mOnSTERS...

eWWWWwwww...
Manduca Sexta
Also know as, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
Get OUT of my garden. Thanks.

From the REAL garden...

I might be a newly converted FaceBook addict.
I might be unashamedly playing Farm Town BUT
I remain firmly attached to my non-virtual reality and
I HARVESTED my real garden today...no coins or experience
come with these beauties but they taste a whole lot better.

Catastrophic-Disaster Bread

Zucchini in the garden EVERYWHERE forcing me to cook.
In the last two days we've had marinara sauce with zucchini,
scrambled eggs & ham with zucchini,
and zucchini bread...SORT OF.

Above is a photo of my baker's daughter shame...
It was supposed to be an infallible recipe...YEAH, RIGHT.
It's an expensive loaf pan that supposed to turn out
BEU-OOO-TIFUL magazine cover worthy
loaves of bread...uhm, WHATEVER!

Today, I made
Sticky-Fall-Apart-Catastrophic-Adhered Permanently
to-the-Pan-Bubble-Over-in-the-Oven
Smoke-up-the-House-and-Pert-Near
Burn-it-Down-Natural-Disaster-Bread.

You want the recipe?

It's ugly and YUMMY and comes with TWO ridiculously
impossible clean up chores.

The doors are all open RIGHT NOW to clear
out the smoke. I'm cleaning the oven
which keeps catching on fire a little bit and
all of my pot-holders look like they've been
cemented together with brown goo.

"Fun"...it's how we do it at The Beautiful Mess.

Can somebody come save me from my
bounty of zucchini? Please?

My Kind of Fireworks

Mmmmmnn...pretty.
Great shots from this photographer.

Gentle Garden Friend

My Discovery today...we've got friends in
our little birdhouse! I can't wait to catch a
glimpse of the nest builder...
I'm glad to have a garden friend, especially
one that eats beetles! :)

Batten Down the Hatches - - We're goin to War.

I unwittingly planted TWO trap crops for Japanese Beetles.
DAMN.
FOR YEARS, I carefully researched EVERYTHING I planted to
avoid just this scenario.
This year, I was too busy and what did I do?
I messed up.
WELL...they're not gonna take me or my peas or my beans!
If I have to collect they're little carcasses, put them in my blender
and concoct a deterrent spray from that, I will.
(yes, this is one of the ways to alleviate their infestation)
I'm going with Enviromesh Vegetable Netting and Neem Oil.
Provided, of course, that I can FIND either of them.
Apparently you hafta live in the United Kingdom
to find Enviromesh.

I'm REALLY trying to be organic here but its not easy.
(Oh, don't tell me soap spray either!)

I WANT to blast the buggers with SEVIN
but that's bad...SOOO bad. I won't do it. I WON'T!

I need chickens. I want these.
Chickens eat Japanese Beetles.
Good chickens. Beetles Bad.

Neener, Neener Hosmer

Eric Hosmer...if you would JUST come see your
poor-missing-you sister-in-law and your nephews,
you'd have all the big juicy tomatoes that you'd want.

SO...you just stay down there and work and
wait for those tiny tomato plants in those patio pots
to sprout one of these babies. I betcha get your
'mater somewhere near Halloween.
:)

It's a SNAPPY snack, SUGAR!

Somebody say, "YUM".
I picked some of my sugar snap peas today
and then promptly ate them right after
this shot. They were sweet peas indeed!
30 calories, 3 grams of fiber right out in the backyard.
FUN! (My grandmother would SO get a chuckle
out of me digging (cool pun!) my garden!)
I LOVE producing pictures of my homegrown produce!

Rwabbit Twouble

Shhhh...I'm hunting Rwabbits.
Where IS my gun? Where are the poisonous pellets?
Blame, dang bunnies ate my baby Morning Glories
down to little green nubs.

Just look at em'...it's derned depressing.


Well...they're leaving the Daylillies alone but
I think that they don't like Daylillies.

Dern rwascally rwabbits...
My yard is not their natural habitat.
They've infiltrated. They are a nuisance.
They are fluffy rodents.
It's a good thing I don't really have a gun.
You CAN eat them, you know.

AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHH!

Sweet Henry - Lessons in Light

Ah...light is everything in photography.
If you'll compare this Smilebox with my
first attempt a couple of weeks ago, you'll
certainly see what I mean. I am DELIGHTED
with these pictures and am so excited to
be able to share my garden in this neat way.

