Ironwood Farm and the Flavours of Childhood

Nova Scotia Hodge Podge

Every Wednesday, Movita goes to a pick up spot in Halifax to get the CSA box from Ironwood Farm  and she brings it out to the house. And every week, we have fun taking off the cover to discover what is inside. This week, there was a small bag of fresh basil, blueberries, a fine onion, a few new carrots, a few new potatoes, young yellow beans, an English cucumber, baby beets, a magnificent head of Bibb lettuce, two young tomatoes, and a plump, pretty eggplant.

So Wednesday night's supper was a pot of Nova Scotia hodge podge. I use Jackie Huskins' recipe - the one that Movita posted on her blog. I like it more than the less healthy one we used growing up that had a touch of salt pork. Jackie's tastes every bit as good.

Ironwood Farm

I don't know what varieties Rupert and Heather are growing on their farm at the mouth of the Avon River in Hants County, but vegetables have not tasted this good since my own dear father kept a large vegetable garden so many decades ago that it now seems like another lifetime.

I am the first one to take advantage of, and enjoy the benefits, of the global market place but while supermarkets now have fruits and vegetables available all year round that in the old days consumers only saw at certain times (or not at all!), it seems to me that we are most often getting hybrids grown more for their ability to ship well, to store well, etc. and less for real, old fashioned flavour.

So I have been enjoying chard and beet greens that are absolutely delicious and bring back memories of childhood. And carrots that are oh, so carroty!! And beans that make you wonder why you aren't eating beans every single day. The Buy Local movement has a lot of merit.

Warm baby beets with a touch of vinegar

Celebrating Socks

It is so good to be able to knit socks again. Every day I pick up the needles feels like Party Day!

There is nothing like a temporary disability to make you appreciate not only the ability to indulge in favourite pastimes but, as well, to perform even the most mundane daily tasks.
Now some people might consider sock knitting to be a pretty mundane pastime. But I find it immensely satisfying to produce something so practical and useful. And the steady rhythm of the process is relaxing.

I could not at this moment describe to anyone exactly how to do the slightly more complex German twisted cast on for a sock. But my hands remember how to do it quickly and easily - even after an absence of seven weeks - leaving my mind free to wander and solve the problems of the world (if only the rest of the world came to me for the answers!!).

Pattern: Simple K3P1
Yarn: Austermann Royal Colour
Colour: 0108
Needles: Circular - 2.25 mm

Pattern: Simple K4P2

Yarn: Fortissima Socka

Colour: 1066

Needles: Circular - 2.25 mm



My "Gee, I'm Terrific" Awards

When our youngest was a preschooler, we used to read a story book about Jason Everett Bear, a little guy whose mother constantly told him that he was terrific. He used to award himself five stars when he thought he was especially terrific, which was pretty much all the time! Needless to say, he had trouble making friends because his boasting was unbearable (!) and Jason had to learn how to dial his self praise back quite a bit.

Well, I feel that I have exhibited what, for me, has been an enormous amount of patience during my plaster cast and post cast period. I have been doing my hand and wrist exercises faithfully, three times a day, and attending physiotherapy on a regular basis.

So when we took a day trip to Mahone Bay today, I rewarded myself with two balls of sock yarn and a new necklace. Yes, I know - that was the basis on which I purchased a sunhat and a new summer purse not that long ago but, listen, I am in a lot of pain doing those exercises and this wrist isn't the prettiest thing to ever hang at the end of an arm. In fact, it is a downright ugly and, like Jason, I feel I deserve rewards on an ongoing basis.

These balls of Royal Color Austermann sock yarn in colorway 0108 were a great find. The gals at Have A Yarn in Mahone Bay always do up swatches so you can see how the yarn knits up and I fell in love as soon as Karen pointed the swatch out to me.

And, yes, Hallelujah, I am knitting again! I call this photo The New Knitting because I don't allow myself any knitting time until I have completed a set of hand and wrist exercises (including the use of one and two pound weights). I can only manage about five rounds on a sock at a time. The fingers go numb and the hand aches. But it is a start and I never imagined I would be so grateful to be able to do so little!

