When I was a kid, I would go to Virginia with my mom for the months of July and August each year. We lived in NJ at that time. I was an infant the first time I went for a visit and went each year after that. My grandparents had two large fig trees in their back yard and they were against a high board fence where it formed the right back corner of the yard. They were large, brown figs. No special care was given them and they grew just fine over the years. When I was tiny, my grandmother would sit at the small table under the one window in the kitchen and peel the figs and put them into a bowl. As fast as she would be peeling them, I would be reaching up over the edge of the table and taking the peeled figs and eating them. I was never scolded for that--Such a sweet, patient grandma, she was. They laughed at the number of figs such a tiny girl could eat. We would go out and pluck them right from the trees when I was a little older. We would split open the fig skins and eat the pulp off the insides of them and toss the skins away. They were so good and sweet. One person recently said she thinks they may have been Brown Turkey figs because they were evidently cold-hardy, growing with no real care in Newport News, VA, which is on the DelMarVa Peninsula. I now live in Lafayette, LA and have two trees that I think are Celestes, but not sure. One tree came from a friend who went to the property where she lived as a child. They had a big fig tree there where several funny stories of hers came from. The house is gone now, but the big tree is still on the vacant lot. Several years ago, she went to visit the tree and dug up several suckers and took them home. She gave me one and I've named it, Legacy. It's a tough little tree. The other, I got when I went to a craft show here. I was buying some fig preserves and saw a little fig tree in a pot and asked if the man was selling fig trees because my first tree had to be dug up when we built a workshop out back and I missed it so much. He said he wasn't selling trees, that he had brought that one to Lafayette to give to someone, but the person never showed up and I could have it. When I asked him how much it was, he said to just take it. That would keep him from having to cart it back to North Louisiana with them. I've named that one, Lagniappe, which means, "The gift," or, "A little something extra." (Has anyone else ever named their fig trees?) Whenever my figs ripen, I go out back and pick some and when I'm savoring them, I think back to the wonderful times in VA, with my mom's family. Sometimes, I just go out and like to smell the leaves--They have such a special scent to them--Takes me right back to my visits in VA, as well.

My Marcella Hazan cookbook is still on the cookbook stand. I will often prop a cookbook open for several weeks to inspire and motivate me to cook from it. This weekend was a cake weekend and I made 3 cakes for a party. I had some people who will not eat frosting etc. So I made Marcella's Polenta Shortcake with Raisins, Dried Figs, and Pine Nuts. It was a delicious easy to make cake and not too sweet. I basically call this type of a cake a dump cake where everything basically gets dumped together, mixed and baked. Tastes even better today. All the ingredients. The coarse cornmeal and the breadcrumbs instead of flour to coat the pan was interesting. The cornmeal is cooked into a mush and mixed with the other stuff There was no leavening like baking soda or baking powder. The cake did rise a bit due to the single egg but was a firm and easy to cut into smaller wedges. The pinenuts and the fruit flavors were really enhanced by the sweetness of the fennel (the recipe called for 2 TBSP of it!).

Klc, my sister, mother and neighbor all have home ponds. My neighbor's is the largest with the largest waterfall. All three built their own (well, we kids built my mom's from a basic pond kit). It helps to know what you are doing and to select plants that filter. I'd take the fall to research the options-- but as tinam noted, a well-planned pond doesn't take a lot of maintenance once everything is in balance. My sister had a party last weekend and her pond was just breathtaking-- the lotus was in bloom .. and water hyacinth (which is an excellent filter for the top of the waterfall) was thick and bright. Definitely a showstopper. They collected their own river rocks for the waterfall so it looked much more natural than the faux stone ones. I would be surprised if you couldn't buy a basic pond and build your own fountain for under $500. All of their ponds have been designed to attract both butterflies and hummingbirds.. just enchanting and such a wonderful tribute to your niece. I don't know where you are located.. but another lovely tree is a weeping dogwood. It is so delicate and pretty-- and it creates one of those magical umbrella spaces that anele mentioned. I would also look into flowers with symbolic meaning. I have seen gardens that "tell a story" through the flowers and they are just lovely and have such sweet meaning that lasts through the years. Here is a link that might be useful: Symbolic meaning of flowers

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