Big City Summer Fun

This summer Colin and I had a fun city day with my cousin Molly and his sister Brittany.  Molly had an big city internship and I wanted to visit her when she was 2 hours away since at school she is much much further! (Molly, you are too far away!)

 

 

 

Colin's sister picked a fun place for lunch, although I did not get any photos while we were at lunch.  The place had fun outdoor seating, but sadly it was a bit too hot that day for comfortable outdoor dining! Too bad, there were party lights!!!

 

 

 

Then I dragged everyone to a architectural salvage store that wasn't all that close. (Sorry guys!)  I enjoyed the place, but it wasn't that big and wasn't really worth the drive.

But I did get some fun pictures there.

 

 

 

A whole cart of old watering cans!!!!! Yes Please!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we checked out another area of the city, and a store that had these fun metal letters.  I wanted to bring one home, but I didn't.  Perhaps another trip will require the purchase of a metal letter!

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Lime Lights! You shine even in the big city!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mums

In the spirit of the season I got some mums!!!

Remember from spring to summer...well from summer to fall!  The summer annuals were D-U-N and needed to be thrown out.

 

The back stoop came out quite nice.... ...I am really loving that little cabbage. I kept one herb pot since it still had some life in it. All we need now is a pumpkin!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As for the front, that is a differerent story....I knew they wouldn't be amazing, since I didn't want to spend the money to make them amazing, but I figured they would be ok...

At first glance, not so bad, certainly an improvement from something that is dead...

 

But look at little closer and I have lived up to the title of my blog....

They are way too small and one of them broke while I was planting it!!!! So sad! Colin said no one was going to walk by and say, "that ladies mums are undersized" but I said someone might!!! Perhaps he said it to make sure I didn't go out and buy more! : )

 

Just keeping it real around here! At least you can't really tell from the street since all you see is a pop of bright yellow so it will just have to do!

I am feeling the fall...I am ready for the fall...I am excited for the fall....  : )

I stopped at a farm stand on my way home yesterday for some mini pumpkins and gourds to put around the house.  Then I stopped at a garden center for some mums.  I didn't go crazy, I just got 4 small ones, which I am looking forward to planting this weekend since the dead brown summer annuals aren't looking that great in my pots! HA!  That 2 weeks of tropical heat we had pretty much did in my containers!

At the garden center they had these bins of awesome pale pumpkins/gourd things.  They were so fabulous.  I only got quick pictures with my phone, but I still wanted to share.  I wanted to buy as many as I could carry and put them everywhere!!! 

Please enjoy!  More fall to come!

A few more Plants

Earlier this summer we planted most of the space between the house and the new patio.   The area around the lounge patio was fully planted, but the area around the eating patio had a few voids that needed to get filled in.  Before our big summer parties, we decided it was time to fill those voids!

So we headed back to the nursery to get 4-5 perennials to fill in those spaces.  I had some thoughts in mind, but nothing concrete.  So we just wandered around a while until we filled our cart with some nice plants to fill in the bare spaces.  I am usually more a planner when it comes to planting, but we decided to wing this trip! whoa!

I couldn't find the mini Hosta I wanted, so we went with a similar one for the one side.  For the other side we went with a Pink Astilbe, a Zing Rose, and Coral Bell.  There were a variety of Coral Bells and Colin picked "Stainless Steel" which has a nice gray tone to it.  I tried to get plants that had contrast in their foliage so there was some interest even when they aren't blooming.

I just went outside to take real after pics, but the sun wasn't cooperating, so Ill post some more another time. : )

There are still plenty of areas that need new plants, but it is nice that all the spaces between the house and patio are filled in.

Herb Crusted Cod with Cauliflower Mash

I feel like I make the same 5 dinners over and over again, so when I noticed this recipe in my newest Better Homes and Gardens, I was excited to give it a try.  I wouldn't say it was great, but it was good and a nice change of pace.  (And I took time to take pictures while cooking so I am going to blog about it!)

