Smelling the roses

 

My garden is once again filled with roses!  Wish you could smell these in the pitcher on my window ... a combination of David Austin's Winchester Cathedral and Abraham Darby.  Heavenly!

And that is what I'm doing ... taking time to smell the roses.  I met with my new oncologist yesterday and all my fears of not liking him, or what he has to say, have vanished.  He's very nice and I think we'll get along just fine.  Basically, we're going to watch and wait.  I'll be monitored monthly but won't need to resume treatment until something changes.  He's unable to determine whether this is part of the original disease or a recurrence because there were no scans/CA125 done until after first line treatment ended.  So he's going to treat this as a recurrence.  As long as the cancer remains stable, I won't need to go back for more chemo.  It could be 1 month, 1 year ... or who knows???? ... as long as I'm feeling well (which I am!) and there's no progression of the disease, I'm good.

I'm taking a blogging break for a couple of weeks as we have relatives coming to visit at the end of the week.  I can't wait and am really looking forward to our time together!

Something else that has me excited this week ... this course popped up in my email today!  I'm signing up!  I love the holidays and decorating and can't wait for this one to start!

Enjoy these last days of August!  I'm not quite ready to say good-bye to Summer but I have to confess that I find my thoughts turning to Fall every so often.  See you soon!

xo,

Lynda

Heavenly Blue

My morning glories are finally blooming.  They waited until August before making their appearance, fashionably late but well worth waiting for!  They've been gorgeous!  Each morning I'm greeted with masses of beautiful blue blooms.  Heavenly Blue is my favourite of all the morning glories ... I just love that shade of blue!

I've been unintentionally absent from blogland lately.  Knowing that I'm soon to head back for more chemo (I see my new oncologist next Monday), I'm feeling a sense of urgency to finish, or at least start, some of the projects that have been on my to do list for the past year.  At the same time, I want to do nothing more than enjoy the beautiful Summer weather we've been having and sit in the garden with a good book.  I'm reading the Elm Creek Quilts series at the moment and absolutely loving them.  But between trying to finish up with the garden renovations while I still have the energy and tackling a few projects inside that I planned to do later this year and may now not be able to get to, there's been little to no time left for blogging.

It seems that all of a sudden, there's a hint of Autumn in the air.  Aside from it getting dark so much earlier, I've noticed a bit of a chill in the morning and evening air.  Is it just me or has this Summer flown by faster than usual?

See you soon!

xo,
Lynda

Wild blueberries and a buckle cake

Not only am I trying to figure out where this week has gone, but where did July go?  I mean, seriously, it's already August!!!  Fresh local produce is flying into the farmer's market and I'm trying to find ways to keep up with it all.  Most of the fruit I eat fresh on cereal, in fruit cups, etc. but some finds its way into baked goods.  Like this blueberry buckle cake that I made with wild blueberries.  The wild ones are worth every penny.  They're that good.

This is a quick, easy dessert.  I've always made it with blueberries but it could probably be made with other fruit.  Or a mix of fruit.  I'm thinking peaches and raspberries would be good.  I'll have to try that!  Most buckle cakes have a crumb topping but not this one.  There is a glaze that's supposed go on top but I usually omit it.  I like serving it with fresh whipped cream and the lemony glaze just doesn't work.  Mom always made it with the glaze (after all, it's her recipe!) and it tastes great.  Choices are good, right?

Blueberry Buckle Cake

2 cups blueberries, fresh (wash and drain) or frozen and thawed
 1 tsp lemon juice
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Stir lemon juice into milk.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Cream butter, add sugar and egg.  Mix dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture, alternating with milk just until mixed.  Add blueberries.  Spread batter into greased 8" square baking pan.  Bake 40-45 minutes until tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Top with glaze.

Glaze

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Just before cake is done, combine above ingredients and cook over low heat until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Spread glaze over top of the cooked cake.  Return to oven and broil until glaze bubbles.  Avoid over cooking.