An Irish Mermaid Speaks, Belatedly

 

My mermaid and I are late with this St. Patrick's Day greeting but you know how changeable mermaids are, especially an Irish merrow who I pretend is a Middle Irish murdúchann. 

Yes, she should be green but then, merrows are shape shifters so why not red?

I thought of my mermaid who sits by a beautiful shamrock plant when I read what my favorite philosopher, Alexander McCall Smith's Isabel Dalhousie, has to say about them:

"One should always listen to mermaids," said Isabel. "They address one so infrequently that anything they have to say must be important."

 

 

Even children know that a mermaid can love a human being so I'm sure that the hearts of sea-nymphs all over the world have ached for the sadness and fear in humans this past year. 

Although we are feeling more hopeful this March and are beginning to see vaccination numbers growing for this terrible illness that has plagued us, some have experienced personal loss and nearly everyone has seen their life changed in ways they never would have thought possible.

 

 

RH and I have both had our vaccinations and most of our immediate family have had their first one, something for which I give thanks every day. And yet, there are still 2 a.m. moments when a feeling of panic envelops me and I start praying with an agitated spirit.

I try to remember this quote from one of my favorite authors, Elizabeth Goudge. 

And then I say to myself that we should believe in that which we felt when we were strong and happy rather than in that which we feel when we are sick and sad. Do you not think, Judith, that one is more truly oneself in times of joy than in times of sorrow?

This is from Goudge's 1938 novel The Middle Window and I hope there is wisdom in that advice. I try not to trust these middle of the night feelings but rather remember what I know to be true. I am more myself in "times of joy than in times of sorrow." 

There have been times lately when I feel like Shirley MacLaine's character Ouiser in Steel Magnolias--"I'm not as nice as I used to be." Maybe that's true but I prefer to believe it's not. I prefer to blame it on a year of pandemic, a year of missing family, a year of not being able to go thrifting or antiquing, a year of no birthday parties, a year of no hugs...and the list could go on but does not include family members on the list of those who have died from COVID-19. So what on earth do I have to complain about? 

I think it's in those self-indulgent grumpy moments that my mermaid wants me to remember times of joy and strength and not be drug down in an undertow of fear.

She wants me to remember that Spring is nearly officially here and new growth is outside my windows.

I'm excited about that! Never before have I been so glad to see March on my Karen Adams calendar.

 

 

Don't you love that handbag? Mermaids may not need handbags but I would love one just like this. 

I'll say slán for now, dear family and friends, but remember one thing from this belated St. Patrick's Day post...

Listen to the mermaids! 

One last little known fact, Mermaids love to dance. You gotta love that!  

 

 

 

The Elegant Eight

 On January 21, a skein of eight Canada geese circled overhead and landed on the pond and then spotted the new grass growing beside RH's workshop and came to visit. 

 

I understand that when they waddled up the hill to our driveway they became a gaggle of geese, but after a few days they became The Elegant Eight to me. RH and I watched as they left every afternoon near dusk and flew back in every morning around 7 a.m. The two times of day were highlights in our small-world life.

 

Soon they were joined by other Canada geese, totaling 20, all honking for RH to put food out for them after they found the cracked corn he puts out for our resident 5 crows and ground feeding birds. (Are 5 crows enough to be classified as a murder of crows?)

 

I know you're not supposed to feed wild geese but they were here anyway, feeding on what our small birds ate so soon we were putting out chopped grapes and apples, romaine lettuce and cucumbers, and leftover oatmeal from our breakfasts.

They are often joined by a small herd of deer who cross our yard every day.

 

Yes, deer ruin some of the small trees RH planted in our front yard but aren't they beautiful?

 

Back and forth from the pond to our house the geese came throughout the following days, especially as soon as they saw RH's truck pull in the driveway. I've since read that geese are very intelligent and I can easily believe that.

One day last week, a few days before the big ice and snow storm arrived, two geese with white heads landed on the pond and came up to see what all the commotion was about at Home Hill. I think these were Blue geese.

 

A paddling of ducks flew in after them, smaller than the mallards who regularly visit. Goldeneye ducks were the only type of small wild duck I could find that look like them when I enlarged the picture and spotted all the white on their chest and sides. 

 

These small ducks flew away once this hawk landed on the bat house overlooking the pond.

 

Every evening RH and I would watch the Canada geese fly into the western sky, a melancholy but sweet sight. And then one morning, two days before the ice storm arrived in Nashville, The Elegant Eight and the other geese didn't return. Within 24 hours the pond was frozen over. RH says they probably flew to water that wasn't frozen but may come back when it thaws.

 

I hope so. I miss them. One afternoon when RH was working late I went out among them. They were a little frightening, hissing at me. I was surprised by how tall they were. 

