the meyer lemon tree's final crown

      This past year has given me lemons and it has been the most satisfying art to be in active observer of each part of the process leading up to the end.

But I must begin at the very beginning of this tale just as all presentable tales must begin. Late fall of 2019 I was the excited giftee of a Meyer Lemon tree. It was a small, unpretentious plant in a pot, certainly nothing to make anyone think great things would come from it. But then lofty hopes are difficult to dispose of when the reality of growing lemons reign high. I set it on a table where the morning sun provided light and warmth for three to four hours daily during the winter months. By December the sweet smell of the blooms were lovely so I attentively and carefully rubbed a Q-tip across  one bloom and, just as I imagined a flitting bee would do, deposited it on another bloom. That was rather fun! Then I waited to see if any lemons would appear, just as I hoped the blooms dropped off and tiny green globes appeared. While several of the tiny buds fell off, three continued to grow...oh so slowly they grew the entire winter and spring. When summer came  the plant was repotted and moved it outside. I continued to fertilize it throughout the summer as the entire plant grew and grew. It was a happy plant, the green lemons grew fat and round on my patio. Everyone remarked about my "limes".  I assured them there were indeed lemons and would turn yellow in due time. By late summer they were just beginning to be yellow, patience had produced the desired fruit.

 

The threat of frost had me bringing the tree inside where the further maturation of the lemons could take place. Finally the time came to harvest the lemons. You can not even imagine my sheer joy of walking into the sun room, plucking a lemon into my hand and returning to the kitchen to make a lemon meringue pie!

One lemon made this pie, and it was delicious.

A lemon drizzle cake was made this past week with another of the lemons, and it too was tasty, sweet and lemony.

I have one more lemon hanging on the tree...any suggestions of what I can make with it?

 

birthdays in December

 What's considered "normal" when your birthday is five days before Christmas? More than lately you will attend some other holiday event or a fancy occasion of the season. This year my dear husband's birthday was willingly shared with a piano recital held at our house. Charlotte's three students, two piano and one violin, arrived dressed in fancy party attire with the nervous anticipation of playing their two pieces in from of the parents and siblings.

He requested a pie for his birthday, chocolate or lemon. I did not have enough fresh lemons but there was plenty of cocoa powder on the pantry shelf, so a chocolate chess pie it would be. I fixed a special dinner of steak, baked potato and salad for him and it was nice to celebrate two outstanding events on this last Saturday before Christmas. 

Wednesday, December 16

A dear friend left her warm home on this gloomy, rainy day to make the 35 minute drive to my house. Lunch was served in the sunroom, even though there was no visible sunlight, just twinkling colored lights around the doorway and a lit kerosene lamp on the table.. A pot of hot tea was kept hot by a knitted tea cozy, and the best and by far easiest part was doing what girlfriends always do the best, we celebrated our friendship! 

We are both knitters, so of course there were patterns to compare and yarns to show as she had brought along her knitting bag in order to share her future projects.

 

sharpening

 Hanging on the side of a kitchen cupboard by the window over my sink is a magnetic knife holder, one of those extremely handy items useful in any kitchen. I first heard about them from a Julia Child video. But let's face it, my family managed just fine before with a "knife drawer" or a knife block.

Depending on how much I use a particular knife will determine how much that knife will need sharpening. Daily use leads to daily sharpening, if you want a sharp knife to do the job. 

Which leads me to an ongoing matter of my faith being sharpened, requiring rather severe mercy at the present. There are many opportunities, however pressing and uncomfortable they may be prove to be, that are sharpening my faith right now. My faith tends to grow weary and  become limp around the edges and I must not negate a daily sharpening...and that means "to walk by faith and not sight"...which can be arduous, therefore, sharpening is absolutely necessary many times more than once in a given day.

Early this morning I began with  praise by the light of a beeswax candle. My faith was being whetted. I began to pray to the LORD God Almighty and I was immediately strengthened. I opened His Word:

 "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty for pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."    (II Corinthians 10:3-5)

Mid-morning I pulled my most favored chopping knife off the magnetic board and guided it though the hand-held knife sharpener, steel across steel. I had ingredients to chop for a batch of desired kimchi. The process of sharpening made the chopping rewarding, and much easier work.

Not unlike my faith walk today. 

'tis the season for gingerbread

I pulled the pan of spicy gingerbread from the oven and carefully set it on the wire rack to cool. Glancing at the clock and deciding I had just enough time to take a walk before the young people arrived for Bible Study at three, I hunted for my wool finger mitts and ear coverings. The sky arrested me in its clear blueness against the mostly bare branches of  the tallest trees. About halfway through my walk my bundled-up self had unzipped my jacket, removed my mitts and flung off my ear coverings due to the sun's warmth. I arrived back home to the delicious smell of the gingerbread and quickly whipped up a bowl of sweet cream for dolloping on the top of this seasonal treat . 

