September in my garden

Okay, so technically it is not my garden, but as far as being personally invested and especially interested in its beautification, I am. My blogging couldn't really be complete without some plant geekiness coming out on occasion. And this is one of those moments, so fair warning, the horticulturist in me is going to take a little plant ramble, no worries...this too shall pass.
I wanted to highlight a few plants for September; things that are blooming or fruiting here on the temple grounds and are making quite a show right now.
First, a quiet bloomer of a plant, a little unassuming groundcover called (it's a mouth full) Ceratostigma plumbaginoides or more commonly known as Plumbago or Leadwort. The plant is virtually unnoticed for the first six months of the year...either it is extremely unhappy in its particular locale, or it is a lazy emerger...perhaps a little of both. At any rate, when it does decide to come out, the flowers are this striking electric blue that continue to bloom long past most any other plant. This plant requires absolutely NO care and has never had a disease or insect problem. It looks best in partial shade. On the temple property it grows half hidden under a Japanese Kerria and a Loropetalum on the south hill, which helps with its need for drier, well-draining soil. When I think of this plant, I think of a September garden. And I also smile to realize the virtues of the "late bloomer".
Second, a VERY dull plant for about eight months out of the year, and then fall and cool nights and all of sudden this little shadow emerges from the corner and you remember that you did indeed plant some Ilex verticillata or Winterberry holly. This is one of those funny DECIDUOUS hollies, but in this plant's case, all the better because it puts on an amazing berry show. September is only just the beginning of its merits. I like the look of the plant even before its peak because the multi-color scheme is so fun. It reminds me of fall and apple season and all the variations of color amongst that fruit. The berries on the winterberry holly, though, are only about 1/4" long, but they swarm the branches and hang in clusters. The berries will eventually all mature to Christmas red and persist through the winter after all the leaves have fallen off. (Oh, p.s.--hollies are dioecious, meaning that male and female are separate plants, so if you see a holly with berries you are seeing the female.)
And finally, something fun and kind of crazy looking. This is the Kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), which is NOT the early spring showstopper dogwood (that is Cornus florida). This one is still very lovely, but blooms AFTER the tree has leaves, so it isn't quite as dramatic (blooming in May in Atlanta). The fruit is shown here and is what used to be the true flower (the showy white "petals" are actually just modified leaves, or bracts and are not part of the flower at all). Think of a poinsettia...it does the same thing. Anyway, after the bracts fall off, the flower, which starts out yellow and about 1/4" long, slowly expands to about 1" long and changes to a soft rosy pink. The fruit is edible, though not particularly palatable, it is very faintly sweet, but mostly just mealy, sort of the consistency of a mushy peach. We have a little chipmunk family, though, that relish these fruits. It is fun to see evidence of their feasting when I find carefully hollowed out skins scraped clean of pulp. The end...yea for September.

SURPRISE (he he)

On the evening of Thursday, August 21 I walked in the front door of my parent's house unannounced. I had flown in from Atlanta to help throw them a surprise party to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. It was great fun to plan (there is something really wonderful about doing something good for someone else secretly) and even more fun to see it all come together.
For about a month my sisters and I were scheming about all the great things we could do to honor mom and dad's accomplishment. There were many emails and phone calls in closets in hushed tones, which thankfully, were never intercepted. So, when I walked in the door with Aaron just behind me (my gracious chauffeur from the airport) mom and dad were absolutely stunned and a little confused. Unfortunately, there was no camera handy, the facial expressions were classic.
On Friday, August 22 we (everyone minus Jared and Sarah who were in Switzerland) went to Provo. We had dinner at the Tahitian Noni cafe (island grill cuisine, fresh pineapple comes with most every meal). Aaron and Molly work in the building nearby, which is how they knew about the place. The evening was PERFECT (I love Utah evenings with no humidity--a welcome change from the Atlanta summer sauna!) We ate outside in a little garden patio surrounded by vegetation, very nice. Afterward, we walked around their AMAZING grounds that were truly immaculate. Yes, I was looking for weeds--and there were none to be found. Kudos to their grounds crew! Aaron left after dinner and the girls and mom and dad continued on to the surprise for the evening--Pride and Prejudice: The Musical at the deJong Concert hall on BYU campus. (Isn't it convenient that there we were all together, the five daughters, to see the Bennett family and their five daughters! That was part of the reason why I bought tickets!) What a perfect Haslam women choice--and an obliging dad enjoyed it too...after a fashion. It was a little silly and bordering on cheesy, but the characters are so lovely; a fresh take on a well beloved story never gets old.
Saturday, August 23 the girls put together the big surprise for the weekend. Mom and dad were sent off to run errands and attend the temple together while we prepared. We had decided to prepare a dinner recalling all the places we have lived by representative foods. The states of Utah, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas, plus Oregon and Idaho (Mom and dad's birth states, respectively) were represented. Ristorante deja vu offered a "Memory Lane Medley"--the menu special for the evening, which included the following homemade selections:

