Holiday Cheer

Have lots of leftover herbs?

Since rosemary can practically grow in sand, I figured it would be okay to make a Christmas wreath with it this year.
Used a wire hanger, some thin wire to wrap it, and cut some rosemary and lavender.
Then I made a bow :)

crisp bite

Morning walk encountered sun-brellas.

Not much better than fresh pesto.

I almost finished off Basil. Poor Basil. Grow!

vast as the sky

Yoga Earth is totally different than Yoga Fire.
My legs are not rubber bands. Yet?

It seems the tension will find itself a new place,
a new body to cave.
The repetition of my movements will heighten.
Yes.

Namaste


Good things about working at a revolutionary war museum site with working farm?
Picking figs and black walnuts. Smelling the musket's gun powder from across the field.
Also, watching the loom.

Autumn coats me with something spiced, warm, and full of color

Start of a butternut squash puree. Soup finale! Pureed roasted butternut squash, onion, corn, rice, and turkey kielbasa sausage soup served with fresh parsley and cream, garlic toast pieces, a cold glass of Sam Adam's Oktoberfest beer (Also, check out our new soup tureens made by a Catawba potter at Hog Hill Pottery). Dessert Finale! Pumpkin cheesecake with a pecan and chocolate graham crust.
Fall brings wonderful things to the kitchen. Well, I can't think of anything autumn brings that I don't love. Crochet hats, Oktoberfest Sam Adams, COLOR, new boots, trips to Asheville cabin get aways, and foods filled with warmth.
Also, Anthropologie's October Lookbook is a dream! Beautiful patterns, rich colors, waterside scenery/greenery, and a full bodied plum/red lip. Lovely!

Lentils, Lentils > Cherries, Cherries

Homemade lentil soup in our new dutch oven. (alton brown's recipe off foodnetwork.com)
Also, the start of a cherry cobbler (bloody cherry hands?!), I've never really been a big cherries fan, but it turned out pretty good with some butter pecan ice cream.


Now if I could just focus on revising these poems!

What to expect from the coast

Sleepy setting. Cool gray of the morning. Wind across your cheek like linen. Coconut rum hidden in a Coleman thermos.


I am getting married in 37 days and leaving for Boston in 39 days.

A little baking does the body good

First day off in over a week. I spent it well, baking :)

Ahh, baking...

Today's mission:

Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

(Check out my cute apron, a great vintage find!)

Side Note:
Dinner is Ahi Tuna with lemon, curry and cilantro
and a Cranberry Walnut Orzo salad

The salad includes orzo, corn, dried cranberries, honey, apple cider
vinegar, organic olive oil, finely chopped walnuts, cilantro, sugar and salt and pepper.

I love how summer lets you be whatever you want to be.
It doesn't matter if you have blue toenails or wear a tank top without a bra, for the season it seems
you just are, who you wish to be.

I recently got a new job that I've been wanting for quite a while. I'm working for the Culture and Heritage Museums here in Rock Hill and mainly at Historic Brattonsville. My first full day on the job, I got to do a site tour, search for a black snake (who likes to hang out in Colonel Bratton's house..on his bed), and feed our on site hogs a bag of apples (one whose name is Boris which makes me think of Boris the Blade from Snatch).

There are so many things inspiring me lately, it could be that I'm excited about my fourth residency next week for my MFA program at Converse College and working with Denise Duhamel again. It also could stem from the happiness I feel for feeling like I'm actually accomplishing something lately. It physically and mentally hurts to be stuck in the tar like mud of job searching, especially when you're so sick of going of tooting along to mediocre job after another..
I'm not saying those smaller jobs don't matter, because those of us that have worked them really want the public we are interacting with daily, to understand how appreciative a kind word can be over a sandwich or latte order.

Today was my fiance and my first Target "scan gunning" trip. We created a Target wedding registry and had a cow playing with the scan gun. It's nice to think about piecing together our "married couple" home in the near future. Already full of our experiences, things we want to learn and tuck to our memory; which makes me think of one of those multicolor pot holders I used to weave for family members and all the colors just seemed to compliment and work together somehow.

makeup tips for helping your eyes appear larger in photographs?

An update to come soon,
I've been quite busy working on my thesis
and since I turned one half of it in for revision, I've been taking
a couple of days to myself....
you know to eat a double fudge brownie or two, read Glamour magazine,
and review wedding band videos online...Oh, man, there are a TON of men wanting
to secretly be Marvin Gaye.


<3

Spring brings daffodils, which possibly brings spring joy.

I was somewhere the other day and someone walked by and I smelt something I hadn't smelt in a long time. Remember when you were little or a teenager and you got your first bottle of perfume?
The lady that walked by had on...Elizabeth Arden's Sunflowers!
Remember this one?
Well, Sunflowers was the very first bottle of perfume of my own.
I remember as a child, soaking myself up in Avon's Skin So Soft oil (also, covering the dog in it to "save him from the mosquitoes", which is what I told my mom when she saw what I'd done). Also, I remember in junior high getting a bottle of Ck One. But none of these come close to my very own bottle of perfume!

Something very significant can be found within me when I connect with a smell. When this person walked by me with Sunflowers on, a scent I had not smelt for years....it took me to an old, safe place. When life was so easy and simple.

I may be ready to leave my computer and writing for a while,
take up a new gardener lifestyle in Tuscany.

I think I'd make a charming gardener with the best sunhats.



Also, please consider contributing to the American Red Cross for Japan's earthquake/tsunami relief funds. They really need our help and even a small contribution can help.

I found a gray hair.

I like to think that with the start of each Spring, the cool winds come through to brush (or tuck under the rug) all the gray and dry remnants of Mr. Winter. I also like to think about the growth that comes with the new season.
Can you imagine the excitement that some of nature's silent creatures have for the warmth, seed, greenery, and rain?


Posted above is the little trooper on Chris's desk, which is an avocado plant. Positioned by the office window, he has out grown a pot and the two neighboring lemon seedling plants beside him. It's very interesting to me how plants grow. Instead of sprouting, strengthening a wide trunk and spreading leaves out all sides of itself, plants grow upward. The avocado plant continues to grow in stature and every so often, by surprise we'll see another leaf emerging tiny and green but covered in detailed plant "arteries.
Chris has also started some garlic pods too, they're growing extremely quickly.

I'm looking forward to having another patio garden again this year. I wish for a yard next spring, but for now I'll settle for my 5 gallon bucket tomato plants and planter herbs.
All in all, Spring seems to bring about a new confidence in us all. In winter we were holding our heads low, covering our ears in knit hats, shielding our lungs from breathing in too deeply. Now it seems everything is raising their heads to the wind.
Our dogs are loving the open windows in the apartment. I constantly catch each of them lifting their snouts higher than usual, closing their eyes.



One of the thrilling parts of writing a thesis to me, is writing a paper that's all that you want. If I could be a professional researcher, I'm pretty sure I would be. I've up to my knees in stacked Civil War library books. The mailman has dropped off at least 4 packages at our house in the past 7 days. My favorite by far has been a book part of a four part volume titled, "Guns of '62". The books is filled with over 650 Civil War photographs.
One of the recent discoveries of my research, is that war photographers like Alexander Gardener and his team, were known for moving the dead soldier's bodies in many circumstances and rearranging them for "patriotic" and "honorable" photo opps to send to the American public. I'm not sure how I feel about this. After learning that some of the Civil War photographs that I've been most moved by in the past, I have recently learned some were part of the photographer's "move".
It really changes it for me and I can't really imagine how I would feel if I were a mother, sister, father, wife, etc. of the dead and saw this. How would you feel?


Also, due to some recent medical issues, I've had to start changing my diet quite a bit.
Here is a recipe that I think was successful and yummy!

Orzo and Goat Cheese

1 cup uncooked orzo (I used the tomato, spinach one)
2 quarts water/organic chicken stock (I used half water, half chix stock)
pinch of salt
3 garlic cloves minced
3 organic mushrooms minced
1 cup frozen spinach
2 to 3 tablespoons of young goat cheese

Bring to boil. Add orzo in slowly along with mushrooms and garlic. Let boil for 8 to 10 minutes. Add in spinach. Turn off heat. Drain. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of goat cheese. Enjoy!

Valentine's full of strolls, handmade cards, garlic dinner galore, homemade ginger snaps, salted caramel brownies from Amelie's the night before Valentines, strawberry preserve cheesecake on Valentines, and precious tulips.

Spring Essentials '11

Divine Spring essentials! I know you've been craving them :)

(Courtesy of J Crew, Sperry, and Anthropologie)


Also try a recipe for Strawberry Lemonade:
Berry flavor abounds in this cool, refreshing healthy drink.

Preparation time: 20 minutes or less

Servings: 8.

5 A Day servings: 2.

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
4 pints fresh strawberries
2 cups ice cubes
6 medium lemons, fresh juice to equal 1 cup
2 cups cold water

1. Combine sugar and water in medium saucepan and bring to full boil over HIGH heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and allow sugar syrup to cool completely. Pour into large pitcher or beverage container.

2. Puree berries in food processor or blender. On HIGH speed, add ice to blender and puree until smooth. Pour berry mixture into sugar syrup.

3. Add lemon juice and water and stir until completely dissolved.

4. Serve in chilled glasses decorated with a sprig of mint, if desired.



To sip on the dock, of course.

