Vicki Lane's Blog, page 525

Up Close

I spent the morning weeding -- sitting on the ground and getting up close and personal with the border along our entryway. The little rose above is one of the first things I planted after we built our house -- given to me by a neighbor who rooted a cutting under a Mason jar. The blossoms are tiny, about the size of my thumb.
Once I was down at eye level with the Victoria blue salvia, I could see that the flowers were being worked by minuscule bees -- probably the same ones I've heard called sweat bees for their tendency to light in the crook of a sweaty elbow. The red yarrow I transplanted about a month ago has taken hold. We have wild white yarrow but I'm really fond of these lacy ruby-toned blooms.
Inside, washing my hands before lunch,  I found this fellow lurking in a dishtowel.  He was quite obliging and stayed put for me to take his picture.
No, he's not a roach -- he's some sort of beetle. While Googling around trying to identify him, I learned that there are around 25,000 different types of Coleoptera (beetles) in North America and over 350, 000 worldwide. which makes the Coleoptera the largest order of the animal kingdom. They live in and on all sorts of things -- water, dirt, bark, leaves, dung, carpets . . . Maybe he's a dish towel beetle.

Scene Around

Elegant shading of pink, lavender, and blue. . .
A humming bird waiting her turn at the feeder , , ,
Rose of Sharon, Althea, or Lavatera -- it's still a pretty thing. . .
Miss Susie Hutchins enjoying the early sun. . .
A dead branch nailed above the window as a trellis suits our rustic idiom. . . Almost the last of the clematis . . . Eddie, of course. . . Autumn Joy sedum getting ready for its big moment . . .
There were at least eight hummers at the feeders but you'll just have to take my word for it. 
I think I need a tripod and a blind. . .
Morning glories stay obligingly still. . .

Did You Realize. . .

. . . that your armpit has cravings? Which armpit, I couldn't say, but Old Spice tells me this is the case. And now I have to wonder about other body parts -- what is it they desire? My knees (both of them) have been telling me for some time now that they'd like to be refurbished.
But what about some of the other members of my anatomy? Would my lips like some Botox? Are my cuticles crying out for cuticle cream, my lashes for lengthener, my teeth for resurfacing?
"Exfoliate me!" I think I hear my skin screaming.

In Silent Praise . . .

Good Reading

Just as I was amazed and delighted with the book ROOM, told from the point of view of a five year old, by the end of page three. I had fallen in love with THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, told from the point of view of a dog. 

It was highly recommended to me by several folks whose opinions I trust -- Pat in TN was one, I think -- but somehow I never got around to it. Then at Wildacres, Kathy, who was auditing my class. handed it to me. "Read this," she said.
It was one in the morning when I finished it and I really wanted to turn back to the beginning and reread it. But I waited -- I'm rereading it now --  over a week later.
Enzo is a charmingly dog-like dog, completely believable for someone like me who has spent her life anthropomorphizing dog behavior. His dog's eye view of his person, his person's wife and child and the situations that ensue is beautifully done.
This isn't a review -- you can find plenty of those on line -- this is just me telling you who are dog lovers, as Pat told me a few years ago, "You need to read this book."


Mention Larry McMurtry and most folks would think of LONESOME DOVE -- one of the best TV cowboys epics around.  Or TERMS OF ENDEARMENT or THE LAST PICTURE SHOW.  Those are, by the way, terrific novels as well as films. 
BUFFALO  GIRLS is the self-told story of Calamity Jane. She is near the end of her wild and most unconventional life, traveling with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.  This is a poignant but unsentimental look at the end of an era, written with McMurtry's fine blend of quirky but believable characters and historical detail.  There's a masterful twist at the end of this fine novel that I particularly enjoyed.

Too Hot for Etiquette...

Out Early in the Garden

On these hot days, it's good to get outside by seven or earlier to get the watering done before the sun burns off the morning mist.
It's a good time to pick tomatoes and cucumbers and beans -- and that early light is good for taking pictures.
The bees are at work too. The tomatoes are afflicted by blight -- I've been removing the affected leaves which is whay the plants look so minimalist.
I'm somewhat schizophrenic in the garden -- pulling weeds, picking tomatoes . . . and then light illumines the graceful curve of a blade of corn and I have to go get my camera.
Sunflowers for the house -- I'm tempted to pick some crepe myrtle but I know how bad it sheds...I'll enjoy it on the tree.
A load of weeds and worm-infested broccoli for the biddies. And the sunlight transforms a simple Rose of Sharon.

Time to Make the Pesto . . .

Basil Pesto A much better  way to deal with an abundance of basil in the garden than trying to dry it. This keeps at least a year in the freezer – and for months in the refrigerator. Pine nuts are traditional but usually rather expensive and sometimes a bit rancid as they have a short shelf life. I like almonds.

 

  3 packed cups fresh basil leaves (no stems)
1 cup packed fresh parsley leaves (can substitute more basil if you prefer)
4 larges cloves fresh (peeled) garlic (not elephant garlic; it's too mild)
¾ cup grated parmesan (or romano or asiago)
½ c. pine nuts, walnuts, raw, unblanched almonds, or hulled sunflower seeds (or any combination thereof
salt to taste, or none at all
¾ c. olive oil (extra-virgin, if you want to be really fancy, but any pure olive oil will do just fine)

Put all ingredients into a blender or a food processor. The food processor will quickly produce a smooth paste – the blender will require a little coaxing and stopping and starting and rearranging the contents with a spatula before the paste is achieved. 

In fact, dealing with vast quantities of fresh basil every summer is what finally convinced me I needed a food processor.

Put finished pesto in half pint jelly jars and store in the freezer.
  Add a can or two of clams and maybe a bit of chopped garlic and top with more Parmesan and you've got some nice white clam spaghetti -- an easy meal after all that slaving over a hot food processor. I served sauteed squash, onions and snow peas on the side.

Hot! Hot! Hot! So . . .

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Ahhh. . . .I feel cooler already. . . 

Airing

Making up the bed has always been the first thing I do in the morning. "There, that's done," and I can proceed on to laundry, bird feeders, dog cookies, refilling cat food bowls. a handful of pellets for the goldfish, picking mint and brewing tea, coffee, Internet news, and breakfast, more or less in that order. 
 One day a week  I generally change the sheets and on that day, if the weather cooperates, I air the pillows, something I remember my grandmother doing. They smell of sunshine when I lie down that night.

Now  The Wartime Housewife  suggests that it might be a good idea to air the bed every day. Having seen pictures of the various dust mite and other microscopic critters that can lurk in bedding, I'm thinking, why not? I remember traveling in Europe and seeing duvets hanging out windows in the mornings. 

So I'm breaking the habit of a lifetime and leaving the bed to air. But, silly though it may seem, I still go make it back up in the afternoon. Of course, one could be like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis who, I've read, insisted on having fresh sheets twice a day -- after a night's sleep and after her afternoon nap.  
The rich are different . . .