A Beautiful Mystery

Last year I bought two 'Daniel Deronda' Clematis vines for my front arbor. Or so I thought! The Clematis pictured here is definitely not like the Daniel Deronda vine, which is a dark, striking purple with blooms bigger than my hands. The Clematis pictured here has blooms half the size that seem to cluster and the purple is much softer, sometimes like periwinkle blue. And as of yet, I have no idea what Clematis this might be! Oh but it's beautiful! A beautiful mystery in the garden...

Wordless Wednesday: In My Garden Today

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


 I was disappointed with this read, it was not what I expected.  Very disappointed, I wanted to like this novel but just couldn't.  Too melodramatic and at times unrealistic, too contemporary (despite it being historical fiction) 'Gone With The Wind' for my tastes.  Too much in one novel about too many people facing nearly every imaginable awful hardship a human can endure at the time it takes place. Emotions are written about but I often couldn't feel them.  There was a lack of depth at times.  And I felt like so many aspects of the novel were familiar, as if I was seeing things from history, other novels and movies. It was hard at times keeping everything strait. I do not shy away from reads that deal with the issues & horrors of slavery and indentured servants but I didn't care for how this novel told those stories.   


View all my reviews

I am facilitating the chat on this book for evening bookclub this week and I do think it's going to be a very interesting time!  Many liked it, a few of us didn't.

And I for one want to know why there's no controversy surrounding this novel?  Gone With The Wind is beloved but it is not without controversy!  Sue Monk Kidd (The Secret Life Of Bees) and Katherine Stockett were highly criticized for writing from the points of view of their black women characters, why has this not happened with Kathleen Grissom?  I have Googled to the point of delirium and can find nothing much to speak of.  Her bio background is vague and her telling of how she came to write this novel reminds me of how Stephanie Myer came to write the first Twilight novel (which I am more inclined to believe).

I'll update this post after the evening bookclub chat!

*Update 4/25/12:  Last night was a lot of fun and not just because it was our first book chat back at our newly renovated Library!  2 of us, including yours truly, didn't like the book, one was so-so about it and the other 8 gals loved it!  And honestly, I am so relieved!  I was truly disappointed by this novel, as I've said before, but I am very happy that so many of the bookclub enjoyed it!  We had a great, sometimes rowdy discussion and all in all went very well.

I'm always a wreck before facilitating a chat and of the 5 I have done (2 for the winter short story chats and this being my 3rd for the evening club), they're going more smoothly as time passes which is a big relief! 

Rainy Day Comfort Food

It's finally Raining! A Nor'easter is upon us and we could get as much as 3 inches of rain through tomorrow morning. It's been raining here (on the coast) since mid-morning, steadily becoming more heavy with each passing hour. Everything has been caked with green pollen for weeks and now that glow is gone from everything. Sounds like handfuls of pebbles being throw at the windows along the back of our home. It will be an interesting night as the storm progresses and moves on. Gale & coastal flood warnings are in affect.

While at the supermarket this morning, I decided today was a good day to make a pot of Dad's tomato garbanzo bean stew for dinner and the leftovers would be handy for my lunch tomorrow post iv session. Usually making this, or any of his recipes/ones of mine he enjoyed, brings smiles, but, I couldn't get through making this today without tears & sadness. My brother.in.law has moved in with Dad to help take care of him and hospice begins this week.

There's no tried and true recipe here. The main ingredients are canned tomato's, garbanzo beans; sharp cheddar cheese and pasta shells/elbows (or whatever kind you have in the fridge). Make the pasta separate and add as much as you like. From there, like Dad told me, you make it your own.

Spices are to your liking as well. You can make it sweeter by adding oregano and basil flakes or more spicy by adding red pepper flakes.  Experiment!  Use smaller cans (14.5oz) for quick batches to make on days like today or large cans to dump into a crock pot that you leave on low all day.

Today, I added minced garlic, garlic powder, black pepper, fresh ground black pepper, basil flakes, fresh ground sea salt, a 1/3 cup low sodium organic chicken broth and 3 handfuls of shredded VT sharp cheddar/WI sharp cheddar/NY sharp cheddar to a can of no salt added chunky diced tomato's (mash lightly with a potato masher) and 3/4 can of organic garbanzo beans.  (Both cans were 14.5oz).

Add cheese after you bring everything to a boil and let simmer for 10-15 minutes, simmer another 5 minutes after adding the cheese then add cooked pasta, stir well and let stand 5 minutes.  Serve in bowls with shredded Parmesan or sharp cheddar on top and warm bread.

It takes a few times of trial and error to get it how you like it best, but it's quick, easy, healthy and comforting on days like today.

