Garden Questions?????

“As the seconds of our lives tick away,

you have to realize

that life needs

to be

an adventure.”

No, I'm not back in Sicily where I took these photos, but would love to visit there again some day! Your garden may not seem like an adventure in distance as it's right outside the door. . . . . . .but it can be, and trying new plants might be part of the vision, especially in springtime.

Has anyone tried to grow this giant Mediterranean fennel (Ferula communis), common name Giant fennel or Meeting Seed? It was spectacular on the Sicilian hillsides. I've never seen it growing here in the US but perhaps it does in the UK so you wonderful British gardeners may know of it. I know it can grow very tall, looks quite stunning and is so bright in the landscape.

DESCRIPTION

This superb and spectacular giant from the Mediterranean has dark green leaves, divided many times into delicate, feathery segments. The enormous flower-heads contain countless tiny, bright yellow flowers in early summer. It makes an enormous hardy tuber in time, and can make a spectacular addition to a wild garden, border, shrubbery or on a pool margin.

OK, what happened to my beautiful yellow/pink Peace rose?  For many years this rose bush has grown and bloomed in the front porch bed, with lovely healthy green leaves and many flowers often lasting until Autumn. Sadly it has now disappeared and in its place has appeared a common red Knock Out.....yes that rose seen everywhere these days! Could my Peace have been propagated by grafting onto one of those easy to grow roses? Will I never see another yellow flower?  

This morning, a view of the now blooming red rose.

Have a good day. I'm sowing seeds, including Mammoth Russian 

sunflowers - will be interesting to see if they survive hungry

 deer and squirrels this year! 

All part of the adventure, haha!!!

Life saving?

This year I chose my own flowers during a whip round at the local grocery store the day prior to Valentine's Day!  Bob was willing but as there were so many to choose from, and I knew what I would enjoy, he said go ahead pick your own while I'm grabbing my cereal!!!  We do not delight in spending much time in the grocery stores now. Armed with a list, a quick pass with little time spent browsing is the usual.  Romance or surprise did not really come into equation, but choosing what I knew I would love was enjoyable.

I gathered bunches of roses, carnations and alstroemeria, all in faded shades of pink and cream.  The floral clerk came over and loved what I cradled in my arms and asked to take a photo - not of me but the flowers!

Back home in the kitchen, I first added the flowers to a vase to allow them a good clean drink, then later trimmed the stems a little and arranged them in the large vintage white pitcher.

On Sunday, Valentine's Day, we were up early to make our 9:30 AM appointments at the hospital parking lot for our second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccinations. Well organized, as was the first visit three weeks prior, the volunteers in lime green safety vests directed the traffic through the chilly, soggy mist toward the canvas tents where cheery nurses, male and female, awaited with their needles at the ready.  

Because I have an allergy to iodine contrast dye, we were then directed to a 30 minute parking spot to wait before leaving just in case I had a reaction, which I didn't.  We drove away feeling that we'd just received 'life saving equipment' which will hopefully prevent us from becoming ill or making others ill. We understand that this not a silver bullet and we must continue to be diligent, especially for the next 14 days.

Did we experience any after effects from the second vaccine?

Bob didn't, other than the expected soreness in his arm.

As for me - I awoke at 4 AM Monday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a bus, dizzy, shivering, with a somewhat elevated temperature of 100.1F.  I followed instructions, took Tylenol, drank water and went back to bed. . . . . .. and slept until 11 AM!  Rested most of yesterday - didn't even feel like blogging - and today feel much better.

New Hampshire Seacoast -

You can never cross the ocean until you
have the courage to lose sight of the shore.
--- Christopher Columbus, Explorer

Small boats sail or chug their way not far from shore. Beyond, before the open

 ocean, lie the Isles of Shoals. On the seaweed crusted rocks, large black cormorants

 dry their wings in the hot breeze as gentle waves roll in to shore.

Some day I will take the ferry to the Isles of Shoals straddling the border of New Hampshire and Maine. 

That journey has been on my list for some time, the only thing causing me to hesitate

 is the abundance of mosquitoes out there apparently enjoying island life!

The history of these islands, including their tie to the art world, is an interesting read.

Late summer brings fading, falling petals from the wild roses clambering

along the sea walls and rocky ledges of the shoreline.
The hips are gigantic, the size of small tomatoes, and such beautiful colors!

I love this part of the United States and have such fond memories of the years

 when I lived here in the sixties and seventies. 

