Road trip to "Sweet Owen", KY

Yesterday, my sister, Jean and I left for a day together to take in the new outlet stores in Mason, Ohio and then on to re-visit a home site of our dad and mom in Owenton, Kentucky.

We leisurely browsed the shops looking at shoes, clothing and kitchen goods.   We took in for future reference what the outlet mall had to offer.  The air felt a little cool but still a nice day to be out and take it in.  We strolled the whole mall, it seemed, very quickly as we filled our time with reminiscent stories of home life and growing up.  Jean is eight years older than I am and me being the youngest child, I believe I had a life of less exertion and stress of daily living to a couple of five children. 

After leaving the outlet mall we headed our way and set our sights on a ride to Owenton, to the childhood home of our dad and  home of our dad and mom just after dad's retirement.

After a time we reached our exit 57 to Sparta and Warsaw, Kentucky.  When you get off at the Sparta exit and begin the ascent up the Sparta hill toward Owenton, you get a sense of the countryside and why Owenton is known as "sweet Owen".  Like everything, nothing stays the same.  Everything has to change with the times, thoughts and needs of today's existance. So apartments are built where old houses once stood, pre-fab homes are scattered on sections of land that only knew a grazing cow or horse or wild honeysuckle vine.  Small family owned businesses like farm implement sales, flower and plant shops or occasional junk/antique shops also sprinkle the land.  As we arrived onto our old street, our grandparent's homestead has been replaced with such as a pre-manufactured small house.  The clang of an old bell placed on a wooden gate will not be that couple's announcement that someone has come callin'.  A small trailer beside them where our uncle lived is a small plot of green grass with a sign stated by hand, for sale.  As we proceeded to our folks home, trees had grown over powering the land even though they had been trimmed.  Black diamonds no longer embellished the white shutters that our dad had made by hand to place on the house that he spent time with cups of coffee and cigarettes in the wee hours of the morning designing and creating.  The yard was no longer impecably kept and his barn had been replaced with two small houses.  Lastly, the house of our aunt that sat on top of a small hill will never allow anyone to engulf the aroma of coal smoldering from it's chimney venting the exhalation of the iron wood burning stove that heated it year in and year out or the squeaking of the chains holding the porch swing that inherited many hours of ponder and calm repose or hand clap tap rhythm of a song come to mind.  The plot of weeds engulfing her land will be the only benefitters of the memory of her home made jam cake setting thoughtfully and tenderly under a covered cake stand.  The berries in which to make the jam collected along the fence row of the cemetery where her parents, my grandparents and other family members are burried.

After we gazed over these properties for a moment we headed to Elk Creek Lodge for lunch in their winery/cafe.

Jean and  me taking in the view and surroundings of Elk Creek Winery after having lunch.  In the background is the home of the original owner of the establishment and since turned bed and breakfast.  The property also entertains headliners in an amphitheatre below with golf course in the distance.

Jean and I took a closer look inside this grascious, well decorated bed and breakfast home.  It was exceptional with large rock fireplace and gathering room, immense kitchen with views of rolling ridges.  Upstairs were four large king size bedrooms with their own decks and large baths.  The entire basement was finished in hunting memorabilia with bar area, large rock fireplace, and sitting area with a distinctly itlian twist.

We left the Elk Creek Winery and headed back toward town for a little tour and then on to our final destination to view graves of our departed relatives.

The Owen County Courthouse refurbished.

The Owen County jail.

Interesting, I went to Tippecanoe High School before attending Owen County High School.

Used to be original site of the People's Bank.

Owenton was always a quiet little town of generations of folks that knew one another and waved at everyone and anyone.  They mainly made a living tobacco farming.  The area is filled with twisting, turning roads in countryside too numerous to count.  To give you an idea, a few photos follow from the area and surrounding areas of the lifestyle that our grandparents and dad may have known and is long gone and replaced.

A neighboring town of Wheatley.  Owen County was first surveyed in 1783.  Owenton is the county seat of Owen County and it's population today is about 10, 500.  It's motto is:  Pretty-quiet-close.

