Memorial Day

In Canada, we have Remembrance Day, which is a tribute to veterans similar to Memorial Day*...except we don't do the whole barbeque-ing thing. It's a much more somber day in Canada. We traditionally have 2 minutes of silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. We also buy plastic poppies to wear on our lapels/collars, expressing our support and appreciation of veterans (the proceeds supposedly go toward helping veterans in need).

Where did the poppy symbolism come from? The poem, "In Flanders Fields". I would like to share this with you for the American Memorial Day:
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

For more on In Flanders Fields, go to the Arlington Cemetery website.

*Meg_L mentioned in the comments that Remembrance Day is more like Veterans Day, not Memorial Day.

Trent of The Simple Dollar blog (an excellent blog, by the way) has the following to say about Memorial Day, and it's a very similar sentiment to mine:

Memorial Day is pretty much just confusing to me. It’s theoretically a day to honor fallen soldiers, but most people just go on vacation or play in the yard.

What happened to Decoration Day, which is May 30 of each year? That’s the original date created to honor those soldiers that have served our country in times of war, started after the Civil War. As the Civil War veterans began to pass away, it gradually turned into our modern day Memorial Day, which mixed some notions of American exceptionalism together with a convenient three day weekend at the beach. To me, that really waters down the point.

Charles Ives’ poem Decoration Day captures what I wish this day was – and what it could be. But it’s lost amid the jet skis and the barbecue grills.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Egg noodles...easy and delish!

I'd talked about it for years and everyone I've ever spoken to about it said it is incredibly easy, so I have nothing to blame but my own lazy butt for not trying it sooner. And, yes, I agree: it is incredibly easy to make your own noodles!

Dh was wanting to make beef stroganoff, so I set out to make egg noodles. I searched online and looked a number of recipes, eventually settling on mixture of two different ones (from About.com, Cooks.com and from CDKitchen). I ended up using 2 C flour, 1/4 t salt, and 3 eggs, and pretty much followed the About.com instructions.

The flour and salt, mixed together with a fork:I made a well in the center of the flour mixture and added the 3 eggs:
Per the About.com instructions, I scrambled the eggs first with the fork, then slowly started incorporating the flour:
A short video of my incorporating the flour bit by bit:

After incorporating, I dumped the lumpy dough out onto a floured surface:Kneading for about 10 minutes or so yielded a much smoother dough ball:
Rolling out the dough:
Is it thin enough yet?
Then, I rolled up the rolled-out dough, jelly-roll style, and cut it into desired widths:
I twirled the dough ribbons into a streamer-like shape, just for fun:
After drying out for a couple of hours on the counter (and they were, by no means, actually dry-dry), dh made stroganoff with them! Here it is, served with a salad of greens from our garden:
Seriously easy!

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

What's up (and growing), doc?

It's pretty obvious that I don't take garden photos as beautifully as Amber, or Cake, or Allison, so I should stop apologizing for the quality of my photos. But, I do want to mention that these in this post are extra bad because I was using my iPhone and some of the pics were taken near sunset on a partly cloudy day (they came out rather purple).

Looking into the greenhouse, here are the adorable tomato plants that a dear friend, TO, gave us:Some bok choi and choi sum, with cilantro and mache trying to compete:
The cilantro and kale going nuts and going to seed among a few leeks:
From back to front: gai lan, chinese cabbage, and frisee.
The onions, grown from seed, finally planted after some very wet weather:
Dill among the carrots; can you even tell which is which?
Garlic: looking good, baby!
This bed of strawberries is doing well:
Look at the size of the berries:
Spinach...ah, how we love spinach (lamb's quarters, the weed, is edible too):
Radishes down the middle of the broccoli:
A close-up of a floret forming in the broccoli:
The dog...next to the onion beds and the comfrey and horseradish:
More comfrey...and dog butt anyone? Where are the chickens?
The blueberries are blooming:
Another view of the blueberries, with strawberries as ground cover:
Third view of blueberries, on a different (and sunnier) day:
ARGH! Bamboo invasion!
Choi sum seedlings, in a bed with more lettuce and spinach.
See chicken...
See chicken stay away from dog...
Our pride-and-joy asparagus bed - the one that actually produces well:
This is the volunteer cilantro that decided to keep the asparagus company:
The yellow raspberry plants that another dear friend, C, gave us:
Tools of my trade: the dandelion tool, the wire weeder, and the circle hoe. Don't leave the garden shed without them.
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Mother's Day and what made me happy today

I had wished all my Facebook mom friends a happy Mother's Day, hoping that their families will treat them like the Wonder Womenthat they are, so am here to wish the same for my bloggy friends who are moms. ;)

What brought the biggest smile to my face was downloading a wonderful free ebook on sketching one's life. I would like to thank Suzanne for mentioning it in her delightful blog, an open [sketch]book, and to Michael Nobbs for offering to everyone! Check it out; it may bring you joy today too.

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams