Flowers in the Winter; It's all about Watering

Somehow we've got loads of flowers in the house during this cold winter snap in February.  Some lovely orchids are opening up.  I'll be sure not to overwater them as I killed an orchid plant before with too much! Apparently one or two ice cubes a week is all it needs. Then we have some lovely pink tulips that are bulbs sitting on a ledge in a tall vase and as long as you keep the water level up to the ledge, the tulips bloom.  We have four huge pink tulips flowering now!  Then, though they are not really flowers, I have three lovely red poinsettas. These were rescued from the church display in January. They were almost dead from lack of water but they've now resurrected, sitting on sunny window ledges and each drinking a cup of water each week! Then, there's that lovely bunch of a dozen red roses I got for Valentine's Day.  As long as I keep the stems trimmed and the water fresh, they will last a while, I'm sure  It's so wonderful to have flowers in wintertime! 

Tarmac Springs

Recently some water leaks sprung out in the tarmac on the road surface on the street where we live. I photographed these little springs to record the event and found later that the images lost their scale.  That is, they no longer seemed like little points of water but could have been somewhere else altogether.  Maybe it was the brown gravelly concrete or the grey tints of the curb stones or the texture of the floating leaves but I ended up liking the color tones a great deal. Maybe I'll just call this water Tarmac Springs!

Some Flowers on the Windowsill

Some people are not very good with flowers and plants and others seem to have green thumbs and can get things to grow. I tend to fall into the green thumb category and notice plants and flowers all the time.  From my perspective, however, they notice me and I have to confess that plants and flowers seem to talk to me. Oh, they don't say complicated things, usually more along the lines of "water me" and "prune me" and "re-pot me" and such-like. So I'm always pleased to find myself somewhere else, especially indoors, where there are flowers and plants, and they are clearly being taken well care of by someone. So that's what this group of flower photos is all about. I found myself in a small office room with these lovely orchids on the windowsills and a rather old poinsetta that was just starting to redden. I think the orchids are quite old too;  I'm thinking that these are likely the sort of plants abandoned by others and the green thumb person took them up and has taken care of them for quite a while.  They are placed in a room used by many, so the care lavished on them benefits a great number of people and, of course, benefits me. Maybe you are wondering if these flowers have talked to me? Well, they are certainly not asking me to re-pot them or water them or prune them, since someone else is doing that for them!

Those Guys in Orange on First Street NW

Wandered down First Street NW today to go vote in the DC general election and found myself focusing my camera on the guys in orange working on the water tunnel projects.  I was fascinated by all the equipment they were operating and how much of the road they had dug up. These guys are doing some dangerous-looking work so I asked a friendly supervisor worker how things were going. I heard that they were pretty much on schedule and so far none of the workers have been hurt. I asked about what I was seeing and it turned out they were digging out dirty old gas pipes. I then talked to another project guy working on Adams St NW and he mentioned that he'd been with the company that dug some of the tunnels for the Metro system and he'd worked on tunnels all over the U.S.  So, I'm thinking the workers on this project are experienced and seem to be doing a good job and we should be friendly and say "hi" when we can despite our feelings about the dirt, dust, noise, drillings, the road closures and detours.

 

Some of the herbs in my #bloomingdaledc garden

Basil

Cilantro

Rosemary

Spearmint

Sometimes I don't realize how much stuff I have growing in the garden until I pull out my camera and say to myself, let's see what's there. And lo and behold I find I have quite a few herbs -- all of which I use for food flavoring all the time.  There's a basil plant just starting, a really pretty cilantro, a well-established rosemary and some spearmint invading any flower bed it can get into.  I usually dry the basil leaves in the oven (after it's turned off!) or use the leaves in a salad.  Cilantro is great in guacamole and in just about any soup or rice dish. Whenever I make roast potatoes I usually crush a bunch of rosemary in olive oil in the blender and pour that on the taters, with a bit of salt (very yummy!).  And the spearmint tea is good for tea in the summer (pour boiled water on a few sprigs and then cool it).  I lost my lavender plant in a recent rainstorm as it got soaked and the roots rotted as I forgot to check the pot and clear out the water in time. I grow these herbs as they are so EASY to grow and the soil around here seems to helpful to the plants.  The big danger is if they are in pots and I forgot about them and they either die from lack of water or too much water. It's just so wonderful to run out into the garden and get something to flavor your food and which is likely very beneficial to your health.

