"See how fast the summer passes by"

The post title comes from Vashti Bunyan's Swallow Song which you may listen to here.

I've spent some time in the garden today, doing that most melancholy of summer gardening chores - removing spent plants.

The peas are done. We got three excellent meals from the few plants we put in. Is that worth it? We think so. Those peas, fresh out of the garden, cooked a very few minutes and then dotted with butter make one of life's sublime foods. If I can have eat them three times a year, that's enough to hold the memory until next year's crop. No peas in the store, frozen or fresh can compare.

You may see them in the garden on July 8 - in front of those orange daylilies.

And the first picking on July 14.

Another plant I cut down today was the mallow. I've mentioned before in my letters that I grow mallows because my mother told me they grew in front of the chicken house on the farm where she grew up. I knew as soon as I had my own farm that I would plant them. I think some view them as weeds, but I find them a lovely addition to the garden. They self-seed all over, which is a bonus.

They were the queens of the garden on July 1, and for two weeks afterward.

Today they looked like this. Blurry, but you get the idea.

Though the mallow, and also the aquilegia

look terrible after blossoming, there are some plants that look almost as good when they aren't in bloom. I think both the Baptisia australis (blue wild indigo) and peony plant are lovely in the height of summer when their blooms are long gone.

Though it was sad cutting down and pulling out the dead plants, I was cheered by beautiful daylilies which are still going strong.

We've been so lucky with rain. There was a dry spell for a couple weeks, but since then, we've gotten at least an inch of rain a week.

Most of the nesting is over. I still see a few phoebes, the crow family, a wren, and an occasional robin. The cedar waxwings stop by to eat some honeysuckle berries, and the turkeys stroll by with their almost full-grown babies, but the songs are done. It makes me feel wistful, but I look forward to spring next year when the beauty and birdsong begin all over again.

Loi Couscoussaki

This was new on my local co-op's shelf this week.

And because I always try any new-to-me pasta that I see, I bought some. We had it last night with the pesto recipe I posted recently. It was so good that I hated to see the meal end!

It has a different taste from both regular couscous, and Israeli couscous. I didn't happen to have any of the latter at home, but I do have some regular couscous - on left, so you can see the difference between them.

You may find out more about Israeli couscous here. I like it, too, but this Greek couscous is my favorite! I love the texture and the taste. The Greek couscous took a few minutes to cook, while you barely have to cook regular couscous. Last fall I posted a Couscous Tabouli recipe here. 

You may read more about the Loi company here. They offer several different varieties, and I plan to try them all.

Please do visit Weekend Cooking for lots more food related postings. 

CSA flowers, a birthday, and daylily season

Yesterday was week five of the CSA flowers. More about the CSA here. The woman outdid herself! Not only are the flowers outrageously beautiful, but she included two kinds of basil, and branches of crabapple trees with their little green apples! Addendum: Friday morning when I changed the water, I found rosemary hidden among the flowers!

Next Wednesday is the last week of the first half of the CSA season. I had mentioned that I signed up for both so it will be nonstop bouquets through September 7. Yesterday was Margaret's birthday, and Tom and I gave her a subscription for the second half of the flowers. She was so thrilled! Speaking of her birthday, she turned 34, the age I was when she was born. This year I am double her age!

Me at 34

And my beloved daughter.

It is daylily season at Windy Poplars Farm!

Basil pesto, 2

I posted a pesto recipe eight years ago, and since then I’ve found it too rich, too fatty for my taste. This summer I came across a recipe that used less oil, and tried it. It is great! I’ve made it several times already, using the basil that often comes in the CSA flowers and the basil from my garden. 

Speaking of the garden, I have a post coming up about the new one - that I mentioned back in March. It has been a grand success and we couldn’t be happier.

Basil Pesto

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 cups packed fresh basil

1/3 cup olive oil

garlic put through the press

scant teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cheese

Put walnuts in the food processor 

and grind very fine.

Add basil,

oil, 

 garlic, 

and salt, and blend well. I blend a bit after each addition, and then some more when everything is in.

At this point, I take out my 1 tablespoon (because you probably know by now that I don't like cheese). You might think that a tablespoon isn't very much, but it is so rich, so full of flavor that it is plenty.

Then add the cheese and process until well mixed.

This was last night's supper, mixed with 

A perfect meal. Absolutely delicious!

You may visit Weekend Cooking for more food related postings. 

Today's picture/Pawprints

Matthew got a new four-wheeler, and very kindly lets Tom use his old one. Every day Tom and Lucy go for a 'wheeler ride,' giving terrific exercise to our energetic Labrador. They stop up at an opening in the woods where Tom has set up a couple old chairs. Lucy prowls around and swims in any water holes she can find. Yesterday Tom saw this. Lucy's print on the left, and a black bear print on the right. It was just lucky that she happened to step there so you can see the comparison.

My Friend Rockefeller - 2015 movie

Can you imagine a situation where you met someone and assumed he was the person he said he was, and then found out that everything he told you was a lie? What if he had been your friend, a business associate, a boyfriend, or indeed, even a husband? I would feel so ashamed, so betrayed, so stupid. Most of us think we are pretty good judges of character. But how do we really know?

If this is intrigues you, you might like to see a documentary film which is on Netflix streaming. It is called My Friend Rockefeller. I was riveted. I sat down expecting to just give it a try, and maybe quit after a few minutes, but I watched it straight through.

