My Bit of Earth

Holy Cow(scapes)!

Sometime this summer, I was at the frame shop waiting my turn when I noticed that the lady* in front of me had a very interesting little print.  When I asked, she said it was a photo she had taken herself.  Turns out she was a local artist whose latest project was taking pictures of cows in such a way that they looked like landscapes.  Being a big fan of art that makes people smile, I thought her "cowscape" was charming.

So, when I was surfing through the paper this morning and saw that even more of her cows were going to be part of tonight's downtown gallery walk (article here), I decided I needed to go see some moo...er, um, more.

The slide show doesn't really do the cows justice.  Up close (and 5 times the size of course) you can really suspend reality and see the cow as a prairie landscape.  The hairy texture looks like exotic grass with a wide blue sky background.  They were gorgeous, I only wish she would do more.

(*My mysterious bovine-loving, frame-shop lady's name is Rachael Sudlow.  In addition to her cow pictures, she also sells jewelry.)

The Best Laid Plans

You know, sometimes you can eat something 100 times, and then the 101st your stomach just says, "Um, ya know, no."  So, home sick today after that 101st run-in with some Pad Thai, I took some expert advice and used the time between urka-gurkas to plan next summer's garden.

After reading back over some of the stuff I wrote last year, I decided less is more--i.e. 2 kinds of tomatoes instead of 6, 1 pepper instead of 2, just a few kinds of flowers that are suited to Kansas summer and won't die if I don't make it out to water for a day.  Because although the overgrown jungle, tomato-plants-eating-each-other look is kind of tropical (in a very weird way), it really only leads to starving plants that don't make much fruit.  And, as much fun as it is to get 1 strawberry for every month you fret over them, or to have so much basil that you can't even look at a pesto for the next year; there really are other, more fun ways to get much better results for much less time and effort--e.g. Lawson's pick-your-own berry patch, the Farmer's Market, the gazillion other local farms in the area.

Whether or not all this cool logic survives the first trip to Sunrise for plants and seeds...eh, that might be another issue altogether.  But at least I have a plan.

Dogs on Black

Grown-Up Eggs

Another one from my childhood.... 

Weekend breakfasts with Nice Dad.  I would order biscuits and gravy or pancakes or French toast, but he would often order Eggs Benedict.  I didn't like eggs (that's something I've actually only grown into in the past few years), but I always thought they were so fancy and pretty looking--a perfectly round English muffin, nice pink ham, a little white pouch of yolk, all covered in golden yellow hollandaise and bright green herbs or onions.  I remember thinking, "When I'm a grown-up, that's what I'll eat."

So tonight, Sweet Husband poached the eggs, I made the hollandaise (which, by the way, is super easy to make from scratch), and wahlah--some very respectable "Grown-Up Eggs".

Our Little Red Toboggan

Not only did we get about 4 inches of snow last night, today was Moe's 2nd birthday--put it all together, and it was a good excuse to take a day and just have some fun.  A trip to the hardware store for a "Torpedo" sled--which, as a little boy informed me as we were checking out, was "really fast"--sealed the deal. 

We started out with Moe riding on the sled, but he quickly decided that his Mum and Dad aren't very good drivers; he had a lot of fun running along side though!  Some pictures are here.

Moe Knows Snow

A few more inches of snow today, but thankfully no more ice.  When we went out to play in it this afternoon we discovered that Moe likes snowballs.

Mon Petit Chou*

Here's a winter time spin on a side dish I picked up as a wee lass chopping my first veggies at Nice Dad's knee.  Dad's original recipe called for wrapping a quartered head of cabbage in bacon, wrapping it in foil, and popping it on the grill until nice and tender. 

But since our grill is covered in ice and we had neither bacon nor foil, we rubbed our cabbage quarters with just a leeetle bit of butter, and sprinkled them with lemon pepper.  We popped them on a baking sheet in the oven for about a half an hour at 425ish, and the result was very nice.  (Note:  I like my cabbage a little crunchy, if you like yours more tender leave it in the oven longer.)  I really liked how they came out looking a just a little bit browned and ruffled at the edges--very pretty and very tasty.  Don't feel bad if you end up eating it with your fingers.

(*Translation="my little cabbage" which, in addition to being an apt descriptor of my dinner tonight, is also a term of endearment in France.)

Snowy Day at Home

This morning started with big, fat flakes, but by afternoon the sun was out and Moe and I decided it was time to quit doing laundry and hibernating and go for a walk.  I'm not sure who slipped on the ice more--my two feet or his four--but by the time we got around to picture taking, Moe had decided that he was tired of cold paws, hence the daintily lifted front paw in this picture.  S'more shots from our lazy day are here and here.

A Really Cold Walk With Really Nice People

On hearing that Sweet Husband, due to his winter-time graduation, was not going to get a trip down the hill, his co-worker's decided that just wouldn't do.

(Brief explanation for those unlucky souls who are not Jayhawks:  As part of graduation at KU, graduates walk down the pictured hill from the Memorial Campanile (big bell tower thing in the background) to the football stadium where graduation ceremonies take place.  People are generally very festive and jovial as they parade down, and much fun is had.  It's a big KU tradition.)

So, this morning--despite the fact that the hill was covered with ice and the temperature was below 20--Sweet Husband's nice co-workers gathered together for a very chilly walk.  There were balloons, champagne was had, the school song was sung, er, hummed--in short, it was probably better than actual graduation.  More pictures are here.

(And afterward we all warmed up with a very tasty brunch--thanks again Nice Sweet Husband's Boss!)

Winter, For Real

A steady fall of ice and snow, temperature highs in the teens--I'd say it's finally winter.  (Incidentally, if you feel like you've seen the seed pod at left before, it's because you have.)