June Blooms

It's been awhile since I've shared what's in bloom in my garden. I'm not sure how long these will last with the hot weather we have had these past few days.

And I leave you with this wonderful passage describing the main character from a book I read recently, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery: "Madame Michel has the elegance of the hedgehog: on the outside, she's covered in quills, a real fortress, but my gut feeling is that on the inside, she has the same simple refinement of the hedgehog: a deceptively, indolent little creature, fiercely solitary - and terribly elegant."

Every garden should have a hedgehog - even a stone one.

Take Tuesday: The Victorians

There are some beautiful Victorian homes built in the 1800s in downtown Sacramento. Here are just a few:

I'll post some more next Tuesday.

Homage to the Seed Project

I learned about this wonderful project from Robyn over at gardenrooms. Sophie Munns is the artist in residence at the Brisbane Botanic Gardens in Australia and she is having a postcards from the blogosphere "homage to the seed" show at her open house July 12 - 18. 

Visit Sophie's blog for more information on how you can participate. Hurry, though because you will need to act quickly so that Sophie will receive your handmade postcard before July 12th.

Take Tuesday: Street Art Murals

I have long been interested and fascinated by street murals. It amazes me how the artists can work on such a large canvas. There are so many beautiful examples around town. Here are just a few:


This street mural is on the back of a building in a small park in Gardenland, a small section of Sacramento that has the most fertile soil. You can throw a seed in the dirt and it will sprout in no time.

This street mural is on an antique store that I often go to.

I watched the artist work on this building. He started each image with just a white circular background and then painted the various jazz artists. Do you recognize any of them?

Here is a beautiful one in Carmichael Park.

Five Senses Friday

Photos taken with my iPhone

Seeing:  Bees buzzing around the red salvia

Hearing:  Our neighbor's son and his friend jamming in their garage.

Smelling: Woodsy smoke. There must be a grass fire somewhere.

Tasting:  Shrimp and crab nachos.

Touching:  My new garden tools and breaking them in.

Won't you share your five senses from the week?

I hope you have a wonderful last spring weekend!

A Simple Celebration

The taste and smell of certain foods take me back in my memory to different times and places. Strawberries Romanoff is one of those desserts that take me back to a certain time and place. A time when I was single and living in Utah and I would escape city life and go visit my friends at their ranch on the weekends. After the long drive to the ranch on Friday nights, I would be welcomed by M with a pot of hot tea and Strawberries Romanoff. We would sit on the cabin porch sipping our tea, dipping our strawberries, enjoying the view, and talking about the meaning of life, and I would think, "This is pure bliss." Good times. Good friends.

And so, tonight, a most important night for a couple of my Internet friends, Dr. Brent and Josh, I decided that Strawberries Romanoff would be the dessert of choice. But instead of sipping a pot of hot tea, we will be sipping Ross's Sangria and making a toast to "The Fabulous Beekman Boys" when the show premieres tonight.

Congratulations, Josh and Dr. Brent! May this be the first of many fabulous seasons and the beginning of more good things for you and the Beekman. ¡salud!

Strawberries Romanoff

1 lb. strawberries

1/2 c. sour cream

2 T. brown sugar

There are many variations of this recipe, but I prefer the simple, American version because my friend M made it this way. 

Rinse stawberries and leave caps on. Mix sour cream and brown sugar together. Dip your stramberries in the sour cream mixture. 

You can also remove the caps and slice the strawberries and stir into the sour cream mixture. Serve in individual bowls.

Take Tuesday

I have a thing for vintage signs...This theatre is in downtown Sacramento.

Every time we travel I-80 west out of Sacramento I see this sign and I just love it! The Milk Farm is long closed, but the sign remains. The quality of the photo would have been better if we hadn't been going 65+ on a cloudy day...

Bird Cookies

How cute are these sugar cookies made by Eleni's in New York? They are just too pretty to eat!

Life Interrupted and Take Tuesday

Hello! I am sorry that I have been away for awhile, but I am back now and to ease back into posting I decided to start a new weekly Tuesday post called 'Take Tuesday' to share some of the random photos I seem to endlessly take. 

This is our baby, Little One, or I should say my husband's baby...

These amaryllises are growing in my mom's Florida garden.