You know I love my deer. They share this property with us and I do everything I can to protect them. But just like beloved children, sometimes their behavior makes me a bit unhappy.
Like when they chomp on my plants.
Part of that is my fault. I was away in Chautauqua and totally forgot about spraying the flowers with a natural deer repellent that I use. By the time I got home and realized that, it was too late. So, they dined on some day lilies and ate 99% of the leaves from the hostas that are planted in front of the shed.
But my hostas are sturdy little things and they had something up their sleeve.
Take that, deer! They aren’t going to let a little de-leafing get them down. Not when they can deliver flowers like these.
We’ve been watching some old black and white films (my favorite.) Friday night was Random Harvest, starring Greer Garson and Ronald Colman – a great love story that takes place right after WWI. Colman’s character has amnesia, Greer helps him and the story goes on from there. Simply beautiful and, at times, heartbreaking. Then Don watched another movie, one of our favorites, Waterloo Bridge. (I’d seen it recently and it was late, so I went to bed.) But just as we did the first time we saw it, Don and I ended up talking about it for an hour the next day. It stars Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh. Another love story with a WWI backdrop and a heartbreaking one, where you find yourself saying “If only she had said something,” or “If only she hadn’t let her pride get in the way.” It haunted me for days after I saw it for the first time. It’s a beautiful movie – I recommend it highly.
Then last night: the great 1927 classic, Metropolis. Simply stunning. A visual triumph with a powerful story. If you haven’t seen it, you should.
There’s nothing like a great old movie. We’ve hit the jackpot lately.
I also just finished Cop Town by Karin Slaughter, which I’m going to review on Just Let Me Finish This Page tomorrow. Now I’m reading Deadly Assets by Wendy Tyson. I’ve reviewed some of Tyson’s books on this blog, so I’m looking forward to this one. It will be also be reviewed on the book blog
Today is rainy, which is just fine. The gardens need a little rain. Scoutie is in the tunnel, I’m sipping my Peet’s French Roast (no little K-Cups for me, thank you very much, I brew a pot of coffee.)
By the way, what is with the K-Cup craze? I know a lot of people use them, but they seem expensive to me and rather like a fad. Suddenly everyone is using K-Cups and buying a special coffee maker just so they can use them. If you limit yourself to one cup of coffee a day….maybe. Or if you and your mate have different tastes in coffee? But if I were going to go with one cup of coffee, I’d go with a filter cone. Much better result. We have one here and my roommate in Chautauqua had a collapsible filter cone made out of silicone that she used for traveling and she won me over. She spooned some of my coffee in the filter, boiled some water, poured it into the filter and oh my goodness! Was that coffee great! Much cheaper than K-Cups, obviously, and much, much better. I’m going to buy one for Don and one for me. We both have out-of-town gigs coming up.
Don’s late father, Lee, loved his K-Cups. He proudly showed them off to me when I visited him in San Diego. I think he liked having a variety of flavors on hand and would treat himself to a different one every day. That’s when I can understand the K-Cup thing. That’s when it makes sense. Anyway, just my opinion – I’m very serious about my coffee, as you know. If you love K-Cups, tell me why – I’d love to know.
There. I’ve gone off on a tangent. Don would tell you that kind of thing is rather routine around here.
The phlox have started blooming.
Oh, that scent is heavenly!
Happy Sunday.
We need to trade some phlox, I want white and I have 2 colors of pink. Maybe at the end of the season we can mail each other some for fall planting. I have a very old fiend from across the pond that only uses the coffee method you described. She has the cone and boils water and swears it’s the best results. I think the K-cups are pricy too. My grama uses them but watches for sales and uses coupons to get the price down. Have a wonderful Sunday stitching.
I have to say that usually I’m too impatient to make the cups with the filter, but I think I’m going to start to do it. The taste of the coffee is so much better.
See? I don’t want to have to wait for sales to get something I use every day!
Had to chuckle when I went to comment and saw K cups are one of your blog sponsors.
The minute you write anything on a blog, or search Google – it pops up in an ad. Go figure.
I am not a big coffee drinker. but I see the machines all over where I work. Some do buy the special filter and use their own coffeee, but not many. I also am concerned about putting all these cups in the landfill. Do they break down. I really don’t know.
Very good point, Teresa. I didn’t think of that, but you’re right – they’re plastic so I doubt they break down very well, if at all.
