Far and Clear, How Far and Clear, the Horns of Elfland Faintly Blowing

Far and Clear, How Far and Clear, the Horns of Elfland Faintly Blowing

: catvalente; June 25th, 2010

Current Mood:: content

All of our plants are coming up!

We munched on the first strawberries in the garden today, hung up colorful big solar lanterns on what will now be known as the Party Tree, thank you Grandpa Tolkien, our pumpkins are putting out huge leaves, we have wee baby peppers growing, and the sunflowers are peeking up bit by bit. I got the alternating bass rhythm right for the first time on my accordion, and my kitten sat primly at my ankle and yowled along with my playing. I am knitting a lace wrap out of gorgeous, corn and pumpkin and new sprouts-colored yarn.

I worked on copyediting Fairyland, and culled the excess pumpkin, zucchini, and magda squash plants.

I've made lemon-cilantro chicken and corn-mango spoonbread for dinner, and we're all going to settle in and watch the new Futurama episodes.

It's a good day. My hair is clean. My dress is too short. There is a sweet-smelling breeze off of the sea, and good wine decanting.

Not such a bad New England showing for a California girl.

( 33 comments — Write On My Skin )

chris_walsh

2010-06-26 12:57 am (UTC)

I first read that as "Faintly Bowling."

chris_walsh

2010-06-26 12:59 am (UTC)

P.S. Have a splendiferous weekend! (And to those reading, you too. And you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, and you, also you, you, you, you, you, you, don't forget you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, you, no, really, I didn't miss saying that to you, so you, you, you...)

nex0s

2010-06-26 12:59 am (UTC)

culled the excess pumpkin, zucchini, and magda squash plants.

It's not weeding when it's YOURS :)

*happy dance*

N.

catvalente

2010-06-26 01:01 am (UTC)

They aren't weeds! They're plants!

I was going to cook the pumpkin leaves as the internet says I can, but they tasted AWFUL.

Also we have a nice little compost heap going. And ducks soon!

(Anonymous)

2010-06-26 01:08 am (UTC)

Two things--

1. do we get the spoon bread recipe?

2. how much time did you give each of these things? curious about time management/scheduling.

catvalente

2010-06-26 02:04 am (UTC)

Sure, I'll post it tomorrow.

I don't know, dinner took about two hours, copyediting was ongoing through the day, pullin gout plants just a few minutes, practicing accordion for 45 minutes...writing is my full time job so I make my own schedule.

miep

2010-06-26 03:21 am (UTC)

I have always been curious about those who make their own schedules. How do you have the discipline to get anything done? Or not to let housekeeping, whether house-related or not, take over the day?

catvalente

2010-06-26 03:42 am (UTC)

Well, ultimately, I kind of suck at it. But I try. And I procrastinate a lot, but am good at cramming. Right now I have a reasonably light work schedule as I'm taking a little time to recover after the three novels in five months craziness, so I have more time for gardening and such.

Cooking icon

terajjin

2010-06-26 01:46 am (UTC)

O.O I have never heard of spoon bread before. I WILL be trying it in the near future. drools

I was curious if you have ever read the Emily of New Moon series and if it influenced you at all as a writer?

Re: Cooking icon

catvalente

2010-06-26 02:04 am (UTC)

Never heard of it.

Re: Cooking icon

terajjin

2010-06-26 02:08 am (UTC)

Written by L. M. Montgomery, actually a closer look at the kind of childhood and influence of her own real life, a lot to do with being a young, gifted, girl of a literary nature, far darker than Anne of Green Gables and so forth. As it is also set on P.E.I, though, there are a lot of quaint "island living moments" that make me homesick for the coast, myself.

It's free domain, and a glorious little trilogy. I think you might enjoy it.

Re: Cooking icon

miep

2010-06-26 03:19 am (UTC)

ohhhhhh Emily....

loved it so much, even more than Anne, and that's saying something for a redhead with a surfeit of imagination...

