Gardening

Brought to you by the letter B

June 30, 2023September 14, 2023 annbh3563 Comments

a round basket filled with bright green basil leaves

fresh blueberries in a gray and blue porcelain bowl

If we were on Sesame Street, today’s harvest would be a B – day with a Basket of Basil, a Bunch of Broccoli, and a little bit of Blueberries.

The basil is drying in the oven, the broccoli is ready for tonight’s salad and the blueberries may make muffins, grace vanilla ice cream, or simply provide the perfect snack. We anticipate a meager berry season as this first picking only yielded a cup and did not fill the Caradori bowl. Thus, the tasty decisions must be made with careful deliberation.

After the Bs, my alphabet harvest gets a bit jumbled, as I also harvested Mini-Me™ cucumbers (a first time variety in our garden) and rhubarb for another dozen scones.

Knitting

Celebrating Summer on the Banks of the Mississippi

June 29, 2023March 22, 2025 annbh3564 Comments

vibrant violet handknit lace shawl draped on a wooden hanger

gray and lavender triangular handknit shawl

varigated lavender handknit scarf on a wooden hanger

pink and cream handknit triangular shawl draped on a wooden hanger

two handknit silk shawls, one pink and one green, draped on a wooden hanger

I always have at least one project on my knitting needles just to keep my hands busy and my brain alert while streaming the latest Netflix series or watching F1 cars race on circuits around the world. A tally of projects, February 2022 through February 2023, totals 15 with six items designated as gifts for The Directors – my library loving, book reading, wine drinking group of retired friends. Having missed joining the group due to my April Covid woes, each finally picked a favorite silk scarf or shawl last week. Just in time for the summer solstice.

Other items of interest

Building Notes

June 27, 2023July 17, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

satellite map with two large areas marked for parking and building site

When I worked with the architects (nearly 25 years ago) to design the SELCO building, I blended all that I knew about library operations, office flow, and the ILS (integrated library system) connecting over 70 libraries with the practicality garnered through decades of home renovation projects. While some features, such as the Novabrik™ exterior, were unique to the project, the construction was conventional enough that I never hesitated. Five years into retirement and having agreed to co-lead the Building Our Future team at church, I am a bit more realistic about my learning curve.

I had anticipated the need to study solar reverse metering or options for EV plug-ins but I was surprised when the first term I needed to check in the dictionary was charette – a meeting in which stakeholders attempt to resolve conflicts and map solutions. Our church architects suggested this opinion gathering process as a way to define key proximity questions.

With proportionally sized, color-coded wooden blocks, church members placed the blocks on a site map. They shared their rationale for each placement or shift as they discussed the spatial relationships for such questions as: One story or two? Where is the gathering space in relation to the sanctuary? Are the classrooms near the kitchen? How to keep the little ones near but still give parents “adult” time during coffee hour? While each of these questions (and many more) still needs resolution, the architects came away with insights into the everyday practical use of church space and the participants have a greater understanding of the challenges inherent in designing a new church building.

An interesting historical tidbit – Charette is derived from the French word for “little cart” & a time when beaux arts professors in Paris collected student drawings.

Photo credit: Locus Architecture

Other items of interest

Tea For Two (or now 14)

June 17, 2023March 22, 2025 annbh3562 Comments

white china cup and saucer decorated with yellow flowers

pick and blue china cup and saucer on a wooden background

I am not sure if the hobby of collecting fine porcelain cups and saucers was limited to Midwestern women of a certain age during the 1950s and 60s or a pastime enjoyed over a greater geographical area, but my mother collected a lovely assortment of 12 cups and matching saucers. She used them when serving dessert and coffee to her friends making up the three card tables for 500. To showcase the cups, she set her table with complimentary clear glass plates.

In 1986, while on a trip to Toronto for the United Brotherhood of Carpenters’ quadrennial convention, she purchased a delicate cup graced with yellow coneflowers for me. For a short time, I used it for my morning coffee at work, but it was a bit small when I needed caffeination for the day and I carefully packed it away. I never acquired any more.

Then came an event at church – an English high tea complete with cucumber sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, and a delicious assortment of sweet and savory delectable treats. In striving for the proper ambiance, a call went out for pretty cups and Momma’s dishes went into service. They never made a return trip to Eau Claire and my collection of one grew to 13. I have considered adding to my selection, if only as insurance against breakage, but there is something special knowing all 13 cups and saucers came from Momma.

During World War II, she worked in Washington, DC as part of the war efforts. In 1943, she made the bold purchase of a complete set of dishes, which were shipped to Eau Claire for Mother’s Day. Throughout my childhood, these dishes were on Grandma’s table for every special dinner until she died in August 1970. They moved to my childhood home when my grandfather came to live with us in January 1971.

As she nears her 100^th birthday, Momma has begun giving away items she no longer uses. Before Grandma’s good china is donated to the thrift store, I commandeered a cup and saucer which rounds up my collection of cups and saucers to 14, all gifts from Momma.

