Life With The Crew

"T" for Two - Teasel and Thistle

These two plants are very common in our area - teasel and thistle.  They are found in fields, on the side of the road, in parks with unmowed grassy areas.  Teasel is native to Europe and was introduced to the United States in the 1800's.  There are native and non-native varieties of thistle.  I love the sharp texture and shape of both of them, so different from most flowers.  The insects love them also, especially the purple thistle.

Teasel.

Thistle.

Same view, three different images - purple thistle, a common wildflower, teasel.

 

Scavenger Hunt - July

This is my second month participating in the photo scavenger hunt that is run by Green Thumb over at Made With Love.  I really enjoy it!  This is what I found.

C is for...

Corduroy (and chubby fingers)

 

9pm

The little babe is finally in bed, the dogs are settled down, the dishes are done, and I can sit and work on some blogging.

 

Stem

Shasta daisies.

 

Pool

I discovered that there is a secret garden on the local university campus and that there is a duck pond (or pool).  There must have been about 50 ducks there, including this mom with ducklings, hanging out in the baby end of the pool.

 

Dough

I made sandwich rolls for our 4th of July dinner.  They rose gloriously!  I was quite the proud baker.

 

Liquid

I'm taking some artistic license with this clue.  I saw these water droplets when I was photographing the morning light and thought that this was liquid in a unique form.

 

Lever

I looked up the definition of lever to make sure I was photographing the correct thing.  According to Google: "a rigid bar resting on a pivot, used to help move a heavy or firmly fixed load with one end when pressure is applied to the other."  My husband said that a seesaw fit the definition, so we stopped at one of the local parks during our Sunday morning run.  Thanks to my husband for playing along.  I'm sure being pictured on a seesaw for all the world to see is not every man's dream.  I happen to have one of the special ones.

 

On the wall

Hanging out at the local lake/lily pad covered pond.

 

Together

On one of our morning outings on the university campus, we saw both the mother duck with teenage ducklings and then the mother with the younger babies, both trying to keep their flock together.

 

In your bag

This is what was in my knitting bag.  An issue of Taproot with a hat pattern in it that I was making out of Malabrigo Rios yarn.

 

Your view of today

Through my lens.

 

Sweet

Afternoon snack - strawberry milkshake made with berries that I picked that morning.

 

Life With The Crew Intros: Callie

Today I am going to introduce you to our oldest dog, Callie, because she might not be with us much longer.  At least once a day I do a double take and look really hard to see if she is still breathing.  She is an old girl who is moving pretty slowly.

 You'll notice in the photo below that Callie is missing part of her right ear.  About a year and a half ago, right when the little babe was first born, I was sitting on the sofa nursing and eating a bagel at the same time.  Apparently one of our other Corgis had laid claim to the bagel and thought that Callie, who was totally oblivious to it, had gotten too close.  She launched herself onto Callie and as I attempted to pull her away, she latched onto Callie's ear and actually bit off the tip of it.  There it was, a bloody part of an ear, just lying on the floor while the little babe laid on the sofa.  I was too busy trying to stop the remaining part of the ear from bleeding to deal with the detached appendage, so I did what any stressed new Mom would do - left the ear on the floor and called for back-up.  Luckily my husband could run home from work to help.

To hear the recording, click HERE.  If it does not start playing right away, click the orange circle with the triangle in it.

For information on adopting a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, here are several links.

Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of the Potomac

CorgiAid - love this group!  Several years ago when I was in dog rescue mode (pre-little babe), I checked this website probably once a week.  

Recipe for the Weekend - Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars

Several weeks ago I was looking for an easy dessert recipe to throw together while the little babe was getting ready for bed.  I only had about 20 minutes, so needed something super simple.  I was out of cocoa, so I couldn't make brownies or chocolate cake.  I didn't want to make plain chocolate chip cookies.  I found a recipe for some blondie bars in one of my cookbooks, but wanted to mix it up a bit.  I normally add nuts to most things that I bake, trying to make them a bit healthier.  I also thought I'd add a banana to this, based on the Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey Ice Cream flavor.  So here is the Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Blondie Bar recipe.  I'd like to just call them Chunky Monkey Bars, but that is probably breaking some trademark rule or something.

Banana Nut Chocolate Chip Blondie Bars

1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.

2.  Melt 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick).  Grease 8" square pan with butter wrapper.  (I always feel so frugal when I do this - I used to grease my pans with olive oil and just throw out the wrapper.)

3.  Combine 1 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of maple syrup, and melted butter in large mixing bowl.

