Caw Caw Cawing

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll know how I love birds.  Crows in particular hold a fascination for me.  Don't know why.  Be that as it may, I've been feeding the crows lately and they are coming to eat.  There is a post in the field that I leave dog food and trinkets on.  Then, I go back home and call them, sounding like a mad lady, cawing loudly.  They come, though I wonder what they think of my poor imitation.  The above crow is carved from wood as a decoy.

Above is an oil painting I did called The Crow Picnic.

This young crow is made of paper mache and holds on to the bucking life-sized horse in my dining room.

The above is a wool wall hanging I purchased hung over a doorway.

Not matter what I did, I could not photograph this gouache I painted.  Guess it is the convex glass in the old frame.

Another old crow decoy.

A photo I took of a Parisian crow last trip to France.  Wonder if city crows are more sophisticated than my country crows?

Here is a crow feather.  Crows are supposed to be very intelligent, but this one wasn't.  He and a friend were fighting and teasing an owl in the trees out front.  Next morning, I found a dead crow on the ground where the fight took place.

Native Americans are very superstitious about crows and ravens.  The mean old woman down the lane shoots them and hangs them upside down in her trees, I guess as a way to scare crows away.

But, as I type this, a crow is cawing loudly out my backdoor, which has never happened.  Seems maybe, they are calling me.

Who Is This Man?

HBO has produced a new show (well second season I think) called Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.  I taped one show.  Satirist, comedian, social conscious with a twist?  I guess he says what we Yankees cannot.  Is he British, Irish, Scottish?  I don't know.  I had a little bit of a hard time following him; not his diction, but a little too fast.  Has to get it all in I guess.  I think I'll give him another go.  Seems to be popular over here.

Pie

My sister has come for a visit this weekend.  She always expects a cherry pie (two cans of cherries cost $6.84), fresh eggs and whatever else I've canned or put up. We have to go to an expensive local restaurant she loves and she has to have a back tickle.  

Yes, she is the older sister.  You have to have one to understand.  Mind you, like being the middle child, older sisters are the queen bees in family dynamics. In fact, I rarely (every few years) get to go to her house because she won't let me bring my dogs.  But, I love her so - can't imagine life without her.

Garden Walkabout

Back home from the city to the farm.  I awoke to a cold, windy morning so I won't be doing much outside (there is really so much to do I don't know where to start).  I took one look at the fish pond, but I won't be climbing in it today.  I did finish the turkey and her poults topiary boxwoods.  But, while gawking, I saw that my old weeping Japanese maple in the foreground has, I think, died.  It had some new leaves come out on it this spring, but they have died.  I thought maybe a frost had gotten them, but nothing is returning.  It just up and died.  I can't believe it.

Noticed my clematis is starting to bloom on the patio garden fence.  Spring is moving right along without me.  I've tried to teach my husband that gardening doesn't wait for anyone, and now, I am going to have to remind myself of that.  But, it's going to have to wait till tomorrow.

Tadpole Poses

Ever try to get three tadpoles to pose?  Well, they won't.  I went wading in one of my farm ponds to find bullfrog tadpoles (they are as big as marbles), but found only these measly ones.  My grand kids will enjoy them anyway.

I got to thinking about a post by John Gray of Going Gently, about what made you laugh heartily as a child.  Now, I was a serious child; shy and quiet and could not remember that time.  But, I do remember the thrill of tadpoles and crayfish; climbing the tallest trees to peer into bird nests and see the little eggs.  I enjoyed the out of doors and guess I am still that child.

My goldfish have no such problems posing, though they really only want me to feed them.

This is for those whom are thinking about putting in a water garden/goldfish pond.  Be careful of the water plants you choose, especially water lilies and cat tails.  They take over.  My yearly immersion into the stinkiest, nastiest and most disgusting water is nigh.  I have to cut out half of the lilies and get the dead oak leaves out.  The plant root you don't see is as heavy and large as a meteor and I'll have to carve away at it.  That, and if you live in an area with water snakes, well, they'll just love your fish pond.

If that didn't scare you away, well, I do love to watch the gold fish and frogs and dragonflies and even the darn lilies when they bloom.