 It was all so new to me, fresh from my home in England. That too was on the 

coast in South Devon on the English Channel, so I was thankful to still be

 close to the ocean. . . . . . just on the opposite side!

Enjoy your weekend.
We have some cooler weather at long last, hooray!

Kitchen notes -

The deer came by the other evening and nibbled on my roses - took all the lovely

 buds forming on the Peace rose (which made me so mad) in front of the porch,

 and many of the red Knockout rosebush buds by the front steps. They come right

 up to the house apparently! These are also Knockouts but off a large bush now

 blooming near the birdhouse which they must not have discovered yet. . . . . . or

 perhaps don't like the flavor of pink!

Speaking of flavor and munching. . . . . . . . . 

Many years ago I said "no more kitchen gadgets, I have no space to keep them."

A few weeks ago, while in our nearby 'Sur La Table' shop, I broke down

and allowed the manager to talk me into this one, she said she loved hers.

 I was actually looking at the spiralizer attachment for my KitchenAid mixer, 

but refused to pay over $100 for that, especially as I would not use it daily.

Want to make more veggies like my zucchini above - think healthy alternative

 to real pasta as we're really trying to cut carbs!

Recently I purchased a small container of pre-made 'zoodles' at the grocery

 store. They were not good, watery, doubtless had some

 type of preservative added, and grossly overpriced.

This OXO Good Grips version (they do make great items), with

 three different blades, was so much cheaper (under $40) and so easy to

use and clean - I'm enjoying it. Now if I can just find a place to store it!!!

Here's OXO's great video showing how much fun this gadget can be.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQxopG92bpE

Belated Mother's Day wishes 2017. . . . . .

I arrived home on Sunday, Mother's Day, and 
collapsed in my bed, forgetting I had even started
on this post for the special day!

There's no place like home. . . . . . . 
. . . . . especially when you're under the weather, or
in our case, sick as dogs!
Fabulous trip though and I'll be sharing it with
 you soon when I feel better.

Hoping your Mother's Day, and every day, have

been wonderful whilst I've been away. I've missed 
being able to keep up with you.

Throwaway world. . . . . .

Staying home today and doing a little 'housekeeping' here on my MacBook. Have had several issues with the printers we use and a techie came by yesterday, braving the bad roads at the end of the ice storm, and worked on things for a while. We are useless when it comes to computer issues. I'm able to print again on both our b/w Laserjet and the 4-in-1 Photosmart, but for some reason we still cannot get the Scan feature to work which is most frustrating. The HP Photosmart is only about 18 months old and should last longer than that, but he thinks something could be broken and we may want to replace it as repairs would cost almost as much as a new model!

Electronics are apparently now classed as throwaways rather than repairable items - from computer to microwave oven to the lowly toaster. Thoughts of horrific mountains of household detritus covering the landscape, or simmering underground in coming centuries, scares the hell out of me!  That amazing book by Juman Malouf which I wrote about here - The Trilogy of Two - is set in a futuristic world which has been buried under trash, really makes one stop and ponder the horror we are producing in this now throwaway society.

So, this morning I took a lovely photo featuring old stuff. Roses made from old paper mixed with real roses I have dried. Vintage silver vessel. . . . . .I love it unpolished, taking on this dark mysterious shade of charcoal. Tiny French vintage glasses. China, always loved when crazed, chipped, stained, no matter - still pretty stacked or standing, usable, lovely to look at. To think all this could be in the landfill breaks my heart.

Happy Thanksgiving Day Canada - and just look at those trumpets. . .

After the falling tree incident shown in my previous post, 

we headed into the garden to mow the grass, water, and 

prune back a few things. . . . .but not these yet, the 

Angel Trumpets (brugmansia) so gorgeous in the autumn sunshine.

It's that special time of year again. At last the days of 

struggling for survival are over for the gardens here in 

the southeast. 

Are we happy the months of oppressive heat and high 

humidity are gone? You bet we are. Even some rain

is welcomed now for newly seeded lawns, the last

blooming shrubs, and to moisten the soil for soon to 

be planted spring blooming bulbs.

The Angel Trumpets, once again, have surprised us. 

Some years they bloom by mid-September, 

others as late as the first week of November.  

Following last year's unusually cold winter we

wouldn't have been surprised if there were no 

blooms at all this year. This is a semi-tropical

plant which is cut back to the ground and heavily 

mulched for winter here.

Those late hydrangeas continue to amaze and soon I'll be 

cutting and drying the blooms for the house.