 

I steeled myself and kept scattering frozen corn that I thawed and warmed slightly until everyone had a fair share, 20 geese swirling around me. 

At that time I didn't know that Canada geese have been known to bite or fly into your face and maybe that's what saved me, them knowing that I wasn't worried about that. Or maybe I was just lucky. 

It was an experience I'll never forget even if I never get up my nerve to get as close to them again.

And I'll always have this video that RH took one afternoon as The Elegant Eight went through their flying-away ritual. Every time I watch it my heart flutters a little as they top the far trees. 

It's only a minute long and I think you'll understand how I feel about The Elegant Eight.

 

P.S. Look who came back two days ago! The Elegant Eight and some of their friends!

 

RH saw them land on the pond and then walk to the thawed parts and hop in the water. It must have been so cold! If you look at the top of the picture above you can see another pond, two houses down from us. It's small but has a fountain that birds like.

I came into the kitchen in time to snap RH in his robe returning from feeding The Elegant Eight an apple and grapes that he quickly chopped up.

 That was a happy day for us. RH and I are so very thankful for something else also.

Last Saturday, as soon as the Music City Center opened back up for vaccinations after the snow and ice, we went back for our second Pfizer vaccination. If it hasn't been available for your age/vocation group yet, I hope it will be soon.

I knew that we might feel a little poorly (as my grandmother used to say) afterwards and had planned ahead with freezing some meals and getting caught up on things. RH had a bad headache the first night and fatigue for a couple of days. About three hours after the vaccination I felt as if I'd been struck with instant flu, aches and chills and a feverish feeling. For the next two days I took it easy and then spent another day well enough to start catching up on housework but having to make myself. The next day I was fine!

I have marked three weeks on the calendar and then, God willing, I hope to start grocery shopping myself again--may I never again complain about having to go grocery shopping! There are so many places around that I haven't been in nearly a year that I'd love to visit again. And then there's the big thing to look forward to, visiting with family as soon as it is safe to.

We were told that we need to continue wearing masks everywhere because we could still be carriers, a fact I didn't know. And our vaccination is 94% effective, so there's always that other 6% risk. Our dose is only 50% effective against some other strains of COVID so we realize that diligence is still needed.

I hope you all are well. I hope that all of you have moments in your day that bring you joy, just as The Elegant Eight have us. And I pray that this blasted pandemic will someday come to an end.

[2/28/21--look at this guy that was at our bird feeder when I opened the kitchen door this morning! He ran towards the road but looked back at me so I could snap his picture. He was handsome but I really don't want him hanging around. He looks like he's missing a leg here but I don't think he was.] 

 

 

    

My Winter 2021 Kitchen Shelves

 

It is so much fun getting to change what's on the kitchen shelves that RH and his brother built for me when we moved here to Home Hill, almost my favorite thing to do in the house.

I think a January refresh is my favorite since by then I'm more than ready to take down any Christmas items. But this year when I saw the picture I posted at the top of my blog post of December 30th, I was really ready to make a big change. I liked it the day after Thanksgiving when I put my snowmen mugs and old ornaments and a wire Christmas tree on the shelves but I cringed when I looked at what I published here the end of December.

 

Why couldn't I see that it was far too cluttered?

Now, I will never be a minimalist but when I went into my kitchen on New Year's Day 2021, even I knew that all that was just too much.

While I could never style the shelves as minimally as on the Pinterest pin I had RH copy my shelves from shown in the printed out picture below, maybe I could shop my cabinets for something I'd like better. So I took everything off the bottom shelf and washed it and RH did the same with the top shelf and I began all over.

 I found lots of white and cream colored dishes in my cupboards and tried out different arrangements for several days. I even eliminated some things from the pot rack.

 

I had some old U.S.A. cereal bowls and copied another favorite Pinterest pin, putting three on the top shelf that were too crazed for food use.

 

 The only thing I bought to change the shelves was this doily from eBay for under $10 and I think it looks pretty under the bowls, with an old platter from RH's mother behind them.

 

 

The other cereal bowls that we use all the time went on the lower shelf along with two old chop plates that we use all the time and a stack of gorgeous Italian plates shaped like some sort of spiny sea creature that I rarely use. Someday they will be passed on to family, but only to someone who has the patience to hand wash them.

 

I put my truffle pig on the shelf too because he's so cute that I never could stand to use him as a cutting board.

An old blue bowl went on the top shelf in front of a special platter that I bought for my mother one day in Blowing Rock, North Carolina when she picked it up and said she needed a pretty platter.

 

It's Royal Doulton's Countess pattern and later on in life my mother returned it to me when her hostessing large family parties had ended. I know there will come a day when I'll be doing the same thing with this platter and so many other pieces of favorite china.

