Budget Minded Modernist
Fun for froogs….and the whole family…for only $11! The ring game is rumored to have been invented by Ernest Hemingway in Bimini many moons ago, and the Highlands, NC based company that sells them is sticking with that story. True or not, the game is addictive and able to be played by anyone tall enough to reach the ring…grab a stool and the toddler can probably play too. Just swing the ring until you hook it…or not.
So, ever since I saw the latest Readymade, I can’t get that astroturf couch out of my head….with my noggin so far into the landscape situation..I don’t think I can resist giving it a whirl. I’m thinking more like an astroturf Mies daybed….not the traditional style Christina and Elspeth used. Once again…this idea would have horrified me before I moved into the Regal Beagle here, but I think I can make it work if I do it right….Have I lost it? Maybe. We’ll see!
Look real secure to walk on…eh?
Do I really need to say more? My walls and steps are, in reality, a snake/chipmunk/yellow jacket multi-family dwelling that has GOT to be torn down. Time for these critters to move along and time for me to have an entry that won’t kill anyone…..always a goal..no death or severe injury to guests…not too much to ask..no?
So, I have a little, OK, kinda big, collection of vintage flower frogs. I can’t display them as a collection currently, so I’ve split them up and tried to reuse them in different ways. While organizing my desk, I had an “aha” moment…don’t you love those?
I’ve never posted anything about food because, well, it has nothing to do with home renovation. That said, we cook a lot and this post by one of my favorite local bloggers, Lannae, really got me inspired and I thought you might like it too.
I’ve been making compound butters for years and the 2 most popular have always been the herb and the port/fig butters. My herb garden, is…um, not really a garden yet. As you may have read, the yard is currently a very inhospitable place, although hopefully not for much longer. In the meantime, I have had to get by with pots of herbs on the deck where the deer won’t get them.
My herb butter has always used several varieties because I had them all in my previous yard. Chive, Garlic Chive, Sweet Basil, Purple Basil, Sage, Lemon Thyme and the secret ingredient…Marjoram.  In the past, I would buy locally made Mennonite butter to mix with the herbs because it had superior flavor. Today, I’ll make the butter from scratch then fold in the herbs. Since my small potted garden doesn’t have all those herbs this year (Marjoram died while on vacation!) I’m just making a simple Basil butter today. I think the herbs have to be fresh which is why I’m not buying the other ones I lack…fresh cut really makes a difference in flavor to me, but if that’s all you can get…it’s better than nothing. Enough yacking…let’s get started!
Follow along with the captions:
What do you eat with Basil butter you might ask? Honestly, anything you might eat with regular butter.  Serve on toast, corn…it also makes a wonderful beurre blanc sauce for fish. Enjoy!
I can’t believe that summer is almost over…it seems like we were just settling into the swing of things and now school starts on Friday! Before I know it, our sea finds will be replaced with shiny baubles for the holidays…..sigh…
