Ellis County Court House

I love old court houses. We have some real beauties here in Texas. There are also some really ugly ones. These pictures are of the Ellis County Court House in Waxahachie, Texas. This building is beautiful. It is pink granite and red sandstone. It is covered in carvings. Yes, some of those windows are curved. The court house was built in the 1890's and it has been restored.

The legend behind the faces is that the stone carver was in love with his land ladies daughter, but she didn't love him back. Like it will, love turned ugly, and the faces became more and more hideous.

We spent the morning in Waxahachie. I had to take my mom to get her fingerprints taken so she could renew her real estate license. We had breakfast at the Court House Cafe, a greasy spoon with horrible service and great food. Then walked around the court house. We shopped at a great resale shop and ended the day at a quilt store.

I spent sometime this afternoon browsing through a book on Texas court houses and I plan on visiting more of them. I am already familiar with the court buildings in Denton, Dallas and Brady. Wonder how I am going to get Manly in the truck when he figures out what I'm up to?

Leek Potato Soup

6 New or Yukon Gold potatoes cut into small cubes
1 Large leek rinsed and cut up in small pieces (discard the tough green leaves)
4 tablespoons butter
1 pint half & half
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons thyme
salt and pepper to taste.

Boil the potatoes and leek until tender. Return to the pot and add warmed half & half, milk and butter. Blend with a wand blender. Season with the thyme, salt and pepper. It takes more pepper than you would think.

It is better when it is cold outside.

What are you having for dinner?

Elementary School Garden - Advise Wanted

A friend has asked for my advise regarding installing a garden. This will be a children's garden at an elementary school. Have any of you done anything like this? If so, any advise?

This is Why I Love Being a Library Lady

Name This Concoction

I make a hot sauce every year that can peel the hide off of your tongue. It contains chili pequino peppers, habanero peppers, Serrano peppers, good cider vinegar and sea salt. It comes with a laundry list of disclaimers so that no one blames me when they have a horrible out come the day after eating too much of it. With that in mind, Nancy of Nancy's Garden Spot named my sauce After Burner.

This spring I bought my pepper plants like always. The tags that said Serrano pepper lied. Those peppers were Tabasco peppers and I can’t use them to make hot sauce. I hate it when the nurseries mislabel the plants. I spend all that time nurturing the plant only to discover that you have been taking care of an imposter.

Not to let this mistake get me down, I needed to find a use for these thin skinned peppers. I dried them and then crushed them into a powder with my mortar and pestle. Then I got a wild hare and added dehydrated garlic, coriander seeds and sea salt. This stuff smells great. I’ve never had anything quite like it. I added a couple of tablespoons to my last batch of jambalaya. Manly said it was my best ever.

So here is what I need from you. This spicy mixture needs a name. So far there are no disclaimers because there is no reason to use enough of it to do bodily harm. It smells wonderful. The coriander adds a lemony scent.

Anyway, leave me a comment with your ideas for a name.

First Workday on The Farm

First Workday on the Farm

Today was the day. I began working on the community supported agriculture farm, Eden’s Garden. I worked with Marie, the farmer, and Anise another work share member. I will work a couple of hours each week in order to receive my share of the farms produce.

We mulched and pulled weeds talking the whole time. Marie used to work at the same nursery I used to work at. We just worked there at different times. Anise is a comptroller for a local ministry. They are interesting, fun ladies. This should be very enjoyable.

When the weather cools off, I will switch to working Friday afternoons and take the monkeys with me. Hopefully, they will learn just a little more about where their food comes from. They will thank me some day. Don’t laugh, they will.

Today I brought home purslane and lambs quarter. I put them in a bowl of water to rinse and didn’t think anything else of it. I intended to look up some recipes and do something with them for dinner. I gave a sprig of purslane to Teenage Monkey and he loves it. He just keeps eating it. Turns out the stuff is really good food both the taste and the nutrition. He can have all he wants.

Next week, we will spread more mulch. I need to find some newspaper to put down under the mulch. We don’t take the paper, so it looks like I maybe dumpster diving in a nearby recycling box. Wonder if I can get arrested for that?

Have a great weekend everyone.

The Naked Ladies are Here

 
 
 
 

If my garden keeps it up, the blog is going to totally lose it’s PG-13 rating. Since the butterflies are getting it on, the naked ladies decided to show up. The lycoris is beginning to bloom. This is my first year for the pink, and as you can see, it is a little pitiful. The red lycoris are also called school house lilies (but that’s not as much fun is it?). They are called naked ladies because the blooms show up before the foliage. There foliage grows all winter here and then dies back in early summer when it begins to get hot. Then in late summer or early fall the blooms pop up. Now I know that fall is really on it’s way. I believe this is my favorite time of year because of all the blooms and all the butterflies.

The other blooms pictured are Turk’s cap and a sun flower. They have nothing to do with naked ladies. I just think they are pretty.