"It's How You Look That Counts"

The cabbage soup diet is going around my facebook page again.  I remember it well from several decades ago, also the banana diet, raw foods diet, the grapefruit diet...yes, there have been quite a few not even counting all the doctors' diets.  This made me think of Billy Bob Thornton and what I read about him a few years back, that he only eats green foods.  He's always very thin in photos (haven't seen him in any movies lately) and I wanted to give a dinner party at the time and serve only green foods but I chickened out.  I realized you could do it though.  Just recently I read a comment by a star about her eating habits claiming she fasts one day a week; she picks a day when she will be busy and will have lots of distractions from food.  I wonder how that would pan out over time.  You really don't want to send your body into starvation mode whereby it starts to hoard the fat, yeah, you really wouldn't want that!
I have a family member who runs and cycles for exercise and he is quite faithful to this even after many decades.  He is also almost religious with his diet. In fact, I'm thinking he would be very close to living the raw foods diet because he is so careful about everything he puts in his mouth.  At a gathering where there was the most wonderful spread of food, I watched him eat only the raw broccoli and cauliflower washed down with a club soda.  He is very thin; I think gaunt.  I know several times he's been asked if he was okay because he does not look well.  He would look much better with about ten extra pounds on his body, but he says his doctor has nothing but praise for him and his marvelous checkup test results.  It makes me think; do you have to look like you're starving to be in the best shape you can muster?  And this makes me think of another star; do you remember when Billy Crystal used to joke "It isn't how you feel that counts, but how you look"?

My Top Three Growing Mistakes

What was Paradise?  But a garden,

an orchard of trees and herbs,

Full of pleasure, and nothing 

there but delight.

                 William Lawson

I have just about all my little seedlings planted in the ground.  I am increasing the numbers each year and this time round had a hard time deciding where to plant it all.  I mentioned I had tremendous luck with the Vessey seeds with so many sprouting but what a good problem to have.  I was especially pleased with the marigolds.  They are a great little flower and have such staying power, will keep on flowering till the fall with care and deadheading.  I also have sprouted an abundance of morning glories, enough to cover two fences this year.  All the butterfly flowers, shasta daisies, asters and bee balm also sprouted well.  It should be quite colourful if all grow and bloom.  Time will tell.

The vegetables are trickier.  I needed to find spots that suited individual growing needs and this is harder.  It would be best if I could corral them all in one garden plot but the side garden where I've planted vegetables before is not in full sun as some require.

I've learned at least three things about vegetable growing that I hope to get right this year.

#1 From planting pumpkins last year I discovered the vines needed a lot of space to spread out, so this year I have to put them somewhere else where they have room to grow and not tangle up so badly and try to make a run for the woods.

#2 I always seem to plant things too close together, especially tomato plants.  I've learned the hard way to put the cages on earlier and not try to fit them on later.

#3 While potatoes are growing, they need a lot of water.  It took a while for me to figure out just how much they required...quite a lot.  If it wasn't raining, they had to be watered.  I think my minuscule crop suffered because I didn't know this.  (I have a tendency to think that if plants are in the ground, they don't need as much watering as, say, the potted things.)

I must have read this information but, surprise, didn't retain it.  Oh well, now another growing season and a chance to get it righter!

Quiet Country Lanes and Bluebird Hanging

I was just thinking about a fact of life about living off a side road which is itself off  another country road.  It means we do not have much casual traffic down our way, perhaps accidental sometimes and certainly no body at the door.  The door bell has never been rung since I moved here.  No Avon lady, pizza guy, or any solicitors of any kind to come knocking.  Hubby says a political candidate did come to the door once since he has lived here.  And another time we had two hunters knock at the door wondering if we had seen their beagles; they had let them out a couple of properties away and they took off following a scent.  All this gives us some reassurance regarding the safety of our dogs.  We think neither of them have any sense of traffic and they have gotten out onto the road a couple of times, so luckily the lack of cars is in their favour.  Yes, it is very quiet and peaceful here, that's for sure.

Here is the bluebird hanging I am working on in between other stitching.  I think I will add a wing to each, maybe mix and match the material; I will try that with a couple and see what it looks like. 
Yesterday I spent all my sewing room time tidying.  I don't know how it gets so messed up; watched two episodes of Dr. Phil on Youtube on my laptop, that's how untidy things were.  I should say I listened rather than watched. 
 

Davids' Teas and My Day These Days

Very Large Block T which includes the Z

At Davids' Teas you can have your pick of all kinds of amazing teas; I can't believe the flavours they are infusing into tea leaves these days.  Far cry from the time of only Tetley or Red Rose orange pekoe and the way my grandparents kept the old black teapot brewing at the back of the stove all day.  Now you need the water at a certain temperature and the special tea bags they sell at David's to put your leaves in to steep or a little tea ball for the same purpose.
I told you we liked the creamy Earl Gray with vanilla that we had for our English tea at the spa.  I was able to find it at David's and buy some for my daughters and myself.  I am feeling indulgent to brew my own little pot in the afternoon and enjoy a large cup.  The smell of it is heavenly and I think I like the aroma better than the actual tea. 
I have been working in the garden most days for the mornings.  I had forgotten how much time is spent on your knees when planting and weeding.  Last night I wondered why my shoulder felt sore; at first it crossed my mind I was having a heart attack since hearing how women experience heart attack symptoms in a completely different way from how men do and heart disease is on the rise for us.  Then I remembered I was using the pick axe to break up some sods in the morning and concluded quite sensibly that that was the source of my achyness so crisis averted.  I now have almost all of my seedlings planted.  Still have a couple of trays of late bloomers in the greenhouse.  So far, so good; everything looks like it has transplanted well.
I am spending the afternoons in my basement sewing room.  I have put together the appliqued blue birds into a hanging and now have to decide what else to do with it.  The birds look a little lonely and bare so I think I am going to have to add twigs and leaves.
I used to feel a little sad when my sewing time was over for the day, but now I look forward to my cup of special tea and relaxing watching the trees fill in. 

