Brookside Gardens Lotus Blossom - July 2012

On Friday (7/20/2012) when we made our trip to Brookside Gardens - the only Lotus blossom was facing into some leaves and too far away to photograph…but there were buds.

On Sunday (7/22/2012) when we returned - after almost 24 straight hours of rain - one of the buds had opened fully. I took a number of pictures and noticed that there seemed to be a lot of bees coming and going from the flower.

The only way to see inside the flower was to reach as far as I could and point the camera into the flower from above (in other words - taking the picture without being able to see the screen of the camera at all). The best one is below. It clearly shows that bees love lotus flowers! I think there are 6 bees visible!

Brookside Gardens Cloudy Day - July 2012

Brookside Gardens - high humidity relieved a bit with an occasional breeze - was between rain showers. We were there first thing in the morning before the heat of the day became overwhelming and the water droplets dried. The gardens were lush with greenery even though there was still some visible damage from the storm in early July and the more recent rains: freshly cut marks on some trees where limbs had broken, trampled high grass and buds nibbled by deer that got in when part of the fence was down, mulch washed to the side of paths leaving mud behind. I particularly liked the papyrus in pots in one of the pools and the garden with a low wall looking toward the wisteria arbor and tall trees beyond.

The slide show below includes my favorites of the closer study pictures: flowers with water droplets and shiny from overall moisture, a small stem of leaves blown into a pine, water droplets on a large leaf, and a classical looking tree trunk.

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 21, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Jared Ficklin video - (TED talk) sound visualization

Photos: Big sunspot kicks ball of energy toward Earth - views from the STEREO Ahead spacecraft and the Solar Dynamics Observatory over the past year

Top 25 Wild Bird Photographs of the Week #16 - from National Geographic

Brits Top Energy Efficiency Ranking; US Ranks 9th (Out of 12) - Wow! Even China is ahead of us. How can we be competitive with so many of the major economies of the world ahead of us in this arena

States Lead in Freeing the Grid for Small-Scale Renewable Energy - How well is your state doing?

New Metric for Obesity Strongly Correlated to Premature Death - A Body Shape Index (ABSI) is a combination of Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist circumference

Web Quiz Tells You Which Presidential Candidate Best Fits Your Worldview - Interesting quiz

Cassini Spots Daytime Lightning On Saturn - Seen for the first time on the side illuminated by the sun

Green Plants Reduce City Street Pollution Up to Eight Times More Than Previously Believed - and they look good too! Green 'billboards' of vines or grass may be more effective than trees.

Storm Scents: It's True, You Can Smell Oncoming Summer Rain - Just what are you smelling before, during and after a summer rainstorm? Here are some answers from Scientific American

Grocery Store Strategies

Eating at home - and eating exactly what you intend - is one of the pleasures of life. Of course - savvy shopping at the grocery store makes it a lot easier. Here are a few strategies for achieving the most bang for your time (one trip to the grocery store a week should be the goal) and your money (no wasted food, coupons when applicable, bulk items when possible): 

• Make a list of meals for the week. This is required unless you want to make multiple trips to the grocery store to get ingredients you don’t have on hand. Base your list on the meals you plan.
• Always go to the store with a list. I use an app called OurGroceries that makes it easy for both my husband and I to add items to the list from a PC, iPad, Android phones, and Kindle. When I’m in the store, I use the Kindle to mark items off as I shop.
• Take your own bags. Reusable bags are sturdier and can be loaded with more items (see my bag of bags at right). You’ll make fewer trips to get your groceries unloaded when you get home. And it is much better for the environment. Some stores are even giving cents back for using your own bags.
• Group items for the checker so that items are bagged together that will end up stored together. I usually group items into the following bags: veggies/fruit, meat, other refrigerator, pantry, and other.
• Coupons. Take advantage of coupons for things you are going to buy anyway or an item you want to try. The down side with coupons is they are often for poor food choices (highly processed, very sweet, or non-food masquerading as food) so never buy something simply because there is a coupon.
• Familiarize yourself with the store. Larger stores have a lot of choices and may have similar items in two different places. For example - many times stores separate organic products from nonorganic ones. Make sure you understand what you are buying.
• Freeze produce before it goes bad (i.e. if you find you cannot us it up before it spoils). Use it later to make smoothies, muffins, or soup. A banana that is about to be overripe can be peeled and frozen…and become an excellent addition to a smoothie or make banana muffins later! A frozen tomato will split but that is fine for use in a soup or smoothie. You should always strive to eat all the food you buy rather than throwing it away and buying more.
• Educate yourself on the most important produce to buy organic. Get the Environmental Working Group’s guide.
• Whole grains in the refrigerator. Whole grains can become rancid. Store them in the refrigerator rather than the pantry.
• Buy in bulk only if:
  • It costs less (most of the time sit does…but not always)
  • You will use all of it in a reasonable period of time
  • There is storage space in your home

And enjoy your grocery shopping.

