I think my sister's unexpected death early last December sent me on a garden buying spree. Online or in person, I have been buying plants non-stop since last winter. The last perennials just arrived along with bulbs from two suppliers.
I've posted pictures of my worktable covered with plants a few times. But I've never shown where the plants went. Many are being used to correct problems, fill in unfinished areas or to create a focal point once a plant attains some size.
. . .
I planted Helleborus 'Kingston Cardinal' in 2008. At some point I added a self-seeded boxwood from elsewhere in the garden and a clump of Japanese painted fern. These days the Boxwood is hiding the Hellebore and the fern has spread wherever it could.
The biggest problem is rabbits who keep chewing the ferns off midway and lolling around in them. Each time the ferns grow back and everything starts to look good, they're attacked again. The loss of a tree also means the ferns are getting more sun than they like.
I decided it was time to redo the whole area. I intended to quickly rip out the ferns — which took two days of intense labor with my "Root Slayer" Shovel and a Cobrahead weeder. This area is a little over 2' wide in the rear and 4' wide along the gray gravel path.
It was just an inch shy of six feet back to front.
I bought this Salix candida 'Iceberg Alley' on sale and plopped it in a pot that I set in the spot where the rabbits ate the ferns. There it sat during the last two big tours of our garden.
I planted it where the Hellebore had been and moved the Hellebore forward.
I added clumps of Adiantum venustum (Himalayan maidenhair fern) from elsewhere in the garden. I'm hoping to add a few more this fall so it will fill in quickly and suppress weeds.
The big question is whether I got all the Japanese painted ferns out of the area. I want to be able to just enjoy my handiwork and not have to do any more digging in this space come spring.
Given the fact that time is the one luxury I have plenty of at the moment, I decided I should start one of those projects that I've been thinking about forever. Over a number of years, I have used free and public sources to discover as much family history as possible. I now have three matching scrapbooks to compile all this info: One for my grandparents and prior generations; one for my birth family and one for the 30+ years that Mark and I have been together.
A few years ago I came up with a number of themes — school days, nesting, fashions, sisters — to help me divide up the photos and memorabilia into groupings that would cross generations. Each one got a labeled accordion folder housed in a computer paper box. That setup let me easily add things to the right group as I came across them. Most recently I started to go through all my old photographs to add the best ones to the folders. By the time I am finished, I will be ready to shred anything that doesn't make it into these folders.
In the pre-digital era, I organized all our photo prints and negatives in an archival storage system from Light Impressions. It is a great method for finding and preserving print images, even though the company has now gone out of business. When my mom died, all the photos she had amassed got evenly divided among the four Brazill sisters. Any photos that I don't use in these scrapbooks will be offered to my sisters and then disposed of. There are a lot of under-or-over-exposed photos, or just plain bad pix; no reason to hang onto them.
For the moment, everything has been put away while the garden calls. I keep waiting for a few rainy days to get back to this project but the rain keeps bypassing us for the most part.
As expected Mark took lots of photos on our trips. We traveled a little over 1,400 miles and Mark took more than 1,000 pictures. As I looked through them I noticed a number of images that suggested patterns, both man-made creations and natural wonders. Here are the natural motifs that caught Mark's eye and then mine.
I hate to leave my garden in June even for a lovely family reunion. All I could think about as we drove away was all the blooms I might miss, to say nothing of the storms and wacky weather that might happen while I was gone. I brought my potted plants onto the deck and filled up a bunch of watering cans so my neighbor could easily douse the plants if we didn't get any rain while I was away.
We were gone 8 days and got a little over 2 inches of rain, so clearly we are still in this extremely wet weather pattern. The leaves on my beautiful new dwarf columnar Carpinus are starting to turn yellow and I think it's from being in a pot sitting in a saucer that keeps getting full of rain water. I'm going to plant this tiny treasure in the ground now rather than later in the season, which I hope will help it maintain its youthful vigor.
The kids had a great time playing in the garden while I was away. This is the downside of moss gardening: someone is always looking for grubs and other bugs under my velvet carpet.
