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Look what I came across today! And here’s a news report that was done about it. What do you think? Would you give it a go?
What a lively house we have now! It’s great to have Iris home (she got back at 1 a.m. yesterday morning so needless to say I was a bit bleary-eyed at work yesterday). Not only did we have everyone except Jamie around the dinner table last night (he was jamming with friends) but two neighbours joined us, as did a friend of Iris’, a woman who Joe works with, and her husband. Friends had sent us down some fresh caribou meat from Old Crow so Joe barbequed it. Slow cooked lamb shanks, potato salad, cesar salad, grilled asperagus and bannock filled out the meal, with an apple torte and some strawberries for dessert.
I was pretty bagged when my head hit the pillow last night, but it was a happy bagged. Life is good!
I say don’t read this post because for most people, it will be downright boring. Its purpose is purely for me to have a record of the vegetable varieties I have planted this year. So unless you have a keen interest in gardening, stop by in the next day or two instead, when hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to write about.
For now, here’s what’s growing in the taibhsearachd gardens:
Potatoes: Russian Blue, Irish Cobbler, Norland, Angelina Mahoney’s Blues, Prince Alberts (there’s quite a story to these which you can read about here as well as at the bottom of this post, Pugh’s Purples (again, you need to read about the Prince Alberts to understand what Pugh’s Purples are), and Early Rose (a pink heritage variety that also came from the Pugh family in Nova Scotia)
Carrots: Tuchon, Coeur de Rouge, Purple Haze, Napoli
Lettuce: Mesclun Baby Leaf Blend, Simpson Elite, Drunken Woman
Beets: Lutz Green Leaf
Borage
Kale: Winterbor
Radish: French Breakfast
Onions
Turnips: York
Mustard Greens: Southern Giant
Cilantro
Dill: Old Ukrainian
Peas: Sugar Spring
Swiss Chard: Burpees Rhubarb, Kaleidoscope
Rapini
Cucumbers: Beit Alpha, Sweet Slice
Brussel Sprouts: Jade Cross
Cauliflower: Early Dawn
Red Cabbage: Super Red 80
Tomatoes: Further North, Ildi, Early Girl, Brandywine, Sweet Cluster, and something that was labelled ‘Yellow Pear’ in the gardening shop
Basil: Marseillas, Nufar, Genovese, Sweet
Oregano: Greek
Broccoli: Green Goliath
Corn: Senica Horizon Early Yellow
Parsley: curled, Italian
Celery
It was one of those perfect week-ends…the weather was gorgeous and the social activities were varied and fun.
Friday night: flamenco class
Saturday: gardening, as little housework as I could get away with, flamenco classes, a flamenco potluck, and finally a party for a neighbour who is turning 40. The shin-dig was at a local theatre building and they had a live band and tonnes of great food and drink.
Sunday: while Joe went off for his first ‘open water’ fishing trip of the year, Jamie and Alan stayed home to nurse colds. I puttered around the house, did some more gardening, more flamenco, then ended the afternoon by sitting in the sun with another travel book. I’m planning a couple of days in Paris with Iris before we head off to St. Jean Pied de Port for the start of our Camino. Iris wants to take in a Moulin Rouge show (the video clip at the bottom of this page gives you a sense of the show). Me too, but I also just want to wander the streets and soak it all in. It has been a very long time since I was in Paris and I am desperately yearning to go back!
On our first trip there we met up with someone whom we had befriended in India. I remember he had us over to his teeny tiny apartment where he served us the most wonderful pink champagne. It was the first time I had something other than ‘the cheap stuff’ and it really was magical!
I also remember him saying to us, “How are you going to be satisifed now with living in Canada again…it seems to me all people do there is sit at home and watch hockey on TV.” He wasn’t trying to be mean…just matter of fact.
I guess compared to Parisian life, Canadians must seem a pretty boring lot. But as much as I love to travel, I can’t imagine having any country other than Canada as my home base.
The ultimate in optimism: my experiment in growing corn in the Yukon.
Something that made me smile: this video, courtesy of my friend Ted.
Something that touched me: hearing the visiting flamenco teacher talk about what this dancing means to her. By the time she was finished tears were rolling down my face. I looked around the room and saw that I was the only one crying. Talk about feeling like an idiot!
Something I’ve really noticed: how much more frequently we are having to run the dishwasher and go to the grocery store for food, and how much more often the phone rings, now that Alan is home. All this will be even more pronounced when Iris gets back next week.
Something I accomplished this week: I got my garden planting under way…five kinds of potatoes, three kinds of lettuce, beets (two types), borage, kale, and corn. Carrots (three kinds), peas, turnips, swiss chard, mustard greens, onion sets, dill, coriander and radishes are next. Then will come broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower and red cabbage. Finally, the tomatoes, zucchini, cuks and basil in the greenhouse and the various annual flowers.
Tonight I make the switch from tango to flamenco. Tango was really interesting…and in my last couple of classes I felt I’d made a breakthrough. My dance teacher seemed impressed, which was nice. *By the way, if you are reading this Rob, the teacher looked a lot like an older you…same hands and mouth. The resemblance was rather uncanny!
Anyway, tonight it’s across the water to Southern Spain. I’m really looking forward to learning some new steps.
Speaking of going across the water, travel is on my mind a lot lately, in part I think because I’m reading a book about a family that sold their home and cars, shut down their business, and with three young children in tow took a year off to travel the world. I was telling Alan this and musing about the possibility of us doing that. His reaction, with slight panic in his voice, was: “But you can’t just sell our house!” Being younger, I thought he would be more of a free spirit, but I guess I’m the one in the family that inherited those genes. I can see myself quite easily selling off everything (or at least everything but a few family heirlooms) and hitting the road. Ah well, I guess the timing isn’t right for that, but that doesn’t stop me from planning and dreaming!
It was time for a new 'do'.
My hair was bugging me. I’d been wearing it pretty much the same way for the last several years and knew it was time for a change. I’m quite happy with what she did…shorter in back which allows my curls to have their way with me and longer in front. In this photo my hair is still a bit wet and so not as fluffy as it is when dry, but you get the general idea.
It will be weeks before I’ll be harvesting anything from our garden. In the meantime, I thought you might enjoy this unusual use of a head of broccoli.
Next, a few photos taken during an afternoon of gardening.
My shadow
Rocks from the fairy garden
A hint of pink
The title of this posting pretty much sums up my week-end. In terms of calories in, we spent last night at a friend’s house enjoying a delicious salmon dinner. Tonight, dinner was at a neighbour’s house…we have many good cooks in our circle of friends and our neighbour Linda is one of them. She’s an artist (painter and potter) but her creativity also extends to the kitchen. The results are always yummy!
Calories out: we did pretty much what a lot of other Canadians were doing on this long week-end: yardwork. We raked leaves and dead grass, got a truck load of nicely composted horse manure which we spread on the flower beds (the vegetable gardens got their annual feed last fall), and did some weeding and digging about in the soil. Tomorrow I am sorely tempted to plant some seeds, but we’ll see what my intuition is telling me…last week’s dump of snow proves the fickleness of Spring.
Also on the ‘calories out’ list, we just got back from a walk along the trails behind our house with Linda and her dog. In spite of Environment Canada’s forecasts of rain and snow for the week-end, it’s actually been quite lovely. Tomorrow? More garden work and possible a hike up Haeckel Hill. I figure it’s time I started training for the Chilkoot Trail.
I realize it’s been ages since I’ve posted photos, so I’ll try to rectify that very soon. I still haven’t purchase a new camera though so don’t expect miracles in terms of the pictures.
I hope you are all having a great long week-end. Happy Birthday to my brother Gary!
