Goodbye June ~~ Photo Finish

It's still June here for 

a few more hours,

and I want to get a few

photos from June

posted before it's July.

My favorite photo from June.

It's a tiger lily (I think).

   I wondered if my potted Easter Lily

  would grow and bloom again,

if I planted it in the garden.

It's been doing fine for a 
few years now.

We have a wall of Jasmine

against the house. 

  It usually

blooms in May, but our

cool wet May delayed the blooms

this year until June. 

 It smells wonderful,

especially in the evening

after a warm day.

 They're just about finished now.

Well hello kitchen porch visitor.

I don't know what butterfly

you'll turn into, but you're beautiful

just the same.

The crows ~ which nest around here,

shared my their cherries with me.

They got the majority share this year.

This is what sunsets look from our house.

The view is obstructed with trees

and a hillside.

That's OK, I'll wait for sunset photo

opportunities when we're out on the

lake.  The sunsets are prettier there.

  

Goodbye June,

It's been a lovely month.

Hello July! 

Dream Car via Ya-Ya Sisters

I just love these actors (actresses)

in the Movie Divine Secrets of the

Ya-Ya Sisterhood.

The lady in the middle

Fionnula Flanagan plays

Teensy in the movie.

The character Teensy

reminds me so much of

our Aunt Helen, whom I miss terribly~

it makes my heart ache.

~~~

Anyway, during the movie

Teensy is driving the convertible

in the photo below with her sassy

attitude and determination to stop

Vivi (Ellen Burstyn) 

from creating a bit more trouble.

Oh how I love this movie,

but that isn't what this post

is going to be about.

   photo source here

Teensy: [leans down to inspect her car and shouting]
You are soooooo lucky!... if you put one scratch on my baby, I would have your ~~~ !

It's all about the car,

and the sassy carefree feeling

it evokes.

Yeah, something like that.

Look what I spied

down at the Air Force base.

Ooh, 

Curves and a cute personal licence plate.

At first I though, hmmm, must be

a pilots car, after all we are on

an Air Force Base.

Oops, its a Saturn SKY

oh ~  never mind.

Well I like it!

Wouldn't this be fun to

drive up highway 101

next month along the northern

California and Oregon Coast?

With a scarf flying,

and lots of sunscreen,

and darkened glasses.

Yeah baby!

Gotta have that sassy attitude

to go with it.

Ooh, leather interior.

Be still my dreaming heart...

So ~ today I'm checking the

Internet to find out a bit of info

on this dream car...

and guess what?

                                                                       SATURN SKY

"Thanks for your interest in the Saturn SKY. As you probably know, the entire Saturn brand is being phased out. Even though the SKY has been taken out of production and there are no longer any Saturn vehicles available, the fuel-efficient, fun-to-drive spirit of Saturn continues in both our Certified Used program and in the lineup of exciting new cars and trucks ..."

 Isn't that just the

cats pajamas...

I'll have to stick with

my other dream car,

which isn't quite so bad.

It's little hybrid self

gets 45 MPH.

Bet the SKY doesn't get that.  

p.s. Dear Husband,  I wasn't seriously thinking

that we'd be getting a new car...

Little Bumps Along the Way ~ Caution this Post Contains Excessive Whining.

I am currently yard sitting

for a family member who

will be out of town for a couple of weeks.

 Today's photos of Oleander and Day Lilies

 are from her yard, taken yesterday morning,

 while it was sunny.

 

It's late June right?

Today in inland Northern CA (which is known

for its heat), it is just 60 degrees.

That's 30+ degrees below average

for this date.

It's been pouring buckets of rain,

and we have a winter storm warning

up on the mountain at 7,000 feet.

I'm wondering if we're going to need

a fire in the wood stove tonight.

  I'm that chilled, cause I got wet

and cold earlier out in the rain.

Um, yeah, who needs a coat in June?

Yesterday evening, we went

swimming to cool off from the

humid hot day, and today, it's

cold and rainy.

    It is June right?

Thursday, we drove down to our

nearest military base to renew my ID card. 

It's 187 miles one way to find out

that after 36 years of being

 a military "dependent spouse" (grrr),

I now need an appointment

 to get the card renewed. 

 Well that's a new rule ~~~ and there are 

No exceptions!

Oh, and I ~have~ to have

my sponsor (husband) there with me,

which I did,

because I already knew that.

So ~ we made an appointment,

only to come home and find

out that he (my sponsor/husband) who

works for a different government

agency, can't get that day off.

So he (my husband) calls me from work

asking that I make the call down to the base,

 to reschedule the appointment.

But I couldn't ~ because after searching

for some quite some time,

 I could not find my cell phone

which I use for long distance.

Because ~ it's in his (you know who's) car

where I  accidently left it in the glovebox.

 

Anyway, he (the husband) made the call

and we have a new date.

 

 Now I need

to cancel my haircut appointment,

because it's  going to conflict with the

latest ID card appointment.

I just know my wonderful hairdresser

is not going to be able to fit me 

in a bit earlier.

  I just know it ~ because it

has been one of those weeks. (grin)

  I'll be the one with Bozo hair (again)

  because the last week

 before my haircut appointments

   always are a bit more bad hair days than not. 

Come on, (whining here)

  I have to have my photo taken.

 

Oh, and it's always

 ~ always ~  windy  on base. 

 Sheesh! 

 I'm going to be stuck

with this photo

for several years you know. 

 (I know ...)

Friday, we had plans.

Yep it doesn't matter

 if you have plans or not.

Cause  stuff  happens.

Like flat tires because

you know who (not me)

didn't miss the board on the freeway

 that had nails in it

making not one

but two holes in the tire.

Don't you just love

that new tire smell in the tire shop? smirk

You get used to it 

~ after an hour and a half.

Ahem ~ 

 We had planned to go to

town to get a few things done,

 then head to the lake to beat

 the  Friday night/weekend boaters

to our favorite cove on the lake. 