Somebody jumped off the highest fence onto the Kirengeshoma after they'd dive-bombed the Synellisis (shredded umbrella leaf), leaving both of them bowed to the ground. Then they kicked up the pine needles from one end of the path to the other — after they'd dislodged one of the old logs marking the edge of the path. They do go crazy when I'm not around to yell at them.
I'm going to dig out and discard all my Stella d'Oro daylilies and redo this street-side bed. I was concerned that the daylilies I want to retain might bloom and be done before I got back. I need not have worried as they are all just starting to flower.
I've been putting big id tags close by the flowers I want to move into other locations, so I will know who is who if there are no flowers to guide me. I'm hoping to attack this redesign project next week, unless we hit temps in the 90s again. There are a lot of problem plants that have found a home here like that baby black walnut tree (above) that all need to be dug out as well.
Most of my Asiatic lilies are just beginning to open, including this variety called 'Apricot Fudge'. Its flowers are described as more rose-like than lily-like and I think that is true. I loved the images of this in the catalogs and online. But I do not like it in person at all. I guess I'm not too old to be taught a lesson about the difference between pictures of flowers and the plants themselves.
My sister Margaret Mary likes to say that she could walk into any tavern in America on St. Patrick's Day and no one would believe our name — Brazill — is Irish. But anyone who is actually Irish and knows their Celtic mythology and legend would recognize it.
Being Irish, it's quite possible that I will find myself in a bar today and the place I'd like to be is Peadar O'Donnell's bar in Derry, Ireland.
"The Parting Glass" is a famous Irish song that is as at home in bar as it is at a funeral. The beautiful rendition in this video was performed by choir singers from University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire Women's Concert Chorale who surprised locals by bursting into song. Perhaps it's Wisconsin girls who rule?
Happy Birthday to my sister Meg who was born on this day. Yes, I do mean December 25.
During the heyday of New Wave and Punk she was in a well-known West Coast band, Los Microwaves. She's the female vocalist on the left in these monster blow-ups of the band (above). She also played bass guitar.
She's the one in the pix on the far left and in the corner, though someone's head is hiding her face. The band did a reunion tour in 2014. Is she one cool sister or what?!!
For the third year in a row Smithsonian Magazine has published a list of the 20 best small towns to visit. One of our local favorites, Spring Green, WI is number 11. Healdsburg, CA where my best friend from college has her beautiful jewelry shop came in at Number 2.
Topping the list is Chautauqua, New York. One of my sisters lives nearby, so Mark and I have wandered all around the area including visiting the famed Chautauqua Institution (which I've written about here and here). Since we were in the area for a family wedding last summer, we stopped in Westfield, NY, just down the road from Chautauqua. This charming little town is home to wonderful old houses, great antique stores and a statue of Grace Bedell, the young girl who convinced Abraham Lincoln he should grow a beard.
It's also home to Brazill's On Main, the restaurant my cousin Bill and his wife Teri opened on the historic town square last summer. Alas we were only able to eat there three times in two days! If you are in the area, you won't want to miss this great restaurant. Though the area has much to offer we never found a restaurant that we wanted to return to until Brazill's opened. And I'm not saying this out of family loyalty.
The restaurant is located in an old commercial building that has been beautifully restored and includes a huge old wooden dumbwaiter, along with plank floors and brick walls. I was transported back to my New York state childhood with some of the restaurant's memorabilia like this beer tray. It depicts Dooley and Schultz, the two characters used to advertize Utica Club beer on TV when I was a kid.
We didn't really snap many photos of the restaurant as we were too busy eating and visiting. I'll just note that it's a light airy space with every detail carefully considered. But it's the food that makes it memorable.
This is last summer's menu (below). We went there for lunch two days in a row and came back for dinner on the second day before we left the area. Everything was delicious and had just enough of a twist to make it stand out from the norm. As we were eating our dinner, I remember thinking how much I wished Brazill's was close enough that I could eat there on a regular basis.
I'm hoping we'll get back there again this summer so I can indulge myself some more. To keep up with their news and menu specials, follow them on Facebook. If you stop in, be sure to tell them Linda and Mark sent you.
