Reconnecting with a love

Long time no blog.  

And I miss it. 
I myself am not reading blogs so much any more but, I miss writing this one. 
I have a dialogue with you, running in my head so much of the time. I've thought about posting and then overthink it and don't. 
But I think tonight, I will start again, because I read that someone had checked to see if we were still writing. 
Sometimes in life, I say this as a 68 years old wisenheimer, you just have to do what feels right.  And, gull darn it, this just feels good. 

Life is tripping me out currently. My husband has 2 different cancers and my 95 year old father is unable to get the words in his mind to his tongue. This funnels down to looking at my own aging and how I will possibly deal with a potential life changing disease or having to eat non-organic food, without a glass of wine, in the dining room of assisted living, with a multitude of other old people at various degrees of physical and mental abilities. 

But enough of the heavy thinking. I like this blogging thing and will continue it.  I was recently reading one of my journals from 2004, and I was reflecting on marriage. The entry was on our 36th wedding anniversary. My question to myself was "How do you stay married to the same person for 36 years?". This is what I wrote:

"I don't know for sure, but perhaps you:

Appreciate the balance the other person creates in your life.

Give up competing with your spouse. (Except, of course, when you play Scrabble.)

Know your partner very well before marriage, --well, at least their good points. (At the beginning of a life-time relationship, you are blind to any defect). Knowing the other's positive traits will be very useful. At times of conflict, being able to draw on the positive, reinforces your commitment.

Decrease your expectations. Don't make so many plans. Let nature take its course. 

Bring children into your life.

Continue to have mutual goals and dreams.

Discover new places and new things together. Near or far.

Keep surprising each other.

Be thoughtful."

When I read this, I thought "I'd like to blog that", and so I have.  Thank you for your interest and encouragement. 

t.t.f.n.
~Carol 

Stove cleaning haiku

Easy, Effective.

Bag, Sun, Time, Wash, Like-new Clean.

Stinky Ammonia.

Before.

During.

After. 

Cheap, very effective, and no sweat.

My kind of cleaning.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

July 4th dilly

What does this remind you of?

Aerial "peony" fireworks?

Instead of traditional red, white, and blue whatevers,

how about bringing these bursting "fireworks" to your buffet table

for the decorations?

A large bouquet for a fountain-effect centerpiece or several smaller vases

festooning the length of the table will bring the highlight of the day's festivities to mind.  Pyrotechnics!

This bouquet is made with dill.  This is one flower head. Arranging this couldn't be easier.  Cut one flower head and put it in your selected container, and then add a stem or two of contrasting leaves.

Dill is easy to grow and sometimes you find it growing wild.  

This dill was picked from my garden. 

It volunteered from a plant grown last year. 

Fourth of July or not, I think this is a nice way to bring a bit of the

outdoors inside, whenever dill is found.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Just the facts, lady, just the facts

I love the tiny, amazing details of nature.

Nothing speaks to me of God as loudly 

as the brilliant design of every living thing.

Here are a few facts 

about solitary bees, Masons mostly, but others as well, that I found particularly irresistible. 

75% of bees are solitary.  Solitary means each bee tends to its own brood.

There is no Queen. There are no workers. They do not live in hives nor do solitary bees make honey. They do not swarm.  

They are harmless and non-aggressive.

Solitary bees are docile, gentle natives of the United States and Canada.

(I think John Lennon could have written song lyrics with this information.)

There are over 1,600 species of bees in California alone.

Over 4,000 species in the United States. The honeybee is not native to the United States. It was brought here from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

At night, male solitary bees will sleep on plant stems, under

leaves, or in flowers. Females may return to their nest to spend the 

night constructing new tunnels and brood chambers.

(A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done!)

Individual pheromones help the bees identify their own nesting holes.

Female destined eggs are laid first, in the back of the nest/tube. The eggs closest to the entrance hole are males: thus the males are the first to emerge in the spring. 

Outside of the nest, the males wait for the females.  As the ladies

appear, the males mate with them.  The female mates only once, and then releases the stored sperm as she needs it. 

Bees encounter nest predation from birds, spiders, and other insects...wasps. If the nest is plundered, the larvae/pupae closest to the entrance will be eaten first. Females are more important to the reproduction of the species. Thus the males are a barrier protecting the females. This increases the survival and fitness of the species. 

Ground nesters need bare dirt. 60 -70% of native California bees dig tunnels into the soil and provision a series of nest cells.  We obstruct ground nesting bees with mulch or even worse, black plastic.

Bees need to warm up to 80 degrees for their wings to function. Mason bees' black bodies can soak up heat even when the air temperature is only 58 - 64 degrees.

