Independence Day 2008

Wishing you all a safe and happy

Independence Day.

~ Gabriella Oldham ~ 'Tis the Star Spangled Banner ~

Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower ~

Garden Glories

This is not my Pink Saturday post coming to you early - there will be one on Saturday as promised - however on yesterday's walk through the garden I enjoyed seeing so many pink blooms.

The mailbox bed is thriving right now in the full sun exposure. The potato vine is running rampant and may be crossing the cul-de-sac in a few more weeks unless I prune! Petunias in pink and purple, pale yellow daylilies all blooming.

The Mandevilla vine is making it's Summer climb up the gazebo.

My favorite pink geraniums in large pots along the path to the front steps of the cottage.


This week the beautiful Stargazer lilies opened - they are in pots to protect their fragile bulbs which often become dinner for the pesky voles!

The new butterfly bush by the back fence is growing rapidly - I thought it was a purple one but it decided to be pink - fine with me and the butterflies.

........and this little sweet flower means Summer eating of the best kind. This is the blossom on the French Haricot Verts - green beans extraordinaire. I spied the first few beans so perhaps a meal is imminent!

Hope you enjoyed sharing the garden update. We still struggle with watering issues here - hauling hoses and watering cans is permitted just two days a week for a couple of hours due to the drought - but it's really worth the effort, sore backs and painful shoulders, when the blossoms nod in the early morning sun to welcome bees, birds and butterflies on another hot day.

Give Me a Sign......

Yeah, yeah.............girls just wanna have fun at the beach this time of year. Here in the hot and humid Southeastern states, beaches, lakes, ponds and pools are the first choice of people wanting to keep their cool! This is one of many fabulous old prints framed in the neatest painted wood frames. Great selection at SuzAnna's Antiques for every room in your home - you can glimpse more on the wall in the last photo below.

If you can't get to a watering hole on a hot day, just head out to SuzAnna's in Raleigh. They're not lakeside property, the only standing body of water may be in the birdbaths scattered around the yard, however they will have ice-cold water for you as eloquently stated on this sign. And.............while sipping and looking at charming signs, here are a few more which caught my eye when visiting the shop with my granddaughter the week before last.

Now this one I need for my potting shed................

......... and we all have something vintage that needs identifying - I'm thinking dh!!!!

If you have a little cabin in the woods, next to a pond, with a view of a mountain......you also need a sign so we can all stop by to visit - and wouldn't that sundial be perfect in your little garden.

Isn't this a fabulous sign for your place at the beach.........nothing fancy or contrived (have you seen the crazy names some people give their beach properties?), this one just states the obvious.................signage perfection.

Oh! a barn, how I'd love a real barn-red BARN.......then perhaps a few chickens, a rooster, my own fresh eggs.............an old John Deere tractor..............a farm!!!!!

I don't have a garage but if I did I'd definitely take this one home and hang it on the door - after all MY car would be on one side, and MY stuff on the other................dh's car would probably still be parked in the driveway!

Ahhh! MUSIC. Who can't use a music sign to prop up wherever music is playing around your house or in the garden, and on lovely old barn board.

Susie and Anna - thanks for being there for us, come rain, come shine.............come 102 degrees, and keeping the water cold! You are the best shopkeepers ever - welcoming, kind, funny, helpful, talented, generous, beautiful.

We love your shop - we love sweet Linda and others who help you - we love YOU!

Susie, Anna and my granddaughter - June 2008.

On 'Broadway'

When treasure hunting a couple of weeks ago, Vanessa at Vanilla Lavender took me to a quirky cottagey house sitting at the side of a busy highway. Piled up in the yards - front, side and back - was more 'junque' than you can imagine. Seated on the rickety porch was 'the gentleman owner' along with visiting cohorts, elderly blokes obviously spending jolly retirement hours just hanging out on a hot humid, nothing else to do, Summer in the South day.

