Mersydotes

This afternoon, Mr. Mersydotes and I borrowed some plant netting from our neighbors to cover our strawberries.  At the moment, we are feeling fiercely protective of our two little berry plants, and are willing to do whatever it takes to defend them from the birds & squirrels!  Would you like to know why? Because of these beautiful little berries... Aren't they perfect?  Our strawberry plants are two years old and grow in a container on our patio.  I was such a naïve gardener last year that I didn't realize they would come back after the winter, so to me, these are miracle plants!  Last year, they only bore a few berries, but this year they have been much more prolific.  Also, one of the plants is producing long stem-arms, and I'm curious to find out if we can somehow re-pot those to grow new plants. Have a great evening! ~Mersydotes

About a year ago, I ate my very first pickle, and it was a revelation.  I owe it to my neighbor for introducing me to Polish dill pickles and convincing me that they are not "creepy".  It turns out, they are delicious!  A playful antagonism of sweet and tart and crisp! So, when we saw pickling cucumbers at the farmer's market yesterday, I got it into my head that we should learn how to make quick pickles at home. Food preservation seems such an essential piece of knowledge, and yet it is becoming rarer and rarer to find folks who know how to plan for the cold months.  Turns out, it's quite easy! I followed this recipe and decided to just make refrigerator pickles and not yet processed canned pickles in the interest of experimenting and trying the results as soon as possible.  First, the cucumber slices were tossed with salt and then sat for a bit- removing quite a bit of water. Then, a simple mixture of vinegar, water, salt, sugar, garlic, an...

Sometime in the middle of this week, a cool breeze blew into town, and has stayed with us ever since.  With highs only in the 70s, our everyone feels invigorated, and it's as if the how neighborhood has come alive.  Sometimes, oppressive heat can be just as much of a deterrent to outdoor activities as snow drifts! Mr. Mersydotes and I were chomping at the bit to get out to the farmer's market this morning, and what a sight it was!  summer produce has all of a sudden exploded, and with the cool breezes, the market was overflowing with people.  Oh- and the colors!  Such a variety!  Green tomatoes and red tomatoes: Blushing beets and regal eggplants: A whole rainbow of cherry tomatoes (I hope ours come in soon in the garden!): There were a lot of folks selling peaches this weekend- such a transitory taste of summer.  We know of a certain stall that will sell us their "seconds & over-ripes"  at an amazing discount, and we ...

Late last night just as dusk was comfortably settling over town, Mr. Mersydotes, Mama Mersydotes, Papa Mersydotes and I went out to the garden to see how our country estate was doing.  I suppose you could say it's doing ok, but the weeds are nearly impossible to beat this year, and what with the almost constant rain and scorching temperatures, not too much is growing.  Most of the tomato plants throughout all the gardens are yellowed and spindly, and not too much is going on with gourds this year.  Yikes!  Me thinks next year might a container-only summer!  It was nice, though, pulling weeds as a family as the dusk settled over us, filling up a wheelbarrow first with weeds and then with onions to take home.  Thanks everybody for helping in the garden! But...that doesn't mean we weren't able to harvest a bit of nature's bounty after all.  The onions are very happy in this weather, and are growing quite big! There were also some flame-red Thai chi...

Yipee!  I've found a new little recipe, and when I read about it, I thought, why didn't I think of that?!  They're called "monkey bites" and are made from bananas, peanut butter, and chocolate. So tonight, as Mr. Mersydotes read out loud to me from the newest Dan Brown book, Inferno , I sliced up some bananas... ...dolloped wee dollops of peanut butter on top... ...made little sandwiches, and then plopped some melted chocolate on top.  Into the freezer they went, and will be wonderful hot-weather, frozen treats this week.  So incredibly simple, and so incredibly tasty! Maybe you would like to make some monkey bites for all the monkeys in your house? ~Mersydotes

Mr. M and I had a special Tuesday evening date last night!  After work, we got all gussied up and headed out to the county faire.  It was harness racing night, and we were especially excited to watch the pacers. The evening had cooled down considerably- thank heavens!- and it was nice to stroll along the main walk, looking at the shiny marquis.  Here are some of our favorites: We sat in the grandstands as evening fell, sipping a lemon shake-up and watching the races.  As night fell, the bare bulbs came on, casting shadows from the wooden rafters, and the horses and jockeys raced through the dusk- we could hear the rattle of the sulkies' wheels and the pounding of the horses' hooves.    It was so nice to feel a million miles away from work, enjoying a summer evening just a few miles from our own backyard.  On the drive home, the tree frogs and locusts were singing as we drove along with the windows down, and the old-timey street lig...

