Let’s see…it’s the 11th of July! I think it’s high time to post my June favorites BEFORE it’s time to post my July favorites. Looking over the list I created throughout the month of June, I realized that the majority of my favorites are either flowers or food. Sounds about right for me.
FLOWERS
Favorite #1
I like to keep fresh flowers on a tray on top of our counter. My long-time favorite flower is the daisy. But how have I lived this long and not realized how much I love peonies? H-E-B had peonies in their floral department throughout June, so I bought these pink ones to arrange in with the daisies I purchased. They start out as little spheres that are cupped by surrounding leaves and gradually open up to reveal…
…this beautiful collection of scalloped thin tiny petals encapsulated by the larger rounded outer petals. Just GORGEOUS! And now it’s competing fiercely for the title of My Favorite Flower. However, because the daisy is more readily available and has more longevity in the vase, it does remain my favorite.
Favorite #2
For years we’ve had rose bushes across the front of our house, but they became pretty sorry-looking, and Big Eagle removed them all. Looking for something different to replace them with last year, I chose hostas. They did pretty poorly once the summer heat hit them. Plus something munched on their leaves, as well. By the end of summer, I figured they were history. I was surprised when they made a comeback this year!
And I was even more surprised when this one produced flowers! I forgot that they could do that! Definitely a favorite thing that happened in June.
Favorite #3
Every June the day lilies in our back flower bed bloom, and that always brings some cheer.
FOOD
Favorite #4
Nothing says summer in June like a plate of sliced home-grown tomatoes with salt and pepper! Some of the tomatoes we pick have bad spots, so we just cut that part away. The rest of the tomato is still delicious. But that’s why some of the slices look like a tomato Pac-man.
Tomato harvesting slows way down in July, but in June we bring them in by the bucketful. This year I chose not to preserve any. We still have jars of salsa, tomatoes, and pasta sauce in the pantry from last year. Instead, we gave away all the ones we couldn’t use up ourselves. I gave this bucket to our next-door neighbors, which leads to my next favorite.
Favorite #5
That same neighbor showed up at my door the next afternoon with a dozen fresh eggs from their chickens! Yes, by the time I thought to take a picture, I’d already eaten two of them. They were the best-tasting eggs I’ve ever had. I’ve wanted to have chickens for a while now, but Big Eagle says it would just be one more thing we would have to arrange care for if we wanted to go somewhere, so no chickens for me. But unwittingly trading tomatoes for eggs? That was a favorite surprise occurrence in June!
Favorite #6
Ugh! I really must figure out how to get my pictures to post more clearly. I saw this bottle of wine when I was at Total Wine, and I just thought it was so pretty! So I bought it. It’s a rose from France called Fleurs de Prairie, and it came up with a 4 rating on my Vivino app.
Here is a much better picture from their website. I wanted you to be able to see the flowers in the glass at the bottom of the bottle. Okay, so the funny thing is that I can’t even tell you if I think it tastes good because I haven’t opened it yet. I’ll have to fill you in on that at a later date. It’s just so pretty! The shape of the bottle and the flowers in the glass won me over.
Favorite #7
While at Total Wine, I also succumbed to an impulse purchase at the register.
I was looking forward to a visit from my granddaughters, and Helen loves to have what she calls “a fancy drink”. So when I saw this ice mold, I thought it would be a great way to make her fancy drink even fancier. On my test runs with it I did find out that when you remove the mold from the silicone tray, it’s easy to break off one of the molds from the plastic stick. But if I ran some water over the bottom of the tray first, it was a lot easier to get the mold out in one piece. So this was a favorite find in June!
Favorite #8
Yay! Hard 8 BBQ finally opened in Burleson! We have been anticipating this for months. Big Eagle and I went on the first Saturday that they were open. It was DELICIOUS! I do have a tip you should know before you go. The line for the food is outside, but covered overhead. When you first enter this area, there is a counter at which to order beverages, which we did. Then you wait to get to the area I have pictured above where you order your food. After that, you head inside to the air conditioning and find a seat. We noticed that some people who arrived after us were bypassing the drink-ordering place, and we were curious about that. Were they not having anything to drink with their meal? Well, unbeknownst to us, once you get inside, you can get drinks there, too. So if you want to get your food first and drinks later, you can. It was pretty hot that evening, though, and the line was fairly long, so it was actually nice to have something cold to sip on while we progressed up the line. Also I was surprised that beans were not on the menu. Don’t all BBQ joints have beans? But once we got inside, there were beans for the taking. No extra charge. And other fixin’s, too. I had the brisket stuffed baked potato and one shrimp jalapeno popper. Both were really good! And I think the potato is the best value on the menu. Oh, and I had some beans, and they were yummy. Big Eagle had brisket and sausage, and he said they were good, too. But he ordered too much, so we took his leftovers home. When he had them the next day, he said they were even better because they were hot. That’s when I found out from him that the night before at the restaurant, his meat was cold by the time we got seated. That is our only negative for our first visit. It definitely won’t keep us from going back.
OTHER
Favorite #9
Only one “other”. I TOLD you it was mostly flowers and food. But on the last day of June, I went with my friend Maria to see the movie Yesterday. I was expecting it to be pretty cheesy, but I actually really enjoyed it! So much so, that I wouldn’t mind seeing it again. And my very favorite scene was the ending one. So if you love the Beatles and their music, I would recommend going.
Now we’re pretty far into July already, but if you think back to June and remember something that was a favorite of yours, I would love for you to share it with me in the comments. Or anything that’s on your mind. And I hope your summer is going great! If it’s anything like mine, it’s going TOO FAST!