On time, and the ever expanding deadline. . .

It’s Leap Year, the last day of February- and I’ve run out of time. I didn’t have enough time yesterday to write a blog post- heck, I was too busy to even turn the computer on! Although, I am secretly proud of myself for that. Normally I am too busy to cook, clean, sew, read, brush the cat, et., etc., because of spending too much time on the computer. Yesterday was different. Today is, too- mainly because I’m letting go of a few things. Expectations, deadlines, I-have-to’s. Leap Year has taught me to cherish time again. It isn’t that there is more of it- there is, this year. But I haven’t been using it carefully enough lately. I keep finding myself lamenting the lack of a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. There are too many item’s left unchecked on my weekly to-do list for my piece of mind.

What to do when that happens- what to do. Well, I just happened to let some things go- and it worked. Voila! A sense of accomplishment- because I did the one thing I set out to do yesterday. Now, I know that won’t work every time- you can’t just not do what needs to get done. But sometimes, you can change your mind.

Sometimes, it’s better to just. . . let it go.

Recycled Gardening

Not everything about gardening is pretty- lest you think I live in a paradise of Terra-Cotta, herbs and crushed stone, I bring to your attention today mute testament of the darkside of plants:

The recycled container as seedling pot trick. This egg carton contains my new crop of Chervil, Borage and Chamomile. Each cell contains three seeds, with four cells per plant, in this case. The carton itself is falling to pieces already, but that’s okay. That’s the effect you actually want when using these things, so that when the seedlings get big enough for a pot of their own you can just plop a whole cell into one, carton and all. This one is just disintegrating a wee bit early- I’m hoping it will last a few more weeks!
The other container is a fast food salad container I poked holes into using a heated up metal skewer for drainage holes. It is working perfectly- it even has a lid that turns it into a miniature greenhouse! At the moment it’s holding our lettuce crop, which is starting to sprout already- yaay! I think the problem with the last two batches was old seeds. I planted these the day after I bought the seeds and they sprouted about three days later. Looking back on that week, it was a pretty quick germination, but at the time I was so nervous they wouldn’t sprout again! I’m keeping this crop a small one for the moment since it’s so cold outside- this way I can grab those babies up and haul them into the house whenever it gets too chilly for them outside on the balcony.
Did anyone else watch the Grammy’s ( the Oscar's!) yesterday? I love Meryl Streep, she always looks just so serene and happy. And Glenn Close! Her dress was just so beautiful! And I got all teary-eyed when the Prince of Monaco showed up with his wife- they both brought a lovely touch touch of class to the night, didn’t they? And when are they going to get Tom Hanks to host? He’s always so dapper and witty, and charming- he would be a perfect host for the Grammy’s (the Oscar's!!) Then again, Gwyneth and Robert have such great chemistry together, they would make the awards night fun again with their skits and banter. . .

Friday Musing

This has been a very busy week:

Hamburger bun experimenting- taste really good, but they’re really dense!

Dinner rolls were awesome-

Asparagus crepes with mushrooms sauce were a hit- that made 5 new vegetable dishes this week!

Lettuce seedlings are in, and showing their lovely sleepy green heads as of this morning. . .

Chervil seedlings are in, but taking their time- did I plant them too deep? Is my potting soil too rough for them?

Borage seedlings are being shy as well. . .

Chamomile seedlings are up and taking stock of their little egg carton home! They are so tiny. . .

New dice bags are on the sewing table!

All the fabric for the watercolour quilt is cut out- now for some piecing. That’s the big project for next week.

We got in 2 walks this week! I made a pictorial study of the moss I kept seeing along the way on the first one- that was a loong walk! Then we hiked up the mountain on Wednesday- so good to get outside in the fresh air! It smells soo good out there this week. . .

Our first harvest of Lavender came in this week. . . drying flowers and leaves are making the house smell wonderful!

And of course, the sun came out in full force this week. . .

What have you been up to this week?

Grand re-opening

I just realized I never announced the re-opening of The Grimoire last week. I decided that it was relevant since I still like it’s Fantasy elements- plus, my writing schedule here on Magickwyrds isn’t allowing me the space for any posts about my gaming life (ahem. which is HUGE right now! So much to tell- go see if you’re interested in table top gaming, rpg’s, mmo’s, Star Wars, World of Warcraft, or kitsunes. Points if you know what those are folks!) 

