garden update #3819

um HOLY SHIT things are actually growing! some of my tomato plants have been nibbled on though. i doubt by bunnies. i have not seen one singular live outdoor rabbit since moving to port jeff. i think it was kitties. that then probably barfed tomato leaves in the yard somewhere. but i digress.

switched out the trellis for the beans [green, purple, and soy] instead of the tomatoes. i read that either should do well on a trellis but since the beans are much faster growing [from seed even!] i figured they needed the height. i also planted zucchinis that may or may not make it and some itty bitty eggplants next to my yellowing ghost eggplant-plant from a nursery.

umm my sad peppers are still sitting there... with cucumbers planted adjacent.

the flower bed with transplanted asters attempting to grow up a support

lavender

flat leaf parsley

my herbs are doing surprisingly well. atleast the 4 pots that have holes in them. i noticed the half pot that is designed to sit against an inside window [key being inside] doesn't have any drainage holes and a such...with all the rain we get here my basils were literally floating in sludge. unplesant to say the least. but i added more soil on top and moved the pot onto the porch where it would be protected. problem is, now the pot is protected from the sun too. oops.

pink chocolate cake

well not exactly. chocolate cake with pink frosting and sugar. but it sounds better the other way right?

i abhor the word "moist" but the cake is damn good. and i cant make cakes from scratch. not enough patience and inability to measure small quantities accurately. due to impatience.

the puffy cake [before it fell OF COURSE]

the little uneven edgy bits that i ate and my frosting experiments

dun dunnnn final product! since the frosting [cream cheese] is so effing sweet i used as little as possible to even out the middle layer and just to decorate the top

i am definitely still a cook not a baker... but this is my first successful cake probably ever. i can bake cookies, brownies, and breads, but cakes. damn them usually.

• dress: victoria's secret clearance
• belt: pac sun [2+ years ago]
• kitchen decor: 1970's
  

memorial day cookout

our spread. minus the various types of meat cooked [chicken sausage, turkey burger, and bison burger.. no beef and no sketchy hot dogs] cos if that shit sits out in the sun...food poisoning ensues. but tomato avocado corn salad? delish. and smores.

romaine lettuce on charcoal smells like ganja. for real.

upside fresca is artsy and peachy

leah found a 4 leaf clover!

happy cat

i looked into my coffee cup, and what, pray did i see?
but a week old dirty happy cat, staring back at me!


turns out i should atleast rinse my coffee mug before a 3 day weekend...

another probably never to be finished quilt

using the same fabric i bought for this attempt at a quilt... i have started yet another project. for my best friend's very late and possible 2010 birthday present. i am using 9 fat quarters and either appliqueing onto them or making some other quilted thing in the same dimensions.

the blue bike tires didnt come out quite like i intended... but um too bad. they are sort of recognizable. right?


and a bike detail. the wheels are puffy with a layer of batting underneath and the bike frame is temporarily glued on using some ridiculously expensive spray adhesive [like this one only not on sale] from michael's and then zig-zagged on. all based on something i hand drew from a DOT sign... and then transferred to paperboard that i pulled out of the recycling bin. not too shabby if i do say so myself.

now to finish the other 8 rectangles...

in other news, i read the manual to my mom's hand-me-down husqvarna serger, got it threaded correctly, and working! cos i am awesome. and know how to read. ish.

crumbs

leah and i happened upon a crumbs bake shop in huntington. really...we spotted people eating cupcakes out the window of a starbucks where we were using the bathroom and then wandered down the street until we found the bakery.

leah got a chocolate blackout. chocolate cupcake with chocolate frosting and chocolate ganache filling

i got a reeses cupcake with peanut butter frosting.

closeup of reeses

the frosting goes into the middle for ...extra frosting? it looks kind of angry. perhaps cos i cut it in half. the cake was delish but the frosting was kind of sickeningly sweet. like most frosting. but the little chocolate peanut edges were a nice touch. and crunchy... the end.

swedish meatballs

dear ikea:

back in the day you used to offer $.50 frozen yogurt cones and delicious swedish meatballs with fluffy mashed potatoes, doused in a light but creamy gravy, with a side of lingonberry jam and sometimes a steamed vegetable. i assume, due to the economy, you have changed the price of a froyo [$1] and the quality of lunchstuffs. i for one am very saddened to see this change.

my meatballs were lumpy, dry, and half sized. all things which conjure rather bad images when combined with the word balls. further, the sauce was watered down and the potatoes seemed to be leftovers from breakfast that had been sauteed in lard and then smushed to within an inch of their sad, sad, lives. long gone are the steamed veggies and the advertised double chocolate torte. replaced with a packaged chocolate wafter and an almond something.

fortunatly, your knack for dressing up a small space in schmancy swedish fabrics and sturdy but cheap furniture keeps me coming back. but perhaps, alas, gone are the days of a delicious ikea repas.

thank god for singoalla cookies.

more plants! and random closeups

herbies

some of my tomatoes with peppers in the background

beginning of my flowers

my new crop of seedlings that will soon wither and die for some unknown reason

and now for the day's random closeups: [each with a short poem]

shiny diner cheesecake
oh how i love you so
i need someone to please bake
me 4 or 5 to go


electric ricepot
brown rice boils everywhere
perfect cook each time



orange slices cut in bits
add to chicken cutlet schnitz[el]
boil sauce until its thick
serve while hot and eat up quick


only one berry is colored so sad
and out on the counter it soon does go bad
delish on ice cream or yogurt or plain
these berries are picked by bears up in maine...