Gathering Places…porches, patios and decks!

For many years, when life was slower paced, the front porch was where family and friends gathered to sit and watch spring arrive…it was a place to enjoy morning coffee or afternoon iced tea…it was a place to simply relax and cool off in a summer evening breeze…it was a place to enjoy the antics of hummingbirds amongst the flowers…and a place to enjoy the beauty of trees changing to their autumn colors. Often, the front porch gave a panoramic view of the garden and countryside beyond. On the porch there was shade and cooler air created by the slow whirring of an old blade fan hanging from the blue porch ceiling…this was our refuge from summer heat. During a rain shower it was the perfect place to sit on the old wooden porch swing while reading a book and listening to the pouring rain beat down on the tin roof…and later see the rainbow appear over the fields beyond the yard.

In late afternoon, after picking peas and beans from the garden, Grandmother and I would sit in the old white painted rocking chairs, blue and white enamel pans in our laps, shelling and snapping the vegetables. We watched the hummingbirds flitting about, the chickens scratching the dirt for bugs, and butterflies floating from bloom to bloom.

All summer long the porch was the gathering space after supper. Dishes washed, dried and put away, we played checkers or card games while watching the cows find their way from the pasture back to the barn. Grandfather would sit in his little mule-ear chair, sharpening his pocketknife on a whetstone. Later, as we told ghost stories the sultry, unforgettable fragrance of Oriental lilies floated on the breeze as the evening sun began to set. That sudden whiff of a plant loved in childhood will transport me back in an instant…

Today with urban living many homes no longer have a front porch…gathering areas have moved to the backyard. A patio or deck offers a quiet retreat and often forms a transitional space between house and garden. A paved or stone area next to the house provides the perfect spot for alfresco dining and entertaining…and a small patio or gravel spot tucked away in a corner offers a quiet retreat in which to read , observe or just daydream. On a patio that catches the early morning sun is wonderful place to eat breakfast absorbing the freshness of a new day as you linger over coffee.  If you prefer, a wooden deck makes a nice alternative where the ground is uneven or poorly drained…although I would correct the drainage problem first before construction.

my wish place

Serve a taste of summer on the porch or patio…As shadows lengthen over the garden and a slight breeze cools the air, it is a lovely time of day to enjoy a chilled and refreshing drink………….“Le cocktail de fruits au Champagne” is perfect on a late summer evening. Mix strawberries and blueberries or blackberries and raspberries, add some chopped mint or lemon thyme…put a spoonful of fruit in the bottom of a flute or coupe. Pour well-chilled Champagne over the fruit and serve right away while still bubbly.

White bowl filled with fresh organic blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries garnished with mint leaves

Do the White Thing…or channeling VITA…Created by the magnificently creative Vita Sackville-West, one of the most famous gardens in the world is the White Garden at her home, Sissinghurst Castle, in Kent England. Vita had many great ideas for creating gardens and one of my favorites is her White Garden. It is an area planted entirely with white-flowering and silver-leaved plants…she actually called it…”my gray, green and white garden”. She created a remarkable legacy and was an inspiration for a whole new generation of English gardeners. Her romantic garden set the standard for what I refer to often as a “Moon Garden” as the light of a full moon highlights and reflects the white and silver plants such as Iceberg roses and Annabelle hydrangeas…La dolce Vita! 

If you’re interested in reading more about Vita and seeing photos of her gardens, there is a great deal of info on the internet. Of course I prefer to thumb through her books and have several that I’ve studied for years.

 

Southern Pate or Pimento Cheese…the delicious versatility of this truly Southern treat is diverse. Whether it’s spread on crackers as an hors d’oeuvres, stuffed into stalks of celery, used as a condiment on a hamburger or simply my favorite…a pimento cheese sandwich, this mixture is easy to make and a necessity for any Southern kitchen. I actually researched the history of Pimento Cheese and was surprised to find a version originated in the North over a 100 years ago…but the Yankees used cream cheese as a base. Southerners embraced the concept but used sharp cheddar cheese instead…

To make: start with 16 oz of grated sharp cheddar cheese, one 4oz jar of diced pimentos and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Duke’s mayonnaise. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add S&P as needed. The texture should be rough. Chill to let flavors blend. NOTE: If you do not like Duke’s, use a good quality mayo such as Hellman’s…it makes a huge difference in the taste. Pimento Cheese sandwiches are a true Southern culinary treasure!