Err, I just had to add all those words to my writing program’s dictionary.

Today I am working on my Jedi Counselor, a new quilt, and dice bags. I’ve also been cooking up a storm in the kitchen this week using recipes from Mollie Katzen’s  The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without –  the Spinach and Artichoke Gratin came out fabulously, even though I went without the artichoke. The Bok Choy and Broccoli Rabe with Shiitake dish turned out great, and tonight I am attempting Asparagus Crepes with Mushroom sauce- can’t wait! I’m planning on making extra crepes and using them saturday morning for breakfast with lemon and orange zest. Perfect!

Now if I could just find my rotary blade. . . hey you faeries! That’s not a pizza cutter!

My Cleaning List

Um. . . my house is dirty.And I need to clean it. So I started making lists again- did I mention I love lists? And recipes. I love recipes, too. So now I have these:

Did you know you can make your own cleaning supplies? It is very easy to do. I’ve been making and using them for years, but ran out last fall and hadn’t taken the time to make up a new batch. I mainly use baking soda and vinegar, with just a few extra special things when I need a little more oomph in my potions. I use Dr. Bronner’s liquid soap for my sprayables and the solid bars in my laundry soap, and I  also use essential oils for their cleansing properties, and the way they make the house smell yummy. This month it is all Lavender, all the time- except for the laundry soap, which is rose scented. I also am testing a dishwashing machine “soap”, which so far is working just great, but I ‘m only three days into the trial, so we’ll see how I shakes out. 

Whenever I start a new project, be it sewing, cooking , or simples making, I always do lots of research before I even start to gather my materials. My research starts with a Google search, then lots of reading: blogs, wiki’s,company websites, forums and also the comments sections of blogs- that’s where you find the most important information, the testers’ results! I compare and contrast reports, tips, recipes, and comments on other blogger’s sites, then start checking books out from the library. My favorite resources are Annie Berthold-Bond’s Better Basics for the Home: Simple Solutions for Less Toxic Living and  Organic Body Care Recipes: 175 Homemade Herbal Formulas for Glowing Skin & a Vibrant Self by Stephanie L. Tourles. My favorite websites for homemade recipes are SouleMama and angry chicken, and a new on I recently found, asonomagarden. I do a lot of testing and tweaking to make things that work for me and my family, and on the whole we are very pleased with the things we use.

The benefits to using homemade cleaning products (can I call them products if they weren’t made in a  lab? Hmm… supplies? Potions? Concoctions?) are threefold. They cost less to make- the initial outlay for a box of baking soda, washing soda, borax and a bottle of vinegar is less than the price of most laundry detergents I have found, but the Dr. Bronners soaps will cost you a bit. The cool thing is the liquid is a super concentrate, and will last me an entire year because most of my recipes only call for a teaspoon per potion! They also make it easier to breathe- they are healthier to use, won’t cause flaking or burns if they come into contact with your skin (unless you’re allergic to one of the ingredients! so be careful with them until you determine if you are folks) and the scents are soothing to the nerves and senses. No more holding my breathe until I can get out of the room after I’ve sprayed something! And lastly I have a great sense of peace of mind about using these cleaning supplies because I know exactly what’s in them. I clean more often because I like to use them, they work great, and I love the satisfaction of making something useful from basically nothing more exotic than baking soda and vinegar!

Of course, now I have to actually go use them, and whip this house into shape!

Friday musings

We’ve been picking up a few new plants now and then- this was from the first week in February:

 

And here we are yesterday:

So many plants, so little space! Here they are getting their weekly bath. Love my new Dill! She’s so fragrant.

Ogling the garden path-

Happy Wednesday! I thought I would pull out all the books I’ve been reading these past few weeks and make a wishlist for my birthday. Ahem.

New Booklist for 2012- doesn’t everybody have a list like this?

Jessica Houdret’s Practical Herb Garden. This is such a beautiful book, crammed full of plant lists, advice, full colour pictures, instructions for rose potpourri, how to lay out a cook’s garden (gah!  A Potager! stop me now. . . ) and oh, for heavens sake- Lavender sugar!

