January Thaw
Words are not necessary on Wordless Wednesday. In fact you can now be wordless every day. Check and see.
Beautiful – but . . .
The skies are brilliant and the snow is pristine. Krishna surveys the snow-filled Sunken Garden at dawn and wonders why there are no cows, or milkmaids to thrill with his pipes. But my thoughts have gone beyond snow, to sweet soil and seeds. I could not resist the display of Botanical Interest Seeds at the Farmer's Coop in Greenfield yesterday. I will have my Castor Bean plant this year! And many colors of morning glories and bush beans…
Sprouted Wheat Bread
Bread is the staff of life. I love making bread in general, especially in winter when the oven helps warm the house, but in preparation for my sprouting workshop at the Northampton Winterfare on Saturday, Jan. 9, I decided to make sprouted wheat whole wheat bread. I got a good recipe from the Sprout People website, and the result is delicious. The recipe made two loaves. One, the prettier one, went into the freezer so I can bring…
What Will I Do?
My view to the northwest is of an unblemished snowfield. The snow is clean and bright, the sky a brilliant blue. The landscape is as untouched as the new year.. What will I do with 2010? How will I approach my landscape? Recently a friend of mine said he was gearing himself up to buy a tiller for his tractor, usually used for work in the woods and plowing snow. His wife chimed in that he was tired…
New Year’s Day 2010
Red Brocade by Naomi Shihab Nye The Arabs used to say, When a stranger appears at your door, feed him for three days before asking who he is, where he’s come from, where he’s headed. That way, he’ll have strength enough to answer. Or, by then you’ll be such good friends you don’t care. Lets to back to that. Rice? Pine nuts? Here, take the red brocade pillow. My child will serve water to your horse. No, I…
A Color Challenge
While spending a little time checking my favorite blogs, I saw that Mr. McGregor's Daughter was having fun with David Perry's color challenge. MMD took Red, Green and Blue photos, but I stuck with red. I'm a sucker for red - all shades. It was fun to look around the house and see what I could use. I took this photo through the bottom of a beautiful red handblown glass bowl held up against today's brilliant sunlight.
My Berry Bowl
Yesterday Elizabeth Licata at Garden Rant wrote about Tovah Martin's new book, The New Terrarium. I haven't ever made a terrarium but at least three and possibly four years ago a dear friend gave me a berry bowl for Christmas. Elizabeth's post reminded me that I hadn't seen it for a while. I went to look. The berry bowl, planted with moss and partridgeberry (?) has always lived in our Great Room. It is usually not heated in…
Solstice
All hail the Winter Solstice, December 21, the shortest day of the year. The sun will only appear in the sky for 9 hours and 4 minutes. Winter has arrived. Snow covers the fields, and frigid winds blow. Nowadays people grumble about the shortness of the days and complain about seasonal depression. Yet we are able to turn on the lights and heat, put on some music, and go to a well-stocked pantry to get ready for supper.…
Refractions and Reflections
While reading and enjoying my morning coffee I looked up to see this flame reflected in the framed map on the wall opposite me. And opposite the south windows where I have hung chandelier crystals to catch the sun sending rainbows dancing across the room, for a little while every day. As we come closer to the Solstice we are all more aware of the sun, and the diminishing hours of light and warmth. But there was the…
Another Celebratory Giveaway
Because it is my second Blogoversary, both Storey Publishing and CowPots are making it possible to have two Give Aways. Right Rose, Right Place: 359 Perfect Choices by rose lover and expert Peter Schneider will be a lovely and useful holiday treat for any rose gardener, or would-be rose gardener. There is advice here for the experienced gardener as well as for the novice. I have already added a number of roses I never knew about to my…