TIN MAN

It’s time to paint the tin man again.  My dad made this years ago for the boys. 

Dad has a large one himself (now also with a tin lady and a tin dog) that he created out of odds and ends found in his pole barn.  It is so distinctive that one weekend in the fall it disappeared and the community was up in arms over it.  So Dad went and spoke to the school’s basketball coach.  “If it gets returned, I’ll not press charges.  But I sure do miss it and would like it back.”  The next weekend, it re-appeared.

My little boys were so excited over the tin man that Dad made a smaller one for them to bring here to western PA.  He grabbed an old metal paint bucket, an oil funnel, a tin can, some plastic field tile, and he whipped up a tin man before you could blink.  It’s beginning to rust and some day we will have to switch to a plastic bucket, but meanwhile I text a photo to Dad every time I repaint.  “Good job,” he texts back.

HEAL-ALL

5 years ago I did a wildflower project with our property.  I would identify the wildflowers we have as they appeared each week in the spring.  I took photos of them and put them into an album so that I can refresh my memory each year.

My scientist friend told me to use Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide to help identify them.  Imagine my surprise when I learned that this book is not in color!  Actually, color is helpful when finding a plant’s name, but the structure of a plant is way more important.  Does it have irregular flowers or two regular parts or three regular parts?  Does it have basal leaves, opposite leaves or alternate leaves?  Are the leaves divided or lobed?  This routine will help you to identify what it is.

I discovered a new wildflower in my yard today, right beside the front sidewalk.  I was surprised I hadn’t caught it in the past, but we’ve had a huge amount of rain and rain and rain, so the yard hasn’t been mowed.  I suspect this has allowed them to grow high enough to be noticed.

Our yard doesn’t have much grass; it is mostly…other stuff.  And Selfheal (or Heal-all) is now one of the Other Stuff.

Prunella vulgaris can be found everywhere in the world, often by roadsides and waste-places.  It's leaves and stems can be eaten in salads, and the entire plant can be cooked in stew.  Wikipedia says the Chinese thought it could "change the course of a chronic disease".

I was wondering if I should move it into a more lovely spot as an official herb in my garden, but the internet says it's probably not worth it.  It has no lovely smell and not much flavor.  Some people just call it a weed, and that's what it is in my yard.  I'll just let it join its fellow weeds there and let it be.

WATCHING MY STEP

In the garden this time of year, I need to be careful.  It all looks so bland, but it's not.  There are treasures everywhere.

What looks like this:

Is actually this:

And will eventually be this:

Hostas are the one thing I have in the flower garden that deer will decimate overnight, so today I made The Horrible Deer Repellent.  "Horrible" means that it has a wretched smell.  But it seems to work, as long as you keep putting it on all through the season--especially in the spring when the deer are checking out the dinner table.

RECIPE FOR THE HORRIBLE DEER REPELLENT

3 eggs
3 T. hot sauce
3 T. garlic powder
3 T. milk

Mix these all together and funnel it into a gallon milk jug.  Fill the jug with water and let it brew for 1-3 days.  Hold your breath and spray it on dry plants every week or after a rain.

SOMEONE HAS BEEN DANCING HERE

My flower garden is shaping up to becoming astounding this year. 

And in spite of the deer munching on the new hosta area, that place under the tree now has something special to make up for it:  a Fairy Ring.

I've never seen one before, so I am happy--whether I should be or not (these are often seen as dangerous places).  It means that fairies have been dancing there.


Ours is very small, but of course fairies are small too.  I would imagine.

Even though the center seems bare with mushrooms growing around it in a circle, the mushrooms are similar to the fruit/leaves, all attached to the main fungus "root" in the center (which isn't seen).

Nearby there looks to be half of another fairy ring?  Perhaps.  There is magic in the air.

HO HO

Snow is a great boost for Christmas emotions.

REMEMBERING WHERE WE BEEN

Decorating the Christmas tree is always an exercise in remembrance.  When we go on special vacations, I try to buy something for the tree to remind us of that trip, or that place where we once lived.  Here are a few:

Tucson, Arizona

Scotland

Maine 

This is most certainly the ugliest ornament we have on the tree; a bit of kitsch.  It is a reminder of Gainesville, Florida--where the Gators are the team for The University of Florida.

The Netherlands 

London

Barnegat Light, Long Beach Island, New Jersey

University of Missouri

Disney World

Scotland

Where No Man Has Gone Before--oh wait!  Not yet.