Vanessa and I rummaged through the stifling rooms while my granddaughter Jasmin serenaded us from several untuned pianos. Vanessa's little daughter stood nearby pounding the ivories wearing the biggest smile, proud as punch that she too was a pianist in the making. The kindly owner offered Jasmin a piano to take home, for free! Viewing it involved clambering over an obstacle course, through the junk piles and rear garden, using that term loosely, to a somewhat spooky basement which would drive the Fire Marshall to have a heart attack! The huge old, very old, piano, did not come home with us but apparently can sit there with her name on it until someone else gives it a home. Pretty young gals get all the perks!

In the mix of true antiques and piles of junk, I did discover a treasure. Slipped down at an angle inside a really sad broken frame, this beautiful, slightly age-stained print of the famous golden stone cottages in the village of Broadway in the Cotswolds of England. The artist (appears to be Alan Stuttle or Skittle) titled and signed the print in pencil - there is no date. For $5.00 a true bargain.

Broadway, The Cotswolds, England

I immediately recognized this view as it's one often photographed and used to promote Broadway village, often referred to as the 'Jewel of the Cotswolds'. The 'broad way' is the wide grass-fringed main street, centered around The Green, which is lined with red chestnut trees and honey-colored Cotswold limestone buildings, many dating from the 16th century.

Fieldwork by British archaeologists, besides finding evidence of Roman and Medieval occupation, has determined that Broadway's history dates back 5,000 years and may have been one of the first partially settled sites in the United Kingdom.

Why do I feel a closeness to this lovely village? It has been home to many a British artist, musician and writer, including Sir. Edward Elgar, John Singer Sargent, Vaughan Williams, William Morris and J.M. Barrie, all whose work I love. Also, when driving through it many years ago, my mother told me that my father was billeted there during WWII while serving in the Royal Air Force. Well now, can you image being in a lovelier place, especially in wartime? Perhaps he even stayed in one of these delightful historic cottages.

Fresh from the Weekend Market

If living my dream, I would have shopped in a Provencal market town this weekend!

Instead, I headed to my Saturday morning favorite Summer outdoor market, just a few minutes from the house. I pre-ordered two bunches of that wonderful Swiss Chard (see my post of June 24 - Eat Your Greens ) from Dean, see me hugging it close in the little pic on my sidebar! He also had tiny sweet onions for roasting, just picked zucchini....and he gifted me with the last two remaining Japanese eggplants on his table. At another stand I bought regular and heirloom tomatoes, light purple eggplants wearing their pretty chartreuse "jackets" and, although not shown here, freshly picked North Carolina blueberries for morning yogurt and cereal.

Dig out the cookware.......crank up the stove, even though it's in the 90's, (and be thankful for the person who invented air conditioning)..............gather recipes together to use these lovely veggies, sauteing some, oven roasting others.

This is a new book just received this past week. I'm going to love it....................because I will be shopping the Provencal markets in October. Markets of Provence ~ A Culinary Tour of Southern France is a fabulous book that anyone planning to visit Provence can use as the perfect guide to the market towns. Photography is beautiful ~ there is so much information on the best markets ~ the recipes look interesting ~ and, most important, directions for driving one of those little French cars up and down the Luberon Mountains to visit the market towns, and then find a parking place, will be shared................hopefully!

I baked tarts like these below earlier this week (the recipe from an old issue of UK Country Living) served with Leek and Fennel soup, they were a hit. Lovely in-hand food for home or picnic ~ bake larger sizes topped with a few salad leaves and a wedge of creamy cheese for a meal ~ or smaller versions to serve with chilled drinks as appetizers. You can play with these and make them fun. I'm banking on those heirloom tomatoes from the market looking pretty and tasting good on these tarts.

TOMATO TARTS

For the basic tarts:-
360g Puff Pastry (I used two sheets of Pepperidge Farm which are good and easy)
Dijon Mustard ("Pass the Grey Poupon")
About 6 med. size tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 egg yolk blended with 1 Tblsp. water
Sea salt, black pepper
Finely shaved Parmesan cheese
Extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 F
Defrost pastry as per package.
Roll out thinly on lightly floured work surface.
Cut out 6 - 6" circles using a bowl or plate, arrange on a couple of baking trays.
Spread a little Dijon in the center of each circle to within 1/2" from rim.
Arrange tomato slices in overlapping circle.
Brush surrounding rim with egg wash.
Season lightly with salt and pepper, top with a few slivers of Parmesan and tiny drizzle of oil.
Bake 15 mins. until golden and risen.
Serve hot or cold.

