The Royal Wedding :Nests,Hats and All Things Horticulture

In the context of who what and where, today's Royal Wedding was pitch perfect. Joyful and reverent. Appropriately rooted in faith.  Far down the scale of priorities, the lady guests provided visual lessons on a great cultural divide across The Great Atlantic Pond to my little outpost on the far side of the North American Continent.

The British Sentiment

"A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat."

-Martha Sliter

The  True Westerner's Sentiment

"Her hat is a creation that will never go out of style, it will look ridiculous year after year.”

Fred Allen

Now, I LOVE my feathered friend flocking to the feeders;
 

But I would never pin one to an artificial nest stapled to my head. 

Photo Credit ABC News

The prime minister's wife took a bit of criticism for not wearing a hat to the Royal Wedding. Since the Pope struck the requirement for women needing to cover their heads in church(when I was in second grade),  Westerners wear hats as functional (such as for gardening, horseback riding, golf,  costumes and bad hair days) rather than for decoration. From this continent to the island that once ruled us- perhaps the criticism ought to be aimed away from well-groomed hair to some of the concoctions on display atop heads.  My western sentiment is that the bare heads are respectful to other guests sitting arrears.  Imagine trying to watch the ceremony from a seat not on a front aisle through a sea of these impediments? 

20 foot trees line aisle ABC News APTN/AP Photo

Shane Connolly was chosen by Prince William and his Catherine to oversee the horticultural displays for they day owing to his reputation for elegant and sustainable approach to floristry which is centered on the use of living plants and trees  

In the consummate "bringing the outdoors in" the Royal couple walked down an aisle lined with six English Field Maple and two Hornbeam 20 foot trees   grown in planters built by craftsmen at The Prince of Wales's Residence, Highgrove. The floral palette of bblossoming azaleas, rhododendron, euphorbias, beech, wisteria and lilac must have had the abbey scented like the countryside. After May 6th, the plants will leave the Abbey to be donated to charities or replanted, some at Highgrove.

The bride's bouquet drew on the traditions of flowers of significance according to the Language of Flowers and the two families joined through matrimony. Shane Connolly's gathered together   


Lily-of-the-valley – Return of happiness

Sweet William – Gallantry


Hyacinth – Constancy of love


Ivy: Fidelity; marriage; wedded love; friendship; affection


Myrtle: the emblem of marriage; love.  ( a sprig of which is an offspring from Queen Victoria's 1847 wedding bouquet.


Congratulations to the Newlyweds.  My hat is off to you. If I wore one):-

True Friendship and Garden Seating

There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one's self, the very meaning of one's soul.

 ~Edith Wharton

The sparrow watches like a hawk from the patio roof.

  I wish  that Prince William and Kate Middleton know the lifelong tenderness I observe of this feathered couple from my study chair. The Royal Couple should do okay as long as the Prince does not look at his bride from the balcony for the expected first kiss and say something as ridiculous a modern interpretation of Shakespeare as, "Kiss Me Kate!"

Where we dine alfresco 

 It is a favorite travel memory, coming home from a visit with my husband in Europe, when I inquired of my seatmate from Brussels to Atlanta to  confess his favorite thing about his homeland.  The pharmaceutical salesman boasted that per capita, Brussels had more Michelin 3 star restaurants  than France. When he asked what I liked best about living here, I whispered (so not to start a land rush of speculators starved for a good climate) "We dine on the patio nine months of the year."

It is my philosophy that great food can be overwhelmed by 1,000 different circumstance, beginning with things nothing to do with a restaurant- such as knotted traffic en route.

For you- Is it eat out or eat in? What sets my readers hearts afire?

Equally, when God sets the thermostat to pleasant, the music is sung by His creatures at the volume which comes naturally, the garden is the art and the kitchen help is your mate,  the simplest of meals enraptures.  

Good Morning, Sunshine

Dainty blue borage flowers that don't make it into the spinach salad reseed abundantly

It seems overnight. The borage sprouted as tall as the iris. Ask me why I planted it where it almost chokes the path and I will tell you; I didn't. The birds must have dropped seeds along the gravel path where the grass used to grow almost up to the fence- line. Then the trees and vines grew- and it was too shady for the roses shoved between fence and grass to be healthy. The dogs needed a path to run free. And one thing led to another.

speaking of birds....

Through my study window I watched as two little sparrows pulled strands from the topiary creeping fig to fashion a nest. The patio beam  appeared an early choice, but I think they decided they prefer to be a bit further from my watchfulness.  

