2018 JUNE – Karla’s Garden Day

This post, 2018 JUNE – Karla’s Garden Day, was written by Glinda/Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

A diminished group of Divas of the Dirt turned up for Karla’s 2018 garden day on a very hot Saturday in June. She hoped we could weed and clip a couple of beds in the back. Luckily for us, Karla’s neighborhood had 2.3” of rain a few days before we came – no weeding in rock-hard ground! Unluckily for other people in the neighborhood, that storm also produced straight line winds that brought down trees.

Only Karla and Mindy were there when I came. Buffy soon joined us but she would be in-and-out for part of the day; DivaAnnie was still in intensive care after surgery, Mattie was out-of-state and Sophia’s medical issues were ongoing.

Karla had used some time off work to good effect in her front garden…it was in such pristine condition that all we could do up there was admire it!

The patio bed had a lovely little Anacacho orchid that was still staked and it needed some adjustment. Weeding and composting were needed along with digging/cutting out tree seedlings and saplings. Most of us live in neighborhoods that are 20 to 40 years old, full of trees like oaks, hackberries (the worst!), cedar elms, pecans, Arizona ashes, mulberries, China berries, Chinese hollies, yaupons, ligustrums and more so tiny trees everywhere are an unavoidable result.

Here’s one part of the patio bed after weeding, before clipping, composting and mulching. It’s all foliage in the photo, but there would soon be tubular orange Mexican Honeysuckle blossoms and the light, true-blue blooms of Plumbago, followed in a few months by the lavender daisy-shaped flowers of Fall Aster. Actually, late May-early June is a good time to cut back Fall Aster – doing that can mean even more blooms in late summer.

The Anacacho Orchid stood a little straighter, with Purple Coneflowers at its feet.

Karla’s long fence border had a lot of color, but she had chosen a restrained number of plant species.

The combination of  holly ferns, giant liriope and multi-colored Impatiens in this shadier spot gave it a feeling of peacefulness and order… 

…while the exuberant Echinacea purpurea/ Coneflowers added some excitement nearer the patio where more sun shines. I’ll bet there were butterflies later on, too.

One interesting effect of working in a small group in just one area was that we had long, uninterrupted conversations… we were all worried about Divas Annie and Sophia, shocked at the news that Anthony Bourdain had killed himself in France and fascinated with Mindy’s tale of being on jury duty. Talking as we worked made the steamy day seem shorter.  

Karla had a very cool lunch ready for this very hot day – a favorite chicken pasta salad, a green salad, tabouleh, rolls and butter.

And her dessert of individual strawberry-rhubarb pies (with ice cream) was as pretty to look at as it was delicious to eat.

I left a little early but Karla, Mindy and Buffy kept going – the high for the day was 96.1°F – whew.

Karla sent a gracious email the next day,

“We were small in number, but we were mighty! … I can’t wait to sit out there when it cools a bit this evening and enjoy the beauty.”

This post, 2018 JUNE – Karla’s Garden Day, was written by Glinda/Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

2017- DECEMBER HOLIDIVA DAY

This post, 2017 – December Holidiva Day -  was written by Diva Glinda/AKA Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

We Divas of the Dirt sneaked that last garden day into the 2017 schedule in the nick of time. Just a few days later the pleasant gardening weather was gone and the arrival of a cold front, some rain, a touch of frost and a dusting of snow let us know that it really was December. We were all in the mood to go to Buffy’s house for the annual Holidiva Day lunch and the gift-stealing game.

When I arrived hostess Buffy was cooking and Sophia was constructing an enormous salad. Annie, Buffy and Mindy went into the dining room to set the table – Mindy showed off her origami skills by making the napkins into Birds-of-Paradise. Fun!

 The early afternoon sun cast shadows over the room, adding a bit of magic.

We love the traditional Poinsettia cocktails – another Mindy speciality. (Yes, I said speciality instead of specialty… have I watched too much Brit TV of late?)

 Along with Poinsettias Buffy had eggnog and wine. Diva Annie and hostess Buffy raised a toast to friendship. They’ve been part of this group for almost 20 years.

The appetizers this year were brought by me, Glinda. I made a cold crab dip and a hot spinach-artichoke dip with assorted crackers.

We had our favorite cocktails, stuff to munch, and good friends to share them with – Karla, Glinda and Annie are happy to be here. [photo by Diva Mattie]

 Mindy shared hugs with visiting pup Barbie. [photo by Diva Mattie]

 Buffy, Mindy, Annie, Karla, Mattie, Sophia, Glinda and Sugar were all present and ready for lunch. What was on the menu for 2017?

 Sophia likes salads that surprise – in addition to expected salad ingredients like small tomatoes, red onions, croutons and lovely greens this huge bowl had olives, hearts of palm and Ciliegine – those perfect little cherry-sized balls of fresh mozzarella.

 Buffy’s elegant choice of entrée was greeted with delight – Prime Rib Roast. I didn’t write it down, but am pretty sure there was horseradish sauce.

