End Of Month View ~ September 2012

The end of September has been celebrated here today with shades of 'Black Cherry' - not autumnal foliage but the colour of my hair, as himself has applied lotions and potions to disguise the advancing grey. I sometimes wish that there was an off the shelf product which could send the month back on itself. I usually appreciate the serene days of September but this one with the exception of some glorious and oh most welcome French sunshine, is probably best put to bed.

At the allotment I am a wanted person - the allotment police have finally caught up with me and my weeds which have been a problem all year. I came home from holiday earlier this month to find one of those innocuous looking brown window envelopes which contained unpleasant news. I had failed the September allotment inspection and have some twenty eight days to remedy matters. Now that sounds a generous amount of time but not when you have been away for a portion of it, nor when it seems to have poured down for almost the rest of it. When I say rain this last week was more or less swallowed up by the mother of all slow moving rain clouds. However between the seemingly never ending torrents there has been a battle royal to hack down the weedy jungle. I am really hoping that the plot will pass when reviewed sometime in the next few days. I am taking some perverse comfort in the fact that there are a number of other plot holders in the same position. It seems that many of us gave up for the season earlier this year. With me I think that the breaking point was when my third lot of climbing French beans were ravaged by molluscs. Will report back next month on whether I still have an allotment plot or not !

As a result of all the frenzied time spent on advanced weed killing, building bonfires and trips to the tip with green waste I have seen very little of the garden. The gabion project is more or less finished bar some finishing touches. We are thinking of making the area over to planting some fruit trees - there are a couple of pear trees planted there already. I also want to plant at least two ornamental trees - nothing exotic but much longed for trees - one being a malus and the other an alemanchier. I am looking forward to choosing them and planting them this autumn. The stars of the garden this month for me have been the astrantias which have sent forth a second burst of flowering - it would seem that the wet stuff has been to their liking.

The new season's catalogues have been dropping through the letter box with regularity for the last couple of weeks. I have been quite disciplined squirreling them away  in readiness for the longer evenings. The stock of to be read gardening magazines and books is also gaining in height. I have made one or two new plant purchases and will post about them in the next few days.

Meanwhile I am sure that other bloggers will have more uplifting tales of September to recount as Helen kindly invites us to share our end of month views, over at 'The Patient Gardener's Weblog'. Hopefully come October I will feel less out of sorts.

A Moment of Silence

Usually we stop and think about veterans on Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day but this week on a work trip to D.C. I was moved by something that happened on my flight. 

The flight was boarding as usual and once I was seated and situated I looked out of the window to see a soldier holding a POW flag standing out on the tarmac.  Beside him was a white military carriage with a flag on top and the emblems of all of the branches of service. 

As one of the flight attendants passed by I stopped her and asked why there was a soldier on the tarmac and she confirmed that we were transporting the remains of a soldier. 

Nothing was mentioned as the flight attendants hustled about trying to get passengers seated and carry-on items placed in the overhead storage.  I was bothered that something deserving respect or a moment of quiet reflection was taking place and yet no one seemed to stop to notice. 

The flight took off and it was a normal flight until we landed.  Just after we touched down the pilot made an announcement, naming the soldier and letting us know that we were in fact delivering the fallen to his final resting place.  He went on to announce the name and rank of the Marine who was on board with us accompanying the body.  We were asked to remain seated once we arrived at our gate to allow the Marine to exit the plane first.  You could've heard a pin drop.  No one rushed, and in fact, no one moved.  Quietly and solemnly the Marine, holding his hat, made the walk to the front of the aircraft and off the plane.

Even when he was out of sight, no one moved for a matter of seconds.  Then someone began clapping and suddenly the plane was full of sound and emotion as all of us clapped for the fallen. No one was sure what to do but for a few minutes, a plane full of very busy people who were all in a hurry stopped to pay tribute to someone who gave his life for our country. 

Peace, Love and Pumpkin Spiced Latte…

The streets of Brazil…

Happy Sunday!

Sunset Light is good for Portraits!

Beautiful, soft, diffuse, saturated, golden sunset light is great for taking portraits, and if you happen to be taking photographs at an event when the sun is going down then take as many portraits with as many different people in front of your camera as you can manage in the limited timeframe available. They will be some of the favourites of the day, with both you and your subjects!

Nikon D90, Aperture Priority Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 105mm, hand held, f/8, 1/125s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Salad Days ~ Totally Tomatoes

Back in the heady days of early May, when misplaced optimism about the coming summer still prevailed, I posted about my hopes to be munching on a veritable rainbow of tomatoes this year. I was inspired by the '52 Week Salad Challenge', laid down by Veg Plotting. The seeds germinated profusely forming fine sturdy specimens though I say so myself. After the initial positive start my tomato growing year went downhill. Things went haywire - cold spring nights saw me lugging crates of plants in at night and back out in the morning, labels went missing, plants were given away or sold at the garden club plant sale without me checking what I was left with etc., etc.........

The final straw was a nesting blackbird in the lean- to greenhouse at the allotment where my plants were headed for. I hung on and hung on but there was no sign of the last fledgling leaving home and I was about to go on holiday. A last minute rush to plant the majority of them in the community greenhouse ensued. So all in all a challenging start but matters improved when I eventually started munching. I have just stripped the vines down except for a few fruits, which were too high up for me to reach. So sadly not as accurate or as scientific as I would have liked is my verdict on the 2012 rainbow crop :

Tried and Tested (grown before)
'Sungold' - sown on 24/02/12, first picked on 21/07/12. Grown on in greenhouse.

'Gardener's Delight' -  sown on 17/03/12. Grown on in greenhouse. First harvest date not recorded but is was sometime in August.
Both these varieties fared well and produced lots of tasty fruits. A definite case of 'small is beautiful'.
'Losetto' - a low growing bush type tomato. This did really well gown in containers outdoors at the allotment last year. The plants were grown outdoors again and despite the odds being against them they set a plentiful supply of fruit. This is an expensive tomato to grow from seed but on balance worth the extra pennies if you are keen to grow a basket type trailing tomato.

On balance I have decided that taste wise I prefer 'Gardener's Delight and 'Sungold'. Also 'Losetto' has a thicker skin.

Beefsteak - 
'Super Marmande' - if somebody could enlighten me as to the difference between this and 'Marmande' (which I have grown before) I would appreciate it.

I am not sure what happened to these. I did not end up with any mature plants!

Uncharted Waters - (not grown previously)

Here there was the most disappointment as both plants and labels walked. Of the dark purple/black varieties listed below, I ended up with one variety which I grew indoors. My suspicion is that it 'Black Sea Man' but I would not testify to this in a court of law.

'Prudens Purple' - a potato leaf variety producing pinky- purple beefsteak fruits. 

'Black Sea Man' - a potato leaf variety which hails from Russia. The fruits are described as mahogany to brown in colour with green to olive shoulders.

'Noire de Crimée' - another Russian tomato with reddish brown fruits.

'Matt's Wild Cherry' - hailing from Mexico this apparently bears a multitude of very sweet small red tomatoes. I planted my plants outside on a tripod of canes. The plants did not thrive at all. I picked but a handful of tomatoes and was not that impressed but then it could be that there was never enough sunshine to give them much taste.

Again with the varieties below it is case of either or but I think it was the Polish variety that came through. Both these were grown under cover.

'Zloty Ozarowski' - a golden orange tomato from Poland.

'Jaune Flammé' - originating from France, this is an early ripening apricot coloured tomato.

Both the above were grown under cover.

Taste wise none of the larger tomatoes have been that impressive - himself replied with the word 'musty' when I asked for a verdict on the one I have down for 'Black Sea Man'. Not exactly the response I hoped for.

In conclusion I have decided that :

• I will try again next year to grow some varieties that I have not grown before.
• I will not sow so early.
• I will sow fewer seeds.
• I must be more disciplined when it comes to labels.
• I must not give away/sell plants before checking whether I've set at least one of each variety aside for myself.

How's your tomato growing gone this year and what has been your favourite variety? 

Do visit Veg Plotting today for more September salad pickings.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 26th September 2012

Homeless

"A really long day of weeding is a restful experience, and quite changes the current thought. For some people it is more efficient than a rest cure. It is pleasantest to take a nine - hour day of such work when the earth is wet, or even in rain, because weeds come up more easily, root and branch, from wet earth. I never want an hour at noon for dinner like the hired man, but would prefer to lunch like horses from a nosebag. It would save time, and especially the necessity of cleaning oneself. After such a day my fingers are bleeding, knees tottering, back bent, dress muddy and soaking, and shoes an offence to my tidy maid : but I have attained the most profound inward peace, and the blessed belief of having uprooted my enemies." ~ Anna Lea Merritt, 1884 - 1930

I celebrated the arrival of the autumn equinox with a marathon weeding session at the allotment, prompted by the not welcome news that my plot failed a recent allotment inspection. Although the weather was glorious, I could not quite manage nine hours of graft and did not wear a dress for the occasion. The knees and back certainly felt it but I was still fortunately mobile enough to return yesterday for another stint.

