Purling Oaks

Iris for Joy

Joy asked me for a photo of the Florentine iris that I mentioned on facebook....a week or so ago, I think.  Here is one from Saturday, May 12, 2012....

I call them Florentine iris, well, because that is what I ordered.  And they appear to fit Patrick Lima's description in his Illustrated Book of Herbs, a book I kept at my bedside and read often to ensure sweet dreams and to plan my own garden.  That book is one I would take to a desert island or may have buried with me.  Seriously.  I don't have the book at hand right now but way back when.....probably 1995 or so, I called the source for the iris from the back of the book (in Ohio, I believe) and (yes, I called.  No innernets then the way they are now....) and in a week or so, I had my own source of lovely dove gray iris that fade to white.  Someday I must visit Larkwhistle, the gardens that Patrick Lima and his partner built in a relatively remote part of Canada.

(This photo was taken about a week ago, in the early evening, a day before the big full moon.)

Although these iris resemble the typical germanic variety ( I hope I used that term correctly), they do bloom about two weeks or more before most germanic iris bloom in the same garden conditions.  

Have I satisfied your curiousity, Joy?  I'll be dividing these iris this year and will be glad to share...just let me know if you (or any other readers) are interested in a few rhizomes later this summer and I'll send them off.  (You can share your snail mail address later.)   Really.....there will be a lot to share, so don't be shy about finding some space in your garden.

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I had to drive quite a distance on Thursday and Friday and, gosh, did I get the travel sickness!  I'm over it now which is quite fortuitous as I'm driving again tomorrow.  Must.stop.the.car.more.often.and.walk.around!

Have a lovely week!

Pretty stone fruit

Caution:  Items in small bowls may appear larger than real life.

 

I believe I will have cherries with my yogurt tomorrow morning.  Our newer small cherry trees have ripening fruit, so I (HA!) cherry-picked a few.  

Today was an absolutely beautiful day.  I opened up the windows this morning to low humidity and blue skies and they're still open.  The only thing better would be if I could have spent more of my day outside.  

 

First Saturday in April

Sorry about the quality of this....at least I'm here.  

 

 

I haven't been keeping track of TypePad developments, but why are (a lot of) people following me on TypePad and they have no followers but they are following hundreds of others?  I haven't clicked to visit any of their blogs since I think they have a nasty package waiting for me, or rather--my computer) when I get there.  They remind me of the "sex girls" followers on twitter.  (They're all displaying female photos anyway.)  Quite a nuisance.  Anyone else noticing this?

Next week, Dr. E and Mom are flying into DC and we're going to go adventuring.  We're taking Amtrak to New York to see Wicked.  We have really good seats, too.  I'm exciting.  Less than 24 hours after we arrive in NYC, we're leaving for Boston, again on Amtrak.  Dan's meeting us, we're all joining Nephew #2 (or Dr. E's DS#2) who is attending university there and spending a few nights in town.  The guys then will all go their merry ways while Mom and I take the train back to DC.  Lots of knitting and reading and just looking out the window at the view for that day.  Mom's looking forward to exploring the Smithsonian for a day or two.  Family, yay!

The bun.  Still growing.  

Spring blossom Saturday

Cherry blossoms will soon be seen in Wisconsin.  

Pear blossoms, as well.

And White Dot is ready for anything.  Isn't he handsome?  

It is a really beautiful day today.  I picked up a bucket of pine cones, which are excellent fire starters; worked in my herb gardens; and took a walk to take these photos (with White Dot's help).  The laundry is also being dealt with.  DH is out with the chain saw cutting up buckthorn in the woods.  It is easier to cut now before all the leaves, brush, and weeds grow high.  Tomorrow, we're planning on having a lunch date and running errands together.  Romantic, eh?  Well, yeah, it is.  We're planning time together because if we don't, before we know it we're back at work without having spent quality time together.

This lovely Spring weather means also that there are four shedding felines.  Lovely.  I could easily have a cat hair sweater if I collected and spun this stuff up.   Tick season is starting, too.  We medicate the cats for fleas and ticks but I don't have a high opinion of the med's effectiveness for ticks.  Any one know of a good tick repellent? 

 

 

End of August Sunday

Wow.  Sunday all ready!  This weekend passed in a flash.  ....and with no photos, either.  Must be the End of Summer slump.  The weather definitely has an autumn feel.  Windy but sunny.  The temperature right now is 64 degrees.  The low tonight is supposed to be 36 degrees.  (yikes!)  I'm glad I won't have to go to the airport at 4 am tomorrow (due to a dental appointment) and won't have to make the coat/no coat decision at that hour.