Circa 1890-1900

The Falls City steam river boat that traveled from Frankfort to Louisville, Ky. carrying goods about 1908.

A group of wheat thrashers heading out to work.

A general store.

Inside the general store.  Looks like it might have a christmas decoration hanging.

An old one room school house.  Dad was born in 1914 and went through third grade.

Jackson family plot.

A dedication to my Dad and Mom and your young life together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42dWk_1VNUc

Our Dad and Mother

Thank you Jean for going with me.  Thank you for everything.

Love,

A Gardener's Journal

The weather is calling for a light freeze tonight.  I gathered some old sheets and covered some of the flowers and plants in order to try and protect them from the possible frost.  It was a beautiful day today to work outside.  The plants are looking so healthy.  Free from lack of moisture, heat, bugs, slugs, moles, critters, fungus, mites, japanese beetles and so on and so on...

~

In 2002 Lenora and I were very much enjoying the t.v. program,  A Gardner's Journal hosted by HGTV's Erica Glasener.  Her programs were lovely, filled with inspiration and some very amazing gardens.  In May of 2002 Erica Glasener gave a lecture at the Cox Arboretum in Dayton, Ohio and Lenora and I were quite fortunate and excited to hear her speak about color in the garden and new varieties for that year.  That was great! 

This is the gardner's journal that I purchased prior to attending the lecture in hopes that I might get an autograph.

She kindly and generously offered pleasant conversation and her autograph as asked.  I was tickled "pink" and Lenora assisted me so graciously in "we're pleased to meet you and we enjoy your program".  I was a little

awe struck.

I loved attending this memorable event.

I made one entry in my journal about a great visit to Wegerzen gardens on April 4th of that year and an entry on May 2 about the lecture I attended at Cox Arboretum.  The rest is empty.  I don't consider myself a gardner but I do love them.  So following and from time to time I'll post what I would jot down in my journal.  Where I'm at with my plantings and where my plantings are at, as well as beautiful inspirations from other gardens I've visited and still visit.  

I can not believe that after fifteen years of growth, my wisteria spiraling up and over my back deck arbor is blooming this year!  I watched and patiently waited for that woody vine to flourish in profuse long lavender clusters of blossom like I see growing all over in folks yards and  they never appeared.  Only vines, vines, vines.  Last year while at Meadow View Garden & Nursery I watched on from behind a cluster of lilys while the attendant was delegated to cut down a wisteria growing up one of their arbor columns.  It was even older than mine.  "Why are you cutting it down"?, I asked in curiosity.  "Oh, we're changing our design and the owner wanted it to come down", was her response in her pre-occupied check list manner.   Still wondering, "didn't it bloom", I asked in hopes I wasn't pushing my question allotment to someone who "just works there and doing their job".  "I'm not sure", was the safe answer I received from the nursery employee.  Hmmm...

I ignored my wisteria and pretty much gave up on it blooming  but I certainly wasn't going to order it cut down.  It's trunk winding around the arbor support is enough interest for me and I guess I can settle for that;  then, what?   What is that light grayish fluffy stuff on top of the arbor?  My eyes don't see with acute clarity anymore so I fumbled for my glasses and went for closer inspection.  You're blooming?!  You're actually going to bloom this year?!  I'm thrilled to see it in budding clusters all over.

Another sunny day like today and it could look pretty amazing!

My Japanese maple is looking beautiful.  Dennis got it for me as a Mother's Day gift in the early 1990's.

I've always loved this tree and enjoyed watching it grow.  It had a slow start and I was unsure of it's needs.  One day while Dennis and I were cleaning out the gold fish pond, I began laying the extra aeration plants that grew in abundance in the pond around the maple and I noticed it began looking healthier in appearance.  I also gave it pond water when I watered it for the extra nutrients.

Light pink viburnum shrub in background.  Light pink and purple tulips in foreground.  The sun makes everything show white.  The tulips look very strong and healthy.

I wish you could scratch and sniff the photos of my side yard.  Old fashioned lilac, lily of the valley and the sweetest most fragrant vibernum shrub.   It's too chilly today to open windows to allow that fragrance to fill the house.