Rosa 'Mutabalis'- the butterfly rose makes for a fairy tale thicket

Mourning doves like pecking food off the ground- but if thicket is nearby to dive into if a predator interlopes, a sturdy platform will sometime do. This cooing visitor never read the dove-instruction guide. It hung from the  the nyger thistle feeder with the regular goldfinch.crowd, surrounded much of the time like a giant among  Lilliputians



The last vestige of the Ranch that was Diamond Bar



There were no misty clouds to dull the sun's heat today when I left to gather information on the last monument standing of the ranch that was the Diamond Bar. Tomorrow the research will be corroborated and collated. If fortune shines like the sun did today, contact with one last person or two will  dash some extra spice with sprinklings  of first-person details. In any case- by close of business tomorrow, the article related to the history the welded skeleton has observed will be wrapped with photos and sources for Darren Fishell's approval where I write on local Diamond Bar history at DiamondBarPatch.com.

Windbreak finished

Followers of this blog may remember when the window glass windbreak proved not to be quite sufficient at barbecue time: the wind whistled right around it in a small space left open between window and house frame.

 Rather than surrender the footprint on the patio where my husband wished to move his prized possession, I  decided to extend the windbreak with a stained glass rendition of  potted jumiper mid-way through pruning.  Not nearly so complicated as the shed transom window  Ethel's Garden  , the side panel is up. And as tonight's dinner of

• Crusty Bread with Olive and Tomato Brusschetta toppings  
• Buttered Corn off the cob in foil
• Tossed Green Salad with Italian Dressing
• Butterflied Tri-Tip, seasoned simply before barbecuing
• Chianti

was enjoyed on the patio after a prayer of  thanksgiving for just one more day in this paradise-

the wind pattern  which proved problematic when cooking outside - it is tamed. Amen  

Easter So Cal Style

Plan B was ever so much as good as Plan A.- which was dinner for 2 on our patio.  Once the sun came out, we drove to the newlywed's home. This is the day in pictures.   

Shannon's sister Tracy with Catch of the Day

Hubby Gerry not minding a day away from being  linked to a lap-top computer. 

Off-season, Orange County beaches are uncrowded.

Two windsurfers in the distance. One "catching" air

Seagulls in formation

Overhead

Gerry with Shannon. Jeannie  with Craig Morris

The wind kicking up at Sunset Beach,  the non-fishermen decided it was time to walk across Pacific Coast Highway to pull together the feast. Untraditional, but right for the space and place we were fortunate enough to find ourselves at today. 

Ice Plant paints a literal line in the sand between beach and civilization

For erosion control at the beach, the fatest juicy ice plant work wonders. Inland, to hold a hillside, the weight of coarser varieties cause more problems than solve. Inland, the finer rice to medium jelly bean-sized sized leaves are the way to go.

Just across the street, is another world where there is no wind or blowing sand.  

Here, I could bequeath the hostess gift:a bouquet from my garden - assembled just before we left home.

My signature arrangements are casual, at their core roses of different sizes, scents and formations.  

 Height depends upon what the garden has to offer. Today, red Valerian and scented geranium all but leaped into the arrangement.

For sparkly-light filler, bursts of parsley blooms add herbal charm.  

The table was casual. Shannon pulled together generous offerings of fruit and appetizers for her family and us. Her parents and sisters dropped in more food, including her mother's strawberry trifle. Kenny ordered calzones- which I have no idea how we managed to eat, but we did.  Our contribution to the table was a bottle of  The Maverick's Signature Series  label syrah I featured last October. Oh my, that is GOOD wine.

Note to self: remember to pick up another bottle next time I'm in OC at NapaStyle.

Our prayers go out to those whose holiday was marred by misfortune of bad weather.  

Particularly for you-  Godspeed and Good Fortune.

Easter Rising

Yes- There is an Easter Bunny. Reaching in the weeds yesterday, I came close to grabbing its tail when it shot out like- well, a rabbit.

This morning began with singing and wine. In church. The Sacrament. A light drizzle dripping steadily from the angels wringing out the clouds, my heart rejoiced. The sunrise  service was moved INSIDE! Hallelujah!

Writers spend our lives hunting and gathering similarities to feed our audience. HOPE REALIZED  is the phrase synonymous with Spring and Easter. This song is a treasure found that strums the gardening heart. It serenades with the promise of a continuum of life.

In the Bulb There is A Flower  

 by Natalie Allyn Wakeley Sleeth

In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;

In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

=============================

There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;

There’s a dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.

From the past will come the future; what it holds, a mystery,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

=============================

In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;

In our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,

In our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.

May Your Easter and all the days that follow be blessed.