DOLLAR TREE STORE--KUDOS

It only takes $3 to make meals happier for a while.

HE'S BACK

Our little elf guy is back with us this year, probably come to "help" us again.

You can see already that when we got home from church, he had been "helping" himself to the Chex Mix. I guess he doesn't care for pretzels.

The cat enjoys him, as usual.

(If you recall, they were partners in crime a couple of years back)

More mischief to come, I imagine!

*You can read my opinions on the whole Elf on the Shelf thing here.

CLOCKS AT CHRISTMAS

I got my love of old clocks from my mother; she has mostly "kitchen" clocks that belonged to my great-grandparents.  These are American-made clocks that were of great value to a household in the late 1800's/ early 1900's and could be purchased for $5 to $10 at the time.  Sometimes they were given as a bonus when the family bought a piece of furniture.  They are beautiful to me.

I recently acquired two old clocks of my own AND I got the other clocks fixed*, so I hope we're in working order for quite some time to come.

My favorite is the Gilbert kitchen clock, made in Connecticut around 1911.  It has a deep rich sound and a strong steady beat.  It needs to be wound once a week.

Then I have a Seth Thomas "barrister" clock, also from Connecticut, made in 1909.  It has a gentle chime with an inlay in its mahogany case.

These American clocks are old workhorses, but clocks made in more modern times don't last as long. The "schoolhouse" clock DH's mother gave us as a wedding gift was made in Korea, and we were fortunate it had lasted 33 years.  But its springs eventually broke and we took the sad step of putting a battery-operated clockworks inside.  It will be a lot easier to care for now.  It has a great sound!

I grew up with a cuckoo clock right outside my bedroom, so the first clock I purchased on my own was a cuckoo.  As I could only afford a small one, here it is:  it has to be wound every day, and if you forget one time, then it stops and you have to play catch-up.  So I wind it twice a day.

My mother found a larger cuckoo clock for me at a yard sale, but repairmen just never could seem to get it going.  Now its clockwork has been replaced with a brand new one from the same company that made it, in Germany, and it is fun to have.

I have been very interested in getting the clocks to all chime at the same time.  It can be a real challenge, since the wind-up ones tend to be a little faster at the start of the week, and then slow down a bit at the end.  And it seems impossible to move the pendulums on the cuckoo clocks up and down to get them just right. But I wanted to videotape them all chiming at once, so I've dashed here and there every hour in an effort to get them on camera.  And here they are!





If you cannot see the video, click HERE.


*Kudos to my repairman Jeff Campbell
**Apologies for the clacking sound my camera makes; can't figure out why it does that

DIPPING ANGELS

Sometimes it's just easier to take a photo than to get things to work.

SORTING MYSELF

I sorted out the clothes hangers today.  The problem had reached the EPIC, as we had an overabundance of tangled wire everywhere.

I wondered if there should be a method for the decluttering of this household item, and indeed there is.  I was greatly encouraged by the lady at Home Storage Solutions, who said:

I like this statement.  While it was referring to what you hate and/or like about hangers, I think it can apply to a lot of things.  It implies accepting yourself for the way you are--instead of feeling guilty all the time for not being what other people want you to be.

I WILL BE THE RESILIENT KIND.

SUMMER BEGINNINGS

It's going to be this kind of day today:  barefoot and in the shade.

AUTUMN JOYS

This photo shows both the sadness and the great joy that comes with fall.

IT'S TIME

I have long been a fan of clocks; I'm sure it's because my mother is a collector and I grew up with the sound of the cuckoo clock keeping time in the wee hours of my night.

But I've never done much about my interest.  When the boys were little, I bought a small cuckoo clock that I wind daily; and then I adore the Audubon clock that has a different bird chirp each hour. Quite often instead of saying to myself "Oh, it's 11 o'clock" I will say "Oh, it's the 11 o'clock bird".

But what I really like is what my mother has:  the antique "gingerbread" shelf clocks we inherited from my great-grandparents' households.  These American clocks (New England area) were made in the late 1800's and early 1900's, using technology that made clocks an affordable household item for many families.

So I bought one.  I am appreciating it SO much.

It was made by the Gilbert Company (Connecticut) in 1911.  It keeps great time, and I bought it from an expert who cleaned and serviced it before the clock came to me.  It has a strong, low "bong".

Well, in my opinion, clocks are like Lays Potato Chips--"you can't have just one".  Yesterday, another clock from Ben Kniskern's shop arrived and it is precious too.  This Seth Thomas shelf clock has a quieter chime than the Gilbert, but still rich and pleasing.

