MY KIND OF WEATHER....

Yesterday I took over 140 photos while I was touring the gardens and had a couple that were not part of the tour. Just more great examples of local flavor.



I am very fond of this particular house. It belongs to a friend of ours and I will have to take some shots of the interior for you....a kitchen to die for if you are into cooking.

Yesterday I forgot to post the next two pictures of friends who participated in the tour.

Herb F. and Judy C. (the best cook I know!).

Al (carver), Gary and Brenda (exceptional painter). Good friends.

Here are some leaf castings that were in the raffle at the Alumni House.




Now, on to today. A very cool, bright morning....cool enough to require sweats.

The sky was full of cotton....

Chore time is so short now....

There they are....all facing in the same direction again....



When I got in the house I made a batch of sauce with the tomatoes left from yesterday (Gary made his first of the season). If we do this every week for the next month, we should be all set. So far we have 9 bags, which we freeze. Our ingredients are onions, garlic, carrots, celery, peppers, Italian parsley and tomatoes. A quick sauce that is very fresh tasting...especially in the middle of winter.



One of my students (Mel) stopped in to show me the drawing he started in class last Tuesday, and as he will not be around for a couple of weeks, he wanted me to see it. Mel is just starting out with colored pencil and it looks like he is going to be a star! I am so impressed.

Gary brought home some flowers after they cleaned up yesterday....

After lunch Abbe and I got together for some work. I am going to do a lot with the poles to get her desensitized.... more comfortable with the shafts of the cart when she is turning.

I drove her outside, so we could do more straight work. The way I have the poles on her is not working!!!! They slide to the right and left and get all unbalanced. Tomorrow I am going to think of a better way to do this. When I tried to make adjustments, she did not stand as well as I wanted her to. Frustrating. Finally, I took them off and tried to end on a good note.

I got going on evening chores a little later than usual. A little domestic in the kitchen and did not pay attention to the time.

Now the pastures are shady at night so I can take off their masks...these cooler temperatures are so fine...

Tonight's dinner....Mushroom veggie burgers with cheddar cheese and fried onions on an English muffin...roasted onions, potatoes, carrots and beets...cucumbers, carrots and onions in a marinade (tastes like fresh pickles). Healthy and delicious.

It's night even 9pm, so I'm not tired yet. Who knows, there may be more.

MACRO MONDAY WITH ED...

On Sunday there was a Garden Tour....

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?

It all started at 6:15 this morning. Let the dogs out and started taking pictures of the beautiful sky.





Then I went back to bed until 7:15! Did some last minute weeding and left around 11 to do a photo shoot of the garden tour. Stopped at the market to get some fruit...my assistants were with me. Home in time for a quick lunch, and then people started coming to look around. At 3:30 I went down to the Alumni House for a reception and got home for evening chores.


These two photos are from the inside looking out (of the barn).

Put the horses out, hoping that the weather would not go crazy.



The sky was changing every few minutes.







We were invited out to dinner at Judy and Randy's, so we headed out at 6:30.

We parked in front of this "painted lady" which is owned by a friend of ours. Pretty wild for little old Brockport.

On the other hand, is this....one of my favorite places.

Who would not want to eat on this porch?

We started off with some appetizers and chatter...

The sign below is above the doorway into the main part of the house. Do I love it?





Let's get down to the food part. All of these are organic cheeses and every one was DELICIOUS.
We were also treated to olives, marinated onions, champagne grapes and fresh dates. Dates and blue cheese really go together. Major yum?!

For dinner we had some heirloom tomatoes with basil and homemade dressing.

Along with a vegetable stew topped with dumplings.

Dessert was peach upside down cake. What a meal.

The minor detail? I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open. Home before 9, put the horses in and here I am. Please check out the garden tour below.

Night all!

GARDEN DELIGHTS TAKE FLIGHT...2009 GARDEN TOUR

The Garden Club of Brockport has been presenting Tours for many years, as a way to make money for their yearly expenses. Today I went to each of the homes to give you an idea of what the gardens looked like.

My first stop was at the home of the Winners.

They live right in the village on a quiet side street.

One of my favorite spots was this patio on the west side of their house. It was very private and inviting...






From there I went to the Watts home...one of the most beautiful in Brockport.

There is Sarah on the front porch. When our kids were babies we were neighbors, and have kept in touch ever since.



The back yard is deep and shaded with beautiful gardens and trees.

A classic patio off the kitchen.

And a view from the inside....magnificant!

Across the street is the home of the Matela's. Jo owns the Red Bird Tea shop in the village and I have taken you there several times in the past.

She has been redesigning her back yard which is now filled with impatiens and hosta.

Very private and soothing to the eye.





Around the corner is the Morris Residence.

Behind this house is a very eclectic garden complete with tool sheds and an old train shanty where Jackie makes chili sauce every fall.

Trumpet vine has grown over the remains of a cherry tree creating new life.



The front porch has a long bench on it....inviting you to have a seat.



On the other side of Main Street is the Dolan House.

The property is outlined with a picket fence edged with gardens.

As you can see, the lot is very large, considering it is in the village.



Next, I drove to Clarkson to visit the Aponti home.

They were prepared with a sign and went to the trouble of labeling all of their plants.



Their cats were very curious about all of the activity.

The plantings were very mature, creating border gardens.



Outside the kitchen is a cook's garden....



The Scott's cottage was a surprise. Their lush back yard had to be larger than an acre and was fully planted.

How do you keep a birdbath so clean?

Onlookers were invited to enjoy tea and cookies.



I have never seen some of these flowers and I can't remember what this is....

I do know, however, that her lilies are magnificant.



Last but not least is Home Sweet Home....Skoog Farm.

Those of you who follow me, should be very familiar with these shots.













At 3pm, all were invited to the Alumni House for a Wine Flight.

There were summer wines and other refreshments.





The Garden Club members each donated a basket of some sort to be raffled off at the end of the event. Gary won a basket with homemade jams, pickles and tomato sauce...just what I wanted!

This is the kind of thing that makes Brockport a great place to live.