Petunias and Huechera

I promised some updates on what is going on in the gardens since our break.  The grasses in the large pots on the patio are growing like crazy.  I decided we needed to put something in the void area around the grass trunks to add a little sparkle to the look.  And what better than white petunias.

These are beautiful.  As we make our way onward through spring and into summer, with regular watering, these will flourish and spread out to fill in the entire pot around and under the grasses.  So simple and so elegant.

Around the corner, in one of the basement window-wells, you see a vibrant and healthy huechera.

This is evidently in just the right space.  The leaves are a beautiful soft green right now but will darken with time.  The little boxwood and cyprus like it here also.  I keep these moist but not drenched with water.  They all get the afternoon sun and that seems to work. 

Granola, Granola Everywhere!

Continuing with our food theme this morning, I stopped in at my local Whole Foods market in the Foggy Bottom section of Northwest DC last Friday.  This particular store is, how shall I say, very eclectic.  You have quite a dynamic going on.  Foggy Bottom borders Georgetown, so you have a very affluent group shopping here.  The store is located on the George Washington University campus, so you have the college group running about.  Then there are the professionals who work in nearby offices along K Street who live in the suburbs and pop in for lunch or to pick up something for dinner.  And on top of all this, you have panhandlers on the corner shaking their empty Slurpee cups asking for a quarter.  So it always makes for an interesting visit.

I was looking for some healthy snack items on Friday.  I ended up being a little healthy and a little decadent.  One of my decadent items was a container of these delicious Double Chocolate Chip cookies.

Don't worry.  I didn't eat all of them.  I had one.  The rest I shared with friends.  If you are ever craving something chocolate and there is a Whole Foods market near you, treat yourself to a container of these.  There is no description for how delicious they are, so I will not even try to describe them.

I also got some Butter Pistachio and Nonna Lemon cookies from the bakery.  Again, if you have a Whole Foods market nearby, you should try these cookies.

Once I was done with the decadent, I moved on to the healthy.  They carry a wide range of granola in different containers or in the big tubes where you help yourself to what you want by pouring the granola into a bag and then writing the PLU # on the bag.  I ended up getting four different kinds of granola in bags.  Then I thought, how am I going to store this?  It would go stale in the bag.  So, I decided to use my little condiment cups from Sam's Club.

This really is a perfect way to store granola for a couple of different reasons.  Of course, the first reason is that with the snap-on lids it will stay fresh.  Secondly, it is a great way to maintain portion control.  I mean, give me a full bag of yummy granola and that will be gone rather quickly.

 
Another idea I had was, let's say you are having a party and you need to fill in some empty spaces on the appetizer table.  Fill your condiment cups and place them in a serving dish and then fill in on the table.  These would work perfectly at a stand up cocktail party.  People could grab a container and munch on them while enjoying their bellini.  You could also do a dish of cups filled with a savory mix, like Pub Mix or Chex Mix.  That would go perfectly for those enjoying a beer at the party.

These little containers will be shared with those at the office and kept close at hand for a midnight snack.  I hope you will try this idea. 

Bette Made Dinner for Us

Bette, of Bob and Bette, made dinner for us last Thursday evening at their place on Lake Avenue.  It was positively delicious and the perfect combination for a spring dinner served alfresco.

The pasta bowl was a versioin of vegetable lasagne with sliced tomatoes, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, etc. all layered with bowtie pasta, which I thought was very clever.  Just behind that was a plate of homemade garlic bread and in the foreground a wonderful garden salad.

Here is a picture of my plate.  I dressed my salad with a little Ranch dressing.

And again after I made my way to the patio.  That is a Michelob Lite you see sitting in the background with a few ice cubes in it.  If Bette is willing to share her recipe for the casserole, I will post it under the Food & Recipes tab at the top of the page.  A wonderful evening with two wonderful people.  We look forward to getting together again over the summer and into the early fall months. 

We're Back!

We took a two week break from blogging due to an illness in our little organization.  I am happy to report this morning that we are past the critical hour and everything turned out fine in the end.  We return now with renewed vigor.

During these past two weeks, project work slowed tremendously.  So we are going to return to blogging with an update on one of our recent plantings.  You will remember some weeks ago we planted these bulbs.  We have been watching and waiting, expecting our beautiful red flowers to emerge.

