Hops in Southeast Louisiana

We have a friend over in England who brews the most excellent beers...... He's been doing it for over 20 years so he's got it down pat. 

We had the pleasure of hanging out with him and his lovely wife in May and although we didn't get to see him brew up a new batch, I helped him polish of any number of existing barrels! And saw a little of his 'operation'. Which brought us to the subject of ingredients, namely hops.

These are the grains added to bitter the flavor, if that's the word I should use. I've been curious about them because they are stunning to look at as the climb a line 10' in the air! They look a bit like the kudzu devouring Georgia.

Who wouldn't want to try to grow these in the garden!? But will they thrive in our humidity? Our relentless late-summer heat? Our bugs? And if they do, if they will produce, what then will I ever do with the tiny cones?

Well, I 'll worry about that bridge when I get there. But in the meantime, Let me show you what I have been up to since our return from Portsmouth, England.

I found a website, Thyme Garden, that was selling off the remainder of this year's rhizomes...... and with the vast selection they offer, they were down to a precious few and only one day left to order. (In fact, I may be a little late altogether in this project for much this year, but what the heck. The roots will have a full year to grow and spread.) So, I chose 4 varieties, Nugget, Brewer's Gold, Kent Golding and Sterling and bought 2 roots of each. I'm big on hedging my bets.

It is entirely possible none of them will take, or only one of each or both and all! You just never know...... but I like a good challenge!

So, While I waited for them to arrive, I ordered 4 obelisks and scoped out a place in the Back Two that might give them the best chance at survival here in Louisiana. 

These are 8' obelisks from Gardman USA and they come 2 to a pack from Amazon. Putting them together was not easy but I did it alone.

It makes for thirsty work! Good thing I have beer...

And here they all, 4 soldiers ready to be planted.

This is the spot in the back where we have selected to be the optimal planting location. This is facing dead East so they will received full-blast morning sunlight. Here, John has prepped the ground with holes filled with Black Cow and our compost, making hills for drainage and is planting the 4 obelisks. We did NOT change the composition of the underlying soils which is primarily clay with a high acidity. Next year, I will send off a sample to test the pH.

This morning, I strung up nameplates for each variety and planted the roots.

Here is the northerly view and this stand of pine trees will provide a windbreak from the fierce winds we get. What you cannot see is just off the left is an enormous Live Oak tree which will give the bines ample shade from the late afternoon sunlight.

So, once we get some green growth, I'll post updates. This could end up being nothing more than a folly but if that is the case, I'll have 4 obelisks to use elsewhere.
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Further Along

If you think I seemed to be behaving in a cagey sort of way by not showing what the quilt looks like in it's fullness, you would be correct.

The reason for this is straight-forward. I don't want to.

I want to focus on the quilting motifs and the learning process because I think lots of quilters are in the same situation as I often find myself: How Should I Quilt This Top?

The answers, I have found, can reveal themselves if I take the time to look and listen and learn.

The Modern Quilt Movement has certainly taken my notion of quilting in a different direction in the past 8 or so years. I enjoy the open spaces (or negative spaces) that they feature, because this opens the opportunity to wander around and create secondary designs in free-motion quilting. This is IMPORTANT to ME because I do NOT have a programmable computer assisted long-arm machine. Everything I do (or attempt to do) is guided by my hand so I am NEVER going to end up with a flawless quilt. Ain't Gonna Happen.

What to do. What to do?

Which brought me here to this video by Karen Hanson of Quilt Expressions. It will take 58 minutes of your life and add years to your knowledge.

If you don't want to take 58 minutes out of your life, take this piece of advice from Karen.

I paraphrase: Quilt what you can.

This means (to me!) you should not let what you don't know how to do stop you from trying to learn to do it. 

I loved how I was starting to see quilting in wide open spaces in big quilts but I had no idea to do this without a computer. This is where Research  comes into play and I can't stress it often enough... I love living in a world of 24 hours Search Engines. 

I wake up so early in the morning.... and I begin pouring through search engines and find great inspirations like Green Fairy and Quilting in Negative Space on Pinterest.  

Green Fairy Quilting, Judi Madsen, actually demonstrates on YouTube how she goes about marking her tops and using straight-edge rulers to guide her machine and break down the "big picture" into workable areas. 

Allow me to emphasize: These are not the acrylic rulers you use to cut your fabrics. They are thicker for a good reason. You run your hopping foot along the edge of them and if they are thin (like a rotary cutting ruler) your hopping foot can hop right on top and the needle will shatter it. I know this from Experience. I experienced it twice, for good measure, because I didn't learn the lesson the FIRST time! So now, it's Knowledge.

With this powerful knowledge, I began to tackle this top. I have now reached one step away from the center and wanted to accentuate the explosive look. So I stepped back and thought about how I would do this.