Garden/Kitchen:  More tomatoes and eggplants were harvested.  One eggplant plant was withering so I ripped it out of the garden in the hopes whatever happened to it won't spread to the other three.  The Italian heirloom (generic variety) are lovely meaty tomatoes. 

I made two types of tomato sauce today.  Regular tomato sauce that I'll freeze as soon as I post this entry and roasted tomato sauce from this recipe.  The roasted sauce turned out more like a bruchetta even though I used only 1/4 cup of EV olive oil.  It was in the oven for a good hour and I used about 1/4 cup fresh basil as well as some dried oregano and fresh parsley (see next paragraph).  Guess what I had for lunch on toasted fresh bread?  Yum.

We also are having salsa tonight.  We would have had it last night but the bag of cilantro turned into a bag of parsley in the rotter vegetable drawer and the Pig didn't have any cilantro....in August.  Wilson made a run into Madison today and brought back some cilantro so this evening's snacking plans are saved.

House:  The cool weather this weekend has turned my thoughts to preparing for winter.   Besides, Stacey is visiting soon and I'm having another domesticity attack.  I decided to look for room rugs this weekend.  I found one that I liked but will still be on the lookout for another three or four.  That is hard work people.  Nice enough for the house but not that nice since I have house not a museum.

The front yard landscaping/reclamation is finished and the grass is growing.  The yard actually looks like someone lives here.  Cool.  Saturday, I ordered 10 hosta plants (for 15 dollars!!) and a bunch of daylilies from Gilbert H. Wild and Son in a moment of weakness.  Oh, and three peonies, too. 

Knitting/Spinning:  None except for a row or five during the week on the Simple Yet Effective Shawl.  But I did read about knitting and thought about looking for the bag of Williamsro raw material. 

Other good stuff:  Enjoyed the first caramel apple of the season from Lapacek's Orchard.  Tried their new apple cider donuts, which do belong in the good stuff category.  This past week was Restaurant Week in D.C. and I enjoyed three dinners and one lunch at four nice restaurants and spending time with several of my co-workers and getting to know them a bit better.  Yes, I'm eating salads this coming week.

Happy Sunday.

Saturday morning goodies

Today's a lovely day in Wisconsin (current temp of 50 degrees F) with blue skies and high temperatures forecast to be in the low 70s.  Thank goodness.  We're having a houseful of family over today as my traveling nephew, Micah, is visiting with his grandmother and they're traveling down here to meet with family in this part of the state and points south. Next week, he starts his senior year at UC-San Diego after spending the past year in Spain (and just about everywhere else.) 

The frozen vanilla yogurt was made last night, the sandwich fixings are in the frig, and everyone else is bringing a dish, so we're all set.  Wilson is going to set up the lawn games.  The cats are, um, not aware of the gathering yet.  :D

I'll be catching up with everything else, including emails, blog reading, laundry, sleeping, and, oh yeah, knitting/crafting/spinning, sometime this weekend.

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My new necklace and earrings from opal!  I sent a little "do you think you could do something like this" email and she created this lovely set that was exactly what I wanted.  Getting a package from opal is really a treat (especially on a Friday) because the packaging is so nice and, besides some chocolate treats that may or may not have been here, there were these uber-cute stitch markers.  Thank you, opal!  Now, to plan to get these packages on a regular basis.....oh, Wiillllssssonnnn!.........  :D 

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I haven't been down to my garden yet, but here is the bounty from last weekend.   

Happy Saturday!

Saturday's this and that

To borrow a phrase, "...I'm a bad blogger."   However, I'm here now with some general this and that stuff for this post.

• I realized on Friday that I was actually a walking zombie the previous day.  I'm doing such a good job at ignoring the travails of travel that I didn't recognize I should have pulled the covers over my head and called it a day Thursday morning.  It was a rough travel week.  I think I spent 14 hours traveling including waiting time in airports on Monday (which included two tries at the runway in a lightning storm, obviously one try was successful) and 9 hours on Wednesday.  Mental note:  If this happens again, don't try to "power" through any fatigue, it won't be productive.
• Friday, however, was productive and today is starting out that way.  I watered the new landscaping, washed most of the windows on the south side of the house (not at well as Wilson, but light comes through now), cleaned the bird bath, gazing globe, and statuary; started a load of laundry, and all this before coffee.  I may take a nap this afternoon, though.
• I have two ripe tomatoes as of Thursday afternoon.  Yippee!  BLT salad, here I come.
• Wilson has been Up North for a few days with Tom, the best man at our wedding, fly fishing for muskies and other various fishing.  He'll be home late tonight.
• As mentioned, the front yard is getting a make-over, including a new sidewalk.   
• There are some interesting flowers in the woods.   
• The stream is still flowing although not with the vigor that Spring supplies.  It changes with the seasons, providing a new source of water for the local wildlife, a home for minnows, and more food for the birds and animals that like aquatic snacks.   
• I hope to go gather some more berries. 
• Happy Saturday.  It is Saturday, isnt' it?

