Spring Flowers

 

The flowers are so beautiful this time of year!

The Vegetable Garden

It has been 10 weeks since I planted my tomato seeds. The plants are very happy now in the garden. I'm waiting for the first blossoms to appear. I did purchase an Early Girl tomato which had a few blossoms on and now has one pea size tomato. I gave a number of plants away and have been given a few. Variety is good.

Speaking of peas they are beautiful now with purple flowers. After purchasing my seeds I realized they were dwarf peas which I wasn't happy about since I have a fence for them to climb on. I soaked the seed in Vitamin C and they don't look like dwarf plants to me.

We have been eating our radishes. They were not ready for harvesting in 23 days as the package said. They took about twice as long!

Spinach has been tasty but most of the plants were undersized and bolted early. I think that soil may need some fertilizer. I've used all my compost.

 

 

 

 

Poetry Friday - This Compost

This Compost
by Walt Whitman

Something startles me where I thought I was safest,
I withdraw from the still woods I loved,
I will not go now on the pastures to walk,
I will not strip the clothes from my body to meet my lover the sea,
I will not touch my flesh to the earth as to other flesh to renew me.

O how can it be that the ground itself does not sicken?
How can you be alive you growths of spring? How can you furnish health you blodd of herbs, roots, orchards, grain?
Are they not continually putting distemper'd corpses within you?
Is not every continent work'd over and over with sour dead?

Where have you disposed of their carcasses?
Those drunkards and gluttons of so many generations?
Where have you drawn off all the foul liquid and meat?
I do not see any of it upon you to-day, or perhaps I am deceiv'd,
I will run a furrow with my plough, I will press my spade through the sod and turn it up underneath,
I am sure I shall expose some of the foul meat.
Behold this compost! behold it well!
Perhaps every mite has once form'd part of a sick person; yet behold!
The grass of spring covers the prairies,
The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,
The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,
The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches,
The resurrection of the wheat appears with pale visage out of its graves,
The tinge awardes over the willow-tree and the mulberry-tree,
The he-birds carol mornings and evenings while the she-birds sit on their nests,
The young of poultry break through the hatche'd eggs,
The new-born of animals appear, the calf is dropt from the cow, the colt from the mare,
Out of its little hill faithfully rise the potato's dark green leaves,
Out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk, the lilacs bloom in the doooryards,
The summer growth is innocent and disdainful above all those strata of sour dead.

What chemistry!
That the winds are really not infectious,
That this is no cheat, this transparent green-wash of the sea which is so amorous after me,
That it is safe to allow it to lick my naked body all over with its tongues,
That it will not endanger me with the fevers that have deposited themselves in it,
That all is clean forever and forever,
That the cool drink from the well tastes so good,
That the blackberries are so flavorous and juicy,
That the fruits of the apple-orchard and the orange-orchard, that melons, grapes, peaches, plums, will none of them poison me,
That when I recline on the grass I do not catch any disease,
Though probably every spear of grass rises out of what was once a catching disease.

Now I am terrified at the Earth, it is that calm and patient,
It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions,
It turns harmless and stainless on its axis, with such endless successions of diseas'd corpses,
It distills such exquisite winds out of such infused fetor,
It renews with such unwitting looks its prodigal, annual, sumptuous crops,
It gives such divine materials to men, and accepts such leavings from them at last.

This poem was given to our Master Composter class today. Very appropriate.

The PoetryFriday Roundup is at Wild Rose Reader.

Hands on Compost Training

 

We began our 2nd Master Composter training meeting at Tatum Park with Rutger's Prof. Stephanie Murphy giving a power point presentation on Soil & Organic Matter. We learned about the components of soil, soil texture and structure, density, porosity, and porespace. We covered water conductance, aeration, soil fertility & plant nutrition, Liebig's concept of the limiting factor, soil testing, fertilizers, release of nutrients and more. Hope there's no exam next week!

After lunch we went across the street to Deep Cut Park where we were given composting pitch forks to keep and then were put to work at the park's compost display.