Herb Crusted Cod with Cauliflower Mash

Better Homes and Gardens Sept 2013

Ingredients:

4.5 cups cauliflower florets, baby gold potatoes, and/or peeled carrots, coarsely chopped

I did all 3

2 oz. semisoft cheese with garlic and herbs

found in fancy cheese section in the deli

4 skinless, boneless cod fillets (about 1.25 lbs)

1 egg

2/3 panko breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. snipped fresh dill weed

1 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

1. Place vegetables in a Dutch Oven.  Add .5 tsp salt and enough water to cover.  Cover and bring to boiling.  Reduce heat to medium. Cook, covered, 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.  Drain vegetables, reserving some of the cooking water.  Using a potato masher, mash vegetables to desired consistency.  Stir in cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Cover and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 300.  Rinse fish and pat dry with paper towels.  Cut fish into 8 equal pieces.  In a shallow dish beat egg.  In another shallow dish combine breadcrumbs, dill and .5 tsp salt and pepper.  Dip fish pieces into egg, then into bread crumb mixture.  Set aside.

3. In a large skillet heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add half the fish.  Cook 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until fish is golden brown and flakes easily with a fork.  Drain on paper towels.  Keep warm in preheated oven while frying remaining fish.  Serve with cauliflower mash.  Makes 4 servings.

My fish started browning way before it was getting cooked through, so I browned it on both sides and then put it in the oven to finish cooking.

Colin pointed out I probably didn't have enough oil, and what I was doing was more if a saute, rather  than frying....This is why I need some real cooking lessons!!! HA! BUT I thought a quick fry then bake, was a nice compromise since you still had a bit of that naughty fried flavor without knowing it was sitting in tons of oil the whole time it was cooking!

The cod I got was pretty expensive, I got it at the local fish market, but it was yummy and fresh. I bought more than needed, so when I make this again, I'll just get enough for about 2 servings and not have leftovers.

I am not sure I loved the flavor of the herb cheese (same flavor I am not sure I loved with my Mac and Cheese Bites) but I did like the idea of half potatoes and half veggies in one mash since you get the feeling of mashed potatoes but know you are also getting some veggies in!  I used to be so good at sneaking veggies in, I need to get back to that!

 

July 4th Pickin'

Colin and I both took a few days off around July 4th - a mini staycation if you will!  One of the things we did was head out for a yummy breakfast and try to hunt down some good antiques!  We didn't find too much to take home, but we did have quite the nice day.

 

 

Fuel for our treasure seeking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This might be one of my most favorite pictures ever!

 

 

 

 

I said we didn't take much home, but I did take something home.  I saw this ice bucket and decided it was perfect to keep a bottle of wine chilled on the patio and brought it home.  I have not tried it out yet if anyone wants to come over for some white wine and girl talk. : )

 

Egg Prints

So as much as we got done filling and decorating our empty front room, it still needs a few more things.  And one of those things is art.  And one of the art pieces I wanted in the room was egg prints. See examples below.

 

 source

 

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You can get actual old pages from books or reproductions.  I didn't have strong feelings one way or the other, but the frames I had in mind didn't fit the old pages, and reproductions are cheaper...so a decision was made! ha!  (I had bought nice frames a while ago from Pier1 that fit an 8x10 print, that had a nice burlap like mat and distressed white frame.)
 

 

I browsed Etsy, my go to, for quite some time picking the right ones. I found these and decided to take the plunge!

Bird Print 1

Bird Print 2

 

I was worried about the digital download but I figured for just a few dollars it was worth trying.  And Success! So don't turn away from the digital downloads kids!!! : )

 

I printed them at Kinkos, but the dimensions weren't working, so I messed with them in photoshop a bit, went to Kinkos again, still not right.....SO I decided to steal company resources and print them at work so I could keep tweaking in photoshop and not have to make a drive in between each try!

 

I am very happy with them, so classy if I do say so myself!
 

 

Speaking of Digital Downloads, I also considered getting these.  If you are in the market for cheap art in general, check out all the other fun stuff this vendor has.

 

One lingering question....Did I hang them too high??????

 

 

haha I know art should be eye level, so in that respect they are too high, BUT they are centered nicely on the portion of the wall between the ceiling and the start of the angle of the stairs.  Please weigh in...they are up with command strips so they can easily be brought down a bit....oh "failed attempts at being fabulous", I try!!! : )

 

(P.S. Don't remind Colin that these get me one step closer to being the crazy bird lady!)