Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

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Archives for December 2013

Singing Praises for Manure Tea

   As do so many great revelations in my life, it all started with a gift from a friend. This summer, shortly after Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings visited our farm to snap photos for her soon to be released book…

You should totally pre-order Dee’s book right here.

…she sent me the most beautiful gift. The package contained several seed packets, including herbs and flowers and greens, also beans, the kind you sprout in wet towels, and… Manure Tea.

   And the heavens parted, and the angels sang! 
My gardening life would be forever improved.

This is one of my favorite outdoor chairs, wrapped in watermelon vines
and loaded down with Dee’s generosity. 
I am saving most of this for the upcoming growing season. 
These and lots of other seeds are in a kitchen drawer so I can look at them, 
whisper sweet nothings, and imagine them germinated and growing lushly…

   As this past summer progressed, somewhere along the way Dee introduced me to Annie Haven via social media. Annie owns and operates  Authentic Haven Brand Manure Tea. She is as warm and accessible as anyone you will ever meet. She makes her customers feel like friends, and she connects us to each other by circulating photos of successful growing projects, etc. Just a fun lady! Like my sweet Dee.

   So I began to learn a little here and there about the product, Manure Tea, which is exactly what it sounds like: Dried manure contained in little muslin bags meant for steeping in warm water so you can feed your plants. That’s what you thought, right? It’s brilliant!

   I have read for a few years about making my own manure tea, but can I just tell you, as the person who does most of the poo-scooping around The Lazy W, that at the end of that chore I would much rather just add it to a compost heap, not dry it on trays and sanitize it and so many other important things. Annie’s product is perfectly wonderful, and it is really economical too. Friends, I am a passionate DIY-er but choose to leave this particular business to the experts.

   Okay.

   In a moment I will let the photos speak for themselves, but let me tell you what Manure Tea has done for me and my potted plants:

Surprise Benefits of Using Manure Tea

  • My English Ivy can now, with neither a tutor nor Rosetta Stone, speak fluent French. And she isn’t even snobby about it.
  • The plants I keep atop my upright piano have, somehow, grown to such a point of verdant beauty that when I sit down to play my fingers glide effortlessly through Chopin and Jerry Lee Lewis alike.
  • My asparagus fern is actually growing asparagus spears that are already wrapped in delicate prosciutto. I am told this never happens. Beginner’s luck?
  • Finally, the paper whites are growing so tall and so quickly that I have been forced to collect estimates from local contractors so we can install a vaulted ceiling. It’s expensive, let me tell you. But worth it. Have you ever seen perfect paper whites? It is a sight to behold, especially in the dead of winter.

   Now. Here is a little timeline of how Manure Tea has amplified the growth and beauty of my paper white bulbs which, by the way, are just from a hardware store. I bought them on clearance in a little plastic baggie. They are nothing special from a bulb company in Holland or anything like that. Cheap. Easy. Amazing.

Paper White Timeline Using Manure Tea

  • November 28th: I soaked the seven or eight bulbs in Manure Tea, brewed full strength.
  • Then I accidentally forgot about them over Thanksgiving.
  • December 2nd: Just four days later, the bulbs have zillions of roots and nice, respectable shoots! And they are robust, glossy, scrumptious little orbs just bursting with potential! I then planted them among a collection of mason jars, just using in each a few pebbles, a cup or so of potting soil, and a little more Manure Tea that by this point had been diluted again. Easy. Beautiful. 
  • December 16th: Two weeks later, they have rocketed several inches! More than boasting height, though, the paper whites have thick, fleshy stalks and are straight as arrows. In years past, my forced bulbs have been… A bit flaccid. These fed with Manure Tea need zero support. They almost tremble with virility.
  • December 18th: My first bloom. Speechless. A single pure white, gauzy tissue paper, coin-sized bloom sitting with so much confidence on that tallest stalk! And the other stalks, in just two days, have shown measurable growth too. Based on other gardeners’ testimonials, I expect to see successive blooms for quite a while.
Roots & Shoots. Exciting anytime, but especially in winter!
December 2nd.
Look how cute the gift wrapping is! Annie sends it this way.
December 16th
Authentic Haven Brand Manure Tea
December 16th
Paper whites forced in Manure Tea. Three weeks to bloom!
December 18th
   Less than a month, friends! In just a few weeks, more gorgeous paper whites than I have ever before grown. Also, house plants that make me look like I know what I’m doing. I am super excited to find out what spells are cast by Manure Tea in my herb garden this spring. 
   I am so thankful for my friendships with Dee and with Annie and that Dee introduced me to Annie and gifted me this wonderful product. Gardeners make lovely friends. 
   Since the bulbs first sprouted, my excitement led me to order more Manure Tea for myself as well as a large collection of it for a very special gardener in my life. (By the way, Annie offers free shipping and handling! Please visit her website and explore.) Whether you grow a large vegetable plot or are devoted to a shelf of prized houseplants, order some for yourself; you will be so very happy you did.
   Merry Christmas, and Happy Gardening!
In the Garden, More Grows
Than the Sower Sows
~Spanish Proverb
XOXOXOXO

2013 (mini) Farmhouse Christmas Tour

   Hello again! Merry Christmas week from the Lazy W! I am so glad you stopped by, and I wish you could be here in person for hot tea and shortbread while we wrap gifts, brush horses, and watch the paperwhites grow. Instead, will you take a quick tour of our Christmas silliness?

   
   This is our entryway tree. She’s a scrappy little Red Cedar beauty which Handsome and his Dad dug up from the Pine Forest while our nephew was visiting recently. It was originally destined for the Apartment, but this spot seemed just perfect. (She was lonely in the Apartment all day.) I wrapped her in burlap, dressed her with some very old, very skinny sparkly tinsel and just a handful of other ornaments, then filled her base with my wedding veil. For some reason, romance is swelling in my heart even more than normal these days. There is no electricity here for a string of lights, but natural sunlight bounces all over this tinsel most of the day. I love it. I will have a really hard time saying goodbye to an entryway tree next month. 

   This is our tree tree. Also real, but not from our own forest. This year I had lots of fun staying with metallic ornaments, raffia, and sewing-pattern tissue poofs for the main she-bang. I personally love this aesthetic. More importantly, there is meaning here. Judy, Handsome’s Mom who passed away recently, taught me to sew and in fact gave me my first sewing machine for Christmas the first year her son and I were married. So for me at least, this is a really quiet, pretty way to have her with us at Christmas this year. I will never forget that gift and everything it has opened up to me in life.
   Beneath our main tree sits a wicker “Moses” basket, filling gradually with gifts for a thousand beloved people. For wrapping this year, I decided to just go crazy and not match a single thing. Lots of fabric, lots of mixed papers, lots of hand-gathered poofy corsages instead of foil bows. Buttons. Torn book pages. Twine. Dried zinnias. I can’t finger knit yet, but I can finger crochet, and that has been part of the mix as well. If it’s fun and pretty, it’s gonna be wrapping fodder this year.
   
   Does anyone remember this darling deer? Handsome painted her and three other plastic lawn creatures as a surprise gift for me this summer. I remember loving them all so much I just laughed and laughed!! She is a hollow planter, so I brought her in from the garden, rinsed her out (all over my clean kitchen floor, by the way), and filled her with faux evergreen and a few ornaments. I think her bright blue against all the Chrismtassy stuff is gorgeous. And it’s another reminder of love, so there ya go.
   Friends, I am officially part of the antlers craze. This is my contribution: A mounted set of antlers from Handsome’s grandpa Eddie, dressed in more faux evergreen, two mink stoles (random estate sale purchases), some tinsel garland, and a single hammered silvery ornament. I don’t even know if any visitors have noticed this yet, it hangs so high and out of the way;  but I did text a photo of it to my friend Marci one day, and now I’m showing it to you. So it officially exists.
   
   Our mantle is decked out in a mix of fake evergreen branches and cuttings from my garden and the forest. I added a string of lights, a handful of ornaments, feathers from our yard birds, and two huge sewing paper tissue poofs. The most important part, of course, is the message on the chalkboard:
For unto us a child is born,
unto us a SON is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor,
the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace.
   Speaking of messages, this sits in our guest bathroom all the time. It’s a garage sale oil painting bought forever ago, onto which I glued magazine and newspaper letters to spell out the famous Home on the Range lyrics…
Where Seldom is Heard…
a Discouraging Word…

   We are far from perfect, but we do try to keep this atmosphere in our home all the time. We want very much for the farm to be a place of peace and relaxation, safety, uplifting, laughter, silliness, love, and nourishment. At Christmas especially, this is so important for people. So needed and appreciated.
   
   I mentioned paper whites earlier? They are growing like gangbusters! Check back in later this week for a review of my new favorite garden product. For now, just know that my collection of half a dozen mason jars boasting straight, tall, bright green stalks is a wonderful encouragement to me when I sit in the living room to read, write, or work on something. It’s just beautiful.
   I guess that’s about it. There’s much more Christmas around the house, but the photos didn’t all turn out. That’s okay. You probably have things to do anyway.
   Every day here is so full. So different. So steeped with love and longing, work and pleasure, reconciliation and miracles. I feel very blessed to say that at the Lazy W we enjoy Christmas all year long, but this week? Things are gonna be magical.
   Thanks for being here! Have a fabulous, magical, love-filled day!
And the Skies 
are Not Cloudy All Day…
XOXOXOXO

Go see all the beautiful, imaginative homes!
Christmas welcome

Basic Scottish Shortbread

   Introducing the simplest, most versatile, and therefore the most crowd-pleasing cookie recipe you’ll ever memorize: Basic Scottish Shortbread.

