Just got off the phone with my daughter. They’re doing fine, thanks. I told her I was struggling to write a blog post and that it feels like a deadline, which it is. She commented that she can tell when I’m writing against the deadline; it’s a few words and a picture. Being my daughter, she also let me know that my writing is always good, but sometimes great; not every column can be Pulitzer Prize material.
I’m a little disappointed that I’m so transparent, but she’s right. I try to plan out each week’s report in my head by Saturday night. On Sunday morning I sit down and write it up in a couple of hours. Yeah, if there’s not a topic or idea in my head to start with, as frequently happens, it takes three or four hours of staring and writing and deleting and finally putting up a few words and some pictures.
So here it is…
The Daytrip got rained out, but we spent some time walking in our own woods, the one we call Solla Sollew…on the banks of the River Wahoo…
The Jrs. were here Saturday… I love this picture of Samantha laughing…
It’s pretty much all over for the Edibles, though there are still a couple of rows of green beans. The butterflies and goldfinches are still hovering around the zinnias, too. Finally the Mums are in Full bloom. Though today it’s supposed to be 85 and sunny, we probably won’t see the 80s again until next year. Gloomy rainy days are on the way, but even then the trees try to shine out with their yellows and reds…
We’ve continued to pull in veggies: the broccoli never recovered from the onslaught of whatever-those-worms-were, though they made a brave stand; The limas, too, just lollygagged along until there’s no more time left. The last two stands of green beans are going okay, so we’re putting off picking the as long as we can.
We usually travel in September and October, so bring it all in right after Labor Day. In this strange year, we’ve stretched the season out and it’s been a Work of Wonder and Joy…
I made a video… With so many pictures of All of the gardens, I had to focus on just the two: The Edible and the Peace/Bird Garden… The music is one of my all-time faves from the Ozark Mt. Daredevils…
It’s been a quiet week here at Sonnystone Acres. The Autumn weather is invigorating and I’m still cleaning up in the gardens, so I’ve soaked it up. I’m just a smidge away from saying we’re done with the Home winterizing, and glad of it.
Early voting starts at our libraries this week, so we’ll be there having our say, earning the right to complain later. Hope you’ll be planning to find a spot in line, too.
Since there’s not much to report, it seems like a good day to share a re-run of the video I made of Camp Sonnystone 2020. Put on your dancing shoes and take the Theme to Heart: We’re All in This Together!
I’ve been to an appointment with the eye doctor this morning. By the time I came out of the office the temperatures had dropped and there is a cold rain. Here at the Acres, we’ve got the fire burning and it’s cozy as a bug.
Busy all last week when it was sunshiney and warm, we finished putting the rock into the garden annex, giving it a more “finished” look. We still need soil, but that may wait until Spring.
I potted up the cilantro… I had thrown some seeds into the washtub planter about a month ago and there are eight nice plants. Basil, oregano, and thyme are all out on the porch now, too.
The mums are Finally opening…
We’re planning a day-trip up North to see some Fall colours. Covid cases are surging througout our state and I still see too many people not-wearing masks, so we’ll be taking a picnic lunch. I’m pretty impressed at how the safety precautions we have to take actually encourage a person to be more creative. There’s always a Bright Side, if you look…
We’re having such pleasant weather around the Acres. Down in the woodlands, the leaves are a mix of green, gold, and red. The buckeye tree in our side yard is always the first to drop its leaves, while the tulip poplars, maples, and birches take their time, giving us a nice show. The Dogwood trees are full of berries — I should say “were”; I watched as a flock of birds completely obliterated them in one feeding.
Last year my Peace/Bird garden was only a dream…here’s a pic from October 2019 and one from this year…
2019
2020
I’ve been annoyed and exasperated by Passwords… Mr. Google broke into my Browsing to announce that something like 16 of my passwords had been breached. They took me to the “Manage Passwords” page where I spent most of last evening.
First of all, Mr. Google wants to recognize my face, my fingerprint, my voice — all for My security, of course — but then still expects me to use a password, pin, and secret word of the day to access my own account. I confess, I use the same old password for most sites, but don’t fuss at me; they’re not sites where I allow my $$ info to be stored. My actual $$ accounts have individual passwords that seem Strong to me because I can actually Remember them and I Don’t let Mr. Google store them for me.
