The highest priorities

I'm definitely having to prioritize this holiday season.  Not only am I trying to do the regular holiday stuff, but I also had to re-plant the garden.  Decisions have had to be made about what gets done and what does not.  Rob and I always pick one Saturday to go shopping together and we knock out all our shopping in a go. We've already picked up all the things we need and these trips are for things we find and decide we want.  It's always fun and we shop at places where you never know what you're going to find, which adds to the excitement.  

I found a piece of fabric to bind the hand quilted Christmas quilt.  I wanted a red binding but could not find that shade of red, so settled for a gold/beige that will look nice.  I got the binding made and am hand sewing it to the quilt.  I had to mark the straight line on the quilt and also mark my 1/4" stitching line on the binding.  I'll get there, but like everything done by hand, it takes a while.  

Most of the week was spent studying plants.  I made a list of most of the plants in the garden and started learning about where they'd be the happiest.  A few that weren't dug up for the fence got moved, plus everything I'd already dug up and was trying to get back in the ground before it gets cold.  As I learned, I started moving pots to new locations and figuring out how much space each was going to need and I slowly filled in around them with smaller eye catchers that will grow in most conditions.  I still have a few evergreen structural plants, like liriope and cast iron plant (aspidistra) that I'll use to fill in some spaces at the end.  I also have some specimens that I intend to leave in pots so I can try to show them off a little.  I have plenty of brick to build some small pillars to display special plants on.  

Since I started gardening in this yard, it's been mostly shady.  But next year, there's going to be very little shade so I had to create a bit of a shady spot for some shade loving plants.  We'll see how it goes.  It's the only spot in the yard where I stand a chance of creating any shade.

Anyway, everything I've moved seems to be doing well.  A nurseryman acquaintance of our family when I was a kid said you can transplant anything, anytime if you give it enough water, so I've been watering the heck out of everything and it seems to be paying off.  

Still lots of cleaning up to do, but I'll get there.  I'm going to be decreasing my surplus of violets and using them for a more specific purpose and not letting them spread like ground cover.  Once those root balls get established, they're the devil to get out.  I plan to use violets as a border along the stone pathway.  I'll focus on that when I pull up the stones and rebuild that pathway.  That's definitely winter work, but I have to do it before it starts to rain in March and the garden turns to a large clay pit that tries to steal my shoes.  

We had a slight freeze Saturday night, so the firebush started to turn purple.  It will turn purple/red and be beautiful for a while, then all the leaves will fall off and it will die to the ground.  With all the sun the yard will get next year, this will get big as a house.  

I also did some baking.  My mom mentioned making tea cakes (a sort of sugar cookie from my childhood) while I was there and while we didn't make them, it got me thinking, so I made a batch of Aunt Ruby's tea cakes.  I couldn't remember the whole oil the bottom of a glass and press the cookies.  I couldn't get them to not stick to the glass and finally gave up and mashed them with a fork like peanut butter cookies.  If I'd made them with my Mom, she could have shown me again how that works on this particular recipe.  No matter, they're delicious!!

And, I finally made poor Rob that apple pie that I promised him the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We hate a soggy pie bottom so I studied par baking the bottom crust and tried it on this pie.  I can share that as of last night (day 2), the pie bottom was still flaky and firm, so I'll be doing that going forward.  Around the edge of the pan, I pinched the bottom crust at the edge and then lined it with parchment and filled it with pie weights and beans.  That kept it from sinking into the plate and when it was partially baked, I loaded it with the sliced apples and a top crust.  I also did some things to reduce the amount of liquid that would cook out of the apples and that affected flavor a little bit, but I can do that better next time.  

This neighbor always does a big display at the holidays.  He has a whole set of "when pigs fly" Christmas decorations and this year, he expanded to a full set of Star Wars Christmas inflatables.  It was so cute that I had to share it.  

I also wanted to mention the passing of Anne Rice, author of so many books that kept the hell scared out of me when I was younger.  I still love her books and re-read my favorites every so often.  I think I'll have to try something from her that I haven't read, as a memoriam to a great author that played a predominant part in my younger years and gave me and my friends so much to talk about.  

Everybody have a great week!  Remember to relax.  Holidays are marathons, not sprints and you need to take care of yourself, especially if it feels like you don't have time for that (the more it feels like you don't have time for it, the more you need it!)

Lane