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 - February Annie's Day

This post 2017 February Annie’s Day was written by AnnieinAustin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog.

For nearly 20 years the Divas took turns serving breakfast, then going out to work on their gardens together, and then going in for lunch sometime in the late afternoon. We loved doing it, but things change. Did the hostess really need to make two sit-down meals?

The Divas decided to skip the big breakfasts, eat something at home and gather with what my mom called “Coffee And…” , a cup of java and something simple - maybe a slice of coffee cake or a muffin. Then we’d go out and work on the project and in the afternoon the hostess would serve lunch. We’d try out the new plan at Diva Annie’s garden day in late February.

February in Central Texas is always a gamble. In some years it’s so cold and wet that the meeting has to be cancelled or rescheduled. In other years we’re working outside on one of the most perfect spring days you could imagine. In 2017, Annie threw the dice and won: Sunny and 80F. 

Annie had already emailed everyone that she needed help with general cleanup: Pruning, raking of leaves, weeding, snipping back.

Usually Annie did her fall-winter clean up in stages. But she’d been unable to rake this time and there had been enough cold weather in January to kill back many of Annie’s plants. This year’s cleanup would need a lot of hands and a lot of paper yard bags!

Sugar was out of town with her family, Buffy would be in-and-out and Glinda could come for a while but would be late, so Annie, Karla, Mattie, Mindy and Sophia got to work. Buffy came, Buffy left. Glinda came, Glinda left, Buffy returned,

They clipped, they pruned, they cut back, but mostly they raked. And raked. Annie’s neighbor has an enormous Arizona Ash with a canopy that spreads over one half of Annie’s front yard. Annie has a big Chinese pistache that spreads over the middle. All those leaves and the cut back plants added up to a lot of yard bags. It was rumored that there were 37 yard bags when the Divas of the Dirt were done.

February is grillin’ weather in Austin –  at lunchtime the Divas were pleased to see skewers laden with chicken, shrimp, tomatoes, zucchini, pepper and mushrooms, cooked on the grill, served with sides of cauliflower rice and cabbage salad. Everything was delicious and also healthy!

For dessert she presented gluten-free brownies and vanilla bean ice cream.

So far the new plan worked well.

This post 2017 February Annie’s Day was written by AnnieinAustin/Diva Glinda for the Divas of the Dirt Blog.

2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY

This post, 2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Diva Glinda/ Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog 

We Divas of the Dirt won’t work in non-stop downpours but we can still get some gardening done if the showers are brief and intermittent. That’s what happened last April when Diva Annie had her turn as hostess on a day that mixed sun, drizzle and rain.

Six Divas of the Dirt - Mindy, Karla, Mattie, Buffy, Glinda and hostess Annie sat down for breakfast at this pretty table. Crystal cups holding tiny pots of succulents paraded down the center surrounded by lovely vintage plates in floral patterns.

Diva Sophia was at a meeting and would arrive later.

Although Sugar was out of town, her two pups Junior and Skeeter were staying at Annie’s house. Since Annie also has two dogs (Chip & Dale) and Mattie’s dog Barbie came along to visit, the canine element was well represented! Here are Chip and Skeeter.

Annie made yummy Baked Muffin Eggs – a layer of hash browned potatoes was topped with ham, sauteed peppers and crowned with an egg before popping them in the oven.

She also served waffles – with a choice of regular or gluten free batter.

A big fruit bowl held strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and pineapple and Annie also gave us a choice of three kinds of juice.

What a lovely breakfast - how we enjoyed visiting with each other while disappearing the goodies that Annie had made for us!

When we went out to work after breakfast we had to take time to look around – the relatively mild weather meant that the Mexican Honeysuckle continued to bloom while Crossvine blossoms hung in colorful swags near the gate. And the Anacacho Orchid was already in full bloom.

We worked in small groups at first – branches from the Arizona Ash were overhanging the porch and house - Mindy and Glinda decided to go after some of them with the pole pruner.

Annie and Buffy were ready to clip and weed the central bed where Phlomis AKA Jerusalem Sage and Cyclamen were in bloom.

The front triangle and median bed also needed clipping and weeding so Karla and Mattie took on the assignment. Soon Sophia arrived and as we progressed, just about everyone worked on the beds in the parkway – Annie has a lot of Mexican Honeysuckle!

Yard bags of debris were soon marching down the driveway, awaiting pickup. At one point we were chased in by lightning to wait for the weather to clear a little. We went out again and were just getting back in the rhythm of work when zap! More lightning chased us inside again and Annie declared that it was time for lunch.

