Sometimes beauty finds you during the most mundane moments.

Hmmm… days and days and no blogging? What’s up with that?!

I’ve been building my raised bed mandala of insanity. I have the blisters, sunburn, and hammer-bruise to prove it. Turns out it was way easier to draw on graph paper than to build. Figures.

But it is almost complete – M has hammered in the stakes (at great cost to his physical well-being), I’ve mulched the beds with cardboard and dried leaves, and I’m waiting for delivery of topsoil (delayed by truck woes) and chomping at the bit as June slips on and still no veggies in the ground.

Don’t tell me that filling the beds with soil and building the fence will be hard work; I’m not listening. Lalalalalalala!

Longwood Gardens is over 1000 acres of horticultural intensity.

Huge conservatories, an orchid house to die for, meadows, tree houses tucked into the forest of tulip trees, Versailles-worthy fountains, giant topiary…

We spent two days there and I feel like I just scratched the surface.
You should go.

In the end what struck me most were details.

The stonework everywhere:

Shapes and textures:

And the most beautiful Copper Beech tree I’ve ever seen:

I’ve come home with a whole lot of inspiration for the next jewelry designs. And an even longer list of “I need” plants than I had before.

We just got back from a little vacation in the Brandywine Valley of Pennsylvania. The highlight for me was visiting Longwood Gardens (although the new Star Treck movie was fun too.)

I’m going to post pictures of Longwood but in the meantime here are some pictures of someone who was discovered on the back patio a week ago:

Isn’t that the best belly?! The impertinence didn’t last long; we released him in a nice weedy patch out of sight of the hawk flying overhead.

Hand modeling thanks goes to Ellen.

I will not post a picture of the collection of seeds I have acquired this season, in an attempt to protect myself from the mocking laughter of all who know me. Let’s just say that my purchases have been ambitious.

I defend myself with the evidence that seed catalogs are very very pretty, and it’s not my fault I was given a book on heirloom melons, and anyway who can blame me for wanting any and all plants dating from when the house was built. On top of which it is extremely difficult to pass up seed when you live in a county sporting seed racks in every grocery and hardware store… so let’s move on.

I am willing to post pictures of my favorites, which are the seeds sent to me by gardening friends. It doesn’t get better than receiving Chrisi’s Magic Morning Glories:

Or the mail bringing a small box wrapped in hand-drawn paper and filled with these treats:

Coincidentally while unpacking some plant pots I found an envelope of calendula seed with matching handwriting, given to me by the same Michigan friend back in 1998 when we shared a garden, years before the children who illustrated my parcel were born.

I did a viability test, soaking the seeds on wet paper towel and hoping that against the odds they would have survived over a decade. They hadn’t. I’ll compost them, the envelope as well, so that they can play their part in the cycle after all.

Meanwhile the morning glories are soaking. It’s a full moon tomorrow.

I just sent out some special order earrings, requested to match this long necklace. I like making jewelry to order; very often the piece ends up being something I make again.

This time I made a longer pair of Square Earrings, without the drops at the bottom.

I like the way they came out. They would look great worn with hair up, the length accentuating the neck.

The weather is lovely today but we’ve been having overcast, drizzly days that are really depressing and require big guns to overcome. Big guns like scones. Hot scones with butter. Sometimes also strawberry jam.

My current scone recipe is torn out of an old issue of O magazine and comes from the Harlem Tea Room.

Raisin Scones
makes about 16

1 stick cold butter (8 Tbsp.) cut into pieces
+ extra for baking sheets
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups milk + extra for brushing scones
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 450F. Coat 2 baking sheets with butter (or I just use parchment paper instead.) Sift flour, sugar, salt, baking powder together in large bowl (or dump in and whisk as I do.) Add butter, using fingertips to combine until mixture takes on texture of fine meal. Stir in raisins. Add milk and stir until flour mixture is just moist and dough begins to stick together. Gather dough into a ball and knead lightly until fully integrated.

Place dough on floured work surface and roll with floured rolling pin (or squash & pat with hands as I do) to 3/4 inch thick. Dip a 2-inch cutter (I use a small drinking glass) into flour and cut out scones as close to one another as possible. Place on prepared sheets, with space in between; let stand 10 minutes.

Brush tops with milk and bake until golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool.

“Remove to wire rack to cool.” Ha!! Gobble up pipping hot with lashings of butter.

The earliest of the daffodils I planted in the fall have been blooming for 10 days and are still going strong.

Early Sensation is just that, and is brilliant on the rainy days we’ve been having, shining bright and hopeful.

Indoors the first of 3 Benefica Amaryllis I received as a gift opened fully today. Deepest, most satisfying red.

Spring.

I gloat only because I have finished the task after a month of staring at my own tarp-covered pile.

When the subject of stacking wood comes up I find that even the burliest of hard-working men says, “Stacking wood – that’s good exercise!” And believe me it is. It’s bruising and exhausting, and a challenging technical puzzle. When I started to rush I caused a tumble and had to start over. So a practice in patience as well.

I am pausing to note my accomplishment before it all goes up in smoke.

After posting the picture of the wreath on the front door I thought I’d share some before and after photos:

Before

Stripped of paint

Primed

Finished

It’s good to be reminded of the changes this past year. In my mind I’m already on to the next challenge and I need to dwell more on what has been achieved. But that mail box is definitely on the challenge list…