• Sirloin steaks, broiled to perfection (Nebraska)
• Twice baked potatoes (Idaho)
• Corn-on-the-cob (Iowa)
• Texas caviar with chips and shrimp dirty rice (Texas)
• Lion House dinner rolls and jello pudding fruit salad (Utah)
• Blackberry cobbler (Oregon) with BlueBunny vanilla ice cream (Iowa)

Kristen was table decorator extraordinaire/hostess/server and creator of great ambiance. The color scheme for the decorations was spring green and butter yellow--the colors at their wedding reception. The apple candles are Miss Kristen's genius. Molly and Emily were head chef and head assistant, respectively. Lauren did a good bit of the behind the scenes clean-up before and after and was our master pianist in residence playing a lovely version of "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof when mom and dad walked in the door. (The song was played and sung at their reception). And I just tried to help it all happen. It was a lot of planning, buying, preparing, fretting, (sigh) and then sitting back and enjoying! After dinner, Kristen shared her power point presentation of mom and dad and the family through the years and I shared my CD of songs representing songs from their generation as well as other love songs from more recently. The evening ended as it should have...with a dance party. What trip home to see the family could be complete without one! How good it is to be home. How good it is to have wonderful parents and amazing siblings and enjoy the blessings of life! And yea for thirty years, mom and dad!

Haircut

So I did something kind of crazy--well, crazy in my view of things. I chopped my hair off, about 4 or 5 inches and now have a sort of layered bob. My hair is more often than not unruly and sort of a interesting mix of wavy, curly, frizzy, poofball style, so I am hoping that having less hair to fix will help with that problem. I am still trying to figure out what to do and how to style it. It will likely be a process of trial and error. This picture is my attempt to tame the mane.

Alissa visits Charlotte

Now it's my turn to go on a roadtrip! I rented a car and drove up to Charlotte on Friday July 18 to visit Ruth (arrived late in the evening). We spent the weekend at her branch president's house and were blessed by their generous hospitality. Saturday was full of all sorts of fun activities. We had authentic Mexican tacos from a little mobile vendor that we ate in a park near Ruth's work (asada, barbacoa, lengua, etc). She gave me a tour of her office and then we got ice cream from a shop just down the street called the Elizabeth Creamery--all flavors are made homemade everyday. There are a lot of references to royalty in the city (The Queen City, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Queens College, etc.), in honor of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenberg who had become queen consort to King George III the year before the city's founding. The locals hoped to gain the favor of the crown by honoring Queen Charlotte in this way. Charlotte is also a major U.S. financial center and home to Bank of America and Wachovia.

We visited an open air farmer's market with fruits, vegetables, baked goods, bottled products, fresh flowers, and arts & crafts. Ruth and I had planned a Sunday picnic so we purchased a variety of foods to snack on. She also bought several bouquets of fresh flowers as gifts for friends she has made here; we were little elves and delivered them secretly. Afterward, we went to the Lowe's Motor Speedway, which is amazingly enormous! The visitor's center was already closed, but we found an open gate and slipped in just to see the track. For dinner we had Eastern North Carolina BBQ (vinegar base instead of tomato base) at a place called Bubba's.

Sunday after church we visited the gardens and greenhouses at UNC-Charlotte and had a picnic in a little gazebo. They had a great display of pitcher plants and orchids and a beautiful Tibochina in full bloom. Another great weekend!

