I'm Sexy And I Know It

I'm done.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to hold the proms of the two biggest high schools in Arlington on the same night should be tarred and feathered.

But it won't be by me.  I'm too tired.

While three designers spent two days assembling 100's of corsages and adding the requested ribbon colors, ("Blue, light blue, like a swimming pool?". You mean teal?  "No, blue". "Gold like an Oscar dress, gold")  I did all the other work. Which is in itself plentiful and is usually done by myself and two other designers.

So at the end of the day I was unusually tonguetied when one of the owners asked me what I was going to do to relax tonight.  Cook a delicious dinner he wondered aloud?  Maybe, I said.
But first, I told him,I was going home to read the the last 50 pages of the godawful new Dan Brown book "Inferno" he had passed on to me.

 The only reason I bothered to read past the first chapter is that I am such a fast reader I can process junky writing as quickly as an Olympian athlete can metabolize calories.

But these were empty calories indeed.

And rather than a delicious dinner I scrambled some eggs with a chicken sausage, added a bit of cheese and toasted a whole grain english muffin which I washed down with lashings of cold water. It's 90degrees here.

Now I'm going to beg the kittens to come inside, take a cool shower and go to bed with an ice pack and an Elinor Lipman book "My Latest Grievance"

For tomorrow is another day and another prom.

But it is the first Saturday  of the month and will start at 7:00 am at the local flea market.

So tell me,what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious weekend?

The Jungle Book

I know, I know, I have been AWOL from the blog.

But neither myself or the little assassins can bear to be indoors for even one second when we can be out and bungling about in the jungle.

For someone who is rather OCD about the house (the roommate says she has never met someone who vacuums so often) I let it all hang out in the garden.

Let the seeds fall where they may is my motto.

Nigelle and sedums moving into every corner of the garden like the GOP's fear of immigrants?

You're all welcome here.

Roses fighting salvia, salvia fighting lilies, lilies fighting peonies,peonies fighting the fringe tree? 

Put down your tendrils. There's water for everybody.

Oregano and elderberry both taking over the path?

No worries. Plenty of room for Lucy to get by.

Indoor plants moving out, nursery pots waiting for the fence to arrive so they can be planted?

All in good time.

This is command central. You'll find me here in the morning drinking coffee, after florist work taking a breather before garden work.

Here is where I eat my meals, read my books, entertain my guests and check your pictures on  Instagram.

After dark?

Inside vacuuming of course!

The Week That Was

Full of weather. Mornings foggy and grey, afternoons sunny, the air heavy with humidity.

Thursday was 87 degrees, Friday, rainy and cool and windy, 55degrees.

Somedays I rushed home and changed into shorts and flipflops. Yesterday I took a hot bath and put on my warm yoga pants and fleece lined slippers.

I am confused.

I've been to Ikea to get a new table for outside. The umbrella is up, the window boxes are filling out and the gardenia outside my bedroom is in bloom.

Sweet dreams are made of this.

One more day of work and then two days to spend in the garden. GG's new GF is in town for the weekend so home seems a safe place to be.

I was invited to the same party they will be attending.  I am not that tough. Bet you all knew that.

Tonight I'll go to the Pink House where since last reporting there is a 18 month old baby boy and a puppy in residence.

I've noticed that one of the moms has less time to spend on FaceBook since the puppy addition.

She held her own, posting and commenting thru Jackson but since Josie, the puppy, has been added, her time to "like" is seeming over for now.

Unless she no longer "likes" the pictures of the cats. Hahahah. Like that's a possibility!

Even Miss P. admitted to LOVING Gus and we know she is all about the Hound.

Monday I'll have neighbors over for a shrimp boil.

And Long Fence? Where's my new fence? You said 3 weeks. That was Friday. 50 feet may be a small job for you but it's a big deal over here.

Enough about me.

What's in your wallet?

xo Jane

If You Like Pina Coladas

Clearly I left both my wits and my camera at home yesterday.

I knew I was going to dinner where both the food and friends would be pretty.

And delicious.

But I forgot my camera.

The day had been foggy and rainy, then sunny and humid.

So the pineapple gazpacho was an inspired choice. Recipe and picture courtesy of the Washington Post.

 And if summer ever comes to your town I strongly urge you to make this soup. And don't neglect the garnish. Can there ever be enough bites of jalapenos? My eyes were watering when I garnished the soup. And internally I was drooling.

There was a pile of collard greens and ginormous grilled porkchops. Oh, and very garlicky garlic bread.

These people all work out like savages so I could almost watch their bodies burning the calories as they ate.

I don't eat much meat any more. I've been living on grains and beans and vegetables, dairy and fruit.

It appears to be a perfect diet for my body. I had a physical last week and all my numbers were good.  Even my cholesterol, and that had been high the last 10 years.

So I'm going to take my healthy body outside and do a little weeding next door.

Lucy will join me.

Gus is otherwise engaged.

All Quiet On The Western Front

Or not.

