A Story - "Christmas Break" and Festive Beet Parsnip Soup

A Story

Christmas Break

"Help!" screamed the cashier as Tom crashed to the floor.

He regained consciousness in the ambulance.  His head pounded, his hip shouted.

"You fell when your hip broke.  You hit your head hard on the floor.  Sadly, you'll still be here at Christmas."

Tom settled into the hospital routine.  The nurses were kind.  The housekeeping woman shared stories about her silly cat.  Volunteers stopped by, sang carols.  A friendly therapy dog greeted him.

Christmas morning, he sipped his coffee, nibbled his toast.  He was thankful he's broken his hip.

For the first time in many years, he wasn't celebrating alone.

I had some beet parsnip soup at a lunch lately and thought I would give it a go.  The soup I made is thinner  but I find parsnip is a potent flavour and I wanted a soup that was milder tasting than the one I had at the lunch. The photo makes the soup look like the colour of tomato soup but in real life, the soup is much pinkier - a very pretty shade.  You could swirl in a bit of sour cream to jazz it up.

Festive Beet Parsnip Soup

2 medium beets (1 1/2 to 2" in diameter) - cooked and diced.  I boiled mine but you could also roast them. You could also used canned baby beets.

1 fairly large parsnip - peeled and cut up.

1 apple - peeled or unpeeled.  I used Mckintosh but any kind would do.

1/4 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp dried parsley or 2 tsp fresh

3 cups of liquid . I just used water but you could use chicken or vegetable stock.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer together for 30 min. Blend into a puree.  Serve topped with parsley.

I hope you all enjoy this Christmas season in whatever way is meaningful to you.

 

A Story - "Horse Healer" and December Blooming Gerbera Daisies

 A Story

The Horse Healer

When Kelly bought Buster, she knew he had issues so she hired a good horse trainer.  Over time, Buster learned to trust Kelly and the trainer but he didn't like others getting in his space.

One day, a woman horse healer came by.

"You're a good boy, Buster.  I am taking away all your hurt from the past."

Buster stuck his head out over the stall, ears forward, sniffing curiously.

Kelly was impressed.  Maybe this woman was healing Buster's emotional wounds.

Later, Buster remembered the lovely scent of the healer's shampoo - floral, hay, sweet clover.

Couldn't stand the woman.

Last summer I bought some gerbera daisies when the plants went on sale. I left them in their pots and grew them on my part-sun deck.  They grew well and bloomed repeatedly. I read on the Internet that they are perennials in mild climates and so I decided to try to over winter them in my basement which is cool and dry. I brought them in in September and only watered them very lightly. In fact, so lightly that I thought I had killed them all because their leaves went yellow and crispy. But when I checked carefully, I could see they were still barely alive.  Then I accidentally watered them more than usual and suddenly green leaves popped up as well as two flower stems. 

I brought up the two plants with flower stems to the main floor so that they would get some heat and light.

Now I have two lovely flowers to enjoy in the dark days of December.  The other pots did not send out flower stems but they are still growing very slowly in their low light, dry environment of the basement. I am trying to give them a rest period during the winter.  In April, I will put them in bright light, give them a feed and I should have some nice flowers by the end of May.

It is important that they not get too much water in the rest period or they will rot, but once they are actively growing regular watering is good. They will make more than one crown in the summer and so you can easily divided the plants. They prefer full sun but mine grew fine in morning sun. They come in lots of vibrant colours and make a lovely addition to pots or garden beds. I didn't have any trouble with insect pests.

A Story - "Soul Music" and Indoor Lettuce

A Story

Soul Music

The radio host tried to convince the audience that the song he was going to play was good, heartfelt, inspiring.  No, no, no.

I sighed.  Where was the emotion?  The joy, sadness, anger, love?  I missed the days of raw original music not generated by computers.

I pulled up to the church. A friend's son had died.

As a prelude to the funeral, a fiddler soulfully played Scottish laments.  Tears pricked eyes.  The older man next to me dabbed his nose with a tissue.

Old hymns were sung reminding us of grace, hope, love.

We left nourished, comforted, healed.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed some lettuce seedlings in the garden.  They were in really good shape even though we have had some frosts.  I planted up a few of them  and put them under my small grow light. They grew so well I decided to plant some seeds in a container. They sprouted in a day and began growing really nicely. I won't have enough lettuce for a big salad but certainly enough for adding to sandwiches. I've already picked some leaves.  I fertilize with all purpose liquid fertilizer every watering - about once a week.  They are planted in garden soil not potting soil but any kind of soil would do.

I'm so pleased with how this is going that I plan on making regular seedings over the course of the winter. It will be nice to have some fresh home-grown produce and it will save a little bit of money.

This lettuce is a leaf lettuce with red markings that grows very well in the outside garden as well.
 

