I Like Thursday #153

Late again to the I Like Thursday party. Oh well, I do have a few things to share. Hopefully you had a great week and have already checked out the "Like" posts on the Not Afraid of Color blog.

Remember my neighbor's sunflowers? She was waiting for them to bloom. Now they have exploded! This picture was taken a couple of days ago. I'm sure there are more sunflowers in her garden by now. I also love the colorful zinnias standing tall in the front row.

My little tiered garden planter is coming along. By the way, many of you commented on it. It was an Aldi Find several years ago so I don't know where you can find another except maybe Amazon? Anyway, I've got marigolds, allysum,  and zinnias blooming happily. On the bottom row you will also see a "volunteer" moss rose from last year. It's happy too!

View From the Top

Desert Rose Hanging from Bottom Left

While driving to one of my quilt clubs, I spied this painting on the building. It's new and looks wonderful. We are getting our kicks on Route 66!

Taken Out My Window While Waiting on Red Light

Speaking of Route 66, I finished this 1000-piece puzzle.

LeeAnna's prompt this week was favorite meal/mealtime. I guess I'm more of a lunch person but only because I get up so early, breakfast is almost always a bowl of cereal. Currently I'm enjoying Honey Grahams! Lol! Dinner is so late in the day and, since I made it while tired from the day's activities, I'm not overly enthusiastic about dinner. But lunch is right up my alley. The other day I pulled out the fresh hatch chili Mom & I had picked up at the grocery store. We didn't know quite what to do with it, just knew they were supposed to be delicious. They were marked "Mild" so we figured jalapeno-mild since that's what I'd read online. So I treated it like a jalapeno-poblano.

First I blistered it on the stove and peeled off the outer layer. Then I stuffed each half with cream cheese, sprinkled chipotle chile powder on top, topped that with cojack cheese, and popped them in the toaster oven for about 15 minutes. Then I switched on the broiler and browned them up. Here's a picture of mine! So tasty! Only thing missing was a margarita -- too early. No margarita for lunch! Haha!

I did finish "The Dutch House" and really enjoyed that book. It was a fun and interesting read, not too deep, and had a good (but strange) cast of characters. Now I'm reading a book that my daughter recommended. It's "Endurance: Shackleford's Incredible Voyage" by Alfred Lansing. It's about Shackleford and 27 others trying to make the first way across Antarctica to the South Pole back in the 1910s. The hardships they'e endured and the uneasiness of not being in control of their situation as the ice has got them stuck and frozen still. No way the boats can sail through as everthing is frozen rock-solid. The 24-hour darkness followed by the 24-hour daylight periods has not helped their situation. I'm about halfway through and I'll finish. It IS interesting but it's not a book that I would say I'm "enjoying". There are some very rough spots that they've endured but the passages from the explorers' diaries are very interesting and give you a sense of what they're going through.

GoodReads Synopsis Found HERE

We've had a taste of Fall here lately with highs only in the mid-70s and lows down into the low- to mid-50s. Summer will be returning before the weekend is over with 90s for the highs again. It was good while it lasted, right? In the meantime I started feeling like making soup (obviously due to the weather) and made this Creamy Sausage Tortellini Soup. Whole Lotta Yum gives you three ways to make it -- Crock Pot, Instant Pot, or Stovetop. Isn't that great??? I went Instant Pot and subbed out the kale for spinach, used whold milk instead of heavy cream, and only used 4 cups of chicken broth. We loved it!

I hope you have a great weekend and can find enjoyable things to appreciate near you.