Tropical Fruiting Plants

You might have heard me talk about a store out of Connecticut, called Logee's.  It is a wonderful greenhouse and garden catalog and store and I have used them many times.  In fact, I have a full greenhouse now because of them.  Nevertheless, I have been taking tumeric in capsule form for a couple of years.  It has been around for ages, but I use it for its anti-inflammatory and tumor suppression properties.  They now have the plant in their catalog.  My daughter uses the fresh tubers in her cooking, though I am not a fan of the taste and will continue it in capsule form.

I also ordered a ginger root plant.  They have sold out in the years before.  I love it pickled with sushi which is what I plan to do with my crop.  If you are interested in plant heaven, go take a look at their website, www.logees.com, better yet, request their catalog.  

A Way To Re-Cycle?

I have posted pics before of my little garden next to the patio.  Though the plantings change from year to year, I am going for a blue garden planted with perennials. Over time, the dishes were broken (no, I'd never) and I thought they would make a perfect edging for this narrow bed.  My husband doesn't like it, but it makes me happy.  

I love blue and white dishes.  I still have my grandmother's set, that I believe, used to come in boxes of detergent.  Though chipped and cracked, there have only been a few of those broken.  I don't think blue and white will ever go out of style.

Asparagus Is Up

The asparagus patch is up and growing once again. Supposedly, eating the first asparagus of spring brings good luck and I always pop the first spear into my mouth.  I have decided I only like it fresh, not canned or frozen.  It is easy to grow and comes back faithfully year after year. 

FYI: Medicinally, second century physician, Galen, describes asparagus as "cleansing and healing".  High in vitamins and necessary chemical compounds, it is used in Ayurvedic medicines.  Asparagus was eaten 20,000 years ago in Egypt.  Greek and Romans ate it fresh and dried it for winter use.  France's Louis XIV had special greenhouses built for growing it.  The points d'amour, or love tips, were served as a delicacy to Madame Pompadour.  It became available in the United States in 1850. 

Can't Help Myself

Ordinarily, we ladies don't like double chin shots, but this one takes the cake.  My little baby bumblebee, Penny Lane, is 8 weeks old now and so adorable.  I get to see her this weekend.  Doesn't get any better.  Hope your holiday is a good one too.

Sprang

The days are glorious. It got to 84 degrees today and I seriously thought about turning on the air conditioner, but just kept the doors and windows open instead. 

Here is a tip for new gardeners out there - for what it's worth.  Some wild things need to stay wild.  Case in point, these woodland violets I transplanted a few years ago.  Though they have no scent, I thought they were pretty and put them around my goldfish pond.  They have taken over.  Spread everywhere; in cracks, beds, even around shrubs. Can't even kill them out.  That also happened with a wild rose that grows around here.  I transplanted one in my flower beds and they multiplied exponentially.  It took a few years to rid my flower beds of them.  

Stay wild and enjoy spring.  It's my favorite season.

MOTHER NATURE

Whether on the farm or the beach, I always look down; forever searching for treasures. Some of the things I gather are nests, many different kinds of bones and rock, leaves, shells, insects, eggs and feathers, jewelry and coins, arrowheads, driftwood and other flotsam and jetsam. Too many things to list.
 I picked up this large wasps' nest and left it sitting around, then came upon this piece of coral. I was surprised and awed by the similarities of the two. One made by an insect on land and the other made in the sea by a totally different marine creature. Pretty cool, huh?

I do use my treasured finds from time to time as inspiration.  I did a pencil drawing of this large wasps' nest when it was still attached to the limb and the larger paper part of the nest.  

Death and Taxes

No beautiful spring buds today.  I have to get my taxes ready for the CPA who does our federal and state income taxes.  We have to pay a certified public accountant to prepare our taxes at great expense because of the incredulous book-sized form required to be filled out to submit said taxes (and the tax code changes every year).

We are not in the upper 1%, but we pay out the wazoo.  In the USA, we are taxed on everything; food, income, and on and on.   Though we paid taxes on income earned our entire working life, now we have to pay taxes again on the piddly social security income we receive as well as retirement benefits. Yes, taxed again.

