The tailings of November, when the sky takes on the character of dingy cotton batting and the air smells of newly-cut lumber from the house rising on the corner, and the yellow-and-black sign plunged into the front yard two doors down from it speaks volumes:  Bank Owned.  Auction.

The tailings of November and the trees have at last disrobed.  I find myself enamored with the elegant scaffolding this time of year reveals.  At the corner of Hemlock and Berne a hornet’s nest is beached in the uppermost branches of a crape myrtle:  the branches shed of leaves are polished bone, the nest like wadded, unbleached linen.

The day after Thanksgiving we drove further than we should have, a lunch of leftovers packed into the trunk, spurred on by visions of waterfalls and the promise of fossils to be found on the side of the road.

The spoil heaps  where they once could be hunted were festooned with with No Trespassing signs that kept us in the car, but later, on the path that led us toward the roar of the waterfall, we found a small discarded nest, fetched up against one piling of the guardrail.  Neither the haphazard stucco’ing of mud robins resort to nor a mockingbird’s thatch of sticks,  it was threaded through with pine needles and delicate dried stalks, the embroidery of it french-knotted here and there with tiny seed heads.

We packaged it up carefully into the tupperware that had held slices of apple; we picked up shale and talked about the way there could be the the ghost-images of plants pressed into its layered pages;  we watched the water sluicing from the lip of rock above us, and threw rocks into the creek solely for the glory of their splashing.

Thanksgiving.

a few more things i am grateful for…

{a relaxing week off}

{projects completed. thank you again prudent baby!}

{a garden that won’t stop giving. this time it’s bananas…i never, ever thought the tree would really give!}

{baking thanksgiving pies for family. i am grateful that we have food to share with others.}

{a good home. period. but it’s nice to be all decked out for the holidays, too.}

{the means to give presents. and, yes, they are all wrapped and ready to go.}

{my family. i am truly blessed. this is j trimming his own little tree in his room.}

{signing the all-important adoption paperwork. one step closer to being official, people!}

and you…the blogging community. you are generally a quiet bunch, but i know that you’re out there. my sitemeter tells me you are reading from ALL OVER THE WORLD. i am amazed and grateful for you. if you could just say hi sometime this month i would love it!

i hope this holiday season is a joyous, blessed one for you! i’ve been learning a lot recently that has been adding to my appreciation of the season. i’ll share more later…

In recent years, fall seems to fly by, fast, furious and all too fleeting. Seems like yesterday was August and now we’re just days from December.

This fall has seemed even more jammed than usual and much of it my own doing – some, like the cider, were born of interest and some, like the porch, of sheer necessity.

The upper part of the porch is now (mostly) complete and looks way better than before! Though I’d really like to have been able to get it all done, the weather was becoming a threat.

The underside is still unfinished wood simply because we couldn’t decide whether to stain it before applying the polyurethane.

The exterior paint job was completed a few days ago. We worried it might freeze before it dried but the fine print said that it was good at temps as low as 2 degrees Celcius and, thankfully, dry it did. Just one coat, but it’s better weather protection than none. The colour was chosen to blend with the house brick but I’m thinking it’s just too … meh … so the second-coat colour may change – we have all winter to ponder it.

What’s left? The pillar-cladding and some sort of cap on the brick knee-wall (which I’d love to remove but I was out-voted). Oh, and a trap-door to access the plug for the roof heating cable.

We’ll take the winter to plan the rest and make parts so that what’s left is quick and easy in the spring.

And the cider – it’ll get a second racking this weekend and then I’ll assess the whole bottling business. It’s actually smelling pretty good!

We’ve had a flurry of activity in the last few weeks to get all kinds of things done before the snow hits:

Raked leaves – thirty bags full!
Swapped the contents of two sheds – we do this each spring and fall; the shed close to the laneway holds the necessities for the current or upcoming season and the one tucked away on the other side of the house contains off-season and seldom-used stuff (I’d kill for a garage! Some day …).
Bought and installed brackets – one set to hold the ladder and another set for the sailboat mast.
Planted shrubs … that were bought back in September (yeah, I know …).

And this weekend will kick off the Holiday season, way too early to suit me but a necessity in some regards. Life is just easier if you get the outdoor seasonal lights up before the cold, ice and snow arrive and the end of November is actually late to be doing it around here. I’m not bothered in the least though that it’s still green outside!

