12/15/09

When life gives you lemons...

But, even in Texas, it's too cold for a frosty glass of lemonade. The first year I grew lemons, I couldn't figure out what to do with them short of lemonade, but last year, we started using them in chamomile tea and my family found a new winter drink. I have three lemon trees, two are very small and I usually get 4 or 5 lemons on each. I also have this larger tree and we get 30 or so lemons from it. And, we have an orange tree that should bear about 20, but this year, it bloomed very early, while it was in the green house and there were not bugs to pollinate it, so we only got about 8. The drought meant that all the fruit is smaller this year, but it's still as tangy and sweet as ever.



The trees are in the greenhouse now and when we want a cup of tea, we send Sydney out to get one. She can eat them just sliced, but they're too tart for me.

On a quilting front, I'm still quilting in feathers. And, despite yesterday's interview, they're nice and loopy. Didn't get to quilt last night because we were wrapping the last of the gifts that we need to ship and playing with the kid. She's so 12. And, it's really nice to see her starting to relax around us. Last week, she got into trouble and when we were all around the dining table talking about it, she actually started talking to us instead of giving us that blank 12 year old look and saying "I don't know". I think we're really making progress.

Take care and have a great Tuesday. It's going to be another busy one here. Lane

6 comments:

Auntie Em said...

"She's so 12" is a perfect way to describe a preteen. Shows what a good understanding you have of her. What a great feeling it must be to see such progress. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Becky said...

My Aubree is a lover of lemon slices too. When she goes to Silverware John's (Long John Silver's) she orders pacorn and lemolade (popcorn shrimp and lemonade). :)

Coloradolady said...

Loved the description of Sydney....too cute! How wonderful to have all those lemons...I have never tried to grow one....Have a great day...glad to hear you did not have any tight feathers in your quilting! :)

Quiltluver said...

I would love to have lemons in my back yard. I like them in my water or soft drink.

Lisa said...

Lemon cake!! Of course, it won't use up too many lemons (only the zest for the cake and 3 teaspoons of juice for the glaze) so you'll just have to make more than one cake to use up your lemons! Here's the link to a recipe I found:

http://thelazychef.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/refreshing-lemon-cake/

Vesuviusmama said...

I'm with Sydney - my children and I all love to eat lemons. And lemonade is a favorite drink, even throughout the winter. I'm pretty jealous that you have (and can grow!) three trees!