Pink Blooms, Purple Blooms, and Life.

My gardens have been alive with purple and pink flowers.

Do you see that little pink poking up there?

It is one of my treasures, slow-growing but diligent to come up every year.

It is a hardy orchid.

I have had it for about 5 years now, 

and it finally has a baby next to it.

Bleeding hearts remind me of childhood days at a friend's house.

I loved her mother's bleeding hearts.

 

That rhododendron was one of the first things I planted when we moved here.

See it around the other side of the tree?

Hardy Gernaniums are a favorite because they seem to rebloom all summer.

These pink with black eyes are Patricia Geranium.

I recently read that although they share the name 'Geranium',

annual and hardy geraniums are not related.

Annual geraniums are actually Pelargoniums.

They don't look alike, but they share the same name:

just a curiosity.

These 'Brookside' geraniums grow large and full so that they actually look like a bush.

Planted with them is a patented specially bred Mountain Bluet.

It's blooms are spectacular.

Another purple that I noticed blooming is my Blue False Indigo.

They usually seem to bloom a bit later than this time, especially with how cool it has been this year,

but these are planted up by the barn where the heat radiates off the cement foundation.

Everything up there seems to be advanced.

The Russian sage up there is much larger than the one I have planted by the house.

I love the smell of crushed Russian sage on the hands.

There is lots of purple blooming in the front flower bed as well.

The dwarf wisteria vine stands tall on its trellis.

The salvia is always buzzing with bees.

These Pink Haze Siberian Iris seem to be much more prolific growers for me than the regular iris.

I think the clay content in our soil is not dry enough for regular iris,

but this one fills out so much, I am able to dig some out of it every year to sell at my plant sale.

Of course, the lilacs were grand this spring, too.

Some of the Miss Kim lilac even made it into the kitchen to lend their fragrance.

Apparently, somebody thought they would be good for more than just a bouquet.

Life with children:
giving new meaning to the garden bouquet vignette.


Linking up to these fun blog parties:

Joyfulhomemaking.com

Nominimalisthere

Raisinghomemakers.com

Firefliesandjellybeans.com 

Gnowfglins.com

"C"

"The three P's for the week."

Yes, I know this post is titled "C".

The three P's refer to my blog name:

I will post about something Pumpkin, meaning something from the farm, garden, you know, growing around here.

Next I will post something Pie, meaning kitchen related: food, kitchen, edible or decorative, etc.

Finally, I will post something Painted, or something I've created with my hands that will involve artistic materials of some type.

So there is the explaination of my subtitle,

clearly.

So today, because I wanted to join Jenny's blog fun of writing from a certain letter of the alphabet,

I will narrow this attempt even more by posting the three categories and they will start with the letter C.

Are you confused?

Confused.

 That starts with "C."

See?

1.

The letter "C" for the Pumpkin/Farming category:

Clematis.

My clematis are blooming, or at least these two are.

I love seeing these and forgot that I had decided to plant the 'Red Cardinal' clematis with the white one last summer.

I concede that it was a chipper choice to be made conscious of.

 2.

For the Pie Category today: I am talking edible in the kitchen.

Can you see it?

The kids and I have been checking them.

Others have been checking them, too.

Did you know that cows are curious.

Annoyingly.

Although they are pretty cute, too.

Yes, see.  He's checking out how far along the mulberries are, too.

We're all impatiently checking these countless candy-like clusters of suspended mulberries.

Ripen up, little creatures!

3. 

In the painting category,

I have just that to share: painting.

Ceiling panels from the barn roof that blew off in last fall's hurricane...

(okay, so they are roof panels, but I had to get the C in there somehow).

My super-duper-handy-recycling-penny-pinching-cents-smart farmer rehung the old panels on the back side of the shed that was rotting from too much water spray and lack of sunshine.

Corroding.

 I consciously chose to count this creativity-curtailed cause a commanding challenge.

To cut to the chase: 

I chunked the fun painting for chores.

Once that was done, I mixed some of the paint that was left with a bit of left-over black from another project,

added some floor texture,

and clomped on over to another chore that had been calling.

 These ummm....

uhh...

hmmm...

chippy children climbers that are cantankerous...

for their cutting creases containing chards of chips that cause crying when creeping into feet of children.

Corrected!

If your eyes happen to wander up to the crest of the porch, 

you will notice couch cushions helter-skelter.

Cushion chaos.

Cranky old cushions had seen too much weathering

and then the puppy last fall made certain I would have to recover them this season.

The fading strapping under the cushions became easy teethers for chumpy pup as well.

My clever creative man found this heavy lawn seat type strapping

and is carefully counting the measurements, cutting, creasing, and continuing his countless ways he's come up with cure-all ideas from his comprehensive collection in his many cabins 

(sheds: cabins was all I could come up with)

(maybe man-caves would have been better).

 >CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<>CLAP<

Cushion material has been purchased and curtain call will be coming soon!

(Confidentially, the cushion coverer is mentioning this to coerce herself into the sewing chair.)

And so I leave you,

with a certain sweet photo I cherish of my most current walk with child.

 Joining Jenny's blog party on the letter "C"

at: Jennymatlock.blogspot.com: Alphabe-Thursday
Firefliesandjellybeans.com

Simple Autumn Love: My Fall Mantel.

Can you believe it is fall already?

Where did the days of summer fly off to?

 I didn't climb up to the attic to fetch the fall decorations this year.

I just decided to use some natural decorations

 like the little gourds a friend gave my kids,

the hydrangeas that I dried a few weeks back,

a small fresh tansy bouquet in an old jar,

and some red maple leaves

(these are in the leaf-painted jar I experimented with last week).
The old farm lantern belonged to my husband's grandfather.

The huge picture on the mantel was a crazy yard sale purchase this summer.

I thought the print was pretty,

its fall simplicity and simple life drew me into it,

although the gold strip on bleached wooden frame made it look a bit too 60's,

so I painted the frame white.

The lady holding the yard sale was doing it as a help to her sister

 whose husband had just passed away.  She needed new tires,

and all the proceeds of the sale were going to it.

I found a few things I liked,

and the picture happened to make it into that list.

This old looking slat box was very inexpensive at the Charity Store

because it had another slat coming down that was hanging off.

I pulled it out and found this image at the Graphic Fairy

that I thought might fit well.

 After printing it on tan paper,

I inked the edges with a yellow stamp pad 

and then a brown stamp pad,

with the help of a soft sponge.

 I colored in the wording with a permanent gold marker I had

and then crumpled the whole thing up.

 I was trying to get the paper to have an aged look to it.

 I picked a bouquet of purple beauty berry bush for another old jar.

I have dried them before and although the leaves will wither,

the berries still hold their color for the season.

The decorative candles were a gift from my husband's aunt

and bring fond memories when I pull them out of my candle box.

 It is a simple fall mantel,

but I think simple was a nice change for me.

(If you'd care to join me,
I will be posting my favorite/family recipes for the month of October,
a new recipe every day.)

Linking up to:

Time-warp-wife.blogspot.com 
Theprairiehomestead.com
Betweennapsontheporch Graphicsfairy.blogspot.com 

Themodestmomblog.com 

Cozylittlehouse.com 

Abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com 

Centsationalgirl: fall mantels 

End of Summer Garden Specials: How to dry Hydrangeas and How to Make Peppermint Extract.

This is the garden I pass on my way to the clothes line every day.

The fragrance of mint is strong

and it is welcome,

even though it has clearly gained dominance in the flower bed.

If it were spring, 

I would tear into this patch with a vengeance to remove it's greedy presence,

but as almost everything else has had it's moment of glory,

I allow it to run wild

with the promise that I will gain from it.

This weekend, I decided to act on my threats.

Fist fulls of chocolate mint and peppermint were collected.

I also made time to gather up the hydrangea blooms to dry while I was out

since they were at the perfect stage for picking and drying.

I tried two methods of preparing my mints for their purpose

of becoming mint extract:

Pulling the leaves off the stems,

starting by snipping off the top most tender leaves,

and then grabbing the top of the stem...

 pulling the leaves from the top down.

They slide off rather easily this way

preventing the tedium of picking off each leaf.

 Any imperfect leaves were set aside from the good ones in the colander.

I then washed the separated leaves

with just a good spray of water,

and then set them out loosely on towels to dry.

 I also tried washing and then drying whole stems of the mint.

 (I found I preferred the first method

as the leaves were easier to pull from the stems before washing.)

These should then sit overnight,

so that they can dry out a bit.

The less water in them,

the stronger will be the extract.

Also, the leaves should only be left out for not more than a day

as all would be lost if the leaves start growing mold.

Once the mints were set out to dry,

I could turn my attention to preserving the hydrangea blooms.

I have found I prefer the "Sip of Water" drying method.

The blooms are stripped of all leavers,

and then the stems are placed in water.

The blooms by the time they are picked,

are slightly papery.  They are not soft.

 To pick them in this state is perfect because if a strong rain storm blows up while they are still on the bush,

it could damage the blooms.

They will drink of the water

until it is all evaporated,

and then the flowers will dry to a stronger dried bloom than if they were

air-dried upside down.

 Also,

one has the distinct advantage...

of enjoying the blooms while they dry.

The next day,

the mint leaves can be scrunched up

to damage the leaves and allow more of the oils to be released.

The leaves are then put into clean pint jars.

Once filled to about 1/2...

the leaves are completely covered in a bath of vodka.

These jars are then capped,

put into a cool, dark place,

and allowed to sit for about a month

when the lid can be removed

and the extract can see if it has strong enough flavor.

If so, strain out the leaves,

and use as an extract in baking.

Did you enjoyed any treasures from your gardens this weekend?

Linking up to:

Betweennapsontheporch
funkyjunkinteriors.net
momstheword
Keepingitsimplecrafts.com
frontierdreams
Homesteadrevival
Cornerstoneconfessions.com