The heavily blooming Angel Trumpets often bring braking 

vehicles in the street, people call out asking "what is 

that plant?" 

We tell them, and always advise that all parts of the plant 

are poisonous so not a good choice if you have young 

children playing in the garden, or foraging pets.

So here's my garden in autumn dress - a little southern 
cottage garden collage for my Canadian friends 
up north as they celebrate Thanksgiving today beneath 
their already stunning red and gold maples 

Wishing you all a wonderful time with family and friends.

I wish ours came early too so we could celebrate in 

a more relaxed way - the late November date is much too 

close to the Christmas rush - do you agree readers 

here in the USA?

A German surprise ~ Warnemunde…

Other than a stopover in Frankfurt's less than friendly airport, I had never visited Germany.
Knowing this cruise included a German port of call at a place I'd never heard of, I was not overly excited. Quite honestly, expectations were somewhat low. I was happily surprised when we sailed in, docked, were straight off the ship, and just a few minutes walk in brilliant sunshine brought us into a pretty town right on the edge of a busy beach.

Founded around 1200, Warnemunde at the mouth of the river Warnow, was for centuries a small fishing village of minor importance. In 1323 it lost its autonomous status when purchased by the nearby city of Rostock in order to safeguard the city's access to the Baltic Sea. In the 19th century Warnemunde began to develop into an important seaside resort and today has a population of approx. 15,000. Still a fishing port, it also has a shipyard. The construction of a modern cruise line center in 2005 has contributed to Warnemunde's establishment as the most important harbor for cruise ships in Germany, and is a jumping off-point for Berlin.

Warnemunde from our balcony - couldn't dock much closer than this!

Sauntering along the waterfront, colorful market stands where everything from local honey to fish, some still smoking, and many interesting seafood items, were for sale. Being a Sunday, families were obviously arriving from other nearby towns to shop, eat an ice cream or meal, and have a swim.

Rows of houses, hotels, shops lined the riverside………………

…and in the back streets the smaller houses and shops were 

smothered in the most wonderful roses.

The beach is windswept with vast dunes and sweeping stretches of sand on each side of the river's mouth.  I loved the shoreline at the beach - no crowds early morning - if I'd come prepared I would have been dashing into that water in no time flat!

Next time, making use of the always great local transportation in most of Europe, we took a quick trolley ride and then a train into Rostock……a great town where families gathered for fun and a huge Sunday picnic. 

Even just one day in Germany was marvelous………join me in Rostock soon.

Blogging with Blondie!

Jane, known to all as 'Blondie' from Blondie's Journals, and I have blogged and followed each other for many years. When she told me that she and 'The Husband' would be visiting Asheville again this Spring I was thrilled to think we could meet again for a second time. Then, the sad news came that they would be there when we were off on a trip overseas. There was no way we could drive west to the North Carolina mountains and be back in time to fly east to catch our boat! 

The good news followed later…they were driving to Asheville from Washington D.C. and would stop in several beautiful Virginia spots along the way, and then spend an overnight in Raleigh so that we could get together for dinner.

We are in disarray while preparing to venture forth on another Cunard 'Queen' very soon - more on that later! However, some quick cleaning, Jane you've no idea what got stuffed behind closet doors, fresh flowers from Trader Joe's, early Saturday morning baking and cream whipping, and we were prepared for a fun evening yesterday. 

Following dinner out - pic via the wait person - we came back to the cottage. Although dark, it was a perfect evening, warm and apparently mosquito free as we toured the garden a bit, then sat inside and chatted about all and sundry while enjoying dessert and coffee.

The time flew by much too quickly. We exchanged 'blog gifts'. The four of us get along famously. The husbands have much in common, and of course Jane and I found more than enough to chat about - bloggers were your ears burning? Don't worry we were nice!

Pic via Bob

My really beautiful gift from Jane - a wonderful 'teatime recipe book' with fabulous recipes from the world's best tearooms, with a classical music CD to play at teatime. I really love this - it has many of my favorite pieces of relaxing music - in fact I'm playing it now and it's breakfast time, and I may just play again at lunch time, and I've added it to my iTunes on the MacBook so I can travel with it too! Jane is great at choosing perfect gifts - thank you dear friend.

Enjoy the remainder of your trip Jane and A. Hug those Asheville gals for me please, and tell them I hope to catch up with them this Summer!

*******

Tomorrow, being a busy day of celebration, I will not be posting here. 
Wishing each of you a great holiday, and please, in between the eating, drinking, 
fun with family and friends, remember the meaning of this very special day.