The redbuds and forsythia are beginning to lose their blossoms and  leaf out.

The view from the kitchen window.  I placed pots around strategically in clusters and plan to plant them with something colorful.  I'm not sure of the color way yet but I have a planter with a rusty old metal beehive decorative stake and I think I will start with something yellow to make a whimsical appearance of honey. 

Possibly calibrachoas, mini famous double yellow calibrachoas, yellow lantana, yellow calendula, or yellow bells, if I can find any of these.

Until next time,

Hugs and "Grow where you're planted"!  :)

Love,

Make a big deal out of simple pleasures.

Spring is peaking to one of the most beautiful I've seen in a while.  We're quite fortunate this year to be able to take in the nature around us and  enjoy it for what it is.  A simple pleasure, at least.  It's duration is so short lived.  In years past, we've gotten a freeze that would hit just as the new and delicate buds would appear and render them unviable and brown tipped.   Eventually the trees and plants would  regain their strength and continue to leaf but the experience of their graceful show would dissapointingly be missed. 

Yesterday we gathered together for our monthly ladies lunch. 

 We enjoyed West Milton not long ago for our last destination to meet and decided we would like to go back and try another cafe one block south.  When we arrived it was early, we thought, for the whole place was filled with other ladies having lunch too.  So, we thought we might sit on the deck at a table with covered umbrella, at least until a table inside became available as it was still a bit chilly with the wind.  While waiting for our drinks, Aunt Ruth had something to share with us.  She reached for her purse and from inside pulled out a white slip on which she wrote the inspirational saying that she had read earlier that morning on her calendar.  It read:  Make a big deal out of simple pleasures.  How fitting that phrase was and how it set the tone for our ladies and one gentleman lunch yesterday on a lovely spring day in April. 

While out on the back deck picnic area, Rylan imagined the wooden deck  for a time to be like a pirate ship and the access ramp to be the plank.  Aunt Ruth had gotten a child's meal not long ago as a lite lunch for herself and in it was a Leapfrog watch.  She saved it for a time and thought of Rylan. She pulled it out of her purse  while he looked on with happy enticed eyes in wonderment what it would be.  We  took special notice when he began setting his Leapfrog watch to the correct time.  He was really good at taking that task on himself!  When did that come about?  You're growing for sure!  What will you be doing next?  You're getting taller too!   You didn't stay little long!  You also made a wonderful rendition of Bob Ross' scenic landscape that you observed him painting on t.v.   That was a nice shed type cabin building you drew, it looks just like Mr. Ross'!

Rylan and his leapfrog watch that Aunt Ruth gave him today.  He is such a fine young gentleman whose company has brought us much happiness.  You're caring, thoughtful, helpful, considerate and giving with your knock-knock jokes, drawings and thoughts.  A real pleasure!

Aunt Ruth brought us up to date on a couple of news items she noticed in the paper.  Dennis and I stopped getting the paper years ago.  We never had or took the time to read it and they piled up on the counter in their rolled up bands.  Becky was interested in particular to a story that Aunt Ruth had mentioned about someone who had a mower/farm equipment accident.  She was concerned that the person involved might be someone in her class.  Their conversation continued with further clarification and it still ended with Becky expressing her concern about another person.   I noticed another comment she made in conversation expressing her appreciation for Roger's kindness to getting basketball seats so that the family could be together as much as possible in order to watch Jamie play basketball years ago.  Becky's caring, concern and expression of unforgotten appreciation ~ another simple pleasure evolved.

Becky

Dawn had a big day of errand to follow yesterday afternoon.  She's a caring, loving great mother who see's to her son's needs to the dentist, karate, gym, pottery, etc.  Even if she has these things on her mind, she never loses thought for us as a group and our needs and how we can always be made more comfortable ~ simple pleasure?  Actually not, this is a great big wonderful pleasure that we all get to reap from!  Dawn lifts us all with her smile and care. ~  O.K., for today's theme, a "simple" pleasure.

