TABLE OF CONTENTS
Issue 2
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR By Sissy N. Hurst
Welcome to Sissy's Life and Garden! I'm so glad you dropped by. I hope you enjoy our stories. We look forward to hearing yours, too. That's one of the wonderful things about the Internet: It's interactive- a virtual version of talking over the fence or on the porch. Here, we can share stories about life in the South as no other website can do.
Southerners love to talk -even we talk a little slower than anywhere else on earth, I believe. (I wonder if a study has ever compared number of words per minute uttered by different languages/dialects. Do you know?) Conversations usually cover four basics of living in the South. One is family. Two, the weather. Third, what's for dinner. And number four, the yard or garden.
THE BISHOP HOUSE: MODERN VERSION OF A TIMELESS CLASSIC By Lisa Rolen
If you're out on a country drive, just outside of Chilhowie, Va., you might be lucky enough to come across the home of Kyra and Tom Bishop nestled at the base of the Appalachian Mountain range. It isn't what you expect to find at the bottom of Mount Rogers and the distant White Top Mountain. The area is sparsely populated, and just when you think you know what the area is about, there it is--a beautiful, stately Greek Revival plantation house situated high on a bluff. Upon closer inspection, though, it looks to be in excellent shape--no dilapidation around the edges telling the story of centuries. Then it hits you: this is a new house that has been made in the spirit of our young and proud country.
In building the house, the Bishops culled the best of the South's architectural heritage as a reference, then adapted the best technology and techniques available to bring their dream house to life. Full of the enthusiasm that comes from following a true passion, Tom and Kyra reveal their devotion to craftsmanship as they guide visitors through the house, recounting stories and pointing out special details.
DON'T QUIT NOW By Virgil Adams
There are a number of things that separate a real gardener from one who just plays around. Question: Do you enjoy putting a garden to bed for the winter as much as you do waking one up for spring? If your answer is yes, you are on the right track. You are not far from being a real garderner. Gardening is not just a spring fling. It is a love affair that lasts all year, and there are as many things- exciting things - to do out there in the back yard in the fall and winter as there are in the spring and summer.
Yeah, I know. The temptation to do nothing this time of year is a tough one. It has been a long, hot, and dry summer. You've canned enough beans and tomatoes, frozen enough corn and peas, and put up enough pickles. You're tired. Why not quit?
Please, don't do it now. I can think of several reasons to "stay the course" (where did I hear that?) a little longer. Leave the "Back Forty" like it is now, and several bad things could happen. - Old vegetable plants, which look dead at the tops, are alive at the roots and will go on sapping fertility and moisture for weeks to come- fertility and moisture that next year's veggies could use. -The old plants will be a haven for insects above ground and nematodes below ground. -Disease organisms will thrive on both the tops and the bottoms.
VALENTINE'S DAY CHOCOLATE FIX By Emily Battle
Choose your vice: Four brownie recipes to help you get your Valentine's Day chocolate fixChocolate is everywhere this month. From the red-wrapped mystery sweets in the drug store to the Food Network personalities telling you to go rub a pork loin with a cocoa-infused mix, you can pick from a large variety of ways to incorporate the supreme bean into your cuisine.
As for me, I'll bypass a cold box of chocolates any day for a warm, gooey pan of brownies.
Brownies, in fact, were my gift of choice this past Christmas. I made them for my boss, for my hairdresser, for my mechanic and for the occasional friend who dropped by unexpected with a gift.
WHY I WOULD NEVER By Emily Meade Strong
I've sworn since I was an uber-hip, know-it-all teen that I'd never write one of those geeky, family Christmas letters- too minivan, too suburban, too conformist for me. As an optimistic mom who desired to be different from everyone else, I also vowed I'd never be a soccer mom. But every Monday evening and Saturday morning, I get to eat crow as I drive my daughter to practices and games. Ah! The deceiving promise of "I'll never..."
While some cultures practice long periods of isolation for new mothers, our right of passage from womanhood into true motherhood comes in the form of the infamous, time-honored cornerstone of holiday tradition - the annual Christmas letter
BIG TOM BLOODY By Mary Ellen Miller
Several years ago, when Bristol's Bill King and his wife Ruth headed out on one of their many business trips to England, there was nothing they missed more from the States than their regular Sunday morning Bloody Mary.
"Ruth and I usually have one every Sunday morning when we come home from church," says King, a one-time clothing maven and a partner in Ruth King Antiques.
"We really enjoy having a Bloody Mary with our eggs Benedict. We had never found a good mix in England, and we used to take our own powder with us. Finally, one day in 2001, we were at the Oddbins [liquor] store, just down from Harrod's, and I asked the clerk, �Don't you have anything to make a decent Bloody Mary?' As King tells it, the clerk said "yes," and brought out the Big Tom Spiced Tomato Drink. Even though King left for the United States the next day, he was so taken with Big Tom's taste that he steamed the label off the bottle before catching his plane. A short time later he became the Big Tom importer and distributor for the United States.
NOVEMBER DITCH GARDENING By Mark Stith
Most people see roadside fields and ditches as filled with weeds. I see them in a different way: I see them in my garden. Here's how- and why.
The feathery plumes of grasses, corn-dog cattails, and bright berries can brighten up my garden in so many ways. Clipped and used in wreaths, dried arrangements, or dramatic accents in container gardens, they can add lots of seasonal sparkle. However, there are a few tricks. Here are the secrets to making them look their best.
EXHIBITS AT THE WILLIAM KING REGIONAL ARTS CENTER By Sally Jordan
Abingdon, Virginia-"Look Here: Feast" from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts "explores the relationship between food and art in cultures around the world," and the small, thoughtful collection of items forces the viewer to see somewhat disparate objects in a new light. A 19th century bronze sculpture by Antoine-Louis Barye of a boa constricting an antelope is in the same room with a pair of stunning Art Nouveau silver serving pieces, and an exquisite painting of an East Indian fowl hunt. "Feast" catches one off guard, because only one piece in the show depicts food that the viewer could actually eat on the spot-a lush array of fruit by Severin Rosen. (Braque's still life is too Cubist, and Chase's fish, though stunning, are too raw.)
