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Meet Maeder

The real surprise of our North Carolina trip came the first evening when Carl asked me if we might be interested in a puppy. Jill and Carl breed Australian Heelers (Australian Cattle Dogs). We have one of their pups - the irrepressible Sophie. Heelers come in a Blue grizzled coat and in Red colorings. Carl offered us one of their little Red Heeler puppies. My niece Emma named each of the three litter mates after red words - Roy, Garnet, and Mater. After consulting a dictionary I altered the spelling to the Old English word for red: Maeder - which transformed into the modern English work Madder - but the pronunciation is the same - 'May-der'.

He'a a real cutie and he's among the friendliest puppies I've ever seen. We drove home with John holding our new pup and me at the wheel. We're settling in right now - Ki and Sophie both have their noses just a bit out of joint, but I think they'll come around.

Check out the new little one here.

Visiting Lake James

Just around the corner from Jill and Carl's place is Lake James, a North Carolina state park. I kicked myself for not having gone to see it before this trip: it's just beautiful. We did a little light hiking on the easier trails around the park one morning before it got hot and sticky later in the day. Check out this link for more pictures.

Just back from North Carolina

John and I just got back from a marvelously relaxing visit to see my sister Jill, my brother-in-law Carl, my niece Emma, and my father. They live on a secluded thirty acre parcel in rural Western North Carolina - about forty miles from Asheville. Here's a shot of their pond and a small building on their property. Check out more pictures of their place here.

We arrived last Wednesday and spent three relaxing days seeing folks, eating good food, and touring the area. I was better organized this year than on previous trips. We headed out one afternoon to Black Mountain, a wonderful small community on the way to Asheville. We also spent time at Lake James, a state park very close to Jill and Carl's place.

Hanging out in North Carolina

John and I have been kicking back since we got to North Carolina. Dad hosted us for dinner last night and tonight, and we've hung out with him and with Jill (my sister), Carl (my brother-in-law), and Emma (my niece).

Carl surprised me last night by asking if we'd be interested in taking one of his new Australian Red Heeler puppies. I told him to ask John - who immediately wanted the new little guy - named . (Sophie, our Australian Blue Heeler is John's special kid.) So we just got back from a run to pick up towels, puppy chow, some small bowls and other flotsam and jetsam to get him home.

We had a wonderful afternoon meandering around Black Mountain, a charming town between Dad's place in Nebo and Asheville. I picked up a small bit of jewelry for Emma. Then we walked past Song of the Wood, a delightful store with hammered dulcimers, harps, and bowed psalteries. The folks make the psalteries in their local shop. John and I fell in love with one made of book-matched mahogany and maple, so I bought it. You can see a picture of mine at the bottom of this page.

We're in London (Kentucky)

John and I hopped in the Escape Hybrid and headed south to see my father and sister's family in North Carolina. We ended up in London, Kentucky - about 650 miles from home - and most of the way to see Dad and Jill.

Several people asked me if we were flying down to see folks. I replied that the last thing I want to see on a vacation is another airport. I've had a lovely, relaxed time so far. I brought my iPod to listen in the car but I've not needed it yet: we talked for about twelve hours non-stop. That's the real reason I love car trips with John: we can get into long discussions that we never seem do at home.

Tomorrow we should make it in to Dad's place just after lunch. I got smart this time: I did a quick search on Google for 'gay Asheville' and found tons of cool places to visit. I'm hoping we can hang with Dad, Jill, Carl (my brother-in-law), and my niece Emma (who's twelve today - Yay, Emma!) - and take some time during the days to do a little hiking and a little running around Asheville.

I got in a museum show!

The Cedar Rapids Museum of Art accepted my work, Early Spring at Indian Creek, for their upcoming exhibition, Cedar Rapids: Day into Night! I got the word on Saturday; I couldn't have been more surprised. They had 152 submissions from sixty artists.

John and I walk the countryside around Cedar Rapids every week. One cold April morning in 2004 I shot this as the sun broke through clouds above Indian Creek.

The show opens on 22 September. If you can come I'd love to say hi!

More gardening

The garden keeps changing. The Echinacea (like this picture) are almost as tall as I am and loaded with blooms. The Asiatic lilies are opening now, and I expect a continuous stream of new lilies for the next month. I harvested the first of the ripe rose hips for jelly making just today.

Check out this new garden portfolio.

We're in cherries

Our cherry trees went nuts this year and John spent a week and a half picking cherries and pitting them. When I returned from my last trip west he had a fresh cherry pie warm and awaiting my return. Yum!

Here's the state of the freezer: about fifteen pie equivalents - and John's pies are huge. I made five batches of cherry jam (not to mention four batches of strawberry jam). The rest of our kitchen treasures are in the freezer. I spent yesterday afternoon rearranging stuff in our chest freezer downstairs and pulling old stock to give away.

Becoming an herbalist

I filtered an extract of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's Wort) yesterday and it turned out beautifully. Folks know St. John's Wort for its effects of mood and depression but herbalists also prize it for its effects on the skin. The German government's equivalent of the US FDA has a regulatory body - Commission E - specifically to approve and regulate herbal remedies. In Germany Hypericum extracts in oil are approved for treatment of skin problems, including burns and sores that have been slow to heal. I'd used commercially made Hypericum oil for years. This year my Hypericum erupted in a fountain of blossoms so I decided to make my own.

The preparation is simple: pick a cup or two of blossoms just after they open. My fingers were stained with red in the process - that's the active ingredient, hypericin, which is blood red. I washed the blooms and whizzed them in a small food processor until completely pulverized. Then I added extra virgin olive oil and whizzed again until the volume of olive oil roughly equaled the plant material. Then it was into a small clear glass jar. After screwing on a lid I placed it in the garden in full sun. The sun aids the extraction process and the heat from the sun helps retard the growth of any unwanted microorganisms. John and I shook the material every day for about two weeks.

I filtered the oil - which had turned ruby red - through a paper coffee filter. I'll refrigerate it until I need it.

On another front I also decided to do an extraction of chamomile blossoms into glycerin - called a glycerite. I picked several cups of chamomile blossoms - once established they grow like weeds. After washing them I pulverized them in my food processor and added glycerin, USP to the mix until I had roughly the same volume of glycerin as plant material. I put in in a glass jar where it'll sit covered in the dark for a week or two. I'll report back on the results - and I've shot video of the preparation if anyone's interested.

Happy 4th! (The Elecampane bloomed!)

I was doing herbalist things in the garden this morning. When I turned around I saw that the Elecampane (Inula helenium) has finally bloomed. I'd grown these from seeds last year but nothing other than foliage grew - and I mean foliage - the plants are huge. So I threatened them this spring: either produce this year or you're out!

And they did. The plants erupted in these huge blooms on stalks that are taller than I am. Inula gets its name from Helen of Troy, from whose tears the plant was said to have grown. Herbalists dig the tubers in the fall to prepare an extract said to be good for respiratory congestion. I'll probably not do that preparation, but it's cool to see what finally grew.

Check out more of the garden at my Fourth of July garden pages.