Claudia, No K-cups for me. LOL…I love a couple cups of coffee in the morning. One later and then maybe just one more. . Stainless steel carafe helps keep it fresh. I hope your hostas can make back next year , the blooms looks perfect. We have been watching cartoon movies with our granddaughter. It’s a change . Blessings, xoxo,Susie
They’ll come back, Susie. They always do. I just have to make sure I spray them with the repellent next year!
Have fun with your granddaughter – that sounds like the best fun!
I’ve never understood the K-cup craze, either. It seems the more we need to reduce the amount of Stuff that goes into the landfills, the more wasteful we become. (Sorry, my little soapbox) Yet, all my 4 children have them because only one cup is being consumed a day in their households, and a pound of coffee goes stale before they get it consumed, or so they claim. For me, though, I still use my gold filter and brew a small pot everyday for myself and my hubby, and then the grounds go into the garden.
I’m on the same soapbox – an awful lot of K-Cups going into landfills = not a good thing.
Coffee doesn’t go stale if it’s refrigerated – which is what I do.
The ultimate in repurposing/recycling – ground into the garden!
I woke up at 2 this morning watched the news, ironed then went back to bed and read. Looked for an old movie on Turner Classics but nothing I wanted to see. I’m a type A person, I get a lot done during the day, wonder what I could accomplish if I drank coffee!!
When I was PTA president I put a stop to serving coffee to the parents and let them drink punch like the kids…I didn’t know how to make coffee. So at the Woman’s Club I suggested the same thing. My reasoning is…My mother would hang a cigarette off her lip with an inch of ash hanging off the end and drink coffee at the same time all day! My generation drinks coffee for breakfast at home. My three daughters and their friends don’t make coffee at home they drive thru Star Bucks!!
You could take a photo of a weed and it would look good!!
Yes, I think a lot of the younger generation gets coffee when they are out and about. I couldn’t get dressed and function without my first cup, so coffee at home it is.
I like it when you go off on a tangent…it’s a regular occurrence around here too! Funny about your hostas…my deer eat my flowers. So, I only have half of them blooming. Go figure…must be regional differences in the deer! Who knew! As far as k-cups go…only used once while I was a guest. I found them too strong…I had to dilute with water! We usually brew a pot or two in the morning…the extra is stored in a carafe, in case we need a shot of caffeine later in the day! ;)
Don will brew some in the afternoon sometimes, but I can’t drink it after 12 noon – that’s my cutoff point. Or it keeps me up.
Your Hosta flowers are so pretty! The deer around here eat everything also. Well, I guess I’m one of your few readers who like k-cups. I resisted the ‘craze’ for a long time but used one once and loved the flavor. I only drink one cup most days and find this the easiest way. I do have concerns for the landfill problem and have my own reusable cups and but must admit that buying k-cups is what I mostly do. I may have to rethink that. Maybe because it’s just me and I drink one cup I find it reasonable to spend the money. One of my daughters uses a French Press and the other the cone method you described in your blog. Both produce good cups of coffee.
hugs
Linda
I’ve used a French Press in the past. I love that, too.
Your pictures are gorgeous….old movies have a special place in my heart, and probably the only ones I watch all the way through.
We have a stainless steel french press that we use for our morning coffee. We did the k-cup thing for awhile, but all the plastic waste and expense seemed silly. Also, that darn coffee maker bit the dust about a year in (we tend to overuse things, and thus, I’ve started by quality things that last and do not contain plastic).
May you have a great day….the weather is a chance of rain all week here in our part of Texas, and we will be grateful for every drop :)
I remember when I first went to England many years ago, the woman who I was staying with used a French Press and I came home and bought one. Very good cup of coffee and much cheaper than K-Cups.
My mother gave us a K cup machine a couple years ago. she is always into the latest craze. We use it occasionally. I like it for the sweet tea. But I hardly ever buy the cups because I think they are too pricey.
Our favorite coffee is Hazel Nut by International Coffee. Yep, the little cans of instant with lots of cream already put in. AM I alone in that being my favorite?
They’re not my thing, though I do remember using them when I was still in Michigan, before I moved away for Grad School. I bet you’re not the only one, Debby.
We have also had deer in the yard. We had one living here for abut 10 days. He made our shady yard his home. He ate grass and weeds. He must have known that if he ate things from my garden he would have to go. He eventually moved on.
I don’t know why the K craze, except the coffee if unbelievable. One cup at a time means it is always fresh, and doesn’t sit on a burner hot plate like other coffee makers. I don’t have one but people I know do. I wanted one but got a Bunn instead. My husband would have been unable to figure out a K cup type.
