Max says, "Can't we turn the heat back on? It's been raining for three days and the house is so cold this morning."

"Anticipation..."

Sing it with me people!

"...it's making me wait..."




This is Jane's lovely garden. What you can't see are the potatoes, beans, peas, and other tasty treats that are growing beneath the surface of the dirt. Whoops, there's some asparagus. It must be spring.



My faithful readers (all three of you) must know by now that I love the before and after pics of plants in growth. You know, then, what's coming in future posts.

"...it's keeping me waiting..."

I'm so lucky that Jane is sharing her garden with me this summer.

These really are the good old days... (awww!)

See Jane Garden...

Look, look.
Look and see.
See Jane and Anna.
See Jane and Anna in the garden.
The garden has many weeds.
Jane and Anna pull the weeds.
Jane and Anna also talk about books.

Jane and Anna plant vegetables.
They plant potatoes and tomatoes.
They plant spinach and beets.
Hopefully Jane and Anna will grow many vegetables.
Yum, yum!

Funny, funny Anna.
Funny, funny Jane.

I've been working on this off and on for the last year, but I've been thinking about making this cushion for almost ten years.

This is the Shell Cushion, designed in 1925 by Vanessa Bell. The original can be found in the Garden Room of the Charleston Farmhouse in Sussex, the country retreat of Vanessa and Clive Bell and the gathering spot for their friends, the group of artists and writers known as the "Bloomsbury Group." (This is also the spot where designer Kaffe Fassett did the photo shoot for his most recent book.)

The pattern was reproduced by Melinda Coss in her (now out-of-print) book Bloomsbury Needlepoint. Although the cushion is now faded, Coss was able to take the cushion apart to find the original bold color scheme. I've tried my best to follow that color scheme using Appleton Crewel wool and a 12-mesh canvas. The only detail I omitted was the red criss-cross on the yellow centers of the orange blossoms.

What next, a cushion patterned after William Morris design? The Abstract-Patterned cushion from Charleston? I can't decide.

Blizzard of 2008

The snow is melting away now but last week's blizzard broke records. To spite the frozen tempest outside, the Clivia bloomed even harder and it still looking spectacular after nearly two weeks of blossom. The second plant should be opening its blooms in the next few days.



The twenty inches of snow that fell here in central Ohio still can't dissuade me from my obsession with the coming spring. Things have gotten quite out of hand here with seeds and sprouts. So far we've got broccoli, tomatoes, lots of different kind of herbs, and a few flowers (monarda and calendula). The salpiglossis seedlings are looking a bit peaky, tho', and I'm wondering if they're going to make it. The picture on the seed package was so pretty and it said they were easy to grow but this is the second year I've tried and I'm still not impressed. Better to stick with zinnia, cosmos, and marigolds?

When I was a kid I remember one of our neighbors had a big porcelain claw foot tub outside next to the house. It was filled with dirt and they planted things in it. In the years since I've seen these tubs turned on their ends in the garden and used to create small grottos to house statues of the Virgin Mary. So, you can see why the idea of using a bathtub for things other than bathing might have occurred more readily to me.



And don't worry, we do have a shower stall.

Clivia Watch 2008

Clivia "A" has finally blossomed! And Clivia "B" is making steady progress towards the same goal. Not bad for a first-timer!

The keep the blossom stalk growing tall and graceful I didn't put the plant into the best sunny spot until the blossoms were imminent. Too much sun and I've heard that the stalk doesn't grow and the blossoms get stuck down in the leaves.

It has been snowing off and on for the past week, big pretty flakes that draw one to the window to watch. Here is the view out our south windows.



The barn belongs to a neighbor but we're happy to get one of the best views of it from our house. I'm not sure how old it is, but some of the main beams bear the marks of being hand-hewn.

When its snowing I feel more energized to get things done and particularly excited about cooking and baking. My latest experiment was this Cardamom Wreath.



The recipe is available in a variety of places, including this website. It's more of a subtle sweet yeast bread than a coffee cake, and it's perfect for breakfast or with a cup of tea in the afternoon. The recipe suggests topping with slivered almonds but I decided to try it on its own, although I did make the cardamom butter recipe that accompanied the bread since I had some orange zest left from the bread recipe. The bread keeps well for several days, especially if you wrap it in a linen tea towel and store in a bread box.

If you decide to make the bread I can offer a few bits of feedback: I started the wet ingredients in my kitchenaid mixer with the batter attachment and switched to the dough hook after adding the first two cups of flour. (If you start with the dough hook you won't be able to mix the butter, sugar, and eggs well enough.) The dough was quite moist and sticky so I kept adding flour while the machine kneaded and until I could handle the dough without getting stuck in it. I was worried I'd overwork the bread but it appears to have survived and is still soft and tender despite lots of kneading. Lastly, my ground cardamom was probably fairly old and it wasn't very fragrant anymore so I decided to use a mortar and pestle to grind some cardamom seeds myself (just remember to take them out of the pods first). The result was incredibly fragrant and fantastic but it didn't overpower the recipe. With the freshly ground spice and the orange zest my kitchen smelled wonderful!

I dream in color, specifically in olive green

Excitement is building here on Elm Street as we await the Clivia blossom that is sure to come soon!



That said, there's not too much to report from here. I'm wearing out my office chair from too much sitting and writing my dissertation. Perhaps that's why I dreamed last night that I was buying a Herman Miller chair (in an experimental olive green color!). I mean, we all have our own fantasies don't we? Dreaming about chairs is a whole lot better than dreaming about writing my dissertation, I'll tell you that much. I already carry a small notebook with me for any inspiration that happens when I'm away from the computer, don't tell me I'm going to have to keep it by the bed for all those dissertation dream insights! I'd rather dream about chairs.

So that's the kind of excitement we've got going on here.

We did host a Spaghettiplausch party last week for a few friends. I have to say that the Swiss do manage to come up with the very best in meal traditions that are intrinsically social. Indeed the meaning is built into the name Spaghettiplausch: "plausch" means to "chat."

Now while a Spaghettiplausch is not based around melted cheese like fondue or raclette (more's the pity since we lurve the cheese) it is still very fun! The point, as I understand it, is to offer a variety of different spaghetti sauces to try. And then to chat, of course!

We had four sauces for five people and we ate enough pasta to fuel a table of marathon runners! In addition to a meat sauce, we contributed one of my favorites - a Cantaloupe-Tomato sauce. I got the recipe from a friend almost ten years ago and I still make it from the notes I jotted down on a scrap of paper. Yes, I know cantaloupe isn't the first thing one thinks of as the key ingredient to a pasta sauce but once you try it, I'm sure you'll be hooked.

Have fun and throw your own Spaghettiplausch party!

Cantaloupe pasta sauce for 4 people

1 cantaloupe chopped into bite-sized pieces (the more ripe, the more easily it will break down when you cook it)

1/3 stick butter (the recipe I copied this from says 1/3 stick per 1/2 melon but I've cut back the proportions to 1/3 stick for a whole melon, IOW butter use in this recipe is fairly flexible and you can use more or less to suit your own tastes)

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

Saute the melon until it breaks down.

Add tomatoes, cook a few minutes more.

Add 1/3 cup of heavy cream (we use half and half and it works fine) and remove from heat.

Finish with a little S&P to taste. Serve over pasta (spaghetti and angel hair work well with this sauce).