Blog Index - April 2017

April 1, 2017	It took me 3 days to enlarge the cobblestone walk 2 ½ feet by 5 feet
April 2, 2017	The best part of my day – Jasmine
April 3, 2017	New project – the dish garden patio around the raised kitchen garden
April 4, 2017	Grey Owl Juniper – I love them and hate them
April 5, 2017	The surprising charm of a lone tulip
April 6, 2017	Early spring gardening trick
April 7, 2017	In the lap of luxury
April 8, 2017	Sack of live rabbits
April 9, 2017	Crop fit
April 10, 2017	Pavers and sand arrived
April 11, 2017	Day two of the Pavers
April 12, 2017	Day three of the pavers and patio
April 13, 2017	Final Day on Paved patio
April 14, 2017	You simply can’t take the salesmen of this fellow customer
April 15, 2017	Poem: Let’s Pay the Taxes with Asparagrus
April 16, 2017	Full Circle Happy Easter Everyone
April 17, 2017	DeWit Dutch hand hoe – I can’t garden without it.
April 18, 2017	They can’t read their own handwriting?
April 19, 2017	Proust’s famous little Madeleines
April 20, 2017	Oatmeal Spice Cookies from a cake mix
April 21, 2017	Back to tidying ways . . . Mom’s letters
April 22, 2017	The surprise birdhouse

April 22, 2017 - The surprise birdhouse.

My mailbox is full of catalogs every day.   Often I get those "gift" catalogs that have expensive everyday items or curiosity collectibles.

When I see something I like or something cute or clever, I fold the page up and out.  This drives my husband crazy when he follows behind me.

But, when we lived at our first house in the county and the company switched him to 'swing' shift he had extra time on his hands while I remained a 8 to 5 Monday through Friday worker.

We had a basement where he had built a sturdy work bench so that he could easily outfit his golf clubs with new grips any time he wanted and he started to "putter" around with little projects.

My folding down the page in one of those overpriced curiosity catalogs ended up with a delightful gift.

I'd folded down a page that had a picture of a watermelon wedge shaped birdhouse.  Sharp roof came down over a triangular front with a rounded bottom.  Painted watermelon red of course with the black seeds on the front panel, and the bottom round green for the rind.  I thought it was absolutely darling.

My husband picked up the catalog and just opening up the folded page he knew that I would love it.   He looked at the price tag and laughed.  He knew he could do it for much less.

During his next swing shift off time he started on his project in secret.

Eventually he delivered it with great pride with one caveat.

"You will have to do the painting," he said when he put it on the kitchen table.

It had all the right angles and shapes, it just lacked the paint job.  He even had gotten the paint for me.

It was perfection.  One of the sweetest things he ever did for me and it was impressive workmanship.

"I love it!"

"You better, it cost me a small fortune . . . I made some bad cuts and had to get more wood.  And then I had to go back and buy the dowel and special nails."

"You spent all day on this?"

"No, most of the last three days I've been off . . . I screwed up so many times and had to even buy some tools to make it."

"Did it cost you more than the catalog?"  

He laughed and shook his head admitting, 

"By the time you add up my labor rate and the tools and the wood and stuff . . . that there is a $1,000 birdhouse."

"I simply adore it."

KISS, KISS . . . . 

After painting, I hung it down in the thicket so that I could see it from the kitchen window.  Then we moved and I took it with us.

I hung it along the back property line and eventually it fell apart after about 15 years.

Not one bird ever nested in that house, but it always gave me a great delight when I would walk the back property line and admire the Watermelon birdhouse because of the love and effort that went into it.

Disclaimer:  This is a snap shot off the internet - much like the one my husband made.  Cute, clever and darling.

Maybe I need to ask him to make another one for me now that he is retired . . . or maybe not.

April 21, 2017 – Back to tidying ways  . . . Mom’s letters

        The last of the tidying ways inspired by Marie Kondo’s tiding book, is papers. [Previously discussed in January 16, 2017, blog]. I tend to organizing Mom's Letters when time permits.

