Tuesday, July 16, 2019

SWEET EXPERIMENTATIONS AND DESTINATIONS...














I thought now 
would be a good time 
to start the drying experimentations -
 now, as the summer bouquets 
start to fade in the vase,
 let's see what will make
 the cut for the fall garland?

  Sunflowers 
are always a great choice and 
look good whether their golden petals 
stay in tact or not.
 
 Zinnias
 might be 
a different story...






Have any of you tried 
to dry zinnias? 
 When first layed 
on the kitchen window sill,
 they looked promising. 
 But, the next morning, not so much. 
 Although, 
after a more thorough examination...





...even though they kind of look 
like shriveled up spiders,
 their color stayed good
 so they might be okay 
for a small filler.





I'm leaving these blooms 
in the vase 
until the water evaporates.
  They are from the same bunch
 as the dried ones and
 are losing their bright colors but
 still look presentable.

  It's all just a matter of
 sweet experimentation.





It is a beautiful
 Sunday morning as I write this and 
we are off on a road trip that,
 hopefully,
 will take us to 
a sweet destination.






A road lined with
 wildflowers on one side...






...and blackberry bushes
 on the other.

We are traveling down Hwy 49,
 an historic road
 that we travel often and
 one of our most happy places. 
 We only will follow it
 a very short way today
 but there will still be 
a lot of beauty 
to take in.





Here
 wildlife intermingles with 
our lives.





There are small hamlets 
along the route 
that were a big part of the
 gold mining communities...





...and one in particular
 where we stopped 
for lunch...






...a tasty tuna salad sandwich
 mixed with apples and cheese 
along side
 fresh garden greens and cucumber slices, 
lightly drizzled with a delicious dressing.

  Because we had the dogs,
 it was too hot to eat in the car,
 probably not unlike 
it might have been underground
 in a gold mine, 
so dining on
 wooden benches on the open porch 
of the little rustic building
 was perfect.
 
I could almost see
 the miners sitting there 
many years ago,
 eating their meager packed lunches,
 dreading the fact
 that they had to go back to work
 under those conditions. 
 A far cry 
from our time spent 
in an air conditioned car.

  There is a lot of turmoil and hardships
 in our country now and,
 I simply cannot forget the fact
 of how lucky I am
 to be able to lead 
the life that I do.






We turn off of Hwy 49 
onto a smaller country road...








...lined with beautiful and
 well maintained orchards.
  All kinds of fruit trees
 are abundant here...






...and,
 even though we have been here before,
 it is always such a treat
 to see it all again,
 knowing what a 
sweet destination it is.






We had come for
 the Perfect Peach Pie but,
 unfortunately,
 they were all out and 
the shop keeper sold us on the idea 
that the nectarine pie
 would be just as good,
 so with pie in hand, 
we got back on
 the road to home.






The Captain agreed with her, 
but nothing can take the place of the
 Perfect Peach Pie 
in my mind
 so even though it was good,
 it was just another 
sweet experimentation for me and 
in a few weeks 
there will have to be 
another journey to
 that sweet destination...





...but, for now,
 for this weary traveler,
 being home and reunited with 
a special friend 
is the sweetest
 of all destinations.



...Judy...






Life and Linda 
has started up a new link party called



 and I will be joining there along with




this week.

  Hope to see you all there.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like a lovely Sunday, Judy!! And can you believe that I've never had peach pie!! I think I should try it this summer...maybe on a Sunday drive. ;) xoxo

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  2. Judy,
    Thanks so much for taking us all along with you on your Sunday drive!! What beautiful scenery!! I have never tried to dry flowers..Funny you mention zinnias as I just planted some zinnia seeds....I will be curious to see how your drying experiment progresses...Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comment!!
    Hugs,
    Deb

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  3. Yum a good peace pie sounds like it would be worth another adventure in the future. Glad you had a great day.
    Hugs
    Kris

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  4. What a lovely road trip Judy. Any fruit pie sounds wonderful. I can understand when you have your taste buds ready for peach pie. I have never dried flowers. Thanks Judy for sharing at "Love Your Creatively."

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  5. That looks a lovely road trip, I enjoyed your photographs.

    All the best Jan

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  6. I don't know, but the nectarines had my mouth watering...lovely photos and a sweet trip!

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  7. I have never tried to dry zinnias but have made dried marigold garlands before. Cute pic of the deer and I so love me a good pie! Janice

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  8. I have dried zinnias in silica, available at Michael's but it is definitely more work then just hang-drying. I hope you will keep us informed on what works best for you...I love dried flower arrangements.

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  9. What a lovely drive! And oh, the pie looks delish, even if it wasn't peach. I can't wait to see your garland this fall and see what blooms made the final cut!

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  10. That deer photo is gorgeous.

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    Replies
    1. Amy, thanks so much for your visit. That little deer was so sweet. We drove up along side of him and he posed very nicely for the camera..Happy Monday..Judy

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  11. This is lovely. How you dry the flowers. I'll try to do that. May be this year I cannot do as I don't any big flowers in the garden. Enjoy your lovely road trip. I visited Auburn, and Placerville. Both are lovely little town with gold mining history.

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  12. Gosh I love peach pie. I have never tasted nectarine pie but I do love nectarines too.

    I have put purchased beach sand in a box and put about an in or so in it and placed the zinnia upside down in it and then put more beach sand around it so the stem would hold up. worked fine. Silica gel is what most say to use but it's higher in price than the white beach sand. I love them dried, so pretty.
    betsy

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  14. Nice blog post Judy. I enjoyed it very much :)
    I've been MIA, as this move has really kicked my tail..LOL!
    Feeling swamped by boxes and packing material, but I'm sure working hard, and I know in no time at all, everything will be unpacked. May not be organized perfectly, but it will be unpacked **smile**.

    Hope you are well this week.
    Sending {{hugs}}.
    ~K.

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  15. Judy.. what a lovely Sunday drive you had last weekend! Always nice to have "sweet destinations". I love a drive that has a destination! Especially a nice lunch on an old wooden porch.. surrounded by those memories. I love old countrysides that remind me of many years ago. Glad you found some blackberries. I miss mine from Western Oregon. Here in central Oregon they are very rare. And peach pie.. yum. My mom always made peach cobbler with this wonderful sauce that was kind of like a cream butterscotch sauce. Boy did it taste good on the cobbler! I bet it would be good on peach pie too, with ice cream of course. We are very lucky indeed to have such sweet destinations and time and the know how and opportunity for sweet experimentations. Hugs.. Marilyn

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  16. What a fun trip. I've never tried to dry zinnias. They look cool!

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Your comments are so special to me...Judy