HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2020

Link | November 25, 2020November 25, 2020 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Like most of you, Thanksgiving for us looks very different this year — Mr. G and I will prepare a feast for two as we stay close to our phones to see faces from far away. Though less than ideal, we have learned that love can be conveyed and community built through our mobile devices while we wait for this scary time to pass.

ABOUT THE FOOD…

There is so much about this holiday we can’t control but I CAN control the food! Sooooo, to add additional comfort to the day, we are going full-on family traditional. Our menu:

TURKEY

For the first time, I bought a bone-in turkey breast. We love turkey and as I look at the size, I’m thinking we might not have the leftovers we want.

DRESSING THE MOM WAY

Most everyone in our family says “Dressing the Mom Way” is their favorite. My recipe is a combination of what I learned from my mom and my mother in law. Actually, my daughter and son have now surpassed me in their cooking abilities!! They are both fantastic and creative cooks! I’m wondering do you call it dressing or stuffing?

I especially love this picture of hands – me and my son stirring up the dressing a couple of years ago! 🥰

CHRISTMAS CRAN

A combination of cranberries, apples, and nuts. Trust me it is yummy. (Recipe here.)

NOODLES

Yes, noodles. (An Indiana thing – to put noodles on your mashed potatoes.)

OVERNIGHT SALAD

My most requested side when we have Thanksgiving with friends. It is a very simple overnight salad: Iceberg lettuce, Cauliflower, Red onion in layers. The next layer is a dressing of mayo (Hellman’s always), Parmesan cheese, sugar, salt and pepper. The very top layer is crispy bacon pieces.

MASHED POTATOES

We will be using Bob Evans mashed potatoes. They are really almost as good as homemade.

GRAVY

(Homemade with broth, butter, flour & spices.)

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

I did a survey on Instagram asking who was a fan of the much-debated Green Bean Casserole.

Love it or hate it, the green bean casserole has quite the history…

This mixture of canned soup, green beans and fried onions has graced holiday tables since the 1950s.

Campbell’s estimates 40% of the Cream of Mushroom soup sold in the US goes into making green bean casserole.

For more history on green bean casserole, read on here.

HILLIGOSS ROLLS

For those not local — Hilligoss is our favorite small family-owned, local bakery. They make thousands of Parker House rolls for the holidays. The best!!!! We call every November 1 to place our order. They bake a limited supply – so pre-order is necessary!

Mr. G with the score! (Yes, he wore a mask but took it off briefly for a quick pic.) Some for now and some for the freezer!

PUMPKIN PIE

Because it is Mr. G’s favorite. Me … I prefer Apple Pie.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU!

Yes, it’s 2020 and even though we won’t have a full table this year and our hearts are tender… our hearts are also full of love for family and friends. We are grateful for you!

We pray for the day we can gather together again! It will take many, many gatherings before this hole in my heart is filled up and I vow to NEVER EVER take gathering with my loves for granted!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻

This Thanksgiving and every Thanksgiving we give thanks and put our trust in the One that sustains us in all times – good and bad. He never changes.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34

Wishing you love, good health, and all your yummy favorites!

🦃 🥘🍲🥧🥗 😘

Bloom Thyme Friday: Outside and In

Link | October 19, 2018October 20, 2018 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

The temps this week are getting more and more frosty and time for some of my favorite fall tasks. I am a bit late in getting some of these things done, but sometimes the “best” time to do things is when you have the time and I did.

Things like welcoming back in the houseplants that have enjoyed the sunshine and rain all summer but certainly don’t want to stay outside in the cold!

Bringing into the garage potted herbs and flowers, I hope to over winter. Note: Sometimes this works for me and sometimes it does not — but always worth the effort. These plants are put in a dark, slightly heated garage and get watered once a month until early spring and go back out! Most do make it!

By far the most fun task this week was clipping herbs and flowers to dry. Since there are only two of us, we don’t need as many cooking herbs, but this is a process I would do even if we never cooked — for many reasons. First of all I love every part of the process… gathering them and enjoying their fragrance. I love how they look in their little bunches hanging around! And, another huge bonus, it takes me back to those days when I was a stay at home mom and had a small cottage business of making potpourri and herb and flower wreaths. A local garden center requested them and it was so fun to do! Mr. G made me drying racks of all kinds for the bunches and bunches of herbs and flowers I needed. Hydrangeas, roses, lavender, grasses, yarrow, sedum, artemisia, tansy, sage, feverfew and such. Yes, sweet (and savory) memories.

