Week #2 of the playoffs, March 9, 2025

If you live in Iowa or have spent time here you know about high school girl's basketball. We became aware of it when we went to Grinnell in the late 60's. It was a strange game at the time. There were 6 girls on the court with three playing offense and 3 playing defense. All players were restricted to their end of the floor. That was a time before Title IX. In larger places there were not many girls sports at all. It was a small town sport, owing in part to Lou Henry Hoover (Mrs. Herbert) who was born (but not raised) in Iowa and believed that girls should play sports, unlike latter-day Victorians who thought not. 

6 girl basketball was big in Iowa, particularly small town Iowa. Remember Mediapolis or Montezuma? How about the name Denise Long?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Long_Rife#:~:text=Post%20basketball%20career,-After%20basketball%2C%20she&text=She%20worked%20as%20a%20pharmacist%20until%20retirement.

The state tournament was in Des Moines in March, and would be televised on one of the 4 TV stations.

Most importantly there would be the girl's state basketball tournament  blizzard. You could count on it.

Much has changed in almost 60 years. The girls now play regular (5 on 5) basketball. The tournament includes the big schools. The games are televised on one of many TV stations. But it is still a big deal. 

And

It was not a blizzard in Iowa City. But it did snow. It was rather bad elsewhere in Iowa, including Des Moines. A relaiable blizzard.

There was no gardening for a good portion of the week.

It was warm earlier in the week. I caught these first aconite, just trying to wake up.

It is a far cry from the March of last year. See the bonus pictures, from February, 2024.

It will quickly change however as it is supposed to warm up to the 60's in a few days.

I spent several hours in the garden yesterday. But I did it in 20 minute shifts. 

Last Week

Here was the final vote:

There was a lot of support for the one Shirley poppy in the playoffs. It really was a down year for the Shirleys. I am already plotting ways to avoid the deer. I have lots of little Shirley starts. I want them to be ready to go in the ground by May 1. 

Sometime there has been a problem with the new seedlings being too big in their pots in April. 

This Week is Week #2 in the playoffs

#1 Cactus 

July 27, 2024

The cactus is the number two seed in the playoffs. It garnered 53% of the vote in Week 7.

This picture is a sentimental favorite as the plant was stolen not long after it bloomed. It will be a few years before one of its grandchildren blooms. 

#2 Violet- Birth of a Galaxy

 January 1, 2024

What a great name. It is also one of two violets in the playoffs this year. I am repotting violets this weekend. Some have been growing nicely for two years. They need a boost of something.

#3 Blue Siberian Iris

 May 17, 2024

Siberian Iris are an important link between spring bulbs and high summer.

This blue variety is very nice.

#4 Bartzella, the peony

 May 18, 2024

In professional basketball there are players that are know just by their first name. Think Michael or Kobe or Caitlin.

Well, this itoh peony is getting to that place in the world of garden plants. If you say you have a Bartzella, many people know what plant you are talking about.

Think about it. What other plants are in that category?

Maybe King Alfred, the daffodil. Ruby Spider, the daylily. 

This contestant comes from Week 8 where it tied with the special tulips.

#5 Arctic Snow 

Cattleya orchid 

November 23, 2024

This is Arctic Snow, the cattleya orchid.

It reliably blooms several times a year, including when you bring it inside in the fall.

Bonus Pictures

Here are pictures from February, 2024. 

February 20, 2024

This is one of the hellebores. I am just now cutting back last year's foliage. 

The only crocus so far in 2025 has been under the dryer vent.

February 27, 2024

This is a little iris that blooms very early. It is called iris danfordiae. There are also ones called reticulata. They grow from a bulb, rather than a rhyzome. 

February 27, 2024

Right Now

All good things must come to an end. It bloomed for almost two months.

Why oh why is the arugla bolting?

The winter's best moment is this pot full of hoya seedlings. Who knew they were that easy to germinate and then grow?

I really love pictures of early spring flowers and the snow. The snow hardly ever bothers any plant with the word "snow" or the word "winter" in its name.

With sunshine yesterday the early aconite opened wide. The are showing up in the back yard by the dozens. In a few days there will be an explosion.

This is snowdrop Wendy's Gold. It is in its third spring.

The first lettuce seedlings got to go outside yesterday for a few hours.

Julia's recipe

Lemony sugar cookies

This recipe is from Michael Knock, the food guy for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. Sometimes he makes soup, sometimes he makes cookies. Recently, it was cookies. Of the three recipes, this is the one I liked. The cookies are a little bit soft or a little bit chewy or a little bit crispy. Amazingly, these textures are all appealing, and they happen if you bake the cookies a little bit longer or shorter. Try them. They'll cheer you up, and you probably need that, what with one thing or another. 

