A reminder

Memories of summer past give hope for the spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Food, Family and Flowers

Well, if you want to see the posts I just posted....they're over here. I managed to be on our other blog instead of the regular one. And the other blog is sadly neglected so I guess it's not a bad thing to have posted over there. They (2 posts) even have photos.

What I didn't write over there is that I've managed to dodge rain drops and get half of the tomatoes planted out in the back garden. Of the 57 plants I grew from seed, I've given a dozen or so away, killed two and have plans to give a few more. The front garden is host to a beautiful crop of healthy dandelions and a few onions that got missed last year. If it stays dry for more than a day Pieman might even be able to get it tilled so that I can plant out the giant pumpkins the kids are growing. Wait. So the kids can plant out the giant pumpkins they are growing. I have a few flowers to scatter about too and more vegetables...squash, peppers, cauliflower, onions, carrots, and more lettuce and peas on a staggered schedule. My neighbour just assured me that this is a more typical weather year for around here than last year's beautifully gorgeously warm and sunny spring and summer. I'm not happy about that. But let me tell you...only 3 weeks until we reach North Carolina and please, let it be hot!

update

Preserved lemons are yummy.

I've added them to rice dishes, to stew, to salads. I've mixed them in with the reheated combination-of-leftovers-concoction-to-clear-out-the-fridge. They helped immensely.

I have transferred them from their pretty mason jars to a plastic container in the fridge since I think the lemon juice acid might rust the jar

lid. And since they keep months or more in the fridge I'm sure to get through them before they go bad. Seriously, there is a lot of lemon juice in that jar. I am so glad I tried these.

In other news...we have snow. I grew up in New Brunswick and the final blast of winter always came in the form of a "St. Patrick's Day snowstorm." Well, this year, we've had Saints Patrick, Brendan, George, Fred, Mary...(ok, I'm making up the names now but do you hear my frustration?) Enough said on that.

All this crazy weather sure makes us wish we were back in Costa Rica....

I don't know what kind of flower this is but it's startling.

It's March.

Made it.

I've only worn out two sweaters this year and purchased two new ones to replace them. One new scarf, one shawl, new socks. The wood stove has made an enormous difference.

And apparently I've been vitamin D deficient and that is really, really important for me. Who knew? I am more thankful than you can know for those little, round, squishy pills.

CTM told me I'm doing better this year at not hibernating. "You don't just move from the stove to the chair in front of the fire to the furnace room to get more wood for the fire."

Thanks.

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One tab is open to wonderfully photographed food blogs filled right now with warm, beautiful looking soups and stews. The other tab is open to a seed company filling my mind with images of next year's garden.

Both are food for my spirit in such different ways.

The one reminds me that a cup of hot tea will go nicely in my hands while I plan our warm and filling supper. The other takes me far forward into those sunny, warm days of digging, playing, harvesting a perfect tasting freshly picked vegetable still warm from the sun and full of flavour.


On the other hand, this is what my next project is...


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A Tuesday morning. While I know that the outside temperature is mild, from my vantage point I still see white. But, the difference is my knowledge. I know that the whiteness is fog, not snow. I know that the snow has been melting. I know Spring is not really here, but I am different. I started running again, feeling that there was no reason to put my life on 'wait'. What a powerful statement that was inside me. I thought of the trips I could take to visit family, friends. I don't plan to leave my house when the physical cold makes me snowbound emotionally. Our chickens eagerly leave their coop in the morning to scratch around in the still frozen ground for bird food revealed by the melted snow. I feel like they do. Not the scratching around part! but the eagerness to leave their coop and explore. There is something in that still cold air that smells of newness, of life about to be revealed.

I made some waffles the other day. I am currently on the lookout for wheat-free options in my diet but giving up our Saturday morning pancakes is not to be thought of. So, when I was pointed to the waffle recipe on a friend's blog by another friend I was thrilled. The kids ate one waffle each--they're pretty filling. They deemed them a little too crunchy. But I froze the uneaten ones for my morning toast. Since the power went out just when I was cooking them and stayed out for over two hours I never finished cooking the remaining batter. Instead I popped it into the fridge when the power came back on and made pancakes on Saturday morning alongside the regular batch. Yum.