4.  Add 2 large eggs.  

5.  Stir in 2 cups of flour, 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed (optional), and 1 teaspoon of salt.

6.  Add 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

7.  For the banana, make sure it is pretty soft, otherwise you'll have hard banana bits in your blondie - not the best.  If it is soft, then it will sort of mash up into the batter, but still have a little texture.  Holding the banana upright, I make two perpendicular cuts in it so that when I slice it in 1/4" slices, the slice will be in quarters.  Sounds confusing, but I like that size better than slices.  You can cut your banana however you want, just so the pieces are not too big (a little bit bigger than a chocolate chip).  Incorporate into the batter.

8.  Spread into greased pan.  Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Quick, simple, and even a bit healthy!

 

 

 

What I'm Knitting Now...

I haven't had a lot of time for knitting lately, so I've been slowly working on the same projects for about a month now.  I haven't been too upset about it because I know I'll have more time on our vacation - 10 hours in the car as a backseat passenger gives me a lot of time to knit.

I've started planning for Fall already, since the little babe will have outgrown most of her clothes from last year.  I remembered this hat pattern in one of the older issues of Taproot magazine.  I had a small ball of Malabrigo Rios left over from a sweater that I knitted for the little babe and decided that it would work perfectly.  Soft, bright, and warm.

I didn't use a stitch marker when I first started it simply because I was too lazy to get up off my butt.  So it serves me right that I got myself into trouble.  Between knitting in the car for a couple minutes at a time and trying to knit in bed with the little babe, I wasn't counting my stitches correctly and the seam between the last stitch and first stitch was all funky and out of whack.  I was going to let it go, because since it is just for a little babe, does it really matter?  But I decided that it does, that I could make it correctly, and so started over.  I am glad I did because it really looks much better.

I also have a sweater started for the little babe.  Warm and practical, using natural colored wool - I think it is from Jacob sheep.  It is my first real sweater - the other two have been short sleeved cardigans.  Even though she'll be 2 years old soon, I am making the 18 month old size.  I started with the 24 month one, but it looked huge when I held it up to her.  So hopefully this does fit when it is complete.  The pattern is a bit funny, but I think I can handle it.  You start knitting at the front bottom left corner and end with the back bottom right corner.  I had to figure out how to do a live cast on when I got to the first arm and then how to "turn piece".  Those two little words just got me all confused.  I managed to figure it out, but then again, was trying to knit with the little babe around, and got things messed up.  I decided to stop working on it until vacation.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to work on it when there are other people around to distract the little babe.

Hope you've been making more knitting progress than I have!

Reconnecting With Nature - Solitary and Native Bees

I am joining Chrisy at Living A Good North Coast Life for her "Reconnecting With Nature" series.  As we bloggers sit around connected to our computers, it is a great way to force us to step outside and maybe notice something new in the natural world or just appreciate something that we see every day.  Read more about the Reconnect with Nature - one photograph at a time idea here.

One of our local parks has a large garden that is cared for by the local Master Gardener's group.  It has been there for several years, mainly just a large area filled with native plants that they let grow naturally, without a lot of maintenance.  This year I have noticed that they have been doing a lot of work to develop areas into different showcase gardens.  There is a shady woodland area and several pollinator friendly gardens.  They have planted bee balm, echinacea, thyme, mint, and other plants and shrubs that I couldn't identify.  They have also installed several features specifically for encouraging pollinator habitation.

These piles of sticks, reeds, and bark will offer homes for wild and native bees and butterflies.  Along with the common honey bee (which is not so common any more), there are about 20,000 known species of bees in the world, 3500 in the United States.  A lot of these bees are better than honey bees at providing pollination, so they are very important!  This article by Joel Gardner provides a lot of interesting information on native and wild bees, including instructions for making your own bee habitats.

Bee on thyme.

I wondered if the rough pieces of bark were for butterflies and after doing a little bit of internet research, discovered that they are.  Apparently those pretty butterfly boxes that you see in gardens are mainly for human enjoyment instead of providing butterfly habitat.  I found this article on the Georgia Department of Natural Resources website and it cites a study done by the Entemology Department at Penn State University - which is where I am located - that says that 40 butterfly boxes remained uninhabited by butterflies for two years.  The bark shown in the pollinator "hotel" above is a better choice for providing butterfly habitat.

Bee Balm, with the infamous horses in the background that my little babe is afraid of.

I don't know what this plant with white flowers is, but it had insects all over it.

This patch of red bee balm was just buzzing with bees.

Also at the garden was a collection of about 10 wine and beer bottles grouped in a circle.  Their necks were cut off, they were turned upside and stuck in the ground so that just 3-4 inches of the bottoms were exposed.  I think that this was to provide a drinking area for butterflies and other small insects.  The indentations on the bottom of the glass would provide a shallow drinking area when filled with water.  I neglected to take a photo of this.  

I shared this post on The Self Sufficient HomeAcre for the HomeAcre Hop.

