Flutterbyes and Flowers and Fruit, Oh My!

 This morning when I was out watering the garden, a butterfly was flew by and landed to sun itself in the laurel hedge.

It seemed content to hang out there, so I took went inside for my camera. When I returned, it had obligingly stayed put. It took a few minutes before it opened up its wings. Not the most spectacular colors, but a nice pattern on the wings. If you look close on the right wing, you can see a ragged edge.

As long as I already had my camera, I thought I'd take some pictures of what's blooming in the yard.

The raspberries are coming along nicely. I've picked a couple, and they were quite tasty. In a week or so, there will be good picking.

Elsewhere in the backyard, there are two varieties of lavender.
This kind . . . 

And this kind . . .

Over by the fence, some poppies and pansies appeared on their own. I don't know where the pansies came from, but the some poppy seeds may have made their way over there from some I had in a pot last year.

I had never notice before, that the bloom pushes the green bud casing off the end.

Also, peonies . . .

And roses . . .

There is also this flowering shrub, but I don't know what it is.

Spider Webs

This morning, I went for an early walk around Green Lake. About three-quarters of the way around, there was a line of trees on both sides of the path. Quite a few of them (25 to 30?) had one or two of these draped in their branches.

Cardboard Art

It's always fun to see what the students in 3-D Design do, especially when the end-of-quarter, recycled-cardboard projects start popping up around campus.

This spring, I got to see . . .

Rapunzel's braid

Girl reading in the library

Matrushka dolls

Spawning salmon

and high-jumping bugs (I think).

Elaine's Sox

A couple of weeks ago, I finished the pair of socks for my niece Elaine and sent them off. Last weekend, I received confirmation that they had arrived.

The next pair is knitting up very quickly. I've already finished the first one, and am about halfway through the second. A couple of nights ago I started the heel flap.

Banana Fritters

For some time now, I've been wanting to make a recipe I haven't made in quite awhile. It was something my mother would often make on the weekends when my sisters and I were kids. I think it was a recipe she had grown up with as well. Around the time I left home (I can't recall if it was when I went off to college or after I graduated from college), my mom gave me a small red binder with a few recipes that she had typed out — family recipes that she wanted to pass on. I'm pretty sure each of my sisters has something similar as well.

One of the recipes was for Banana Fritters. Now, I'm not a big fan of bananas, certainly not in their native form. Too mushy. But I like Banana Bread, and I like Banana Fritters.

Basically, Banana Fritters are little pancakes with banana slices in them. Generally, I am not a big pancake eater — they're rather carby. But as I said, I've been thinking that it would be fun to make them again. I see the recipe every time I make cornbread muffins — it's on the same page.

So a couple days ago, I announced to my husband that for breakfast on Monday I would be making Banana Fritters.

I departed somewhat from the traditional recipe, however, to suit some individual preferences, substituting coarse cornmeal (polenta) for half the flour and using buttermilk instead of plain milk. And they turned out just fine. They may not be the prettiest meal in the world, but they are tasty!

  

Banana Fritters (revised)

Serves 2.

1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

1/4 cup coarse cornmeal

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/8 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 bananas (this is a really good way to use bananas that are past their prime)

Mix flour, cornmeal and salt; add milk gradually. Beat egg and add.

Slice 2" pieces of banana in half and stir gently into batter.

Heat 1/2 tablespoon oil in a large pan. Spoon banana pieces into pan and brown on both sides. (They are ready to turn over when the edges start looking dry.)

Serve with honey or syrup.

 

Azaleas

On the south side of our house, there are two azalea bushes. You can't see them from the street, because they are hidden behind a big rhododendron. I generally see them only when I have to take something to the yard waste bin.

They were there when we bought the house, and I don't know why they were planted where they are not visible from the street or from a window. 

But they are so beautiful.

 

One of the things I had to leave behind when we moved was a wild azalea that my dad had brought up and planted in a corner in the backyard, where I could always see it through the sliding glass door. It had a wonderful, delicate fragrance.

I took some photos of it before we left, to help me remember it.

 

Midway Through the Quarter

This week, I turned in my first project for Graphic Design 4 (Packaging Design). The assignment was to design three labels for a new line of herbal tea, and incorporate the names of three rivers.

In the course of developing the design, I purchased three bottles (different flavors) of GTS Kombucha. (The bottles above are from a different brand of beverage — the Tao of Tea.) Out of curiosity, I tried one of them. I think it was Guava Goddess, and it was pretty tasty. Slightly effervescent, more tart than sweet, but not bad. The other flavors were Cosmic Cranberry and Multi-Green. I would say the Multi-Green is more of an acquired taste.

On Tuesday, we photographed my labels; yesterday, I dropped out the background, edited out some extra reflection, and added a slight tabletop reflection in Photoshop.

Once again, I started out the quarter being kind of freaked out about doing something so new and completely different, and ending up pretty pleased with the result.

Now, I'm back to being freaked out. Next assignment: packaging design for three chocolate products for a fictional chocolate company called Mr. Brown's Chocolate.