This is my story

today, summer 2009 what is your bowl holding?

 

a quote from my favorite book, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. this image made me remember this part of the book.

"After Francie had come in and closed the door quietly behind her - the way you are supposed to in a library - she looked quickly at the little golden brown pottery jug which stood at the end of the librarians desk. It was a season indicator. In the fall it had a few sprigs of bittersweet and Christmas time it held holly. She knew spring was coming, even if there was snow on the ground, when she saw pussy willow in the bowl. And today on this summer Saturday of 1912, what was the bowl holding? She moved her eyes slowly up the jug past the thin green stems and little round leaves and saw ... nastriniums! Red, gold, yellow and ivory white. A head pain caught her between the eyes at taking in such a wonderful sight, It was something to be remembered all her life."

i love this quote because it is exactly the thing i would have felt when i was  a kid, and even today.

this isn't a library though. it's the sweetest bookstore ever. new and old books interspersed together.

 

i bought a couple of gardening books. there was an old poultry book that i really loved but it was $20 and i just couldn't break on that price for an old book.

 

 

what flowers are in your bowl today?

belated happy bench Monday

 

my strawberry patch is out of control. and weedy.

found a great article on controling weeds in Northern Gardener. i just found this magazine and i'm going to order a subscription. great info for us northern gardeners.

i also found an article on keeping your strawberry patch manageable in Mary Jane's Farm. 

tradition

 

what tradition means the most to you?

us... July 4th birthday party for Claire.  we were lucky to have nice weather. a little too cool for me to swim.

and today i'm uploading photos and editing inbetween scrubbing out pans of crused potatoes and baked beans.

and asking god to bless america.

it's a little bit ironic

 

that one song keeps playing in my head. the one that says, "isn't it a little ironic... it's like rain on your wedding day.... a free ride when you already paid.... traffic jam when your already late ... 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife ... meeting the man of your dreams and his beautiful wife ... a no smoking sign on your cigarette break" by Alanis Morissette

because i bought this vintage toy today. i just fell in love with queen buzzy bee. she seemed so sweet.

then when i got home i was attacked by bees. not just got in the way of a bee and got stung. i was seriously attacked by several bees. i was running from them and they were chasing me. three stung me. it was unreal. really.

so i thought it was ironic that i was so in love with this toy bee, just to be attacked my her kind a few hours later.

is that ironic? i'm always not sure about using that word because when i worked at the newspaper an editor once told me i was using the word in the wrong context???? so i think i'm using this word right. isn't it a little ironic?

Pond Living

 

someone should start a new magazine called pond living. i'd love to know more about people and their ponds. i love ours. it very beautiful. the only thing i don't like is how it draws in so many visitors. being the private introverted type i get nervous when there are too many people around.

so speaking of magazines... i continue my love affair with them. i keep saying i'll stop buying them but i love them too much. bought a copy of Jamie. the photography is amazing. and is so want to go to Fadel for Lunch. Unfortunately it's in Beiruit.

sun kissed foxglove

 

enjoying the sun but praying for a storm.

it's so dry here and i'm running of time to water because i'm planning a party. a big party. my girl is gonna be 12.

favorite things this week

 

purple flowers from my gardens.

tough girls who play softball, especially the catchers

campfires and marshmellows

McDonald's iced coffee

baby chickens

the movie UP

blueberry pancakes

dogs who catch chipmunks in the yard.

and they say a thunder storm is coming. that will make the week perfect. love thunder storms. plus the purple flowers will too.

 

 

 

june list

 

what's on your calendar for june?   i've been making lists lately. my june list:

finish our stone path. whew... it's a labor of love.

bike to work

run the bellin

cut some peonies for inside. i think the peony is my favorite flower these days.

plan a parteeeeee for claire

make more salads with garden greens.

weed around the wild blackberries growing on the edge of our yard.

purchase a pair of rain boots

finish this book i am reading

grill on this

swim across the pond... or if it doesn't warm up kayak across the pond

go to a concert in the park

watch claire play softball.

make a strawberry pie or this

what's in season is what's for dinner

in my garden lettuce, rhubarb and chives.

trying my best to buy and eat local. why... first of all food that is in season and that is fresh tastes the best. i don't know if you have had a watermelon from the store lately, but they taste terrible.

and we need to stop the petroleum pipeline. read more here.

farming, there may be a future in in after all.

 

 

a northern wisconsin early june in season recipe:

Rhubarb Ginger Crunch

4 cups of rhubarb

1 cup cranberries, pitted cherries, blueberries, strawberries, or apples (which ever you can find locally)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

Topping

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup walnuts

4 tablespoons butter

Combine rhubarb and berries with sugar. Let stand 15 minutes, tossing often. Heat oven to 350 degrees; butter a deep dish pie pan. Add honey flour, vanilla and ginger to the fruit; toss well. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, make topping. Combine flour, sugar and nuts. Cut in cold butter with pastry cutter or fingers. Refrigerate while rhubarb cooks. When fruit has baked 20 minutes, sprinkle topping over it and continue to bake until bubbly, 30-40 minutes longer.

Serve warm. i added a spoon of greek yogurt. the kids had vanilla ice cream.

baby Polish hen on a bench

happy Bench Monday.