To Be Happy at Home ~ Worthy Ambition

"To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour ends." 

~Samuel Johnson 

The Rambler, November 10, 1750 

Fresh butter's natural yellow

Real butter is a miracle of homekeeping.  3 minutes in the Breville Food Processor turns cream to culinary gold. The buttermilk squeezed out- good enough to serve company- and have them toast you for the discovery.  

Whipping up the latest batch, I thought of Samuel Johnson (1709-1784). An Englishman, he was born in a time when the middle class was rising on both sides of the Atlantic. Suffering from ill-health the length of his life, he was acutely aware of the foolishness of wasting time.  His essays on the moral imperative to join profit and delight are beacons worth searching out.

Wisdom wears well. Johnson's quote at the top are still relevant and worthy  over 200 years after posted in a two-penny rag. 

Fast forward to today. It is flummoxing to ponder  why people aren't profoundly chastened by what they post on social media. All the rants and insults... thanks to technology, could outlive this generation. This generation may be remembered for contemptuous ill-manners, unrighteous indignation and no patience for either spelling or grammar. Can we share a group shudder?  

Which is why I write. In hopes to point even a few souls (including my own) to the gratitude for one more day. 

Fried Okra, Lydia-Style

 Okra was not in my Puerto Rican mother's cooking repertoire. Think she made it once, for I have vague memories of something akin to algae-colored slugs pretending to be a vegetable. 

Thank God this California girl married into a family with roots deep in states with long summers.  Oklahoma, Arkansas and Arizona.

They introduced me to one of the gifts of summer, fried Okra. The family- version was a bit gritty with cornmeal, so I changed it up a bit. In my version, pieces of the vegetable are tossed in a pancake-like batter before rolling in cornmeal. 

When the devil is in me, the battered bits to into a batch of hot bacon fat with chopped onion and chunks of ham. Otherwise, olive or other oil does suffice. At the very end,  freshly grated Parmesan cheese melts atop the hot mountain of Southern Hospitality. 

Poached eggs, Apple wood Smoked Bacon and a homemade turnover topped with whipped cream. 

I confess. I am guilty of binge watching the  The Great British Baking Show and swallowing whole Laura Bolton's delicious blog Fork Knife Swoon,

It struck this summer, this Epiphany. In this Age of Air Conditioning, it's okay to unleash worship from taste buds at the heart of the home, the kitchen range. The Sabbath brunch is nearly a service of celebration. The raspberry- lemon filled turnover, topped with freshly whipped cream was worth every calorie. Which certainly were gloriously ad infinitum.

Where we live is not just a house. It is a deeply personal retreat. We cocoon there, cuddling amongst reminders of what makes us happy. A bed so high, we sleep easily from oxygen deprivation; clinging to each other for fear if we fall off the edge, we'll break a hip. If we want to fight, we don't need to use fists- for there are lots of pillows.

As the bedroom is the first and last memory of the day, I think it the most important. I may dream of raising the ceiling, adding a balcony and improving the bathroom to more modern en-suite proportions. Still, there are elements I would keep if we were suddenly billionaires. No amount of money could ever change my heart. I was born a lover of country and romance. 

That means that we are slow to throw things out. It is better to rethink the purpose than to trash an object with cherished elements.

This nightstand was my passed- along childhood desk. My darling re-imagined it as his nightstand. On my side of the bed, is a similar desk from his childhood. Simply refinished, it serves double duty. First as my vanity- and bridge for the puppies to get in and out of bed on their own. 

Creativity solves waste. 

Inconveniences are opportunities disguised as problems. The downstairs bathroom light bar has been giving us fits. A shade broke. The fixture professionally rewired- but the bulbs kept pulling apart faster than my hair was falling out. Our best guess is that the modern light bulbs were ever so slightly different- causing the bulbs to overheat and sockets to pull apart.

Finding shades that matched both budget and taste wasn't happening when the great ah ha struck again. There were shades I bought on close-out for an outdoor project which never made it to the top of the list. Doggone if they weren't a perfect solution.  

Taking kitchen scraps out to the compost heap, my heart leaped. For in the compost heap, a salvia emerged. Just like in life. Expect, embrace surprise. Love the life you decided to live. 

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful- 

Lydia 

Week in Review~ Lunar Eclipse~Garden Bloggers Bloom Day (GBBD)~ Before and after ~ Beyond my Garden Gates

"All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." 

~ Dale Carnegie

Photo courtesy of Gerry Plunk

Trend Report: Color is in.  

The lunar eclipse- a radiant melon hung in the inky night sky in a was a cosmic menage a trois. No cloud offered a veil of privacy. The whole of insomniacs were watching the earth's shadow crawl between it and the sun. Such celestial beauty sky spawning prayers and prophecies. No wonder the the moon blushed.

