Moonstones, Passionate Love, Sewing Patterns, Vagabonds ... and Radishes

My yard work guy is out in the yard cleaning, raking, mowing ... and burying ... the plants I bought last spring – Korean Lilac, Rosemary – did not survive the winter, I’m sorry to say.  Considering they were buried under 10 feet of snow for the bulk of the winter, I’m not surprised.  Once the snow started, I couldn’t even walk through the snow (it was up to about my waist) to even check on them.  I’m thinking I should have transplanted them way ahead of winter, but never did before the snow started and the ground froze.  Besides one of those cheap planters I bought from Lowe’s started sagging the minute I put soil in it, and that didn’t help either.  It’s too bad ... I loved both of those plants, until they disappeared under mountains of snow and died a cruel death.

One of my new favorite rings ... a moonstone ... I’ve already received one compliment on it – at the grocery store of all places.

Moonstone Gemstone meaning:
Inspires and solidifies passionate love that will fly you to the moon.  Brings good fortune. Assists in foretelling the future, enhances intuition, promotes inspiration, brings success in love as well as business matters, offers protection on land and at sea. 

Loved that: “inspires and solidifies passionate love that will fly you to the moon”.  Not sure I needed a moonstone ring for that to happen, but couldn’t hurt.

Working on Beautiful Beige.  Have one of the two hands done; the violets and the golden cup done; now need the second hand and the violet leaves.  After that, adding a few more columns and appliqueing all of the pieces in place.  It’s actually looking really impressive.

I am also learning how to draft sewing patterns.  And why, you ask, would I want to learn how to draft sewing patterns?  Oh, no reason – sayeth I – except I’m different sizes and shapes depending on which body part you’re looking at, and ... NOTHING FITS RIGHT!  Other than that, no reason.

What I was doing, though, was thinking back to clothes I’d worn throughout my life and really loved.  I immediately thought of two of them:  one was a muted light beige floral swing skirt dress with cap sleeves and a tie that tied in the back ... another was an emerald green dirndl skirted dress made of a nubby sort of fabric.  Long sleeves.  I looked beautiful in it, or at least I thought so – who cares what anyone else thought? – so when the book suggested I look back at clothes I really loved and try to recreate them, those are the two I thought of, right off the bat.  So I had been trying to find a fabric that inspired me.  Nothing.  I was only able to find cotton florals, or satin, or crushed velvet ... nothing that really jumped out at me.

So then I thought:  why not try to match the beautiful ring?  Next I looked up turquoise, green and aquamarine fabric and found all sorts of beautiful things to use.  Now I've switched my idea from a dress to a summery top to wear over jeans.  My idea was: 

I want French cuffs, for one; a V-neck for two, but not so plunging it’s obscene;  I want it to cover the tops of my thighs but not most of my legs; I want the material to be flowing but not clingy, or starchy or stiff.  I want it to hang straight in the back, like with those pleats from the shoulders, or from the yoke.  I want it to be classy and sensuous, but not provocative or tasteless.  I’m trying to design it in my head ... but I’m not a clothes designer on paper; I’m not a sketch artist, I only see it visually.  Is this all too much to ask?

Apparently it was, because the book said to try and sketch it out on paper first.  THIS should be entertaining.  I could see THAT sketch in my head, easily enough: “Stick figure with turquoise shirt.”  I’m sure I’ll become a true fashion designer with that memorable design, trust me.  (Why do I do this to myself?  Tackle projects that drive me nuts because they're so out of my skill set?)

Next comes the fun part of trying to measure body parts I couldn’t quite reach.  Nothing like twisting yourself into knots trying to run a tape measure down your own back, or across the backs of your own shoulders.

But while I twist myself into a pretzel, back to finding recipes that use all parts of the ingredients, I had purchased some fresh radishes to use in a salad, and discovered that radish leaves are an absolutely heavenly “green” ... why on earth did I ever discard them in the past?  They’re wonderful!  Note:  soak them a little more thoroughly before consuming them.  And I think they’d make a delicious pesto.

“Radish greens appear alongside broccoli and kale in a list of vegetables that contain high levels of anti-cancer compounds called sulporaphane indoles in the book "Healthy Longevity Techniques: East-West Anti-Aging Strategies," by Joseph P. Hou, Ph.D. A study published in the February 2004 issue of the "International Journal of Food Science and Nutrition" found that greens from wild radishes showed considerable free radical scavenging ability. Researchers recommend increased consumption of radish and other vegetable greens to promote antioxidant activity.  Radish greens contain as much as six times the vitamin C content of the roots. The trace mineral molybdenum is also present in radish greens, as are potassium and the B-complex vitamin folic acid. Add radish greens to your fruit smoothies, says Victoria Boutenko in the book "Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Towards Natural Health." Their fiber helps slow the absorption of sugar from the fruit and their nutrients add to the nutritional value without adding significantly to the calorie count.”

So there you go.  And who knew?  I just have always loved fresh radishes.  When I was younger, Mom grew them in her garden – I used to rinse them off with a garden hose and eat them right out of the ground.  The best!  In fact, I should grow those.  Provided I don't kill them off, too.

Now I haven't said much about the pub show after Westerly ... this was not a public concert, this was a Cowsill family reunion and celebration, in a private room in a Newport, Rhode Island pub. Ninety minutes of the entire family singing for and entertaining each other and having a wonderful time.  Below, you're seeing a performance by Tim Brooks (a Cowsill cousin) who sings locally around Newport, singing "Vagabond", a song written by Billy Cowsill.  He's backed up by Bob Cowsill on vocals and guitar,  John Cowsill on drums and Del Cowsill (Billy's son, playing Barry Cowsill's bass).  Bob's funny opening remark, directed at the backseat driver musicians and musical arrangers among his many talented relatives, "Look, all of you Tim folks who know his voice who think you need to tell us how to play for him?  Sit down!" - cracked everybody up.  Enjoy.