~~~ 

I resent seeing someone else 

anchored there

 ~ in our cove.

( I know, I know.)

  So, even though

we had a four day weekend,

we never did make it out to the lake.

Cause stuff just keeps happening,

and besides,

we had hillsides to mow

again because it kept raining in May

and the grass/weeds kept

 growing and growing.

  But it's all minor ~ thank goodness! 

Back to thursday ~ 

 I also misplaced all my keys.

Including the electronic $$$ keys

 for both of our cars.  

I have experience

with that senario already.

Um, it was a few years ago,

when I accidentally dropped

 my car key in the lake

at the marina

into 90 feet of water.

Yeah, that was not good. 

This time, the keys fell

 out of my purse

onto the back seat, while

  on our way home from the base.

 It was panic time at a rest stop,

 until we found them.

There must have been

 some bad karma

in the car that day,

because my husband had a

wireless modem slip out of his hand

 and land between the car seat

 and the console. 

 It just plain disappeared into thin air. 

 I finally found it underneath a floor mat.

  Whew! 

  

We have two weeks before we have to

make this same trip again. 

Wish us luck.

  

Phylis' Garden ~~ An update for Violet

As promised to Violet

 (who is cousin Phylis's mom),

 here's this mornings visit 

over to Phylis's garden.

The first look at this years garden

can be found HERE.

While I was working on getting these

tomatoes planted over at Phylis's garden,

Violet's husband asked me why

I was using such large tomato cages and

whether the tomato plants would grow

that tall to fill them up.

This tomato plant is just about to the top.

and these cages are more than 5 feet tall.

We've had them grow up and over the top,

back down the sides,

and out into the garden paths.

The tomatoes over there grow like crazy.

Green beans in the foreground,

summer squash in back,

and sweet corn to the right.

Zucchini blossom

with a baby zucchini in the upper

left corner.  It'll be ready to harvest

tomorrow morning ~ I'm sure.

 Swiss Chard and marigolds.

Baby Pak Choy or Bok Choy,

I'm not sure which.

Peas

Love the sun glow through the pods.

Violet helped plant most of the seeds

at her daughter Phylis's garden.

It sure is beautiful over there.

I promised to share photos of the

garden here on the blog off and on during the

summer, so that Violet could see

the progress.

French Toast ~~

One of these eggs

is not like the others ~~  

Of course ~ you can tell which

one is store bought and which ones

are from  a friends home grown chicks.

Now the eggs above were not the ones

I used to make this batch of French Toast.

Nope, this griddle full was 

Sunday's breakfast

last weekend when our grandson was here.

I didn't take a photo

of the French Toast I made using the above

eggs.   That photo would have shown

a much richer yellow/orange colored

French Toast.   I was We were in too much

of a hurry to eat, to grab the camera.

Sometimes it just plain feels weird

to take photos of your food especially

when the husband is home.

Anyway, I wanted to

share my own recipe

for making  French Toast. 

This is not

a regular recipe though,

because for this I don't really measure.

OK, here goes ~

 French Toast

Slice some home made white bread,

or a firm dense bread of your choosing.

I haven't baked bread in

quite awhile though. So ~~~

 I like Pugliese French bread

which is what I used this time. 

Crack one egg for every two

slices of bread you plan to use,

 and perhaps one extra just in case it's needed. 

 I crack these into a pie pan.

Then add milk. Just a glug or so.

Told ya this wasn't going to be

 a regular ole recipe.

Add a little bit of sugar (1 tsp.) 

 and a couple

shakes from the salt shaker.

Then add some vanilla.

I don't measure, but just perhaps

1/2  teaspoon.

 Inhale the scent of

vanilla, while watching the pretty

swirls it's making in the unmixed

egg/milk/salt/sugar combo.

Now, act like you are

shaking a moderate amount of

pepper  on your mixture,

Only it's mace you are shaking on.

 It's really smelling good now.

Ground Mace is

the outer covering of nutmeg.

If you haven't tried it, you should.

Now whisk everything together

in the pie pan. 

Thoroughly soak your bread and

cook the slices on a buttered skillet/griddle

(medium heat)until done. 

 Make sure it's firm/done.

 I wouldn't want you to tuck into

 some undone egg goo.

Now serve with butter and

powdered sugar, or real maple syrup.

For more info on Ground Mace

click

http://www.mccormick.com/Products/Herbs-and-Spices/Spices-A-to-Z/Mace-Ground.aspx

McCormick is the site that I took the

vanilla and ground mace photos from.

What's in your French Toast?