Homemade Meyer lemon ice cream, Andy's amazing barbeque-pulled pork sandwich, and this beautiful face: my sweetest of sweet-treats. Someone has been using her sippy cup (ocassionally) and eating (ocassionally) from a spoon! So proud! Oh, sweet darling.
We always use my dad's cole slaw recipe with the pork:
Al's Cole Slaw
One 16-oz. package cole slaw mix
1/2 medium onion, grated
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Paprika to sprinkle on top
Mix the cole slaw mix with the onion. Mix the sugar and vinegar into the mayonnaise, pour over cole slaw mix, and stir to combine. Sprinkle top with paprika. Serve on pork sandwiches. Very sweet and very simple.
Is it the weekend yet? I can't wait.
Does anyone have an automatic hose-winding reel? Do they really work? I really want one. I also really wanted one of those expandable fabric-looking hoses (not the little tightly coiled ones but the ones that puff out when they're filled with water) but they've gotten terrible reviews, and everyone says they break and leak very quickly (some immediately, the first day). Wah. My wildflower beds are starting to bloom (very unevenly — I keep forgetting to take a picture) and I want to make sure I don't botch the watering this summer. I don't mind the watering, it's the hose re-winding that destroys me.
Martha's gotten me hooked on watching Restoration Home videos. Last night I watched the one on Coldbrook Farm. I love this show! My other indulgence is watching River Cottage videos and Delicious Miss Dahl videos.
***The vine all over the side of our garage is a climbing hydrangea (three of them, actually). It climbs in the shade without support (has little hairy feet that stick to the wall, which trouble Andy very much, but . . . ).
Lovely photos! I've never been to that part of the country , beautiful ! I love the lushisness of your photos. That ice cream sounds so delish! Your little sweet pea, Amelia is so pretty ! Thank you for sharing!
heh I hope I am first...I am addicted to your blog. addicted. And I keep thinking about dandelion doe...
I have now been reading your blog for almost 4 years. always wonderful. i have NEVER read a post that made me go hmmm, didn't really like that one...you rock missus.
Oh! Where did you get that adorable rabbit cup for your little one?!
Oh my! The homemade ice cream looks and sounds so delicious. My mom used to make it a few times every summer, but it's been years since we've had any. Now that she lives with me, I think I should dust off her old ice cream maker and try this recipe. Don't know if I'll be able to find Meyer lemons in my neighborhood, though.
Beautiful, Alicia! We have a hose winding thing where the hose winds inside of a plastic box and I like it a lot. I had to replace the tiny hose that goes from the faucet to the box last year but that was cheap and available at H. Depot. Not sure how long we've had ours since it came with the house and we've been here 2 years.
Her sweet face!
I see so much heart and brilliance in that one picture.
Charming, utterly.
{Was going to praise the deep and rich color of those eggs, then exclaim over the gorgeous quilt, meant to say "hi" to the Bee, and I am craving a pulled pork sandwich, and slaw, and ice cream... but my intentions fall aside every time I see her expression!}
Your garden is looking lovely. But Amelia's sweet face is just the best! Oh, she is a precious child, and I know you are enjoying her so much. I am so happy for you, Alicia!
Happiness and garden hoses. Yes, these words can appear in the same sentence.
We bought a garden hose with the largest diameter we could find. Bigger hose, faster water delivery, less time holding a hose. We also bought a rubber hose as opposed to a vinyl hose. It doesn't kink and that alone contributes to improved mental health, if not for the waterer, then for the innocent bystanders.
We also bought a nice long hose so that we wouldn't run out just before our last thirsty far away rose could be reached.
We have had hose reels. One for the front yard and one for the backyard. They work pretty slick. Then we moved and our new home has it's front yard tap right at the entry. Hmmmmm. No room for a hose reel unless we wanted to climb over it. So, we installed a beautiful black bird bedecked cast iron wall mounted hose holder. Looks good. Now we unloop and reloop our hose just like we used to in our unenlightened days but exercise is good, right?
The hose is a dream to use although I'm still not keen on it being right at my entry but in the end, I'm just grateful for running water.
Happy June to you and thanks for the lovely pictures. Your little flower is blooming and such a beauty.
Your pictures are stunning and Meyer lemon ice cream? Yes please!!!
I love those enamel dishes, I bought them for my now NINE year old! She was/is our "bunny girl". I loved the plastic lid for the bowl, but have since lost it. I had the matching spoon and fork, too, but now have only the spoon. Boo. I still use them for our Amelia, and keep hoping the fork will turn up! My neighbor has one of those expandable hoses and loves it, but I've still been too chicken to buy one. The lemon ice cream sounds wonderful, and my 11 year old son is very big into any kind of food making, *especially* ice cream, yum! I did make the vegan chocolate cake, and it was amazing! We never even got pictures, it was gone too fast.
