Summertime Fun!

(Isn't she lovely?)

This is one of many reasons

of why

I

LOVE

summer!

Seeing things come to life.

A week or so

ago I went out to my garden

and started

taking pictures. I try and

do this

every year.

Then I keep a journal

of what

NOT

to plant next year

or what to

do differently

next year.

Below are many of my

pride and

joys:

Since I've taken this picture

my veggies

have grown quite a bit and I've

been able to

make a delicious organic

salad

Its amazing how delicious

food tastes

when you grow it yourself.

I really enjoy

going out there and picking

part of our

meal.

I also have been able

to use some of

my homegrown Herbs

I marinated some chicken

with fresh

Rosemary

and then grilled it, MMMMM!!

Now on a

different story,

do you remember this?

After a terrible rainstorm my back

porch

looked like this the next morning.

Well

after some phone calls,

and insurance

calls,

we now have this

a new beautiful, sturdy, better quality

porch roof.

Not only is it pretty, but we gained more

space,

we can enclose it down the road,

you can walk on it,

the guy who

put it on demonstrated

that part for us....lol

but we hardly

payed

anything for it.

Insurance payed for the majority

of it.

How wonderful!

We also gained a new family!

Well, that

didn't last for long,

would you like to meet

Oscar?

Say hello Oscar, don't be shy

When I first saw him on our back

porch, I just

about screamed

because I thought

it was a rat!

It was so exciting for me,

because,

I am a City girl, and although

I've seened

more animals living here

than ever,

I've never seened a

baby possum.

But I have seened them as

adults and

honestly'

they

scare me

half to death.

So although Oscar was cute

he

HAD TO GO!!

So we trapped him in a

pet carrier,

drove him

to the woods

and set him free.

Now I have to explain first,

there was no

mama

around.

It turns out, my neighbors

down the driveway

found an

adult Possum

partly under their shed

and

wondered where it came

from.

It looked like it was

hit but didn't

die instantly so it

crawled down

to their shed

and try to crawl underneath

it but didn't make

it, and it

died.

How sad!

I did tear up as I was

telling

my DH about this.

I am an

animal lover

but I don't mess with wild animals

at all.

But then after Oscar was

taken to a new home,

two more appeared.

DARN!

So we trapped them

as well.

Then,

last thursday night,

Possum NO. 4

Oh my, what in the world!

How many

did she have??!!

While my DH was busy snapping

pictures, I was trying

 to lure

him into the carrier.

It worked!

We dropped him off, came home

and OMGosh!!

This insane.

Possum No. 5

No time for pictures,

need to trap

NOW!

Here's my DH taking

the last

one to

its new

home

When we took the first one

out here

I was actually emotional,

I felt so bad

but I knew we couldn't keep

it around

they get big and not so nice.

But by the time

No. 4 & 5

came around, I was getting

annoyed.

But they seemed ok

moving into

their

new home.

Whew!

I think that's done now.

Haven't seened

anymore

since that last one.

Adventures of

living in the

country!

We went to NYC to visit

my family

on Memorial weekend

and had a blast.

love walking around

the City(Manhattan)

and we

walked around

Jackson Heights, Queens

where

alot of the

Indians, from India

live.

That was so much fun.

But on our

way back home here to PA

it was bittersweet

as always.

I LOVE NYC but I don't

see

myself living there again

unless I

had to,

but it is still hard to leave

mainly

because I miss my parents

so much.

But I took some

pictures as we were driving on

the B'klyn Bridge

I really love taking pictures

of this

bridge.

It brings back many memories.

I've walked this

bridge

so many times.

But when

we got to the

Holland Tunnel

we got

pulled over by the Police.

Evidently,

you CANNOT

take pictures of the Tunnel.

He had me

delete that

picture and wanted to see

of what else

I took,

he saw the Bridge and

said that

was ok.'

Because of Terrorists

reasons,

no

pictures of the

Holland Tunnel.

That was new to me,

How embarrassing,

sorry

Officer.

Won't do that again.

So heads

up,

don't take pictures

of the

Holland Tunnel.

Well, there goes what I've

been up to

for the past few months.

Now its

cold and rainy

and I may

just do

some sewing today.

My New York City Trip

Hello everyone, its been so long since I've posted anything, I'm sorry. Its been pretty crazy around here since I've been back from NYC visiting my family. The main reason of visiting was to see my little brother Alex and his wife Heather, she's the second one in from the right. They came to NY to visit everyone, its been 5 years since they've been back so it was quite a reunion.

Here we are at my parents where my mom outdid herself for dinner. She made true Puerto Rican food. It was WONDERFUL, wish I had some now.

My dad wanted to show off his plate, as you can see and slice of Avacado, Pernil(pork shoulder), Arroz con Gandules(rice with pigeon peas), tostones, maduros and fried cod fritter. All so delicious. I can smell it now. My mom is a wonderful cook, all those smells coming from her kitchen brought back many memories of home.

For dessert I made peach pie, yes, from all those peaches I sliced and put in my freezer. I made the first pie this season. With homemade crust, of course.

My mom, my aunt, and  I, went to the grocery store where you can find everything and anything for spanish cooking. This is a must stop when we visit NYC. It's a really neat grocery store, as you'll see.

I think they take pride in their stacking of the vegetables, I'm always amazed with how beautiful it looks in there.

Look at the rows of yams, potatoes, yucca, etc. We could take a lesson here on how to stack the veggies, and not one on the floor of the store. Believe it or not!