(photo credit: food network)

December Yarn Along

 The  temptation was to title this post "Knitted Together and the Greenness of Life". Yet the post was truly intended for Ginny's December Yarn Along, so I am keeping it simple and favored as I put together this post on this bright first Wednesday in December.

                                One of the chapters of our morning's Bible reading, as Charlotte and I are reading the Bible through in its entirety once again this year, was Psalm 139. I could not help but notice that the NIV says "You knit me together in my mother's womb..." . What knitter does not feel the tangibleness of yarn and needles in hand and a picture perfect visual when the word KNIT is mentioned? It is just one of those kind of words which stirs a knitter.

                                          "For you created my inmost being: 

                                       you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 

                I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

                                                                      your works are wonderful,

                                                                         I know that full well.

                               My frame was not hidden from you

                                                                     when I was made in the secret place,

                                         when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

 

                              Your eyes saw my unformed body;

                                    all the days ordained for me were written in your book

                                                                  before one of them came to be. "

                                                                                   Psalm 139:13-16 

There is much to concern us in our world today, no one is not affected in some way concerning a plethora of matters. We all possess our own worldviews that have been shaped by something or someone, and in fact, these world views should shape the way we live, speak, and act. And in a land, upon which God has shed His abundant grace, makes laws that say an unborn child has no rights to live, I am grieved. I will state boldly and without excuse that abortion is deplorably wicked and is a fight worthy of a continual fight in the citizens who believe in the sanctity of life. 

Green signifies life and growth to me. This Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Classics knitted in Kelbourne Woolens in a soothing mossy green color way is one of my most favorite" good things" of 2020, and I must elaborate there are many good things happening in 2020. But I will not take the time here to count all the ways I have been thankful for those ongoing good things😊.   

John Flavel makes me think hard, and it is no wonder that this present edition of his marvelous work, The Mystery of Providence, is giving me assurance of a Great God that is "even greater than (I) even thought when( I) first trusted for salvation."

And to share even more greenness, the pullover and book rest in the corner of our turnip patch.

filling the larder

“That last summer, the kitchen reeked of pickling spice, anise seed and juniper berries. Watermelon jam, lavender jellies and crystalized fennel cooled on the pantry shelves. Jars with mango pickles and pickled onions, an old habit from his days in London, were set aside in the wine cellar to cure. Honeycombs were stacked in bowls on the sideboard, draining, waiting to be melted into candles mixed with olive oil and pressed into soaps. Thunderstorms were canned along with plum jam. Memories seeped onto the pine floorboards.” 

― N.M. Kelby, White Truffles in Winter

 

My larder is becoming stock full and I am so very thankful for His provision. It has taken me several months to get to this point in which I have been working hard to achieve in filling my food stores for the year.  Many foods such as wheat berries, oatmeal, popcorn and rice were ordered in bulk from Azure Standard and are now safely stored in buckets with gamma seals. Other food items have been canned, pickled or preserved. Glass mason jars are filled and are holding things such as beans and other ordinary staple items. 

I have not canned this much since the days we lived on the farm when our garden was huge with long rows of green beens and field peas, rustling  rows of tall corn, row after row of tomato plants in many varieties, and open plots of growing beets, cucumbers, squash and okra. Yes, every year we sowed and  every year we reaped. Canning and preserving food was a necessity as not to waste the fruits and homegrown vegetables; we planned our garden with the intent to preserve what we grew and our summers were busy with putting food up. Sure we got tired from the long days of hard, ongoing work, picking, washing, preparing, canning and freezing our produce, but that feeling of  observing the preserved foods on the larder's shelves was and still is extremely rewarding.  And we ate from its stores all winter. Our children too had the added benefit of helping and learning gardening and preserving foods. Witt even entered some of his canning efforts in the state fair.

Since our garden this year is small due to space limits from living in town, most of the food have been bought at local Farmers Markets or ordered from Azure Standard. The evening I came home with 20#s of cucumbers, 25#s of carrots, 20#s of beets and several cabbages it was like the house was on fire as we wasted no time in beginning our preserving, especially the cucumbers which were the most perishable. But we are already feasting on opened jars of bread and butter, spicy sweet, and fermented dill pickles.

And with all the jams and jellies put up, homemade buttermilk biscuits spread thick with them with be a literal feast this winter. I had been wistfully mentioning to my husband that I would love to have some pears in order to make a batch of pear preserves. Remember the fig story? I was wanting to gift the owner of the figs a jar of the fig preserves one afternoon last week. She said, "I have pears too, help yourself." 

