Just a little short gardening update. My seedlings are growing nicely. They had grew even more since I took these pictures last week or the week before last.

They have been outside "sun-bathing" in the heat as well for a couple of days

because we hit mid to high 80's over the weekend.

This first picture is my tray of tomatoes, jalapenos, pepperoncini, basil and bok choy. I really should transplant those bok choy outside.


Here's another look of that same tray.

Here's a close up look at the zucchini plants and sunflowers.

Both trays side-by-side. On the left is the tomato tray and on the right is the cucumber, zucchini, sunflower and some tomatoes and peppers. Here's my way of recycling, used and cleaned paper/foam cups and used but cleaned plant containers from last year.

I did a soil test using this easy to use soil test kit I bought from Lowe's. This very inexpensive soil test kit can be purchased at any garden center. Or if you want to be fancy, you can send your soil samples to a testing lab and pay a fee for the service. Testing your soil periodically will let you know the specific nutrient needed for your garden, which assures that each crop gets exactly what it needs to grow and yield to its fullest potential.

I finally received my order of potatoes and onions. This year I am planting Yukon Gold and Dark Red Norland. I didn't plant any potato last year. Also in the shipment is my order of onions. I bought 1LB of Yellow Stuttgarder. I should start planting these outside, that is as soon as we finish fencing my new garden area. Yes, I have a new garden area. It's not what I had initially planned. This new garden area is now in the front yard section, which gets full sun almost all day long. My initial plan was to create another smaller area for corn and potatoes in addition to the existing garden. But now everything will be in one area. I think it's about 15' x 25'.

Now I have a question for all or any of you who might know: I planted strawberry plants in my garden(old section) last year but am thinking of moving them to this new garden area. Do you think I would kill them if I move them now?

When is the best time to transplant strawberry plants?

p/s: Pssss, Samantha & June here. We went into mom's old garden area and we dug a big hole!!! She didn't even stop us. That was so much fun!

RIP Honey

Golden Honey crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday.

Her parents are very heart broken.

We would like to send our condolences to her parents.

Golden Friday

Hi doggie friends and human friends! Today we have decided to dedicate this Golden Friday post to our friend Golden Honey. This is Honey in the picture below. She is a beautiful senior golden, she is almost 14 years old!
Honey's parent got some heart-breaking news this week. Honey is sick, she's got cancer(advance stage). Please go over to her blog if you could, to give Honey some love and give her parents some encouragement.



On a lighter note, we received another award from Paco & Milo! Grazie amici!
The aims of this award:
* As a dedication for those who love blogging activity and love to encourage friendships through blogging.
* To seek the reasons why we all love blogging!
* Put the award in one post as soon as you receive it
* Don’t forget to mention the person who gives you the award.
* Answer the award’s question by writing the reason why you love blogging.
* Tag and distribute the award to as many people as you like.
* Don’t forget to notify the award receivers and put their links in your post.

Now to answer the award's question why we love blogging:
1) It is so much fun!!!

2) We get to meet new doggie friends and mom gets to meet new human friends!

3) Through blogging, we get to "show off" our goofy photos and videos.

4) This answer is from mom: she gets to "show off" her garden and talk about recipes.

5) Through blogging we get to learn different things and get ideas. Mom loves it because she gets garden tips and ideas from her human friends.

We are suppose to pass this award to some friends, but it's too hard to just pick a few, so to all of our blogging doggies and human friends, we would like to share it with you. You are most welcome to blog about it when you get a chance.

Enjoy your weekend!


Love,
Samantha & June

Something Healthy

I apologize for lack of blogging on my part lately. The dogs, on the other hand(or should I say on the other paw) have been blogging faithfully every Friday. I know they just love to blog about themselves. I have been quite busy at work and haven't have a chance to upload pictures of my seedlings. I promise I will do that soon and do a garden update. But for now, please enjoy this recipe of Chewy Granola Bars.

I have been making these yummy chewy granola bars. I actually like these better than the crunchy ones that I posted here a few weeks ago. The recipe came from Baker's Banter. Please click on over for step-by-step instructions with pictures as well as tips about making this recipe. I changed a few things on that recipe, mainly because I wanted to use what I had in my pantry. I will note the changes I made in pink.

Chewy Granola Bars
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats (I used old-fashined oat and it worked fine)
1 cup + 2 tablespoons Sticky Bun Sugar (I didn't have that, so I just used brown sugar)
1/3 cup granulated sugar, optional (see "tips" at Baker's Banter)
1/3 cup oat flour (or 1/3 cup quick oats, processed till finely ground in a food processor or blender) (I didn't use either. I used wheat germ instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional (I used 1/2 tsp)
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts* (I used dried cranberries and raisins but next time I would cut down on the amount of sugar because it was quite sweet)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup melted butter or vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used dark corn syrup but I really would like to try using honey or maple syrup)
1 tablespoon water
*We like 1/2 cup each dried cranberries, chopped dried apricots, chopped pecans, sunflower seeds, and coconut. Walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cherries or apples, or even chocolate chips would all be delicious as well.

