The Snuggery

Recently I had this idea of naming my apartment.  Those who know me know I watch far more British programs (or programmes) than I ought and I took a liking to the way people name their homes, e.g. The Willows, Dove Cottage in Wordsworth's case, you get the idea.  These of course bring to mind cozy houses decorated with lovely antiques and appropriate furniture with wisteria cascading down trellises and roses growing around the door frame.  City apartments with mismatched Ikea furniture, or even with sleek expensive modern ones are less likely to have names as they don't inspire much sentimentality.  However, the cheap furniture notwithstanding, I decided to name my humble little apartment, not so much with the expectation of others calling it anything other than 7C, but because to me it is very much a living thing with its own character.

To do this I thought of words to describe my place and put them in two categories: how it makes me feel when I am there, and what I would like it to represent to those who are invited in.  What I mean by the latter is that when I have a party or just have a friend or two over, I want my guests to experience Gemütlichkeit.  I do not have the best couch or the most comfortable chairs, nor do I have the greatest kitchen, but I still want people to feel they can relax and eat well.  Personally, I don't like going into a home and being intimidated by its pristineness that I feel I can't touch anything or move around much.

Of course, how I feel about my home is just as important so I started to cross off words like gracious and hospitable because that really comes from me and how I feel at the time.  I'm almost always welcoming but I don't know if I'm always gracious (I'm thinking about the time I had this party and I was up for more than 24 hours arranging everything and a few people showed up at 5am).  There's also the fact that the more I see other people's homes, the more I realize my living room is not furnished for gatherings and comfortable group chats, i.e. not much seating.

So how do I see my home?  Imperfect.  Flawed, but acceptable.  A little slovenly at times when I get lax with the housework but overall clean and organized to a certain extent (don't open some of the drawers!)  A bit minimal with mismatched but functional furniture.  On the plain side with little decoration.  In other words, me.  And it suits me fine.  I will not agonize over spills on furniture, either by me or anyone else.  I do not have sterile floors.  I did get a little upset when I noticed some of the paint cracking and chipping on the ceiling a few months ago but hey, this apartment was last painted eight years ago - there's gonna be some of that.  With the exception of the kitchen, most of my apartment is original from when it was built over 60 years ago and I don't mind the old fixtures so long as they work, which they do.

Do you know, I never feel lonely being alone at home?  Some people say they get antsy and they need to get out.  I don't know why being home alone doesn't bother me - it makes sense that it should but maybe I'm not that social.  Being with fun people and talking to friends is very nice - I don't shun it completely - but when I'm at home I see plenty that need to be done rather than a state I need to get away from.  So although words like "refuge" and "sanctuary" are appropriate, I didn't want to use them because they sound as if I'm running away from something, which I'm not.  And they sound so unoriginal anyway.  Cozy is too obvious.  I thought about "The Agreeable" because this place just agrees with me.  It's not spectacular and it won't win any design awards but it suits my needs.  And then I thought it sounded a little too neutral and, let's face it, pretentious.  Anyway, I'm not neutral - I'm very fond of this rectangular box I live in.  So using the thesaurus, which I often do when I write, I looked up "hermitage" and words of that ilk and found "snuggery".

How appropriate that the perfect word (perfect sounding, too!) I'd been looking for is British.  A snug place or position.  A comfortable or cozy room.  This is it.  This is Apartment 7C.  C for cozy!  Welcome to The Snuggery.  Won't you please join me for tea and scones at The Snuggery this afternoon?  This Saturday I'll be hosting a wine tasting at The Snuggery.  You are invited to my party at The Snuggery!  I love it.

Ah, Spring

Ah, spring is in the air.  Damn.  I dread this time of year, always.  True to my contrarian nature, I dislike what most people describe as "beautiful weather."  Sun + heat = blech.  Why?  Just a few reasons: my fondness for black, a horrible sun allergy, a horrible everything else allergy, squinting at blinding sunshine, higher risk of skin cancer, sticky sunblock slathered on to reduce said higher risk of skin cancer, something more than mere modesty preventing me from blithely prancing around in tank tops and shorts in pastel colors, and finally, the looming uncomfortable humidity of another sweltering city summer just around the corner.  And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

But what about your new tiny plot, the two of you reading this may ask.  Looking at it from my bedroom window I noticed that my neighbors have fenced off their area, probably venturing a few precious inches into mine.  Had I been proactive about it, I suppose I could have pre-empted their taking liberties early on, thus preventing me from gardening in what amounts to land the size of a postage stamp.  My enthusiasm has waned a little for me to go bounding into the garden with my trowel.  I haven't even given much consideration to what I want to plant this year.