        We have had much needed, deep soaking rains here in North Carolina.  When I can’t go out to garden and play in the dirt I have boxes of my Mom’s letters lined up to review for a future “Letters between Mother and Daughter book”.

        Reading my Mom’s letters from years past is like her visiting me in person.  The content is actually rather timeless.  She writes like she talks – animated.  Between the lines you can hear the “lilt” in her voice or imagine her slow, mischievous smile when she is poking fun. 

        One of my first blogs, September 6, 2016 – was my first place essay – “A Letter from Mom”.  The last line is:

        “. . . I could move anywhere on earth and never be away from home as long as there was a letter from Mom.”

        My Mom is now 92 years old and it has been over two years, two very long years, since I have had a handwritten letter from my Mom. She is now frail and doesn’t write letters anymore due to her arthritis and extremely poor eyesight.   So, I cherish the collection of Mom’s letters I’ve kept all these years. They are so delightful and full of sage humor that will never go out of fashion.

        The letters are stuffed in boxes and not in any sort of order. My first run through is to sort them from the greeting cards and clippings of recipes, craft or fashion ideas.

 A cup of hot tea and a box full of letters kept me fine company yesterday afternoon as the wonderful spring rain poured down. I honestly miss her weekly letters, so perusing the collection of her old letters was so uplifting after the absence of letters from her these last few years.

        In one letter Mom mentions that Dad has been diagnosed with Diabetes and she ordered a Diabetic cookbook.  Mom felt she needed to update her recipes in order to assist Dad’s health.  After reading the new cookbook from cover to cover Mom summed it up as follows:

         “When you take the salt, sugar, and fat out of a recipe all you’ve got left is parsley.”

        I smile and think, maybe that is why I buy more and more new parsley transplants each spring.

       

        

April 20, 2017 - Oatmeal Spice cookies from a cake mix


Oatmeal Spice Raisin Cookies


1 package spice cake mix [2 layer size]
2 1/2 cups uncooked oats, old fashioned or quick
2 cups raisins
1 cut nuts, optional
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup cooking oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine all ingredients.  Mix well and drop by teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake 12 minutes or until cookies test done.  Cool on cookie sheet about 1 minute before removing.  Transfer to rack and allow cookies to cool before storing.  These freeze very well.

Makes 5 to 6 dozen.

From The Ladies' of the Parish Cookbook published 1996, Forest City, North Carolina.

April 19, 2017 – Proust’s famous little Madeleines

Madeleines

A dense butter cake – recipe origin:

Lorraine Region of NE France.

Madeleines were made famous by

author Marcel Proust’s

Remembrance of Things Past.

Pronounced “Mad-lien” – two syllables.

        How can anyone escape noticing these sea shell fluted little cakes often featured in main stream magazines over the years?  Purchasing Madeleine pans were inscribed on my secret wish list in my head every time I saw them as I cut out and saved countless recipes for them.

        Many years ago during a lunch break from work, I browsed in a gourmet gadget and cooking implements store and actually got to “finger” Madeleine pans.   Lucky me, there was a sale that day and the sales clerk suggested, from her personal experience, that I would want to buy at least two pans.  Taking her advice, I didn’t hesitate and bought two.

        A few days later on a Saturday morning while my husband was out golfing I test drove the Madeleine pans and quickly discovered that two pans only managed to handle one-half of the batter for the recipe.  I had to stop, wash, re-butter, and re-flour the pans in the middle of the bake.

        Needless to say, next payday I went back to the gourmet gadget store and bought two more pans.  I am the proud owner of four matching Madeleine pans which make a batch of 48 little cakes.

        You might remember one of my earlier blogs where I pointed out that my Mom used to ask me what kind of cake I’d like for my birthday and  I’d always answer some sort of PIE.  It’s not the cake I don’t care for, it’s the frosting.  I rarely find frosting to my liking with the only exception being that seven minute boiled frosting that only a handful of ‘good cooks’ can master. 

        But, these little butter cakes, which the pans are specifically designed for, seem to not require frosting as the toasted edges seem to enhance the sweetness or the edges of the cakes, much like the top and sides of old fashioned pound cakes do.

