Happy Easter (or Passover) weekend! The weather is certainly warmer in Phoenix but hoping it will get back down to something less than 88 degrees. Our Easter dinner will be small but we will do all the traditional family events just the same. Welcome to Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all things good and wonderful this week.

Amazing Online Magazine

I just discovered Chic & Country magazine and I am SO impressed. This virtual magazine comes out quarterly (I think) and you can access it anytime.

Chic & Country is a magazine about country style interiors with a touch of French chic and Nordic whites, featuring house tours, home stories, decor ideas, food recipes, flower design, gatherings’ styling, gardens and unique travel destinations. The subscription is $20.00 a year. This is my new go-to read just before bed. Here is the link.

Doing a 5K

My daughter has a goal to do 52 hikes annually. And she’s added a few 10Ks as well. As a result, I am supporting her efforts to be more active so I am participating by signing up for the same races~but only the 5Ks. I can no longer run, as my knees cannot tolerate the impact after multiple knee surgeries. In completing the Shamrock Run last month, I received this Mr.T-like medal and cool t-shirt, so I am looking forward to participating in the Hippity-Hop run today.

A 5K sounds impressive but it is only 3.11 miles and my fast walking time is about 50 minutes. The good news is that I can log my time and get another t-shirt and medal!

Disappointed with Results

One of my garden goals this year is to grow abundant amounts of strawberries. Typically I will buy starter plants from our local nursery, but this year I purchased strawberry starter roots online from Gurneys. Twenty root stock and crowns arrive and I plant them according to the instructions.

All the strawberry plants showed good signs of growth for a few weeks and now nearly 50% of them are dead. Literally. No reason, as I am taking care of them. Every day I go out to my garden another plant has died. So I am supplementing with locally grown starter plants from Whitfill. Live and learn, I guess.

Best Cake Ever

Hands down, my new favorite cake! I made this for my daughter’s birthday in March and am excited to make another for this weekend. It is a London Fog Cake~ a chocolate cake with coffee, smothered in Earl Grey tea infused buttercream and then drizzled with salted caramel sauce. Oh my.

The recipe is from my favorite cake cookbook, Layered, by Tessa Huff. Truly a winner. And if I have shared this with you before, it’s worth repeating…..it’s that good!

New Eating program

My metabolism is very slow, unfortunately. Unlike my son, who has an extremely fast metabolism, mine just chugs along. Barbara, from Mantel and Table, recommends this program to me to jump start my metabolism. We are both doing it for the next month.

I am completing my first week and love it so far! Grounded in real science and written by nutritionist, Haylie Pomroy, it’s a 28 day program. The hope is to mix things up and get my metabolism working at an optimal level. Will let you know how it goes! Here is a link to the book if you are interested.

Annual Lamb Cake

As a child, I have fond memories of Mom’s lamb cake at Easter. Made in a cast iron mold, this cake is now an annual tradition in our home. I will be baking it on Saturday, with an orange blossom cake recipe. So excited to try this new cake as right now, our orchard is filled with orange blossoms. If you would like to see a post on how the lamb cake is made, click here. Isn’t he cute?

Easter Dinner table

Since we are expecting a few more guests, Easter dinner will be in the dining room. A few weeks ago I did a post on a yellow and blue Easter table (see here), but for Sunday, this one is more blue and pink.

If you missed the post this week on these sweet decoupage eggs, click here. The block print tablecloth is just the right shade of blue for Spring. The bunny plates from Pottery Barn connect the patterns and colors in the Royal Doulton Juliet plates. Scattered about are birds, bunnies, and even a stone frog.

That wraps it up for Saturday Meanderings. I hope you have a glorious and blessed weekend. My goal is to stay away from my phone and social media and just relax a little. I know I will be making adjustments to the Easter dinner so I do not stray from my new eating plan, but it will still be wonderful to share it with family and friends.

This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursdays #654

Can it possibly be another Saturday? Lately, I blink and a week has come and gone. I think the person who finds a way to slow down time could become very rich indeed! Welcome to Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all sorts of topics from the previous week.

Spring is Here..sort of.

As I write this I am sitting in front of the fireplace freezing. Just two days ago I pulled out a pair of shorts (yes, the longer version) because the warmer temperatures. Today I have on multiple layers as this old house is drafty. March has come in like a lion and appears to be staying a lion! However, I am not complaining but enjoying the ups and downs of March.

Fresh Flowers

Flowers have always played in important role in my life. I once worked for a company who had fresh flowers delivered to everyone’s desk weekly. When I worked in San Francisco, I would buy fresh flowers every Friday afternoon from a street vendor on my way home.

