Author: louisaenright

I am passionate about whole, nutrient-dense foods, developing local markets, and strengthening communities.

Tami and Debbie Visit The Medway Community Garden

Saturday afternoon, DIL Tami and her mother Debbie visited the Medway Community Garden in Charleston. I was invited and couldn’t go, so Tami took pictures and the little video below of this pollinator garden.

A reminder, Tami is the Director and Co-Founder of The Bee Cause. She texted me with this message: “A beautiful afternoon at Medway Community Garden. The pollinators were plentiful in this beautiful pollinator habitat donated by The Bee Cause and installed by Charleston Parks Conservancy. We also got to meet and chat with the author of The Ark of Taste.” There was also a potluck supper.

A video of the garden.

And the new book:

From a review on the Slow Food USA web site: “The Ark of Taste is a living catalog of our food heritage and a movement to preserve gastronomic treasures passed down for generations—some rare, some endangered, all delicious. Created by Slow Food, the Ark illuminates the history, identity and taste of these unique food products, many of which were revived or saved from extinction by their Slow Food champions.”  

And: “The Ark of Taste book features the stories of how some of these American products almost didn’t reach our table, with recipes from Slow Food chefs and profiles of growers from around the country.”

https://slowfoodusa.org/ark-of-taste-book/

As you know from this blog, I have planted pollinator plants in my new garden. And Tami has been working hard in her garden in recent days. She is developing a space where she would like to plant a pollinator garden–and that space is near her bee hive.

On a very happy note, Tami recently harvested some honey from that hive, and she generously gave me 12 jars of that beautiful honey–which I am busily lapping up.

The dried blooms are from the Panicle Hydrangea “Limelight.” In Maine, these big blooms would turn a gorgeous deep red color; here with the heat, they just turn brown. I clipped these blooms when they were just starting to show flecks of red in the petals, but before they started to turn brown. I put them in this vase with no water and let them further dry out inside. They will hold their color through most of the winter.

Drying hydrangea blooms is tricky. I’ve found it best to wait until they are starting to dry on the plant before clipping them. And even then, they might shrivel up once inside.

I Am in Love…

With this Mexican Sage plant:

I took the above pic and the little video below from inside the house. I love the way this plant moves in the wind. It was “quiet” all summer, and then, overnight, it burst into bloom, and it has been blooming for weeks now.

AND I’m in love with the new air fryer.

Look at the gorgeous brown, crisp skin on the chicken thighs below. And on the roasted zucchini squash and roasted sweet peppers. The chicken meat is so juicy and tender too.

And look at the 15-minute, or less, French fries with their skins left on. Plus, more roasted peppers. That’s leftover grilled steak and asparagus cooked in the microwave. I only use a very tiny bit of soft duck fat to coat the fries.

AND, I’m in love with bowl suppers.

These bowls are very inexpensive on Amazon and are just the right size. The gentle slope of the bowl sides keeps thing INSIDE the bowl. As I often eat a meal on the porch or in the little tv room (at night), the sloped bowl is a good choice.

This meal was cooked in the new oven: roasted whole chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli rabe, carrots in butter (stove top), warmed leftover asparagus and red peppers, and for dessert, raw apple and an espresso. It’s a feast–with great leftovers so I have time to do other things.

When I roast sweet potatoes, I cook several, smash them with butter, and freeze portions for future meals. I do the same for my sprouted brown rice: I cook the whole bag at one time.

I filter my water and use a glass and a glass straw. I have a glass for the car as well. I clean these glasses and straws daily. After researching when I moved here, I use “Clearly Filtered” to filter my water.

I have many things I am “in love” with, for sure. I’m feeling lucky this morning, and I’m grateful.

“Summer Camp” is DONE

And, Oh My Heavens! I do love this quilt. Something about it just strikes my fancy big time.

*Note that the camera and my manipulation makes it look not square–it is perfectly square.

This “Summer Camp” mystery quilt was designed by Bill Kerr and Weeks Ringle at the Modern Quilt Society–and back in the early summer I kind of stumbled on to online posts which had people choosing their palettes and making their first sets of blocks. I just could not resist joining in. No two quilts will be the same as we all chose our own fabrics, our own blocks, and our own settings (out of three choices). The MQS web page has a gallery of these quilts if you want to see others.

I quilted with a medium grey thread, using the Deb’s Swirls 14-inch pantograph. I wanted texture but not really intensive texture. And I had enough of this “Newsprint” fabric by Carrie Bloomston (Windham) for the backing. I thought it a grand choice for a very modern quilt. And I bound in the same “field”/background fabric I chose: Kona Juniper.

Here are some close-up pics of these very, very fun blocks.

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This quilt is my 216th quilt.

