Mother's Day in the Gutter

It seems our resident blackbird became a mother in time for Mother's Day! I thought I remembered checking the nest on Friday and there were no hatchlings. Now there are three with two more eggs to go. When I first looked in only one raised its little head. I quickly rushed to get my camera. I found if I whistled then all three would pick their little heads up with beaks wide open. No R & R for this busy mom.

A Missing Piece of History Found

In case you didn't see this in the news I thought it was an interesting piece of history to share.
It seems the poet Robert Frost at Kennedy's invitation had written a poem for the inauguration. Being 86 years old at the time and in the blinding sun on that bitterly cold day, he was unable to read his own typed copy of the poem he had written. He ended up reciting another poem from memory, including the line, “The land was ours before we were the land.”
The original poem has now been uncovered and it turns out it was the first thing Jacqueline Kennedy had framed and hung in President Kennedy's office, just three days after the inauguration.
For more information go to this link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12467043/

"If you can bear at your age the honor of being made president of the United States, I ought to be able at my age to bear the honor of taking some part in your inauguration. I may not be equal to it but I can accept it for my cause—the arts, poetry—now for the first time taken into the affairs of statesmen. " - Robert Frost in his reply to invitation from President-elect John F Kennedy, NY Times 15 Jan 61


Here is the poem Robert Frost intended to deliver on Jan. 20, 1961 at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy:

For John F. Kennedy
His Inauguration

Summoning artists to participate
In the august occasions of the state
Seems something artists ought to celebrate.
Today is for my cause a day of days.
And his be poetry's old-fashioned praise
Who was the first to think of such a thing.
This verse that in acknowledgement I bring
Goes back to the beginning of the end
Of what had been for centuries the trend;
A turning point in modern history.
Colonial had been the thing to be
As long as the great issue was to see
What country'd be the one to dominate
By character, by tongue, by native trait,
The new world Christopher Columbus found.
The French, the Spanish, and the Dutch were downed
And counted out. Heroic deeds were done.
Elizabeth the First and England won.
Now came on a new order of the ages
That in the Latin of our founding sages
(Is it not written on the dollar bill
We carry in our purse and pocket still?)
God nodded His approval of as good.
So much those heroes knew and understood--
I mean the great four, Washington,
John Adams, Jefferson, and Madison--
So much they knew as consecrated seers
They must have seen ahead what now appears:
They would bring empires down about our ears
And by example of our Declaration
Make everybody want to be a nation.
And this is no aristocratic joke
At the expense of negligible folk.
We see how seriously the races swarm
In their attempts at sovereignty and form.
They are our wards we think to some extent
For the time being and with their consent,
To teach them how Democracy is meant.
"New order of the ages" did we say?
If it looks none too orderly today,
'Tis a confusion it was ours to start
So in it have to take courageous part.
No one of honest feeling would approve
A ruler who pretended not to love
A turbulence he had the better of.
Everyone knows the flowry of the twain
Who gave America the aeroplane
To ride the whirlwind and the hurricane.
Some poor fool has been saying in his heart
Glory is out of date in life and art.
Our venture in revolution and outlawry
Has justified itself in freedom's story
Right down to now in glory upon glory.
Come fresh from an election like the last,
The greatest vote a people ever cast,
So close yet sure to be abided by,
It is no miracle our mood is high.
Courage is in the air in bracing whiffs
Better than all the stalemate an's and ifs.
There was the book of profile tales declaring
For the emboldened politicians daring
To break with followers when in the wrong,
A healthy independence of the throng,
A democratic form of right divine
To rule first answerable to high design.
There is a call to life a little sterner,
And braver for the earner, learner, yearner.
Less criticism of the field and court
And more preoccupation with the sport.
It makes the prophet in us all presage
The glory of a next Augustan age
Of a power leading from its strength and pride,
Of young ambition eager to be tried,
Firm in our free beliefs without dismay,
In any game the nations want to play.
A golden age of poetry and power
Of which this noonday's the beginning hour.

Here is the text of the poem Frost actually DID deliver.

The Gift Outright
The land was ours before we were the land's.
She was our land more than a hundred years
Before we were her people. She was ours
In Massachusetts, in Virginia,
But we were England's, still colonials,
Possessing what we still were unpossessed by,
Possessed by what we now no more possessed.
Something we were withholding made us weak
Until we found out that it was ourselves
We were withholding from our land of living,
And forthwith found salvation in surrender.
Such as we were gave ourselves outright
(The deed of gift was many deeds of war)
To the land vaguely realizing westward,
But still unstoried, artless, unenhanced,
Such as she was, such as she would become.

