wednesday's words and wanderings and wonderings

This feels like it could be a Friday Feed post, but I already have something else planned for then.

It's fresh strawberry season, and since last Wednesday we've gone through five quarts of strawberries! That wasn't hard to do with a strawberry-loving family visiting for four days. The berries were incredibly red, sweet, and juicy. Besides enjoying them straight from the bowl, we also made strawberry shortcake.

What a delicious way to kick off the fresh produce season.

The strawberry tops still had plenty of fruit and juice clinging to them, so into a quart jar they went, covered with water to infuse that fresh strawberry flavor. The infusion takes about two to three days, but the resulting strawberry water is refreshing on its own or added to lemonade or iced tea. Plus, it's a great way to minimize food waste.

It's also garden-fresh tomato season, and I've been waiting for this day for seven months! I refuse to buy tomatoes shipped to stores during the winter. They have no flavor, aren't juicy, and simply aren't worth the money. What better way to celebrate fresh tomato season than with a bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich? Hello, summertime!

During the Chicago family's visit, Grandpa introduced AJ to wheelbarrow rides. Needless to say, they were a huge hit with both the little guy and Grandpa.

Now that the family has returned to Chicago, it's time to wash towels and bed linens and get ready for the next guests. Instead of using dryer sheets, I use wool dryer balls. Here's my plug for dryer balls: They're reusable, eco-friendly, cost-effective, and unscented. They naturally soften fabrics and reduce drying time by improving airflow. Traditional dryer sheets, on the other hand, are single-use, leave a waxy residue that can reduce fabric absorbency, and often contain artificial fragrances that may irritate sensitive skin.

A few months ago, the pink dryer ball disappeared. Occasionally one gets stuck in a pant leg or shirt sleeve, but it usually turns up during laundry folding. I searched high and low and never found it, until yesterday. There it was, mixed in with the towels. How it ended up there remains a mystery, but at least the missing dryer ball has finally come home.

sea holly

Sea holly. It’s native to Central and Eastern Europe, not the midwestern USA, but it’s growing in my garden. Sea holly is a tough-as-nails plant that survives in extreme cold and poor soil. It blooms from early summer to early fall, flowering profusely in mid-summer. With a long tap root (it’s a member of the carrot family), it’s drought-tolerant and prefers dry soil. What’s not to love about sea holly? It’s thick, spiky leaves bristle with fierceness and the steel blue flowers resemble thistles. To really accent the flowers, sea hollies have these gorgeous ruffled bracts around the cones that looks like the ruffled collar of an Elizabethan costume. Best of all, bees and other pollinators love sea holly and that’s why it’s in my garden. 

 

monday's mulling: a happy heart

My Chicago family arrived last Thursday and headed home Sunday afternoon. It was a busy, fun-filled visit that seemed to last only a blink of an eye. Time really does fly when you're having fun.

My little grandson, AJ, is fascinated by farm animals right now, and we're fortunate to have a couple of local farms where young children can get up close and personal with the livestock. Our first stop was Young's Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs. AJ fed the goats, sat on a tractor, rode a blue horse on the carousel, played on a kid-sized playground, and enjoyed some blue cotton-candy-flavored ice cream. By the time the day was over, he was completely worn out and fell asleep almost as soon as his mom buckled him into his car seat for the ride home.

The next day, while his mom attended a baby shower, Daddy, Grandpa, and Didi took AJ to Hidden Valley, another local farm filled with animals. He saw baby lambs, piglets, cows and calves, ducks, roosters, and chickens. He raced up and down the fence line from the lambs to the pigs, then to the ducks, the cows, and back again, repeating the route at least four times. Farm animals are definitely his "thing" right now, and seeing so many of them in one place was pure two-year-old heaven.

During his down time at our house, AJ's parents let him watch a couple Disney movies. Right now "golillas and efants" (gorillas and elephants), is one of his favorites. For the adults around AJ, this translates to "Tarzan." This animated movie came out in 1999. and wow, once again, how time does fly. Phil Collins wrote and performed the vocal songs. It's a wonderful sound track.

