Garden cleanup, patio style, larceny and handmade paper

My garden cleanup now that the zinnias are finally done, was to shake the soil off their roots and toss the greenery into the trees to feed the earth.  That's about it. 

On the way back I committed a bit of gardener's larceny, just swiped a bit of Gary's ivy to start in the house. I don't like ivy outside, clawing at the stucco, but I fancy some trailing indoors.

Last year I made soap using ivy Gary gave me when he was pulling it back. That was a bit of fun. Ed: April 6, 2023, but who's counting.

Just boil a bunch of leaves in water until the saponiferous element is released, and it thickens up a bit, let sit a day to gel further, and you've got a soap solution. I did a batch of laundry just to try it out, worked fine.  I imagine it's friendly to the environment, too. 

I do make my laundry liquid, not usually with ivy, but with borax, washing soda and castile soap. No perfumes, additives, unknown brighteners. 

About handmade paper, as promised

This piece, about 24" x 18", is made from first cut cotton linters pulp, the way you get that brilliant white

And below, blogger dropping pictures any old where,  is abaca, banana, fiber molded over toys and numerals, a Fibonacci quilt idea.  About 40"x 30+"

When this was on exhibit, I was there when a little boy studied it for ages then announced to his mom "There's no number 4!" I'm guessing he was four. And no, it's about the Fibonacci sequence, so there isn't a 4.

I had to angle this a bit to avoid reflections, a pulp painting about moonlight. You load tube things with pulp, and paint using them as if with brushes. It dries like a painting, it's not a collage. I added copper wire later.  About 30"x18"

 

Here's a sheet of iris paper from my plants, overprinted with stamps I carved from plastic erasers. That's fun you should try.

Sometimes a sheet of paper is a useful backing piece for small weavings. Here a couple of small four selvage tapestries are mounted on a sheet of abaca mix paper 

And when you've made all the things, you salvage every tiny scrap from the vat and use the bits  to cover photo frames, so your frugal self will consent to finally dumping the vat. Outdoors, okay for the earth, not in the sink, bad for plumbing.

Sunday evening, in anticipation of the temp going to the low 30sf, I reluctantly turned on the furnace.   Set at 68°f.  I hoped to make it to the clock change next weekend, but oh well.

Happy day everyone, make all the things, or read about them, and say not in this life, honey!

Sharing is good. Said Peter Rabbit.

 I did a bit of cleanup outside. That huge white mass of chrysanthemums covering half the path was battered by rain and ready to be done. You see the darker color of the ground cover where it's been shaded since July by the spreading chrysanthemum.

So now it's out back feeding the earth in the woods, leaving the Montauk daisies to shine. They look better without the competition from across the path.

Then it was lunchtime so I thought hm, some chives and dandelions would be nice additions to my salad, and on top of the vichyssoise soup. So I went to cut them

and found that word had got out that I was a Potter fan, and Peter's cousin had swiped the lot.

So italian parsley subbed. I used all the leeks and potatoes from my box, and yogurt whey. Milk added, not cream. I forgot to add in celery. Next time.

On the subject of fitness which we were, indirectly, this kind of eating being pretty good for health, I needed a change from hasfit exercises, so I've added chair yoga as of  today.  When instructors pronounce it eeyoga, it sounds like Cherry Oga, new singing sensation, but I digress.

But however you say it, this is good.

Many of the hasfit exercises are based on yoga practice, so they all go together.

Knitting group online today, where I'll be stitching, not having any knitting going right now.  And hoping not to crash or freeze, this event being generated from a dodgy connection in a branch library. The other, alternating, knitting meetings are from the main library with the Big Cables, much better signal. But I'll sign in anyway, to be supportive. Also to see who's there.

And I delivered samples of sweet potato bread next door as promised, to some excitement. Doesn't take much these days!

Repelling a boarder, INSECT ALERT, and Red Food

 Warm humid day, so it was time to do a bit of garden cleanup.But first I captured and took outside this little friend, found exploring the kitchen 

I reduced this picture in size in case people would rather move on by. I love them all, but I get that not everyone does.

The coneflowers are about done, so I cut them back and brought in a few late ones.

And the Montauk daisies are finally budding, the latest of my flowering plants, so I cleaned dead foliage off them

and, as usual knocked off a head, which is now in water and may be too tightly furled to flower. We'll see.

Here's the result of cleaning dead foliage and flowers off the chrysanthemum. All those buds it exposed are here, blazing away.

Then it was lunchtime. Some foods just need to be put in a dish, they're so good.

 Here's my Red Salad, diced beets, farm tomatoes,  a rainbow carrot. Dressed with Mrs Moon Dressing, and lovely Tellicherry pepper fresh ground with the new toy grinder.

Did I mention how good this pepper is? Several times? Aren't you glad you don't live here, and hear me going on about it and moaning in ecstasy? 

I've never been a fan of beets. This beet shows me how good they can be. It's really better than ones I grew in the past, or the ones at the local farm. I think maybe the soil composition and climate must be why.  Anyway if they were all like this one, I'd like beets.

Bean fritters

New invention I think. Can of habichuelas, white beans, simmered 20 minutes, drained, mashed, egg broken in, rolled in a mix of panko, cayenne pepper, and grated Parmesan, sauteed. One can makes two meals.

The idea of simmering came from Jack Monroe. I always like frittered foods, and you can mix and bread practically anything. Hp was partial to salmon fritters, but anything that can be mashed can work.

Cleared up the last of the garden this am. Cut back the dead bits of thyme, which still give off a lovely scent when cut, and the sage, lemon balm, chives and various other dormant plants. This way they're ready for spring. Aren't we all.

And lunch was interrupted by handyman/cook/artist/friend Mike bringing over a sample of his butternut squash soup, with some sage in it from my garden, a bunch of which he has in the freezer.  Tomorrow's lunch will be this soup with bean fritters part two.