NOTE: The woman who restored and operated a restaurant at this location, called Cafe Barista, says that the dumbwaiter I refer to in this post is actually a rope driven elevator! I stand corrected.
Wednesday morning I went on an impromptu jaunt to Spring Green (WI) with a couple of my sisters-in-law. Our first stop was Convivio. Two of us had fallen under the spell of this gem of a shop on previous visits. But it was a new experiece for the third. The space itself exudes charm as it's located in an old building with wood floors, high celings and light that streams in through big windows. Then there's the friendly staff and the fabulous goods for sale.
When I'm in Convivio my eyes instantly gravitate toward textiles. The store has a large selection of beautiful napkins and tablecloths, many of French manufacture, in luscious color combinations. There are also Indian print cloths and runners, which caught one sister's eye. Another was taken with the pillows using Indian saris sewn in the kantha technique. On my last visit I bought a large throw using this technique with saris. There's a different color scheme and pattern on each side making the pillows and the throws very versatile.
My fiber find on this trip was a large woven cloth from Indonesia using the ikat dying technique (all three photos). It's heavy-weight cotton and roughly 77 inches x 93 inches. Big enough to cover my dining room table with both leaves in or to toss over my couch. I knew it would look good with all my stoneware dishes and that spills would not show as much on such a busy pattern if I want to use it on the table. Nor will it show dirt if we put it on the couch so we can come in from working in the garden and plop ourselvers down on it without fear.
Be sure to check out Convivio next time you're in Spring Green. They are also a great source for all kinds of gifts and kitchen and entertaining items as well as wines and chocolates. And don't miss their beautiful ribbon: lots of colors, widths and many embroidered styles, sold by the yard.
Be sure to check out Convivio's hours before you visit as they are still on their winter schedule in April.
Every year at this time I make sure to pick up a copy of the magazine Saveur. The Jan./Feb. issue is devoted to "The Saveur 100," a compendium compiled by the staff of their "favorite tools, tips, ingredients, cookbooks, recipes, restaurants, and more." Each year the list has a theme and this year it's "The New Classics."
The Saveur 100 is the perfect midwinter read: engrossing and entertaining. And I always make a game out of reading it, giving myself marks for foods I've tried, tools I own and the like. Of course, since some foods and restaurants they talk about are in other states and even other countries, I do a bit of fudging on the foodie scale. I get points if I've tried the local equivalent.
If you're suffereing from cabin fever, find yourself a Saveur and create your own quiz.
Here's how I fared this year:
13. Baumgartner's Limburger Sandwich. While I am not a big fan of this sandwich, I have been within sniffing distance of it. Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Wisconsin is the last producer in the country of Limburger, so like it or not, I am proud of its history and Wisconsin connection.
20. Griswold Cast Iron. We grew up using Griswold muffin molds and every time I visit my sister in Erie, PA — home of the Griswold company which folded in 1957 — I try to talk her into giving me the family Griswold pans. I've found them in antique shops in her area but the prices have kept me from buying my own.
29. Linie Aquavit. I learned to drink Aquavit (with a beer chaser) when I took a spinning and weaving class at Peter's Valley Craftsmen out east. But here in Wisconsin, with its strong Norwegian heritage, I learned to appreciate Linie. At all times — like right now — there's a bottle in our freezer staying properly chilled.
59. Christmas in Connecticut. Watched it for the millionth time between Christmas and New Year's this year. Make sure to get the original 1954 version and not the ghastly re-make. Despite the photo in Saveur, Barbara Stanwyck has a fabulous wardrobe in the movie.
64. Vietnamese Pork Chops. Had them for lunch on Saturday at Saigon Noodle in Madison. Saveur provides a recipe, but I'm not sure I'd ever bother making them when I can get them right in the neighborhood.
66. Old Gourmets. I, too, hoard my back issues of the now-defunct Gourmet magazine. I've got a few dozen issues going back to the mid-1980s; in particular those from November and December with all the great holiday recipes. And then there are untold articles and recipes I've clipped from Gourmets before I tossed them.
