Mom's Garden: Artichoke

I was talking with someone the other day and the topic of artichokes came up. I started waxing poetic about how awesomely wonderful artichokes are to eat, and not only that, they are great in flower arrangements! My friend looked at me and said, what a peculiar idea! She had never thought about what an artichoke really is. Most people think that it's a vegetable, but nope! It's a flower. A pretty great, perfectly beautiful flower, that is part of the thistle family. ...and! the bees can't get enough of them.

It just so happened that at the moment, Mom had an artichoke growing in the garden. Most of the flowers had gone way past eat-ability into full-fledged flower mode. So, I thought I'd share a couple photos. Hope your summer is going great!

Project 365: The End

So, the day came and went without much fanfare, but I've finally finished Project 365.

It may sound cliche, but it really seems like I started taking pictures only last month. How time does fly. I'm not really sure what I expected to get out of this project... if anything, it's pretty cool to go back through the photos. I am not kidding when I tell you I remember taking every. single. one. I may not recall every second of that day, or even the day it was taken, but I do remember pausing for those two seconds to take out my phone and snap a picture. Interesting how that works.

See those two seconds of every day of the past year of my life here.

Curious to which iPhone apps were used throughout this project?

Hipstamatic

ShakeIt

CrossProcess

Lo-Mob

Polarize

PS Express

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Monthly Obsession | Dog Toys

Leading up to and since the arrival of little Oberon {who, at 60 pounds, isn't so little anymore}, I've been keeping an eye out for fun/cool dog stuff and pinning it on Pinterest. It's so nutty how crazed people are about their dogs these days. I really don't understand the whole doggy outfit thing (except maybe a sweater when it's 10º outside). But, I do understand the buying-of-dog-stuff frenzy that happens when you first bring home a little puppy. So, here's a small collection of the fun & useful doggy items that I've found recently. If you want to see more, check them out on my Gifts for the Pet Parent board.

Bone-shaped biscuit cutters, $8.99; Doggy play pool, $9.99; Seed Bombs: Pet Friendly Plants, $6; Silly Buddy bow tie, $40; Biodegradable Poop Bags, $9.95 for 100 bags;  Humunga Stache chew toy, $14.99; Braided Fisherman Collar, $22.
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Mom's Garden: Sweet Pea (Lathyrus Odoratus)

Sweet peas! This is one flower I am uber fond of. Growing up, Mom always planted sweet pea seeds along a fence in our yard. This fence was about 80' long - resulting in sweet pea madness. My best friend and I would go out on a summer day and literally load dozens of giant coffee cans full of them. We would make fairy-princess crowns, necklaces and bracelets out of them. Some kids have lemonade stands; I had a sweet pea stand. We sold bunches of them for ridiculously cheap... like $2. We thought we were millionaires. Years later, I saw them at the Union Square Greenmarket in New York. They were selling bunches for $20. I stopped dead and my jaw was on the floor. Twenty dollars!? They are awesome flowers, but how could... how would anyone buy sweet peas for that much!? *shrug and shakes head in dismay*

 



These flowers smell so nicely {hence, the name} they will fill a room with fragrance. The only sad thing is {and probably why they are so expensive at markets} that they don't generally last a long time in a vase. In order to get more time out of them, change the water every day. And, if you can, trim a bit off the stems too. Happy Summer!

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Monthly Obsession | Eden Rose Update

Just thought I'd share a couple more pics of the awesomely beautiful Eden Roses
that I *ahem* acquired *ahem*.
Obviously, these little suckers last a long time if you change the water every day and clip the stems a bit.

Happy Friday the 13th! Ooooohhhhhh, spooky! hee hee

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Monthly Obsession | Eden Rose Climber (Pierre de Ronsard)

Oh, Eden Rose. How I love thee. Let me count the ways....

I have had an obsession with this rose for years now. I mean, I love this rose. You'd be seriously hard pressed to find me wearing any shade of pink, but when it comes to flowers, all bets are off. 

Mom and I first spotted this beauty, years ago, climbing up an amazing home overlooking the Pacific in Corona Del Mar, California. At the time, we didn't know what rose it was.

It is a beautiful, prolific climbing (but can also be trained as a shrub) rose that begins with creamy white buds, and as it opens, it changes color. The tips of the petals are a rich, saturated pink that look like they've been dipped in watercolor. As the flower opens, the petals become lighter and lighter and fade to the lightest blush pastel pink. They are super heavy and have tons of densely-packed petals.

We happened upon it again a few months later on a weekend visit to Filoli (pronounced fee-low-lee) near San Francisco. The tag deemed it an Eden Rose Climber (the French call it Pierre De Ronsard).

Developed by French flower grower Meilland in 1987 and is apparently, very resistant to fungus and bugs. The only drawbacks are it doesn't have much smell, needs a bit of shade and doesn't like to get wet. Other than that, in the right zone, these roses are supposed to be very easy to care for! It was also voted into the World Federation of Rose Society Roses Hall of Fame in 2006.

(Another completely amazing rose that I found this week is the Yves Piaget - it looks like the most amazing peony! You have to look it up)

 

Neither Mom nor I own this rose, so how I obtained the flowers in these photos will remain a secret. 

Suffice to say, it involved a bit of covert operations and a mostly absent neighbor who will never know what they're missing.

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Project 365: Milestone Day 320!

I haven't really been talking about it much, but I've still been going strong with the Project 365 stuff. I do take a picture everyday, but I don't always post them on the same day... {guilty grin} Day 320 will be tomorrow - I can't believe that there's only 45 more days to this project. Seriously seems like I started it only a few weeks ago.

Anyone want to peruse my last year in pictures? See them here

Project Bake | Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'd like to start out saying this creation is in no way my idea. Don't get me wrong, it's a brilliant idea, just not mine. I originally saw it floating around on Pinterest, and I pinned it, thinking 'hey, what a fun thing to do on a gloomy day!'. Then all of a sudden it exploded all over the blogosphere. 

The original idea is from Picky Palate (whose finished product looked better than mine, naturally).

So, one gloomy day later, I decided to give it a whirl. The original recipe called for making the cookies from scratch. Since I figured this is more of a novelty item (much like the Cherpumple disaster), I decided that in my first go-around I'd start with pre-made stuff. Lazy, I know.

It's super easy, going the pre-made route and only takes about 7 minutes to assemble. All you gotta do is lump dough on the top & bottom of the Oreo, and smush the sides together to make a solid ball. Yes, these suckers are HUGE. One note: don't let the dough get too soft, otherwise the cookies will turn out, like mine, flat with an Oreo lump in the middle. Make them and stick the pan back in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Then bake them in a pre-heated 350º oven until golden brown. Also, if you want to make an amount for a large group of people, double your recipe. I got about 9 of these from 1 package of Nestle Toll House.

Eat them warm with ice cold milk. So totally decadent.

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Mom's Garden: Happy Spring Bunch

Recent trip to Mom's Garden and I came back with these beauties. Roses, Ranunculus, California Poppy & Sweet Pea. They seem a happy bunch, yes?

Say Hello...

I apologize for my lack of posting recently. I have a good reason! I have a new addition to my life - everyone, meet little Oberon. He arrived from the D.C. area last Friday and I've had my hands full ever since! He's literally like having a toddler - can't sleep through the night and can't keep anything out of his mouth. But, he's a snuggler and a total cutie-pie. Welcome to Cali, little Obie!