Pandemic Planting

I am about to make a statement that will be very unpopular.

I hate gardening. There, I said it.

Every year I see people painstakingly working in their gardens. They tend to shrubs, trees, blooms, and make the yard lovely. Some have extensive vegetable gardens. None of these activities have ever appealed to me. In fact, it's beyond the realm of my comprehension how digging, planting, weed pulling, and repeating those steps ad infinitum, or for a couple of months at least, is in any way enjoyable. It makes my knees and back ache just thinking about it.

Having said that, every spring, I shop for, and plant an array of flowers in our yard. I usually spend a small fortune and don't pay much attention to what I select from the local garden centre.  I just pick what I like.  It's  a one time annual deal, just like the flowers. Sometimes, I have a theme, like when Canada celebrated its 150th anniversary of confederation.  I planted red and white, adding a few small flags to the design. It looked pretty.

So this year,  I'm late. The weather has taken awhile to warm up but today, I acquired a solid collection of flowers.

I decided to make the activity a little more fun for myself. Prior to working, I created a short "Mosquito Lady" video to get in the mood. Then I got down and dirty...and I do mean dirty. I was covered head to toe by the time I was finished burying all the plants I had schlepped home. (Turn up volume to fully appreciate my silliness).

After a couple of hours, I  packed away the tools, saving them hopefully for next year. It was time to relax and enjoy my efforts.

Garden Shows

Sometimes, when I think I've arrived at that point in life where my world and my activity level is starting to shrink, I panic. Then, after giving it some further thought, I realize it really hasn't. What has occurred is that I've become more discriminating and selective. This is possibly a good thing. After all, we want to make sure we use all remaining time on earth wisely don't we?

It's that time of year again, Spring. I'm grateful for each new one I get to experience. Although the threat of forecast snow for today does not thrill me, I know that there are those obsessed gardeners who are getting very restless if not frustrated. I'm not one of them. That's not to say I don't enjoy and appreciate pretty yards and flowers because I do.

Last month, I attended Canada Blooms at the CNE grounds in Toronto. Since I went with a friend, we had a wonderful time as we always do, taking advantage of photo ops with giant costumed bees and and staring at each other with curiosity and puzzlement over the garden club creations. Our enjoyment had little to do with the show. In fact, we found the exhibits to be huge, over the top, and unrealistic for the average home gardener. It seemed more suited to owners of greenhouses, lawn care specialists, landscape designers, and people with their own professional gardeners. Then there was the amount of walking, walking, and more walking...a huge facility with lots of trees.

On the weekend, hubby and I attended the Peterborough Garden Show. We've been in the past and have found it to be compact and useful. It takes place in an arena and all space is used efficiently. One of us cleverly suggested purchasing advanced tickets so we did so at a local flower shop on our way to the show....a wise move. We got in quickly at opening time and avoided long lines waiting to purchase tickets. http://www.peterboroughgardenshow.com/

We moved through the facility easily, finding many fascinating displays and people more than willing to answer questions. There was something for everyone...exhibits for the beginner and for the avid gardener alike. There were displays of vegetables, flowers, garden ornaments, conservation, and much more. It was terrific and it was manageable. There was even a man dressed in lederhosen to advertise the upcoming OHA convention taking place...where else?...in Kitchener.

Even the food, in this case cupcakes (second last photo), looked like lovely flowers. The socks, were colourful and the pairs did not match...loved them so much I bought a some. Wish I'd purchased more. I laughed at the whimsical items that make people happy. The floral arrangements were colourful, simple, and obvious.

Finally, there were the signs. There were indoor signs and outdoor signs. Signs seem to be the modern way of expressing one's opinion and of sharing truths without really saying anything. These two signs caught my eye. One reminded me of a family member, and the other is obvious. If I am available in April, the Peterborough Garden Show will definitely become an annual event.

Cake Decorating 201...The End

As I said in my blog of July 18th, the final week of cake decorating, part two, required bringing an iced cake and learning the basket weave technique. We were also asked to bring our assorted flowers for atop the cake. I don't like flowers on cakes. I believe I mentioned that. I made some fondant and gum paste leaves and flowers and dried them for my design. These were easy to create using a press, and looked a little more fun than the usual cake topper roses.

Upon "googling" basket weave cakes, I found numerous examples of peoples' final cakes. Most were well done. All were topped with a random floral collection. Some decorators should have heeded the expression "less is more."

There had to be a way of making this cake look more interesting. I finally had an idea.

I baked the cake parts, a challenge in itself. Then I made the buttercream icing and tinted it a pale yellow.

I assembled a structure.

The buttercream wasn't co-operating, but I was able to smooth it eventually.

Can you guess yet? I told a baffled instructor that I was making an alien space ship.

Here's how my basket weave looked. It was a bit more challenging than I thought.

And, as everyone in class finished their lovely round white basket weave cakes with roses, lilies, daffodils, blossoms and buds all over the tops, we received our certificates.

                    

I packed up my certificate and gently placed my masterpiece in the cake box, I headed for home. Part 2, Wilton cake decorating course, done!

A better view of flowers. I have since added white polka dots to the blue hat ribbon.

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Cake Decorating 201

I am currently participating in the second part of the Wilton cake decorating course, entitled "Flowers and Cake Design". I hate flowers on cakes, they're common. But alas, I digress. The price and timing of the course were right. I needed some new skills. Today was week three of the four week course, learning how to make this sort of ugly thing.

In part one, I discovered that buttercream icing is nothing more than a slab of fat with icing sugar in it. I also learned some useful skills and eventually, I turned out a pretty decent cake of my own design. I was satisfied with the course, although I still lacked many skills at the end.

So far, in part two, I've found out that royal icing is not just gingerbread house glue. When fashioned into a shape and dried, you have a dried shape. Also, small amounts of coloured fondant mixed with gum paste can be used for making expensive flowers.

For three weeks, the class has been making an assortment of flowers. I wasn't clear on why except to learn how to make them. An overview of what was to happen during these four weeks would have been helpful, but alas, our directions each week were to make any colour of icing and green icing. If I had known why, I would have planned my colours more carefully. I usually created one or two flowers and eventually tossed them in the trash.  A few came home with me and are currently sitting in a dish on my buffet.

Today, I found out that we were supposed to keep the flowers, dry them all, and bring them to decorate a cake next week. Oops. The flowers above are gone. I have these left.

Tonight, I must plan my final cake and create appropriate replacement flowers so that they will dry by next Wednesday. I am resisting the temptation to make fairies, fruits or forest creatures out of my remaining gum paste and royal icing. The course is entitled "Flowers and Cake Design". I want my certificate but I don't want a boring flowered cake. Any ideas or suggestions? 

Passion For Purple Posies

I notice that I have gradually gone in a more purpley direction with my gardening. Nice colour. So many shades and nuances that some might call these hues pink or blue. I prefer to think of them as purple, amethyst, violet, plum, lilac or even puce. Here are a few samples of my plantings.