My Newest Addictions

Thanks everyone for your well wishes following our accident in Williamsburg.  We are slowly feeling less sore, and working towards getting our car repaired.

I've been taking it easy this past week, trying to get my cortisol levels back in whack.  When you have an adrenal condition like I do, what would normally not affect someone else can really throw my body for a loop, so I'm taking baby steps until I'm back to normal again.

One of the most important things I can do is to eat right and get plenty of rest...oh and avoid the news at all cost...Mr. Tide is keeping me up on current events so that I don't sound like a total dimwit!

Over the last 6 years eating organically, eliminating all sorts of things from our diet like transfats, etc., and in the past 9 months going gluten free, has been key to my feeling better.  And when I'm under stress, or have experienced a stressful situation like our accident, it becomes even more important for me to keep up a strict healthful diet.

I really try to eat mostly fruits and veggies throughout the day supplementing those with protein, and I've become a little addicted to Whole Foods spreadable cheeses...like the Pepper Jack Cream Cheese pictured above.  I've actually been out of it for a few weeks and I have to say that withdrawal has not been easy!

The other thing I am totally in love with are these Glutino Gluten Free Bagel Chips...both the original and the Parmesan flavor...YUM!  When gluten free tastes this good, you kind of forget that it can be a royal pain to stick to a gluten free diet.

The only problem is that our local stores don't stock either of these, and I've yet to find a good spreadable goat or cream cheese that can match the stuff they sell as their store brand at Whole Foods.

This was my lunch a few weeks ago, and let me just say that it was delish!  Usually I would have less fruit and more veggies, but our local grocery stores are severely lacking in good organic produce, and because Mr. Tide was on a trip, I hadn't made the 2 hour trek to our closest Whole Foods for awhile.  In fact, we are long overdue for a visit, but that will likely have to wait until sometime next week.

So curse you Whole Foods and your delicious spreadable cheese...and curse you local grocers for not getting more organic fruits and veggies so that I wouldn't have to drive to the ends of the earth to find some!  Oh and curse you people who have a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's right down the street and take it for granted...envy, thy name is Kat!

On a totally different topic, but still pertaining to addictions...let's chat about roses shall we?!

When we moved into this house 5 years ago we had the ubiquitous knock-out rose bushes, one pink tea rose, and another yellow hybrid tea...I really have no clue if they are hybrids or teas, but it makes me sound more educated so I'll go with it.  In total, we had 9 rose bushes...4 of which were knock outs and 2 were some sort of spray type bushes...and yes there will be a test at the end so keep track.

Thanks to the world of blogging, I met Connie of Hartwood Roses.  Connie is what I like to refer to as a rose "dealer."  You know the type, they talk about roses with a passion in their voice, invite you to their property which looks like a rose garden from an old English estate...well because it is an old estate and she has lots of rose gardens, and they slyly lure you in!

Then they put their crafty, mesmerizing spell on you and BAM you suddenly think to yourself..."hey, I could do this, I could grow roses with names I'll never remember, and care about each individual plant as though it's an adopted child!"

And so here I am, just a year and half later, with 25 rose bushes...yup 25...and counting!  A few of them are knock outs, but most are old fashioned roses that I've purchased from Connie or been gifted by friends and family.  I also have some David Austin roses, like the white one above, but please don't ask me their names.  

Unlike the gardens of true rose enthusiasts, my roses are not neatly tagged, beautifully trimmed, or probably even in the right soil or getting the perfect amount of sunlight.  But they do bring me joy and happiness, and I do care for them in my own way.  Heck, I'm even thinking about buying a wide brimmed straw hat so that I at least give the appearance of knowing what I'm doing!

Connie has taken a break from selling roses in order to tend to the many beautiful plants in her own gardens.  What she may or may not realize is that she did way more than sell roses to unsuspecting people like me...she actually created little rose loving addicts in the process.  And as I wander my yard cutting fragrant blossoms to place here and there throughout my house, I know it was never about the "knowing" part of growing roses she was trying to instill in others...it was always about the "loving" part and finding my inner rose addict...for that I will always be thankful to her!

What are you addicted to lately...do tell!

And for those of you in Isaac's path...STAY SAFE!

Chatty Cathy

When I was a little girl my parents bought me a Chatty Cathy doll.  I loved that doll and spent hours pulling the string that made her recite a handful of sayings.  Even though my name was spelled differently, and my parents often called me Katherine not Kathy or Kat, or Kath like my other family and friends, I just knew that that doll was made especially for me.

In case you haven't noticed, I talk a lot...no, I mean it, I talk a WHOLE lot!  Mr. Tide once told me that he thought I could talk to anyone...or anything for that matter, and he is right!

Today, Connie from Hartwood Roses met me in the town of La Plata, Maryland.  It's kind of halfway in between where she lives and where I live, with Connie having a little bit longer drive to get there.  We decided last week that we could both use a girls afternoon out and that as exhausted as she was from her daughter's wedding a few weekends ago, and as crazy as both of our schedules are that we needed a break from real life to chat it up.

The thing is, I tend to do a lot of the chatting, and Connie, the saint that she is, does a lot of nodding and squeezes in a word edgewise every now and then.  She knows that when I'm under lots of stress, like I am right now with trying to sell my parent's house, on deadline for stories, and the fact that my mother in law had hip replacement surgery (that thankfully went off without a hitch), that I will be even more frazzled and even more chatty than usual, but that never seems to bother her...hence the "saint" designation on her part!

