Kaseys Korner

Book Club Dinner Party

On the evening of June 12th, six incredible women joined me for dinner and a lively discussion of the book 'Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine.' 

It was the fulfillment of a long held dream, one I finally acted upon after seeing a blog post this Spring by Nell Hills.  In the post she decorated a table for a book club dinner and one glance was all it took to spur me into action.  You can see her post & table here.

Hosting the book club combined so many of my favorite things ~ books, friends, the garden and entertaining.

I'm not sure where I got my love of entertaining?  I didn't learn it from my Mother or really any other family member.  Over the years I've just found joy in it and in the whole process ~ from planning the meal, to setting the table & adding all the little details that make guests feel special & something they'll remember. 

I don't do it often, only a handful of times a year, but I try to treat each event with the best attention & care I can. 

For the book club dinner, I selected our book and sent out invitations about two months prior so that everyone had plenty of time to get and read the book.  

A couple days before the dinner, I started working on my table, making the placecards, collecting my ingredients, etc.

The day of, I was out in the garden early in the morning ~ clipping the roses, hydrangeas & dogwood branches for the centerpiece.

Arranging the centerpiece is one of my favorite parts of hosting a dinner or party.

I think because I get to include the garden into the process as well?

After I'm satisfied with the table, I move on to the food.  

We started the meal with a mini Basil Parmesan cheesecake topped with tomato jam & a sprig of fresh basil.  Recipe here.

Afterwards we moved on to the meal itself which consisted of Pistachio crusted Salmon:

Not the best picture ~ I think it was the last one I took before the dinner commenced.

Cold Roast Beef & Asparagus wraps.  I don't have a link for the recipe, I got it from 'The Gathering of Friends Cookbook, Volume Three.'  I love this cookbook series and own several volumes.  Besides recipes, the cookbooks include tablescapes which are always inspiring and they make it easy to replicate any one of their themes if you need some help or are in a hurry.

The wraps are very simple to make.  Just roast the asparagus, spread some softened cream cheese on a thin slice of roast beef, add one asparagus spear and roll up.  Chill until ready to serve. 

Don't make the mistake I did & tell the deli to slice it "thin" ~ they pretty much gave me shaved roast beef which made the process more difficult than it should have been.

Above & below:  Cauliflower, Corn, Cucumber Salad.

Plus Roasted Beet & Carrot Salad ~ this is served with Arugula & roasted Walnuts ~ Yum!

Sorry about the photo, another bad one & doesn't do it justice AT ALL.  

My next favorite part of hosting ~ the desserts!  

This year, I'd been noticing a trend toward serving petite desserts.  It makes a lot of sense.  Satisfying the sweet tooth but in a more (healthy) reasonable size.

I decided to go with that theme & incorporated two options in my dinner.  That way everyone could sample both without feeling too guilty.

The first was a white chocolate mousse topped off with a raspberry.

I used a pastry bag to fill the fancy shot glasses then tied my silver demitasse spoons onto each glass with a raffia ribbon.

Lastly, I made chocolate shot glass cups using a silicone mold.  Very easy to do, just melt the chocolate, pour into the mold, refrigerate until set then pop out & fill with whatever you choose.  Mine had English Toffee ice cream just to make it easy & because it's summer!

Besides the meal, the book was well received by everyone and the conversation was easy & excellent.  I couldn't believe how quickly the time passed.  Every effort put forth, 100% worthwhile.

It was definitely a magical night and everything I had envisioned it to be....

 

 

 

25th birthday

Six layer, "shades of pink"  concoction by moi:

In memory of Butterball

Not many words, too heartbroken.

Lost my faithful greeter, gardening companion & protector last week.  

The photo above is the last one I took of him.

There are so many memories during the course of our journey together.

I feel guilty about his last two years of life.  I was so caught up in the intensive process of rehabbing my daughter that I almost missed the way he was aging so quickly.  I remember being shocked when I realized his hearing was going.  I wish I could have given him more of my time.

He never held it against me.  Another reason to love dogs. No matter what I was doing, he had time for me & was part of it.  Especially in the garden.

I can't even look out there right now & not see him.  He was such a big part of building it, always up to "help," inspect or just keep me company.

I am completely lost without him.  

Our house is so quiet.  

I have been struck by what a life force he was in our home.