Another reason for my reluctance is fear... well, more anxiety really.  Last year before it got really cold, I removed the strawberries and chives from their wine boxes and planted them in the ground.  Although the boxes were in terrible shape, I thought I might have further use for them and left them stacked upside down in the middle of my otherwise empty plot.  The last winter was the snowiest and windiest we've had here in years and the boxes were a bit tossed about and I never bothered to throw them out or restack them.  Now I'm dreading turning them over and finding a family of squirrels or worse, rats.  Although I suppose I would have heard from my all too vocal neighbors had that happened.

To end this post on a positive note, here's a lovely poem from one of my favorites, Robert Browning.  I echo the first two lines - whether it's April or not.

O, TO be in England
Now that April 's there,
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf	5
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England—now!
And after April, when May follows,
And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows!	10
Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge
Leans to the field and scatters on the clover
Blossoms and dewdrops—at the bent spray's edge—
That 's the wise thrush; he sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could recapture	15
The first fine careless rapture!
And though the fields look rough with hoary dew,
All will be gay when noontide wakes anew
The buttercups, the little children's dower
—Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!	20

Thanks Jennie!

Here's your lovely mint in action!

Lovely creamy luscious summery fragrant ambrosial delectable Eton Mess.  Yum yum.  Various recipes can be found but it's basically strawberries, cream, and meringue.  So easy to make!  Go to my Flickr page to get my recipe.  Here's Nigella's version:

Switch

So after way too much back and forth than there needed to be I am switching to a different plot.  I didn't get my first choice - as it turned out to be a highly coveted spot and I was the second to request a switch and not the first as I had thought, it went to someone else.  But mine is the one next to it and upon further examination, I think it might actually be better.

The summer weeds are out of control so I have a lot of work ahead of me to clear my new plot:

It's hard to even make out where my plot ends and the next one begins from this picture.  It's completely covered with weeds and why no one announced the availability of the new area months ago when I saw it laid with topsoil and marked off I'll never know.  Annoyance aside, I'm just not sure how I'm going to get through all this with my wonky hand.  Here's the new plot from a different angle although I don't know how much of a better idea it gives of its size and location than the first one:

My tiny plot won't look like this for much longer:

View from the other side, photo a bit overexposed:

Several good things about the new plot:
1. More sun!  Not much more, maybe a couple of hours, but it's something!  Yay!
2. Tiny bit larger, I think.  The measurements were given by a committee member but I should go down there with a tape measure and see for myself.
3. Two points of access to the plot.  By that I mean, when the committee divided up the original garden, they didn't mark off where the footpaths were going to be and told people after they planted to make room.  Some did, some didn't, then they abandoned the plan altogether.  So for my square plot, I have only one point of access.  That means it's hard to reach my basil and some eggplants because I put them all the way in the back to get the most sun.  This time, the committee blocked off a footpath running down the middle so there are two points of access - from the main concrete path and the new footpath.
4. I've learned from my mistakes.  While it's really best to leave the plants alone for the rest of the season instead of digging them up, at least now I know how big they're going to grow next year and space them out better.
5. No more being neighbors with the person who keeps putting rocks on my side of the plot.

Why?  I don't see any rocks lining his/her side.  Whenever I see them, I just remove them.  They reappeared today.

Not really sure when I'm moving.  Of course, I'd like to postpone it until the end of summer.  The switchers don't have to uproot until their old plot is selected for a newcomer on the waiting list.  I haven't received any news about my plot being reassigned so everything stays put until then.

Something Old, Something New

The Old:
Oh dearie dear.  Poor communication and confusion have delayed the plot switch.  New plots were created in another area of the garden and some of the original members (including me) wanted to switch for a sunnier spot.  Getting this done has taken longer than necessary.  Now it's midsummer and unbearably hot with all sorts of tiny creatures biting me, and I have to weed my new plot then dig up all my not-so-little ones and replant them?  Are you kidding me?

The New:
Enough venting.  Today my mother came over and helped me pull out the lettuces and wrangle the out of control cukes that keep wanting to creep into a neighbor's plot.