After lunch at Panera, we headed to Waldorf Pottery, which is located just north of La Plata in an area known as White Plains, Maryland.

I hadn't been here for awhile, years in fact, and once we got out of the car I wondered why the heck it had taken me so long to come back.

They had gorgeous plants, not the droopy, sickly looking plants you sometimes find at a nursery, but the kind you want to fill up the back of your truck with and hurry home to plant them.

And it's not just the plants that are wonderful, but the vast array of statuary and garden ornaments that they carry.  Around every turn there was something new and interesting to help you create any sort of garden you might want, from a zen garden to a more traditional formal garden.

Connie and I both agreed that we aren't really water feature people, but she and I were both enamored by several of the pretty options they had available.   They had one fountain in particular that I didn't get a shot of that was so unusual and calming, we both loved it!  I also liked this little frog that was hanging out in a small pond underneath a huge white crepe myrtle tree where he could stand watch over the water lilies.

And speaking of water lilies, I nearly lost my footing while taking this photo but thankfully I didn't or I would have fallen face first ie. camera first into the pond.  This was the point in the visit that Connie reminded me why I should have purchased the extended warranty on my camera!  She speaks from experience since she stepped on her last camera...yikes!

I loved how organized all of the plants were, and the variety they had was really amazing. 

I fell in love with this fern, known as a foxtail fern.  Isn't it so unusual looking?!  It was like a fuzzy aloe plant or like Connie said "an asparagus fern from Mars."  At least I think that's what she said because I was probably still talking at the time...

Here's a little more info on the foxtail fern.

I wish I had a nice wall to display some outdoor art on, like this happy go lucky sun!

And if you need a pot, well never fear, Waldorf Pottery has plenty.  Green ones...

Red and orange ones that reminded me of roasted chili peppers...

Bold blue ones...

And earthy glazed ones that ranged from golden brown to turquoise.

At one point we rounded a corner and found this!  A hardy Hibiscus that had blooms the size of dinner plates!  The bloom pictured above was about 10 inches in diameter!  Connie had just mentioned how I should get some "swamp" hibiscus to plant down near the water at my house, something she said that loves to have its feet wet.  It was then that we saw these beauties that do love having their feet wet and will come back year after year, even in my zone!

When I showed Mr. Tide the picture he asked why I didn't buy some.  I told him I would go back to get a few but didn't purchase any today because it would have had to sit in the car and bake while Connie and I hit a few other stores.

It was a scorcher today and while I looked like a drowned rat with hair like the wicked witch of the west...Connie looked like she had been sitting under a large shade tree all day sipping mint juleps!  I don't know how that girl does it, but she never looks tired, or sweaty!

We lingered in the shaded container section of the pottery for a bit to escape the heat.

They also had some lovely ironwork throughout the pottery and I found a trellis that I loved, but Connie assured me that it wouldn't work for my beautiful New Dawn rose that I bought from her last fall, so I will wait and look for a larger one that will give my rose plenty of room to stretch and grow!

After browsing around outside, we moved inside where it was nice and cool to look at the gift area of the pottery.  Connie found a few things to take home, and I'm sure she will show everyone those items in an upcoming post. 


 

Just as there were lots of things outside I wanted to bring home, the same was true for the inside shop.  I love the metal dragonfly bench you see at the top of the photo.

My mother in law collects stones, and these, which featured phrases and words on them, would be so pretty by themselves or in a grouping.  I love the one that said "Marry Me," wouldn't that be a wonderful way to propose?  To go hand and hand down the beach skipping stones together and then to have your fiance pull a stone with Marry Me on it from their pocket to pop the question...so romantic!

There were lots of pops of aqua and blue throughout the store, and you all know how I love aqua and beach inspired colors!

And see that birdcage in the top right of the picture?  It was huge, but in my head I was planning an entire conservatory around it!

Also in my imaginary conservatory would be a set of these chairs and a marble topped potting table.

And I forget the name of this plant, but the conservatory would be filled with beautiful and unusual flowers all year round.  And I would invite Connie (who I referred to as an Heirloom Rose Farmer today) to come to my house and have a cup of tea and I could talk, and talk, and talk!

If you are ever near White Plains, Maryland, I strongly suggest that you stop by Waldorf Pottery, but just be forewarned, you will want one of almost everything!

And if you want some beautiful heirloom or historic roses from a certain awesome rose "farmer" who will let you blather on for hours, then go here!  Thanks Connie for a wonderful afternoon!

Celebrations and a Winner

Yesterday we celebrated not only Memorial Day, but also Mr. Tide's birthday!

His favorite cake is chocolate with chocolate frosting, all served with a heaping helping of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

When he was younger, he always thought that the reason people got the day off, or kids didn't have to go to school was because of his birthday, not because it was Memorial Day.  Wouldn't that be nice, to have your birthday be a special holiday for everyone?!

He had a nice day, filled with pampering and presents, and organic homemade chocolate cake with fudgy frosting.  It was a nice end to a very busy, work filled weekend where we planted 11 rose bushes and did lots of other yard work.

And speaking of roses...the winner of my latest giveaway is lucky #5...the wonderful Sherri from Sherri's Jubilee!  Congratulations Sherri, I know you will find just the right place to plant your new rose!  Just send me an email with your mailing address, and a wonderful Hartwood Rose, plus the other goodies, will be on their way to you right away!