Looking Back

It confuses me that mothers who don't breast feed, today are are unable to make and process their baby milk. I just cannot understand why the old way is supposed to be so bad for the little ones. (At least until the shortage of store-bought is readily available again.) 

My first child was born in 1956. My doctor was a pediatrician. When I came home from a week in the hospital (yes, they kept new mothers a week at least) I was given a formula to make up to feed her. I had to prepare this about every other day and it was a joy to see how easily it was consumed. I knew she would be just fine as long as I was sure to prepare and have enough on hand at all times. A year later my first son was born, and within fifteen months my second son arrived. Two years after, my second daughter arrived and I had lots of formula-making experience. They thrived!  They all thrived! I worked during those years and still had time for the milk to be processed at home. It only took about an hour to make a batch. 

The formula, as I remember it quite well, was one can of evaporated milk, 2  1/2 cups of cold tap water, and two tablespoons of clear Karo syrup. The process was to mix it all together and pour into 6 bottles. Then the bottles were inserted into a wire rack that was put into a special deep pan and filled with water that went about halfway up the bottle. The lid was put on and it was to boil about 30 minutes. It was called a sterilizer. After the 30 minutes the wire rack containing the bottles was lifted up and out to cool before putting the pre-sterilized nipples on them. Refrigeration was important after this. In the beginning the nipples didn't have twist on caps and had tabs to stretch over the opening. If the baby didn't get milk fast enough to suit it, a sewing needle was held in flame and then poked hot into the rubber to make the hole larger. After a couple of years nipples with caps and bottles with threads were used. 

Well, I did some searching on the internet and found a picture of the first bottles I had — then found a sterilizer with updated bottles. I also found some information regarding this old method. Funny how all of my kids and my friends' kids all thrived on this. In the current emergency of expensive canned baby powdered formula being difficult to find why can't the old method temporarily alleviate the problem? My opinion is that many mothers are too stressed for time, too dependent on prepared items, too lazy, and/or too ignorant.

Here is what I read: "Regardless of which types of feeding a family chooses for a new baby, most people today would never ever give their infants evaporated milk or Karo syrup. Yet these kinds of recipes are precisely what many mothers were sent home with.

However, use of early formulas was dangerous since sterilization of baby bottles and nipples was not yet commonplace."

I beg to differ!  It was commonplace in the 50's! It was all I  knew.

Fight Nice!

Have you ever really watched the actions of the little hummingbirds? Let me tell you they are fierce fighters! They are particular and they sure let me know where the bear poops in the woods.  (That is a term I have always wanted to use!) You see, one is THE GUARD.  Every year I try to put the wire trellis in "Henry" in anticipation of it helping to hold up whatever flower I plant there as the days get warmer. That trellis is the guard's lookout tower. After watching the action I always have to remove it. Funny to see him come back and seek his roost when it has disappeared. When he is there, no one ever gets to take a drink at the nearby feeder because he immediately attacks the thirsty innocent.

The other thing I notice is that ALL of them prefer the plain glass feeder with the four perches and plastic bottom. The globular one with the metal bottom and four perches in front of a yellow flower is one given to me from a granddaughter. It rarely has takers. They will look at it, fly right by and settle in on the other. I have tried switching the locations but the pretty one gets no takers anyway. I've hung it lower, higher, and moved it away from the other. Nope! I've even taken their favorite one down for a day but still they look for it then fly away without testing the only one left.  Soon I'll take it in and store it again as a pretty feeder that doesn't attract my little ones.

"Henry"

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Speaking of Dandelions

Come on! SOMEBODY make this! The blossoms this year are huge and perfect for plucking. I no longer have a crock and wouldn't be able to gather them but somebody out there really should give it a try!

https://youtu.be/QWnBYRDO5ds

Sunshiny Morning

It is still quite cool but the bright morning sun beckoned me out to take a buggy ride. I still had to put on a sweater and windbreaker and wear gloves but out I went! Although I took the camera there was very little to capture except for the images below. I took my time and stayed on the pothole-filled dirt roads in the area. I did see some pretty tulips in bloom but they were in a place where I couldn't ambulate so I sat still for a bit and enjoyed their many colors. The magnolia tree was on private land but I did manage to zoom in to capture the shots below. It was a huge tree and very beautiful.

