Small Garden Adventure

It is Buffalo's Garden Walk weekend, so we decided to view just a few areas near downtown.  You can be near to the heart of downtown and still find pocket neighborhoods with small secluded gardens.   We just wanted to walk for two hours and picked the "Johnson Park" neighborhoods, off South Elmwood Ave.  We were just blocks from City Hall.

Jewelry Mish-Mash

These three Alex and Ani bangles were a nice garage sale find today.  At two bucks a piece, I figured I couldn't go wrong -- even if they were somewhat bereft of charms.  I can't believe how much people spend on them new -- so that was never an option for me.  But I knew I could fix these up just fine.  There were actually five of them, but I took a pass on the other two because the charms were religious -- which I am not!

To Tell the Tooth

We have been using a Cybersonic ultrasonic electric rechargeable toothbrush for years and years.  The first one was close to a hundred bucks.  We stopped being able to use it because it didn't hold a charge and the top wore down enough that the brush heads wouldn't stay on.  I found the replacement at Tuesday Morning for $39.

Summer Spaghetti

A large tray of boneless skinless thighs was a little over five bucks; $1.99 per pound, six thighs.  They were slowly cooked in the Sous Vide -- 150 degrees (f) for an hour.  I put them in a freezer zippy with oil, fresh lemon, and a "Renaissance" rub.  Three were set aside for dinner tonight and three were set aside for tomorrow.  We only actually needed two and a half.

Swimmies!

Teddy and I had a fabulous swim today.  The weather was very warm, the water felt great and there were hardly any people at the park.  We swam for a half an hour then did a short walk.  I have no shame -- I am chubby (OK, fat) but am willing to take a walk in my bathing suit.

Plastic Update

This business of giving up plastic is not as simple as I thought.  Well, I didn't really think it would be easy.  I am making a point to buy liquid items in glass jars whenever possible.  But then there are some items you just can't find in anything but plastic -- like laundry and dish-washing liquid, hair products, deodorant, etc.  Unless I am at  a farmer's market, most berries are in a plastic container.  I would probably have to say my use of things like bagged salad and frozen veggies is also a fail.

This week, I mixed up peanut, cashew and almond butter to make my nut butter mix.  All of the containers were plastic.  That is all they had at the store I shopped at.  I will have to try better and check at Wegmans. The English muffins I eat for breakfast come in a plastic bag.

I will still try to buy as much non-plastic packaging as possible, but it sure is hard!

Basil in the Kitchen

Neighbor Dave gave me a fist-full of basil this afternoon when I went over the let him know I was putting the sprinkler on.  He suggested I freeze what I couldn't use -- but I intended to use it all.  Once I got it inside and cut the flowers away from the bunch, I decided they were too pretty to go to waste.  Now that I've done that, I have decided to do it more often.  I go out in the yard and cut the flowers off the basil all summer just to help keep the plants as leafy as possible. Generally, I just let them drop to the ground.

My Dormitory Styled Life

As I have mentioned before, we are three years away from our master bedroom renovation.  Too much needs to be done to make it worthwhile to spend any real money or put any substantial effort into it now.  The totally blank walls, however, were driving me a bit crazy so I decided to drop a few bucks to hide at least one of them.  This hanging map blanket/tapestry will work for me for the next couple of years.  I would like to be industrious and paint the room, dressers and night stands, but I just don't have the gumption to take on that sort of project. If there is any money left over after we tackle the exterior of the house, we'll ask our contractor to paint it.

In the Garden

 

Well, this isn't technically in the garden.  It's in a crack between the driveway and a rocky/rough area near our back door.  I now understand why dill is called "Dill Weed."  I did not plant any dill this year but some came back from last year in unexpected places.  I have been using it! I love fresh dill.

Shiny Succlents

It started out with some clear glass floral beads from Dollar Tree in the Aloe Vera pot.  They were left-over from a craft project gone-wrong and I thought they might add some twinkle to this otherwise dry planting.

