Rose Castle Cottage…2020…& A Garden Tour

The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth-Dorothy Frances Gurney

Hello, sweet friend…

For several reasons I thought today would be a perfect day to share our garden. As you know shortly after moving into our home last September we were asked to participate in the 2020 garden tour. I felt honored & excited since the date of the tour coincidently marked 5 years since moving from California to the Oregon coast…

With the concerns over the pandemic this year’s tour has been canceled…however our experiencing the joy & love of a garden hasn’t…and for many of us this has been a saving grace.


So today I’m grateful you are here so that we can share and experience the love & joy of strolling through the garden paths…together-apart

Enjoy…

👩‍🍳

What’s Cooking?

Enchanting Floral Ice Centerpiece

Recently I invited a few friends over for a socially distanced garden tour and served ice tea with a decorative block of ice infused with colorful edible flowers and sprigs of summer herbs to make for an enchanting floating centerpiece. I really had fun creating it using the flowers from my garden.

To preserve your preferred arrangement of edibles at the top of the ice block, I like to use a special, two-part freezing process that requires 14 total hours of chilling time—so the trick is to make sure you start early the day before you plan to serve your punch.

You will need:

Edible flowers (I used sweet peas…(a lot) pansies, and daisies for a colorful mix)

Citrus (lemon and lime, but oranges, grapefruit, or tangerines are equally good)

Herbs (try mint, lavender, rosemary, perilla, or lemon balm)

4 cups of water (depending on the size of your container)

2 cups of ice cubes or crushed ice

Ring cake pan, round cake pan, or round plastic container (almost any container will work—even a bundt pan or a mixing bowl- just make sure you have ample space for it in your freezer)

Step 1: Prep your produce

Step 2: Arrange artistically

Step 3: Weigh down decorations

Step 4: Remove, refill, re-freeze


Add a few inches of water to that same container, flip the ice block over so the decorations are on the top, and float it on the water. Place back in the freezer for at least eight more hours, or overnight, to create a thicker ice base. 

Step 5: Put together your punch

Once the second freeze is complete, run warm water over the bottom of the container to loosen and remove your ice, and place it in a pretty punch. Add your beverage of choice, and garnish with extra citrus slices.

Marcia
This entry was posted in 2020, A Quarantined Life, Coastal Living, Garden/Tea Time, Together Apart, What’s Cooking?. Bookmark the permalink.

7 Responses to Rose Castle Cottage…2020…& A Garden Tour

  1. Joe says:

    Thank you so very much for allowing a tour of your beautiful garden!
    It is so refreshing during this challenging time.
    I really like the floating ice sculpture.

  2. Barbara Stoffel says:

    Loved the tour! Definitely you are very creative and continue to use your teaching skills by sharing so much with us. I love it and it refreshes my day! Take care, be safe and stay well. Perhaps next year you can have that tour for everyone in town! Barbara

    • Marcia says:

      Welcome Barbara…so nice for you to stop by. Thank you for your loving comments…and that would be something t look forward to next year. I hope you are well and staying cool in California. Take care my friend.

  3. Donna Kelly says:

    Its all so very beautiful!!! I was so excited last year when you announced your new cottage was chosen for the Garden Tour!!!! Perhaps next year? Thank you for sharing with us!!!! Side note……the bleeding hearts you have??? In Pa. they are bloomed around Mothers Day and done in the 1st part of June. Different climates!!!!!

    • Marcia says:

      Hi Donna!
      Thank you…yes I look forward to this time next year. The family reunion in Lake Ariel has been canceled also. We were planning on visiting you & Bill and traveling through other areas. Oh well…it’s so beautiful here where we live that I just can’t complain. Truly blessed and grateful. Take care…be safe…and hugs to Bill.

      • Donna Kelly says:

        I remembered your trip and even mentioned to Bill that I am sure it had been cancelled!!!! Well…we have next year, because we surely arent going anywhere!!!!! Be safe too, and hugs back to you and Joe!!!!

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