Cory Schreiber And Julie Richardson’s Rustic Fruit Desserts is a must have- not just for the recipes in the book (which all look fantastic!) but for the ideas that get me ruminating about summer and fall fruit desserts. . .

Mollie Katzen’s The Vegetable Dishes I Can’t Live Without. The title says it all. Although I could mention the Brussels Sprouts with shallots and hazelnuts. . .

Harriet And Carrie Hargrave’s Quilter’s Academy Vol. 1&2. Oh yes I did! And I am cutting the fabric out as we speak. . .

Sunset: An Illustrated Guide To Organic Gardening- did anyone else’s parent’s have various and sundry editions of the Sunset series laying about? I love the line drawings in this book- they make me reminisce so hard about my childhood gardens!

Paul Heiney’s Country Life: A Handbook For Realists And Dreamers- um, I am in deep trouble folks! I want a cow, and a goat, some chickens, and a patch of corn in the worst way right now. Do not read this book if you even look at the chickens at the fair every summer. Just sayin’. Save yourself the heartache. He just makes it all look so easy . . .

Anna Pavord’s  The New Kitchen Garden will blow your mind. It has colour illustrations of every kind of kitchen garden you can imagine. Traditional? Check. Formal espaliered apple trees? Natch. Cottage garden? I am going to go live at the one she has pictures of in this book, as well as an illustration. As a matter of fact, I’m about to go on a world tour of all the gardens she has outlined in this book- be back next year. . .

Winter is the perfect time to check books out from the library, just to drool over the pictures and make lists of all the thousands of seeds and plants I plan to buy in the spring to create the most awesomely perfect garden in the whole and entire universe. Oops- my evil genius/scientist/gardener slipped out for a moment there, sorry ‘bout that. Don’t mind the woman behind the curtain, folks. It will pass- as soon as the sun comes out and I see just how small my balcony gardening space really is. Plenty of room in the kitchen for a few more basil plants though. . .

Faeries Holiday

I fully intended to write about the fabulous dinner I made last night with the leftovers from our Sunday Roast Chicken, but then I realized it was Valentine’s Day:

This is the Faeries’ Love shack- I made it a while ago when they were into their Rustic Craftsman phase. The mushrooms were from this past fall- they are so easy! They are just wooden drawer pulls, painted and sealed to give them a glossy shine. The path is rose petals, and the forest floor is a moss round from the flower arranging section of the craft store.

I’ve just been informed that the “forest” is missing from this scene, and if I want to ever see the cat again I had better get crackin’. Did I ever mention that the faeries are slave drivers? I had better go see what’s in the craft bins that could simulate forest trees- or I could just wait until they discover that “the cat” has gotten faster, and more bored, since they last tangled with her. . .

Lavender–a study in blue

While I was watering the plants this morning I was struck by how pretty the lavender was, so I decided to do a photo study of them. It’s been an interesting but frustrating few months trying to figure out what they like- too much water and they are just a green fragrant bush; too little and they put out little teeny tiny little flowers, then dry up and turn brown a second later. This is what they looked like when I first brought them home last summer:

So big and beautiful! I couldn’t resist them- so much so that I went back the next week and bought another one! Hehe, those nursery people sure have my number. Make it big and bushy and bloom profusely! She won’t be able to resist it! Then the heat really came blasting through and it was too hot to do anything but sprinkle them with water and wonder why they weren't putting out any more new blooms:
This was in October, when the days and nights felt like the dead of summer, not the beginning of Fall. The flowers were struggling with my watering and feeding learning curve- I knew they had to be watered on a daily basis, and I was checking the soil moisture levels (bone dry an hour after they were watered in the morning most weeks. ugh.) But I hadn’t figured out how much to water them yet, and I almost killed the Camellia when I gave her some tomato fertilizer after the rose had responded well to it as well. Ahem. That was a huge no-no folks. Plus, I have since figured out that my tap water is waay too salty for her and started filtering it. All my plants have responded nicely to this.

In January- you can tell from this photo that things are getting better. The growth is green again- well, that silvery blue colour that I just love about lavender plants, and that their flowers are starting to come back in nicely. A few more weeks to get the watering schedule right, and a nice feeding with their new favorite fertilizer and. . .

