Firewood Man mowed and edged today. When he got to the back yard, he warmed the cockles of my heart by admiring the weeping cherry. I admit that sitting on the back steps is far more soothing now that I tamed the monster. After Tim helped me plant my weeping cherry, he went back to Lowe's, bought one for his yard, and planted it. Mine is about four times the size of his. He thinks I am secretly giving it steroids, but he didn't plant his in a mix of soil, compost manure, and peat, laced liberally with Osmocote. Plus, he hasn't put the rather non-economical Bayer systemic on it each of the past two years.
This is what it was like when we planted it.
This is a shot from the airing porch that I took last night. Two years, three months, and ten days after we planted it. [Yes, I'm aching over the fact that I cannot afford to water my lawn to keep it GREEN. And please ignore the lack of mulch in my bed ... my bags are still too wet to put out yet.]
I was up on the airing porch admiring the sun set.
Amos wanted to come out, and I wanted him with me. But I am afraid to hold him on the pitched roof until there is a railing ... or the deck Tim sometimes talks about putting up there, reverting the roof back to its original state.
Later I went back to lie down and admire the night clouds.
This is a bloom from some free lilies I got last year. They did not bloom last summer. I now realize they must be mid-summer blooms. There are only a few blooms compared to the number of bulb clumps I planted, but perhaps they will multiply next year. I am having terrible thoughts that I might need to divide the golden day lilies I have ... that they might be too crowded.
Maybe next year.
Or the one after.
Let's see if I did right by the daffodils in their division...
The hydrangea really took a beating this wicked and wild winter, but a few blossoms have emerged. I wish I could have an advisor on how to properly tend a hydrangea. I need to fertilize this one, for sure, as well as pile mulch around it. But I do not really know how hydrangeas should be wintered.
Remember the "free" hanging baskets I am trying to create from the cuttings I rooted from the single branch that fell off of Becky's plant two summers ago?
This is that same basket a couple of months later! Tonight, I put the cuttings I had been rooting into the other basket, which is still somewhat beleaguered looking. Four pieces have fallen off of one (or both) of the baskets, so I am now rooting those, too. On this basket, I was thinking that I might take cutting from the two longest branches and root those. By the end of the summer, I should have two full baskets to winter in the solarium and return to the porch next spring. Clearly, Wandering Jew is a plant that likes to be outdoors.
Today, I also tried another rutabaga recipe. At first, I had a bit of difficulty, because the original recipe had the ingredients listed by weight. And the rutabagas I had were not equal to the weight in the recipe. For a while, I was worried that I did not have enough, but looking at the options of my "large" rutabaga and what I would consider "medium" as opposed to "small" rutabagas, I used my "medium" one even though it made for just what would have been two pounds if not for my halving of the recipe. To me, the recipe turned out perfectly, so my recipe directions are for two of the size I used.
Since I also have the dangerously sharp Oxo peeler, I didn't bother both following or typing up the directions on peeling and cutting the rutabaga. I just hold it over the trash can and peel away. I will note that I do not care for how my hands smell after handling the rutabaga. I am not sure if it is the peel or what. But at least I can wash away the smell.
My! I found the Creamy, Smoky Whipped Rutabaga rather tasty. I wanted to put the leftovers in the refrigerator and plow my way through the other serving as soon as possible ... maybe even breakfast ... but one of the points of this experimenting is to see what new recipes freeze well. The original recipe notes that whipped rutabaga keeps better than mashed potatoes, so I have my fingers crossed for the serving in the freezer.
Yesterday, I took out the other serving of Zesty Roasted Carrots and Rutabaga from the freezer and warmed it up. I found it to be equally tasty as the first time, if a bit softened from the re-warming. And I struggled with great, great, great longing not to cook up the remaining three rutabagas using that recipe. I had it along with Pasta alla Vodka. For dessert, I had a Blueberry Lime Oatmeal Muffin. I cannot wait to make those again ... and to get more blueberries for freezing.
Had I not broken my Pampered Chef stoneware small bar pan, I would have warmed the serving up that way and retained some of the crispiness. Sadness.
I must also say, I do so enjoy "shopping" for meals from the freezer ... filling up my basket with tastiness to then cart upstairs for the next week.
Having not yet really known what to do with that large flaked smoked salt, I am glad to have a recipe for it. Who cares that this is summer? I shall never be a seasonal eater if that means I can only have rutabaga (or butternut and acorn squash) in the fall. Yes, I am now officially a rutabaga fan, even if all I ever end up making are the two recipes linked above. However, I would still like to try the root gratin (which has more than rutabaga in it), as well as rutabaga fries, baked rutabaga chips, and rutabaga beer cheese soup.
I have decided that the next vegetable I would like to try is the parsnip.
Maybe.
Perhaps.
I shall never be a vegetable kind of girl ... no tomatoes, mushrooms, leeks, leafy greens, peas, green beans, okra, or peppers for me ... ever ... but I do want to broaden my horizons a bit. Somehow, adding cauliflower and rutabaga to my palate seems not quite sufficient to claim those horizons broadened.
Amos had a bath tonight.
I needed time with a snoring, swaddled, sweet-smelling puppy dog tucked in my lap.
It's been a hard couple of days.
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