Mushrooms on an Oak Stump

One of the outdoor discoveries from our days without electricity was some mushrooms growing on the stump of an oak tree our neighbor cut down several years ago. I decided to take some pictures of them for as long as they lasted. On July 1st they looked creamy white at the margins. Notice the brown filament in the center of the one on the left; that will be a way to orient yourself in the upcoming pictures.

On 7/7, the white had flattened and enlarged. There were rings that began to appear.

On 7/11, the rings had become even more apparent and the rusty gold color was quite appealing. I also took another picture to show how they were oriented on the stump.

Finally, this morning - on 7/19, the mushrooms have browned more with time and the pelting of rain yesterday afternoon. They are looking a little battered at this point. I'll do a follow up post to document what happens to them in upcoming weeks.

Summer Living

July is the middle of summer. The top 10 things I like in summer are: 

1. Watermelon
2. Cherries
3. Grilled corn on the cob
4. Gardening on the deck - basil, sweet potato, stevia, mint, parsley, rosemary
5. Walks around Brookside Gardens
6. Reading a good book in the cool indoors on a hot afternoon
7. Going barefoot
8. Waking up at dawn
9. Meeting a longtime friend for lunch
10. Photographing flowers

Many of these depend upon being about to stay comfortable even when it is very hot. By July - we all have implemented strategies to stay cool. Here are a few of mine (over and above being in an air conditioned house/building): 

• Do any outdoor activity as early in the day as possible. I like to get out and about and done by 9. Yes - this means getting up at dawn or maybe a little before. Being a morning person is quite an advantage in the summer.
• Drink plenty and lots of cold drinks. Lemon water with chia seeds (almost always my first breakfast), herbal tea, and smoothies made with frozen fruit.
• Close drapes and blinds to keep the sun from shining into a room. Outside light is wonderful but there is a down side if the sun is actually shining through the glass - wonderful as it may be in winter, it is thwarting the air conditioning in the summer.
• Minimize heat sources such as lamps and computers. Even relatively cool fluorescent bulbs put out some heat. Put the computer into sleep mode when not in use and turn off printers and other equipment except when they are needed.
• Cook on the grill rather than using an indoor broiler or skillet. If you do cook indoors, minimize the heat added to the kitchen:
  • Select foods with minimal cook time like stir fry
  • Use the microwave to heat veggies
  • Use a crock pot rather than the stove top to make soup or chili
• Turn off the dry cycle of the dishwasher and run the dishwasher at a time when you will not be in the kitchen (maybe as you are on your way to bed if it isn’t too noisy) 

So - the overarching strategy is to stay indoors during the hottest part of the day and be conscious of actions that minimize what the air conditioning has to overcome. With these strategies in place - I can enjoy all my top 10 activities…and more! 

Recipe of the Week: Pancake Toppings

Pancakes are a quick meal - and not just for breakfast. My husband and I enjoy them as a ‘Breakfast for Dinner’ at least once a week.

I try a different topping for my pancakes almost every week. Here are 5 favorites: 

• Butter and maple syrup - This is the traditional topping in our household.
• Sour cream (or plain yogurt) and orange marmalade - A dollop of each. I dip the pancake in each on its way to my mouth.
• Sautéed apple and raisins in butter. Cut up the apple and start cooking it and the raisins before you start the pancakes. For an extra kick soak the raisins in apricot flavored brandy beforehand. Everything cooks quite rapidly. Sprinkling cinnamon in the pancake batter and the cooking apple adds to the flavor (and the kitchen smells wonderful too).
• Warmed applesauce and molasses for a stronger flavor.
• Strawberry chunks with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Or try whatever fruit is in season with the powdered sugar.
• Banana pureed with honey in the food processor (add a little water or sweet almond oil to create the consistency you want for the topping). 

Just writing this has made me hungry for pancakes!

Summer Lotus

Over the past month, I’ve seen lotus plants in two separate gardens and photographed them. The pink ones were in the Dallas Arboretum (with the Chihuly glass) and the white ones were in Brookside Gardens in Montgomery County Maryland.

I like the big leaves of the lotus. They 

• Are almost circular.
• Curve into a shallow bowl to capture a pool of water in their centers when it rains.
• Unfurl like lily pads, starting out in two curls toward the center.
• Are veined from the center outward.
• Flutter gently in the breeze on their long stalks that are anchored in muddy shallow water.
• Have gentle waves around their edges. 