I am LOVING these clocks!  Christmas has already arrived here!

CHOOSING THE RIGHT COLOR

The sun is shining today and the temperature gauge reads -1 below.  It makes our drinking glasses shine in the window.  Can you guess which color is mine?

Before we each had our own glass, we "dirtied" glasses galore--just for a drink of water!  A typical American thing, I think.  But when my grandmother died, I inherited the cup she used every day when she was thirsty.  What a beautiful whimsy to think about.

Today there are very pretty enamel cups for sale, and I bought a different color for everyone.  Here is mine:

But alas, it's not like the old days.  These cups very quickly became cracked and broken, exposing the material underneath, and we had to abandon them.  So we switched to....

ACRYLIC.  

Yep.

It's not all so bad.  For one thing, it's cheap enough that if you get tired of your glass, you can buy a new one--as long as it's in "your" color.  You can get anything you want, really--as long as it's in your color.  I myself am very picky as to how a drinking glass rim feels in your mouth, and as to how the water tastes from the glass.  For example, while aluminum glasses feel nice, they taste very odd indeed:

Some rims are too wide, and you have to struggle to maintain an adult appearance while trying to prevent water from dribbling down your chin.

And some just do not feel or taste right at all.

So here's an encouragement for a cold winter's day:

* I'd be obliged to take the one on the left.

 HOUSE WITH A VIEW

I recently figured out that I am more of an "open sky" kind of person than a "woodsy view" type.

Here is what I see out of my window.  When we moved here from Kansas 23 years ago, I couldn't feast enough on this glorious green.

But I've always felt "hemmed in" and going to visit my hometown in Indiana is a great joy.

Taken by Ann Bradley in Argos, Indiana

Upon this new revelation, I see that if I lean forward a teeeeeny bit, I can see more sky.  What a YAY kind of feeling it gives me!

I need a HOUSE WITH A VIEW.  Meanwhile.......I'm leaning.

Repost of December 22, 2007

I'M DREAMING OF A CHRISTMAS TREE

The wonderful lady over at Carpe Banana shared some of her favorite tree ornaments, which made me eager to share mine. Each and every ornament on our tree has such special memories for me, and there's always a collective groan from the gentlemen in the house as they hear me "ooh" and "aah" when we decorate each year!

Oh, what decisions as I try to limit these photos to just a few!

My brother and I loved troll dolls as we grew up in the 60's. We built houses for them out of wooden blocks and even made clothes for them. So when I saw this ornament, I was delighted to buy it for the tree. Up in the corner you can see one of the Star Trek ships Enterprise.

 


We have many ornaments the boys have made through the years when they were younger. I cherish every one.  

       

When we vacation, I try to buy something that will remind of the place we visited. On the left, you can see the gourd painted like a bird, from Arizona. The ornament beside it is a special edition ornament given to faculty and staff of Grove City College. Each year they have been giving us a different building or landmark of the college.

I have great memories of the years I've spent in our local homeschool support group. Many times we've made an ornament at our December "Mothers' Meeting"--meetings where we share and laugh for hours on end. The one below is made from a light bulb.

Our town is well-known for its aluminum forge, so I have several ornaments purchased from there. This is surely one of my favorites.

Because I grew up on a farm where we raised pigs, I have a few pig items throughout the house--and several on the tree. And I really love the tractors--Hallmark has come out with a whole series of them (red tractors are best!!). I also like the red of Santas, and this one has a special story. In 1977 I went with the aunts and Grandma to visit another aunt who lives in Los Angeles. Our trip included a jaunt to Las Vegas. I decided I would put no more than $5 into the machines, and when I made a profit of $12, I quit, went to the shop there, and bought 3 beautiful small items from Germany.

A view of my tree wouldn't be complete without telling of my friend Betty, who died from cancer a few years back. She had such a generous spirit. Once I visited her and saw several of these star ornaments on her tree. That was when we had those big old lightbulbs for our Christmas trees. Inside each ornament is a little twirly piece, which would be set in motion from the heat of those bulbs. I exclaimed my delight upon seeing them and Betty didn't hesitate. She immediately pulled one off the tree and said, "Here! Have one!" Now I remember her especially when I decorate, and surprisingly, it still twirls with the newer bulbs, even though we cannot feel any heat at all when we touch them.

 

May you have a blessed Christmas, with many memories of the past, while making more for the future!