Lenora, Lenora my sister-in-law, my friend.  My partner in crime!  Where would I be without you in my life?  You take me with you, you look with  me over oceans of plants, and listen to endless discussions about projects in process and give me constant support with laughter in anything I try to do.  How lucky I am that I have you as my sister-in-law!  Another not so simple pleasure but a great big one!  I always look forward to hearing from you and where it will lead us.  Thank you. 

Lenora and Aunt Ruth

A great lunch we had yesterday.  Becky got a taco type salad and it looked beautiful.  So colorful.

I had a very tasty creamy chicken noodle soup and 1/2  turkey sandwich on rye with brown mustard.

Did you notice a nuance in healthy tone of my descriptive lunch plate?  Yesterday was the first day of my signing up to be in a pilot group of people in our company organized "Choose to Lose" program that incorporates mainly company made foods and portion control as a means to lose weight in order to become a more healthy new me.  Fifty five of us folks at work have joined the project for the next six weeks.  So...

I went to the grocery for some supplies to get started.  I also took a 45 minute walk in the Historic District in town.  Here are a few photos while on my route as I began my new venture.

Hayner Cultural Center and the Miami County Courthouse

The sentinel rabbits to someone's  home and garden entrance.

The perfect breeze in the air for these wind chimes to react in very sweet sound.

Phloxand a very serene setting with a statue of Mary in the distance.  A nice art sculpture in the foreground with the garden over looking the Miami river in the back.

I love the uniqueness in archictectural styles.  I like looking at this spanish colonial style home for the interest it lends in it's style.

As you go about the remainder of your day today, remember to make a Big Deal out of simple pleasures, for they will bring you much joy!

Love,

Chickadee, dee, dee...

What a gloriously beautiful day we had here yesterday.  I went out to ponder the day and appreciate the fresh newness of it!  The birds were singing, singing, singing!  While out, I noticed a flock of chickadee's flying here and there from tree to tree and entertaining me all the while.  I was trying to take a few photos of my redbud as I await the profusion of violet to appear more and more each day.  The chickadees didn't seem to mind that I had a bright orange camera in my hand and pointing it around.  They seemed to be a little curious and for a bit flew into closer high points near me to see what I was up too before off on their original destination.

I came inside to do a little research on the chickadee.  I love researching and learning about things.  I must be off today to fill the feeders with sunflower seeds to see what other birds might pass by.

The redbuds are beginning to bud ever so sweetly and I love watching the beauty they bring to the landscape.

Some days your heart is filled with gladness and you don't know why.  It was no day like any other day, but I was a happy heart for the whole duration.  Maybe that's what spring fever is.  If that's the case, I hope I get again and it's contagious!

Love,

Easter Sunday afternoon...in a word, "Glorious"!

What a beautiful day to savor today!  The temperature is nearing 75 degrees, there is a light breeze in the air, the sun is shining brightly, clouds are cirrus and linear in the sky, the birds are flying, flying, flying and chirping ever so noticeably.  It's hard not to notice all things lovely today.
I went to church to hear one of my fellow co-workers sing a CeCe Winan's song, Alabaster Box.  What a beautiful song.  Tabitha sang it so intensely and full of passion.  A very moving song.
After church I came home and we had a dinner of chicken pot pie and waldorf salad. 
This afternoon I took a stroll along one of my favorite walking routes.  Folks are doing so many interesting and different things today.  There are other  walkers, dog walkers, bike riders, people playing tennis, family cook outs, children  playing at the playground, young adults playing disc golf and while I was out I took a few photos of the nature in bloom at the moment.

Spring flowers are my favorite.

This is an angel at the gravesite of someone who was a  very dear friend, classmate and team player of my daughter Jamie.  She was a wife and mother.  Her name was Carrie.  She passed way beyond her time of cancer in her 20's.  

Today, on facebook, my fellow classmates have united in a prayer group for a classmate who is currently fighting an infection.

Life is so uncertain.  There is one thing I know.  It's so important to be thankful to God for all that we have and the time we have here on earth.  I'm very greatful today.

Love,