I really hope there is truth to the Rainbow Bridge poem & he is waiting there for me.

I love you Butter Boy.

 

Time to heal

If you've read my last post, you've probably figured out that I'll be struggling with the loss of my brother for some time to come.  Right now, I don't have the heart to write much but instead of putting the blog on hiatus (like I've done in the past after traumatic events) I thought I would try just posting some current photos.  I don't know how long I'll follow this format?  Until I can do better, I suppose.  

Narcissi 'Flower Parade'

Hydrangea 'Hortensia Early Blue'

Series of Bleeding Heart photos:

 

'Frizzle Sizzle' Pansy Basket ~ really beautiful right now.

Peony Flowering Tulip 'Black Hero'

 Tulip 'Pink Star'

Alliums & Peony buds

Bullock's Orioles back in the garden

Many thanks to each and every one of you who have reached out to me.  Your comments, cards, calls, etc., have touched me immeasurably.  It will take a long time to heal.  Like I said before, it's a loss for the rest of my life. Neither my brother or I were married so I guess we leaned on each other more than a lot of siblings would.   I'm only at the beginning stages of figuring out how to live without him.  I start to think I'm okay then something will happen ~ like scrolling thru my phone & seeing his name/number & suddenly, I'm right back where I started.  Lately, I feel like I'm getting it together on the outside but inside, just under the surface, there are always tears.  His death is one in a series of losses over the past few years for me and some difficult times as well.  After each one I have said I needed the garden more than ever.  There is no time that is truer than now.   Thank you in advance for your gentleness, compassion and understanding.

Into the Light Thomas

A very personal and sad post today, one I prayed desperately I wouldn't have to write.

A while back I posted (after a blogging break) that I had been absent because I was trying to help a family member with an alcohol addiction. That person was my beloved youngest brother.  It was just about two years to this day, that I even learned he was an alcoholic.   Talk about being caught utterly off guard.   That revelation upended and unbalanced my life.  It marked a point of "no return" so to speak because, I have since learned, there is NO GOING BACK to the life that once was, after it is impacted this way.  

Tragically he lost his battle and his life last night to the disease.

He was brilliant, a highly accomplished Optometrist and a sensitive, good & kind Human Being (among many other attributes.)  I loved him so very much and will miss him every day for the rest of my life.  I can honestly say I've never disliked anything more than I now do drug & alcohol addiction.  The senseless way it takes so many lives every year and how helpless it makes those who love the person addicted is absolutely frustrating and downright cruel.   I don't know what other methods can be developed to deal with this issue but the options currently available are horribly inadequate.  One stint in rehab is rarely enough.  My brother entered three different rehabs in the last year and a half of his life but none of them ever came close to changing his habits.  As many of you are all too aware, he is not alone in that outcome.

Now my brother, my friend, is gone.  My loss = his peace.  The one person I thought I would go thru life with has left a monumental void, one I am certain I do not even fully realize yet.  I have no choice but to take comfort in and believe that he is now bathed in Eternal Light & Love, unencumbered by the demons of this earthly world.  Otherwise the grief would be too much to bear.  Farewell dear Thomas, until we meet again, I always loved you and always will.  

finally home

after five weeks in the hospital, my daughter was finally discharged to home on May 16th.

Above:  Tulip 'Zampa Parrot'

It was, at once, a feeling of relief and overwhelming enormity at the amount of recovery that still lie before us.

Above:  Tulip 'Rai'

Capped off with an infinite amount of gratitude that she is alive and here to tackle recovery at all. 

She was hospitalized with pneumonia and septic shock, each singularly plenty to overcome.  Combined, they almost cost her life.  11 days on the ventilator left her body limp and weak as a noodle.

Above:  June back garden & birdcage container planted with Supertunia 'Bubblegum'

She left the hospital able to use her upper body but not really much else. 

Above:  David Austins 'Winchester Cathedral' Standard ~ first roses of the season.

I was warned progress would be slow after all she'd been thru and it IS...   but with her help and that of her therapists, I am doing my utmost to get her standing and walking again.

Above:  Tree Peony 'Shimadaijin'

At times, it has seemed a monumental task made all the larger by lack of sleep.   All the nights of disturbed sleep in the hospital plus anxiety left us both with a massive case of sleep deprivation.  A circumstance that unfortunately, did not improve upon arriving home.  Even now, sleep is elusive, spotty & irregular at best.  :(

We are exhausted. 

