January 18, 2009  Usually when I finish and submit an article to Texas LIVE, I avoid reading the published version--mainly because I can't read my writing without wanting to revise. However, one of my articles for the current issue is about patience/impatience for spring, and I needed a reminder the other day. We have had several freezes, but until last week, nothing cold enough to kill everything. The caster bean, angel trumpets, ferns, Buddha plant, and many more finally froze. I knew it would happen, but I still had that little hope--especially when all the angel trumpets were full of tiny new leaflets...

Here is an excerpt from Patience: A Cultivated Virtue

   The holidays are officially over, and for some of us, that means a little case of the post-holiday blues.  After eating too much, spending too much, making New Year’s resolutions, and finally returning that last box of Christmas decorations to its corner in the attic, many Texans are ready for spring. Really ready. And why not? We are teased intermittently by beautiful warm days that hint at an early spring; we are tempted by garden centers that offer spring flora long before our last frost; and above all, we are accustomed to instant gratification.

If you want to read the article, it's easy to find on the magazine's site. Just look for my wild garlic pictures!

January 19, 2009  With the guest bedroom pretty much complete, I used some of my time over Christmas break to work in the dining room, the next room to finish. As usual, the prep work takes much longer than the actual painting. This room, like the living room and kitchen, will not not be sheet rocked/plastered, so the prep work involves removing what's left of the cheesecloth wallpaper backing, removing or hammering in old nails, and caulking the seams between boards. I use my hands, scissors, or a lighter to eliminate the cheesecloth strings. My friend Heather helped for a few hours one evening (after I took these pictures), and it went pretty quickly with both of us working.

I guess I'm racing against time and weather, because the caulking really needs to be done before the temperature and humidity start to rise. If I wait to seal the cracks when they are smaller, then they will separate/contract at this time of year--which has happened in the past. So, I am determined to use my small window of cold weather to my advantage!

The piano came with the house. We would love to have it tuned at some point. The exterior is in great shape, but some of the ivory is missing from quite a few of the keys.

January 20, 2009  Carrots and Orange Shag Carpet

I usually avoid saying 'I told you so' but right now I'm waiting for my mom to call back so I can say just that. My mom was always diligent about making sure we ate a balanced diet (and now I'm grateful), but I did not always appreciate it as a child. My list of acceptable vegetables pretty much consisted of potatoes and green beans. With immature taste buds and an over-active imagination, I came up with some creative ways to either tolerate or avoid the rest of the regular veggies that made it to my plate. The standard solution was to fill my mouth with milk and cram the vegetables in without spilling; this kept the offensive roughage from making as much contact with my taste buds. I would sit there with a mouth full of milk and lettuce (or peas, carrots, spinach, etc...), avoiding swallowing, while my sister would try to poke my cheek. Every once in a while, I would casually throw my lettuce under Nicole or Johnny's chair--which worked a few times. Carrots, though, were always the worst. The mixture of sweet/dirty aftertaste would linger in my mouth, even if I tried to wash it down with milk. Try as I might, I could not convince my mom that carrots were rabbit food, especially since Nicole and Johnny willingly consumed them. She always said they were good for our eyes. Once she caught me spitting out a partially-chewed up carrot into the toilet, and that did not end well for me.

After promising to never spit one into the toilet again, I found myself, again, with a mouth full of warming milk and carrots. You're probably wondering why I wouldn't just swallow and get it over with, which is what I wanted to do. But my throat would close to reject what my mouth didn't want (now it does the same thing if I have to take fowl-tasting medicine). With a flash of genius, at least in my 4 1/2-year-old mind,  I remembered the orange shag carpet in my brother's room. And, yes, I did it. I guess I thought it would eventually just go away--it blended so well with that carpet!

I'm not sure how long it took my mom to discover the little surprise, but she definitely found it. Bless her for putting up with me! And now I'm waiting to tell her that after all those carrot battles, I just found out the myth behind carrots helping with vision--it was British propaganda to keep the Germans from discovering their new radar technology! They distributed posters to encourage their citizens to eat more carrots, and their vision would improve like the British pilots had. The Germans were fooled, but so was everyone else. Throughout the years, I've teased my mom about the benefits of carrots, especially since I'm still the only one in the family who doesn't wear glasses... Oh, well. Maybe all that milk I used to try to wash the veggies down is why I am so tall. Thanks, Mom!