Farmers Market

I drove up to "NT" (that's North Tonawanda to us Buffalonians)  for their farmer's market this morning.  There was an Estate Sale that lured me in on the way -- a total waste of over-priced time.  Once at the market, I was thinking about plants and maybe tomatoes.  Well, I was lured over to one of the honey stands instead.  Just like at camp, I could not resist a jar of creamed honey.  We love it and the other jar is at camp -- honey doesn't go bad so we wanted to enjoy it there.  This jar was five bucks -- that was with the seller giving me a dollar discount because the jar was sticky.  She cleaned it up anyway!  We will see how Niagara County honey compares to Wayne County. I expect it to be delicious!

Garage Sale ROI

The Steve Austin doll which I picked up for a buck at a garage sale this past weekend has already realized a full return on investment.  He was welcomed into his new home with great enthusiasm and immediately put to work.  The Six Million Dollar Man is now partnering with "Nitro Man" and is the celebrity endorser for the Nitro Turbo-Torch.

Adventures in Stain Removal

 This pale version of tie-dye is my attempt to obliterate a stain that I could not wash out.  There was a grease stain from either something I dribbled or that splattered on me while cooking.  No stain removal technique worked so I decided to play with rubber bands and bleach.  I succeeded in getting rid of the stain and fading the shirt and while it's not perfect, it basically saved the shirt.

My Idea of Popularity

 

I am such a city girl.  The corniest things excite me when it comes to the country.  This is my best goat friend, whom I call Buddy.  He lives in a pen at Burnap's Farm on Lake Rd and Maple Ave.  Burnaps is a produce stand (and farm) that has a cafe.  We ate there on Friday night with friends.  I made sure we got there 15 minutes early so I could spend some time with Buddy.  I pick the clover flowers and feed them to him.  Of course, since he'll eat anything, I will just pick up straw or grass and give him that too.  I could buy a small handful of food they sell in a bubble gum dispenser, but I prefer to give him flowers to eat.

From Garage Sale to Garden

 My best camp tag-sale buddy and I went out on Saturday and brought along a special guest -- the owner's wife.  She was brave to come along with the two of us as we get out of control.  Maybe it was a good thing that all our driving around the back roads only turned up one garage sale.  Luckily, it was a very well-priced sale and I went as far as to thank the guy for that.   I spent four bucks and found two blue glass bottles with stoppers.  These were fifty cents a piece!

America Needs Immigrants!

 On the tails of our most patriotic American holiday, I want to say "thank you" to those who have come to our country and continue to try to do so in order to start a new life. I don't believe we should only open our borders to the highly educated.  Our country needs good people who are willing to work.  People like the farmers I bought my fruit and veggies from at the Sodus Farmer's Market last Wednesday.  The farms in Wayne County depend on immigrant labor -- and many of those workers end up becoming farm owners themselves.

Garden Inspiration

Does your city or town have an annual Garden Walk?  Buffalo's is, I think, the largest free event in the country.  People visit from all over the US and beyond.  I don't go every year, but will be walking around this year since it won't be a camp weekend.  The entire tour is too big to do in the two days the event spans.  There are just too many gardens and there is too much to see.  Each time I go, it's with the same friend.  We get a map in advance and then work on our itinerary.  You can't be too ambitious because it's often very hot! This walk takes place the last week of July.

Patriotic Pup!

Soup Indiscretions....

Tomorrow is "Souper Tuesday" at work, but my soup is taking a pass.  The boss takes everyone out to lunch the day before a holiday.  Since I started making things for the soup on Friday, I'm going to bring it all in and we will freeze it.  We can thaw it next Monday and it will be on site and ready to go next Tuesday.

I have a confession to make about my soup.  It is a Frankenstein monster of ingredients, based on what is either cheap or left from something else in our house.

Full Frontal

 We've spent the past two days working on the small grounds of Chez Petite.  It never ceases to amaze me how such a small house and yard can require so much work.  Here is how we are looking up front.  While we plan to have the entire exterior replaced this summer, I still do not have the formal plans in hand.  The architects and designers at work are tied up with paying projects, so my freebie takes a back seat.  Our plan was not to put in too much time and effort up front because the yard will get trampled and it's likely the front bed will have to be moved forward.  However, it was past the point of looking nice, so we decided to work on it.  Maybe now that it's been addressed, reverse luck will deliver the plans that will require us to destroy it!