In the Winter, Far Beneath the Bitter Snow...

"...lies a seed, that in the springtime, becomes a rose."  Bette Midler, "the  Rose"

Hi everyone...Okay, no snow---and no roses here, lol. But you get the gist, right? It's winter and not much is growing in our gardens outside. Every year on this holiday weekend I start my spring flower bulbs for indoor blooming.

This past autumn I was unable to buy much in the way of bulbs to force. The usual stores, like Lowe's and Home Depot had shingles and lumber not flowering bulbs. I picked up the paperwhite narcissus at the Christmas tree place, a garden store that had somehow survived the flood. And I bought the red tulips at the supermarket in Manhattan, I think.

 

I didn't have time to pre-plant and chill off the tulips.

I planted some in my deck flower containers [with the pansies!] and I kept these, already sprouting, to try indoors. [I used a favorite Stafordshire bowl, a c. 1810 "slop bowl". Used for tea somehow, not for, um, slop. see edit note at end]

This year the narcissus are in the found tin from the thrift shop. I like it more for flowers than as a retro jello mold.

Narcissus are foolproof and meant to grow indoors. Fast. These could bloom in ten days!

Since I don't have pots and pots of bulbs started, I decided to make my terrariums instead. I LOVE this one:

It was from Marshall's, I have been saving it for two or three years.  I've been looking for an affordable small greenhouse box for years.

I love the descriptions of what were called Wardian Cases, in Victorian times. more here   and here where the writer calls them Cabinets of Curiousity. Don't you just love the oldfashioned words and ideas, the 19th century wonder at natural things. We're so jaded sometimes....

So I had my Wardian box. And I just knew the tiny plants I found at Trader Joe's would look so cute. Cylamen, miniature monkey orchid, African violet, variagted thyme.

But I was surprised and amazed by the bag of ''dead'' brown moss from Joann's. It had languished in my found junk basket since last spring, bought on sale for I think 2.00 a bag. And it sure looked hopeless. BUT overnight, once set gently into the soil and sprinkled with warm water...look how beautiful and green it is! Many different kinds. A tiny woodland scene, springtime in January.

Then this smaller terrarium from the thrift shop.
I over-planted it the first time. last summer. Now I moved those flowers to the bigger box and just did a moss garden. Again, I think it is so sweet.

I'll add some fairy mushrooms or miniatures later, once the soil has settled.

I was pleased...but then:

 My kids came home and my son peered into the boxes: "Well but what's it for, mom?" 
"It's not for anything," I replied. "It's just for fun...to have something green growing in the midst of winter."
"Huh." He then went into the kitchen, opened the fridge and peered inside! I hope he didn't find anything green that was actually growing, in there!?

Kids. What can ya do? I just picture someday he'll try to explain a terrarium to his kid, who looks dubious too. Yeah, that'll happen.

love

lizzy

           .... gone to the beach

 

more on slop bowls:

here

 

and here though Wikipedia implies all slop bowls were silver, wch is, I believe incorrect, see above description, for example. 

 

 

ps I still can't get the blogger pix download to work right. i couldn't elarge the terrarium shoys, too bad. But I think if you click on the pix they'll go to full screen & a larger image. enjoy.

A Wintery Mix and a Pug Mug

Hi...don't you just hate it when the weather guy uses those nasty words: "a wintry mix"? I think icy roads, freezing rain are just about the worst weather winter can produce. Even snow, within reason, is preferable.

Lucky for me the weatherman was wrong and today was glorious clear and sunny, just an amazing perfect winter day. It was pretty cold, below freezing in the morning, the first hard freeze of the winter, I believe. No wind so I bundled up and off I went to the beach with my new pedometer.
Hmm...it's a very cool tool but I noticed that my steps were about the same as distance walked, say 5000 steps, 5000 feet. Okay I beachcomb but I don't take eeeny meeny mincy 12" steps! My son had set up the gizmo and the software but upon examination I saw he did not set the stride length. And...typically "mom" I have no idea how to fix it. [except by you know, pencil paper, multiplying.] A fix is needed but still is so fun.

Upon my return I was thrilled to see that the mail lady had delivered the new Spring '13 catalog from Hancock's of Paducah. http://www.hancocks-paducah.com/

I toed off my boots, threw my coat on a chair...made a cup of tea and sat right down for a treat.

I love this big catalog, it sparks my imagination [and fabric greed] each time. I pore over every page, searching for the needed fabric or for a new idea.

The catalog has its drawbacks: you can't tell the scale of the prints (I've had some surprises!); and the fabric pictured are sometimes not available for many months, leading to confusing and frustrating back orders.

But I do love these wish books and I am so grateful that Hancock's still takes the time and expense to print and send such a book to its customers.

Shopping online just doesn't create the same experience, though I admit I buy most of my online fabrics from eQuilter's wonderful site. www.equilter.com But I make sure I order from Hancock's each time the wish book comes...gotta keep my favorite  catalog coming.