One fast flying Mason bee is as efficient in pollinating as 100 honey bees!

The Mason bee has long antennae and black furry legs. They are small bees that don't look like "bees" as we normally think of them.  What cute antennae!

It's easy to enhance bee habitat on your property.
I suppose a good mantra would be
"Let it be."
(I've definitely got a Beatles songbook playing in my head today.) 
Don't be so fastidious in the garden.
Minimize lawn or mow less often.
Tolerate dandelions. (This is one that I need to work on.)

ALSO
A bee friendly yard has a lot purple, blue and yellow flowers.
These are the most attractive colors to bees.
Provide water and a mud source.
Plant a mix of flower shapes to accommodate 
different bee tongue lengths. Awww.
Plant native perennial plants.

Native bees.
Wild bees.
Solitary bees.
"All You Need Is Love".
Love is All You Need...

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Mason bee and Marriage Pickle

Righty-o,

where did I leave off?

Oh yes,

Solitary Bees.

But before I go into the black and white information about the bees themselves, let me share my dilemma.  A little gray area of life.

The type of Mason bee house that Duke lovingly took 15 days to make for me for my birthday is a death sentence for some Mason bees. 

Yes, in the wild the bees find just this type of dwelling to lay their eggs in.  Long holes.  Preferably, 5/16" in diameter and about 4" long. (Albeit, not grouped for human interests.) 

BUT...

if you, me or you, is hoping to increase the population of these brilliant pollinators, the beautiful type of house Duke built is not helping.

The problem is POLLEN MITES.  Mites, the curse of the world.

As I understand it, pollen mites can harbor in solid wood holes.

In the spring the female Mason bee, aka Orchard bee, collects a pea-size ball of pollen and nectar, which is gathered together within a channel...

natural or man-made.

A single egg is laid on top of this pearl.

Mrs. Osmia then builds a wall using mud, as a plaster, for sealing the nest.

The same bee goes off to collect more pollen to repeat the process.

Pollen ball. Egg. Wall. Pollen ball. Egg. Wall. Pollen ball. Egg. Wall...

until the tube is filled with eggs, provisioned with a nutritious mix of pollen and nectar.  Each tiny egg hatches and the larvae quickly begins to develop by eating the yummy food mama bee left for it.

During the summer, cocoons are spun and the larvae then pupates for the next 9 months. 

Are you still with me?

My problem is about to emerge. 

Come spring time, when the fruit trees' flowers start opening like popcorn, the adults are ready to leave their brood chambers.

If pollen mites have taken up residence inside of the chambers, trouble awaits. As the bee crawls out of the tunnel rubbing along passed them, the mites will cling to its wings. The bee is looking to begin its brief 6 - 10 weeks as an adult bee, but because of the mites on its wings, it cannot fly. The bees drop to the ground and die.

People who are "raising" Mason bees use either cardboard tubes, made and sold for this purpose, or they will make parchment paper liners for inside the man-drilled burrows.

 This is how pollen mites are controlled.

In the fall, the tubes or paper liners are removed from the housing and opened up. The cocoons are inspected for mites. If there are any present, they are brushed off, thus protecting the bee wings come spring. 

The cocoons are then stored in a cool dry place until spring.  Some people store them in their refrigerator. When the temperature warms and blossoms pop, the cocoons are set out. The bees will emerge and the process begins again.

From what I have read and seen on YouTube, the type of house Duke built isn't  conducive to the monitoring of pollen mites. And do I even want to be dealing with them? 

Yet, I certainly don't want to encourage bees to nest en-mass, if it is going to be a potential a death warrant for them.

The type of housing that is compatible to cardboard tubes or parchment liners

is constructed differently, i.e., the back comes off and the holes are drilled straight through, for access from the back of the condo for tube insertion and removal. (The chambers in my gift are only open in the front. I'm not sure if I would be able to get the liners out.)

I casually mentioned the mite problem to Duke and he's not buying it. 

Do I hang the Mason bee house and let nature take its course?

Do I try to line the holes with parchment paper liners and deal with any mites there might be? 

What is more important here? Accepting the gift given to me by my loving, sensitive husband of 47 years, without worrying about the bees that might die at the start of their adult life OR do I line the holes and deal with the possible mite problem and possible hurt feelings?

Marriage...and Nature...what a trip!

This post is already long enough. 

Black and white facts later this week.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Solitary bee condo

If Mason bees could read 

(and actually used part of their short 6-10 week lifespan doing so),

I would place this ad in the OSMIA Gazette:

_______________________________________________

Absolutely Stunning Arts and Craft Homes

available for your Spring, 2016 brood.

