Archive for March 5th, 2009

I love to read. I mean, I LOVE to read. I especially love long books and I really love them if they are part of a series. I just adore living with the characters for awhile. They begin to feel familiar and you start to know them like family. The best books are the ones that you finish and are immediately engulfed in a sense of sadness because it’s done. There’s nothing like it.

I am currently working my way through a series that I have read five other times. I love it that much. Some of you know it but if you don’t, I can’t recommend it enough. It’s called the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It is a love story, an historical romance, time travel, war, botany… it has it all. But the main thing is the love of the two main characters, Claire and Jamie. Jamie is a Scottish Highlander and…. seriously anything I say at this point makes it sound like something it’s not. I’ve tried to explain this series to people and always fall short. You just have to read it for yourselves. I love it so much, I even suggested Jamie as a name for our son, but my husband didn’t go along with that. I’m hoping hoping hoping that there is another book and I believe there is one coming soon. I just can’t wait! The people I have recommended this series to love it and I have other friends that have read it and are equally enamored.

If you’re looking for a good book, please start reading this series. The first book is called Outlander. Amazon has it for a great price and if you buy more of the series, you can probably get free shipping. Let me know if you like it!

Southerners do love their pecans. There is a running debate on the proper way to say pecan in the South. All I can say is in my husband’s family, they say “puh – con” with the emphasis on the second syllable. I know Paula Deen has her own version but she’s from Georgia and adorable, so I’m forgiving her. We love pecan pie and Magnolia makes a wonderful one. If I can coax the recipe out of her, I’ll put it up another day. For now, here are two wonderful pecans recipes courtesy of my sister-in-law, another beautiful and wonderful Belle.

Spiced Pecans

1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 Tbl butter
1 tsp cinnamon
3 cups whole pecans

Mix sugar, water, butter, & cinnamon in a saucepan. Place over medium heat and bring to a boil. When mixture starts to boil, cook exactly 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in pecans & stir quickly until all syrup is absorbed. Pour onto waxed paper. Cool & serve.

Peppered Pecans

1 stick of butter
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cup pecan halves
salt & cayenne pepper to taste

Melt butter in baking pan and add Worcestershire sauce. Mix well. Add pecan halves and stir well. Place in 250 degree oven and bake slowly, stirring every few minutes until pecans have absorbed all the liquid. Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt & cayenne pepper. Stir.

Now I’m hungry. Off to find some pecans.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring is coming which means it’s almost time to start putting around in my gardens. I love to spend time outside in my yard. If only I could talk my husband into getting rid of that ugly field of concrete surrounding our pool… just think of all the things I could plant!

I have two arbors covered in Lady Banks Rose. If you’re not familiar with this rose, you need to be! We are expanding our deck and unfortunately one of my Ladies is in the way. I think I’m driving my contractor crazy trying to design a deck around my rose. But I will not be deterred!!! I’m keeping this lovely Lady and if I have an odd deck design because of it, so be it.

Lady Banks has been grown since the early-1800’s and is a wonderful climber, especially in areas where it may be near people since it is thornless. No thorns… no ouchies. It grows perfectly in our zone here in Upstate South Carolina (zone 7) and is almost impossible to kill. I don’t really do much to it as far as feeding and watering. It just keeps growing and growing. I’ve have seen it called a “Tombstone” rose because nothing kills it. And that means us! Unfortunately it has a short bloom cycle (about 3 weeks) and very little fragrance but her positives far outweigh any negatives. Around the 3rd week of March, the branches will be completely covered in small yellow blossoms and it is truly a spectacular show. They are always the first “real” plants (not counting bulbs) that bloom in my garden and when I see those beautiful roses, I always think “Now it’s Spring.”

Lady Banks Rose is a very fast grower. Very fast. It can cover an arbor in just a year or two. Make sure you grow it on a sturdy structure and not near the house! I’ve heard stories of our dear Lady Banks infiltrating eaves and windows. It does need pruning to keep it in shape and that is best done after it blooms since it blossoms on old wood. That means it sets it blooms for the following year on the wood of previous growing seasons. Once it sets its blooms, pruning it will obviously prune off all the flowers for the following year. Lady Banks will keep its green leaves throughout the season, providing great shade.

Right now my Ladies are covered in the remnants of our snowstorm but I can still see the green leaves under the ice. They will be fine though. Lady Banks is a strong Southern Lady and isn’t going to let a little late season blast of Winter stop her! In a few weeks I’ll be enjoying her beautiful show of flowers.

What I wouldn’t give for a greenhouse…. We’ll talk about that another day.

3/9/09 UPDATE Just a quick update…. my rose is still there and I just walked through the deck design with the contractor including my idea for a new arbor. There were only two raised eyebrows and no one seemed to think I was crazy so it’s all good. I did have to trim her back a little so that they can work around her. Will post pictures when the project is finished.