this old house

We've had some odd weather here.  First in the 80s, then in the 40s, then rain.  Random warmer days pop up, and in those days, we've been outside working.

Even the cats have been getting in on the action.  Who cares if it's a one-story fall from the deck?  I want green grass!

The azaleas are just budding out...

...and the redbuds look amazing!

I have been so busy with house projects and work that my quilt pieces have sat, forlorn and ignored, on my sewing table.  At night, I've been knitting to relax.  First, a simple striped cowl that has been desperately needed on cold hikes.  So often cowls are wide enough to be looped twice or just hang open at the neck.  That seems to negate the purpose, so I made this cowl fairly narrow.

I've also been knitting a sweater.  It's been a real learning experience for me.  The sweater is meant to have zero "ease," which means that it's meant to be snug against the skin.  To get the correct size, the pattern says that I need to have 18 knitted stitches per 4 inches of fabric.  I managed that number with size 8 needles on my practice piece, and cast on for the sweater.

The arms were knitted first, and then the body, from the bottom up.  I "got gauge" (or had 18 stitches per 4 inches) in the first few inches, but I didn't measure again for 7 inches of knitting.  Then I discovered that instead of 18 stitches, I had around 16.  So each 4 inches of fabric was off by 2 stitches.  No big deal, right?  But when I measured the waist, I discovered that I had an extra THREE INCHES of fabric.  I thought about ripping it all out and starting over, but decided to keep moving forward.  Three inches will (hopefully) just give it a bit of room, but not cause bagginess.  I'll soon see.  I'm getting ready to start the yoke of the sweater, which will be a stranded star design in shades of purple and white, similar to the cuffs.  I still struggle with stiffness and pain when I knit, and I have not discovered an easy or pain-free method of knitting, so ripping out enough half of a sweater to switch to a slightly smaller needle sounds horrible.  But if I'm wrong, the entire sweater will have to be remade.  Fingers crossed!

Todd and I have been doing a lot of future-planning this spring, thinking about where we want to live, how we want to live, and the meaningful activities in which we want to engage.  I've been thinking a lot about my great grandmother, who lived close by when I was growing up.  She had a lovely white house with gingerbread accents and a front porch full of rocking chairs.  A big weeping willow tree, rose and grape arbors, and a special long bed for her 50+ varieties of irises.  The back yard was almost completely converted to garden space.  On one side, row after row of flowers, and on the other, vegetables. 

Incidentally, my grandfather sold the property and it fell into disrepair.  A flood in 2006 destroyed the whole neighborhood, which was converted into a public park.  Someone took a photo of the house before it was demolished.  Porch torn off, trees uprooted, walls sagging...such a shame.  Thankfully my great-aunt Ruth, now 101 (!), is going to send me some photos of the home in its heyday!

My great-grandmother, Grace, founded the first animal shelter in Anderson (Indiana), and continued to be involved in animal charities.  She was always surrounded by her cats and dogs.  She was very poor, but gave everything she could to the needy, from cutting old sheets into strips for leper colonies (apparently more prevalent in 1920!) to taking her famous vegetables and flower bouquets around to sick neighbors.  Her daughter, my great aunt Ruth, was a clever seamstress and regularly made over thrift store clothing to improve it and then donate to homeless shelters.  She and her family also brought their instruments to shelters and had singing time.  They were really inspiring women.  This is how I remember them both:

Todd and I have talked about wanting to have a similar life:  in a community of family and friends, downsizing, simplifying, beautifying our space with large gardens, surrounded by our pets, and engaged in social justice causes that are important to us.  I think the next year or so will bring some major changes for us...stay tuned!

Veni, Vidi, Vinca

Our leaves aren't really changing just yet, but acorns are constantly dropping and leaves are starting to come down.

We have some slight change in color...

...berries too...

...which seems odd, with the random juxtaposition of early-blooming camellias and azaleas.

I always assumed that it was a temperature drop that caused leaves to start changing in the fall, but we're still in the mid-80s and I'm starting to see glimpses of color.  Apparently the length of daylight can also be a trigger for the reduction of chlorophyll production in plants.

Our vinca, too, is still going strong.

We have thousands of them.  Hard to believe that they all came from 2 or 3 plants, just 3 years ago!  They're rampant re-seeders and I let them do their thing.

Our evergreens are still as vibrant as ever.

Still, it feels more like fall when I see our empty birdhouses.

Our randomly-blooming gardenias are definitely done for the summer.

The turkeys have returned, although I've only gotten a few late-dusk glimpses.

When this recent bout of 99% humidity breaks, we can go back to sitting by the pond again. 

So peaceful, and even the many fallen trees contribute a little color and texture to the scene.

Our "goz" are really active right now, mainly in the early evening.  It's easy to see evidence of their presence.

I'm not seeing many insects, although they're still pretty active.

Where there are flowers, there are bees, butterflies, and skippers.  They may be the last to go!

It seems like the insects are hiding away, and we are too.  Until this weather breaks, we'll continue to find our fun indoors.

Have a great week!

I "Mint" To Have Only One Slice!

Spring is flying by, and every day brings another little milestone.  Our ducks are back!

The trees, too, are filled with the sounds of songbirds.  We have an abundance of bluebirds, towhees, cardinals, phoebes, finches, and many others.  My favorite bird song is one that I hear all day long...that of the Eastern Towhee:

Drink your tea!  Drink your tea!

Thankfully, we haven't had as many deer sightings.  We still see them a few times a week, but nothing like the fall, when they willfully and maliciously decimated my garden.

Suddenly, all the trees around us have filled out...even our Japanese Maples.

My little hibernating houseplants that I cut back mid-winter have started showing new growth.