Enjoy urban-living at its wilderness finest 

as you fly into your individual nest cells.

No processed paper products. 

Only hand gathered trail branches

placed in a frame of untreated, recycled wood.

Loaded with totally tubular, smooth, 5/16" 

holes, 4" long for your egg depositing comfort.

Nearby water and clay mud.

The high cathedral roof line offers overhanging 

protection from rain.

The South facing entrances will warm you each morning,

 as you overlook

quiet grounds, rich in organic, gourmet pollen and nectar.

Join this exclusive community of docile, solitary, yet

friendly neighbors

in a bio-diverse location.

With on-site security as you provision your 

egg chambers. 

FREE RENT

in exchange for open flower pollination

and viewing rights.

_________________________________________________

This is what Duke made for me for my recent birthday.

I've spent hours reading about Mason bees. 

More about them in a future post.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Nasturtiums

Today, April 30, is the last day of National Poetry Month.

Thank you Jennifer for keeping poetry alive and well.

Today is National Poem In Your Pocket Day.

Apparently, that means you are supposed to share a poem with others.

I would normally just keep my poems in my pocket, but in an effort to be patriotic, 

 I give you this.

Nasturtiums

Above the ground you float 

like lilies in a pond.

Breeze and bee set you adrift.

Only your orange flowers

bring you back to earth.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Regaining appreciation and feeling groovy

I sometimes hold onto ideas, desires, or dreams too long.

I get in a rut of thinking about something in a single-minded way.

You know, for years.

It was one of these standpoints that I changed my attitude about recently.

When we moved into our house, 45 years ago, the kitchen had just been remodeled.  The built-in oven/cook top, the highly-grained, varnished cabinets, the dropped ceiling and lighting, the brick-look floor tiles and the laminate counter tops were in style, modern, up-to-date.

Oh, so 1970's.

As these things go, the appliances have been replaced, ditto the flooring, sink, and faucet.

Not long ago, the dropped ceiling was raised back up, and redone with tongue and groove boards.  New lights were added.

But the 1970 "Daisy" counter tops still greet me every morning.

"Good morning, flower child".

How many times have I wiped those counters off?  Thousands and thousands, to be sure.

So many times that I've worn the pattern off in high use areas.

Those kitchen counters and I have a lot of history together.

In addition to preparing tons of food, and cleaning up from the making and eating of it, I have:

Bathed my babies on them,

Taught cooking on them,

Arranged flowers,

Rolled cookies,

Kneaded dough on them.

I've used them as a buffet table to serve food,

Taught responsibility using them... "(Fill in the blank with a child's name), it's 

your night to wash dishes."  Moaning and tears follow.

I've canned tomatoes, apricots, frozen boysenberries, green beans, and zucchini on them.

Various science experiments have been conducted on them.

Hot glue has been dotted it.

Yet, in spite of all the memories and many people urging me to NEVER replace the vintage counters, I have been "done" with the pattern and material for years.

The other day I received an advertisement email from Country Living magazine showing a new laminate countertop material from Wilsonart, the very company that made my countertop material.

Always dreaming of replacing the old, I went to the Wilsonart website to window shop.  While there, and out of curiosity, I looked to see if my 45 year old laminate pattern was archived. 

No, it's not.

It is still for sale!

Has this pattern come full circle or did they have so much of it stockpiled they decided to keep selling it until it's all gone?  Whatever it is, seeing it there pushed my thinking out of the trench it had been in.

I came around to appreciate this outdated part of my kitchen once again.

I still love that stunning slab of granite I saw in a Texas kitchen, with its vein of blue running river-like through it.  I love my daughter's butcher block counters.

There are many good looking surfaces to be admired. But mine is unique, and although dated, I think I'd miss it, if it was replaced.

So for now, the best counter tops for me are

"Autumn Lights Daisy" Wilsonart Y0039.

Groovy, huh?

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Connecting the sinking of the Lusitania and the memories from the Georgic.

I just finished reading Dead Wake by journalist and nonfiction author Erik Larson.

This nonfiction story is about the last transatlantic crossing of the luxury ocean liner, the Lusitania, in 1915.  Larson takes all the documented history and weaves it so that it reads like fiction.   He brings vitality to a cast of factual characters:

the passengers on board,

the crew,

the captains of both the Lusitania and 

the submarine, U-20, that sank it,

President Woodrow Wilson,

the secret group of Room 40, 

and the ship itself.

Larson elevates history from boring to exciting.

The first book I read of his was The Devil in the White City.  This story takes place in Chicago and reading it before going to Chicago on vacation a few years ago greatly enriched that trip.  This Lusitania story sent me on a journey of sorts, as well.

