Rainy Day

Yesterday was a rainy day. (Well, the morning was. By afternoon it was clear and sunny.) I saw the rain drops on the window and had to grab my camera.


I did re-pot my cactus, but he's not standing up any straighter. He does seem to be getting taller, though. You'll have to compare the photo in my last cactus post to see if his arms have grown. Still don't have a name for him.


My birthday violets (from over a year ago) still bloom. Today is supposed to be in the 50s. We'll see if it lives up to the promise.

My baby has arms!

I know that all of you eagerly anticipate updates about my house plants. Well, I have some exciting news to share today. My cactus has sprouted arms!

This cactus is a survivor. He, of three cacti that I purchased together from Ikea, alone survived the curiosity of Sammy and Jeter, my roommates cats (3 apartments ago). He also briefly co-habituated with a fungus. I have repotted him once, and he sprouted up so tall that he can't stand up straight. (I have been debating repotting him again, to see if I can fatten him up.)

When he first started sprouting arm buds, I was worried. They looked like weird little nubs. But now they are presentable arms. I'm so proud! Now if I can only get him to stand up straight...

I have a special fondness for cacti. The first plant that I ever owned was a cacti, when I was probably only 7 or 8 years old.

Soon I will post photos of my other plants. The elm bonsai from W & J's wedding is sprouting again. A relief, since I thought that I might have killed it. That would not have been a good omen. There is another plant that sprouted in it's pot, I need to figure out what it is.



My brother M had to hold the cactus up for this photo.

Sping Preview

My windowsill in full bloom.

The last few days have been sunny and warm. On Thursday J and I went to Central Park. It was beautiful. We ended up at the Bethesda Fountain. On the terrace was a group of break-dancers with a large crowd, and along the other side of the fountain was a cellist. There was no water in the fountain, so we climbed in and sat at the base of the statue. It was nice to bask in the sun and watch the cellist and a little girl who was playing nearby. J said that being inside the Bethesda Fountain was probably the best place that anyone could hope to be.



Here is a photo of the fountain when it does have water in it (and a bride & groom in front. This is the photo I could find, from a wedding I photographed.)

Soon the cellist packed up and a saxophonist started. J was hoping that they would play a duet.

Later we saw a couple under a tree standing facing a woman with an open book. We stopped to figure out what was happening, and decided they must be getting married. (Although we didn't see any witnesses.) There was another couple standing near us, also watching. They turned to us and the man said, "we're next, then you!" It's always interesting to see who assumes that we are a couple and who assumes that we are siblings. It did seem like the perfect day to get married--early spring, one of the first really beautiful days, in a park teeming with happy people, under a tree, privately.

We headed back toward the temple, where I was volunteering that night.

Here are the other plants on my windowsill:



The bonsai elm from J & W.



An orange seed that I planted.

The bulbs that I planted around the trees outside the community garden are also coming up:





It's nice to walk past them and realize that I helped!

We'll see how long the weather holds.

Spring is Coming

Here's my proof, right on the window sill:






Even the dead flowers are pretty:

my kind of houseplant

It seems that I've been over-watering my cactus...



can you find the friend that's moved in?

Rosemary & Thyme

Today's post is about baking, which I've been doing a lot of lately. You're probably wondering what the title and this photo of my Rosemary plant have to do with baking.

Well, recently I've enjoyed gourmet food from two wonderful places, Lil Treats, and Sacred Sweets, and both had herbs added to their desserts, which gave an extra dimension to the flavor. I really loved the vanilla thyme loaf. I've been baking recently, and experimenting with cookie recipes, so I decided to try adding rosemary to cookies, since I have a rosemary plant. (Thanks to a lovely friend!) I made chocolate chip oatmeal cookies, and added some fresh rosemary as a garnish (before baking). I used a cookie recipe from the 1964 edition of Joy of Cooking that my brother found for me one Christmas. (Which is a literary delight in and of itself, in the section on canning it says, "the pleasure of serving the fruits of your labor comparable only to a clear conscience or a very becoming hat.")

I thought the rosemary-chocolate-chip-oatmeal cookies turned out very well, and really liked the flavor combination.



I also made some bread the other day, which I haven't done in a long time. It didn't take too long, and is the hearty, dense kind of whole wheat bread that I prefer. Here's the recipe, one that my great-great-grandmother reportedly used. Here's the recipe.

Stella's favorite bread:

Into 3 C warm milk (can use 1/2 water) put
2 T honey, brown sugar or molasses
Add 1 T butter
1 package yeast
1 T salt

Add 6 or 7 C fine ground whole wheat flour.
Just enough so that dough does not stick to the
sides of the bowl. Do not make too stiff.

Knead 10 min. or more

Shape into loaves, put in greased pans, half full.
Cover and let rise in a warm place (80*F) until almost
doubled in size.

Bake at 375*F for 40min-1hr (depending on size of loaf)

A cup of wheat germ can be substituted for flour.

Makes 2 loaves.