Bloomingdale's Big Dig

I haven't photographed all the sites associated with the Big Dig to manage water in Bloomingdale but I was captivated recently by the huge pipes I saw being laid under the road at 2nd and W streets. I couldn't help but think they are so big you could sleep in them quite comfortably!  Or play some kind of crazy hide and seek game!  And the machinery and men working on the job look so determined to solve the water woes we've had for a while. I know I've experienced some of the aggravation caused by the digging as the bus I take all the time -- the G2 -- has been rerouted or detoured for TWO YEARS, stopping no longer at the two bus stops I have used for over ten years. Instead, I now have to walk seven blocks almost to Anna Cooper Circle instead of the terminus stop in front of the Water Works on Bryant Street.  And, I hope, when the pipe digging job is done, the bus will return to its old route. But I suppose this type of thing is one of the prices we will have to pay for fixing the water run-off sewage problem that's captivated the neighborhood for the last two years. And I certainly don't want to experience the basement seepage problems I've had to fix and pay to repair to make my basement usable again.  Just writing about it makes me think of the smell of mold!  After two or was it three episodes of soaked carpeting, I just had the whole thing ripped out and put down tiles after having the concrete repaired.  Even though it was very good carpeting and made the space very warm and livable, I actually prefer the tiling now. And I've nothing against the rain as it really makes the flowers bloom in my garden. I just wonder when the rains will come again!NOTE: be sure to read the Anonymous commenter below who says this "dig" ISN'T the run-off sewer water fix, but a water main replacement instead. Hmm....

Almost Full Reservoir

The McMillan Reservoir looked pretty full this evening when we drove by. The water line was above the rocks and it just looked like there'd been plenty of rain and there was not a drought (yet). I'm not sure what that is in the sky there but I'm sure it's a bird and most likely it's a goose of some sort.

You Know Summer's Nearly Here When You Can Make Sun Tea Fast

Although it rained today, last week I was able to make sun tea on the back porch just by leaving a tea ball filled with tea leaves in the water in a glass jar for about an hour or so. I really don't know if this way of making tea is "better" than the usual boil-the-water and soak-the-tea for three minutes method but it certainly is a great way to watch the sun and the garden grow while you're sitting on the deck enjoying the spring.  If you look closely at my photo here you will see that the tea ball is stainless steel and in the shape of a little teapot!  The tea tasted good too!

Geraniums in February!

It's no secret that I bring indoors all my porch and deck flowering plants every winter. The trick is to keep them alive with enough light and not too much water until I can put them back outside again, usually in early April, when there's no danger of snow. I usually lose at least one plant during the cold season due to not enough light or I over-water and it rots or I forgot to water and it dries out.  This year, I'm doing okay with two potted plants on the radiator in the upstairs den (hubster's man cave), the jade in the downstairs bathroom, two poinsettas in the living room window, and a petunia in the kitchen window.  Everything else is on the basement kitchen counter that has a big window where I've added some plant lights focused on them (with timers).  There's a coleus, another jade, some purple ivy that I don't know the name of and a large pot into which I crammed about three geranium plants in November when I brought them all in.  In fact, this group of pots is doing so well that the geranium which bloomed throughout summer seems to think it's in California and has been putting out lots of lovely blooms!  So, it's February and I've got the loveliest pink geraniums, so I picked some and put them on my kitchen table. Such a delight to look at when there's snow outside!

Neptune Holds Court on Capitol Hill, Nymph Downtown

Court of Neptune

Nymph and Fawn

For a long time every time I saw this lovely Court of Neptune fountain on Capital Hill it wasn't working, so I was delighted to pass by the other day and see the water spurting from the multiple spigots and dousing several giant bronze figures and fantastic creatures. This 1898 allegorical work consists of nymphs, and horses, turtles, conch shells and water snakes in a large semi-circular pool in front of the Library of Congress. On a hot day you just feel cool standing next to it. This amazing depiction of the force of water reminds me greatly of The Darlington Memorial Fountain that is downtown near Judiciary Square, in a small park next to the federal courthouse, DC. Described as a "Nymph and Fawn" and placed there in 1923, this gilded bronze life-style figure looks a lot like Diana of the Hunt. Who would have thought that scattered about in Washington DC are glorious naked figures representing beauty, thought and natural energy?