 

 

“As rosemary is to the spirit, so lavender is to the soul…”

Sending love and good wishes from Patricia and Holly…

Suddenly it’s mid-summer…

I woke up very early this morning, made my coffee and poured a cup, put a pan of biscuits in the oven, went to the back door and pulled on my flowered boots and out I went with Holly to wander through the garden while throwing out feed for the chickens in their favorite spot under the trees. I turned on the hose and set the whirling sprinkler  on the roses and then decided I would pick a few blackberries to go with my cantaloupe. Amazingly I found a handful of ripe and juicy and deep purpley-blackberries that the birds and deer hadn’t absconded with…but, my real treat this morning will be the biscuits and homemade jam. I really don’t do this biscuit baking very often for obvious reasons but having just looked through my BOUCHON BAKERY book last night and, well, THOMAS KELLER’S biscuit recipe was right there, I just couldn’t resist…Justifying with the thought that Holly would get one, I would have two, save some for dinner and then the chicks would get the rest…or maybe I’ll freeze a few for later in the week! And after all, I did have some buttermilk in the fridge…

Summer’s perfect moments and memories…Now that mid-summer is here, I find myself thinking back to all the summers I spent on my grandparents’ farm during July and August. What joy I had with grandmother when she would put a pound cake in the oven of the old wood stove and say …”We’ve got plenty of time while it’s baking, let’s go pick some berries and make a pie later….”SO, we would go berry picking after chores were done. Whether it was strawberries, blackberries or blueberries in season, I always managed to fill my little straw basket that I had decorated with scraps of ribbon Grandmother had saved from birthday gifts and sewing projects. Back in the kitchen she would have me gather all the ingredients, put them on the huge wooden table covered in blue and white checked oilcloth. We used this table, made from an old walnut tree that had fallen after a violent rain and wind storm years earlier, to prepare foods, roll biscuits, mix batter and eat meals on together…she even used it to set a big wash tub on and bathe my new baby brother… She would show me how to blend the cold, fresh-churned butter into the flour with my fingers and then how to roll it out gently…”You can’t overwork the dough…” she would caution. Oh, the aroma of a fresh fruit pie baking in the oven…

Later in the season, she would always let me climb up into the peach trees to pick enough for a fresh peach pie. This was such a wonderful time which led to many precious memories…the adventure of seeking and picking fresh fruits of the season and the rewards of learning how to make jams, preserves, pies and cobblers…and time spent with my precious white-haired Grandmother.

White bowl filled with fresh organic blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries garnished with mint leaves

A favorite find…I always loved cooking on Grandmother’s huge black iron wood stove and years ago when I told Carl how I would love to put one in the kitchen he looked at me and wandered off to the workbench to tie some flies, all the while shaking his head and muttering. So I soon found a beautiful substitute…a French make…Le Cornue!

One of the best stoves in the world…and a bargain at close to $16,000…luxury doesn’t come cheap! The cream de la crème of cooking! No need to describe his reaction and comment on my stove choice, needless to say I settled on a new gas drop-in with a much more acceptable price tag.

SUMMER is SERVED…As to cooking, here are a few summer ideas...Crab filled lettuce eaves, baby spinach salad with cucumber spirals and coconut shrimp, and a new favorite…chunks of grilled chicken and vegetables served in pita bread with a creamy lemon dressing…oh, I could eat these several times a week!!

