La Table De Nana: Here,there,and everywhere.Love that song.Those Beatles.

Monday, August 21, 2023

Here,there,and everywhere.Love that song.Those Beatles.

The days are getting shorter ,the light is definitely different.

We ..J ..Has found a solution for grass..don't grow grass ...grow clover.

The past couple of yrs.. because of water restrictions..our grass has suffered.And that's J's thing..and I like the canvas it makes for the gardens here and there.So most of our non grass:) now..is clover.Requires very little water.. needs less cutting..looks brown early Spring but it catches up.I do attribute the green green grass of home to the immeasurable amount of rain we have had this summer.An extremely dry parchment Spring..a wet summer..Time will tell but so far clover is our answer.

Anyone want quack grass? Goutweed ? I have that too.I HATE IT.

The gardens are waning..these are 3 of my back gardens..

I've bummed my elbow and am not looking forward to putting it all to bed come Oct.:(

Home sweet home though.We love being home.I mean..book me in Provence for Sept by means of a direct flight leaving at 2.PM returning same time and maybe:) But with J.A little car there for us.. a small home away from home there..Perhaps.:):):) Just a little dream..we're going nowhere.So glad we did when we did.

I had a nice outing with a friend..that cute place you see there..going back soon:)

Made madeleines..GOSH those things I love.

Made J's mom's super sweet ketchup.Been making it for 50 yrs skipping some yrs..bit the bullet.

I love..

Cosmos...seed grown ,a gift from a friend.I'll harvest seeds for next yr.

Marigolds.. seeds from last yr,,started saving

Zinnias..will save ..all last yrs seeds except for Oklahoma Salmon ..I fell in love with and Queen Red Lime..the rest seeds from here.

Next yr..

I've ordered Strawflower seeds..will try next yr.

The series..The Lost Flowers Of Alice Hart inspired me.

I will plants gomphrena and may try a few dahlias..although the latter is scary for me lol.Verbena Bonariensis too..next yr:)

Will start Bumblebee cherry tomatoes indoors I did not find at the nursery..I missed them this year.

Tomatoes were ok..but the leaves etc..all mold..all ugly..all the time.

I planted pumpkins..not one..I sowed swiss chard as soon as it was up..EATEN

Will NOT plant Shiso (perilla) It was a hard start and eaten and I had to cover and baby only to discover I just am not fond of the taste.

I will give Fred one of my Sorrels.. They are huge and a good perennial although beetle food too.

Made a lot of tomato things and froze..salsa ,sauces..

made all kinds of basil things..pesto..just basil and evoo a neat trick..Nutribullet then put in baggies..flatten and freeze..you don't always want pesto..

We had dinner at one of our daughter's a while ago..

I saw oysters..I said :Oh Im not sure.. my daughter said wait..

These are my son-in-laws Oysters Rockefeller.

A DREAM.

Baked..I won't show you my plate once done..PILED.

He really is a chef extraordinaire..Not his profession..but he could be.

Speaking of which The BEAR..OH my this season from episode 6..FANTASTIC.

This Pierrot was sent to me 100 yrs ago from a creative genius..

You know.. some internet friends stay with you FOREVER and a day.

I still correspond.. but not nearly enough..

Just to say..

I lost a dear blogging friend/ creative genius lately.She had been absent from blogging..IG..

and I worried.

Her darling daughter sent me a DM to tell me the sad news.

As we age..it happens and it is always sad.

We remember all the sharing.. all the kindness..all the keeping company.

Photo courtesy of the web..not mine.

This is the inspo for growing strawflowers next yr.

PS so GREAT to see S Weaver NOT looking like a Kardashian;)

PS..WORST ENDING EVER

27 comments:

PamAugust 22, 2023 at 7:10 AM
I have become an advocate of clover, too (the compact kind with little white flowers). My son kept telling me to plant as near to clover as possible, because the clover builds up the fertility of the soil. Well, I liked my old-fashioned garden--you know, nice, weedless paths between rows of plants. But since we moved to the land of rock-hard clay, I decided to listen to my son and experiment. I grew some cucumbers butted up next to clover, and some with no plants around them. I cannot believe the difference. The plants near the clover have produced more than twice as many cukes and they taste better--really! Who knew???