I'm enjoying this new lighter look in my kitchen and it led to me going through my cupboards and deciding there were lots of things I no longer needed. It was fun to have a grandson say that he wanted all my drip-edge brownware McCoy and come by for them and I can see that there will be more favorite things to pass on in the future. 

I'm in a rare decluttering mood this winter. 

Are you?

 

 

Even an outbuilding should be pretty, right?

 

 

Back in April I showed you two Pinterest pictures that I'd given RH when he started building his new carport and workshop. If it was going to take up so much visual space viewed from my kitchen window then it needed to be pretty, and I taped the picture below up on a kitchen cupboard to show him the kind of scalloped trim I wanted put on the front.

 

 And he and his brother did it! Doesn't it make a big difference?

The second Pinterest picture I showed him was to remind him that I wanted wide trim on the windows and doors and a big green enamel barn light fixture.

We found the green barn light at Overstock and RH was careful to put wide trim on all the doors and windows. 

Nancy from Joyful Cottage told me that the Swedish Red that I wanted for the paint was actually Falu Red and expensive but that Benjamin Moore's Heritage Red was a good match. 

We had it all professionally painted. RH loves building projects but hates painting. We chose Benjamin Moore's Heritage Red and Simply White for the trim, and Behr's Eastern Bamboo for the doors. The roof is Timberline green dimensional shingles. The building is made of Hardie board. [The neighbor behind the building is the one who shares all his garden bounty with us in the summer.]

Inside the workshop the walls have been insulated and installed but when a friend gets time in his schedule he'll help RH drywall the ceiling. 

And there are cabinets and worktables to be built but eventually it will become a true workshop. Work goes slow but it is getting done. And we have space in it for a second fridge!

This next picture shows part of the old small three-bay barn that is the only storage RH has here as there was no garage or basement. The two outer bays really need to be torn down but we want to save the taller middle part. 

There's enough work to be done for a long time but at least now we have a covered place to park our vehicles and a guy place to escape from the house for all his projects.

 

One reason I was drawn to Swedish Red houses is that under the vinyl siding of our 1935 cottage is red clapboard! Wouldn't restoring that be a good project for RH to tackle next? 

I hear him saying "What?" I don't think it's going to happen but at least my wish came true, the one where I asked him--"If we have to have a building stuck out behind the garden can't it at least be pretty?"

 If I told you how old RH is he would kill me but take my word for it, that this man and his older brother have built this still amazes me. He does not know the meaning of retirement. In short, he is a keeper!

Everyone who left a comment on my previous post was so sweet that I realized how much I missed them and decided to try to keep comments open here. I'll do my best not to get behind and drop out again. I mean, you simply are the nicest people, whether you ever comment or not. Thank you!

 

Short Post, Must Read Book

 

The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly completely captivated me! 

Multi-layered books can sometimes be too confusing to bother with but Kelly handles it expertly.

Three women, three time periods, one garden in England. It ticked off so many of my boxes.  

I had forgotten that I had pre-ordered this book so can't remember who recommended it. I'm opening up comments on this post so that you can tell me if it was you, or if you've read it or want to read it. 

Not every book is for every reader, but that being said, don't miss this one if you love novels centered around gardens. I know I've read a few great ones like that in the past but cannot remember the names now. Perhaps you can?

 

 Julia Kelly's The Last Garden in England is sitting on my wannabe plant table. My firstborn gave me the orchid four years ago and it's kept company by three jars of paperwhites that replaced the first group that bloomed for Christmas. It's my first year to plant them on top of broken pieces of clay pots instead of river rock or gravel and I love the look of it. No gin or vodka for mine as that seems to turn the roots ugly. 

There you are, a short post from me! I could have left off all the last lines about my plants too but old habits die hard, as Benjamin Franklin said. I just looked that up. 

 

Taking Stock and Chicken Stock

 

After being unable to navigate the new PicMonkey photo editor that began January first, I kept putting off my first 2021 post here at the Window.

Instead I jumped into 2021 wanting to pack away all my Christmas stuff, strange for me, and even stranger, I had a huge desire to declutter and simplify. After leaving behind and getting rid of so much stuff when we moved to Florida in 2016 and then back again nine months later, I think I was too shell-shocked to let go of anything more.

But I woke up January 2, 2021 ready for change and started in my kitchen, filling boxes of stuff to give away or donate. And then just as I was thinking about posting again, on January 6th I watched television in horror as our beloved Capitol Building was invaded and police attacked. The thought of more that could have happened has given me nightmares.  After what our country has been through lately, anything as trivial as blogging fled my mind.

I admit here that this has hit me hard. I haven't been able to keep from watching hour after hour of the news this past week. I hope that those responsible for what happened will be brought to justice, the violence in our country stopped, and that a peaceful inauguration will take place on Wednesday.

