DIVINE DAHLIA'S

These are dahlia's from my sis in laws yard. They are so pretty she brings me a bouquet occasionally in summer. I adore them they add so much color to our home.


I have not blogged for a while as we have been gone on a short vacation to Silver Lake Wa. to see and spend time with my brother.
We were there four nights. Overall the weather was nice except for the second day as it showered and the wind blew. However we still made the best out of the day. We had the campfire going all day so we stayed warm by the fire when the showers stopped. We sat in the gazebo when they swept in again.
At the same time every evening the bull frogs would start their quartet. There were two very powerful baritones and two soprano's. They continued throughout the night lulling us to sleep and sometimes keeping us awake.
One afternoon my brother noticed a young buck deer he was sprawling on a mound of grass chewing his cud. He had no interest in us at all. As we watched him he stared right back with no intention of leaving. 
Many birds inhabit Silver Lake year long. Once again we spotted Blue Herons always a thrill to see them spread those prehistoric ragged wings and take flight. Geese and ducks were in abundance on land and in the canals and lake. We were touched by the melodies of the many song birds and laughed at the antic's of crows and jays. Silver Lake is like a huge sanctuary.
It was a nice trip but always lovely to get home. We were tired and believe me my sofa and bed looked pretty inviting and cozy.


Our weather here at home has been a mixed bag since we returned. Today is cloudy, yesterday was pretty and perfect. We have had thunder storms and wind and some showers also. 
Surprisingly our tomato plants look amazing. They have grown quickly over the past week. We have tomatoes on all the plants and many peppers on the pepper plants also.


I made a trip to the farms yesterday and loaded up on veggies and fruit. When I got home I made two large jars of picked vegetables. They look so pretty and colorful. They will be ready to start snacking on in a about a week. They will hold in the fridge for many months actually. When I do not make huge quantities I prefer to just keep them in the fridge rather than can them and put them in the pantry. Next week I will make zucchini relish. I took my last precious jar to my brothers we used it one night on our turkey burgers but I left the remainder for him.  


We had burgers last night. Actually I used a recipe for the sauce and the burger assembly copying a recipe in Food Network magi zine called"Almost Famous In and Out burger". You know from the burger joint chain in California. The sauce was yummy and they also do a odd thing. You give each side of our patty a smear of yellow mustard and grill it that way. I will say the burger was very juicy so maybe that helped achieve that.
Tonight we are having comfort food.  This is a fave of my husbands.  I make from scratch mac and cheese made with two cheeses melted into bechamel sauce. The pasta I use is radiatori it has little ridges in the pasta that hold that yummy sauce. When you take a bite the pasta releases the cheese from it's spirals and the yummy creamy sauce envelopes your mouth like smooth silk . I can't say enough this is comfort in every mouthful!  
We are having a green salad loaded with farm veggies to go along side the mac and cheese.


Well I could write for a while as I am enjoying it but I do have a few things to attend to so I will leave you now.
Have a super Sunday whatever it is you are doing.
Ciao