Well, it wouldn’t be summer without home-made ice cream…On those long summer days on the farm, we often made ice cream. After a trip into town, sitting in the old International Harvester pick up truck, to get ice from the ICE HOUSE, we gathered under the shade of huge pecan and walnut trees where we would pack the old wood ice cream maker with ice and rock salt and watch excitedly as grandmother poured the cream and egg and fruit mixture into the metal cylinder…then came the work! Taking turns, we would turn the crank for what seemed like hours but in reality about a half hour total was spent churning. Nothing can compare to opening the top of the freezing container and pulling out the paddle for the first licks of the lucious mixture inside. Nothing artificial, just cream from our cows, eggs from our chickens and fruit from the garden!   For good health sake try an alternative, fresh made FROZEN YOGURT. A refreshing lime yogurt is simple: I mix a 32 ounce container of organic plain Greek yogurt, 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice, and for more lime flavor add zest from 2 organic limes. Pour into the churn container that sits in the freezer just waiting to be used and follow directions on your model. I have a simple Cuisinart ice cream maker that takes a little less than 20 minutes to churn this mixture into frozen yogurt. Refreshing as a summer rain shower!

Great Garden Idea…This canvas cover, simple to make, can provide a bit of shelter from the hot afternoon sun…get creative!

Take a break! We all need a break from our daily routines…not necessarily a full-blown holiday…but a day or a place for settling thoughts and calming mind & heart. Of course, my friends, you all know my heart’s desire would be to sit in the lavender fields in Provence…a scented scent of purple!

…but since that won’t be happening any time soon, I’ll just have to be creative here at home in my own heavenly hideaway! I can spend an afternoon in my own garden relaxing under a canvas shelter or beach umbrella…or on terribly hot days, spend time inside working on creative projects. It just becomes a matter of choice at the moment!

Watching dusk fall over the garden, I smell the honeysuckle’s evening scent as I walk out to close up the chicken pen and coop for the evening. Time for brushing Holly and another glass of wine…

There’s something about autumn…

…the countryside painted in vibrant, warm colors… 

The sounds of autumn...rustling leaves blowing down the road, migrating Canada Geese honking to their fellow travelers, the crunch of first frost underfoot, the wind in the trees…

The smells of autumn…apple trees, smokey bonfires, drying leaves, spicy mums, cinnamon laced apple pie fresh from the oven…earth after rainfall…silly people burning leaves…

Savor the seasonal pleasures…crisp cool days spent working in the garden or walking through the woods, juicy apples just picked from the tree, sumptuous pears baked in maple syrup, outdoor fires for roasting marshmallows, warming drinks and harvest suppers, gathering pecans, picking and carving pumpkins…misty mornings, cozy nights under a quilt, warm mugs, scarf & sweaters…golden light through the trees…a clear, cold night sky to enjoy the Harvest Moon…

The words of autumn…     cozy…crisp…gathering…HARVEST…pumpkins…cornucopia…maple syrup… cranberries…nuts…roast turkey…spice…migration…purple grapes…thankful & grateful…persimmons…ABUNDANCE…crimson…golden…sunset…gourds…amber leaves…oatmeal mornings…delicious smells…WELCOME!

The colors and textures of autumn…

An autumn sunset…

An autumn scrapbook…

A view to autumn change…

From my back porch to yours, enjoy the change that is upon us!

Friends…after an entire summer and early fall spent renovating my brother’s home after the broken pipe and resulting flooding of his house…Not completely finished…arrggh, contractors! BUT, I am finally trying to get back to spending time writing again.

More to come for the end of year. Next year I hope to continue with more posts. AND, I’m churning ideas in my mind and heart right now for a new book project with Jeanine…will keep you posted.

Love from Holly and me!

A certain je ne sais quoi…

                         A post of a different color…it gives you a another viewpoint.

My friends know I have long been enchanted with all things French...the history, the language, the lifestyle, the elegance and simplicity, the furnishings, the decor, the passion and reverence for time worn pieces passed from one generation to the next, along with the rustic allure and charm of the countryside. Very few know why…

This great love and deep appreciation took root as a bookish 12 year old after reading The Diary of Anne Frank… I began my quest to find out all I could about World War II and especially the role of the Resistance in France, which, of course, led me to read many other books about the sacrifices made by other countries and their heroic people who fought and died during the Nazi Occupation of much of Europe! There were so many intriguing stories…Historical fact and fiction of Europe along with books about American history became my companions as I traveled the world through their words.

