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The Last Missive of June…
Summer moves in…
It was a Good week here at the Acres, even though we didn’t see the sun until Thursday. Samantha came over for a piano lesson on Monday, and Nova did a beautiful job singing at the EMA Recital.
I was up early today so I could get some work done in the garden before the heat index becomes dangerous. The edible garden stays in dappled shade until noon and it was pleasant for a couple of hours before the humidity crept in like a kudzu vine, activating every sweat gland on my body – and I think I have been over-endowed with sweat glands. I managed to plant some pole beans along the arbor in the spots where our watermelon shriveled, and a couple of areas where the cantaloupes are stunted, then did some work on our washtub containers, which were flooded during the Monsoon Days.
The Edible Garden is thriving…
The middle picture is of our “early girl bush” tomato, a determinate that currently has eleven tomatoes on it and another half-dozen flowers coming on! I’ve never grown them before — hope they taste good!
The Peace/Bird Garden looks lovely, as well…
All of the books that were in the family room have been moved into the living room and we are very close to pulling up the carpet.
We had planned on this project being done by now, but the cataract thing changed things up. It’s worked out great, though, as the Heat Dome keeps us indoors.
Stay cool, dear Readers!
Peace
Celebrate Dads and Grand-daughters!
Our #3 grand-daughter, Eliza Belle Mayne Jose, graduated from 8th grade on Thursday. She will continue on to 9th grade at the same school, Avenues The World School, so it’s called a “Stepping Up” celebration. We watched on Vimeo and I wasn’t much impressed with the videography, but when my beautiful grandie walked up to pick up her certificate, I felt that overwhelming surge of emotions where your heart swells up and pushes tears out of your eyes. I love this girl more that words can say – well, you know that. When she was little, we would do a pretend morning show together. She was the OG musical.ly and would often facetime me so I could watch her latest choreography, usually to music that made me blush. She was born with a fabulous sense of fashion and she’s the one who I consult on which sneakers to buy. I’ll get to see her at the end of July and I can hardly wait.
Happy Fathers’ Day to all the Dads out there! I had a good one, but he’s been gone 28 years now. He would visit me every Wednesday, an event we dubbed “Music Night”. He would play the uke and we’d sing; he’d have me play the piano and we’d sing; I’d play some good tunes on the stereo and we’d sing.
We also drank and smoked and talked and laughed and sometimes argued, but we’d always end up singing. I haven’t done much singing since he died and my voice has gone to hell, but in my mind those harmonies still play.
Had my second cataract removal on Tuesday and it’s gone well – not as well as the right eye – but every day is more clear. I expect I’ll be seeing a lot of fog soon, anyway.
“Surely we’ve had enough rain this week to last us a couple”, I wrote last week. Surely we did, but the ever-whimsical Spring disagreed and brought us a deluge of four inches on Friday, another 1.5 on Saturday. Luckily, we had most every plant staked or propped and there was very little damage to the gardens.
I would have preferred to be sitting in a lawn chair at the Handy Festival, but since our Entire Day here at Sonnystone was decidedly un-sunny, I assumed it was the same over in Henderson. I was soo disappointed when I found out on the evening news – rain still pouring outside my window – that it was sunny and dry just across the river.
Here comes the humidity! We still haven’t turned our a/c on, but looks like we will soon. I’m beginning to start moving books off of shelves in the family room so we can pull up the carpet back there. Casey is restless if he can’t work outside, so this might be a good time to start.
Stay Cool in your neck of the woods…
Peace
Photo Blog
Not much to report this week, but a picture is worth a thousand words…
Tuesday I have the cataract removed from my left eye and I should be seeing in 3D by Wednesday. The W.C. Handy Blues Festival starts Wednesday, as well, and I hope to feel well enough to attend – and that the weather is co-operative. Surely we’ve had enough rain this week to last us a couple… New Harmony Antiques Show is the 14-15th, and the Wilson Auction House over there will be having a seriously good selection of collectibles for us to bid on, so I should have lots more to share with you next Sunday!
Peace
Let it Grow…
And since all this loveliness can not be Heaven, I know in my heart it is June.” —Abba Louisa Goold Woolson.
After a cool and rainy May, June met us with Sunshine and balmy breezes. My cataract surgery went super great and I’ve been outside breaking all the rules to finish up the gardens and porches. I have been careful, but I couldn’t resist.