The fiesta that Annie unveiled was great – chicken tacos, shrimp tacos and black beans. Annie cooked and peeled seasoned shrimp. She cooked chicken thighs, then ingeniously used a hand mixer to shred the cooked meat.

For toppings she had two kinds of sauce, tomatoes, cilantro, queso, shredded lettuce and  avocado – all on corn tortillas.

Even the beverages were festive – delicious Italian sodas in citrus flavors, found at the local HEB.

Dessert was almost decadent. Annie followed a Martha Stewart recipe for flourless chocolate cake, topped with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.

Dear reader, I wish you could taste this delicious cake …

We went outside again and this time had a good dry spell. Soon more of the Arizona Ash was pruned away from the top of the fence. We snipped a little at the Vitex/Chaste Tree but could see that it had expanded beyond the scope of our tools – taming that tree called for a chain saw. The loppers worked well to remove dead wood from the interiors of the Almond Verbena and the Texas Mountain Laurel.

Some new plants went into beds, borders and containers, including violets, scabiosa/Cushion Flower, Kangaroo Paw, Baptisia and skullcaps.

We made a lot of progress but only had time to begin to spread the bags of mulch.

By the time our day ended it was dark and the rain had restarted. We were tired and our hostess was even more weary than we were, but Annie is indomitable! She’d promised to take part in the CAP 10K the next day and she got over that finish line in less than 2 hours.

This post, 2016 – APRIL ANNIE’S GARDEN DAY, was written by Diva Glinda/ Annieinaustin for the Divas of the Dirt blog 

2013 - December - HOLIDIVA DAY

The Divas of the Dirt, Austin, Texas 
 Remembering our December 2013 HOLIDIVA DAY

The December day chosen for our annual Holidiva party was unusually cold & crisp at midday, just the right kind of weather for Christmas decorations and a feast with friends.


But first things first! The hostess may be Mattie, but the house also belongs to Barbie... the little dog was delighted to see her friend Diva Annie at the door.

The dining room with its dramatic red and black table decor was beautiful. 

Annie, Karla, Sophia and I arrived close to the time on Mattie's invitation but where were the other three Divas? We weren't worried - they'd show up eventually!

We munched on delicious baked Brie & crackers served by Mattie and sipped wine provided by Karla and Mattie, enjoying being together and feeling the holiday spirit.  

A couple of hours after the planned start time, Mindy arrived bearing Poinsettia cocktails and wonderful crab cake appetizers. Not too long after that, Sugar and Buffy showed up - Buffy brought something new - Pennsylvania Eggnog.

Mindy's crab cakes had two sauces, the Brie was delicious and the wine was flowing.

Let's move into the elegant dining room.

Sophia's Spicy Tuscan Soup with sausage and kale was a hit - and it was spicy.

Since we'd had quite a lot of Brie and Crab and Soup - maybe the main courses could wait for awhile? We headed for the long sectional sofa in the living room.

It would be a good idea to play the grab bag stealing game now - look at all those beautiful packages under the tree!

The cold day meant Mattie could make a fire - perfect! We settled back with our eggnog and the gift exchange began.

All the gifts had some kind of garden theme, like these sweet watering can salt and pepper shakers.

Two sets of terracotta pot feet can be both amusing and useful on the patio.

Buffy displays salad servers made to look like small garden spades.

Glinda (that's me) went home with a beautiful ceramic bell - here it is in my garden last summer- a perfect color with blue plumbago.

Buffy found this inspirational, handmade, fired terracotta wall art at a farmers market.

Not pictured are the New Orleans recycled metal art, a beautiful handblown glass vase and a charming glass knobbed wall rack. We were all happy with our fun gifts.  

That game took a long time! We were ready to move on to the main courses. Mattie's entrée was very cool - cranberry-stuffed chicken breasts. The sides were great: Annie made mashed potatoes with wilted leeks, Karla brought asparagus with snap peas and Buffy's contribution was Spinach Casserole, Threadgill's style (heavy on the dairy, bacon & maybe ham?).

Sugar's spinach salad featured goat cheese and candied pecans.

What a delicious combination everything made on our plates

This was not a year for experimenting with dessert recipes - I baked the traditional Amaretto bread pudding, doubling the recipe for the Amaretto sauce.

Let's dish it up and celebrate a sweet end to another busy, garden-loving, friend-filled Divas of the Dirt year!

                                   The Divas of the Dirt, Austin, Texas