I've recently become a little obsessive about the history of the Civil War lately.
The elements that tie down the Civil War today for those of us so interested in it are other things that fascinate me as well. The existing photographs from this time, I'm finding are many more and well extended past the works of Matthew Brady and his photo team.
I've been reading just about anything I can get my hands on and my Amazon shopping cart is now empty of books that are currently in route to my little black mailbox.
Some of the elements and documentation of the war that have recently knocked me off my seat have been things such as a small navy book of Confederate war poems. I like to imagine a time when men with swords, funny cats and Avett Brother like beards, recited poetry to their fellow soldiers and "belles".
Also, the photographic evidence of animals in the presence of battle is also incredible.
Today I read about an eagle the Wisconsin regime named "Ole Abe" that would visit regularly with the soldiers, perch himself high above during battle and then rejoin after the fighting had subsided.

Reasons being for my extensive research have stemmed from a critical paper I'm writing for my MFA program. I encourage all my readers to do their own research in hopes to find your own family link to the men in gray or blue.


I should also mention the above photograph is one of South Carolinian war photographer, Samuel A. Cooley. He is the gentleman to the right of the camera, with his hand resting on it. In all my ancestry research, I hope to find a blood link to him.

Sigh, Classic and Romantic?

The green of excess is upon me
Like deer in fir thickets in winter
Stamping and dreaming of men
Who will kneel with them naked to break
The ice from streams with their faces
And drink from the lifespring of beasts.
He is moving. I am with him

Down the shuddering hillside moving
Through trees and around, inside
And out of stamps and groves
Of laurel and slash pine,
Through hip-searing branches and thorn
Brakes, unprotected and sure,
Winding down to the waters of life
Where they stand petrified in a creek bed
Yet melt and flow from the hills
At the touch of an animal visage,

Rejoicing whenever I come to
With the gold of my breast unwrapped,
My crazed laughter pure as good church-cloth,
My brain dazed and pointed with trying
To grow horns, glad that it cannot,
For a few steps deep in the dance
Of what I most am and should be
And can be only once in this life.


-James Dickey, Springer Mountain


One of my favorite poems.
Blogger kind of bumps some of the stanzas around a bit.

I'm really interested in using/finding products that promote natural/organic formulas. I'd like to hear what some of you may use. Currently, some of the products I like are: Almay 97.8% natural foundation, eyeshadows (didn't like the mascara). Garnier is now making a 94% biodegradable shampoo that I really like. Yes to Carrots night cream is good, as well as the Burt Bees lip and hand products.

Unfortunately, I can't find a safe mascara or blush that I like that has a natural base without fragrance, dye or paraben.
I'm quite devoted to my morning/night ritual of boring Noxema too.

I'd love to hear what you guys are using.

So, I've been in Tryon, NC for a writers residency. My third residency in fact for graduate school. Only a couple more to go.
I became quite fond of Tryon and the little town of Landrum, a hop, skip or puddle jump over.
I stayed at the Pine Crest Inn which is famous for Hemingway and Fitzgerald lying their heads to rest there many moons ago. Personally, that wouldn't have made want to check in at this inn, but I guess to others it could be an attraction..

I admit, I was more interested in the history that roams the property. Cool facts: Doctors used to prescribe patients with TB to stay in Tryon because the air quality is very good. The Pine Crest Inn (or near by neighbor) has a beekeeper.
Tryon is where the divine Nina Simone grew up. Her house is open to the public for tours. It's a small two bedroom house, nine people including Simone lived inside.
Also, a friend that stayed in one of the original homes (the upstairs of the large lobby/bar/dining house) told me right away that her room and hallway leading up the narrow velvet carpeted staircase reminded her of The Shining.
She also is able to see spirits and had several encounters with a man and woman in her room.
The spirits were friendly, one raised a hand in hello and the other stood by the window.
She's told me before she's able to see ghosts. Personally, I think this is a gift.

(My first residency at Converse was in the original dorm buildings and several of us had encounters in that building. I got super sick after the first night too. A lot of negative energy hanging heavy in those hallways. Beside the fact that my room's closet was freezing while the room was very warm or that a friend down the hall had her windows open, the most negative feeling resided in the staircase connecting the dorm to the dining hall, admission hall building.
I found out later that there is also a small theater there too and the lady that the theater is named after lurks in that staircase. Every time I used the staircase to go to the dining hall, I felt like I was going to be pushed down the stairs. I do not say that lightly, my friends.
I researched when I got home and found that the negative spirit residing in the staircase was not the only one present on campus. Thank goodness, I was just a visiting graduate student. I've heard that since last winter, the dorm has been torn down.)

Local pub, Elmo's has a FANTASTIC Carolina burger. I had two while I was there (with a side of onion rings, of course :)
The Tryon town mayor will pull over on Main Street, hop out and introduce himself to the "visiting writers". Super nice guy (he also coaches the high school cross country team, I know this because when he jumped out of his truck he was in spandex running pants and track jacket.)

I got home one before it snowed like mad in Rock Hill. (sorry the photos are out of order, I'm still getting used to blogger).
For reason, they canceled school here for three days. Really?