33rd Anniversary Cake

A little while back I watched an episode of “Begin Japanology” that talked about their confectionery. I discovered they have a take on strawberry shortcake(which I already like) that uses sponge cake instead of biscuit layers. They looked SO good!

My mother liked the idea of me making a desert for their wedding anniversary—so I made a couple of layers of hot milk sponge cake, layered sweetened whipped cream and sliced strawberries in the middle, frosted the outside with said whipped cream and (obviously) topped with more strawberries.

The combination was heavenly. It didn’t last 48 hours. Thanks to cousin Jonathan for taking pics since I didn’t have my camera on me. :)

From My Bulb Patches

Belated pics

Bulb Salad #2

Look closely.

Things are peaking out all over now—in both bulb patches,


And all over the yard—tiny violet leaves, tiny lilac buds, tiny rhubarb leaves… I am looking forward to making rhubarb desserts. :)

Sigh. I keep envisioning a creamy white cake with rhubarb and strawberries between the layers. Perhaps that will be a future post.

Bulb Salad 2016

Between dad and I, hundreds of bulbs were planted last year in strategic layers.

We dug two large trenches.

I had been wanting, hoping, and planning to do this for a long time. It was such a joy to be able to accomplish(and a very good workout). The project spread out over more than one day; and I finally finished on December 1st.

I am now awaiting snowdrops, crocus, checkered lilies—on, and on, and on… How wonderful.

Bits of October

Drawing with sidewalk chalk

Making my first batch of rosewater from my beloved David Austin bushes

Wandering around looking at wild mushrooms

If anyone knows what these are, feel free to help me identify them. :)

This one was my favorite

Eating funky “wild” mushrooms purchased safely from the store

Ah Dinesen

Visiting my first alpaca show

Haircutting and Preston: A Couple New Adventures

I cut my bangs by myself for the first time in a long time(since childhood?)…

…and am so happy! They actually turned out the way they’re supposed to!

Yay Youtube tutorials! In other news we adopted Preston.

He is rediculously sweet and loving. I would imagine you will be seeing more of him. I never blogged the hollyhocks. They are winding down; but I’ll show you a few pics of them in their glory. They were too beautiful not to mention.

This white one was a surprise in with the burgundy. I think having to wait ‘til the second year for blooms made me want to appreciate them even more.

My First Bloom…

…on “Golden Celebration” from David Austin Roses.

A very rich(antique?) sort of yellow.

Hhhmmm now I need a bright, lemon yellow one, and a couple hundred other bushes from this company, maybe.

The Long Garden

I am sitting here with the dearest little red rose in front of me. I am so in love with David Austin roses. This is from one of two new bushes we put in this year(and it’s the first of the two to blossom). The other one is “Golden Celebration”.

This is “L.D. Braithewaite”. I put a cage around this ‘til it opened up, so I wouldn’t lose the little guy to a deer.

We hope to make a long bed for the roses this year. I’ve put a bit of bar-dial soap next to each bush to try and deter the deer. I plan to plant rosemary with them when we have the more permanent bed.

“This rose has the brightest crimson coloring of all the English Roses; standing out when viewed from across the garden.” say the professionals. Bring on a bushful! :)

Lovely fragrance too…

Iowa Birds 6: Eastern Screech-Owls

I was surprised to discover that the last bird post I did was April of last year. How the time doth fly. I certainly haven’t forgotten about it though, and have art in progress.

The little Eastern Screech owls(less than a foot tall) have a very interesting call—which is not actually a screech. Sound clips can be heard on allaboutbirds.org.

They can be either of the two colors pictured above…

“Gray morph”…

or “Rufous morph”.

If you here a mysterious sound in the night, it might just be one of these cuties!