A Story - "Stealthy Intruder" and some Cheerful Flowers for November

 A Story

She scanned the trees searching for her stalker, but she couldn't see him anywhere.  Was he still spying on her?  She bent down slowly and began to weed her garden, her senses heightened as she wondered where he was.  His threats were becoming a daily occurence.

A droning buzz suddenly circled her.  He was trying to frighten her, but she held her ground.  She continued picking her sweet peas.

Suddenly she was face to face with him.  One foot away, he confronted her with his bright black eyes, magenta throat, and flashy green feathers.

He really was a beautiful hummingbird.

Some random flower photos to brighten a dull November day.  Blue and purple delphinium in front of magenta clematis.

Mullein (verbascum) is a wild flower but it can be incorporated into a garden to give a good vertical feature.  The leaves are soft plush green- grey. It is a biennial.  It can reseed in a garden but rarely is a problem as not many seeds germinate.

A really interesting collection of plants at the Montreal Botanical Gardens several years ago.  The spiky green "hair" is lots of fun.

A Story - "A Dog's Life" - and Some Special Dogs

 A Story

A Dog's Life

From the time he was a young puppy, Marshall was in training.  Marshall had to obey his owner: no chasing cats, no jumping on people.  He always came when called.  His owner gave him fun things to do: searching for objects, playing frisbee, navigating obstacle courses.

From the time she was a young puppy, Molly did whatever she wanted. She chewed shoes, pulled on the leash and never came when called.  Her behaviour meant she rarely played with other people or dogs.

One day Marshall found a lost child.

One day Molly ran into the street as a car came.

Since we are on the theme of dogs,  here are some photos of dogs that have lived and visited with us.  This is Bonnie who was my daughter's dog.  Bonnie was energetic, mischievous and fiercely loyal to my daughter.

This is Bella, my neighbour's dog.  She comes for walks with me.  She looks a bit like the Littlest Hobo from TV fame years ago and she also has a very independent spirit.

Our two Labs that we had for about 12 years.  Ginger and Snap were sisters.  Ginger, on the right, was the bossy one but she was afraid of the vet and couldn't handle car rides.  Her sister Snap loved to play find the Kong outside and didn't mind the vet. I thought Snap would be very sad when Ginger died but we had our son's dog at that time and that eased the transition.

They almost always slept touching each other.

This is Jaws, who my son took in from a shelter.  He was extremely stressed at first but my son won him over and he became a real cuddlebug. He was much smaller than the Labs, only about 25 lbs. but he never felt that he was a little dog and happily played with them. He stayed with us for several years when our son's job didn't fit with keeping a dog.

Sullivan is a newer addition to the family and belongs to our other son.  He is playful, gentle, well-behaved and a bit of a chicken.  A good friend to our young grandson.

A Story - "Wasted Life" - Purple Aster, Red Leaves

 A Story

Wasted Life

September 19, 1970, was the day that Linda decided to waste her life.  It was the day she told her mother she was pregnant, the father not interested.

"You can't keep it.  You'd be wasting your life."

Linda moved in with her friend's family who helped her stay afloat.  Eventually she became a teacher.

September 19, 2015, Linda cradled her delightful newborn grandson in her arms.

"Grandma, play with me."

"Grandma, look at my picture."

The two older grandchildren vied for her attention.  She loved spending time with them.  They were precious.  It was wonderful to be a young grandmother.

The last wildflower to die to a hard frost is the purple aster.  It is the fall bookend to the purple crocuses in the spring. The asters are one of the last food sources for the wild bees before winter comes.

I don't know what kind of tree this is but the dark red leaves are super nice contrasted against the rough cedar bark.

A Story - "Silence" and Dried Flower Arrangements

 A Story

Silence

After the funeral, friends hugged James,  They promised to deliver casseroles, arranged to do chores, shared memories of his lovely wife who had died just before her sixtieth birthday.  His daughter assured him she'd call every day.  His son encouraged him to come with him on holiday.  Robert was glad to see his friend being supported.

Reluctantly, Robert returned home because the carer was due to leave.  His wife was still sleeping.  He mindlessly made a sandwich after noticing the message light wasn't flashing.  Silence engulfed him.  The lonely emptiness of caring for someone with dementia left him swaying precariously.

It can be fun to experiment with drying various flowers.  I was surprised at how well pink peonies dried.  They're the main feature in this arrangement. As well as the usual statice,  some astrantia, sedum, ornamental onion seed heads fill out the arrangement. For some longer wispy accents, I used coral bell seed heads and grape hyacinth popped-open seed stems.

This little posey has quite a few dried roses - some regular size, some miniature. In the back are some ornamental onions that still have petals, some yarrow and some astrantia.

This is a more traditional collection of dried flowers.  I didn't grow them. So there is strawflowers, statice, gomphrena, and a bit of wheat. I have in the past had good success growing gomphrena and the flowers keep their colour for a long time. Gomphrena usually comes in pink, red, and white.