Bountiful harvest from a small garden.

June 16, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / 1 Comment

I have a small container garden this year. It is necessary until I get some raised beds built. Out soil is very rocky and the actual soil shallow.

Container garden

Green cherry tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes

Sungold Cherry Tomatoes. These are so sweet!

Pickling cucumber

Jalapeno peppers

Bell Peppers

Broken pottery herb garden. Topis chives and trailing rosemary (this did not do well and I transplanted it to another area) English Thyme and peppermint

Broken pottery herb garden. on top is chives and trailing rosemary (Not visible, this did not do well and I transplanted it to another area) English Thyme and peppermint

Garden Harvest

Last but not least, I planted a purple heirloom tomato. I bought a small plant from a local school that was having a spring sale from their green house projects. They were not sure of the variety. After researching heirloom tomatoes, I think this is a Black Krim tomato.

Black Krim purple heirloom tomato just beginning to ripen

It needed less rain and more sun than we have had recently. Unfortunately the insects found it when we had so much rain. I managed to get a couple of tomatoes that were good. The texture is good and the flavor is slightly tangy but not overly acidic. Here is what I picked this morning.

Black Krim heirloom tomato.

Coffee Monday

June 15, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

I posted a blog a couple of weeks ago about Iced coffee. I tried one of the recipes and now I am hooked. I also took the idea of freezing coffee into cubes to add to my iced coffee to keep it from getting watery. I use half & half in my coffee, no sweetener, and I found that I wanted to add a little more to the coffee as the ice melted.

I have found a way to enjoy my coffee as the temperatures reach for the 90’s F.

Vintage Cow cream pitcher and Coffee ice. Glass is fogging up from the humidity.

Adding the half & half

Finished product. In the background is our solar firefly light.

Backyard visitor.

June 14, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

We had a furry visitor at the bird feeders yesterday. This young squirrel decided the suet block with nuts and seeds looked like a great breakfast buffet. It must have realized the camera wasn’t a threat because it stayed there eating even after I called to it several times. It darted looks at me a if to say “Wait, just one more bite”, then finally decided to leave when I moved closer to the porch railing.

Squirrel on suet block.

Going for a bite of breakfast

Tasty!

Oops! I’ve been spotted.

Time to go.

Squirrel running down pole. Rather impressive.

Maybe if I walk on two legs they won’t notice me. (This is not the squirrel you are looking for..)

The birds were happy to see it leave, especially the Scrub Jay.

Scrub Jay on bird feeder structure

Glad the squirrel left some for me

Yummm, breakfast!

Hope you have a lovely day,

Melyna

Road Trip June 08, 2015 to Blanco Texas

June 9, 2015August 28, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / 2 Comments

Yesterday I took a road trip to Blanco, Texas to visit my sister of the heart. We have been friends for forty years. So, yes, she is my sister. As often as we can manage, we meet for breakfast. We picked Blanco because we like the town, it has a good feel and it is between where we both live. This week we decided to eat at the Redbud Cafe market & pub.

They serve a breakfast (brunch) on Sunday. They have Quiche and croissants and sweets for breakfast the rest of the week. Here is a link to their Menu. We met about 10:45 and opted for lunch instead. We have had coffee and dessert here several times but today I felt like trying something different. My friend is vegetarian and they have a nice selection of options to choose from. We both had the hot portabella mushroom sandwich. I had fresh fruit with mine and she had their homemade coleslaw. Unfortunately I did not get photos of the food. We were too busy talking and sharing photos and stories of what has been happening in our lives and eating. I forgot, but it was delicious.

They serve specialty coffee drinks as well at the self serve coffee bar with their own Redbud blend and today they had a Brazilian blend as well. If you prefer real half and half in your coffee, they have it. (I am very happy about this myself)

The Cafe is directly across from the courthouse on the square. You can sit outside and chat with passersby or just enjoy the fresh air.

