Friday, January 12, 2018

Stuff Happening and a belated blog-hop post

The marsh the day after... 
I can’t believe we are well into January and I haven’t posted a thing…  I was planning on a post on the 3rd to advertise Chrys Fey’s new book, but was without power much of that day and the island was closed off as the bridges were way too icy.  We’d had a nice base of ice overnight followed by snow.  The snow made me happy but we never had enough for me to dig my backcountry skis out and then to try to find some wax… 

I was gone the week after Christmas to North Carolina and arrived back in Georgia in time to fix a New Year’s Day feast consisting of turnip greens and beans cooked in the hambone left over from the Christmas ham.  It was good food and the turnip greens were from my garden. 

Mint Jelly
There is a community garden here where you can rent space in a deer and wild pig protected area.  This time of the year, I’m getting lots of turnips and rutabaga and a few beets (they’re not doing as well).  Soon I will began harvesting cabbage and onions.  I am looking for a large crock to fix sauerkraut.   At the house, I raise a few herbs such as mint that could take over the garden.  Knowing that the freezing weather was approaching, I did cut back the mint and made four jars of mint jelly.  Now I need some lamb!

a few of my 30 cabbage plants and onions planted in between 
Two days after the snow I was with friends for a funeral up in Beaufort, South Carolina, at the National Cemetery there.  It is a beautiful spot, made more so by the snow.  Seeing the graves, the Christmas wreaths, palm trees and snow all in the same scene was a bit unique. I do like how all the headstones are the same and how a general can be buried next to a private. The cemetery also have a large number of Civil War graves including a section with each grave marker identifying them as with the U. S. C. T. (United States Colored Troops).  Many of those buried here died in the events highlighted in the movie "Glory." 

Currently, I’m enjoying two wonderful books: Candice Millard’s Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill and Wallace Stegner’s Angle of Repose. This is the second book I’ve read by Millard and she writes history as if it was a novel.  Years ago I reviewed her book, The River ofDoubt, which is about Teddy Roosevelt’s trip into the Amazon in 1914.  I have read a number of Stegner’s books and have reviewed The Big Rock Candy Mountain  (one of my all-time favorite novels) and Crossing to Safety.


Chrys Fey's new disaster series book is about fire…  With her background in disasters, I’m expecting to see Chrys star as next year’s Mayhem in the Allstate commercials.  Her question for us is what ridiculous thing we would save if our house was on fire (beyond things like your kids or pets).  I have thought about this a lot.  I am not sure that I would save anything ridiculous, but I expect it would be a quilt made by my grandmother or, if I couldn’t get back in the house as that is on a quilt stand in my bedroom, I might just grab the needlepoint she did which hangs in the dining room.  I am still amazed that the backing to this needlepoint is a cloth grain bag.  She did this needlepoint as a young girl in the late 1920s or early 30s. 



Now go check out Chrys book!  Have a good weekend. I hope the sun is shinning where you are, here we are seeming to have a lot of gray days... 
Savannah River looking toward the ports on a gray day

29 comments:

  1. Glad to see you’re back! I’ve never tried mint jelly, but I do love cabbage and have wanted to grow my own.

    Maybe I should pitch myself to Allstate as Mayhem’s wife. LOL

    What you’d grab is sweet. I have doilies, pillow cases, and other needlepoint work that my grandma had made. I’d hate to lose those, too!

    Thanks for posting! I’ll had your info to the Linky list. :)

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  2. I too like to read history books which read like a novel. That's how recent history books can turn into best sellers. And also historical fiction based on accurate and well founded research.

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  3. Well, we are in crisis mode here with the weather, so a good book is just the ticket! Happy New Year!

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  4. Good to hear from you! You will love Angle of Repose. I’ve read it and Crossing to Safety and have The Big Rock Candy Mountain on my short TBR. Will go look at your review.

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  5. You can't go wrong with anything fresh from the garden, Good to see you my friend.

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  6. Hi Sage - glad you're safe after the storm ... but wonderful to still be getting veg and now looking forward to the new crop ...

