I got a carrot!! Alex and I did our best Bugs Bunny imitation while we chomped on our first little carrot of the season! Today, August 1st, we celebrate the first harvest of the season; and though the harvest isn't quite as big as I had hoped, I'm really happy with my garden so far this year! A Blessed Lammas to all those who celebrate! :) May your first harvest be PLENTIFUL with much more to come!!! :)))
A Wee Bit of Trivia:
Did you know that Bugs Bunny's carrot-chewing mannerisms were inspired by Clark Gable? Clark chewed on a carrot, rather Bugs-like, in the movie It Happened One Night (1934). The creators of Bugs used Clark's chewing and talking to give Bugs a little flair when he was created in 1938 as the "Un-named Rabbit" whose mission was to annoy Porky Pig at every turn. And you thought Clark's claim to fame was Gone With The Wind!!! :)
I got another nice gift today just in time for Lammas! Dianna, who many of you know as Mrs. Duncan Mahogany in the comments (not a Blogger- yet? :)) sent me a potato bag! The left photo is the one she sent, but it's hard to showcase in the photo, so with her blessing, I included the photo on the right, which is her potato bag set up in her garden! This is a photo from June though, I'm sure hers are going nuts like my garbage bin potatoes are by now! It's too late to plant more potatoes now, but this will be fun to use next spring, thanks again so much Dianna! :)) xxx
My "Peach Melba" nasturtiums are finally blooming! It happened overnight and I couldn't be happier!! They are the first flowers to bloom that I seeded in early June! :)))
Oooh, I have some progress on my cucumbers!! They flowered overnight too!
Nachos...I made this yummy plate of nachos the other day while it was raining. Alex and I snacked in bed watching Westerns...one of my favourite pastimes!! My Blogger friends know that I don't skimp on ingredients!!! :) And I refuse to use anything labeled "low fat", "low sugar", "low carb" or anything that has ingredients that I cannot pronounce. My grandma used full fat butter and cheese and she lived into her late 90's. I do believe in moderation and Alex and I switch it up with very healthy breakfasts and salads. We like to "have it all" when it comes to eating! :)
Charlie and I have a new daily habit! We walk up the mountain and through the woods to the river together for just over an hour a day. I still walk all three dogs in the mornings for about 45 minutes. But this hour-long walk serves as my daily workout and to help our highly energetic husky work out all that energy! Her head is bigger than mine lol!
This is the view from the top of the mountain hike. It's called the "Green Peak" and that's our lake where we catch bass and trout.
The trails are very nice in this area but I wouldn't step foot here on a weekend! Too many tourists with loose dogs. But then, even the ignorant locals break the law and let their dogs loose here during the week...so just having Charlie is much more manageable than all three dogs. It's nice though, pine needle trail and very humid but cool under the shade of the trees.
One of the sections of the trail is lined with toadstools, they are so colourful!
And Charlie gets to swim in the river at the end of the walk! She gets really hot, huskies are made for the winter, but she absolutely loves our "mommy and me" time! :) Too bad I can't bring the Cheddar with us. ( <=== that's me laughing at myself since many of you are teasing me about my cheese-sitting and implying that I read my Cheddar bed time stories each night lol...) For a little Cheddar update, feel free to check out my post at Rainy Day Cheese Making, I encountered my first real hurdle...
Last night I made Club sandwiches for dinner. The fries were very last minute as I nearly refused to put the oven on...it was so hot out! But we felt like a diner meal, so I did! Plus I can't say no to Alex, he has a way of convincing me I'm the greatest person on earth when I make him his favourite food! ;)
After I burned out in 2003, I was on meds for 7 years and after I got off them, I found out that all those years on pharmaceuticals caused a metabolic disorder that couldn't be reversed. Lucky me! :) During that time I gained and lost 97 pounds. But the loss only came from exercise. Even if I ate only carrots all day long, I wouldn't lose any weight at all. So if I want to stay healthy, I need to move every day. I've had comments asking me how I eat what I eat and not end up the size of a house...exercise! How do you keep a healthy weight? I refuse to diet, I love to eat too much, so I know I need to move and luckily I enjoy doing it!