Your littlie is adorable ..... my heart is now all mushy, what a sweetheart x
Mmmmmm everything sounds Dee~lish.
Gosh I love all of those shows, I miss Miss Dhal!
happy weekend
love Jooles x x x
Can I just say... you taste in shows is VERY much like mine, so I am glad you share what you are watching every once in a while. I am going to be hooked on that Restoration Home show I can already tell, and I haven't watched the first episode. I love This Old House here when they redo all those old Boston homes.
I watched River Cottage on your recommendation and loved that. I'd already seen Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall on Gordon Ramsay's "F Word" show (which is so good, and unlike anything he does in America).
Delicious Miss Dahl...reminds me of Little Paris Kitchen with Rachel Khoo. Have you seen it?
I, for one, LOVE my expandable hose. Yes, it may not last forever but I can actually carry it, which means I can actually USE it. We have a big heavy duty hose that is just that- heavy. And I just can't lug that thing around. You might as well try the expandable hose and if it only lasts one summer, then you get pretty, watered plants for one summer. And you get to keep your back in working condition.
Yay, a Bee photo! I always remember your post aaages ago about how she's like the fog, coming along when you least expect her. Her eyes speak volumes. Beautiful. Also, I have quilt lust. Not to mention a craving for ice cream!
Oh, Alicia, your daughter is growing up so beautifully!
I've been reading your blog for over a year now and I love every post, every picture, every word.
You and I would be excellent friends, I'm sure. We share a love of baking and making a beautiful home, we have daughters about the same age and now I'm delighted to see that I'm not the only who watches Restoration Homes in alternance with Sophie Dahl's sweet recipes.
Okay, now I need to make some ice cream!
You have again captured the simplicity of life in a grand group of pictures.
Sweet indeed :) As for the hose topic: After years of wrestling with large heavy hoses my daughter just bought the expandable kind. Even if it is short lived it is soooooo much easier to handle, I figure it is a good investment. In one home we had our hose on a reel and that was the best of my heavy hose experiences. Even with my wimpy arms I was able to reel it in with much less fuss than coiling it around my arm or trying to make a springy cobra curled heap. xx
Hose reels and I do not get along. I have had (and broke) 4 different ones. Now I just wind the hose back into a big ceramic pot that sits next to the spigot. Also love your finished quilt. After you first posted about that one and not thinking too much about it I did the same and cranked out a quilt top in a few days with whatever fabric I had on hand. However, it still sits in my sewing room needing to be made into a quilt. That's the part that always gets me, the finishing.
A lovely, inspiring post as always. That ice cream looks fantastic. Growing up I often chose lemon custard ice cream at the ice cream parlor, and it reminds me of that. I probably haven't had it in over 30 years - must try that recipe.
As for hoses, I LOVE my super lightweight Water Right hoses, which I learned about a few years ago from Margaret Roach/A Way to Garden. I used to dread watering my large kitchen garden, and now I don't mind at all (okay, except when I'm out there for an hour and it's 95 degrees and 95% humidity). Great prices for them on amazon. I never want to use any other kind of hose again.
They are SO light (100 feet feels like nothing and won't trample plants when you accidentally land on one yanking it around), do not kink, and really are a joy to use. Also safe to drink from, practically indestructible. I don't actually wind mine up, I just leave it out in the garden. My mom finally bought one this year in the dark olive green color so she could just hide it in the ivy when she wasn't using it. ;)
If by expandable you mean the hoses that are all coiled up and you pull them out to use them, I have one 50 foot Water Right version of those for my greenhouse, and it's great, too.
so so so beautiful pictures, I love to come often and see this light, this lovely little girl and all your quilts... thanks for sharing!
Lovely details!
That last photo of her is divine. I have a hand-winding hose which works well, you need to build up a head of steam and wind as fast as you can. Occasionally you might find a small person jumps on it as you wind which is always a bit of a shock. If you can find it, the Delicious Miss Dahl book is really lovely, I think you'd enjoy it, she cooks in the same way that I imagine you do. I hope you guys have a good weekend. CJ xx
Hello! Here's a link from Plow and Hearth with a cool self-coiling hose (they have pretty rack like things to set it in, too). I don't like coiling hoses either, but my mom had one of these self-coilers and she loves it!
http://www.plowhearth.com/12-75-lightweight-self-recoiling-deluxe-springhose.htm
Aw, lemon cake and pulled pork (and a cute little lambie girl!) ARE the makings of happy, I agree!
I love Sophie Dahl's videos. Thank you for the additional suggestions.