Our Beautiful "BELLA" Vegetable Garden!

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Hello Dear Amici,
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Our veggie garden is doing so well this year; just look at the lettuce! Gorgeous!

Some herbs are in the front and tomatoes are in the back. That's a lone hollyhock that went to seed in the garden, so we just let it grow; it's huge!

Another shot of the rhubarb (in front) and some mint in the back.

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I hope that you're having a wonderful, rewarding, and bountiful garden this year too!

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Amore',

~ bella

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Strawberry Chambord Sauce

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I don't know about you and your area of the world, but boy, have we ever had a BUMPER crop of strawberries this spring due to all of the glorious weekly rains that we have received. So W.D. and I have just been whipping up all sorts of dishes to use these precious red beauties in. Trust me, we don't eat gourmet every day; in fact, we eat more simply on a day to day basis than otherwise.

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I'm married to a simple guy who loves simple things. Don't get me wrong, he loves it when I cook gourmet recipes; but he's just as happy with a simple dish any day. So here's one for you: a simple strawberry sauce to drizzle over just about anything. In this case, the sauce is drizzled over a strawberry layer cake with a cream cheese frosting. Nothing fancy at all, but made fancy by the addition of the strawberry sauce. How easy is that? And how yummy?

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Strawberry Sauce with Chambord

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2 pints fresh strawberries

1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup sugar

2 - 4 Tbsps. Chambord (raspberry liquor) or Framboise or raspberry brandy

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Wash, hull, and slice the strawberries.

Process with a food processor or inversion blender (we call it our 'boat motor')

Add the sugar, lemon juice, and liquor.

Blend until smooth.

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The New Horses on the Acreage!

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Hello dear amici,

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Many thanks for all of you who wrote to me with so many comforting words when my Thoroughbred, Ace, died 3 months ago (see post of March 13th). As with all animals, humans need to grieve the loss. This process takes a bit of time as many of you who have lost an animal friend/companion know very well. And so I just slowed down with everything to deal with our loss. No other horse can possibly come close to the awesomeness of Ace's gentleness, riding abilities, and personality. But move on, we must all do at some point.

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So just a week or so ago, my hubbie, W.D. and I were able to find 2 sweet young Peruvians that are known for their smooth ride . . . which the older I get, the more I need to bounce around less!

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Here are a few photos of Spanish Lace, whom we are calling "Lacie". She is a palomino (light yellow body and white mane and tail).

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And here is Caramel Sundae, whom we are calling "Sundae". He is a dark caramel colored male with golden mane and tail. He is quite young and thus very small. We can't ride him yet, but we can work with him on trusting us 'on the ground'.

. .Both of these smaller horses are 'green' and so W.D. and I are just having fun working very slowly on just letting them get to know us and trust us. I have ridden Lacie, but not alone on the acreage yet. She is still pretty new at it.
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We think they are already getting very spoiled with 'the beautiful life', La Bella Vita, just like all the other critters on the place. But we love 'em, and that's what we do famously!

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Well, my fellow bloggin' buddies, I hope that you have a great day wherever you are in the world. I'm off to teach my summer classes, so I can't chat long this morning. Thanks for stopping by!

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Amore',

~ bella

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