Another Attempt at Gardening

Terry and I have not had great luck with our attempts at vegetable gardening. We like to blame it on the deer who are brazen enough to come up on our back patio and nibble at even the tiniest sprout of a cherry tomato plant in a soup can. But we haven’t really done much better with the houseplants in our garden room and so far the deer have not managed to flip the door latch on the sliding door.

But that won’t keep us from trying again this year. Terry has planted shrub beans (we love green beans) and onions. And, of course the spring gardening articles continue to inspire me. Unfortunately, my aspirations exceed my “naturnal inclinations”. (like maternal, but related to things in the natural world)

Still, a recent article in the Temple Daily Telegram (Life Section May 16, 2010) makes me want to keep trying. “Growing food in pots can be easier than planting” has a certain appeal to me, but there’s no rational reason why it should. After all, my recent exploits with all sorts of plants in pots has net rather dismal outcomes. I used to be good at this sort of thing. A plucked coleus leaf would spring from a plastic cup under my care. Vines would trail along dividing walls and a beloved  dracena once sprouted three stalks, grew to the ceiling and then turned a right angle and grew another four inches before flowering. These brief moments of horticultural grandeur keep me plugging away. I had it once; it can’t be that far gone.

Besides, the article quotes a woman who says, “It’s so easy to put a tomato into a pot. It almost grows itself.” Surely I can grow something that grows itself.

So I’ll follow the instructions in the paper and experiment bringing together food and flowers as the article urges. I’ll try that “eye catching” combination of cucumbers, coleus and begonias. Having a rosemary that has overtaken my front garden – my one success – I’m less certain that I’ll try potted rosemary surrounded by lettuce, I like the sound of viola delicately tucked among some long-legged broccoli plants and spinach growing alongside mounded chrysanthemums. But it all sounds so easy that I can’t help but be suspicious.

If I can at least pull of the potted lemon tree featured in the article, none of the rest will matter. I’ll just make lemonade and enjoy a gardening-free afternoon.

A Very Special and Happy Birthday

My very clever and beautiful wife has done many special things. But to wake up on your birthday and be greeted by this sign………. Well, let me tell you, it makes me smile ear to ear. Taylor then proceeded to make my day special in very subtle and loving ways. She has shown me how much she loves me over and over for the past year. My love has grown for her at such a rate, I believe, at times, my heart will just explode.

I had the joy of hearing from friends around the globe. One from Australia, greeted me with a note first thing. More from Florida, Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan sent notes and greetings all day. Later in the evening, I heard from my daughter and ex-brother-in-law. Dinner with my in-laws and wife was excellent! We ate, talked and laughed well into the evening.

I have received greeting from numerous technologies. ie. Facebook, iChat, Google and Yahoo mail, Mac mail, Twitter and blog posts as well as numerous phone calls. I also received a card via snail mail, can you imagine that.

All in all, I had a great birthday and want to thank all of my family and friends for making it special.

. A

Love and Septic Tanks

@360love announced that they would post your Valentine Tweets today and tomorrow. So here’s what I had to say first thing this morning.

I guess it wasn’t romantic enough because it’s not showing up on their web site. According to my calculations, my tweet should be appearing right about here in between @RichardAZ and @bobgarrett.

Now I realize that my tweet may not have seemed romantic. Even my friend Harris once asked if I had gotten married or hired a handyman!

But wait until you hear the whole story – all of the stuff that doesn’t fit in 140 characters.

Terry insisted on digging down to the septic tank clean out to save us the $50 per hour to have Yount Sewer do it. After digging four holes through rock, clay and roots yesterday, he called Yount who assured him that they could find it and would give us a break if Terry wanted to help dig.

Well, two more holes later this morning and still no sign of the cleanout. Terry sent them on their way, called the Health Department to secure a map of the location of the tank and discovered that it was not at all in the place any of them had expected.

But even that was not enough to actually get to the clean-out so the sewer company suggested we rent a back hoe.

A back hoe!!!

