Wild Woodland Kitten

My daughter went camping and came home with this:

It doesn't stay still for long.

My daughter met some people in the mountain woodlands of Pennsylvania while she was camping. They had this kitten with them. They said, "Do you want it? 'Cause we're just gonna leave it here."

Can you imagine? The little thing is barely 8 weeks old, if that. My daughter cannot comprehend such people.

Bloom Day - August!

This is my second-ever bloom day post. Woot! I love looking at other bloom day posts to see what's blooming in other people's gardens the world over. If you would like to see these posts, or if you would like to share what's blooming in your garden, head over to the May Dreams Gardens blog. To share pictures of your garden, leave a link to your blog in the comments section. Or simply follow the links already there to see some truly beautiful pictures from gardens the world over.

The blooms in my garden this August are few. My Rose of Shannon bushes are in bloom:



And this relative of the gladiola that actually likes shade, is adding a bit of color to a sunless spot:



My true gladioli are in bloom, but sadly, the dog tends to knock the top heavy blooms over in his zeal to chase balls. The color of these flowers is striking. I can't take credit for planting them, they were here when we bought the house:



I'm really excited about my calendula - they're finally beginning to bloom! Here's the very first one to open. I ordered the seeds from an Amish farm and they arrived with handwritten instructions for planting and a note saying they hoped I would enjoy my flowers:



Like in my last bloom day post, I have taken a few pictures of the things blooming in the park next to my house. I always enjoy the wildflowers that grow there in the untamed nooks and crannies.

Some of the smaller thistle is still in bloom, although most has gone to seed (which makes the goldfinches happy):



The picture below is of one of my favorite plants to come across. This is pokeweed. I know, it sounds like something you'd want to take the weed-whacker to, but it is honestly one of the most lovely plants to look at. The colors are what make it a treat for the eye. You see the pinks and the greens? The plant has variations of these colors throughout, ranging from delicate, newborn greens and softest pinks, to darker, established greens and rich, deep purples. Pokeweed can grow quite large and the juice from the purple berries can be used to make ink (I believe civil war soldiers often availed themselves of this ink to write letters home). The only part that's edible are the very young leaves, which, if cooked and prepared correctly, can be turned into something called poke sallet. If it's not done the right way, though, it's on the poisonous side (I've never tried it):


The first of the goldenrod has begun to bloom. There is a fallow farmer's field nearby which is now full of goldenrod. In September I will visit the field to see if I can get a picture of the field in bloom.


The Queen Anne's lace and the chicory are still blooming at full force:

And this lovely, purple flower, the name of which I have no idea, has just begun to bloom (edit here ~ thanks to the Nan Ondra over at Gardening Gone Wild, I now know that this is ironweed):

Below is a parting shot of some chicory. The bees were very busy in it this morning:

The Enormous Egg

I just finished re-reading The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth. I read a lot of middle-grade and young adult fiction, and while perusing the stacks in my library I saw The Enormous Egg. I had to check it out.

I have very fond memories of this book, although I'd never actually read it until now. Well then, how can I have such fond memories of it, you may ask? It was read to me when I was around six years old. My family and a neighbor family down the street rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains for a week one summer, and every evening before bed, Mrs. Hinze would read to all of the assorted children from this book.

Oh, it was a lot of fun each night before bed to hear about this chicken who laid an egg which hatched into a dinosaur! And the name that Nate Twitchell gave to his little dinosaur has never left my head. I think that every time I've ever seen a Triceratops I've thought of the name, Uncle Beazley. What also made the book come alive was, at that time, I lived in the Washington, D.C. area and had visited the National Zoo and the Natural History Museum many times - places that figure prominently in the book.

At one point, I'm not sure exactly when, the Natural History Museum put two dinosaur sculptures out front, just across the street so they were actually on the Mall. One of the sculptures was a Triceratops. Of course we all called it Uncle Beazley every time we saw it. I'm not sure if the sculptures are still there. It seems like little children liked to climb on them, so eventually a low fence was placed around them. And then it seems like they may not have been there when I had a chance to take my own little tots to see the sights in D.C. many years ago.

Okay, I just checked. To see a picture of the Triceratops sculpture and to find out where it is nowadays, follow this link.

Anyway, the book is still charming, and although it was published for the first time way back in 1956, I think it would still be a good read for a child today. Sure, there are some kind of unbelievable things that happen (you may be thinking - chicken hatching a dinosaur; but I'm thinking - little kid is allowed to ride dinosaur around D.C. unsupervised, and some pretty over the top actions by some senators). But really, those kinds of things don't bother little kids. They have lots and lots of imagination and can deal with things that we grown-ups can't.