I also get to bake eight dozen cookies this weekend, for an exchange I take part in annually. We’ve been at it for more than five years now and it seems to take place earlier each year, as it becomes harder and harder to find a date that works for everyone later into December.

Guess I’d better go figure out what to bake – tune in again to see the end result!

Last summer our guide at the Lang Estate, Bob Iiams, invited us to take a clipping of the beautiful lime green sedum that filled the beds in front of the main building. I pinched off a 2″ piece and stuck it in my pocket. The next day I stuck it in the ground near the patio so I could keep my eye on it. A 2″ sprig in the midst of all the summer blooming flowers needed to be near so it would not be forgotten. On our October trip to Bob’s own conifer garden, he gave this lovely lady a name – Sedum Angelina.

Angelina has real star power. She is a vibrant green and instantly draws attention in any setting. She isn’t fussy, doesn’t take a lot of care and always puts on a show. She doesn’t even mind when the temperatures dip – maybe it’s because she is near the warming stones of the patio, or, maybe she just doesn’t mind. She started out as a bit player but now it’s looking like she may be the star of the show. If I recall, she may even have a trick up her sleeve for next summer. I seem to remember that she may have had on a red dress when I originally spotted her at the estate. We’ll see. Even if she doesn’t change colors she is stunning just as she is.

I’ll bet she will probably make an appearance at the May plant sale. If she does, invite her over to your garden. I’m sure she will put on a performance for you.

This week has been all about bulbs. A while back Anne Jennings and I placed our order for the coming spring bulb display. Having finally found a window of appropriate time for the task (in between showers and leaf storms) I have been able to plant, with much help from our Tuesday volunteers, almost all of our order. This includes those for the knot, wild and border gardens at the museum.

 The selection includes old favourites (Narcissus, Alliums, Tulips etc) as well as some more interesting and colourful choices such as Ornithogalum, Nerines and Fritillarias

 I await the spring with both excited anticipation and a dab of anxiety!

It is important for us to have meaning attached to the things we do.  However, sometimes religious people lose the meaning for the things they do in their relationship with God.  As a result, those things begin to be not only meaningless, but also boring and even drudgery.

One result of this is that Christians have a hard time passing their faith on to others.  Usually their children are the ones most cognizant of the fact that the Christian faith has lost meaning and implication for everyday living.  Who can blame them if they reject involvement in meaningless religious activity and end up leaving the faith altogether?

Another result is a loss of one’s ‘first love’ faith and relationship with God.  Meaning and religious faith practices lose their connection.  It is kind of like a story I read about.  On the first day of school, the kindergarten teacher said, “If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers.”  A small voice from the back of the room asked, “How will that help?”

When there is a disconnect between what we are doing and why we are doing it, we are often left asking ourselves, “How will that help?”  In fact, we drift into a sense that nothing will help – or can help us out of our spiritual fog.  Then we become resolved to meaningless activity and spiritual numbness.  That is when the enemy of our souls – the devil – tempts us into thinking that true happiness, joy, and meaning will only be found outside of our faith, its disciplines or relationships.

If we give in to this temptation, we then find our life consumed by trying to fill up this void with worldly things and activities that only bring further spiritual dryness to an already drought ridden soul.  Is this our only path?  Or, are we to just accept the disconnection between faith and meaning?  Hardly!

Our heavenly Father has much more in mind for us than just maintaining religious activity with no meaning.  How do we regain a sense of purpose and meaning in our faith?

• When Jesus talked to “First Love Lost Church” of Ephesus in the book of Revelation, he told them to return to the things they did at the beginning of their loving relationship with God.
• And when he chided the “First Church of Lukewarm” in Laodicea, he called them to seek him for all their needs rather than assume that the goods of this world were a guarantee of a good life.
• To the “First Church of the Snoring” in Smyrna, Jesus commanded the believers to “wake up!”  Their work for the Lord was not done yet and they had wandered from obedience to him.

Just like us, the believers of these churches got lost in meaningless religious activity.