I get that it’s always fresh, but so is the one-cup-at-a time filter cone. And it’s a lot cheaper.
We don’t have a problem with deer eating anything here. They just don’t come in this close. Just a few miles north of us…down in the bottoms, I think they hide there instead. I biggest issue is the hogs tearing up the back pasture, though we’ve had them as close at the clothesline pole –and outside the back door. :/ Swine!
K-cups? don’t see the point. Though, I’ve never tasted the coffee that comes from them. I brew a pot. Our son (who is currently living with us) bought some coffee from Starbucks…I believe it is the blonde blend. I didn’t much care for that either. I love my coffee. Though now with being diabetic– I’ve had to ‘fix’ it up a new way, and am still experimenting with it. I don’t drink it black. I like cream– so did away with the french vanilla non-dairy stuff and am using half and half. This week– I dropped the honey and switch to Splenda. I had some in the cupboard. Not too keen on it. Who knows…next week I may start drinking it black! Until, I find the flavor I’m after. I just won’t give up the coffee. :)
Pat
I use half-and-half, Pat. I used to drink it black, but then I stopped for a while when I was having gall bladder problems. When I started again, I added the creamer because it cut some of the acidity. I won’t give it up, either. I don’t smoke, drink or do any kind of drugs. I barely take any medicine. So I figure, I can have as much coffee as I want!
Claudia, if you have acidity issues, try the cold brew or pour-over method. Are you familiar? Toddy method is one well-known maker for this too. Practically eliminates the problem in most cases and you still enjoy decent coffee, not massively-watered down stuff. Worked wonders for a friend of mine.
I’ll check it out, Janet. Thanks! The acidity issues are much better now that my gall bladder has gone bye-bye, but I’m open for anything that might make it easier.
I do have a K-Cup machine that was a gift and I do use as I normally only have two cups per day and I prefer the cappuccino flavored cups..I only buy them cheap as possible as long as they have good flavor..Our Ollie’s discount store has them now for $3.99 a box of 12..I also have the reusable little filter cup so that I can use cheaper brands and save on waste..Of course now that so many coffees are packaged in plastic containers they also add to the problem..I am glad that the deer haven’t come back to eat the flowers too..The hummingbirds and bees are loving the ones here..The white Phlox is beautiful..
Using the reusable filter cup makes sense, Nancy.
But at $3.99 for a box of 12 cups, I’d have to buy a new box every 2 days. Don drinks 3 cups a day and so do I. A pound of Peet’s at $8.00 usually lasts us just under 2 weeks. Compare that to a box of K-cups every 2 days, which would be about 7 1/2 boxes x 3.99. Round it off to: $30.00! It just wouldn’t work for our lifestyle or our pocketbook.
But everyone’s coffee drinking habits are different and I understand why some people find them handy. Or, like you, like a certain thing like a cappuccino cup.
Oh..I can’t afford them all the time Claudia..I buy a couple boxes when funds allow..otherwise that’s when having the reusable filter helps..I can buy whatever I can afford and use it..
Ah, that makes sense. So, do you just put a certain amount of coffee in the reusable filter? Just like making regular coffee?
Yes..you kind of have to adjust a bit until you get the right amount for your taste but you can also make hot tea, iced tea, hot coco, etc..not just coffee..
Cool!
I only drink black tea. And hot water. I never drank enough water and then I found out I love water that is hot. I put it in a mug, just like tea or coffee, and drink it all day. It’s the first thing I have in the morning. Then I have a pot of tea that takes me all day to drink, along with my water. I gave up drinking anything else. I do miss my Pepsi, but I miss it a little less everyday.
Oh, one of my favorite movies is “Inn of the Sixth Happiness” with Ingrid Bergman and Curt Jergens. It’s in color. Beautiful, beautiful love story. 1958. I will keep my eyes open for the movies you suggested.
Tana
I don’t think I’ve every tried drinking hot water without anything in it, Tana. But good for you, that takes care of the water you should be drinking every day.
I have o desire for K cups. I like my coffee bold and black and usually have about 3 cups. I make a pot and enjoy. I am very particular about my coffee. However I did not know about the collapsable cones for travel. That I could do.
They are really handy, Linda. Just pack some of the small filters and the collapsible cone and you’re all set!
I have a plain old coffee pot and it makes a fine cuppa. My concern with the k-cups is that it seems very wasteful-just another way to fill up our landfills.
I think they are indeed very wasteful. And goodness knows, we don’t need more waste in landfills.