Happy Saturday photos

This photo makes me happy.  Blue and White Dot, geranium, my spinning wheel, a comfy chair, and a little Saturday sunshine.  Of course, there are things the photo doesn't show, which are fine, such as:

• Both cats (and their sisters) want to go outside but can't because Wilson and I are going up to the Farm in a few hours and we can't have the kitties running a muck while we're gone.
• The sunshine was only visible for about 60 seconds so far this morning.  The high temperature yesterday was 61 degrees F.  This is July?
• That's the same bobbin I started Tour de Fleece with--it is loaded up a bit more but the time allocated to spinning hasn't been too extensive. 

Speaking of Tour de Fleece/Team Crankypants.........You know the Groucho Marx scene where the phrase "Doctor, it hurts when I do this!" and Groucho says, "Then don't do that!"?  Well, I have to put my spindle on the sideline because I'm aggravating my shoulder and ribs somehow.   I'm taking action to heal up but no spindling for a while.  The wheel is still in action so I'm still cheering for Team Crankypants.  Good thing this was a no-stress event.  :D  I am happy that I've been spinning more, and that's what counts.

Our trip up to the Farm is because Dr. E is there visiting our mom.  He's only here for a short time so we're heading up this afternoon to say hello and meet with other family at the Roxie in Oshkosh for dinner.  He's back from vacationing in Europe with his two sons and will be able to tell us more about running with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain ( o.O ) as well as the other fun stuff the three of them did.

The garden is coming along despite my absence. 

Happy Saturday!

Making room for one more thing....

Some unscheduled events can be very tasty........

I had a full list of things to do yesterday.  However, sometimes you need to make room for one more thing, especially when Mother Nature is involved.  The cherries were ripe yesterday so I grabbed the step-ladder and a bowl and picked (and pitted) about five cups of tart cherries.  I'm actually glad they ripened yesterday.  Ripening on Monday would have meant the birds got to enjoy them all.  I picked just the ripe ones with many left on the tree.  So, we're sharing.  Of course, once they were picked and pitted, I was faced with the horrible task of deciding what to make with them. 

Horrible.  Riiiight.

Cherry and Nut Muffins using the Joy of Cooking recipe for basic muffins-full fat version.  I added 1.5 cups of tart cherries, and about 3/4 cup of nuts (pecans and walnuts), filled up a jumbo muffin tin and  presto......Breakfast!

and Snack.  and Lunch.  and Late afternoon snack.  Just Kidding.  Maybe.  Definitely tomorrow's early breakfast.

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Tour de Fleece 2009 Update

Yesterday's spinning is the bump part on the bobbin.  How I managed that odd bump I'm not sure.  All the cherry picking/pulled-pork making/laundry tired me out but I did make progress!  

I've got just a bit of this fiber to spin....I'm hoping to make a sweater with it whenever I finish spinning.  It is a warm neutral which should be perfect for a basic cardigan.

 

Geranium Update:

Happy Sunday!

Some actual knitting...

I have been knitting and here's some evidence.     I've been working on increasing my speed but, of course, for me with speed (I use that term loosely) comes .......... a hole.  I found it yesterday just as my plane reached cruising speed to Madison; a short flight so not that much of a loss.    I think I have a spare yarn-over there but I'm not sure.  I've been researching my Knit Fix book for a solution to that and all Lisa Kartus says is to tink.  /sigh.  Is it possible to just "drop down" and fix it?  I've got errands to run this morning so I won't be playing with it too soon.  I will be seeing my DSIL Anne tomorrow, I think, and she will probably know how to fix it....besides tinking, I hope.  *g*

I walked around outside early this morning and found some things to share with you.  Here's a blue flag iris growing in the stream, which is still flowing but the volume of water is much reduced.

The thyme is blooming...... 

I've been walking a lot lately and feeling really good.  I've even been feeling skinny-er but when I step on the scale it says "so what if you've been walking.....walk more!"  So, I'll take the mood improvement and hope for more as I keep walking.  I've found a place to stay about two blocks from the office in DC so I'll be able to avoid the "sweaties" in the morning.  I plan to walk to and on the "Mall" in the evenings so I can keep up the walking and walk in a place where there will be a lot to see.  I'll have to walk a few blocks to get to the Washington Monument end.   I'll be able to gauge my progress by how far I get on the Mall.

Happy Friday!