There are radiating 2" squares in a diagonal row and I thought if I allowed them to come forward and push the 'negative space' down, I could begin to achieve the desired effect. 

Here is the result and yes, I have stitched unsuccessful motifs and taken them all out and started over. It ain't that big a deal.

Feeling Sorry*

....for anyone who is even remotely like me.

One drawback to waking early (besides the obvious) is my habit of websurfing quiltblogs. Once in the web, I stumble upon so many potentially fun "challenges" that I really really want to join in on. Take for example this one:

Vicki Welch is hosting a challenge that makes you really think about color and how it is used to a great advantage in quilt-making. She has a 12 month challenge that looks so interesting, I immediately went to the the drawers of fabric and started pulling out what I had to match. Except not much matched with precision. Oh I found some fabrics but they were already ear-marked for other projects and I can't go scalping from to give to another. Which obviously means I will have to buy fabrics if I want to take part in this. And that goes directly against the resolution to use the fabric I have on hand and stop squirreling away all this boltage!

So I am in the horns of a dilemma of sorts. And I feel sorry for anyone who does this to themselves as well.....

Do I give this one a pass NOW before I really get immersed or do I pull up the web-site at the shop and find a few fat quarters and proceed with reckless abandon? What to do, what to do.... it really looks interesting and educational.....

see? I take on too many projects. That really goes without saying and I ought to simplify to some degree.

I'll think about it. I mean, it's just one block, right? One each month.... and I am coming to the end of the Civil War Commemorative quilts.

HEY! I made Miss February...

And we received our shipment of avocado trees! However, it is supposed to freeze tonight so now the orchard is in the entry hall, naturally. Can you believe how crazy the winter has been? I just planted salad greens and English peas out the garden on Wednesday and the tomato seeds indoors and here we get a hard freeze? I thought for certain Spring came early and completely. Goes to show you!

I tried to make yogurt yesterday. Tried as in failed to make yogurt yesterday. Was the milk too hot when I added the yogurt? Did it get too cold? hmmm so I am going at it again this morning. This time I am incubating it in a crockpot on low setting. Perhaps that will keep it at a steady temp.

I used to make yogurt, in India. And we made paneer but I don't remember how. It was just something we did every other day when the milk wallah came up the stairs and sold milk straight from the buffalo. Unpastuerized so we did that first. Boil the milk for 20 minutes. Cool. Skim the cream off the top and make butter and ghee. But that was so long ago...

Have you tried the "greek" yogurt out there? It is much thicker and I really like it. But it is expensive and I had a quart of milk extra (I forgot I had one in the fridge and bought a second one) so instead of drinking more milk than I ought, I thought HEY make yogurt!

See? I just keep adding more things in my day! Crazy!

I have decided to enter two maybe three quilts in a regional quilt show.
Two are finished and the third on needs quilting but I have another to get on the big machine first. It is for a cousin and will be picked up in early March. I'll post a photo of it when it is done.

*I don't feel sorry in the poor poor pitiful me.... I feel sorry there aren't more hours in the day to do everything. There are just too many fun things to get involved with out there!!!

Hee Hee Hee

January. I made my mind up that I was responsible for making this the BEST year of my life. All the really good ones have had active participation so here I go. Fully and completely involved from the start!

This is a very daunting challenge, in and of itself! How in the world can I top other fabulous years from the past?

Let's Review!

1982: I married John. This is the 30th anniversary. amazing...... So much happened that year. We married and moved 4 times in one year. By Christmas, we were together in Dubai.

1984: I visited New Zealand and discovered I was pregnant. I stood on a glacier. I saw walruses. in the wild. C'mn!!! How many of you can say that!!! We lived in Brunei on Borneo

1985: I had my first child. Without meds. In a jungle hospital with midwives. In September I flew alone back to America and proved that adults were worse than infants when it came to traveling on an aircraft. Rachel said not one peep. Meanwhile the man behind us never stopped

complaining. 8 hours. I do not exaggerate for effect. Non-stop moaning.

1988: I had my last child. We lived in Bombay and I flew to Houston for the birth. Both my mother and my mother-in-law were in the delivery room with me!!!!! Thank GOD for that! It was awful and they were wonderful. I don't deserve them. (But they are stuck with me for eternity) and 6 weeks later my in-laws helped me fly back to Bombay! By the end of the year, we lived in Singapore.

1992: We moved to Alaska. Let that sink in. ALASKA! We lived there almost 5 years and leaving it in 1996 was heart-wrenching. It was the place I lived the longest in my entire life. Until now, of course.