Here's the last of the lettuce.  Not looking so good, but the final salad greens:

We picked two of the three eggplants that were growing.  They were sagging too close to the ground so my mom thought they'd be better picked and eaten:

The perilla were really abundant.  I hadn't picked any in weeks so there were plenty of large leaves.  My mother snipped while I held out the plastic bag for her to throw them in.  She counted 70.  Here they are after washing:

I took a few leaves and chiffonaded them to add to a nori omelet:

Recipe:
3 large eggs or 2 jumbo for a 10" nonstick pan
few tbsps dashi (homemade or powdered is fine, but it's optional)
dash mirin
dash soy sauce
salt and pepper to taste
few drops sake optional
chopped perilla (or scallions, mushrooms, or whatever veggies you have on hand - it really doesn't matter as long as everything is chopped or sliced fine)
1 sheet nori
oil for the pan
Whisk together eggs, mirin, dashi, sake, soy sauce, salt and pepper.
Heat the oil (I use a blend of vegetable oil and a few drops sesame oil for flavor) and add the vegetables to sautee for a few minutes.  If it's just perilla, sautee for a few seconds.
Add the egg mixture and use a spatula to stir as you would an omelet.  When the bottom is cooked but the top is a little wet, lay the sheet or nori, rough side down.  Pat it down gently and when it looks like it's adhered somewhat, start loosening the bottom on one side of the pan and fold it over.  It should be about 2" wide.
Scroll to the bottom for my link to Oxo's pancake turner.  I have this and it's infinitely more useful than a normal spatula.  That's because it's super wide, and you really need something as wide as you can get to easily roll the omelet.  If you don't have it, use the widest spatula you have, or use two to help roll from both ends.
Loosen more of the bottom and keep rolling and loosening, rolling and loosening.  You should soon have something that resembles a log (think Buche Noel or jelly roll - mmmm... jelly roll.... num num num).  The seam side should be down, and shut off the heat.  Let the omelet sit in the pan for about 10 minutes so all the loose egg inside sets.  Transfer to a cutting board and let cool for another 5 minutes or so before slicing on a bias.

It takes practice, but even if it comes out ugly it's still delicious.  Perilla, when eaten raw, is quite pungent like basil.  But when it's cooked, its flavors become muted and lends a more subtle fragrance.  It's delicious in eggs.

Eggplants and Other Goodies

Rain again this morning.  Yay!
It's so hot and muggy out that once I get home and turn on the AC I don't want to go back out again.  So on my way home from hand therapy, I stopped by the garden to see if I had enough motion to open that devil lock and check on my eggplants.  Maybe it was the therapy, maybe it's the humidity that lubricated the lock but it opened surprisingly easily and I was in!

Like I said before, there are some among my fellow gardeners who may not be as respectful of others' plots as the rest of us are so I was 50/50 on expecting to see my eggplants still there.  To my surprise, all three were, and absolutely adorable!  I don't love the quality of these pics because my iPhone tends to take hazy pictures on overcast days but it'll do for now.

This is the first one to have come out.  It's sagging the whole plant down from its weight and barely off the ground.

The baby!

There's another one that's banana shaped and a lot paler in color but it's really hard to snap because it's under a tangle of cuke vines.  Speaking of cukes, they're out of control, even encroaching on my neighbor's plot.  (I sent him an email letting him I know about it but can't get it it now because of my hand.)  Unfortunately, I can't find the little cuke I saw over weekend that my mother pointed out.  Wonder if someone snapped it off.

And here's a nice little surprise.  A strawberry that was allowed to grow!  Maybe it's because it's hidden under leaves.  I found it by accident then quickly covered it back up after I took my picture.

A mess of neglected coriander seeds intermingling with chives and basil all under the shade of perilla leaves.

Two Weeks Later

So I'm doing hand therapy now to get back full motion in my hand.  I'm not there yet but the dorsal side is looking pretty good:

My hand is still a little weak and there are things I can't do, such as open the devil lock on the garden fence.  Friday night I showed a couple of friends my tiny plot and I needed help opening and closing it. Over the weekend my mom came over and she helped me water.  I'd been duped repeatedly by incorrect weather forecasts, getting my hopes up and then being disappointed by the promise of rain.  So my poor little ones were really parched when my mother came to the rescue.  My basil has flowered, which I really need to snip but can't manoeuver a scissor terribly precisely.

I keep forgetting to snap pics so take my word for it when I tell you that my little baby eggplant now has two friends growing alongside it!  And finally, FINALLY, there is a teeny cucumber growing between a vine and bright yellow flower!  The perilla just looked saggy, needing water to perk up.

And speaking of perilla, I babysat for Christine Sunday and her perilla were looking a bit on the small side, but that's because she's got them all bunched up in a terracotta pot.  Still, they are tough fighters and I expect hers will be about my size in a couple of weeks.  Wish I'd taken a pic so I could show you a side-by-side comparison.  She's also got a great tomato plant she'd been ignoring, so although there were quite a few brown leaves, we were able to pick a skirt full of bright red berries that were tart and super juicy fresh.  Wish I could grow tomatoes.

Finally, it's pouring right now.  Yay!