House Hunting

Steve and I went down to Chesapeake to look for a house this last weekend. We were really hoping to get a newly built house. Well...that's not going to happen. Every single place we looked at had something really, really wrong with it. One was in a swamp (plus it wouldn't be ready in time); several were too close to the freeway; one was too close the Navy airfield where f-18 hornets circled overhead, non-stop; one was 20 feet from the railroad tracks (that one also had what appeared to be drug dealers squatting in it). After looking at all those places, and feeling a bit discouraged, Steve suggested we look at some suggested neighborhoods. Bingo! We found the Great Bridge area to be totally to our liking. We will visit again in April and hopefully find that dream-house!



"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England."

Happy Superbowl Sunday

Oh yes, and don't forget tomorrow is Groundhog's Day. I totally forgot to decorate for Groundhog's day!

Anyway, Steve and I are going to pull the couch up to the sad, tiny, 32 inch television and watch the game. Once we move to the new house we swear to get a big screen TV. With Blueray (yes!). For now I'm making pizza, half hawaiian and half sausage, 7 layer bean dip with tortilla chips, and chocolate chip cookies. It doesn't seem like much, but after all there are only 2 of us.

GO STEELERS!

Book of the Week

I highly recommend "Bel Canto" by Ann Patchett. This is an unusual story about a group of terrorists that takes a group of international businessmen and one female opera singer hostage. The story explores the relationships that develop between the individuals, hostage and terrorist alike, through the use of Gen, a Japanese translator as well  as through the language of music. I give this book a thumbs up.

A New Perspective

For those of you in the know, I have recently (today) shut down my cooking blog. I had plans for it, but... oh well. Because of this, and the limited gardening season here, I've decided to include other things on this blog to make it more interesting. You might even see a post about cooking once in a while :-)

Where I've Been

Nowhere special. Just right here. In Maryland all gardening pretty much stops in October with the planting of the bulbs and resumes when said bulbs finally emerge. I planted about fifty huge daffodils in my front yard last fall so we should have quite a show come March or so.

I did plant some Paperwhites (stinky) and some amaryllis this winter. The amaryllis are still blooming.

Blog Action Day

Or should I say Blog No Action Day, in my case anyway.

On October 15th, Bloggers everywhere got together and talked about poverty. I had nothing to say, so I said nothing. It's not that I don't care, it's just that I don't see how gardening realistically helps relieve poverty in my community. Oh, sure, "plant a row" is a nice idea, but not very workable. So, when I plant a row, and harvest said row...then what? I can't take the food to the food bank...they only accept non-perishable items. Huh! I can't give it to my neighbors because frankly I live in a neighborhood of Army officers...no poverty there.

See? Not as simple as growing extra food for the poor. Besides...I can't have a vegetable garden anyway. I suppose I could give away 2 or 3 of my tiny little tomatoes that came out of the pots on my front porch. I only got about 20 to begin with.

Gardening isn't as easy of a solution as it may first seem. You want to help relieve hunger? Make a cash donation to your local food bank. Their shelves are empty...

Ladew Topiary Gardens

Monday Steve and I took advantage of the good weather and drove up to Ladew Topiary Gardens in Monkton, MD. Ladew is 22 acres of flower and topiary gardens that the owner, Harvey Ladew, created into themed "rooms." Some of the rooms are as simple and focused as the "White Garden" with it's dazzling array of white flowers. Others are more complex, such as the "Garden of Eden" complete with an apple tree and statues of Adam and Eve.

Fortunately for us, Mr. Ladew wanted the gardens preserved after his death for everyone to enjoy. The Garden Club of America has named Ladew Topiary Gardens as "the most outstanding topiary garden in America." These gardens are among the first of their kind in the United States.

Enjoy this short glimpse into the garden...