Be Back Soon!

 

 

Hello Friends,

Just wanted to let you know that I will be a busy bee for the next week or so. 

Take care of you!

 And I will be back soon! 

♥ 

Carla

 

 

 

Happy Waffle Wednesday and It is the Hodgepodge!

 

Hello Friends,

Happy Wednesday and it is time to do the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

1. August 24th is National Waffle Day...what's something you've 'waffled' on recently? 

 What we are having for dinner. 

 2. Do you like waffles? Make your own or 'leggo my Eggo? Any favorite toppings or add-ins? Waffles or pancakes-which do you prefer? 

I love waffles. I am a lucky girl, my husband enjoys to make big breakfasts on the weekends. I just had homemade waffles last Sunday with strawberries and our very own maple syrup drizzled on top.

 3. Do you have any momentos from this summer (or past summers)? What do you do with them? 

I do. I have not purchased anything this summer as a momento, but I have picked up a few rocks, shells and sea glass. I have glass jars on display  for rocks, shells and sea glass. The jars are slowly filling up. 

4. One thing you'd like to do before summer ends? 

I have a favorite place to go kayaking. We have visited for the past two summers. I cannot wait to visit again this summer. We have nicknamed it the "Magical Place".

5. Life is too short to___________________________________.  

 let the weight of worry get you down. 

And there is a lot to be worried about lately. My daily motto is..

Be Strong

and Courageous 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

 Prayers for our military families who lost loved ones.

Remembering the 13!

Honoring the 13 fallen heroes in Afghanistan

We must never forget those who died so that we never make that mistake again.

 

 

Beautiful Landmarks

 

 

Hello Friends,

We recently took a trip to  Wausau, Wisconsin. The birthplace of my husband and where he lived for the early days of his childhood. He attended church and school at the above church.

 

 

 

My husband wanted to share with me Historic Wausau. I am so thankful that many of the beautiful churches have been preserved. 

I call this one the "Gingerbread Church".

 

When they came to the little house they saw that it was built of bread and covered with cakes with windows of clear sugar.

Hansel & Gretel 

 

The detail is in every nook and cranny.

 

If you want to find out more about Wausau, Wisconsin.

Click Here

 

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.

Mary Oliver 

 

Stuffed Zucchini

 Stuffed Zucchini

Hello Friends, today I am going to share a fantastic recipe using zucchini.

 

My blog buddy Anne of My Giant Strawberry hosted a seed exchange last November. I wrote a post about it here.

One of the seeds that I received was round zucchini. It has done well in the garden and today I will share a wonderful recipe using round zucchini.

 

 Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients

Small to Medium Zucchini

1 Small Onion

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

1/2 Cup Cherry Tomatoes Chopped

3 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1/2 Cup Cubed Mozzarella Cheese

1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley

 Instructions

 Cut of the top of the zucchini and scoop out the center leaving at least a good 1/2 inch border all around. Chop the zucchini that you just removed finely.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a frying pan, cook the chopped onions, the garlic, and half the zucchini in the olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add, cheese, tomatoes and the chopped parsley.

Stuff the zucchini and place in a baking dish.

Cook for 45 minutes or until fork tender and the filling is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Note.. I used Pepper Jack Cheese as a substitute for mozzarella. YUM!

I served the stuffed zucchini with garlic toast. It was a perfect match.

♥

Carla

 

How to Prepare the Garden When You Go on Vacation

 

 

Hello Friends,

Today I am sharing the article I wrote for the Cameron Chronicle, "The Little Paper With Personality."

The photo I share above was taken last autumn during an outing to one of our favorite apple orchards. I thought it looked like I was driving out on vacation with my boys and friend Ced.  

Hee Hee!

Enjoy the article!

♥ 

Carla 

 

 

 How to Prepare the Garden When You Go on Vacation

By Carla TePaske of Cameron, WI ~ The Little Garden That Could

Going on Vacation? All of us gardeners need to have a summer holiday. At times that can feel very difficult to do because who will care for the garden? We love and care for our gardens. How will it survive with out us? I am happy to share, all it takes is a little planning and your garden will thrive. The exciting part is when you return you will get to enjoy all the new growth in the garden.

