I've been tagged!

...by Malc, so I'm going to do this Meme. It's all about favorites. I'm writing my own rules as usual and not tagging anyone in particular, but hope a few of you do this one!

Five things I'm currently into:

1. Photography
2. Raising chickens for eggs
3. Gardening, both veggies and flowers
4. Dieting and exercising (I've been dieting for a few weeks now...but I just started regular exercise today...since it's the first of the month, I'm going to try to exercise every day this month! Thanks Marsha for the idea!!)
5. Relaxing since I'm off work for the summer!


Five favourite ( Malc's spelling!) things in my room:

1. Whatever book I'm reading at the time
2. My soft foam pillow (it's a solid piece of foam and very comfy! Can't do feathers and hate shredded foam.)
3. Our high-tread count sheets...they feel like cool water when you run your hand over them
4. Our wall-mounted TV
5. Andy (following Malc's lead, I put the best one last!)

Five things in my pockets (unlike Malc, I DO carry a purse and very rarely have anything in my pockets...so I'll go with what I have in my purse!)

1. My iPhone
2. Money
3. Sunglasses
4. Credit Cards
5. Keys to my car, house, and a few keys I'm not quite sure of


Spring Rolls

I'm making spring rolls for my lunch. ***Andy won't eat them...no meat! ACK! I don't think he would venture this far from his comfort zone even if there were meat in them. But I love them and the spinach, mint, cilantro and green onions are fresh from the garden...what better time to have spring rolls?

They are so easy and such a treat. It's so cheap to make them at home, but just try getting them in a Vietnamese restaurant! They are pretty pricey!! So get to your local Oriental grocery store, pick up some spring roll sheets and rice noodles and give them a try. What a great cool summery lunch!

I gathered the herbs and veggies, brought them in and washed them.



Then I chopped up the greens while the rice noodles were soaking in cold water.





Then I soaked some spring roll wrappers in cold water. They are very delicate, but surprisingly easy to handle.



I made some peanut sauce while the wrappers were soaking.



Rolled them up and YUM, a wonderful, light lunch. ***Andy's on his own!









Here is the "recipe" such as it is...this is a totally subjective dish...do it like you like it!

Spring Rolls

Spring roll wrappers, softened
Rice noodles, softened
Cooked shrimp halved (I didn't use any protein in mine today)
Tofu slivers fried in sesame oil (Ditto on the protein)
Veggies as follows, as desired:
Carrots, slivered (I didn't use carrots today either)
Romaine lettuce, chopped
Green onion, chopped
Cilantro, chopped
Fresh mint leaves, chopped

Roll up the things you like in a wrapper. Serve cold and dipped in peanut sauce!

Another hazy recipe...these are from my son and I'm lucky he even divulges his recipe ingredients and I don't expect amounts!

Peanut Sauce

Soy sauce
Rice vinegar
White sugar
Peanut butter
Vietnamese hot sauce

Add ingredients to taste

Mix ingredients well in sauce pan, stir to melt together…serve with cold spring rolls

***I was pleasantly surprised. Andy has never tried these when I've made them before, but he gave them a shot today!!! He actually ate two of them and liked the peanut sauce I made to go with them! I think I'm going to faint! But before I do, I'll apologize to him for doubting his adventuresomeness.

Home Sweet Home

Well, I'm home and I'm beat! I drove the 400 miles trip and I was happy it was an uneventful trip! Those are the best kind. We had a great time even tho the weather was a bit iffy some of the time. It's hard to believe it was in the 50's at night and it's almost July!!! It's unheard of in Iowa.

I'm sporting a bit of a sunburn. Marsha and I sat on the dock all afternoon yesterday and it was a beautiful sunny day...sis with a cool brew and me with a wine cooler. The water was too cold to swim, but we dipped and tried. The clouds were those beautiful fluffy white summer clouds that just slowly drift by and fill the Caribbean blue sky with pretty shapes. We chatted with some old friends and met some new ones and just had a great afternoon. It was a nice day for our last one of the mini-vacation.

It's good to be back home to my computer and altho I love my iPhone, it just doesn't work for all applications. It was fun to snap photos with it and send them to my son, tho. I'll post a few...then I'm off to take a quick nap before bed. Hahaha

These are from the beach at Gull Point State Park. It's a great beach for rock hunting and swimming.





This is the view to the north of our cabin.

RainRain go away

It rained a lot yesterday but a rainy day at Lake Okoboji is better than a sunny day at home!!
Well, maybe not better but just as good!