This week, I've received two very nice complements from my fabulous neighbor as well as from  my fabulous mother about the little bowl of strawberries that I crocheted a while back for our coffee table.  They have both requested some, so I've got my red yarn out and will be happily hooking up little berries this evening!  These aren't the only strawberries at our house- the ones on the patio are getting ready to turn red!  In fact, Mama Mersydotes and I enjoyed the first two ripe strawberries of the season last Sunday, sitting out on the porch, enjoying the deliciously tart little berries!  Have a berry happy day! ~Mersydotes

Our puppy guests left us the sweetest note before they went home on Sunday!  Would you like to see? Aren't they the sweetest little pups!  So polite!  You'd never guess these were the same little rapscallions that like to cha-cha on the dining table! ~Mersydotes

These past days have been wonderful with our puppy guests making our little home a warm, cozy, and hilarious place.  Mr. Mersydotes and I feel like their spunky presence has helped us both feel more upbeat as well as more invigorated. I thought that I would share a few kibbles of wisdom that we have learned from our canine guests: Love grows best when we are close together. The whole world shares the same heartbeat. Play with all your might! Sometimes you just have to stick your tongue out at the world! Thank you, Scampy and Spoofy, for visiting us!  We love you! ~Mr. & Mrs. Mersydotes

I looked to the sky today and saw the clouds rolling in from the West, and I knew- it was time... ...time to harvest the basil!  Woot!  Woot! It had already gone to seed a little while ago, but I had cut it back once, but then work and life caused time to get away from me, and it went to seed again, spending its precious energy on flowers rather than tasty leaves.  I couldn't let this go on a moment longer, so I grabbed my kitchen scissors and harvested as much as I could.  I felt just awful about cutting the basil- my plants are like my pets!  I worry about their well-being all the time!  But, with any luck, this will be a catalyst for fresh growth and new stems of basil before the season is over. By the time I had filled  up the colander with leaves, the house was so full of the smell of basil I was a bit light headed.  Into the blender they went along with some parmesan, garlic cloves, and olive oil. I...

Would you like to know a secret that I have learned?  The simpler the food, the tastier it is!  And here is a perfect example: homemade granola. The first time I ever ate homemade granola was years ago at my fabulous auntie's house. (I have many fabulous aunties, by the way!)  Hers had oats and pecans and a little bit of sweetness from honey, and it was absolutely delicious!  I've been making my own now for many years, and I think I've found the perfect granola base recipe from the beautiful food blog My New Roots . The ingredients are simple- oats, coconut, and nuts (I used walnuts because they are Mr. Mersydotes's favorite!)  A little oil and honey help it all blend together. Pop it into the oven, and enjoy the aroma of the oats and honey- it smells like there's a cobbler in the oven! And now there's a gorgeous jar of gorgeous granola on the counter top, ready to brighten up our breakfasts all week! ~Mersydotes

I'll tell you how the sun rose,- A ribbon at a time. The steeples swam in amethyst, The news like squirrels ran. The hills untied their bonnets, The bobolinks begun. Then I said softly to myself, "That must have been the sun!"   (~Emily Dickenson)    Happy, sunny Friday everyone!

Would you like to join me for a slice of watermelon?  It's just been picked from the crochet patch!  There are some new and summery little kitchen hot pads that I stitched after seeing an article in Martha Stewart Living  about vintage watermelon crochet patterns (link here ). These really grabbed me even though I'm normally not a fan of kitschy crochet.  But I think these are rather charming!  So, I made some of my own: These were stitched with cotton hemp size 4 and a G hook.  I just did a basic circle with three different watermelony colors.  Then I added some seeds with little v-stitches in black yarn.  Can't have a watermelon without seeds for spitting contests! And lastly, I decided to sew on a gingham checked backing to each hot pad.  I'm not a very accomplished sewer, but I'm really enjoying how sewing can complement crochet and give projects a clean, completed look. Perhaps you would like to stitch up some sl...