some kimchi, olives, pickled onions, pickled artichokes, homemade salsa, homemade guacamole, brie cheese, feta cheese and some sliced tomatoes. some fresh bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar - that's a great breakfast right there!
here's some spaghetti and homemade meatballs - yummeh! want to know the secret for making great meatballs? use meat! like ground hamburger. and don't put any filler like crackers or bread in there for heaven's sake. just meat! and spices! and make a killer sauce with lots of fresh garlic and herbs!
see all of the little frog babies at the bottom of the picture? they are growing healthy and strong! come on frog babies - we need you to eat the mosquito larvae and mosquitoes!
here's a little bunch of pretty flowers that came out of nowhere...sooo pretty!
to my friend Mystic Mud.....STOP READING NOW! i do not want to rub my new swimming pool in your face! i know, i know - i have a river, an ocean and a hottub - what on earth do i need a new swimming pool for?!?!?!?
kids, it's because i can. oh yes, i can! Please...no drooling...have a gander!
that baby is going to get plugged and given a home somewhere in our junk-filled, redneck, white-trash yard and then i will be able to dip into it in order to cool down in between the painting jobs that the man gives me!
you don't think our yard is full of junk...have a look-see:
geesh....one of these days i just know that i will have a beautifully-landscaped yard...properly maintained by someone named Jesus (pronounced Hay-Zoos). actually, we don't have any mexicans on the island...
teehee. here is the first part of the roof going up on the greenhouse. is there anything more lovely?
i just noticed that all of the pics of the greenhouse are slanty....it's because of all of the slanty ground around here! that and the fact that i take slanty pictures!
here's some pretty moss....
and some fiddleheads...which will eventually turn into ferns. have you ever eaten fiddleheads?
some pretty purple flowers...
some tiny-tine blue flowers...
a gorgeous dawn for my mole sister Helga...
another shot...
out front....this is at about 5am in the morning...
out back again...
it eventually became like this...
what do you do with leftover spagetti and meatballs? you make a meatball sandwich for lunch of course!
woohoo - finally a bright sunny day after 4 straight months of non-stop rain! maybe we can get some work done on the greenhouse!
the man working on the roof below:
Strachan's Brook is slowly draining into the river:
a delicious qunioa, green olive, multi-coloured pepper and avocado salad with an avocado dressing:
mmmmmmmm. it was yummeh!
and here's another day's breakfast - zucchini fritters with garlic, turmeric and cayenne sour cream...and of course, a generous helping of kimchi - yummeh!
dinner that day was some delicious roasted chicken, smashed and gravy, steamed carrots, wild rice and cranberry stuffing and some pickled beets.
however, by noon last friday we were hitting waaay above average temps - it was like 24C (76F)! it was so out of season and such a treat....i didn't care if we still had a greenhouse to build. i wanted the river!!!! jambaloney did not want to down greenhouse tools...remember, it has been raining for 3 straight months and we need to get this thing built! but i was adamant! i wanted a dip in the river! try not to trip all over the windows and crap and let's go down to the river...
woohoo! look it's the beautiful ocean-filled river! i love my river!
oh it was so beautiful...and the air so warm!
jambaloney said "babe. it's gonna be waaay too cold. you'll never get in".
he does not understand a woman on a mission. wearing one of his pirate bandanas. and some panties being that this blog is rated PG13.
but geesh. will he never learn? probably not. he's a man and all. (just teasing with you babe. i loves you and all of that!)
heading out into that beautiful, salty, mineral-filled, delicious river. the river temp is about 12C (55F). i screamed a little walking in.
i screamed A LOT going in! it was freakin freezing!
jambaloney didn't scream....
he just dove right in....he was screaming under the water...i know it!
after our first dip of 2013....can you believe we were swimming on May 31?!?!?!!? woohoo! i can't wait for more dips! but after our dip - it was time to come home and keep working on the greenhouse!
although the yard is full of junk and our crap-*ssed cottage really is slanty - look at our beautiful greenhouse! it will be gorgeous when finished and i will enjoy painting and decorating it and starting all of our food out there!
more greenhouse updates coming soon. Helga - have you noticed all of the green? woohoo! the green is back and i am loving it!
You kids are nuts! ;-)
ReplyDeleteteehee. Mr. Smythe - you got our number for sure. we are nuts - bahahahah!
DeleteYour yard looks just fine. It looks like people are working. My pictures in the house of things on the counter look slanty because I concentrate on keeping the camera steady. Keeping things square only occurs to me when I look at the pictures. I never noticed your slanty greenhouse.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should put my second claw foot tub in the yard for cooling off. I could fill it with a hose and then just pull the plug and water things with a hose attached to the drain. Now, I need many strong men to get it out there. You have a great idea there.
It will be great when you can finally grow things in that fabulous greenhouse.
Linda - i would kill for your claw foot tub - i love those things! and ya - the yard is definitely a work in progress! everytime we clean it up, we start a new project and it is full of junk. ack, whatever, right? right now i have 72 tomatoe plants in the greenhouse - they are doing really well. i will be planting those into the ground on the weekend and then moving my 40 pepper plants to the greenhouse. i intend to keep the peppers in pots in the greenhouse all summer.
DeleteYou don't need to take square pictures. That is what the rotate and crop features are for!
ReplyDeleteI think I would have kept to the greenhouse. 55 degrees is still a bit chilly for me especially wearing only underwear!
Ed - jambaloney always tells me to crop the pics and whatnot but i can't be bothered. i like to point, click and then upload. and ya - 55degrees is pretty chilly - but i just couldn't help myself. once it gets to a certain time of year i needs my river!
