August 8, 2021- sort of a lost week

 I do not know where this week went. Part of the week was taken up with a bad allergy induced summer cold. It was even bad enough that I did one of those instant COVID tests. It was negative. What a world. And we fly out into it on Thursday. We have one of those reassuring (not)  governors who tells us that mask requirements are not based in reality. 

On the drought front we have passed the three week point since measurable rain. The sprinkle on Friday was only enough to settle the dust. 17 hundredths of an inch was what they called it. I called it a disappointment. Maybe tomorrow. 

There were two focal point plants this week. They were the Starry Starry Night hibiscus and the hydrangae.

20 yards further down Fairview is this grand blooming bush. The name is paniculata 'Unique'.

The first of the Japanese anemones bloomed this week. August 5 seemed a little early. It was the pink one that grows all over.

I really like the buds on the anemones. There are many of them. 

I did that sequential planting of calla lily bulbs this year. Some were planted in May. Those were ones I had from last year, kept over the winter.

Some were ordered and planted in June. And some more were planted in early July.

Here is one of the June planted ones.

I was pleased with the size of this one. I will try to mark it special, as it will be stored over the winter. On the other hand I will did up all of them, no matter the size or color.  Why not be surprised next year?

One part of gardening is anticipation. That is ever present with a few plants in August.

This Night Blooming Cereus might bloom any night now.

Update: it did bloom last night but it was so late I did not get a good picture. It of course is finished by 5 in the morning.

Then there is this cactus. It has five buds which could open any night. This picture was taken Saturday afternoon. I appreciate that those blooms, which also open at night, will last into the day.

I am always struck by the coincidence that groups of flowers on the same plant will bloom at the same time. Why not sequential, over a few days? It is as if the buds are all in communication with each other.

I really need to get out and do some cactus weeding. I use needle nose pliers. This weekend however is one of those stretches where it is rather uncomfortable, particularly after about 9 in the morning. Last night did not cool off at all. It is 77 now (5:45 am on Sunday) on the front porch (according to the last mostly reliable weather station in the house). 

I need to remember something for next year. You cannot have enough lantana. I only have about 5-6 plants this year. 

Julia's recipe

Shell pasta with zucchini

This recipe, from the NYT website, is another of these one-pot pasta dishes in which the pasta is cooked in a reduced amount of flavorful liquid. Once a person acquires faith in the method, it's a snap and flavorful and fast. I am a convert. 

The ingredients for the main part of the dish:

12 oz. medium shells (that's 3/4 of a box or about 4 1/2 cups of dry shells);

2 medium zucchini;

1 tablespoon better than bouillon chicken concentrate;

4 oz. mascarpone (really);

about 1 teaspoon smushed garlic;

2 or 3 tablespoons sliced fresh basil; and

salt and pepper.

For the garnish: 

                                                                                    3 or 4 tablespoons roasted salted almonds;

                                                                                    another 2 or 3 tablespoons worth of basil;

                                                                                    3 or 4 tablespoons worth of parsley.

I started by prepping the vegetables - smushing the garlic and cutting up the zucchini - cutting the ends off, slicing the zucchini across into rounds and then cutting the rounds into 1/4s. It is important to have medium zucchini. Big ones will be unpleasantly seedy. Tiny ones are okay but you will need a bunch of them.

I ended up with about 3 cups of zucchini. Another cup of zucchini would have been fine. Less than 3 cups would not be enough. 

And I sliced some of the basil into strips. 

Then I whisked the b. than b. chicken paste into 3 cups of water. This product does not require boiling water to dissolve. A plus. 

I put the chicken-y liquid into a big deeper skillet (not an occasion for the omelet pan), and I put it on high heat until it boiled. 

Then I added the shells, zucchini, garlic, sliced basil and mascarpone. All at once. I seasoned it with some salt (because the chicken-y liquid contained salt, I was cautious) and pepper. I stirred everything together and turned the heat down so the pan was simmering. I let it cook for about 13 to 15 minutes. I stirred from time to time to prevent stickage and started tasting the pasta after 12 minutes because the pasta is the critical ingredient. 

A cooking action shot for those of you who like that sort of thing.

While the pasta was cooking, I put the almonds, and the parsley and the other little handful of basil into the food processor and zizzed it up. 

Here is the pasta when it was almost done - all of the liquid absorbed and the pasta cooked through. 

I poured the concoction into a serving bowl and sprinkled it with a bit of the garnish, putting the rest in a bowl for diners to add as they wished. 

In the serving bowl. 

We served this with some simply baked fish (cod with mayonnaise and lemon zest). Some folks sprinkled the garnish on their fish and on their salad. All good. 

Odds and Ends

A local masonry person came to look at our chimney. I do not remember it being looked at before. We have been in the house almost 40 years. A chimney sweep would have cleaned  the chimney. That was just up from the fireplace.

But the question was whether the thing on top of the house was in any way broken by the derecho, which was just about a year ago.

So he used a drone. Really. There it is. 

In the end he is going to have to have someone climb up there before he gives an estimate. But we glimpsed the future.

I did something silly yesterday, August 7. I planted some zinnia seed, in the garden. I have planted zinnia seed in July before. I ordered this seed in late July but it took a while to be shipped. (9 days- for seeds?) 

So if it rains in the next few days maybe we will have fresh new flowers in October. The instructions for zinnia seed tell you to put the seed right on the surface. I think it has something to do with wanting light for germination. 

Why not plant in August. I guess I sometimes paint outside the lines. 

Be safe- Next week we will try to post from Maine.

Philip