One of the songs in Tarzan is "You'll Be in My Heart." It's such a touching song about a mother's love for her baby. When AJ was born, the doctors quickly discovered he had a hole in his heart and when he was 2 1/2 months old he had open heart surgery to repair it. Todd and I were there to support the new parents during this scary time. When I held my little grandson after his surgery, in a private moment through tears I sang some of "You'll Be in My Heart" to him. To this day, that song still makes me cry.

Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small

You seem so strong

My arms will hold you

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

Can't be broken

I will be here, don't you cry

'Cause you'll be in my heart

Yes, you'll be in my heart

From this day on

Now and forever more

You'll be in my heart

No matter what they say

You'll be here in my heart

Always

national smile day

"A warm smile is the universal language of kindness." ~ William Arthur Ward

It's May 31 and National Smile Day. Share your beautiful smile and brighten someone's day! 

"A smile is a curve that sets everything straight." ~ Phyllis Diller

say cheeeese

This street art is located on the exterior of a laundromat in the Lower East Side. Tom Bob, a New York City artist, is famous for reimagining urban objects into whimsical scenes. A gray cartoon mouse emerges from behind a large, bright yellow ramp painted to resemble a giant piece of Swiss cheese. I so admire people who have the vision to transform a structural element such as this ramp, into something eye-catching.

There once was a wedge on the street
With moon-craters painted so neat..
A mouse, eyes so bright,
Took one cosmic bite,
And launched into June on swiss feet.

the friday feed: new york nibbles

On our walk back to the hotel from Gracie Mansion, we were hungry, actually famished. We made our way to Pastrami Queen, Anthony Bourdain’s favorite spot for a pastrami sandwich. As the celebrated chef once said, “The first thing I get when I am back in New York is a pastrami sandwich. Pastrami Queen is a really good pastrami sandwich, if not the best among the very best. Just a good, nice mix of fat and lean. It's the real deal, served warm on a fresh, soft rye with the right kind of mustard.”

The restaurant is tiny, with two tables for four and a single two-seater near the front window. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and sat at the small table, watching people walk past and locals step in to pick up takeout orders. There is nothing fancy about Pastrami Queen and that is part of its charm. It feels like one of those neighborhood eating spots that earned its reputation one sandwich at a time.

Cafe d'Angelo in Little Italy was our other favorite restaurant during this trip. The homemade pasta tossed in Alfredo sauce and then swirled inside a Parmesan cheese wheel was Italian comfort food at its finest... fantastico! To top it all off, a chilled glass of limoncello at the end of the meal was the finishing touch to a delicious dinner and a wonderful time in New York.

gracie mansion

In 1799, a prosperous merchant named Archibald Gracie built a country house overlooking a quiet, scenic bend on the East River, five miles north of what was then New York City. Now his home is one of the oldest surviving wood structures in Manhattan and the official residence of New York City’s Mayor. In 1823 financial hardship caused by the War of 1812 forced Gracie to sell his house and over the years the property changed hands several times. In 1942 city officials designated the house as the official residence of the Mayor. Fiorello LaGuardia was the first mayor to live in Gracie Mansion.

Now Gracie Mansion is home to New York city’s newest mayor, Zohran Mamdani and his wife. Before moving into the mayoral mansion, Mamdani and his wife, Rama Duwaji, lived in an 800-square-foot, rent-stabilized one-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens. They lived in this Astoria residence for roughly seven years prior to his mayoral term. What a change of lifestyle this public office brings.

One day, out of curiosity Todd and I took a walk to Gracie Mansion. We strolled to the Yorkville neighborhood of the Upper East Side where the mansion sits inside Carl Schurz Park and overlooks the East River. A wrought iron fence surrounds the property and inside that fence is another tall fence that blocks the view of the mansion. We were able to walk past the mansion to the East River Esplanade but could not get a good view of the mayoral residence. The views of the river and the city are gorgeous. It’s a shame that the fences block the views for the Mamdanis.  

Roosevelt Island in the forefront; Long Island City, Queens behind Roosevelt Island.

The RFK Bridge (formerly the Triborough Bridge) in the forefront; the Hell Gate Bridge behind. The Hell Gate Bridge served as the primary design inspiration and model for the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia.