My Guideposts - Week36

When the power of love

overcomes the love of power,

the world will know peace.

~Jimi Hendrix

My Peace rose blossomed just as I found the Jimi Hendrix quote--and both are whispering quietly to my heart and changing my outlook as I ponder and reflect.



Joining the quote party at Notes From A Cottage Industry

Dogs Rock (and Roll)

Just a quick post with a link to Kharma's new favorite video--a link because I can't figure out how to get the entire YouTube screen onto our blog. Anyone else having that difficulty? Anyone solved it yet????

I think it's her favorite because of the border collies. It's mine because I love anything that show how smart dogs are.

Enjoy--

Bonjour, L'Automne

Because it sounds so much nicer en Francais. Heck, anything sounds better in French, doesn't it?!


And it's officially turning from summer into fall right NOW as I type.  I'm thinking of pumpkins, fresh crisp apples from the orchard, hay bales, scarecrows, purple mini lights, pom-pom bats.  And being happy to use the oven and heat up the kitchen.

I'm trying not to think of shorter days, storms, and waking up to darkness instead of sunshine. Instead I'll think about the cottonwoods hereabouts.

 

And walking through crunchy fallen leaves.  And hiking while a gale blows the leaves tumbling around me while my hair dances around my face.  And I'll look forward to watching Kharma happily give some exercise to the lazy Canada geese that refuse to migrate south.

Oh, there's lots to enjoy this season!

Our Cottage Potager--Beginning/Ending/Beginning

I'm ecstatic to report that we will begin harvesting French filet beans this week.

Our very first beans of the season. Uh, this is one crop I can't blame on our late frosts; this mixup is all my fault. I planted beans seeds three times before they germinated; twice with seeds that were ten years old (yikes!) before I realized my mistake and planted fresh beans that promptly sprouted and grew.  Lesson learned:  either share my seeds with family and friends, check the "packed for" season date before decanting, or throw out old seed packets pronto instead of hoarding them like they'll appreciate in value.

I woke up early on Sunday and decided to dig potatoes so that I could plant a winter crop in their place.  Let's see, here are the seed potatoes being chitted (sprouted) last spring.

I planted half whole and half I cut up and callused before planting.

My harvest.

Sad. I think I had more last year when I planted in containers. I amended my soil with sand and peat and planted in ground this spring.  I'm not giving up, I'm just learning.  I plan to profit from some local success stories before I plant next spring.  For the record, the whole potatoes produced more than the cut-ups did.

Let's move on and check out the butternut squash.

 

My lone baby is growing daily and I'm hoping for late frosts. The Queen Mother's isn't doing a whole lot better--maybe this just wasn't a good year for them. I plan to start seeds inside next spring for an earlier start. Yep, time to plan ahead for Harvest 2011!

In the former potato hills, I have snap peas started (from nice fresh seed, thank you very much).  In between the bean rows, I've sown leaf lettuce and I'm trying to figure out if there's enough light coming through the golden zucchini to start some beets and carrots.

Come join other gardeners as they blog their successes and failures here at the

Tickled By A Fiesta Ware Memory

What do you think of when you remember "Fiesta Ware?" Most of us immediately begin contemplating the gorgeous colors--indigo, butter yellow, turquoise, red--every color of the rainbow and then some. 

If you don't own some, I'd guess that your grandma or mom did or your best friend chose some for her bridal registry recently. Fiesta Ware is just one of those great ideas that never really go out of style. Maybe it's because there's a color for everyone or maybe it's because who could hate a dish named after a party?

My associations with Fiesta Ware are linked with cousinly expeditions underneath our grandma's ranch house.  (Turn a group of kids loose on a ranch without supervision while their moms visit and you don't have to worry about them until it's time to leave for home.)  Our great-grandparents built the ranch house, but our grandparents moved in a couple of years later and raised seven hellions of both sexes there.  Which may explain the interesting things we'd find on those occasions when the almost-inaudible meows of newborn kittens would lure us into the cool and spooky depths of a foundation carved into the California hillside.

