Nature Friday

 We are joining Rosy today for Nature Friday~~

In our garden, there are lots of Coneflowers in bloom~

EEEK!

Moving on~~

We discovered a downed tree branch belonging to the Mimosa tree.  Mom always thinks of her Nonna when she sees one of these trees.  Nonna had one in her yard and always called it "dirty" as the fallen blossoms made a mess.  

A neighbor's yard is in full bloom!

And just beyond~

Lots of clusters of Indian Pipes!   We think these mushrooms are incredibly special.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Tasty Tuesday

 Mom saw a recipe for Baked Eggplant Parmesan on FB and decided that she wanted to give it a try.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant, sliced 1/4 inch thick,  salt as needed, 2 eggs beaten, Panko bread crumbs,  marinara sauce, mozzerella cheese thinly sliced, parmesan cheese.

Step 1:

Sprinkle salt on both sides of each slice of eggplant.  Layer the slices in a colander and place the colander in your sink.   Place a heavy dish or pan on top to press them down.   Allow the eggplant to sweat for 30 - 45 minutes.   Rinse the slices well with cold water to remove salt and blot them dry with paper towels.

Step 2:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.   Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with nonstick cooking spray. 

Step 3:

Dip the eggplant slices in egg, then in the bread crumbs pressing the crumbs down with the fingers to cover them evenly.    Place them in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet and light spray the tops of the breaded eggplant with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice over the cook for an additional 5 - 10 minutes or until nicely browned.

Remove from the oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

Step 4:

In an 8 X 8 inch baking dish spread just enough marinara to cover the bottom of the dish.    Place a layer of eggplant slices over the sauce.   Cover each slice with a spoonful of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.    Layer the remaining eggplant slices over the top and add another spoonful of marinara on top of each.    Spoon any remaining marinara around the edges of the eggplant stacks and then top each stack with the remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.     Bake at 350 degrees F. until cheese is melty.   Mom baked it for about 25 minutes.

Before baking:

I'm ready to taste the baked eggplant and the mozz, Mom!

Out of the oven to cool for dinner~

The Eggplant Parm was excellent.   Mom hates mushy eggplant and this was far from mushy.  It was tasty and delicious - for the first time.  Leftovers were not as great.  The breadcrumbs get soggy in the frig and they gave the eggplant a "funny" taste so we won't be using this recipe again.  

Happy Tuesday, everybody!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Silent Sunday Selfie

 

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Nature Friday

 We are joining Rosy this week for Nature Friday~~

Our Butterfly bushes are still blooming away and they smell soooooooo pretty!  

Miss Violet~

Last year, we lost Miss Ruby.   Mom actually pulled the "what we thought was a dead" Butterfly bush out of the ground and trust me - she was dead.   We had no idea that a Butterfly Bush could self sow but Miss Ruby is back and blooming and mom couldn't be more thrilled!

Along our walk, Miss Dotty's Daylily was blooming~

The Shasta Daisies in our garden are blooming~

In farmer Will's field, the yellow squash is flowering and his workers have been picking squash~

This mushroom was growing in our front yard and I decided to give it a taste.  Mom has no idea what is poisonous and what isn't so she took a picture and looked it up.   She discovered that it is edible, thank goodness, and I won't get sick and I didn't.   

Happy Friday, everyone!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

One Old Bear

 Mom was sorting through her fabric stash yesterday and came upon her Knickerbocker teddy bear that her mom and dad gave her for her very first Christmas!   He was inside a cedar chest underneath all of the fabric and she forgot that she put him there.  What a nice surprise☺

How cool is that!    He is a true antique!

Happy Wednesday!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Monday Movies

 Mom loves her Christmas in July movies on the Hallmark Channel this time of year.  It's been so hot and humid that she's been more lazy than usual so.............

I got to try popcorn for the very first time!    Popcorn is very good stuffs!

I hope we get to watch another movie soon!

Happy Monday, everyone!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Nature Friday

 We are joining both Rosy and Sunny this week for Nature Friday.

In our garden, the Coneflower is blooming~

Along our walk, we found wild Yarrow in bloom~

Mom found this flower underneath our Rhododendron and again on our walk.    We had to look it up but it's in the Wintergreen family.

We are up and running on our new computer with Windows 11.   Mom is getting used to it and things are going well except for downloading and dealing with the photos.   What happened to placing pictures in their own dated folder like she had with Windows 10?  She doesn't like her pictures in one big loosyGoosey batch.  We need organization!

Happy Friday, everybody!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Mom's Birthday

 Today is my mom's birthday!

A couple of weeks ago, Missy gave her a stained glass piece that she created and made for mom on her special day.   Missy took stained glass classes at the beginning of this year and she's doing a fantastic job with everything she makes.    Both mom and Missy were Northford TimberFramers and this gorgeous creation called "The Angel Heart of the Barn" is in memory of Missy's dad, who was the leader of the Northford TimberFramers.  He passed away in August 2023 and is loved and missed so very much.   It hangs in our picture window where we can enjoy it every single day♥ 

Mom got Birthday cards from our good friend in the UK, Miss Susie, and she also got a birthday card from her longtime friend, Miss Cathy.   Thank you both so very much♥   Your cards are just beautiful!

It's been very very hot here for the last few days and we can't think of anything better to celebrate mom's birthday with than ICE CREAM!

The one last thing we have to tell you is that mom treated herself to a new computer - not because she wanted one but because Windows 10 will not be supported after October 2025 and mom isn't a person who waits until the last minute.  She is also not a techy person so if you don't hear back from us for a couple of days, you will know why.  

She also preloaded two Nature Friday posts as she will be deleting all kinds of stuffs on this computer so it can be disposed of properly.   Photos have already been saved to her hard drive but not flower and nature photos.   We hope Blogger holds the posts for us.  Fingers and paws are crossed!

The heck with the new computer.  Mom wants this gorgeous antique car fully restored by Landlord Bob!   How gorgeous will this be when he's finished with it!

Wish us luck on the computer change!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Tongue Out Tuesday

 Mom bought me a sock monkey martingale collar and she says that I'm acting like a tongue out Tuesday goof!   

Can you see my handsome new collar better in this picture?!

I love my Kong monkey!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Silent Smiling Sunday Selfie

 

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Nature Friday

 We are joining Rosy and Sunny this week for Nature Friday~~

I ran into my friend, Carlie on my walk on Wednesday and again yesterday.  Mom says that I am over the top nutty when I meet up with her and her dad~

We found Toadflax~

At the end of Keri's driveway, we discovered she had planted Zinnias.   They remind mom so much of her Nonna, as Nonna always planted all colors of Zinnias in the summer at her house.

We discovered Balloon flowers near a mailbox~

The red Clematis is so pretty and so full!

We are seeing quite a bit of Yucca this year and it is such a tall plant!

Do you see the bunny underneath the Magnolia bush?   I want so badly for mom to drop my leash so I can chase him but she won't.  SpoilSport!

Happy Friday!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Happy Independence Day USA

 Have a wonderful holiday and stay safe, everyone!

Happy Independence Day!

Love ya lots♥

Duke

Watermelon Wednesday

 I'm trying watermelon for the very first time~

Of course, I cleaned my plate!  Watermelon is good stuffs!

I can't wait for my second serving!

Love ya lots♥

Duke