Ruth visits Atlanta

Over the weekend of June 13-15, my great friend and previous BYU roommate Ruth came to visit me in Atlanta. She had an internship at a law firm in Charlotte, North Carolina for the summer and was able to come down (about 3.5-4 hour drive). She arrived Friday evening and we ended up talking until the wee hours of the morning! Saturday was quite a full day. The day started with going to get pedicures--a first for both of us. My favorite part was the foot massage in a spa-like tub, which was quite relaxing. Then we visited the Atlanta Temple grounds where the flower beds are looking their best right now. As the summer goes on they have a tendency to get rather wild, but in mid June they are at that picture perfect stage--yea! We went to lunch at a little American continental bistro place called Fresh to Order (F2O) in Sandy Springs. Most of the rest of the day was spent at the Georgia Aquarium, which is a fairly new feature to the Atlanta touristy scene and one of the biggest in the world. We played with starfish and sea urchins, pet sharks, watched whales, and stingrays, and otters, and sea lions...and had a great time acting like kids! To finish off our day we went to a fabulous Cajun seafood restaurant called Pappadeux. Ruth was feeling rather adventuresome and ordered froglegs & fried alligator; I was much more conservative and just ordered gumbo and a greek salad. And of course, we HAD to order dessert--true southern fare: banana pudding and sweet potato-pecan pie. Yum! Ruth was able to stay and attend my ward (Northpoint) where she ran into someone she knows from her law school program! She left early Monday morning at the same time I left for work at the temple. What a wonderful weekend!

Yellow Rose Memories

I talked to Mom on Sunday about Grandma Hoke's memorial service, which I was not able to attend. As part of the service each person who felt comfortable doing so could share a good memory of her and then place a yellow rose (her favorite flower) on the stand. I want to record here some of my yellow rose memories.

One consistently memorable thing I remember about her is that in any letter or birthday card she sent she always began it, "Hi sweetie..." I have always liked pet names or nicknames, and even though they may be generic, they are still endearing titles of affection. Perhaps all the grandchildren were greeted with this same title; it doesn't diminish its significance for me.

On my eighth birthday I received a package from Grandma Hoke. I still remember the hot run out to the mailbox in bare feet to find it. She recognized it was a important milestone for me, though she may not have understood all the reasons. She sent me a little Precious Moments plush doll with a birthday cake in her hands and a card wishing me the best on my "special day."

At BYU one birthday, (sophomore year perhaps?) she send me some fancy custom-made cookies shaped and decorated like flowers. On another birthday she sent a collection of soup and muffin mixes.

Our Christmases in the recent past have been fun because of the thoughtful gifts Grandma sent. One year all the girls received different types of animal slippers (monkey, pig, elephant, kitten...etc.) Another year all the girls received pajamas.

Grandma supported me in my achievements even though we rarely ever lived near enough to make her visits very convenient. She came to Iowa to attend my high school graduation and we took old fashioned vintage pictures just for fun (Grandma, mom, Emily, and me). She also attended my college graduation and gave me a beautiful cross-stitched and custom framed design commemorating my achievement. Her gift hangs on my wall in the front room of my apartment.

In January of 2000 I went up to visit her over a long weekend while at BYU and recorded her life history. How grateful I am that I did that! It has since been transcribed and distributed and though not terribly detailed, is a record, nonetheless, and a blessing to have.

Though the last years of her life were often discouraging and painful, they served to help bring together my mom, my aunts, and my grandma. I am grateful that her cancer provided that opportunity for their relationship to be rebuilt.

Home Sweet Home

Happy day! I was home with my family in late June and it turned out to be just the girls and mom and dad. A girls weekend usually means much silliness--like dance parties and Jane Austen-ing, but we also enjoyed the gardens at Temple Square, lunch at the Lion House, an IMAX about the Alps, and some gallabanting about the planetarium. Lauren gave me an update on her recent artwork projects, which were, as usual, most impressive. Dad is working on some marketing for agave nectar and we used the free samples in a bread recipe--it turned out great! We had a free dinner at Chipotle--a happy accident, and I stocked up on quinoa (25 pounds of it!). At the end of the week we drove to Boise to visit extended family on both sides.
In Boise Grandpa shared with us some of his own homemade grape juice, made from the grapes that he grows in his own back yard! This is pretty impressive for an almost 87-year old! Aunt Susanne was, as usual, all generosity with her food and good company. The main reason we went, though, was to see Grandma in the hospital. In accordance with Haslam tradition, before we left, Dad gave her a back massage and Lauren and I each took a foot and plenty of lotion and massaged her feet. She loved it! Good memories.