Instead, my dear husband (wanting to save me money) drove to Temple to get a metal detector that would register when he hovered over the re bar reinforcement in the lid frame and clean out handle.

My dad offered to share the cost since he was due so my dear husband took it to my parents and dug up their septic tank before returning to the field of holes in our own backyard.

Finally 10 hours after he began digging, the two cleanouts are liberated. Now we wait until we can get back on the septic service dude’s calendar.

Terry is beat.

And he’s tired.

And he needs food, and love, and a funny movie.

Perhaps even a massage.

And I’ll tend to him as he tended to our home today.

Of all of the symbols of Valentine’s Day – flowers, candy, fancy dinners and champagne – the most un-Valentine’s-Day-like thing would have to be sewage.

But I look at this hand-dug hole in my backyard …

…and I think about the the aching back that did what needed to be done and the blisters that will surely be tender tomorrow.

Our love began with a flurry of romantic rendezvous in Chicago and New York. The grandeur of the opera palaces and the intimacy of romantic dinners were intoxicating. And I treasure those memories of a whirlwind romance that played out at a dizzying speed in dazzling environments.

But what I believe in my heart, is that sometimes love is most fully expressed when elusive septic tanks are conquered.

This is how I know that our love is as tough and rock solid as the Central Texas clay and bedrock in our backyard.

And now, my husband needs me. Or at least I owe him my attention.

Seeking Ideas for New Year’s Eve

Newlyweds seeking advice for first new year’s eve as married couple. That’s what the ad would read, but since we’re bloggers, that’s what will show up on my Twitter and hopefully we’ll get some good ideas.

This time last year, we were ‘tweeners – between Terry’s romantic proposal on December 15, 2007 beside the Christmas Tree at Lincoln Center in NY following the opera War and Peace and my acceptance, which didn’t come until January 1, 2008. While we were together last year on New Year’s Eve, we didn’t really do anything special that we can carry over as a New Year’s Eve tradition.

So here we are a year later and happily married, but stumped for good ideas for New Year’s Eve. We know that we don’t want to go out, but I hope we get to dance in the garden room to our favorite playlists. We don’t want to eat extravagantly, but we do like experimenting with interesting foods. We love movies, but it seems like it would have to be something special.

It’s almost too much pressure to come up with just the right agenda!

So we’re asking for your advice. What are some of your favorite romantic traditions for New Year’s Eve? What is our favorite New Year’s Eve tradition? @bradrourke, @dswedlow, @johncr8on, and others with children, how would you make the it special if you DIDN’T have the kids for the evening?

Fixing up the house (Up on the Roof!)

It has been amazing to watch Terry work around the house here. He’s an artist.

It was just about this time of year last year when he asked me to marry him. It was so romantic – under the Christmas tree at Lincoln Center after the opera. But I didn’t say “yes” until after he came to visit me for two weeks and co-hosted a party between Christmas and New Years. One morning sitting in the garden room, he looked up at the ceiling that was leaking and said, “This has a 1 12 pitch and should be at least a 4 12. I’m going to fix that for you.”

I joke that I fell in love with him at that very moment, but that’s not true because:

1. I was already in love with him
2. well, like I said, I was already in love with him, but that morning stands out because it was the first time I realized that I was falling in love with him over and over again at unexpected moments for seemingly insignificant things.

Less than one year later, he is making good on his promise and is working his tush off rewiring, adding (it seems like miles of) propane tubing for two fireplaces, plotting the wiring for a drop down TV screen in the kitchen, add wiring for three mood lights, installing registers and tubes that are used for heating and air-conditioning.

So I share excerpts fo an e-mail exchange I enjoyed with a good soul

On Dec 8, 2008, at 12:27 PM, Harris J. Sokoloff wrote:

almost forgot two things: the second much more important than the first:

1. Take a look at the first item on http://www.gse.upenn.edu/commentary

2. How the heck are you? How’s married life?

To which I responded

Married life is wonderful!!! I am so sickeningly in love.

