Vivid yellow forsythia blooms on the tree outside my kitchen. When I'm cooking, this is my view.
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
A field of snowflakes
If the blooming forsythia in our garden is any indication, c'est déjà printemps. But on our walk today, R and I found fields upon fields on snowflakes. Confused? Enjoy a pictorial story of my day with R and learn more.
Vivid yellow forsythia blooms on the tree outside my kitchen. When I'm cooking, this is my view.
Vivid yellow forsythia blooms on the tree outside my kitchen. When I'm cooking, this is my view.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Stalking the wild asparagus
With so little snow this winter, and temps in the mid 50's this weekend, my mind is turning to spring and springtime activities. Yesterday, I started thinking about my 2011 garden and remembered R saying morels, or morilles grow along the fence, near the new raspberry bushes. A Google search to learn more about these springtime delicacies resulted in a pleasant find of "Stalking The Wild Asparagus". Published in 1962 it's Euell Gibbon's account of finding and eating what nature provides. I'm sort of living that life now and it's interesting to see what Mother Nature can provide, as long as you know how to identify and prepare the food.
A list of wild (and not so wild) finds. The next time you're out walking in the woods or even in Central Park, look around, up and down. You never know what you may find. In NYC, there's a mushroom expert who leads classes on foraging in NYC, something my foodie friend A and I would like to try one day.
March to April - Wild asparagus can be found nearby. I think I've seen the evergreen parts of these plants, but never gotten close enough to see the tender spears. Come spring, I will be keeping a close eye on the nearby fields, dry walls, country roads and around oak trees. If you want to try stalking them with me, take caution. The evergreen part has thorns, so wear gloves and bring a sharp knife. Harvest carefully so there will be more for the next harvest.
A list of wild (and not so wild) finds. The next time you're out walking in the woods or even in Central Park, look around, up and down. You never know what you may find. In NYC, there's a mushroom expert who leads classes on foraging in NYC, something my foodie friend A and I would like to try one day.
March to April - Wild asparagus can be found nearby. I think I've seen the evergreen parts of these plants, but never gotten close enough to see the tender spears. Come spring, I will be keeping a close eye on the nearby fields, dry walls, country roads and around oak trees. If you want to try stalking them with me, take caution. The evergreen part has thorns, so wear gloves and bring a sharp knife. Harvest carefully so there will be more for the next harvest.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Sunny days
The full moon is two days from now, on the 26th of June. For the past two nights, I've fallen asleep to moonlight streaming into our bedroom and woken up to blue skies and sun. Thank goodness because it's about time the sun decided to come out.
For the past two weeks, it's been raining steadily with only some slivers of sunshine. Some days I was even wearing my down jacket and sweaters, in the middle of June! I stayed out of the rain and worked on my French conjugations, did some driving lessons, and baked. David Lebovitz's supernatural brownies came over so well that I can hardly keep them from being eaten. Yesterday I drove on a real road within a business zone so there weren't that many cars around, but I had to navigate rotaries, stop and restart, and then reverse. I'm used to the clutch and the gear box, so it's getting easier and I hardly stall the car anymore. Yay for that!
R and I finished working on the former bedroom...it's now a reading room with some outdoor/indoor deck furniture. It's next to the guest bedroom which is next on our DIY list.
Real summer is here now to stay until September or so and my vegetable garden and I are happy for that. Because the days are longer here, I'm hoping the cherry, quince, and plum trees will be ready for picking in a few weeks. In the vegetable garden, the 9 tomato plants are doing well, and are slowly climbing up their spiral stakes. The 12 lettuces and single zucchini plant are growing fast as well. When I checked yesterday, two large yellow zucchini flowers had bloomed, and under them were two three-inch zucchinis. About five other zucchini flowers were just starting to bud. As for the three eggplants, they're surviving, but no flowers yet. The seeds I planted for melons, beets, and leeks may have sprouted but they're difficult to pick out because there's also a lot of weeds in the mix. But good news on the herb front: the coriander, basil, ciboulette, and mint are all doing well. When they're full grown, I won't have to buy any of these until late fall. If I have too much, I'll dry or freeze some in ice cube trays so I can use them way past the harvest season.
Today, R and I walked down to the farmer's market—tomorrow is R's birthday and I still need some fresh berries and nectarines to top the fruit tart I'm making. We didn't find berries but we got some fresh baguette and smoked salmon—and had that for lunch in the park by the river.
Tonight, we're going to Geneva again for a World Cup party—the Netherlands vs Cameroon. R's Dutch friend is hosting again so we were encouraged to wear Orange, the Dutch color for the Royal house of Orange. R is not only wearing orange, but he's decided to bring his giant Dutch flag to the party.
What's your favorite thing to do in the summer time? For those of you with green thumbs...how does your garden grow? Are you watching the World Cup and who are you cheering for?
For the past two weeks, it's been raining steadily with only some slivers of sunshine. Some days I was even wearing my down jacket and sweaters, in the middle of June! I stayed out of the rain and worked on my French conjugations, did some driving lessons, and baked. David Lebovitz's supernatural brownies came over so well that I can hardly keep them from being eaten. Yesterday I drove on a real road within a business zone so there weren't that many cars around, but I had to navigate rotaries, stop and restart, and then reverse. I'm used to the clutch and the gear box, so it's getting easier and I hardly stall the car anymore. Yay for that!