In those days many of these dried bunches of beauty were also used as main decorations for the Christmas tree. Things were different every year. As the kids got older they helped to bring things in and of course in decorating. #familyfun Let me just say that both of our grown children are gardeners. I guess it is in their genes or at least in their memory banks!

You can read about my daughter’s garden here. My son has to have herbs for cooking and is always chasing the best tomatoes to plant!

POTTING SHED FUN THIS WEEK:

BLOOM THYME THIS WEEK:

Many bloomers were great at the beginning of the week but not so much today.

Thanks for stopping by.

I hope you have beautiful treasures from your garden to enjoy outside and in.

HAPPY BLOOM THYME FRIDAY

Mother Nature’s Curve Balls

Link | April 13, 2018April 13, 2018 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

I am fully out in the garden today — this will be our first weekend in a while without snow… yes, Mother Nature has thrown us some curve balls.

RECENT WEEKENDS:

March 25: At the end of the day we had 10″ of snow.

April 1: California has the weather and my little loves…

(It was snowing in Indiana.)

My daughter’s beautiful garden…

And, her ‘Easy Does It” rose.

April 9: NATURE’S WELCOME HOME FROM CALI

(Thankful Mr. G’s welcome was warmer!)

BACK TO TODAY…

Yes, I am out in the garden and while the heart of a gardener is optimism, I am a “bit” discouraged at some things I’m seeing. At the top of the “oh no” list is that my beautiful New Dawn rose on the arbor looks like it has some major winter kill — I mean major. If you don’t remember the one I am talking about, it’s this one…

Is it wrong to ask for prayer for a rose?😉 (Asking for a friend.)

While I would appreciate a miracle for my rose, there are so many more important things in my life and yours. Life and nature do throw us curve balls from time to time, but the Original Gardener (Genesis 2:8) has it all under control. He is very good at what He does. My life has taught me that when He closes a door, He opens a window.

AND, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS… MAKE LEMONADE!

Here are the best lemons ever. My beautiful daughter grows these outside her kitchen door! If you want to read more about LEMONS, ROSES & SWEETNESS, click here for an article I wrote about our family’s lemon life.

Thanks for stopping by. Stay tuned, there are so many more spring things to come. Things like new roses … I have to tell you about all the new roses I am testing in the garden this year! Oh I can’t wait!

HAPPY BLOOM THYME FRIDAY🌹

Bloom Thyme Friday: A Match Made in Heaven

Link | June 2, 2017June 2, 2017 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

When God put Mr. G and me together, it was surely a match made in heaven. In more ways than you can imagine.

But, one of the most obvious ways is that I am a gardener and he is a builder. If I can dream it, he can build it. I’ll admit I’ve dreamed up a ton of stuff through the years!

Last year “we” decided that the main gate to our garden needed refreshing. (Well, maybe that part was “I”.) “I” wanted it to look more like the gate/trellis’ we had done for another area in the garden. The layout of the entrance is a bit different but Mr. G, the engineer, figured out just what we needed and started building in between rain storms a few weeks ago. Digging the post holes was a two-man job and our son came to lend a helping hand. From building snowmen to building gates, these two have worked on countless projects together and are a great team!

It is now complete! I just love it! Time will give it the rustic patina we love and allow for the New Dawn roses and Etoile Violette Clematis to climb and wind and add their charm.

This is New Dawn this week over the other main gate/trellis when she was going “up and over“. When she blooms she blooms. And, such a sweet fragrance too.

Behind New Dawn is the arbor with Francis E. Lester and Peggy Martin. Picture day for these was a rainy day, but they are holding up pretty well in all the rain. Good thing!

Yes, I have planted two New Dawns that will head up and over this new handcrafted “work of art” and two Etoile Clematis. Blue Angel Clematis is already getting cozy!

TA DA! The finished product…

He is a true craftsman! The roses and the clematis will have a firm foundation. And, our guests will have a “handcrafted” warm welcome!