The physical work alone would cause that (emotional & mental impact aside.)  There's so much more lifting, turning, etc., to get her thru each day now.  One of my daily prayers is that my back and knees can endure the journey.  The knee injury I suffered this spring has returned & I'm pretty much back in my brace full-time.

Above & Below:  Aquilegia 'Tower Pink'

I just hope it will hold out (for treatment) until she's back on her feet.

Meanwhile the garden has carried on despite neglect.

Above:  Grackle nest

Left untended, grackles took full advantage and overran my small plot .  I am cleaning out every nest I can find but they are still here in abundance.

Above:  Foxglove 'Dalmation Rose' in a galvanized container.

Unless things change rapidly, there won't be any "exotic" or unusual additions to the garden this year.

There's no time to do the usual greenhouse "hopping" I so enjoy.  The few plants (mostly annuals) I've bought, were found at either  Lowe's or Home Depot.

Above:  Hibiscus 'Powder Puff,' blooming like crazy since moving outdoors

I missed most of the tulips, daffodils and other spring bulbs but hopefully now that my daughter is on the path to recovery, I won't miss much else.... 

Above & below:  Peony 'Sarah Bernhardt'

At least now quick jaunts into the garden are possible.  The day remains unknown when I have time to really work out there but I look forward to that happening!

p.s.  Not sure what a posting schedule will look like for me?  I can't yet commit to a certain number per week or a day of the week but I will try (once again ~ how many times have you heard this?!!) to update more regularly. 

Thanks for understanding and for any and all the prayers, support you've given on our behalf.  They are, and were, very much appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

Hellebore 'Phoebe' & 'Kingston Cardinal'

Among the spring beauty coming to life in the garden:

(Hellebore 'Phoebe')

another unexpected curve ball in the game of life.

My precious daughter is fighting for her life from septic shock & pneumonia.

She has been in ICU since Sunday.

Just when I was getting myself together again, another blow. 

(Hellebore 'Kingston Cardinal')

Sooooo, (once again) I will NOT be blogging for a while ~ at least until her stats have improved. 

If you can spare a prayer or positive thought for her, we would all greatly appreciate it.

quick update

just so you know why I've been absent from the blog. 

First my desktop went down (where most of my photo editing software is located.)   I'm still trying to fix that one.  :(

(paperwhites blooming on the buffet)

Second, my parents came for a visit last Saturday and just went home today.

and third, my knee went out on Tuesday.  I was walking across the grocery store parking lot, carrying my bags of groceries when something in my right knee "popped."  I've been on crutches and an "industrial strength" knee brace since.  Oh my.  What a week!!!

(current reading material)

It's gotta get better from here tho, right?!!!

flower pot cake

There was another party in the garden this past week ~ 

this one a celebration for three birthday "girls."

A cake in the shape of a flower pot seemed the perfect birthday dessert, don't you agree??

Top two photos show overall views, below some close-ups:

Entirely edible!

Entirely delicious...

Inspired by a Mother's Day cake found in the Mrs. Fields catalog. 

Click here if you'd like to check out that version.

Distraught at first because it wasn't currently available to order....

until Fluff n Stuff bakery came along and saved the day!

Saved the day indeed, chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling. 

Peach bellini's to wash every morsel down...

Another party fabulously flung...

 

Clematis 'Asao' & an update

It's been an exhausting week. 

Still no Regis.  Not a happy household.

But thank you all for your helpful suggestions.  We've tried them all, and so much more.   Even tho none have netted us the desired results, we're still not ready to give up. 

At least we have the garden to provide some welcome solace.

Clematis 'Asao' ~ oblivious to our loss. 

Thank goodness for some normalcy.

Nature and life, always moving forward, ready or not....

David Austin rose 'Pat Austin' (named after his late wife,) the first rose to bloom. 

Also the newest addition to the ever growing David Austin collection.

Red Rhododendron bud.

'Dalmatian Peach' foxglove (impossible to view enough.)

Antique turtle "frog" in the garden.

Lovely double pink Aquilegia.

The picture perfect way to end the post....

and now the search efforts resume ~ keep wishing us luck.  We need every bit of help we can get.