Buffy decided the way to add puffy goodness to Prime Rib would be individual Yorkshire Puddings.

Mattie found a long, slow recipe from Ree Drummond of the Pioneer Woman. Look at these Burgundy Mushrooms, with red wine and dill seed. They cooked for more than nine hours.

Mindy loves roasted vegetables – she made Special Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic vinegar. 

Annie also used a recipe from Ree Drummond of the Pioneer Woman – yummy Hasselback potatoes.

Karla turned to a recipe from Juniper Hills Farm in Dripping Springs to make Honey Roasted Carrots with walnuts, raisins and mint. 

After lunch, Buffy’s son snapped this photo of the Divas of the Dirt. Thank you!

Mattie knew that pups like special lunches, too. She shared little bits of the prime rib with her dog Barbie, Buffy’s Fredric and the chihuahua sisters Lynda & Luci.

 Watching the dogs cavort with Mattie was great post-lunch entertainment!

 The gifts under the tree were ready for the stealing game.

But first things first – we’d been looking at that sparkly winter-scene cake for a loooong time! Sugar had put together layers of gingerbread cake and cream cheese frosting, topped it with a small gingerbread house and then arranged trees made of inverted rosemary, all presented on a base that looked like a slice of tree trunk… very special.

Look at those layers of gingerbready goodness.

We drew numbers from a bowl and Mattie had first choice. She unwrapped a heavy cast metal figure of a Painted Bunting brought by Buffy.

Mindy chose a burlap bag brought by Mattie and found another bird-themed gift… a metal hummingbird sculpture. (Sorry it’s so hard to see against the dark tree.)

Sophia unveiled an artistic gift brought by Annie – a metal peacock and plant peg. A third metal bird? Is this a theme?

Mattie liked the bunting statue but she didn’t get to keep it… Glinda’s turn was next and she stole the bird.

Since her original choice had been swiped, Mattie went for a new choice – it turned out to be a Blue Butterfly coir mat brought by Glinda.

See that bag Annie is holding in the photo? She thought the hummingbird sculpture was just her style and on the next turn she swiped the hummingbird from Mindy.

With the hummingbird gone, Mindy got a new turn – she unwrapped a set of extremely decorative but rather bossy letters on sticks from Sugar.

Annie didn’t hold onto the swag-bag for too long. Sugar’s turn was next so she restole the hummingbird and with the rules in her favor, got to keep it.

On her next try Annie unwrapped a beautiful ceramic basket brought by Mindy. It also looks like Annie’s style, doesn’t it?

Karla opened a gift from Sophia – a beautiful glass globe. Don’t you love the way the light in the room makes Karla look like a fortune teller looking into a crystal ball?

Finally our hostess Buffy had her turn. (Whenever Buffy sits down she immediately has a lapful of chihuahuas.) She unwrapped a very cool metal hoop-shaped mobile from Karla.

The year ahead would be challenging but our Holidiva Day was pretty perfect. As our musician friend Bob says – Peace and Love, everyone!

This post, 2017 – December Holidiva Day -  was written by Diva Glinda/AKA Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

2017 – MARCH and APRIL, KARLA and MINDY

This post, 2017- March and April, Karla and Mindy was written by Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.

MARCH

Rain spoiled Karla’s plans for an early March meeting – she changed the date to later in the month. On the original day Glinda snapped a photo of her drenched Rosa mutabilis.

In early March the bluebonnets began blooming at Mindy’s house

A few days later the St Joseph lilies were in flower at Mattie’s house

In mid-March the fragrant peach iris had started to bloom at Mindy’s.

 

A week later the peach iris was blooming at Glinda’s house.

The following weekend Karla had better luck with the weather. She needed spring cleaning help and also promised a “murder mystery”

Tulips graced Karla’s pretty table.

Her native Bauhinia lunarioides/Anacacho Orchid tree – memorial to a loved one - was in bloom.

Karla’s clump of the passalong fragrant peach iris were now in bloom, along with Blue-eyed grass.

The Divas got beds weeded, plants reset and mulched.

And the murder mystery?  Crepe Murder! Well, not exactly murder but maybe ABH, Assault to Boughs with Harm? When a tree goes bad there is often no easy answer… digging an old crepe myrtle up and planting a “right-sized” new one may be prohibitively expensive while a severe chop might give the tree another chance.

APRIL

For her meeting in April, Mindy had dry weather but a very small crew… an avalanche of external events kept Mattie, Glinda, Sugar and Sophia from coming. On the other hand, Mindy, Karla, Annie and Buffy got a lot done and had fun doing it. They weeded and planted and got the beds in order and declared the lunch delicious. 

After the Divas left, Mindy and Warren worked to clear unwanted cedar that was smothering wanted trees like this Eve’s Necklace.

That pile of prunings is quite impressive!

Previously shredded trees had turned into mulch for the renewed borders – looking good Mindy & Warren!

This post, 2017- March and April, Karla and Mindy was written by Annie in Austin for the Divas of the Dirt blog.