*Update: When I reheated this for lunch today (4/23/12), I added half a can of no salt added stewed tomato's with the juice and more of the chicken broth noted above just to cover.  After it came to a low boil I added a small handful of the shredded cheddar cheese noted above before serving in a bowl to which I sprinkled more cheese on top as well as some seal salt.

"I like pink...

Pink is my signature color." -Shelby, Steel Magnolias. (I love that line!)

And it looks to me like pink is my signature color in my garden. Because it is my favorite color and in honor of my daughter. While I also love orange, red, yellow, purple, white, certain shade of blue & all shades of green in my garden, pink is the color that makes my heart burst with joy! I have 6 pink roses, pink azalea's, pink Bleeding Heart, pink phlox, pink peonies...  Then there are those multi-color roses which have pink in them as well & the gladiola's, the wax begonia's, petunia's...  Sissinghurst has The White Garden, perhaps I will have The Pink Garden. Hhhmmm...  There's an idea!  More shades of pink to come as things begin to bloom, bloom, bloom!

Wordless Wednesday: An Annual Favorite Returns!

These red Tulips stretch a block long, but because of traffic (and no sidewalks here) this was the best of two shots I was able to take last week. It's a dangerous road so I wasn't taking too many chances. I look forward to them every year. Directly across the street, white Tulips run nearly the same length! (They weren't open yet as of this photo). Dueling via Tulips, imagine that!

Honoring Our Loved Oned Ones In Our Gardens

To see and read about how I honor my loved ones in my garden, please click here for my latest Adventures In Gardening column on The #gardenchat Blog.

For the archive of all of my Adventures In Gardening column posts to date, please click here.

When Someone You Love...

Is dying, everything in your world looks different, feels different and your chest, your heart literally hurts and you sit, open mouthed, tears streaming down your face, utter disbelief washing through your whole being even though you knew you would hear the word "Cancer" when you answered the phone.

My husband's dear, sweet, wonderful father, whom I love more than words can begin to tell you, has cancer. Cancer that is spreading already. There's nothing they can do. We don't know when his time will come but the doctor doesn't give him long and I pray he's right only because I cannot imagine the suffering he will endure with the cancer continuing to spread throughout his body if he lives for any great length of time. He doesn't deserve to suffer like that. He has suffered and been through enough as it is.

I feel as though my heart has been ripped out, my chest hurts so much. It's awful. So very awful.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

With Such Beauty In This World... (An "Upheaval Into Revival" Post)

It is startling, and in this case, disgusting, when the ugly comes out.

When I politely asked a man who was trying to bully my elderly mother, who's recovering from a mini-stroke, into moving her parked (shut off) car to another space because He wanted to park where she was, to Stop yelling & beeping his horn at her, that she wasn't moving the car and if he didn't stop I was calling the police, this was his response: "Call Your Mother B----! Get a dye job, get a husband and your Mother should've had an abortion!"

Before he slammed his work truck door shut, I was already on the phone with the police. When he saw that, he sped off down the street.

Yes, that's exactly what he said. And she heard every word.

I'm stunned and disgusted, violated by this stranger's hate and hateful words. I did not leave the world of domestic violence behind so that strangers could pick up where my past abusers left off.

I am so tired of the negativity and nasty attitudes in this area lately. So over it. This is the straw that breaks the camel's back.

This doesn't happen when I am out by myself. (It doesn't happen when I'm out with Hubbs either, but then again, he's 6'3", 265lbs and most people are intimidated by him right off the bat so it's no surprise there). This only seems to happen when I'm out with my mother. And I'm tired of it. Her negativity is attracting negativity and I'm the one who bares the brunt of it. But, that changes today. Because I don't want that to be a part of my life. No matter whom it's coming from.

I had planned on filling y'all in on her progress with her recuperation (or lack thereof, as the case may be) and tell y'all that Dad is back in the hospital down South. But, I have to get what happened out of my system and move on first.

Happy Easter!

Blessings to all this beautiful holiday!

Blooming In My (Northern) Garden Today: Fruit Trees

The pear (no flowers) and peach (pink and white flowers) trees are coming out of their winter slumber.

Palm Sunday Blessings From My Garden

Palm Sunday is here, "already" and Easter Sunday will arrive just as quickly. My first Bleeding Heart, now many years old, has begun to bloom. I look forward to its' return every Spring and it never ceases to amaze me still how quickly it grows back once it first breaks through the crusty soil! I now have two more pink and I'm anxiously waiting to see if they will bloom this year. I hope to add a white one this year as well. Their simple beauty brings me such joy!