        Soon after my acquisition of these pans, I needed to make an unexpected-event dessert and I rummaged in my pantry for my usual spice cake mix staple.  I keep the mix on hand specifically for the Oatmeal Spice cookies which keep well, are moist, taste great and make a large batch in a super-easy, fast way. [Recipe in tomorrow's blog.]

        In my emergency-need-a-dessert dilemma, I threw caution to the wind and tried the store bought spice cake mix in my Madeleine pans.  I surprisingly got RAVE reviews from everyone as the little cakes turned out ultra-soft with a subtle spice flavor that made them special.  Some I dusted with confectionery sugar when they were cold and some I didn’t.

        Moral of that baking story:  I am no longer a purest when it comes to making my Madeleines.  I drag the pans out a least once a year and today I happen to be baking a sweet for the annual Tea Party put on by The Ladies’ Guild at our church.

        Today I used pound cake mixes with the addition of orange flavoring and orange zest.  They came out great.

        I hope this gives you the idea of experimenting with traditional methods versus saving-time cake mixes.

Bon Appetite!

April 18, 2017 – They can’t read their own handwriting?

        In the last two weeks I have witnessed several examples of poor penmanship or handwriting.  One person couldn’t even read their own writing.  I actually blushed with embarrassment for that person as we were at a Writer’s Seminar. They were aware we were going to pass our handwritten “writing exercise” to a fellow student to critique.  Wouldn’t you think they would have taken more care in their penmanship?

        As you can probably tell, I was taught “penmanship” by an actual penmanship teacher in grade school.  People of a certain “age” usually have handwriting skills.  Additionally, families of certain incomes have good handwriting skills.[I am not being a snob; that is reality.]

When I was in school handwriting was taken seriously.  But, not these days when everyone wants to replace handwriting with “technology”.  Typing skills versus handwriting skills are constantly being pitted against each other.

I don’t think it is a male vs. female thing either.  I once worked for an Attorney [male] who had classic penmanship.  His signature was similar to John Hancock. I actually looked forward to any change he made in red pen so that I could admire his penmanship.

From my own experience and from internet searching – handwriting skills are extremely important in order that you are successful in life. 

I found the best way to improve your handwriting skills is to purchase an inexpensive calligraphy kit and send out Christmas cards.  Learn by doing and you will be surprised how your handwriting changes when you next write out the grocery list.

What I have heard and read about good handwriting:       

Poor handwriting is the main cause of underachievement.

Handwriting is about the brain, not the hand.

Good handwriting leads to improved grades.

The pen empowers you.

Handwriting captures your personality on paper.

Handwriting aids us in our lifelong learning.

Writing things by hand makes you smarter as it improves your reading and spelling scores.

People judge the quality of your IDEAS by the quality of your handwriting – not on the content.

Good handwriting can raise test scores from the 50^th percentile to the 84^th percentile.

I was given a tip in college: Be sure to use your best handwriting on your essay tests – it is the easiest way to bump up your grades.

Handwriting is meditative.

Penmanship improves your creativity.

Want to know how healthy you are? Look no further than your signature.

      The last comment made me think of my Mom:

        The first thing my Mom did when she awoke from her open heart quadruple bypass surgery was ask for a pen and paper.  She immediately started to write her ABCs and 123s.  My Mom, the well-known letter writer, was more concerned about her handwriting skills than anything else in the first few days after heart surgery. 

        I was hundreds of miles away when my Mom was in the hospital, and was kept up to date by telephone calls from Dad on a daily basis while she was recuperating in ICU.  When Dad told me about her wanting to write I understood immediately.  Her whole life she has kept in touch with family and friends through her letters, she didn’t want to lose that skill.

        Below are a two websites.  The first is a 16 minute video by Jake Weidmann, Master Penman.

        The second has additoinal information regarding penmanship.   

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-improve-handwriting-fantastic-resources/

http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/12/16/improve-your-cursive-handwriting/

        As for my handwriting, next I am going to learn “flourishes”.