The others are a mess, though. Goog has kept Every Damn Password I ever used and lectures me about their weakness and overuse. So I sulkily changed what was Urgent, but it will take me a couple more Hours to actually Fix. In the meantime, they won’t keep me logged in to Anything — even google — and it’s a pain in the ass. This is why I never wanted any appliances with computer parts — can you imagine if the refrigerator suddenly required a log-in every time I opened it?
But it could be worse—remember dial-up?
Speaking of Worse, my new neighbors to the North moved in six months ago and I’m not saying They, the actual humans that are my neighbors, are worse then the previous owners, but… They brought in a Forest Grinder machine that Eats trees and shrubs and decimated their back acres, destroying the habitat of birds, deer, insects, critters of all sorts. The sound of it breaking and ripping the trees was dreadful and has greatly upset me. All along the north property line is barren and open down to the dirt. He did leave some larger trees, though and it looks better now that leaves are falling. Still, I grieve the displacement of the residents and feel like we have to make more room for them. Casey’s not too keen on planting trees down in the meadow, so I’m still thinking…
My genealogy research heated up this week when I discovered some 18th-century legal squabbling over a Last Will & Testament — some things never change. It’s always fun to find your ancestors’ names in a History Book, too, especially when it’s so unexpected. I had No Idea our family was so closely connected to Posey County. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow…
Back on June 18, I wrote this in my Garden Journal:
This is milkweed, Asclepias spp., the Only plant that monarch butterfly larvae can eat. It’s new this year, bought at the Zoo plant sale, and it might take a while to do its magnet thing.
Jo Mayne Casey, Garden Journal 6/18/2020
The Monarch butterflies had no problem finding it. For the last couple of weeks I have spotted monarchs munching on the zinnias and recently observed a couple of them feeding at the hummingbird feeder! When I checked the milkweek — Lo and Behold! monarch caterpillars have taken residence. So. Cool.
Slowly, but surely, the Edible Garden is being harvested.
The Birds are still wearing out the feeders, the migrants flocking in for baths, drinks, and grub. I’m watching the buds of the mums, which seem to be taking Forever to bloom…
Gardening involves quite a bit of waiting, but gives you plenty to do in the meantime. We’ve got the firewood brought up to the front porch and the outdoor furniture put in the cellar. The Fall Decorations are out. We’re eating well…
But I’m getting impatient, ready for the Proof of Autumn — mums in bloom..
Wow, did I choose a great time to retreat and refresh last week or what? Throughout what I Thought was going to be the most stressful part of the week — the debate — I was placidly reading, meditating/praying, conversing with like-minded Friends, and eating vegetable soup. Okay, my daughter did text during the boxing match…err, I mean, debate, that one of the participants (I won’t tell you which, but she referred to him as “he”) is a dick, but that only brought a chuckle.
By Wednesday evening when I turned my computer back on, I was feeling strong. Good thing, huh? But, hey, You didn’t click on this blog to read about all the Shit that has gone down since then. Wear a Mask, People!
I’ve got a problem today with WordPress, my blogging platform. They have changed the editing format twice in the 10 years I’ve been with them, but they never Forced me to switch from what they call the Classic. This morning, here I am unable to use the Classic and am faced with a whole new way to do things. I object. Here’s where my old-person-syndrome kicks in — “We liked it that way!” Still, the old way worked fine. It’s going to take me a long while before I figure out this new way, but in the meantime I’ve got to study and practice and make mistakes that delete half my work…
The Jr. girls were here for their Saturday Playdate with JoJo and we brought out the Puppet Theatre.
That’s all for now, dear Readers. I hope I can get this WordPress problem figured out…I don’t want blogging to become a Chore…but this new stuff is made for writers who want to make $$$. I’m not averse to making money (feel free to send me some), but that’s hardly my goal. I am so frustrated!!! It just took me ten minutes to figure out how to add the above picture and five minutes to figure out how to center the text below… but somehow centered this paragraph! I have spent an hour on posting this and haven’t really Written Anything! Arrgh…I’m going to need another retreat Very Soon…
I have spent hours watching the birds flock to the Bird/Peace garden. Especially since they started migrating south, the feeders have been packed with a variety of species just passing by, joining our resident cardinals, sparrows, wrens, titmice, chickadees, woodpeckers. The hummingbird feeder is being drained at record-pace.
