided to repeat their bloom...something they rarely do. Ordinarily, I bring the plants home with several flowers and plant them. Then I write on the blog that I have trouble keeping them blooming, and then they prove me right. Year after year this happens. This year...a couple of yellow ones. I think there are three different colors in this pot, and so far, only the yellows have bloomed a second time. No sign of any buds on the others.
Take a look at this cherry tomato plant. I can't believe how prolific it's been. I'm going to have to get serious about making something with these. Last year, I made a delicious chicken dish in the form of this Chicken with Herb-Roasted Tomatoes with Pan Sauce. It uses a pound and a half of cherry tomatoes.
Another sunflower has bloomed. This is another of the Ring of Fire variety.
Above it, a new one. This one is called Red Sun.
Of the sunflowers I planted, it is the tallest. You can see how it towers of the Ring of Fire below.
The three zucchini flowers are covered in blossoms. I have a recipe for stuffing and then frying zucchini blossoms, but I haven't been brave enough to try it. You have to pick the blossoms before they open, and I'm never quick enough either.
The lighter pink echinacea are blooming now.
This one has a sleepy bumble bee on it. One of our dinner guests told me you can pet them when they're in this phase. I haven't tried.
And its brighter pink neighbor is still blooming away.
As for yesterday's activities, it was way too hot a day to be making pie crust. Fortunately, this was a one crust pie, and so it didn't matter that I had to smoosh it together in a couple of places. It got very soft as I was rolling it out, and surprisingly quickly. Nevertheless, it baked into a gorgeous pie. I always worry I'll find the filling not set when I cut into it, but this one was perfect, and a good choice for a hot summer day.
Smitty is down cooling his furs on the back deck as I'm writing this. He's waiting for me to come out and do the watering.
That will happen soon enough. For now, I'm going to do some slow stitching. Aside from watering, today is going to be an NBS day (Nothing But Sewing). And high time. I'm looking forward to a quiet day.
8 comments:
LOVE YOUR POSTS.. FOOD FLOWERS, FELINES AND QUILT MAKING! SMITTY IS JUST SO GORGEOUS!
Enjoy your relaxing day sewing!
What kind of pie was it? It looked good.
I am probably repeating myself, but I ate stuffed zucchini blossoms on my one big trip out of county to Italy. They were good, in the way that anything stuffed and fried is good, but what I liked most is that there was something so indulgently elegant about the idea. I have a recipe but I haven't tried it yet either.
Awwwwww poor Smitty. I bet that wasn't overly pleasant and assume there were a few meows hoping for a rescue that were unanswered. Poor baby.
You'll love this story; after seeing all your tomatoes, it reminded me for some reason of my very first garden after moving out of the house I was raised in and out on my own. My Mom was an amazing gardener and taught me all the important things like fertilizing ad planting etc. I was so proud of myself after going to buy the plants and/or seed and then planting the garden. I don't know how, after all my bragging to her, how she didn't laugh. She had to know I would soon regret my choices, which I did. I planted about 10 cherry tomato plants. I'm sure you can totally appreciate what I had to deal with when they all were turning red all at the same time. Even more was how well they grew that year. I planted my garden over top of the septic tank where I'm guessing the ground was quite fertile already and with the help of all the feertilzer I added to it, that year I had a forest of cherry tomato plants. I kid you not, they grew to a height taller than my 5'6" body stood. I'd never seen them that tall. Yea, I had a "few" cherry tomatoes that year. LOL
Because I just wrote so much above, I'll quickly shorten my next comment. Your pie had quite the impressive amount of meringue on it. Very nice! That's how I always make my Lemon Meringue Pies too. My first, however looked as impressive as yours and when it was cut......well, let's just say it was a wonderful pie/shake. It tasted great, but the lemon part was ummmmm drinkable.
Such gorgeous flowers. We've discovered that the sun flowers don't seem to mind our heat and bright sun. Most other flowers tend to wither in our harsh summers. Hope you got in a lot of stitching yesterday (and that Smitty has forgiven you for being locked in the club house).
That cherry tomato plant is positively dripping with tomatoes! I don't think I've ever seen one that prolific. I have trouble with Gerbera daisies too. This year, one of the workers at the nursery advised me to keep the soil just a tad below where the leaves shoot out of the root (if that makes sense) and then to thin out the leaves at the base a bit from time to time to allow the sun to get in. I wouldn't say it's been an incredible difference, but it is still alive and still blooming. I love the plants, but they sure seem to be finicky. Poor Smitty. He does look a bit put out. :-)
Smitty is just such a handsome guy, I never tire of seeing his photos. :)
Even if it IS a tomato plant, the Cherry Tomatoes look very cool hanging all around the pot. I can really see the "ring of fire" this time in the sunflower! Nice!
Hmmm, I'm not sure I would try to pet a bumble bee, sleepy or not!
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