I finally felt drawn back to the blogging world and yesterday figured out the BeFunky photo editing that blog friends told me about. Actually I just put myself in the site's automatic editing hand for now until I have time and patience to try out doing it manually. And what important subject do I tackle for my first blog post here of 2021? 

The subject of chicken stock, what else?

While I've made my own chicken stock for years because it's so much richer and better than store-bought stock, I first began making it many years ago simply because we were broke, work dried up in our family business during the first Gulf war. I began saving all chicken bone scraps in the freezer for that purpose, something I don't remember even my frugal mother doing. 

I still do that even though I now keep organic chicken bone broth sold at Costco in my pantry too for backup as cooking for two just doesn't often produce the amount of carcass and bones needed for a large pot of stock.

Our New Year's Day roast chicken produced enough scraps and bones and drippings for two large jars of stock and the small jar shown below. See how rich it looks!

I used it this week to cook a bag of the fresh purple hull peas we froze last summer, using saffron in it to make my favorite peas.

Now I know that the Barefoot Contessa's recipe for roasted chicken is popular, but I remain faithful to Pat Conroy's recipe in his The Pat Conroy Cookbook.

 

 Basically, his recipe says to first heat 1/2 stick unsalted butter and 1/4 cup olive oil together till foamy, about 3 minutes. Then you fill cavity of bird with 1 peeled shallot, 2 garlic cloves peeled and mashed, sprigs of fresh thyme and rosemary, and a teaspoon of black peppercorns.

Then rub the chicken with 1/2 lemon and put it into cavity. Put other lemon half in pan along with extra cloves of garlic. Then baste bird with the butter/olive oil mix.

Dust with paprika, salt and freshly ground pepper and add bacon strips over top of chicken.

Roast at 375 degrees F. for 1 hour or more, wiggling legs, checking for temperature of 170 degrees F. in thigh.

Don't do as I did on New Year's Day! Don't forget about the chicken! 

 I have to say that it was delicious anyway, especially after dabbing on Conroy's Grainy Mustard Sauce that goes with the chicken. 

You combine 1/2 cup dry Vermouth (I don't keep Vermouth so substitute dry Sherry) with 1 cup chicken stock in saucepan over moderately high heat till reduced by half.

Whisk in 1/4 cup grainy Dijon mustard and reduce the heat, simmering until slightly thickened, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Add 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh tarragon (cold weather got mine so I used a teaspoon of dried tarragon) and 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme (I keep a pot of this going in my kitchen window year round), add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

It's excellent sauce!

 With the chicken, New Year's Day tradition called for Gourmet magazine's collard greens in my largest pot.

Which wilts down a lot but still makes a mess of greens.

And black-eyed peas, soaked the night before, and some of my hot hot hot sauce on both the peas and greens.

For a starchy side I fixed Lee Bailey's orzo with onions sautéed in butter and oil-cured black olives.

 

By the way, the chicken stock this all begins with depends on what's in my produce bin but mostly contains the chicken carcass and bones and drippings along with onions and garlic, washed but not peeled, celery stalks, and a few carrots wshed and cut, and fresh herbs (I save herb stems in the freezer for this too), plus a tablespoon of herbs de Provence, 4 bay leaves, a dozen whole cloves, and 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, and water to cover (I use distilled water for the clearest broth!). The herbs should have gone underneath the chicken carcass but I forgot.

 And never stir the stock! But do skim off the scum.

And that gives you some mighty fine broth!

I feel kind of foolish posting a recipe like this since most of you already have your favorite stock recipes. It's kind of like all the young YouTubers who do beautiful vlogs teaching how to do the simplest recipes you'd think everyone already knows. But even so, I love watching their channels and they do often teach this old dog some new tricks and inspire me with their enthusiasm and beautiful work. I admit that I've become a huge YouTube fan of so many of these young women. 

But I do wish they wouldn't twist their biscuit cutter when making biscuits, a big no-no, and that they wouldn't use a garlic press without first cutting out the germ inside. Even when it hasn't turned green it still has an objectionable taste and chefs from the 1960s taught me better than that.

But do I ever leave negative comments on those subjects for them? Not on your life! It amazes me that people do that. I cannot understand the thumbs down clicks on vlogs either. I mean, why not just unsubscribe if you don't like their channel? At least these people are brave enough to have their own channels, so more power to them.

Sorry for my first and probably only rant of 2021. I wanted to start this year off feeling washed clean.

But my rant is meant to be in support of anyone with the gumption to vlog about their personal home life without other women putting them down. 

Please excuse the length of this post! I'll work on my others being shorter, most of the time. And anyhow, you always have the option to exit. Which reminds me that I want to thank you for still visiting here. 

You're so very nice to still do that! 

I see a red light telling me my laptop is about to go dead so am publishing this without proofreading. I'll probably catch mistakes in the next few days and fix them. What, doesn't everyone correct their posts days after they're published?