Posted in Grandies, Summer at Sonnystone

Almost Camp Sonnystone…

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

This visit from Emma and Eliza has been so wonderful. Every morning we were up at 7:38, driving through Donut Bank for crullers and cookies (and a chocolate-covered long john for PawPaw), a tradition founded several years back. They tanned in the pool when the UVs were right. We traipsed out to the mall, ate lunch at my go-to restaurant, Bru Burger, and saw ToyStory5 (I cried).

The Forever sign was finally decorated, and the NYers restored the Grateful sign.

We went to the races and thanks to Eliza’s clever bets, nearly broke even!

Yes, Jojo requires manual labor from her grandies…They’ve been shucking corn since they were big enough to shuck corn (and snap beans, too).

Our visitors included my friend, the girls’ Aunt Dee, my niece, Lauren; my cousins Lori, Haley, and baby Saylor Reese, and everybody seemed to have a great time watching Emma dance. Thanks, y’all!

We recreated the pictures from the past — We’ve been taking these swing pictures, and arm pictures for about 10 years! I’ll have to put them all together for you some time.

To top off a Great Visit, PawPaw got a campfire going and we made s’mores…

I guess I’m about as Grateful as a Human can Be.

Also exhausted…

Hope you’re resting well in your neck of the woods!

Peace

Posted in Descendants & Ancestors

On This Day 100 years ago

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

It’s been a great week with my NewYork girls! Today we’ll be entertaining Aunties and Cousins, taking final group pictures on the swing, and fixing our Forever sign, so it will be just a blink before we find ourselves hugging these sweeties good-bye on Sunday.

You could guess that I talk about our ancestry with the grands whenever I can, so Emma and Eliza were held hostage the other night as I read to them about my grandparents, Verla Ruth and Robert A. Mayne. It was almost spooky when I read that they had married on August 8, 1926–100 years ago today.

Writing their story was some of the most engrossing research I have ever done. My grandfather was the Big Mayne Family Secret, not to be spoken of. My grandmother lived to be 90 and I knew her well, but she did not want to talk about it. My Dad finally spoke of him when he was dying.

It’s a Tragic Story, this one, and I thought you might like to read it. It was published on my family genealogy blog, All My Ancestors, in 2022.

Bob and Verla and Bobby,too
Bob, Verla, Bobby 1940-1945

I don’t know what to think about an ancestor like my grandfather. It took us two generations to undo his damage.

I’m so Grateful that my grandchildren won’t have to be saddened when they read my life story.

I hope your story is a happy one, too!

Peace

P.S. Thanks again to all the new subscribers! I’ll be sharing photos from the grandies’ visit next week and get back to regular posting!

Posted in Summer at Sonnystone

Oh, my goodness!

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

While we were traveling toward Ohio to pick up the New York Girls, my post “Reading and Writing on the World Wide Web” was featured on Freshly Pressed. I am thrilled, but inundated by Likes and Comments – more in 48 hours than I’ve received in 20+ years of blogging! Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you!

I am excited to visit all of your blogs, but right now my girls are with me….

So I might be slow reciprocating your kindness, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you!

I’ll be sharing the upcoming week’s events with you as we go, so I’m glad you’ve joined us!

Thanks again and I’ll be back soon!

Peace

Posted in Throwback Thursday

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

There will be celebrating next week here at the Acres, and You are Invited! In a rare occurrence, all four of my lovely granddaughters will be together with me! Emma and Eliza will be visiting from Monday through Friday

The dance floor will be set up so the Ees can do their party tricks. We’re going to the races on Friday! I’m excited to see ToyStory5 with them! We’ll eat green beans and new potatoes, tomatoes, cucumber salads, corn-on-the-cob, and fried chicken. Donut Bank for crullers and coffee every morning and ice cream every night for a bedtime snack.

I’d love to see you! Let me know when’s a good time for you and we’ll try to accommodate.

Though I’m so excited, I’m also a little bummed. For months I’ve been planning to go to the Dublin Irish Festival this weekend. Alas! It was not meant to be.

First of all, it’s going to rain the entire week-end. That would normally not stop me, but husband is suffering with an abscessed tooth. Just between you and me, I’d probably drag him along anyway if it wasn’t raining. But it is definitely going to lay down about an inch and a half of precip on Saturday, so we’ve opted to hand over our reservation to the daughter and her Irish dancers. They will be at an indoor Feis, so rain does not affect their plans. >sigh<

Don’t cry for me, dear readers! Though Casey will be busy with dentists next week, I’ll be wallowing (or as we say in southern Illinois, wallerin’) in the love of my grandies!

Last year we were able to spend a couple of hours at the Dublin OH Irish Fest before the NewYorkers’ visit, inspiring me to go for the full experience. We’ll try again next year.

Here’s what we did last year…

A paragraph & A photograph (or 2)

Peace

Posted in Monday Musings

Join the Band…

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Met up with a friend for lunch and conversation today. You’ll have to take my word for it since not a single selfie was snapped. We’re both gorgeous, though, trust me. Actually, the most gorgeous thing at the table was the bread pudding that we devoured.

Back at Sonnystone we decided we needed to form a band, as she plays guitar, I’ll do the keyboards, and her sister (also my soul-sister) will sing. Most important, of course, is the Name: “It don’t matter…” This band will be a big hit in my imagination, I just know it!

I hope you enjoyed your day, also!

Peace

Posted in A Day at the Races

Back at the track

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

The humidity has been nil the last couple of days, so we ran out to our local thoroughbred racetrack to take some pictures. I lost $2 the first race and didn’t bet anymore, but Casey cashed in a couple of tickets.

