Blueberry Margaritas Being Held in the Area with a Chaser of CB2 Inspirations

Blueberry Margarita.

Sad to say the summer's climax (labor day weekend) is upon us. It's also the very end of blueberry season. If you're not sure what to do with the final few blueberries you can always make a blueberry margarita and take it up to the top of your local Margarita Holding Area (MHA). If you don't have one of those maybe you have a Blind Pig in your neighborhood. Perhaps it's housed in a friend's garage or the patio of a loquacious neighbor. Either way it seems that blueberry margaritas are meant to be shared. If you want the recipe you'll have to contact Miss Single USA who first shared a pitcher with the Board of the MHA. Way down at the bottom of this post you'll find some more recent pictures (June) of the MHA. It's been awhile since the MHA has made a post around here with all the glitz and glamour of the kitchen to share. I wanted to let you all know that the MHA has definitely not been overshadowed. We make regular trips up top. Sometimes just to stretch after a run, sometimes to read, sometimes to watch the sunset. Earlier this summer we were inspired by advertising (sad to say) from CB2 (but they do such a nice job) and in fact Mr. Monkey made Watermelon Margaritas to quench our thirst in Tucson. The point is if you haven't made margaritas yet this summer, find your closest, freshest fruit, friends, a decent place to sit, maybe in the shade or the sun if you prefer, take a deep breathe and enjoy. 

Blueberries at the start of the season from Mr. Monkey's garden.

One blender of margaritas looks something like this with the sunset in the background. 

Welcome to the MHA!

Golden Raspberries at the foot of the MHA, under the pear tree.

Come again!

Willamette Valley Flower Gardening

Mr. Monkey's Favorite Flower - Delphinium

My Favorite Peonie

While one of the benefits of life in the Willamette Valley is having your own garden (as proclaimed to us this past weekend by family from the Bay Area and former residents of the Friendly St. neighborhood - thanks for the reminder of what I'd forgotten) my great joy is all of our wonderful flowers. We've had a master plan provided to us in a work trade between Mr. Monkey (see Back to the Roots) and Landscape Designer and Eugene Weekly contributor Rachel Foster. Scroll down to the very end of this post for a sense of the full transformation of the front yard over the last several years and click here for an earlier post circa 2008.

Columbine

View from the front door looking towards the street.

Transplanted Hydrangea from the backyard. It didn't bloom at all last year.

The end of the monkey flowers blooming next to the basalt fountain. 

Dahlia.  My white dahlia just opened its first flower. The reds have been going for about a month now.

Basalt Water Fountain and Columbines

Dicentra or the Bleeding Heart Flower

Lupins

Azalea

Fuzzy close up of Dicentras.

Late Winter 2008 

Late Spring 2009

Early Summer 2011

Oak Street Vintage Plant Pots

Hi All! Well the weekend is upon us and some of you might be looking forward to time in your garden. Ours is going gonzo with zucchinis and the tomatoes are kickin' in. Mr. Monkey tends to the outdoor plants while my job is to tend to the indoor plants. With the remodel I needed to find some house plant pot that would better suit our decor. Wouldn't you know it? Oak Street Vintage saves the day once again. Both of these vintage pots were $15 bucks each - a complete deal as far as I'm concerned! Now I just actually need to get some dirt in them so the plants are not sinking below and looking so very sad. I know that vintage stores are not your usual destinations for plant and gardening supplies but you might check yours out if you're not in the Eugene area. If you are in the Eugene area probably Oak Street Vintage has what your looking for. Happy Friday!

Simply Modern Summer Garden Parties

Mr. Monkey & I love to entertain. Especially in the summer months because our house is wee for large groups & it's best if we can maximize our living space by creating outdoor living spaces. Here are few pictures from table settings that I've recently set for potluck style gatherings plus some quick tips for simply modern table set-ups. 

1. Choose a color scheme & gather plates, cups, utensils, serving platters that fit a similar color scheme over time. I've done this by sticking with mostly shades of greens, blues, & clear glass. It's not perfect but we're getting to the point where we can grab any combination of our entertaining arsenal and have it looked pretty pulled together. 

2. Instead of spending a bunch of money on fancy modern table cloths (Apartment Therapy Round-up) just go to your local fabric store and buy a solid color of quilting fabric. A couple of yards will cost you 8 -10 dollars for a small table and up to 20 dollars for a larger table. If you have a pair of pinking shears you can cut the edges so they look finished. 

3. Another great source for alternative tablecloths are vintage stores. You could even find some nice vintage scraps at your local thrift store. About a year ago I found this great fabric remanent at Oak Street Vintage (check out their new website!!) & I loved it as a table cloth. The price was super affordable and it fit my little coffee service/potluck dessert table perfectly. 

4. Fresh flowers are essential to any summer party. You don't have to have a fancy vase. Just stick them in a jar or you can see I used a vintage 1960's Italian pitcher below (from Oak Street of course). 

5. Get creative with containers you already have. I used the picnic basket above to hold all the clean cloth napkins plus a few paper ones as back up in case we ran out.

6. The picture at the top of this post is from an island bridal shower for my dear friend, Momma Poet Monkey. Because we had to transport all decorative items up to Canada and over the water via ferry we were somewhat limited. We couldn't bring fancy table cloths and table runners so we stuck with the basics; white linens provided a clean neutral base, flowers picked fresh that morning from an island garden, and we got creative with the table runners - wrapping paper. We just had some pretty wrapping paper lying around and that worked

 perfectly to add a nice pattern but not take away from the flowers. Plus the paper was recyclable after the party! 

7. You'll notice that most of the tables above are actually indoors. This is another secret to our summer garden party success. Keeping the food indoors helps to keep flies and other insects away from the food. I like to set up the drink stations outside where flies aren't really interested in our cocktails & lemonade. Also by keeping the food buffet line indoors you help to keep the flow of the party moving. People will keep coming inside for food but then come back outside for eating. 

I hope you find yourself having a summer potluck soon! Sometimes though it just takes a circle of chairs and some ice cream. Cheers.

Bring Recycling Home Tour: Part 2

Here is the 3rd home from the home tour that I visited and it also happens to be the most interesting architecturally-speaking.  The back story is that it was built in part by students from the University of Oregon's School of Architecture. For the initial builders, the students, it was an experiment in passive solar. I guess since then the current owners have continued to developed the homes natural inclination. The water from the roof enters into a dry stream-bed that helps to keep plants watered in the ground and on the roof (see round mirror by second story window lets you see status of living roof). Much of the garden art is recycled. These pictures simply don't do the place justice. All in all the Bring Recycling House Tour seemed to be a big success. Is was a scorching, sweat-running-down-your-back kind-of-day and all the houses had a steady stream of visitors. It's great to see a homes tour that's not all about ladies in big hats and gloves, and lunch in the garden.  Yay for Bring Recycling! Read more about my visits there here and here.