                        

June, 1989. Our backyard was just beginning to tell us what it wanted from us. It whispered "I want to bloom."

                      

                               

April, 2014:   Today, my garden's wild heart sings.  The view from my study is a symphony of inspiration.  

My garden inspires me to dream in color. 

To have courage and work hard.

To have faith. 

 

It is divine to surround yourself with roses just for the sake of how beautiful they are. How they fill the air with beautiful perfume. 

This season, allergy season, there is a routine. Breathe deep. Sneeze. People offer "God bless you." My reply "I am."

The Mourning Cloak Butterfly- according to this  website- this black beauty is one of the longest lived butterflies in North America. Nothing in my garden is listed as a preferred source of nectar- but there are oaks in our little finger canyon. From there it must have spotted my garden and thought "This is the promised land."

The first several years, this rose bush was a sickly child.  It would send out a few dangling balls: which failed to open.  Her feet are planted near a feeder. Perhaps it is all that "free-range fertilizing" from the song birds  darting about which nourished her to a happy adulthood. 

The sparrows teach about the importance of opportunity. The garden arch wasn't erected for their use- they instinctively know- that is not important.  We can't always have what we want, but we can be happy with what we have.

Caring for this land has expanded my definition of stewardship. As a child, I thought that meant to leave things be.

A lifetime later, I realize that  Mother Nature is not only unreliable, she is, too often, cruel. To enhance the opportunity in the landscape for food, water, nesting and shelter-  this is a higher charge.

Fridays are my day in the garden.  Some time in the morning, I will have crossed over to less civilized terrain.  Clearing weeds. Clearing my mind.

But before I go, let me share a few pictures from beyond my garden gate.

                     

Meet Oulie. The White Highland Terrier is the daughter of the Caesar Dog Food TV Commercial model.  She lives the good life with Dawn Saunders and Ed Bilezikian in Laguna Hills. You may remember their garden from the 2013 Elegant and Enchanting Garden Tour.  

I am still reeling in a sensory awe of the captivating home of artist Maria del Carmen Calvo , and her husband, Dr. Walter L. Henry. This floor insert was created from a broken stained glass window and cast off bits of glass set in cement. 

Fresh flowers cut from the garden graced several vases.  Everything the artist touches- a bit of her soul flourishes.  

The artist has known great tragedy. But instead of wallowing, her gift is to rise motivated to capture moments of great beauty and share them.  

I am but a humble writer. I do not know if dreams of future roses dominate the horizon, or if the ugliness of certain governments of men shall.  It is ominous that Jews in the eastern Ukraine, where Soviet separatists have taken over, have been ordered to register with the government. 

This Easter season, may we lift our heart in joy for every moment of peace and beauty we have.  May our lives be dedicated to active prayer to spread our blessings to those without. 

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful.

Linking to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Santa Barbara GWA Tour 5- Seaside Gardens~ Carpinteria ~What Love and Gardens have in common

Gardens and love have this in common. In the beginning, there is a basic concept of what is wanted, but only with patience (including trial and error) is there the possibility of creating something breathtaking. 

Because our wants evolve through experience- that something may not look anything like our original vision. 

We followed the direction the sheep pointed from the parking lot

Following  the curve of the ocean south towards Ventura lies  the incorporated town of Carpinteria. This would be our last stop before home. Rounding that last turn off the freeway, rain pounded the car's roof with jackhammer ferocity.

We were so thankful that on Super Bowl Sunday in the pouring rain, the gates were kept open for our merry band of writers. 

When the Spaniards explored this coastal town, they named it for the carpenter shop. The industrious Chumash tribe took advantage of local tar deposits, mixing with pine pitch to construct sea-worthy canoes. 

Gerry listens to Sam's accent- he was born not far from where she went to college in the UK

 Greeting us with cookies and hot beverages where an overhang gave us a shot of staying momentarily dry , Sam Mayberry explained how the retail area is surrounded by 12 demonstration gardens. Each vignette is designed to show what a little plant will look in maturity; how it will relate to the landscape as a whole. 

Umbrellas up, we fanned out across 3 walkable acres of shops, nooks and gardens. Ideas everywhere. 

A patchwork of succulents sleeping under lath. 

Books to educate and inspire (some of these authors I've met at GWA events- how cool is that!) 

A gift shop chock full of garden and garden-them accouterments.  A cricket for the hearth- stained glass stepping stones for outside- a carved stone own as at home with contemporary and craftsman settings. 