R and I finished working on the former bedroom...it's now a reading room with some outdoor/indoor deck furniture. It's next to the guest bedroom which is next on our DIY list.
Real summer is here now to stay until September or so and my vegetable garden and I are happy for that. Because the days are longer here, I'm hoping the cherry, quince, and plum trees will be ready for picking in a few weeks. In the vegetable garden, the 9 tomato plants are doing well, and are slowly climbing up their spiral stakes. The 12 lettuces and single zucchini plant are growing fast as well. When I checked yesterday, two large yellow zucchini flowers had bloomed, and under them were two three-inch zucchinis. About five other zucchini flowers were just starting to bud. As for the three eggplants, they're surviving, but no flowers yet. The seeds I planted for melons, beets, and leeks may have sprouted but they're difficult to pick out because there's also a lot of weeds in the mix. But good news on the herb front: the coriander, basil, ciboulette, and mint are all doing well. When they're full grown, I won't have to buy any of these until late fall. If I have too much, I'll dry or freeze some in ice cube trays so I can use them way past the harvest season.
Today, R and I walked down to the farmer's market—tomorrow is R's birthday and I still need some fresh berries and nectarines to top the fruit tart I'm making. We didn't find berries but we got some fresh baguette and smoked salmon—and had that for lunch in the park by the river.
Tonight, we're going to Geneva again for a World Cup party—the Netherlands vs Cameroon. R's Dutch friend is hosting again so we were encouraged to wear Orange, the Dutch color for the Royal house of Orange. R is not only wearing orange, but he's decided to bring his giant Dutch flag to the party.
What's your favorite thing to do in the summer time? For those of you with green thumbs...how does your garden grow? Are you watching the World Cup and who are you cheering for?
Thursday, June 3, 2010
What's springing up in the garden
Springtime is here, though a bit chilly than normal says R. Perhaps it's related to Le Bise winds that raged last night, making big swishing noises and making the chimney tile rattle to and fro. We closed the shutters but still it was quite noisy. Today I took some photos of what I saw out in nature...two beetles doing what's natural, our fuschia peonies in bloom, our sage brush with purple flowers, and me in a small field of poppies about three minutes walk from our house.
The French class at Migro that I had enrolled in was canceled today. Instead I sat in another A2 level class, one that had started April 29. I knew I would have play catch up, but I still sat in the one and half hour class where the teacher was leading through the class through the subjunctive. The subjunctive in French is used, but not as often as in Spanish which is where I had last learned it. Even though I was able to follow most of the class, it was difficult since I haven't covered Imparfait, Passé Composé much less the subjunctive!
After today's Migros class I've decided to enroll at the University of Geneva's intensive French classes le cours d’été which starts on June 28th. From what I understand, the schedule would include three hours of French instruction everyday, followed by two hours of pronunciation, some writing exercises, and then excursions into Geneva to learn about Swiss history, culture, arts, etc. I am so excited and I wish the classes could start sooner! In the meantime I'll be doing self-study in my Barron's French Now book and trying to speak French whenever I have the chance at the supermarket, with the neighbors, etc.
C'est tout et à bientôt!
The French class at Migro that I had enrolled in was canceled today. Instead I sat in another A2 level class, one that had started April 29. I knew I would have play catch up, but I still sat in the one and half hour class where the teacher was leading through the class through the subjunctive. The subjunctive in French is used, but not as often as in Spanish which is where I had last learned it. Even though I was able to follow most of the class, it was difficult since I haven't covered Imparfait, Passé Composé much less the subjunctive!
After today's Migros class I've decided to enroll at the University of Geneva's intensive French classes le cours d’été which starts on June 28th. From what I understand, the schedule would include three hours of French instruction everyday, followed by two hours of pronunciation, some writing exercises, and then excursions into Geneva to learn about Swiss history, culture, arts, etc. I am so excited and I wish the classes could start sooner! In the meantime I'll be doing self-study in my Barron's French Now book and trying to speak French whenever I have the chance at the supermarket, with the neighbors, etc.
C'est tout et à bientôt!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Springing forward
Spring is in full bloom in our mountainside. I just missed the cherry trees blossoming, but everywhere around us, plants and animals are waking from their hibernation. After many months away from R, I am so happy to be where I am right now.
For the past few days, I've been getting over jetlag and settling into my new environment. R and I visited our town's farmer's market yesterday and today we visited le mairie and strolled along the belle river walkway. Throughout the day, we spotted a woodpecker, a sleeping bat behind our shutters, large snails without shells called limas, swans, and creamy cows grazing across the meadow. At the nursery we looked for plants and seeds and came home with strawberry, tomato, eggplant, zucchini, lettuce plants; raspberry and groseille bushes; and seeds for beets, leeks, basil, coriander, mesclun, green onions, and bell pepper. Still looking for mint. Looking forward to doing some planting tomorrow!
For the past few days, I've been getting over jetlag and settling into my new environment. R and I visited our town's farmer's market yesterday and today we visited le mairie and strolled along the belle river walkway. Throughout the day, we spotted a woodpecker, a sleeping bat behind our shutters, large snails without shells called limas, swans, and creamy cows grazing across the meadow. At the nursery we looked for plants and seeds and came home with strawberry, tomato, eggplant, zucchini, lettuce plants; raspberry and groseille bushes; and seeds for beets, leeks, basil, coriander, mesclun, green onions, and bell pepper. Still looking for mint. Looking forward to doing some planting tomorrow!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)