What's worse, Mother's Day madness or still feeling the adrenaline for two days later so down time is spent in the garden weeding and sowing, hauling and planting.

And what was Monday without a trip to a garden center?

I wouldn't know...

By Wednesday exhaustion hit all of us.  But phones keep ringing and it seems as if everyone in the tri-state area is having a party this weekend, so we soldier on.

Until it's time to go home and all of us scatter into our respective gardens.

I unlock the door and let Bonnie and Clyde out. They're merciless. I don't think there will be a fly left in the 'hood by June. My lips are sealed on any other carnage. But some of you have outdoor cats. You know of what I dare not speak.

Really looking forward to the cicaidas. Not. My nights and days will be filled with the sound of crunching.

Shudder.

But there are peonies, pale pink, fuscia, white and a deep pink. There's salvia and iris and lambs ears and catmint and nigella and peaches.

I'm sorry. Did it sound like I was whining earlier?

Peonies and peaches. I think not. No whining here.

And I'm getting a fence In the back on the berm. Where the Leylands are no longer.

Don't worry, I've taken some truly horrible photos of the view that causes my friends to quake.

And lowers my property value.

That visit to the garden center?

I'm already collecting treasures to plant.

Told you I was gonna get my pretty back.

Stay tuned!

Through a Screen Darkly

In the thick of it at the shop. Flowers, more flowers and in case we have any space left here come more boxes of flowers.

I've been racing home and planting annuals in the window boxes and some pots dotted here and there around the garden.

Luckily not much watering required.  I plant in the rain. I cook soup while it rains. And nicest of all, I sleep while it rains.

The walk to work? Not quite as nice....

But not to worry about my long hours at work.

The cats are in charge and keeping an eye on house

And garden.

Now I just have to teach them how to vacuum.

 And pick figs.

xo jane

Still Life With Iris

Saturday morning 7:00am: flea market. I need nothing, but I never let that stop me.

Enameled bread tin now holding the kittens, all right, all right, the cats crunchies. $5.00

 A wooden Kraft cheese box put to work holding kitchen soaps. Also $5.00

3 pairs of pillowcases, some embroidered, the other appliqued. All ironed. This will never happen again. Do you think I can take them back for refreshing after washing?  $10.00

And a large glass jar that formerly held Necco candies, not yet repurposed. And ideas? $8.00

Sunday was all fun in the sun with hours in the garden and a visit to a garden center.

I have solved the mowing problem. I suggested to my next door neighbor that if he would mow for me I would weed for him. And share my driveway full of mulch. But he has to haul and spread his own mulch.

He's in. So Nelda if you're reading this from Afghanistan, relax. Your crazy weeding friend and neighbor has taken charge.

My garden looks like hell but your bed with the baptisia and beautiful yellow iris is a weed free zone. Mulch and pictures to come.

xo Jane

Alegria!

Thursday is Zumba night, we leave the hood at 6:45. But before we go I put out the trash/recycling, feed the cats, walk the garden, talk to the neighbors and plan what I'll have for dinner when I come home.

I put on a pot of brown rice on the stove thinking I might make a salad bowl with the grain as the base.

But then I remembered a comment left on the pork post.by Katie C. suggesting I turn the leftovers into pork fried rice via a recipe from Stacy Snacks.

Well I know (of) Stacy. I meet her on the terrace at 66squarefeet when we are both drooling over Marie's delicious meals.

So I checked her out, thought the recipe sounded fast and delicious and happily went off to Zumba.

Arrive home at 8:15. very hungry. Pull out carrot, spinach and broccoli from refrigerator. Chop, chop, chop, Include a clove of garlic and a few green onions. Saute, shred pork, add to pan, cook, cook, cook, add rice. Throw in spinach, mix, move rice mixture over to side of pan, add egg from the Timothy's farm. Scramble, incorporate into rice. Add a splash of soy sauce,sesame oil, a generous spoonful of chile/ garlic sauce, spoon into bowl, take picture.

8:32, sit down and eat. Delicious.

Thank you Katie.

All gone :-)

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel.

Or late afternoon in the garden.

The first red charm peony opens.

And the weigelia promises weeks of beauty to come.

Apparently I'm growing red cabbages. And beets. Who would have thunk it?

And just in time for May Day.

The most fragrant flower of them all.

We made it! It's officially spring in my yard and I hope in yours.

You know what the Indigo Girls say don't you? This has been my battle cry over the last 2 months.

"Rise Up"

"You remember there's more than this
There always was and always is
Tend the artist in your charges
You are full invested

Rise up your dead
There's a life in the old girl yet
Rise up your dead.

Oh, come on the summers coming.

 The rains been heavy and the rivers runin' .

Loose the calf , it's been tough But it's fast and groovin'

We got sticks to a hundred piles.

  We got stories that lead to smiles 

 We gotta twirl with this world I can feel it movin'.

Rise up your dead.

There's a life in the old girl yet
Rise up your dead. "

Happy May Day to all and I hope you found the virtual baskets on your front doors! 

xo jane