A trip to a magical land

Remember when I said I'd talk about the most magical place on earth? Well today I'm making good on my promise to take you there, in a matter of speaking.
First, the day's most exciting discovery:

 Candytufts! And lots of them. They were literally everywhere. I bought 6 of 'em just to make sure I'd have enough.

 Then there were these neat bags that you could plant things in but they hung on a wall or off a fence. The next evolution in vertical gardening?

 And rhubarb, glorious rhubarb. If it weren't for Miyagi and the chance he might accidentally eat the poisonous leaves, I might have bought a few pots.

 So pretty! And ready to give their life to make a strawberry pie better, I'd wager.

The place is huge, by the way. There is an outdoor nursery and two greenhouses, along with a gift section, cafe and sweet shop. I could lose myself for hours in the main greenhouse.

Among the ornamental plants:

Or delicious veggies and herbs:

 They even had bowls of lettuce:

 And some extremely beautiful dahlias:

This final feature is something shock and amaze. It's called "Magic Carpet Thyme":

The carpet part is due to its ability to grow quickly and spread out, to "carpet" the area you plant it in. The "magic" part, it turns out, is due to something even better. When I took a whiff to see how close to thyme it smelled like, it turns out it didn't smell like thyme at all. In fact, it smelled exactly like Fruit Loops. I'm not even joking. I circled back to snort some more right before we left and they still (amazingly) smelled exactly like one of my favorite childhood cereals. When I figure our where I might actually be able to plant these, I'm going back and I buying a bunch so I can make some area smell delicious!

More visions of Spring

Spring is popping up everywhere in Virginia. Grass is taking on a more lush feel and tiny flowers are coating areas of my backyard that had previously seemed dead.

Winter generally feels like it will never end, so it's the little reminders of spring that I am grateful for.

And it seems that spring is arriving on the blog as well. A bit of cleaning up here and there and updating many of the sections I have recently let stagnate has left me feeling cheerier. I've finally posted my columns under the "Outsider in Suffolk" tab and put the black bean soup recipe under the "From my kitchen" tab. And, as you might have noticed, I'm updating again. It's been a difficult few months, but I'm beginning to notice a new spring in my step, if you'll forgive the pun, and hopefully that will encourage more productiveness on my part.

Spring has arrived

Despite the return of chillier temperatures to the area, during a walk with Miyagi I discovered this beautiful sight:

Despite the leaves that we never bothered to rake from last fall, these daffodils have still managed to push their way into my yard, offering tidings of a great season.

NaBloPoMo: Favorite poem

National Blog Posting Month started yesterday. This month's theme is "Now." It is actually a very interesting theme. And this month they've also created writing prompts for the weekdays. Now I've never really had problems coming up with new posts, but when I connect with a prompt I will definitely use it. Yesterday the prompt involved what you wanted to be as a child. As you can see, it's a subject that has been occupying me recently.

Today I am prompted to reveal my favorite poem, or explain why I don't have one. I've always enjoyed poetry, with some of my favorite poets including William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes and Robert Frost. While I love "Sonnet 18" by Shakespeare and "A Dream Deferred" by Hughes, recently I've been discovering some poems by Frost that I hadn't read before. My current favorite is called "A Passing Glimpse," which was published in a collection entitled West-Running Brook. I have always been enamored with how Frost utilizes simple lines to reveal complex truths, and this poem is a prime example of that quality.


A Passing Glimpse
Robert Frost

I often see flowers from a passing car
That are gone before I can tell what they are.

I want to get out of the train and go back
To see what they were beside the track.

I name all the flowers I am sure they weren't;
Not fireweed loving where woods have burnt--

Not bluebells gracing a tunnel mouth--
Not lupine living on sand and drouth.

Was something brushed across my mind
That no one on earth will ever find?

Heaven gives its glimpses only to those
Not in position to look too close.

Celebrating spring: Lemon Coconut Bars

I love spring. There's no better feeling than the warm sun on your face and a cool breeze blowing through your hair after months of depressing, gray and cold days. And witnessing trees bud, bloom and turn green always gives me hope for the future.
I would say that by far it is the bright colors that can help make life seem better again. I always thought that a gorgeous bunch of daffodils was one of the most happiest sights in the world. What better way to celebrate the lemony yellow of the flower that signals that Spring has finally arrived than with a lemony dessert?
I've never been a huge fan of lemon bars or tarts. I find most recipes either too sour or too sweet. And then I happened on a recipe from Budget Bytes (this is becoming my favorite place to discover recipes) for lemon coconut bars. It seems Beth (the blog's author) has happened upon the best way to mellow out and balance the sour without overpowering it with sweet. A perfect compliment to the balance of warmth and coolness that is embodied in the ideal Spring day.

Lemon Coconut Bars
Don't forget Beth's helpful breakdown of cost. Her estimate puts the total at an amazing $2.38.

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flower and powdered sugar. Mix until evenly combined.
   
3. Let the butter come to room temperature and then just work it into the flour mixture with your hands. Mixture will look like lumpy sand.
4. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch glass casserole dish with non-stick spray. Pour the flour/butter/sugar mixture evenly into the dish and press it down with your hands until it is compacted. Bake for 15 minutes.
5. While the crust is baking, combine the eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice and baking powder in a bowl. Mix it well until the sugar is dissolved. The baking soda will react with the acidic lemon juice and begin to foam, don't worry.
6. When the crust is finished baking, quickly re-whisk the filling then pour it over the crust. Sprinkle the shredded coconut on top and bake the whole thing for 20 more minutes or until it is golden brown on top. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
   

The squares were a hit with my future in-laws (it's been way too long since we got to see each other!). And they fit almost perfectly with the strawberry pie that was served as the other half of dessert. It was lovely to scoop up the leftover strawberry filling with the lemony squares.