What Was Paradise? But a Garden...

This is the Large-Flowered Trillium and it is definitely the showiest flower growing wild on our land.  We have several just beside the patio door and at this time of year you can glimpse a field full of them when out for a drive.  It is no wonder it is Ontario's provincial flower.  So pretty and though they begin as snow white, they become pinker with age which adds to their loveliness.  My daughter has one in her front yard that is a very deep violet, almost red and it stands out like a sore thumb amongst the sea of white.
I am surrounded by lovely early blooming flowers here and I wish I could bring them inside for a bouquet but I've found they don't last long enough especially the trilliums and violets.

Here is a close up of the beautiful White Trillium, Ontario's Provincial Flower.

A view of the front garden...there's another bird feeder and the concrete bird bath.  I will fill that when the weather becomes hotter and the land is drier.  I'm amazed by how quickly the trees have filled in.  Nature seems to behave according to some deeply embedded unseen calendar; it all opens and blooms and changes colour in turn.  Amazing.  I live in awe of this.

Crochet Update:  I have about 50 of those granny squares made and I still have one more ball of wool, so I will keep going.  I love how fast crochet works up; it is a most instantly gratifying craft.

Stitching Update: I am working my way through the bees and butterflies in my blocks.  Not moving along as fast as the granny squares that's for sure.  I'm also finding I can only stitch in daylight these days despite my efforts to find good lighting at night. 

The Season To Be a Botanist

I tramp through the woods every day, sometimes both dogs with me and sometimes Rex only; then he acts like a little kid running up and down the path (I imagine happily) till he settles down for the walk.  He is very loyal and can be trusted off the leash, the complete opposite of his doggy sister.
It is the season when I wish I were a botanist, even an amateur one.  So many things have come into bloom along the trail, seemingly overnight and I would like to be able to put a name to them.  I know I found names for some before but have forgotten.

A pity I took this picture before they became very plentiful.  It is Wild Columbine and I love how delicate and droopy the flower is.  You have to get up close to see just how beautiful its parts are.  I now notice them everywhere as the reds seem to have darkened and capture more attention.  I tried to grow columbine in a front flower bed, but only managed to get a few half-hearted sprigs to bloom.

This one is a little easier to identify, surely it is a member of the violet family.  I've been encountering them for several weeks now and admiring their colours...many hues from pale violet to deeper blue and all shades in between.  Though there are over a hundred woodland violets, a very common one is the Dog Violet which I'm supposing this is.  All of mine are five petaled and have a heart shaped leaf just as the book describes the Dog Violet.  What a pretty flower to grow so abundantly in the wild! It makes for the most beautiful carpet under and around the trees. 

This is a very simply shaped flower, blooming close to the ground and there are copious numbers of them all over our woods.  It is Yellow Wood Sorrel and I read that the flower closes up at night (I probably will never be in the woods at night to test out that theory).  The bright yellow colour is consistent throughout the groups and is very cheery. 

Passionate Piecework and Miss Marple's Shawl

This magazine, Piecework, is another of my favourite needlework magazines.  Published bimonthly, it is always full of interesting articles and projects.  I like how it is international in scope so you can read about embroidery in Poland or tatting in Australia.  This issue, "September/October 2010" is one of their most popular.  It contained ten articles all featuring projects that were inspired by literature.  Crafts of all sorts have long been mentioned in novels of course and the women's 'work' frequently written about often took the form of fancy needlework or plain sewing of one form or another.  The articles in this issue include references to the work of Jane Austen, Agatha Christie,and Rose Wilder (Little House on the Prairie) among others.  I borrowed this copy from the library and it is well-worn; I'm going to look around to see if I can get my own for future use.
I did make a copy of a featured pattern to knit, advertised as a shawl of the type that Agatha Christie's Miss Marple would have knit.  The famous sleuth often used her knitting as a way to appear busy in public and yet be keeping an eye on some suspicious fellow or event unfolding.  I read the pattern with interest and though a lot of rows to track, seemed like something I could tackle successfully. The pattern uses stockinette stitch with a little openwork, sounds doable.  It was a reprint from Weldon's Practical Needlework, that wonderful series of books published in the late 1800's and still much in use today. Each volume featured knitting patterns for creating many garments of clothing for all members of the family.  They are a little like looking at history; I can't help but imagine all the women throughout the years who followed these patterns and knit a vest for their husband, or a bed jacket for themselves or socks for the whole family. 
Anyway, reprints of all the volumes are available on Amazon and the first one costs about twelve dollars.