And what happened.  We got orange flowers!  I don't know how that happened.  The package clearly had red flowers on it.  But all is not lost.  These are vibrant orange and beautiful.  So much has changed in the yard and the gardens in just the past two weeks and we will get caught up on all of that over the coming days.

But for now, we are going to enjoy our orange lilies.  

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms.  Such an important role you play in your children's lives.  Here is a picture of my mother in her very stylish early years.

Quite the fashionable young lady.  And she is still a fashionable lady.  I like to think I got eye for beauty in all things, including the home and the garden, from her.  This was taken just a few years before she had her first bundle of joy; me, in 1959.  My sister came along 7 years later in 1966.

I was unable to visit my mother this year.  As I posted here a little over a week ago, I am currently involved with a serious medical condition in a good friend.  My priority this year was to stay here and provide support and to coordinate schedules for this week before surgery on Friday.  I did, however, see to it that I acknowledged Mother's Day for both my mother and grandmother.

My sister and I are lucky to still have our mother and our grandmother still with us.  Grandmother will be 94 later this month.  We all hope we inherited that gene!  I sent them each a card that expressed my love and these cute little wooden block with sayings that expressed my affection.  The one for my mother read "If I Didn't have You as a Mom, I'd Choose you as a Friend."  The one for my grandmother had a space for a photo.  I inserted one of myself, but I took this picture before I did that, so you don't get to see me.  There will be plenty of time to see me in the future.  I spoke to my mother on the phone in the late afternoon yesterday and we talked and talked like we do when we get together.  She is very understanding.  She knows that I have a responsibility right now to care for a sick friend, so she did not make a fuss over me not driving to see her.  We will get together over the summer.

I Decided to Recycle the Whiskey Barrel Insert at Crest Avenue

A couple weeks ago, we talked about the aged whiskey barrel and we decided that it was time to let it go to that big patio in the sky.  It served its purpose faithfully for many years.  There was a plastic insert which was separate from the whiskey barrel and served as the receptacle for the planting soil for the various plantings over the years.  I stated in that post that I would put the plastic insert out for recycling day pick up because I did not have use for it and that I did not want to store it just for the sake of storing it.  But, I took a second look and decided, in fact, that I did have a use for it.

This is not the most attractive picture, but let's discuss what I am planning on doing.  There is an eave on my roof which carries rainwater to the gutter and along to the downspout.  This particular area of the gutter, when the rainwater is heavy, is unable to handle the volume, so the water splashes over the gutter and onto the ground next to the foundation.  That is not good.  So the plan is to dig a hole under the gutter where the water streams over the side and place this plastic insert into the hole.  There is a small drainage hole in the center of the bottom of this tub which will allow for slow draining of the water.  I will place a bag of pea gravel in the bottom to help hold it in place.  I think this is a very good idea and I am glad I did not put this tub out for the recycling crew to pick up.  Check back later for updates on this project.

Sorry to Disturb You Little Baxter, . . .

This past Sunday was a beautiful day.  Perfect for working in the garden, which I did.  But there were weekly chores which needed to be done and one of those was washing and changing the bed linens.  During one of my breaks from planting the sedum in the front yard which we bought a few weeks ago, I came inside and stripped the bed.  Baxter had been watching me from the front door earlier in the day but he decided this last time I went outside that he would take a nap.  When I took the sheets and pillowcases off the bed, he was not happy.  So I got him a blanket and he continued his nap uninterrupted.

What a lucky little doggy he is.  I am waiting to hear back from Cassandra to see if she can work him into her schedule for next Wednesday or Thursday for a badly needed haircut.

Fewer Posts on WTCA

Over the coming weeks, you will notice fewer posts here at Welcome to Crest Avenue.  We, unfortunately, are dealing with a medical crisis.  Priorities will need to be adjusted and in doing so, there will be less time to devote to our gardening and home improvement/renovation projects.  I do not intend on abandoning the blog altogether.  I will simply need to divert my attention to more pressing matters.  Let's hope that all is well in a few weeks and we can get back to our project work.  Thanks for your understanding during this difficult time.