Saturday Meanderings

Happy 1st Saturday in May! We are experiencing the absolute best weather~cool mornings and days in the low 70s. All the windows are open and the birds are singing and life is good. As I write this I am home alone, which is rather rare and I am enjoying the quiet and stillness of the morning. Let’s get started chatting about all good things this week.

A Late Birthday Celebration

Now for the second year, my dear friend, Christine, takes me to the English Rose Tea Room to celebrate my birthday. If you live in the area, you MUST go to this very special place. You can choose to dine out on the patio or inside the very girly, rose-filled tea room.

In addition to high tea (with those lovely small sandwiches), they have daily specials. We order the most delicious watermelon, arugula salad with chicken with a few pots of a rose tea. What a delightful time we had and I look forward to this being an annual birthday tradition.

It seems like I don’t dress up very often lately, so it is extra fun to pull out a very feminine skirt (purchased long ago from Soft Surroundings) and heels for lunch. I think decorative longer skirts are back in style? Is that possible?

Thank you Christine for a memorable day! The English Rose Tea Room is located at 201 East Street, Carefree, Arizona, 480-488-4812. If you want to see a video of the interior, check out my Instagram @lifeatbellaterra.

Technology Overhaul continues

A few months ago, we embark on re-doing our antiquated wired technology system…and the project continues. We hope to wrap up soon, but what an undertaking. Twenty-three years ago, when we restored this house and all the walls were open, we had miles of wires installed to have a “smart” home. Well, everything is now obsolete and the wiring worthless, so it’s been a huge project to update it.

We are nearing the finish line and it’s nice to remove all the old, larger equipment for a system that is fast and efficient. We are even seeing our electric bill go down which is a big plus. Looking forward to fixing all the holes and doing a final clean up.

Big Week in the Garden

My artichoke plant is really producing this year. I am able to harvest 4 good size ones this week. Typically I parboil them and finish them off on the grill with a homemade Remoulade sauce. However, this week I try a new recipe where I baked them instead. Less work but I prefer grilling them. But I really think it’s the yummy Remoulade sauce that’s the best (with the most calories!)

Strawberries are juicy and delicious but will soon be gone as soon as the temperature increases.

The peach tree is abundant with fruit. For the first time ever, I am netting the tree this year in the hopes that we get to eat the peaches before the birds.

Remember the gnarly looking hollyhock plants near my garden? Still not sure what caused the disfiguration but all those plants are now gone. Nearby, I have nasturtium that comes up every year and that, too, is looking a bit stressed. So we pull all the sickly plants and reveal that my small raised flower bed needs some attention.

The soaker hose is dried and requires replacing (thank you, hubby). New healthy soil is added and I plant several seeds~zinnias, pincushions, and poppies. We have quite a few quail roaming the property and they are notorious for eating new shoots and sprouts.

Metal hoops and bird netting is added and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a lush flower garden!

Spider Mites~yuk!

Just when you think things are going well in the garden, I now have a nasty case of spider mites. Spider mites feed on the leaves through their piercing-sucking mouthparts. They remove contents from individual plant cells, leaving behind the the cell wall, which makes the emptied cells appear silvery. The most noticeable damage of symptom of infestation is white stippling on the leaves. Heavily infested plants take on a faded, yellowish or greyish cast. Severely infested plants are covered by a thin layer of webbing created by the large numbers of spider mites.

First they attack a very large tomato plant which I pulled and discarded. But the mites are spreading to the tomatillos and possibly my eggplant. We’ve had windy days here so it’s highly possible they are just blowing all over the garden.

Isopropyl alcohol seems to do the trick. I spray a solution of approximately 70% isopropyl alcohol on all the affected plants. So far so good, but they can devastate a crop very quickly.

In gardening, there is always SOMETHING trying to ruin your crops.

Baking and Making this Week

Last Sunday was National Raisin Day (yes, who knew?). It was a good excuse to whip up some homemade rum raisin ice cream. Again, I don’t need the calories but it is really, really good. You can find my recipe here.

I need to share my go-to sourdough bread recipe where I add cheese (gruyere, mostly), fresh rosemary and garlic. If you have sourdough starter this recipe is made the night before with little work, and bakes the next day.

With a lone zucchini that was beginning to decline, I made healthy Zucchini brownies which are gluten free, paleo and deliciously fudgy. You can find the recipe here.

Gravestones Arrive

It took me a while to get up the energy to order gravestones for Cooper and Sox.

But they arrive this week and I am pleased with them. From Etsy, they are black granite, approximately 12″ x 6″ and personalized with laser engraving. Our hearts are still heavy from losing both dogs, but now they are memorialized properly in our family’s pet cemetery.

Monograms

I LOVE monograms but have never had one made for myself or my family. Do you have a monogram? Coco from The Crowned Goat has a wonderful post about creating one using Shuler Studio. The photos are so dreamy that I am excited about finally getting my own monogram. What a great idea for gifts, too. See it here.

Happy Derby Day (May 6th)! If you need any Derby Day inspiration, you can link to two previous blog posts on Derby Day recipes here and How to Set the Perfect Table for a Kentucky Derby Party here.

Have a marvelous weekend. A few of my friends are arriving today and spending 4 days here. I expect we will have lots of fun. Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?