When my husband came home and saw the book lying on the table, he said, "The Enormous Egg?! That was one of my favorite books!"

Read it to someone you love today. You'll be glad you did, and the illustrations by Louis Darling will delight.

How the publishing industry works - Not!

For the writers out there, this will make you giggle. For those who have no idea how the publishing industry works, this may seem a reasonable depiction of how to write a book and get it published. Enjoy:

Nelson-Kennedy Ledges

There is a place called Nelson-Kennedy Ledges, which is a state park up here in northeast Ohio.


You might not think of Ohio as having places like this - rocky, mossy, full of crevasses to explore.


But they're here.


Down in the deeper places it's cool on a hot summer's afternoon.

The rocks turn green with thick layers of moss and hanging ferns.

It's a fun place to go for a hike.

Editorial Comments- the writers out there will giggle

There is a hilarious post up at Finding Wonderland having to do with editorial comments. I haven't experienced comments from an editor's point of view yet, but these comments are strikingly familiar to the types of things that you might get from a critique group. Please follow this link to read editorial comments gone awry for Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Summing up July: Knitting, Felting, Fireworks, Writing, Gardening, Sadness and Happiness

The fireworks for my nice little town are shot off in the park next door. We have front row seats. The first year we lived here, my children each had a friend over and we all sat on a blanket on the roof over our garage and watched what seemed like our own personal fireworks show. We learned, though. If you live in this neighborhood, you are almost obligated to have a party on fireworks day/night. The whole subdivision is a wall-to-wall party. So now my husband invites friends from work. We grill, everyone brings something, we eat outside, play lawn games, make s’mores. The sun goes down, we don sweatshirts and bug spray and gather on blankets laid out on a hillock next to the park. The fireworks are always spectacular and have an in-your-face excitement to them. So that’s what we did at the beginning of July – we had our fireworks party.

We also began to harvest things from our garden. Peas were the first things ready for picking.


Now the zucchini are providing for our table. So far we’ve had zucchini bread and steamed zucchini mixed with green beans from the garden, and then sprinkled with fresh peas. Yum! The green beans are my favorite. They are yummy and abundant. Our tomatoes haven’t ripened yet, but we have a lot on the vine.

The corn has just begun to tassel, I noticed that the calendula is getting ready to bloom, and I think the sunflowers are getting as close as they can to the sky before they decide to bud. They’re tall and magnificent.


One of our kitties had to be put to sleep in July. Just last week, in fact. Now when I walk out to the garden, I pass her little resting spot, and that of one of our other little kitties.

Here she is on the right, thirteen years ago, with the little girl who grew up with her and loved her every minute of those thirteen years.

Sadness and Happiness. The art of living is figuring out how to heal from the one so you can embrace the other.

I’m working on a new novel. It’s for ages 11 and up, targeted for boys. It has rugby, ghost hunting, and a new girlfriend who may or may not be a ghost. It was my turn for critique in July and my critique group really liked the first chapter. One of the comments written by one of them was, “I hope you know where you’re going with this, because I really like it and I want to read the rest.” Hee! I don’t really know where I’m going with it. And that’s kind of a problem. I have ideas, but I really need a good twist, a wow element to give my idea some real spice. Trying to come up with that element has only led me to a little alley in my head that’s boxed in by concrete walls. Not a fertile place for go-go ideas. So I left July stuck somewhere in chapter two. Page 28 to be exact.

I’m hoping August will find my mind working again. It’s my birthday month! Woo hoo! I already got an e-birthday coupon from my favorite yarn shop – Miss Chickpea’s Funky Fibers. At least creativity will flow through knitting, if not through writing!

Speaking of which, the end of July saw me finishing a pair of knitted slippers and felting them.

They’re thick and cushy (I knitted them with two strands of yarn so they’d felt up nice and thick). In fact, they’re still drying out because they’re so thick, and it’s been a tad humid. Can’t wait to slip them on my feet and try them out. I’m ready for winter!

This happy little gnome, who used to help hold up a plant, is waving July goodbye. He's wishing you a wonderful August!

Goodnight, sweetheart, goodnight

Hoosier Cabinet

I had three elderly great-aunts who lived together in their later years. When the last of them passed away several years ago (well into her 90's), my husband and I helped my parents clear the house out to get it ready to sell. My parents kept a few things, we saved out some things for my sisters, and the rest went to me and hubby and to others who helped us.

My mother wanted to make sure that this Hoosier cabinet stayed in the family. She has fond memories of her aunts cutting up lemons on its work surface and making lemonade during the hot New Mexico summers of her childhood.


