Lights and Tunnels

This is the stack of books that Ben returned to the WFU library today after successfully defending his Master's Thesis on Thursday. I won't tell you how many of them are past due. The title of his thesis, as I know you are all dying to know so that you can stow it away and someday later buy his book, is " 'A dark rose of sunset between tree and tree': Landscape Imagery in the Arthuriad of Charles Williams".
This is his office which looks empty without all the books. Thankfully, he has hundreds of others in bookshelves all around. So now the only thing that separates Ben from graduation is a few hundred lines from Beowulf to translate from Old English. That shouldn't take much, right?

Around the House

This has been a rather wonderful weekend so far. Sophie started off right with two separate runs on Friday, and spent the rest of the weekend on her favorite perch which has now been marred by a new house that is being built across the street.
I took pictures of things growing around the house. I was so excited about the red tulips that were going to spring up-until I realized that we had bright pink azaelas on either side of the sidewalk. So much for the red contrasting with the black and white house. But the colors are nonetheless bright and brilliant and sing of spring.

I was particularly excited to see the hyacinths growing. They aren't giving off much perfume, which is what I love most about them. Perhaps because this is their first growing season.

This is the beginning of our garden. It includes broccoli, squash, tomatoes, various greens including red leaf lettuce and arugula. I planted a few herbs including tarragon. Some of them are seeds and some were established. I planted marigolds which apparently deter rodents. I'm not sure if 3 will do the trick but I was too cheap to buy more. There are a couple of roots in the way. I decided not to dig them up but rather to leave them in place. They are markers for the planted seeds. They way they project upward reminds me of the rock in the field in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimph. I hope everyone's weekend is blissful.

Easter and Hero Husband

With no family in town, Ben and I were forced :) to spend an Easter meal with other friends without family. So we, the budding Episcopalians, had a splendid meal with our Lutheran and Catholic friends. We seem to mesh pretty well despite our denominational histories. I was sad to have to return to work on Monday after a luxiourious 3 day weekend (3.5 if you count post-call) and didn't have time to shop for the week's groceries before getting home late Monday evening. Ben to the rescue! Home smelled like tropical heaven with his simmering mango chicken. I felt lucky indeed.
Then, after slaving in the kitchen all afternoon, he had to put on his plumbing hat as his dear wife forgets that the garbage disposal is not a magical place where leftovers disappear - especially when those leftovers are artichokes.
I felt very well taken care of this gloomy post-Easter Monday.

Earliest Spring Kitchen Notes

The ingredients of this stew are not particularly spring-ly but it is nearing the end of cold weather and time to squeeze in one more hearty dish before all the delights of spring vegetables make their way into the farmer's market and our plates. (By the way I dreadfully miss the LR farmer's market; we have no river nearby ours and not a single fiddle player). This dish comes straight out of an Italian cookbook called The Silver Spoon. Both the cookbook and the dish were introduced to us by way of one of Ben's fellow grad students. Her endless bottles of Pellegrino have helped us drink less diet cokes; sparkling water is our "transition drink," sadly. The cookbook was recently translated into English and the directions are sometimes rather vague, but the stew is forgiving and worth the guesswork.
Vodka alla Agnollo (lamb with vodka)

Ingredients:
meat stock (I used beef)
1 3/4 lb leg of lamb cut into pieces
12 prunes pitted
2 tbs strained tomatoes
1 onion chopped
1 garlic clove chopped
1 celery heart sliced
bay leaf
paprika
1/4 cup vodka
1 cup arborio rice
Directions:
boil stock. add mutton (lamb) and simmer for 40 minutes. Place prunes in a bowl, add warm water to cover and soak for 30 minutes, then drain. Melt 1 tbs butter in a pot; stir in strained tomatoes, onion, garlic, celery, and a bay leaf. Cook 5 minutes. Pour in vodka, add salt paprika, cook for a few minutes more. Stir constantly. Add hot stock, a little at a time, stir constantly, then add lamb, rice, and prunes. Stir constantly for 20 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Yum! (my addition). Goes well with yeast rolls.

Whodunnit?

Ben and I attended our first-ever murder mystery party over the weekend. We were "Cassandra and Cash Steal" and our objective was to avoid revealing "Cash's" true identity at the grand opening of a new "speakeasy club" called "The Four Deuces" without getting whacked. The scene was set in the mid-20s and was complete with flapper dresses and white suspenders. I am REALLY sad that my camera on the fritz but it will have to do until the budget allows otherwise...

Time Away

It was time to get away, to leave behind our little house and our quiet streets with its familiar comings and goings, and most namely, anything to do with Wake Forest. I finished what seemed like endless weeks of every other day call in which I was unable to leave town and Ben has been locked away surrounded by books, breathing in their much-gathered dust. We sought refuge at the sea. I have always had a penchant for cold beaches; perhaps this stemmed from my first experience as a 7 year old exploring a Long Island beach. But most likely it began the summer after my graduation from college where I spent several lone hours contemplating the largeness of life perched on a Welsh cliff huddled in a sweatshirt I bought at a local thrift store, not realizing beforehand that summer in Wales generally means merely a change in the name of a month more than impending sunburns. In any case, I was not impeded by the cool temperatures surrounding the Atlantic; it did not interrupt the quiet peace of my solace.
Ben has been fortunate to endear himself to the lively friendship of his colleagues, and since one of them happens to be renting a house that directly faces aforementioned ocean, this worked well for our place of refuge.
To assume that my need for refuge was associated with work is on the right path; it has been particularly draining of late. I think this is likely a natural rhythm of things that can be related to a myriad of careers. Despite an irregular schedule I felt as though I was meshing with my role and gaining ground as a respected physician but over the past few weeks my patience had, like the last grains of sand in an hourglass, drained to very little.
So we drove to Ocean Isle, near the S.C. border, dumped our belongings into a cottage whose windows afforded a view to the Atlantic and allowed its waves to wash our stresses away. Oh, and we visited a lighthouse. (see top)

Beagle Ballet

Sophie has been taking ballet lessons. These are some of her refined moves. Probably best to void out the sound to ignore my giggling. My apologies for the poor quality-our camera needs a little fixing up.

Key Points

I was tagged by Kristen to list 7 random facts concerning myself: (this may get tedious :)

1. I pretend like I'm cool and all when it comes to music and knowing the most up and coming but in reality most of my now - favorite artists (with the exception of Billie Holiday and Waterdeep) came by way of Ben by way of Matt, and most of them have been around for much longer than I know.
2. As of this spring, Ben and I will be members of the Episcopal Church by way of confirmation. We both grew up in more traditionally evangelical church homes but separately came to desire what we have found in the liturgy and through the Eucharist. And my favorite part is that I get to kiss my husband each Sunday during the exchanging of the peace, which we first did together at our wedding. This is our church in Winston.
3. I initially wanted to adopt a beagle because I wanted a running buddy. I wasn't disappointed on that note but what I didn't think about is that 1. beagles are 95% nose and 2. the nose never follows a straight line, so running with her is always an adventure.
4. I own a "Michael Scott's Dunder Mifflin Scranton Meredith Palmer Memorial Celebrity Rabies Awareness Pro-Am Fun Run Race for the Cure" t-shirt, thoughtfully given to me by one of the members of our small group after I was bit on the foot by a cat. Sometimes I wear it under a fleece while on call for good luck.
5. I hate being on call except OB call when the deliveries are in the afternoon. :) (which, by the way, never happens.)
6. I cannot tell the difference between cheap wine and nice wine. And I don't really have an interest in acquiring the taste but I do love cooking so very much as well as gardening (neither of which I am very good at but want to acquire some knowledge.) Like Kristen, I am anxious to see what spring brings of the bulbs I planted last fall!
7. I have a very strange and unsuspectingly loud laugh.

On that note, I am going to go rescue my husband from his office and thesis-writing and go to bed.

Happy Music

This is one of our favorite bands of the moment:

This came in the mail from Ben last week:


Now if I only didn't have to work.

Winter Kitchen Notes: Northern Italian Minestrone with Polenta

olive oil
1 clove of garlic
2 ounces of prosciutto, finely chopped
sliced carrot
sliced celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 medium sized tomato
3 cups of beef broth
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 cup of polenta
4 ounces of swiss chard
1 can (15 oz) of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
grated parmesan cheese

heat oil in 2-3 quart pan or dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add prosciutto, carrot, celery, and onion; cook with occasional stir until the vegetables brown (7-10 minutes).
add tomato, broth, thyme, and polenta to pan. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce heat and simmer until polenta is soft (15 or so minutes)
trim and discard discolored ends of chard stems. Rinse and drain, stack leaves and cut in half length-wise, then cut crosswise into strips
about 5 minutes before soup is done, stir in chard and beans. Throw on parmesan just prior to serving.
Goes well with foccacia or other crusty bread.
Goes very well with January.

First Baby Shower

Not FOR me but BY me :) I threw a baby shower for friend Julie who is expecting over Christmas! I made my first ever "diaper cake" and had a good time baking. I made cranberry almond scones, raspberry crumble coffee cake, ham sandwiches with cream cheese and capers and had cheese and fruit. Julie is one of Ben's classmate's wife. Our guests were Ben's classmates so the conversation wavered between babies and Anglo Saxon. Ha. Baby Johnson acquired some good loot, including a demon deacon outfit.

Still behind..but catching up

I feel that being behind is beginning to be my life. I'm always behind on charts, housework, yardwork; I can' t even comprehend that I am supposed to be Christmas shopping!! In any case, about a month ago Ben and I had a little escape from our business in Winston to the Smokies. I could have never left. I do love mountain towns. We shared a condo overlooking a river in the mountains with another couple (who actually just invited us along). There was a fireplace in every room and jacuzzi tubs and Sophie was able to trot along the river leash-free which is a rarity for her. If you are ever out this way and want a recommendation for a romantic getaway in the mountains-this place is perfect.

