A Recipe to Share~ Chicken Florentine Soup

I wanted to share this great recipe that I found years ago in a now-defunct magazine about cooking for two people. I just love it, and so does my husband. You could adjust the amounts for your number of guests and it is nice for something quick or a special occasion, as well! It is perfect for the Christmas season and winter with all that pretty red and green in it. Try it and see what you think!

Chicken Florentine Soup

English Roses: Last Bouquet of the Season

At the end of September I had my last big bouquet of English Roses for the season! Varieties in this picture are James Galway and Abraham Darby. I just love these roses! They are pretty easy care and do well in the Ozarks.

Have a wonderful rest of your week wherever you garden! ~ JB was here.

And a Welcome Back to....ME!

All of my garden areas are ready for the winter. Over the weekend I worked on a decorative project. Over a year ago, my husband brought me an old milk can left over from "the old days" on our farm. We both have a long history in the dairy and cattle industry so he thought it would be cool if we painted this old milk can and kept it as a "tip of the hat" to both our roots, so to speak.

It has been here for over a year. I didn't really know what to do with it! But I finally did some research and decided to go for it. It was really nasty looking, rusty and dirty. This is the before:

That is a wire brush on the top, very necessary for the thing that happened next. I brushed. And brushed. And BRUSHED. :)

So, it was starting to look like a milk can instead of a yucky piece of junk. So on I went. Until the detail could be seen and the rust was gone. Sort of. At least the worst of it. You could now see the lettering on the handles that said "superior" and some of the detail including the "solder" seams where the pieces were welded or "soldered" together.

 So it was now time for paint:

I used Rustoleum spray paint. The kind that has primer and paint in one. You can use it "directly on rust" and believe me, this project called for that. It is supposed to be a protectant as well and to "stop rust". Very much needed in this case. I gave it one coat, and I thought it looked pretty good! And, good news! I thought the lid was hopelessly rusted on! But, no. It came off when I was working things over with the wire brush. I took the wasp nests off all around the neck of the can and then..... I hesitated for just a second about looking inside it. But I should have known. Yeah, it lived with my husband before I got here.....and it was totally clean inside. Much better shape than the outside, actually. It made me smile.

I liked the sort of finish that had the "hammered" look. Definitely called for because the can was kind of banged and dented anyway. But I thought it would be good to give it another coat. I am happy that I did!

Here it is, after adding the lid back and placing it on my porch. I think it's beautiful. I can picture a little wreath hanging on it for Christmas, or a pot with a plant for the spring and summer. I just love it!  I so enjoyed the last beautiful fall weekend here. I hope you did too, wherever your home and garden happens to be!  Have a great week! ~JB was here. 

The Summer That Was

 I really love my blog and photography, and well, lots of stuff. But it's been a wild summer!  I had to "let something slide" and in this case it was my website/blog. This one isn't lonely in neglect, I've totally neglected the farm site too! But, I'm getting my act together. I want to relaunch here, sort of, with lots of new content and point another web domain this way, and just expand the content to include whatever I feel the urge to share!

I'll be back soon, and I hope if you stop in, you'll come back often. My goal is to start transforming this week! 

Have a wonderful week!

~JB was here.

Hello From the Gardens!

Wow! Summer is two weeks plus, along, and much has happened here. I have been a little AWOL because of my work and also, I took a real once in a lifetime trip to Canada with my mom. I saw a true "destination garden" while I was there, and I plan to post some photos soon.

Meantime, I want to show what's going on in my garden now. I will have a wonderful vegetable garden, it appears. I had that watered while I was away. But, my flowers, while still heart lifting and a joy to me, are not as spectacular this time. I knew I was going to be gone and didn't want to have projects that couldn't make it for ten days without me.....

Here is what I harvested/saw this morning. I'm particularly proud of the beans, that's only about a twenty five foot row of bush beans and I wanted just enough to eat and enjoy seasonally. I discovered a new sunflower variety called Bright Kids. I'm doing containers of those next year. They are tiny, two feet tall, and absolutely miniature perfection! :)

And I planted twenty four tomato plants. This morning I noticed white flies/mites. I'll have to work on that today after work.

I took a few shots and for your viewing pleasure, here they are all in one.

I hope your day and week is going well and that your garden grows abundantly! ~JB was here.