Movie Nite

We finally got back to the movies. Last night we saw The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. It was well done but there was more violence and battles and people trying to kill each other than I cared to watch. However it is part of the story and the violence was not gory violence. The arrows made their mark and people fell. Another problem was that I had forgotten a bit of the first movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which I did enjoy more. I probably would have enjoyed this movie more if I had read the book which I think I will do. My grandchildren who are 11 and 8 enjoyed the movie very much.

A Veteran's Perspective

Bill is a friend, neighbor, fellow prayer group member and now I learn a veteran. I loved his e-mail and he said it was OK to post it.



Date: Mon, 26 May 2008 16:06:40 EDT
Subject: MC Fox: Ship's Log

I arose at -got out of the sack-at 0915. I was as quiet as as a Church Mouse. Very quiet. She did not hear me. I got my Navy sweatshirt out and my Myles C. Fox Hat. I ironed the sweatshirt but then realized that if I tried 'marching' in that--it was going to be around 85 degrees,-- I would look like a sausage and I would 'cook' like one. I abandoned that sweatshirt.

I had a blue, long sleeve shirt. The Navy has 'blues'. A black tee shirt under the 'blues' and my Hat-- the whole 'Magic' would be in that hat..

Took all of my pills.- pill for the heart --and pill for what is left of my Colon-cant rush out of the Parade to go to the 'Head' along the route. Ate some protein to counteract the Hypoglycemia and took a flask of apple juice. I was, now, 'seaworthy'..

She caught me at the door.

"I will be fine" Fine "I said .
"I have my cell phone" Truth is I forgot it.
I got to the 'Muster Zone' and looked around for Veterans of any size -shape -color-or age.

Saw a sailor -well a sailor hat. I rushed up to him -put on my Myles C. Fox and a big smile came over him. He said he just had knee surgery and didn't think he could make it but would go a few blocks. He was a lot younger than me and served during Vietnam.

He had to excuse himself to rush off to see a Coast Guard fellow who was dressed in his full uniform.

I kept looking around for all of the Veterans. "Where the heck are they"?

Finally I 'spied' a group of real old men standing off to the side.
"Veterans I hope."

I put on the 'Hat' and instantly they all reached out to shake my hand. It was a nice warm welcome. There were only about nine of us. Not so good really. I was glad I could help represent Veterans.

I explained that I was only 'Peace Time' and felt guilty getting any
applause or 'honor'. That really belonged to those Veterans who put them selves in 'Harms way' and my only 'harm' came from a girl in San Diago Cuba.

But my 'duty' today was to march in honor of those good men before me and after me as well as my Dad and my Uncles who did serve -with distinction.

Well, I would up on the front line of the Parade -pure accident. I found myself between The Kitty Hawk and the World War Two Veteran,. He said he served all of his time in Madison Wisc.. he still fit in his Uniform. I asked him if he kept active because this was almost a three mile March. He said he did.

He said he feared if he stopped walking he would never get started again-not in the parade but in life. Mr. Kitty Hawk was full of life.. He asked when I was in. I told him. He said "I was born the year you got out.. He said he was stunned to find out I was
seventy years old. He thought I was about fifty. So my day was made right there and then.

He served in the Seventh Fleet. His favorite port of call was the
Philippines. He confessed to a wild tour of debauchery during his entire enlistment. He worked in the Engine room.

"Wait a minute " I said to him, "that makes you a 'Snipe' right" ?
I told him how we just studied that 'subject' on our Website..
He said he really didn't feel like a Veteran because he was always below decks. Dirty and smelly.
I said "well how do you think I feel"?

I asked him if the Ship could sail without his 'Group'.?
"Well, no it couldn't"
"Well then-- there."
"Veteran you are."

The crowd was really wonderful-applause all along the way. Men saluting. People standing and cheering. I tried to 'deflect' all that came my way unto these two more deserving Veterans.

Then I decided that the moment called for me to act like kind of a 'Hero' because this what these people came to see. So I did. I waived back, vigorously, and with great confidence like maybe I really was somebody. I made believe I was my Uncle Joe. My Dad said he was one of the finest soldiers he had ever seen.