You said your gardens are waning, but I think they are lovely. It's interesting to watch how the plants and trees change through the seasons. We are in the middle of a week-long heat wave, but then, maybe we will cool down.

You have been busy putting up your garden treasures. This winter, when the snow flies, you'll open up the jars of sauce and revisit summer's goodness.

I'm definitely growing cosmos next year. I've never tried strawflowers, but they are so colorful. It will be fun for you to experiment.

Take care, and enjoy the end of summer, Monique.
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GaAugust 22, 2023 at 7:29 AM
Good morning Monique. You have been busy as usual with all the things you love. Your photographs are so good! I feel as if I could pluck a cosmos, eat a Madeline, open a jar of tomato sauce, and finally take a walk in your lovely garden. Yes, summer is drawing to an end. I do hope for an Indian summer and I really do enjoy fall. My geraniums are going gang busters so I am in no hurry to replace them with mums. Spent the weekend in Chicago with my family.It was my birthday so we lived it up! Went to the Art Institute and viewed the Van Gogh, Seurat, Signac, Bernard, and Angrand exhibit. I wanted to expose the boys to an art museum. They may have been a bit young. They like the gift shop!!! Sunday we were off to ride the ferris wheel on Navy Pier which offers spectacular views of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Such a happy time and always a bit hard to come back to reality. My reality is good these days so I have nothing to grumble about. I do understand your dreams of Provence. Never say never. Perhaps one day they will come true again. Have a good week.
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KathyPAugust 22, 2023 at 8:34 AM
Hi Monique, the madeleines look scrumptious! By any chance do you have a link for the recipe?
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AnonymousAugust 22, 2023 at 10:21 AM
Your gardens are gorgeous! Here in central Texas we have had no rain, so our fields are brown and the grass around the house is struggling, even with being watered. We’ve had a summer of 100 plus temps….punishing for growing things. So I read your lucious blog entries and dream!!!!! Carol in Texas
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racheldAugust 22, 2023 at 11:13 AM
Oh, the watercolor-tipped cosmos, still wet with your brush, and the queue de tigre Madeleines, the sweet sweet Ketchup recipe from your BeauMere, and that sweep of garden---simply too much to behold or to HOLD. You said you love the earth on your fingers, the soil in your hands, and this green Eden out your back door is verdant testimony to your labors. Especially that tall stand of trees and shrubs which could hide pathways to Anywhere, and harbor the most exotic beasts and birds in their silent gatherings---who knows what larks, what hummingbirds, what tropical or cold-lands or savannah creatures you neighbor with. Your exquisite cosmos nudged a line from a long-ago midnight-scribbled poem about a Fairy Clothesline: "The purples, royals, and the pinks, of dahlia’s tears and lovers’ inks,
In dyepots stirred with spell-whirled spoons, and hung to dry beneath Milk moons. "

And those sweet jars of Ketchup from a recipe of your BeauMere---I can feel the hot kitchen from here, and smell the fruits and spices---my own Mammaw was "one to mix flavors" herself, and did not shrink from combining odd-to-the-neighbors wonderful amalgams of peaches and peppers, or onions and pears---her "Pear Honey" was a clear-syrup spoonful of tiny ground bits of pinkish pear and dozens of the wide-shouldered onions she cultivated carefully with spoon-scraped dirt removed from the tops til the grown four-and-five inch beauties were totally above-ground at gathering-time, save for the roots. She made jellies, stirring the odd-shaped "maul" into the chinois to separate skin and seed; her Gold Plum jelly was a golden jar that you could read through, when she finished with all those thumb-sized plums from that secret little copse miles away at the Homeplace. Sweet Pickled Peaches gleamed in the jar, slip-skinned Elbertas hand-turned in the jar til the one-clove in each showed in symmetry to the rest before the bubble of the bain, and if the concoction had onions in it, it was a Conserve---singular, always, as opposed to the single-fruit "Preserves" (though the pears sometimes did benefit from a can or two of Dole crushed pineapple, or a paper-thin sliced lemon). And the big step-up shed out by the cow-lot was called the Fruit House forever, for its shining ranks of gleaming, colorful jars, though there might be chairs, old newspapers, a handmade cradle and my favorite---a twin-sized mattress from the 1870's when her two Uncles back in the Hills had an upholstery business that made-to-order furniture and pillows. That was where I retreated with a book on a rainy day, when I wasn't in the front porch swing under a quilt, feeling an errant drop splash upon the page every now and then, and feeling a sense of comfort and home that was so elusive anywhere else, and that I've tried to replicate all my home-keeping life for everybody I love.

