Loss of a local landmark.

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The other night at a most enjoyable wedding, our friend William introduced me to a table full of strangers who’s dinner table we crashed, as a blogger.  Thanks William, you made me sound  interesting and I was most flattered by that. And it was good to discover you are a regular reader. Actually, I may have thought that was the coolest part.

Sunday we drove up to Harrisonburg and helped a friend with his garden. It was yet another grey, chilly morning here, but as soon as we drove over the Blue Ridge, the sun popped out and it turned out to be quite the glorious day. Said friend bought this house from gardeners last year and is still learning what’s what. We thinned some things, I left strict instructions as to what to touch and what not to touch (Like ‘the weeds’ under the porch, which is actually a completely sweet columbine I’ve never seen before!) and the peonies that I want a tiny cutting from, but I have to wait until fall (which apparently is when you split and plant them)

  And I got some of this:

 Anything that resembles a daisy, I’m a sucker for.  And I think I grabbed some pink verbena.  I know I grabbed it from around this plant, which I think is Bloody Sorrel.   (I took these last year trying to help him figure out what’s what) so hopefully I got the pink and not the yellow.  He’s got both, so we’ll see what blooms.  I plan on getting a cutting of those pink peonies (I LOVE peonies!) and I should remember to get some of that Sorrel.  Darn rabbits ate all mine.

Pat thinned out the strawberry patch and I brought home the ‘waste’ and used it to square up my volunteer strawberry patch.

Really, it is squared now.  You just can’t see it quite yet.  It is laid out in a more linear, thought about pattern.  Sort of.
My volunteer strawberry patch is smack dab in the center of my garden.  I bought one of those fancy looking strawberry pots and I moved it around my vegetable garden.  Well, some runners jumped and attached themselves.  I couldn’t bring myself to pull out perfectly good strawberry plants and the next year they gave out enough berries for all three of us to have fresh berries with breakfast for a solid month, so I really couldn’t yank them, now could I?  So, now I’ve added to them….I keep saying I’m going to build a new strawberry patch and I really mean to do it, one of these days….maybe next year?   It involves terracing the hill next to the house covered with the sort of grass that never dies, no matter what and we can’t decide on what building material to use, actually, we really like the idea of rock walls, only I really should pay someone to do it right and if we put the garden on the list of things we pay other people to do….well,  there’s a few more important things on that list, so it might be awhile.  Unless of course, I get the gumption to just figure it out myself.
Next year.
I’ve been saying that since we bought the house, almost 12 years ago. 
Anyway.  
There is my early April garden.  That green spot smack dab in the middle is my strawberry patch.  It takes valuable tomato real estate, which is why I really need to get motivated…
And behind that is Pat’s work rig.  And that will be the last picture I have of that thing in the background of one of my garden pictures.  As of tomorrow, we will no longer be ‘the people by Greenleaf Park with all the canoes’.  He’s changing jobs.  He’s going to be the new Upper James RiverKeeper for the James River Association.  Pretty exciting stuff.  His job for the Bay Foundation brought us here 14 years ago this September.  For almost 12 years, we’ve been known as the canoe people by Greenleaf Park.  I’ve overheard it referenced in conversations, I’ve given directions to people and told them our house is the one with the canoes and they always exclaim “I know exactly where you live!”  or “I’ve always wondered about those canoes!”.  After tomorrow, they will disappear and no doubt people that don’t know us will wonder what happened to them.
We’ll get a new boat or two, but it won’t be the same as a big rig of canoes that people stop and ask about.
Although I won’t miss that thing being parked in a spot by the road where it’s blocking the sunlight to my garden. 

Plants I’m happy to see.

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 Last summer, my Japanese painted fern really struggled in the dry weather.  I carted water down to it from the rain barrel quite a bit, but I never seemed to water it enough.  I worried all winter I had killed it.  It originally came from my Aunt Loretta’s garden and I didn’t know how to tell my Uncle Peter I’d killed it.  Thankfully, I’m spared from that.

The pink dogwood is getting ready to open up too.  More things are opening up every day and things are getting greener around here.  The seeds I planted in March are popping up, both the greens I planted in the garden and the seed trays I started in the sunroom. 

What plants are you happy to see coming up?

All Sorts of News!