I could go on and on.  There is no way out of it, except for all the losers and dead beats that get away with not paying; the running underclass they are called (I didn't even mention corporate America). If we did it, we'd be jailed immediately or liens attached to our homes and bank accounts and property sold at auction. What is to become of us poor taxpayers?  It's all political and that system is broken too. Taxes have probably been the downfall of all those ancient civilizations we wonder what happened to. And, yes, there really is a death tax and everything else related to that sad occurrence. What is next?  A wind tax, sun and cloud tax?  They are probably already trying to figure out a new birth tax.

Faithless Love

One of my favorite songs from way back in the 70's, written by J.D. Souther.  He has a wonderful voice and wrote many hits for stars including the Eagles, Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt. I think Linda's version was the most famous.  I found this cover by Bernadette Peters and thought it beautiful.  I still love J.D.'s version best, just his voice and acoustic guitar, but couldn't figure out how to get it on this post too.  It's on youtube or it can be purchased on itunes. 

Literary Minutia

Maybe I should title this daily minutiae.  I have nothing to do today.  It is cold and muddy outside with freezing temps and a wintry mix coming in tomorrow and the next day.  I dislike going outside in this kind of weather.  

So, my day will consist of a little reading, the telly and bathing the dogs in the shower with me.  That's it.  

I have been reading this winter.  In between the Outlander series, which my sister and niece insisted I read, I read a book my son gave me for Christmas.  I had always wondered who Evangeline was (and after reading am still wondering how she became so famous) except for the fact Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote this epic poem about her.

To get to the point of the post, in Evangeline, Longfellow used the word susurrus.  I had to look it up.  I noticed the word again in the Outlander series.  The author has used it 3 (now 5) times in four books of the series.  Who uses that word?  I thought there was no way it was a coincidence and finally in the fourth book of the series, the author wrote a line, "Longfellow couldn't have described it better." Touche.

Well, there are my bits of minutiae for the day.  I don't think you can use the word susurrus in winter.  There will be no whispering, murmuring nor rustling sounds outside here today, or if a tree falls in the forest...

My epitaph  ~  She Thought Too Much

Portlandia | Microhouse | IFC

  Portlandia is such a funny program; skits with many famous actors and comedians and produced by Lorne Michaels of Saturday Night Live fame.  Makes me want to go to Portland, OR.

The tiny house movement is sweeping the nation and I can tell you, I'd last a day in one.  It would be fun for a playhouse for the grand children, but not my style.  The bigger the better for me.

Portlandia always makes me laugh, but then again, I have kind of a strange since of humor.

More Birds

I ordered this on etsy.  It was described as a dove.  Huh?  Be that as it may, I found something new and fun to do.  It is an app on the iphone called Waterlogue and you can purchase it for 99 cents.  I haven't gotten to experiment much with it, but I think it is going to be interesting. Everyone will become an artist with the click of a button.

This is the bird photo with Waterlogue.  I'm sure there are many things one can do with it, but as for me, I haven't a clue.

Something Nice About Winter

I promised this year I would not complain about old man winter.  I could go on and on about it negatively, but what is one to do except move to Hawaii.  There is an inch of ice on the ground and now, more inches of snow on top of it.  So, I'll say something nice about it.  

I do so love birds.  They are eating me out of house and home this winter.  I feed them sunflower hearts as there is no mess leftover nor uneaten seeds.  At one point, I counted 20 cardinals on my little apple tree.  It was a beautiful sight.  They would not cooperate for a photo though so I had to shoot what I could with my phone.  One can't be too stealthy with birds and I'm not going outside to get a good shot.  The males are all challenging each other while the females wait patiently for the orioles and chickadees to drop food from the feeders.  What else is there to do on a day like this?  It's definitely a day for bird watching.

Hallelujah

Hallelujah - my reading list came back, knock on wood.  My blog has been so messed up for the past month and a half.  I left the farm to attend the birth of my third grandchild and when I came back it was fixed - hallelujah was the first thing that came to mind.  

