2015 DECEMBER - Holidiva Day

This post, 2015 December Holidiva Day, was written by Diva Glinda/Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog

Can you believe it’s been 10 years since Diva Annie had a turn at hosting the annual Holidiva party? She decided to go all out! There would be a traditional roasted turkey with bread and sausage stuffing as the entrée. Soon we were all emailing back and forth as we decided on appetizers, sides and dessert.


The day of the party Sophia and I arrived first – we were bringing appetizers so did not want to be late. The Central Texas weather had been warm, muggy and drizzly – no Yule logs were wanted today – this December we were grateful for air-conditioning! 

I forgot my camera back when Annie was hostess in 2005, so that post had no pictures. (Just thinking about this still makes me sad.) This year there would be photos! Lots of photos!

Annie’s Shrimp plants were in full corally-pink bloom

and everyone’s favorite ‘Patrick’ Abutilon was covered in beautiful bells.

Every inch of Annie’s house was decorated and it looked so pretty! From the fireplace mantle

 To the sideboard

to the plume trees covered in vintage ornaments

to the dainty miniature holiday village all was perfect!

Annie had her part of the dinner under control but was glad to have Sophia for company in the kitchen

We snapped a few photos of each other while we were waiting for the rest of the Divas.
Glinda and Annie stand near the beautiful sideboard

No garden hats! No garden gloves! No work clothes! Will anyone recognize Glinda and Sophia?

The table décor was imaginative and fun – Annie used poinsettia-themed vintage china and glassware from her mother’s collection, displayed to advantage against the soft green of the tablecloths, then filled planters with ornaments. Don’t you just love the shapes of the poinsettia bowls?

The table and chairs were ready for eight Divas of the Dirt.

The appetizer table looked great! Sophia brought two warm cheeses, one Camembert & Walnuts and the other Brie with Cranberries. She also brought French bread and assorted crackers to serve them on. Anne contributed tortilla chips and Glinda made the guacamole. Soon after this photo was taken, Sugar arrived with a delicious creamy hot artichoke dip to add to this bounty.

Annie had prosecco and cranberry juice ready for the first guests. In a little while Mindy came to the party with another bottle of prosecco and more juice. And a little while after that, Buffy arrived bearing a third bottle – has prosecco become our Signature Beverage?

Longtime friends Mattie and Karla always find something to laugh about

Sophia and Mindy are glad to be here

Longtime friends Sugar and Buffy look pretty amused, too!

What a feast! Perfectly roasted turkey with bread & sausage stuffing made by Annie; Karla’s dish of Special Asparagus made eating your vegetables a treat. Mattie’s Crunchy Mixed Kale salad was a hit and the Butternut, Baby Green, Pistachio & Blueberry Salad from Mindy turned everyone into salad fans.

I don’t know if Sugar’s Fancy Mashed Potatoes had secret ingredients but they were addictive!
Buffy’s Cranberry Sauce went way beyond the ordinary and the Rolls were perfection.

Sophia and Mattie were glad to escape from their demanding jobs and spend the day relaxing together

Karla, Mindy and Buffy know how to enjoy every minute they spend together

We did not rush, appreciating the work put into making every dish delicious. After we finished our lunch, we decided dessert could wait a while. We folded one of the tables, began the cleanup process and got ready to play the traditional swap & steal game with the gifts.

As the late afternoon winter light turned the room golden, we began to play. After many rounds and some hysterical laughter we all had a gift to take home. (Blame some of the unfocused photos on how much everyone was laughing.)
Diva Annie won this cool birdhouse made in Africa of sustainable materials -  brought by Mattie.

Glinda brought bronze metal mushrooms on springy stems – Mattie and Karla each held onto them for one turn but those fungi went home with Sophia.

Annie found cool copper poppies on long stems – Glinda got these (and they look fabulous in my garden!)

Buffy brought a black garden trug and really good gloves from the Natural Gardener – taken home by Karla

Diva gifts tend to come in odd shapes and the wrapping can be very creative – what could be inside this big plastic sack?

Aha! Mindy had hidden a decorative spade with attached birdhouse inside the sack … Sophia opened it but Mattie quickly stole it!