Knitting

Tempted but not this summer

May 24, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

lemon slices graphically represented on each side of a announcement for lemon spritz summer knit along

handknit gray sweater hanging on white background with note that reads Foxtrot 2019

modeling handknit teal sweater with white accents and holding a Fleetwood Mac album cover

handknit gold sweater folded on marble background with note that reads Fireworks 2021

folded light green sweater with navy blue accents on yoke and note that reads Coastal Grandma 2022

Step back to a May (nearly June) day one year ago, or two, or three, or four years and you would find me studying pattern release notes and making yarn and color choices for Marie Greene’s annual 4-day sweater knit-along (KAL) but not this summer. Instead, with July’s arrival, I will observe rather than participate in this summer’s KAL since I have a full task list as the co-lead of the church building team.

After spending several years in discernment, in what now feels like it was a leisurely drive on a blue-line road, it is like we are in the F1 pit lane prepping for 78 fast laps on the streets of Monaco. As May began, we purchased 40 wooded acres of urban wilderness, engaged the architects, performed soil borings and tested for Decorah Edge. In just weeks, we will begin listening sessions when we will dream of all this building might represent and then move into conceptual and schematic designs before breaking ground in September 2024 and dedicating a new building in September 2025.

With weekly planning meetings, frequent discussions with the architects, and writing regular eNews updates intended to keep member congregants and friends informed and engaged, the 4-day sweater KAL, just doesn’t gel with my mindset. But my needles will not be still as yarn for a summer silk shawl and two scarves are tucked in the rattan basket by my TV room chair.

Happy knitting!

Spirituality

Our time to dream

May 14, 2023May 15, 2023 annbh356Leave a comment

graphic depiction of a chalice and flame surrounded by 2 circles

Together, our church community has been engaged on a critical path of Building Our Future activities. We find ourselves, as a congregation, its members and friends, in the midst of a great call for creativity.

After a successful congregational vote supporting the purchase of the Viola Road property as our future church home and having concluded that purchase this past week, we are entering into what our board president has described as, “our time to dream.”

I can sometimes be a broken record. I never miss an opportunity to remind anyone who will listen that there is a long wish list for our new space; a list that has been growing since 2019 with heartfelt suggestions offered at forums and casual comments shared during mahjong games in the Chapel. But even with this long bulleted list, I believe there is more creativity out there.

Rest assured, the Building Our Future team is grounded in reality and we know that not everything will be possible whether prohibited by cost, or time or discovering that today’s technology is not quite ready for the future we want. Even knowing that, we want to hear everyone’s dreams. Every idea will be held tight and, if not incorporated into our 2025 building, then that bit of dream will be saved and maybe implemented in 2035 or 2050 or even 2125.

I feel the advice shared by Rev. William Sinkford’s in a recent article entitled “On Predicting the Future” pertains to what we are doing – Building Our Future – Beyond Ourselves. His words were intended to offer guidance as congregations continue to re-gather and try to understand how we, as faith communities, will behave after having lived through a significant worldwide experience. But I believe his message is not just about post pandemic activities but also about how we acknowledge; how we embrace change. His article is based on an essay by the award winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler and her rules for predicting the future: In that essay she wrote:

All that you touch
You Change
All that you change
Changes you
The only lasting truth 
Is Change

I know our congregational world is changing, that this beloved community will be simultaneously the same and different in a new church home. In the early morning hours, I will admit to the same worries and concerns that may be on each member’s mind and in each heart when thinking about the magnitude of this project. But then I look at the person next to me at a Tupper Supper, I look at the faces of people sitting in the sanctuary on a Sunday morning and the librarian in me begins cataloging the depth of the talent pool, the variety of skills in our toolbox and I am infused with confidence.

We have over 150 years of history in this community; a history that includes drawing blueprints, fundraising, constructing, and moving into four different buildings. But before any of that hard work began so many times before, so many years ago, before ground was broken, or rafters set, before church bells were hung or buildings dedicated, those that came before us dreamed of what their new home might be. So let creativity soar and let us dream of the place Rev. Luke has described as:

“A church at the intersection of public witness and preserved wilderness. . . A Sanctuary for community, for nature, and the soul.”

It is our time to dream.

Graphic credit: Chalice Art © Karin Lindsey

Other items of interest

April Sandwich

May 6, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

My April felt like a sandwich. The first week and the last days of the month were sliced treats of delicious, hand crafted sourdough bread filled by almost three weeks of a slimy, slightly off-tasting, maybe even salmonella contaminated filling.

Week 1 – A Tennessee trip and time spent with family, flowering trees in full bloom, and a mountaintop wedding. For a flavor of that week, check my two April blog posts highlighting wedding presents and travel souvenirs.