You may read more about it on various internet sites, including the IMDB site here. Click there only if you don't mind knowing the plot before you watch. I had just a very vague memory of hearing something about "Clark Rockefeller." There have been a few other tellings of this tale, including a couple fictional versions, but this is the real deal, the real story which is incredible and strange.

The official website is here, but again much is revealed. The story takes us from Germany to California, New York, Connecticut, Boston, and New Hampshire. It is done very well, and I was fascinated.

Today's picture/Week four CSA flowers

Usually we take care of Hazel Nina on Tuesdays and Fridays, but this week her mother had to work today as well, so she came with us to get the CSA flowers. The woman who runs the farm is a friend of Margaret's and so Hazel knows her and was excited to go. The bouquets are all set out on the table, wrapped in paper, soaking in water. They are all pretty much the same, but we can pick the one we want. Hazel chose this week's bouquet and on the way home after five minutes in the car, she was asleep,

as was Lucy in the front seat!

Tom drove us home, I put the flowers in water, and off we went again for an hour, driving the back roads in air-conditioned comfort on this very hot day.

On Monday, I made two little bouquets from the flowers that were left from last week.

And here are this week's flowers!

More about the flower CSA here.

What I Learned From TV - July 9

Each time I do a post about What I Learned From TV, I’ll begin with the explanation from the first posting:

Now that my kids are grown, and Tom has retired, I’ve been able to go back to my natural sleep pattern which is to stay up late and get up late. Tom’s natural rhythm is just the opposite. So, he’s the lark and I’m the owl. 

And what this owl does in the late hours is watch television- not in the traditional way but through Netflix, TunnelBear, and Acorn TV, and my own DVDs. Most of the shows are British, though I am a great fan of a few American television shows, and have been watching some from other countries now that we have TunnelBear. Some of these shows Tom will watch in the mornings, but some of them are all mine. So, when I hear a great quote from a show I know he’s not going to watch, I’ll leave him little post-it notes near the computer keyboard. I had a notion this morning to begin a new ‘letter topic’ called What I Learned From TV so I can put up some virtual post-its for you to read and, hopefully, enjoy. Some are funny, some are educational, some are wise.

From Grace and Frankie, two seasons now streaming on Netflix:

Frankie: "I'd give my good knee for a cigarette."

Grace: "Me, too. I haven't had a cigarette since smoking was good for you."

Frankie and Grace together: "Shall we?"

From As Time Goes By,which I watch on my DVDs: 

Lionel says about his father: "I'm not a child. I don't need his help."

Jean replies: "It won't do you any harm. I wish I had someone to help me. ... Parents; even when you're, well, older, you never stop missing them. You never get used to the fact that you can't go to someone and say, 'What shall I do?'"

From Inspector Lewis, which I watch on my DVDs: 

A man has been found dead with a rifle beside him.

Hathaway: "I, er... wouldn't read too much into the absence of a 'goodbye cruel world,' sir. Statistically, suicide notes in Grahame's demographic are in the 12-20% range."

Lewis: "Where do you get this stuff?"

Hathaway: "The back of cereal boxes."

Lewis: "What? Let's just say some days I'm grateful you're on our side."

When series seven of Inspector Morse came along, both John Thaw and Kevin Whately had other projects on the horizon so there were fewer episodes offered for the last years. For two years, Kevin Whately played Dr. Jack Kerruish in a drama called Peak Practice, which I am watching on my DVDs. (Yes, I buy old British television shows on DVD from amazon.uk) I thought this was a funny line in Peak Practice, offering an homage to Whately's Lewis character:

Jack thinks someone is stealing a car, but he isn't. His brother-in-law says: "Good job you're a doctor - you'd make a bloody lousy copper."

Today's picture/Week three CSA flowers

Note the basil! This is the second week basil has been part of the bouquet, and I use it. Today there was also a free head of romaine lettuce. Such a fun stop each Wednesday. There's more about the flower CSA here.

Today's picture/Look who I found on the porch tonight

Today's picture/Peony bouquets

Today I cleaned up my peony garden.

You may well ask, why should she subscribe to a flower CSA if she grows her own peonies? As I picked the last of them today, the answer was very clear; because mine are full of bugs - ants, earwigs, on and on. I don't want to bring them into the house.

Product placement/Little Secrets

Another product placement as my offering to Weekend Cooking.

A little mantra of my food life is that there is always an alternative. If a product is full of artificial colors and preservatives, there is a healthier choice. When I was 20 the only place to buy such alternatives was in so-called health food stores. Now, most every store offers these choices.

Recently Hazel Nina discovered the delights of M&Ms. She says "Emmam." As the natural foods eating Nana, I was so very happy to see a display rack at my local co-op of an M&M alternative. 

Here are the ones that are the M&M variety: the only one they offer in milk chocolate, which is good because that's what the kids are used to.

From the look of the rack, the dark and milk chocolate are the most popular.

This is the ingredient list for the milk chocolate variety

The website for Little Secrets which you may visit here, says this on their FAQ page:

These colors are crazy gorgeous. You’re sure you’re not using Yellow No. 5?We’re sure, and we’d never do that to you. We use turmeric to make yellow, beet juice for red, spirulina for blue, pumpkin, carrot, and radish for orange, and red cabbage juice for purple. We realize that sounds like an intense drink at a juice bar, but we promise our candy doesn’t taste like the produce section at the farmer’s market.

Both times I have checked out with some, the young men at the cash register raved about how great they were. And the best thing is that Hazel Nina loves them. She walks in and points to the shelf asking for 'little secets.' Today I put them in a jar, which I think will delight her. She might want to try the other ones, too, the ones her grandparents think are delicious.