The place is still a bit of a dump, but it does look like they’re trying to keep up with the aging facility. I guess the new concrete pillars holding up the grandstand had to be done first and there are new concession signs. Besides, I don’t really want it to be too nice – the vibe has always been a little seedy, like a familiar, neighborhood dive bar.

There’s a carnival-like atmosphere…

The Clubhouse and Sky Theatre are fancy restaurant/bars upstairs in the a/c, but unless it’s a heat index over 100, we’ll probably be in what we call the tunnel,

but ready to stand out at the finish line in the sweltering sun to cheer our horses in.

Last year when the NewYorkers were here, it was so hot that they had to cancel the races for the good of the horses. That broke a decades-long tradition of annual family trips to the track. The Irish Dancers will be visiting in a couple of weeks, so fingers crossed we get back to the old ways…

Hope you’re winning in your neck of the woods…

Peace

Posted in Throwback Thursday

Step into the Way-Back Machine

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Seven Years ago… Just check out how my grandies have grown!

Monday’s News

Hope your memories are as happy as these!

Peace

Posted in Topical Tuesday

Reading & Writing on the WorldwideWeb

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I started my first blog in 2004 as an add-on to my daughter’s WordPress account. WordPress was a baby, having started in 2003. It was fresh and new, and clunky, and the blogging phenomena was trending. My writing grew with it, and as I got comfortable with sharing my thoughts, I kept up with the changes, and adjusted to the costs. Today WordPress powers 40% of the internet’s website, not only blogs and magazines, but also business landing pages, e-commerce stores, and major media outlets.

Substack started in 2017, but became very popular in 2020 when we were all having our Covid-creativity. It is an email newsletter platform, so when an author publishes a blog, it goes directly into a subscriber’s email inbox. Key word there is subscriber. You have to subscribe, as in give the author your email. You are offered certain levels of subscriptions, from free, to $5-$10/month, or $100/year or whatever.

Nowadays, it’s rare that you can get all of the author’s writing without coughing up some paypal. And it’s frustrating as heck, because you go along reading and it suddenly stops you and says, want to read the rest? gimme $5. I don’t. Holding your reader hostage for the end-of-story seems unsporting to me, so I’m outta there.

The most striking change to Substack came in 2023 when they put in a thing called Notes. It turned the place into social media. There is a lot of engagement there, lots of engagement. If you want community, there’s your spot. I am an introvert, even online, so I don’t care for it. Everyone seemed calm, and my algorithm had matched me well with interests, but it is not pretty, and seemed cold.

I came back to my good ol’ WordPress Reader and felt at home again. I hit the discover button and subscribed to a few new, inspiring, pretty blogs. There are some really good wordsmiths out there, writing real good for free.

Why would I want to use Substack instead of WordPress? I thought perhaps I’d republish my ancestry blogs and make some new friends who enjoy genealogy. When I first checked out the site, I was amazed at how many well-known authors and pundits were using it. The elite clientele was attractive – what if one of my idols followed my blog??? I was reading some good writing and felt both inspired and intimidated.

However, the whole learning-a-new format seems like Work, and I’m retired…

As far as growing my audience, well, I’m happy with y’all.

Did you know that if you subscribe to my blog (see the above and to your right button) you can get my posts sent directly to your mailbox?

It’s free…

Peace

Posted in Summer at Sonnystone

A Simple Sunday Report

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

Hey! I didn’t mean to be gone so long, so thanks for hanging in here. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been processing some personal matters, changing some routines, and obsessively navel-gazing while I floated in the pool. I’ve got things sorted out (I think), and a decent tan, to boot.

When not ruminating, I’ve been in the garden. The weather has been whimsical, rainier than usual, therefore more buggy. The cucumbers loved it, producing dozens of fruits that I’ve made into delicious salads.

The cantaloupes teased us, but the rains were just too much for them. The butternut squash are all that’s left along the trellis now, so I planted some moonflower and morning glory to fill in, fingers crossed. The green beans are ready to start harvesting; they are a new variety to me that will rebloom, allegedly.

So far the tomatoes aren’t showing signs of blossom end-rot, but I’m carefully watching several dozen better boys and lots of cherries. The peppers are about half-and-half, but the rains kept pummeling their flowers, so if it would just stop, they can have a second flush. The zucchini are a failure. Prone to powdery mildew anyway, their position in the back was deadly. I’ve saved three or four of them, but I think we’ll be buying our squash at the farmers market.

When I’m making my way through liminal spaces, gardening is the perfect place to Be Here Now, planting, trimming, watering, feeding, not-thinking.

I’ve been doing a lot of online reading – is that what we call it? – and I want to talk about blogging, writing, and particularly Substack, but not today. Today is just a Simple Sunday Report, but watch this space.

Hope you’re enjoying Summer in your neck of the woods…

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report, The Gardens of Sonnystone...

Drenched

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

I was so heartened to see the sun this morning! After three dark days of severe storms, I was whining that I’d never seen such torrential rains in all my born days, and now I am validated to find that I never had. Eville received about 4.5 inches of rain – or up to 6 inches in some areas – over the last 3 days, which broke a century-old daily rainfall record yesterday. This morning another downpour moved through, dropping 3/4 inch!

I moved most of the containers in from the garden after the first day of monsoon.

As you would expect, this will delay some fruiting in the Edible Garden, but their foliage is dandy.

The only visible damage from the onslaught is in the Peace/Bird Garden, where the hollyhocks broke over.

Many flower petals are on the ground, but the the phlox shines on.

The storms have moved on now, and the sun is serving up a sweltering, sweaty, heatwave as the mud dries. We’ll be opening up the pool area and staying as cool as we can.

You stay cool over at your place, dear reader!

Peace