I think K-cups might be a fad too. The first “salad shooter” type appliance of the 21st century. Remember them? I’m predicting K-cup machines will be heavily-featured in a lot of tag sales in the future. But who knows? I’m sure butter churn manufacturers never thought store-bought butter would catch on either. I make coffee in a French press. Very simple. Boil water, pour over grounds in pot, wait 4 minutes, push soaked grounds to bottom of pot with plunger and pour. Drink it black for simplicity too. Most importantly, you really taste the true coffee that way. But I don’t like messing around with all the accoutrements of coffee culture and the trash it creates either. Stirrers or spoons, little “thimbles” of cream, paper sugar packets etc etc. And of course the big question. “Is this cream, milk, half-and-half or some weird artificial creamer – and if it’s artificial, what chemicals am I pouring into my coffee?” Plus now we have all the flavored syrups as well. The only drawback with a French press is that it’s difficult to make mass quantities so I have a regular drip-type machine for company.
I do remember salad shooters! I used to drink coffee out of a French Press and I liked it very much indeed. I don’t know why I got out of the habit. I don’t like all the other coffee extras, either. I don’t use anything with chemicals in it, like artificial creamers. I use half and half. Nothing other than half milk, half cream.
Claudia,
Thank you for an entertaining topic, I enjoyed all the comments sent to you about coffee and deer. Need to try that hot water recipe on a cold evening. Judy
I just might try it, as well, Judy.
sigh…… my name is Chris and I have a Keurig brewer and I do use K-cups. My hubs has never had a cup of coffee in his life, and at age 63 I doubt that he will begin at any time soon. I drink one cup of coffee per day using one of the “Half-Caf” k-cups. I can’t justify my bad habit. I do pop the top and pull out the grounds to collect for the gardens. But, I figure that since we also don’t add any liquor bottles or cans to the landfill, I will live on with my sad and despicable habit. :-(
My son and DIL use a French press and I DO love that coffee. If my Keurig broke, I don’t know if I would buy another one ~ this one was a gift. When it was about 11 months old it stopped working. My hubs called their CS line to see if they had any tips or suggestions on what might be wrong and they immediately sent us a brand new one. We were shocked and very surprised by their customer service!
The resilience of your hostas made me smile! Where there is a will, there is a way!! Have a wonderful day!!
Hey, if it works for you, why not, Chris? One cup a day seems to be the perfect amount for a K-Cup. Enjoy them.
It might be interesting to see if there are any bio-degradable K-Cups out there….I wonder if there are?
Apparently there are Claudia..Google “bio-degradable K-Cups”..
I hope more K-Cup users start using them. Might send a message to the manufacturers of the individual brands. Glad to see there are biodegradable cups.
The expense involved in using anything “special” to brew a cup of coffee would be wasted on me. When I worked I had one cup in the morning, at work, and always made with a packet of hot chocolate. Now I have a very small pot at home that I use occasionally. I like the Target brand of flavored grounds … and I still make it with a packet of hot chocolate. I really do enjoy it … but I rarely think about making it!
Growing up in the country I remember what a problem the deer could be in the flower beds and garden. But to see a half dozen deer in the early morning, having breakfast in the garden, was a wondrous sight! :)
Seeing the deer any time at all is still wondrous, Debbie. I never tire of it.
Well, I’ve read all the above comments and have come to the conclusion that we all like different things.
The one comment about not putting liquor bottles in the landfill….hit home. We don’t do that nor do we put beer cans in the landfill. Our town recycles.
I checked my K cups and they are bio-degradable. My husband and I have different tastes. He likes strong coffee….so the Italian Roast is for him. I love tea…so the English Breakfast tea is for me. I need decaf. he drinks reg. So, K cups are perfect for us.
I used to use the cone and It was more time consuming and more steps had to be taken. The coffee was good, but the K cups coffee and tea are excellent.
You two fall into the category I mentioned in my post – the situation where your mate likes something different than you do. And yay for your biodegradable K-Cups. We also recycle – our town, though small, has a recycling center. But we don’t drink liquor, so there are no bottles to recycle!
We’re not a coffee family but love our tea in the winter. When the charity I work for received a Keurig as a donation, the staff was ecstatic. They tried to get me on board by making me a tea one rainy day but my concern about the environment over rode my desire to try it. I noticed this past week that it hasn’t been used for weeks, now that the novelty has worn off. The one good thing that happened is my staff began to collect the cups and wash them out to use in the art program.
May I ask Claudia what you use as a natural option for deer repellent? We are moving to the country and my only worry is how to have a flower garden as well as a veggie patch while living peacefully with all the deer who seem to enjoy visiting our property!