The ingredients:

2 cups flour;

1 teaspoon baking powder;

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt;

1/4 teaspoon baking soda;

1/2 cup butter (softened) (that's one stick);

1-1/2 cups sugar plus more for rolling;

lemon from one lemon;

1 egg;

1 teaspoon vanilla; and

1/4 cup sour cream.

A couple of notes: Michael Knock says this is a Martha Stewart recipe. Attribution - it's the right thing to do. The recipe called for the zest from 1/2 lemon. This is dumb; what happens to one-half of a denuded lemon? Also not lemony enough. Go crazy: zest the whole lemon. I always use salted butter. I do not fool around with two different kinds of butter. I used 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and it was fine. If you're worried about too much salt, use about 1/4 teaspoon. It'll be fine too. 

The recipe suggests covering the cookie baking sheets with parchment. I have these thin baking mats that I got at the hardware store at some point. I only use them for cookies or other pastries. No traces of olive oil or savory spices. Sometimes I don't use baking mats or parchment. The first time you make the cookies, you might experiment: one baking sheet with parchment, one naked. See if it matters.   

I started by creaming the soft butter with the sugar until the mixture was creamy. Soft butter matters. 

Also I turned the oven on to 350 degrees.

Once the butter/sugar was creamy, I zested the lemon directly into the mixing bowl. 

Then I beat the mixture some more - maybe a total of 3 minutes. Creamy and fluffy.

Next I added the egg and the vanilla. More beating. 

Next I added the salt, baking soda and baking powder and 1 cup of the flour. And mixed some more. 

If you're feeling cautious, you can measure the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and whisk them together. I didn't want to dirty another bowl. 

Then I added the sour cream; more mixing. Then the rest of the flour, then mixing some more.

But don't overmix. When the flour is all mixed in, you're done.  

Michael Knock recommended chilling the dough, and I did. I left it in the mixing bowl, and pressed a piece of saran wrap on top. 

I chilled it for about 30 minutes. I made a second batch of cookies a week later and on that occasion, I refrigerated the dough overnight. I let it warm up on the counter for a little while. Worked fine. 

I used a small disher (about 1 tablespoon) to make more or less uniform lumps, which I rolled between my palms. I put about 1/4 cup of white sugar in a shallow dish. Then I put the cookie balls into the dish and swished the dish around to get the balls to roll around and pick up some sugar. 

You can see the cookie sheet with the baking mat. I used regular sized cookie sheets and spaced out 12 cookies per sheet. 

No need to flatten the dough balls. They'll flatten as they bake. 

I baked the cookies 13 minutes or 14 minutes or 15 minutes. 

For the first two sheets, I turned the cookie sheet around after 6 minutes. The first cookie sheet - 6 minutes followed by 7 minutes. Second cookie sheet - 8 minutes. On the last cookie sheet, it was 7 minutes first followed by 8 minutes. 

This may sound a little fussy, but if you are baking cookies, you are probably hanging around in the kitchen anyway. 

All of the cookies got crispier after a day or two. The cookies are a bit lemony. And sweet with a good texture. Try them. You'll like them. This recipe makes about 30 to 36 cookies, depending on the size of the cookie balls. 

Odds and Ends

For more girl's basketball you can find this wencite where there is a history.

https://ighsau.org/about/history/

Every once in a while something is just funny and/or a little odd. Look at this towel rack in our bathroom. It's a bath mat and towels, hanging up to dry looking a bit like ET.

Earlier this week the ten day weather on the phone showed Iowa in March at its finest. Friday was rainy and in the mid 30's. Yesterday was sunny and over 50. Not only were the aconite bursting forth, so were the undergradates as they also celebrated the warm weather. 

Spring which was late this year is going into fast forward for a few days.

I was outside yesterday for maybe too long. I am clearing beds so the spring bulbs will not be smothered by the sycamour leaves.  When I was not raking, I was stopping to clip persistant foliage.

What a difference this spring is compared to last year.

February 2024

February 2025

I really should start more seeds now. I have a nice crop of lettuce and arugula and Shirley poppies.

I should start a few other things, now that somethings can go out during the day.

This is that difficult time of year for gardening. There is outside, with the so welcome spring bulbs starting to bloom. There are the seedlings, which really demand watering every other day at the least. Then there are the regular indoor plants, such as the orchids. Your time is really stretched thin.

Did I mention that our work work-being lawyers- is busy. We were at the office yesterday morning for over 2 hours. (We like working at the office on the weekend as the phone does not ring.)

The world of course is very much in a bad place. Whatever you last read becomes the biggest scary thing.  

Pray for everything and everyone.

The list is too long.

Mostly pray for the energy to keep going.

Let us stay in touch.

Thank you all for your notes and comments. 

Is spring coming to New York, David?

What passes for spring in Florida, Pat.

What time is it really?

Philip