Virginia Country from A to Z: D is for Dogs

Just in the nick of time, I looked up from reading, "Dogs must be on a leash" in Saturdays horse show program, to avoid being taken out at the knees by two careening Australian Cattle Dogs,

and I tried to recall if I had ever actually seen a dog on a leash at a horse show.

                                

  Dogs and horses go together like grits and gravy.  

I've noticed that country dogs in general have a rather been-there-done-that attitude.  In barns, at horse shows, they are always loose, but in some sort of universally accepted dog-world treaty, country dogs seem to largely mind their own beeswax.

Although they may pause for a pat on the head if you must (I must), or a pick-up game with a new acquaintance (ergo the Australian Cattle Dogs),

  

   they mostly trot along after their owners or sleep in the sun.

Young Jacqueline Kennedy loved dogs and horses from childhood.

Young Queen Elizabeth and Jane, her father's dog.  I read recently that Queen Elizabeth has Corgis and Dorgis, after one of her Welsh Corgis had a brief liason with one of Princess Margaret's Dachshunds.

Mini and Cooper live near Poplar Grove, and frequently visit through the back gate.

Designer Darryl Carter at his 19th-century Virginia farmhouse with Otis and Lucy.

Ellie at the Virginia country home of designer Barry Dixon. 

Stop to visit a Virginia pal for some sweet tea, and you'll often have to step over an ancient foxhound, dozing away his golden years on a sunny porch.

French Foxhounds by Charles Olivier DePenne

A friend has a perpetually sad-looking retired French foxhound, whose ears are so frayed at the ends they remind me of those sudsing strips at a carwash.  She relates that he got beat up a lot in the pack in his younger days, but laughs, "Don't feel sorry for him though, he almost always started it."

Sometimes one sees a foot twitch or a hears soft wuf as he dreams about his glory days.

Be sure to check out the dog photo contest at Garden & Gun, here

We think that country life is more a state of mind, than a state of, well... State.

Whether your home is the city, by the sea, in the mountains or Farm town, USA, country life is about how you approach living your day, how you feel about your home, and how you care for yourself and your neighbors.

Virginia Country Life from A-Z is a series inspired by our homes in Virginia.  It's about some things and people we love, and some ideas for making your life a little more country- wherever you are.

Next post... E is for...

From our Library:

Click to view

Images: 1-5.  Carterse via Flicker 6.  Cash, Washington, VA by Camden Littleton for Garden & Gun 7. Jacqueline Kennedy Photographer Unknown 8. Young Queen Elizabeth Photographer Unknown 9. Jennings & Gates  10. Photographed by Simon Upton via PointClick home 11. via Traditional Home 12. Unknown 13. For Garden & Gun magazine by Andy Anderson, Photographer 14.  Garden & Gun magazine 

Petty Officer John Tumlinson was one of 30 U.S. Service members killed in August 2011 when their Chinook helicopter was shot down by the Taliban.  Petty Officer Tumlinson and 21 other members of the elite Seal Team Six were racing to assist a unit of U.S. Army Rangers pinned down by gunfire. 

His dog Hawkeye, who stayed by his side throughout the funeral service, somehow expresses the sadness and devotion we feel for these brave members of our military.

This Memorial Day, we thank the United States Service members all over the world, who care so deeply and give so much to protect us from those who would take away another's freedom.

Images:  1. Unknown 2. Lisa Pembleton 3. Lance Corporal Jonathon P. Sotelo 4. Unknown

Secret Recipes

My great-grandmother, like many great-grandmothers of her era, could grow African violets like nobody's business.  Yesterday I found her recipe for African violet soil, written in the particular elegant, old cursive of those turn-of-the-century generations.  It was for an African violet lover, like uncovering the Dead Sea scrolls.  

Helen Goeglein was Great-grandmother's BFF.  I remember that they were as tight at 85 as they must have been as little girls, and it was bitter-sweet for my Grandmother to have outlived her.  They had so much fun admiring each other's flowers- Grandmother always said that Helen grew much better violets than she did, and of course Helen said the same thing about my grandmother.  

I typed the recipe exactly as it was written, the notes are hers.  I have no idea how much 29 cents of Vermiculite was when this was written, but it's probably pretty important.  Anyway, it's a good excuse to go call your mom or great aunt or grandmother and ask her.

If you try this recipe, let us know how it goes!  N.G.

Poplar Grove in Spring

Early May at Poplar Grove.  The fountain in the patio garden is bordered by English box, with Sulphur Heart ivy ringing the fountain base.  

Amethyst Falls wisteria climbs the colonade.  The golden boxwood is Wanford Page.

Clivia Miniata in full recovery from winter indoors.