Let’s take a walk around the house, starting in the Edible Garden. Along our trellis, the cantaloupe, butternut squash, cucumber. and watermelons are all coming right along. None of the lima beans I put in sprouted, but I’ve got two more cucumber plants to fill the bare space soon.
On the outside of each side of the trellis are 14 bell pepper plants – 8 California Wonders and 6 Big Berthas. In between the peppers and the trellis are sunflowers of all kinds and they are going to town! At the south end of each side are moonflower vines, sure to shine.
In the back and on the sides are nine tomato plants – 4 Better Boys, 1 Early Girl Bush, 1 Celebrity, a sweet cherry 100, a husky red cherry, and one called chocolate sprinkle that is alleged to taste like a black cherry.
Nine squash – five zucchini, four yellow straightneck prolific – are having the time of their lives, flowering like champs, but where are the bees? I have anise hyssop to attract them, not to mention a yard full of clover, but so far I’ve seen very few.
The peas are flush with edible pods (Oregon sugar pods II) and I’m often out there snacking.
I’ve been so bored with my own cooking lately – like for the past year – and decided to learn a new style: a countertop griddle. So far, Casey is better at it than I am, but I warned him if he is tooo good, he’ll end up doing all the cooking. We used an old highway sign as a heat shield, which I think is kinda cute.
Around here on the front porch, walking in from the north side, I’ve moved all the coleus that I propagated last winter and they look great! I guess I’ll end up with twice as many next year….help!
In the Peace/Bird garden, the hummingbirds are back buzz-bombing each other at the feeder, and Casey had a skirmish with a squirrel (he won) the other day. This garden is all native perennials and they are so reliable and calm – you might say peaceful. I am so thrilled to be able to see the avian display with a clarity I’ve never experienced. It’s a dang miracle.
I think I’ll grab a handful of those sugar peas, sit out on the swing, and enjoy. Wish you were here…
Peace
Decoration Day
We made our cemetery rounds on Wednesday, or I should call it Windsday since the gusts were intermittently 20mph. Placing the saddle on Grandma and Grandpa Eaton’s grave was a challenge, but Casey got it held down with wire and we figure if it didn’t blow off on a day like that, it was set to last. It’s the thought that counts, right?
We wandered around the cemetery in Albion looking for Grandmother and Grandad’s marker, even though I visit it every year. These folks, especially Grandmother, were so influential in my life. They were my great-grandparents and I was so blessed to know them. The font on their gravestone is so unique. I wonder who chose it, and if it means anything.
Since we were walking the property, we looked for my Aunt Thelma and Uncle Aub, but couldn’t find them, so we cruised up to Marion Church Cemetery to check on our grave-cleaning.
I am thrilled and more to see how well the wet-and-forget had worked. These two graves of Chester and Herbert, my great-great uncles who died quite young, had been black with age and look at them now!
I am fascinated by the inscription on the side of Herbert’s stone and want to go back with etching paper and see if I can read it. Herbert’s marker has a book open on a bookstand-like thing on the opposite side, so I wonder if he was a bookworm, like me. He died at 14 of fever.
Back in my youngster days, we called it Decoration Day and it was the 31st of May, whatever day that happened to land on. I have fond memories of my family – Mom, Dad, Brother, and Sister – meeting up with the Albion Maynes – Grandmother, Aunts Ruth and Bernie, and Uncle Harry – and hitting up the old graveyards in the area. I’d get to ride in Aunt Ruth’s Oldsmobile and we would glide all the way up to Parkersburg, then down the gravel roads, and around the loop that I still take every year to decorate. There was a story to go with every grave except one, and that was my grandfather, my Dad’s Dad. I remember one year seeing Grandmother standing at his stone, crying, and I felt very sad, but everyone just looked away uncomfortably.
It was a serious “We don’t talk about Bruno” situation. I got as much info as I could about him from Dad and Bernie before they died, and when I researched him, I discovered that there just wasn’t much good to say about him – he died at 43 after abusing alcohol, drugs, and all the people who loved him. But for one brief, shining moment, he was “that funny comedian, Bobby Mayne”, headlining for traveling vaudeville shows, an actor, a musician who could play every instrument, and the fans followed him, loved his shtick and admired his talents. He married a beautiful girl, had a baby boy, and then blew it all…
This year, I decorated his grave for the first time. He didn’t actually fight in WWI (that’s another story), but he was a Star, a handsome, talented Star of the Stage and we shouldn’t forget that. I think it fits him well…
I still need to go out to my Mom and Dad’s Mausoleum and switch out their bouquet. I like that I don’t have to worry about wind and rain on my decorations with them. I’m out there four times a year, changing with the seasons, just like my Mama taught me.
