Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Hibiscus Highlights

Of course, I'm not the only gardener here, most of my readers seem to enjoy growing flowers, if not in garden beds, then in pots and containers inside and outside. This is a series of Hibiscus flowers sent to me throughout the summer season by my loyal reader, PhantomX. I tinted some of them slightly as I put together this poster/collage today, artistic license and all that, and today just happens to be his birthday as well. I know everyone here will join me in wishing him, "Happy Birthday, PX!"

27 comments:

  1. I'm speechless !
    What a great birthday present.
    Absolutely beautiful - thank you so much !

    ReplyDelete
  2. you're welcome! i hope it looks OK on other monitors. It looked really nice on my big mac that I created it on, but my little mac I access the web with makes it look really washed out. I'll go with the big Mac's visuals though, it's a flat screen and only a few years old, and my little mac is 12 years old and on probably on its last legs.

    thanks for all the flower pics this summer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hibiscus to you.
    Hibiscus to you.
    Hibiscus, PhantomX
    Hibiscus to you.

    ReplyDelete
  4. 12:36, I just darkened it a bit, saturating the colors a bit more.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Always the artist - never satisfied. One of your most admirable traits....

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey X - Best Wishes of the day to you. Doesn't Marius have a nice voice though, well done. I should have baked a cake - well maybe I will.

    ReplyDelete
  7. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Px!!! Hope you have the best year ever filled with love, fun, travel and PEACE!
    What a beautiful gift Casey! Printed out, Px would a very casey-like photo..has your "plaid overlay" feeling about it...beautiful.

    HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY PhantomX

    ReplyDelete
  8. ME TOO.
    I CAN'T SING BUT PRETEND I SOUND LIKEYOUR FAVORITE LADY SINGER.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR DEAR PX.
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU.

    NOW ISN'T THAT GRAND.

    GRANNY LOU

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pardon the interruption, Casey.

    Annie and PX. BEHAVE!

    I made a flan. The cat won't eat it, he doesn't like caramel, so it's all mine.

    ReplyDelete
  10. OK EVERYBODY come on over to my place http://helloartichokeannie.blogspot.com/

    There's a BIG BIRTHDAY surprise waiting for X.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gosh, all this attention ! I feel like I just won an Emmy !
    Thanks Annie ! And thanks again Casey for starting all this today !
    It's been a riot !

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank you too, Casey for being such a gracious host. It's much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I love flan, lol! i tried making it once and it was a horrible congealed mess. it looked more like caramel curd floating in way too much whey.

    but don't make me blush. it's fun being me these days.

    ReplyDelete
  14. PX, EVERYONE NEEDS LOVE AND THIS IS YOUR DAY. ENJOY

    GRANNY

    ReplyDelete
  15. And on the seventh hour she rested. And it was good. Have a great evening all, see you all tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Easy, easy Flan.

    Someone just told me this version. I don't know if it's authentic.

    3/4 cup of sugar for the caramel.

    1 can sweetened, condensed milk

    1 can evaporated milk

    4 eggs

    1 tsp. vanilla

    una pizca of salt (a pinch)

    Melt the sugar over medium high heat until it's caramel...no burning. It smells horrible. Pour it into a flan pan or what I use - one of those disposable 9" aluminum pans from the supermarket. Swirl the caramel around the pan and let it cool.

    Beat the eggs. Add the vanilla and salt. Stir in the evaporated milk and the condensed milk. Pour that over the cooled caramel and bake in a 350 degree oven for anywhere between 40 to 50 minutes. It really depends on the oven. Mine tends to be really hot. It's done when a knife stuck in the center comes out clean

    Cool and pop in the fridge for about an hour - invert. It's a flan.

    I put a pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven when I bake it. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I do that with cheesecake as well.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Marius, that recipe sounds wonderful...will have to give it a try! (not sure if i can make it through the "don't burn it" part tho!)
    Now, everyone hop on over to my place if you're finished with your goodies at Annie's place, and have a drink on me to celebrate Px's birthday...we'll chat for a bit and toast each other the rest of the evening...(you can wear your jammies over Annie, we aren't formal here..you were a busy girl today:)Break out the little red scooter TG and scoot on over...bring gramps with you..We'll have Katie break out her convertible and pick up the birthday boys and the rest of the guys.
    See you there...
    mare

    ReplyDelete
  18. oops...you can find "my place" at http://marejohn.blogspot.com/
    see you soon.
    mare

    ReplyDelete
  19. thanks for the recipe! from what i remember, the one I tried was nothing like that, probably why it sucked!

    i'm not sure I'll get through the 'not burn' part either, but i'm definitely going to try it this weekend. my oven is on the cool side, so I'll adjust the timing, but I'm really looking forward to it!

    thanks for everyone for making this a festive day! I took an almost 3 hour walk today and took 229 photos of the coastline houses etc in case the hurricane hits... i'll see what I can come up with for posts, but thanks to everyone for keeping the site going in my absence!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ever since the poison sumac incident I had years ago, I get a little ifey walking around gardens, but like seeing them in pictures. Very vibrant looking. Casey, you need to see the gardens in Japan, especially the ones around pounds.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Happy happy birthday PX! Wow, you were spoiled today, weren't you? Isn't it grand! Well deserved! I love Casey's hibiscus picture. I always plant a climbing Mandevilla plant and the flowers are similar to hibiscus. Very pretty!

    Well Mare said I have to come scoop up all you guys in my Z3, so here I come! I guess this will be an all night party! Hee hee

    ReplyDelete