hortus conclusus

  Here’s to moms and motherhood!  I know I am grateful for my beautiful mother and grandmothers and for all the other mother figures in my life. My gorgeous mother and her equally lovely mother are pictured on the left. Here’s wishing everyone a day filled with joy and family and sunshine. IN honor of my mother, who likes dirt and growing things, I am wearing Jo Malone’s wild fig and cassis, which on my skin smells like peat, grass, and hay,  with a little fig and cream thrown in. It is like wearing a hug, which I need, since my mom lives on the other side of the country. It is a lovely green which manages to stay warm and enveloping while retaining its greenness throughout.  A truly eloquent composition.   Well, enough about me and my smells. Children, go call your mother and mothers, enjoy being called! Life is very short!

To me, there is nothing more comforting than spice; on my skin or inside of me, it makes no difference. I associate it with comfort, family, and delicious baked things. I am not a great baker, usually preferring to cook things rather than bake them, but my sister has inherited my mother’s knack for creating gorgeous grainy foodstuffs. I begged her to give me her recipe for the most incredible granola; she says she has basically been living off of it this entire semester.  She says  “I go to a grocery store where I can buy all of the ingredients in bulk--it's the cheapest way I think.” Here is her recipe for granola: “1 cup canola oil 1/2 cup water 3 T molasses  1 cup packed brown sugar 6 cups oats 2 cups finely shredded unsweetened coconut 1 cup sliced almonds 3/4 cup sesame seeds 3/4 cup walnuts 1 cup pumpkin seeds 3/4 cup peanuts 3/4 cup sunflower seeds 1 1/4 cup powdered milk 1 1/14 cup all-br...