Flower and garden weekend

That is Glen looking through his new/old garden gate at the end of a potting marathon yesterday, but our flower and garden weekend really began on Friday afternoon when we attended the Southwest Flower and Garden Show at the Cardinals Stadium in Glendale. I had never been to the new stadium and Glen thought it was a good opportunity for me to see it. We enjoyed the walk and the plant displays. We bought books and food. What's new! We were excited to find these two books which are specific to our locale:

Month-by-Month Gardening in the Deserts of Arizona
by Mary Irish

Extreme Gardening, How to Grown Organic in the Hostile Deserts
by Dave Owens

You are welcome to borrow them if interested. As for the food, we cooked for the missionaries last night and they had Red Lobster type cheesy biscuits with their steaks. We purchased the mixes and seasonings at a booth at the fair and baked them in our new drop biscuit Lodge cast iron pans. Yummy!

This is what Glen was potting yesterday, his dwarf citrus trees. The old basketball court has officially been retired. Now we have more room for container gardening. He was expressing his gratitude that he had been unable to find a basketball standard that fit the mounting holes of the old one years ago.

This was my project, I planted out two of these colorful pots. I had managed to revive the lime green coleus in the green house, my sometimes plant hospital.

After working hard, this was what did not get planted. Glen has big plans. I can't wait to see the finished product.

On the way home from the stadium, we stopped at Tempe Marketplace so I could check out the paper lantern covers at the World Market. Since the Nate & Nichelle fiestas with paper lanterns, I have been smitten. Aren't these lovely with the leaf design. The fiesta was across the back fence this weekend. The neighbors strung lights and had a party, so the missionaries had music and happy voices to accompany their steak dinner.

By the way, mashed potatoes are so fast and easy in the new multicooker (electric pressure cooker.) I peeled and quartered the potatoes ( a dozen), added 3 inches of water and they were done in 10 minutes (with no minding the pot which will still boil over which means you also have to clean the stove.) I mashed them right in the removable cooking pot. I didn't read the directions carefully, so hadn't drained off the water. I added the milk and knew I was in trouble, so I just hit the brown button, brought it to a barely boil again and added a package of instant garlic mashed potatoes. Problem solved. I roasted the garlic cloves wrapped in foil with olive oil in the oven as I baked the biscuits. Please share your ideas, successes, etc., when using your pots so we can use them for more than rice and beans. Check out Emilia's success with corn on the cob on her blog.

Have a great week and keep Glen in your prayers. CT Scan #2 is tomorrow morning.

Welcoming garden gate

Andrew and Glen have been busy. Andrew has built the beautiful garden gate entrance to the backyard which also provides support for the pomegranate tree that Glen has been envisioning for years. We kept the old gate because it has "old age character" just like us. We do plan on giving it another coat of matching stain.

(Children, how many times do you think you have stained, water sealed, etc., this gate?)

Doesn't it beckon you to come on in?!

This was a before picture that I found from a year ago.

Thank you Andrew!

Three good things

1. The Binky has been located. Please let me know if I should lose it again.

2. I got the cute stripped pitcher for $2.99. Because it was such a buy, I now have two.

3. Do you see that beautiful yellow tomato? I picked it this morning. It is a Russian heirloom tomato named "Azoychka" (Ah-ZOYVH-kah.) As a seedling in a four inch pot, it cost $2.00 more than the pitcher when I purchased it last October from Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes (no relation:)

I quote, "A spectacular Russian heirloom, "Azoychka" has become a favorite of chefs and tomato lovers world wide. It has a delightful yet subtle hint of citrusy flavor."

I'm off to my own private taste testing. If you are intrigued, there will be plenty more ripe yellow ones in no time!

Flower Fairy Field Trip

The grandgirls spent time with grandpa and grandma who had planned a "Flower Fairy Sleepover" this weekend . Part of the festivities included a field trip to grandpa's favorite flower garden while wearing their new flower fairy frocks (aprons.) There was excitement in the air.