Lone Tree In Fall Colors, Fall 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2009)

What can we learn from these churches? I believe the central message is the same to all of them.  It is all about relationship.  It is not about activity.  It is easy to get those two confused and prioritized wrong.  Our religious faith is not like a job which we do to get pay and benefits nor is it a ‘to do’ list to be checked off.  It was birthed out of God’s desire to have a meaningful relationship with us and will be maintained as a living faith only with the same goal in mind.

It is about a personal knowledge and experience of God. Brother Lawrence in his little booklet, “Practicing the Presence of God”, lived a life of vital relationship with his heavenly Father as a kitchen cook in a monastery.  He practiced a living relationship with God that included lively talking with God throughout his daily duties.  Out of that life-giving relationship his life was changed.  Plus, God used him to speak into the hearts of numerous people, some of which were heads of the church and leaders of the nation!

What could be accomplished through Christ’s followers if we measured our spiritual lives by what promotes a meaningful relationship with our heavenly Father versus religious activity?  The old hymn, In the Garden, expressed it well in the lines, “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am his own.  And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other can ever know.”  This expresses very well what our heavenly Father is inviting us to through his son, Jesus.  Everyone is invited to this same full and vibrant relationship with the Lord.  He calls it “life more abundantly.”  It is faith – faith with meaning.

©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2009)

We planted the garlic, and finished sowing the cover crops.  After a long season of abundance and growth, it’s now the season of renewal and reflection.

We’re still harvesting some fall crops, and there’s lettuce in the greenhouse, but the Food Bank will need to purchase produce for the winter. Sigh. But it’s for the first time in 7 months! Yeah! And we’ll do even better next year. We’re already starting to make plans for how to increase our production, and help others grow food for themselves, and the Food Bank.

Garden Coordinator, Cary Peterson, will heading off to India for a month. Molly Zeiger, our Americorp volunteer, will be taking care of the winter garden tasks. Stay tuned for posts from Molly!

Our trusty little metal shed has been filled to the bursting this year with fertilizer, tools, wheelbarrows, seeds, and miscellaneous garden supplies. We need more storage room, and an indoor place for volunteers to gather out of the cold and rain.

From Mildred and Al Anderson’s fallen down chicken barn built of old growth fir in 1936, Keith Fallows cut out the walls and end pieces for our “new” 10 ft x 12 ft garden shed. We pressure washed it, and Bayview High School students helped move it to it’s staging place.

Peter Bennett donated a platform, already constructed, which we moved to the garden, and then built the floor.

We put the walls up 1-2-3-4!

Youth from the Alternatives-to-Detention work crew of Island County Juvenile Court carefully salvaged the rough cut 2 x 6 rafters from the barn, and pulled out all the nails.

The rafters were put in place.

And we’re ready for the roof!

A big welcome to Molly Zeiger, our Americorp volunteer in the Good Cheer Garden, and in the Food Bank. Molly started working in September, and will be staying til next July. Below, she shares a bit about herself and her impressions so far. Stay tuned for more postings from Molly in the future!

“Let me start with how much I appreciate South Whidbey and Good Cheer. I love the wet climate and artistic culture of the Pacific Northwest. Although I plan to expand my horizons, I cannot imagine a more refreshing place to be all the time. South Whidbey is perhaps the perfect example of my ideal environment as I have found it to be a goldmine of interesting, active and artistic people surrounded by inescapable natural beauty.

And Good Cheer is so impressive! I have volunteered enough time to know what a huge accomplishment it is for a nonprofit to be self-sustaining while serving the needs of a significant percentage of the population. Good Cheer’s success shows great talent behind the scenes, tremendous community support, and a valuable mission that I have had no problem getting behind.

Before coming to Langley, I was working seasonally in Talkeetna, Alaska, after graduating with a degree in Peace Studies and Sociology from Whitworth University in Spokane. I spent my college years studying social justice and volunteering with vulnerable populations. That naturally led me into a term of service, related to community engagement. I share my AmeriCorps commitment between the Good Cheer Garden and the South Whidbey Commons coffeehouse program.

While I am here, I hope to help implement a sustainable and efficient system to turn healthy harvest from the garden into appreciated meals on the table. So far it has been a humbling learning experience.

Just after two months, I feel enriched by the garden and the wonderful people it has put me around. I’m really excited to keep working with Good Cheer to promote healthy living and help give everyone the opportunity to have fresh food. I feel truly blessed to be in a community where everyone is so focused on each other.”