Instructions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan.
2) Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts.
3) In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, syrup or honey, and water.
4) Toss the wet ingredients with the dry until the mixture is evenly crumbly.
5) Spread in the prepared pan, shaking the pan to evenly cover the bottom and patting down gently (I sprayed my hands with Pam before speading the mixture in the pan)
6) Bake the bars for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're golden brown around the edges. (I only baked for 20 minutes)
7) Remove them from the oven, loosen the edges, and cool for 5 minutes.
8) Use a knife (or bench knife) to cut the bars while they're still warm in the pan. Carefully remove warm bars from the pan, and cool on a rack. Alternatively, remove from the pan before cutting into bars; it helps to cut in half first, then loosen the bottom of each half with a turner/spatula before turning out onto a sheet of parchment to cut into bars.
9) Wrap bars individually to store; or place in a single layer on a plate, and cover with plastic; or store in layers with parchment in between. In humid weather, it's best to store bars in the refrigerator. They also freeze well.

Do try this recipe if you like chewy granola bars. I absolutely love these!

Golden Friday

Woof! Happy Golden Friday! This is June, your blog host du jour.

Today I would like to tell you 5 random things about me:

1) I came from Tennessee(does that make me a Southern Belle?). I was found next to a road, infested with fleas & ticks & a bad case of mange. A nice lady took care of me and loved me. When I was healthy enough, she found me a forever home with mom and dad and Samantha.

2) Mom and dad do not know my real woofday so they decided that Thanksgiving Day should be my woofday. That's because they were so anxious to meet me, they drove to Pawsylvania to meet with the transporter lady right on Thanksgiving Day!

3) My favorite place in the whole wide world is my bed(aka mom and dad's bed).

It is so furry comfy.

4) My favorite food is Spaghetti & Meatballs.

Mom will give me and Samantha some everytime she makes it.

It is delizioso! Always paws lickin' good!

5) I love to howl!

When mommy or daddy ask me to speak, I howl.

When they ask me if I want a BONE(milkbone), I howl.

When they ask me if I want to go for a walk or ride, I howl.

Have a wonderwoof weekend!

Golden Friday

Hi friends, it's Golden Friday again! It's just me(Samantha) blogging today. June is taking a break. She said she will blog next Friday.

Remember last month when our daddy had his bifday? Well, he brought home this thing, it's round and it has a tail. Mom said it's a balloon but we just think it's scary. The other day mom and dad thought it would be funny to tease us with it. They took that thing and tied it on my collar and left it on the floor. I wanted to bite it but mom wouldn't let me. June didn't want to even come near it. Mom took a video of us with that scary thing.

On another note, we received some very pretty pink roses from our friends in Italy, Paco & Milo

Grazie Paco e Milo, noi amiamo le rose

Pink Roses are given to all friends out there, bringing them a sweet and fruitful day.
Those who receive these roses as a gift, you need to pass it on to 10 friends of yours to show them you care.
And of course, for those who received the roses, that's to show that you're never forgotten!
So June and I would like to give these roses to some of our doggie friends:

Gus & Waldo

Joey & Zeke

Khyra

Tucker, Daisy & Leo

Samantha

Kane

Have a pawsome weekend and Happy Easter!

Wordless Wednesday(Kinda)

My dad turned 60 on April 5th!

What's your name?

It's Friday, so that means it's Golden Friday! Samantha & June blogging today. Mom said from now on Friday is our blogging day. Ha, ha, haroooooo....
We saw this at Khyra's blog, her mom did this meme. It was fun reading about it, so we thought we should do this too.
Ok, first one up is Samantha:

Game depends on which letter starts your name....

1. What is your name? Samantha
The following answers must all begin with the first letter of your name.
2. A four letter word? Soup
3. Girl name: Sandy
4. Boy name: Sam
5. Occupation: Sweet-loving watch/lap dog
6. Color: Sand
7. Piece of clothing: Smooth fur
8. Food: Sausage
9. Item in the bathroom: Scale(it's mom's)
10. Place/City: Sunny deck
11. A reason for being late: Stop to sniff things out
12. Something you’d yell: Silly, I can't yell, I'm a dog, I bark, WOOF!
13. Movie: Sundance Kid
14. Something you can drink: Soup
15. Band: Sting
16. Animal: Seal
17. Street name: Sesame Street
18. Car: Sedona
19. Song: Sealed with a Kiss
20. Activity that includes more than one participant: Slow dancing

June's turn now:
1. What is your name? June
The following answers must all begin with the first letter of your name.
2. A four letter word? Jade
3. Girl name: Janice
4. Boy name: Jason
5. Occupation: Jolly little barker
6. Color: Jasper
7. Piece of clothing: Jogging shorts
8. Food: Jam
9. Item in the bathroom: June, when I lay on the bathroom floor :)
10. Place/City: June's bed
11. A reason for being late: Just feel like being late
12. Something you’d yell: Just howl, I can't yell
13. Movie: Jumanji
14. Something you can drink: Juice
15. Band: Jonas Brothers
16. Animal: Jackrabbit
17. Street name: Jay Street
18. Car: Jaguar
19. Song: Jingle Bells
20. Activity that includes more than one participant: Joking

Have a pawrific weekend!

Wordless Wednesday