I don’t think much about taking pictures when I’m bird-watching, but today I wanted to snap some shots for blogging and grabbed my Nikon with the long lens for the purpose. Lo and Behold! there were pictures on the camera from Spring when the rose-breasted grosbeaks migrated through.
rose-breasted grosbeak
rose-breasted grosbeak
Photos below were taken this morning…
resident cardinal couple
resident cardinal couple
We finished the melon-and-pumpkin-bed Addition… I have to brag that this cost us $0, built with leftovers from past gardens… It’s still a work-in-progress, of course, but I am very happy with it.
Last week…
This week…
It’s definitely fall here with high temps in the mid-sixties and plenty of sunshine. Out in the Edible Garden, there’s a mess of green beans, about a dozen green tomatoes, and nearly as many bell peppers to bring in so I can take down the plants. The broccoli and the late-sown beans are okay to stay for a while longer.
My words are not flowing this week, I fear. It’s Just that there’s No News. The week has been mundane, though filled with Appointments, grandkids, harvesting and the associated chopping, writing, reading, the occasional shower…just the everyday-life kind of stuff.
It’s that stuff, the ordinary, that brings the most Joy, though. I am so grateful to have each day that is given to me. As the daylight hours wane, I’ve felt the tug to soak each one with wonder and to feel the tilt and rotation and revolution of this orb we call Earth.
Too often my equilibrium is shaken by the intrusion of the World; in creeps Fear. You can’t stop it by pretending it’s not there — believe me, I’ve tried. I remember The First thing I learned in Nursing School back in 1971, written on the blackboard at the front of a room full of freshly-starched student nurses, “Man Fears the Unknown”…
That jarring phrase has kindled my compassion throughout the years, helping me to understand that all of us are fearful, even when we aren’t overtly feeling Afraid. Anxiety sets into our necks and shoulders, digs out a hole that must be fed by some numbing agent like food or wine, scrambles our thinking, makes us irritable, makes us sad.
It’s that damn Unknown… But what if we did know? Would that make us feel more or less stressed? Well, We Don’t Know. The Unknown is part of Living as a Human. It’s Everywhere.
I am Sure, though, that the antidote to Fear is Gratitude and its sidekick, Joy. Sometimes, though, I have to jump-start my Hope and let Fear know this: I am not in control, but neither are You. To that end, I’m planning a retreat this week to still my mind and prepare for the coming onslaught we’re calling the election. Retreating can be a valuable time to Refresh and Renew the Spirit, letting go of negativity and making room for positivity. The plan is to start Monday at sundown, finish Wednesday at sundown. I’ll study and pray with my Gurus, try some new healthy recipes, walk a new path, adopt a new perspective, and toss fear back into the lizard brain where it belongs… I hope,…but who knows?
I’m so grateful for this opportunity to Rise Above the noise and confusion sliming through the Streaming Universe… I hope I can go 48 hours without a fix of fear…
On the Equinox, we said a sad Farewell to Summer, 2020…one for the Memory Books now…and spoke a hopeful Welcome to Autumn…Batter Up! As we move through the Seasons, we always stop to take stock of what we’ve accomplished, where we learned, what ideas we have to improve…
We’re going to expand the Edible Garden to make room to grow watermelons and pumpkins and sprawl-y vine-y such fruits. With a little bit of tree-pruning, we’ll have an new 24 x 8 plenty-o’sun area for growing. The bed will be 16 x 4 and we’ll rock the rest for containers and so carts can still get through. It will, of course have to be fenced so the critters don’t trash it, but we happen to have Just Enough fencing to re-use and the same gate will be moved to the south end. That sounds a bit confusing, but here’s the first of the “Vision” and I’ll keep you informed as it comes together.
We brought in two of the four remaining tomatoes, netting about a dozen small nearly-ripe fruits. Otherwise, the Edible Garden hasn’t changed much in the past week.
It was perfect weather yesterday to divide the Rudbeckia in the Peace/Bird Garden. We moved out all of the remaining daisies and shuffled the coneflowers around, too. Remember how my original plan was to have all natives in this garden? Well, as soon as the mums bloom and fade, we’ll remove them, leaving all Natives with space for more next spring…almost like I planned it that way, but we know better…
Before
After
Fall is in the air, all right, with Super weather for just Being Outside…I’m really digging it…
The News from Sonnystone Acres 