Enjoy the lotus slideshow below!

Favorite Smells of Summer

What are your favorite smells of summer?

The smells I most strongly associate with summer are:

Fresh herbs from the garden - either outdoors while I am gardening or indoors when I am preparing a meal that includes them. Mint, rosemary, and basil are my favorites.

I like the smell at the beginning of rain. In the summer - there is so much vegetation where I live that the smells are rich and vary considerably…but they always remind me of crisp greenery and warmth.

Citrus. Somehow citrus is a summer sun smell to me. I like orange and lemon. There are a lot of products that include the scent. I love to have orange zest drying in my kitchen giving the whole kitchen its smell (and then using it in a stir fry or baking….and getting the smell again).

Cucumber. It has a very light scent…but certainly one that is cool in the midst summer heat and brightness.

What are your favorite smells of summer?

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 14, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Way out in a barren Chilean desert, the biggest telescope ever made is taking shape - Photos from the construction of the Atacama Large Millimeter Array

High-Tech Tools Give Researchers New View Of Yellowstone Thermal Features - Thermal maps of popular areas within the park

Electricity Storage - Wow - there are a lot of new ways out there and the idea of ‘storage’ of electricity implies a more robust infrastructure for reliable power than we have now

12 stats that matter to digital publishing - the number of people reading electronically rather than from paper is growing….and what/how they read is changing too

Heron Cam 2012 Highlights - All 5 have fledged from the Sapsucker Woods nest!

Scientific History and the Lessons for Today's Emerging Ideas -  A look back at what was happening in the 1890-1910 time period…lots of theories…some are threads to current theories, others are on the trash heap

Bridges for Animals - All around the world…this is an idea being tried to reduce road kill on highways

The 10 most pristine places on earth - none are in the US

Yama no sachi - A Japanese book from 1765. Read it on the Internet Archive. Use page down (or up) to browse through the book. It has illustrations of flowers, insects, and animals. My favorites are the peony (at right) and the poppy.

Drought leads to declaration of natural disaster in 26 US states - That’s more than half the states!

Summer Sunrise

It’s getting a tiny bit easier to catch the summer sunrise these days since the days are already getting shorter. It’s still pretty early in the morning. I am always a morning person but usually not outdoors before 6 AM. I peeked out an east facing window on Thursday of this week and decided the sunrise was worth venturing out. There were a just about perfect amount of clouds that were well positioned for where the sun would come up. They turned pink orange…the clouds reflecting the color of the sunrise. By the time the sun rose above the trees the colors would be complete washed away in the brightness. In the winter when the trees are bare, colors are deeper closer to the horizon through their branches. In the summer - the lemony light makes flowers and other objects (dahlia and cairn in the lilies with rotting conch shell below) look their very best….good compensation for the reduced richness in the colors of the sunrise itself.

Summer mornings are the best time of day. It is as cool as the day will get - usually pleasant enough to garden or exercise. I had planned to pull weeds and vines around the bushes in the front of the house. It was a very productive hour or so.  Being a morning person feels good!

Previous Post: February Sunrise

Recipe of the Week: Iced Tea

Summertime and iced tea - they go together. There are many ways to make iced tea. Sun tea is as simple as putting teabags in a jar of water and letting it sit in the sun. My preferred method is using a tea maker (a coffee maker that has always been used exclusively for tea).

To make plain tea: put two small tea bags or one family sized bag in the brew basket for 10-12 cups of tea. As soon as it is brewed, turn off the tea maker and let the tea cool before pouring it over ice.

I very rarely make plain tea. There are just too many things from my garden to add. The last few days I’ve cut up (with scissors) three large stevia leaves and a handful of citrusy mint to add to the brew basket with one small tea bag. Put the tea bag on top because the acid from the tea helps leech the good flavor/sweetness from the stevia and mint. After it is cool - the tea is just the right strength and sweetness to simply pour over ice and enjoy.

Some other things I am going to try from the garden: 

• Lemon balm. I have a huge amount of it and it seems to lose its flavor when it is dried so I might as well use as much as possible while it can be cut and used fresh.
• Rosemary. I’ve read about putting a spring of rosemary in lemonade. It would probably be a good additive to tea as well. My rosemary is growing well and probably would branch out more if I trimmed it a bit.
• Chocolate mint. I have two flower beds with chocolate mint…and it seems to grow about as fast as I can use it. 

Enjoy iced tea!

