Used Cotton Thread Reels

I photographed these with the same set-up shown here.

Celebrating Summer With Sunflowers

 Finally!  I was so happy this morning when the first sunflower bloomed!   My husband and I both love sunflowers and he planted some seeds but unfortunately the squirrels made the most of them.

 A few weeks later I planted a dozen seed and six plants made it.   You can't imagine how excited we were when we looked out the window this morning and saw a large blossom looking like sunshine standing proudly. 

 Now I'm waiting for the moon vine to bloom.

I'm joining The Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays as we celebrate summer.  Be sure to stop in and see what other bloggers are doing to celebrate summer.

Pink Things Come in Little Packages From à la parisienne Blog

Last month one of my favorite bloggers, à la parisienne, posted a giveaway and low and behold, I WON!   In case you aren't familiar with her blog, you might want to stop in and visit Mandy's site.   I love her site because it's beautiful and I love it even more because of Mandy's beautiful spirit that comes through in everything she posts.

I hate to boast but I can't wait to show you the lovely gifts that were part of the giveaway.   My husband and I opened the small box together and he was just as excited as me to see the contents.  

After we read the enclosures we spotted the beautiful pink silk flower. 

Don't you just love the dainty pearl center?   I can't wait to wear this on my sweaters and coat.  The flower has a clip and pin backing so it can be worn on a garment or clipped to your hair.

Then there was a small box. 

Earring!!!  I just love jewelry and aren't these beautiful? 

And underneath everything was a beautiful CD!!!

 Mandy had posted about her romantic evening out and I loved listening to Pink Martini.   Click here to read about her romantic date.   Aren't they a beautiful couple!!

If you want to see more beautiful things that Mandy has made visit her Etsy store! 

Mandy, I hope you read this post.  THANK YOU!!!   This weekend I'll be wearing my pink and listing to my Pink Martini CD.  

Today I'm linking up with How Sweet the Sound's Pink Saturday to showcase all the PINK!  

Still Life - Taken with a Nikon F801s

An old photo taken with a Nikon F801s and a junky Quantaray 35-80 zoom, in the late afternoon sun. This was my first attempt at a still life just after I had bought my very first SLR. While not a great photo in technical and artistic terms, it still holds a special place for me.

Nesting Instincts

E IS FOR?

EGGS!
"And most I like the winter nests deep - hid
That leaves and berries fell into:
Once a dormouse dined there on hazel - nuts,
And grass and goose - grass seeds found soil and grew"
~ extract from the poem 'Bird's Nests' by Edward Thomas, 1878 - 1917.

Not edible and certainly not belonging to an emu ~  himself and I espied this exquisite clutch of eggs as we walked round Hampton Court Gardens, in Herefordshire earlier this year. All part of an exciting quiz for younger visitors - on examination the letters on the eggs unscrambled to reveal the identity of the bird. Rather easy in this paticular case and not quite esoteric enough for us adults but we still derived enormous enjoyment from this mental exercise.

Escape now to ABC Wednesday for even more on the evasive letter E.

Happy Birthday Julia!

To celebrate this special day I should have made something from this book.

 But because tomatoes are in season and I had plenty of tomatoes on hand, I made my favorite tomato soup from this book. 

This cookbook is one that is worth looking at if you've never seen it.  It's beautifully illustrated and the recipes are wonderful too.  

So here is the tomato soup recipe.  Be sure to have a crusty french loaf on hand!

TOMATO SOUP AUX PARFUMS de PROVENCE

1/4 c. olive oil

4 leeks, rinsed, trimmed and minced

2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, cored and minced

8 cloves of garlic, minced

3 carrots, minced

1/4 c. fresh rosemary

1/4 c. fresh thyme

2 tbs. grated orange zest

12 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, seeded and diced

1 c. dry white wine

4 c. chicken stock

Sea salt 

Garnish with Creamed Goat Cheese & Pistou (pesto)

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat adding leeks, fennel, garlic, carrots, rosemary, thyme and orange zest. Saute until the vegetables are soft.  Add tomatoes, wine  and stock; season with salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. 

To finish the soup puree half in a blender then recombine it with the original mixture.  Ladle soup into serving bowls and drizzle the top of each dish with 1 tablespoon of pistou and 1 tablespoon goat cheese.  Serve at once.  Makes 6-8 servings. 

Just Snacking

One of the greatest pleasures of growing fruit and vegetables are the little nibbles that you sample before any of your produce even reaches the plate. Be it a strawberry, pea, raspberry or tomato or herby bite there always seems to be something slightly illicit about such munchings but the taste is oh so sublime. I also tell myself that it is of course all in the name of quality control. This year's new discovery and a ready made allotment lunch, if I have remembered to take some bread and butter, has been the delicious 'Crystal Lemon' cucumber. Himself is not partial to cucumber so I decided this year to forsake my usual 'Burpless' for smaller outdoor grown cucumbers, namely the slightly exotic looking 'Crystal Lemon' and 'Iznik'. The jury is still out on the latter ~ it is described as producing cocktail sized cues but they are still too small to sample. The former though is definitely a hit and is already on next year's seed list.