For those who live under a rock, the Central PA Arts Fest was held this week. It's a time when Centre County is inexplicably overrun with bands, kids activities (like the community mural in this shot -- AWESOME!), artists, and so on. Good stuff.
Friday I squandered my lunch hour on a ramble through the gajillion arts booths, appreciating everything from purses to carnival food (yum!) to paintings and metal work.
Next year I hope I'll have a little more time to linger.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Gardening in PA
You know what I love about this state as opposed to my old state?
I love the end-of-season/hot weather sales, which occur when it's about to get vaguely hot for a few weeks. Don't get me wrong -- it does get hot. But it's also windy, so it doesn't feel that hot, and the heat only lasts a month or so rather than the ALL ETERNITY that it feels like in Georgia. So, in Georgia I buy plants at heat wave sales and the chances of them surviving are pretty remote. In Pennsylvania I buy them and their chances are upwards of 75%.
Or anyway, that's what I told myself yesterday. I was able to buy eight gallon-sized foxgloves and eight large square-potted echinacea purpurea plants. Grant broke the clay soil, mixed it in with potting soil, and extended the existing beds about 6 feet for the echinacea last night -- he's planting the foxgloves today.
I love the end-of-season/hot weather sales, which occur when it's about to get vaguely hot for a few weeks. Don't get me wrong -- it does get hot. But it's also windy, so it doesn't feel that hot, and the heat only lasts a month or so rather than the ALL ETERNITY that it feels like in Georgia. So, in Georgia I buy plants at heat wave sales and the chances of them surviving are pretty remote. In Pennsylvania I buy them and their chances are upwards of 75%.
Or anyway, that's what I told myself yesterday. I was able to buy eight gallon-sized foxgloves and eight large square-potted echinacea purpurea plants. Grant broke the clay soil, mixed it in with potting soil, and extended the existing beds about 6 feet for the echinacea last night -- he's planting the foxgloves today.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Spinach, Mushroom, and Miso Soup
I'm doing this food study/diet, which involves me eating a lot of veggies and a lot of nonfat dairy. Here's the recipe for the above, which was pretty awesome and incorporated lots of fresh herbs from the back yard:
1 c. spinach
1 c. mushrooms
1 c. broth
minced garlic -- to taste. I had about the equivalent of 2 cloves
1 c. milk
1 c. spinach
1 c. mushrooms
1 c. broth
minced garlic -- to taste. I had about the equivalent of 2 cloves
1 c. milk
1 tsp. miso
1 cube bouillon
thyme, basil, parsley
salt & pepper to taste
Oh, and did I mention I don't have a stove? You could make this like normal people do, but my instructions are for a microwave.
1. Chop spinach, mushrooms, herbs, and garlic -- cover with broth in a microwave-safe bowl and wrap in plastic. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, watching and adjusting once the mixture is simmering.
2. Take mixture, add 1 c. milk and remaining inredients, and use a blender to puree to taste (I pureed all of it 'cause I like it thick).
3. Salt & pepper to taste -- enjoy!
thyme, basil, parsley
salt & pepper to taste
Oh, and did I mention I don't have a stove? You could make this like normal people do, but my instructions are for a microwave.
1. Chop spinach, mushrooms, herbs, and garlic -- cover with broth in a microwave-safe bowl and wrap in plastic. Microwave on high for 10 minutes, watching and adjusting once the mixture is simmering.
2. Take mixture, add 1 c. milk and remaining inredients, and use a blender to puree to taste (I pureed all of it 'cause I like it thick).
3. Salt & pepper to taste -- enjoy!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Another Busy Day...
Lately I've been neglecting the blog a little. But that's because we've been extremely busy with the business of daily life.
Some new things we've been doing:
1. Fishing at McCoy's access. This is where the photo was taken, and it's about halfway between Bellefonte and Milesburg. A few years ago the Clear Water Conservancy removed the dam and restored the stream bed. The result is very good fishing, but for someone like myself who mostly just supports other people in fishing it's a great spot for reading and watching the sun set.
2. Planting stuff -- the Patchwork Farm tent at the Nittany Mall is closing shortly for the season, so everything is very economical. And, luckily, the plants I failed to raise from seed are among those on sale ! So, today we're planting foxglove and echinacea.
3. Harvesting stuff: growing in PA is a lot easier than growing in GA, probably because everything isn't getting dessicated by arid conditions mid-summer. Technically temps aren't far apart, but the wind in PA keeps the misery at a minimum. Currently we're just beginning to enjoy blueberries, strawberries, and hungarian wax peppers. We expect to be enjoying jalapenos and tomatoes soon, too.