Now, back to Traverse, who has been waiting for me to sew down the Summer Camp binding so I can show it at next week’s Patchwork Gals meeting. The 12 wt. threads I ordered from Red Rock Threads for Traverse should come next Monday, so I’ll be able to do the row I skipped for the moment.

It’s Sunday

And it’s really cool this morning. I had to switch out my short-sleeve t-shirt for a long-sleeve t-shirt. I’m NOT complaining.

With one thing and another, I didn’t cook until early afternoon on Friday, so I ate a really late dinner meal (on porch with book!). I tried the convection feature on the new oven, but I’m not convinced the convection fan is working right, or at all. But the lamb rack was delicious nonetheless. So, I had easily-heated leftover food yesterday and for dinner today.

Yes, I like rare meat. Rare is where all the nutrients are. And, in the yummy meat fat, which gives me long, slow, steady energy. I roasted the peppers in the air fryer, cooked the frozen green beans in the microwave, and boiled the potatoes on the stove. I reserved my daily fruit for supper, but did have my after-dinner espresso, with raw milk and raw honey.

Yesterday was filled with small tasks, like the trip to Loews where I bought these beautiful cyclamens to replace the spent plant in that pot. (Yes, that pot needs to be scrubbed in the sink–a task for today.) I went back and forth with the red or the deep pink cyclamens, and settled on the red to pick up the red in the Croton Petra plant on the porch. I didn’t consider the red roses, but… It’s all good. And cheerful. And fresh looking.

Cyclamens are perennials. And they are fairly cold hardy. In the Mediterranean region where they derived, they bloom in the winter, die down in the spring, and come back in the fall. Pansies are great plants in the fall too, and Lowes was filled with them in so many beautiful colors.

Here is the Croton Petra plant on the porch–pink cyclamens would definitely fight with the Croton Petra. This plant is actually a tropical evergreen shrub, and outside it can get to be about three feet. They don’t like temps that go down to the 50s.

Tara Faughnan’s 6-month improv, creative block project (online class) started October 1. The first project is called “Zipper,” and I pulled this palette from my stash yesterday. Later today I’ll start playing. “Zipper” looks really fun–the block could make a nice pillow. Or, a block that gets put into an improv quilt alongside other blocks. The solids are more graphic, but there’s no reason someone couldn’t use prints if they wanted to do that.

I am waiting for more garment pattern tracing paper to come on Tuesday to finish tracing a tunic pattern I want to make–it is meant to go over the gorgeous leggings DIL Tami gave me earlier this summer. I tried two local stores for this paper, but neither had it. I wanted a top that could be layered and that covers my bum.

I did get the binding on “Summer Camp” yesterday, and I halted on Traverse to hand sew down the binding so I can show it at the next local quilt meeting. Traverse is pouting on the hassock, but I keep reminding her that I’ve ordered two spools of Aurifil 12-wt thread from Red Rock Threads to go in that lavender-ish bar you can just see at the right edge of this picture. (One of the two colors ordered will go well with that fabric and will be added to my 12 wt threat collection.) I was working on the row below, with the orange-ish elongated hexagons set on the gold/brown fabric, and it is coming out nicely.

I really love this “Summer Camp” mystery quilt.

Later today I’ll walk in this lovely cool weather, and I’ll do another round of watering the grass and plants. I’ve been watering every two days as it is so, so dry. And I do not see any rain in sight. I play my music while walking and sing along. When watering, I “Zen out” with the music and the hose–stopping only to visit with neighbors who stop by to indulge in short visits.

New Oven and The Summer Camp Quilt

What a fun, fun project “Summer Camp,” the Modern Quilt Society’s summer mystery quilt has been.

Here she is, all quilted. I did find time to trim her after I took pics, and she is now waiting for her binding to be installed. Later today?

I wanted a pantograph that would give me some texture and curves, but not be too, too intense. I think this one worked well: Deb’s Swirls at 14 inches. The medium grey thread worked well too–on both front and back.

I spatchcocked a chicken and roasted it in the new oven the other day. Oh my! It cooked in the time it should have cooked and created a nice crisp skin on top. What a difference. It’s clear that the original oven was broken in many ways that impacted its operation, including that it just didn’t get hot enough.

I cooked both the collards and the potatoes in water on top of the stove. There is, also, an apple cut up off to the side. And a freshly made espresso to have with the apple.

I enjoyed this meal on the porch with a book in hand.

Traverse is Half Quilted Now

I finished quilting the last row at the bottom a few days ago. And I started the other side with that row of X’s and pink squares, having finally figured out a way to quilt that row without overwhelming the colors in the pattern–which has been my goal for this quilt.

Here’s a close-up of some of the rows.

And here’s the bottom row. I wanted something with a pattern, not just a straight line. And I didn’t want a dark navy because as I said, I don’t want the quilting to stand out so that it draws the eye.