I did my job. Did it well. When I got to the end of the route we all shook hands-hard hand shakes --vowed to be back again next year.

They left. I sat on the steps, by myself, under the town's War Memorial. I said a few prayers of 'thanks' and for those brave men who lost their lives defending our great country.

Then to cap it off a little girl from a marching Girl Scout Troop rushed up to me and handed me a large handful of candy.. I realized that someone in the crowd must have pointed me out to her and for
her to do this nice deed for an old Veteran.

Touching, eh ?

The only problem was that most of it was Gum and since the Gum Surgery is still fresh. -All I could do was just look at it and then put it in my pocket and store away the wonderful memories of the day.

Mission Accomplished. Ship returned to Port.

Bill
SOG 3
56' 59'

Memorial Day

 

 

 

 

 

Since moving to Main Street on 1998 we have had a gathering for the Memorial Day Parade in front of our home. Yesterday was the first time for the twins to see it since moving to NJ. The grandkids love all the candy tossed at them. Weather was perfect and food was delicious. We even had musician! Hope everyone can come again next year!

Monmouth County Reclamation Center

Today was very interesting. I have signed up to become a Master Composter. We must attend three training dates. Today was our first and we had a very interesting tour of our county landfill. We saw the garbage dumped just this morning. The dumping area was about the size of two football fields and about a third of it was piled high with garbage. It is then bailed and put into the landfill very neatly. Pipes in the ground allow gas from the decomposing garbage to be turned into electricity and used here for their operations.

We had a bus tour of the landfill area and it was truly a beautiful scenic area. We were told years in the future this area could become a wildlife refuge. The photo shows us on top of a landfill. There was no oder. The bales of garbage are covered each day. The new garbage in the dumping area did smell. Realizing the expense of handling garbage and all that is involved makes composting seem all the more important today.

Shock and Wonder

Today we learned the wonderful news that Leo and Kristen are expecting a baby!!! Kristen has a blog http://www.add2tothemix.blogspot.com/. where she thought she'd be telling their story of adopting two boys from Russia. They had started this quest but had delays and it was on hold until after they moved to Pennsylvania this summer. So how did we learn this big news about our expected grandchild? Kristen posted it on her blog and totally shocked me. I then called husband Bill so we could both be in shock together. Leo and Kristen just celebrated their 6th wedding anniversary on Sunday. What a wonder and blessing this is.

Movie Nite

We missed our free movie again tonight because we had a better show to attend. The Ross Street School Special Chorus presented their Spring Music Program and our granddaughter, Katie Rose, had a short solo presentation. She performed at the end of the show in Thank You Very Much. The kids were all very enthuiastic and did a super job. We rate this show a definite 10!

Dreaded Colonoscopy Done

Well, I got through my colonoscopy today just fine and no polyps were found so I am feeling wonderful now that this is behind me. I was informed that I have diverticulosis which is the formation of "pouches" or "sacs" along the length of the colon. This is very common as you age. If an inflamation develops in these "pouches" it is diverticulitis. I was given an info sheet saying among other things that I should eat more fiber, drink plenty of fluids, especially water and maintain a proper weight.

As everyone says, the colonoscopy itself is a breeze. I napped through it and didn't feel a thing. The prep on the other hand is tough, although not as bad as I thought it would be. Yesterday I was on a clear liquid diet. I enjoyed jello and chicken broth and I wasn't really hungry but I found it terribly hard not to be able to eat solid food all day. At 9 am I was instructed to take 2 Dulcolax tablets. At 11 am 1 tablespoon of milk of magnesia and at 3 and 7 pm 10 ounces of magnesium citrate which tasted ok. By 2:30 it started working and it continued to work. I had to get up a number of times during the night.

I should add that I did the other tests ordered by my doctor. I had an x-ray of my shoulder done and the report showed nothing so my doctor acknowledged that it's arthritis. The dr. also had ordered a chest x-ray because he said he likes to have that on file for his patients and I could do both x-rays together. He told me to make another appointment and he would go over my blood results.

