inside/outside

Keep sweeping,
Martha

life lately

cherry blossoms on their way

my recent pastime

garden fun

only boring people are bored

Keep sweeping, Martha

the cruelest month

Things have not been going very smoothly over here at the Beeton household. Right now, we have this tally... Bridget Jones' style.

1 new car, 1 new car sideswiped

1 experiment completed, 1 cold room heat-up, resulting in the combustion of said experiment

1 stressed out toddler who "Doesn't want to go to the nanny share!!!!"

1 momma who is trying to juggle teaching her class, being a competent administrator, and writing an academic analysis of Betty Draper's parenting practices for a conference next week

And it's snowing. Again.

That's why - no matter what - on the only nice day in a while, you just have to head to Brookside Gardens. A little green makes everyone better.

Even if it was followed by projectile vomitting in the backseat of the new car on the way home.

Keep shoveling.

Martha

out like a lion

Dear April:

I bid you adieu.

Good riddance.

Admittedly, you were not without your bright points - cherry blossoms, the family reunion, Mad Men: Season 6 premiere, gardening, the return of the screened in porch, the Cosmos Club dinner. But, overall, you displeased me. I didn't care for the two rapid succession ear infections, broken up by a terrible stuffy nose. Nor did I enjoy the projectile vomiting the other evening. I could have done without that.

So, so long, April. I can't say that I'll miss you. I'm ready for May - for birthdays, Mother's Day, and warm weather that will kill all those nasty, nasty germs.

Keep sweeping, Martha

great expectations

This weekend did not turn out as I had hoped. I was dreaming big after a wretched week of work. Here was the plan. House of Cards and wine on Friday; a visit to Purcellville on Saturday; cherry blossoms and Mad Men premiere on Sunday.

I feel like a more accurate title for this post would be #lifewithkids. Or kid, in my case.

What I got instead was a very sick boy with an ear infection (his first) and a trip to the Children's National Medical Center on Friday evening. A series of sleepless nights and restless naps ensued. A follow-up trip to the doctor revealed that not only were we facing an ear infection - as diagnosed - but we were also staring down two-year molars - as suspected.

In looking back over the weekend, though, it was surprisingly bright, considering. Baby Beeton was a trooper, and even when sick has a super sunny disposition, so there's that. And, we got gelato for everyone following the hospital visit on Friday night. Delicious. Plus, we had an impromptu get-together with the Purcellville crowd who kindly came out, cooked us dinner, and brought us Easter treats (including a sweet little wheelbarrow for spring time gardening).

So, even though the best laid plans did not come together, we still made it work. Just don't tell me what happened on Mad Men. I still haven't watched it.

Keep sweeping, Martha

PS - Here's a little video that Grammy took when babysitting the other day. I've got to get myself one of these iPhone things.

burning in my heart

For those of you who may not have heard, the DMV area found themselves smack-dab in the center of a heat wave these past few weeks. As a result, it's been too hot to blog. I've started several posts but haven't finished them. Today, however, it's a glorious 75 degrees and cloudy. I'm still recovering, though, so all you'll get from me is a top ten list, some photographs, and a short little video. Enjoy!

Top Ten Ways to Beat the Heat

10. Pick radishes. You've read about our past experiences with container gardening here and with our community garden plot here. Well, I think we finally got it right. We constructed our own little raised garden plots at the side of our house, and we've got radishes!

9. Read Ann Patchett and watch Weeds. No explanation needed.

8. Visit the National Gallery of Art. This D.C. site has lots to offer in a heat wave - air conditioning, gelato, Leo Villareal's Multiverse, and a nearly empty contemporary art gallery where little ones can crawl around until their heart is content.

7. Follow up visit to art gallery with a visit to RDF. After strolling around the art museum, we stopped off at RDF for some hummus, beer, and white sangria. A great halfway stopping point between the museum and the metro.

6. Trek out to Tysons Corner. We window-shopped, played at Barnes and Noble, and dined at Gordon Biersch. Unfortunately, a lot of other people had this same idea. As a result, Tysons Corner wasn't much cooler than our living room.

5. Learn new tricks. We thought we could make this video go viral by replacing our silly jabbering with "I'm so mad at Pepco!"

