FAREWELL 'SWEET MAY' (GARDEN STROLL)

"In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful." 

 ~ Abram L. Urban

"Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are."

~ Alfred Austin

TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS ~ RICE NOODLES with SHRIMP & CILANTRO

"Between two worlds life hovers like a star, twist night and morn, upon the horizon's verge."

~  Lord Byron 

MAY GARDENS OF OVERHILL

(Bloomfield Village)

From morning to night, ever-changing perennial gardens

(Bearded Iris, Wildflowers, Hosta, Rhododendron, Azalea, Ferns)

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RICE NOODLES with SHRIMP AND CILANTRO

This yummy colorful Pad Thai variation skips bean sprouts, eggs, and peanuts in favor of fresh red pepper and cilantro ... a favorite 'simple supper' at both home & cottage (slightly adapted from Fine Cooking) 

8  oz.  1/4 in. wide dried rice noodles (pad thai)

2-3  limes (1 juiced and 1 sliced in wedges)

2  Tbsp. light brown sugar

2  tsp. soy sauce

1  tsp. fish sauce

1  lb. peeled and deveined large shrimp

3  generous Tbsp. peanut oil

1  tsp. ground coriander

freshly ground black pepper to taste

1  cored, seeded, and finely diced red pepper

1  cored, seeded, and finely diced orange or yellow pepper

1  seeded and finely diced large jalapeno

1-2  finely diced large shallots

1/4  heaping cup fresh cilantro

• Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil. Add noodles, lower heat to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until noodles are just tender, 5-7 minutes. Transfer to colander and run under cold water to cool slightly. Drain well.
• In a small bowl, combine lime juice, sugar, soy sauce and fish sauce; set aside. In a medium bowl, toss shrimp with 1 generous Tbsp. of the oil, coriander, freshly ground pepper and pinch of coarse salt.
• Heat remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering hot. Add peppers and shallots, sprinkle with pinch of salt and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. 
• Add shrimp and cook, stirring, until it turns pink and almost cooked though, about 2 minutes. Add lime juice mixture and cook, stirring, until shrimp is cooked through, about 1 minute more.
• Add noodles and half of the cilantro; toss until noodles heat through and pick up the sauce, 1-2 minutes. 
• Serve topped with remaining cilantro and lime wedges on the side for squeezing.  (3-4 servings)  

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WEEKEND 'ROCK GARDEN' PROJECT 

(Hubbard Lake)

Blessed to share time between 'Two Different Worlds' ... thankful for the beauty of each.

IT'S PEONY TIME (Life of a happy Tree Peony)

"The bee emerging from deep within the peony departs reluctantly." 

~   Basho, Matsuo

Tree Peonies are woody perennial shrubs. They bloom at the beginning of May before the herbaceous peony bloom. Their woody structure allows them to produce gigantic dinner-plate-sized flowers on plants that grow from 3 to 7 feet tall. After the bloom, tree peonies provide structure to the garden with deep green leaves in summer and bronze and purple foliage in fall. Native to China and cultivated for millennia, these deer-resistant plants thrive in horticultural zones 4-9. Tree peonies grow slowly, producing 1 to 6 inches of new growth each year. Given well-drained soil and dappled sunlight, they will live for centuries. Stately, rare, huge flowers, nice leaf coverage, simply fabulous.

'APRIL LOVE' ~ AS THE GARDEN GROWS

"Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment."

~ Ellis Peters

"Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire."

~ Virgil