2003: We toured Europe. 5 weeks and we lived to tell. 5 weeks in 5 foreign countries with 3 separate currencies and the hottest temperatures on record. It was nothing short of amazing. Wonderful people. Wonderful friends and wonderful family. It took months of planning and organizing and crossing all the t's, etc. I took nothing to chance getting there. Once we were there, we took it all one day at a time. I will never forget it. Fabulous.

2009: Kids are grown and gone. We moved to a farm. We adopted chickens. We built a garden to eat from. We left the rat-race. Well, okay, we moved away from it but it's still there if we choose to engage.

To the present. Now, up to Sept. 2011 I was cruising and having a blast in general, but to be truthful, I have been slacking. There is SO much I want to do! Or should I say, accomplish! So, now when things come across my vision, I ask myself "Shall I do it!?"

So far this year, I have:

Run 70 miles.

Seen Gordon Lightfoot in concert for the third time

Seen Spamalot

Sewn 2 quilts

Quilted 4 quilt-tops

Won this!

At the end of February, I shall post the tally of things done/accomplished.... by the year's end, I hope I will look back in awe and wonder.

More Shopping!

I read somewhere recently that a real must-have in the kitchen is a rice-cooker. I had one years ago.... many many too many years ago and have no idea where it went. It must have been during the years we lived overseas....... But it was a cool device and after reading that declarative statement, I thought to myself, "Self. He's RIGHT! You SHOULD have a rice cooker for no other reason except then you would never have to clean up the over-spill that happens every single time you boil rice!"

I had to make pit-stop at Wallyworld a few days ago for catfood and as I passed the appliance section, that voice popped into my head, "rice cooker......rice cooker....." and I said to myself, "Self! Wake up from your daydream and look at that rice cooker!" So I checked that 4-6 they had to offer and settled on this one by Rival. It's small, only cooks up to 6 cups of rice but I can't remember the last time I cooked more than 4 cups. (oh yes I can! I made pot-load for gumbo in December and yeah, that boiled over as well.)

Anyway, with just 2 people to cook for, this one is perfect in size and price. $13.47. Even if it was a complete disappointment, that is not a hefty sum, right?

and I made brown rice that night. Now, I love rice in all colors (did you know there is red rice?) and I especially love the nutty brown rice but I hate that it takes so long to cook on the stove-top. Not any more.

The little cheap $13.47 Rival cooked the brown rice in less than an hour. I think I am going to go buy another one as a back-up.

Oh yeah, ain't it cute, too? Looks like an alien robot.

Running: Yesterday was the first time to run since the 11.5 miles. It takes my old muscles that long to recover and not feel absolutely miserable. It actually felt pretty great. So much so that I ran 2:1 splits. Plog for 2 minutes, walk for 1. And really I can drop the "plog" reference. I am truly running at this point in time. Smoothly, rhythmically. Here is an area I pass: I call the meadow.

How Much Money Have You Saved Lately?

I figure I have saved around $12,000.00 over the years, including shipping and handling.

If you know me, you know I have an issue with sleep, or the lack thereof.

I pass out on the sofa with every good intention of watching whatever John has on and wake up only long enough to stagger to the bed, where once again, I pass out.

Still, this means I wake up long before dawn. And sometimes this can be around 2am. If that happens, like a cat I wander around in search of a warm spot and into the guestroom where there is a tv and chanelsurf until, hopefully, sleep overcomes me and I get another hour or two.

But this can take hours to attain and in the meanwhile, I get to see some amazing products offered in the most appealing way.

How is it that if I had my credit card in there at that moment, some product would be winging its way to the house but in the cruel light of morning, I can't even remember what it was? So, I went over to the As Seen On TV website, in order to refresh my memory of what I thought I needed a few nights ago.

Oh yeah, The EZ Mover, the furniture moving device

Now that's pretty slick, I don't mind admitting. Just that lever gizmo is worth having. It's not that I'm going to order it now, but at 3:27 am, I was thinking, "I could use that!"

And this, The Forearm Forklift

but I doubt I'll find anyone who'll help me test it out. See, it takes two.

Here, the SlideOut Tower Storage.

But I don't have space between the washer and dryer for it to slide in, much less slide out.

I think I want this Inversion Table. It's supposed to help with back issues

But I'm not going to order something that expensive without giving it a try first. I mean the blood could rush to my head and I pass out all alone. All alone... and hanging there. No, that will never do!

I could go on and on, and I won't.... I just thnk to myself snugly that I save so much money by having no memory. It's wonderful and so is this:

Remember Vince, the Sham-Wow guy? The SlapChop dude? "You're gonna slap your troubles away with the Slap Chop!" Nevermind troubles; He went away* for some time (bet he wished he had his SlapChop) but he's back! Now with the "Schticky"

Nah, I'm not going to buy it either. And in case you didn't get that reference about the mugshot, it's because of his arrest a few years ago. If you want to learn of the details, I'll let you go in search.