Acum cateva luni scriam despre un zambet si efectul sau asupra celor din jur. Nu mi-a trecut starea respectiva, din punctul asta de vedere stau bine Zambesc in continuare de cele mai multe ori si nu mi-e teama sa arat celor din jur ca ma bucur ca exist. Tot la articolul mentionat Andi mi-a lasat un comentariu care m-a pus putin pe ganduri. Acea florareasa mi-a oferit o stare de bine si o recunoastere a influentei pe care un zambet o poate avea asupra celor din jur. Si desi este adevarat ca si eu i-am adus un zambet in suflet, am realizat ca de fapt nu i-am multumit niciodata pentru asta. M-am mai uitat dupa acea femeie cateodata dar nu am mai vazut-o de atunci.

Ca un facut, Vineri iarasi m-am lasat furat de muzica, de data asta de catre Bob Marley, cred ca era pe Radio Guerilla. Si mi-am adus aminte de acea intamplare si de cele spuse mai sus asa ca am fost mai atent ca de obicei si m-am uitat in mod special dupa acea florareasa (locatia se afla pe drumul meu catre birou). Asa cum numai viata stie sa aseze intamplarile, la locul cu pricina se afla, pur intamplator,  o florareasa. Nu aceeasi, dar spre surprinderea mea era totusi o florareasa acolo, in aproape acelasi loc. O femeie in varsta care vindea cateva buchete de flori pentru a mai castiga cativa banuti. In primul moment am ezitat sa opresc dar dupa inca 100 de metri am oprit, am parcat si m-am intors catre ea cu sufletul foarte vesel si usor – aveam ocazia sa multumesc pentru starea de fericire de acum ceva vreme, chiar nu aceleiasi persoane. Si totodata, aveam ocazia sa aduc un zambet pe chipul cuiva.

Asa ca m-am grabit catre femeia aceea, i-am cerut un buchet si la intrebarea ei “Pe care-l doriti” i-am raspuns “Care va place dumneavoastra, Doamna” caci era un buchet destinat tot ei. Asa ca Doamna respectiva a primit un buchet de la un necunoscut , i-am multumit frumos ca l-a primit si mi-am vazut de drum. Sa va mai spun ca ziua de Vineri a fost una foarte vesela si fericita pentru mine?

Voi cand ati facut ultima oara cadou un zambet unui necunoscut?

Now that the garden has quieted down a bit, there isn’t all that much to do out in the flower beds. I am re-thinking the placement of the peony poppies that bloom every summer. Last year, the volunteers poked up in the most unusual places. They really put on a display for a week or two but once the big show is gone they are…..ugly! I am going to sow the tiny seeds this week. They do not like to be covered and will only germinate when they are exposed to the light. Each fall I take my summer seeds and sprinkle them throughout the beds. Last summer I took note of which plants would be good at disguising the brown foliage after the flowers are gone. You have to let them turn brown or you won’t get any seeds for the following year but the dying stems are about 18 inches tall and take a couple weeks to dry enough to harvest the seed pods. I hope my plan works. Since the seeds lay on top of the soil I think mother nature uses the winter wind and snow to put them where she thinks they will look good. We’ll see who wins.

Rmary

Now that the garden has quieted down a bit, there isn’t all that much to do out in the flower beds. I am re-thinking the placement of the peony poppies that bloom every summer. Last year, the volunteers poked up in the most unusual places. They really put on a display for a week or two but once the big show is gone they are…..ugly! I am going to sow the tiny seeds this week. They do not like to be covered and will only germinate when they are exposed to the light. Each fall I take my summer seeds and sprinkle them throughout the beds. Last summer I took note of which plants would be good at disguising the brown foliage after the flowers are gone. You have to let them turn brown or you won’t get any seeds for the following year but the dying stems are about 18 inches tall and take a couple weeks to dry enough to harvest the seed pods. I hope my plan works. Since the seeds lay on top of the soil I think mother nature uses the winter wind and snow to put them where she thinks they will look good. We’ll see who wins.