We went to see a movie... Mike Myers new one called "The Love Guru". We laughed so hard..
So much subtle silly humor. I think we both just needed a good laugh. I hate to think of what
that says about my sister and me because it was pretty much all potty humor.

We go home tomorrow so we will make the most of today.

No Internet cafe available..only my phone.

Chillin' ...getting all relaxed...getting some cool photos.

I'll type more when I get home but I'll try to post a little
something every day, just to keep my Blog365 alive!

TTFN. :-)

We are here...wish you were too!  More later

Leaving for the cabin today!

Traveling and Blogging...

I won't be home until Monday. I hope I can find a place to get online. If not I'll do what Sis did when she recently went on a camping trip. I'll record blog entries everyday on my laptop and post the entries when I get home. Apparently in the Blog365 rules, you can do that. But I can't imagine that I won't be able to find a place to get WiFi and I always have my iPhone...I was able to post very short entries on that when I was there last time. I may not be able to visit your blogs while I'm gone but I'll be back to them before you even miss me!

Little Dawg...

For you Rosie-ophiles out there...here are a couple recent shots of the little dog that turned out sort of cute.







I wish she was as mellow as she looks in these pictures...LOL But she is a sweet little dog!

Movies...

We went to the movies yesterday and saw M. Night Shyamalan's latest. It's called "The Happening" and it was soooooo creepy and gory!! I like creepy, but it was too gory for me. I'm not crazy about that. It was definitely different. It also had a lot of blatant jump-out-at-you moments. I do love Mark Wahlberg! But, I predict that this one won't be in the theaters for long but will go to video and then oblivion, post haste! There were 3 people in the theater besides us.

Hasta la Vista, Baby!

See ya on Monday or whenever I can get to an internet cafe!

Just Stuff

Midnight Blue and friend!

I love the rose Midnight Blue. It's grape kool-aid purple with a wonderful spicy clove fragrance.



I was out deadheading roses and I saw these blooms. There's nothing really remarkable about them, as rose blooms go...



...so you're wondering why I posted a photo of them, right? Well it's because they were all growing on the same bush. It appears that my Midnight Blue has a cane that has reverted back to a miniature rose named Sweet Chariot! The hybridizer of Midnight Blue, Tom Carruth, used Sweet Chariot as one of the parents. It was so odd to see these little lavender blooms on my purple rose!

Happy Birthday Andy!!

My very special man is 60 years old today. He's such a great guy. I'm so lucky to have him in my life. He's so supportive and he is my anchor. Maybe that has something to do with him having been in the U. S. Navy for 21 years!! Get it...anchor...Navy. Oh never mind, but anyway! We're going to a movie and then out to eat today to celebrate. He says he doesn't want cake, but I see at least a little cake in his future!

Summer Rain

It's almost 4:30am and there's a beautiful, soft, summer rain falling. It was a little loud as it started to brew, but now, just soft sweet rain. This is so good for the garden, but I hope it doesn't cause more problems in the flooded areas that are all around us. The rain is so beneficial, much more so than just watering from a hose. I think it's due to the nitrogen charged particles in the rain when it's lightening and thundering. Or something like that. When I heard it thundering, I just had to get up and stand in the back doorway and watch for a while. It's so peaceful and nice to just watch rain fall. Especially a rain like this.

Potting Flowers

I spent a good share of the evening last night potting flowers. I got some very cute ones while shopping yesterday and wanted to get them done. I still have some marigolds and petunias left to plant but will get to them as soon as I can. I found some really cute hanging pots that look like buckets with a long metal strap you hang them from. I got them to put on the deck. I love the way they look with my Gerbera daisy pots. My deck and patio are taking on a sort of carnival-type atmosphere with all the bright colors I have this year, in both flower pots and flowers! I love it tho, it's so happy looking. I'll try to get photos soon. I was so busy potting, it got too dark to get any shots last night.

Trippin'

My sister Marsha and I are going on a trip. We're leaving Thursday afternoon for our cabin on Lake Okoboji, Iowa. We are both looking forward to this. We haven't gone up together for quite a few years, and altho this started out to be a "sister weekend", a couple of my sisters can't go due to work and family obligations. Marsha and I will have fun, anyway. We usually like to "get lost" on the way...seeking out back roads, sites and places we've never seen even tho we've both made this trip a bazillion times in our lifetimes. Of course that may not happen this time since it's going to be a pretty quick trip. We'll leave Thursday after Marsha gets off work and then come home Monday. It's a 400 mile drive, and it takes about 6-7 hours. I'm driving so it will be more like 7 hours! I drive like an old woman!



Well, I'm going to go watch the rain some more. I hope you're getting a little bit of rain and a whole lot of sunshine where you are.