New Additions

Our grub problem, which resulted in a nasty mud patch, has actually proved to be a boon to us.  While at Country max, looking for the necessary items for reseeding, we noticed this little beauty.  (The pink one.)  This is an Autumn Flowering Cherry (Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis').  It's already doing a beautiful job at cheering up our yard.

It is joined in this endeavor by our new Snow Fountain Cherry (Prunus x 'Snofozam').  We couldn't choose between the two types, so we decided to go with one of each.  A little bit of variety and a lot of beauty.

There is also some new flower bed beneath the two trees.  We're slowly but surely transferring our outdoor work to me from Matt.  At least it's pretty.

Daffodil Update

Two more daffodils up by the house bloomed during the day (as did one down at the corner):

First blooming daffodil! (with four hyacinth)

I am pleased to announce that here, we have our first blooming daffodil.  Daffodils are, without a doubt, my favorite flower (spring, summer, indoor, outdoor).  Nothing seems as cheerful to me as happy yellow daffodils.  All (or at least most) of my daffodils are grouped with various hyacinth, to provide multiple colors to the groupings since they're supposed to bloom at similar times.  I have to say that I'm pleased with the results in this particular early blooming group.  I do have several other daffodils that might open today or at the latest, tomorrow, so there will certainly be more pictures to come.

Also, since I still have numerous beautiful croci, I thought I'd throw in this shot looking straight down at them, since they're quite lovely that way.  (Also, this particular grouping is very nice since it has one of each color). 

Des Gaufres! (Waffles)

Waffles are one of our (we being Matt & I) favorite breakfasts. To imagine that he once dated someone who didn't like waffles. What pain he endured! How can you deny someone this kind of deliciousness?
It turns out that making really great fluffy-on-the-inside, crispy-on-the-outside waffles from scratch is so easy that I haven't even considered using a mix since the first time I made this recipe. It does mean that I keep buttermilk in the fridge as a staple ingredient, however. I'll admit that that may be slightly peculiar, but if you make these waffles, I'll bet you'll do the same (especially since there are many other delicious things to be made with buttermilk).  The recipe below is based off the recipe in the Joy of Cooking, using the buttermilk modifications and the least amount of butter.

Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. flour 

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

4 Tbsp. melted butter

1 1/2 c. buttermilk

3 eggs

Directions:

In a medium-large bowl, mix the dry ingredients.  I typically whisk them together since I use a whisk for the rest of the mixing and there's no point dirtying more dishes.  In the above pictured waffle, I used 1 1/4 c. all purpose flour and 1/2 c. white whole wheat flour.  They came out great and tasted very much like the ALL all purpose flour version.  

In a medium-small bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter.  Whisk this mix into the dry ingredients just to combine.  Cook 'em in your waffle maker.  Eat 'em however you like.  I recommend with real maple syrup (we buy the largest size Wegman's sells--the Club Pack--I'm not lying).

Croci! Many, many croci!

Well, as the title of the post implies, I have many croci growing now.  I made the mistake of putting them all in the bed that Matt and I put in last fall (down by the corner, where the poor little spruce is).  Next year there shall be even more croci and there shall be some in the beds right in front of the house.  This particular grouping on the right is one of my favorites, since the yellow flower in front is the first one that bloomed.

I had failed to understand how cheerful croci make me.  I love the bright colors and each day I like to go down to the corner and see how many more are blooming.  To the left we have a grouping that is accidentally fairly monochromatic.  I'm not really sure how I could prevent this.  It does show off the darker purple croci that are not visible in the first picture.

Just for good measure, I'm adding a picture of one more grouping (there are 2 or 3 others that I didn't photograph).  

Sweater Update Number Two

It's been a while since I provided any kind of sweater update.  I now have a front and a back.  These pictures are both of the same side, but the two sides look as identical as I am capable of making them.  I'm pretty happy with how they have come out.  Now I need to knit some sleeves.  I'm sure I'll be done by the hot part of the summer.  Oh well.

The first crocus of Spring!

Saturday, I saw my first blooming crocus of the year!  I'm so happy that color and flowers are back!

My Birthday Orchid

Matt bought me this orchid (to the right) for my birthday.  He actually got it at Wegmans, which may sound silly to anyone who hasn't experienced Wegmans, but I have to say that I was quite excited about it at the time and I still am now.

Since my birthday was almost a month ago, I've evidently had this orchid for a little while.  I'm pleased to say that it is still alive, still blooming, and still beautiful.  It has been quite easy really.  It came with directions and I have been following them quite carefully.  In essence, while the orchid is blooming the directions boil down to water the orchid once a week with room temperature water and allow the moss in which it is planted to dry out between each watering.