In the 2003 movie, Something’s Gotta Give by Nancy Meyer, did you notice the fresh flowers in every room on the set? I guess I’m a flower geek as I notice those things. For me, flowers are therapeutic. They give me joy and make me happy.

About 18 months ago, I subscribed to a monthly bouquet through The Bouqs.com. Eighteen bouquets later, I’ve been only disappointed twice. But the bouquet I received this month is so spectacular. Quite honestly, I don’t believe I have ever seen such beautiful roses. Direct from a flower farm in South America, these roses are STILL gorgeous after 2 weeks. I need to figure out how to get a commission for promoting them so much!

Projects this Week

Window washing is a spring cleaning priority and while my husband was out of town, I did start the tedious task of cleaning the family room windows. It is very hard to find a window washer who wants to clean small panes and this room has 254 of them. And that’s only washing just one side.

Since the family room is shared with the animals~two dogs and a cat, some of the door and window trim is dinged or scratched. So after I wash the windows, I also do some touch-up painting where needed. In mason jars, I keep a small amount of room and trim color paint, so it is easily accessible for touch-ups.

Any over spill on the windows is cleaned up with a single edged razor. After two days of work, the family room windows are sparkling and clean. To see more about this room that was once an outdoor porch back in the 1940s, click here.

My neighbor’s garden

My sweet neighbor, Dawn, sent me this photo from her garden. She uses a bowl of beer to attract the slugs that are eating her plants…a remedy I shared with her a few years ago. Since I just started noticing some nibbles on my new plants, I, too, am pouring beer in my garden bowls! Remember to put the bowl at ground level and fill with any beer you have available.

As you know I am coddling my new strawberry plants and it seems like the strawberry cage (see here) is doing its job! The berries are beginning to form and hopefully we will have an abundance of them this season.

Strange Behavior

We have a single quail near the garden who thinks he/she is a chicken. Since this quail seems to have a foot problem, we call him/her Hoppy. Hoppy is never very far from the chicken coop and is often found trying to get in to be next to his/her adopted siblings.

This week we let the chickens out to roam the yard and Hoppy tries to herd them back into the coop. I’ve never seen anything like this! Wanted to upload a video of bossy Hoppy but it wouldn’t cooperate.

Mysterious Shadow

Every morning I come downstairs and walk through the dining room on my way to the kitchen. I have never seen this shadow above the crystal chandelier that hangs above the dining room table. Never. So I snap this picture. Now every morning I look for this shadow and it has never appeared again. I noted the time on my phone when I took the picture and have been looking for this shadow ever since. Perhaps a once in a lifetime experience? Isn’t that odd?

Animal Fun

We have a Dad chair in the family room. No one sits in it but Dad. Ever. Except Sox. He gets a pass and jumps up in the chair whenever it is empty. Lucky dog.

Here is Cooper looking over our wall. This is a different perspective for me because I am outside our property on the street to the south. The wall is 6 feet tall, at least. Cooper is a very big dog and watches everything in the hood.

Inspired by my friend, Andrea from Design Morsels, I will be deep cleaning my range hood in the kitchen today. Andrea has a great post about this and you can see it here. Truly, after you read it you will start cleaning!

Have a wonderful weekend! Easter is just around the corner~

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This year I want to grow strawberries and rhubarb and make a fresh pie. Many years ago I did this with good results. But the in-between years there have been more strawberry failures. With a recently acquired batch of strawberry roots from Gurneys, I am determined more than ever. Today’s post is how we are protecting strawberries in my garden.

Since my handy husband is the brains behind the operation, here is his story on protecting our strawberries.

As many of you know, my wife never stops moving.  From leading our neighborhood association in its never-ending effort protect the integrity and ambiance of our iconic residential community, to creating new culinary delights, she makes holidays magical, as well as parties with amazing table-scapes and gardening.

 I often volunteer to help and enjoy the whirlwind from the periphery.  Sometimes I have the opportunity to add value and that is something I truly love.  We have a spacious garden near the barn and chicken coop.  We also have birds (quail, sparrows and doves) and other critters which have discovered the benefits of healthy eating.

As a result we have become creative in protecting our budding sunflowers, kale and other appetizers for the local fauna. We recently purchased a number of strawberry 🍓 plants and need a way to protect them as they produce runners and hopefully an abundance of fruit.

My wife says: “Maybe we can build an enclosure.”  I say: “I’m sure we can.”  And so it begins.  There are many examples online but I like to draw and think it through and be creative.

