Tea Party Tuesday

We were facing another gloomy morning this morning, so I decided that my Tea Party Tuesday baking should be something in the comfort food line.  I thought a nice carrot loaf would be in order. 

 

I'd not made this particular loaf before, and as I was making it I thought there should probably be some liquid in there and wondered if maybe the recipe was missing an ingredient.

 

But after 50 minutes of baking, all was well, and it turned out great with a nice crisp top, and the insides are soft.  I added raisins because I like raisins in a nice spice loaf (and also because I didn't have any walnuts to add).

 

 

CARROT LOAF

 

1/2 cup cooking oil

2 eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup finely grated carrots

 

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 cup walnuts

 

Beat oil, eggs and sugar together until blended.  Stir in carrots.

 

In another bowl mix all remaining ingredients to combine.  Pour into carrot batter.  Stir only to moisten.  Turn into greased 9 x 5 x 3" loaf pan.  Bake in 350'F oven for about 1 hour, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to stand for 10 minutes before removing from pan to cool on rack.

 

Enjoy!

 

Linking up with Chantille-Fleur and

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

 

Round and Round the Garden

 

Mom's showy 'black' iris.  Mom really loved this flower, so I'm glad one of them popped up in my bundle of iris.  Most of these iris were dug up from her garden last year when we sold my parents' house.  They were dug up after the blooming season, so I didn't know yet which flowers would show up this year.  Now every one of them is a delightful surprise, and they're coming out one at a time so I get to enjoy each beauty individually.  Some of the smaller iris have no buds, but they look strong and healthy, so maybe next year.

One of my favourites is the two-toned purple with fancy little stripes on the lower petals.  Such pretty colours throughout.

 

 

My sons's clematis are starting to bloom ...

 

 

 

 

My new foxglove just about there ...

 

 

This lovely Solomon's Seal has thrived the transplant from Mom's garden too.  A really nice tall, but orderly flower with small flowers similar to lily of the valley.

 

 

The bees like it too!

 

 

Look at those pollen-laden thighs!!

 

Some things are not going so well.  I'm in front-line battle with the baby rabbit who is enjoying my balloon flowers, roses, lilies and more!  I bought some Skoot and painted that on the plants.  Not sure if there are fresh chews there or not.  Some of my lilies are just stalks with all the leaves and buds chewed right off.  Bugga!

 

I have a couple of poppies that I bought awhile ago and one of them has some huge flower buds ready to burst any day now.  The other one didn't like its planting situation and I've had to move it (I think it wasn't getting enough sun).  Hopefully it'll come back and thrive soon.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

Linking up with Fishtail Cottage's Garden Party

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When Iris Blooms are Smiling!

I was happy to see Mom's iris all doing really well this year.  Here's the second one to bloom ...

 

 

I had been hoping to have a few of her old-fashioned varieties that she transplanted from her mother, which were rusty browns.  Unfortunately, it would appear that all the buds on these iris are purple.  Which is still nice, I just had my fingers crossed ... you know how it is ;)

 

One of my favourite flowers is the columbine ... and in particular, this larger pink and white variety.  I don't keep track of the exact names of the flowers, so you'll have to excuse me there.  Lately, all I seem to find popping up in my garden have been the tiny dwarf flowers in columbine (and they pop up everywhere!), but then this larger flower appeared along the back fence ... surprise!!

Below is one of the dwarf columbine flowers, which are really quite tiny and I'm not that fond of them.  Up close in the macro setting of the camera they look quite pretty, but unless you want to carry a magnifying glass around the garden with you, it's difficult to see their charms ...

 

... especially when their tiny heads hang upside down and you have to lie on the ground to get a good shot!

 

I recently purchased two hens & chicks plants as I wanted to try growing one in the crevice of a small limestone rock I have in the garden.  Here in Ontario there is a lot of limestone, and quite a few limestone quarries (one of which was just down the road from where I grew up in Lowville).  The Niagara Escarpment is all limestone rock and it's a very craggy rock that has lots of pits and hollows, and the escarpment is full of interesting caves to crawl into (I even know where there's an underground "lake" ... really just a small pool of water, but underground! ... I'm not even sure there is still water there after many, many years).  I spent a lot of years hiking the Bruce Trail which runs the length of the escarpment, and is a real treasure to the area.  If you're ever in this part of the province, be sure to check it out. 

 

Back to present day ... on my street there are a couple of old couples that have these big rocks in their front yards with hens & chicks growing right on top of the rocks, and I thought I'd like to try that and immediately thought of the small chunk of limestone I have. 

 

 

 So I pushed the big fat hen gently into the crevice, and have carefully watered it every day to keep it from drying out (maybe misting would be better so that I don't wash away the dirt before the roots have established themselves). 

 

 

 

Now I just have to sit back and watch and wait.  And wait.  And wait.  I guess I won't really know if this is working until next year.  The final test ... will it survive the winter?! 

Gardening can be so slow, can't it?!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

Linking up with Fishtail Cottage and her Cottage Garden Party #5