The Looky-Loos

FRIDAY'S FEAST III(aka FF)

Friday, May 15, 2009

 

Today is another FRIDAY'S FEAST!!! I have been talking about gardening, but I haven't mentioned anything about planting any fruits or veggies.

I'm strongly considering buying a mini-lemon tree. I use a TON of lemons in my cooking and I thought that would be valuable. In addition, I may add some additional herbs. I don't know that I'm quite ready to do cucumbers, tomatoes or lettuces though. I need to see how green my thumb actually is with my flowers, herbs and plants.

I remember growing up that my grandfather (the hubby of the gramma that just passed) always had a veggie garden. It was certainly unfortunate that as a kid I HATED veggies. I have to say ... I love them now, I could eat tomatoes and cucumbers, chopped and mixed together, every bleeding day!!!

Perhaps next year, I'll work on something like that. After all ... there's only SOOOO much room on my balcony!!!

Okay, so I can't remember what I told you all I was going to be planting (flower wise) ... but here's the line-up. I have 3 baskets with SweetPeas and 2 baskets with dusty miller. I have a planter that I'll be using for my Moonflower vines, but I still need to find a trellis that I like and that will look okay on my patio.
In addition to that, I'm planning on doing some rail planters with more colorful flowers as well as additional white blooms (I'm considering night blooming jasmine, I love that scent!).

The light dusty miller, the moon flowers and the additional white blooms really pop out against the night when you have low mood lighting, thus the advent of the 'moon garden'.

Since I mostly work at night, when I spend time reading on my balcony it's after work. I often spend about an hour out there in the morning though so I wanted the best of both worlds, color and light. I'm planning on heading out to supertarget to see what they've got for hanging lights, I'd like an old style small latern with white lights. Here are some that I'm looking at:








Okay, so I went a little long today, due to Friday's Feast and my TV section, to include a funny for the day. However, it's FRIDAY for most of you and that should bloody well be good enough! (HAPPY FRIDAY!)

ஜ~§Quote of the Day§~ஜ


Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages.
Terry Pratchett


ஜ~§The Question Of The Day§~ஜ


Do you ever have recurring dreams? If so, are they good dreams or nightmares?

ஜ~§The Word Of The Day§~ஜ

Moirologist

PRONUNCIATION:
(moy-ROL-uh-jist)

MEANING:
noun: A hired mourner.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Greek moira (fate, death) + logos (word).

USAGE:
"There may be found traces, too, of Lethe, the river of forgetfulness in the death ballads sung by the hired mourners... The moirologists will sing of the loneliness of the living, of the horrors of death."


ஜ~§What I'm Reading§~ஜ

The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand and a bit of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

ஜ~§What I'm Watching§~ஜ

Tonight is: Ghost Whisperer and Numb3rs. OOOH ... And Primeval returns tonight on the SciFi channel!!! YAY!! Last night was the Season Finale of Grey's Anatomy and it seems as though we don't know whether Izzy or George are coming back. I know that the both of them were having contract disputes and I believe it's currently unknown as to whether they'll be returning or not. It seems based on Izzy's 'hallucinations' that she may be coming back. The other two finales I watched were Supernatural and Smallville. FREAKING amazing both of them. Supernatural ... well ... I don't want to spoil it for everyone ... but Sammy makes a HUGE boo boo when it comes to picking his friends. Where IS God when you need him, right? Smallville, although still slightly campy (this coming from the detestable Lois) is getting to be a much darker and smarter show. I believe the cast (or most of them) have signed on for one more season, so we'll see what happens with my good friend Clark and Co. (I do love the way they're bringing in, what I like to call, the Superfriends!)

Ghost Whisperer has had a kind of odd history with it's season finales. What I mean by that is sometimes, the season finale will bleed into the next season, and other years it's the tie up of a long running arc. The only long running arc that we have going on right now is Melinda's dead/returned hubby and their baby, so I can't really say where that's going to go. I think that's about all I have for TV, other than I need to watch the Hell's Kitchen finale on HULU ... because I have two other shows that record against that time slot ... BUMMER! I'll be viewing that tonight as well though.


ஜ~§Poem Of The Day§~ஜ

Alone Looking at the Mountain

All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other -
Only the mountain and I.

Li Po


ஜ~§Recipe of the Day§~ஜ

Ham and Potato Hash



Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled
1 cup finely diced cooked ham
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried crumbled thyme

Preparation:
1 Cut the potatoes in half, cook in a saucepan of simmering water until not quite done and still firm, about 10 minutes. Rinse in cold water to stop cooking. Drain. Dice to 1/2-inch thick pieces. Set aside.

2 Melt butter in a large cast-iron* skillet over medium low to medium heat. Add onion, cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the chopped bell pepper, cook another 2 minutes.

3 Add remaining ingredients; mix well. Cook hash until well browned, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serves 6.

*Best not to use a non-stick pan or the hash won't brown very well.

Bon Apetite!

Brightest Blessings,
~Surry~

9 Things people say ...:

KMcJoseph said...

I've got catapillars everywhere! I hope they don't eat my garden.

Ms. Salti said...

I love those lights! So Cute! I'm gonna have to start reading your blog more religiously for your recipes since I'm becoming a Domestic Goddess like you!

Alicia @ boylerpf said...

Those first lights are really great! I haven't picked up the Fountainhead in years...you've piqued my reading interest! Happy Friday to you, too!

Juliet Colors said...

It sounds like your balcony is going to be a lovely retreat. Those are very pretty lights. I second the idea of getting jasmine. That's one of my favorite scents. Happy Friday! :-)

pam said...

I love sweetpeas, but it just gets too hot for them here. I enjoy a few weeks of lovely fragrance and then boom, they're gone.

Mary@Holy Mackerel said...

I adore all those lights. I'm begging my husband to take the fast track on building a deck out back...those lights would be my first purchase.

I wish we could grow lemon trees here. That would be truly amazing.

Barry said...

Linda and I had planned a day of gardening today. But now its raining. Oh well, I'm sure the sun will come out as soon as we're committed to doing something else.

Lacey said...

What great ideas! I am starting to plan my first garden too... but as far as I know I have the brownest thumb ever, so it should be interesting, haha. I love the lights!

Autumn said...

I LOVE the butterfly lights!!! (I am slightly obessed with all things butterfly). Where did you find those?
By the way I traveled here via From KS to PA's blog. And I'm glad I did :)

~Autumn