After years of dreaming and planning, Rob and I recently had a new brick patio and paths installed in our backyard. The work was done by Mark Clark Construction and, boy, did Mark and his team do a great job! The patio and paths are …
Last Friday I took the day off work and made blackberries and biscuits for breakfast. I whipped up the biscuits using this lovely recipe from Holy Cow Vegan, then topped them with a warm blackberry sauce containing no added sugar. The sauce got me feeling …
Last weekend I helped my yard wake up from its long winter’s nap. I swept thick layers of leaves off the paths, did hours of pruning, pulled up loads of winter weeds, and planted pink and white dianthus around my three stone birdbaths near the house. On both Saturday and Sunday, I was outside from dawn till dusk, gardening with all my might and delighting in the signs of spring.
In the Pond Garden, I counted fourteen trilliums (Trillium underwoodii), which was thrilling because I’ve only ever planted eight, so this number means they’re spreading! (Ants disperse the seeds.) Trilliums are real charmers, the cutest harbingers of spring. They’re native and ephemeral, featuring three silver-streaked, mottled leaves borne in a whorl atop a single stem and crowned by a maroon flower. Trilliums are sometimes called “toadshade,” which is fitting, I think, since they resemble little parasols.
Finding fourteen trilliums by the pond was like finding a pot of gold, and I felt even luckier when, about an hour later, on Saturday morning, I discovered two native bloodroots in bloom under the live oak tree in the front yard. I kneeled in the brown oak leaves to admire them, their flowers quite large and showy for such petite plants, the many petals clear white and the stamens sunny yellow. I felt so much admiration for the little bloodroots. They seemed heroic to me, growing as they were in a random spot crowded with small-leaf spiderwort, a terrible invasive. I pulled out the spiderwort and made a mental note to protect the place.
I was only partly joking when I said to Rob as he happened by, “This is sacred ground, the home of the bloodroots! Don’t run the weed eater over here.”
I pruned and weeded (by hand) for most of the day on Saturday. Then, on Sunday, I filled all the birdbaths with clean water, planted sixty dianthus, added fresh ferns to the front-porch urns, and fertilized my youngest and most fragile camellias with organic Holly-tone. Though I worked from sunup to sundown on both days, I never felt tired. I was too excited to be tired. Spring was on its way!
On Saturday morning, I baked some sugar-free vegan banana bread. It was so good—mildly, pleasantly sweet due solely to the bananas, and nice and hearty and filling because it was made with whole-wheat flour. “It’s really good with butter on it,” Rob said. “Yeah,” I …
On Sunday, Rob and I put up our Christmas tree! As we worked, we listened to Christmas music (and the thunder and rain) and chatted about our childhood Christmas memories. “We’d always put up our tree on a Friday night,” I said. “Back then, a …
Today I took the day off work and, to celebrate, I made some healthy sugar-free muffins using a recipe I found on The Conscious Plant Kitchen and modified just slightly. I also picked some of our homegrown Meiwa kumquats and enjoyed breakfast out on the breezeway. It was very nice. Golden sunbeams striped the breezeway; the wax myrtles just beyond the screens trembled with darting birds; and Elroy, Leroy, and Frankie purred and cuddled together on a nearby blanket-covered chair.
3 very ripe bananas
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup almond milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Mash the bananas in a large bowl, then blend in the oil and almond milk. Next, add the flour, baking powder, and salt and mix everything together. Finally, stir in the chopped walnuts. Line a muffin tin with paper baking cups and fill them all the way up. Top with extra walnuts if you wish. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Last Sunday, I had the best day ever, not because anything exciting happened but because of how peaceful I felt in my heart. I played with the cats, polished the furniture, carefully cleaned and rearranged my collection of Fiestaware, and hung a little garland of …
October is a magical month here in North Florida. The temperatures are pleasant, the leaves and grass are still green, and the meadows, vacant lots, and roadsides are abloom with yellow and purple wildflowers. After the long, hot, hard summer, the world seems fresh and …
Last Saturday, Mom, my sister Bunny, and I met in nearby Havana to do a little antiquing. Mom and Bun just wanted to have fun, but I, on the other hand, hoped to conduct some serious business. I wanted to find furniture for the new crafting space I’m trying to create in the Little House, the small outbuilding that currently serves as my (and Rob’s) home office.
I got to Havana first, and when Mom and Bun finally arrived, I ran up to them in the street and said, all in a rush, “I must come clean. I have an agenda today! I’m trying to turn my side of the Little House into a cute crafting space, and I need to find a number of pieces of furniture to make it happen!”
“What sort of look are you going for?” Bunny asked. “What are you picturing?”
“Well,” I said, “right now the Little House is really boring and ugly. I want it to be magical and enchanted, like the Enchanted Tiki Room at Disney World, or Ella’s Deli! I mean, I know I can’t afford to have actual animatronics, but, still, I want it to be full of delights and neat things to fire your imagination. ”
“Like what? Give me an example,” Bun said.
“Oh, like cute vintage marionettes and mobiles, and parasols hanging upside down from the ceiling!”
“But what about the actual furniture? What are you hoping to find today?”
“Well, I’m picturing a long table for me to work at, with a wall shelf above it. The wall shelf would be a great place to hang some of the marionettes.”
“And what will be on the shelf?”
“Toys from my toy collection—teddy bears wearing dresses, jewelry, and hats, etc.”
“I see.”
“I’m so excited,” I said. “I can’t wait to be surrounded by all these wonderful things. My new crafting space is going to be such a happy, inspiring place. I’m probably going to be talking about it a lot today! You’re probably going to get an earful!”
Bun and Mom were very supportive. All day they listened to me dream aloud about the crafting space, and they kept their eyes peeled for long tables and wall shelves. We never did find either of those items, but we did find an awesome old primitive pine desk at the Antique and Design Center. After a whole lot of deliberation, I decided maybe a desk would work instead of a table, and I bought it! I planned to set up my computer on the desk and then just kind of move the keyboard and monitor aside when I was I ready to craft. The top of the desk is nice and big, with plenty of room to work.
The desk was delivered on Tuesday, and I spent the whole evening merrily setting it up in the Little House, rubbing it down with Natchez Solution and filling its drawers with various supplies. Now I’m one step closer to my dreamed-about crafting space. Maybe next I can find the wall shelf!
Here are a couple of my semi-recent crafting projects. Teddy bears are my favorite subjects to paint!