This is what Seaside Gardens is famous for. Breathtaking moments more commonly associated with arboretums and botanical gardens than retail nurseries.  The white blossom-laden bush in the foreground- meet Michelia doltstopa. An evergreen cousin to magnolias- to discover its fragrance alone was worth the trip. 

I loved this spot where visual texture in juxtaposed paving materials added interest to a simply planted pathway. 

If you have loved ones slow to understand the high-color potential of a low water landscape-  share these pictures- 

Hot pink dwarf euphorbia 

Cast metal salmon- time and temp artfully told.

Darkness was now descending faster than the rain. My notes and camera were tucked under my jacket for protection. We have a list- of wishes from Seaside and measurements from our garden.  We're planning to return north with an empty truck and full wallets.

I never knew my grandparents. My vision of  Eden was what I thought the garden of a grandmother I never knew  have been. The purpose of the vision- a grandmother's garden- this never changed, but how it is articulated is authentic to the people we grew to be, not of people only imagined. 

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful.  

 Lydia E Plunk

Part 3 ~ GWA Santa Barbara Tour ~ Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens.

"Time Keeps on  slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future." 

~Steve Miller, lyrics from  "Fly like an Eagle"  

In 2012, the 1 million-plus readers of Birds and Blooms voted the 1976 rock anthem by Steve Miller the best song about birds. Ever.  

Okay. So the bird my lens followed was a seagull instead of an eagle. It was still on a mission. The same as we. To get fed before moving on. Overhead, the clouds pregnant with life-giving rain were about ready to sweetly drench the earth~ but if we didn't hurry, also soak the gourmet sandwiches and salads. 

At Billy Goodnick's suggestion, we gathered at the stone wall at the top of the Erythrina mound, overlooking the pond.   

We had 2 more stops: soon there would be raindrops dancing on our heads.  Nan Sterman and helpers quickly laid out the casual gourmet spread  from nearby Panino. 

It was rather humbling to realize that two guests flew from the farthest side of this continent to join us. Former American Horticulture Society President Arabella Dane and her husband, Nat- what a treat to our tour garnered that level of interest.   

Billy poured the history of this place into our minds. 

Filling a full city block, it once served as the grand estate of Albert Herter's mother. Surrounded by gardens, her mansion was a repository of artwork of his, including lamps designed for Tiffany, artwork by his wife Adele McGinnis, and furniture designed by Herter Brothers, a major New York design firm, also a family enterprise.  

After the  matriarch died, Albert Herter evolved into a hotelier, remodeling the home, adding bungalows and reopening the property as the El Mirasol Hotel. Until it was damaged by  twin fires in the mid- 1960's, the hotel was a long-favored spot to vacation at by those who expected the finest accommodations. 

It's heyday as a hotel past,  there were attempts to revolutionize the property's character with high-rise development. However, the local citizens prevailed in creating property's highest and best use not in commercial usage- but as a place of where plants are largely the guardians of public  peace and serenity . 

During her lifetime, Alice Keck Park, daughter of oilman and philanthropist W.M Keck, never took credit for providing the funds to purchase the property for public preservation. Not until after her death was the benefactor's name disclosed.  

How Alice's name was incorporated in honorarium took some consideration. Alice Keck Park Park - how words sound together is important.

Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens. Time slipped away from the days where on this spot stood a fine family home. Slipped past the days as a hotel. Slipped to where the influence of this place is even greater now, when trees  surpass architecture in prominence. 

Such is life. Dreams change. What you didn't even imagine possible when you began your journey through time may not be your greatest accomplishment. 

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful. 

Part 1- GWA Santa Barbara Garden Tour~ San Marcos Growers

Garden tours are to shelter publications what theater is to the television. Each has its place and purpose. Television and magazines will never go out of style for they are the scouts and advisers we can turn to 24/7.  

However, how much richer it is to participate. To go outside; to celebrate creation with actual creators: to be present for unscripted, unedited moments. This is where the threshold is crossed from fleeting appreciation  to memorable joy.  

To experience a garden or growing ground with all sorts of lovers of gardens, there is simply a vitality from the live garden tour which can only be silhouetted when communicated in two dimensions.  

My work and pleasure as an active member of the community of garden communicators- authors, bloggers, editors, photographers, neighbors chatting over fences- is to encourage observers to take that next step. To actually engage in the wonders found through partnership with the  three dimensional, ever-changing world  God created for our pleasure.  

Ever-smiling, local garden designer and national garden writer, Joan Bolton chats with San Marcos Growers GM Randy Baldwin

With broad strokes, God created the world in 7 days. Then he left the detail, maintenance and improvements to us. 

After brief introductions, 17 garden lovers followed Randy to meet the 1800 plants species San Marcos Growers is raising in everything from 1 gallon pots through 36 inch boxes.