On my return visit he said my blood results were ok but that I should have a chest cat scan. The diagnostic radiology report said I had hyperinflation likely reflecting underlying COPD and recommended a cat scan. I have no breathing problems and this made no sense to me. I questioned him if he had all his patients have chest x-rays or if it was because I mentioned I had recently gotten over a flu with cough. He said the reason was because he had heard diminished breath sounds. His examination had seemed very cursory to me at the time and I was thinking I could have breathed deeper if I knew he had a concern. But I had the cat scan. I called the office to check the results and they said they would have called me if there was a problem.

With this test I could not read his prescription whether the test was to be done with or without contrast dye. I called the office and they checked with the dr. and then told me it was with the dye. At the hospital they did not use the dye and said the prescription read without. They did the test so quickly I forgot about the dye for the moment. When I told the technicians the dr. had told me with dye they asked why the test was being done and told me dye isn't really good for you and wasn't needed for this diagnosis and doctors sometimes order more than necessary. I feel my dr. has ordered unnecessary tests throughout the years and I feel I need to find a new doctor who I can trust and have a better relationship with.

Good Match?

 

When I saw this orchid I thought it matched my sofa and pillows. What do you think?

Golden Anniversary

Fifty years ago today Bill's cousin Rosemary Zarinko and Harry Patetta were married. Today we all celebrated with family and friends at an Italian restaurant. It was pointed out to Bill that he was one of four guests today who had attended their wedding. Rosemary and Harry's sons Michael and Joseph planned this party as a gift for their parents. All the grandchildren were together. The dinner was exceptional and it truly was a great day for everyone.

Another Funeral

Yesterday I attended the funeral of Richard Barney,71. I met Richie's wife, Anna, over 20 years ago at a prayer meeting. Our prayer group has lifted her husband in prayer many many times throughout the years. Richie had serious heart problems and diabetes which eventually led to the ambutation of his leg. Through all their trials both Richie and Anna kept a positive atttitude. Lord, welcome your son Richie into your kingdom and bring comfort to his family. Amen

Movie Nite

Last Tuesday evening was warm and summer like so Bill and I headed for Sandy Hook, had a picnic on the beach and walked along the shore. It was wonderful and I was thinking I should've brought my camera.

Last night my friend, Phyllis, and I were able to go to Two River Theater in Red Bank and see Mark Twain's A Murder A Mystery & A Marriage because a mutual friend of ours was unable to go and generously gave us his tickets, saying he was so happy someone could use them.

The show was absoulutely marvelous. It was a musical comedy that kept you laughing. The music and dancing were great. If you get the chance don't miss this one! Here's sort of a neat expression. "Shut the front door!" Think that might catch on?

Mother's Day Weekend

 

Today Patti and Teddy had a Mother's Day celebration at their home. They used their new grill for the first time for hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken. Everything was very delicious. The weather was great. I planted 2 of my Ramapo plants and an Early Girl tomato plant in their garden. The grandkids had a great time climbing the red maple tree. Tomorrow our plan is to go kayaking with Leo and Kristen.

Tomatoes after 7 weeks

 

My tomato plants are coming along, although their sizes vary quite a bit. I'm eager to plant them but it's not recommended here until the middle of the month. Our neighbors planted theirs 2 days ago because they were going to be away the next 2 weekends. I've been babying these plants, turning them in the window because they keep growing toward the light and getting them outside in good weather, watering and fertilizing. It's been fun.

First Holy Communion

On Saturday Stephen made his first holy communion. His Grampy and I were very honored to be eucharistic ministers for this occasion. The congregation received communion after the children so we were able to see the children as they received from the priests. I was impressed by how well the children had been taught. The priest began by talking about bread and asking the children what their favorite kind of bread was. They were eager to respond - pumpernickle, wheat bread, Italian bread, bagels, raisin bread, Mexican bread, regular bread. Then they were asked what was special about this bread today. Their answers - Jesus is in it, it's Holy, It feeds our souls, It's blessed, It's Jesus. I say God bless these children and Halleluia!

To see more pictures of this special day visit http://simpleordinary.blogspot.com/.