One Writer Mom. One Teen Kid. One Brilliant Australian Shepherd. One Comical Border Collie Mix. One Dog in a Maine Coon Cat's Body. And Latest to the Party — One Cuddly Cavalier.
Posted in My Garden / Recipes, Nature on Apr 18th, 2010
Most of my readers have figured out that I’m an avid gardener, but I’ve never shared my true motivation before. Sure, it’s because I like growing things, spending time outdoors, and getting my hands dirty, but none of those are the motivators–they’re the benefits. What got me into gardening so many decades ago (and keeps [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Mar 14th, 2010
With all the anticipation of getting ready for my gardening season, I’ve been cooking up a storm testing new recipes. Cait is always very happy when this happens. As she was munching and I was preparing, we got to talking about favorite childhood tastes. For me, hands down, it’s my mother’s Orange Salad recipe. It’s [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Jan 31st, 2010
The temp is a whopping -10 degrees outside, but I’m thinkin’ Spring. Yes, it’s that time of year already — time to order seeds for this year’s garden! Regular readers know that I’m big on annual garden experiments. An experiment that I didn’t chronicle last season was trying seeds from a variety of catalogs. Since [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Oct 25th, 2009
It’s that time of year; hard frosts herald the end of my gardening year. As I work to put my garden to bed until next spring, it’s a good time to take stock of the growing season. This year, with summer weather more typical of Ireland than upstate NY, and less time available for gardening [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Oct 11th, 2009
I’ve been growing my own garlic for about 15 years — all from my own bulbs that I harvest from year to year. I don’t remember what possessed me to order my first bulbs from Seeds of Change way back when. After all, garlic seems a slightly peculiar item to grow when they’re so plentiful [...]
Posted in .Cait and Me, .My Dogs and Me, My Garden / Recipes, Nature on Aug 16th, 2009
Having recently gone through a growth spurt, Cait was in need of some new clothes. So off to the Mall we went. We always concentrate our efforts in this one particular store, because we always have good luck finding cloths that fit and that Cait will actually wear. The tradition is to make our way [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes, Nature on Jul 19th, 2009
And let your cares float away on the wisps of whispering breezes. Works for me every time.
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Jul 5th, 2009
One of my great joys in life is heading out to the garden to collect food for dinner. Weather like this simply adds to the adventure. I’m usually very thankful for rain, but with all the wet weather we’ve had, it’s really slowing down some of the crops. As you can see, my selection still [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Jun 21st, 2009
As much as anything, what I love about gardening are the nice surprises — what I call the “Gifts” and “Guests.” The gifts come from seeds that I didn’t intentionally plant. Since I use open pollinated seeds, and I save my own seeds from year to year, I’m always allowing a few plants to reach [...]
Posted in .Cait and Me, Finnegan the Coon Cat, Life, My Garden / Recipes on May 24th, 2009
Ever go through one of those times where you wake up in the morning to find a truckload of manure in your driveway? You didn’t order it. You don’t need it. You can’t return it, because the midnight interloper has left no forwarding address. And you’re not going to be able to get your car [...]
Posted in Life, My Garden / Recipes on Apr 15th, 2009
What I love most about April is its promise of spring and rebirth. Even its holidays are days that offer cause for laughter and joyous celebration. For those of us dealing with wintry climates, April ushers in excitement for all that is sunny, warm, and green. Winter coats get packed away, windows get thrown open, [...]
Posted in .Cait and Me, Dogs in General, Life, My Garden / Recipes on Mar 1st, 2009
With all the various projects and work stuff clamoring to get done, I’m starting to feel like the proverbial bouncing ball. Boing! Talk to this client. Boing! Get that paperwork done! Boing! Add this idea to the to-do list. Boing! Research that article and get quotes. Boing! Meet this deadline. Boing! Boing! Boing! In the [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes on Feb 1st, 2009
For the tenth time, Andrew opened the refrigerator, hoping that something “good” would magically materialize. For the tenth time, when no miracle occurred and the exact same food stared back at him, he finally exclaimed, “Is it me, or is there only weird stuff in here?” Because I hate grocery shopping even more than I [...]
Posted in .Cait and Me, Life, My Garden / Recipes on Aug 31st, 2008
Having just picked a bushel of ripe tomatoes, there was only one thing to do. Get busy making spaghetti sauce. I put Cait on garlic and herb chopping duty, while I prepared the tomatoes. I love having Cait help, not just because the work gets done faster, but because Cait likes to talk while she [...]
Posted in My Garden / Recipes, Nature on Aug 22nd, 2008
Fall is in the air. No need to look at the calendar; there are signs everywhere. Harvested at the end of July, my garlic has dried enough to cut, clean, and store. One drying screen almost done. One more to go. Seed saving begins for many of my lettuces and leafy vegetables. This is Chinese [...]
