Lilies of the Alley

Lilies of the Alley*

What a strange day it was, weather-wise. But true to Wednesday's form, it was full of possibilities: rain, wind, clouds, sun, calm, storms, you name it. Well, no sleet or snow. Wednesdays are like that; anything can happen because we have no committments, no responsibilities, no place we have to be. It's not uncommon for us to eschew breakfast on Wednesdays in favour of brunch or just snackage. Whatever feels the most decadent (a late curry breakfast/lunch? YES!) fills the bill. We usually go to the library on Wednesdays. We don't have an appointment or anything. It's not a scheduled outing. It's not a committment. (Shhh! No it's NOT!) We do it because we can. And primarily because we don't have to.

The Three Sisters Garden(click the pic at the top of that post) is growing like gangbusters. The three sisters have been joined by their red-headed stepsisters "Strawberry" and "Tomato."



Theoretically, the squash covers the ground and deters would-be snackers (so far so good) and the beans will climb up the cornstalks. I'm not sure why the ground is always so dry over there. We have sprinklers going on it just like the other gardens. But everything is still growing, regardless. And this in SPITE of the fact that more than once I had to replant the corn because something kept pulling it up before the squashes started spreading.

Hungry for something fried and green?



Ask not for whom the bell grows. It grows for me.



Today I made Seasoned Perilla Leaves for lunch. Perilla is also known as Shiso, and is bloody expensive to buy, but it grows like a weed. I have a ton growing in what was originally meant to be a spurge bed. Lots of volunteers, too. Ours are the Korean kind like in the bottom picture. We had freshly steamed jasmine rice with the leaves. Here's how to eat them:

Take a seasoned leaf and lay it on top of your rice, press down the sides with your chopsticks so that it envelopes a nice hunk of rice, lift and eat. MMmmmm! If you run out, steal some from "the baby" when she's not looking. }:-)

This afternoon I heard The Prawn squeal, "Eeeew! That looks like BACON!!!"

Here's what she was talking about:



Yes, it's a strawberry on Slug's knee. :-P

In a similarly coloured, but hopefully far more appetizing vein, I made cherry cobbler today with some of the sour cherries we picked on Saturday:




If you look closely, you can see that it's still bubbling 'round the edges. Don't touch that pan, though, it's HOT!

I finished reading Kira-Kira today. It was excellent, but I was hopping up every few mins to run to the bathroom and blow my nose and mop my eyes, and hoping depserately that the children wouldn't wake up and come wandering in. I read the last page in kitchen while making tea for breakfast (snackage), answering The Prawns' Qs (without breaking into weeping - impressive), and drowning my sorrows in chammomile. (An exquisite tea that I bought at the commissary last time we were there. Oh, I also bought a Cadbury Flake bar and have been making it last. :-) ) One of the next books in the queue is A Fine Balance, which I understand will be heart-wrenching. (hee hee hee! Look at the next book on her list. I had to link that, now, didn't I? OK, so here's a better link for the book itself. ) Oprah's book club? Is that where my friend is getting these titles? Was Kite-Runner on there, too? Hmmm. . .

I'm still plodding through the Covenants every now and then, too, as well as other things. Multi-tasking reader-woman, that's me. Still haven't dared pick up those brocade pieces to start sewing them together. :-P Still haven't found a prospective publisher, either.

______________________________

* I can't claim this title as my own. It was the name of yet another of my ultra-talented sister's singing groups.