summer has landed!

Well, we're finally getting 80's during the days and 60's at night, so for us, that means summer! We've been refining the back patio (which sometimes means moving things here and there and then moving them BACK!) but, it's all good and soon enough we'll have people over and to enjoy our hard work :-)

Here's the first tomatoes and some of our red romaine. The tomatoes are great, but the lettuce is now bitter :-/ guess I left it on the stalk too long?

Roses are still doing well

And our newest addition is a beautiful rectangular umbrella from Cost Plus World Market - Indonesian Flower print!

Stay tuned until the next time!

Mid-week Bubble update!

Since last weekend was a blur, I'll just post a few pics! We had engagements Friday night and Saturday night, so doing much around the house didn't really happen. We did a few things here and there, mostly tidying up. This coming weekend I'll try and take some new pics of the veggies because everything is doing so well!

Here's some gladiolas (I think). These were here when we moved in, sorely in need of water, so now they are growing and blooming all the time.

This beautiful single bloom is off a cactus that I have in the front rock garden. This cactus blooms maybe twice a year and the flower last for maybe 2 days. It's quite spectacular!

and where would the WBB blog without a photo of some grub!? More sesame soy salmon, served with bok choi (from the garden!) and some grilled yellow peppers - yum!

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

Spring has really SPRUNG at the WBB! Roses galore! Bizzy weekend, saw the Dalai Lama on Saturday and then Sunday participated in the human peace sign down on the beach for Earth Day :-)

Last pic is of my herb garden inside the house. It's made by AeroGarden These herbs have been growing for a couple of months now. 3 types of basil, cilantro, tarragon and italian flat leaf parsley.

say hey we're the monkees!

Wonderful weekend at the WBB! well, actually it was longer than my normal weekend (FSS) because I took off Thursday also! K and I decided we were due to go to Glen Ivy Hotsprings, so away we went! Hot springs, saline pool, club mud, massage, we did it all!

But now, back to the monkees... :-)  I mentioned to my Mom yesterday that I have acquired some new adornments for the BUBBLE! My friend Marisol at Picture This Gallery was having a sale and these 2 awesome monkees needed a home! And they go perfectly with my new bongos! Those babies are from my boss, Val's estate sale, circa 1958!

Our first rose of this year bloomed this weekend to! All of the roses (3 bushes) are just BURSTING with buds! Guess they like the blood meal I fed them a few weeks back :-)

And our friend CW gave us this beautiful Easter Lily 2 weeks ago and it's going strong!

so, the back patio is shaping up very nicely... c'mon, pull up a chair and I'll grab ya a beer or a glass of whatever floats your boat :-)

falling behind at the WBB

Out of town one weekend and then sick for two weekends. Next weekend should be better!

The bud that I thought would produce a flower ended up being a bunch of leaves! Odd, because it also grows single leaves in addition to this flock! Brick by Kelly & Molly :-)

Shrimp, salad and a BIG BUD

another fantastic weekend in the bubble! the weather was more fall like which made it a great weather to be outside and feel the dirt in my hands. I bought some blood meal for my veggies and after *massaging* them, I decided to massage the roses beds also :-) i think they all enjoyed it. I also did MORE sweeping of the tree in our back patio area that has been relentlessly dropping both leaves and some other pollen filled parts for weeks now. When it started dropping the pollen a few ago, everything out there was covered in yellow snow. Luckily I am not allergic to it!

We have a new baby that will arrive... well, not sure when, but the BIG BUD is quite a sight! I don't remember what kind of plant this is btw, if someone knows, please tell me.

On Friday night I decided to try another shrimp taco recipe and OH MY! It was definitely a winner! I made a pistachio-cilantro pesto, slathered it on some shrimp and then skewered and grilled them. They were decadent and they melted in your mouth! If anyone wants the recipe, I will surely share it. I would today, but I didn't bring it with me to work. I was skeptical when I read the recipe and even when I tasted the pesto raw, but after grilling, I was sold.

Last night I threw together leftovers (roasted cabbage and asparagus) and some new salad fixins.Here's the salad greens and spinach with pepitas, garbanzos, roasted garlic, fresh basils and tarragon and some goat cheese = YUM!

We also continued our brick making, but I'll wait and post photos of that when we've given them away to their new homes (birthday girls), I don't want anyone to see the finished product and ruin their surprise!

maintaining

My last 2 Saturdays outside have been all about getting the front garden and back patio whipped into shape after winter (although who knows if winter is really over!?), this Saturday and Sunday sure felt like summer! I think we got to the mid-80's both days. Last weekend I tamed the Bougainvillea bushes and cleaned out all the weeds along the driveway so the ivy could breath, and this weekend I cleaned out one of the front flower beds. Both needed attention desperately but boy was it a lot of work... or maybe I'm just getting older and crawling around on the ground is getting increasingly more difficult :-P  And, sorry, no pics of either of these tasks, maybe I'll take some of the Bogey when they bloom.

My Saturday morning started out with a nice bowl of fresh fruit:

The dish is a handmade gift that I received a number of years ago from friends that live in Utah.

K and I also made a couple of bricks on Saturday. We have a kit that contains letters to press into the bricks and then give them away as presents (we also press in stones, shells, etc.). I'll take some shots of those later because my hands were too dirty to use my camera. Have I said how much work it is to make a bucket of cement? Evidently, I like hard work :-D