   It requires just  three common ingredients, a little time, and no complicated methods; and the variation possibilities are endless. I love this stuff. My youngest daughter does, too, as does a lady you all know and love… M. You know M, from that danged forest incident ? M, who recently challenged me about acknowledging my perfect age and gave me the phrase #furioiuslyhappy? M, who blogs at May I Have a Word? Yep, her. She and Jess have so much in common, besides my unending love and a mutual liking for shortbread. But today let’s talk about shortbread.

   Shortbread is just plain delicious. Delicious and plain. Soothing. Tender. Almost crunchy, yet buttery, like a blank canvas of pleasure in your mouth. It is really good with a big, steamy cup of tea. It is decadent with toasted chopped pecans and turbinado dressing it up. Oatmeal added in actually makes it a filling snack. Shortbread always makes you feel homespun and British and sugar-conservative. Ladylike, even. Also? This super simple recipe doubles or triples extremely well, and the extra cookies will save in a lidded box for a million years. Assuming you or my daughter or M don’t eat them.

   Shall we? Okay.

What You Need:

  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter
(I’m not kidding you. That is all you need for the basic dough, and the basic dough it wonderful!)

What You Do:
  • Sift together the flour and sugar.
  • Cut-in the butter until the mixture resembles crumbs (just as if you’re beginning to make a pie crust, except that you never add a liquid).
  • Form the mixture into a ball and knead till smooth-ish. (This is not going to be silky smooth like pizza dough. It will remain a bit dry or crumbly. That’s okay.)
  • Now, you get the choice to either form individual cookies, which is best with flavor variations, or make a classic shortbread disc. 
  • A shortbread disc is easy. Just pat the dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet or pan, finger-pressing it into a circle about 8 inches across. It will end up being about 1/4″ thick. You can prick it here and there with a fork, in pretty designs, but you don’t have to. You should, however, use a sharp knife to perforate the disc like a pizza. Do not separate the wedges. Flute, crimp, or ignore the outer edge however you like. I tend to go with what I call the “French Rustic” appearance with this and all dough-related issues in my life. Which is open for interpretation. (It’s quite casual and only pretty to me.)
  • Bake at just 325 degrees, for about 25 minutes. When done, the edges will be slightly brown. 
  • Cut through the perforation lines again, this time separating the wedges. Remove these to a wire rack to cool.

Possible Variations:
  • Add 1/3 cup quick oats to the exact dough above, before baking of course. This is delicious! Possibly my personal favorite.
  • Alternately, add about that much flaked coconut. Also addictively good! You will probably end up adding some form of chocolate to this, out of sheer evolutionary force.
  • Add in some chopped pecans for a “Pecan Sandy” sort of taste, then sprinkle oven-fresh cookies with turbinado. Fancy schmancy! This one reminds me of my Grandma Stubbs.
  • Add 1/2 cup drained & dried maraschino cherries, plus a speck of red food coloring and a half a speck of nutmeg to the dough, then form into balls and flatten slightly before baking.
  • After baking, drizzle any of these variations with skinny little lines of melted chocolate.
  • Oooohhh!! It’s Christmas! Add some holiday food coloring, colored sugars, and candies! Scottish Shortbread for Santa! Hint-hint, parents of toddlers: These cookies display individual bite wounds VERY well…  (wink wink)
  • Lemon shortbread! I am working on this variation for M. Maybe that one gets its own post later.

   With shortbread, there will be no rising on your counter top or shape shifting in the oven. There will rarely be trips to the store to buy what you need. Just a quick collection of pantry staples and some very basic cooking of your gorgeously simple ingredients. So, it’s like manna. Manna from heaven. Unleavened, simple, nourishing, just sweet enough. Mysterious. Wonderful. My youngest and I even have a song we always used to sing when we made it, and here are the lyrics:

Basic Scottish shortbread, shortbread, shortbread!
Basic Scottish shortbread, shortbread, yum!
Bake it up and eat it, eat it, eat it!
Bake it up and eat it, shortbread, yum!
   We would always sing it with super pretentious fake British accents, with a little falsetto thrown in, because we don’t really know what Scottish accents sound like, although it’s doubtful we are spot-on with our British choice. You should try this. Also? Dance. Dance your heart out while you bake and nibble. You’ll be glad you did.
   Merry Christmas! Thank you so much for stopping in, and go check out the other cookie recipes on Edie’s fun link-up. (Click on the caption beneath that gorgeous, colorful photo there!) Here in Oklahoma we are anticipating another bitter winter storm, so a few days of yummy recipes to keep me busy sounds really nice.
I love you Jess!
I love you M!
I miss you both, you Shortbread Girls!
xoxoxoxo

Quick Christmas Check In

   Just dropping in to say hello! Things are really hopping around the W. Wintertime farm work, Christmas preparations, beloved house guests, and amended holiday traditions. Subbing, sewing, writing, even gardening! Also so much great reading and cooking… I am really having fun lately. Our book club has gathered with such deep love. Our good friend Marci is finally making a positive turn around with her wrist injury and infection. Prayers are being answered left and right, Life is good.

   The spirit of Christmas is alive and well in my heart! Throbbing, glowing, reaching out quite without my pushing. That’s because the spirit of Christmas is Love, and Love touches everything and grows and grows with barely the slightest encouragement. Then all the beautiful, indulgent trimmings come along naturally… Decorations, gifts, traditions, music, outings… I love every dazzling, colorful speck.

I am still making hasty entries in my gratitude journal #furiouslyhappy! are you?

   That is really all I have time to say right now. I have a list of seven or eight blog posts in queue for you, ranging from recipes to book reviews and decorating ideas; but at this moment I am between a fun local parade, a round of shopping with my best friend, a Christmas party with neighbors, and possibly some light display viewing.  All complete with gallons and gallons of hot cocoa, of course.

   Hoping this finds you really enjoying the season, however you go about it!

Love is in the Air…
Everywhere You Look Around…
XOXOXOXO

The Christmas Hymn That Stilled My Heart

   A week or so ago I was fortunate enough to spend an entire school day subbing in a middle school classroom, a great portion of which was spent on crowd control during choir practice. Choir practice in December means Christmas carols! Friends, it was magical, and it probably had a lot to do with my heart slipping so deliciously into the Christmas Spirit.

   These happy little twelve and thirteen year old kids, wrapped in their sparkly infinity scarves and bouncing around in their fleece lined boots and football jerseys, pretending to feel much older than their innocent faces confessed, just sang their hearts out! I listened and smiled big and had a hard time suppressing happy giggles. Without children in our farmhouse these past few Christmases, I had almost forgotten about this fun wintertime ritual. (Almost.)

   The final song the choir practiced was Hashivenu, a haunting, lilting traditional Israeli folk song based on the Old Testament scripture Lamentations 5:21. In the midst of cheerful modern songs like Santa Baby and Up On the Rooftop, this particular song, no…this hymn… brought tears right to the front of my eyes and tightened up my substitute teacher throat. It was so… yearning. Sad and hopeful. Trusting.

   It bored through all the indulgent tinsel and fluff of the season and addressed the quiet center of Advent. The Coming. But it focuses on us returning to Him, not just Him arriving on our doorstep. I feel a beautiful distinction here; do you?

Hashivenu, hashivenu Adonai elecha. 
Venashuva venashuva. 
Chadesh, chadesh ye meinu kekedem. 

Turn us around, turn us around. We’ll return to you. 
Turn us around. Turn us around we’ll return to you. 
Turn us around, oh turn us around and we shall return to you. 

Hashivenu, hashivenu Adonai elecha. 
Venashuva venashuva. 
Chadesh, chadesh ye meinu kekedem. 
Chadesh, chadesh ye meinu kekedem. 
Turn us around, turn us around. Hashivenu. 

   Beyond the pretty remarkable fact that such a religious song was being rehearsed at a public school, I was struck by the raw emotion of approaching God. Of asking for His help in returning home.

   I am resisting the urge to over analyze this; it is just so beautiful on its own. Today when I read the scripture and recall the sound of fifty middle schoolers singing the mellow hymn, I can easily imagine God holding my chin and turning it gently to face Him.

   Renew our days as of old. No new ideas or plans. No grander adventures than what a joyful, loving life offers with His guidance and protection. Instead, a return. A homecoming and a safe restoration. We all need it, don’t we?

********************

   What Christmas songs are inspiring you this year? What speaks to your heart? Why? I would love to know. Music is so powerful, so connected to our emotions.

   I wish you a safe, fulfilling, inspiring Advent season. I wish you a genuine return Home. For me, this feeling is making my December flat out amazing.

Merry Christmastime!
XOXOXOXO