Yesterday I mowed my yard again. I wore my trusty sombrero that Sister Helen brought me from Arizona. Earlier this week I burned my pile of limbs before it was too dangerous. Some of my yard was already brown. Sombreros don’t just have wide brims for shade, they also are designed with a high crown to provide insulation and constructed of straw to make them breathable. Sisters often think of the best gifts. I love my sombrero👒
Laura works with children with speech problems. The guidelines have changed. She follows the children and works with”within” the class not in pullouts. It sounds difficult to me. This semester she is finishing a degree in educational leadership. All she lacks is her internship.
Ironweed is blooming. It’s called Ironweed because of its tough stem. Another name it goes by is Veronica. Sister Fleta and I used these long plants for stick horses when we were young. We galloped all over and back again pretending to be cowgirls. We made our own toys! It’s around 100 degrees here so the blooms don’t last long.
Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse;
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
And she shall have music wherever she goes.
Finished another baby blanket! It’s for a baby girl. By the time I finish 🤮, I’m sick of looking at them!
Read two good books of late! Vengeance is Mine is about the Mountain Meadows massacre. It’s really an interesting book documenting southern Utah leaders’ attempts to cover up their crime by silencing witnesses and spreading lies. Investigations by both governmental and church bodies were stymied by stonewalling and political wrangling. While nine men were eventually indicted, five were captured and only one, John D. Lee, was executed. I was grew up where many of those killed were from. This book hit home. The cause of the massacre was as old as time—greed!
Everything is TB educated me about a disease I thought I knew a lot about. John Green is a young adult writer. The book is well written and easy to read. TB is one of the oldest diseases know to mankind. It’s on the rise once again. Some of those the disease killed are: Thoreau, Chopin, Doc Holliday, Henry VII, Anne Brontë, John Keats, Eleanor Roosevelt, Vivien Leigh, Constantine, President James Monroe….list is so long! The anarondrk chair was invented so TB patients could sleep in the lounge chair and not have to be moved to a bed! I have friends and relatives who died of this wasting disease! Book was an eye opener!
Horses and donkeys had spa day Saturday. They got their nails all snipped. Manchi had a shoe mend. The donkeys were not left out. Astrid has a nice hair tonic that keeps the horse flies at bay. She styled Manchi and Whiskey’s hair. A bath rolling in the dust happened after the humans left. 😂 I love that Astrid uses a female farrier. Girls can! 💪💪
Margaret’s mother and Larry’s mother were first cousins. So Larry and Margaret are first cousins once removed. If you share a grandparent with someone you are first cousins. If you share a great grandparent you’re second cousins. The removed comes into play when one of the two is closer related to the shared ancestor. More than you wanted to know! Margaret is one generation closer to Larry and her shared ancestor. Their shared ancestor is Howard Standridge.
Problem in paradise. This morning I walked to Pop’s Pond. See all that Foliage on the water? How can I get rid of it?
Saw the Wild Potato blooming. Ipomoea pandurata is the Latin name meaning shaped like a fiddle. It’s is native to the eastern half of North America. Native Americans ate it. It has a large root is some times 25 feet long. The roots can be eaten if cubed and boiled in at least two changes of water. Never eat it raw. It is also called “Man of the Earth” because of its huge roots. Younger and smaller is better. Young roots can also be roasted but they will be on the bitter side. Boiling twice is the preferred method, then roast the boiled cubes if you like. Usually straight down deep from where the vine goes into the ground you will find the root. I guess sort of like our Poke Sallet. Granny said boil it though at least two waters.
Both are of the same family and look similar. Even Sweet potato bloom from the garden looks similar! They’re all of the morning glory family. When the morning sun rises the morning glory blooms and if the sun hits the center of the flower a beautiful glow is visable! Morning Glory flowers are smaller and have a little more funnel look to the bloom. They’re all colors. Potato Vine blooms are white. The blooms on the Morning Glory dies after one day. Morning Glory plants are annuals and not hardy. It’s difficult to kill a Potato Vine even if you try. It’s a perennial.
Little Greta is wearing a dress my mother made Laura! My Momma made the little dress over 50 years ago. I think she sent me three cotton dresses. This is the way she stitched little girl dresses. They had sash at the waist, a gathered skirt, and little sleeves. They all looked a little different. Some had collars and some did not. She didn’t use a pattern. In the lower elementary grades, she made me three dresses for school each year. She ordered the material from National Bella Hess. We pulled our clothes off when we came home on the bus. Girls could not wear pants to school until I was in about the 6th grade. I recall in cold weather we could wear pants, but wore a dress over the pants! I loved looking at the catalogs when they came in the mail. In the 1960’s we began ordering from Sears and not National.
National Bellas Hess was a mail-order company known general merchandise catalogs. It began as National Cloak & Suit in the late 1800s and was renamed National Bellas Hess around 1910. The company was a major player among the "big-five" mail-order businesses, alongside Sears, Montgomery Ward, Alden's, and Spiegel. A significant aspect of their history is the 1967 Supreme Court case, National Bellas Hess v. Illinois, which addressed the collection of sales and use tax on mail-order sales. They lost snd filed for bankruptcy in 1971.
We have turned back the clock and are ordering from home once again. Our “catalogs” are all on-line now. Our “wish” books are endless. I order on-line but I like to shop for groceries. If I as young, I’d probably do pick up especially at Walmart. I don’t grocery shop there much. I prefer a smaller store. I buy groceries there but not my weekly supply. I buy groceries once a week. It’s just a habit.
Sister Fleta needed a little dressy purse for a wedding! I stitched up this! I think it’ll work.
