Celebrating at the Holden Arboretum

This recent July 4th had to have been one of the hottest days of the year so far.  However, the idea of being inside any building for most of the day just doesn't feel right on this special holiday, at least  for me!  So, even with the threat of hot, humid weather and severe thunderstorms lurking about, we decided to take the risk and visit one of our favorite spots in the area.

The Holden Arboretum contains preserved land with over a 1000+ acres and over 100 acres are accessible to visitors who come to this unique place.  With twelve collections of lilacs, trees, bushes, etc intersected with cement and gravel paths; there's something new to see around every corner.

As you can tell by the photos, the rain held off even if the temperatures were unrelenting!  We had a great picnic with some great friends and then set off exploring.

Here are just a few of the snapshots caught before the mid day heat set in.  They are all of the Butterfly Garden which is located right behind the Visitor's Center.  Knowing how much I like gardens, I think you'll agree that these flowers are just a little bit of heaven!

Monarda or Bee Balm, explodes in a fire cracker red.

The water feature section of The Butterfly Garden.

 A bee burrowing into a Stokesia flower. Notice the pollen sacs on it's legs.

Daisies are the essence of summer.

I really wanted to sit in the middle of that running water!

Another butterfly plant...I didn't see too many butterflies that day, I think they were smarter than us and stayed "in!"

A perfect shady spot for a little friend to dream...

It was a beautiful day all in all.  We had a fun 4th and took a two mile hike where we saw not one but TWO Great Horned Owls in a tree.  Amazing!  

Hope you had a super holiday as well...blessings to you all!

For more information on the Arboretum, click here.

My Version of Olive Garden's "White Peach Cooler"

Yes, with all of the recent heat we've been experiencing lately, it's definitely summertime.  And summertime means iced tea for us.  If you don't drink iced tea, I really encourage you to try it.  It tastes great and is a great alternative for sodas that are basically made of sugar and chemicals.  (Not that I don't enjoy a Coke or Pepsi once in awhile.)  It's full of antioxidants, phytochemicals with are bone-strengthening, and even is known to help prevent tooth decay.  Try that from a Pepsi-free!  Seriously, if you're not sure about it, try the recipe below and it will become your new favorite drink.  All of the fruit flavors combine to make a one-of-kind drink perfect for hot weather.

This is my own version of a drink I saw advertised while dining at Olive Garden.  I looked at the ingredients and realized, I can make that one!  So here it is and I hope you're able to try it and enjoy it yourself at home.

I happen to have a great spearmint plant at home.   However, if you don't, feel free to use a mint tea bag to use in your tea blend instead.

Here are the ingredients to make a one quart serving of this tasty tea.  It will make a cup for you and a friend.  

Minty Peach and Lemon Iced Tea

1 tea bag of Peach herbal tea
1 tea bag of black, green or white tea
(You can also use a tea bag of Peach black tea if you can find them.  I like separating flavors so I can make more combinations.)
Half of an average sized lemon
A sprig of spearmint OR a mint tea bag
One quart jar (or something that will hold 32 oz.)

Put your tea bags and mint into the jar.  Heat your water to a boil and once boiling, add water to your container only to cover the teabags and mint.  If you are drinking this iced, you don't need to add water to the top as it's only more water to cool.  Let the tea bags steep for 15 minutes or more.  I usually do this and then start working on something else around the kitchen.  Once your tea water has cooled quite a bit, juice your half a lemon and add to your tea.  You can put it in earlier if you need.  You can also add a bit of made up lemonade if you have it available.  Stir and add sugar to taste.  I use two Stevia packets for one quart.  Add ice and fresh water to fill the jar and DRINK!  

I believe you will love this flavored tea.  Now you can drink a restaurant quality drink and serve it at home for you and your friends!  Enjoy and blessings!

Linked to Polka Dots on Parade Wednesdays Blog Hop

Summer Campfire

Summer and campfires always seem to go together.  So whenever the summer heat is not too great, we try to have one. 

It was our day off so we planned to spend some family time together.  However, between garden chores and washing windows, we both ran out of steam by mid afternoon.  Our original plan was to take a short hike and then grill out supper at a park nearby, but we were both so tired; a home campfire seemed like just the ticket. The guys were happy about it too and Mark worked his magic in helping to get the fire started. 

Who doesn't like S'mores?  Well, our guys like them for sure so we made sure to get the necessary supplies for them to make this campfire legit.

I love to roast marshmallows.  I'm not a huge fan of eating them, but it's such a campfire art to be able to roast them without setting them on fire (unless setting them ablaze is your goal!)  A rich espresso crema brown is the perfect color for me which makes the best roasted marshmallow.

YUM!

Mark recently purchased this travel guitar so he could be a mobile musician wherever he goes.  He had fun serenading us by the campfire with improvised songs with whatever topic we could think of.  Flip Wilson, a trailer and the Louvre (museum) were some of the things mentioned... :)

Luke: Fires are for contemplation...

It was a fun, low-key great way to end the day.  The weather was just cool enough to make a fire enjoyable.  Can't wait until our next one...blessings to you all!

Blueberry Cobbler Made Light!

