a lovely week off

I think I may have been more excited about this upcoming week off than my trip to Paris in April...and I was pretty thrilled about that break. Sometimes it is just nice to take a stay-cation where you can mark a bunch of things of the to-do list or just revel in the fact there is no big rush to be anywhere. During this week, I hope to complete a number of the garden to-do's, take in an afternoon at the spa (hello hot stone massage therapy), clean the front porch, finish up some sewing projects and read a couple of books (Half Blood Blues and Imagine).

But realizing that I haven't updated my blog since April...it is time to give a bit of a quick update.

I have decided to try my hand at square foot gardening this year. It requires some great soil, a raised bed and planning. I downloaded a great app that helps you plan. The app is from Mother Earth News and provides all sorts of great gardening advice with your growing zone in mind. I hope to have everything planted by the end of the week.

Above is a screen shot of my garden plan in the works...I am still moving things around and it will probably change depending on how well my plants acclimatize and adjust to the new veg garden...the seeds are popping up quite nicely in the sun room but real life in the Calgary weather is the true test.

some of my seedlings...

The other sign of summer is the arrival of local tomatoes at the Farmers Market. I particularly enjoy the tomatoes from Gull Valley greenhouses in central Alberta. Yum and no pesticides! And with those lovely tomatoes, I make my (er, Jamie Oliver's) Mothership Tomato Salad. I think I blog about this recipe every summer but it is so good and simple and delicious and fabulous. It may be my all time favorite food...but the trick is to have the farmers market tomatoes that have great flavour.

Step 1: enjoy how pretty the tomatoes are

Step 2: cut up, salt and let it sit

 

Step 3: Add oil, vinegar, seasoning

Step 4: Enjoy

Now for a present day shot of the gardening...I will share what it will look like at the end of this week after some to-do's are done. During the summer, I will post progress pics so you can see how the jungle garden grows. 

Long view of the garden.

Will add these patio lights to above my deck and patio...can't wait. I hope it looks as good in real life as it does in my mind

a new path? testing it out

Some annuals (and some new perennials) I bought for the garden

 Now for the reveal of the other side of the studio/guest room. I finally finished the floor and organized my studio. It is now a space I want to spend time in. The guest room greeted its first official guest this past week. I am thrilled with the look although there are still some major things I will eventually do like walls, ceilings, etc...but who needs those right now!

Looking into the studio from the guest bed area

Looking back to the guest room from the studio

Another wider shot of the studio

 Okay, I gotta run. My rhubarb raspberry blueberry crisp is almost done. Just trying to clear out the freezer of last year's fruit to make space for the upcoming harvest. My rhubarb is almost ready for picking. Yummo! Enjoy the Victoria Day long weekend! Hope it is relaxing.