Hump Day Give-A-Way 7.23.14

 

Hump Day Give-A-Way is taking a summer vacation this week.  See you in two weeks!  

Guest Post Today - Good North Coast Life

While I am on vacation, I wanted to have my blogging friend from Down Under tell you a little bit about what she does.  Chrisy lives in New South Wales in Australia and blogs at Living A Good North Coast Life.  I love learning about the interesting animals and plants that they have down there.  It makes Pennsylvania look pretty tame!  So here's Chrisy!

~~~~~

When Katie asked if l was interested in doing a guest post for her blog, l jumped at the chance.  I’m a big fan of Katie’s and have been following her blog almost since she started.  Amongst other things we share a love of animals, in fact one of the first things l loved about Katie’s blog was her line that she lives in a house with too much fur! Oh how l could relate, a woman after my own heart.

 Apart from our domestic pets, our house is often home to a range of native animals that have either been injured or orphaned.  We’re licensed wildlife rehabilitators, and we live down under in Australia.  Katie asked whether l’d like to share a story about one of the animals we have in care, and l thought maybe l’d share with you a rescue that happened yesterday.

 Here where we live, in the sub-tropics of Australia, wallabies are much more common than kangaroos.  Wallabies are very similar to kangaroos, just a bit smaller in size, and our area is home to two species the swamp wallaby and the red-neck wallaby.  

Every winter our local wallabies face a food shortage.  During summer, grass is plentiful and lush, but during winter the cooler temperatures make grass grow at a much slower rate.  This forces wallabies to travel further afield in order to find sufficient food, often putting them in danger along the way. 

 During winter, wallabies are drawn to the roadside to feed on the grass which grows there.  Understandably, the roadside is an extremely dangerous place for wallabies, if they jump the wrong way it’s highly likely they’ll be hit by a passing motor vehicle. 

 Unfortunately this was the case for a female red-necked wallaby that was hit by a car just a few kilometres away from our home.  While the wallaby died, inside her pouch a young joey survived the collision completely unharmed.  

After removing the joey from its dead mothers pouch, it was quickly transported to another volunteer who specialises in raising young joeys.  It’s surprising just how many joeys survive collisions with motor vehicles protected safely within their mothers pouch.

 Wallabies are most active at dusk and dawn, so we asked people who are driving on rural roads during these times, to be aware that wallabies may be feeding nearby.  As a precaution, we encourage people to slow down through known trouble spots or where wallabies can be obviously seen feeding.  If people do accidentally hit a wallaby, and if it is safe to, we encourage them to stop and check whether the animal needs assistance and check whether there is a joey in its pouch.

 All joeys taken into care are hand raised by experienced carers with other joeys of the same age and species.  When old enough they are gradually reintroduced to the wild, through a supported ‘soft’ release at a location near where they were found. 

 That’s a pretty typical occurrence at our house.  Animals being rescued, being cared for and then eventually released back in to the wild, all whilst we go about normal lives that includes work and school. 

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this slice of life in Australia.  You can read more about our adventures on my blog Good North Coast Life www.goodnorthcoastlife.blogspot.com.au

Just Some Pretty Posies

The little babe and I made another visit to the public gardens at our local park.  It was a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning and I was surprised that no one was working there.  Most of the plots looked great - tomatoes, beans, cabbage, corn, garlic, peppers - and lots of pretty flowers.  There are no bee hives at the gardens, but it was buzzing with insects of all sorts.  It would be nice if it was established as a chemical free garden, but I looked at the rules on-line and it is not stated as such.  The scene was just too pretty not to share.

Love these red chairs!  The scene was just like something out of a country gardening magazine.

At first glance I thought these were carnations, but then realized they were a ruffled poppy flower.

Pretty blue flowers.

Chamomile.

Corn - I didn't see any ears yet.  The saying around here is, "Knee high by the Fourth of July".

Buzzing bees.

Hope these helped to brighten your day!

 

Recipe for the Weekend - Super Simple Summer Sandwich

Okay folks, here it is.  A totally simple sandwich that is perfect for picnics.  The combination of ingredients is a tried and true favorite, but I just love how pretty the sandwiches looked and wanted to share it!

1.  Start with the bread of your choice.  I used an organic whole wheat baguette and also homemade sandwich rolls (not pictured).

2.  Spread basil pesto onto the inside of both the top and bottom pieces of bread.  You earn major points for making your own pesto, but I am addicted to a local store's pesto (for anybody in the Northeast - it is Wegman's).  

3.  Put several slices of whole milk mozzarella and slices of pretty heirloom tomatoes on the bread.  The more colorful the tomatoes, the better!  And if you grew them yourself, the best!

4.  Close bread, smash together, and enjoy!