A little behind the times

Last month I turned the corner on 28. I decided to do something I'd never done before on my birthday which is take the day off! It was sooo wonderful except that I did have to carry my pager for my nurse to get ahold of me; we usually have to find someone to carry our pager/answer pt queries if we are on vacation and I didn't want to have someone do this just for a day. Anyway, I spent the day relaxing and preparing our house to host our small group in the evening. I found a recipe for a pumpkin cake online and was greatly inspired to take it on. The idea is to take two bundt cakes and stack together in the shape of a pumpkin, cover with orange icing and, voila, instant pumpkin. Well, my bundt pans were less than cooperative so I ended up with a slightly lumpy-Charlie Brown like pumpkin, but the taste was not bad. I mixed pumpkin and cream cheese for the icing.
Just before small group, Ben took me to the Zevely House restaurant, which I have been drooling over since we moved here and drive by every Sunday on the way to St. Paul's. It's an old house, renovated a little with a backyard garden/patio. We dined on scallops and brie and nice red wine. Ben seemed to be in a hurry, which I thought was a little odd but didn't spend too much time wondering.
On the way home I panicked a little as we were getting close to small group time and I didn't want them to have to wait in their cars and when we turned onto Madison I saw a few cars and this worry was confirmed. We drove in the garage and walked quickly up the stairs, and opened the door into the kitchen where I heard "surpise."! Ben had invited all of our friends from my work and his program along with our small group to surprise me! It was so fun I forgot to take pictures! There were pumpkins for carving and hot carmel apples and pumpkin beer and champagne! It was a splendid time, all organized by Ben.

Buy local

I have been passionate about supporting local businesses for a long time and one of the reasons we moved to this particular part of town was its paucity of chain restaurants and stores. I was shopping for a friend's birthday when I happened upon a place called Gotham Park in downtown Winston. It is a beautiful store, far of out of my range and then some; imported-from-europe soaps and dishes and furniture. The most charming part of the visit was spent talking with the owner. I bought a gift that was small, in comparison with all that the store contained, and he spent about 20 minutes carefully wrapping the gift in brown tissue paper that he pulled from an antique dresser, placing it into a crisp white box and tying with a rich dark chocolate ribbon, chatting with us all the while. The contrast between this other much more well-known places of shopping was so stark and this purchase seemed so meaningful. The only problem with many locally owned shops is the steep price range, which is fair for the owner but often limits my ability to partake of their goods. I have come to realize that quality is far superior to quantity, and if my walls are more bare and my closet skinnier because of it, so be it.

Feast of St Francis

We celebrated the feast of St Francis today by taking Sophie to a special service at St Pauls for blessing of the animals. We sang "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "Fairest Lord Jesus" and read passages from Galations and Matthew. There were all kinds of animals present--from birds to ferrets but mostly dogs of all shapes and sizes. Upon the minister's welcome a lab barked in response at just the right time :) Sophie received her blessing and later her dog treat. She also got a tour of the church flower and herb garden, and we posed with St Francis himself. St Francis of Assisi was known to preach with great tenacity, and at points when no persons would listen, he preached to the animals.

There were pumpkins of all shapes and sizes at the farmer's market today. Ah, finally, autumn is making its way here.

Mrs. Atcherson

Becca's wedding came and it was a success! The bride was beautiful and the groom dashing. Here are a few scattered pictures from the event (and they are scattered because I have neither time nor patience to sort them in a more appropriate manner):

The newly betrothed Kim and Steve, The three of us juxtaposed; we seem to be trading off the white dress--Kim's up next!
Su B and Sarah at Bec's lingerie shower-lovely to see them. And above, shot of the lady of the day that I like a whole lot.

Charles Towne

After wrapping up my time in the NICU I needed to get outta town for a little while and Ben felt the urge as well so we packed up and drove 4 1/2 hours south-to Charleston. I had never been and had been wanting to visit for a while. It didn't disappoint; we came upon great bookstores and lovely architecture as well as beautiful gardens. We wanted to stay in a place close to downtown without having to pay for it and Ben suggested we stay in a hostel, as he had never stayed in an American hostel and has fond memories of sleeping through Europe this way. So we found the "Not-so Hostel" a few blocks from downtown for a mere $50 a night. Well. Apparently $50 doesn't pay for things like hot water and good smells. It was less than ideal but we weren't there very much so we made up for it. Ben took me to a French restaurant where they served the food in Le Creuset dish-ware and it had a good wine and a cozy romantic atmosphere without being pretentious. There were bicycles parked all over town which made me happy. The pictures are: Ben perusing "Blue Bicycle Books,"


Willowy tree in a churchyard



unique and preserved architecture


Ben at Kiawah beach-

and below, our room at Not So Hostel

Gas Leak?

Prostrate in July
Tawny tummies sunnyside
No purr stirs the air