In 1950 my English mother and I crossed the 

Atlantic from New York to Liverpool aboard the Cunard Line M.V. Georgic. This was the same route that the Lusitania sailed.

Like the Georgic, the Lusitania was owned by Cunard Line.  The only reason I know the name of the ship I traveled on is because I have a menu from a tea party I attended while on board. 

The inward trip that Larson's Lusitania story launched me on is one of questions and reflections.  The questions will probably ever be answered, as my mother died 10 years ago, and my 94 year old father's memory is stuck on a few of his favorite stories.  (Plus he did not make the journey with us.)

There is not a single photo from this trip.  Can you imagine?  How I wish there was a snapshot of me on deck!  Or better yet, a picture of me and my mom together, sea breezes blowing our hair and smiles on our faces. 

We were in England for months and yet there are no photos of either of us from this time.  This makes me so sad.  The only thing I have from this trip is the tea party menu and two brief stories my mother told me.

I cannot remember my mother taking any photos in her life time.  I have no recollection of her ever having a camera in her hands.

In the photo-snapping times of now, this would never happen.

  No photos from such a trip seems beyond grasp.

There are so many questions I want to ask my mother.  Why didn't I think of them while she was alive?  (If I did ask her for details about her stories, she would brush them aside as unimportant.)

How I wish I would have been more persistent in finding out more about her experiences as an English war bride,

a young mother,

the early years of her being in this her new country, knowing no one other than my father,

and, of course, our seafaring adventure and visit to her family in England when I was 3 years old. 

I have already explored a little about the Georgic.  There is even a YouTube video of it.  And because I want to know more about this trip and my mother's early marriage, I may start digging into more resources.

I've heard you shouldn't live in the past, but it sure is nice to visit it. 

If photographs unlock memories, I'm glad I'll leave so many for my children and grandchildren. 

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

A lesson from the chickens or easy caterpillar removal

                     
If you are squirmy about wormies, this probably isn't the blog post for you...


 I love to learn new things.   I am open to any teacher, be it 

my 5 year old granddaughter teaching me an art technique, a formal classroom learning opportunity, or

my chickens teaching me how to remove cabbage looper caterpillars from my lettuce leaves.

Last week, being so preoccupied with keeping my lettuce comfortable in the 90 degree heat we were having here in Southern California, I neglected to notice that the big, beautiful leaves of my Black seeded Simpson lettuce were looking more like doilies than vegetables.  I started looking for the culprits.  There was the frass evidence that they were eating and digesting my future salads.   And sure enough, and although their green color matched the lettuce perfectly, I spotted them.  
Cabbage loopers.  

 Being an organic gardener, I began picking the worms off the leaves.  I put them in a box to be delivered to my hens.  Some of the lettuce was so holey, I picked off an entire perforated leaf, with the caterpillars still attached, and added it to the Nellie and Amelia picnic hamper.  I picked 62 of the little gluttons off 18 plants.   (Yes, I counted the smooth, green inchworm-like caterpillars as I plucked them off.  I wanted to tell someone about how many had been on the plants and I thought an actual number made for a more realistic story. Plus worm picking can get boring, so I needed something to keep my mind involved.)  

I delivered the box lunch...

and watched as the girls enjoyed their delicacies.   I also observed that the hens would pick up a leaf and give it a shake before eating it.  The shaking caused the worms to fly off and then the hen would run to eat it before her coop-mate could get it.  This process surprised me, because when I pick cabbage caterpillars off plants they kind of grasp onto the plant and then cling to my fingers with their hairy little feet.  I didn't think a hen head-shake would dislodge them from the leaves.  And how did the hens know to do this?

I was out picking more loopers this afternoon.  I thought about the 
method the hens had shown me the day before.  I  gave the lettuce heads a  tap-tap with my hand.
 Sure enough, the gentle ruffling knocked the caterpillars off the leaves.  They fell off the plants and onto the dirt where they were both visible and easier to pick up.  Teeny-tiny caterpillars I would have never seen on the plants were easily seen on the soil.

I like the saying,

"When the student is ready, the teacher will appear."    Kalam

It is true and I hope I will always be a student open to all teachers.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

                                         

Reducing guilt and fat one apple at a time

Apples

Apples make me think of

pie

back to school

the height of a Smurf

keeping the doctor away

Johnny Appleseed

and

that twinge of guilt I used to feel whenever I threw away an old apple.

You know, the very ones that kept being passed by.  Who's going to choose the soft, mealy, bruised fruit when sitting right next to it is a crisp, juicy, and firm beauty?  Not me.  (Oh dear, I suddenly see an analogy here between youth and old age!)