White Whole-Wheat

White wheat is a grain that can be milled to resemble all-purpose flour but is as healthy as traditional whole wheat. It merges the whole-wheat benefits with the color, taste and texture of white bread. People know that they should eat more whole grains for a healthier diet but a majority of Americans still want a white flour-tasting product.
Traditional "all-purpose" white flour — is produced by milling red wheat to remove the bran and germ. This removes most of the nutrients and contains no fiber.
Whole-wheat flour retains the bran and germ giving it 5 grams of fiber per quarter-cup serving, as well as a deeper color, grainy texture with a mildly bitter taste.
White wheat contains less tannic acid which means it can be milled with the bran and germ making it nutritionally equivalent to conventional whole wheat and yet still produces a flour with a texture, taste, and appearance similar to all-purpose white flour.
King Arthur Flour (based in Norwich, Vt.)- is a distributor of white whole-wheat flour and has seen a 55% jump in sales of white wheat products since the same time last year.

To read the whole article White Whole-Wheat Becoming Popular go here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060510/ap_on_he_me/diet_white_wheat

Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

Paul went to move the large cart that you pull behind the lawn tractor today. Two robins flew out and started squawking at him. It seems they had their nest there (no eggs). He apologized to them and moved it up to a nearby dogwood tree. We'll have to keep a watch on them and see if they like their new digs, or take up residence else where.

Movin'on Up

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen;
Beans don't burn on the grill.
Took a whole lotta tryin',
Just to get up that hill.
Now we're up in the big leagues,
Gettin' our turn at bat.
As long as we live, it's you and me baby,
There ain't nothin wrong with that.

Well we're movin on up,
To the east side.
To a deluxe apartment in the sky.
Movin on up,
To the east side.
We finally got a piece of the pie.

Artist:Lyrics
[Theme from The Jeffersons]

Foodsaver Omelets

My Aunt Sylvia sent this recipe, so I thought I'd pass it along to all of you. Neat idea!
Note: I had emailed Ziploc and they do not recommend boiling in the freezer bags but this same idea can be done using the Food Saver bags which you can boil in.

This works great !!! Good when you're alone or when all your family is together. Best feature is that no one has to wait for their special omelet !!! Have guests write their name on a Foodsaver with permanent marker.
- Crack 2 eggs (large or extra-large) into the quart size Foodsaver bag (not more than 2) shake to combine them.
- Put out a variety of ingredients such as: cheeses, ham, onion, green pepper, tomato, hash browns, salsa, etc.
- Each guest adds prepared ingredients of choice to their bag and shake.
- Make sure to get the air out of the bag and seal shut.
- Place the bags into rolling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. You can usually cook 6-8 omelets in a large pot. For more, make another pot of boiling water.
- Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for everyone to be amazed.
- Nice to serve with fresh fruit and coffee cake; everyone gets involved in the process and a great conversation piece. Imagine having these ready the night before, and putting the bag in boiling water while you get ready. And in 13 minutes, you have a nice omelet for a quick breakfast!!!

Messy Maples

I mentioned last week about putting on gutter guards to keep out the seeds from the maple trees, the ones I had said weren't ready to drop. Well, I spoke too soon. They dropped, and are dropping, and dropping . . . The huge maple next to the deck isn't our only maple. I don't even know what kind it is, but researching it I found there are 13 species native to the United States. Now out of all those there are four* that share several characteristics in common, and can you guess what one of those characteristics is? They all four produce a fruit called a samara (or double samara), which is a pair of connected, winged seeds. You know, those things you split open as a kid and stuck on the end of your nose. Remember that? Well those wonderful little things have helicoptered and covered our entire lawn! It was like it was snowing here over the last few days. But, what is that sound I hear? It is the drone of the mighty blower. Paul is out waging war, trying hard to get a handle on them, that is at least clear off the sidewalk and driveway. I'll be picking out the little sprouts of those seeds from my gardens forever. It's a never ending battle. Mother Nature . . . always one step ahead of ya!

*Sugar, Black, Red and Silver Maples

Copyright © 2006 Deborah Sharp Loeb

After the blower comes the vacuum!