DeleteI don't know what's sexier, y'all swimming or that soon to be greenhouse!! LOL!
ReplyDeleteStay warm and happy!
BIg hugs!
bahahahahahahahahah! i think the greenhouse beat us in the sexy department! big hugs back to you and 2nd Man always!
DeleteI swear your panties say scooby doo on them.
ReplyDeleteEverything is looking good. More trout please :)
PP - ya gotta click on the pic and then you will see that my panties say "best kisser" - bahahahahah! i wish i had panties that said scooby doo! jambaloney has got some more trouts for you in his next post. you just might have to fight off Sandy, tho!
DeleteRMan is amazed at your delicious spicy breakfast - and says it's not for him LOL Move over RMan - I'll have yours...
ReplyDeleteThe junk in your yard at least looks organised - better than piles and piles of mouse and snake camouflagued hiding spots.
Nope - reckon even 12oC is toooooooooooooo frigging cold for me!
teehee. me and RMan are similiar in regards to staying on top of the heat but i guess we differ in breakfast choices! you are always welcome to breakfast Dani - or any other meal! thanks for saying the junk-filled yard looks organized - it's not - bahahhahaah! and thank goodness the only snakes we have are helpful, little grass snakes.
DeleteBack when I was younger (about a hundred years ago) We used to jump into the spring fed creek. It was so cold it took your breath away and made you hurt all over.....we called it fun!
ReplyDeleteYour homestead looks just right for someone who works at something all the time and your food looks so good as usual. Love the greenhouse!
Hugs to both of you!
Mamma
bahahahahahahah Mamma, yer funny! yep - jumping in the creek/river/stream - whatever - is always a fun thing to do. i love running down to the river for a dip! and yes, we are always working on something so the yard never looks tidy...one of these days tho we will be able to clean it up! the greenhouse is awesome eh? much love and hugs back to you and Papa and the Marine!
DeleteGreat pictures and I love the yard art. The greenhouse is looking good. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletehey buddy - the yard is something else eh? the greenhouse is awesome! and i am glad that you finally got some birds in the aviary!
Deleteomg Gurlie! meatball parmeseaan sandwiches are the best! I need to make my family some. and I NEVER add anything to my meatballs either, I hate the taste of them when people do. just meat and spices..once in a while I will throw in parmesean cheese or mozerella..which is incredible when you do.. but that is it.
ReplyDeletethat water does look cold..brrrrr. Sky pics looks beautiful and I am SOOO jealous over the greenhouse. I WANT!
omg Gurlie - you are soooo right! and ya - sometimes if i get fancy i add some mozeralla to the balls but usually just meat and spices. the water was freakin freezing but i didn't care - i wanted my dip! the greenhouse rocks and i am so happy to have it - don't really need it for the summer but it is really going to rock to keep things growing during fall/winter!
DeleteYes, men scream underwater and then pop up to call everyone pansies. That's just how we roll.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised you wore anything besides the bandana, pg13 or not.
The food looks amazing as always, I even like your dishes.
Max, buddy - i knew that you men screamed underwater! when we went down to the river i knew i wanted to take pics for the blog so we had to "get dressed". wearing clothes sucks! i wear the bandana because of the awful blackflies always biting me on the back of the neck...i spray the bandana down with deet and that seems to help. thanks so much for saying that the food looks amazing - i like food to look pretty and i always try and make jambaloney's food special. just cuz i love him.
DeleteI would be jealous of your new swimming pool, but you know as well as I do that if I had that thing on the mountaintop and tried to get in it that there would be 50 million kids in various states of dress and undress trying to get into it with me, and really, unless that picture is crooked too - it just doesn't look big enough for all of us?? Correct me if I am wrong!...ROFL!!! So, yeah, I would need about 100 of those babies all lined up side by side in rows to be able to use my one little swimming pool. And where would I get the water for such an undertaking? Even by trailer living standards on a mountaintop - a dry empty swimming pool is just trashy. I mean, what would the neighbors think??
ReplyDeletebahahahahahahahah! oh bahahahahahahah! yer killing me, ya nutter!
DeleteMy screen froze up on me, so I get to leave you two comments...lol :)
ReplyDeleteThe greenhouse looks so great and I still can't wait to see it all done. You guys really are doing an amazing job!!!!! And the food, as usual, looks awesome.
Your dip sounded on the cool side for me!! I tried to see what was on the back of your panties, cause all I could think is that you have those underware with the days of the week printed on the butt!!!! LOL ROFL!! I can SO see you wearing days of the week panties...when you bother to wear them. The Rose has some of those, so don't feel embarrassed, and she loves them ;) Seriously, I couldn't read what was on them, but it was hard not to miss your rock hard bod!!! OMG, so unfair.....now I think the only way I'll be able to swim this summer is with a bath robe on....lol!!
Have a great day :) xo michele
woohoo! i must be special! i get 2 comments! the greenhouse really rocks and will make a fantastic outdoor room in the winter - i love it! the dip was pretty freezing but we loved it! oh - i wish i had panties with the days of the week on them - oh man - i wonder if i can find some! the panties say "best kisser" - bahahahahah! jambaloney got me a ton of panties with words on them back in the city! seeing as how i never wear any (unless i have to) they will last me forever.
Deleterock hard bod?!?!?!? gurl you need to go and see the eye doctor!!!
and i have seen a bunch of pics of you on your blog - i have even shown jambaloney - and i'm all "babe - can you believe she has had 10 children?!?!?!?!?!?!!?". he still doesn't believe it! he thinks you stole them all - bahahahahaha!
this summer is going to rock, michele. i think it's gonna rock for all of you too! lots of love to you and your man and all of those gorgeous kids!