Think I'll make another batch of these over the 4th of July! What tasty foods will you be cooking for the holiday?

Pink Saturday.........at the beach

No, I'm not at the beach or even planning a beach trip any time soon ~ but I loved these pink beach spades.................................

..........................................and the pink buckets and fishing nets I found last year at Dawlish Warren, a seaside community in Devon on the English Channel.

Note, they are called buckets and spades in the UK, not pails and shovels!!

Below is my childhood beach, Torre Abbey Sands in Torquay. The sand is almost pink due to the red sandstone cliffs.

Sometimes we'd take the local train home after a day at the beach........it was only to the next station along the line, but a lot of fun IF you could stay awake following all that swimming, picnicking, and sandcastle building with your bucket and spade!

This illustration really tugs at my heart because this was exactly how it was on the old steam train ~ if anyone recognizes this illustrator's work, please let me know. I even wore Clark's sandals like these ~ they were standard issue for all English children, girls and boys, in the 1950's.

Be sure to visit Beverly at How Sweet The Sound - she's the Pink Saturday hostess and has the ever-growing list of participants. Join in the fun.

Britain's Farm Shops

Do you read Country Living - the British edition? Yes, it's expensive if you are lucky enough to find it in the magazine rack at a chain book store, however you can save a little and receive it early if you subscribe. (I'll be happy to share info. on this if you're interested).

This publication is very different from the US Country Living, also a great shelter magazine. For one thing it's format is larger and printed on really good heavy stock, and the photography is fabulous. The UK Country Living is just that, real down to earth 'country living' in the old-fashioned sense. Of course I know I may be a little prejudiced here, being English, but even after 45+ years of living in the US I still find solace in this wonderful magazine each month, and no, I'm not a shareholder in the company.

If you love the countryside, no matter where, this is for you. Regular columns include Country Companion and My Country Memories (always a famous person sharing childhood memories of the countryside ~ such as Bill Wyman of the Rolling Stones in the July 2007 issue, Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear in June 2008). Beautiful country homes are featured - not always posh, sometimes tiny cottages by the sea, or in a village where thatched roofs are the norm. Gardens are exquisite, and the recipes shared by the best cookery people in the UK are amazing.

But I digress. While planning to post on farm shops in the UK, these small businesses which are often showcased in print articles made Country Living come to mind. This magazine hunts for these often small, tucked out of the way shops, and shares the beautiful harvest of the surrounding fields, eggs, cheese and dairy products from local farms, and splendid baking from their ovens.

Powderham Castle, Devon, England

I visited a large farm shop last Autumn while in England. This was on the estate of the beautiful 600 year old Powderham Castle near Exeter.

The shelves were bulging with good things to use in baking..........
........................plenty of rice for puddings and risotto..........porridge oats, and some of my favorite staples (being vegetarian) lentils and cous cous.

Even the chips looked healthy.........some being made from parsnips, yum!

A Seedy Windmill homemade loaf

...............and delicious Cheese Bread
................and to wash it all down, how about some real West Country (Somerset is the county next to Devon) ale - love the Nature inspired labels.

If, like me, you'd prefer a glass of wine, these certainly look different and have to be healthy made from such wonderful plants and trees like gooseberry, elderflower and plum...and the stoneware jars are keepers.

Our last sip would have to be one of these liqueurs........whiskey and ginger may have a kick......and what a lovely gift package this would be to present to a special friend when you return to the thatched cottage.

Edited 6-27-08 4:00 PM

Several people have e-mailed me regarding how to subscribe to UK Country Living. I have used Express Mag in Quebec, Canada since 2003 and find them excellent to deal with. Their web site is www.expressmag.com and their toll free number is 1-877-323-1310. They have a subscription service offering over 2000 magazines. The current price per year (12 wonderful issues) of UK Country Living is $74.00 delivered by mail several weeks before appearing in book stores. This is a savings of around $30.00 compared to buying individual issues.