That’s a size 6 Tulip embroidery needle and 12-weight Sulky cotton thread. I have colors in both Sulky (petites, which are inexpensive, so one can acquire lots of colors) and Wonderfil on hand. And I’m learning to bury my knots in seams as I can as the Artisan Cottons in this quilt (shot cottons) don’t like knots pulled through the fabric. The knots can throw a run so easily.

I think the Sulky is a bit thicker than the Wonderfil, but both are lovely. I’m sure Auriful 12-wts would be too.

Some Air Fryer Meals

The new oven came this week. Whew!

But meanwhile, I am still enjoying the Air Fryer.

So I thought I’d share some recent air fryer endeavors.

I cooked the asparagus in the picture below in the microwave for about two minutes–in a glass shallow pan covered with a cloth. The chicken tenders I put into a bowl with a little melted duck fat and then coated each one with the gluten-free panko I bought and ground finer–so there is just a light coating here.

They were good–but maybe cooked just a bit too long, which made them be a bit dense. I used the roasting feature–but I think I’ll try a shorter time next (maybe 6-8 minutes, turn them over halfway) and then finish with the air broil to brown the coating. I had enough left over to top a supper salad–which I make while cooking my noon dinner.

For the next meal, I cooked the broccoli in hot water until tender–in a pot on the stove top. The cod fillet I thawed, coated with some melted ghee using a brush, then patted the top with the panko mix. I cooked on air fryer for about 10 minutes as this fillet was thick. I think I checked it at about 8 minutes.

It was flaky and DELICIOUS. This one was a win-win. Hmmm, a dollop of tartar sauce, or, for me, some homemade mayo, would be a nice addition.

I had a meeting Thursday morning, and when I got home I was so hungry. I had bought this little loin steak, so thought I’d try it in the air fryer as I was feeling lazy about the outside grill or pan-frying it. (I reheated my leftover broccoli in the microwave.) I cut up one small russet potato and did not soak it in ice water for 30 minutes, which does make the browning more even I think. I tossed the slices in a tablespoon of melted duck fat in a bowl. The potatoes cooked in under 15 minutes (I shake them every few minutes and almost burned them this time–at under 15 minutes.) And the steak cooked on roast in about 10 minutes.

The potatoes were delicious. The steak was fine, but felt a bit tough. I had enough steak to top my supper salad–which is always nice. So, steak in the air fryer works fine, but isn’t as nice as the grill.

I like asparagus roasted in the air fryer. But I don’t really like broccoli cooked that way–it is tough. Maybe if one par-boiled it until almost tender and then air broiled it? But that seems like way too much trouble.

So, the air fryer is a learning curve, but one I’m enjoying. And I’m feeling more confident with using it to its best potential. And it is so easy to clean up. There is no grease all over the stove top from pan-frying something. Yes, I could easily have fried the potatoes in a pan with some duck fat–but the air fryer does use much less fat–and the texture of the air fryer potatoes, unfortunately for my body, is awesome!

Low Country Drainage Strategies

My subdivision has an interesting way to manage drainage from a wetland from above the property and from accumulating serious storm-water deluges, as in tropical storms and hurricanes.

A creek/infiltration trench/bio-swale winds across the middle of our subdivision property. What we have is a hybrid of all three of the above categories, I think, though this explanatory sign limits the creek to an infiltration trench.

This pic below is taken from a viewpoint downstream from my home–which would be on the left along the street where you see the culvert. Back of me is another street and culvert and the place where this stream exits the property into the drainage system along the road next to our subdivision. (We hope there is an exit point into the region’s drainage systems. No-one seems sure, and I have not yet walked back to the exit point.)

Wet bio-swales and infiltration trenches can and do have vegetation. Vegetation can slow down water run-off and trap sediment picked up as water rushes along a path. But vegetation can also get too dense and clog up the flow. The balance is tricky and involves how the sides slope. Both EPA and Clemson University have sites that discuss this slope issue.

Sloping sides in general are a protective feature in the Low Country. All of our houses in this subdivision have the land graded so that it is sloping away from our foundations, for instance.

Here’s where the stream crosses the road at the side and back of my house. To the far left, behind a row of our houses, are the woods where the wetlands are located. That property is owned by someone else. The groundskeepers hired by our HOA sprayed this vegetation–which is a bad idea for several reasons. Spray could/will kill the little fish seeded into all the water ponds and this stream and the wetland in the woods–fish bred to eat mosquito larvae. And, killing the vegetation will serve to clog up the stream. And the spraying has created an eye-sore. If plants are not wanted, they should be weeded out, not sprayed. Wet bio-swales and infiltration trenches both can be planted with pretty water plants, but our stream is kind of wild.