The helpers at google/chrome/blogger had me stand on my head, juggling behind my back with my legs doing an Irish jig, all while clicking on every button on my computer.  We are talking literally hours and weeks of trying to get the kinks out.  Of course, it was me and my computer that was at fault due to my inexperience (technical idiot) and add-ons and filters in the ether out there in cyberspace.  For example, it took me hours to find out that the reload button was the same exact thing as refresh, which they kept telling me to do.  What and where are add-ons, filters, print screens - more hours.  I had to read tons and tons of technical stuff. The whole experience was stressful to put it nicely.  I couldn't work on it at night or I'd be up all night thinking about it.

Well, lo and behold, one morning, ping, there it all was.  Nothing they told me to do fixed it.  It just righted itself, uh huh.

I used to listen to Loudan Wainwright III (Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road) in the 80's and now his son, Rufus, is singing too.  This is my favorite version of the Leonard Cohen song Hallelujah.  Some like Jeff Buckley's version better (and I used to also listen to his father, Tim Buckley, in the 80's).  K.D. Lang also does a beautiful rendition.  Look up Rufus Wainwright on youtube.  He performs with many other famous musicians.  Just love his voice.

Penny Lane

What is love?  Why, it's Penny Lane.  I have a new grand child.  She is an exact replica of her Dad at this stage.  And she is so loved.

My son says he and Penny couldn't stop crying at her birth.  Her Dad, Parker, and her mother, Katie, are so in love with her.

At 7.8 lbs, with a head full of black hair, she is perfection.  Mewls like a little kitten.  She is two days old now.  Meanwhile back, I had to return home to the farm, but I told her Dad this morning to give her a kiss for me.  Seems like only yesterday...

PS ~ And I've been singing Penny Lane for two days straight.

New Read

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  With all of the error messages I am receiving and no reading list for the past month, I am hoping I can still publish a new post on this blog.  I fully expect to wake up one morning and find that my blog doesn't exist.  

I did find a new book to read and will begin it tonight. I'll let you know if I think it's worth the money.

PS ~ I'm about half way through the book and I can tell you that the two protagonists are train wrecks.  I guess it is good if you go by the standards of money made and No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.  I didn't know about this when I bought it.  Saw the author on TV this morning and she said this was her fourth novel.  She wanted it to be in the vein of Hitchcock.  All I'm going to say is to each his own... and I'm not going to go by the NY Times bestseller list any time soon.

PS ~ I wish I had my money back.

Heart of Hearts

A reprint from 2 years ago.  I get Whoops! error messages all over my blog so I am trying this.

My little five year old sweetheart, Isobel, is staying with me until the Christmas holiday is over and school begins again, hence the cherry heart-shaped lollipops; easy to buy and greatly appreciated.   I had to show you how a Dad or Grandad showed his love for a child a long long time ago.  Hand hammered and forged  from iron over a crucible and anvil, this little stirrup with a cutout heart is just the sweetest.  Imagine a little girl galloping her pony across the fields of prairie grass, not a care in the world...

Ignoring Winter

Okay.  I promised myself I would not complain about winter anymore: instead I am ignoring it as you may have noticed on my header.  Indian Paintbrush from last spring.  I do love wildflowers.  But, here is a problem I am not ignoring.  I was gone most of last week and came home to read all the blogs I have missed.  What?  My dashboard says I am not following any blogs and doesn't show them.  It has been two days (now over a week) and nada.  Any suggestions?  I've tried to contact blogger and no help has been forthcoming.  I would just hate to lose all my favorite bloggers (much less have to find them and type all of them in again).

A Good Book

I finally found one.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  I'll be haunting the aisles of Barnes and Noble this week with a list to see if I can find another good read.  My track record has been abysmal as of late: too many of the books I selected made me want my money back.

Nouvelle Vague - Dance With Me

I love finding new music; I think it is one of my favorite things about blogging.  I saw this on another blog, tavarua-thetraveler.blogspot.com, then couldn't find it again with a prompt that said, sorry, this page doesn't exist or something like that.  Does that ever happen to you?  So, I did some research and found out that the group is Nouvelle Vague (New Wave), a french group that uses different singers.  Love their sound.  This song is from an album they did which reminds me of the bossa nova and Astrud Gilberto, whom I love.  Love this video too.  And, dear friends, a most happy new year to you.

Food History Jottings: Sucket and See

Food History Jottings: Sucket and See: A selection of 'wet suckets' - citrus fruits preserved in syrup. Clockwise from top left - green orange, lemon, bitter orange and ...