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The running joke around here is that if it’s outside of my ‘circle’, I have a hard time getting there.  My circle being the route between my house and downtown Charlottesville and Edie’s school.  The full circle is maybe, maybe 2 miles.  My world is small, yes?
Wednesday, I drove up to Baltimore for a dear college friend’s surprise 40th birthday party.  By myself.  I get away by myself maybe once a year, it’s not something I get to pull off very often.  Taking a cab from the hotel to the party was quite the adventure – I realize I need more of these. 
Not only did I have 3+ hours in the car alone there AND back, I had a whole hotel room to myself.  And the party was a good time.  It was great to see everyone. I hung out with Andrea all through college.  I can’t remember her not being there to tell you the truth.    Over the years, we’ve fallen in & out of touch, but the last few years have really brought us back together.  She blames facebook.  But I also think our collective life experiences have made us realize, you only get so many friends like that and you really do need to work at keeping them around at a certain point.  She’s one of those friends that even if I don’t talk to for a few years, we can still pick up where we left off.  Sure we’ve changed in some ways, but in the ways that count, we’ve changed in the same direction.  Not only does she have the best laugh, she’s still the coolest chick I know.  And I’m quite honored to still be able to call her one of my best friends.  (Not that I think I ever let her know that before, since you know, I have issues letting the people I love the most know they are indeed that, but, she knows this about me and is good with it, which is one of the many reasons why she is still one of my best friends.)
As if one roadtrip weren’t enough, I drove home Thursday to get up Friday morning and head over to Richmond to see the Picasso show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts with Edie. 
No, that’s not from the exhibit, I couldn’t take pictures in there, but as we were leaving we got an eyeful of these in the gift shop window and loved it.  The show was great, I even splurged and got the the exhibit catalog for Edie. After the show, we went to lunch at Kuba Kuba and then we wandered around the VCU campus a wee bit, soaking up the atmosphere of their Final Four glory.  Loved seeing the tents set up at gas stations in the city, selling Final Four memorabilia.

I love my small town, but I do love the city too and I really need to get there more often. At the very least, i need to break out of my circle more often than I do.
And now the news you’ve been waiting for….  the winner in our Cozy Noggin giveaway is Kristin.  Congratulations Kristin!  She chose the Abigail fingerless gloves.  Thank you Anne, for suggesting it and helping to promote not only the giveaway, but my little blog here.
And now for my really big news that I’ve been sitting on for oh, 6 weeks now…..I am the new wine columnist at In The Kitchen online magazine!  My first column came out yesterday, under the column name of Beneath the Cork.  I’ve been quietly working on this for the last month or so.  I’m really quite pleased with the results.  I’ve been a fan of Rowena’s magazine since her first edition and never dreamed I could actually write for it someday.  Her monthly meal planner has been a source of inspiration to me.  I had the distinct privilege of meeting Rowena at Leni’s Second Wednesdays last summer.  I ran into Rowena at city market one fine Saturday morning last fall after Leni’s front porch season had ended and we planned a winter version at Rowena’s.  After our first one in February, I realized how much I had treasured my evenings with those two remarkable women.   They are two kindred spirits when it comes to a good many things, but first and foremost, in our attitudes towards food. 
So, that’s been this week around here.  With the usual work,school, soccer and impromptu playdates and dinner parties thrown in of course.  Next up is getting ready for a visit from Pat’s folks, who are coming to visit with Edie during spring break next week.  Some serious cleaning and grocery shopping needs to take place around here, so I suppose I should get going on that…..

Not feeling so crafty.

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I hear quite a bit that I’m crafty. I do like to make things, but more and more, I feel like I come up with great ideas and then just never come through with the finish of them. Either I lose my motivation or I just don’t have the time and energy. Being a mom takes up a good bit of my time. And now that it’s spring, I have to be outside doing something every chance I get, no matter how chilly or gray. The sort of yard work that is happening right now is not anything glamorous. It’s pulling the early weeds. Raking the leaves I didn’t get last fall. Fertilizing, cutting back, spreading compost and manure.  Figuring out what I want to plant and what I want to move.  (I do love to rearrange my yard.) This week, I think I knitted two rows at best on Pat’s sweater.  We had a girl scout meeting.  I baked a cake for the Spring Fair at school.  We had two impromptu dinner parties with neighbors.  We are dog sitting this week, a wonderful old, zen dog, considering him an audition for a real dog, so there’s been quite a few walks and just ‘take the dog out’ breaks.  I finally got laundry caught up, now it needs to be put away. Edie & I have pulled out our warm weather wardrobe and started putting the cold weather clothes away until next fall.  There’s been other things going on that I don’t want to mention here just yet, but stay tuned….. we’ve been busy.  And I look around at the mess my house is and just feel overwhelmed at what still needs to be done.  I probably do a need a day where I throw it all out the window and just make something for the sake of making something.  This weekend it’s supposed to be chilly – snow is even in the forecast.  Our glorious tulip magnolia tree is in full bloom and last night’s frost turned it from pink to brown. 

It happens more years than not.  *sigh*.  It was glorious while it lasted. I really cannot take a picture to do justice to that tree.  It’s on the corner and you can see it for at least a block in either direction.  It’s the first thing to bloom on a large scale and really announces “SPRING!” around here.  
Last weekend it was 70 and divine.  I got a wee bit too much sun on my nose actually. I’ve lived in Virginia long enough to know that March means you can still have a snowstorm before it’s all said and done.  I knew it could happen….I’m hoping to harness it and get some crafty time to myself.  You know, start living up to my reputation. 

