From the Ruins of Empire

From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia by Pankaj Mishra
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am surprised at myself. Why was I so engrossed in this long, complicated book? Because it gives me a little awareness of my world. MY world, yes, and also the world of many who have different values,  relationships to Europe, definitions of the good life. Now I know a little more about the Mideast and the Far East. I taped a map of Asia to the cover of my iPad for reference. This book showed me what I don't know.  Mishra, who is from India, is mostly objective, like someone patiently describing  his home to outsiders. He is not harsh, but doesn't hesitate to explain that in many cases the East does not trust the U.S.  And he shows why.




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Soy-ginger vinaigrette: Week 1

Sweet potatoes and onions drizzled with olive oil
Chicken tenders in Japanese vinaigrette
ready for 375° oven

I love to hide out in the kitchen at dusk,  sipping wine, nibbling chocolate, and cooking something luscious. C always appreciates the outcome, and I love the whole process. But ...

I could be making art.

I've been thinking about time, choosing what's important, and eliminating hurry.  Gotta make space for art.

"Ha! good luck!" you say.

Planning ahead saves time, so I made a summer cooking schedule: three big salads a week, one soup, one roast chicken, one new recipe, and on Thursdays C cooks or takes us out to a restaurant. Why is this such a challenge?  Because I don't like plans. I like whims. I can make a schedule, but can't follow it. Nevertheless, the older I get the dearer my time becomes, so I'm trying once again, and I'm going to post the recipes of the previous week, so I can repeat them in a month. This is what institutions like schools and even restaurants do ... aha! I also hate institutions. This may be hopeless, but last week we had:

Japanese shrimp and noodle salad*
romaine with bacon, poached egg, and croutons
cucumber, tomato, mint, green onion, and feta
chickpea soup with spinach and garlic bread
chicken marinated in leftover dressing from the Japanese noodle salad, roast sweet potatoes and onions

*Here's the recipe for the noodle salad's vinaigrette. It is a new staple, both as dressing and as marinade.

Vinaigrette

Combine:
1/4 C. rice vinegar
1/4 C. canola oil
1/4 C. white miso paste (I couldn't find this, so I skipped it.)
3 T. soy sauce
2 T. brown sugar
2 tsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger (I cheated and used the kind in a tube, but fresh would be better.)
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp. wasabi paste, or to taste (It's spicy.)
Salt and pepper to taste

That's it.

Studio Art Quilt Associates Florida Met Saturday

Jennifer and I drove to Melbourne Saturday for an afternoon with other Florida members of Studio Art Quilt Associates. Events were at the Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts at Florida Institute of Technology, where there is a show of selections from Masters: Art Quilts 2. Martha Sielman, curator of the show, gave a one-hour tour, highlighting every other quilt on the wall. (It would have taken two hours to cover all of them, she said.) Some things (trends?) I liked were: silk and fewer layers (two -- or even one), and texture. incorporating twigs. There was lots more. You can see everything in the Masters 2 book from Lark Crafts. I wish I had counted the people and also the quilts -- but I didn't. The show closes Aug. 24. 

• Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts
  at Florida Institute of Technology
  150 W. University Blvd. , Melbourne , FL , 32901
• :
  321-674-8313 (Phone)

Viewing A Scorching Sun by Reiko Naganuma of Japan
85 1/4" x 65 1/4"

Jennifer Bailey, SAQA Florida Pod 1 representative

Marianne R. Williamson of Miami
showing one of her Impressionistic, intensely-stitched quilts

We wrapped up with dinner
 at Bonefish Willy's

Poet Marie Howe

Marie Howe is one of my favorite poets -- I keep her book What the Living Do beside my chair. Here's Krista Tippett's interview with her:

http://www.onbeing.org/program/the-poetry-of-ordinary-time-with-marie-howe/5301

Howe went to a Sacred Heart school and praises the experience. Nice to hear her. It's so hard to explain why I loved (most of) my time at Carrollton, the Sacred Heart school in Miami.  Howe does it for me.

I care about day lilies

Joe Agosta demonstrating how to divide a daylily

 I can't believe I care about daylilies. Until Saturday I knew only three things about them:

1. Grandma Frey used to have them in the back yard of her duplex on Rich Street.
2. They were in the front yard when we bought this house. 
3. Clark would mow them down. To him they looked like grass. 

Then Saturday I heard Joe Agosta talk about his beloved flower at Tallahassee Nurseries. He is president of the Daylily Society, and I think he mentioned that he tends 1/2 acre of daylilies. I went because someone had to save our daylilies.

Now I know this about daylilies:

1. Divide them every three to five years.
2. They need at least 6 hours of sunlight.
3. Plant them 12" apart.
4. They like moist soil of 1"-1 1/2"  water/week.

A Daylily Year

Feb. 14: Fertiize with Milorganite and Osmocote 3:1:2
April: Bloom season begins. There are 2-3 weeks of rest between blooms. I'm not sure how long this goes on.
April: Fertilize with Milorganite only.
September: Best time to divide and plant.
September: Fertilize with Milorganite and Osmocote 3:1:2

Some neat words:
Floriferous -- blooming
Bloomscape -- stalk
Fan -- bloomscape
Corms -- not bulbs

How to divide a daylily:

1. With a spade cut a circle bigger than the plant, digging down 6"- 8".
2. Lift the plant out.
3. Remove dirt.
4. Hose off roots.
5. Cut the fan to 6". 
6. The plants will separate. If they don't, encourage with a screwdriver.
7. Trim roots to 6". 
8. Replant or give to friends.

There's Hope!

Hope accepted into the Sacred Threads exhibit! My first juried national acceptance ... I'm in good company. 

       Exhibit Dates: July 10-28, 2013

Show Hours: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sunday 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Meet the Artists Reception: July 13, 2013, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Not Fade Away, Oral History Conference: July 20, 2013 (8:00 am - 6:00 pm)

Location: Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Park Road, Herndon, VA 20171 (near Dulles Airport).

---

10 things 2012

Already deep into 2013, I remember I never told you my list of 2012's notable bumps and blessings. I've got the list; when something changes me I write it down. Lots is simple, notable only to me -- but who wants earth-shaking? I'm an ordinary woman observing the marks in my life, and no doubt missing many. Enough with the dismissives -- here is my 2012 list:

1. Running belt -- I finally discovered the elastic kind with pockets. I used to run with my phone and keys slap-slapping my stomach. Kind of sloppy. That's what comes from not being a joiner: you find out late what everybody could have told you long ago.
2. Mom's dinner -- We all got together in Columbus to toast Mom's 99th birthday -- several months after the freezing January day when she actually celebrated.
3. Art quilt group -- Turns out there are plenty of us in the area who think of quilts as a starting point for new beauty. We've been getting together once a month.
4. Clarkston in the summer. That's Clarkston, Michigan, where Chris and his family live. We loved visiting when so many Turners were there for Rebecca's high school graduation.
5. Quilt accepted at SAQA. Studio Art Quilt Associates sounds high-falutin' to me. Never thought they'd hang Beach Walk in their Florida show. I loved becoming part of this challenging group.
6. I'm an artist. Yes, that's what I say now.
7. Back to spirit. I don't know why I wrote this, but I did. Spirit made me.
8. Activity is good. I wrote this after realizing that it's actually true. Shocking to someone like me, who even hated being a spectator. (I still do.)
9. Sons: Mark said he is taking charge (with Rachel) of Mom's 100th birthday celebration. Nice.
Sons: got a sweet Mother's Day note from Patrick. Nice.
10. Porch. We added a screened-in porch to the back of the house and now we practically live out there.