What A Way To Start The Year!!!

You're not going to believe this!!!!

I get a phone message from John, on the golf course, stating he hit a hole-in-one on the first hole, the first shot of the first day of the first month! His first hole-in-one!~ AMAZING!!!!!

And I finished my first of two Civil War quilts by Barbara Brackman.

It measures 84" Square which is really pushing the limit on my long=arm but I intend to try to do the quilting myself, hopefully by mid-January

Resolutions

Perhaps I ought to give this one a shot.

Resolved: Be less snarky this year.

In that spirit, I shall remove the last post of the old year. Start Fresh

Let's see how long I can go before the snark rises once again.

And Now, For Something Completely Different

This is going to be an awkward post. I state that here at the beginning as a warning.

It's been a weird year. A bountiful year and yet, one of loss. I don't intend to dwell on either but it's there, and altogether, it leaves me sensing that we live this life spinning wheels and stressing and unmindful of blessings.

To say that the age of 52, I have 'everything' is not to brag but to be humbled into submission. There is not a single thing in the world I am of need. I have a warm bed, a pantry with food, my health to sustain me, a huge family I adore and friends I don't deserve. I am surrounded by things that I have accumulated and hauled around the world as we moved locations to this one and I love and cherish every one of them. My problem is now this:

I can't remember where some of them came from.

There was a time when I could tell you the moment I received something, who it came from and what year it was. I could probably even tell you what song was no. 1 that week on the radio and what I had for breakfast that morning.

That person is gone. I can't remember! And I find this upsetting. Now, you might take the position, "If you can't remember, it probably doesn't mean anything to you. Throw it or give it away!"

But you would be wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. My take is, 'Someone thought enough about me to give me this (I don't remember buying it myself so it had to come into the house somehow) and now I don't have the decency to remember who!' and it plagues me. It just eats at me!

So I keep all the mysteries around as reminders of that which I can't remember but it does clutter up both my living space and brain. Neither of these is a good thing and I started this year to undo some of this.

No, I didn't give or toss these things away. I put the breaks on receiving any more of them. I have told my friends and family that I will no longer receive or exchange gifts *unless 1.) it was consumable and, preferably, that we share it together or 2.) an experience. Surely, I can remember an experience!!!

I clearly didn't get the message out quickly enough to everyone (because there were a few things under the tree this year for me) but for the most part, this has been the most pleasant, stress-free Christmas since I was a child.

What made the difference? I was given time.

We are all allotted the same amount of time, right? to allocate to the things we think and believe are important. At this time of year especially, I usually spend a great deal of time shopping and making and baking and wrapping and mailing and worrying that what I gave is the right or appropriate or wanted thing because I think or thought that was important. And, it is important. I am not saying it is not! On the contrary, I approach gift-giving (and don't you just deplore that new term: gifting!?) very seriously and try to give the right thing. and to get it there ON TIME! This is very stressful!

This year, I did something completely different. I simplified Christmas down to size.

1. A few weeks ago, we anonymously adopted a family and helped them this Christmas.

2. I mailed my niece and nephew a small box because I think Christmas is special for kids. It certainly was for me. (We adults need very little that we don't already have and usually get what we want for ourselves during the year. Kids get what they need all year long but don't have the means to get what they want so easily. We adults bribe them by being good all year! So kids stay on my list)

3. Borgasmord was our annual blast and we got to see friends for an evening last week.

4. My girls were here together yesterday morning and we made Christmas dinner together as a family:

John smoked his turkey to perfection

We roasted rutabagas and carrots from the garden. What a blessing!!!!

and played a GardenScrabble board game (a gift) as we ate the goose* and argued over words. It's our job. It's what we do.

Somewhere in this magnificent world, two families were given chickens and lambs to enrich their lives as a gift in John's name from his mother. Isn't that AWESOME!!!!!???? And all the wrinkled wrappings fit in one small box to end up in a landfill while five cats snoozed in the background.

It really doesn't get much sweeter than this.

This year, I purposefully stepped off that streetcar, to be a human being instead of a human doing. Not completely. But mostly.

So from the deepest part of my heart, I want to thank most of you for (almost) nothing! It was the best gift you could've given me. And Meredith, if you are reading this, the game is FUN! Thank you! I filed it under "an experience".

*the goose. Well, I cooked it according to Jacques Pepin and while it was good, and not greasy at all, it was not as tender as John's smoked turkey. It's a fussy bird and now I know why it might have fallen out of favor with cooks over the years. That and it doesn't feed more than a small gathering for all that effort. I can see clearly that the turkey is a better option, regardless how it is cooked. Today, the goose remains go into a gumbo pot. We have guests coming to share experiences.