Sugar brought cool garden signs (one from Maine) and Mindy won them

Karla brought a Metal Centerpiece with Mason Jars for candles or flowers – Sugar took it home.

Sophia brought a big metal rooster disguised in a storage bin – oh, my – Buffy was quite pleased to win this prize!

Dessert was an experiment. I (Glinda) wanted to make something with the Almond, egg, raisin and Amaretto flavors of our traditional Amaretto Bread Pudding, but without the gluten – a problem for some of us.
When an episode of the Great British Bake Off on PBS/KLRU introduced me to the Joconde-sponge-based Opera Cake, it seemed like a fun idea to try. Layers of eggy, no-flour sponge were alternated with an almond, amaretto, golden raisin and fig filling and a chocolate-amaretto buttercream frosting, decorated with holly sprinkles to look festive

We missed the creamy soupyness of the bread pudding but the flavours (oops, been watching those Brit shows too much - that should be flavors) were spot on.

We drove home through drizzly fog, glad for another happy Holidiva day.

This post, 2015 December Holidiva Day, was written by Diva Glinda/Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog

2014 - May 3 Inside Austin Garden Tour

This post, "2014 - May 3 Inside Austin Garden Tour" was written by Glinda/Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

Something special happens in Austin, about every 18 months... it's the Inside Austin Gardens Tour, presented by Travis County Master Gardeners Association and the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. In 2015 the tour will take place in October, but in 2014 the tour was in May. Three of the Divas of the Dirt were there and we'd like to share a few photos.

DivaAnnie and Oz were impressed by this huge agave at Lori's garden.

One of the gardens belonged to a member of the Howard family - a while back, Howard's Nursery on Koenig was a go-to place for many gardeners. This garden featured beautiful vignettes tucked into the borders.

And the assembled glass garden art reminded us of our own dish art project in September.

Another of the gardens featured an almost full-sized Longhorn steer.
Mindy says Hook 'em!

And a whimsical tree with a face called for a group photo. Mindy, DivaAnnie and Glinda hope you also get to have fun with your friends on a garden tour!

This post, "2014 - May 3 Inside Austin Garden Tour" was written by Glinda/Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

2013 - September MINDY'S GARDEN DAY

This post was written for The Divas of the Dirt blog by AnnieinAustin, writing as Diva Glinda


Diva Mindy thought up a different kind of project day for the Divas of the Dirt in September - she'd seen an Empress of Dirt blog post on making decorative garden glass flowers from dishes and servingware and thought it would be fun for all of us to try it. Mindy had quite a few old dishes that she'd acquired over the years. She asked up to bring whatever we could find for the project. The default assembly technique would be bolts, nuts and washers, but fancier door pulls and knobs could also be used as flower centers.

Two tables were set up in the garage - here's part of what we started with.

Some of the dishes brought to the project were garage sale/resale store finds or odds and ends left over from some old set. Other dishes had meaning for the Diva who brought them - full of memories of happy times with family and friends. We took a long time to try out combinations, stacking and restacking the pieces until we each had a couple ready to go. Tape covered the area to be drilled with the center point marked.



Mindy had ordered a special diamond cylindrical bit for her drill and she set to work drilling the holes. We were surprised at how much time and effort it took to drill each piece. No wonder dishes can be used day in, day out for decades - those materials are hard! A few of the pieces started smoking as the drill went through - good thing we were outside

Other Divas also tried their hand at drilling, and progress was slowly made. Mindy's husband Warren did a great deal of the drilling - he also fabricated copper pipe holders that could act as 'stems' for the flowers when used in a border. This was not a speedy project - it took long, hot hours.

 But the results were delightful -  Mattie looks pleased with  these two beauties.


Dish flowers covered the dining room table.


DivaAnnie liked the flower-on-a-stem idea

This is how Dish Flowers with stems will look when used in the ground outside



A few asymmetrical plates resulted in exceptionally artistic flowers.




In order to get my two dish flowers to hang straight on a board fence, I used washers & coated wire to make hangers.

This technique worked on the board and rail type of fence.



But Karla had another idea: her fence is lattice, so springs-and-wire plate holders worked just fine.



Thanks for making this Divas of the Dirt project happen, Mindy!

This post was written for The Divas of the Dirt blog by AnnieinAustin, writing as Diva Glinda