Rmary

Some things like ripping out the old squash vines, making butter and extra sewing have gone by the wayside the last two weeks. Why, you ask? Because this manager of the Green Anthropology Homestead had her wisdom teeth pulled. While it has always seemed to me a sort of rite-of-passage that so many people go through, I would NOT recommend it. Oh no. And the older you are when you have it done makes it worse, so I hear. So hooray for me- pulled teeth at 30 years. I’ll take 15 hours of child-birth again before having teeth pulled, thank-you-very-much!

So with this notch in my belt and being fairly healed, I’ve gotten back into my groove this weekend. The dried squash vines have been crammed into my tiny compost bin, and the remaining bits donated to the neighbor’s compost pile. All the work done just in time for a lovely rain that heralds a cool front to bring more autumn-like weather.  I will be thankful for a Turkey Day on which I am not inclined to wear shorts!

I missed one night at the farmer’s and crafters’ market night, but was there again this Friday, and doing fairly respectably. I love sewing, and being able to provide unique items in such a way to the locals feels great. I just wish there was more time to get things done! All of us regular vendors are hoping the economy will not let us down on Black Friday- we all need the extra income this year. And here at the GAH it’s not for buying presents to place under a tree- it’s to pay the mortgage on this expanding homestead! So if you would like to support the GAH, you can get your beautiful baby and toddler accessories here, at my quaint little shop: www.RainyDaySmocks1.etsy.com. For all you health nuts like me here is a tidbit of information on the laminated bibs: the laminate I use is a reformulated plastic that is PVC-free. Done promoting myself, thank you for your attention to this advertisement.

My sweet husband found this article published in MIT News and sent it to me this week: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2009/foodshed.html

It discusses the childhood obesity epidemic among the children and teens in the US, and how suggested foodsheds (like watersheds) can help to make healthier, more affordable foods more readily available and decrease the obesity epidemic. The study was done as a collaborative work between MIT and Columbia scholars. ( Columbia is the primary source of historically influential Anthropologists- the guys that came up with the theories we as Anthropology students study today! Just a note, as I still hope to finish that Masters in Anthro…)

It is quite interesting, so please take the time to click on the link and read the article. But what makes me chuckle a bit is that if you are a regular reader of GA, the topic of the article is probably common sense to you! And to think they had to have our gurus at MIT and Columbia come up with what we homesteaders already knew.

For many of us whose families lived and worked in the Muren, Maryville, Massey, and Turkey Hill areas of Pike County, we laid our loved ones to rest at Williams Cemetery near Patoka Grove Church. The timeworn cemetery has been known as Massey Cemetery and Whitman Cemetery but is now referred to officially as Williams Cemetery. It is older than the long-standing church it surrounds. It is a place of peace for me. I go there whenever I want to walk around in the quiet, mull over life’s mysteries, dwell on a problem, or remember someone I loved who is buried there. My family graves lie in a row directly behind the church, a long length of empty grass awaiting the next to join them.

In the autumn of 2004, my stepdaughter, Kristen Beyke of Sarasota, Florida, was visiting to attend a family funeral. She was majoring in photo journalism at the University of Florida at the time. She was so pleased to be here in the fall when the leaves were changing colors. She wanted to shoot photos of the blazing countryside and some old country churches. She took this photo of the Williams Cemetery and Patoka Grove United Methodist Church and it has become one of my favorite photos of that place.

Patoka Grove Church and Williams Cemetery

There is much history surrounding the church and that burying ground, many stories to be told and some forever to be left untold.

My memories of attending Patoka Grove Church are all from my childhood in the 1960s. Like most children, the sermons were boring and too complicated for a 6 year old mind to wrap around. But the singing….I loved the singing… The hymn “In the Garden” was one I adored the most. I always stood with my grandma whenever they would sing that song.