He does hear, which makes me think I must remember He also hears my grumbling and complaining. How patient He is, and how kind and good. 

sun tea

 

This is the summer of sun tea brewing. It has become habit forming.

About every other day I fill a gallon sized Fido jar halfway with water, add about 1/2 cup of sugar, and plop in one large black tea bag. It brews outside in the sun for at least 5- 6 hours. We have discovered it has the most mellow yet vibrant taste of  Just Right Sweet Tea, the kind even I enjoy drinking. I have thought of that special  jar my mother had years ago when this was "the thing" to do! Do you perhaps have memories of those jars too?

cooking on a rocket stove

Camping essentials, and that must most certainly include cooking campsite, have never lagged around in my thoughts if ever at all. I camped once when I was in high school and that was enough for me to make a personal decision that camping would not be one of my pursuits in the present or future. And I married a man that while he had camped more than once, it was not exactly something he would be disappointed to leave behind if necessary. Maybe I just gave him the excuse not to camp, that one I will leave alone.

But I do delight in the joy of cooking outside either around a fire or on some other sort of burning wood stove. Enter the rocket stove...I'm inveigled. How did I ever live this long without one? It is super cheap to build, quick to assemble, and it takes only bits of twigs and small wood pieces to keep it roaring; hence the name, rocket stove. 

Last night we christened our backyard model by first heating water in a kettle, which took about five minutes to get to the boiling point, with that success under our belts we were on to frying bacon and eggs, eaten outside just before dusk. 

You can have one for your very self  by just watching a few videos on YouTube. As the season changes and autumn brings the cooler weather I plan to be frequently outside enjoying my rocket stove, stirring meat and vegetable soups, simmering pots of beans, flipping sourdough pancakes, and boiling kettles of water for coffee and steaming mugs of tea.

feeling figgy

A tall, verdant fig tree abides in the very far corner of my backyard. I glance at the three-lobed leaves outside my bathroom window as I draw the blinds every morning. Alas, this tree is "figless". I have read that it might take six years for a tree to produce fruit, if this is true this tree has one more year to prove itself.

 On the farm we had a fig tree that sat in front of my little white spinning house. Every summer it produced a most outstanding fig crop. What a delicious treat to pick one of those luscious sun-warmed figs off the tree and bit into its fleshy sweetness.

               

             This is the only photograph I could put my hands on quickly to show our fig tree there in the background.

                   That's four year old  Rose with Tar in front.

A fig tree grows on the side of the road where I have walked  for many years. I've watched figs bud, mature, and grow ripe year after year. Memories of eating fresh figs tantalized my taste buds every August. No one has ever gathered these figs, they were simply food for the birds, or they just sadly rotted on the branches. This year I decided I would try to find the owner of this tree. One day she was in her yard and told me to help myself. And I did! I believe fresh figs might perhaps be an adult taste, but if you enjoy the taste there is nothing quite like them.

And today I made a very easy fig preserve. I do wish you could taste them. I wiped the pan out with a bit of bread and I had to close my eyes as I slowly chewed its figgy sweetness. These jars of fig preserves will be a taste of late summer this cold winter.

And there are more figs still waiting for me to pluck and bring home to make even more sweet goodness.

fermenting cucumbers...

...to become the best pickles in the whole wide world!

Deliciously salty, garlicky, dilly...oh, my mouth is bouncing alive just typing these words. You would not believe how amazingly simple these pickles are to make and have as your very own to eat.

And I have found the absolute best way to keep them crisp...oak leaves! Yes, something that is readily available to most of us. All I have to do is go to the garage, carry the green step ladder out to the cement driveway, hold my breath and pray as I step up several steps on the ladder gingerly reaching up to the lowest branches of the overhanging boughs, pinch a few of the sturdy green leaves, bring them inside to wash before layering them between the cucumbers, tucking two on top beneath the smooth river stone weight.

I make a brine of one quart water per 1 1/2 -2 Tablespoons of salt, truly its to your taste, but I prefer to have the pickles more on the salty side and I have found it will make a better ferment in the long run. I like to add  black peppercorns, cayenne pepper flakes, fresh garlic cloves, fresh dill, and bay leaves. After a few days I taste my pickles and if they are the right taste to my liking I will store them in the refrigerator, but usually I will give them one or two days more....a total of about five days usually does it for me.

My few cucumbers plants have produced a good crop of cucumbers  for me this year. I have been able to eat them raw almost daily plus fermenting several batches as well as pickling a few jars of bread and butter pickles for the pantry shelf.