Have a Great Holiday!
Peace
Weekly Wrap-up
I have had to be on Prednisone for ten of the last fourteen days, finally finished up a couple of days ago, and it has been excruciating for my brain. That stuff makes me so speedy, I can’t focus, I can’t sleep, I’m irritable, my stomach hurts…I’ve done too much griping and had one day of out-of-the-blue tears. I guess the upside is that my back and right arm are not giving me even a wince of discomfort and my head is back to its normal thinking, which is probably not normal, but you know what I mean.
We went to the Shannon’s School of Dance Recital last night and it was great! Really super. I haven’t seen the Jr girls in a while, so just being around them was a treat.
In between storms, we’ve been able to get most of the garden planted and it’s looking good.
I still need to plant the green beans, and have plans to get a flat of marigolds and stick them around everywhere I can fit them. My nasturtium is starting to bloom out on the South Porch, but I want to move them back to the Edible Garden, and that involves a lot of switchy-changey of containers.
The Peace/Bird Garden has been loving all this rain.
This will all need to be completed by Memorial Day, as I have my first cataract surgery the day after. While I don’t mind not being able to weed, I Love to plant, so it’s working out well to have it all done beforehand.
I’ve talked to several people who’ve had the cataract surgery and each had different ideas about what lens to implant, but none had any problems with their procedure. That’s reassuring.
We’re planning the Cemetery Loop from Mount Carmel to Parkersburg to Marion Church to Albion to Grayville and say hello to the Ancestors. It’s been a year since Casey and I spent some time cleaning some 100plus-year-old gravestones and I’m curious to see how they look. We scrubbed and used some stuff called “wet and forget” that is supposed to continue to work over time, so we’ll see. We don’t usually leave decorations in those old cemeteries, but I will be doin’ up the Eatons’ front-row plot in Grayville with a saddle this year.
Hope this missive finds you well and enjoying the season!
Peace
Party on, Mothers!
I’m thinking of my Mom today and how much I miss her. I’m thinking of the days when I was an active duty Mom and how much I miss being her. I’m sending loving thoughts to my daughter and my daughter-in-law, thankful thoughts for being such good Moms to my grandies and hope that they are being properly feted by their progeny.
Being a Mom is the Honour of a Lifetime, whether it’s little people who you have birthed or folks who just needed you. I am still occasionally called upon to play the role, and I appreciate it more than ever.
To my grown-up children: Thank-you.
But I’m mostly thinking it’s a good day to get out in the garden working with Mother Earth. If you need me, that’s where I’ll be.
Pass the Love Around, dear People!
Peace
The Merry Month of May
I won a few pennies betting the Derby this year, finally breaking my losing streak – I actually bet the Winner to Win and am quite pleased. We’re off to a Great Start!
The month of May might have been named for the Roman Fertility and Spring goddess, Maia, or it could have come from the latin “maiores” which means “elders”. I think it’s the former, but we Elderly deserve our own month, a green one, not some gray wintry 30 days.
It is cold and rainy today, but our garden plants are fine with it. We have wisely waited to plant the sweet bell and banana peppers, but this should be our last cold snap. I am so excited about the garden this year because we have added a cattle panel trellis- Growing up the trellis are cantaloupe, butternut squash, sugar baby watermelons, burpless cucumbers – all except the sugar babies I started from seed! There’s also some King of the Garden butter beans I popped in the other day. and some sunflowers, too. We’ll fill in the sides with bush beans as soon as the weather permits.
May is Historic Preservation Month here in Eville and I’m going to try Again to go on the walking tour given annually through Oak Hill Cemetery. Oak Hill is chock-full of elaborate gravestones of local luminaries, including the folks who lived here at Sonnystone from 1923 to 1957–you remember the Smiths, don’t you? the ones who put the S on the chimney? Y’all know how I love cemeteries and this one is a gem. This is the last year that our local historian, Dennis Au, will be leading the tours, so I Must go.