“I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the son of God discloses. And he walks with me, and he talks with me…”

My Mamma Evans and I both prized flowers. On Decoration Day, not the Monday Government Memorial Day holiday that we celebrate now, but actual Decoration Day on May 30^th when we honored the war dead , she and I would decorate the graves of our family at Williams Cemetery. We did not buy a fancy silk saddle or vase of colorful fake flowers. We walked the fence rows and yards of old home places that no longer existed and wandered along the roadsides, filling up tin cans wrapped in aluminum foil with flowers we would cut. I could not describe to you a single silk flower memorial I have decorated a grave with over the past few years, but I could describe to you the smell of the yellow roses we cut on Mary and Sampy Corn’s fencerow, the bees swarming the sweetpeas we cut along Number 7 road, and the deep red color of the peonies from Ma Bolin’s old home place. For years after the Government in 1971 made Memorial Day the official 3 day weekend on the third Monday of May, my Mamma refused to acknowledge it, she would take her flowers to the cemetery on Decoration Day. As she got older, she conceded to the new Memorial Day, but she still grumbled about it. Decoration Day was a languid day to spend hours at the Cemetery. Money was collected for care of the graveyard. Lunch was eaten there that day. Lawn chairs would appear from car trunks. It was a time to catch up with friends, family and neighbors. Kids would sit under the cedar trees on the hill in the “Old Part”, sometimes reading the grave markers of the children in the cemetery, retelling stories about how some had died and curious about the others.

Patoka Grove Church

Easter is another treasured memory of Patoka Grove . Even if the grown ups could not afford a new dress, the little girls always had their new Easter bonnets, pastel dresses, white patent leather Mary Janes, and wicker purses. Patoka Grove held an easter egg hunt each year in the field next to the church. I always wanted to be the one to find the Gold Egg that would win you a prize, but I never did. Each year however, the hope would be renewed that I might.

Easter Finery

We attended Bible School there, tediously gluing together countless craft sticks, sprinkling glitter on paper plates and pasta, and when we were older stitching together a leather wallet. We would lay out all of our treasures on a long table in the basement for our family to admire on the night of the Bible School program. At Christmas Santa came to the basement and we had a treat from him. We would all have to remember our “piece” for the program. We would draw the little cut and folded pieces of paper out of a basket . I always hoped mine was short because I very much disliked standing in front of people. If my little brothers drew a harder one my mom would make me trade with them.

More Easter Bonnets

Our family held noteworthy events at that church and basement. Weddings, wedding receptions, baby showers, bridal showers all were at Patoka Grove. There weren’t big catered meal, kegs of beer, or dancing. We had a decorated cake, dinner mints and nuts. The cake was usually made by another of our Church friends. My Mamma made punch with pineapple juice, 7up and sherbert. We used the fancy glass punch bowl and cups, right beside our color coordinated paper plates and napkins. We made rice bags with toile and ribbons. Gifts were opened and displayed so that family and friends could appreciate them. After funerals all of the church ladies would make their best potluck dishes and a meal would be served to the family. Those are the best memories.

My Aunt and Uncles Wedding Reception in the Church basement

You cannot have attended Patoka Grove without remembering old Perlina Whitman. An early recollection of mine is of my Grandma taking me with her to a Ladies Meeting at Perlina’s old farmhouse next to the railroad tracks on Number 7 Road. Perlina had no electricity, used kerosene lamps and had a lot of antiques. I had the stern “Don’t you touch anything” warning before we arrived. This day made an impression on me because my Grandma made a Baked Alaska. She opened a carton of Neopolitan ice cream, whipped up a meringue to smear on it and put that in the oven. I was so young and could not figure out baking ice cream.

One of the earliest graves at Williams Cemetery is that of Joshua Massey. He was born in 1795 and died in 1844. He was the father of Wash Massey, the man that the coal mining town and community of Massey was named for. Wash Massey married Lou Bolin (an ancestor of mine). Lou was the daughter of Jarrett Bolin. Her sister Phebe married Horace Williams. Many of the children’s graves we would wonder about on the hill under the cedar trees were the children of Wash and Lou Massey. When Joshua died, his sister had a gravestone delivered from Maryland by oxen to the cemetery for his grave. In the early 1890s the Massey school was built and doubled as the community church. In 1892, at a revival meeting held at the school, the congregation decided to have a church built. Lumber was cut and seasoned. Wash and Lou Massey deeded one half acre of land for the building. In 1894, the church was built and located in a grove of trees not far from the Patoka River in Massey, hence the name Patoka Grove. Like the cemetery, it was also called Massey Church. In 1934, the church members decided to move the church to a more accessible location. Since there was no church at Williams Cemetery, they decided to move the church there. Curtis and Lyda Williams donated the land. The church was moved about a mile to it’s present site. It took 18 ½ days to move the church at a cost of $226.00. Donations paid for the move. The movers made $2.00 a day, except Mr. Harper who furnished the horses, he earned $4.00 a day. The history remembers Lyda Williams and Perlina Whitman, who kept the church open in 1946 to 1951 when there was no minister, just them, a few children and a pot bellied stove in the center of the church. The church has been updated in the 1950s and the 1980s, but still retains it quaint charm as a little country church.

