Spring Dirt
In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt. -Margaret Atwood
Surprise Me With Daffodils
Spring daffodils fill me with delight, but I've never gotten around to planting them in my garden. Apparently, Mother Nature decided that I needed a couple to cheer me up, because ta-da! I now have daffodils blooming in my front yard. Isn't that a lovely surprise?!?
Tuna Melt Crostini for Lunch
I respect recipes, I really do. But most of my meals are based on what food
is hanging around in my kitchen or tucked away in my freezer for safekeeping. For instance, today I made a light and
colorful tuna melt with just enough cheese to hold it together. And without a speck of mayonnaise, because I
prefer mayonnaise on someone else’s plate.
All I did was toast up a couple of frozen baguette slices. And topped them with some chunks of canned
tuna, sliced red onion and peppers, chopped parsley and some grated Tillamook
extra sharp cheddar cheese. I sprinkled on some good salt, pepper, and a dash of red cayenne.
I put my creation under my broiler for a couple of
minutes. And then voila, lunch was
served. It was pretty and delicious and
I saved the last crunchy piece of crust for The Assistant. She approved.
My Wacky Garden Door
You may have noticed a lime green door in the background of my bouquet pictures. It's my favorite piece of garden art in our yard, but it didn't start out that way.
The Assistant, as sweet and helpful as she is, has a fence fighting problem. So when the neighbors kitty-corner behind our house, that share about three feet of our fence line, bought a new dog in the spring of 2010, she turned into a ferocious beast and tried to claw, dig, hit, and jump her way through the fence.
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| The Assistant is a recovering fence fighter. |
So, I decided to build a barricade with a garden door. I wanted to find an old ugly carved door with plenty of character. We found it at our first stop at the Clark County Habitat for Humanity ReStore for 50% off. Score!
I really liked the quirky brass handle and painted it with a copper finish. And we liked the carved eagle because as a happy coincidence, both of our high school mascots were eagles.
Now, I shudder to show you these bad photos that I took for my garden journal, but I wanted to show you the process.
We cut two 2 by 4's and screwed them into the fence posts.
Then we attached the wood door with screws. We added fence boards on each side.
I toned down the paint color to a lime green. And we landscaped a path to the door. But then the damnedest thing happened...I kept fighting the urge to go open the door. The door that I had personally screwed into place.
A Lovely Gift
Last Friday was a doozy of a day; the kind that makes you
cringe before your feet hit the floor in the morning. It was Maya’s last day and I had volunteered to
help my friend with her mom’s funeral reception. I fed Maya some steak for breakfast and
brewed a French Press of coffee. When I reached into the fridge to pull out the fresh eggs that my friend,
Marlena, had given me following our plant-shopping extravaganza at Garden
Fever, I was struck by the beauty of the eggs.
I grabbed my camera and took a few shots.
I simply adore fried eggs and fresh eggs from a friend’s
chickens are a special treat. How is it
that a simple fried egg placed on top of a normal meal suddenly makes it
extraordinary? I like to slide them on
top of sautéed greens, rice, leftovers, and even the occasional bowl of soup.
The eggs from Marlena were delicious and I smiled at the day-old
memory of our running around in the rain picking out beautiful plants together for her garden. I savored every bite of the eggs and felt
shored up for the day. On Saturday, I fried
up the rest of the eggs and shared them with My Pirate. The fried eggs brought a smile to our faces
as we mused over our memories of Maya.
Marlena, thanks for the sustenance!