4. Drink Pimm's Cups. This drink really is the ultimate heat wave drink. Combine a quarter of a cup Pimm's with three-quarters of a cup of ginger ale. Add ice and a slice of cucumber.

3. Make baby-friendly popsicles. There are so many creative sites out there with recipes for popsicles! I made mine with yogurt and frozen blueberries, and I put them in the rocket pop molds that I bought at Whole Foods. Yummy!

2. Make your own country club. Combine one inflatable pool with one goofy grin. What heat wave?

1. Get a haircut. Yup. We finally did it. A few tears were shed (mine, not his), but around these parts, it's a hundred percent cooler.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Finished reading State of Wonder by Ann Patchett. Watching Weeds: Season 7. 

Happy day-after-birthday to Fairy Godmother M! We love you lots around here.

mess o'

I blame the picklebacks for my absence of late. They really derailed my progress in a number of areas of my life. But, I'm back on track now - writing book reviews, painting, organizing, and blogging. Oh, and picking peppers. While my tomatoes did not fare very well in our (sometimes) neglected garden plot, Mr. Beeton's peppers have been growing like gangbusters. Here's just a few we picked this past week.


Keep sweeping, Martha

PS - Check out our new Flickr photos. We've made quite a bit of progress on both our master bedroom and bathroom.

garden clean-up

A Three-Leaf Clover

Forgive me. I've been remiss in sharing with you our Thanksgiving culinary adventures. I should have written about how we made this delicious cranberry sauce and this delectable sweet potato casserole. Or even how we took our leftovers and made a fabulous, creamy, turkey soup. But instead, I've been recovering from a nasty cold and a case of POISON IVY. The poison is the bad part. The good part is that I'm nearly certain I got the poison while weeding our brand new garden plot - Plot 25!

Technically, we got notice that we were proud plot renters a couple of weeks ago, but with all our previous community garden drama, I hesitated to actually put in writing our success. But, weeks have passed, and no one has taken it away... so I think it's safe to claim it as ours. Below are three pictures. The first two show it at the start - an overgrown mess. The third shows our progress. We have about half of the space dug up and ready to be planted come Spring.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Watched Bedtime Stories, Funny People, New In Town, Observe and Report, Scenes From a Marriage, and Whatever Works.

foiled again

It's been a rough week here in the railroad apartment. A bright spot, though, was an email we received indicating that there were three plots available at the community garden down the street. We were told to stop by, take a look, and rank our preferences. We did just that. And then the next night, we went back to look again, dreaming of rows of beans and plump tomatoes.

But, then today, we got another message, saying we'd been passed over in favor of those higher on the list who had responded after we did. You may remember we got our hopes up before, too. Maybe third time's a charm? Fingers crossed.

Keep sweeping, Martha

onward and upward ever

Whew. Traveling can take a lot out of a person. Mr. Beeton and I are close to recovered from our trip to the Pacific Northwest. The time difference really took a toll on me, though. I feel like today is the first day that I woke up at a normal hour and ate on schedule. No wonder I've never been one of those people who dream of far-away places. I can barely travel cross country without needing to hit a reset button.

Our trip started in Portland, Oregon (after a quick switch by Continental... "You wanted to fly to Oregon? Sorry, your flight was cancelled. Why don't you take a train from 30th Street Station to Newark instead?"). We visited with family, saw the cutest kitchen in the world, played with cats, stopped in at Powell's, did some sightseeing, walked around Portland State, and enjoyed some terrific Thai food before heading up north to Tacoma. There, we stayed in a big, old, rambling beauty of a house, hugged Grammy many, many times, drove through Point Defiance, ate at Anthony's, bought some Fiestaware (it's a family tradition), and headed up to Seattle.

I don't want to offend any of my new West Coast relatives, but I have to admit that Seattle held a few "blog-worthy" gems. Among them were some delicious Dungeness crab ravioli at Volterra and a trip to Pike Place.