It’s been a miserable day here today – wet and wild.  While I was stood by the bird table crumbling up some stale bread, my two little mice friends appeared!  I thought they had gone, got by the fat cat who ate my robin babies, but no!  Maybe not the original mice I saw, but a pair nonetheless.  They were so sweet, scampering out of the shrubs to grab morsels of bread as I dropped it.

So we have spent the evening cosy inside, N watching rugby and me browsing the internet.  I came across this lovely ‘Waste Not Want Not’ table runner at one of my favourite shops, Re-found Objects.  How lovely is that!  Definitely one for the Christmas wish list.

Image: Re-found Objects

Today Ben and his mom took Sam and Nathaniel to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair (while I worked at home in total silence – aaahh).   Decked out in checkered shirts and with the kids in overalls, everyone was getting in the agricultural way.  Sam’s grandmother asked him what kind of farmer he wanted to be.  I helped a bit, and asked what vegetable he’d like to grow in his garden farm.  “Beets,”  said Sam.

Sam posing as a beet farmer gives me a lot of pleasure, because it validates my fledging efforts in the garden this year.  I’ve got no green thumb and only the most recent interest in gardening, fuelled by the desire to know more about my food and reduce the carbon footprint of eating.  So it was no small deal for me to seek out heirloom organic seeds, wet some potting soil with a spray bottle, and sow them in these little plastic trays we had lying around in the garage.  To my amazement they sprouted beautifully on a south facing windowsill in our dining room.  I transplanted them, and they didn’t even die!

But as the summer wore on, most of them sputtered.  The eggplant and peppers got a little bigger, the beans sprouted some vines, but then got fed up with growing and were eaten alive (we have slugs – gross – but to Sam I say, look a slug! because that’s how hard I’m trying).  The watermelon just doubled over as if it was all too much.   We did get some tomatoes, but not a good harvest in proportion to what was sown.  And they weren’t that tasty.  My eyes didn’t water from how sweet they were like the package said.  Finally, get this – the zucchini didn’t grow!  We got exactly one zuke all summer.  I mean, who can’t grow freaking zucchini?? 

But.  The beets.  We planted a few dozen.   They were pretty small but they grew.   And they were delish, a clear cut above store produce.  I was so pleased with myself about the beets.

And.  In the garden, Sam burst into laughter each time he pulled one out. 

Today he was a beet farmer. 

I’m trying again next year.

Though the best of Autumn’s colour has drifted into a golden carpet by now, there is still much colour to be found if one looks closely.  For example, this rose bush just off the balcony displays a quiet splotch of red and green.  Don’t those thorns look like cats’ claws?

Along the narrow strip of woods at the edge of the property…

…and in this spirea hedge, which not so long ago exhibited tangerines and reds, there is still a warm, golden glow in the sun of midday.

Even though this viburnum has shed most of its fall colour, these brilliant red berries add a splash of cheer to the view and must be a welcome sight to wintering birds.

Nature takes her time, and I think we sometimes try to rush the seasons as if Autumn were some sort of Purgatory between Summer and Winter.  Cold and rainy one day, and warm and sunny with summery temperatures the next, it’s not much wonder, I guess.  I don’t know how many times I’ve overheard someone say, “I wish it would just get cold and stay that way…it’s November, after all.”  Instead, why not accept these glorious days of sun and shirt-sleeve temps as a lovely gift from Nature and embrace them as such.  There is no doubt: winter will be here soon enough.

