Lately

The days here are cold, so cold that it makes you wonder about living here -30 (that's Celsius, before windchill), too cold to go outside most days, so cold that the houseplants are living on the dining room table as we try to cold proof our frigid front porch ( I think 5 degrees is a little cold for hibiscus, no?), with plastic film and heavy drapes- I'll let you know if it works. We've been baking, and cleaning, and visiting, and there's been quite a bit of elving going on too. Hope your Christmas is Bright and Sunny and warmish, I'll be back to post after the 26th.

In Bloom: Roses

The rambling old yellow rose bush is flowering, so we made rosewater. It's a simple procedure- all you need to do is simmer the flowers in water and collect the distilled steam- which then smells lovely. All of these flowers only produced a half pint of rosewater- but it's pretty concentrated. I'm not exactly sure what I'll use  it for... stay tuned...

There is nothing more ephemeral than these yellow roses- they really only bloom for a day- and then start to wilt- it's impossible to cut them and bring them inside for more than a moment, though they are so sunshiny and bright that the temptation is hard to overcome. The longer we live here the more I look forward to these little 'bloom anniversaries', it's a nice way to mark the passage of time, sort of ordinary in that it's a little thing that happens every year, again and again, but also sort of special because it's so fleeting and spectacular.