One of the problem areas were my overcrowded and overcrowded strawberry beds which had become plagued with couch grass and horsetail. The strawberry plants had reached optimum production, so I had already planned to empty the beds later this year. However there is now more urgency so after himself had nobly cleared one bed, I made clearing the other a priority this weekend. In doing so I upset the little chappie above by removing his ready made sun canopy. Those eyes stared at me most reproachfully and I am still feeling guilty.

Today's relentless rain has temporarily stopped play. I did consider spending some time researching strawberry varieties as possible replacements but thought that this might be rather premature. Please keep your fingers crossed that all the hard labour results in my plot being up to scratch when it is reviewed early next month.

The extract at the top of the post is from the chapter entitled 'Weeders and Diggers' in 'The Virago Book of Women Gardeners' edited by Deborah Kellaway. A prefect book for dipping in and out of especially on days such as this.

Another Simple Portrait

Another simple portrait with a plain white background.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 52mm with VR on, hand held, f/8, 1/80s, ISO200, bunch of various small Nikon sb's and some umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Debbie Macomber Was a Life Saver

I'd never read a book written by Debbie Macomber when I bought a ticket to attend her lecture and book signing.  I had seen Mrs. Miracle on the Hallmark Channel and remembered it as being a very sweet movie but after having gotten my feelings hurt at the blog seminar, I thought something sweet might be good therapy. 

It just so happened Debbie's event was the next evening and in all truthfulness I almost didn't attend.  I was still struggling with the question of what contributions I make to the world.  I was feeling blue.  

Debbie Macomber was lecturing at the Margaret Mitchell house and it's on my way home from work so I stopped in.  I was late and ended up being one of the last people seated.  I didn't have a good view but it didn't take a perfect seat to hear what Debbie had to say.  

Debbie arrived just a few minutes after I got seated and she shared how she was dyslexic and didn't learn to read until she was ten years old.  In dealing with a lifetime of negativity from her teachers and her parents, somehow she knew deep inside that she wanted to be a writer.   She shared her poignant story about how she had submitted stories for publication multiple times only to get rejection letters.  She spoke about how she had written a letter to Norman Vincent Peale, author of The Power of Positive Thinking.  He wrote her back.  His letter of encouragement helped her persevere.   

There were more rejections but because of a letter from Norman Vincent Peale and a family who believed in her, Debbie Macomber continued to try to get a book published and it worked!   Just take a look at her book list.  And guess what...Debbie's snail mail address is inside the front cover of all of her books.  If you write her a letter, she will write you back.  She shares in the same way that Norman Vincent Peale shared with her many years ago.  

I was so moved by the whole event.  I cried.  Just 48 hours before this event I'd been singled out of a crowd and confronted with the question of what I was contributing to mankind.  I'm still trying to answer that question but after meeting Debbie, what I realized is that the small things matter.  Kindness matters. I might not be able to quantify what I'm adding to the world but I can tell you that encouraging other people, saying positive things and being a positive influence does make a difference in the world. 

When we all lined up to get our books signed, Debbie took time with each of us to hear what we had to say and to take photos.  I aspire to be an example of graciousness, goodness and positive influence, sharing my gifts with others in need.  This is what I hope to add to the world, on my blog, with my family and in my community.  

From the heart.  Jojo

Orange ya glad it’s fall?

I lost my battery charger for my camera

how does one do that?

Roast in the oven  not that it is cold out…but it is rainy.

And these swedish Hasselback potatoes. I phone photo, sorry folks.

Loving this orange laundry room door.  yes I am…

…and these are kinda kicky

 

See my theme?

I don’t.

Humor me. Carry on.

click on images for recipes and credits

A Simple Portrait

A simple portrait with a plain white background.

Nikon D90, Manual Mode, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 52mm with VR on, hand held, f/8, 1/80s, ISO200, bunch of various small Nikon sb's and some umbrellas, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

Wordless Wednesday ~ 19th September 2012

Tivoli Gardens - Fountains - Copenhagen

Another view of the fountains at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen.

Nikon D90, Nikkor 18-105mm kit lens at 18mm with VR off, Velbon Sherpa tripod, f/10, 1.3s, ISO200, edited in Corel Paintshop Pro X4.

