A Fresh Grave

I dug another grave today out under the big oak tree, where our Pet Cemetary has grown to include 6 of our pets.  We found L's bunny, Chaz, stretched out in his favorite spot in the grass, but no longer living last night.  He was 10 years old, which is at the upper end of their typical lifespan!

He started out as a 4H project for J when she was in 5th grade.  She did show him at the Fair in 2015, but then lost interest first in 4H, and then in having a pet rabbit.  When I finally got tired of taking care of him, J was given the ultimatum:  find a new home for him.  This is how L adopted him, and she has taken excellent care of him for the past 6 years or so.

Chaz was sweet and super soft, but not super smart.  He loved dandelion leaves, carrot peels and apple cores.

He would walk on a leash albeit tentatively.

He was interested in his visitors.

I enjoyed taking him treats and chatting him up while he nibbled.  He will certainly be missed.

Miss Elizabeth Bennett

We had a sad, sad weekend.  Our remaining kitty, Miss Elizabeth Bennett, or Lizzie for short, disappeared.

She was acting a bit strange on Friday evening, mouth breathing and not as active as usual, but still appearing happy to see us, and purring quite loudly.  I had planned to try to get her in to the vet on Monday morning.  But she didn't come back Saturday or Sunday morning, so the girls and I went out in the woods to search for her on Sunday.

We found her body in the little hollow in the brambles where she liked to hang out when it is hot outside.

I got poked and cut from all the twigs and brambles, but I was finally able to get her out.  We buried her under the big oak tree, next to her buddy, Ernie (and Kali and Zach and my parents' dog, Daisy.)

Lizzie joined our family after my dad inadvertently caught her in the raccoon trap as a tiny baby.  She chomped down HARD on my finger when I tried to rescue her, but we all fell in love with her in the 2 weeks that we kept her in a cage on the veranda and observed her for signs of rabies, so we ended up keeping her as a friend for Ernie.

The two of them spent a lot of time together until Ernie passed earlier this year.

Her favorite things to do were to find shady places to relax...

...and roll in the dirt...

She would also visit me in the tree house now and then, by climbing up the tree!

She went from being a scared little feral kitten in a trap, to the sweet and beautiful cat that spent a decade as part of our family.  We miss her so much.

Nine Lives

Back in 2010, a friend gave us 2 kittens, who came to be known as Bert and Ernie.

Bert disappeared long ago, but Ernie has been with us for the past 13 years until yesterday when the last of his 9 lives came to an end.

He was such a funny cat!  He loved lying on the woodpile in the sunshine.

He preferred to drink out of buckets, or with both front paws IN the water bowl.

He had a foot fettish, and if you let him near your bare pigs, he would be sure to bite them.

He was a good hunter, and frequently left "gifts" on our doorstep.  After he arrived, we did not have to worry about mice in the house any longer, even though he lived outside on the veranda.

His first buddy was Bert, but his longest friendship was with Lizzie.

Towards the end, he became very ill, but he would still purr, rub fur all over us, and drool.

I prefer to remember him like this:

Tiny Grandmom

My last living grandparent passed away this morning.  My grandma was 106 years old. She lived through 21 presidents and 2 pandemics.  She outlived 2 husbands and beat COVID last year.

When J was just a little tyke, she was trying to figure out how her great grandmother fit into the scheme of things.  She decided that her grandmother was "Grandmom," and her great grandmother was "Tiny Grandmom."  We have called her that for the past 16 years or more.

This is J with me, grandma and great grandma - a 
year or two before she dubbed her "Tiny
Grandmom."

In 2008 L and her cousin joined Grandmom and
Tiny Grandmom for photos.

The girls invited Grandmom and Tiny Grandmom
to a tea party in 2011

Grandma was the first person that I ever saw putting on make up.  I remember watching her when she and grandpa came to visit us in Idaho, when I was about 6 or 7 years old.  During the same visit, I was also pretty impressed that her teeth could come out!

Back in the 80's, after my grandpa passed away, grandma decided to go into Mennonite VS (Voluntary Service), teaching arts and crafts in a Nursing Home.  During that time, she learned how to do ceramics.  For many years, she made ceramic dolls, complete with beautiful outfits.  Most of her granddaughters were gifted one of her "babies."

JP was my "plus one" to my grandma's 2nd wedding.  It was one of our early dates, and we spent the car ride from Virginia to Ohio and back talking for hours and learning to know each other better.

She has been such an institution in my life, it's hard to believe that Tiny Grandmom is gone.  She lived an amazing life, and I feel so lucky to have been a part of it!

Holes

Kali didn't make it.  She seemed a bit better yesterday morning, but wasn't drinking again by bedtime.  She couldn't even stand this morning, and was jaundiced.

I took her back to the vet this morning, and she offered to admit her, but wasn't holding forth much hope due to her rapid decline.  Instead, we all said our goodbyes to her before heading to school and work, and I brought her home from the vet in a shroud.

