Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Fruit!
A fruit update!
How pleased I was to discover tiny, little apples on one of the apple trees. I know the harsh realities of getting apples started; I should be cautious in my enthusiasm. But I don't care, just this moment. Because there were a few frosts after the trees had already blossomed in the early spring, I didn't think I'd see anything this year, so I am thrilled to have even this.
The raspberries are looking good, too. We ended up with only about a pint of raspberries last year, but it was the plant's first year in the garden, after all. It seems we already have that much on the plant this year, now that it's more mature.
The plant has sent out shoots of new baby plants all around it. Even though it spreads, I think I'll still put in another plant or two, 'cuz there's no such thing as too many raspberries. We want that to become our raspberry patch.
I know from last year that the birds love to pick at raspberries; we caught the robins at it more than once. So goes my gardening theory: if you plant more than you think you'll need, you don't have to begrudge the birds when they come for a snack.
How pleased I was to discover tiny, little apples on one of the apple trees. I know the harsh realities of getting apples started; I should be cautious in my enthusiasm. But I don't care, just this moment. Because there were a few frosts after the trees had already blossomed in the early spring, I didn't think I'd see anything this year, so I am thrilled to have even this.
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| Tiny apples, about the size of plump grapes. |
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| This is the red apple tree. I guess they start out green? |
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| Such a leafy plant! And I do love raspberry leaf tea! |
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| A whole cluster of immature raspberries. |
I know from last year that the birds love to pick at raspberries; we caught the robins at it more than once. So goes my gardening theory: if you plant more than you think you'll need, you don't have to begrudge the birds when they come for a snack.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Cardinal Nest
A few weeks ago, I went to trim this butterfly bush:
As I started hacking away at the branches that should have been removed weeks earlier, I noticed a bird's nest, hidden amidst the leaves. It was about the size of a cereal bowl and it was woven with long grasses into a beautiful swirly pattern. I stopped trimming the bush!
A few days later, I wanted to show the nest to the kids, as well as take some photos to share, when a cardinal came flying furiously out of the bush. We backed away and left it alone. Every so often, whenever we approached the bush, mama bird would flutter angrily away from the nest.
This morning, I went to have another look. This time I was not greeted by any birds. Nest empty.
Such a joy to discover this! All spring, we've had both a robin pair and a cardinal pair taking small bits of debris out of the gardens and flying away. It's nice to know that they weren't going very far.
As I started hacking away at the branches that should have been removed weeks earlier, I noticed a bird's nest, hidden amidst the leaves. It was about the size of a cereal bowl and it was woven with long grasses into a beautiful swirly pattern. I stopped trimming the bush!
A few days later, I wanted to show the nest to the kids, as well as take some photos to share, when a cardinal came flying furiously out of the bush. We backed away and left it alone. Every so often, whenever we approached the bush, mama bird would flutter angrily away from the nest.
This morning, I went to have another look. This time I was not greeted by any birds. Nest empty.
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| Very well hidden, indeed! |
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| The beautiful swirly pattern can (sort of) be seen here. |
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Dayton Dragons
Field Trip Day! We were able to go behind-the-scenes at Fifth Third Field, home of the Dayton Dragons.
This first photo is the walkway between the dugout and the clubhouse. The view is a bit more dramatic from the other perspective, but I don't want to put friends' children on the blog without their permission, so you'll have to settle for this view.
Standing at the dugout. Many of the Reds' current stars sat on this bench, back when they were young Low A guys.
This next photo is for my fellow Sox fans. Look who got his start in Dayton.
Here's a view of where the broadcaster sits when the game is aired on TV.
More than just a tour, there was a bit of career advice offered for anyone interested in working the Front Office jobs!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Easter Season Greetings
I came across this article the other day. I'll quote a part of it:
Yes. That was my Lenten experience. Except I didn't feel anger so much as I did despair. My perspective of the world was colored darkly by the news. It seemed that every family member was a lunatic ready to explode, that every teacher was ready to hurt your child, that every neighbor was ready to plunge a hatchet in your back, that every clerk cared nothing about their job - evidenced by the rude treatment we all receive wherever we go. However. . . .
. . . just as the author of that linked article had an Easter epiphany about the state of the world, so did I! So, to share my Easter joy with the family and friends who visit this blog, I am going to share why there is no reason for despair. And why fasting from the news is a healthy activity.
Family. Obviously, you'd think I have to say something nice about you, since you visit this blog. But if I didn't feel I had anything nice to say, I simply wouldn't say anything. I am grateful for my family. I genuinely like my family members. We have a good time together, so that's easy to say -- but we don't agree on everything under the sun and that's okay.
Friends. Not all of them know about this blog and those who do visit it because we don't live near each other anymore. But, same goes for all of you. I am blessed to know some great people! Whether far or near, whether we agree on everything or not, my friends are good people.
Teachers/Coaches. My children are lucky to have instructors and teachers who seem to genuinely like children and enjoy the skill they are teaching to kids. No "Dance Moms" type of teachers. No experience with coaches who swear at kids when they make a mistake.