One of the really pretty things in the ponds near me in Maine were the Pickerel Rush plants that grow along some of the pond edges. Pickerel Rush will bloom from spring to fall–sending up spikes of blue/purple flowers. It is a shallow water aquatic plant.

Here it is trying to grow in our stream, and you can see it’s been top-trimmed:

Pickerel Rush (Pontederia Cordata) <br> Blooms early summer into fall!

And here is where the groundskeepers cut back some kind of grass with a weed-whacker, but left the tops in the creek bed–which will cause clogging.

I’m finding that the research I’ve done about bio-swales, infiltration trenches, sloping grading designs/plans, and mosquito control strategies (those fish, but not, for me, the night-time spraying with synthetic pyrethroids that are lethal for aquatic critters) to be a really interesting learning curve.

I will forego a rant on the degree to which we are awash in toxic chemicals in the Low Country. In Maine, where the “state bird” is the mosquito, and in the town where I lived, where a dedicated group of folks understood the dangers of being awash with toxic chemicals, public spraying was…stopped.

The local children, of course, are fascinated with this stream. Me, too.

Ragdoll Cats

First, DIL Tami reminded me after seeing the post on coyotes that they have found three carcasses, mostly bones and tails, in their front yard in recent weeks: a raccoon and, I think, two opossums. The raccoon tail was really big. And the opossum tail wasn’t small either.

This family has two medium-sized dogs, so family members are going outside with the dogs when they go out now. A 6-foot fence surrounds the back yard, but… None of us put it beyond coyotes to surmount a fence. Better safe than sorry.

Our weather has been delightfully cooler. I’m sitting here now wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt and thinking about long pants. But it will get warmer later today. Walking has been delightful recently.

We did not get one drop of rain out of Ophelia. I was hoping for an outlier rain band as it whirled around, so I put out all the fall fertilizer. I did have to get the hoses out and water deeply.

My back-door neighbor has been away, and I checked on her two beautiful cats while she was gone. They clearly missed her so I went over and loved on them. By Friday, the male was waiting for me when I opened the front door, and the female came running right away. She is usually more cautious.

Reba is on the left, and Toby is on the right. They are Ragdoll cats, which is totally new to me. They are called “rag dolls” because they go limp when one picks them up, which I did not test out.

The breed was developed in California back in the 1960s. These cats are known for gentleness and are affectionate. Both showed me their bellies by Friday, and Toby gave me some toe licks.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragdoll

I’m obsessed with hand-quilting Traverse. I think because I’m almost to one end, having started in the middle. The quilting is slow, but going well. And “Summer Camp” is partially loaded on the longarm and is waiting for me.

The family is gathering to celebrate a granddaughter’s 16th birthday today. How did that happen? I’m looking forward to seeing my family all together (except for the young men away at their colleges) tonight.

Coyotes?

Oh, yes. They live here among us in coastal South Carolina.

A few months back, my back door neighbor had one sleep next to her front door on her porch–leaving evidence of hair and mud.

And last week, she saw one next to a small pond near where she was walking out along the road where many of us walk. I wish I’d seen that coyote, but will start looking more now.

Out on the barrier islands near me (Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s), coyotes have been seen frequently cavorting on the beach in the early morning. Of course they are a risk to the dogs being walked out there early morning. And to dogs left outside in fenced yards.

In 2022, there were 59 sightings on Isle of Palms according to Ryan Warren, an animal control officer on the island.  Of course these sightings may involve some of the same coyotes who live on the island now.

I’m thinking that late summer/early fall is when this years coyote pups are getting pretty big and need more food. Female coyotes give birth in April or May, and need about six months to be able to hunt on their own. They leave mom at about one year. Mating pairs are monogamous. And, yes, coyotes can and do mate with wolves and other (probably wild) dogs if they can’t find a coyote mate.

BUT, also, human urbanization has forced many animals to figure out how to live in more urban environments. Foxes have. Some bears have, especially in Alaska–info which is the result of watching a LOT of tv programs on wild life. It is interesting to me that programs on the “dog” family have NOT included coyotes. Foxes, wolves, African wild dogs, yes. But nothing I’ve seen on coyotes. (But I have not looked either.)

One coyote in this region followed a doctor into his work space, scaring both of them. The doctor went out another door, and the coyote left that way too. There are lots of videos of coyotes walking down sidewalks in this region.

Coyotes are a mixed bag. They can and will eat dogs and cats. But they also eat rats, mice, rabbits, Canadian geese, and so on.

Here’s an interesting site filled with pictures and information about “urban” coyotes:

Urban Coyotes

And here’s a local article:

https://www.postandcourier.com/moultrie-news/news/coyote-found-in-shem-creek/article_697f4e0c-4e4b-5d51-a4e0-0739d31fa186.html

One thing is for sure: coyotes are here to stay.