To Peel or Not to Peel

There is a crabapple tree in my back yard. Every year we get plenty of apples. This year was no exception. In fact, I'd say we have even more apples than usual this year, what with all the rain we've been having. (and for once, no wasps trying to eat them all!)

I plucked two 4-litre pails worth the other day, which was a very small fraction of apples available. I made 1 dozen apple muffins. I would have made more but they are a pain to peel. I got bored after awhile, and not to mention my hands began to cramp.

I mentioned this on Facebook and one of my friends was shocked that I peel them. My response was, "you don't?"

So, I'm curious.... do you peel crabapples? (see the poll at the bottom of this post to select your answers!) I always have. I guess I have always peeled apples (all sizes) because I don't digest the skin very well.

We usually make a few dozen apple muffins and a couple pies (the pies from last year are still in my freezer waiting to be eaten) It's always been a pain to peel them but there used to be 2 of us peeling them.

I'd hate for all these apples to go to waste (believe me, I've tried giving them away!) just because of time consuming peeling!

So tell me, what do you do?

WW: Clematis

Last year, at the end of the season, I got this pretty-much-dead clematis from the garden centre at Home*Depot for either 50 or 75 percent off it's original price. The leaves were all brown and there were no flowers on it. It was not very big at all. I based my selection on the photo that was attached to the flower pot.

I put it at the side of my house and hoped it would grow and thankfully, it did! So far there are only 2 flowers and one bud, and it's not quite as tall as it is supposed to be in its maturity, so I hope next year it will be even taller.

But isn't the flower beautiful, and so unique?! I just love the little puff in the middle and the purple hue. My camera does not always capture the color purple for some reason, but thankfully it did for this photo.

The point to my long-winded post? Don't dismiss a perennial just because it's past it's seasonal prime!

WW: Buzz Off

This little guy is the reason why one stretch of weeds in front of my house hasn't been weeded yet.

Every day for the last few days he has been there so I haven't been able to weed that section. (But I did put on my brave face to take some photos. You'd think if I'm brave enough to do that I'd be brave enough to weed with him there!)

I don't think he's out there today, but I won't be either. It's pouring rain!

The View From My Window (um, do you all not see the flooding?)

I was going to do a whole 'nother post today but I'm tired as I didn't sleep at all last night. I finally nodded off after 4 AM and dozed for a couple hours.

So instead, I thought I'd share the view from my bedroom window just a few minutes ago. That is a dried up creek you see. Oh yes!



(editing to ask if no one sees the flooding? The so-called dried creek is more than half way to my yard. I'm basing this on the comments that have been left so far)

You can see what it usually looks like in this post.

I guess it's better than this.

Our New Patio Furniture

This is our new patio set! We got it on sale, for nearly half price! It includes a table, two chairs and a 3-seater bench. It took a while to find cushions. I don't understand the lack of cushions available in the stores. It seems that the bulk of cushions we found were part of a set.

The ones that were technically made for this patio set were very pricey, at nearly 20 dollars a cushion, for each the bottom and the top, equalling 40 dollars per seat! The cushions we ended up buying are double cushions, so it was only 20 dollars a seat.

I found these runners for 3 dollars in the discount bin at the grocery store. I thought they matched quite well with the cushions so I got two runners. However, I'm not sure I really like the runners as runners. If I could sew, or even had a sewing machine, I might try cutting them into placemats.

Here are the patterns of the cushions and runners side by side. Not a perfect match but I think they still go well together, do you?

I'm looking forward to spending some time outside this summer!

Beary Nice!

Our family loves bears. My husband's nickname is Bear. This is how our daughter became Babybear, and our pup's nickname is FurryBear. Mine's Honey, because, well, bears love honey! *giggle*

We have a collection of bear things all around our house and in our yard. And so, for Mother's Day, this is what I got for the yard from my Babybear and my FurryBear:

Aren't they adorable!!? I love them!