 

 

So....do you buy fabric [or yarn] online? Favorite websites? Are there catalogs you just love! and can't wait for them to arrive, even if your pockets are empty and the bills are piling up? Maybe gardening?

  

 

 

Or lol, Victoria's Secret [ their just-arrived swimsuit issue is so....beautifully discouraging?]...or the sales at Lands End?

 

Have a cup of tea and tell me!

 

 

love

 

               lizzy

 

             gone to the beach...

 

 

 

                          

 

 

PS I've had this mug for quite a few years. It was a gift from my daughter...I always feel a little bad when I pour the hot tea onto the darling pug! But I love it and carefully handwash it, no dishwasher for this baby!

Here's their shop on etsy. The cutest mugs, you must look! Great fun gifts that will make the giftee smile and smile!

 

Spademan Pottery on etsy

 

 

 

Mom What's for Dinner?!

 

 

Hi!  It's only Tuesday but I am thinking about the weekend, planning ahead in case the weather turns bad. I was surprised so many of you have snow and cold, it was warm here. Almost 60* yesterday.
As we all know, weekends can get busy, with differing schedules and always-changing plans, so I am always on the lookout for new easy serve recipes for the Crock Pot. Yes, easy serve...not easy cook. I don't mind cooking complicated meals, my problem is what to prepare and have on hand when One child eats at 5 PM, the other at 11 PM, and I like to eat at 9.

Obviously we only sit around the dinner table on major holidays, aka once a year on Christmas Day. Meals are eaten on the run or more likely on the edge of exhaustion, at the end of a crazy long day. No one wants to sit and wait while mom cooks.
Often I rely on salads and casseroles. The crock pot is a new experience.

And I have to admit crock pot cooking still has me somewhat stumped. I think I am supposed to start it early in the morning [lol], for a 6 PM meal? But, well, see above. My crock pots seem to always be done at, like, 3 AM...but then they're too hot to put in the fridge. So far I'm not thrilled with getting up at 5 AM and scooping the food into Glad boxes and scrubbing yucky crock pots.

5 AM is to me the middle of the night.

Anyway. Last weekend we made Beer Chicken. It is actually a Weight Watchers recipe...and the alcohol supposedly cooks off, and/ or is dispersed through a number or separate servings. [1 beer/ 8 servings]

Trader Joe's was having a sale on single bottles of fancy beers both locally brewed and imported. I don't drink beer so I just grabbed the two cutest kinds.

I admit I really just wanted this bottle though!

The recipe here   calls for 2 pounds of chicken breasts, seasonings of your own choice, and a bottle of beer. I used thyme, oregano, pepper, lemon pepper, garlic powder, a few dried onion flakes. (If you are counting calories, keep an eye on the portion sizes on this site/ link. The food is low cal because the portions are very very small, in this cse  1 chicken tender per serving. The writer says she used 8 breasts/ 2 pounds....my 2 pounds of chicken breasts was 4!, so I am thinking she used the small trimmed ''tenders"  [4 oz. each.] not whole boneless breasts.)

Cook on high for 8 hours. Shred when done and store in the juices. Reheat as desired.

Easy-peasy.

I served it with homemade broccoli slaw and a choice of multigrain breads.

Horseradish sauce/ or BBQ sauce. (Sweet Baby Ray's) My kids liked it quite a lot but they did feel it needed the bottled BBQ sauce...in which case it is very much NOT a Weight Watchers recipe, and it becomes pulled chicken. My verdict is: okay but not  a dish in itself, so not a true success. There is no need to buy beer for  pulled chicken, I just boil it in chicken broth then shred.

I guess it's more sensible if you have beer leftover,from say, a football Sunday?

We also made wonderful Key Lime cupcakes. (Yes, my other blog readers, cupcakes! It wasn't my fault, you'll see.)

My daughter received this cute baking kit as a party favor.

Normally she does not eat sweets so I was surprised she wanted to bake the cupcakes...but we did! It was so fun and they were, note "were" (--yes, all gone!) very yummy, so sweet and limey.

The frosting was to die for! A stick of butter, a box of cream cheese and their ''mix'' which I am pretty sure was just powdered sugar and some flavoring. Wow.

We used white chunky decorator sugar on top, my daughter had the idea to grate lime zest on top too. Mmmm....

So fun to bake with a friend, isn't it?


love

    lizzy

gone to the beach...............

 

 

 

 

PS I apologize for the small pix, Blogger's photo app is screwy all week and getting worse. I accidentally erased all my pansies for the previous post. Not sure what is wrong, so if anyone has any suggestions or is also having probs, please let me know. Thx!
PPS I found out tonight that I can upload and size pix in the html mode. Of course there's no control over where they go and only 5 at a time, but it's still a little better. Google calls the problem "ongoing"......