Southern Magnolia

As I made my way through Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee a few weeks ago - I decided to take lots of pictures of Southern Magnolias. They are appealing trees with shiny green leaves and creamy white flowers. Some become very large with enough warmth and moisture. I was frustrated the some did not look healthy…but there were enough that did to make a collage of pictures from bud to flowers to the beginning of the seed pod.

Treat Yourself to a Facial

A facial is quite a treat and something I am going to start doing more frequently now that I’ve honed my ideas about how to do it myself at home. 

• There are lots of over the counter masks. My current favorite is one with kaolin, avocado and oatmeal. A homemade mask of honey, oatmeal and green tea could be worth a try too…maybe with some vanilla added to give it a warm aroma. Don’t skimp on the thickness of the mask you put all over your face and neck; it should thoroughly cover the skin. Plan a shampoo afterwards so you don’t have to worry about some of the mask getting in your hair.
• Cucumber slices for the eyes always feel refreshingly cool. Alternatively - some moist tea bags (left over from the morning pot of tea) could be used for the eyes.
• The best part of the facial is the relaxing part - lay on your back with your knees elevated with pillows and a comfortable pillow under your head and neck…on a neat bed…with a light blanket…music you love playing (it was raining when I did my facial so I just listened to the rain). The time can vary. Fifteen to twenty minutes seems about right. I set a timer so I don’t have to move at all until it goes off.
• Afterwards - shower, cleaning off the mask thoroughly using a clean wash cloth.
• To tighten the pores, splash your face with cold water.
• Moisturize with your favorite commercial moisturizer or raid your kitchen. My current preference is Sweet Almond Oil with a few drops of Sweet Orange essential oil. 

At one time, I thought the best facials were at a spa but not anymore. I love taking an hour at home to get my skin feeling great without the bother of acquiescing to an environment I don’t control (and is never quite perfect for me).

See also - 10 Cosmetics from the Kitchen posted last December

Texas Gardens in June 2012

A few weeks ago - before and after my time in Tennessee - I was in the Dallas, Texas area visiting family. June is one of the best times for gardens in Texas - before the heat burns or dries out the more delicate vegetation. But don’t be fooled - even the arbor covered with trumpet vine was no substitute for escaping to an air conditioned house after being out for a morning walk! 

How many plants can you identify in the slide slow below? Here’s a quick list of what it includes: 

• Trumpet vine
• Lilies (several kinds)
• Mesquite
• Canna
• Hibiscus
• Sunflowers
• Amaryllis
• Onion
• Pinks
• Purple peas
• Beets
• Squash 

Rock Island and Burgess Falls and State Parks - Tennessee

Continuing my series of posts about my trip to Tennessee several weeks ago - today the focus is on two more state parks: Rock Island and Burgess Falls. Both of these parks are all about water…Center Hill Lake and the falling water around it. Rock Island has falls that come out of a cavern mid-way up a cliff. The road over the dam is closed so it takes some driving around to see the whole park…but is well worth the effort. There is a charming spring house associated with the ruins of a textile mill. Burgess Falls is more water over rocks. Both parks have interesting hikes. The best time to go is probably late spring/early summer or in the fall…not in the heat of summer unless you are going to actually get in the water! Enjoy the slide show below - I’ve marked the pictures by park.

Other Tennessee posts: 

• Falls Creek Falls and Cumberland Mountain State Parks - Tennessee
• Museum Strategies
• Water Lilies
• Cheekwood Garden and Art Museum
• Cheekwood’s Howe Garden
• Cheekwood Tree Houses

Gleanings of the Week Ending July 7, 2012

The items below were ‘the cream’ of the articles I read this past week. Click on the light green text to look at the article:

Paint-On Lithium Battery Can Be Applied to Virtually Any Surface - Storage for energy from paint-on solar panels?

Atrazine, a continued concern for all - herbicide banned in the EU but still used in the US….and in our water supply

Good News for Aging Eyes: Debilitating Eyesight Problems On the Decline for Older Americans - Hurray!

Photos of fire damage in Western States - Scary and sad

Pictures: 25 new reef fish found - from National Geographic

Ocean Leaders “Shake Up” How We View the Seas - “Consider the ocean as the blue heart of the planet. How much of your heart would you save?” - Sylvia Earle

Wanted: Vision and Leadership to Ensure a Sustainable Water Future for America - It’s pretty scary what we don’t know about our water resources

What’s Behind the Record Heat? - Map showing temperature anomaly. My immediate area does not look too bad…but Colorado is having a very hot year.

Defuse Summer's TICKing Time Bomb - 10 tick prevention tips and a picture of what the Lyme’s Disease bullseye looks like.