Re: Cooking icon

terajjin

2010-06-26 03:30 am (UTC)

I still re-read it at least once every six months. More if I'm suffering writer's block.

dr_phil_physics

2010-06-26 01:59 am (UTC)

Am I a bad person for thinking that "copyediting Fairyland, and culled the excess pumpkin, zucchini, and magda squash plants" meant that you were removing the plants from Fairyland? (grin)

Dr. Phil

valya_dl

2010-06-26 06:33 am (UTC)

:) I read it the same way, so I guess I'm a bad person as well.

xxo
~Valya

callmetothejedi

2010-06-26 02:21 am (UTC)

I am jealous of your garden. :) One day, I want to live in a place with a little scrap of yard so I can grow my own garden.

garnetlocks

2010-06-26 02:33 am (UTC)

Sounds like a great day! (And your dress can never be too short so long as you're wearing enough underwear not to leave snail trails.)

Also, may I recommend? Try the strawberries with a good aged balsamic vinegar.

sacchig

2010-06-26 03:15 am (UTC)

Magda squash is lovely. Also Zephyr, pale yellow with spring green ends, from Johnny's Seeds of Maine. I have little ones of both all set and growing, almost big enough to eat if only there were enough of them yet to make a meal. Soon!

domynoe

2010-06-26 03:23 am (UTC)

That spoonbread sounds wonderful. Don't suppose you'd share the recipe?

yukihada

2010-06-26 03:34 am (UTC)

I hope your garden grows well. But really, I just wrote because I love your icon. I love Edna St. Vincent Millay...especially that line.

You may need to share your corn-mango spoonbread recipe. That just sounds divine!

catvalente

2010-06-26 03:42 am (UTC)

It's one of my favorite poems. I'm so glad someone recognizes it!

christophrawr

2010-06-26 05:37 am (UTC)

Dinner sounds nice.
I still haven't been able to write anything epic lately here on LJ, but continue to draw inspiration from you.

Carry on.

martyn44

2010-06-26 09:18 am (UTC)

Strawberries from the garden. Mmmm! And I don't even like stawberries. Well, not very much.

amazon_syren

2010-06-26 04:07 pm (UTC)

Squash is a wonder and a joy for all to behold. :-D (I am a squash nut. She's one of my deities, and does well to keep me in veggies all winter long! I <3 butternut, buttercup (not a fabulous keeper, but Om Nom Nom) and big-ass hubbards that require a hatchet to properly slaughter for dinner).
Squash gnocchi are delicious, lemme tell you!

Also: Spoon bread recipe, plz? :-D

Thirdly: I love-love-love your party tree with its solar lanterns. That is a brilliant and gorgeous idea. (Yay Grandpa Tolkien!)

I am making soap today. Hurrah, hurrah! :-D

literateshrew

2010-06-26 07:21 pm (UTC)

Lovely garden haul! Color me jealous. I've been coveting everyone's gardens lately because I just moved to a little farm, and we haven't had the money to start planting yet. So sad.

Also... just bought Omikuji Cycle 1 for Kindle. Eeeee! Will Fairyland be on Kindle any time soon?

Since I am in the wilds, getting to a bookstore is nigh impossible, and Kindle is the best way for me to feed my addiction. Though, I'll probably bankrupt myself with the thing. OH well.

catvalente

2010-06-28 04:29 pm (UTC)

Fairyland will be on Kindle when it comes out in print form next year!

literateshrew

2010-06-28 05:10 pm (UTC)

I thought it was closer than that. Oh, well. It's worth the wait. :D

Thanks!

mountain_home11

2010-06-26 11:16 pm (UTC)

I wrote my first blog about poetic menus. I love good food and good writing about food. I can travel miles and miles using my taste buds as vehicle.

I have 6 garden beds where I rent that I mean to do something productive with, but every year the most beautiful wildflowers bloom in them- daisies, fireweed, forget-me-nots and butter- and- eggs. I just can't bring myself to pull up something wild and beautiful for something "productive". That is a nice way to say I am too lazy! Congrats on your garden. I do hope you post a picture when you have a spiral of sunflowers. You might have to rent a hot air balloon so you can view from above. Looks lovely. Good on ya!

dragon_mintz

2010-06-27 06:19 am (UTC)

I am jealous that your garden is giving it up already! Mine is just struggling back from a spring of non-stop rain. I really shouldn't complain too much, everything survived except the poor carrots and I should have radishes at least in a week or so :)

I've got pumpkins in for the first time this year - are you growing a carving pumpkin or a cooking one?

catvalente

2010-06-27 06:26 am (UTC)

Both!

dragon_mintz

2010-06-27 06:36 am (UTC)

Sweet! Though now I'm even more jealous since you have room for both ;p I settled on a carver that has good seeds for roasting for my one little pumpkin hill.