April 17, 2017 – DeWit Dutch hand hoe – I can’t garden without it

        I am lost when I cannot locate my DeWit Dutch hand hoe.  It makes for a poor beginning of my gardening day when it has been misplaced . . . . Why would I look under the wide brim straw hat and the garden gloves . . . because that is where I left it?  UGGGH

        I have had about 5 or 6 in my lifetime and it is THE TOOL for me. 

        And, when I leave it out on the garden bench or out on the patio table and I can’t find it  . . . I say, “it has grown little feet and walked away”.   I actually believe that I have had several of them “pinched” by possibly strangers or neighbors in past years. 

My husband thinks I am crazy.

“You tossed it into the wheelbarrow with the weeds.  No one came by and stole it.” He says with great certainty.

If I had done that, wouldn’t I find it when I screen the compost?  However, none ever show up – they simply “vanish into thin air”.   The DeWit Dutch hand hoe is made out of metal and wood – it will not root into nothingness. 

No I say, over the years they have been “pinched” as Audrey Hepburn accused someone in the movie MY FAIR LADY.  One of my favorite movies and this scene is so splendid about “pinching” let me share part of it with you.

. . . and what become of her new straw hat that should have come to me?  Somebody pinched it, and what I say is, them that pinched it, done her in.   Them she lived with would have killed her for a hatpin, let alone a hat.”

        Sorry, off point . . . today I worked on the driveway garden and it hasn’t rained in over a week even though the weather forecast has indicated high possibility of rain for four straight days.  We need the rain.  It is April and I am already watering the vegetable gardens . . . not a good thing.

        So, taking advantage of this dryness I was dry weeding.   That is when you scrape the hard pan [soil] and sever the weeds at the surface and move only a little bit of dust. It is effective as you are not ruffling the top ¼ inch of soil re-distributing the weed seeds to germinate when it rains.   Scrape, scrape, and then sweep up the weeds with your free hand and deposit them into a garden trug or empty 3-gallon plastic weeding pot.  This way you also remove any possible dried blossoms that may seed back into your garden.

        I do this type of work sitting on the ground and you will learn by trial and error if you work better from the left to the right or from the right to the left . . . much like painting a room.  It depends on how strong your arm is.

        I find I weed better when I start at the far left of the garden.  I sit on the lawn on one half of my old yoga pad [one pad cut into two pieces] and I reach out with the Dewit hoe and pull it toward me.  I start out at the outside lawn side then move in. 

I like being up close and personal with my annuals and perennials in order to eradicate the weeds without injuring my plants.

        And, when I am down on the ground weeding, I am down for a while.  I keep three or four 3-gallon empty pots behind me on the lawn within easy reach.  With my DeWit hoe in my right hand I pull the weeds to me, grab a handful with my left hand and toss them into an empty 3 gallon plastic pot I have slightly to the left of me in the garden bed I am weeding. 

When I can no longer reach weeds from where I am sitting, I take the other half of the yoga pad and plop it to right.  Then I scoot onto it and continue weeding to the right, I pull the weed pot with me along with the empty pots which I keep behind me as I move along.  When the pots are full of weeds, I leave them where they are full and take a new one from behind me.

        When I get 3 or 4 pots full of weeds I get up and dump the weeds into a wheelbarrow or a large trug and carrying them off to the “weed compost pile”.  I continue on until that bed is done.

        There is something so satisfactory about getting to the end of the bed and looking back and seeing the weed free look.  I am purposely slow and methodical, it is my private time in the garden.

        And, even though I love my friends, when I can hear the telephone ringing from the distant house, I do not get up and answer the telephone.  That phone can ring all day and I don’t care because 9 times out of 10 it is a solicitation call of some sort.

        If you have not discovered what I consider my garden workhorse, the Dewit Dutch hand hoe – I suggest you make it your next garden purchase.  You will simply love it.

April 16, 2017 - Full Circle

Happy Easter everyone.  

Often it becomes evident that life runs in a "full circle". Today for our Easter dinner I cooked the last one of the winter squashes I grew last year.

I like the Waltham butternut squash and even with last years' late summer drought, I netted 8 of them.  I cure them in the field in the shade for several days the way my Daddy used to do making sure they are out of the sun and don't get moisture on them.