Crawling past ancient spider webs, we'd eventually find a mommy barn cat smart enough to know that our grandma dished out cold leftover oatmeal conveniently near the icehouse and a nest of spitfire feral kittens who never appreciated our best intentions.

Along with new kittens, we'd also unearth old silverware and discarded Fiesta Ware.  Us girl cousins would start dragging out staples for a tea party in the apple orchard, but would get distracted by the boys, chickens, dogs, kittens, calves, flowers, lunch, uncles and/or peacocks.  Over time, the forks, spoons and dishes got closer and closer to our crawl hole entrance.

I treasure the things kept from that ranch house: 

one piece of indigo Fiesta Ware and a daisy-encrusted sugar spoon...along with a thousand sweet memories.

My Guideposts - Week35

Shall we make a new rule of life from tonight: always to try to be a little kinder than is necessary? 

~James Matthew Barrie

Off to get my Weekly Words of Wisdom fix,

Giving in to Autumn Gracefully

September must be the most gracious of months. Not only does she provide perfect weather, but she also eases me out of summer and into fall effortlessly. You probably thought autumn would have to physically drag me away from summer whilst my wails of protest echoed from the mountaintops. Instead I looked around yesterday while I harvested my lavender crop and could only revel in the peace and quiet of an almost-autumn evening.

Really...I did.

The daylight is softer, the shadows gentler, the breezes more playful, the crickets less hurried with their chirping. Meanwhile the fall bloomers are beginning to color my garden in soft hazy hues.

 

I can't resist Michaelmas daisies flowering next to purple mums. Or the tinge of cherry-red that's peeking through the green of my burning bush.

Yes. I've been clipping off the hollyhocks and old tiger lilies with a bit of regret. And the waterlilies have more yellow leaves than flowers.

 

I'll console myself with a trip to buy some purple-striped crocus bulbs for the pond border very soon. I've also had the fun of digging potatoes and checking how much longer till our peaches ripen. The taste of a ripe peach swimming in milk is enough all by itelf to resign me to a change of seasons!

Today my summer pastels are being replaced by my September wallhangings. Their harvest colors are so homey. Rusts and sunflower golds and olive greens and deep ivories--ahh, they make me want to come inside and feather my nest. I want to rearrange my furniture and plump up some pillows for cozy evenings with Netflix and an embroidery hoop.

Today is going to be a perfect day, I can tell.

 

I have this rather large desktop slathered with stripper (the nice citrusy kind) waiting for me to begin scraping off the tired old finish. And I discovered that Large Old Desk Number Two is much closer to being done than I'd expected.  (Now you know how I can store four executive-style desks and still park the Forester in our garage--I'm an out-of-the-box thinker.)

 

Do you realize that if I can make both desks entrancingly, irresistibly spiffy, I'd not only reclaim a major portion of our garage, but I stand to earn a few dollars when I sell them on Craigslist. They're large, yes, but they're solid wood, hold office supplies and computer equipment efficiently and hide all the cords--whoo-hoo!  I couldn't live without the one in my workroom.  With a little luck and the right buyers, these two desks could magically turn into shutters for The Big Guys bedroom and/or bedroom drapes.

While I wait for the varnish and stain to dissolve on the desks, my iron bed is going to provide instant gratification via my palm sander.

 

(This photo should be titled "Truth in Advertising"--I make large messes as I work and they stay messy until everything comes together at the last minute. This may be the real reason I've "saved" these projects until the Mister is gone.)

When the last bit of paint is sanded off, I'm ready for the next step. I spent last night "shopping" at this website for a new finish.  (I like Blacksmyth, Ralph Lauren Waxed and White Chipped.)  The trick seems to be the combination of a primer, colors, and judicious sanding.

Then I started browsing colors.

I was leaning towards ivory white...

but I love the red finish (focus on the color not the comforter that shouldn't be inflicted on any child no matter how bad they've been.

I truly love this black. 

Ahhh, turquoise.

.

I want to know why no one's done a bed in apple-green?

I can't go wrong whatever finish I choose because if there's anything easier than removing paint from metal, I've never encountered it.

 Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to work I go!

p.s. Can't I get ONE person who wants me to scrape popcorn?!