Randomness

Spearmint 

Sungold tomatoes

Chocolate Mint

Yarrow and Red Clover

Red Pepper

Our new Pine Tree Flag click on the link and scroll down the page to read the meaning.

Our new workout station for the boys

The garden is doing great

Meat birds

Pea pods and dill

I'm still drying calendula

Finally!! A recipe that they will all eat!

You know how everyone tries desperately to get rid of their zucchini at the end of the season?

Or the desperate search that takes place to find different dishes and ways to hide zucchini or prepare it so our families will consume it and we don't have to throw it away.  Well I stumbled upon this recipe and made this soup.  It didn't last 20 minutes in the pot and it was GONE!!! GONE my friends and they were complaining that there was no more!!!!!!! I am hoping to can this soup for my shelves this fall!

Zucchini soup!

I stayed up late roasting some beets I picked up at the farmers market to freeze.  I plan on using them in a salad with feta cheese and toasted walnuts!

I have been reading like a mad woman!  

A little warmer.....

I had a bit of an attitude yesterday about the temperature.  I am a little spoiled with all the heat and humidity we've had around here lately.  After keeping the fireplace going all day yesterday,  the house is finally pleasant to wake up to this morning.  

To recap the past two days......my daughters horse, Honey, was diagnosed with COPD driven asthma.

She had been coughing and coughing, which she does in the spring, but this year it's worse and now that summer is in full swing, she should be better but she isn't! 

I noticed on our really humid days she wasn't coughing, but now that the air is drier, she can't seem to stop coughing.

Oddly enough ( what are the chances we would have a horse with the same type of issues I have?) I have asthma as well, and for the past few years have been doing some research of my own.  I've read of all the herbs and oils I should be taking and of the diet I should be on.  To my surprise when I started reading about Honey's diagnosis she should be taking the same herbs and oils as me!!

So here is the plan......Honey Bear and moi are going to start taking the same herbs and oils on a regular basis.  We are attacking our immune systems first and here is what we are taking...

Spirulina powder

Kelp powder

Rose Hips

Dandelion leaf

Garlic

Apple Cider Vinegar

Don't even ask me how we are going to get Honey Bear to take the apple cider vinegar (or myself for that matter), but we are going to give it a try.  I am a FIRM believer God made theses animals, and they know what they need to self medicate!  When something NATURAL is placed before them that is good for them, that their body needs, they will take it.

So the above is a start to attack the immune system for us both!   I ordered all the herbs through Bulk Herb Store.   

I recently went to a farmers market and came home with a couple of huge zucchini.  Here's the recipe for my Chocolate Zucchini Cake.

2 1/2 Cups Flour

1 tsp. soda

4 Tbl. cocoa

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 3/4 cup sugar

2 cups shredded zucchini

chocolate chips

Spray a 13 x 9 inch pan.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Mix the first three ingredients together.  Mix the remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl.  Add your dry ingredients to the moist and mix.  Pour into prepared pan and sprinkle liberally with chocolate chips! Bake for 40- 45 min.  Enjoy!

I'm off to do the regular cleaning....laundry, wash the floors, vacuum, cook.......never ending!

Lemon Drop Iced Tea

I received my Bulk Herb Order yesterday! Yay!!

The first thing I did was to make a cup of Lemon Drop Tea....

Then I put it over ice and oh my!!

Just a hint of sweetness when you add the recommended 2 tsp per cup...

Perfect!!

My kids have renamed it "Fruit Loop Tea" because that is exactly what it smells like!

Drying times.....

These are "drying times" here at 4 arrows.  My garden is begging for a drink of water and it's going to 

get it tonight.  I just returned from the local hardware store with a sprinkler.  I am sitting here wonder why we don't own one!!!  Well, we do now and with the extended forecast, my garden is going

to thank me.

I've been picking this and drying it like CRAZY.  It is totally out of control and I LOVE it.  I go out in the cool of the morning and gather up all the ones that open and 

leave them to air dry on a big piece of screen.  I have almost a quart jar full!  

I love spreading it out on the screen and seeing the pretty colors.  After growing Calendula this year for an herb, I think I'll always keep it around.  It's fast growing and really easy to keep.....

not to mention beautiful!