Blog

First up is the emu from my dining table that I talked about last week.

Now for the Healing Soup I talked about. recipe as follows:

One chopped onion and three chopped garlic cloves sauteed in a couple tablespoons oil in large pot.

Then add six cups chicken broth, one cut up bunch of asparagus and one large bunch of broccoli cut in pieces (you can use stalks if you peel them first).

Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes until veggies are soft.

Drop in two to three handfuls fresh baby spinach and stir til just cooked.

Add salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne to taste.

Use a stick blender to pulverize til smooth. This soup is really delicious and the combination of greens are hard to distinguish one from the other.

I also made a quiche with bits left over in the fridge.

And this morning I used my new waffle iron to cook two slices of seedy bread soaked in egg and milk. I had to pierce with a fork several times to get most of the liquid absorbed. Buttered my waffle iron, placed the bread slices to fit each side and cooked til golden. Then topped with butter, sour cream, and golden syrup.

Delicious!

It is a bit after two here in the states. I am supposed to be designing the cover for the new book, so will pour a white wine and get started.

So far today I was on the family call this morning and told the kids that if I need what I will call a stop-over place to pass away, I have found a nice place not too far from here. I assured them that I would not be coming north but staying where my last view will be of the mountains of western North Carolina. I told them I wanted to know that I had a place to go between here and the funeral home (where they are not necessarily waiting but know they are the last ticket purchased). I am in no hurry and have no cause to think the time is very near. But when one lives in an elderly (somewhat) community, one is much more aware of the order of things.

And with that in mind, I share one of my favorite poems from the new book….

Her Last Breath

When she drew her last breath,

   it came with the smell

   of strawberries.

She closed her lips and smiled

   as she savored

   the last one.

Okay, wine is at hand. Earlier I finished my exercises for balance and strengthening. Also treated myself to new clothes from favorite online shops and found myself enjoying the company of neighbors at the homeowners association meeting yesterday. My social skills have been taxed lately. But I am getting better. Which reminds me, did you know that there is a difference between “nice” and “kind”?

Look up kind vs nice and see the difference. My family and I agree that I am NOT nice but definitely kind. But I may have to work on being nice if I want to get my foot in the door of the nursing home that will be my stop before the funeral home. I will likely start with complimenting their choice of wallpaper and see how far that gets me.

Til next week, where my kindness just got me an invitation to a party!

 

This has been a weekend to stay indoors! The sun is out but doing little to melt the snow. It is still very cold out there. This morning I took this picture of rabbit tracks going up to check out one of my yard rabbits…or maybe he decided to take a walk and just got back in place before I noticed.

Anyway, it was lovely to watch the transformation out back.

I am getting the manuscript ready for the book. It is about 140 pages. Struggling with laying out the cover but will get it sorted. I think on the back cover with all that blank space where quotes of high praise are shoved in to help market the book, I will give suggestions on how the book should be read. Mainly, it should be read aloud. Not to those who drop off with the mention of, “Once upon a time…”, but good listeners. Like bartenders on a slow day (they are used to listening) and must have withdrawal when no one is telling their story. Or those missing the sound of someone’s voice and have used up their friends spare time to talk. Or read a poem at the book club that wanted, and worse, expected, you to read the book that was a drudge to even start. Tell them it is an option to come in with a poem instead of getting in line to praise Eat, Pray, Love, or some knockoff of a writer’s character…you know the ones that could be titled, Ahab’s Ugly Sister Finds Love on the Docks. Let’s keep Melville and others like him turning in their graves.

Sorry about that…just a small rant on authors who use established characters from literature because they just can’t create their own. And readers are dying to know all about Ahab’s sister falling in love…good grief!

Because it is still so cold, I am going to make some Healing Soup. It is a chopped onion softened with garlic in oil. Salt and pepper with red pepper flakes to taste, then a chopped bundle of asparagus, bunch of broccoli cut up, and a couple cups of fresh spinach cooked in six cups of chicken broth. When all cooked, pulverize with a hand mixer til smooth and serve in a mug. If you don’ like the taste of “green” then make another soup.

Sadie is staying by the window and waiting for the sun to hit her back.

Last week’s sunny starts and ends to the day.

I might be spending too much time unoccupied between dinner and bed time. I am seeing things in the table…like this seal peeking out. There is also an emu, but I will save him for another time.