Drought Monitor Shows Record-Breaking Expanse of Drought Across United States - The area where I live is ‘abnormally dry’ but there is a lot of country that is in drought conditions. Enlarge the map for a closer look.

Life without Electricity

We were without power from Friday, June 29 about 11 PM to Wednesday, July 4 about 4 PM - that’s 4 days and 17 hours or 113 hours. This posting is a first installment about the experience.

This is the longest time I’ve ever been without electricity at home and the first time to have a prolonged outage when the temperature was getting above 90 degrees Farenheit every day. The first few days were quite difficult because the outage was widespread. On Saturday morning we bought ice at a grocery store that was running a small part of the store on generators and bringing out pallets of ice. The next morning they didn’t have ice so we went to another store that seemed to be fully operational but they must have been on generators since all the stores around them were without power. We settled into a rhythm to go out to buy ice every morning before 7:30 getting more frustrated with our situation every morning; by Wednesday we knew that we were in the last 10% to be restored. The refrigerator items went into ice chests on Saturday morning and the freezer items (minus ice cream which had to be trashed) went into ice chests on Sunday. We managed to save everything except 3 eggs that broke (out of a dozen), the tortillas that got waterlogged from ice melt, and the cherries that absorbed water and cracked/burst. I’m in the process of cooking all the meat. Yesterday I cooked a brisket in the crockpot, barbequed pork chops in a casserole dish in the oven, and a meat loaf. Today I have to do something with the chicken. The ice chests have dried out and I’ll put them away today.

There were some things I came to be grateful for: 

• We have a finished basement. It never got above 78 degrees Farenheit although it was humid and the air was very still.
• We are on city water and never had a problem with water pressure. People with wells had quite a challenge.
• We have a gas hot water heater. It was so hot, cold showers would have been tolerable but it was nice to have the heat.
• The grocery stores made a valiant (and successful) effort to make ice available.
• I had a good supply of physical books to read. 

I always go into some level of self-analysis during and after an abrupt change like this. How resilient was I? In some areas I did well: switching my reading to physical books rather than e-books, staying still and drinking more water and herbal tea in an attempt to stay cool, and doing what had to be done to preserve our food. My daily sleep/wake cycle was almost unchanged.

So - looking back to the outage days - the two things I can point to as ‘accomplishments’ are 

• 9 books read (and 2 partials)
• Majority of food from refrigerator/freezer saved 

Falls Creek Falls and Cumberland Mountain State Parks - Tennessee

A few weeks ago when I was in Tennessee - I enjoyed several state parks in the area between Nashville and Knoxville. The first one was Falls Creek Falls which is located near Pikeville, TN. It has shady trails and water falling over rocks and over cliffs. The rhododendrons were blooming when we were there. The trails are well maintained and labeled - but prepare for some up and down hills if you want to see the waterfalls really well. Many trails don’t require a long hike and hikers can take advantage of the water to cool off (wading…some swim) once they make the trek.

Right outside the park was a trading post where I found some great earrings and bracelets at very reasonable prices. It was a spur of the moment stop but it was probably the best shopping of the entire week.

The next day we went to Cumberland Mountain State Park near Crossville, TN. The 7 arch sandstone bridge that was built by the CCC is relatively dry with the lake lowered to rebuild another bridge. We hiked to get several vantage points of the bridge; the quality of the work overall and the drainage structures from the road bed were impressive. The slide show below is from our hike. After enjoying the park we toured one of the houses built as part of the Cumberland Homestead project in the 1930s.

There is a brochure that has a blurb on all the Tennessee state parks that is available at Tennessee rest stops and parks; another good source is the Tennessee State Parks web site.

Recipe of the Week: Corn on the Cob

Corn on the cob is one of my favorite vegetables. I have such fond memories of it from summer vacations to my grandparents. They grew corn to ripen throughout the summer so there was a large pan on the stove for it virtually every evening. These days I still sometimes cook it that way - but other times I cook it out on the grill - keep the heat out of the house/kitchen.

Fresh or frozen corn on the cob is cooked the same way. The frozen takes a bit longer. It has to be hot enough to melt the butter!

To cook corn on the grill -

Wrap the corn in a paper towel or the clean shucks (i.e. clean the corn then reuse some of the shucks to re-wrap the ear). This helps it stay moist while it heats.

Wrap it in aluminum foil.

Place on grill along with the meat - or whatever else you are grilling for the meal. Turn it so that all sides will get hot. The paper towel/shuck gives you room for error so don’t be afraid of overcooking!

Unwrapping the corn is like unwrapping a present….and with butter and some Mrs. Dash….the taste of summer.