Fried Chicken a la WMATA

Munching on fried chicken leg

WMATA bus

People drinking coffee, sodas, water and other slurpable items on the bus always annoy me but this fried chicken eater is over the top.  What was amazing was that this person got on the WMATA bus with the bag of hot fried chicken open, the greasy seared smell of it wafting into the bus and right under the nose of the driver who said nothing and did nothing. There are plenty of signs on the bus that say No Eating or No Drinking but apparently these mean nothing. By the time I got my cell phone camera lined up -- and I've finally figured out how to set it so it does not "click" when it takes a photograph, thus avoiding dirty looks from fellow passengers -- a second drumstick was wafting its oily rancid smell into the chilled air of the bus.  Traffic was moving quickly and my bus stop was next, so I got off, my nausea arrested. Thank God for small things!

Dogs, Fountains and Weeds in #BloomingdaleDC

Dog in paved front yard

Front yard fountain

Gingko tree weeding up rose planter

Sometimes I just have to photo the more quirky things on my street or nearby such as this dog kept in a paved front yard. He (or she -- I didn't spend too much time looking!) barked sharply at me as I walked home from the bus stop. I rather like his white shirt and boots and wanted to say something about this to the person nearby but he rather glared at me too so I kept walking.  I just hope this isn't one of those "guard dogs" that leap-over-the-fence-and-bite-your-leg that you may occasionally read about in the papers! Further along I saw a more modern designed fountain in a front yard which mysteriously bubbles and trickles almost throughout every season. I like the sound of fountains a lot but it is the idea of fountains that I like the most -- something about the white noise of water, I think. And, if you look closely, you can see that this fountain is what the basement apartment resident sees as soon as she or he opens their front door!  Then of course there are those insistent weed trees that pop up in unexpected places like this ginkgo sapling in a rose bush planter. Well, at least I think it's a gingko tree. Will it take over the flower pot and kill the rose bush? Will the pot owner rip the ginkgo out and toss it in the trash? You see less and less of these trees in the city now as they get cut down and replaced by maples and other species that the mysterious DC tree people plant. It's just amazing to me how much there is to see all around us and there's sure to be a story behind everything.

Hard to believe Las Vegas is in a desert

View from desert approaching Las Vegas

Half-naked men billboard

It's hard to believe that Las Vegas is in the middle of the desert as it's a place where you see giant Coca Cola bottles and motorcycle wheels, half-naked men on billboards, and a disneying array of "landmarks" like the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty and an Egyptian pyramid, among other pseudo-sites.  A recent visit reminded me of how fantastical this city is; we'd spent two weeks visiting canyons and national parks in the surrounding area and realizing what richness there is a desert land.  Then to drive in from this desert into Las Vegas jarred our sense of place and time. One minute we're looking at petrified dunes and trees, hoodoos, chasms and mountains of rocks and sand and then, hey presto change-o, there's a Subway and 711 store and a bus blinking its route number at us and grocery stores and banners advertising "move in now, one month free rent." It all seemed such a contrivance, so flimsy and false and yet it's clear thousands of people live and work here.  As we drove through various residential neighborhoods on our way to the center "strip" we saw schools and offices and all the buildings of any modern city.  This experience  made  me think how cities and towns can be such contrivances on the landscape and then, what a big energy suck this metropolis is. Just imagining the amount of electricity the casinos use and the gallons of water the hotels flush each day was mind-boggling. This is no green city!