What says summer more than blueberries...and especially blueberry cobbler?  Yep, that's what I'm talking about! Blueberries are absolutely amazing in a dessert (one of my favorite pies.) However, we rarely make desserts anymore because when we do, well, I eat them! But we do try to make room for those dessert items that hold a great memory or are seasonal.  Certain foods (think corn-on-the-cob, fried eggplant/zuchinni) I love to eat seasonally and berry desserts are one of them. The other day I picked up a lot of blueberries at the market and I usually put them in cereal or smoothies, but  today I couldn't resist the idea of making an old fashioned cobbler.

So, in order to make our dessert and eat it too, I found this great recipe for Blueberry Cobbler, a lighter version which was entirely delicious.  Find the recipe here.

Blueberries, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon peel.

After reading some of the reviews for this recipe, I decided to add about a teaspoon of cinnamon to the blueberries and 2 teaspoons of lemon extract to the batter.  I also used my own multi-grain flour.  It made it a little better for you and added a nice nutty flavor.

Well, it turned out fantabulous!  I will definitely be making this again...even if it turns out to be next summer; it's going in my cookbook! 

Let me know if you try the recipe and like it...Blessings!!

Linked to Miz Helen's Country Cottage - Full Plate Thursday , DIY Home Sweet Home, Sugar Bee Crafts; Take-A-Look-Tuesday, My Girlish Whims; Your Whims Wednesday

Quick Pics: Garden in June

Calendula or Pot Marigold. I use the flowers for a skin balm.

Hey!  It's mid-June in my zone 5 garden...here's a sneak preview of what's getting ready to be picked or is blooming now!

Early Girls!!  I only saw the one when I took this picture, look at the others...can't wait for BLT's!

This Sweet Basil is ready to harvest now!

This is a volunteer marigold that showed up in the right spot! I love flowers in the garden.

Sweet Banana Pepper

Hungarian Wax...these pepper are such twins to the sweet bananas.  I planted them in two different locations
so I could tell them apart from each other...

Lobelia. The truest blue flower in my garden.  Shoes make a great planter too!
Thanks for stopping by...Have a great weekend and blessings!!

Tea-licious with Lemon Balm

It's official, today is the first day of summer and what better way to celebrate than with a glass of iced herbal tea made with Melissa Officianalis, aka...Lemon Balm.

I've been making this tea for some years now and we all enjoy it during the summer.  This isn't just a delicious tea though, Lemon Balm has long been used as a general health tonic.  The list of ailments it has been used to treat over the centuries is amazing.  Everything from anxiety/depression, ADD, fever, colic, digestive issues, to bee stings; this herb is a must in everyone's herbal garden.

We just love to drink it.  I figure it is good for the body as well as the senses, so here's a look at how I make it into a tea known as my "Summer Tea."

Lemon Balm

I grow this herb on the sunny south side of our house.  It gets pretty hot there and the soil isn't too great.  That's probably a good thing, because this is one herb that loves to spread.  So, if you plant yours, give it full sun and room to grow.  You'll appreciate it's health benefits and well as its summery flavor.

I only use the very tops of each branch.  These have the best flavor.

I make a dry mix base for my Summer Tea.  I use Green Rooibos which is mineral and antioxidant rich.

I also add (from top left, down to right) rose hips for flavor, hibiscus and lemon grass.  These give it a fruity citrus taste and the hibiscus gives it a pretty ruby color.

I use equal parts of all the ingredients except for the green rooibos, I use 2 parts for that.  So, in other words, one cup of rose hips, one cup of hibiscus flowers, one cup of lemon grass and 2 cups of green rooibos.

  

Add a half of a cup to the dish you'll be steeping your lemon balm.

Let steep for at least 20 minutes to get the maximum health benefits from the balm. 

When done steeping, strain your tea into a one gallon sun tea jar container.  If the tea water is still hot, I add cold cold water to my sun tea jar (about half way filled) so the jar won't crack with the hot water.  Top up the sun tea jar with fresh cold water and wha-la!  You have a gallon of Lemon Balm Summer Tea!  Add ice and sweeten (I use Stevia, another great herb with health benefits) and drink away...so delicious and so refreshing AND it's great for you!

It's tee-rific!  Okay, no more tea puns, but seriously, you'll love it!  Blessings!

Check out Frugally Sustainable for more great ideas!  Their link is here.

Picnic at the Marina...

What do you do on a beautiful day, that doesn't cost much money and is interesting to everyone in the family?  A picnic of course!  We usually go to one of the beautiful wooded parks that we have around here. However, there is an allurement to the water that we found hard to resist that day...maybe because it was so hot, and maybe because half of us really wanted to fish.  Whatever the reasons were, we decided to head out to the marina and spend our day there and also in the adjoining state park.

Perfect view for lunch!

We made our sandwiches and wraps right on the spot. Turkey Cheddar
wraps with homemade hummus.

After a satisfying lunch, we all headed off to our respective spots.  Some to fish (caught and released, one Rock Bass!) and others to walk along the beach shore and then the walking path that borders the lake.

We also took a long hike in the woods later in the afternoon.  It began to drizzle, so the woods became an inviting place to hang out.

Found a few fun things along the way...

Lighthouse...it was trying to rain.

Yellow Tiger Swallowtail "puddling" in the sand.

My brother, who's a naturalist, says he thinks this is crown 
vetch.  It's so pretty and looked great along this fence
line...!

Being by the water is so refreshing.  It was such a nice day and a great mix of land and water.  The boats were fun to watch come in and we ended up being outdoors for many hours; getting recharged and ready for the week.  It was a pretty great week and I hope yours was great too...blessings to you all!