We're enjoying the last flush of azalea flowering...

...even Bosewichte!

New discoveries, like a clematis vine that did not flower the first year we lived here...

...and the first iris of spring.

Todd finished most of the leaf removal...

...and Borga has been soaking up the sun on the newly-uncovered lawn.

I've been toiling away at my little flower bed.  It probably took me close to a week, an hour or two at a time, to clear away the weeds.  It took me another week to dig up the space with my hand spade.  It was terribly difficult, because each spadeful brought up something like this:

The runners/root system of the weeds.  I despaired at ever getting them all up, but I put in two hours a day until they were finally cleared, at least to a depth of six inches.  I'll have to RoundUp any new shoots.  Meanwhile, I was able to get my seeds planted.  This year I went with my favorite "Indiana Annuals" mix:  tall spiky purple salvia mixed with pink coneflowers...feathery-leaved cosmos...cheerful zinnias...and a front bed of mixed marigolds.

It will be a battle with the established weeds, clay soil, iffy sunlight coverage, and possible drought conditions.  If these guys won't grow, nothing will!

In the past few weeks, I've made a nearly-forgotten layer cake...

..a batch of baked chocolate goodies I call "D'oh-nuts" for their resemblance to the sprinkles-covered doughnuts always seen on The Simpsons:

...and a multi-level ice cream cake...

...for my special birthday boy.

 

I "mint" to have just one slice, but I'm afraid we demolished over half the cake between the two of us in just one day.  It was delivered to Todd's office the next day for "safekeeping"!

Hope you're having a good week!

Animal Farm

I went on a field trip yesterday for my Master Gardener class.  We toured Greenbrier Farm in Easley, South Carolina - an organic farm with grass-fed cattle and free range animals. 

To create a good, open environment for their pigs, they decided to fence off a forested part of their acreage and let them root in the dirt to their hearts' content.

 They reduced the forested area to dirt within 2 weeks...

...but they have plenty of space, plenty of good food and sunshine, and everyone knows how much pigs like to wallow in mud!

When not wallowing, the pigs concentrated their efforts on looking cute.

 Greenbrier Farm sells their pork to Whole Foods, which has pretty stringent quality control! 

 I was particularly impressed with their waste not, want not policy - no pun intended.  They pastured their cows this spring in a specific field called a "sacrifice pasture".  The cows consumed all the good spring grass in about three weeks.  Then the cows were moved to a different pasture and chickens were wheeled in.

Chickens ate the 'cow patties' and made plenty of messes of their own, which were scooped up and allowed to "cook" - i.e., allowed to sit until the nitrogen burned down a bit.  Then it was tilled into the soil as good organic fertilizer.

Baby chickens warmed themselves under heat lamps and drank out of bamboo troughs.  The bamboo came from the farm and is the perfect size for little chicks!

They have all sorts of cows...

...and sheep.

Wildflowers are starting to bloom and turned the area around their grape arbors a soft purple.

On another part of the farm, greenhouses provide a safe environment for growing.

Another ingenious idea...rye grass is grown on the right side of the greenhouse and then tilled into the ground to provide nutrients for the soil, and the perfect blend for later-season growing.

Of course, they've got flats and flats of seeds going now...

I saw three beehives on the property.  According to the farm owners, their vegetables are much larger and healthier since they started keeping bees.

Another greenhouse sits ready for use.  A great idea:  they housed some pigs in this space and let them do the labor of rooting up the soil.  Their waste was tilled into the soil for fertilizer.  You can't beat free!

One barn on the property has been turned into a conference hall, often used for weddings.

All in all, it was a great day on the farm!

Back home, increasingly warm temperatures means the end of some of my favorite spring plants.  The bulbs have bloomed and are dying.

I have a mix of purple and white hyacinths, plus lots of tulips, blooming around the house.  One more...

Yes, the purple hyacinths are definitely my favorite! 

A sad goodbye to the Helleborus, too.

However, I look forward to seeing what comes next!  Already the azaleas have burst into flower and are in bouquets everywhere...

...and the redbud trees are putting out some color.  I found these beautiful branches and couldn't resist a big bouquet!

It's been a little crafty around the house, but not as much as I would like.  I intended to make Easter eggs for all my friends and family (hollowed-out eggs, painted and dotted, with an Easter scroll inside).

Regretfully, I ran out of time...and eggs.  They were sent to some newly-discovered family members, and some crafty friends! 

Todd was able to build the rubber stamp shelf I've been dreaming about!  He used aluminum strips with stained and beveled wood 'shelves'...

...and mounted it to the wall.

It fits all my rubber stamps with room to grow.  Thanks, Todd!  :)

I've finally got a recipe to post, and it's a nice spring bread, if I do say so myself.  I took my favorite banana bread recipe and toyed with it, and this is the result.  YUM!!

Best Banana Bread
Modified from Bake or Break

For the bread:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup  granulated sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 & 1/2 cups mashed bananas (about 3 - 4 medium bananas)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• a handful of coconut
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon cardamom

For the topping:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
•  ½ cup old fashioned oatmeal
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 – 3 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour two loaf pans.  Mix your dry ingredients, minus the sugar, and set aside.  In your mixer, beat together the cream cheese and the butter, and gradually add in the sugars.  Beat for three minutes.  Add eggs, beating after each addition.  Beat in the bananas and the vanilla.  Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

Spoon batter into prepared pans.  

Meanwhile, for the topping:  combine all topping ingredients except for the butter in a small bowl.  Cut in the butter and sprinkle over loaves.  

Bake for 45 - 60 minutes, until top is golden brown and center has cooked through. 

It's soft, sweet, and a delightful spring treat.  I hope you'll give it a try!