A garden visitor

This little lizard was sitting right inside  of our home, by the entrance to the garden. It's a hot summer and we do have the occasional visitors like lizards and bugs who are trying to get some break from the heat.

This one obviously was a baby and he did not even run away when I tried to let him go to the garden. He just sat there pretending he was dead.

So I put him in a glass jar, for transportation and also to take some pictures. But don't worry, he was not there for long. After a very short photo session we put him in the flower bed where we see less lizards then in the other gardens.

His chances for surviving are much better there because the bigger lizards, that will eat him, are in other parts of the yard.

He was very happy to be free and did not even say "good buy" :)

Summer knits at socksandmittens

Every spring we are making a small amount of summer knits for our SocksAndMittens shop on Etsy. 

Not too much since we are working on our winter assortment at the same time, so just a couple of items right now. 





This year we are offering a new lace summer top, knit from white cotton yarn.

This tank is great for wearing on a hot summer day or for the trip to the beach. 

It is designed to be short and roomy at the bottom. Very nice and breezy!

We made 2 tanks, one in medium and one in large size. 

 

This item is already available for sale in our shop, so please stop by if you are interested!

The Rose Sampling by Little House Needlework

My recent cross stitch is finished, the "Rose sampling" by Little House Needlework. It was easy to stitch and I had a great time doing it. I did not frame it yet but I am looking forward to doing this.

I am a big fan of LHN designs. They give me that cozy feeling of home in a rustic cottage. When framed, they looks great on the wall.

 So I am always waiting for the new ones to come out.

Spring in the garden

Springtime in Phoenix is so different. Mornings and nights are nice and cool and the afternoons are hot.

We spend a lot of time in the garden right now trying to prepare it for the hot summer. I planted so much heat resistance plants so I hope we will have some greens through the summer.

I also became obsessed with herbs this spring. We planted some dill, parsley, sage, thyme and oregano. I am freezing or drying the bunches of herbs, adding them to the salads and main dishes and I am thinking about making some herb infused vinegars or oils.

A cup of mint tea is great while I am enjoying my quiet time in the garden.

If you want to make a cup of fresh mint tea just wash some mint leaves and add them to a teapot. 

Pour some boiling water over them, cover with lid and a tea pot cozy or a clean towel. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Pour your fragrant tea in your favorite cup and enjoy! 

Insecticide soap for your garden

If you are a gardener, you probably will recognize this picture:

Aphids. I went to the garden to cut some fresh dill yesterday and found them everywhere. It's like they arrived overnight and got comfortable in our yard. 

Luckily I know what to do and it took me just half an hour to get rid of them. I made insecticide soap from vegetable oil, laundry detergent and water, sprayed the plants and I found aphids dead in the late afternoon.

I am going to continue growing the dill I sprayed and use it for the seeds for the next season. I still have some flower beds with herbs which were not infected by the insects. These plants we will be able to use for food.

I'd like to share the recipe of insecticide soap with you. It works great on plants and you can make it any time from your household items. It is also inexpensive compare to the store-bought insecticides and can be organic, depending on what ingredients you are using.

You will need:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 table spoon full of liquid laundry detergent (not concentrated, not citrus based)

Water as needed

1 pint jar, mixing bowl, spray bottle

Mix the first 2 ingredients and pour into in a jar. Now, mix 1 to 2 tea spoons of this mix with 1 cup of tap water. Pour it into a spray bottle.

Use your insecticide in the early morning on a dry non-windy day. Shake the content of your bottle and spray the plants preferably under the leaves of the infected plants. I always get so enthusiastic and I spray the entire plant.  

I have used this recipe for over decade now on my roses and tomato plants (now herbs, too!) and it always works for me.

Easter is here

Happy Easter, everyone!

Pigs in blanket

Sometimes you just don't know what to cook for a party. In this case I am always making something simple what will please a crowd for sure. Pigs in blanket is one of my favorites, it's easy to make and they are always a hit.

 You can make it with purchased puff pastry but I really like to use an yeast dough for them. The easiest way is to buy dinner rolls from your grocery store frozen section, like the Rhodes white dinner rolls. For the dogs I am using cocktail links/ mini sausages from Hillshire Farm.

Open the bag of sausages, drain the liquid and dry each dog with a paper towel. Count how many you have if you don't have this info on your package.

Now, get half the amount of the dinner rolls as you have the number of dogs. Place them in oiled glass dish about 2" apart and cover with the clear film. Wait until your rolls will increase in size (it will take about 5 hours at room temperature).

Prepare the baking sheet and spray it with non-stick spray.

Divide each roll into 2 parts. Make a long strip from each part and wrap it around the mini sausage. 

Place them on baking sheet and repeat the process until you are out of dough and sausages.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350'F until golden in color. Serve warm or cold, they are delicious in any way!