A couple weeks ago, Rob and I started working on a brand-new project—outlining all our garden beds with bricks! We had ordered the bricks at Acme Brick, Tile and Stone in Tallahassee on April 21, the day after I got my second dose of the …
On Tuesday, I took the day off from work. I really needed it. Tuesday was my day off, but I’m not going to tell you about Tuesday. I’m going to tell you about Monday night because it was even better than Tuesday. On Monday night, I still had the whole of Tuesday ahead of me—all that freedom, all that possibility.
My fun began at precisely four on Monday afternoon, the moment my workday ended. I raced out to the yard and gardened for three hours, running the weedeater and mowing the lawn. As I worked in my inefficient way, often just standing there “gazing,” as I like to say, I noticed some neat things: roses and Alabama azaleas in bloom, a hawk perched on a branch above the pond, and a box turtle eating a worm. The Ashe magnolias were sporting their pale, gigantic flowers that smell even more lemony than lemons.
At about seven, I took a picture of my teddy bear Paulette sitting under her parasol on a log in the backyard. Paulette is a great model and looked completely captivating in her fancy hat and pearls, but the real reason I took the picture was to celebrate the log. The log is so cool. I love how it’s decorated all over with mushrooms and ferns, and what a nice seat it makes.
After I went inside for the evening, I did the most mundane chores—but everything was fun fun fun because I didn’t have to work the next day. I sang as I fed the cats. I folded the laundry with care because I could—because I had time. When I sat down to watch CSI on Hulu with Buntin, Rob, and a big bowl of homemade popcorn, the lamps in the living room were golden and glowing and I felt like I’d arrived at the most wonderful party.
Our “lawn” is really just weeds, but it looks pretty great when it’s mowed.
Paulette on the fabulous log:
Oxeye sunflowers blooming in the meadow. It’s spring!
In 2010, Rob and I dug a little goldfish pond in our backyard and surrounded it with a picket fence that we stained dark green. Since the first day of its existence, the pond has been a big success. Very soon it was brimming with …
I had the day off on Monday, which was nice because it gave me the rare chance to look around and appreciate. I could go slow. I didn’t have to rush. Rushing ruins everything. I had time to sit in the dry brown grass and …
I thought I’d show you some pictures I took after work this week. “After work” is my favorite time, especially in summer when it’s light ’til 9:00 and I can do a little weeding when I get home from the office. For me, weeding is a very pleasant activity because it always involves plenty of leisurely gazing into the distance and daydreaming about new improvements and additions. This week, for example, I was picturing a gazebo with a hammock in it, and an arch made of branches decorated with vines and dangling crystal prisms. I’m going to try to make that arch, I swear, but right now I’ll just show you the pictures I promised, of actual things in my yard:
I’m really pleased with my caladiums these days. I’m just crazy about their different patterns and colors, and I like their colorful names too: Red Flash, Scarlet Beauty, Rosebud, Stardust, June Bride, White Queen, White Christmas. . . . In one of my pots, I often see a fine fat toad hanging out. (I’m sorry I couldn’t get a picture.) The caladiums provide good shelter, I’m sure, being shaped like little umbrellas and quite waterproof.
When I was picking tomatoes on Monday I heard a rustling in the mulch. I looked down and there amid the shady miniature forest of tomato plants was a box turtle busily eating a fallen Sun Gold. He looked up at me with tomato on his face, and then he went back to his eating. He started working on a nearby Roma, but it was rather large and firm and he was having trouble getting a grip on it. He kept trying to bite it and it kept rolling away.
The turtle was so easy to understand, so sympathetic, so “human.” I split open a soft, overripe Riesentraube and gave it to him, and he didn’t even get scared. He simply started eating my small gift. And then he looked up at me again, wearing a little beard made of tomato guts.
Rob and I picked four lovely Ping Tung Long eggplants on Tuesday. I couldn’t believe how shiny they were, and how purple, so I made Rob pose with them for a picture, so I’d have proof of their perfection.
“Look down at them,” I said, “like you’re admiring them.”
“Oh, this is going to be so stupid,” he said. But as you can see he did as I instructed.
We made a big vegan lasagna in order to use up the eggplant and some more of our tomatoes. It was so delicious, layered with ruffly, chewy whole-wheat noodles and a rich, oily, satisfying “cheese” concocted almost entirely from ground walnuts. It also included an entire jar of kalamata olives and allowed me to bust out my favorite Fiestaware baking dish, a big golden yellow one I got for my birthday. The lasagna made for a very festive meal. We had cabbage salad with it, and huge hot slices of buttered, toasted Cuban bread.
Vegan Walnut Lasagna
Ingredients:
Lasagna:
8 whole-wheat lasagna noodles
Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 oriental eggplants, chopped
Salt
1 3-oz package sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted and chopped
1 8-oz jar pitted kalamata olives, finely chopped
2-4 cups homemade marinara sauce
1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs
1 batch Walnut Cheese
Walnut Cheese:
1 cup walnuts
1 Tbsp water
½ tsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice
1 tsp Italian herbs (oregano, parsley, etc.)
½ tsp salt
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400° F.
Boil noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside on a cookie sheet. (Oil the cookie sheet to prevent sticking).
Sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until onion is tender. Add eggplant and a little salt and cook. Set aside.
To make the Walnut Cheese, toast walnuts in a lightly oiled skillet on medium-low heat until golden brown. In a food processor or blender, grind the walnuts and mix with water, vinegar, herbs, and salt. You should end up with a smooth paste.
Lightly oil a 9 x 13 baking dish and arrange a layer of noodles at the bottom. Spread a layer of cheese over the noodles and spoon on sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and the eggplant/onion mixture. Repeat until you reach the top. End with a layer of noodles. Pour marinara sauce over that last layer of noodles. Top the sauce with a sprinkling of Panko. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.
Today I thought I’d tell you a little story and then show you some pictures I took that have nothing at all to do with it. The story is actually my mom’s story, and I’m going to to use her words to tell it just …
I’ve had the nicest morning. I got up obscenely early, which is really fun for me (I feel like I’m stealing time, cheating the system). I was sitting in the sun room in my pajamas when I saw a big barred owl in the backyard, …
I’m so glad it’s finally spring. Rob and I have been harvesting spinach and cabbage and planting peppers and tomatoes and reveling in the scent of wild azaleas. The picnic table is covered with pollen, and the columbine is blooming, and there are catbirds “meowing” in the hedges. I’m trying to do a little gardening every night after work in order to catch up on my weeding. I do a lot of gazing as I weed. I’ve been seeing loads of hummingbirds.
Swiss chard in the sun is even prettier than stained glass.
Chard in the shade is nice too.
I just love those hot pink stems.
Isn’t this dress a spring-y color? It’s not quite as nice as the chard, I guess, but it’s still pretty good.