Traveling for the first time to Paris & Provence in 1999, I was thrilled to be walking the ancient and historic streets I had imagined and read so much about. On the Il de Cite’, Jeanine and I were standing in line outside a small ice cream/sorbet shop when I noticed a stone plaque on the building across the walkway. I walked over while Jeanine ordered for us and found a passage engraved on the stone…loosely remembered…”In this place Jewish children were hidden during the occupation of Paris.” So there I stood, thinking of all the historical events, this very thing I had read about, tears streaming, I thanked God for the people brave enough to fight the Nazis.

While living in the mountains of Colorado in my late twenties…I met a lovely, gracefully aging lady from France who happened one day to walk into my design shop. We talked and talked, she sharing about her home in Provence and why she was living in Colorado, me sharing how much I loved listening to her. She actually lived near me in the Evergreen Meadows east of the village. Enthralled with her accent, her soft, silvery gray hair styled into a bun at the nape of her neck, her blue eyes moist as she spoke of Provence, she asked if I would help with a party at her home. A few days later, excited by her invitation to visit, I followed the directions up the mountain canyon to what she called her rustic home…well, she personified grace and elegance and her home was very much a reflection of just those qualities. It was a home filled with timeless treasures, flea market finds beside the patina of well-loved furniture, enchanting vignettes of china pieces, copper and crystal, and a host of charming antique curiosities…peeling, cracked, and chipped! Her garden…a tangle of relaxed and carefree sunny blossoms. I was there to plan a Bastille Day Celebration for her which turned out to be a rather spectacular yearly event. We remained friends, sharing our love of France and gardening for several years until…Well, and then I moved away…

Living in California...This antique silver box was a thank you gift from a great French lady who became a client while I lived and worked in California. She hired me to design and completely furnish a large condo unit she had purchased in Century City….all while she was still in Paris. We spoke on the phone, weekly, through her daughter who spoke English.

Working for Madame, as I called her, was such a great experience…every selection and design element was presented and sent by courier to Paris…she would look over the details and then exclaim as we spoke on the phone, often as late as 9:00PM…’how very French this will look and how did you know so easily what I would like…’ That was the easy part, putting the “LOOK” and “STYLE” together. Getting the fabrics and wallpapers and  work and built-ins done and furniture installed in time for her first visit was the challenge. Another French friend, an antique dealer from Pasadena, in the last few weeks of the process, found many pieces from Paris markets that I used to furnish and accessorize the space that became a warm and gracious home filled with color, pattern, art and great spots for relaxing. I still remember her first words as she walked into her home away from home…’Oh, c’est magnifique!’

And, it happened again…Many years later later I met, by chance, my transplanted French sister, Jeanine, shown above on the right. Once more, I fell into the French of all things…talking, laughing, sharing so much. We began with our love of gardening, then we began cooking together and teaching others about cooking the French way, and then on to our trip to France where we evolved into sisterhood. We enjoy a rich history filled with wildly sumptuous meals, captivating & playful adventures, and an enduring deep friendship. I think back, that hard lump in my throat, of all the memories spent together, the four of us…her husband, Luat, and my late husband, Carl… and all the others who came to enjoy time spent eating and drinking wine while gathered around the pool. We still visit, text every few days and travel when we have time..that will never change.

Quoi de neuf? Our get-togethers over good wines and cheese and a baguette fresh from the oven were often the perfect ending for our day spent in the garden, our time to talk, to laugh, to relax and to sometimes cry…

So now you know and understand a bit more of how my life has been deeply influenced by …all things French.

Over many decades, I have collected vintage pieces from France,  and a few from Italy and England, that filled my homes around the country, reflecting the gracious marks of time and use, along with an occasional whimsy that inspired conversation. My heart fills with love for these everyday objects that were made to last, with the charm of the French way…to care for, to use and to lovingly pass down to the next generation…who will hopefully appreciate their passage through time.