I use this recipe from the blog Turkey Feathers:
http://turkeyfeathers.typepad.com/files/deer-repellent-recipe-8.pdf
It works well.
Hi Claudia. Beautiful pictures! I am the only coffee drinker in my house. I found that if I brewed about 4 cups in the morning that I would end up throwing some out each day. I use a k-cup machine, but with a re-usable filter, so I buy my favorite coffee (Peet’s!) and fill the filter up with it and brew. I refuse to spend extra money for actual k-cups. They are so over-priced! I love your blog and read it daily. I am from the east coast and now live in Colorado, so your blog helps me feel more in touch with my home base. Take care, Heather
That sounds like a smart way to use the Keurig, Heather. Which Peet’s do you favor?
My favorite Peet’s is Major Dickeson’s Blend. I have tried the French roast and house blends, but always wind up back with my fave. :)
I can never hear “Auld Lang Syne” without thinking of Robert Taylor and Vivien Leigh. I love black-and-white movies too (although my grandchildren refuse to watch them). My favorite is “Now, Voyager” with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid. I know it’s now thought of as disgusting, but I still think the scene where he lights two cigarettes is so romantic!
It is totally romantic, Marianne!
I too was lucky to enjoy “Random Harvest” recently! I ADORE Greer Garson…I think I’ve seen “Mrs. Miniver” at least 9 or 10 times! I own a Keurig coffee maker. It was a gift to myself when I quit smoking 3 years ago. The K-cups can be expensive, admittedly, but I buy them when they are on sale at the big grocery chains here. The coffee just tastes sooo much better than a drip brewer, and I don’t have to waste what doesn’t get used from a full pot.
I totally understand the waste aspect of it. We usually drink all the coffee we make, but there are times that there is coffee left over and that makes me crazy!
I used to swing through McDonalds before 6 am and get a cup of coffee before my hour commute. My hubby worked nights so we’d make a full pot on the weekend and throw about 4 cups away. Now I work a different direction with a 9 minute commute (still leaving before 6 am) and hubby is retired and gets up around 9 and also has one cup of coffee. We like the keurig for the one cup convenience. We drink folgers, flavors, different roasts, sweet tea, cocoa, hot cider – you name it! It does make good coffee, it’s quick and easy, we ‘harvest’ the grounds, the cups are biodegradable and when you buy from the keurig website the discount(s) are considerable. We think we spend less this way – no wasted coffee and no McDonalds.
Then that’s a good thing, Sandy. Sounds like it works very well for you.
I was visiting my daughter and I had a cup of coffee brewed in her Keurig machine. I can truthfully say it was the best cup of coffee I’d ever had! I was then so thrilled to receive my very own Keurig machine gifted to me on Mother’s Day from my husband and kids. Now I do do everything possible to be kind to the environment including using biodegradable k cups and composting the coffee grounds, along with my usual recycling, use of rain water barrels, no pesticides, using a car only when absolutely necessary, etc. I felt like your blog post here was to make those of us who use k cups to feel guilty somehow and that you are a better person for not using them. I was a little surprised at that after reading your blog for so many months now…. I am the only one in my family that drinks coffee and usually only 1 cup a day. It is the one luxury I allow myself. I belong to the Keurig coffee club and receive big discounts every few months – often I get about 50 percent off my order if I order enough at one time, along with free shipping, and so I stock up.
I love those old movies too. :)
Since this is my blog, it follows that what I write is usually my opinion about something. In fact, I said that in the post. And then I invited those of you who use them to tell me why you like them. Which you did. And I learned some things. Now where is the guilt in that?
I’m still trying to find my favorite coffee, and I do find the K-cups very convenient. My only gripe is that every Keurig machine we’ve ever bought breaks down before the year is out. It’s happened 3 times now. (Is happening as I type actually. Some days it’s fine and others not so much).
And I have to ask… what deer repellant do you use? Our deer have been eating our little rose trees, and I’m tired of tossing sheets over them at night. The sheets are unsightly, stick to the thorns and crush the blooms. We’ve also tried other methods I’ve read about: shavings of Irish Spring Soap, dog fur, etc. I love our deer, but I also love our rose trees. (The only thing growing around here this summer, thanks to those bothersome grasshoppers. They’re eating everything).
The link for the deer repellent recipe is further up in the comments/replies, Kristin. Look under Chy’s comment and you’ll see the link. Hope it helps!
Thank You! I never would have found that. I can’t wait to try it out.
Kristin