Some new things we've been doing:
1. Fishing at McCoy's access. This is where the photo was taken, and it's about halfway between Bellefonte and Milesburg. A few years ago the Clear Water Conservancy removed the dam and restored the stream bed. The result is very good fishing, but for someone like myself who mostly just supports other people in fishing it's a great spot for reading and watching the sun set.
2. Planting stuff -- the Patchwork Farm tent at the Nittany Mall is closing shortly for the season, so everything is very economical. And, luckily, the plants I failed to raise from seed are among those on sale ! So, today we're planting foxglove and echinacea.
3. Harvesting stuff: growing in PA is a lot easier than growing in GA, probably because everything isn't getting dessicated by arid conditions mid-summer. Technically temps aren't far apart, but the wind in PA keeps the misery at a minimum. Currently we're just beginning to enjoy blueberries, strawberries, and hungarian wax peppers. We expect to be enjoying jalapenos and tomatoes soon, too.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Reclaiming the Hell Strip and More
Whew. Let's see...
I had this great idea. I thought "hey, I'll pull up the slate in my hell strip and have a hell strip that's all cool like the one I linked here a few weeks ago. No biggie." Except it IS a biggie. It is a very biggie. The slate varies from 1' X1' to 4' X 3'. I had to have Chris's help. And Chris couldn't really do it easily, either.
So we pulled it all out. We put in 25 bags of topsoil, peat humus, and composted manure. And we planted and mulched. And I don't even have anything really awesome to show you guys for all of my work, either. Except a plant list and stuff. And this photo, which is of just some of the slate that we pulled out of two 6'X6' beds.
So...I'll put in some photos later. Meanwhile, here's what I planted where the slate used to be:
I also tidied beds out back and planted three varieties of blueberry, some rescue strawberries, and hellebores from my old yard. Then I mulched like nobody's business and now I'm in the public library looking like a vagrant and typing about it to you guys.
(Oh, did I mention I don't have internet at my house right now? Comcast is a sad, sad company with really poor customer service.)
I had this great idea. I thought "hey, I'll pull up the slate in my hell strip and have a hell strip that's all cool like the one I linked here a few weeks ago. No biggie." Except it IS a biggie. It is a very biggie. The slate varies from 1' X1' to 4' X 3'. I had to have Chris's help. And Chris couldn't really do it easily, either.
So we pulled it all out. We put in 25 bags of topsoil, peat humus, and composted manure. And we planted and mulched. And I don't even have anything really awesome to show you guys for all of my work, either. Except a plant list and stuff. And this photo, which is of just some of the slate that we pulled out of two 6'X6' beds.
So...I'll put in some photos later. Meanwhile, here's what I planted where the slate used to be:
- Red tulips
- creme daffodils, yellow daffodils, and "old fashioned" daffodils from my Georgia neighbor's yard.
- blue flag iris from my old yard
- "Homestead" verbena -- scored from the rescue pile at Lowe's -- 18 plants, 17 in tiptop shape, for $3.
- "Champagne Bubbles" poppies
- "Blue Spruce" sedum
- "Bee Balm," a.k.a. Monarda didyma.
I also tidied beds out back and planted three varieties of blueberry, some rescue strawberries, and hellebores from my old yard. Then I mulched like nobody's business and now I'm in the public library looking like a vagrant and typing about it to you guys.
(Oh, did I mention I don't have internet at my house right now? Comcast is a sad, sad company with really poor customer service.)
Monday, May 10, 2010
Curtin Village
Hold My Calls
Originally uploaded by Athens Nikita
We lead lucky lives, most of the time. So, Saturday our plans were derailed by a bachelor party for a guy we don't know. Don't get me wrong -- he's an awesome guy. We're friendy now. But we didn't know him as of 2 p.m. on Saturday and by 7 p.m. we were at his post-bachelor hangout. Turns out one of his groomsmen is an old friends of my husband's and some other friends' and the mother-of-the-bride, who is a neighbor we hadn't met yet, connected the dots.
Anyway, the bride suggested a fishing spot to Chris. Chris really wants to fish, since we live in the fishing capital of Pennsylvania. I really want to be supportive, and spend some quality time exploring architecture.
Enter Curtin Village.
Chris got to fish in the gorgeous and tranquil Bald Eagle Creek, while I walked around and photographed darn near all of the Curtin Village historic ironworks. This site is really underrated, I think -- I'm used to historic sites that are sort of limping along, but this one is in pristine condition and open a surprisingly large amount of time during the summer.
Anyway, I played with my macro settings, goofed around with color saturation (since the sky was mostly a really lurid blue), and even tried a little action photography. It was a great way to spend an afternoon.
The photo stream at the bottom chronicles our adventures. Enjoy!
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