Magic Kingdon, Statue of Liberty, Caesars Palace all jumble together in Las Vegas

McMillan Park as it is Now Before the Deal is Done

I learned recently that the city is moving forward with yet another plan to develop McMillan Park and fearing once again that I will forget to photograph it before the developers move in and wreck it I snapped these photos with my handy cell phone camera as I walked by last Sunday. There's just something about these strangely shaped towers, the vista with the manhole covers, the cobbled brick ramp and how we just don't recognize this sand filtration water cleaning technology anymore. That it was once powered by donkeys is also interesting. We hardly remember the number of lives that were saved by the clean water it produced. Of course, this new plan might be another plan that doesn't happen as there have been charges that the development office didn't follow procedures and once again the DC taxpayers are being bamboozled.  See this blog for the most recent challenge to the bureaucrats. I've lived nearby this site for over 25 years and remember when it was sold by the US government to DC in 1987. There's been years of talk and proposals and political grandstanding and everyone seems to forget that it was paid for by us taxpayers and we should have some say in what happens to it and it should be developed with open and transparent processes. After all, WE bought the site from the federal government in 1987 with $9.3 million of OUR money.
 

Here's  the history of McMillan Park taken from the BloomingdaleDC history site. The site is bounded by North Capitol Street, Channing Street, First Street and Michigan Avenue, NW.  The historic McMillan Park sand filtration site and McMillan Reservoir are part of a chain of public green spaces established in Senator James McMillan's 1901 plan for beautifying Washington. Following the death of Senator McMillan in 1902, the grounds of the site were renamed McMillan Park. In 1905 the sand filtration plant to purify the city's drinking water was built. The grounds of the site were designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. The site was designated a historic landmark by the DC Historic Preservation Review Board in 1991.

A Visit to the Red Toque Restaurant

The other day I visited the Red Toque restaurant, a new eating place in the vicinity of the local public library where I'd been tanking up on books to read over the holiday week. I espied the bright red door of this new place and said to myself that it would be good to get a snack there! So I ordered a lentil soup and got a cup of red chai tea with a glass of water for about $6 total.  The lentil soup was totally delicious and I would go there again for it. I think they made the chai tea with milk that was slightly off as it just didn't taste right.  When I finally sipped it I was no longer at the restaurant and was on my way home and didn't want to be bothered turning back and complaining. So I tossed it onto the garden to feed some trees well.

But the lentil soup was aromatic and spicy but not too hot and sharp and was made with a good stock.  The service was very good -- but then again, I was the sole customer at 3 in the afternoon! -- and there is a great view from the windows of the restaurant, right onto the street and passing cars. And I sat there and snapped a couple of passing vehicles as I supped. The picture windows themselves are a treat as they are the old-fashioned metal casement window frames that have hinges on the side and will likely be opened when the weather is fairer. Painted a shiny black they add great ambience to the cheery yellow painted walls, the high ceiling and surprisingly comfortable dining chairs.  On the walls hang framed black and white photos of old Washington, DC showing trolley cars and buildings long since torn down.  It's worth going in there just to see these!  This space used to be a bike repair store but that appears to have moved or perhaps went out of business.  I think the menu is Middle Eastern or Mediterranean and I hope to go back and try some of the other things. I'm also not sure why it's called "the Red Toque" but I think that's a hat or something.

Rhubarb Crumble and Fish Cake Kind of Day in DC

Rhubarb cake

Cod fishcakes

Today was a Saturday where I puttered around and forgot about time altogether and that's a great space to be for cooking for me. So I made easy rhubarb crumble and fishcakes. I wish I could say it was rhubarb from my garden but we already ate all of that but I'd seen some fresh frozen organic rhubarb from Oregon on Peapod online groceries so I used a bag of that. I also used Bisquick for the cake or crumble part, adding sugar and milk and an egg and put a layer of that in the pan, added the rhubarb and then topped it with the remainder Bisquick mix. It only took 20 minutes to cook and was delicious.  The fish cakes were a solution to the leftover cod from yesterday. I ground them up into flakes in fat free milk in the blender and then added chopped tofu, parsley, some canola oil and breadcrumbs and then baked for about 35 minutes in a  medium oven (about 355F).  With mashed potatoes and lima beans the fishcakes were a delicious dinner. What food blessings we enjoy!

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• Rhubarb Cake (thehappyhousewife.com)