Tomorrow I'm getting my hair cut - oh the anxiety of it all!!! I may or may not post a photo after!!!
Some great pictures there. The weather is making me a tad jealous it's a bit cooler here. Congratulations on your first carrot. There will be plenty more where that came from. Nice cheese as well.
ReplyDeleteThe cheese is obviously enjoying the bedtime stories.
ReplyDeleteNothing like a fresh carrot, really smell good.
ReplyDeleteI liked It Happened One Night, showed what travel was like back in the 30s. The old guy with the model T that gave them a ride was the father of the skipper on Gilligan's Island.
Thanks Terry, I'm telling you, the coddling of the cheese is working! :)) The carrot was good, but I read that the ones you plant in late summer for winter harvest get very sweet, so I'm going to try that out for my winter garden too! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Gill :) I remember, Alan Hale Senior. he was great, it's amazing how similar he and his son are! That smile! I like the part in the movie where Clark Gable was showing his hitchhiking prowess! :)
ReplyDeleteGood looking things in and coming from the garden! You are going to go absolutely nuts when you have your own place and the area for a garden as large as you want!
ReplyDeleteCharlie is one lucky girl to get that special time with you every day. Gorgeous territory you have to "exercise" in.
How do you manage to always make your food look sooooooo good!?
What a gorgeous area you are in! WOW. It must be so relaxing. And that husky. I LOVE huskies. I'm sure I've written that on your blog before but I have to say it again. They are such beautiful dogs. Do they ever wander off? Someone once told me that some of them have the urge to wander away. Not sure if this is true or one of those silly myths :) I guess cheeses are like houseplants. You have to love them and speak to them and tell them how beautiful they are, so they can grow big and strong :)
ReplyDeleteYay congrats on your first carrot.
ReplyDeleteCharlie looks like she is very happy about her one on one time :)
A carrot!!!! Look at that!!!! I can't believe how successful you are at everything you attempt...congratulations! Thanks for the trivia....I did not know that. Lok at everything flowering too. Your view are beautiful...I'm all about great views if I can get them. The diner dinner looks yummy and good luck on the hair cut!
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful part of the world you live in! Another nugget of trivia vis a vis carrots and Bugs Bunny - Mel Blanc, who was the voice of Bugs Bunny, hated the carrots he had to chomp on! I am with you - once you use 'lite' ingredients, the quality of the taste and experience of your food goes way down. I am trying to move more during the day. You are so right - exercise makes all the difference!
ReplyDeleteOh that carrot is a good looking one!!! I love them right out of the dirt! You are correct, once a light frost hits them they are even better. Kale is the same. We here in Manitoba ever have a "light" frost - we go from +38 to -40 in a matter of a week. Ok, kidding just a little on that last sentence.
ReplyDeleteThat sandwich and fries look lovely! I too do not use "lite", "low fat", etc, etc. I believe that if you can, just move. That way you stay healthy. My grandparents were the same way, they ate table cream on their cereal, butter, etc, etc. But they were HARD workers. They even dug their own basement out with shovels after working a full day. And that was when their house was already built. So proud of them. :)
And I love that you get to spend some quality time with Charlie. After supper is when we dog walk, my husband takes Hunter and I take Karma. And we each go our separate ways. Its hers and my time together. Yesterday we walked to the school across the street from us and sat on the front steps and watched the sun set. It was perfect! :)
My Dad and Mom lived into their 90's also. My Dad lived to be almost 99. They were farmers. Your garden is doing so well. I think my courtyard garden is kinda a bust this year. Those grow bags look interesting! Maybe next year???? Nancy
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good carrot !
ReplyDeleteYour garden is surely producing a wonderful harvest, and so many delicious recipes you share to inspire :)
Thank you.
~Jo
What a beautiful view! That would make for a fine walk.
ReplyDelete(Here, just houses. Nice view, not so much).