So those less than desirable apples in my larder used to roll around in the bin until they were so wrinkly, I could finally send them to the mulch pile.  I looked the other way when I tossed them to minimize the remorse.  Food waste denial.

I have a dear friend who told me years ago that she made applesauce from her "old" apples.  This sounded both very frugal and a lot of work.  Despite her insistence that "it is so easy",  I continued tossing apples and buying jarred applesauce.  I double-downed on my regret whenever I threw out leftover applesauce gone fuzzy.

A few years ago for some unknown reason (too much time on my hands?),  I decided to make applesauce from some poor old apples.   It WAS easy and I continue to do it. 

 I have an apple peeler/corer, which makes a snap out of the prep work. 

  

The peeled and cored apple slices go into a pot all by themselves. No water, sugar, or seasonings. 

I turn low heat under the pot and the apples cook while I do something else.

I stir the pot occasionally and smash the softening apple pieces with my wooden stirring spoon to create a puree.  The puree is sometimes chunky and sometimes pulverized, depending on my mood.

When all the apples are soft and mashed, I turn off the heat and let the sauce cool.

Then I measure the sauce into 1 cup packages and put them into the freezer.

6 apples made 1 1/4 cup applesauce.

The frozen applesauce thaws quickly.

That's the reducing guilt part of the story.  Now here's the reducing fat part, which further reduces guilt.  Really this is a win-win effort.

You can reduce the amount of fat in baked goodies by substituting applesauce for some of the fat.  

My favorite recipe for doing this is for Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins.

Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup butter is what is called for, but I only use 1/4 cup butter

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

1 egg

1 cup flour

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tea. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup applesauce is what is called for, but I increase it to 1 cup applesauce

1/2 cup raisins

1 cup oatmeal (not instant)

1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream butter, gradually add brown sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  Add egg and beat well.  Mix well next 5 ingredients and add alternately with applesauce to creamed mixture, stirring well.  Add next 3 ingredients and mix well.  Spoon into 12 baking cups which are lining muffin tin cups.  Bake in preheated 350○ oven for 25-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.

This works deliciously. I have used this method successfully for Gingerbread, 

Zucchini Bread, Pumpkin Bars, Chocolate Cake, well, you get the idea.


I guess this is proof that I am getting saucier as I get older.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

8 days before Christmas....

Oh by golly,

these 10 things are making me holly jolly...

1. Picking up $30 in the street.

2.  Finding the perfect gift for the Duke of Earl.

 I hadn't had a clue as to what to give him 24 hours before going to the estate sale, where I scored a gift that is going to knock his socks off.

(Do you ever go to estate sales?  If not, you should give it a try.  It's a treasure hunt with potential bargains, and a great way to recycle.  And for me, they are also a poignant reminder that my stuff's value is only in the significance I place on it.  Here's a link to the estate sale site I use to find sales near me. http://www.estatesales.net/

 Remember in light of the world's diminishing resources, "any attempt to recycle instead of buying new is a foot on the brake instead of the accelerator". 

3.  An owl in our backyard.

4.  The monarch butterflies in our gardens. 

 Oh my gosh, the milkweed I planted and let have its way, is working passed my expectations.  We have monarchs in every stage of their life in the garden all the time now.  Plant some milkweed, you will not regret it.

Did you know that the average caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head?  Who counts these things?

5.  The Christmas tree in the lobby of the Grand California Hotel at Disneyland.

6.  The Santa Fe Cranberry Salsa at Rutabegorz Restaurant.  

It's their 44¢ appetizer for December.  It is served with tortilla chips.  If you live in SoCal, Ruta's is a great place to eat.   http://www.rutabegorz.com/

7.  My December tablescape,

 which I put together with no new purchases...other than the candles of course.  

I can't get a good shot of it, but here it is.

The mirror has a nice weathered look to it, because it is normally a garden mirror.  It was a hand-me-up from April several years ago and has lived outdoors ever since.  I'm liking it in the house on top of this cabinet so much, I think it will be an indoor mirror for awhile.

That's me reflected in the mirror, still in my robe.  I thought the morning light might help in catching the blend of all the tablescape's elements, but it didn't.

8.  Pope Francis.

9. Celebrating my Dad's 94th birthday. 

 ( However, I am not liking that the DMV continues extending his driver's license.)

10.  The rain we've been getting. 

For you readers who have young children, know that the Christmas' with your young children are going to be the happiest ever for you.  I hope you enjoy every magic moment.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVMCUtsmWmQ

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol