daylily

this daylily has been sitting in its pot by side of the house since i bought it at a plant sale in may. what a shame i can't bring it back. the moral: never believe hand printed tags on plants.

growing gingerly

look at this - my ginger root has sprouted! if i plant it, do you think it might grow? and if it does grow, is the plant worth it? because here's what it would look like. i'm not sure why happenings like this intrigue me. after all, the thing is a root! but it's still serendipitous to me!

let's play jeopardy!

always, when you're with my mother, you watch jeopardy. since its inception in the 70s, through the many set changes and fewer host changes, my mother has persisted in playing along with the game show, calling out the questions ("what was byzantium?") as the answers (istanbul was once constantinople & before that, this city founded by the greeks) flipped over onto the jeopardy board. in her younger days, she responded with lightning speed, regardless of category. and her answers were always correct. the year that jeopardy came to boston recruiting contestants, we urged my mother to try out, but she woudn't. she would have been amazing. she could have been champion. she might have become rich. in those early days of jeopardy, the game was a family affair, with all activities ceasing and anyone who was home at the time coming downstairs to join my mother in the game. over the years, children moved out, the time of the show changed, and my mother's response time slowed, but she remains a constant viewer. even today, so many years later, i refrain from phoning her while the show is on, but watch at home and wait until the final jeopardy challenge has come to a close and the day's champion has been named. only then will i call and we compare responses. and she’s still right.

more good camouflage

shh! there he is. see? not only did he sit for the photograph, he remained motionless until i crept away. he may be there still, camouflaged by the forest floor.

a vacation of sorts

amazon jungle? malaysian rainforest? no, just the tangle of aged bittersweet on the other side of the fence behind my mother’s place.

a question of cold cuts

just what exactly is turkey ham anyway? is it turkey? is it ham? if it's really turkey, how can it be called ham? if it's actually ham, how can it be classified as poultry? can a turkey product in truth take on the characteristics of a pork one, and if so, how? and if it is ham, is it considered kosher because in reality it's not really ham at all but turkey? something's fowl here, that's for certain - but is it ham?

family of ten

eight turkey babies perch atop a stone wall as their mother, left, takes stock. father turkey paces on the other side of the road, trying to avert attention from his family, but to no avail. captured through the windshield on a back road during a wonderful day trip with an amazing friend.

what might have been

alas, the magnificent poppies pictured below do not belong to me. they belong to my green-thumb'd friend helen in maine and were photographed last summer in her yard on a glorious august day. i might have been enjoying their abundant beauty here in my own garden this summer had i remembered to scatter the seeds pictured to the right, the ones that helen sent to me in the fall.
oh drat.
double drat.
do you suppose it's too late?

the beauty of weeds

i have no idea what these are. all i know is they appeared in the garden with no human intervention, they are prolific, and they make great filler in a bouquet. and they sure are pretty, all light and airy on their slender stems.

this is a cake?

on this independence day, a recipe for an interesting light summer dessert:

1 box angel cake mix
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple

dump ingredients in a bowl. yes, that's all the ingredients there are. mix them up. watch the batter grow and bubble in the bowl. yikes! then spray a 9x13 pan and pour the batter in.

bake at 350° for 25 minutes til the top is a spongey golden brown. cool in pan. then frost with (are you ready?) fat free cool whip! refrigerate til after the cookout when it's time for dessert!

pink zinnia

never before have i planted zinnias. but this year i broke down, ostensibility because i found them on sale but actually because i am enthralled by the brilliance of the flowers. in the perennial garden with its muted shades of green, blue and yellow, the zinnias stand out like circus clowns, all orange and red and cerise. normally i might not like that but this year, it's good. maybe i'm subconsciously trying to cram color into these few short months because last winter was so bleak and so stark for so long.