There are many other Historic Preservation events scheduled, but several of them conflict with each other. Weird planning to have an Angel Mounds tour at the same time as the cemetery tour, or plan speakers at Willard the same time as Opening Night at Bosse Field. Come on, Evillians, work together here…
May 9 is the 17th birthday of my #2 Grandie, Nova. She will be participating in the National Archery Competitions in Louisville, KY on the 8th and the 10th, so we’ll have to plan a celebration a little off-date. She has had a good week-end this week-end – shot her personal best with the bow and arrow: 251; went to Prom with her handsome boyfriend, looking beautiful.
Mother’s Day, a commercial holiday that evokes guilt and loneliness, is celebrated on May 11. I’m not a big fan.
I think we’ll check out this month’s market auction in New Harmony on May 9-10. I’m in the market for furniture and that’s a good place to look. Besides, I like eating at the Yellow Tavern.
Shannon’s School of Dance Recital is May 17. Frankly, I usually skip out after I’ve watched the kids in the first half, but this year Nova is dancing in the second half, so I’ll have to sit still. It’s a wonderful program, honestly, but it is quite an extended sit for an ADD adult such as moi. They always have the best costumes, too.
The Spring Antiques Show is scheduled for May 24 up in Darmstadt at the 4H. I’ll be there, too, and that’s Memorial Day Week-end, so there will be other festivities around the area. Our area tends to have beautiful weather all week before a planned event, then go wildly cold/wet/hot/ for the Day of. That’s Eville for ya…
Finally, my R cataract will be removed May 27 at 8:30am. By May 28, I should be able to look into my own eyes…
I shall try again to start the Garden Blog. I have been taking plenty of pictures, but no time to curate and publish. This month of greening and growing will inspire me, I’m sure. Gotta keep on growin’, right?
Peace
Run for the Roses #151
It’s going to rain all day in Louisville, KY. The dresses and the hats will still be bright and the juleps will bring joy to the crowd, but the backdrop of thunderclouds and mud is so disappointing. It’s hardly unusual, though. The First Saturday in May is always as fickle as the odds and I’ve worn coats and winter hats to the festivities several times.
After pouring over the statistics, pedigrees, colors of the horses, examining the trainers and jockeys carefully, and listening to plenty of podcasts giving expert picks, I have come to the startling conclusion that any of these horses could win. I know, I know it’s always like that, but with a completely washed out track (especially by race 12) the 3-year-old contenders’ history has not prepared them for deep mud.
So, it’s a horse race…a gamble. I’ve been consulting with my daughter and son-in-law, and though my girl-child is a born procrastinator and won’t make her mind up until 20 minutes to post, my son-in-law is more solid in his picks. His original choice of Rodriguez at the top had to change when said horse was scratched, but his final choices are #8, Journalism, #9 Burnham Square, #14 Tiztastic, and #17 Sandman. Those are some good picks.
I have figured out the way to Win this year and am so excited to present to you the JoJo Derby Wagering Scheme! I texted my grandies, asking them to pick a number between 1 and 20, not 10 (scratched), Their responses are brilliant and just as good as I could have deduced with all my study. Here we go:
Emma picked #8 – turns out that’s Journalism, the favorite, something like 6-5 odds
Nova picked #9 – Burnham Square, a fella I really like, going off at 16-1
Eliza picked #3 – Final Gambit, a Beautiful Gray horse, currently 15-1
Samantha picked #13 – Publisher, another good one, 30-1 odds
We’ve covered a lot of the field with those choices, but I want to point out #18 Sovereignty at 6-1 looks good and the #21, Baeva, just got into the race after Rodriguez was scratched and he could be The One at 18-1. Oh, and Baffert has one horse left in the race, Citizen Bull 13-1, a fine contender who pulled the unfortunate post position of #1, but on a day like today, anything is possible.
Okay, so it still is a lot of “Bet the Whole Field” strategy, but I’m really only going to wager on the Grandie’s Picks and maybe just one other…maybe…just one..
We’re staying home again this year — too cold for me to head out to Ellis Park’s Party, but I have my cute little outfit picked, complete with matching fascinator. We’re having fried chicken, potato salad, and pecan pie. I look forward to the pie as much as I do the race!
The Muddy Mess will be covered by Peacock and NBC, probably some other sports channels. I think they’re showing the whole race card over on Peacock, so you can make bets on how deep the mud will be by race #12. I stand by my “rain date” request.
And the Bourbon of the Day? Woodford Reserve.
Peace
The News from Sonnystone Acres 