Sunday, June 15, 2014
Summer Reading #'s 67 & 68
I ordered a book of poems by Mark Halperin that arrived mid-week and in the mailbox was a second package with a book sent as a gift by a long time friend, also of poems. By a poet I was unfamiliar with: Joe Survant. What joy!
Little Free Library Update
Life in the little free library on 13th Avenue goes swimmingly. After nearly a year, most of the books to be found there are no longer mine and it does remain well stocked and frequented by neighbors and passersby alike. Leaving to take Roméo on a walk yesterday, we encountered a nice you black man cycling by who stopped and ask me about it. He was genuinely impressed and stayed to browse the books promising to bring by a book or two to contribute the next time he biked by. That's called community.
Even little volunteer pansies coming up in the crevices and blooming!
Cream of Asparagus Soup
I cooked three large leeks, approximately 4-dozen
asparagus spears (cut into half inch lengths reserving the tips), 1 carrot and
two potatoes in five cups of vegetable stock and a tablespoon of olive oil.
When all the veggies were tender, I pureed them in my blender and added them
back to the unblended broth and mixed well with some salt, pepper, tarragon,
parsley, cream and a cup of shredded Vermont Cheddar cheese. Stirring it well
so that the cream was mixed and the cheese melted I added the asparagus tips,
brought to a mild boil and then covered and turned the heat off. I garnished it
with a little sour cream and chive spears.
Is Nothing Magical Anymore?
I get how this is important for Amazing Hollywood produc- tions like The Hobbit,
Ugly Betty!? You can't just film a scene on the street?
Saturday, June 14, 2014
World Cup 2014.2
Sunday, June 08, 2014
Little Box-like Planters
The first one is my Primary Colors little box garden. The inhabitants are left to right: (Yellow) Lysimachia congestiflora, (Red) Acalypha reptans, and (Blue) Evovulus alsinoides.
The next is a neglected little clay planter that decided on its own to host volunteer petunias.
Veggies Are On Track
I having great success with my container vegetables this year. Look at how my cucumbers are climbing up the trellis and they're full of blossoms and little cukes, too!
Likewise my tomatoes are doing great, and so are my peas. Buddha is doing the happy Pea Dance!
More peas with parsley and pansies, too!
A New Find
United States Federal District Courts: Gender Bias
The population of the United States is around 53% female; the courts average 31% and shaded in black, 11 districts or 12% of the courts have no female justices. 10 or 11% of the districts have percentages equal to or higher than the national average of women. The gray areas represent empty seats in the districts as of today, June 8, 2014.
A Week Of Good Cooking
Sunday, June 01, 2014
Summer Gardens From My Deck
I have some of the actual Geraniums in my gardens,
too. But these are from a different species called Pelargonium. They were
imported to Europe by the Dutch (Who's traders copped the Tulip from Turkey
around the same time) from South Africa in the 1630's and are all most people
know as Geraniums. Here's a nifty little paragraph about their origin locations
from wikipedia:
Pelargonium species are native to southern Africa and
Australia, and the north of New Zealand. Others are native to southern
Madagascar, eastern Africa, Yemen, Asia Minor and two very isolated islands in
the south Atlantic Ocean (Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha). Most of the Pelargonium
plants cultivated in Europe and North America have their origins in South
Africa.
I know that in Kenya they grow to be quite woody and
bush-like. I love these "Paul Harvey" moments--and now you
know....the rest of the story!
Chicken & Rice Soup
This is what you do with the left-over rice from Chinese Take-out, and I made it with an already roasted chicken from the grocery's deli.
Broth: I combined one container of Swanson's chicken stock with two containers of water (a 1:2 ratio) and then added two condensed Knorr chicken stock gelatins. Which I spiced with freshly ground Black Pepper, and Freshly picked and chopped Oregano, Thyme and Chives from my herb gardens.
I used both legs, thighs, and one breast of the roasted chicken pulled apart meat only.
I added one container of steamed left-over rice from Chinese carry-out. And then I added 1 bunch of scallions, 3 small carrots and 3 stalks of celery all chopped.
Brought to boil and then let simmer for about an hour to let the flavors mingle. It was pure ambrosia, melt in your mouth GOOD.
Broth: I combined one container of Swanson's chicken stock with two containers of water (a 1:2 ratio) and then added two condensed Knorr chicken stock gelatins. Which I spiced with freshly ground Black Pepper, and Freshly picked and chopped Oregano, Thyme and Chives from my herb gardens.
I used both legs, thighs, and one breast of the roasted chicken pulled apart meat only.
I added one container of steamed left-over rice from Chinese carry-out. And then I added 1 bunch of scallions, 3 small carrots and 3 stalks of celery all chopped.
Brought to boil and then let simmer for about an hour to let the flavors mingle. It was pure ambrosia, melt in your mouth GOOD.
Roméo My Boy
After we napped yesterday, and I got up to fix dinner, I returned to my bedroom to find him rolled into the spot where I had been sleeping with his nose tucked under the pillow where my head had been laying. Now, that's devotion.
On sunny gorgeous days like today, I have an open-door policy on the backdoor. Roméo has a nap-on-the-stoop-in-the-afternoon-sun policy. The two work well together!
Today's Sermon
AT THE GYM
This salt-stain spot
marks the place where men
lay down their heads,
back to the bench,
and hoist nothing
that need be lifted
but some burden they've chosen
this time: more reps,
more weight, the upward shove
of it leaving, collectively,
this sign of where we've been:
shroud-stain, negative
flashed onto the vinyl
where we push something
unyielding skyward,
gaining some power
at least over flesh,
which goads with desire,
and terrifies with frailty.
Who could say who's
added his heat to the nimbus
of our intent, here where
we make ourselves:
something difficult
lifted, pressed or curled,
Power over beauty,
power over power!
Though there's something more
tender, beneath our vanity,
our will to become objects
of desire: we sweat the mark
of our presence onto the cloth.
Here is some halo
the living made together.
~ Mark Doty, 1954 -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