I then bring them into the house and put them on a shelf in the coldest room of the house which is the north corner.   They last there several months.  I only lost one to mold/rot.  I didn't notice there was a little nick in it and when it started to turn - I grabbed it and tossed it out.

I would like to end up with a larger yield, but I don't have that much garden space to devote to one vegetable.    All fall and winter I used them sparing on special occasions.

I peel the squash and cut it into chunks and steam it so that it stays moist and flavorful.

Today, I took the last one off the shelf and it cooked up lovely for our Easter meal.

Then, just like clockwork . . . in the afternoon I went out and planted a slightly longer row of Waltham butternut squash in soil that I had worked over last fall and topped with pine needles so that it would be soft and ready for planting. I used the last one and I planted the seed for the new ones on the same day . . . FULL CIRCLE.

I still think it is a bit early here - calendar wise - but not weather wise.   Some of my gardening friends have already planted their beans [probably pole, yet I only grow bush beans].  I am not too excited about planting warm season crops this early as I have lost too many to frosts [even when they are covered].

A Southern gentlemen attorney gave me this tip about planting tomatoes here in the south in order to win against those "surprise frosts" in Spartanburg, South Carolina, which is 35 miles south of here. Divide up the number of tomato plants you want to have by 4.  [I usually put in 8 so we will use that number.]

Two weeks before Easter, plant 2 tomatoes

One week before Easter, plant 2 tomatoes

Easter weekend, plant 2 tomatoes

Week after Easter, plant 2 tomatoes

That was his working theory during his many years of gardening that he shared with me and I followed suit successfully.

However, this year I am breaking ranks and I am putting in all 8 tomato plants on Easter Monday as I am expecting rain.

Easter Sunday afternoon I also put in cucumbers, yellow squash, zucchini squash and both yellow and green French filet bush beans.  All the "warm season" vegetables that are "large seed."

It never fails.  I go to a lot of care to have nice fingernails for Easter Sunday and then that afternoon I simply can't keep my garden gloves on when I plant seed - I want to "feel" the smooth slippery seeds as I plant them with my bare hands, poking them into the rich soil 1/2 inch to 1 inch depending on the seed.

I always think they are truly "God's splendor" as so much healthy harvest comes from such smooth shiny seeds.

April 15, 2017 – POEM:  Let’s Pay the Taxes with Asparagus

Let’s Pay the Taxes with Asparagus

I shove the signed tax return into the bill basket.

          It’s the same every year – pay, pay, pay.

I tug on my rubber garden boots, mentally scrounging

          for the money to pay, pay, pay.

Sun warms my dismal spirits.  Cut back on groceries,

          and eat lunch in so we can pay, pay, pay.

The mint is fragrant, the chives are shivering,

          and the asparagus is up! Hurray, Hurray, Hurray!

Among old stubble and encroaching weeds tender tips push through

          in response to the sun’s rays, rays, rays.

Succulent green spears, from rhizomes once planted

          in forgotten autumn days, days, days.

Cupboards bare – groceries meager. Yet, we live like kings

          on asparagus, three times a day, day, day.

Taxes mailed by deadline making us poor.  But, we’re rich

          with extra asparagus to give away, away, away.

Note:  This received Honorable Mention in the poetry division of The Anuran, a literary magazine published annually.  May 2017 by Isothermal Community College, Spindale, North Carolina.

On April 13, 2017, I was invited to the 16th Annual Poetry Slam where I "read" my above poem.  And, the judges were KIND and I won First Place, Adult Division for this author reading her poem.  YIPEE! I love competition.  I love winning!!

April 14, 2017 - You simply can't take the salesmen out of this fellow customer

I spoke out of turn today at a nursery out on 221-A.  I go there in the spring when I need something interesting and different.  I could hardly get a parking place.  

Today happens to be Good Friday and this weekend several of the Church cemeteries are having their special grave side memorials. It's a big thing here in the South and every year we see an editorial about the thieves and bandits that steal the flowers left on the graves of loved ones. So sad, so mean spirited, and so spiteful.