Hi Mama Pea! :)) I know, I can't wait for my own land and garden!!! I think I'll have a HUGE pumpkin patch with giant pumpkins!! :) The only lingering problem with my Charlie-walks is the loose dogs...I encountered another one yesterday and asked the owner to put her dog on leash...in fact there was a sign just next to her that said "dogs on leash"...she said to me "you're not the police" and gave me the finger...what is WRONG with these people? Makes me want to be even more reclusive...
ReplyDeleteHi Martha :)) Huskies are so sweet...Charlie looks intimidating, she's a big girl, but she's the most gentle dog. I have also heard of the husky wanderlust...when we adopted Charlie, she'd been found in a field, no owner. We love her, but can't trust her so she is always on a leash or a rope in the yard, but then so are all our dogs. We figure if Jack or Marlene got loose, they'd come back to us, but Charlie would just run into the woods and look for rabbits. LOL...yes, my cheese needs so much of my attention to thrive!! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Nik :) Charlie loves the walks, I hope I can keep them up!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sam :)) The hair cut went well! The last woman butchered me so I was very anxious but this one was great. I'll try to post a photo! :) This area is really beautiful, and it would be just perfect if it wasn't for the people lol...
ReplyDeleteHi Susan :) :) Yes! We have Mel Blanc's autobiography, it's called "That's NOT All Folks" and it's great. He said he used to choke on those carrots but felt it was necessary for the voice to be really Bugs! You should look for that book, we got it used on ThriftBooks. Yeah, I should have written "lite", not "light" when it comes to fake foods! I used to eat all that stuff, but it's just poison if you ask me. I find if I'm not active every day, even if it's just a half an hour on the rebounder, my mood suffers, and my digestion. I think it's really important as we age to keep active so we don't end up living with too much pain.
ReplyDeleteHi Dianna :)) Ha ha ha...it feels like that, +40 to -40...that's April and November here. But I'm definitely going to have carrots in the winter garden. I think I only have a dozen or so planted, that was my first crop of carrots, so it was an experiment. Now that I know we can grow them, I'm going to plant more next month! I think with the computer age, we don't move around nearly as much as we need to. I'm more old school and I'm a worker bee. I can't sit all day, I don't feel good. But the computer lifestyle also makes a person lazy, so it's sometimes tough to motivate yourself! I try really hard, but the dogs are good motivators! That's nice about your Karma walks! :)) <==double meaning there! :))
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy :)) I've never used the grow bags for potatoes, but I will definitely be giving them a try next year! Dianna has already harvested some potatoes! With Coco "pruning" your plants for you lol...I'm sure you got less harvest than you should have!!
ReplyDeleteHi Jo :)) Thanks for visiting! :) Thanks for your nice comment! I'm very happy to share my recipes! And I can't wait for more carrots!!
ReplyDeleteThanks TB :)) We have houses as our view from the windows, we have to walk a bit to get to the mountains, but it's so worth it. One day I want to look out the window and ONLY see trees...one day :)
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you got your first little carrot ,reminded me carrot and lots of other veggies my mom used to grew in her yard garden.
ReplyDeletebut i never saw potato plants ,how sweet of your comment friend to gift you according to your gardening taste.
i LOVED the view from top and you have a fabulous lake to enjoy and pick trouts!
loved your pic with your lOVELY pet she is so wonderful !
I smiled when you mentioned Alex 's praising words for you LOVE IS MAGIC and often it travels through stomach (a saying here lol).
best of luck for hair cut darling
Hi Baili :)) I really like your new profile photo you look so sweet there! :)) Thanks for your comment! I agree that love is magic, I feel grateful to have so much in my life! I am so happy to be able to walk Charlie, she has so much energy and she's such a sweet little (not so little!) girl, when I pick up her collar she goes nuts! I'm looking forward to the potato harvest!!
ReplyDeleteEverything about this post is wonderful! I seriously want to to live in this post! Beautiful views, animals, gardening and food galore!
ReplyDeleteAli @ SimplySummerStreet