The two places that I want to tell you about, though, are a bit off the beaten path. The first may be familiar to virtual "foodies," but my suspicion is that not many have had first hand experience with Delancey - the pizza shop opened by Molly Wizenberg (of Organette) and her husband, Brandon. We had met Molly in D.C. at a book signing she had at Borders earlier this year. While getting our book signed, Mr. Beeton boldly told Molly that we'd be in Seattle in August and would love to stop by and try the new place out. The only thing is that right before we left we realized the restaurant would not be open. Rather, when we were scheduled to be there, there would be a series of invited dinners. Mr. Beeton insisted I write, explaining my food memoir project, and see if we could score a seat. I was too embarrassed, so instead, we drove by, took some pictures, and Auntie K scored us a menu. Molly scanned her own in, so I'll just link to her site (for copyright reasons... I am an English teacher, after all). It doesn't look like much from outside, but the smell coming from inside was fantastic.

The second spot was a little plot of land that some guerillas have taken over. Mr. Beeton's cousin K and her boyfriend M are involved in a little activity called guerilla gardening. They found a plot of undeveloped land behind their apartment and planted away, using wine bottles to warm the cold Seattle soil. I thought it was a pretty sweet spot.

So, what's a good way to re-enter your "real" life after a vacation like this? With a recipe from your very own West Coast relative. Actually, I re-discovered this recipe from one of my very best roommates ever - E from Corvalis. She made it when I graduated from Delaware, and when my mother tasted it at the party, she said it was the same dish my Aunt J from California used to make. It's become one of my comfort foods since it reminds me of some of the best people in my life.

Chicken Curry With Artichokes

There are a lot of recipes out there on the web, but I like this one the best because it's my own.

• Cook chicken-flavored Rice-A-Roni, according to the instructions on the box.
• When it's done, put it in a big yellow bowl (or any other kind of happy serving bowl you have around).
• Add some artichokes and a little of the juice. I like artichokes in a glass jar.
• Add a good number of green olives.
• Add as much mayonnaise as you like.
• Add as much curry powder as you like.
• You can add boiled chicken, too, but I like it better without.

Traditionally, I believe this salad is served cold, but I can never wait. It's good warm, too.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Finished watching Mad Men: Season 2. Also watched Gigantic. Read The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn.

dang deer

Ella and I decided to spend the afternoon in the garden. Okay, so it's not exactly a garden, but it's as close as we can get here in the city. Mr. Beeton and I have been very excited because our tomato plants have about six tomatoes on them, and some of them are getting ripe! We've been dreaming of gazpacho, bruschetta, and eating them right off the vine.

BUT THEY'RE GONE! Completely, utterly, totally gone.

I got Ella situated on her green leash, so she could sunbathe, and when I walked over to the container garden, the pepper plant was knocked over as was the tomato plant. And, the tomato plant was BARE! Something had knocked the pepper plant out of the way and eaten the tomatoes right off the vine... like I've been dreaming of. 

My suspicion is that the deer are to blame. I know, I know, we're in the city...but we've got a small population of deer in the woods across from our apartment. I saw them munching on some flowers in front of one of the apartment complexes next to us. So, yes, I'm thinking it's deer. 

This is one of those times that I wish I had some loyal readers to help me! If anyone reads this blog and has any suggestions for keeping these pesky deer away, let me know. Our gazpacho depends on it.

Keep sweeping, Martha

Finished Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl.

no cigar

We were so close to having a plot in the nearby community garden this past week that we could almost taste the homegrown lettuce and snap peas. We received an email from the garden manager noting that a particularly pesky plot was up for grabs. Usually, they just go down the list (we're about 2,500 on it), but since this plot was "challenging," there was a need for some experienced - or at least committed and enthusiastic - gardeners to take over what Mr. Beeton immediately called Plot 9 from Outer Space. We put our name in the ring, hoping that no one else would want the plot. Of course, that night, we walked over to the Whitehaven Community Garden to check it out, and it was like going to the pound. Don't do it. You'll get attached.

Our hopes were buoyed even further when we got another email message from the garden manager asking for "last call." I thought for sure that meant no one had responded to the first call, but later that day, we found out someone higher on the list beat us to it. 

So, for now, we'll have to be content with what we've got out back. A few containers of tomatoes, peppers, mint, basil, and a blackberry bush. Not bad for first-time urban gardeners but certainly no Plot 9 from Outer Space.

Keep sweeping, Martha