Mom and Dad helped me dig a hole under the big oak tree where Zach and Daisy are buried.  When JP and the girls are home this evening, we will put her to rest there.

She is leaving a big hole in our family...bigger than the one under the oak tree.

Sleep sweet, Kali Gal.

Stella is gonna miss her too!

Chasing the ball was her favorite thing - she did it on Thursday.

Brother

JP's parents with his 2 oldest brothers, J (baby) and D (toddler)

 

We received the sad news today that JP's oldest brother suffered a severe bleed in his brain following a fall this morning, and has just been taken off life support.

It was an incredible shock, and we are all still trying to process it.

D was 18 years older than JP, and was long out of the house by the time I came along, but I felt accepted and felt loved by all of JP's siblings on meeting them.  I found D especially to be an extremely gentle, quiet, and unassuming man.  He and his wife always seemed to have smiles on their faces.

JP & D

 

I have great memories of a weekend that D, his wife and youngest son spent at our home when J was small.  He was always so very appreciative of everything we did or cooked for him!

 

We will miss you so very much, D.

Pee-U!

I worked out in the garden most of the afternoon.  Whew!  It was a hot one today!  Now, I'm not smelling so good, and I'm a bit itchy and sticky.  Time for a shower!

The girls and I picked strawberries again.  We got about 2 1/2 gallons.  I think we've harvested almost 9 gallons out of the garden between my Mom and I, and there are still many more to go.  Hooray!  We used to pick 25-30 lbs of strawberries every summer at the U-Pick farm about 45 minutes north of here.  I discovered 2 years ago that they charged MORE for me to pick my own strawberries, than our local grocery store charged.  That was my impetus to grow enough of my own strawberries to be DONE with those fools!

I did some weeding out there, and planted the last bed of corn, as well as replanting some of the beans.  We found a Swallowtail caterpillar on the parsley, and L moved it to her butterfly habitat so that we can watch it change.  I picked some lettuce and peas for dinner.  The Bee Man came to harvest honey while I was working, and he gave me some honeycomb.  I feel rather rich this evening!

Every time I take my camera out to photograph the new Chicken family out scratching, they run and hide.  All seven peeps are doing just fine.  (I finally tossed that last egg on Wednesday night, it was a dud.)  I think you can see most of them in this photo.

My Dad commented that these peeps are so much quieter and calmer than the 3 dozen we purchased as day old chicks last Spring.  We think that must be the influence of Mama Hen.

The rose that I dug from my friend's garden last summer bloomed this week.  The flowers were so heavy that after a rain, they hung down to the ground, so I cut them and brought them in so that we could enjoy the sweet, strong scent inside for awhile.

One of the families that moved away last summer came back to visit this weekend.  We invited the rest of the gang up to Poplar Ridge for a pot luck.  It was so lovely to have T back with us, even for a short time.  We ate until all that was left were a few crumbs in the bottom of the bowl of chips.

Sadly, the mother of one of my dear friends passed away this weekend, so our gathering was bitter-sweet as we all felt her heartbreak in our midst.  I didn't know her mother well, but she was one amazing woman, who owned a little piece of heaven up the road by a bubbling stream. 

My parents were away at another funeral today:  my great Aunt was killed in an auto accident earlier in the week, and her husband was injured and hospitalized at the same time. 

It struck me again, as I worked in the garden today, the mysteries of the cycle of life.  New plants are growing in my garden, and old ones are becoming more beautiful and productive.  There are bright green striped caterpillars that in a couple of weeks will become beautiful black and yellow butterflies.  At the same time, the end comes for some.  I feel overwhelmed at times like this with waves of both sadness and gratitude.  

Daisy Dog

My parents little dog, Daisy, passed away this afternoon after a short illness.

She was a brave little thing, friendly and bright.  It's amazing how big of a hole a small dog can leave in your life, but we will all miss seeing her sweet little face.

Maybe she's out there somewhere now, chasing deer...her favorite past time.

Sleeping in a sun beam

Snuggles with J

Daisy, Grandmom and L

Zach and Daisy



Another tiny grave under the old oak tree



Grab Bag

Another week has flown by.  My parents are unexpectedly in California right now.  My Great-Uncle Howie, who was actually no blood relation to me, but a foster child who grew up with my Grandma and became family that way, passed away this week.  Mom and Dad flew out to be with the family for his funeral, and are taking a couple of days while on the Left Coast to visit my Mom's brother near LA (I think that's where he lives - JP says San Diego.)

Uncle Howie was a mortician before he retired.  I remember visiting when I was Jr. High School age, maybe even a Freshman in High School.  He took me on a tour of the Funeral Home in which he worked, and talked to me about the things he did.  I was completely fascinated, and was seriously pursuing that career choice for about a year and a half.  In the end, I decided to work with the people that are still living, and it suits me fine!

We missed a soccer practice this week due to torrential down pours, and that brings our total soccer commitment down to 6 remaining games or practices...just one more week!  It really seems to have flown by this year, and thankfully I have not been so incredibly stressed out as last year during the whole season either.