Holly says hello…

Cerise loves her time spent in the lavender fields…one day I’ll see them again with her and Jeanine.

“Eating is not merely a material pleasure. Eating well gives a spectacular joy to life and contributes immensely to goodwill and happy companionship.”  Elsa Schiaparelli

A Touch of Romance…and Old Roses

February is usually when I start thinking about roses…everything about roses! Trimming, feeding, and buying more, of course!!

While out walking an hour or so ago, I had started thinking about what I wanted to write about…ROSES, I thought, and some new ones I wanted to order and where can I put them in the garden? All this was rambling around in my head. Arriving back at the gravel driveway, I checked the mailbox, and there it was…the 2015 catalog from the Antique Rose Emporium in Brenham, Texas. That was surely a twilight moment!

Within minutes I had a cup of rosehip herb tea and was settled in my leather wing chair next to the fireplace. There on the cover was one of my very favorite of the Pioneer Roses…THOMAS AFFLECK . This is a small, very tough, carefree rose with showy fragrant blooms that repeat during the season. What else could you want? I will order one of these to put in a beautiful clay urn by the garden arch. Already planted and growing on the arch is Confederate Star Jasmine…should be a nice combination of fragrance and color as a welcome to the garden beyond. Last year I ordered a BELINDA’S DREAM, which sits in a container by the front door filled with French thyme and chives; a hugely fragrant CORNELIA, scrambling along the fence by the chicken yard;  and a BLUSH NOISETTE by the MOON ARCH…this will be the year they really take off to bloom and grow. [A bit of Black Cow has certainly helped them establish!]

When choosing roses to plant...there are so many to love…I usually decide based on color, fragrance, ease of care and repeat blooming. All spring and summer I enjoy picking blooms to bring in the house to make small bouquets. With a few herbs, these little bursts of fragrance and color sit on tables in my living room and by my bedside…from others I pluck petals and let them dry to use for making rose petal scones and rose water. A few roses I’m pondering are DUCHER, a subtle white rose which grew to over 6′ in my Texas garden, a creamy yellow blossom called JULIA CHILD, of course, and Mme. ALFRED CARRIERE, a blush pink climber I also had in my country garden. Decision made, I place my order! The UPS driver is quite familiar with my driveway and Holly!

After the gray days of winter, the first stirrings of spring are an uplifting sight in the garden as they happen…leaves and petals stay embraced in their protective cover while waiting for the symphony to begin:  nodding hellebores, the sweetness of primrose, colorful crocus, delicate violets…the sleeping garden slowly begins to stir as spears of green knife their way through the earth punctuating the musical explosions.

Just when it seems as though winter will never come to an end…along comes the first early beauties to lift our hearts…MORE Budding Beauties to watch for: purply grape hyacinth buds opening from the bottom; poppy buds suspended from thin, arching stems; tight green daffodil buds beginning to reveal flashes of golden yellow; pointed green buds of tulips opening to expose flamboyant colors; and in late spring, the deep pink-splashed buds of rose, SOMBREUIL, unfold exposing a hint of blush pink sweetly fragrant blooms…the bush is surrounded by fat spherical heads topping slender green chive foliage…splitting open to reveal a starburst of purplish-pink flowers. The symphony continues…

Slowly but surely…so much is written about the stresses of life today, everyone is in such a rush and all their wants/needs must be instantly gratified. Gardeners have no concept of the word “hurry” when standing amongst the glory of spring…they know that everything develops at its own pace as we just watch nature happen.

At the HEART of the matter is love…Love for all things God has created and given, love for family and friends, love for and in my garden…throughout my home and garden I include hearts of all sizes and materials. Having collected my HEARTS for over 40 years, I have some wonders to enjoy. On the tool shed door, by the back door, over the kitchen window, pins to wear…and for a Valentine’s treat, a lemon tart with tiny strawberry “hearts”…and fabric hearts filled with deliciously fragrant lavender buds to scent the linen cupboard.