Hubby has removed roof over garden room and is installing heat, air, and propane so I can have fire places in living room and garden room. Will be posting video and photos on our blog later today. Been way behind on writing! http://www.viewsonmariage.wordpress.com

On Dec 8, 2008, at 12:34 PM, Harris J. Sokoloff wrote:

Taylor,

I wish for you what I have with Michele and what we work on: continued love and affection and support…..

But tell me, did you get married or hire an handy man?

Now here’s the meat of what I want serve. Here’s an explanation of why I so quickly framed my love for him in terms of his handiness with our roof:

Ah, he is a handyman, but the real reason for that story is to illustrate how hard he works to make things extra special for me. (some of the other special things he does for me, I keep private!) Also, I’ve just been marveling at his knowledge and ability as I’ve watched him do this work. Before we were married, I struggled with the decision to marry someone who is flat broke and not college-educated. But he constantly amazes me and I fall in love with him more and more every day. I’ve come to appreciate that he’s one of the smartest people I know. He’s started his own custom home repair and renovation business and every time we are at a social function in town, his clients introduce him as THE guy to call for anything you need done. I’m very proud of his talents and how much everyone in this town has embraced him.

But I so adore Harris and his lovely wife Michele that I also wanted to acknowledge how a small example from their marriage was a lesson I follow in my relationship with Terry. (My parents are at the top of the list of relationships I want to emulate!) So I continued:

You and Michele HAVE been one of our guides. Very early in our marriage, I told Terry about the time we went out to dinner with another couple. I remember how cranky the other wife was and how lovely Michele was even when you were kicking yourself for parking in the expensive garage. She just smiled sweetly and said, “well, what’s done is done. We’ll know better next time.” I use those lines a lot and it’s made my life so much more pleasant. In fact we had to use lines very much like those about a month ago when someone broke into Terry’s truck, stole his tools, found the key to the shop I bought for him and stole everything in the shop. It set us back a few days replacing everything, but my homeowner’s insurance took very good care of us so no financial hits. Terry was great through the whole thing – “It’s just stuff; as long as we still have each other…” He’s got the best attitude – even though he’s still paying $20,000 a year for a money pit (his house in Michigan) that was the only thing he got out of his divorce. (I, on the other hand have my bouts of anger at his ex!)

Terry is doing this work because it is his way of showing me how much he loves me and because we are building a home together. I feel so lucky.

We Twitter

I just re-read a twitter exchange Terry (@tacrain57 for you twitterers) and I shared last April before he moved here and we got married.

from @taylorwill: Lesson for the day: Boiling eggs do not like to be ignored and will let you know by exploding all over your kitchen. Guess what I’m doing

and also from @taylorwill: I don’t just have egg on my face, its on my floor, my ceiling, my fridge, my stove, my microwave, my cabinets, my table, my light fixtures

from @tacrain57: I guess after I get to Texas, I may need to take over part of the kitchen duties. I think I can still boil an egg. LOL Sorry honey.

After a day of cooking pounds and pounds of pumpkin with you, honey, may I suggest that we share kitchen duties. I had a ball with you today.

(But I won’t complain if you make the bacon and eggs tomorrow morning and bring me my NY Times and coffee in bed!)

What a way to start the day

Three statements I woke up to this morning:

I just thank God that He was wise enough to bring us together so we could discover how much we love each other.

I don’t regret not dating other women after my divorce. I found the love of my life.

I think I must be the luckiest guy in the world because I wake up next to a woman who is smart, beautiful and sexy.

Now THAT’s the way to start the day!

salado art fair

yesterday terry and I went to the Salado art fair. I tried to post a photo of some rings I liked from my iPhone, but apparently failed due to lack of service. ARGH!!! now I have lost the photo, but here are pics of brochures an the arrist’s web site is http://www.jmdesigner.com

Outstanding Two Week Anniversary Dinner

To celebrate our two week anniversary, I grilled up a special meal of Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin, Mexican Grilled Corn on the Cobb, and Fire-Roasted Tomatoes with a cheap Chardonnay.