'Unusual Edibles'

'Unusual Edibles' was the title of a talk that I recently enjoyed at this year's Southport Flower Show. The speaker was Alys Fowler, gardening writer and television presenter, who started her talk by informing us that there are some 15,000 edible species of plants. I worked out that it might take a lifetime to get through them all especially as some do not appear in the supemarket shelves. I scribbled furiously throughout resulting in a list of plants that I would like to introduce into the garden or the allotment at some point in the future including ~ 

Allium cernuum ~ also known as the nodding onion or lady's leek. The bulbs need full sun. Tasting of onions they can be used like spring or bunching onions. Chandelier like flower heads carry nodding pink flowers which are also edible. I have lingered over this particular allium in various catalogues before now completely unaware of their edible qualities. I think that I have been put off by the words "will seed around in the right conditions". This year I am putting caution to the wind and have already ordered some bulbs. They will look perfectly at home in a flower border and I think that they will be planted somewhere in the garden.

Allium victorialis ~ also known as the alpine leek ~ both bulbs and leaves are edible - the leaves having a strong onion flavour whilst the bulbs are apparently more reminiscent of garlic. It needs to be planted in full sun. An extra bonus is that  the spherical greenish cream flower heads attract bees and hoverflies. The leaves are fairly broad and from the photos I have seen are similar to the foliage of lily - of - the - valley. Again these would be happy in a flower border.

Brussels /Flower Sprout 'Petit Posy' ~ this is a fairly new introduction which is a cross between brussel sprouts and curly kale and is more attractive than either of them. Easily grown from seed it produces open frilly florets instead of closed buttons. A fairly ornamental plant in its appearance 'Petit Posy' will look good amidst the flowers and can be grown both for foliage and food value.

Daubentons kale ~ this is a non flowering evergreen perennial kale, which has a 5 -12 year life span. There are two forms - one having pale green leaves whilst the other has attractive variegated foliage. It is not possible to grow from seed but can can be propagated from cuttings which take about 3 months to root. This appeals to me not only because it is perennial but because it also appears to make a fairly substantial clump of foliage.

Hablitzia tamnoides ~ also known as Caucasian spinach or Nordic spinach. From what I can gather the young shoots are eaten in spring. This a shade loving, deciduous scrambling perennial which originates from the Caucasian mountains. It was bought to Scandanavia in the 1870s where it was planted as an ornamental to cover pergolas and porches. The plant bears heart shaped leaves and produces small green flowers. Plants are normally propagated by seed or by careful division of the roots. Alys advised that it has only just been introduced over here and that it could prove hard to get hold of for some time. I'm on the case.

More information about the majority of these edibles as well as much more food for thought can be found in Alys's excellent book 'The Thrifty Forager'.

I Had the Blog Kicked Out of Me!

Seriously!

Nearly a month ago I decided to take a blogging class.  It was offered by two local personalities who are both very successful in their fields and my hope was that I would get some great tips for blog layout and design and also some suggestions on the written material. 

Something happened during the class.  We went around the room and each of us were supposed to introduce ourselves, share our names, why we blog and something about our objectives.   

When it was my turn to speak I shared my blog title which was quickly projected on a big screen.  I tried to be as clear and concise as possible but frankly the day is now so blurry in my mind because of what happened. The presenter at the front of the room began describing the funnel concept (and at least I still remember that).  Then somehow the other instructor was by my side, standing a couple of feet away asking me what would the world be missing without me in it.  As a blogger, can you answer that question? 

I heard myself stammer and fumble on words without being able to answer the question and for the rest of the afternoon session I was so upset. Why was that question directed to me?   I felt scalded by the question and frankly it has taken me some time away from posting in order to muster the courage to blog once more since that awful moment.

Initially I was disturbed and hurt by what happened though I kept trying to understand why the instructor came to ask only me, "What would the world be missing without you in it?"  

I still can't answer that question but the next week I experienced a small miracle.  I got to meet Debbie Macomber! So later this week I'll be back to tell you how she made me cry and cheered me up, at the same time.

Bringing the indoors…out.

The key Lime Chandelier…

Has found a new home in the jungle… back yard.

Now that is full circle, eh?

 

Deb from  fave local boutique Decorative Arts in the background…

Image by Charlotte…who BTW, has a delightful etsy store showcasing her designs.

Go see.

