Katz n Hund of Baskingville

If I were a critter I would really enjoy lounging on the warmed patio stones like ours do. Basking on the warm stones seems to be an all time favorite, and they aren't even lizards.

Gypsy 

 Smoke

 

Jake

Almonds!!

This is Jake when you eat almonds in front of him.  Not sure if they are really good for him, but he will do back flips for them!!

Rhubarb Crumble - Not Quite Like Mom Made

It seems that we have an over-abundance of rhubarb this spring, and as such I am forced to, -  are you ready for it?  Bake! Tonight I found a British recipe for rhubarb crumble. Simple as simple can be: chop the rhubarb, add 3tbsps of red wine, some sugar and simmer for a bit. Put into a baking dish, top with a butter/flour/br sugar topping and bake. The topping turned out to be more like soft cookie, - but I must say it was tart but yummy, and Chris LOVED it!

Poppies, Bees and Lilacs!

Out in the sunshine, the Oriental poppies are in full bloom in the front Lupin garden. Today I snipped away to create a little window view from the front yard, through to the back. The sun turned the corner just before I took this picture, making making it perfect in my mind's eye.

Up close with the poppies reveal a buzz of activity with the honey bees. I watched them for awhile and there were 2, 3 sometimes 4 bees at a time in one poppy.  I caught one bee with this shot.  I wonder if it is the pollen or the opium that they are after!

This spring there are a dozen buds on the poppies, and as they open in bloom, they are striking in the garden. Another one of my spring favorites. They are 4.ft and then some - and tower over the lupins and cranesbill.

 From any angle you can see them loom! My little tiki man guards the pathway.  

The white lilacs are in full bloom as well. I have always preferred the purple lilacs and their amazing sent.

 I purchased what I thought were 2 purple lilac trees when we bought the property - and both were great mistakes. One turned out to be a miniature lilac bush, and the other one, as seen in this photo, is white, even though I thought I was buying purple. Nevertheless, the miniature is special in its own way, and this white one has proven to be delicately fragrant and amazingly prolific with its blooms.  

 I LOVE SPRING!

Woodland Spring Flowers

Bleeding hearts are an excellent choice for a shade garden and my "Alba's' seem to be doing just fine outside my woodland shade garden.

They seem to have migrated across the grass to the sunny side and now join some columbine and California poppies.

  The stem is like a necklace of tight little hearts, each one opening consecutively. So delicate they are, I just love them.     Moving into the shade garden we find 2 more lovely white spring flowers. The first of course is the every popular Lily of the Valley:

 And of course it wouldn't be spring without the Soloman's Seal beginning their bloom. The arching stems add an exotic touch to the shady garden, and the little white flowers dangle under the leaves like jewels.

Almost Gourmet!

A chef I am not, nor do I aspire to be one.  In fact, if I had my druthers I would be waited on and served, never having to cook again.  That is a dream, and in the meantime, I still have to eat an so does Chris.  Every now and again I surprise both of us with something quite tasty.   Two times this month I have prepared boarder-line gourmet meals.

  This one above was spur of the moment - a little pasta tossed with olive oil, crushed garlic and chives, topped with grilled scallops,salmon and zucchini, and fresh shrimp. Pretty darn good if I don't say so myself. The next one was chicken parmigiana, though I may have made a bit too much!!

I think the recipe I used was to serve 6!   Not to worry, a little leftovers never heart anyone.  I served jasmine rice and asparagus with this one.  Very yummy indeed.

Lovely Lemon Tree

Well, not really. It's a lemon broom bush. My favorite backyard spring shrub. Not sure if the lighting from the camera does it justice, but it is an amazingly beautiful shrub.

It's a Dog's Life

While watching Jake chewing on this beef marrow bone, I smiled as I thought how blissful the experience was for him. There appears to be no better canine sedative than a bone to gnaw on. Ultimately he will actually eat the whole thing. Such simple pleasures in a dogs life.

Our Little Plastic Greenhouse

Besides always wanting to have straw, I have always wanted a greenhouse.  Our last trip to Home Depot resulted in a very inexpensive version of the real thing.  Plastic!!  Oh well, it is something to practice with.  But hey, we will get some use out of it for sure.  We can use it for some of the tomatoes, and to protect some tender vegetables.I may also put my cacti and other winter tender plants in it come November since they don't tolerate heavy rain storms and occasional snow that well.

Frenzy of Feeders

 We have 3 hummer feeders this year, 2 at the front and 1 at the back.  This week,  I have been filling 2 feeders once a day.  We are talking a fair bit of sugar for sure, if you look at the size of this particular feeder

We typically have an abundance of hummers each year, but this year is a record setting year.  We are averaging 14 hummers per feeder at a time, and they seem to be most active at dusk. Feisty and fierce is how I would describe them.   These 2 shots were taken from the kitchen window... hopefully you can see them if you click on the photo to enlarge.  

Watching these little darlings is better than TV.  The show these birds put on, and the feisty activity of the males is never ending.  Tonight, when I went to hang the "refilled" feeder onto the hook, I had to duck several times to avoid being bombarded by several of the anxious males.  It is just like star wars at our little hummingbird hollow!

The "fast-food" feeders are not all they eat - they do eat flying insects as well.  Funny, in some ways the birds themselves remind me more of an insect than a bird.  Their wings move so rapidly they are a blurr to the eye. They can hover as to appear fixed in space, as though sitting on an invisible perch. The can turn quickly and fly away like they were launched from a rocket booster.  I just love hummingbirds.