Here are the recipes:

Jamaican Jerk Pork Tenderloin

Pork Tenderloin (about 1.5 – 2 Pounds Total)
2 T Chopped Fresh Cilantro
1/4 C Dark Rum (I used light because it is all I had)
2 Tablespoon Fresh Lime Juice
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Tablespoon Light Brown Sugar
1 Cup Soy Sauce (I used 3/4 Soy and 1/4 C Bragg’s Liquid Amino)
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 Teaspoon Cayenne
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Allspice
1/4 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon Salt

Combine all ingredients except the pork in a flat baking dish. Reserve 1/3 of the marinade and keep it separate. Trim all fat and skin from pork tenderloins (this is Terry’s job) and place them in them in the marinade. Turn to coat well. Cover and marinate for 15 to 30 minutes at room temperature. (we’re newlyweds so the pork marinated much longer than the suggested time frame.)

Place pork on 3rd burner of grill (this is specific to our grill and this menu) with first two burners set to medium and 3rd burner at low. I used the first burner to roast red peppers (they were on sale for .99 each) for a tomorrow’s lunch: Roasted Red Pepper, Roast Beef, Smoked Gouda Cheese Sandwich on mini wheat buns with Chipotle mustard. (Check back tomorrow for the recipe!)

Let pork cook using Indirect Grilling method for about 30 minutes. After the peppers were charred, I put the corn on the cob on the 1st medium flame and the cherry tomatoes in a bar-b-que pan in the 2nd medium flame.

Turn the pork loin four times while flame is on medium to sear in flavor, then reduce flame to low and turn occasionally, marinating frequently. The reserved marinade is supposed to be heated and poured over the finished product, but this was unnecessary because we let the pork marinate longer than the recipe instructed and found it needed nothing more.

So here’s how we prepared the fresh sweet corn on the cob.

We shucked and washed it, sprayed it down with PAM Olive Oil and laid it on that hot grill.

But once it was cooked, we had a few surprise ingredients to throw in. Here’s the recipe for twelve ears. I improvised for two by mixing the ingredients in proportion, but I didn’t reduce the recipe by that much and was glad that I had lots of the seasoning to share with the grilled cherry tomatoes I threw in at the last minute:

Tex-Mex Corn on the Cob
12 ears of corn on the cob
3 Tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1-1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1-1/2 teaspoons grated lime peel
3/4 teaspoon salt (BTW, I rarely add salt when instructed and never miss it.)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (I’m sorry, but if it ain’t real garlic, I don’t use it. I skipped this ingredient!)
Refrigerated butter-flavored spray (I’m the grill queen so “refrigerated butter-flavored” sounds whimpy to me. I used Spray Oil specially formulated for grills.)

Place ears on medium heat until kernels bubble, pop or crinkle and show a tinge of black from the grill. (I made that up based on personal preference.) Stomp the other ingredients together in a mill or with a whisk. Grill corn then slather with mix. Use leftovers on anything else waiting to be grilled – like cherry tomatoes.

We both agreed it was one of our best meals, but we did have one minor disagreement you can help resolve. Which of the following pictures reflects correct table-setting etiquette?

Picture A

Picture B

Our table-setting disagreement didn’t spoil our two-week anniversary, but we do have a lot riding on the bet over who is correct.

First Cup of Coffee on the Patio

We have a week of travels to write about. A week of memories on the road – 1500 miles, six states, three days, two hotel stops, and twenty minutes of video. And we have a wedding to plan for – one week one hour and seven minutes from now. But for now, we are finally slowing down enough to enjoy our first cup of coffee on our patio in Salado. It’s slightly muggy, but cool for Texas and there is a light breeze. The best part is that the cactus I planted has its first blooms on it. (yeah, my dad thought that was a weird thing to plant since most everyone here tries to get rid of them, but it’s a thornless cactus!)

We have a hectic day ahead, but for now, the coffee is tasty, the cactus is splendid, and my darling is by my side.

Well off to pay attention to him, because he’s rattling off a long list of home repair supplies we need to pick up at home depot. What a romantic!