It has a flour bin from which you could sift flour directly into a measuring device, or a bowl. If you look carefully, you will see a pitcher with a greenish tint in the storage area level with the work surface. That's the same pitcher my great-aunts served their lemonade in.

One of the things that I really like about this cabinet's design is that the enamel work surface can be pulled out for more work space when needed. The top picture shows the work surface pushed all the way in, the bottom picture shows it pulled out to its furthest extent.

I only use the cabinet to store dishes now, to set cakes, pies, and cookies on when they come out of the oven to cool, or as an extra surface on which to set food dishes when entertaining.

I don't know how much it's worth. I've tried to find out, but there were many manufacturers of Hoosier cabinets and many different styles, so it's been hard to pin my particular cabinet down, even though I know the manufacturer. It was manufactured by Helmers of Kansas City, MO.

I don't want to sell it, but it'd be nice to know its value. Its sentimental value is priceless. When I look at its stained and faded wooden surfaces, I often imagine my great-aunts working away making a dinner, or a pie, or slicing those lemons for lemonade. And my mom as a little girl waiting for her glassful.

Time to make some cookies!

Gingerbred men cookie cutters:



Lays to rest once and for all the gingerbred man's cocky (or cookie?) refrain, "You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!"


(via Editorial Anonymous)

Fairy Rings

A lot of Fairy Rings, or Fairy Circles, have been showing up in the park next to my house.


Folklore tells us that these rings are caused by fairies, pixies, or elves dancing in a circle.


To step into a fairy ring is to risk never being able to step back out into our world again. You might find yourself in the Land of Faerie - stuck there, bidden to dance until you die from exhaustion. Or you may become enchanted and marry a fairy. Most legends say that fairy rings are dangerous places and are best avoided. My dog, however, made it back out of this Fairy ring just fine.


In reality, the rings are caused by an underground fungus called mycelium. You can learn more about fairy rings, their causes, and the folklore behind them, here.

It's either fairies or fungus that really like the soccer fields in the park next door. Maybe on the next moonlit night I'll go and make sure that it isn't the former.


If you would like to read a short story with fairies in it, follow this link to a story called The Fairy's Tale.

July Bloom Day!

It's Bloom Day! This is my very first Bloom Day post. On the 15th of each month, people around the world post pictures of what's blooming in their gardens. To see all of these posts, or to leave a link to a post of what's blooming in your garden, go here. Below is my Bloom Day contribution for July. Here's what's blooming in my garden in northeast Ohio, USA:

The zucchini are blooming in my vegetable garden:


I was given this plant in its pot, It's a balloon flower (which I learned from one of the other bloom day post-ers), not a moonflower which my husband thought the previous owners called it when they handed it to him. It comes back every year with its beautiful purple blooms:

The day lilies are in bloom around the mailbox:

And other lilies of which the name escapes me:

This is wonderful groundcover for shady spots, but beware! It tends to want to take over! I'm very sorry that I've forgotten its name - I'm very bad at names:

The next two pictures are of a variety of viola that are supposed to be perennial. I just put them in this spring, so I'll see how they overwinter:

Okay, that's all for what's in bloom in my yard right now, except for things like impatiens and hanging pots, etc., which are always in bloom. The next set of pictures is what I find in bloom in the park next door when I go for walkies with my doggy. Most of these pictures are on the wild fringes of the park, where things are left to themselves.

Here are some cattails. I've never seen them as tall as they are this year:

Here is some pretty, yellow bird's foot trefoil:

I'm not sure what variety of thistle this is, but it's in bloom and seeding at the same time! It's a smaller variety, the larger thistle blooms later:

Queen Anne's lace, with its pretty, dark-purple center:

These aren't blooming, but these ripening blackberries are as pretty as flowers:


I don't know the name of these flowers. They are smaller than daisies and begin to bloom when the daisies are finishing up:


There is a bumble bee on this milkweed blossom. There is a lot of milkweed this year, more than I've seen before. For some reason, I really like milkweed, and I'm very happy to see it:


And there are still a few daisies left to enjoy:


Here is some chicory:


I don't know the name of these thing-a-ma-bobs, but we've all seen them in dried flower arrangements. This is the first one to open its little, lavender colored blooms:

And finally, this is not a bloom, but an oddity. A bat caught out in the daytime! I've never seen that before, but then again, I've never looked! I saw it flying over the little pond in the park while I was out taking all of these pictures around noon-time today:


Have a nice bloom day! And don't forget to follow the links found in the comments section here to see what's in bloom today all over the world!