Such a flood of memories you've kindled today---this day of great heat outside for the first memory this Summer---like March going out like a hot-breathed lion, I suppose. Birthdays abound this month, and I'll turn a page later, with scarce a thought to the years. What a lovely post this is, and how I love being your neighbor and sharing in your lovely life and doings. Your abundance laves us all in some alchemy of plant and picture, and we're all grateful.
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JaneAugust 22, 2023 at 11:28 AM
Oh how I adore Oysters Rockefeller and Clams Casino. When we would open the cottage in late April - before our son was born - it was always a bottle of champagne and oysters on the deck. The ice was still visible in places. Started off all wrapped up and then the sun would become so hot you would get a sunburn. Wonderful memories. A lifetime ago
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Linda @ Life and LindaAugust 22, 2023 at 7:12 PM
Such a beautiful post. The cosmos are so pretty. Your gardens are so lovely. I would welcome a good summer rain. The sweet ketchup sounds wonderful. It reminds me of the days when my children were young and I would can up a storm. In my little cabin, I actually had a walk-in pantry, something I don't have in this house. I need to bake some madeleines with my new pan. So glad yo got to visit with a friend in that charming coffee house. I am watching the Lost flowers of Alice Hart.
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ArleneAugust 22, 2023 at 7:46 PM
I'm so sorry your friend has passed. I am missing 3 now. So sad and will only get worse as we grow older.
I did straw flowers last summer. I wasn't happy after all. Zinnias from seed this year was (and still is) so rewarding. I will add many more next year. I will try cosmos seeds too. I also did nasturtiums. One pot is lovely and I have it nested next to a mandevilla and vinca. A very nice corner of my deck.
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SavoringTime in the KitchenAugust 23, 2023 at 6:04 PM
Your gardens really do look lush in your photos! You would never know much of it is clover. Everything is beautifully green! The cosmos really are gorgeous. Mine get so tall looking for sun that they flop over. I need sturdier stalks here. I do love Oysters Rockefellar! No raw oysters for me either! Isn't it great having SILs that are grear cooks!? Gorgeous Madeleines! Thank for sharing the links and tips! I would love to visit that charming coffee shop! The grounds look beautiful. What a labor of love to create your MIL's ketchup recipe. I'll bet with wonderful with pommes frites! My tomatoes are ripening all at once! I get to get to work! We lost a true one-of-a-kind. Very sad.
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JeanieAugust 23, 2023 at 9:09 PM
It's so sad when one of our online friends dies. We develop such rich relationships with people we've never met and their loss is a big one. I love the photos -- all of them. You have such a gift for that. The blooms are amazing. I didn't plant cosmos this year and wish I did. Zinnias are a favorite. Your time with your friend in that lovely spot sounds divine and so are those madeleines. I've never done with chocolate before. I like the half-and-half. And I love seeing your vintage recipe from J's mom. Oh, and your Pierrot -- enchanting.
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Mountain BreathsAugust 24, 2023 at 4:48 PM
I just knew they were Oyster Rockefellers....Joe loves them, and I have tried his. We only order them at our favorite restaurants, and they are exceptional. I hope the strawflowers do well for you. They are my favorite at the farm, and we get to pick bouquets each time we pick up our veggie box. I use them in the winter to garnish salads since the farm is organic. Your cosmos are so pretty....I have the basic pink ones. Gorgeous Madeleines, I have a Dorie Greenspan recipe for Black and White Madeleines which may be similar to the one you used. We have a lot of clover on our lawn, and I never really thought about it until you mentioned it.
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AnonymousAugust 25, 2023 at 2:22 AM
Those huitres!! Though I usually prefer mine au naturel 🤔 Tentation !
And the marble mads 👍❤️
XxxParisbreakfast
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