Ivan Day is a food God in my book: I am sure he must cook for the Queen.  I once saw him cooking on PBS. Not only does he make unbelievable concoctions, he has all of the old implements and recipes, and is a walking, talking food encyclopedia.  Based out of Great Britain, he is beyond an inspiration.  

 I just had to show you what he has posted about citron and all the citrus I have been growing these past few years.  I think you'll enjoy his posting and learn as I did.  Hopefully, if you hit on the above, it will link you to his post.  Doesn't get any better than Ivan in the blogosphere.

HappyHolidays

I have many gifts left to buy and even more to wrap.  I have done no Christmas baking as of yet.  That being said, this year I have decided that some things will just not get done.  The holidays will  not be perfectly decorated nor all of the traditional favorites cooked and the rest that comes with the season.  I am good with it though.  Just hope the family will be as right with it as I am: that to be able to gather together once again really is the best part of the season.  Nevertheless, to my oldest and new friends, have the best of days in the year remaining.

My sweet angels are waiting to see if they are getting gifts (anything) or just switches and coal (probably lots).

Hello Out There

It has been just over a week since Sister's eye surgery and she can see.  Sister and I are blessed. The best Christmas gift ever.  I have spent most of the week holding her so she doesn't scratch her eyes out so this is the most I can come up with at the moment.   My Bella making a snow angel last winter. It is all good.

To See Again

We're on our way today to have Sister's eye surgeries.  We'll be crossing the state (in winter weather of course) several times. Keep your fingers crossed.  I'll be back in a few days.  

Norman Reedus

Here is starstruck middle daughter Cady with Norman Reedus, aka Daryl, from the popular series WALKING DEAD.  She said he was very nice and chatty; talked about his black cat and son.

In this pic, Norman is shooting silly string at people.  Merle, Shane and Herschel were also there.  Seems Merle was the biggest cut-up.  The kids can't wait for next year's comic con.

Lemonade

In case you missed it, this year is my first crop of a citrus called Buddha's Hand.  It is the oldest known citron and has been propagated for over 3000 years.  Pretty incredible.  This wee, inch long babe, started in May of this year.

And this is the whopper it became.

Tried to scale it with an egg.  It is so ugly, it's beautiful and it smells of heaven; a fruity, perfumed scent.

This is the dicey part.  It has no pulp and thus is used for a candied peel.  I tried it like this, but it had too much moisture.  A fail or perhaps a learning curve.  Then I decided it would have to be stripped as peel without the pith which would work much better.  So I tried it and bleck.  If I want something sugary, I'll have a Snickers instead. I'll just enjoy smelling and growing it. 

This is one of my Meyer lemon trees.  I have a greenhouse full of them and other types of citrus.  Now comes the hard part, juicing all of them and most are ready to go.

Sister's Eyes

Why do we love them so?  She's my heart, my best friend and she's only 8.  If you remember, this summer she became diabetic and after months of tweaking her insulin levels (I don't have to lie down on her on the bed to hold her down for the shots anymore) and the routine blood curve tests, she is finally doing well.  Except for her eyes.  Sister has now developed cataracts, something that seems to go along with the diabetes.

Diabetic dogs have the type I kind; when their insulin is gone it is gone.  I still have to prepare (cook) all her meals as she won't eat the diabetic dog food.  It is a real pain to do so and I've had to buy up all the flax seed and chia, hemp hearts, lean meats, etc., at Whole Foods.  It is all so expensive, (when did lean meat become so expensive), but I do it for Sister.   

After a trip to the vet this morning, I found out that they can do surgery on her.  One eye costs $2100.00 and 2 eyes will be $3500.00.  I will also have to take her to Tulsa and Oklahoma City 8-10 times for weekly checkups for 3 months after the surgery.  The trip takes about 2-3 hours one way.  

She is bumping into things and I know she is nearly blind now.  I just can't stand it.  When she was 4, she became paralyzed from a blown out disc in her back that cost $3500.00 for surgery.  I'm afraid my husband might divorce me when I tell him this news as he would certainly say let her be blind or put her to sleep which I would not do.

I want her to see again.  I know what I am going to do.