English Chuchyard Fence

One of the most beautiful fences I have ever seen is the one around the churchyard in Chipping Campden, a small market town in the English Cotswolds. Chipping Campden itself is a very cute town with an old market hall smack in the middle of town. The church is off High Street, but still very close to the center.

I noticed the fence right away. It's highly decorative. Moreover, even though the church is close to the center, it was so peaceful and quiet here. Almost no one was walking here and the only sound I heard was the birds singing. Even though this was more than 25 years ago, I assume that it is still like this. Some things thankfully never change.

The black color (with some rust) of the fence contrasted beautifully with the typical honey colored stone of the Cotswold houses. Almost all the buildings in this area of England are built of that stone which gives the entire town a very warm feeling - even in the rain.

And the spiders, of course, liked it here, too.

Since it is Thursday I link up to Good Fences over at the Run-Around-Ranch where fence enthusiasts get together and show off their fences.

Do You Like Alfredo?

No, I am not talking about a handsome Italian man (oh I wish I was!).

I am talking about pasta sauce with cream and Parmesan cheese. And no, I don't mean the stuff that comes in jars you can get in the supermarket. That sauce is too thick, too fat and not really tasty. What I am thinking about is rich, delicious cheese sauce that is full of goodness and that you can only create in your very own kitchen.

I make a very yummy chicken and broccoli Alfredo that has become a hit in my family. Not only is it delicious, but it is also very easy to make, and it doesn't need a lot of clean-up afterwards since everything is made in just one pot. Can it get better than this?

Ingredients: (I'm usually not too picky with the right measurements here)

12 oz. broccoli florets, cut into bite-size pieces
1 boned, skinned chicken breast half, cubed
8 oz. fettuccine
¾ to 1 cup heavy whipping cream
about ½ cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
kosher salt and pepper

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook broccoli until tender and bright green, 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a colander, leaving water in pot. Add chicken to pot; cook until opaque, 2-4 minutes. Transfer to colander with broccoli.

2. Cook pasta in same pot of water until just tender to the bite, about 10 minutes. Reserve ½ cup pasta water; drain pasta.

3. Simmer cream, reserved ½ cup water, and ½ cup Parmesan in same pot over medium heat, stirring often. Add broccoli, chicken, and pasta, stirring to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with additional Parmesan on the side.

As I said, super easy. For the cheese I usually take Parmiggiano Reggiano Stravecchio which is a Parmesan from Italy that is aged 3 years. You can find it at Trader Joe's; it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, but is still a pretty good Parmesan. It is a hard cheese that you have to grate yourself (and it will fall apart while you do that!). It doesn't make the sauce quite as creamy since it doesn't melt very easily - but the taste is heavenly! Don't forget to grate some of the cheese on top of your dish!

Buon appetito!

This Fence Has Many Friends

Our fence that the Geek and I built during the first three months of this year doesn't stop to excite me. It is the perfect backdrop for my flowers - and if not a backdrop, then it serves as a beautiful side effect, something that just plays a good role in my photos - a good fence for sure!

Of course my poppies that many of you have already seen in my last few posts look really good with the fence (or the fence with the poppies?).

I just love to follow its line along the sidewalk and see the flowers peek through the pickets or even start their own life outside it, but very close to it.

A California Poppy wearing a fashionable hat - at least as long as it wasn't ready to face the world and unfold its own glory.

The Sweet Peas are climbing along it - I had planted them there for exactly this reason.

On Kaefer's sixteenth birthday the fence was the beautiful backdrop for some pictures I took of her, and it hold the garland in place even though it was rather breezy.

And of course the fence is a wonderful friend to the birds. Last week I saw a hawk perching here, but usually it's the scrub jays and the towhees.

I'm linking again to Good Fences at the Run Around Ranch - fence enthusiasts post their fence pictures there every Thursday.

Another Poppy for Texture Tuesday

Of course there has to be a poppy for this week's free and easy edition of Texture Tuesday!

For this image I used two of Kim Klassen's textures, first "warmgrunge" in soft light at 55%. I masked the poppy and the poppy bud to remove the texture from them again. Then I layered with "kk_appreciate" in soft light at 75% and did a levels adjustment.

There are more and more poppies coming up in my garden beside the California poppies (which you can see as orange dots in this photo). I love all the different shades of light pink (almost white) to a rich dark red. It is beautiful and I find myself grabbing my camera all the time.

The Beauty of Rain Drops

It rained again last night! Everything was wet this morning, but the sun was already making his way through the clouds. While I walked through my garden, I noticed the rain drops on the poppy buds. They looked beautiful, and the morning light also brought out the tiny hairs on the stems and buds of the poppies.

I couldn't stop taking pictures. This time it wasn't the color or the beautiful shape of the poppies that caught my eye, but all I wanted to capture was this early stage of poppy life, the bud.




Seriously, who can resist this kind of beauty?

Poppies After the Rain

Today we had some rain again. I had actually thought we were done with the rain and wasn't happy with that at all. We still need rain... So today we got some. After the rain stopped I went outside to take some pictures of my poppies with raindrops on them. What I like about this kind of overcast weather is that the colors really pop.

Many of you know how much I love poppies. I have a lot of favorite flowers, but poppies are definitely at the very top - probably my most favorite of them all. They are delicate yet tough. They are mostly ignored by deer, and their seedpods are very decorative. They reseed readily and actually can get a little overboard if you don't keep an eye on them.

This one is my favorite of today's pictures:

A couple hours after I had taken these photos, it started to pour down heavily, and with that all the poppy glory went as well. They were no match to the heavy rain. I got these pictures just at the right moment. Thankfully there are so more poppies to come.

Lauren's Grape

A New Leaf on My Shady Porch

My front porch is completely in the shade. It doesn't get much light even in the morning. Perfect conditions for shade loving plants - like ferns. When we bought this house the ferns were already here. There were a lot of brown leaves last year and no new growth at all. I already thought that I have lost them.

This spring, however, I discovered new growth. Each of the four ferns has developed new leaves - and I love how they slowly unroll, remaining in this kind of fairy-like phase until they finally turn into a long leaf.

A photo opportunity, of course.

I couldn't resist to process it with some kind of texture - I chose Kim's texture "kk_0411" in soft light at 66%, then copied and blended in multiply, also at 66%. Some levels adjustment - and there you have it.

I"m linking this to Kim's Texture Tuesday and this week's theme "simple".