Neighbors. Now, if there was anything bad to tell, I could tell it, as I never told the neighbors about the blog. But there's nothing bad to tell. I have nice neighbors. I know from others' experiences that this doesn't always happen. Just the other day, we were recalling a rather pushy girl who once lived next to us. She used to stick her nose in my window on nights I was cooking ethnic foods and shout, "Eewww! That STINKS!" I hope she grew up to attend a culinary school, coming to appreciate international cuisine with a burning desire to share with the world. But I digress. Nice neighbors have done everything from patiently answer my questions about how things work when I was a foreigner, to cautioning me that I might blow myself up if I tried to use the lawn mower that I'd broken in a very bad way. But let's not revisit that little mishap.
Clerks, librarians, cashiers, and servers in restaurants. I'm definitely safe here, as I know none of those who work in my regularly visited places know I'm writing this. But I cannot complain! They are all nice! We chat in friendly ways. We comment on holidays and birthdays and current events. And everyone is perfectly pleasant! You will not see any of the people I visit in my travels as the star of some viral video that was secretly taped of clerks/librarians/cashiers/servers behaving badly.
The concluding paragraph of the article:
The world is not perfect. And those imperfections are displayed in the news in horrifying ways. But there are billions of us living on the planet. We are all imperfect, but (happily!) our imperfections are not worthy of the 24-hour news cycle. There is no need for the discouragement I sometimes feel when I've spent too much time reading/watching the news.
Happy Easter Season to all. You are a blessing to me!
This was a tough Lent. I am feeling too much anger myself, these days, too much resentment at all the divisions between liberals and conservatives, clergy and laity, men and women, black and white, us and them in saecula saeculorum. I probably should have fasted from the news for 40 days, since it was raising my blood pressure rather than my spirits. St. Francis spoke to the birds and the beasts. I’m talking back to the radio and snorting in disgust at the newspaper.
Yes. That was my Lenten experience. Except I didn't feel anger so much as I did despair. My perspective of the world was colored darkly by the news. It seemed that every family member was a lunatic ready to explode, that every teacher was ready to hurt your child, that every neighbor was ready to plunge a hatchet in your back, that every clerk cared nothing about their job - evidenced by the rude treatment we all receive wherever we go. However. . . .
. . . just as the author of that linked article had an Easter epiphany about the state of the world, so did I! So, to share my Easter joy with the family and friends who visit this blog, I am going to share why there is no reason for despair. And why fasting from the news is a healthy activity.
Family. Obviously, you'd think I have to say something nice about you, since you visit this blog. But if I didn't feel I had anything nice to say, I simply wouldn't say anything. I am grateful for my family. I genuinely like my family members. We have a good time together, so that's easy to say -- but we don't agree on everything under the sun and that's okay.
Friends. Not all of them know about this blog and those who do visit it because we don't live near each other anymore. But, same goes for all of you. I am blessed to know some great people! Whether far or near, whether we agree on everything or not, my friends are good people.
Teachers/Coaches. My children are lucky to have instructors and teachers who seem to genuinely like children and enjoy the skill they are teaching to kids. No "Dance Moms" type of teachers. No experience with coaches who swear at kids when they make a mistake.
Neighbors. Now, if there was anything bad to tell, I could tell it, as I never told the neighbors about the blog. But there's nothing bad to tell. I have nice neighbors. I know from others' experiences that this doesn't always happen. Just the other day, we were recalling a rather pushy girl who once lived next to us. She used to stick her nose in my window on nights I was cooking ethnic foods and shout, "Eewww! That STINKS!" I hope she grew up to attend a culinary school, coming to appreciate international cuisine with a burning desire to share with the world. But I digress. Nice neighbors have done everything from patiently answer my questions about how things work when I was a foreigner, to cautioning me that I might blow myself up if I tried to use the lawn mower that I'd broken in a very bad way. But let's not revisit that little mishap.
Clerks, librarians, cashiers, and servers in restaurants. I'm definitely safe here, as I know none of those who work in my regularly visited places know I'm writing this. But I cannot complain! They are all nice! We chat in friendly ways. We comment on holidays and birthdays and current events. And everyone is perfectly pleasant! You will not see any of the people I visit in my travels as the star of some viral video that was secretly taped of clerks/librarians/cashiers/servers behaving badly.
The concluding paragraph of the article:
The Church is heading toward Pentecost. This is when the apostles were set on fire, leaving the safety of the upper room and stepping outside to preach to the world. Their Holy Spirit-fueled courage reverberates down to us. The Church has always suffered from divisions. Just read Acts. But that Easter joy, that Pentecostal fervor, that’s what reminds us why we keep trying to get it right.
The world is not perfect. And those imperfections are displayed in the news in horrifying ways. But there are billions of us living on the planet. We are all imperfect, but (happily!) our imperfections are not worthy of the 24-hour news cycle. There is no need for the discouragement I sometimes feel when I've spent too much time reading/watching the news.
Happy Easter Season to all. You are a blessing to me!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Lydia's First Communion
After a very of time of waiting anxiously, Lydia received her First Holy Communion last night at the Easter Vigil. Here she is just after Mass. Congratulations, Lydia!
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