My First Giveaway!

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Our dear friend Anne has started her own shop, Cozy Noggin over at Etsy and asked if I wanted to do a giveaway!  I really couldn’t decide among her sweet baby booties, fingerless gloves, hats or her cozy thoughts gifts as to what I’d like to giveaway.  Since this is for you, take a gander at her shop and in my comments section, tell me what you’d like to win and why.

I’ll choose a winner at random next Friday, April 1.

That kind of happy.

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A while back, I saw this post and I just happened to check out the link to KB’s etsy shop and saw this.  Having just seen the commercial for the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Picasso show where Edie turned around and said ‘When are we going to see that’, I knew I had to get her a Picasso dress.  So, I got in touch with KB and she was kind enough to make one for my girl.

Of course, I had neglected to actually run this by Edie.  She’s quite the style princess and I have learned the hard way, to not buy her clothes without her approval first.  There are small exceptions to that rule, but mostly it involves the colors purple, black and/or hello kitty.  Anything else, she will just refuse to wear.  I was pretty sure she’d be okay with this, but I wasn’t entirely sure.  Thankfully, she got really excited and started telling anyone who would listen that I was getting her a custom made PICASSO dress.

Finally, the dress was done and we got to see pictures.  Edie’s excitement only grew.  She started telling people how she was going to wear it to the exhibit at the museum. 

Yesterday morning, Edie had her first soccer game of the season.  It was a great game,  they won 7-3 and Edie was named “Player of the Game” by her coach.  Seems winter soccer and what feels like non-stop playing since last season has really improved her skills.  They all looked improved out there to be honest. 
After the game (we seemed to have lucked out to an entire schedule of 9 am games this season), she wanted to go to the city-wide school art show going on at the high school, where she had a piece on display. There was an open house going on, with all the art teachers there at various craft stations to entertain the kids.  Edie’s teacher was making these incredibly fabulous hats out of tissue paper and of course Edie got one.  Coming back from such a triumphant morning, we found a package from Koleko in the mail.  She immediately had to put it on. 

That’s my girl in her new hat and her new dress.  The dress is perfect, don’t you think?

That kind of weekend.

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My Hellebore is glorious this year.   It only took 4 years to do so.  Gardening requires such patience that I really don’t have with anything else, but when I see things like this, it makes it all worthwhile.  If only I could apply that to other parts of my life.
It was the kind of gloriously beautiful spring weekend where everyone in the neighborhood was outside and puttering on projects or just visiting.   Edie had a few friends over and they wandered through the back yards to play in Brian’s yard. 
How awesome is it that we live in a neighborhood where the kids can do that.  I’d want to go play in that yard too, wouldn’t you?
And lastly, it was the kind of weekend where neighbors wandered over after wrapping up their project to check on your project and we had gin & tonics to celebrate such a lovely, productive day.  I’m so happy it’s the time of year for those kinds of weekends again.  I missed them.

The highlights.

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I have been cooking up a storm here lately.  It seems to be my creative bent these days. 

 
 

Roasted butternut squash, black bean, spinach, jack & goat cheese quesadillas with roasted tomatillo salsa and sour cream. (Squash & tomatillos from last summers garden!)
Fried tofu po-boys with homemade lemon tartar sauce.

French toast for breakfast from Irish Soda Bread.  Seriously good salads.  Jambalaya.  This weekend I’m thinking about rolling out a new brunch recipe I picked up recently. 
 
That’s the highlights from around here.   It keeps raining, winter is slowly fading into spring and none of my seeds have popped up in the 4 days they’ve been in dirt.  It seems like the only thing interesting to do around here is cook.

I Declare it Spring.

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It was so awesome to be able to work in the garden yesterday.  I weeded the perennial bed at the end of the vegetable garden and got some greens and broccoli rabe planted.  I’ve never grown that before, we don’t really eat it actually, so I thought it would be fun to try.  I’m also giving spinach another go – I never have much luck with it, it does nothing and then the first warm day, it takes off and bolts.  I’m trying two different kinds, both of which are supposed to be slow bolting.  We’ll see.
Today I started tomato, pepper, basil and tomatillo seeds in flats.  I’m trying to be more organized about the garden this year and plant a few new things.  I want to try a new green bean this year, and rethink which squash I grow.  I’ve also selected, much to Pat’s delight, where the next garden spot in the back yard will be. (As opposed to my usual, just go out and dig up a spot.)
As I was working in the garden yesterday, a man running by asked if it was spring.  As a matter of fact, I have decided that, Yes, it is.  Crocus are starting to bloom, the daffodils are on their way, the peach, quince, tulip magnolia, blueberry and hydrangeas bushes and trees are forming buds, and the columbine were noticed to be peeking up.  What other signs do you need?