BACK TO “MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN”

Before you get to thinking that things are toooooo perfect around here, know this… If you know anything at all about “birth order” — we are two strong-willed first borns. Need I say more! Yes, on occasion there are “strong” conversations in our world. 😉

If you want to know more about “birth order,” read Dr. Kevin Leman’s book The Birth Order Book … Why You Are the Way You Are, immediately, from page 1 you will find yourself, your kids, your friends and yes your spouse. He will shed light on how these relationships work—with all the humor you can imagine. I read it back in the late 80s and even gave it to my children when they were in jr. high! You can purchase here. A fun and helpful read for only $12!

Whatever your birth order, I wish you buckets of blooms, a sturdy foundation, a warm welcome wherever you go and an outstanding BLOOM THYME FRIDAY.

Lemons, Roses and Sweetness

Link | September 2, 2016September 2, 2016 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

More than 25 years ago I attended a herb festival that served some amazing herby lemonade. When I came home, I immediately started making “my version” of this wonderfully refreshing drink. Every time I serve it, I get rave reviews. I have shared this very simple recipe a million times. Maybe not a million–but a lot! One of the best things about it, is that it is so simple. I decided many years ago, the more I can keep things simple, the more I can entertain.

My daughter calls this lemonade … LEMONADE THE MOM WAY. I just love that.

She wrote about it a few years back on her blog…

Summer isn’t summer without lemonade and my mom’s lemonade is the best. I don’t just say this because she’s my mom…it’s the best. Hands down. She gets asked all the time for the recipe which is super easy and wonderfully refreshing.

Mom’s Lemonade

For each can of Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade add…

2 cans water

2 cans Canada Dry Ginger Ale

1/2 cup sugar3 large sprigs of fresh mint

1 – 2 lemons, thinly sliced

Add ice and ENJOY!

Here’s where the SWEETNESS comes in…

My grandson loves to make lemonade with me. We make a very simple lemon shake up. Lemons, sugar, water & ice. Every second we spend working on our refreshing lemony drinks… are the sweetest ever!

This week while with him, we used special lemonade cups I found (on Amazon). He loved them! #moresweetness

There “might” be truth to the rumor that I bought him a lemonade stand…

NOW FOR THE ROSEY PART…

On Wednesday we shared a glass of rose flavored lemonade at the Grateful Cafe. We were hot and sweaty from our tour of Exposition Park Rose Garden and the lemonade was just what we needed!

Here we are enjoying Pretty Lady Rose in the garden … the fragrance surrounding us was amazing! I will never forget the fragrance and I hope he won’t either!

Oh how I love to see him put his nose in a fragrant rose. #memories

Pretty Lady Rose was having a very good day in the garden! Loads of blooms!

BACK TO LEMONS…

Here are some fun lemonade facts:

August 20th is National Lemonade Day.
Lemonade can trace it’s origins to the Egyptians when in 500 AD lemon juice was mixed with sugar to make a beverage known as qatarmizat.
The first lemonade “soft drink” debuted in Paris on August 20th, 1630. The drink was made from sparkling water and lemon juice sweetened with honey.
Frozen lemonade made its debut in 1840 in Naples, Italy.
The earliest documented lemonade stands were introduced by a young entrepreneur named Edward Bok who formed them in Brooklyn street cars from 1873 to 1876.
Lemonade stands were first referenced in news media by the New York Times in 1879.
The “ade” in lemonade means that the product is not 100 percent juice.
Grape juice is added to plain lemonade to make commercial pink lemonade.

Even though for many of us summer is coming to an end… there’s still time to make some lemonade and celebrate the sweetness in your life!

🍋🌹🍋🌹🍋🌹🍋

The Veriest Back

Link | August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

I wanted to share with you some pictures and a video from the “veriest back” of my garden.

My children coined that phrase “veriest back” for the back area of the garden as well as the 3rd seat in the back of our family station wagon. A spot that was often sought after and sometimes fought for! 😉

Remember the station wagons of the 80s? That was pre mini van. The station wagon worked so well for us, we never went the mini van route. Secretly, I believe that Mr. G who loves sporty cars, trucks and SUVs, never could bring himself to buy a mini van. But, he did provide a state of the art station wagon for me and my little crew, and later an SUV for me, a sporty car for the girl and a black truck for the boy.