Easter Bunny portrait by Gene Sasse

The Saturday Before Easter. We Interrupt this War

After 30 Years of Peaceful co-existence, the squirrels have broken the treaty. They crossed the line of demarcation. They have discovered they can climb the bird feeder pole. But like this Chestnut tree, it is a matter than can wait until later.  


Blooming Chestnut Tree at Perrson's Nursery

 The advantage of a late Easter is the garden is dressed and decorated to camouflage Easter eggs. 

Speaking of which, the Inbox this morning held a nice recollection of Easters gone by




"Good Still Gray Morning,

I'm thinking of the Sat. before Easters past which was always the day we dyed the eggs. Good Friday they were boiled after church services, dozens upon dozens. Mom was the master mixer using food coloring from those little bottles during WWII. Dad fashioned a "pencil" out of the wax used in canning so we could draw designs on them before dipping and dip we did with many ooooh's and aaaaaah's and look at mine's. :) Not only did Dad do the pencils he taught us to wrap the eggs with kitchen string to make designs. We got them ready for the Easter Bunny to pick up and hide in "our" yard. Doggone it there wasn't always one of them not picked up and found months later when the flower beds were being cleaned up for Spring. Smelly business that was."
                                        - Edda Gahm

Abundancia 


And contained within a missive forward from Judy Duvall, a reminder that when tempted to be depressed or confused about our importance, we can be assured that we should not head to the discard pile. For-  

God- The First Recycler

Noah was a drunk

Abraham was too old

Isaac was a daydreamer

Jacob was a liar

Leah was ugly

Joseph was abused

Moses had a stuttering problem

Gideon was afraid

Sampson had long hair and was a womanizer

Rahab was a prostitute

Jeremiah and Timothy were too young

David had an affair and was a murderer

Elijah was suicidal

Isaiah preached naked

Jonah ran from God

Naomi was a widow

Job went bankrupt

John the Baptist ate bugs

Peter denied Christ

The Disciples fell asleep while praying

Martha worried about everything

The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once

Zaccheus was too small

Paul was too religious

Timothy had an ulcer...

AND Lazarus was dead!

It seems a good day to explain why choose to be a Christian? Because no father would have his son's heritage denied. I believe in a God who created a Universe, who understands its workings in a way man never will. He understood the importance of the drama which began in Bethlehem and ended with Easter. 

Why a father would allow a son to be scourged, hung on a cross and mocked- for us- when He had a choice. That is LOVE I cannot deny.

Perrson's Nursery 

3115 E Sierra Madre Blvd

Pasadena, CA 91107

GOOD Friday- Eggs

Nesting hummingbird as seen from my desk

A little hummingbird nest found Wednesday on the sidewalk near the woodpile. My diminutive garden guest has been in action since I posted her picture. The evidence pointed to her demise. In a lesson that evidence is not stand alone, but must be taken in the greater whole in which facts exist- guess who turned  hunkered down this morning?  "Our" hummingbird. is hunkered down, barely visible through the blinds.  

As Eggs are inseparable to Easter lore, and a good many of you will be wanting for something other than the usual devilled eggs and it is something I so enjoyed on the cruise, here's a recipe for Deep Fried Boiled Eggs. A perfectly wonderful way to take something as healthy as a plain boiled egg and turn it fast-food tasty. Heck- From Passover through Easter- this is a holiday. Celebrate!

Deep Fried Boiled Eggs

4 eggs - Boil for 5 or 6 minutes. Let them cool completely in a bowl of ice water.
             Gently Peel away the shells, saving them to add calcium to your greatful garden soil. 

Vegetable oil- Heat to temp in a fry baby. Trust me, this under $20 gadget is sooooo much easier than watching the thermometer on a sauce pan. 

Set each of the next 3 ingredients into separate shallow bowls. This shall be be your assembly line. Set up near the fryer.

1 Beaten Egg
1/ 4 Cup Biscuit Mix with salt and pepper to taste*
1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs- homemade or Panko-style

When the oil is bubbly  hot, roll boiled egg in flour, the beaten egg, (repeat if needed to get a thin, but solid coating) then one last roll in the bread crumbs.

Drop gently into the oil with a slotted spoon. You can do one at a time as this step goes very quickly- probably in under a minute. Fry until the eggs jacket has turned into the desired golden color where your brain screams "delicious" at you. Then carefully lift to drain on a wire rack. 

For brunch - what would round out a fine meal? First- pick out the setting. No question here, it is our patio. Then set in ice something light and bubbly to drink. A California Brut is classic. Then generously slice your favorite heated ham  into generous chunks. Add a handful of roasted spears of asparagus with just a drizzle of Hollandaise sauce over which a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts completes entry to Nirvana.

