Happy Earth Day & Week

Triple stem Paphiopedilum

It's been a busy week here at "the cottage". I have been busy working in the garden and also baking macarons for the EARTH day celebration on Saturday at the Tallapoosa Center.

One of the things I do not neglect is a good breakfast before gardening. I normally have a big pot of tea but once in a while, make a French press of coffee for variety.

Ethiopian Nekemete

Freshly ground beans are a must

Water just off the boil

 

 

Pahiopedilum bud about to open

It looks like another good growing season for the garden since we did not get a late freeze. All the plants have come out of dormancy nicely. It's so nice to have lots of green back in the garden.

Blueberries looking promising

Hobbits Foot Sage continues to intrigue me

The backyard all leafed out and after the first mowing of the year

Clematis Henryii

"White Dawn" rose in bud, climbing Hydrangeas and Northern Sea Oats

Close up of climbing Hydrangea

First sighting of the resident bunnies in the backyard this year. They don't seem to eat too much and are rather cute hopping about in the mornings and evenings

Filbert: "Bunnies? did someone say bunnies? look how powerful my paw looks, good for catching bunnies"

It's a good thing for the bunnies that Filbert is an indoor cat.

 

I also got my summer annual seeds planted. This year, I am sticking with the flowers that have done well for me in the past years: Green and White Zinnias, Nasturtiums, Cosmos and also some "White Eyed Susan" vine. I tend to loose seedlings to wildlife in the garden so I always start them in pots and keep them in the greenhouse till they are a few inches tall before transplanting them out into the raised beds.

 

    

A lovely Sunday Afternoon Tea

Today,  I had Lily of the Valley from the garden on the porch to greet guest arriving for Afternoon Tea. We were celebrating Bev's birthday on this beautiful day.

I decided homemade pear preserves would be nice and decided to try making pistachio scones to compliment the pear preserves. I adapted the basic Savoy scone recipe and added chopped pistachios instead of raisins.

 

 

 

 

While the scones baked I set up all the dishes for tea.

 

I also already made madeleines and macarons so to "round off" the menu, I decided deviled eggs would be great. I arranged the day before for Jean to boil and peel the eggs for me so "deviling" the eggs would be a breeze. 

For a twist, I decided to try a curried version for the egg yolk filling. I added curry powder and Trader Joes curry sauce to the mixture.

 

Collard flowers for garnish

 

Tea is off course not complete without sandwiches. I went with old fashioned pimento cheese sandwiches, but with a twist because I had misplaced the jar of pimentos.

 

 

 

Tea is served!

 

 

 

 

Assam & Earl Grey blend

 

We lingered for the whole afternoon and by the time tea was over, it was almost sunset. I decided to leave the dishes in the serving tray to be washed later and headed with out to the garden.

Lily of the Valley at sunset