Dream A Little Dream With Me

We have a twenty nine point something acres piece of land.  On that land there are fields, woods, a creek with forks and a waterfall.  Oh yeah, and our home.  We have a vegetable garden.  I have bulbs planted on the graves of our four legged friends.  I have two rose bushes at one end of our porch.  We have no landscaping and neither one of us desire any nor the maintenance of landscaping in front of or around our home.  But the desire in me to grow more and more beautiful flowers and have an area to really call my own creation is inside me.  A dream so to speak.

Since we have lived here and even before our home was here, I was exploring here.  I immediately felt that if I was going to live here I would need to know my way around and what is here and what grows here.  I know my way around our woods by sight and sound now, I feel.  Not that I've tried finding my way in the pitch dark, but I feel I could do it no problem.  Anyway, there is an area that I feel.... fond of.  A picnic type of area along the tree line up and behind our house.  You can't really see the area from the house, just the trees around it and the main tree inside the area.  It is sort of a natural clearing.  The one tree that stands in the middle doesn't have any trees or cedar shrubs sprouting up around it.  It is just a serene type clearing. 

In 2013 I read the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  I really pictured the secret garden in my head.  The bulbs sprouting that spring and rose bushes climbing the walls.  I knew immediately if I were to ever have a secret garden, a spot on our farm of my very own, to grow, nurture or ignore if I wanted, the area with the one tree standing would be it.  I like it because if you drove up to our home or shop you would never know it was there.  Yet I have the rest of my life to work on it and in it.  I can picture a bench to sit on, maybe some of that old iron, low fencing around it.  Kind of like an old country cemetery, not to be creepy about it, just to give it a border and maybe an entrance gate.  This would be a place where my husband's liquid weed kill could not enter, of which he is very fond of.  I can see ground cover plants, pathways, rose bushes and maybe even a tree swing. 

The only problem I see is when we get cows.  I know this would be a wonderful shaded area for them outside of thickets along the tree lines.  I also feel they can find another area and we would just have to fence around my garden.   Then again, the cows are a dream right now also. 

I have thought about this area since we moved here five years ago.  I think it would be fantastic and a graceful place for me to play.

Well I reckon I do see one cedar shrub.  That would probably have to be moved somewhere else.

Maybe, just maybe I can make this little dream come true.  Maybe even begin this year. 

Checked Out

My "Checked Out" book for today is...

 

 

The Secret Garden

 

By: Frances Hodges Burnett

 

This was, for me, a library check out from the juvenile fiction section that I loved.  I had never seen this book although lots of people say they had to read it in school sometime or another.  I probably did too ... I just didn't.  I ran across it while searching books on Goodreads.com. 

I really enjoyed diving into the lives of these three kids and envisioning where each of them lived and the castle and condition of each of the kids, one good, two not so good at first.  Being a lover of the green thumb I liked hearing about the gardens and what was growing and could well picture it all. 

I would recommend this book, which was written in 1910 might I add, to anyone who is old enough to read good.  It is the perfect Spring and Summer read.  I read it this Spring and love it when I happen to check out a book that is based during the same season.  It really makes for a magical read.

 

Checked Out Rating: 9

 

 

I want to hang out with Dickon!

 Of all the characters.. he is my fave.

 



The Secret Weapon

Happy Tuesday all! I'm gonna let you in on a little secret... The Secret Weapon in fact. That's just what I call it. It's a recipe for easy crock pot beef roast and vegetables. It turns into a wonderful supper when simply served with white bread or rolls and macaroni and cheese.

The Secret Weapon

1 good size roast (about six to eight dollars depending on how many you are feeding and what style roast you like)
1 envelope Onion Soup Mix
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
Potatoes, Carrots, Green Beans, Mushrooms, Corn, Onion... whatever vegetables you prefer.

Place the roast in your crock pot. In a small bowl mix together soup mixes. I like to add a half can of water (can being the cream of mushroom soup can). Pour mixture over the roast and let cook on low all day. If you choose to use fresh veggies I would suggest to put them in from the beginning. If you are using canned you can add them an hour before the roast is finished. This roast usually takes at least 7 hours on low for a good sized roast.

Personally I like to use the crock pot when I am at home all day where I can stir whatever I am cooking. If you know your crock pot well enough to leave it while you are gone to work all day I would suggest canned vegetables and add them when you get home and let them cook for an hour in the crock pot to absorb the flavor.

Hope you like it!