In my home town it is usually Memorial Day that this happens and it is usually done with red geraniums and/or flags.  Always beautiful.

So, I was out "hunting" something new and interesting along with Chamomile which I haven't seen in years and lost a few years back. I found the Chamomile and as I am looking over the tables of assorted perennials which were fine selections I overhear a man asking his wife, 

"What is that?"

"It says Sedum,"  she answers.  I detect a non-Southern Accent.

"It looks interesting," the husband suggests.

I jump in unannounced and tell them the virtures of Autumn Glory Sedum.

"It is one of the top 10 cast iron plants for the South, for this reason: It does extremely well in this heat and drought and has interesting foliage and you can see from the picture on the plant identification stake it has nice pink blossoms in September. Then, later on it stays on when the frosts turn the blossoms a lovely bronze and it give you that unusual late fall into winter interest . . . ."  

They both looked at me stunned - having never witnessed an avid gardener elaborate on a specific species and its virtues because SHE was EAVESDROPPING.

I realized I had overstepped my bounds with this couple and said, 

"Excuse me, I love Autumn Glory Sedum as well as Caesar's Brother's Siberian Iris - two of the best stalwarts for this climate."  I had made my grand slam statement and turned away and went to the herb section looking for Lavender which was also on my list. [I personally hoped they would grab a specimen of Autumn Glory Sedum and later in the fall would talk about this outspoken total stranger when it really
"showed its potential". I will never know, I didn't look back.]

[I could have gone on for another two minutes about the planting location, the soil it does or does not like and how you can easily propagate it from cuttings as well as the butterflies seem to love it.]

I really LOVE talking gardening with fellow gardeners and this couple was just not the couple who wanted to talk. Often, I will stop and assist a NEWBIE in the garden center or nursery when I know the owner of the nursery and they are busy and the NEWBIE says, 

"Does this like sun or shade?" They also look a little lost or helpless.

I answer Sun or Shade and then ask, 

"New house?" which gets the conversation going and we chat and I help them find all kinds of things they will love as well as finding the right plant for the planting site of the customer.  The nursery owner sees me chatting and slowly comes around and I hand off the new customer to the nursery owner graciously. 

[In year's past on occasion I have actually loaded 50 pounds bags of potting soil into the trunk of people's cars because the Nursery owner was on short staff - those are good memories.]

The nursery owner's love me for sharing my knowledge  with their customers as we are old friends and do a lot of chatting - off season.

I was at a second nursery and couldn't help it when I was picking up what I wanted and setting it aside at the purchase table under the tent.

Someone was admiring the little, cheery yellow marigold plants I had picked out.

"What are those?" she asked.

Roger, the owner of the nursery hesitated as he looked at me - knowing I would jump right on in and tell the customer what they were.

"Marigolds.  They love sun and the heat and last all the way until the hard frost. Give them ample water, but don't drown them.  When the buds fade, you simply snip them off - like this one. You don't want them to set seed or they will stop blooming." I showed her by snipping off the faded blossom.   

Her husband said, "Front of the house - lots of sun.  They will look good there. . . . "  He turned and made a bee-line for the small yellow marigolds.

Roger, the nursery owner, smiled at me. [I have bought small yellow marigolds every year I have gardened and they always are work horses for me.] I slipped off to locate a few more interesting plants for purchase while he checked the couple out.

I asked the owner, Roger, "How's business?  Do you think we are going to get a late frost?"

"Picking up - I can hardly get all the stock out of the green houses to sell . . . I hope we don't get a frost . . . we've sold too much."

"I always fear that blackberry-frost we have down here. . . . Okay, ring me up - I'll have to mortgage the house to pay you . . . Hey, why don't you have flowers planted around your sign . . . you slacking?"  I tease him.

"Like a cobbler's children with no shoes as my Daddy used to say . . . " Roger answered chuckling at my remarks.

"Say that again, that is a new phrase for me."

Not only do I get to share my gardening with fellow gardeners, and Nursery owners, I get to learn new phrases - how wonderful.

My best to you this Spring as you plant out new stock!