Bringing Spring home

I was so excited that Spring has seemingly arrived that I went to Trader Joe's recently and bought two bunches of tulips.


I put a few stems into a collection of coke bottles that I brought home from a college trip to Morocco.


I lined them up on the stove to help brighten up my kitchen.

One bunch was yellow, the other was reddish orange with yellow tips. Absolutely gorgeous.


The rest I put in a huge measuring cup that I got for Christmas. It looks a little more like a pitcher than a measuring cup, but it was a simple solution to me not actually owning a vase.

Wednesday's Wedding inspiration

When I first explained to the fiance my thoughts on a wedding, I said this (and I am quoting here): "Outside, preferably under a tree." And since I was never a girl who daydreamed about her wedding (I left that to the girly friends I had over the years), that was all I had to say.
Well, it turns out I'm not the only one who had this inkling when it came to her wedding. Turns out another bride went to a winery to find this gorgeous tree and then created a centerpiece with it using gorgeous white fabric, under which the ceremony was performed. I love it!

Photo by Ella Jae Photography, as seen on Style Me Pretty.

Snow!

It's funny how the area where it never snows, it's snowed twice this year. So here are some pictures to give you an idea of our winter wonderland.

The view from our porch.

The postman really does make it through, no matter what.

Here's our parking lot. The road looks like snow over a thick layer of ice.

There's a lake behind my apartment that looks cool covered with snow.

This poor tree tried to bud even though it's covered in snow.

A few flowers to get over this silly wintertime

Oh, if only spring would arrive and snap us all out of this sadness.

Contemplating light

I enjoy my new apartment. I love how close I am to many of the stores I frequent. I love that we have a balcony (which we would use if it wasn't freezing outside). I love the wood floors, and the warm ambiance they give the basic white-wall look all apartments have. What I DON'T love, in fact, what I hate is the light. Basically, there's no way for sunlight to enter the apartment. We are on the wrong side of the building. Later in the year, when the sun travels to a better part of the sky, we will still get no light because there's another building in the way.

*Sigh* This wouldn't really bother me except I love plants. I currently have a kalanchoe (that I've nursed back to health numerous times), but I think this sunless prison will be the death of my faithful, green friend. So I will soon be bringing him in to work so he can survive.

While this saves my plant, it leaves me with little green at home. So how does one still have green, but no sun? One of the blogs I frequent, Design*Sponge by Brooklyn-based Grace Bonney, has the answer: Terrariums.


She offers a tutorial on how to make your own mini-terrariums, above. But, while I love the idea, I'm not sure if I could be that creative. I might just have to buy them already made, from an Etsy dealer preferably. I did buy one for my mom, and the thing is apparently growing like a maniac. I could go with either of these:

We all know why I like the one above (too bad it probably doesn't come with the typewriter). But I think this next one is really cool, too. One question: How would you water the dang thing?

The beauty of terrariums is that not only do they not really need sunlight (they generally are made up of moss) but they are self-sufficient, requiring little watering. I think they are the perfect way to get a little spring in the middle of winter.

Intrigued...

River Rock Moss Terrarium, from Greenbriar's Etsy

I would love to buy this beautiful little terrarium. I am intrigued by the little world contained in a glass vessel for all to see. It would make the perfect companion to brighten my nights at work and green up my desk (unfortunately not next to my ancient typewriter because I do not own one).

You know what other item could 'lighten' my day? This one could try:

25 watts, by Steamed Glass on Etsy

This one was placed in an ACTUAL LIGHT BULB. A 25 watter, if you couldn't already guess. Aren't these just the coolest little things? I wish I had the creativity to come up with these. If only I didn't so completely hate spending money...

The art of still life...

I had a lot of fun in my nature photography class. I did really enjoy the assignment where we had to make 'still life' photos, but try to to so out in nature. So a bowl of oranges really isn't going to cut it here. The above is an example of when I found some random stuff lying next to a tree. To me it provided a simple yet powerful reminder of the clash of man and nature.

Forests of our memory...

Memory is a very volatile entity. One memory that you thought was forever lost can come running back to you in an instant with just a hint of a smell, a touch...even a photo. I think that's why I am so obsessed with photography. I generally don't take photos because they have some cosmic interplay of light and color that can be considered 'art.' While I do view photography as art, for me the medium is about capturing a moment in time. It can be something you want to remember forever or a timeless scene. But in my mind, it's generally a moment that reminds of me another one that I thought long gone.
Like the one above. When I saw it I instantly thought of my time in London with my father. There was something about the interplay of rain and English ivy that had those good times returning to my mind in an instant. Whenever I glance a the photo I can do nothing but smile, usually inwardly and with a touch of sadness. But it's my memory, and I love it to death, just like this photo.
It's the fact that I know I can always look to this photo to jog those particular memories that gives me a sort of peace.
I hope you enjoy it too.

Nature's shape

I took a nature photography class last semester. While the class in general did little for me, some of the prompts helped me think about what made up a photograph. One such assignment was called "natural still life." For some in the class, this just meant any still life, meaning they set up a bunch of fruit in a bowl or something. I interpreted it to mean that we needed to find something that held the same aspects that still life was supposed to bring (that of studying the form represented by something) but being found completely in nature. It also requires that nothing was moved.
In Oregon, my Aunt and Uncle live on the coast. The Pacific has a habit of tossing up lots of driftwood in really interesting patterns on the sand. I found one such toss up that really falls under what I think of as "natural still life."
Being a photographer really means seeing what the world has for you to capture. Some the best places to look for photographs is right in nature. While man may mimick the beauty and complexity of nature with *some* success, it can never truly reproduce what exists naturally in buildings. This is why my best photographs (or at least my favorite) are all of true nature. And that is why nature is my number one subject in the photographs of this blog.