A Friendly Dragonfly

Good morning, I hope you all had a great long weekend .
I had a very quiet long weekend and enjoyed the time I spent baking and watching old movies on Turner Classic Movie Channel.

I did go out to the gardens and fill the bird bath as well as picking a few ripened cherry tomatoes for my salad.

While I filled the bird bath I had a dragonfly land on my arm, I chatted away to the robin that was sitting on the fence patiently waiting for me to finish so he could flutter about in the water.
I put the hose away and was walking around to the front of the house and the dragonfly was still flying around by me, landing on me and flying ahead of me again to circle around and land on me again.
I went inside and grabbed my camera to take a picture of it.
When I came back outside he was sitting on my railing of the steps.
I went to take its picture and he flew onto the head of a bee balm flower that had died off and dried out.
I watched it pick a small fly (about the size of a fruit fly) out of the centre of the dead head of the bee balm and eat it.

While it was sitting atop of the bee balm I snapped a couple of shots of this very friendly dragonfly.

What did you do on your last long weekend of the summer of 2010?

The End Of The Last Long Weekend Of Summer 2010

Good morning!
I hope you all have had a wonderful last long weekend of the 2010 summer season.
I know it was raining off and on but there was still enough sunshine to make the days enjoyable.
I have spent most of the long weekend with my sweetie and Turner Classic Movies, baking pies and doing laundry lol.
A good combination in my books, if you ask him you may get another answer...I think he had enough of the classic movies and went visiting his brother today.
As much as I would just love to spend the day curled up with a cup of tea and the movie channel I do have a few things  to do today.
I will be getting ready for the fall season which means putting away most of my summer clothing and bringing out the sweaters and shoes.
What did you do this lovely long weekend?

Apple Orchard

Good morning!
Well yesterday I went to the apple orchard and picked up a couple of baskets.
The early macs and the paula reds are the only ones ready so far so with a basket of each home we went.
I gave 1/2 the apples to my mother-in-law and brought the other half of the apples home and made a couple of pies.
1 for my parents and one for my sweetheart, seeing as he was the one asking for apple pie.
As you can tell by the picture, it was devoured in no time at all.
In a couple of weeks I will be going back to get some Courtland apples, they are great for making chunky applesauce to serve with pork over the winter.
Then following in 2 weeks the Spartans and Spys will be ready and of course Spys make the best pies.
I am considering making a few pies and freeze them this year so when company drops by I can just pop one out of the freezer and bake it ...no muss, no fuss!

What are you doing with the last long weekend of the summer? 

Apple Season Begins!

Good morning, I am happy to say we are getting a break from the extreme heat today.
The temperature out there is 14C and I am going to take full advantage of the cooler weather and head to the apple orchard today.
I also have a pile of green and yellow beans to pick from my mother-in-law's garden to do down for the freezer so that will take up most of my Saturday.
I will be spending some quality time with my sweetheart and enjoying the last long weekend of the summer!
I hope you have a great long weekend!

Friday's Favorites

                                                        Cheese and Apple Squares

Top and Bottom layers:
1 cup grated old or extra old cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter

Crumble cheese and butter together and add dry ingredients and spread 1/2 the mixture in a 9x12 pan.

Filling:  1 cup sliced apples
Glaze: Melt 1/4 cup apple jelly (I use my crab apple jelly)
While hot smooth over top of squares spreading as it melts.
Spread second 1/2 of mixture for top layer over the apples and glaze.
Bake in hot oven 350 degrees for aprox. 1/2 an hour you should watch it as it does brown up fast.
Enjoy!

Another scorching day...

Well it is going to be another scorching day although I am a lover of the warm weather, I must say I am looking forward to the cooler temperatures they have forecast for the  Labour Day Weekend, only because I am sure the cooler temperatures will make it easier to breathe with this cold I seem to have picked-up.
Have you anything planned for the last long weekend of the summer?
I hope you all have a great day and try to stay cool!

The First Of September Already!

Wow, I can hardly believe that the summer is almost over!
It certainly flew by quickly.
I do hope that this beautiful weather continues on into November....
What did you do this beautiful summer?
I have been blessed with many days full of sunshine and family time <3
This fall I plan on doing alot of reading, spending as much time outside before the snow and cold weather keep me pretty much housebound (I hibernate in the winter, I truly am a summer baby!).
Well I should run, I have to go to the Community Care  office and discuss my plans for the winter exercise/walking program a friend and I run here at the town hall on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
I have had some health issues that I thought would be dealt with by now that are not so I know I will be relying on my friend to run the program on the days I am not feeling up to par.
Hopefully we will get these health issues dealt with very soon and be pain free.
What have you planned for this sunny Wednesday morning?