Thursday, August 27, 2009

Garden Party Any One?

Please, enjoy a cold glass of old-fashioned real lemonade while strolling through my gardens.



This is what my English style garden looks like from my kitchen patio doors.


Here are a few closer-up pics.







This shows the English garden from an aerial view.



This shows the side entry from the garden shed that leads into the English garden. Had to show off my hubby's stone work in this party!



This is our memorial garden for Kelsha, our first black lab who died nearly four years ago at the age of fourteen. She loved to eat raspberries right off the bushes, so of course her garden has a patch of raspberries in it.



We lost our dear Columbo (brown tabby cat at sixteen years old) this year, and so I created this little nook near Kelsha's garden with a stone cat hiding under the chair to represent our Columbo and how he used to seek shade under decks, chairs, tables, whatever.




This last picture isn't from my garden, it's my dad's. We don't get annuals that grow like this in our part of world often, so I just had to show off my dad's mammoth Caster Bean tree in this garden party. And, yup, that's my dad who will turn 75 this September 2nd. We're celebrating his birthday at the family gathering/reunion this weekend!



I hope you enjoyed my garden tour/party. I'm looking forward to seeing others out there in the cyber world. For your ongoing enjoyment, here's my recipe for the old-fashioned real lemonade that I hope you enjoyed while touring my gardens.

Old-Fashioned Real Lemonade

8 large lemons
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups water
pinch salt

lemon slices for serving time only

Finely grate rind of 2 lemons. In small saucepan, combine grated rind, sugar, water and salt. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes, continually stirring. Remove from heat; let cool.

Squeeze juice from all lemons (you should have about 1 3/4 cups juice).

When syrup is cool, stir in lemon juice. Transfer to large jar; refrigerate, covered, up to 3 weeks. (This is your homemade lemonade concentrate.)

To serve, dilute 1/4 cup concentrate in 3/4 cup cold water or soda water. Add ice and lemon slices, and ENJOY!!

Makes 4 cups concentrate.


Surrendering to Him,

Eileen


32 comments:

Erica Vetsch said...

Your garden is soooo beautiful. It represents a lot of hard work and a great deal of love.

That Castor is humongous!

Pamela J said...

I have taken two pictures of my veggie garden just before it froze. It is still alive but not near as plush and pretty. I don't have an operating blog to post those pictures or I would join you all. I did send them to my family that has email. I look forward to seeing others' pictures. Yours are just beautiful, Eileen! I wouldn't have imagined they should be any nicer. Thanks for sharing that and the lemonade recipe.
Pam Williams

Wendy Paine Miller said...

Just beautiful! I posted a blog about hibiscus b/c of you today. :D

I love the romance of your pictures.
~ Wendy

Kristen Torres-Toro said...

Hi, Eileen! Your garden is beautiful! I love living art like that. And your tributes to your friends--the lab and the cat--are beautiful. That's something I would love to do one day!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Thanks for inviting me to the party and the lemonade is delicious!

Love the photos...especially the one of your daddy. :)

Susan R. Mills said...

Your garden is beautiful! The pictures make me want to be there. I bet that takes a lot of work!

Stephanie Faris said...

What breathtaking gardens. And thanks for the lemonade recipe! I've always wanted to learn to make fresh lemonade.

Lee said...

Your garden is beautiful! Happy Birthday to your dad! Mine turned 75 this summer. Such a wonderful milestone!!

Warren Baldwin said...

I would love to sit in this garden to read, think, write. A great atmosphere for reflecting and meditating.

My dad hits 75 in February 2010.
wb

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Eileen -

Your garden is lovely, and the lemonade looks refreshing. Happy Birthday to your Dad. :)

Blessings,
Susan

Keli Gwyn said...

What a beautiful garden, Eileen. Things are so lush and green. I'm here in the Sierra Foothills of California enjoying the "golden" state of our state this time of year. Having a garden such as yours to visit regularly must be a wonderful way to fuel your creativity.

Tana said...

I'm insanely jealous. Although I do feel like we just had a wonderful tea party so thank you! I'll be making lemonade for my family in your honor! :)

Jeanette Levellie said...

Oh, Eileen, it's stunning! I so admire your creative thumb, especially the memorials to your beloved pets.
Thank you for inviting us and refreshing our souls today.

I just have one question: do you ever sleep?

Jill Kemerer said...

Your garden is gorgeous! Aren't you glad you worked throught the back pain this spring? Thanks for sharing it with us!

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT said...

eileen - i'm in awe. i have a black thumb. you obviously do not suffer from my affliction! just beautiful!

Jennifer Shirk said...

Oh wow! Your garden is so beautful! And the stone work! I would sit out there all day!

Happy b-day to your dad!

SM Blooding said...

*sniff* I am so jealous! *sigh* I don't even have a patio garden. The patio is currently filled with patio furniture that's too big for the patio. *sigh* *drool* *sigh*

Debra E. Marvin said...

Eileen! Just beautiful. I can see you got to your weeding on a regular basis. With all our rain in the NE the weeds are a jungle growth I can't keep up with.

Thanks for a refreshing break with your garden and real lemonade. What a treat!

Debra

Terri Tiffany said...

YOur garden is so wonderful! I'd love sitting out in it! Thank you for showing us pictures. I hope all your hard work is done and you can enjoy yourself at the party this weekend!

Jessica Nelson said...

Gorgeous! I am completely impressed. :-) Like Terri I'd love to sit in it, drink lemonade and talk about writing. :-)

Georgiana Daniels said...

Eileen, it's gorgeous!!! Your hard work has truly paid off. LOVE IT!

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Your garden looks beautiful! My dream garden :) You must keep very busy with it but I can see how much you love it. Thanks for posting the pictures.

Kelly H-Y said...

Oh my goodness ... your garden is STUNNING!!!!!

Katie Ganshert said...

You should win a green thumb award...wow! You are my new hero, Eileen! I can't get a bean sprout to grow right, let alone a whole yard full of pretty flowers!

Lillian Robinson said...

Your garden is a bit of heaven on earth. Beautiful!

Diane Marie Shaw said...

What a beautiful garden. Very inspiring.

Tabitha Bird said...

Now if only we could all actually go there.... beautiful!

Reminds me of England for sure :)

Lily Whalen said...

I thought I left a comment here yesterday, but I guess it didn't go through.

You have a beautiful garden, Elaine. I just love it! We are having landscapers look at our lawn and hopefully I'll have some lovely photos of my own to share before this fall is over. Unfortunately, my husband and I are not green thumbs as you clearly are...

Happy 75th birthday to your dad!

Diane said...

Beautiful pictures! I did not know the salt trick in the lemonade.... :O)

Rebecca Nazar said...

Lovely, lovely . . .

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Wow, thanks all for the wonderful comments and for those who joined my garden tour. I loved having you all and visiting your gardens too!

Lidiya Lastur said...

I love your garden-it reminds me of my country Moldova where i grew up. We had a big back yard and we grew vegetables, trees, flowers etc.
The stone work is great too!!!
Beautiful!!!