 To tempt  your man to the point where he indulges to the point where he must undo his belt at the table (as a sign of appreciation, of course) perhaps thick slices of tomatoes topped with just a confetti of chives, fresh pepper and sea salt. 

Hand feed your beloved with strawberries or sweet grapes.... then if you over-indulged at the mall- this is the best time to confess):-

*Fine with just salt and pepper. you can season these up with a bit of Parmigiano- Reggiano and freshly grated  nutmeg added to the biscuit mix.

Official Portraits



 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife and they shall be one, and they shall be one flesh.
- Genesis 2:24

 

Kenny and Shannon Plunk

The official announcement is posted on DiamondBarPatch.com announcement page.

Full disclosure, this publication is on my client list. However, this feature is completely open to the general public, free of charge. It publishes daily "patching " communities such as Diamond Bar, under served by the  traditional media outlets with everything from history to real-time breaking news.

When I set sail for the wedding cruise; Sun, moon and stars appeared aligned. The Cheshire smiles on staff at City and County created in my journalist's heart the healthy expectation that the same weekend Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and the City of Diamond Bar would announce that they had come to terms on how to build a better library to serve our community. 

Don Knabe



For those who don't know our  County Supervisor, my impressions over the years is this is a man who is both extraordinarily kind- and no one's fool. Many politicians are one- or the other. Knabe is both.  

The issue between those more concerned with expanding library facilities and those more concerned with preserving the public treasury has been a long festering splinter in local friendships.

The catalyst for "why now" was the recession- when the City's fiscal responsibility allowed it to take advantage of the recession. It was able to purchase a commercial building large enough to hold both a City Hall (good-bye rent) and with space enough left over to add a library. If they could get the Supervisor's to buy into the plan. Which if you've ever worked with a bureaucracy- even when the parties are in basic agreement, until the ink  where the signatures go is dry on the contract- do NOT hold your breath.

However, when a city with a healthy cash reserve has the opportunity to fund a city hall and a library for less than half of the cost of just what a library was estimated to cost just a few years ago. Only fools would sit on the bags of money while a community of over 50,000 is served by a facility with 35 parking spaces.

Knabe is also a long time supporter of  our annual wine soiree in support of our library. The following are the Supervisor's thoughts  forwarded by Dick Simmons for a light  article penned on the history of the soiree.

"For the past 18 years, our community of Diamond Bar has enjoyed the wonderful support and dedicated efforts of a cadre of volunteers known as the Friends of the Library. From humble beginnings to the extravagance of the past few years events, the Wine Soiree has been and continues to be the "Event" of the year for Diamond Bar Friends of the Library. It is the Friends of the Library's showcase event, all for the wonderful cause of supporting our Library and the many facets of programs that form the basis library services to the community. BasicallyBOOKS, a FOL operated bookstore, helps to improve literacy and the love of reading."

  My original intent was the statement  would wrap historical data into real time in what is known in the trade as a "sidebar".  The end decision was the article was too bulked up.

However, journalism research is like French country cooking- nothing goes to waste. Everything for head to tail eventually gets used.  The Supervisor's words live here. Additionally, they will provide an outline for a future article. One which will delve more heavily into hard records. The result will be a record of how different years came with different challenges to literacy and how the FOL set to surmount the obstacles of providing literacy to a growing community with a decidedly multicultural population. 





 

God and Man and Creatures

" Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow,

neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them.

And are you not worth much more than they?

Matthew 6:26. Tax collector who spurned that career path to become one of the Twelve Disciples of Jesus Christ. Commonly understood to be the writer of the first Gospel of the New Testament

" God loved the birds and invented trees. Man loved the birds and invented cages."  ~Jacques Deval,

French Playwright and Director (1895- 1972)

They must love this woodland opening at the edge of a wildland canyon finger.  Their arrival comes earlier each year.  The joy these visitors leave me with is endless and boundless. Fruit lovers, they are a big portion why the cranberries and raisins get added to the main feeder. And why this time of year I do not let it run empty to save a few dollars.

Right now a half-sized oriole is swinging from the nyger feeder with the goldfinch. The goldfinch lock their claws into the screen holes up the side, pecking away at the seed, unaware of the faithful swaying of the feeder.  "My" little oriole cradles on the small bottom ledge, ignoring the coming and going of it compadres.

I found this quote not long ago.

 There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.

~Robert Lynd. Irish writer, essayist and nationalist.(1879 –1949)

 As much as I love nature, Mother Earth is not my God. She is the holder of the many gifts He bestowed upon us as a gift. If we were required to be subservient slaves to where blankness exists on the planet, that would not have been much of a gift.

