Garden Trek Log--Day 3

It's come down to this, what do you do with the tchotchkes you find at garage sales once you get them home? And that is what the lilac bush in full bloom is there to address--a perfect spring picture! Bargain vase from the last garage sale I visited yesterday (actually a really cute chicken pitcher) and the full blown lilacs.

Garden Trek Log--Day 2

Drove out to Alma and beyond, on a gravel road to the neatest greenhouse/nursery--Garden Cart. They sell Amish raised flowers and vegggie plants, perennials, herbs, just the most beautiful little pots of color, you want one of each! And the prices are reasonable, so worth the trip. Stocked up, and even got a free bonus--a friendly "hello" from a yellow lab who wanted a tummy rub--now that made the trip even more worthwhile!

Garden Trek Log--Day 1

Spring is bursting out all over, in our back, front and side yards. Dogwood, redbud, lilac, wild delphinium, and LOADS of dandelions. Must be the state flower gone wild! Serviceberry on the edges of the woods, oh look can it be, MORE dandelions? That's all right, the tulips, and late crops of daffodils more than make up for it. And those gold finches seem to enjoy sitting in between the yellow flowers. So at least they are making some birdies happy.

Spring beads

Along with all the spring buds, I have spring beads. Yes, been busy beading. And have more projects to make, this week for a youth fundraiser at our church. These are the most recent creations, all of which I have given away, except for that orchid piece. I am usually not a pinkish/purple person, but I am partial to orchids. At least now that I took a class on how to understand those temperamental darlings!

My Kitchen Window

It's finally, hopefully, spring. Or at least it is today. Last week I did some spring cleaning, pulling all my jars of pasta and beans off the kitchen bay windowsill, and putting them in the pantry. Then I moved the orchids downstairs to give them a better view of the world, and more humidity, and discovered I liked the greenery there, so probably when the orchids move out to the screened porch (when the nights really warm up properly), then I will move the African violets to the same spot for the summer. Sort of a flowering rotation. With any luck, the orchids will launch some blooms for me next winter, after their summer vacation outside. Well, I can hope, can't I? And I have some young Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter cactus plants ready to fill in empty spots. Those always seem to be eager to bloom.

Book Pages

I love books and reading, so when I chanced on a new book about a book, I snatched it up, and got caught in its pages, and wanted to share the news. "The Book of Unholy Mischief", by Elle Newmark is a great historical novel about the Borgia pope in Italy and his minions. It takes place in Venice, in the Doge's palace, and especially the kitchen, where a master chef stirs up more than merely food. His concoctions have "special" spices which create moods in those who dine at the Doge's table, and these same spices have their origin in a mysterious cabinet, which houses a mysterious book. The chef takes pity on a young boy caught thieving in the marketplace, and brings him into his kitchen to train. Little by little the boy learns the cooking secrets of the chef, until he realizes that the cookbook in the mysterious cabinet might be the "book of alchemists" sought by the Pope and Doge. The plot thickens, drawing the boy's friends and enemies into the mix, and ultimately into the open, when both boy and master chef are forced to flee for their lives. Ms. Newmark's descriptions of pre-Renaissance Italy, its people in their public and private buildings, and the philosophical and scientific ideas which we take for granted but were only visions at that time, all combine to draw the reader deeper into a thrilling tale of culinary and theological mystery. This author has certainly stirred up a cioppino of delightful reading!

A Spring Walk

We heard the weather report last night about more rain and snow moving in to KC tonight. But this morning's temperature was mild, though extremely windy. So we decided to do our Powell Gardens walkabout instead of the treadmill. After indulging our senses in their orchid display at the main building, we trekked on out and about the pathways, avoiding geese as they gabbled about and considered nesting spots throughout the garden. My daffodils are in full bloom at home, but nothing beats seeing a whole sweep of daffodils in a big garden!Here and there you could catch sight of anemones in the grass, star flowers (same as mine), orangey-red tulips, magnolias which had most of their blooms, despite the frost and snow last week, redbuds almost opening, and yards of daffodils in all different bloom shades. White with apricot, white with yellow egg yolk, bright yellow, yellow with orange, yellow with white, just total feasts for the eye and soul!

Book pages

For those of you who know me, you know I am a BIG Paula Deen fan. It was almost a pilgrimage to eat at her restaurant in Savannah last year, "Lady and Sons" and if you skip WAY down my blog to the Savannah trip you can see that I was able to meet her ( well, not really, but it was a great replica cardboard cutout). So when I started reading a book by Kate Jacobs, the author of "The Friday Night Knitting Club", I was hooked. "Comfort Food" lives up to its name. It reads like a fictionalized account of another Paula Deen out there, Augusta Simpson. She used to run a luncheonette, was widowed, and had to raise her two girls by herself, and has two cats, Salt and Pepper. And she is a hostess of a cooking show on Foodtv. Well, as you can see some of the similarities, you can detect far more in the character study of Gus. I could visualize a Paula as she talked and interacted, through that entire book. It was awesome! It told a great family and relationship story, had great food, suspense (because maybe her show was on the rocks and getting canceled if she and it didn't change), a villain or two (her producer, and Miss Spain--I won't tell you how That one turns out), and funny dialogue. Kept me comforted indeed!