Remember the birds living in your yard…give a bit of love to them with some seeds and nut butter treats!!

    A rose bouquet to you, dear friends…

The Reason for the Season!

Cold and cloudy with lots of rain…Maybe a few days this month…But now, it’s time for hot tea and maybe a fire with dried lavender or rosemary clippings adding fragrance to the room…time to sit and reflect, time to think about the rapidly approaching holiday season. TIME…my heart pounds and panic sets in…STOP.THINK about it, what does “HOLIDAY” mean? While observing the varied rituals of preparation over the last twenty years I’ve seen people so obsessed with shopping, cooking, shopping, traveling, decorating, shopping, parties, and so on…that no time was left to really enjoy the holidays. We all just focused on surviving the season, allowing ourselves to become stressed, fatigued and emotionally drained while trying frantically to create, achieve, do, find and buy!
The joyful spirit of giving and sharing often gets lost in the holiday season. But giving can be more fulfilling if we remember that the best gift is one that creates something special between you and the person receiving the gift…
…a tray of potted herbs and the promise to help with the planting or just a promise to help work together in your gardens; a basket of organic coffee beans and homemade cookies; a few handmade stepping stones for a garden path; a fresh herbal wreath made with your own herbs; vinegar and oil flavored with herbs from your garden; a lovely sleep pillow filled with lavender buds; a red wagon or custom painted wheelbarrow for hauling; a collection of old tools; rose petal jam in lovely old liqueur glasses; an old-fashioned crock of vin d’orange; gardening tubs, trimmers and trugs tied with pretty ribbons.
What makes giving truly special is taking the extra step and finding what personal thing you can make or do to delight someone you care about. A garden-gift will last for years and years…a perennial reminder of love and friendship. Remember the reason for the season!

Now, take time to relax, revive simpler traditions from the past or start your own.

Create a warm, inviting atmosphere for the holiday season…a wreath of green apples and red berries for the front door; the spicy, comforting smell of baking gingerbread; flickering candles; decking the halls with boughs of holly, sage, rosemary, thyme and fragrant flowers throughout the house.

Set aside time to invite friends and family to join you in the merry making of trims and treats. Nature herself provides all the materials; all you need are a few tools and some decorative bits of trimming and ribbons. Have everyone take something home that is a gift of the season.

If you were to travel back in time and visit a turn-of-the-century American home around the holidays, chances are you’d find the air scented with oranges and spices, freshly baked cookies, cakes and gingerbread, fragrant, fresh- cut greens swagged on porches, doorways, mantels and stairs or formed into wreaths…and tabletops filled with flickering candles, and trees dressed in silver and gold.

It is intriguing to consider that after more than a century we can still find the same decorations in our own homes today. These are the trimmings that appear again and again, and far from tiring of them, we cherish their familiarity…the tradition.

It is funny how our own holiday traditions can take root. You make a certain thing or something happens, or you plan something special and people really like it and then suddenly it is a ritual to look forward to year after year…the tree ornaments my daughters made so many

years ago; little red hearts and tiny felt animals made for our tree in the late 60’s; the apple and walnut stuffing for the turkey; cranberry and orange relish; bacon rollups on Christmas morning; candles in every window; garland made from cranberries and popcorn while drinking hot chocolate in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace; always a freshly cut or a living tree for a spot in the garden; caroling in Williamsburg, visiting and delivering cookies to the elderly at the Patrick Henry Home; my spicy Christmas puddings freshly baked for friends and neighbors; making fruitcake and fudge the day after Thanksgiving; and, ‘twas the night before Christmas…’

Tradition captures the spirit of the holiday season best…this spirit which shines from candlelit windows, echoes in friendly voices and shared laughter, and is carried throughout the home in the mingled aroma of wood fires, baking gingerbread and fresh-cut pine…and into our community and the world through our actions.

May your holiday season be filled with love and shared traditions…Patricia