On the last lap heading for home, way out in the lake, I saw three little Canada geese with parents bucking the windy waters. These goslings weren't evident until today. Further on I saw the male Mallard following the female. I'm sure there will be a brood of ducklings in a few days. I like my rideabouts!

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Great Day

Yes, it was! My youngest son arrived from Scranton on his motorcycle. It has been two years since he rode here and he brought a gift of a vintage victorian-wear ironstone watering pitcher in a blue chintz pattern. The tricky part was to get it here unbroken and he was relieved to see it in perfect condition when I unwrapped it.

It sure will come in handy when watering the freshly-planted mixed flowers that my daughter just arranged in the old planter in front. Her gift includes another plant that will be put in "Henry the Rooster" when it warms up some more here!

My older son and his partner drove from Stroudsburg for the day also bringing thoughtful gifts! They know how much I love the sweet sound of chimes. Well now I have a new and colorful one!

AND... a cowbell too! You should hear this one! DONG! (left)

Not to be outdone, his daughter - my granddaughter, sent something special for me as she is under quarantine having being exposed to the virus. I sure wish she could have visited and I look forward to seeing her soon. I am keeping this indoors because I know it will tangle due to many windy days experienced here. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet - the colors of the rainbow of course! The glass strands make a tinkling sound when moving. The driftwood from which they are attached is a lovely piece. All of these hanging treasures were put up for me immediately and energized my love.

After a lunch of my home made deviled eggs and tuna-mac salad I was a passenger as my youngest son took us for a ride on the new buggy. Then we gave it up to share the fun with the others who seemed to like the experience. There was no sitting on the porch as the chairs are gone for a power wash and the swing is still covered until the catkins (squigglies) have finished falling. 

My "Jersey Girl" sent me a virtual card that was a mind stimulating puzzle and I had fun with that. What a day!

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Mother

Her name is Pauline. She was an only child of parents who were in their forties when she was born in 1914! Her mother had been a school teacher in her early years and her father was an accountant. Her maternal grandparents were country folk. She married in 1934 and had four children. I was the oldest, then my brother arrived three years later, and then twin girls came in the next three years. She always favored the number 4. 

When she was 4 years old she survived the 1918 influenza pandemic, but it was a very close call. That pandemic took 50,000,000 lives worldwide, 675,000 occurring in the US and lasted two years. 

I remember that being 'proper' and considerate were always top of her good manners list. She was a teacher in her own right, and setting  examples came naturally. 

Now for my picture show..... I  hope you can see her goodness as I can! I realize how very fortunate I am to have had her.

1915

1917

1921

1931

1931

1944

1954

1980

1994

1999

2005

Please tap on image to see her outer and inner beauty!

Love is in the Air

First of all I was very excited to see that the hummingbirds are back at my feeder.  They seem to be very tiny and are taking long drinks.

The buggy took me for a nice rideabout this morning and love is in the air for sure! It is very noisy over there at a nearby farm with lots of squawking and chortling. There are chickens of many breeds and colors, and the numerous turkeys were making the most noise. These are all free ranging critters right on the lawn and grassy banks by the barn and the house. The farm has a sign out that it sells eggs and chicks. 

They are hilarious to watch and a joy. HOWEVER, I don't think it is a good idea to have free range turkeys and free range chickens on the same piece of land. From somewhere in my past I remember something about a disease that can spread from the chickens to the turkeys. I can't remember more but that memory comes from my time on farms with my dad. 

I did relent and pick some more daffodils for inside to keep the yellow fellows from drowning due to more rain forecasts. The double ones are so different! I love them all.

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Possibilities

I painted these stripes and proceeded to create a design. I do enjoy my time here, even though it is only experimenting and trying different options.