But, oh how I loved my station wagon. L O V E!!! #memories #family #children

The “veriest back” of the garden is where the wild things grow — and things that do not need much care from the gardener (me). With limited time to “garden,” this area sometimes gets left out in the “care department.” But it is still very beautiful to me. Today it seemed the Black Forrest (Kordes) and Candy Oh (Proven Winners) roses just begged to be photographed! This is not their biggest flush of the season, but still they beckoned me today and I found myself remembering my children and my station wagon as I took time to enjoy “the veriest.”

PS
I even found a stunning lily hiding back there! It was in so much shade I could hardly capture it. #shestough

I also found the largest rose hip I have ever seen on a rugosa… bigger than a quarter!

I also found some weeds … they were not in a photographic mood, so I just moved on. 😬

Thanks for sharing my trip down memory lane

and some wild things!

Let the Adventures Begin

June 27, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Today I leave the rainy midwest for the sunny Cali coast. My primary reason for going there is to have more adventures with H. While it will be wonderful to see his parents, he’s the main attraction. The world is a different place when you see it through the wonder of a child. Here is Mr. H when I first introduced him to the garden and in particular the fish pond. I am not at all sure who was more excited. But, I do love to look at the pictures from this day and see the wonder in his eyes!

Mr. H's first visit to the garden! You knew he would be in this gallery, didn't you?!? — Mr. H’s first visit to the garden!

As you can see from the picture below, things have changed a great deal since the first garden picture was taken.

Now Mr. H is leading the charge for adventure…

Stay tuned. This will be a week of amazing adventures and cuteness and sweetness.

#AdventuresWithH

I’d love to hear the adventures going on in your world this week. We can’t all be together, but the stories you share with me make me feel I’m a part of your adventure!

Bloom Thyme Friday: Inspiration, Ideas and Sweetness

October 11, 2014 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

As many of you know I left cold, rainy Indiana for sunny SoCal this week. It has been an amazing week of inspiration, ideas and sweetness.

I have taken scores of pictures and wanted to share a few of the beautiful plants and flowers that inspired me, landscapes that started the creative juices flowing, and a little bit of the “sweetness” too.

INSPIRATION & IDEAS

Click on any picture to start the gallery feature and see my comments…

Wonderful restaurant on the Malibu Pier.

“Sally” is a very lucky girl, her beautiful rose garden is also her entrance to the ocean.

Never tire of the beautiful Iceberg

Rest …

Surfers doing their thing…

Don’t let this charming man fool you … he ate an entire 6″ fish in my presence…not pretty.

Love stone. Love.

Amazing use of honeysuckle…. and oh so fragrant!

A stunning entrance from the beach to a home…. roses EVERYWHERE!

More roses….

Doesn’t this look amazing!

Serene … Ice Plant

More roses….

This gets me EVERY TIME!

Another beauty.

This I must have! I actually think I might have the perfect place for one… if it can come in during the winter!?!?!?!? Hummmm, we’ll see.

THE SWEETNESS

Mr. H. . .

Tomorrow I head back to the cold and rainy weather AND Mr. G … more sweetness! 🙂

And, I say to the Polar Vortex … If you are coming, I’m ready for you!

I wish you a wonderful week and ….

Daffodils and Memories

April 5, 2013March 9, 2014 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

From the tiny Tete e Tete to the gigantic yellow trumpets … I have always loved daffodils. They scream spring!!

Daffodils are perennial, increase eagerly and are wonderfully deer and rodent proof.

Four years ago they became even more important to me. We lost a beloved family member on March 19, just as the daffodils were blooming. Uncle Tony (Mr. G’s brother) heroically battled cancer for 20 years. At 49 years of age, it was much too early to lose him. Uncle Tony was a rare and special person … extremely creative, rock solid in his faith, a lover of people, a gardener AND a lover of spring & daffodils.

Just before his death when we were visiting with him, he mentioned wanting to get out in his garden and in particular wanted to see the daffodils blooming. That did not happen.

In the fall of that year, I individually wrapped hundreds of daffodils in burlap, tied them with a jute bow and gave them away to anyone who wanted to plant daffodils in Tony’s memory and so many did!

Each year people give me reports on Tony’s daffodils and I know he is remembered.