Watermelon Salad

Over the long weekend in early August I spent the weekend scrapbooking at Memories Manor with friends.

As always we had a great time, lots of scrapbooking, laughing and good food!

And a highlight at the end of the weekend is when Jan shares the recipes of the foods served.

She made a watermelon salad that on the surface doesn't seem that appetizing but when put all together is really good. I finally made it this week:

And here's the recipe:

3 cups seedless watermelon, cut into 3/4 inch chunks
1 cup cucumber, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup crumbled mild feta cheese
2 T fresh mint(I didn't have fresh so used 1 tsp dried)
2 T balsamic vinaigrette

Combine all ingredients and serve immediately.

Little Red Wagon #148 - Numbers Game

Time for another Little Red Wagon challenge!

This week Judy is challenging us to use numbers on our project.

I made a gift tag using a stamp that features the number 4.

So dig into those wagons for those number themed items and link up your project at Little Red Wagon.

We love to see what you create!

A Quick Thank You Card - CFC67

Just popping in with a quick card I made for this week's Casual Friday challenge to use banners or flags:

And I broke into my new Stampin' Up Apothecary Art stamp set too!

Thanks for looking!

Peach Salsa

It's the time of the year when there is lots of fresh produce available which I love.

Brianne was in the Niagara area recently and brought home a whole bunch of peaches.

She made cobbler but we still had a lot of peaches to use.

Then as I was looking through my blog reader I found a recipe for peach salsa at I Am Baker.

And it uses cilantro which I happen to like.

So I made it:

And it was yummy!

Here's the recipe(I doubled it):

1 cup cubed fresh peaches
1/3 finely chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 jalapeno, de-seeded and finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Place all chopped ingredients in a bowl and squeeze lime juice over top. Season with salt and pepper. Can serve immediately, but this salsa is even better the next day!

Little Red Wagon Challenge # 147 - Upcycle!

This week Tammy is challenging us to upcycle by using a household item on our creation.

I used toothpicks for the flags on the card below:

And I love the large sentiment created from a PTI stamp set I borrowed from my friend Kathryn.

So dig through those household items and link up your creation at Little Red Wagon. We love to see what you create.

Blooming in the Garden - Late August

After an extremely hot and dry June/July, the gardens got some rain in August which has really perked everything up!

The Bella Anna hydrangea is beautiful, you can just see the tinges of pink in the photo, it looks way better in real life.

And an old-fashioned stand-by, Blackeyed Susans.

This pot of impatiens is almost entirely hidden by Annabelle hydrangeas.

The fuschia is still hanging in there (teehee), love the combo of the two types.

And the impatiens in the birdbath have finally settled in, they looked pretty straggly for a while.

The basil doesn't have any blooms now because I cut them off to encourage leaf growth. And I had to share a photo of it as this is the best it has every been( I grow it every year), it loved the dry hot weather.

And finally, we have tried various plants in this window frame with varied success.  This year we used geraniums, which of course didn't mind the hot weather as long as we kept them watered.  I will definitely use geraniums again.

I'm so pleased with all the colour still in the August garden, do you have a favourite August bloom?

And linking up to Bloomin' Tuesday for the first time ever.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday August 19, 2012

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to do one of my status posts but did want to get back to them, they're fun to look at again later.

I'm currently:

Listening to Love It Or List It as well as Brittany making popcorn.
Eating licorice drops.
Drinking water.
Wearing comfy clothes.
Feeling a bit tired after a busy day.
Weather was gorgeous today, sunny and not too hot.
Wanting longer weekends, I always plan to do way more than I actually accomplish.
Needing to plan more realistic to do lists for the weekend ;)
Thinking that Kijiji is a great way to sell no longer needed items. We have had some success selling some things the past couple of weekends.
Enjoying the gardens after the recent rains, I was able to cut a couple of bouquets today. The one above is arranged in a blue ball vintage canning jar I found at an antique market.
And here is the second,I particularly enjoy drying hydrangeas for the house.:

So what is up with you, I would love to hear, so please leave a comment if you would like to share.

Arizona's Route 66

I didn't realize until shortly before we left for Arizona that Route 66 had been decommissioned some time ago.

It was officially removed from the United States Highway System on June 27, 1985 after it had been decided the route had been replaced by the Interstate Highway System.

Portions of the road that passed through Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, and Arizona have been designated a National Scenic Byway of the name "Historic Route 66", which is returning to some maps.

One of the original U.S. Highways, Route 66 was established on November 11, 1926. The highway, which became one of the most famous roads in America, originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California, before ending at Los Angeles, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km).

In the 1950s Route 66 became the main highway for vacationers heading to Los Angeles. The road passed through the Painted Desert and near the Grand Canyon. Meteor Crater in Arizona was another popular stop. This sharp increase in tourism in turn gave rise to a burgeoning trade in all manner of roadside attractions including teepee-shaped motels.

We passed by the Wigwam Motel built in 1950 by Arizona motel owner Chester E. Lewis located in Holbrook. Lewis operated the motel successfully until closing it in 1974 when Interstate 40 bypassed downtown Holbrook. His children reopened it in 1988 who continue to operate the motel.

Current rooms contain the original restored hickory furniture, two double beds, cable TV and a window mounted air conditioner with no telephones or Internet access. Vintage restored automobiles from the 1960s and earlier are located throughout the parking area.

With the establishment of the interstates off of Route 66 many of the businesses went into decline but you do still see remnants of the old hotels and attractions, they make great photo ops!

And parts of Route 66 have been incorporated into the newer highways so you can still drive Route 66(or at least parts of it)!

Montezuma's Castle, Arizona

Another interesting stop during our Arizona vacation was at Montezuma's Castle.

Montezuma's Castle is located not far from Sedona and features a well-preserved cliff-dwelling.

It was built and used by the Pre-Columbian Sinagua people and was occupied from approximately 1125-1400. The five-story stone and mortar dwelling built into the limestone cliff contains 20 rooms and once housed about 50 people. Another part of the cliff wall bears the marks of an even larger dwelling, which has not survived.

The dwelling is not at all a castle but has kept the name "Montezuma Castle", despite it having nothing to do with Aztec Empire.

It is truly remarkable to see that this 'prehistoric' high-rise has survived the test of time!

Little Red Wagon #146 - Dog Days of Summer

Time for another Little Red Wagon challenge.

Not sure if you've guessed it from the title but Jan wants us to create something with an animal on it.

I borrowed a stamp set from Avril's wagon to create this card:

So why not dig those animal themed items out of your wagon and link up your creation over at Little Red Wagon?

We love to see what you create.

The Grand Canyon

No trip to Arizona would be complete without a trip to the Grand Canyon.

It is spectacular, you can bearly see the Colorado river.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and attains a depth of over a mile.

It is considered one of the seven natural wonders of the world.

Nearly two billion years of the Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted.

Here's Brittany and I on the edge of the canyon.

While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists,recent evidence suggests the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago.

The Grand Canyon is known for its visually overwhelming size and its intricate and colorful landscape.

Geologically it is significant because of the thick sequence of ancient rocks that are beautifully preserved and exposed in the walls of the canyon.

These rock layers record much of the early geologic history of the North American continent.

Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.

A powerful and inspiring landscape, Grand Canyon overwhelms through its immense size. Truly a sight to see!

Little Red Wagon #145 - Watermelon

Yes, you read that right, this week's Little Red Wagon challenge is to use a watermelon on your creation!

I didn't have a watermelon so I dug through my cardstock scraps to create this card:

It kind of resembles a watermelon. And here's the interior of the card:

So dig into your wagons and create your project that features a watermelon and link it up at Little Red Wagon, we love to see what you create!