Voila! It’s working! I now know that both my lavenders like a thorough watering- in the morning after the sun has come up, but about every two days, giving them time to drink it all up and for the soil to dry out a bit before their next drink. The girls have been rewarding me with a lush profusion of not-too-small flowers-

Any day now I’ll be able to harvest some of them for drying and maybe even some baking! I have found recipes for lavender-lemonade, shortbread cookies and even lavender meringues! Tasha and I love to go out in the morning and bury our faces in them:

Just to take in their glorious scent!

And they are just soo pretty! I am so very pleased that I was able to make them happy here at our new place- and I can’t wait till the garden shops put out their new summer stock so that I can-um, look- at all the possibilities for next summer. Yeah, that’s it- just looking honey. How many plants can a girl find room for, anyway?
Twenty-two pots and counting. . .

Friday Musing

The parsley’s up! Now I’m off to find some Dill. . .

I planted chives in the right side of this container, past those white rocks there, but it’s not doing so well. And I’ve sown lettuce twice this year, but it’s not even sprouting. I did some research and think maybe the seed is too old, so I’ll get another packet when I go to the garden shop later this morning. I’m looking for Dill, Chervil, Summer Savory, maybe another rose to replace the Iceberg which did not respond to my efforts to revive it this last week, and lettuce seeds. And maybe some primroses, and Irish moss, or some violets, or an orchid, or. . .it’s easy to get carried away by all the possibilities, isn’t it?

Happy Friday!

Lavender Green Magic

Last weekend I grabbed this book off the shelf and started flipping through it for plant ideas when I noticed that I kept reading the darn thing again, so I sat down Saturday evening and gave it some proper attention. It’s Andre Norton’s Lavender Green Magic,  a book that’s been around me in some location my whole life- I remember my mom reading it when I was a veeery little girl, and then I found it on my bookshelf after I got married. Somehow it’s followed me through all the places we have moved to since. Must be those faeries. . .

It’s a lovely book- I assume it’s another young adult fiction, judging by the focus of the story. It’s written from a child’s point of view, but the language level isn’t, as far as I can tell. I’m not an expert in reading or literature by any means- I just know what I like. Anyway, it’s a little different- there’s no monsters, or aliens, or interplanetary travel in this one. But there are gardens, and mazes, junkyards and early American history, and time travel. And there’s a witch in there, too. . .

Lavender Green Magic is also an interesting study on racial discrimination, albeit obliquely, as well as an emotionally sensitive look at the effects of loss on the individual members of a military family, particularly the youngest members of such. As they cope with a bewildering and devastating event, these children teach us that honesty and commitment are just as important as a belief in the unbelievable. And that if you’re going to walk a maze, always make the right-hand turn. . .

How to make a house a home

Reflecting on life this morning while the skies get ready to open up here in not so sunny California. It’s a drizzly day, and the clouds are blocking my view of the mountain so I’m looking through my file for inspiration while I continue to work on my lists. We have come to understand that life doesn’t just happen- it takes a lot of hard work, and planning, compromise and honesty.

But you know what helps? Making lists. Or rather- having a plan, which entails making lists of all the things you have, all the things you want to have, and all the different ways of getting those things. For example:

I used to dream of having a garden- not just any garden, but acres of tilled soil, with orchards and fields and. . . well. Maybe someday- it is a nice dream, after all. But we work in an expensive city, and we live in an apartment. But we hit the jackpot with this one, in one regard:

See all that light out there? We did not have that where we used to live. And now that space looks like this:

Seven short months later, and it’s not even spring yet! So- make those lists, and dream as big as you can. Then take a look at where you are, and do what you can. Be honest with yourself- I cannot take care of an entire farm by myself while my husband is at work being a school teacher. But I took a good long hard look at that dream, and I was able to see the spirit of that wishful fantasy. Plants! And light, and a place for my Tasha to play, hunt, learn and grow. And you know what? It’s making everyone in our little family happy, not just me. So I am able to share my dream, instead of locking it away behind bitterness, disappointment and regret. And isn’t that the important part of it all?

Live your dream.

