Winner - 7/12

This past weekend we made the trip to West Virginia.

Sean emerged winner at the USTA U-12 clay court championship, Morgan town, West Virginia!!! With this win, he is #16 in Mid-Atlantic! Its a joy to see all teh results from his hard work!

Finalist Singles and Doubles- VA State U-12 Clay Court Championship, Lynchburg, VA

7/19/2015

Finalist Singles and Doubles- VA State U-12 Clay Court Championship, Lynchburg, VA

Summer Tart!

Its summer and tarts are my favorite dessert. So I keep making them with different fruit combos. This one with peach, blackberries and raspberries. I like the color combo..like a ray of sunshine :)

Happy 4th!

Yeah, i know its been a week since the 4th but i had to start somewhere especially since I've been away for so long. We didn't really do a lot last weekend which was great because weekends are becoming more and more busy. It was good to just be home and hang out ..just the 4 of us..

Made a good family dinner to celebrate the 4th. We had cocktail shrimp for starters. This was followed with herb roasted lamb with potatoes and roasted butternut squash and dessert was a very berry tart. The tart was a huge hit and with just one slice remaining at the end of the night.

We finished the night with some sparklers and called it a night! 

Time to come back...

Been away for too long..didn't realize its been two years..,.how time flies.

I realize that i do need to pen down my thoughts more often...so here's to a fresh start again :)

Attack of the mint

A couple of years back, i planted a lone mint plant in our side yard. Little did I now that it was the beginning of a 'hard to get-rid' of problem. Next year when spring was around the corner I started noticing mont not just in the one spot but several and it just bigger and bigger. I tried several times to get them out completely but of course their roots are all over and they came back with more force the next year. This time I decided that rather than trying to unsuccessfully uprooting them, I would just attack them back or rather embrace them into my home. So last week Rhea and I pulled a whole bunch of them and put them in a vase with some colored pebbles. Such a pretty sight!

A simple mint arrangement

The mint harvester :)

 I wish I had done this sooner...

Hydrangeas in bloom!

Hydrangeas always reminds me of beachside cottages. It is a flower that i started liking after coming here, dont think I admired them as much growing up. 

Hydrangeas with green dianthus

This particular one we bought when we did our landscaping 5 years ago and every year the plant would get a little bit bigger and have few more blooms than the previous year. This year, is like the coming of age, the entire plant is covered with blooms and I just cant take my eyes off them. I have a pink one as well and the blooms on them are just coming out. So maybe in the coming weeks I can share their beauty here as well.

Hydrangeas remind me of summers by the beach

I made this simple arrangements with the Dianthums from last weeks arrangement. The peonies and the hydrangeas wilted and some of the carnations as well, so i picked out the Dianthums and decided to pair them with the Hydrangeas and of course i had to put them beside the giant shell to get the 'Beach Cottage' look.

Enjoy!

Birthday Time!

Another year has passed by so quickly!! Its birthday time again :)

Last year I was nursing my fractured foot. This year, I was sort of counting down the days and then as the day got closer I felt like it snuck up on me.  It fell on a Saturday after so many years and this time of the year being the busiest one work wise I haven't really been able to take the day off. Since I'm now at home off work, I was looking forward to a serene day :)

Birthday wishes - The lovely arrangement and the card.
[ I added more flowers to the arrangement after I got home :) ]

Last week I got a mail from Chechi (S-I-L) about her and two other friends taking me for lunch and to check on my availability. Of course i said!! Fast forward 1 week and yesterday I met chechi, Bhavani and Kala at Bollywood Bistro for lunch. By the time i got there they were already seated and imagine my surprise when they handed me the flowers and the card. It was great to meet with them for lunch to celebrate my birthday...we had a buffet and the surprise was at the end when they caught me completely unaware with a creme brulee with a candle. So they thoroughly got me embarrassed (I'll have to admit it was a happy embarrassment though) in public with the loud rendition of 'Happy Birthday'. I wish we had taken a group picture :( After some more chatter and devouring the dessert, we dispersed to tackle the regular Mom/Spouse duties..

To be continued...

Spring garden update

Spring is here but it is chillier than usual this year. Nevertheless I couldn't wait get started on the garden. On one of my visits to Costco, they were selling spring bulbs and I couldn't resist picking a bag. At the time I really didn't know where I can accommodate more plants but I just had to get them. The bag was a mix of Cala Lilies (my new favorite), Blazing Star (Liatris) and Coreopsis (Tickseed).

After much deliberation over the next couple of weeks and many many times of thinking through potential beds I finally had a plan. Its been 3 weeks since I planted the bulbs and I have been checking to see if any shoots have come up every single day. Yeah, i know it takes a couple of weeks but I am so impatient. Finally my wishes came true and last week I saw a small little shoot poking through the mulch in the side yard where I had planted some of the blazing stars. I was hesitant to get excited since the other two beds showed no signs of any shoots. I waited and waited and finally this past weekend I saw more shoots on this bed and saw a few on the other two locations Hooray!!

Blazing Star

It doesn't take much to get me happy and excited does it? I cannot wait for them to grow and start blooming. The Coreopsis, I think are also slowly coming out, they look nothing like it and I'm hoping its them and not another uninvited weed getting my hopes up..

The Cala lilies seem to still continue their process under ground. I have a yellow and a deep purple planted.I've been reading up a lot and it looks like they take longer and develop strong roots before sending shoots up. I just hope that there is some good action going on under ground and they will soon present themselves.

The roses are full of buds and the first couple of buds bloomed last week. Usually the first blooms are around Easter weekend but of course old man winter linegred a while longer and everything got delayed.

Rose bush around the deck

The same with the Peonies as well. By this time they are all gone but this year, the timing was perfect...the first blooms were out just in time for Mother's day and I got to make a beautiful arrangement. I want to make one with peonies and hydrangeas next.

Pink Peonies (Burgundy not pictured)

My hydrangeas are still sprouting leaves and it maybe another few weeks before we see any signs of buds.The lilies are doing well. I have about 35 of them and they are all out. The 10 or so I planted last year in the front are also out and I'm hoping to see more flowers on them this year!!

Lilies

The daisies are coming along nicely and the lone surviving Dahlia has not given up and its coming up right next to the daisies.The Hostas that I planted last year, didn't completely survive the winter. I had three of them and only one survived :(

Daisies and the lone Dahlia behind it

I aso went ahead and got the annuals for the planters on the deck. Petunias, Hibiscus, Verbana and a few others..

The Lone star on the garage entrance and the red,white and blue petunias

Rhea and Sean singing!

This was recorded on our way back from church yesterday...both of them were goofing around, singing and being generally silly :)

http://vimeo.com/66163873