Missy the Cat

We had only one cat growing up. She was all white and thought to be half Persian and half Angora. She was quite a character. Missy kept all stray dogs out of the neighborhood. Fearlessly she run after them, hissing and arching her back as cats will do. In the days before air conditioning she took to sleeping all curled up in the bathroom sink. A little strange if you got up during the night to use the facility or go to get a drink of water. During the colder months I'd come home from school and she come out from under a chest of drawers in the living room where there was a heat vent. Now mind you I never did actually see her sleeping under there. Then one day I opened the bottom drawer and there she was all curled up asleep on top of the dish towels. She had found a way to get in from the back.
Another thing she'd do was "beg" at the table like a dog. If you held up a strand of spaghetti she'd work her way eatting up to your fingertips. She'd also run like crazy if you shook her box of "Friskies". It worked better than calling her name.
Now back then we didn't rush to have her fixed like you would these days and so "Missy" probably should have been more appropiately named "Madam" as she had 3 or 4 litters of kittens before we did finally get her fixed. She would always have 4 very fluffy kittens, 2 all white and 2 salt and pepper. There was once a grey one but that little fellow didn't make it even with us trying to help with bottle feedings. By the way all were always quickly adopted, as they were really pretty and cute.
When we knew the time was near for her to give birth my mom would make up a box for Missy in the kitchen or basement. There was this one time that she wanted her kittens to be in the floor of the closet in my parents room. We'd no sooner bring them back to box in the kitchen, then we'd pass her with one in her mouth going up the stairs! My mother finally gave up, cleared out the shoes, and put the box up in the closet for the duration. It's hard to fight with such a determined mother cat.

Copyright © 2006 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Life in the Gutter

A year or so ago my husband put those plastic guards over the gutters. Every so often when we have a windy storm a few fly off, and then it's back up there to replace them. Well, about a week or two ago it happened again. There was all this stuff in the gutter over the sliding glass door that goes to the deck. It simply just couldn't have flown in there on its own, especially if anything that would get in there would be those little whirly things the huge maple tree next to the deck would send out, and it's not time for them to drop. (There used to be a lot of those in there before the gutter guards!) Anyway he cleared it out and set the guard back.
Then one day Brian and I saw some birds going in at the opposite end of the house and told Paul that there were birds going in by the downspout. I guess he thought we meant near the deck so he lifted of the guard only to find a nest with 4 eggs. I finally went up on the ladder that he had left on the deck and had a look for myself, only to find 5 eggs! Amazing, those determined parents had decide where they were going to put down their roots and nothing was going to deter them!
I'll keep checking back and keep you updated.

Copyright © 2006 Deborah Sharp Loeb

Crib Size Baby Quilt

This is the first quilt I've made using that batting that you can iron in between the front and backing. I liked that I didn't have to pin the layers together before I stitched in the ditch. I did find it to be rather thin and wondered if anyone out there has used it and put extra layers in, and if so, what, and how? Bottom picture is a close up and shows the back.

Pennies From Heaven Goes Live!

Yes! Pennies from Heaven is now live! Matt did a wonderful job bringing it to the homepage of the Farm. So go check it out. Print out a label for your pennies canister, get pictures to color, and an informational brochure.
I know "What's Her Name" is anxiously awaiting to hear from all of you!

Pennies from Heaven

Awhile back I had mentioned to start saving your pennies and Pringle's potato chip cans. Well the day has finally arrived to put them to use. It is with great pride we at the Geranium Farm are launching "my baby" - "Pennies from Heaven" for Episcopal Relief and Development! This is a program designed for kids (and grownups are of course welcome to participate) to save pennies and then choose from the Gifts for Life catalog online at: www.er-d.org/giftsforlife and pick a gift to donate to ERD with the money they have collected. There are 3 labels you can choose from to download from the farm homepage and printout to wrap around your can. In addition you can print out any of 3 informational pamphlets, with line drawings to go on the back that can be colored, with some choices of pictures for Gifts for Life. (You can even print out full page size of each picture if you wish. The little pamphlets are nice with their own pictures to color for" pew art"!)
Now the other thing we'd like you to do is to write to: Noodle@Geraniumfarm.org the cat and let her know your name, where you're from, and what you've donated. (Please put PFH in the subject line.)
It should be noted on donations that it is from the "Pennies from Heaven" program. In time if this if this goes really big, ERD is going to bring it to their website. So farmers, let's show ERD that our "little seed pennies" can grow into something huge!
Now I'd like to thank some people that have helped make this little idea grow. First to Barbara for believing in it, bringing it to ERD, and helping in its development with ERD enthustastic support. The beautiful artwork is by Dianne Robbins and her friend Rick Uhler helped with some layout and the technical stuff. Matt Gai thanks for getting it up and running to the website, and of course Deacon Joanna and Buddy Stallings support and helping this along.

So watch for the downloads , they're on the way, and in meanwhile keep saving your pennies!


Oh, every time it rains
It rains
Pennies from heaven
Don't you know
Each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven

You'll find your fortune fallin'
All over town
Be sure that your umbrella
Is upside down

Trade them for a package of
Sunshine and flowers
If you want the things you love
You must have showers
So when you hear it thunder
Don't run under a tree
There'll be pennies from heaven
For you and me

- Music and Lyrics by John Burke & Arthur Johnson (1936)

Cordless Doorbell

We've had one of these cordless doorbells for a number of years. If David needs assistance and I'm in another part of the house where I might not be able to hear him calling, he can have the button with him and I can have the chime with me. By adding velcro to the back of the button it can be mounted anywhere.
When my father came to need a home health aide, I got one for him.
Most recently my in-laws were in need of one as they couldn't hear the regular doorbell when they are in their den. This did the trick!

Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work

"Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® Day program was founded by the Ms. Foundation for Women to create an opportunity for girls and boys to share and communicate their expectations for the future. The national date for the Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work® program is on the fourth Thursday in April. Having a consistent date helps workplaces, parents, communities, and schools plan ahead to create a unique educational experience for girls and boys across America."
Have you ever taken your son or daughter to your place of work? Do they know what kind of work you do? My husband took our son Brian years ago to the school where he teaches.
So if you haven't done it before, you now have a whole year to plan to do it for next year!
To learn more about the program go to this link:
http://www.daughtersandsonstowork.org/

Child Safety Toolkit

How current a photo and informatiom do you have on your child?
From the Duracell website at: http://duracell.com/parents/ you can take the Child Safety IQ test. There you can also download a Child Safety Toolkit. One of the most important things you can do is to take a color facial portrait of your child every 6 months. You can even sign up to get an email alert reminder to update your photo.

Mc Cain Baby Potato Pancakes

These are easy to cook on the grill using Reynolds Wrap Release Foil. Nice with steak or burgers. Just brown on one side and turn. They came out better than the oven and faster. Onion rings worked well too.

Decorative Painting Techniques

These links will show you videos on how to do some decorative painting techniques.
(Note: If this is of interest to you check it out as links sometimes disappear in time.)

For walls - Parchment, Venetian Plaster, Crinkle Paper, Strie, Color Wash, Leather, Stencil, or Stripes

For Furniture - Distressing, Marbling, Mettalic, Woodgrain

Go to this link:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_988/text/0,,HGTV_22056_41902,00.html

Directions to Make a Cloth Basket

Read these directions all the way through before beginning. If you're not sure you understand, practice first with some scrap fabric. You can email if you have a question. Let me know how you do and send me a picture of your completed project. Note: I would recommend a heavier weight fabric. The fabric I used was remnant, drapery or upholstery fabric.
Each tie is about 10" long.

Cloth Basket Project

Last year on vacation I picked up the reversible cloth basket pictured above at a Cracker Barrel restaurant gift shop. I took a look at how it was made and figured I could duplicate it. I made a pattern, shown bottom right, a little bigger than the purchased one, big enough to hold a 9" x 9" pan. The one I bought had cardboard between the layers for stability but I wanted something washable. I used the extra firm plastic needlepoint canvas sandwiched between layers of craft foam. Ribbon or double fold bias tape (sew together) can be used for the corner ties. The one pictured below is the one I made.
It's a nice way to bring a dish to someone's house and then give the basket to your hostess!

Radon

Recently there's been a commercial running to have your home checked for radon. Radon gas causes lung cancer. If you'd like to know more about radon you can go to the U.S. Enviromental Protection Agency at: http://www.epa.gov/radon/
You can get more information there and download a discounted coupon for a test kit. (limited time offer)

SnackWell's Cookies

Tried these cookies and didn't like them, or like them but would like even a better way to enjoy them? Try freezing them! They really taste better frozen. I have a couple with a cup a tea in the evening when I sit down to relax.

April is National Autism Awareness Month

Some information about autism from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
"Autism is characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and unusual, repetitive, or severely limited activities and interests. Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome, Rett syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (usually referred to as PDD-NOS). Experts estimate that three to six children out of every 1,000 will have autism. Males are four times more likely to have autism than females.
There are three distinctive behaviors that characterize autism. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling.

The hallmark feature of autism is impaired social interaction. Parents are usually the first to notice symptoms of autism in their child. As early as infancy, a baby with autism may be unresponsive to people or focus intently on one item to the exclusion of others for long periods of time. A child with autism may appear to develop normally and then withdraw and become indifferent to social engagement.

Children with autism may fail to respond to their name and often avoid eye contact with other people. They have difficulty interpreting what others are thinking or feeling because they can’t understand social cues, such as tone of voice or facial expressions, and don’t watch other people’s faces for clues about appropriate behavior. They lack empathy.

Many children with autism engage in repetitive movements such as rocking and twirling, or in self-abusive behavior such as biting or head-banging. They also tend to start speaking later than other children and may refer to themselves by name instead of “I” or “me.” Children with autism don’t know how to play interactively with other children. Some speak in a sing-song voice about a narrow range of favorite topics, with little regard for the interests of the person to whom they are speaking.

Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain, but are abnormally sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation. These unusual reactions may contribute to behavioral symptoms such as a resistance to being cuddled or hugged."

To read more about the causes, diagnosis, treatment, and more go to:
www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/detail_autism.htm

You might also want to check out the Autism Society of America at:
www.autism-society.org