Springtime

The single blooming daffodil and the new baby hummingbirds tell me that our brief winter is pretty much over for another year. 

Even the cliff maids (Lewisia longipetala) are starting to bloom.

One Plus Two Equals One

As part of the adventure series, What's in the Closets, I came across some wool sweaters I had knit years ago. 

With less need to wear wool because of climate change, the sweaters had slowly worked their way to the top shelf of the closet - you know, that shelf. The one that can only be reached by standing on a chair. The yarn was still in fine shape, so I carefully handwashed the sweaters and gently took them apart.

The result? Plenty enough yarn for an afghan for our tiny TV room. And I might even have it completed before the weather warms up and it's too hot to keep working on. 

Afghan, maybe 1/3 completed

Inauguration

On Wednesday evening, we're planning on sitting on the front porch and raising a glass to the new President and Vice-President. We hope you will consider doing the same.

Greetings from Hawaii

Just kidding! 

We're stuck at home, as is most everyone right now. So instead of whining about Hawaii, I've been working on a Hawaiian style New Year's Eve dinner. 

The idea, and essential, inspirational ingredient came from Sunnie, one of my ceramic class buddies. She was the one who introduced me to custard mochi, a delicious dessert found in Hawaii. The first time I had it, I wanted to embarrass myself by eating the entire thing (or rather, I wanted to eat the entire thing and not get embarrassed), but somehow managed to only have seconds. And maybe one tiny little slice more.

Trouble is, you can't make custard mochi without sweet rice flour. Now try finding that during a pandemic. Sunnie did, and gave me a box. Thank you, Sunnie!

What else is on the menu? 

Rum punch

Spare ribs with huli-huli sauce

Ginger carrots

Green beans braised in coconut milk (I absolutely love coconut milk. I would probably eat braised dirt if it were simmered in coconut milk.)

Rice, naturally, followed by

Custard mochi for dessert.

And finished off with a very slow waddle around the neighborhood. 

Happy New Year to All!

Covid Families

Toasting Marshmallows, Nov. 2020

With the first lockdown in March, we started "Drinks in the Driveway" with a small group of neighbors. No masks back then, although that changed soon enough, but socially-distanced seating was mandated (easy to measure since the driveway is only seven feet wide).

Strictly bring your own, including your own chair, although one set of neighbors started to store their chairs further up our driveway, rather than lug them across the street each time. Just a group of soon-to-become friends gathering in the early evening.

Over the summer, we became the "Porchaholics". We sat on our porch steps and our neighbors would arrange their chairs and drinks in our tiny front yard. People walking past on the sidewalk would pause, chat, wave, or sometimes just shake their heads and move on.

With the cooler weather, we switched back to the driveway for the occasional campfire. For the first one, I stole my neighbor's little Smokey Joe® grill (it had been sitting in her driveway untouched for nearly ten years. Honest, I did tell her that I was going to walk off with it, and she didn't even notice until I was ratted out.), arranged a few sheets of newspaper, an egg carton, a bit of kindling and small branches in the base. Also, since Safety Sam is a member of our household, a large bucket of water was placed nearby, just in case. One match, and the party was on. 

As of this week, these little gatherings are no longer allowed until early January, at the earliest. But I am hopeful that once this current lockdown is over, if it isn't raining (please, please, please rain already!), we'll be able to meet up once again with our new family. 

Thanksgiving for Two

 Unusual. Uncertain. Unsettled. Unpredictable. All these adjectives that have been applied to the pandemic over the past months now apply to this Thanksgiving as well. 

But I am avoiding: Chaotic. Turbulent. Challenging. Troubled. Complicated. And a few other words like that because one meal, no matter how special, just ain't worth that level of bother. In fact, here we're going with "unusual" to such an extent that pork ribs and roasted (homegrown) potatoes are the featured items on the menu. Yumm!

So let's all aim for that other pandemic word - Safe - and have a wonderful time with whomever, be they virtually or really there, is across the table from you.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Feasting on the Fennel

October 21st

Ms. Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon) showed up one morning and simply started eating. And eating. And eating some more. 

Luckily, she seems to like the fronds far more than the bulbs, so we are able to share quite easily.

Unless she keeps eating. And eating.

At some point (three to four weeks, they say, so it looks like we have a way to go) she will stop eating and form a chrysalis.

Then it's another ten to twenty days before a gorgeous butterfly emerges. The race is on!

October 25th

 

October 30th

The fennel variety is Perfection, and I have had good luck growing it in the fall. It may even be featured on the Thanksgiving menu this year. Unless of course, she eats it all.

It's Going To Be a Very Quiet Winter Around Here

 Princess died on Saturday, October 3rd, 2020. She was not quite eleven years old.

She was loved. 

A "Small Disappointment" Grows Up

My dissatisfaction with the squash crop this year has only grown larger - to the tune of 23 lbs. and 16 lbs., respectively. There would have been even more of these orange "disappointments" if we hadn't eaten the youngsters and sucked down most of the blossoms.

With Halloween on the no-no list at this house, and my lack of appreciation for pumpkin pie, I might have to dig deep into the cookbook shelf for ideas of what to do with these two.

Nonetheless, they are awfully cute, and certainly gave the neighborhood kids a little thrill.

Matchy-Matchy

I bought this fabric for Princess a while ago, to help prevent her from being so successful at wiping out our local feathered residents. And it has worked pretty well.

So when I went looking for some fabric for my own "save-others" outfit, it was obvious that this was the best choice. And besides, it matches just about anything I could find to put on. Every single sweatshirt in the drawer and probably everything in my closet. Not that I've been anywhere near the closet in the last few months - dressing up just doesn't seem to happen much these days...