The title, "Sweet Henry" is for my Great-great Grandfather
Henry White, he played the violin. It's also the common
name for one of the plants in my garden.

I pray you enjoy these as much as I...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Flower Garden...

The best place to seek God is in a garden.
You can dig for him there.
~George Bernard Shaw

Explain, staying in to blog when you have this
outside...forgive the overexposed shots...too
much light. I sorely need a macro lens (sigh).
I'll have to get outside in "beautiful" light.
These were shot at mid-day. Perhaps my ISO was too high.
Anyways...I like the sun on the trailing petunias.
They look like velvet. There's at least two shots
that I'm reasonably happy with
but you'll have to guess at those. I like the one of
Ripley's headstone. She always loved lying in shady
spots by hostas. We miss her.
Robey, on the other hand, is a flower SMELLER and
if it suits his big, wet, sniffy, boy-dog nose, he's a taster.
He reaks havoc in the dang basil.
Here's stab one at documenting our flower garden this year..
Who knew green thumbs sprouted curly-headed, blue-eyed boys....

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Not Killer Tomatoes

Yum! Finally...
No salmonella on these babies...

Lettin' the little guy pick the big tomato...

Eli couldn't stay out of the action. We let Gus pick
because Gus actually eats tomatoes. Eli won't eat em'
but he wouldn't leave us alone to pick em' either.
Here's his...we thought it was funny. Gus grabbed it
wiped the dirt off and ate it right after this shot.

Ladies Luncheon at Stream Cliff Farm

www.streamclifffarm.com

We had a lovely afternoon of "just the girls" on the
ride over to Stream Cliff where we visited the gardens
and little shops before we lunched at their
Twigs and Sprigs Tearoom.
Good Company in a beautiful environment with a rich history.
Morgan's Raiders went through the place during the civil war...neat.

Not so surprisingly, K and I REALLY enjoyed the wine tasting
at their new winery where all of their delightful wines
have names to do with horses or the pastoral life.

Our Favorites...

Pink Pig - A raspberry flavored blush

Painted Pony - A sweet red

Sweet Scarlet - Another sweet red (we love those)

Kentucky Stud - A dryer, bolder red

Spotted Horse - A yummy
riesling used to make a great punch called Toad Stranglers
which we went home and made that night after
helping dad mow his 3+ acres...whew!

If you're checking out wineries in Southern Indiana,
a stop at Stream Cliff is a MUST.

Oh, and wear your Red Hat! They're big
into that society.

Flowers and Fairies

Lots of flowers and one teeny fairy are
in my garden...

The flash setting is wrong
in the first pic, dang-it! Flowers are
fabulous subjects when playing with light.
They're relatively still and don't whine.

Hummingbirds - Thanks Mrs. D for the pictures!

Legends say that hummingbirds float
free of time, carrying our hopes for love,
joy and celebration. Like a hummingbird, we aspire
to hover and savor each moment as it passes,
embrace all that life has to offer
and to celebrate the joy of everyday.
The hummingbird's delicate grace reminds us
that life is rich, beauty is everywhere,
every personal connection has meaning
and that laughter is one of God's sweetest creations.

-Papyrus Cards
Photos by The Alfano Family
Pine, Louisiana

Schantz's Big Boy

After soccer and a TON of yardwork,
we headed to Uncle Tom's for his
first cookout of the season.
Paw fixed this boy right up!
He's our burger baby!

Eatin' it up!
Crammin' it in...
Mmmmmnnn...it's good!

Never mind that he spent a good portion of the
day smackin' Zoe around. The little brat,
he'd grab a handful of her blondie-blonde curls
so she couldn't move and then smack away with
the other hand! UGH!
(We're sorry Zo!)
Being in trouble must make a feller hungry.
HANDS ARE NOT FOR HITTING, ISAAC!!!!

OH, YEAH...all this after he decides to take
a walk around the block on his own.
I caught him before he got very far BUT
he did end up in the neighbor's yard with
his wheelbarrow in his bare feet.

I'm packing him back so my hands are full
and he's having a meltdown and he boxes my ears!
Pawpaw saved his little fat life!
It's a good thing Paw intervened
because momma was gonna hand down
some SERIOUS swats...