My first step is to get the materials, 2X3’s for the base, 1X1’s for the sides and top and wire mesh.

I measure the base on site, and cut the wood and screw it together.

Next, I begin the assembly of the sides and ends.  They can be free-standing and then I screw them to the base and to one another. Luckily with the help from a circular saw, clamps, speed squares, tape measure,  a drill for pilot holes and another drill to drive in the screws, the work happens quickly.

Once the side pieces are built I need to attach the wire mesh.  It’s a welded wire hardware cloth that is smaller, tighter and stronger than chicken wire.  No critters allowed.  I use diagonal cutting pliers to cut the mesh (one clipped wire at a time) and decide the easiest way to attach it is with construction staples.  I try my staple hammer (like the one my Father had) but find a staple gun and a hammer are easier.

It takes some time to build these sides but now they’re finished. 

Now I start to attach the sides to the perfectly squared base. That goes pretty quickly.

Once that’s done, I’m on to the top pieces.  In order to make this functional, I build two.  They attach to a vertically supported, center 2X3” cross piece with hinges that allow each side of the top cover pieces to open and fold flat.  This allows for easy access to the plants and soil.  I use a wider role of hardware cloth for the top.

I also put eye hooks on the ends to ensure the tops are secure.  Once built we carry it to the garden and put it in place over the strawberry plants.  With the addition of some wire mesh, the south end between the bottom of the build and the dirt, the enclosure is complete, functional and critter proof.

I find it always fun to build things.  Reminds me of the things my Father built when I was growing up on 2+ acres in Colorado and in Wyoming and Connecticut.  I feel like he’s here helping me. 😇

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This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday #634

I have missed writing to you these last few weeks. Technological problems are fixed on my website so we are back in business. Happy Saturday and thank you for joining me for Saturday Meanderings~where we discuss all good and exciting things!

Fun New Finds

Eufy Plug-In Lights

Our home is a two story house, with all the bedrooms on the second level. Navigating downstairs in the middle of the night feels treacherous to me. By the time I find the light switch in the hall, I am precariously close to the top step of the staircase.

Recommended by Annie from Most Lovely Things, these little lights can plug in anywhere. They are bright enough to light a path for you. There are four in an order. Illumination occurs when there isn’t enough ambient light. Their small size doesn’t obstruct the second outlet.

With one placed at the top of the stairs and one in the front hall, they provide the perfect amount of glare free light. It feels so much safer now without being too bright. You can find them on Amazon here.

Orchid Pot

I am always in search of items that are pink toned to go in the dining room. You can find blue and white just about anywhere, but it is so much harder to find pottery with these softer colors.

This coral orchid pot from Dear Keaton is just so pretty. Even though I am beyond the stage of adding more things to my home, this purchase did not disappoint. It is the perfect size for my dining room mantel and the orchid fits into it very nicely. BTW, it is a faux orchid!

I don’t recall who turned me onto Dear Keaton. Their style is a bit more contemporary than mine, but they do have some unique pieces. Check them out here.

Updates!

Pizza from Italy

We are experimenting with the Talia de Napoli pizzas from Italy (see blog post here). Now I did master the cook time (10 minutes in our convection oven). By adding some additional tomato sauce (I prefer my homemade one), freshly grated mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and a few slices of pepperoni, this is now our favorite pizza. My husband likes sausage on his (not mine). Here is the link to Talia de Napoli. Nothing like a pizza made in Naples, Italy to have on hand in your freezer.

Foster Dog Update

A few weeks ago our daughter had a foster dog, Peaches. Peaches, now Freckles, is living with our wonderful neighbors, David and Nancy. She is literally right next door. Freckles hit the jackpot as she is loving her new home and her sister, Luna. Don’t you love a happy ending?

Gardening

I have a dilemma. For quite some time now, I am battling worms in my geraniums. They bore holes into the young blossoms, destroying their ability to bloom. Literally, I hand pick these creepy worms off the flowers. Some plants are worse than others.

We have several huge pots of geraniums located on the front porch. It is so time consuming to search all blossoms and squish the predators. Does anyone know how to get rid of these pests? We have tried sprays to no avail. Help, please!

The tulips are just now blooming in the bulb garden. This bright, cheerful red flower, coupled with the purple hyacinths, is a joy to behold. To see the entire bulb garden in bloom last year, click here.

Right now I am harvesting all the greens in the garden. The minute the temperature goes up, the lettuces bolt and become bitter. Last week our temperatures were in the 80s and this week it is chilly and in the 50s. Typical strange spring weather.