I need to get back to laying out the cover for the book…

Til later…

 

This is a photo I took on an early morning walk into a meadow in Australia to do my tai chi with kangaroos. I loved the gnarly knots of wire trying and failing to stop something from going further. I stepped through and over it. The peace of body memory movements at dawn while kangaroos watched was magic. I miss the calm sense of being right with the world. The combination of ignorance and greed paired with the acceptance of unbearable cruelty has brought us all down…all except those who revel in their shortsighted stupidity. It is hard not to hate them for what they have done.

BUT. This week brought a surprise call from basket makers in Australia having one of their gatherings, celebrating the learning, the company of others and remembering me. We had such good times and shared so much. Each of them that gathered was able to show me what they were working on and say, “Remember when you…..? It was heaven.  So, since I took no pictures this week because it was such an ugly sight of brutality here in the United States amid struggling integrity, I found some images of the baskets I made while in their company. Like two of a group of New Zealand flax open weave pieces.

And small Memory Baskets from when I was back home. These are tarleton and dress pattern tissues spun into threads.

And part of a series about losing some of yourself over time.

And a detail from one of those pieces.

Anyway, it was a wonderful and uplifting phone call. It came at a very good time.

The following is an essay I wrote years ago and now will be included in the new book I am working on.

Australia Longing

What is it that causes this sudden sadness, or longing, or need? This time it is a recipe on the back of the Tasmanian Basketmakers Newsletter. Anna Lizotte’s family recipe for Tomato Spice Cake. How can “tomato” and “cake” be in the same context? And then it happens.

I miss Australia right now. At this very minute I want to be there. How do I care for this longing? Why is it so fierce? I can smell the soil, feel the air on my skin. I can taste it. Will it be like this later when I am too old to return? My eyes fill with tears at the thought of not being there. Why does it matter so much? Two glasses of wine that weren’t even Australian. What triggers these emotions?

It is the longing thing – that longing that we have no control over. It just comes sneaking in and takes hold. No words can explain it. My husband glances over and then away – no words are best. I look ridiculous or nuts right now. And I feel bereft. “Bereft” – that is the perfect word, and I am slightly better now I’ve defined it. I think it happens when too many memories of times in Australia pour into my consciousness and push everything else away. Only Australia is there – the people, the land, the tastes, the smells – the longing.

I am no longer as sad with missing Australia. Calls from friends down under and surprises in the mail make it so much better. Plus Anna, who was on the call the other night, and never misses a basket gathering, said she will send me that tomato cake recipe.

So far I have laid out the forty-eight poems and five short stories in the book I am designing and hope to release sometime in February. All I have left is the eight essays and cover design to go. I will post a picture of it when it goes on Amazon under S. Webster. Title, Patchworks of Poetry and Prose.

My haircutter just called and is changing my appointment from tomorrow to the day after. A very chilly forecast for tonight that might result in icy roads. That is fine. Maybe the old men will also want to stay home. Then I can finish laying out essays while getting those 8000 steps in.

It is dismal looking out. I think a nice glass of Aussie red with some popcorn and a bit of British telly is where I am headed.

Til later….

 

 

I lost the other post so am starting over. darker mornings when it is supposed to be getting lighter…or so I thought.

I am deep in trying to put together a new book….Patchworks of Poetry and Prose.   Forty-eight poems, eight essays and five new short stories. There will also be some illustrations of patched cloth and drawings.  Likely I will use smaller black and white images.

This week I made my first whisky mac drink. Perfect use of Stones ginger Wine and Kentucky bourbon. Here I added an orange peel.

It was originally named for Mack’s Ginger Wine and a blended scotch. Now it is Stones Ginger Wine 50/50 with Kentucky bourbon….actually Jim Beam because other countries have slowed down ordering from the US and our liquor stores seem to have plenty.

Dilly keeps an eye on me.

If you are thinking of coming to the United States, don’t. We are reaping the consequences of unbelievable ignorance that has resulted in a government of greed, grift and cruelty. Go anywhere but here. Thank you to Minnesota and especially those living in Minneapolis who yesterday ran a nazi out of town. But not before he hollered out, “Don’t be mad at me. You are getting what you voted for.” Unfortunately we should have known earlier how many Americans have fascist tendencies. Please don’t come here. And if you live here, take care of those who remember who we were and fight for the rest of us.

I leave you with a new poem.

I Have This Boat

I have this boat

made from two leaves.

The first, that would float

if I let it,

is a long, brown and spotted

oval, curved upwards,

stem extended from the stern.

Closer to the bow,

a leaf of equal size,

but flattened and lace-like,

stands erect to catch

the wind,

and sail past

my desire to climb aboard.

 

Til next time…