This philosophy on development. What changes are made, may they be done with reverence, respect and love for The One that made life possible.

    

Animals, both small and great.. they all wait for thee to

give them their food in due season.

 Psalms 104:25, 27.

 Authorship frequently attributed to King David

Godspeed and Good Fortune on this countdown from Passover through Easter.

Bunny in nasturtium by Gene Sasse. Used with permissionIf you are shy of orange trees, the manufactured feeders with oriole nectar are quite effective . But be patient. Such wonder may not happen the first year. Or the second. It was our third year when these beauties came to spend the spring with us.

A Brief History on Taxation on the Homefront

Thank you from procrastinator's anonymous to Washington DC for having a holiday that extended the window to file through an extra weekend. There was quite a line at the post office today.

From the faces in line at the post office and mailing stations around town, it is fair to surmise the popularity of this day is not in celebration of the great American Institution, the IRS, but rather in spite of.

Mixed iris

In the symphony in favor of raising taxes, there is a missing instrument. The one that evokes the human spirit.For those who are composing future government revenue plans, I submit these examples from  when the Brits planned to raise revenue by raising taxes.

 1696- The window tax. King William III  concluded taxing by the number of windows one owned was far less an invasive than a straight income tax.  As structures grew with wealth and hence more windows, they expected it to be seen as fair. The result: Bricked up facades where windows used to be.

1712- The wallpaper tax. During Queen Anne's reign, what was more a luxury item than printed wallpaper? To tax this purely decorative item, it would impact only the rich. The rich discovered they could purchase plain wall paper. Once hung, it could be hand stenciled without incurring a tax.  


1773.King George III.  The Tea Tax. Three words: Boston Tea Party.

1784.The Brick Tax. King George III needed to pay for the war against the American colonials. With the same reasoning as the window tax, a fee was levied based upon lots of a 1,000 bricks. The result- bricks were manufactured in larger sizes. The burden of the tax caused business failures in construction. Architecture changed to accommodate non-taxed building materials.

My conclusion. Fairness is in the eye of the beholder.  Until textbooks,  line graphs and pie charts pay taxes, the human spirit must reign .  For the government to raise revenue from people and institutions run by people, there is only one way to raise revenue. Through the encouragement of commerce.

Images by Gene Sasse. Used with permission.

Old Mexico- Ensenada and Pasadena style

Our one port stop on our virgin cruise was to Ensenada.  I did not miss one bit the long drive I remember. Especially not with the drug wars. This trip would not have happened without Carnival Cruises and THE wedding. 

There are two faces to Ensenada. Old style and hip co-exist in the port town quite well in a mosaic of urban maybe-they-planned, maybe-they-didn't, quirkiness.  

The Ensenada  I feel welcomed in is the one robed in rustic charm. With dark timbered roof joists, brick and adobe floors and painting above arched windows.

"Embroidered" Architecture

Back home in Pasadena, you can experience some of this Spanish-inflused charm in the nursery of Ramon Franco, and his wife Theresa: Lincoln Avenue Nursery. Originally from the same town in Mexico, visiting their nursery is much like visiting the better public gardens in town, but with considerably more personal appeal.

Ramon Franco with his partner in life and work,Theresa

Ramon explains his enjoyment at work, " I love plants. This is a joy for me. I never get tired (of his job)."

Theresa says of the magic her husband brings their nursery, "Plants love him back."

These are just a sampling of the vignettes on the nursery's well laid out strolling paths.



 
Note the the tile work on the gate post. The open grill work executed in wood.  
 

 
The assymetrical pots anchor the setting with informal charm.
 


On the opposite corner of the property, the lushness of greenery is a shady oasis floating on a separate emotional plane from the City.

Perhaps best known for their selection of traditional plant material in the retail trade- boxwood, maples, roses and azaleas- Ramon and Theresa they have responded to their customer demand for more edibles, natives and succulents.

Ramon is a proponent of capturing water run-off. He believes a 30% reduction in water usage could be created with cisterns lined in concrete, pond liner and cover.  To monitor safety: the water's acidity and PH would need to be checked a minimum of every 2 weeks before being pumped to the surface. 

I could go on, but the scent of pinto beans plumped with just a ham hock and a touch of salt is filling the air. The first corn cobs of the season are ready to go on the barbecue. After all the rich food on the cruise, I have come home craving peasant food.

On this Palm Sunday-   Godspeed and Good Fortune through this holiest of weeks on the Christian Calendar. 



Lincoln Avenue Nursery
804 Lincoln Avenue

Pasadena
(626) 792-2138