The Yellowwood tree bloomed for the first time since we planted it 10 years ago.  The flowers are fragrant and spectacular, especially when the tree is in full bloom.  Worth waiting for!

The upper vegetable garden was inspired by a Williamsburg pattern, with four quadrants separated by crushed clam shell paths, around a central circular bed.  This section contains varieties of lettuce.  A trained apple arches over the steps leading to the lower kitchen garden.

Papaver Bracteatum in the kitchen gardens.  We have several varieties of poppies and other flowers for cutting. 

Farm to Table: Strawberries!

A friend gave me the audio book  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, narrated by the novelist, Barbara Kingsolver, to listen to in my car.  (Jennings is on disk 4)  The book is a true story written by Barbara, her husband, and her 18-year old daughter, Camille about their year of living on their Southeast Virginia farm and eating only local foods, or those they grew themselves.

I loved it, and resolved to try to eat foods grown closer to home, and in season.  I'm not perfect by any means, I eat salad in December (Thanks California!) and haven't quite given up bananas, but Jennings is a pro.  At Poplar Grove, cooking and eating mostly is tied to the seasons, and whatever bounty the garden is offering in any given month.

To find out what is fresh and local right now where you live, just choose your state and the season in the handy chart at Sustainable Table, here.

  In Virginia, and many states, this month's bounty is lettuce, spinach, asparagus and hooray, strawberries!  Here's a quick and easy recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb crisp, which combines strawberries with rhubarb, which you'll also find in markets now.

We tested quite a few recipes, and the result is an adaptation of several.  We used cornstarch instead of extra flour, because we find that it does a better job of thickening, but if you don't have any on hand, you can use an extra 1/3 cup of flour.  We also liked the extra crunch in the recipe from Melissa Murphy of Sweet Melissa Patisserie, who adds chopped walnuts to her topping.  And then of course there was Grandma, the only recipe we ran across that adds vanilla, which mellows out the rhubarb a little.   Enjoy! 

Ingredients

3 cups fresh rhubarb, diced to 3/4 “ (about 4 stalks)

4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, if large

1 cups granulated sugar, divided

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice

1 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

½ teaspoon of good vanilla extract (I like Tahitian vanilla for pastry)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup quick-cooking (not instant) oatmeal.  I like McCann's

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

First make the crisp:

Toss the rhubarb, strawberries, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and the orange zest together in a large bowl. In a glass measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in the orange juice, add the vanilla and cinnamon and then mix it into the fruit. Pour the mixture into an 9x9 -inch baking dish.  It’s a good idea to place the baking dish on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, in case there is overflow.

Then make the topping:

For the topping combine the flour, the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and oatmeal in an electric mixer. With the mixer on low speed, add the butter and mix until the dry ingredients are moist and the mixture is in crumbles. Sprinkle the topping over the fruit, covering it completely, and bake for about 1 hour, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is golden brown.

Serve warm with ice cream.  Yum.

Further Reading:

                  

A Room with a View

Great interior design tells a story.  I find it fascinating how Carlton Varney, in-house designer at the Greenbrier, uses the views between rooms to intensify his message.

It's easy to forget the importance of the relationship between rooms.

The view can highlight architectural features,

spotlight furniture or art, or visually expand the size of the room.

It's a great trick for adding drama or creating flow.

  

In landscaping, the practice of Jiejing (Borrowed scenery) originated in China.  In Japanese the word is shakkei.  Landscape architects use borrowed scenery to visually expand the size of a garden by incorporating views from outside the garden into the design.

Terrace Garden, Ladew Gardens

One sees this at the spectacular Ladew Gardens in Monkton, Maryland.

A garden doorway frames a focal point, and draws the visitor through the garden.

Doorways in garden rooms and interior rooms act like picture frames, enhancing and highlighting whatever is seen through them.

One can use the view to introduce or repeat a color story.

Martha Stewart pays close attention to this decorating detail- adding beauty by considering how a room looks from within, as well as from adjoining spaces.

Here Martha uses borrowed scenery to layer pale colors, one upon the other.  Have you noticed, her soft, muted colors are serene, but they never seem boring?

The gray-green hall cools down the warm olive walls in the bedroom, and red across the hall repeats the theme with a jazzy rhythm.  

This technique can also be used with all-white or cream walls- a great trick is to use three or more shades of white to create depth and richness.

Have a great weekend!  J & G

Further Reading:

                


Images:  1. The Greenbrier hotel photographed by Gordon Beall for AD  2. Morgante-Wilson Architects, Melanie Elston Interiors 3. Chiswick House Photographed by Derry Moore  4.  Suzanne Rhinestein  5. Adachi Gardens 6. Ladew Gardens 7. Ladew Gardens 6.  Martha Stewart 8. Martha Stewart 9. Keith Scott Morton 10.-12. Martha Stewart