Oh-Me-Oh-My-Oh

Life In Sugar Hollow was featured as Blog of the Week on CBS19. Thanks to Marijean for the sweet segment!

SALE*NEW PRINTS*FREE SHIPPING

Fun things going on over at the shop with my botanical prints.

And, if you aren't a fan of Etsy, I have friends and customers that just buy from me directly.

Send me an email (tcgerlach@gmail.com).

There is a special sale for blog readers, fellow BRAD-ers and Facebook friends, too. Buy one 8 X 10 print - get the second print free, y'all! This week only. Shoot me an email with the prints you would like.

And my lomography peony print was on the Front Page of Etsy early this morning in the company of all sorts of ruffled-goodness!

Thanksgiving - The Blue Ridge Mountain Edition

During long holiday weekends, we usually get some time up in the mountains included with our celebrations. Naptime has been in the dead center of our days lately, but I'm hoping we can have some drive time in at some point. Novembers in our mountains are so serene.

These photos are from the Library of Congress Flickr pool - which is fascinating. They are exactly what I see when we take these drives. These are of Skyline Drive. Those valleys and those skies get me every time.

We are also making a shift in our Thanksgiving menu to the more southern dishes. There will be pumpkin soup, buttermilk biscuits with apple butter, a peach cobbler (with peaches canned from the summer's harvest), hot buttered rum, chestnut stuffing and the turkey will be brined and smoked. That's right, smoked. With all the mesquite and hickory goodness we can muster. There will probably be some persimmon hunting this weekend, too, to make some bread.

Oh and there will be naps for the adults. Lots of naps. We'll blame it on the turkey and the warmth of the woodstove.

Persimmons-Persimmons-Persimmons

Photo by Tyler Darden

My article on persimmons is
out in this month's Virgina Living Magazine!

Hodge Podge

I know it has been quiet as far as news from the garden goes. There is a reason. Our serene garden space has been (somewhat) torn up to deal with burying power and Internet lines and other house-related underground madness (a nice way of saying septic system). The earth-ripping machinery has stayed away from anything I established, but working in the muddy space is not fun. Willa and I have been trespassing on the land next to ours (photo above) and making the best of what we can. Spring promises peace and order in the garden (so says Corey). Good Lord, I hope so. 'Cause when my garden is out of control, my brain mirrors the chaos and gets somewhat unhappy.

Some distractions from the mud and the muck:

This gorgeous, sustainable, permaculture-driven hobbit house.

I like very strong Irish Breakfast tea to jolt me out of my morning fog and found Bewley's of Ireland in Charlottesville. Make that a double-jolt.

I made this for dinner last week. You should, too. Even baby ate kale and squash.

I so want to make this. The author's blog, make grow gather, is wonderful and crafty. I also tend to linger over her posts about the family's cottage in Ireland.

Speaking of cottages, amid the fog and the downpours, an email hit my inbox from a friend who is renting out his family's Ontario cottage during the summers. This is especially fantasy-provoking because during my time in Manhattan, I had this photo cut out and up on the fridge about 'Cottaging in Ontario.' I would stare and stare and stare at it. Mind-melding the wish with reality, I imagine.

I'm so curious about airplants and think a few might like taking up residence next to our shower.

This is on its way to our house from Modcloth.com and I think bundling up for winter will become that much more fun.

I'm excited about shredding leaves for our compost bins and our raised beds. File that under 'nerdy gardener' thought processes.

An Afternoon Following The Mountains

We've Been Busy

Watching the rain, the mist and the autumn colors; cleaning up the herb garden; sorting garlic for planting; and making applesauce and apple butter (even more sorting for Willa - a task she takes very seriously).

Tonight - date night with Corey - to see Elvis Perkins (again!) and eat at Bang. To celebrate the last year in my 30's. How did that happen?

I'm talking about bulb planting tips and garlic over at Virginia Living!

Friday Print Giveaway (and Etsy's Front Page!)

I was all ready to leave Etsy behind and focus on other things, when I found out my quince photo made the front page last weekend (top row, middle photo). Talk about an injection of inspiration!

So, the shop has been re-opened and I am going to start offering the 8 x 10 sizes of my through-the-viewfinder prints - to make for easier framing. There will be white borders at the top and bottom of each print.*Also,* the 8 X 8 viewfinder prints are on sale for $15 through November 15th.

And, let's do a giveaway of my chives print, Morning Yearning. I'll spin the random number generator next Friday (November 6th) at noon! Visit my shop and then leave a comment here to enter. And don't forget to leave your email - so I can contact the winner!

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We have a winner - #15 - va. I will email you shortly to get your address. Thanks for playing, everyone!

End-of-CSA Soup

I fell behind on my CSA veggie consumption for one week and needed something warm, and filled with vitamins, that could include every veggie that was on the precipice of becoming compost. This recipe is a variation on Jacques Pepin's Instant Vegetable Soup, from a favorite cookbook - Fast Food My Way.

5 cups of water
1 zucchini - shredded
2 leeks - thinly sliced
1 cup carrots - shredded
1/2 cup of celery - thinly sliced
2 cups greens - cut into ribbons (I had tat soi on hand, but you can use spinach or kale)
3 tblsps steel cut oats (you can also use grits)
Salt and pepper to taste

Throw it all into a stock pot and simmer for 10-15 minutes. When ready, serve in bowls with a pat (or two) of butter and lots of Swiss or Gruyere cheese. Don't skip the cheese. I repeat, Don't skip the cheese. Also, a big hunk of cornbread is a nice side bit to this soup. I wish I had a tempting photo for this post, but how it looks just doesn't do the actual taste any justice. Just visualize melty cheese atop a yummy broth. Magic.

I am such a fan of Jacques and I stalk his website. Every time I visit, I scheme about renting his condo in Mexico. 'Cause it is so unrealistic, but dreamy just the same.

DIY :: Dyeing Onesies with Plant Dyes

This project was so unbelievably easy and free of all scary typical dye issues that I feel particularly satisfied that these onesies are being recycled and worn against the precious skin of our toddler. Stains around the neckline were promptly covered up and re-introduced the onesie back into the rotation.

During my late summer experiments, I used sassafras leaves, coreopsis blooms (each results in a yellow) and *old* daylily blossoms (which create a pale purple dye). The fabric 'fixer' was a vinegar:water bath (if you are doing food or berries - there is a different fixer). The dyeing process was just to simmer the plant goods in water for an hour and then add the fabric for however long you want - depending on the amount of saturation you need. You can fix the fabric and simmer the dye in two different pots at the same time - to keep things efficient. Which makes it an easy naptime project. A more comprehensive list of possible plants is here, along with specifics and how-tos.

The onesie pictured above was dyed with the sassafras and coreopsis combined - resulting in a muted soft yellow that is meant for baby wear. Autumn botanicals that can be used for dyes are juniper berries, pokeweed berries, acorns, sassafras leaves, wild grapes, sumac leaves (and fruit) and marigolds.