Raspberries from our garden

I haven't had the time to grow vegetables in a garden for at least the last four years. I picked that number because that's how long it's been since I took a job with a long commute...But that job is with a ministry, and I really love the work. So, the lack of fresh veggies from my own garden is a sacrifice for a very worthwhile cause.

So, this summer, instead of tending my own garden, I've taken to making regular trips to our local farmers market. But one thing that my farmers market hasn't had is, thankfully, the one edible (beyond herbs) that we can eat from our garden. We didn't have many, but we did have raspberries this year.

This photo shows about one half of our 2008 raspberry "harvest". The plants are only two years old, so hopefully we'll have more in years to come. The plants were a gift from my husband's cousin, who is married to a botanist, so everything she gives me from her garden grows really well in this area. We enjoyed raspberries on ice cream one time, and then one time we added them to a fruit salad. They were wonderful! I hope there will be more in 2009! :-)

The gate to our future Asian-stye garden

My husband has been working a lot in our backyard, as of late. Most impressively, he built this beautiful Asian-style garden gate. It serves as the opening in a new fence that he installed between the part of our backyard that our schnauzer, Charlie, considers his domain, and the part that, Lord willing, we will start to develop into a Japanese-style garden next year.

At this point, I'm just starting the research stage of trying to determine what to plant. We're looking at mainly perennials in this garden, so they have to be hardy to Zone 3. And because of all of the lovely tall trees in our yard and in the neighboring yards, they must also be shade tolerant.

On the sunnier side of this fence, we planted eight Miss Kim lilacs, which should only grow to between 4 and 6 feet. That will be enough to eventually cover the fence, and we probably plant lilacs or other bushes on the Asian side of the fence as well...Again, that's a project for another year.

We're doing this on our own time with our own labor, and we're working hard to keep it all within our limited budget. The wood chips that you see in the background of this photo were all free for the hauling during our city's annual clean-up day in June. We hauled seven trailer loads of wood chips to our yard and spent all morning and most of an afternoon one Saturday spreading them around. We'll move them around a bit more when we get ready to start planting in 2009.

The little lantern and dry pond that you see in this other photo was my husband's first effort toward our Asian-style backyard getaway. We live in a low-lying area and had to install a waterproofing system in our basement, which includes a pump that drains into the south side of our backyard. So, rather than have a swampy place to deal with, my Sweetie dug a little bone-shaped "pond" and lined it with river rock. Then he added the little stone lantern and the ferns that you see here. We named this little "pond" in honor of our dog, calling it "Little Bone Lake."

Pinwheel Coasters and a New "Garden" Blouse

While we're on the theme of gardening, I've been doing some garden-inspired sewing as well.

I saw a post on another blog with a tutorial on making pinwheel coasters, but I knew that I could make them much faster and easier using a strip-piecing method. I cut a few 3-inch wide strips of two different colors of calico and then cut 3-inch squares from the strips. Then I paired together one square of each color and sewed them together on the diagonal. I trimmed at a diagonal leaving a 1/4-inch seam allowance, and then ironed them flat. Then, taking four of these bi-color squares, I sewed them into pinwheel shapes. With a solid square for backing and a square of low-loft poly batting, I had a set of six pinwheel coasters in just a couple of hours. I think they turned out really sweet, and it was fun to tie them together for a gift for my husband's aunt.

Then, I made myself a new blouse with a garden theme. I had purchased this calico quilting fabric several years ago, but I had never figured out what I would be doing with it...I used to buy fabric all the time without a real plan for how to use it. These days I don't do that. Instead, I'm trying to use what I have on hand, only buying new fabric when there is a specific need that my fabric stash can't fulfill. I consider my stash to be a blessing, but it would be better to only buy when there's an actual need.

Anyway, this was an easy pattern, and it's been a fun blouse to wear with shorts and capri pants. Now, I'm working on another blouse, one that is sleeveless that I hope will work in the fall as well as the summer time. It's another calico from my stash, but the pattern is paisley in beige, brown, and off-white. I'm think that it should work well in the fall with my beige cardigan for warmth.

Planter hangers for our front deck

My husband is always doing thoughtful things to make our home even more home-y. This summer, he added shepherd's crooks to our front deck so that I can hang hanging plants.