Here are a few tips on how to get the garden ready for vacation.

Enlist a friend, relative, or neighbor. There is nothing more reassuring than having a friend, relative, or neighbor keep an eye on the garden. Even non-gardeners can help. Give simple instructions. Have hoses, sprayers, and water cans easily accessible.

Other alternatives for keeping your plants watered are kiddie pools and plastic jugs.

Using a kiddie pool is perfect for bottom watering container plants. Put the pool in a shady spot and fill it with containers and an inch or so of water.

A plastic jug with a few holes in the cap, filled with water and placed upside down in the soil or your garden bed or in your plants container, will slowly deliver moisture. A milk jug or soda bottle is perfect for this.

Give all your plants a good drink before you leave.

Add mulch to your garden beds and pots to help retain moisture.

Hopefully these tips will help you prepare the garden for summer holiday, giving you peace of mind your garden will thrive.

 

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Hello Friends,

I shared this post in October of 2021. With tomato season fast approaching us here in Wisconsin I thought I would share it again. This is an easy way to make tomato sauce to enjoy this winter when you need a taste of late summer. 

 ♥

Carla

 

 

Roasted Tomato Sauce

 

The following recipe is from Frances Palmer. I did a book review of her book ~  Life in the Studio ~ Inspiration and Lessons on Creativity by Frances Palmer

I am going to share her Roasted Tomato Sauce recipe, it is wonderful!

Roasted Tomato Sauce

3 pounds of tomatoes

5 garlic cloves

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Mixed fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme and basil

 Preheat oven to 400° F

Spread the tomatoes and garlic in a small roasting pan or shallow ovenproof dish.

Pour olive oil over them, then sprinkle with the salt and red pepper flakes.

Scatter the herbs over the top. Roast for 1 ½ to 2 hours, or until the tomatoes begin to collapse and the tops are a nice blackened brown. Let the tomatoes cool until they are at room temperature.

Place food mill on top of large bowl. Scrape everything from the roasting pan into the mill. Puree the mixture. Pour into freezer containers.

 On a cold January pull out of the freezer to use in beef stew, pizza, pasta and soups.

And the taste of summer will be back warming you.

 

 

A Special Book and a Peek at the Fish

 

This little gift was given to me from a dear blog friend, Welcome to Lavender Dreams, her message to me in the inside cover was the following..

"I hope you'll take this little book and add lots of your own touches to it to make it special."

And so I did. 

Starting in 2019 I asked friends and family to sign my little book after they enjoyed a garden tour.

 

I enjoy looking back at what friends and family have wrote.

The above note is from our son Sam. I chuckle at what he said in 2020, "The garden looks very nice and I like the direction it's going in!"

 

 Our son Atticus wrote in 2021. "The flowers were fun."

 

 There are times I forget to have our guests write in the book. I will write a memory of the day. This entry was a day my parents came for a visit. The butterflies were all over flying along and feeding on the flowers. It was a magical tour.

 

My sister enjoyed her visit. I had her taste many of the herbs in the garden. Her note, "I enjoyed tasting the herbs and flowers! But Watch Out! Some don't taste so good! Ha!"

 

 

Special little friends write in the book too.

I enjoy looking back at what my dear friends and family share each garden season.

Having friends and family over for a garden tea and tour is one of my highlights of the summer. 

I had a request that I try to take a photo of the fish, including the Monster of the Deep. The fish seem to be camera shy! I dumped a bunch of food in the water in hopes to have them come up and snap a few photos. You can spy three of the orange, but that ol' Monster of the Deep will not sit still to have his photo taken.

 

♥ 

Carla

 

When You Need a Little Lift!

When you come to the edge of all the light you know and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: there will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught how to fly.

 

 

The only way to find happiness in the grind of life is by faith. A faith - filled life means all the difference in how we view everything around us. It affects our attitudes toward people, toward circumstances, toward ourselves. Only then do our feet become swift to do what is right. Walk by faith, trusting God to renew your attitude.

 

 

It is easy to underestimate the significance of one. It is easy to underestimate the value of you: your vote, your convictions, your determination to say, "I stand against this." 

Does it matter if we get involved or not? It matters greatly - it matters to your character!