Starting a new garden

Today I took some cuttings from my herbs to try an experiment. Have you ever kept a flower in water too long and have it sprout roots? I’m trying that, only on purpose- I’d like to see if I can beef up my stock a little, without having to constantly head down to the store! So, today my kitchen window looks like this:

Geranium, Basil, Rosemary, Lemon Balm and Thyme. It’s a little dark, but I wanted to show what I did to that window a few weeks ago. It is a  little too narrow for the big herbs (they are hanging out in the sink getting a drink) and I wanted some kind of a shelf so that I could store things under it while using the top of it for plants. Can you see what I did up there? I just placed an old, narrow shelf we had laying around over two storage cups. Is anybody else over lentils this year? I am tired of them, so they needed a break, hence they are shelf supports this month. Voila! Bigger shelf, more storage, and recycling, to boot!

On to the garden proper. I did some work out there this morning, trimming and watering and shuffling around. I also took lots of pictures. Want to see my calendula seedlings?

They are trying my patience- I planted these last summer! They were getting crowded, so I thinned them out and gave a few of them their own pots:

Talk about recycling- ah well, I’ll give them real pots when they get a little bit bigger. Look how much better they look! Ah, the miracle of life. . .

Maybe now they will grow up and put on some flowers. Calendulas are marigolds- the original ones, not like those French Marigold, scrawny looking things you plant with your tomatoes to deter bugs. These are edible, medicinal, and you can colour cheese with them! I want to make cheese someday. ahem. But not today.

Today we are making more lists! My list for this week has over ten things on it. Ten! Um, there are only 5 days in a workweek. I may have to work some magick just to get everything done this week! Or get the faeries to start helping around here- they still haven’t finished unpacking the Foot & Fang since we moved in. LAST SUMMER. Just sayin. Want to see it?

. . .

Um, hey you faeries really do need to unpack ! lol- it’s here, I just have no pictures of it in the new place. Great, something else I need to add to the list!

Friday Musings

Spearmint and catnip and strawberries this week:

How is your week gone? Mine went by in a flurry of:

Reading- gardening books, Children’s Lit, and Pathfinder novels.

Cooking- Roast chicken, and cheeseburgers, Spaghetti with Turkey meatballs, roasted French fries, and salads galore!

List making- getting ready for a new year, new chores, and new recipes.

Taking Pictures of my love:

And starting a new quilt- yaay!

Oops, I almost forgot . . .

Happy Imbolc!

Book review- A Tale of Two Castles

I finished reading another book this weekend, Gail Carson Levine’s A Tale of Two Castles, which I really enjoyed because A: It has a dragon in it, and B: it has historical costuming details in it, and C: I am a geek. Ahem.

So, if you haven’t already figured it out, I read children's literature. I guess it all started when I read the whole Dragonriders of Pern saga in the sixth or seventh grade. My mom had been reading them for years, and I hadn’t paid much attention to them until a classmate (okay, fine- a rival classmate. She was better at spelling, sure, but no way was she going to be a better reader than I was) wrote a book report on one of them. I was incensed, and determined to read them too. It wasn’t until after I had grown up and been married for a while that I found out that some of Anne’s books were considered children’s literature. Instead of being mortified that my favorite author didn’t write at the higher level that real author’s did (what’s that? Why no, I didn’t get along with some of my college professors and their snooty little sycophants. Why do you ask?) I was instead delighted that I could continue to read my childhood favorites, and find more books like them that were being written by today’s authors. I still read science fiction, fantasy, biographies, the newspaper, etc. But I like to read for enjoyment as well as research or information, and I love a good children’s book for the sheer joy and wonder they fill me with as I read them. 

A Tale of Two Castles is a book I’ve been hearing and reading a lot of reviews about lately, so I decided to have a look at it. And I’m glad I did! Dragons who live in the city and do odd jobs? Ogre’s who can shapechange into mice and monkeys? Mansioners and cat trainers and kings and princesses? Count me in!

I especially liked the the historical details Levine used for the setting of her book. The clothing sellers from the medieval ages, along with the walled city and letter writers for hire gave the story the feel of an English metropolis from ages past, but the day to day details, speech patterns and the observances of the differences between the city and the hometown of the heroine flavored the story with an Asian air.

The writing gets a little simplistic occasionally, and the story meanders through the middle of the book until it discovers its purpose at the end, but overall the book has a wonderful life of its own, with characters whose lives fill its pages with depth and meaning. Overall, this was a page turner.