At Home in the Summer. Part 3

Decorative ceramic garden wall in Paducah, KY

Inspired by such things as the photo above; encouraged by my neighbor, who invited me to create a garden stepping stone from her materials, I had the company of her and her extended family--each making a pretty stepping stone of broken china, etc.  Below is the one I made.

I sometimes tell my neighbor: if it were not for her, I would have few nice things at all. She once gifted me a designer daylily called "Chicago Fire", on condition I share the plant with her once it was large enough to split. Now both yards have one of these flaming red daylily plants, which bloom very well.

I have learned to hybridize the daylilies--which is easy but takes patience to see the results. The one above is an example of one of my better ones.

Two photos above are other "titled" purchased daylilies, I think. (especially the gold and orange).

2018 Review (Part 2)

In May, we drove east to visit Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown Virginia. We detoured slightly to drive past the site of an ancient ancestor's farm somewhere in Virginia.

As you approach the Jamestown Re-discovery site, you cross a long, raised foot bridge above a tidal lagoon/swamp full of these turtles (in various sizes from "baby" to "old granddad".) Somewhere in the historic record, I believe I read the English settlers used to eat the these turtles. Well, the population of the turtles has recovered pretty well.

This view to the west shows a piece of the original landing and settlement area of 1607 Jamestown. A relatively recent discovery--the 1990's. Much work has been accomplished and your day of discovery of interesting.

A Year in Review--since I seem not to be generating new content. Part 1.

During the first couple of months, we do little that is photo-worthy (just like this year); in March of 2018, we visited a Lake County, IL park to walk on a gentle winter day. We saw several of these cranes--this one agreed to have a photo taken. They blend in well.

In April, we braved an early spring (short) camping trip to Shades State Park in western Indiana. Nearby was a rustic and evocative covered bridge for walkers and bikers only. Indiana is famous for these bridges, many of which are preserved as attractions. Sweet.

Just a couple of shots of the inside of the bridge, with construction details showing. Lustrous old wood is soothing. Your footsteps resonate and echo pleasantly as you walk. Drum-like.

A Quiet New Year, so far... making plans for the rest of the year.

Like so many others, We Cut the Cable a few years ago...

Just a scenic photo to accompany this post...seasonal.

Our metro-area, Chicago, has several broadcast TV options for local news. WGN-TV is especially good for weather forecasts and alerts in our region.  

We gave up on most "print-media" even before we dropped cable. I have not physically held a newspaper in years. (Books, yes. I still want a physical connection with the book I am reading.)

Much news and current events, etc. can be had on the internet, as we all know.

But my favorite "find" of the past few years is the amazing array of entertainment and instruction on You Tube. Instead of being spoon fed whatever nonsense the entertainment industry coughs out, I can find my own mindless chatter (if I want), or any other kind of programming I want!

I could only have dreamed of this luxury--even just a few years ago.

Current obsessions? I can't stop watching the videos produced by UK life-stylist Lisa Comfort, both on her channel and her "Sew Over It" brand. We love to listen to Jordan Peterson's talks, there is all kinds of news programs to choose from. Another sewing channel is "The Fold Line".  A family owned candy company in upstate New York, Hercules Candy, produces wacky, fun videos of the process and methods of making and marketing their extensive range of  treats. Mom, Dad and the grown kids banter and laugh as they work. Many other genres: travel, hobbies -- the world is your oyster.

I could have put links to the channels I mentioned--they are easy to find, anyway. But my "You Tube" galaxy will be different from yours.

Dad's 99th Birth Anniversary

Here, seen with Granddaughter Emma about 2005

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Recently, I took a break from my "body of work" reading of the novels of Alan Furst. I came upon the ...Potato Peel Pie novel in my favorite paperback exchange just after seeing a trailer of the Netflix film. I'm intrigued by the Channel Islands. I was already aware of the WW 2 German Occupation of the islands. It called to me.

Basically enjoyed the book: it introduces several vintage classic writers to modern young readers in a context they may appreciate; heartfully discussed the Occupation which lasted 5 years and involved suffering to the people of the islands.

The novel reminded me of the works of Rosamunde Pilcher in the subject; "The Shell Seekers", for example.

The novel is written in the form of letters between and among the various characters in the post-war year of 1946. This can be an interesting format: a good way to present this novel, since there are several plots threading through the story, and lots of characters.

The idea for the book was conceived by Mary Ann Shaffer, who started the book. When her health failed, the completion of the story was done by her much younger niece, Annie Barrows.

Any criticism I may have of the book are because I think this is a "younger" persons' story; probably a younger woman's book. For me, the novel did not successfully capture the zeitgeist of the late-and immediate post WW 2 period. I was always aware of reading words on the page, not seeing the visions of the story appearing in my mind.

I promptly went to You Tube and searched for videos about the Channel Islands and they are very lovely.