This necessitated a drive to Berridge Nurseries on Camelback Road and about 50th Street in Phoenix. (And yes, that is Camelback Mountain in the background.) The girls thought the ride long, but were delighted to be in this garden center which is laid out like a true garden.

Each apron was made from flower fairy fabric and they were told to try and find flowers which represented the fairies found on their aprons. They used the flower magnifying glass (thanks for sharing, Ruby) to inspect the blooms.

Look carefully and you will find a flower fairy flitting through the greenhouse.

Sadie "takes time to smell the roses" (hydrangeas.) Sadie's favorite color is blue. She sought all things blue, then said simply, "blue."

Heather was on the search for all things red or shades of pink.

Ruby found some yellow orchids on her search for all things golden.

Sadie was more impressed with the fauna. She and grandpa found a zebra who didn't mind her ugly tooth Binky. That Binky is another story (the Glen kind of story.) Fortunately, Sadie and I managed to lose it before returning Sadie to her parents.

It was sometimes hard to keep track of all the flower fairies in the beautiful garden as they followed their noses.

Occasionally, they would stop and allow grandma to take a posed picture.

Heather found her flower match.

Ruby found her flower match as well.

Sadie finally looked at me!

Grandpa Glen finally rounded up his beauties and told them to pick out their favorite flowers to take home. Ruby, girl after my own heart, said she didn't want a flower, but would take a tomato plant instead. Grandpa once again had his ego stroked as other customers congratulated him on his beautiful daughters.

Having been inspired, the flower fairies returned to their important work of making fairy houses once back in their grandparents' garden.

They soon moved their fairy town to the bench at the end of the pool. (Less squatting.) They worked until the sun started going down, eating fresh peas from the garden and the two ripe strawberries to keep up their strength.

Here is grandpa making sure that they don't fall in the pool! Let's give him a break. It must be exhausting to be the bus driver AND chaperone on a field trip!

This is where we received the inspiration for our fun weekend.

The Complete Book of Flower Fairies
by Cecily Mary Barker

The girls also took home these:

Flower Fairies Paper Dolls

For more at home fun on the computer, go here.

Who needs forsythia?

When I lived in Utah, I looked forward to the blooming forsythia because it meant Spring was just around the corner. In Glen's Arizona garden, this blooming yellow bush means Spring is here!

Right now it is the show stopper on the corner.

Family History Trivia

Check out this article about Grandma Baker's cousin and the new Draper Temple. Grandma B would have been so excited to have a temple in the neighborhood. She was a great patron of the Jordon River Temple. This picture was taken in 1985 during a harbor cruise off of San Pedro. Don't skip the article! It will give you some insight into your own family history.

This is a photograph of your ancestor, Thomas E. Ricks. He was a pretty amazing man who played a big part in the settling of the West and the great Mormon Migration. I googled his name once (part of my "how great is the Internet for researching family history") and found that there was another Wikpedia worthy Thomas E. Ricks. He is a journalist for the Washington Post and has written several books about the war with Iraq. I was watching my favorite "talk" show, Charlie Rose (Channel 8 at 1:00 PM) last week. His guest was Thomas E. Ricks. Finally, I could see what he looked like. It was a bit freaky. He was pretty much a twin!

A Little Shoe Story

Raymond and Henry came to hang out while their mother was taking beautiful pictures of an anonymous family. When grandpa arrived home and decided it was time for outside, Ray's shoes were not to be found. Anywhere. Even after searching under sofas, ottomans, in toy closet, etc. We finally gave up and Raymond explored outside in his socks. His mother said, "No, big deal. They'll show up unless Henry threw them in the garbage." (Henry's newest skill.)

Yesterday was house cleaning day. When I went to move Glen's shoes to vacum, this is what I found. Little shoes all lined up with Grandpa's shoes. Well! That only makes sense. Little Glen really does act and look like Big Glen.