67. Judith Jones. If you love cooking and cookbooks, you know Jones. She's the legendary editor who persuaded Knopf to publish Julia Child.
68. Homemade scones. I make 'em, I eat 'em.
93. Lambrusco. A guilty pleasure and a must with Chinese food.
Soon I will be able to add No. 91. Sweet Orange Buns (pictured above). Mark, who doesn't have an insatiable sweet tooth like mine, pointed out this recipe to me in a way that clearly indicated he'd be mine forever if I made him this treat. What could I do but send him to the store for some oranges and yeast?
to me those have always been the two most beautiful words
in the English language."
— Henry James —
James, of course, is entirely correct. The only thing that could possibly improve a summer afternoon is a little Jane Austen. Or even a lot of Jane Austen. Not long ago, I had the urge to watch the 2008 BBC adaptation of Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." (I much prefer it to the Ang Lee/Emma Thompson version.) Lucky for me there was a copy waiting on the shelf at the public library.
The production was as good as I remembered; perfect casting, costumes and scenery. There seemed to be only a modicum of invention and tampering with Austen's text; notably in setting of the Dashwood's cottage by the sea rather than deeper in the countryside. And I was annoyed again at the attempt to sex-up the off-stage seduction of a character we never meet and who is not even revealed until we're well into the story.
Of course, those things sent me back to the book to see exactly what Austen said and how and where and when. It's at moments like this that I know why I have a matched set of Modern Library editions of Austen's novels on my bookshelf. (I'm only missing P&P to make it a complete set). My re-reading of the story of the Dashwood sisters showed me how subtle Austen can be in setting the scene. I imagined the duel between Willoughby and Col. Brandon was a screen addition but there it was in the book; high drama though less obviously so in Austen's hands. And I marveled again at how well the cast of "Sense & Sensibility" meshed with Austen's characterizations in the novel.
While I was at the library picking up the Austen DVD, I took a quick look at the new books shelf where the title, "Jane's Fame," jumped out at me. I grabbed it on the assumption that there is only one Jane who is so famous she needs no introduction. (Well, maybe two if you count Tarzan's inamorta). And indeed the book looks at "How Jane Austen Conquered the World."
Part biography, part history and mystery, author Claire Harman looks at Austen from every angle and every era. There are so many versions and re-visions of Austen that this is an excellent way to discover what is fact, fiction and pure fantasy. Harman covers everything from likenesses of Austen, to all the different editions of her books, to who in the Austen family dealt with publishers and whether Jane cared about making money from her writing (the family said no, but Jane said otherwise in her letters).
All of the backstory about Austen's immediate family and descendants, the years spent trying to get her books into print etc., can get a bit overwhelming. What I found of most interest as a contemporary reader of Austen is how she came to be part of the canon, or canonized to be more accurate. Harman looks at how changing tastes in both literature and literary criticism aided Austen's fame. Until about fifteen years ago all surges of interest in Austen were related to anniversaries or publication of newly discovered documents.
But the 1995 film version of P&P with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth sparked an interest in Austen that has not abated. We are in an era of all Austen, all the time. There's the multiplication of treatments of the novels on screen, the entire literary genre of Austen-influenced romance novels (think Georgette Heyer), Austen take-offs ("Clueless," "Lost in Austen"), Austen compilations on YouTube, and Austen herself and her fictional characters now appear in countless other novels. Though I admit to being an Austen addict, I draw the line at zombies.
We are no longer particular, says Harman, where or how we get our Austen — as long as we get it! Reading "Jane's Fame" is not quite as much fun as reading Austen herself, but it will go a long way towards helping you understand your own Austen addiction.
If you've never seen Andrew Davies' adaptation of "Sense and Sensibility" here's the PBS trailer for the DVD which will give you a feeling for both the story and the production without giving anything away.
The copyright to photos on this Web site is held by the photographer, Mark Golbach, unless credited otherwise. Original text is copyright by Linda Brazill. Please contact for permission to use.
