Posted in Sunday Report

Hummingbirds and Gershwin

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

We’ve been keeping hummingbird feeders filled for 30-some-odd years now, but retirement has given us plenty of time to study them. Right now, our feeders are constantly bombarded with dozens of the flying jewels, kamikazi-ing each other and fighting, buzzing and squeaking, and devouring the sugar-water.

One of many videos from our bird cam…

It’ started a couple of weeks ago, when the males from up north got the signal to start heading down to Central America. By now, many of the females and young ones have started on their way, all of them requiring astronomical amounts of energy/nectar. Though we see dozens at one time, morning and evening, these fascinating birds don’t flock together – each one travels alone. Somehow they find their way there and back. We’re well-marked as a stagecoach stop enroute, and I’m serving up their favorite sugar-water.

Casey’s been sealing the blacktop on our driveway, so I’ve been kind of stuck here at the house, taking care of the gardens, but trimming and harvesting a few edibles hasn’t filled my days.

I have an old, falling-apart book of piano tunes called, “That’s entertainment” that I’d picked up somewhere and never really looked at. It’s chock-full of songs from Old musicals or movies, including “If I only had a brain”, “Get Happy”, and lots of Cole Porter and even a version of “Rhapsody in Blue”- just the piano part that goes “da-da-da-daaa, da-da-da-da-dadadadadada” – beautiful chords that always pluck my heartstrings. I haven’t got it perfected yet, maybe never will, but it brings me such joy to play piano, that I was immediately cheered…and challenged…

Next week is filled with appointments, something I usually don’t like, but I’m ready to get out of here! In fact, I’ve been fantasizing about going back down to DisneyWorld one more time before our Annual Pass expires in October. Am I being Inspired by the hummingbirds to head south for The Mouse? Is that what those chirpy sounds are conveying?

Look out for the hummingbirds in your neck of the woods!

Peace

Posted in Sunday Report

Forty-seven years!!!

Posted on by Jo Mayne Casey

To celebrate our wedding anniversary yesterday, we spent the day hanging out, looking back at 47 years of good times, mostly, with a theme of “we could never have imagined (fill in the blank) back then – from tech to grown kids to grown grandkids – so much has changed, especially us. As we each evolved individually, our relationship grew stronger and we each made an effort to accommodate the other’s differences. We’re quite comfortable and content, but still growing even now. I could never have imagined how sweet this feels. Here’s hoping we have many more anniversaries!

Instead of going out to eat, I fixed a lovely steak, mashed some taters, cooked up the last of the green beans, and sliced tomatoes. We topped it off with pecan pie and were properly stuffed by the end of the day.

The garden is still keeping us fed, but it’s on its last lap. There’s a good dozen or so tomatoes still ripening, only 3 bell peppers on the vine, and four butternut squash.

I grow my herbs in pots. Basil is my favorite, and I have asian, red rubin, lemon, tower, and sweet varieties. I harvest/repot only the sweet and it was time to bring them down to size.

Here in Eville, it’s Back-to-school-time, which I consider a great opportunity for changing routines, adding new goals, re-setting my energy expenditures, making some plans…

I’ll be dreaming up fresh schemes out on the front porch swing…

Stay cool in your neck of the woods!

Peace

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