365- #190 (birdhouse)

this birdhouse is in the form of a "shotgun" house, which is a style that New Orleans is known for.  And, in N.O. form, it's decked out in all its gawdiness.  Any N.O. bird would be happy to live here:

365 - #184-189 (Mint Tea)

Yesterday we watched a video on making mint tea with the mint grown in your garden.  Two of our eaglets got really excited because we have some mint growing in our garden!  So off they flew to the garden to begin the process.  Here's how they made it:

First, they picked the mint. 

Any mint will do...the video mentioned apple mint.  But we had peppermint and spearmint.

(We forgot to wash it, but we will next time :/ )

Then, they broke it (or cut it) in pieces in a large bowl.

Next, they poured 2 cups of cold water into the bowl and kneaded the mint.

Literally, squeezed the mint, until the water began to change color.

Next, they poured the water through a coffee filter over the pitcher.

(The video said we could use any type of filter,

but they recommended a piece of sheer curtain material so it could be used over and over.)

I think we'll have to get some kind of material, since we'll be doing this again and again.

the coffee filter worked, but since we couldn't use it more than once, we had to use a lot of filters.

They poured 2 more cups of water into the bowl of mint and repeated the process.

Then, we made a simple syrup by boiling one cup of sugar (any kind) + one cup of water.

(* you could also heat a cup of honey, and use that instead.)

And after letting it cool down a bit, they added it to the pitcher.

Stirred well.

And served it.

Mmmmm....so refreshing and minty!!

The beauty of it was that it came straight from our garden!

And, it has NO caffeine, so the girls could drink it happily!

What have you made from your garden this summer?

365- #182-183 (Spa)

What is more fun than a spa day for 3 giddy girls?  Not much!  Here are the ingredients of our day...

for finger and toenail painting...

for facials...

and the pic I didn't get was of the basins of water to soak their tired feet in :)

Along with fruit, fruit dip & brownie bites, came lots of giggles, funny stories & a good time for all.

Definitely worth all the effort!

365- #180 - 181 (Bowling)

Bowling over the weekend was a ton of fun...that is, until it became a nightclub at 8pm!  Between the fog machine, flashing lights, strobe lights, black lights, and really loud music + video screens, not only could we not see each other or the balls, but we couldn't breathe.  And it really freaked our kids out.  But, fun was had while it lasted!

365-179 (Rain, and more rain)

this was the first week in a long time we didn't have rain....but more is on the way!

I'm grateful for the rain for two reasons.

1.  Because last year we had a drought, and that was worse than too much rain!

2.  this is the first year we have a garden, and it loves the rain!

Thank God for rain!

365- # 174-178 (Sights of Summer Fun)

365- 173 (15 years of love!)

Happy Anniversary, my love!

365-172 (dragonfly)

how many pics of a dragonfly can you take in one summer? 

I don't know....obviously, lots.  They're so good at posing :)

365- #168-171 (cool flowers)

these are some I've never seen before that intrigued me....

365- #167 (Lilypad)

365 - #165-166 (sculptures)

I'd like to know what captions you'd put on these pics.

These are some of the incredible sculptures from the New Orleans Sculpture Garden.  loved it!!