This to me is art. The colors and freshness of everything. This all goes back to an earlier posting of mine where I would never of thought I'd be gardening, digging in dirt especially since I could go to the grocery store and have my pick. Now you see what I mean.

Ok, I had to take a picture of the firemen doing their grocery shopping. It never fails that EVERYTIME we come into the grocery store, the firemen start coming in. All dressed and ready to be called. There have been many a times when they've been shopping and you see them running out of the store going to a fire, or if they're about ready to pay and they have to leave everything behind to do their job. So proud of them, especially since this past weekend was the memorial of 9/11.

Now if you want the best pizza around, you need to find Rosa's in Ridgewood, Queens NY. Words cannot describe the delicious pizza's they serve there, only a picture can:

Oh, yea, baby. The best around. I made my husband's mouth water when he saw this picture.

And for the best Raisin Bread, Grimaldi's in Brooklyn. I don't like raisins too much, but I will eat their raisin bread in a heartbeat. The smell of it, the softness, when you bite into it, it just melts in your mouth, and if you want they'll drizzle it with icing, OH MY GOODNESS!! I regret not taking a picture of the loaf.(of course I couldn't because when we got it home it was attacked by some hungry wolves)

The next day we had a family gathering to attend. Family I haven't seened for a long time.

(BTY, I had to remove family pictures off the blog, unfortunately, I had someone contact me asking me questions, that I felt were personal and made me uncomfortable. DH asked me to remove any photos from the blog that had us in it or any friends or family, its a shame isn't it. errrrrrrr!!!)

Now comes the family cookout at my uncles in the Bronx. It was so nice. My brother there with his wife all the way from Seattle. He and my dad are two peas in a pod!! Kind of like me and mom.

We had the most delicious grilled chicken, not one piece left.. Then it was time to chow down....rice, chicken, ribs, potato salad, green salad.....all too good. Making myself hungry again.

The gang acting crazy: The neighbors across the street were throwing a baby shower, now, a hispanic baby shower is not your ordinary cutsie shower, no way!! The decorations are way out there, the food is incredible, the amount of family members and friends that attend do not fit in the house, and no shower is complete without music blasting so loud that you have to scream at the top of your lungs in order to hold a conversation. That is a baby shower. So we all went out front because the neighbors were playing some "old school" songs and well, we had to dance.

My mouth ached from laughing so much.

Then in the late evening the family took all kinds of pictures. We had a great time. We arrived at my uncles house, the one on the far left, at around 3:30pm and we left after midnight. We ate, talked, laughed, danced and just enjoyed each other's company. So until next time, its been great to see everyone. And although not everyone was there, we stay in touch on Facebook, which is an amazing website that allows us to stay in touch. La familia!!!!

Can You Take the City Out of The Girl????

If you would of told me years ago that I would be digging in dirt where worms live, and insects fly around your head and sometimes up your nose or into your ears, I would of said, "you're insane, get outta here" as New Yorkers love to say...there would be no way you would catch me outside in the dirt with bugs around me!! Why? In New York City we have fruit and veggie stands everywhere. They're just as good. I wounldn't leave the comforts of a deli in every corner where I could get my bagel and coffee and then go down the street to a fruit stand and pick up "fresh" fruit or vegetables.

Well my friends, here I am. In southcentral PA and I'm digging in dirt where worms live and an occasional bug gets up my nose. But that's ok, it's actually worth it. I find nothing more rewarding and relaxing then digging in the dirt and seeing the fruits of my labor. Right now the garden looks a little crazy. I planted 15 yes 15 tomatoes. Pepper, onions, arugala, basil, parsley, and cucumber. Why so many tomatoes, because last summer I thoroughly enjoyed making my own spaghetti sauce. Something I never thought I would do either. So this year I am making sure I have enough tomatoes to make sauce.

So, can you take the city out of the girl? No!!!! I am still a city girl at heart, and I miss it every once in awhile, but we live close enough that we can drive up to NYC and spend the weekend there. But by the end of that weekend, I look forward to coming home and digging in my garden.

I thought since I lost room in my veggie garden, I'd plant Kale out by my flower beds. I think they look pretty there. This morning as I walked around my yard taking pictures, I couldn't believe how healthy and green everything is. Of course, we've had more rain this year than any other year for years. We've had one unusual spring/summer. This morning I felt like I was in New England. This type of summer reminds me of New England Summers. Cool in the morning, a little warmer in the day and cool at night. We have yet to put in our airconditioners. My poor dad, when he and mom come to visit this weekend he will have a fit that there are no air conditioning units in the windows in our home. Now there is one person you cannot take the city out of....lol.

I planted these deep purple pansies and I love how almost black they look. I've never seened them before and I just think they're absolutely beautiful. Very mystique, I think. This should show you how cool our weather down here has been. Usually by mid June, I have to dig up all my Pansies because they get leggy and look so worn out becuase of the heat. Not this year. We're in July and they're still going strong.

These windown boxes are under my workshop windows. Which is so nice, when I sit at my work table which is in front of one of the windows, I get to see these beautiful flowers. I just love how pretty everything looks. Although I do need to get out there and weed my garden beds and veggie garden before it takes over.

But here you have it, I do love to garden, although it shouldn't be surprising since my mom loves planting as well. Although she too was born and raised in NYC, and she never had a garden, we had a mini "forest" in our apartment growing up. You had to move the plants or the vines aside if you wanted to look out the window. Mom had every window in the apartment covered in plants. Except for my room and my brothers room. If we let her she would of taken over those as well, but she didn't. So I must get my gardening bug from her. You see, I think we were meant to be country folk, but that's ok, I loved living in NYC and I love living in PA.