    The books do sound interesting ... I probably should read them ... but I know a fair amount about the Boer War and Churchill ... and I'm not into books on Canada ...

    But home-made mint jelly - just the thing ... enjoy and find that lamb somewhere ... cheers Hilary

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  7. Greetings from deep freeze country AB, friend Sage ... just having returned from the Southern Caribbean and Florida was quite a shock ... even my car did not want to be here ... Happy Winter ... smiles ... Love, cat.

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  8. I fear I'm not a big fan of what you're growing, onions, cabbages, beets? All three are on my do no eat list. :)

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  9. Angle of Repose has been sitting on my shelf for years. We read Big Rock Candy Mountain for book club and, while I enjoyed it, I'm afraid it gave me my fill of him for awhile. I'll get to it eventually.

    We grew turnip greens this year. I love picking and cooking them while they're still really young! I've learned to prepare them without any animal seasoning and even my carnivore husband now prefers them that way.

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  10. With or without the lamb, mint jelly sounds and looks like a treat. I'm impressed.

    Congratulations to Chrys.

    Keep enjoying nature's bounty, Sage.

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  11. Just yesterday I finished watching the PBS American Experience episode on River of Doubt. I was vaguely familiar with the expedition but didn't realize the scope of it. I should have known there is a book on the subject.

    The first thing out of my house on fire would be an armload of my journals.

    I haven't read Big Rock Candy Mountain for some reason but it has been on my radar to do so for quite some time.

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  12. Mint jelly, hmm? I have never tried that before and think I might have to. Cheers!

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  13. hope weather gets little friendly and you find more peace in your wanderings

    i loved the cemetery in enlarged view
    best wishes for you harvest
    glad your garden is doing great even in such extreme season

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  14. I would love a little snow here but not so much that we lose power. A community garden would be wonderful, that's a great idea.

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  15. So good to read your post.
    It's wonderful to have fresh vegetables grown from your piece of garden. We've just enjoyed some lovely cabbage, onions, carrots and mushrooms within a pork casserole. I love casseroles in the cooler weather.

    Keep warm

    All the best Jan

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  16. For me personally, the best thing about snow is when it happens someplace else. I had more than my share while stationed at Fort Carson. The trouble with that attitude is that as of right now it might snow in Columbia around the middle of the week.

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  17. Seeing palm trees and snow is really weird. Those poor trees. They’re probably unhappy.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  18. I've thought of that, too - what I would save. I always think my mother's rings, which I wear every day, but leave in the bathroom at the end of the day. I should probably just wear them all the time.

    It's sad to me that all the veterans' graves didn't have wreaths. That happened at the cemetery where my dad is buried in Milledgeville.

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  19. Your post was worth waiting for. I'm already tasting mint jelly and lamb, so right there this visit has been rewarding.

    The snow-blanketed cemetery stirred a lot of sentiments, some that others have expressed in their comments. Every grave should have a wreath--a respectful symmetry.

    Here's to more journeys and more books in 2018.

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  20. I just love catching up with you! Mint jelly sounds so yummy right now too. It does seem though that winter is trying to cause even the warmer climates (my daughter in Alabama is wearing winter coats) they had snow and ice and last year (2016) on Christmas day it was 70 degrees! Not this year. Great pictures too as always.

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  21. SNOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. That far south ?. Or did it follow you down.

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  22. Good harvests there! The mint jelly looks wonderful

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  23. Definitely a lot of gray skies and cold weather these days. I'm glad I'm not in sub-zero temperatures like up north. Brrr!

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  24. You're getting a little more than your usual mini-dose of winter down there this year. Same here. HOTlanta isn't feeling terribly hot about now.

    Your garden sounds super. Anything we grow ourselves always tastes better than store-bought.

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  25. I'm focusing on the "what would you save question" I like you moms needlepoint and my mom crocheted wall hanged and just maybe my wifes damned cat.

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  26. Cool photos. Still mighty cold here in Ohio. We are supposed to get another warm spell later in the week. No garden here this time of year--nothing but snow and ice.

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  27. It seems as if lamb as a food is on the outs. Seems I have read, though, that 60% of the world's people subsist on lamb and goat.

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