Just want to share with you a view of my garden from a different perspective. The flower garden in the foreground is abundant with petunias and nasturtiums. Hollyhocks are wildly growing everywhere. Inside the picket fence is my vegetable garden and the sweet building beyond is the hen house.

In the Kitchen

We are still plowing through all our citrus and will need to glean our trees very soon. The new blossoms are filling the air with the most heavenly scent. In the meantime, I made another Candied Orange Olive Oil Cake with Cornmeal and Rum. This cake is divine. There is something about the dense texture that reminds me of a peasant type cake.

You may recall I did make this for the first time in 2018 for a luncheon with friends. See that post here. This recipe is a good use of our oranges and kumquats and I do want to make it again before the season is over. Recipe is from The Kitchen McCabe and can be found here.

Fortunately, my friend, Donna gave me a bag of Meyer Lemons so another batch of marmalade is complete. Fresh bread with marmalade~it doesn’t get much better than that! To see the recipe, click here. I cannot rave enough about this marmalade.

At the top of the post is a picture of my homemade crackers/flatbread. Here is another recipe I just love and use often. Rolling fresh edible flowers in the dough makes them extra special. For the recipe and tutorial, see the post here.

Well, that wraps it up for another Saturday. I hope everyone is happy and healthy as it appears the world is slowly opening up again. Hope you have a relaxing weekend!

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Who doesn’t love roses? Personally, I envy those who are knowledgeable about growing roses, and extra envious of those who know the names of all the different roses Growing roses in Phoenix? Even in our withering heat, many varieties thrive, often in neglected conditions or without tender care.

Know your Planting Zone

There are multiple rose locations on our property. On the south side of our home, a rose garden is planted, with approximately 20 rose bushes. Quite honestly, I do not know the varieties of my roses, as these were initially selected by our landscape architect long ago. But now that I have the time, I am excited to be involved with all aspects of our roses.

Learn to Prune

Here is the last bouquet I cut before a hard pruning in January. This pruning is done for shape and to foster vigorous spring growth. Care of roses can be as complicated or straightforward as you care to make it, depending on the varieties you are growing and the zone in which it is grown. Remember to always select roses that are well suited to your area.

Rich Soil, Fertilizer, Water

Roses grow best in rich, fertile soil that is kept evenly watered throughout the year. In March, I add new compost soil around the beds of the roses, removing weeds and turning up the dirt. In addition, I check the watering system and add a rose fertilizer. This rose food can be found at Whitfill Nursery. The dogs LOVE it so you need to be extra careful that they do not ingest it.

Creating small berms around each plant helps with water retention.

Heirloom Roses

Next I move onto the heirloom roses that are on the periphery of the orchard. These 10 bushes are the original roses that we were able to save through the restoration. To read more about our house restoration, click here.

I believe these are Quatre Saisons (known as “Rose of the Four Season). This rather gawky, prickly rose produces the most fragrant blossoms. To read another story about these heirloom roses, click here.

Ramblers

In the front of our home, we have an additional 8 rose plants in front of the large Lady Banks’ roses. This old rambler, introduced in 1807, is very tolerant of the hot and dry conditions. Since we are growing it up the existing fence, Lady Banks’ provides a thick privacy hedge to the busy road. It is just now beginning to bloom with its small, yellow flowers. Soon this hedge will be one solid row of yellow.

Rose Hedge

The last of our roses is an enormous shrub rose. I do nothing to this because it is so huge. To give you an idea of its size, the wall behind it is 6 feet tall. It is approximately 12 feet x 10 feet by 12 feet tall. The bush is so thick with cane too and is the perfect habitat for birds.

Just starting to bloom, this shrub produces these delicate pink blossoms with a faint fragrance. If anyone knows anything about this rose shrub, please let me know. I imagine it has been here a very long time.

So all in all, we have 40 rose bushes, several Lady Banks’ bushes in both white and yellow, and this mysterious hedge above.

As I mentioned earlier, my goal is to tend to them this year and learn as much as I can about their origins, official names and classification. With most things in life, there are lessons to be learned, like wearing a long sleeve shirt while doing rose work.

“Death offers you thorns, eternity offers you roses, and life offers you both.”― Matshona Dhliwayo

Happy Wednesday to you! If you grow roses, please share. If not, I hope this post inspires you to do so. Roses are tougher than they look.