It was too hot to take Nora with us today and leave her in the car while we had lunch so, being a One Year Old now, she stayed at home all by herself . Today was the longest we have ever left her and she coped beautifully. Such a good girl!

And here's the necklace. I found it in a little shop selling hand made jewelry on the main street. They had to shorten it by about 2.5 inches as most necklaces are too long for my rather short body.

Beautiful Nora's Birthday

Nora is one year old today and what a year it has been! Training courses and dock diving, beach walks, Christmas with Luke, and woodland treks.

Happy Birthday,  Nora Theodora!

Cast Off!

 

Now,  how I wish "cast off" referred to a knitting project. Alas, it is an indication that the first phase of fracture recovery is over and the second - equally difficult phase - has begun. The wrist and hand are terribly swollen. There is very little range of movement in the wrist, hand, or individual fingers. All the joints feel as though they are cemented together!

 

It is going to take a lot of physiotherapy and a tremendous amount of work on my part to regain mobility. However, being able to knit and garden and travel again are great incentives. Pain is going to continue to be a constant companion but there will surely come a day when I can ditch it for good!

 

 

In the meantime, a lovely skein of yarn - ordered BFT (before the fall!) - arrived in the mail from The Plucky Knitter. I never tire of the work horse sock yarns like Opal, Regia, etc for knitting sturdy, dependable, highly washable socks. But every once in a while, it is interesting to try a something new from an independent dyer.

 

This is Plucky Feet - a generous 425 yards of a merino/nylon blend. The colour is Morticia.

 

I am going to moan and groan and retch and perspire through the hand and wrist exercises, knowing that one day, I will finally be able to hold a knitting needle in my left hand and cast on for a pair of socks.

 

 

I treated myself to a new summer purse this weekend. I figure something pretty over my right shoulder will detract from the not so good looking left arm! I found this at the Lady Luck Boutique in the Hydrostone district of Halifax. I always have - well - good luck in finding earrings, purses, etc. there.

 

(Photo Courtesy of Wonderful Brittany Ernst)

 

Beautiful Nora, now eleven months, is doing well in her dock diving class. In a couple of weeks, her brother, Martin, is going to be diving as well so it will be fun to see the siblings together in the water.

And this week, around the garden:

 

 

Goat's Beard

 

 

The Window Boxes

 

 

Clematis Niobe coming into bloom

 

 

 

And the roses are showing off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nora Goes To The Cottage And Proves To Be A Champion Dock Diver

 

Woobie, Gracie, Emery, and Nora

 

Nora And Her Bestest Friends

 

Wet And Happy

(All photos courtesy of the brilliant Brittany Ernst)

 

Happy Day At The Cottage

 

Bombs Away!

 

 Off We Go

 

Contemplation

 

Then Action

 

Are You Guys Sure The Frisbee Landed Here?

 

 

Water Girl

Water Breezes 

Hey, I Can Sew Buttons With One Hand!

 

Well, at least I can sew large buttons with one hand - albeit in a slow and painstaking manner.

 

This cotton sweater is perfect for the summer. It has 3/4 sleeves that slide easily over my cast. The only downside to the cardigan - big pink plastic buttons that did nothing to enhance the garment. Yesterday, we were in Mahone Bay and I stopped in at Have A Yarn. I will not be able to knit for a long time but I felt that a few minutes in that lovely shop would have a restorative effect on my spirits. I was right. And I found these lovely ceramic buttons. They make all the difference in the world to the look of the sweater.

 

And we picked up a new garden bench. Even a few years ago, I would not have entertained the thought of garden furniture made with resins and other synthetic materials. However, years of scraping, sanding, and reapplying paint to wood in a humid, rainy Maritime climate have changed my mind. This bench is very attractive and, ironically, it is more comfortable than the wooden ones! As the wooden Adirondack chairs crumble, they will be replaced with chairs from this line as well.

 

I like growing fresh herbs on the deck in the summer. It is easy to step out the door and take some clippings for supper and the aroma of the herbs wafts by in the summer breeze.

I always add a flowering plant to the herb pot. This calibrachoa provides colour to the pot of sage and Mojito Mint.