 What we saw...

The plant paparazzi  recorded. 

Aloe 'Erik the Red' 

Each specimen's most compelling angle immortalized, even when it meant contorting our own into unflattering positions.  

Art in the garden grants reason to pause. To focus on what otherwise might be passed by.

This giant drill bit rises as a twisted exclamation point.   If the planting over-takes this visual punctuation, it will be easy to replant the vertical element. 

These rusted fish silhouettes leaping through waves of grasses  reminded me of a recent conversation with Garberville woodworker  Charlie Mott. Long after we met in first grade, before his love of surfing and desire to live in forested lands put our lives on separate trajectories, my cherished childhood friend and I recently discovered that we each went on to develop deep love and respect for the natural world.

In Southern California where I live, Joe and Jill citizen are just now becoming aware of how serious this current drought may be. Where my friend settled, up north in Humboldt County,  people see where their water comes from. Where the Salmon can't dive deeply beneath the water's surface - the fish can't leap out of the way of otters. 

That visual holds more dramatic impact than the color chart on our water bill.  

Art imitating life 

Sculpture in the garden offers added interest both before plantings mature and in the off seasons. As both gardener and sculptress, Berkeley-based artist Marcia Donahue hybridized her two loves into this delightful stand of 'Bambutus baldwinii' . Taking elements of the garden where the sculpture marries elements into a vignette- the artist grafted ceramic lengths of bamboo with renditions of arbutus (strawberry tree) fruit. Note the whimsical touch of life given the sculpture where it appears little bamboo shoots  are trying to run away  from the mother sculpture. 

General Manager Randy Baldwin shares the garden space which inspired Donahue's sculpture with an attentive Sharon Lovejoy.

Santa Barbara author, landscape designer and plant personality Billy Goodnick, the local coordinator for the day's itinerary, wrote a wonderful piece outlining Marcia Donahue's unique interpretation of vertical gardening for Fine Gardening in 2011 which you can link to here.

The vintage vibe and imperfection collaborate to lower urbane elevated blood pressure down to country comfortable. 

This magic place, deep in a forest of bamboo, was not what I expected from a nursery whose General Manager, Randy Baldwin explains "Drought is our best salesman." 

Writer, author, designer, horticulturist and PBS personality Nan Sterman takes a plant's portrait

National Director of  GWA Region VI, Nan Sterman, exults the virtues of San Marcos Growers. "They have a fantastic collection of plants, always something new and always plants that are interesting... the quality is unsurpassed, and they really “get” the concept of plants suited to the Mediterranean environment. They also have one of the best websites around in terms of providing the information you need to make decisions or know how to use a plant in a design." Her hard-won compliment continued "I always get incredible customer service from them- often above and beyond." 

Randy did the talking. Under the gathering of pewter tinted skies, he shared the grower's connection to the $6,000 plant sold at auction at Lotusland's first rare plant. The story is found on their website at Calicarnea.  

But Juli ( pronounced Yuli) stole the show. And quite a few hearts.  A Hungarian Vizsla, Randy's daughter located her through a Temecula breeder of the cyclonic short haired hunting dog. Juli will be 4 this tax day, when she will undoubtedly celebrate by clearing away rabbits, gophers and all those pesky critters other growers suffer through. To fall in love with Juli, see some downright swoon-alicious photography of San Marcos Growing grounds, hop over to Nikkipolani's review of the day here.

San Marcos is a quality wholesale nursery. While its plants have the distinction of having some of their own selected for the New York Rockefeller Center and Disney World in Orlando, it is primarily a high quality regional provider of water-wise wonderful plants. Click here to locate a retailer in their primary delivery areas.

For my own garden- these are two contenders to bring my gardens water needs down while keeping the romance factor up

Peer across the fine knitted foliage- look closely and you can see the lady bug nearly sinking into easy chair provided by the green stubble covering the bonsai-sized shrub crassula sarcocaulis 'Ken Aslet'.

I will share soon what Randy shared about how to propagate Aloes.

 For now I leave you with an image of a perennial foxglove which stood out like a starlet amongst thorny characters. Can't you see its potential to hide Easter eggs under?

Digitalis 'illumination flame' is yin to the neighboring plant's spiky sword's yang.  A spring bloomer, this charmer swept away the competition on the garden show circuit, winning Best New Plant at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in 2012, the Greenhouse Grower's Award of Excellence in 2013 and the People's Choice Award at the New Varieties Showcase  at the 2013 Farwest Trade Show in Portland Oregon. 

Until we meet again, Thank YOU for all YOU do to make the world more beautiful.

Lydia E Plunk 

PS- GWA stands for Garden Writers Association