Keepin' Busy

I am very happy that my seeding projects are quite successful. It's been a very long time since I grew flowers from seeds. First it was poppies, and today the zinnias have opened. I can't wait to see what the larger poppy buds will reveal. Go Poppy!

Now for the colorful zinnias... my dad always planted these but not such a tall variety.

How about both views of the sunflowers? Back and front.

Then I went for a quick rideabout the lake and found these in a neighbor's roadside garden plot. 

I would like to sow seeds again next year. Just gotta get through another winter!

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Finding Flowers

As I left home this morning I remembered to take buggy up on the side lawn to get a shot of my sunflower. The soil came from my daughter and her compost pile is under a bird feeder. There is another one started by the Mother's Day plant she put together for me. I hope it grows tall like the one up back!

Here I go down the road to check on the mullein that is growing its bud stalk. There is something special about this plant. (especially the leaves!) Do research and see what you can find! This is what I have known since I was young: Many tribes employed the use of mullein leaf tea for coughs, colds and rheumatism. They considered it to be analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic and expectorant. The astringent and demulcent properties of the leaf tea were found useful in cases of diarrhea. Civil war soldiers, cowboys and Indians all used the soft leaves for toilet paper!   Mature plants can grow 5—10 ft. in height!

As I travel I see many types of farm equipment at rest. It's early in the day. 

The first thing I see is that the little blue spruce tree is again being taken over with the wild sweet pea! It is a pathetic looking tree all bare and surely dying before they overcome it each year.

AND....They are everywhere alongside the dirt roads!

I came across a rose bush with very small blooms. Colorful and quaint!

The Bindweed is everywhere!

And there are wild roadside bright orange lilies without the stripe on the petals.

The elderberry bushes are full. Soon there will be tons of berries for jellies and juices!

I have no clue as to whether this is a misplaced peony plant but there are many small blooms hiding in the weeds along the edge of the road.

Even though my buggy is very quiet, I still haven't seen any critters except one dead snake! Maybe I should venture further!

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Red Ball

I'll tell you about the pulsating red ball the best that I can. It happened in the 60's. Background first. When we bought and moved into a two story Cape Cod style home in North Jersey, the upper floor had been made into an apartment and a very nice young couple with two or three (I forget) children lived there with their own private stairway, bathroom, kitchen sink, bedroom and living room. In the basement we both had our own washing machines and it worked out very well for a couple of years. They moved into a larger place after another child was born and we rented the apartment twice more to two more young couples, each with a child. We did just fine living in the downstairs area with a front room, a large room that held four beds, a small bedroom for us and a nice kitchen.

After our family grew from four children to six, and the apartment lease ran out, we decided to move the older children upstairs. In the upper front room was a double window and a TV that sat in front of it was enjoyed by them; we had our own TV in the large room downstairs which had been turned into a living room. I believe the year was 1968.

One summer night around dusk, there was screeching from upstairs. The children had seen something. This is how they described it: A BIG RED GLOWING BALL was in the sky just outside the window. Then it wasn't there anymore at all.  By the time we went up they were babbling about what they saw and very frightened. We saw nothing out there. In trying to calm them I got the idea to have them draw what they saw. I got some good sized paper and sent each to a separate corner of the room with a few crayons. Both of the younger children drew almost the same thing and both chose red crayons without prompting I might add. The older children didn't care to draw and continued to look out the window in case it returned. It didn't. The results of the drawing were shocking - to me at least! In further questioning all agreed that there was NO sound coming from the big red bright ball.

To me this was an authentic phenomenal and undocumented, unidentified event. It was abrupt and extraordinary, especially after the drawings were handed to me. I saved them for many years and eventually passed them on to the children who saw and created the images. They still remember the event but don't remember where their images are. Oh well, I shall draw replicas and try to show you my memory of the artwork. Pretend they are crayon drawings by 8 and 10 year old children. Remember they were glowing! Ever wonder if we are alone in this universe? I do.

The Mister did something soon after that they will always remember. We had a backyard pool. After all had quieted down, he got the long handled net skimmer tool and reached it up to the second floor window and waved it in front. Well, you can guess that we had scared kids again!