Exterior of Redbud Cafe market & pub.

Inside is open and inviting. The tables are covered with oil cloth in an array of bright and cheerful patterns.

Interior of Redbud Cafe market & pub

They have a great selection of locally brewed beer from Real Ale Brewing

as well as their handpicked selection of local wines.

Redbud Cafe Bar area

Real Ale Brewing at redbud Cafe market and pub

and Live Music on the weekends.

Music schedule at the Redbud Cafe for June 2015

One wall is used for art exhibits. They are currently featuring artist, Melanie Fain

‘Bluebird’, Etching by Melanie Fain

One of the fun and interesting items on permanent display is a series of rainfall table starting in 1900.

Rainfall totals for Blanco Texas 1900-1920

Rainfall totals for Blanco Texas 1920-1940

Rainfall totals for Blanco Texas 1940-1959

Check out the rain totals for September 1952. yikes!

The owners of the Cafe, Jon and Jan Brieger, also have Brieger Pottery next door.

Brieger Pottery

They have a wonderful assortment of pottery, handmade items, locally made as well as imports (beautiful selection of items from Peru) including textiles, jewelry, soaps and cards. They have clothing, imported and vintage, plus used books, various antiques and knick-knacks. Be sure to explore their selection of lavender products. Blanco is known for their lavender festival which is happening next weekend: 11th Annual Blanco Lavender Festival

interior of Brieger Pottery

Rolls of the beautiful Oil Cloth that covers the tables in the Cafe.

Here are some close-ups of some of the patterns:

Black oil cloth with floral circles

Yellow Oil cloth with flowers in cirlces.

Yellow Oil cloth with flowers in circles.

Red Oil Cloth with Flowers

Black oil cloth with animal patterns

Black oil cloth with flowers

Black and White Oil Cloth

Happy Travels,

Melyna

A visitor in the garden

June 7, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

I planted dill in the garden hoping to attract butterflies. It worked. This lovely caterpillar was happily devouring the dill this morning. I think this is the same species as the butterflies I photographed earlier this week.

Caterpillar on dill plant.

This is the blog post with the butterflies: http://wp.me/p3GRKG-X9

Bright blooms and butterflies

June 5, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

I worked in the yard for about four hours yesterday. It felt great. The sunshine was wonderful after all the rain we have had recently. When I was just about ready to call it a day these beauties came fluttering through the yard. One would follow the other and never strayed more than a few inches apart. They seemed to like the bright pink lantana more than the purple butterfly bush that can barely be seen in the second photo. From what I could gather , these are:

Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)

Hummingbirds

June 2, 2015August 28, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

I went to my mother in laws house Yesterday. Her hummingbirds are not as afraid of people as the ones that come to our house which allowed me to get a bit closer.

Close up of Hummingbird

Humming Bird in flight

Hummingbird in flight Eye on the Camera.

Hummingbird feeding with effects.

Coffee Monday

June 1, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / 1 Comment

School is out, it has finally stopped raining and the temperatures are rising. Which of course leads me to thinking about changing to iced coffee for my morning pick me up.

I found this recipe on Pinterest. It sounds easy and I like the presentation.

http://thehousewifeintrainingfiles.com/iced-coffee/

Photo from The House Wife in Training website.
http://thehousewifeintrainingfiles.com/iced-coffee/

I also found this one at Food52 http://food52.com/blog/7317-how-to-make-cold-brewed-coffee

Photo from Food52
http://food52.com/blog/7317-how-to-make-cold-brewed-coffee

Do you have a favorite way to make iced coffee?

Speaking of… It’s Coffee time. Hope you have a great week.

Melyna

Rain, Leaf Litter and Toadstools

May 25, 2015August 26, 2017 / coffeeandcapturedmoments / Leave a comment

During a break in the rain, I went for a walk to see what had survived and found an abundance of toadstools. Not a wide variety but they are everywhere there is vegetative litter under the oak and cedar trees.