A Postcard From Provence

Field of rice, drifts of sea lavender, grazing white horses, black bulls and pink flamingos ~ just a few of the fascinating sights that we were treated to when we visited the unique landscape of the Camargue last Sunday. We are just back from a river cruise along the Rhone which started at Lyon (the second largest city in France), sailing in the direction of Arles before returning to Lyon. Chugging on gently through days of glorious weather, we had an excellent vantage point of the surrounding countryside, sitting under the canopy of the sun deck. The boat moored regularly during the cruise, offering passengers the chance to join planned excursions or to wander about doing your own thing. We usually went for the latter option but a trip the Camargue would not have been feasible, unless we had own transport. so we joined the coach excursion. We were lucky to have a most knowledgeable and charming guide, who commented in both French and excellent English as we travelled along.

This was our first experience of river cruising which proved to be most relaxing. We were on a relatively small boat, our fellow passengers (mainly French, British and a good sprinkling of Norwegians) were excellent company and the food was reasonable, especially the continental breakfasts. The only downside for me was a chronic lack of sleep - the sound of the air conditioning at night did not exactly lull me to sleep, neither did the experience of going through some huge locks on the nights we sailed overnight. Still if you have nothing much to do but appreciate the sights, eat, drink, and read you can more than cope. Himself is already contemplating where we might drift along in the future.

Having Fun with Effects in Picasa!

Some times I like to play and see how many ways I can alter a photo. All just for fun of course! Here I took one of the sunflower photos from a couple of days ago and ran it through various permutations in Picasa and ended up with the following results:

For those who don't know, Picasa is a completely free and very basic photo editor that you can download from the Picasa Webpage. It is simple, fast, easy to use and will take care of most of your snaps from your holiday, birthday party or romantic weekend away. It is far too limited for "pro" work, but when I just want to get through stuff for Facebook or email fast, then Picasa is where I go.

The photo at top left is the original, the rest were achieved via standard pre-sets or combo's of the same. If you right click and open the montage above in a new tab then you can see it in higher resolution.

Now go have fun. Go! Go now! You know you want to!
;^)

A Poem For September

 Autumn

"Now the summer is grown old 
the light long summer 
                                  is grown old.

Leaves change
and the garden is gold
with marigolds and zinnias
tangled and bold
blazing blazing
orange and gold. 
                          The light long summer
                          is grown old."

~ Charlotte Zolotow, b.1915

The illustration is one of Cecily Mary Barker's 'Flower Fairies'.

Morning stroll in the yard…

Why do two colors,

put one next to the other, sing?

Can one really explain this?

no.

Just as one can never learn how to paint.

~Pablo Picasso

Bird of paradise Strelitzia reginae

Bromeliad aechmea fasciata

Pink and Crimson Mandevilla vine

Screw Pine Pandanus

Joe.

Droplets on Sunflower

Nikon D90, AF-S DX Micro Nikkor 40mm f/2.8G, ISO800, Manual mode, f25, 1/125s, Nikon sb700 bounced into an umbrella to camera left.

Almost Wordless Wednesday ~ 5th September 2012

A sign of the times!

Deliberate Defocussing!

Ever had the unexplained urge to take photos that are completely out of focus? If so then just give in to the urge and see where it takes you!

This is one result.

Here are some more:
Abstract Art From Film
Our Christmas tree is up...

Nikon D90, Nikkor 35mm f1.8DX, ISO800, f1.8, 1/8s, deliberate manual defocus.

Slip ~ Sliding Into September

are not just spinning spiders ~ clematis x jouiniana 'Praecox' has been occupying centre stage too ~ 

attracting a bevy of winged creatures on a sunny Sunday afternoon ~ 

This is a herbaceous clematis which forms vigorous and I mean vigorous ground cover ~

In my garden this in flower most years from July onwards until later this month. It is most easy going, needing no special attention. Fully deserving of its AGM (Award Of Garden Merit) from the Royal Horticultural Society  BUT and it is a big but ~  it dies an absolutely disgraceful death!

In these parts…

We don’t necessarily say

Goodbye summer…

 

We kinda say…

Hello Summer 2.0… sigh

 

Happy Labor Day

Don’t toil too much.

Sunset over Johannesburg - South Africa.

Taken from Northcliff Ridge.

It took several rolls of film before I was certain that it was impossible to catch the swallows in flight, so imagine my surprise when the film was developed and not only did I get the elusive swallow, but also what appears to be a Black Eagle in the distance! There is a breeding pair of eagles not too far from this spot. There were always pleasant surprises with film! :^)

Nikon f801s and junky 3rd party lens. Cheap ISO200 Fuji Superior film, developed and badly scanned at a cheap local lab.

Aaaahhh Coffee!

Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven.
~Jessi Lane Adams

Canon EOS350D, 30mm, f/4.0, 1/4s, ISO100, hand held.