Each week, as part of this blog I want highlight a particular ‘star’ of the garden, as one way of charting my own development as a gardener.
The first plant that attracts my attention is one of the most vigorous and splendid plants bordering the knot. It stood out to me as being recognisable, making me feel at home amongst the many new and currently unfamiliar plants in the garden – it is Acanthus mollis.
Acanthus mollis is quite frequently planted in the North London gardens where I work, and I’ve grown fond of its tall flower spikes and dominant foliage, and equally of its nature as an effective – if large – groundcover plant. However, in most of the gardens I know the flowers are finished and have already been cut down, but they still remain in this protected garden, standing proud above the glossy foliage. The colour has faded but the flower stems and seed head remain as strong architectural features in the autumn garden. Together with its frequently self-seeding counter part, Acanthus spinosus, the plant acts as a strong focal point in the borders surrounding the knot garden. There is no place for either species within the tight confines of the knot itself (although I am finding young spinosus toddlers lurking about the corners), but as one of the few period plants that thrive in the difficult conditions here, Acanthus has a permanent place in the larger borders.

It’s now been 3 weeks and I am having a fantastic time. On Tuesdays I meet with the small army of committed volunteers (who’ve done a sterling job of welcoming me), most of whom have regularly donated their time here for many years. On weekends I have helped set up and assist with our guest nurseries in residence; an opportunity to understand in much more detail the industry within which they work. I even gave a radio broadcast.
Some evenings I’ve had the pleasure of staying on for a Museum event – a privilege as many are sold out weeks before they take place. I’ve been introduced to amazing people of such high achievement and accomplishment within the garden world. These include garden journalist and critic Tim Richardson, Gardens Illustrated editor Juliet Roberts, Steven Crisp the head gardener at the American Ambassador’s residence in Regents Park, and Joe Swift of BBC Gardener’s World.
Most of my time is spent working in the gardens and although I haven’t been here long, I have already developed a fondness for the knot garden. As Anne Jennings (the Museum’s Head of Horticulture and Events) describes it in her book her book, Knot Gardens and Parterres, it is ‘a small but valuable treasure’.

Man, I’m annoyed. I FORGOT MY LUNCH AT HOME!

Anyway, I went into a supermarket on my way to work with the intention of picking up one frozen meal (Lean Cuisine does the best of those things), and came out holding 3 750mL bottles of flavoured water, 2 blocks of Cadbury’s finest, and 2 Lean Cuisines. It cost me just over $25!

Stupid thing is, I did this last time i was working too. I don’t know whether it’s dementia setting in, or whether the night shift work has sent me crazy, but i’s obvious I cannot be trusted in a supermarket. Most would spend that on a weeks worth of lunches!

I’ve locked the chocolate in my drawer at work, away from the temptation to eat it all tonight.

I wasn’t too good on being  a smart shopper today either. I bought myself a glass teapot with the strainer inside for the herbal teas I drink, I also bought 3 books, none of which i really needed, especially this close to Christmas.

I did however put on layby a Nikon D60 (with the lens kit) and a bag for it, deciding that a fortnight on 2 minute noodles was not an ideal diet for me. It’ll also mean I can put photos up here of germinating seeds and the like, and it may be another source of income for me if my skills are deemed worthy.

The only real thing I’ve stuck to the past few days is not using my car…. mainly because I was sleeping all day Wednesday. I did drive the 6kms to the local shopping centre, which when I think on it was a non-essential trip.

To top it off, my cucumbers and eggplants that got planted in the garden have been fried in Melbourne’s heat, and the seedlings in the boxes yet to be planted have been almost wiped out. There are still a few green bits there, so they should survive *fingers crossed*.

Things can only improve. I’ve now got water bottles supplying the cucumbers and eggplants with water 24/7, and the radishes haven’t been affected by the heat at all (and are thriving!). My second batch of cucumbers have grown about 2 inches since the start of the heat, and I’ll plant them out in about 10 days time.

Hoping for a better few days…

Murasaki-Claire!

We tried the potato box method of growing spuds, building the box and planting them in the spring, and then adding sections going up as the vines grew. We had a larger box 3 ft x 2 ft, and a smaller 1 x 1 ft box in the square foot garden.

The larger box was a disappointment. Some potatoes grew in the soil above the ground, but not many. Not looking good for potato boxes as a space-saving way to grow.

But the smaller box worked beautifully, and demonstrated the potential of this growing technique. In that little 1 x 1 ft potato tower, we harvested a 5 gal-bucket of spuds, more than in the larger one! In the photo you can see how the potatoes grew. A success!

We got it right with the soil mix, watering and variety of potato on one, but not the other.  More learning curves!