This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday #634

I often get asked if gardening takes a lot of my time. Overall, the answer is no. Yet there are times during the year where crops need changing, soil needs amending, trees require pruning, and flowerbeds need thinning and weeding. Now is the time to do the Spring Gardening here in Phoenix.

Fortunately, we have someone to help us maintain our 2+acres. However, he has been out sick for the last 6 weeks. My husband and I are enjoying the extensive yard work in the interim as it is giving us a chance to evaluate and improve our outdoor area.

The Orchard

Our orchard has primarily citrus trees, planted long before we purchased the home. From oranges to kumquats, we love being able to pick fresh fruit many months of the year.

Timing is everything when you fertilize your citrus trees. Generally, you should fertilize your citrus tree at least once every two to three months during your tree’s dormant periods of fall and winter. Then once every one to two months during the tree’s active growth of spring and summer. 

Therefore it is time to fertilize citrus trees now. President’s Day is my cue to remember, then Mother’s Day and Labor Day.

What Kind of Fertilizer

NPK is the abbreviation you find on any fertilizer bag. It stands for nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (K is the chemical symbol for potassium). Nitrogen encourages green growth, phosphorus encourages strong roots for flowers and fruit, and potassium encourages healthy fruit size, shape, color and flavor. Fruit trees need a balanced ratio of all three to support the growth of sturdy roots, strong branches and large, juicy fruits. Consider slow-release fertilizer as too much nitrogen at once isn’t recommended.

Fertilizer works best when applied to a mulch circle around the tree. Mulch circles keep grass from competing with the tree for water and food. They also prevent damage from lawn mowing, and help keep the root zone cool and moist.

Slowly we are working our way through each tree to create a large clean mulch circle around every one. In addition, all dead branches are being trimmed from the citrus trees. Soon we’ll have gleaned all the fruit, leaving room for fragrant blossoms to appear in next year’s crop.

To give you an idea of how many fruit trees we have: 4 Grapefruit, 8 Oranges 2 Lime, 1 Lemon, 1 Kumquat, 1 Limequat, 2 Tangerine, 1 Apple, 2 Apricot, 1 Peach, 1 Fig. That’s a lot of mulch circles!!

The Garden

As returning visitors to my Spring Gardening updates may know, there are 5 raised bed planters in my vegetable garden within a white picket fence: 1 raised flower planter and numerous surrounding beds at ground level.

With the winter garden reaching its prime, it is time for me to plant our Spring selection. First, I clean out all the dead/dying plants.

Next I add fresh compost. I am a huge fan of composting because it is easy, reduces your waste by 30%, and the plants love it.

To see a previous post on Composting 101, click here.

For my garden, I prefer compost that is basically clean; no small sticks or other dry debris. I sift the soil loosely over a wheel barrow before I transport it to the garden.

Here I let it sit in the beds for a few days or several weeks, depending on what I am planting. Currently I am awaiting a shipment of strawberry plants so the bed is ready to go!

Since I buy so many flowers, I decide to have a cutting garden this year. I ordered seeds willy nilly from Floret Farm, not taking the time to determine if they work for our planting zone (9B for USDA charts). What was I thinking?

For some reason I make the assumption that all flower seeds are planted in the Spring, which, is not the case here in Phoenix. With 10 packets of flowers seeds, only 5 are able to be planted now. The balance will have to wait until fall.

Using jumbo craft sticks, I mark the location with the name of the flower, planting date and # of gestation days. Since the sun patterns will change in the next few months, I will be interesting to see how they do in this location.

Some of the winter vegetables are looking so good and healthy, there is no need to remove them just yet. It is very rewarding to head to the garden just before dinner and pick ingredients for a fresh salad. Most of my tomato plants survived the winter so I will keep those too.

If you live in this area, my go-to bible for gardening is the Planting Guide for the Valley of the Sun by Kevin E. Erdmann (2004). I finally found the link online for the Bedding Planting Guide and here it is. However, if you are interested in the Vegetable and Herb Planting guide, contact me at marycrz@cox.net and I can scan it and email it to you.

What I love about this planting guide is that it tells you when to plant by month, whether to plant seeds or starters, if they are annuals or perennials and when they bloom. For a complete list of what you can plant this Spring, see last year’s post here.

The gardening activity will continue as I make my plant selection so more to come on that! Keeping my fingers crossed that the frost is over, as it was 37 degrees yesterday.

Being out in the fresh air and sunshine is just heavenly. The only drawback to gardening is that I am so sore! Time to use those muscle relaxing bath salts I made over the holidays. See recipe here.

Happy Wednesday!