Chipping Sparrow Nest

 I spotted a sweet little nest on a spruce tree yesterday.

This tiny nest is about 3-4" across and has a smart roof.

Inside were two tiny blue eggs with speckles. It turns out it's a chipping sparrow's nest. Can't wait till they hatch!

Tree Moving

 That mini-tornado that hit last week managed to knock over one of my large cedars.

 Richard attempted to right it, but his car wasn't strong enough.

 Our farmer neighbour to the rescue!

Richard and he chained up the tree and yanked it up. My job was to slow traffic down at the top of the hill. Thankfully, it was a Sunday and only five cars had to be directed to go around the tractor.

 Once it was straight, they roped it up to a stake in the ground...

And then he backed up the tractor and drove away with the tree looking pretty good. We're watering it now in hopes that it lives. Stay tuned.

Truffles Burger Bar

Truffles Burger Bar is located in beautiful downtown Cornwall, about 45 minutes away.

They have a huge selection of burgers, everything from kangaroo to alligator to one that has truffles and sells for $100. Crazy! This one was lamb burger and not nearly so dear.

 Sides of sweet potato fries with a big selection of flavoured mayos for dipping. I chose basil.

 Other choices included their special which was a boar burger with a side of poutine.

 The chicken burger sure looked good.

And in case burgers aren't your thing, they can serve up a few ribs. Yum!


Truffles Burger Bar, 155 Pitt St., Cornwall, ON K6J 3P5
Tel. 613-933-9112

100 Things To Eat Before You Die #13

Fresh tomatoes from the vine, still warm from the sun, sliced and put on grainy bread slathered with mayo.

 Top with sliced vidalia or other sweet onions, salt and pepper.

 Top with HP Steak Sauce.

This is by far one of the best sandwiches ever! Try it, you'll love it.

Horseball

 Last Saturday Richard and I went to a game of horseball being played down the road in Glen Robertson.

 It's like basketball, played four-on-four. The ball is soccerball-size with six handles.

The goal of the game is to throw the ball through the large nets positioned at either end of the ring. Apparently the game originated in Portugal in the 1700s when they used a live duck as the ball. Thank gawd some things have changed!

And it made this week's Glengarry News!

Wild Weather

The drive home from work yesterday was hellish. I had my four-way flashers on for most of the way. The rain and the wind were wild. Once I got home, I figured I'd better see what was what. Seems my big maple in the back lost a branch.

I was eagerly anticipating a full or half-full rain barrel. No go! Apparently it got blown over (even though we had been testing the eavestroughing the day before so the barrel had some water in it.) The eaves didn't fare so well either.

And this is the oddest thing of all. I have a lovely patch, about 6' x 6' of moss growing beside the front door. The wind pick it up and started to roll it over. (The brown you see is the underside of the moss patch.) How strange is that?

Spaghetti and Golf Cakes

I was busy making two birthday cakes. First one was a faux spaghetti and meatballs cake for pasta lover Jim who celebrated his birthday on the weekend.

As well as golfter Don who turned "fore-tee" over the weekend. Good wishes for both the birthday boys.

Summer Supper

My garden is really starting to deliver the goods. The sugar snap peas I planted in March have been producing for the past month or so...even in this heat! The yellow cherry tomatoes I ate as soon as I snapped the photo.

I took the peas along with my green beans and stir-fried them in garlic (mine from last year), sesame oil and onions, and topped with toasted sesame seeds...

...and served that alongside a few slices of thin-crust mushroom pizza. Great vegetarian supper.

Rain Barrel Adventures

 A neighbour gave me an extra rain barrel she had so Richard swung into action.

He found some old eavestroughing and attached it to the shed roof. The shed is close to the garden, so the rain barrel's water will be easy to use.

I covered it with mesh so that little critters who might be crawling up the sides of the shed, wouldn't fall in and drown. And then it poured rain that night. Cats and dogs!

The next morningI ran out to see what I anticipated to be, my full or half-full barrel. Oops. Guess we'll have to revisit our eavestroughing. Another ongoing summer project.

Garden Report

It's been hot hot hot here this summer with little rain. Perfect for this huge artichoke plant. Can't believe it's warm enough to grow artichokes in these parts.

 I planted two kinds of cukes: English seedless and pickling. Both are growing great guns.

Here's one of my teeny gherkins that will grow up and end up in a sandwich. A good life goal I think.

 A huge ground cherry plant covered with fruit. These yummy little tidbits grow with their very own paper jacket to protect the fruit. Cool or what?

 My trusty nasturtiums never disappoint and are so easy to grow. They're edible and spicy too.

 Three huge peppers on one plant. Not sure if I'll be patient enough to let them turn red.

My giant blue squash plants are so large they have escaped their enclosure. I'm going to try to grow them alongside my shed. Stay tuned.

Polenta Time

I was sick of barbecued burgers and wanted to make something that used up some of my veggies from the garden too. Then I remembered a polenta and ratatouille lunch my friend Elisabeth had brought from Montreal a few years back. I also read an article in last week's National Post about grilled polenta. I had an "aha!" moment.

 Richard got busy on the grill, while indoors...

I made a sort of "meat-a-tarian" ratatouille with ground beef, onions, tomatoes, garlic and pea pods and beans from the garden. And the grilled polenta added to that dish was the bees knees.

And guess what? The next morning I fried up the rest of the polenta and poured my friend Peggi's maple syrup on to the slices, topped with bananas and golden and red raspberries from the garden. Divine breakfast! 

Golf Tournament

Last Friday it was "only" 35C with a humidex of heart-stopping who knows what, and it was also our company's annual golf day to raise funds for Heart and Stroke.

My golf skills are pretty lame but my co-workers could really whack that ball.

Since Gaston (far right) decided golf was the perfect time to smoke a stogie, Marc and I decided to imitate him with cigars of our own, only ours were really unopened pine cones. 

Diana and I had a lot of fun. She has a great swing. I however mostly putted which was pretty okay. After 18 holes, we tucked into a barbecued steak dinner at the clubhouse, followed by a live auction, silent auction and draw, all to raise money for our charity at the 27th annual Eugene Macdonald Golf Tournament. Lots of fun.