Last weekend, in The Great Garden Clear Out, I pulled the jalapeno plants that were still covered with peppers.  I had a 2 gallon bucket full of peppers sitting on the counter all week, trying to decide what to do with them.  I canned a bunch of hot peppers a couple of years ago, and they were very disappointing:  mushy and flavorless.  JP uses lots of canned jalapenos on his weekly tacos, so I really wanted to be able to use these instead of having to buy them!  I did a bunch of internet research, and finally stumbled upon a comment about a recipe for canning hot peppers.  This person said that they used the "inversion method" of canning so that the peppers would stay more crisp.

A-ha!  A bit more research revealed that this method is safe only for jams and certain pickles.  After sterilizing the canning jars and lids, the cold, sliced peppers are packed in jars, and topped with a boiling mixture of water and vinegar, salt and garlic is added, and the lids are screwed on tightly.  Following this, I turned the jars upside down and left them sitting on their lids on a towel for 5-6 minutes.  After righting them, every single jar sealed!

All of the recipes recommended waiting for 7-14 days before trying them, so I am not certain of the potency yet, but I got 8 pints and 7 half pints of sliced jalapenos canned.  They look beautiful!

Our friend, C, spent the day with us today.  We tested the maximum capacity of the tree house, and found that 3 girls with paint rollers and 2 adults with a paint brush fit with room to spare, although it gets kind of messy!

We got a primer coat of paint on the walls inside the tree house.  I also started staining the tongue and groove boards for the soffits under both porch roofs.  We are planning to paint the walls the same pale green of the girls' rooms, and then use other bright gloss colors to paint the windows, doors and trim.  The ceilings inside will also be tongue and groove, but I plan to simply put a coat of clear poly on them and leave them blond in color.  JP also installed the ceiling insulation today, so that the Hickory nuts falling out of the tree onto the metal roof no longer sound like gun shots from the inside. 

JP and I set an old telephone pole into a 4 foot hole just down hill from the tree house today.  This will be connected to the tree house post with a beam, and will serve as the swing set.  This project keeps evolving.  Now we are looking for the perfect name for our tree house, so let us know if you have any good ideas.  We have thought of "Hickory Haven", "Martins' Floating Castle", "Motel 46", and a few others...but none of them quite flow off the tongue like we'd like!

Last night I spent the night at the Hospital for a sleep study.  Although I did sneak a sleeping pill in, and took it right away before they hooked me up to about 47 different tubes and wires, I slept very little.  I hit a wall about 3:00 this afternoon, and plopped down on the giant bean bag with the girls to try to figure out a Halloween costume for C.  At this point, after coffee, iced coffee, black tea and various other caffeinated beverages, I have been awake as long as I can possibly tolerate.

Heading to bed now for some lovely ZZZZ's.

In Memorium

We worked hard for half the weekend to prepare for our annual Poplar Ridge Memorial Day Cook Out yesterday afternoon.  Today, we are prepared to rest. 

It seems that we have lost a large number of loved ones in the past 2 years:

Grandma

JP's Mother

My friend, N

Grandpa

JP's good friend, R

One of my friends wrote a lovely piece about our friend in her column in the newspaper yesterday (you can read it here.)  It's nice, although sad sometimes, to think back over their lives and the good memories we have of these loved ones. That's what I believe Memorial Day is for...that and the cook outs!
 
I was determined to get the trailer full of mulch out of the front yard before the cook out, so I spent several hours Thursday and Friday digging 6,723 baby Oxtail Daisy starts out of my flower bed, and moving around a few other things.  Friday evening I started mulching, and finished up Saturday afternoon.  The girls helped me arrange my pig statues and our bird baths in there.  I think it looks great!

The garden needs some work now, although I think it's looking pretty great too.  I picked about 10 lbs of strawberries out of the terrace in the center of the garden this weekend.  I also picked about 3 lbs of sugar snap peas.  We have corn and beans coming up, which were some of the later plantings.  I still have 2 beds to plant with corn in the next week. 

Our cook out was a success.  I think that everyone, although we were hot, had a good time.

We ate,

And talked.

And had a pretty serious game of 4 Square going for quite a while.

Some folks took a walk, some of us lounged and chatted, the kids played in the KidWash, and played with the chickens, dogs, and a tiny toad.

We acquired 3 more chicks from a friend yesterday.  They are about a month or 6 weeks older than our chicks, and still smaller than the hens.  Like many growing children, they are having a hard time fitting in with either the adults or the little kids.  They were being picked on by the hens, and they terrorized the chicks.  Unfortunately, they have found the best place to hang out is in the middle of the tall grass of the pasture.  This means that they didn't have access to shelter from the sun, food or water.

JP utilized the wood shop to piece together a small shelter for them, and we took them out food and water.  We hope they make it through this blazing hot day, and make peace with the hens eventually!

We are getting ready to chill out and watch a movie now, so I will close.  Enjoy your extra day off, and cherish the memories you have of your loved ones who have passed on.