The last days of April – A whirlwind of warp speed activities as the church building team performed due diligence exploring zoning and building codes, attaining soil boring reports, performing environmental testing and, peculiar to our southeastern corner of Minnesota, conducting Dakota Edge delineation. When we submitted our Letter of Intent to Purchase land for a new church, we proposed a 90-day timeline for all of this work. After back-and-forth negotiations, the seller accepted our financial offer but would allow only four weeks for study. Unbelievably, the myriad of required professionals were able to find time in busy schedules to accomplish the numerous inspections of the property including all the relevant tests. The stars aligned and not just “in a galaxy far, far away…”

The middle of my month is a sea of days lost to Covid. After three years of careful sequestration, masks, and practical activities (as well as not so practical actions like wiping groceries) Richard and I were both sick. Even after the specific symptoms– fever, congestion, cough, and tiredness – subsided, I felt my brain was Covid-addled to the point I worried I might adversely affect building team decisions. But, not to fear, my trusted colleagues persevered and double checked my work so that we close on this unique parcel of nearly 40 wooded acres on May 10.

Knitting · Travel

The Best Souvenirs

April 27, 2023 annbh3563 Comments

four skeins of multi-colored varigated yarn — The four seasons of the Smoky Mountain Collection: spring, summer, autumn, winter

I received the first skeins of travel yarn in 2016 from a friend who attended a destination wedding in Iceland. She gifted three skeins of Léttlopi in a deep dark blue that, in turn, became a travel gift for a Swiss cousin. But, even though I had been knitting for years, I did not purchase any yarn on our 2017 retirement road trip – Minnesota to Spokane to Seattle to Vancouver and home again via the trans-Canadian highway. I am sure there must have been yarn stores along the way but none made our travel itinerary.

I corrected this omission during our 2018 European adventure – Amsterdam to Spa-Francorpschamps in Stavelot, Belgium to Ingolstadt, Germany to Switzerland and Italy – with purchases our first day in Amsterdam and on our last day in Zurich. Now I make a stop at a local yarn store as a planned part of our travels, whether I am in Arizona for Cubs spring training (2019) or just two weeks ago while in Tennessee for a mountain top wedding.

These most recent acquisitions to my stash were handdyed exclusively for Smoky Mountain Spinnery in Gatlinburg and represent the four seasons in their Smoky Mountain Collection. Each colorway is based on a photograph that captures the location’s natural beauty: delicate spring flora, the vibrant colors of summer twilight, cascading water amidst fall’s changing leaves, or the bright blue winter canopy over frosty hillsides. With two skeins of each, the possibilities for future knitting projects are endless.

Art

Wedding Presents

April 24, 2023May 4, 2023 annbh3561 Comment

four multicolored pottery bowls with dragonfly motifs on a gray background

For years, Richard and I have given unique hand thrown bowls as wedding presents. There is nothing wrong with purchasing from a couple’s gift registry and we do that too. I remember how excited we were 40 years ago to receive, plate-by-plate, the Dansk Christianshaven Blue dishes we still use today. We give the bowls knowing our gift is something both practical and a work of art; a functional piece that may be hugged as a popcorn bowl on movie night or simply displayed on the table for its beauty.

The merits of a good LYS (local yarn store) are a frequent discussion topic among fiber enthusiasts and I realize Caradori Pottery is my LPS (local pottery store.) The key attributes are very similar: a showcase of intriguing shapes, in a multiplicity of colors, knowledgeable staff, fun accessories, and lively conversations with the potter and proprietor, David Caradori.

For the mountaintop wedding of our great-niece earlier this month, we selected a large bowl similar to those pictured. The light earth-toned background with coral accented petals and dark dragonfly motifs will complement the couple’s lightly speckled charcoal gray everyday stoneware.

Gardening

One of four flowers in the cloud room

March 31, 2023 annbh3562 Comments

For decades, Dad tended a collection of amaryllises; staggering their move from a dark corner in the basement to the dining room window of my childhood home on 14^th Street. At some point (maybe 20 or more years ago) we brought one of his bright blossoms to Rochester.

Each spring we monitor the green growth as it emerges from the large potted bulb through the brown brittle remains of last year’s color. Will there be just a flat shoot that yields green fronds sans flowers or a fatter nub that will eventual break into riotous color with dinner plate sized flowers?

Through trial and error we have identified some useful tricks that help ensure flowers and not just fronds. Once the weather warms, the pots are moved outside. While they do not add summer color in my perennial garden, the plants benefit from sunlight not filtered through energy efficient windows and from the magical qualities of rainwater much improved over purified tap water. But even before the move from house to garden, Richard acts as bumblebee. Armed with a Q-tip, he gently dabs yellow dust on the white tip of a central pistel rather than relying on gravity and hoping the pollen will simply drift its way to the “right” spot. This spring, we are enjoying his pollination efforts and being treated to vivid color; an enjoyable contrast to our cloudy skies.