August Menus

  I sat down this morning and prepared the menus for August. I cannot beleive it is almost the last few weeks of my summer vacation. Where has the time gone? I return to work on the 21st for prep and cleaning in the kitchen. Kiddos return to school on the 27th so I will be back at both the cafeteria and the aftercare jobs starting that day. I planned out quickly assembled dinners for those work days and will return to my work week dinner plan of alternating crockpot, quick recipes, and planned over meals after Labor Day.
This month I am trying a few new to me recipes after revisiting some old cookbooks I have. All new recipes are marked with an *. Menus using planned overs are in bold. We have several events coming up in August, a birthday party, a baptism, two fairs, and one last festival. I did not plan menus for those days. I also didn't plan a menu for the last Friday of the month. I will be working late and on that day GF gets to decide what will be for dinner. So here are the 25 menus (all mains based on items I have on hand) I have to choose from:

 Lemon-Dill Grilled Salmon* , baked potato, grilled asparagus

  Family Steak, twice baked potatoes, garlicky green beans

 Chicken Lasagna Alfredo*, salad

  Mediterranean Steak salad, breadsticks, sliced melon

 Spicy Pineapple rum pork chops, scalloped potatoes, grilled corn on the cob

 Penne with Meatballs, salad

 One Dish Chicken with potatoes & green beans

 Chicken Piccata, pasta with garlic, salad

 Herb Crusted Eye of Round, mashed potatoes, brussels sprouts

 Grilled Zesty Chicken oregano, Israeli couscous, greek salad

 Grilled Asian Pork Tenderloin Salad, fly off the plate rolls

Beef Stroganoff , salad

 Heather's Garlic baked chicken, mushroom risotto*, salad

 Pork Lo Mein , eggrolls

 Spit roasted Leg of lamb, pasta & lentil salad

 Asian Summer Salad, popovers

 Shepard's Pie, candied carrots

Applewood Rubbed Pork chops, parsley potatoes, green beans

 Steak, caprese salad, corn on the cob

 Shrimp Orzo skillet, salad

 Horseradish encrusted tilapia, au gratin potatoes, broccoli with lemon

Tuscan Grilled Chicken, quinoa salad*

Steak w/ Chimichurri sauce*, pasta salad

 Tuscan Chicken Pannini , chips

 Hawaiian Pork kebobs, coconut rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

 

Bookshelf Project

  One of the projects I've been meaning to get to this summer was a total clean out of the two built in bookshelves on either side of my fireplace. I love books and my home is filled with them. They had gotten a bit out of hand lately with books just stacked on the floor behind our tv and stacked on top of other books lined up on the cubby shelves above our mantle. In addition we had a full set of encyclopedias with year books from the mid 1960s just taking up room in one of the book cases and another set of Time Life Countries around the world from the same time frame in the second bookshelf. It was time for these books to go so the first thing I did was clear these off the shelves and box them. Sadly after a few phone calls I discovered I can't even give these away anywhere. The boxes will go out to the tree lawn on the next trash day. Maybe the recycling truck will take them (I'd feel better about that then just seeing them go to the dump). I removed all the books that were stacked on top of other books in the cubbies, removed all books from the bookshelves (working one side at a time), wiped down the shelves, then neatly placed all the books in the shelves. These are pretty deep so the paperbacks are two rows to a shelf. Beleive it or not this little project took up the better part of Tuesday afternoon. But I'm pretty pleased with the results

 

In case you are wondering, yes I still have a lighted pine garland on the fireplace. I just love how it looks so much in the evening that I didn't put it away after Christmas.  And as you can see by photo number one I now have a small pile of wood for the fireplace and a wicker basket with books in it next to the fireplace instead of stacks of books piled on the floor behind it.

I finished my Tuesday project day with a continued clean out and shredding of old mail that has piled up as well as taking down and laundering all the dining room and living room curtains, the throw pillows on the couches, and the throw blankets as well.

It was a really productive day!

Projects!

Yesterday, today, and Thursday are going to be devoted to getting my list of projects shortened. I have not felt at all productive on the homefront since vacation started, although I don't feel as if I have not been busy on other things. Wednesday this week will be spent at youngest son's college orientation day.
Yesterday my project du jour was to empty, wash out and then organize the cabinet in which I keep my spices, baking supplies, and teas. Of course as so often happens one thing led to another projectwise. This cabinet is pulling away from the wall at the top for some reason so adult son who didn't work yesterday figured if I was emptying it out anyway he wanted to get to it and re-secure it to the wall. I totally emptied everything out of the cabinet, washed the shelves and interior walls and then son did his thing. Sadly he discovered the reason the cabinet is pulling away is there is no stud to attach the screws to. He put an anchor in and did his best but there is still a slight gap at the top between wall and cabinet. The shelves in these cabinets (all of them) have also began to sink in the middle over the years. He turned all the shelves upside down and told me to put the heaviest items in the center where the shelves now curve upward. The weight should eventually make them level again. I can see that this is going to lead to a whole new series of projects, son commented that he was going to start buying unfinished new cabinets one at a time to replace the budget oak ones we have now. The entire kitchen is in bad shape. The ceiling has holes from the bathroom remodel and the second floor porch leak (adult son tore off porch and rebuilt porch floor sealing it good against leaking last week) and needs to be totally torn out and redone. Floor is cheap vinyl, 18 years old, and in horrible shape. Adult son said it is time to replace ceiling and flooring and we might as well then do the cabinets and countertops. We have a nice stainless double sink in a box down cellar that he got free somewhere so we will change that out as well. Of course all of this will take time so I don't expect anything except the ceiling tear out to happen within the next couple of months. After all he still has to build the new railings around the upstairs porch in his 'free' time. And speaking of the porch, adult son also loaded up the entire bed of his pickup yesterday and hauled all the rubble away. $20 at the landfill to get rid of this.
As for the cabinet project once I shop vac'ed the sawdust from the re-securing up I then organized all the stuff as I put it back in. Top shelf is all baking supplies, middle shelf is large bulk containers of spices as well as my collection of Pampered Chef & Penzey's rubs and spice combos. Bottom shelf is single herbs and spices, alphabetized on one side and all my teas on the other.

Financial Review: 7/13-7/19 2014

 I am a bit behind in my posting of my financial week, Sunday was a bit of a rush and I just had no time to sit down and do this. Ditto for yesterday as well.
I didn't really have a good week as far as zero dollar days go with only three of them. I had a long time friend (my kindergarten bestie) come into town and we had lunch out twice and did some social shopping which was the reason for the decline in days I spent no money.
Here are the ugly details:

Sunday 7/13: $0

Monday 7/14: BJ's: $41.19 (skirt, shop towels, groceries)  Local market: $10.59 on produce   Chinese carryout: $10

Tuesday 7/15: $ 6 on a hot and ready pizza for adult son & I

Wednesday 7/16: $0

Thursday 7/17:  Dress Barn : $38 on a dressy shirt (shopping with out of town friend). She treated for lunch this day.

Friday 7/18: $77 on lunch for group of friends from out of town including Kindergarten bestie! I wanted to treat since I was the local 'hostess'

Saturday 7/19: $0

Although I spent a bit of money socially this week the fact that I got to spend time on three separate occasions with a friend I have not seen in 8 years and who recently beat cancer far outweighs any dollars I may have spent. Our time together was priceless.
In the practical realm of finances there is going to be a vast improvement this week in how much money is outgoing. So far I already have two zero dollar days and if I didn't have to get out and get grandson his first birthday gift today would be another.

Making a list

 and checking it twice is what is going on today. Our temperatures have fallen into what can only be described as 'fall-like". A high of mid 60s in mid July is almost unheard of here but I plan on taking advantage of the cool down. Especially since we will be more summer like in the mid to high 70s the rest of the week. Still not our typical swealtering July heat and humidity but I'm sure we will get some more of that sooner or later. I'm making a list of what needs to be done and doing it. I will be out and about visiting tomorow and Friday and then with the GF over the weekend so today is my domestic duty day this week.
On my list for today:
 1.Bake bread. We are all out except for the ciabatta rolls I bought yesterday. This needs to be remedied.
2.Declutter piled up mail. Between myself, adult son and college age kids we have accumulated a stack of mail that is mighty impressive in size. I will go through all of it, shredding anything that does not need to be kept. The important stuff like mortgage, insurances, auto payment, and utilities are paperless but we still get mailings from all these places regarding offers, etc. A new system of shredding and disposing daily will be put in place.
3.Give the house a good clean. Between graduation party prepping and running around the house is dusty, the floors need attention, and the bathroom is in need of serious work (except for the toilet which gets cleaned on an every other day basis to avoid grossing me out entirely).
4.Finally if the sun comes out (currently it is overcast and looks like rain is imminent) I will weed the brick patio out back . I also plan on getting college age son to dig out the dead rose bush stump out front in the bed by the drive so that I can get a new hydrangea planted there if I make it out today anywhere.
Wish me luck!

July groceries

  Yesterday oldest daughter asked if I would take her to BJ's since she doesn't have a membership. She is currently in the midst of some major life changes and one of her goals is to stock up her pantry to tide her over while she concentrates on other aspects of her life. I was happy to do so. I still had the cash she'd given me and decided to hang on to this for July groceries and expected sundry expenses (haircut, friend from out of town coming in so I expect we will do lunch) banking my upcoming cleaning job pay next week.
Since I stocked us up I only had a few minor, un-necessary yet requested purchases of my own but was happy to go along and let her take advantage of my membership. I myself limited my spending to $41.19. I picked up a clearance ankle length black skirt for myself for $12.98.  My youngest granddaughter's baptism is coming up in August and I figured I could pair this nicely with a dressy top I already own. I also bought a package of 18 terrycloth 'shop' towels from the automotive section to use as cleaning/general purpose around the house for $10. I use something similar at work and like them very much. My current stock of stained kitchen towels/old bath towels cut down/old shirts is getting thin due to age. These towels will boost that up nicely.
Grocery-wise I picked up two large containers of drink mix, one of lemonade and one of iced tea. Personally I prefer a plain iced tea but adult son and college age kids voted for this. I will make myself a water sized bottle of iced tea each morning from my stock of tea bags and let them go to town with the other stuff. I figure it should last at least through the summer. I also picked up a ball of fresh mozzarella, a bag of ciabatta rolls, a large container of onion chip dip and two bags of chips (also requested by kids who claim we have nothing good to eat). $18.21 cash on food/drink.
My oldest also wanted to stop at a local small market that recently opened (and where youngest son's girlfriend works!). I spent another $10.59 on a pineapple, a bag of cherries, a container of mushrooms, and a bag of green leaf lettuce. All items were priced reasonably. I still prefer my local year round farmer's market and will be making a trip over there later on today.
So far between last week and yesterday I have spent $32.58 on July groceries out of the $200 I budgeted. I'd say stocking up in May and June is serving us well and I hope to be able to get through the entire month of September with minimal grocery expense.
I ended my day by treating myself to something special for dinner. All of the kids were gone at various friend's houses so I got myself a Chinese dinner for one from my favorite carry-out for $10. Not only did I have a terrific dinner last night but I took the leftover steamed white rice added milk, sugar and cinnamon and warmed it up in the microwave for breakfast today. And I have enough pork lo mein leftover that it will be lunch for myself and college age kids today! Three meals for $10 isn't bad.

Financial Review: 7/6-7/12

Taking a look at this week's expenditures it was high but I still managed to stay within the budgeted amount for youngest son's graduation party, have some money come in, and have a few zero dollar days!

Sunday 7/6: $0

Monday 7/7: $0

Tuesday 7/8: $109.21 at GFS for party supplies; $31.88 for party/grocery

Wednesday 7/9: $3.81 Aldi for party supplies; $ 7.65 local baker's supply store for party supplies

Thursday: 7/10: $ 73.53 BJ's for remainder of party supplies needed

Friday 7/11: $0

Saturday 7/12: $0

On the incoming side of things oldest daughter repaid me $200 for money I lent her for car repairs (taking that to the bank today)  and I earned some money at my twice a month cleaning job. That money went into a card for youngest son and towards two minor league baseball game tickets for a night out for GF and I.

Mission Accomplished!

Sunday was my youngest son's graduation party. It was a week of hard work leading up to what turned out to be a great event even if we had to change locations at the last minute.
The plan was to have the party at the local park pavilion that is a favorite spot of ours for summer picnics. It is free on a first come, first serve basis and I had middle and youngest daughters parties there and it was a big success. This year the weatherman was not at all co-operative with a forecast predicting thunderstorms as well as heat. Sunday morning was overcast and warm but we decided to forge ahead with the plan. GF and I fully loaded my SUV and got to the park early. Awesome, no one else was there and we unloaded and started setting up tables with tablecloths and decorations. GF took off to pick up youngest son and more ice. I stayed behind and prepared to decorate cupcakes I had baked a day earlier:

I had just gotten the bag of frosting out of the cooler when the skies began to open up. Oh boy. At first it wasn't bad but then the wind kicked up and rain started to blow into the shelter. Not good. GF and son got there and we talked about a plan B after consulting the weather ap on my phone. Plan B: party at GF's house,  was a go and we both started texting everyone on the invite list.
In the end this worked out for the best. The sun did come out for brief periods but we also had some heavy rains as well during the day. And the heat and humidity were oppressive so GF's air conditioned house was the better choice for the babies (2 of them just a month old, one 3 1/2 month old) who attended.
Because GF has his house on the market the place was very clean for showings  (I've been cleaning it and making sure it is decluttered on a weekly basis in exchange for gas in the SUV)  so all we had to do was make the bed, unload the dishwasher, load my SUV and get things decorated and ready to set up food and drink service.
Thanks to family and friends we had tons of food. GF chipped in with all the beverages and the 100 pieces of fried chicken (guess whose family all had chicken to take home, lol), middle daughter did a brisket, oldest daughter did green beans with bacon & onions, oldest son did cheesy potatoes, my sister M chipped in with baked beans & a veggie tray, sisterinlaw J brought her awesome brownies, sisterinlaw S brought a cake and a tossed salad, neice S made chocolate chip cookies and neice brought pasta salad, my DIL's mom made potato salad, GF's SIL did two kinds of cupcakes, and my BFF brought a corn casserole. I myself did penne with meat sauce, a broccoli salad, the cherry chip cupcakes pictured above, pizzelles, and these baked goods:

mortar board cut outs

three kinds of kolachky

a two pans of brownies.

In the end decorations turned out to be minimal, school color streamers and a display of two trifold boards of pictures of youngest son from birth through high school with his cap and gown, and his band award.

A good time was had by all and a big thank you went out to GF for offering up his home as Plan B.

 

Grad Party planning:

  This week has been pretty dedicated to getting things ready for youngest son's graduation party. I spent a couple of hours yesterday getting photos together for the trifold boards I purchased for that purpose last week. I also hunted for the saved decorations out at GF's house over the weekend and then here as well. No luck. I beleive GF may have tossed these out while basement cleaning in prep for putting his house on the market and now does not remember doing so. <sigh> It looks as if a stop at the local craft store is on my morning schedule (all grad stuff is 60% off). Yesterday I got out to GFS and picked up plastic tablecloths, 14 deep foil pans, 12 sterno cans (we have frames for a set up of 8 but will only need 7, using one pan to hold water, the second to hold food in each frame with sterno underneath), the frozen hash browns and cream of chicken soup for the cheesy potatoes (oldest son is going to put these together & bake at  his house then transport them to the park), two #10 cans of cut green beans (for a green bean/bacon dish oldest daughter is going to assemble and cook before bringing it to the park), two #10 cans of tomato sauce & 10 lbs. of penne pasta for the penne with meat sauce (I will make this ahead of time and then reheat over sterno), two gallon sized storage containers to hold sauce, and a 5 lb. bag of broccoli florets (for the broccoli salad I am making). Total cost: $109.21  My second stop was Aldi where I purchased 3 pints of sour cream (for cheesy potatoes & today's kolachky dough), 3 bags shredded cheddar (for cheesy potatoes), 3 packs of organic bacon (for green beans & broccoli salad), a bag of dried apricots (to make one kind of filling for kolachky) and some frozen treats for our freezer (popsicles & eskimo pies). Total cost: $ 31.88  ($27.90 for party, $3.98 for regular grocery expense).
I have budgeted $200 for the party. I am going to have to return to Aldi today because I forgot the frozen raspberries ( another kolachky filling) and cornflakes (for cheesy potatoes) I need, should be under $5 this time. I also need to stop at a local baker's supply place for blue and yellow sanding sugars for the mortar board cut out cookies I will be baking today. Both places are right near the craft store so it should be quick and easy.
And then it will be baking cut out cookies and making kolachky filling until I have to go and sleep over with my grandson's tonight since Papa is out of town and Mom is working.
Tomorrow I will be hitting BJ's with middle daughter to pick up a large brisket which she is going to make for the party as well as the ground beef for the pasta. These purchases will top me out of my budget. GF has offered to help out and has purchased all the paper goods, he will also pay for the fried chicken we ordered, and all of the drinks. Other family members have offered to bring dishes (DIL's mom is doing potato salad, a neice is doing pasta salad, sister & another neice are doing veggie trays) to round out the meal. I will be making baked beans (already purchased) as well as the pasta, all the cookies, and one kind of cupcake (GF's SIL is baking two other kinds). I am feeling pretty good about how everything is coming together.

July Dinner Menus

 Even though we are a week into the month I sat down yesterday and put together menus for the rest of the month. This coming Sunday is youngest son's graduation party so the menu is already set for that. Saturday we went out to dinner with friends. Yesterday we had spaghetti and meatballs with salad. Here are the remainder of the meals. New recipes are indicated by a *, menus based on planned overs are in bold. I will be babysitting for middle daughter at least one more Wednesday this month, we have a birthday party for grandson, and we have at least one more festival we plan to attend so I took that into account when figuring out how many menus to make.

Grilled cheddar brats, my rice pilaf, salad

Cheesy garden pizza, salad with green goddess dressing

Hank burgers (topped with sauteed onions and mushrooms and Swiss cheese), grilled rosemary potato wedges

Herb rubbed pork roast, scalloped potatoes, Harvard beets

Grad party leftovers

Pork lo mien, egg rolls

Coffee rubbed steaks, baked potato, garlicky green beans

Garden omelet with hollandaise sauce, fruit salad

Grilled pork with rice and quinoa salad*, fly off the plate rolls

Heather's garlic baked chicken, mushroom risotto*, caprese salad

Irish garlic sausages, potatoes O'Brien, cucumber salad

Hawaiian pork kebabs, coconut rice, Hawaiian coleslaw

Asian grilled salmon, baked sweet potato, broccoli with lemon

London broil, pasta and lentil salad

Chicken piccata, pasta with garlic, zucchini and tomatoes

Mediterranean steak salad, rolls

Bbq ribs, baked beans, salad

Herb crusted eye of round, Yorkshire pudding, Brussels sprouts

Asian summer salad, rolls

Philly cheese steak stuffed peppers, salad

Loco Moco, Hawaiian coleslaw

Checking the budget

  It is time to take a look at what's been spent this week and how many were zero dollar days I achieved.

Sunday: $22.12 at the wholesale club 

Monday:$0

Tuesday:$ 15 haircut for youngest son; $24.50 on stamps; $14 at Party City for grad party supplies; $23.80 for tenfold boards & July 4 decorations. All cash on the barrel head. 

Wednesday: $45.16 on groceries at wholesale club; $21.29 on a DVD ; $33 at farmer's market on produce. I also paid my mortgage, my car payment, and my Direct tv was debited.

Thursday: $0

Friday: $0

Saturday: $0. 

Well, I managed to still have four zero dollar days despite spending quite a bit.  Looking ahead at the coming week I will have some expenses connected with next Sunday's grad party food. GF has offered to help out, he will be buying the fried chicken, the soda pop and water, and the ice. I will also be cleaning at his offices on Saturday so some cash will be coming in there. And per our agreement I will be cleaning his house today in exchange for a full tank of gas in my SUV. 

Happy Birthday America

 We had a truly awesome holiday yesterday. This is an actual picture of the fireworks display we attended last night.
As usual we had our annual family picnic at a local park. GF and I arrived extra early to secure our pavilion spot. We brought sausage patties and I made French toast in the electric skillet and had coffee. On Thursday I made my mom's macaroni salad ( 8 cups cooked elbow macaroni, 2 eggs hardboiled, 1 rib celery chopped, 1 small onion chopped, 1/4 cup pickle relish, 3/4 cup Miracle Whip, 1 tsp yellow mustard, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper. Separate cooked egg yolk from whites. Chop egg whites, add to macaroni, celery, onion, and pickle relish. In a small bowl mash egg yolk and add MW, cayenne, and mustard. Mix well then dress salad with this. Chill before serving.) to take with us.
In addition to the macaroni salad I packed up burgers and hot dogs left over from Memorial Day, buns, fried chicken, homemade Hawaiian coleslaw ( shredded cabbage & carrots, Marzetti slaw dressing, & crushed pineapple), baked beans, homemade brownies, chips, cherries, and slices of watermelon. Coke, Sprite, and bottled water to drink.  We had both lunch and dinner at the park. We took walks, played corn hole, pitched horseshoes, and visited.  After taking  GF'S dog home we went to the fireworks.
Good food, good family, good times.

Running some errands & what has been cooking in July

  The last two days have been spent running some errands. Yesterday DIL and new grandbaby joined myself and youngest son. We dropped son off at the barber shop ($15) then proceeded to Party City where we picked up graduation invitations ($4), a lawn sign ($4), and graduation themed napkins ($6) all paid for with cash. After picking son up we proceeded to the post office where I purchased 50 stamps ($24.50) to mail the invitations. We also stopped at a local craft store where I purchased two trifold boards to do picture boards for the grad party and I also picked up some on clearance 4th of July decorations (a small banner, a small bunting, a cute tin painted decoration) and spent $23.80 cash.

Today I hit BJ's Wholesale club for a couple of pounds of lunch meat (turkey and roast beef) on sale, a gallon of organic milk, a loaf of rye bread, a loaf of italian bread, hamburger & hot dog buns (for July 4th picnic), and three bags of assorted chips (also for picnic). I spent $45.16. My next stop was Target where I spent $21.29 on the Lego movie dvd. I knew I was babysitting grandsons tonight and wanted something new to watch with 6 year old. This will also be used at my aftercare job when school starts up again . My final stop was a new farmer's market where youngest son's girlfriend is working. I bought cherries, plums, nectarines, a watermelon, a pineapple, a quart of strawberries, a pint of blueberries, and 4 multi colored peppers. $33 out the door.
I budgeted $250 total for food for July from cleaning money. So far I have spent $78.16 of that amount. I don't think we will even need the entire amount since we are so well stocked.
I am still working on July menus but should have those done by tomorrow. In the meantime last night I threw together a pasta dish: I cooked some
penne that I tossed with shrimp, sun dried tomatoes and garlic that I'd sauteed in butter then finished off with a bit of crushed red pepper flakes and grated parmesan cheese. A simple green salad on the side.
Tonight dinner was provided by middle daughter (pasta fagioli) since I was babysitting at her place.

Restaurant meal without the restaurant

On Sunday GF made a special dinner request. His favorite restaurant is a small little locally owned Italian place called TJ's On the Avenue. GF adores their chicken marsala and it is the only thing he orders when we go there. The restaurant is a 45 minute drive from his place so it is definately a special treat for him. He wanted the meal without having to drive to the restaurant. I love chicken marsala and since we'd run errands that morning we had everything at his house to recreate this meal (pasta with sauce and salad on the side).

I melted a 1/4 cup of butter in an electric skillet, added a large container of sliced mushrooms and a big dollop of minced garlic and set this to saute:

I had a nice bottle of marsala wine in the cupboard and a container of homemade chicken stock which I defrosted:

After pounding out and flouring two chicken breasts

 I added them to the skillet, sprinkled the top with parsley and set them to brown on either side.

 I added a good amount of marsala (about 1/2 cup) plus half the container of homemade stock (another 1/2 cup) to the skillet

I covered the skillet and let the chicken cook for about 20 minutes. I then uncovered the skillet and let the sauce cook down for an additional 5 minutes. In the meantime I made two individual salads

and cooked some bowtie pasta and heated up some jarred sauce GF had on hand.

I plated the chicken and pasta and served the salad on the  side.

 

A restaurant style meal without the restaurant.

 

Something to smile about

  Last week I finally made time on Friday morning to get all the plants I'd purchased the week before from the garden center planted. Just looking at them makes me smile!
I bought an entire flat of begonias and potted them in two brand new pots I'd purchased a couple of months ago. These are either side of the steps on the front porch (which you can clearly see needs paint)

 I  purchased an already planted hanging basket and put that on the shephards crook that is next to the front steps

For Mother's Day Middle daughter gave me this sweet little planter. I added begonias and a trailing yellow flower that I have no idea what it is called:

I also bought a flat of verbenas in varying colors, they'd bloomed out by the time I was ready to plant them so I dead-headed them before planting. They will bloom a few times more before the end of summer. This pot will stay on the table on the porch, a second pot went on a large tin can next to the side door.

 

I also picked up some trailing tiny blue flowers that I don't have any idea what they are, potted those and put them on the old milk can next to the white rocker on the porch.

 

I still have several begonias needed a home and some empty pots but I am out of potting soil. I will pick some up and get those planted and out on the back patio for some color. I also have a large whiskey barrel on the patio planted with basil, rosemary, parsley, sage, and marjoram.