Home Free Part 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since several readers aren't familiar with the game I mentioned in the first part, I've described it here. I think we made it up!

Explanation of Children's Game:

The sing along:

Johnny drilled a HOLE

in the telephone POLE

And SOMEBODY

STUCK

their finger IN!

One kid either volunteers or is chosen to be Johnny and another kid either volunteers or is chosen to be the telephone pole.

The telephone pole kid puts his head, covering his eyes, on his folded arms while leaning forward on the real telephone pole. 

The Johnny kid goes round and round in a circle shape with his index finger on the middle of the telephone pole kid's back while the surrounding group sings the chant.

When Johnny gets to the point in the song where they all shout IN! someone from the group gives a hard poke on the telephone pole kid's back. 

The telephone pole kid turns around and has to guess who poked. If he guesses correctly, then the poker kid has to be the pole and the pole kid gets to be Johnny. This goes on until the telephone pole kid guesses correctly who poked him. 

Every time they start over, they all sing and take turns being the poker.

(The telephone pole kid will have a very sore back if he can't guess the poker after many pokes!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~You may be wondering why I am writing about my experiences between the age of 9 and 13. The explanation is simple. I feel compelled to put them in writing to free my mind. They will linger there and annoy me until I do this. These memories will then return to their deep and dark recesses because they have now been released. Living in the present will return and peace will dwell here.

I don’t want you to think of my neighborhood in any way negatively. It was not in a city, it was not suburbia as it is known today. Our life and customs were very much country or “rural.” When I refer to street, it was a narrow, tar and gravel paved road that fronted our homes. 

A bit down the road was a good sized dairy farm. “Hollow Hill Farm” was thoroughly gone through and we often played in the hayloft. Through the back of the block we could venture into a large horse pasture where a hackney horse farm was located. At “Seton Hackney Farm” we played in the pastures and the stream.

Up the other way of the main road was a local dump which we delved into often, finding “treasures” to bring home. Next to the dump was a large pond for fishing and ice skating. Next to the pond was the firehouse. Behind the firehouse, was a rough curvy path with exposed tree roots to hop over. It led through the woods and fields to our school. We walked and ran to and from school taking this shortcut. 

Directly across from the beginning of my street were acres of woodland - deep and dark and enticing. We explored them thoroughly and played “war” among the fallen logs and trees. 

The house I grew up in was a three bedroom two-story frame home built in 1929. I'll wager that my parents didn't pay more than $2,000 or less for it in 1939 when we moved there. The average cost of a new house in '39 was $3,800!   source 
In 2007 It sold for $485,000!!!!!!! Here are Google photos of it in September 2013. 

It used to have a huge maple tree in the front yard and barberry bushes lined the sidewalk. Climbing the tree and jumping the bushes were actions performed by all of the gang. Behind the garage we had chickens and rabbits in large coops. They weren't pets - they were future dinners. The neighbor next door had pigeons galore in a wire cage that went over the entire backyard and was attached to the trees. All neighbors had a dog or a cat or several of each. We knew where puppies and kittens came from.

The home at the end of the street had a large Beech tree that endured our activities. We nailed steps to the trunk, had nailed board “rest areas” and attached pulley ropes for mothers to send up foods in the bucket kept at the bottom. We often climbed very high and it was an easy venture as the limbs were very accommodating. Sometimes there were four of us all up there together. We carved our initials in its bark.

Home, Sweet Home

This is what we came home to, thanks to an awesome and very thoughtful daughter! There was also a homemade apple crumb pie and a macaroni cheese casserole in the refrigerator just waiting to be devoured at tonight's supper. We are so fortunate, yes we are. Home is where the heart is, for sure!

Click image to taste the apples -  Macoun, of course!

That is a squash by the way and she says they are really good!

Springtime Photos Around Home

Today's Photos...

Hosta

Sedum, Iris, Lilly of Valley

Underwater Walkway

"Step Right In"

Clothesline Shadow

"Bright Shadow"