Summer has arrived July 28, 2009

I proudly state the date in the title so you can see that summer actually came this year. Up until yesterday, we have had no days over 80 degrees since summner began in June. We had a couple in the spring that hit 90 degrees. Today is the same with 85 degrees. My garden will now grow in leaps and bounds.

I have frozen enough brocolli already for the winter and look forward to using the side shoots the rest of this summer. I plan to put a sign out front in the next week or so......FREE BEANS PICK YOUR OWN.


My daylilies are doing as well as could be expected in the cool temperatures and much rain. All growers seem to be having the same problems.

We enjoy watching the yellow finches at the feeder. They are the best kind of pets...outside!!

This clump of daylilies is called "Happy Treasure". I registered this one back in the late 70's and to me it is still one of the prettiest in the garden.

A cool morning

As I sat on my deck this morning sipping my hot coffee and reading the paper while the rising sun warmed the back of my jacket on this cool 50 degree morning, I thought how blessed we are. What a beautiful country we have. What a peaceful day as tiny puffy clouds drift over the mountains instead of smoke rising from bombs in the distance. We are a blessed people.

The robins were busy looking and finding worms in the ground as bluejays and bluebirds flew overhead landing briefly in the birch tree. A chipmonk hurried across the yard with his tail in the air looking for who knows what. It is a lovely morning.

I look across the deck to my brocolli patch and see that yesterday's rain shower has washed the growing heads.

My beautiful daylilies are glistening in the sun.

I walk to the pond and see the fish swimming lazily around looking for more food. What a beautiful day.

I walk into the meadow and see a mashed down spot in the wildflowers and wonder who slept there last night. What a beautiful day!

Southern Fried

June has requested my southern fried chicken recipe. I will send it along, but remember when I was a child growing up in Mississippi, the chicken was fresh off the 'hoof" so to speak.

I use either a whole chicken which I cut up or purchase legs and breasts in packages. Now I use the boneless skinless breasts and cut each breast into halves. The bone in breasts give it a richer taste.
After drying on paper towels I lay the pieces out on a cutting board while the canola oil heats in the frypan. I generously cover the bottom with the oil, about a quarter inch.
After laying out the chicken I lightly salt and pepper each side then dredge in flour. I use only flour, nothing else.
When the grease is hot I put in the bigger pieces first and sprinkle each piece again with black pepper and lightly cover. If you cover tightly, the chicken will not be crisp.
As soon as I think each piece is browning, I turn it and keep doing so until it is golden brown and done. Drain on paper towels and enjoy hot or cold. You can't do too much else at the same time to keep it perfect.

Now for the southern daylilies. I am enclosing a photo I took this morning of one of my new hybrids which bloomed for the first time last year. I grow the seeds in the basement during the winter. Notice the darker yellow edging on the ruffling.
The eyed one is an unnamed seedling I brought her from Chattanooga when we moved here ten years ago.

I captured one of Beth's bees on a mallow this morning. The bushes were covered with the little critters.

A Sunny Day in July

Today the sun is shining. As you can see, Tom was able to till the garden but it was wet. Unlike some gardens that are suffering from mold and disease because of the rain, ours seems to be healthy. The front page of our paper had a story yesterday telling farmers they had time to replant if they did it this week. They predict our first frost to be September 15.

I sat on a sunny rock in the middle of the wildflower field and watched Tom wrestle the tiller. The flowers have been suffering, but it looks like we are in for a nice spell of weather. Notice that I am wearing a sweater in the sun. The temperatures hover in the low 50's at night and 60's during the day.

We had a partially sunny day on July 4th when we were invited to a friend's lake house for their annual family picnic. We get invited as Pastor Tyner and wife Jean's guests as the house belongs to Jean's sister Bev and husband Ed. The couple have a beautiful place on a lake and the boats were able to get out on the lake for some fun time before the rain came just about lunch time. Everyone grabbed food and headed for the house as the storm hit. One boat just rode out the storm but the food all got in.

I made my traditional fried chicken. Bev and Ed had picked fully ripe juicy strawberries for eating and for strawberry shortcake. No Sara Lee shortcakes either. Jean's daughter baked fresh shortcake for the event. And, I might add, the whipped cream didn't come out of an aerosol can.

The rain didn't dampen spirits a bit and we stayed late playing a game called Sequence and listening to tales around the supper table. It was a fun time.

Ed and Bev are our age, BUT the energy level of this couple spins my head. Ed was busy running the boat while Bev was in constant motion making sure things were just right. As we were leaving around 6:00 I realized Ed and Bev were going dancing. Not to mention that they were having another group at their home on Sunday. The Saturday crowd was around 32.
Somewhere along the line Tom and I lost the energy this couple seems to have.
We had a nice time.

Going on Forty Days

The county has already been declared a disaster by the Emergency Management Agency. The rains started on June 15th and only two days during this time has Tom mowed the yard. He mowed wet grass, but the rain held off until he finished.

My sunroom which is filled with gerananiums actually has blossoms rotting on the plant. This has never happened before. The air is heavy with moisture and we empty 2 gallons of water a day from the downstairs dehumidifier. Our sandy soil does not have a chance to drain because the rain is almost constant. We have thunderstorms and heavy rain storms.

Yet, we do not have hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, major forest fires and intense heat in Maine.

Oh yes, did I mention that we are still wearing jackets and blankets and comforters cover our bed?

My daylilies that would have peaked in blooms the first of June in Chattanooga, still have tight buds. I expect the peak this year to be around the last week in July. Our Dallas relatives will see daylily blooms when they come in September I'm sure.

The brocolli looks great and I saw one head yesterday. The radishes look good too. In fact everything looks like it is doing well despite all the clouds and rain. When the sun finally comes we should have a bumper crop.

I took the photo in Rumford on Tuesday.