Even though life has been pretty stressful now for the past four months because of a project at work, every time I see the front of our house, it makes me smile. I am so grateful to the Lord for His gift of a thoughtful, creative, and talented spouse. I really don't know what I would do without him.

Salty the Sea Dog

We finally made time last night after work to take our canoe out to the lake across the road from our house. It took less than five minutes to drive the trailer with the canoe to the boat launch, and less then 10 minutes to unload the boat, drive the car and trailer back to the parking area, and then walk back down to the boat. So we were in the lake in less than 15 minutes...Why haven't we done this before? Probably because we had to make time in our busy schedules to do it.

Anyway, it was so worth the time. We canoed for about an hour and a half. We probably paddled two or three miles round trip around "our" little lake. We didn't see all of it, but we did see enough to know that we want to go back.

I didn't bring the digital camera because I was nervous about it ending up in the lake. But my husband made a good suggestion for bringing it more safely next time. I'm going to pack it up in two layers of ziplock bags and keep it in a tummy pack when I'm not using it.

So, instead of posting photos of the beautiful blue herons that we saw, or any of the lovely patched of water lilies in various stages of bloom, I have a photo that I took before we left the house. This is Charlie, our schnauzer, also known as "Salty the Sea Dog" when we take him out in a boat. And he has his own little life preserver to wear now, thanks to a sale at Drs. Fosters and Smith. Sure, most dogs can swim, but this makes my husband and I feel better about taking Charlie with us in the canoe. He isn't thrilled to be wearing it, but he does look really cute. And after he's had it on for a few minutes, he seems to forget about it and just enjoy being able to come along with us.

Late-summer flowers in our garden

I can't believe it's been so long again since I last posted on this blog site. Where is the summer going? And why is it going so quickly?

Actually, I know the reason it's going so quickly. It's become I've been so consumed with my work for the past four months. But I was finally able to upload our latest publishing project to the printer last Friday night, and today I'm really thankful to have a comp day to use for rest.

I slept late this morning, baked oatmeal bread and made fresh tomato soup for a simple lunch for the two of us, and I've been uploading digital photos and managing files on our home computer for the last couple of hours. I'm also doing laundry, and I plan to reconcile our checking account (which hasn't been done in ages), and back up all of our computer files on the external hard drive before leaving this desk in our kitchen.

Later today, we're planning to take our canoe out to the lake across the road from our house, and I also promised my husband that I would help him with some yardwork before the day's end...I love my work for the ministry, but it is so nice to have a little time off. So I'm not going to write much today, but I thought it would be good to add a few new photos since I have all these lovely images of our late-summer flowers to share with you. Despite my lack of time to give them much attention this summer, this has been the most colorful year I can remember in terms of flowers in our backyard garden.

My Uncle's Chicken Enchilada Recipe

This recipe always makes me think of my dear Uncle Bruce, who passed away last year. He was such a blessing to our family. He was a true warrior and example of a life lived for Christ.

This recipe was one that he made for us at least a couple of times when we were in South Dakota and stopped by his house in Brookings to visit him and my Aunt Marian. It's definitely comfort food.

Ingredients:
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup skim milk
1 cup light sour cream
1 small can chopped green chilis
4 chicken breasts, cooked and finely chopped
4 green onions
2 oz. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
8 oz. shredded pepper jack cheese
10-20 medium flour tortillas

Heat soup, milk, sour cream, and chili peppers in a small saucepan. Mix chicken, green onions, and one-half of each cheese in a large bowl, and then distribute this mixture among the tortillas, rolling each tortilla and placing it into a prepared 9x13 baking pan. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and pour heated sauce mixture over all. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly. Serve with chopped lettuce and salsa.

Another New Dress

This photo is another one that has been waiting in line for posting. I finished this dress in time for our niece's high school graduation over Memorial Day weekend, and I've been enjoying wearing it since then to church.

It was a pattern I made years ago in a solid blue linen-type fabric. The fabric I used this time was a calico print. It was so much fun to make, and I'm anxious to have more time in the sewing room again soon.

I cut out two new summer blouses over Father's Day weekend during an hour or two while my husband was helping my father put his dock into the lake. I had hoped to have them sewn and ready to wear by now, but work at the ministry and outdoor projects at home have cut into my sewing room time for the last few weeks. Maybe over Independence Day weekend I can steal away for an hour or two in the sewing room...