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lulu1107's Blog
Grandpa Gonzales's Yellow Trunk
Category: Getting Back to My Roots | Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 5:21 am My mom and I were talking today.Somehow, the conversation got around to inherited traits and conditions. My mother then made the comment she usually makes, that she doesn't know much about her mother and father. She says it so matter-of-factly. My mother was born in Detroit, Michigan, daughter of two immigrants from Galicia, Spain. They had been farmers who had fled during the civil unrest there in the 30's. By the time she was two, she had lost her mother to complications during a gall bladder surgery. Her father, unable to read or write (in English or Spanish) made the decision to send my mother and her infant brother to be raised by relatives. She apparently cried a lot. Who wouldn't?! In that same matter-of-fact voice, she has told me about her aunt, who put a pillow over her head to quiet her crying once. She and my uncle ended up in Riverside, California, raised by her father's sister and her husband. I still have fond memories of that person, my great aunt. We always called her Grandma Fernandez. I bragged to my friends that I had extra grandparents! I'll never forget Grandma's arroz con pollo, or her chocolate cake (from scratch) and ice cold milk from a glass jug. Grandma Fernandez was a tough cookie. Every morning she tended her garden faithfully...no easy feat in a town that was carved out of the desert! She also walked everywhere. I have always wished I knew more about my mother's parents. Apparently I look like my Grandma Gonzales, Anuncia (Nancy).When my Grandpa Gonzales died in the mid 1960's he had been keeping company with a woman who helped him with his reading, writing and day-to-day things. Slowly, this woman had gotten my Grandpa to put his "X" on the deed to his house, bank accounts, etc. Nothing was left when he died, but his yellow trunk. I like to believe that he died not knowing what she had done. Even though the circumstances behind the arrival of the yellow trunk are sad, I'm so grateful it made its way to us. It is filled with old photos, letters, postcards, etc....all written in Spanish and all reflecting a happier time, decades before Grandpa's death. My mom, after so much loss and hardship, met the love of her life, my dad, married him in Reno and honeymooned in Vegas. Even my Dad's mom (Lucky 13) said it probably wouldn't last. They had known each other a month! It did last and has passed the 50 year mark. In spite of the tough beginning, Mom is one of the most level-headed, generous-hearted people I know. When it's all said and done, the memories others have of us are our real legacies.When we nurture those memories by telling the stories, we keep the family tree alive and strong. This blog entry has been viewed 242 times
Sharing the Joy...This Is a Bit Too Much!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Mon Apr 27, 2009 6:42 pm My daycare children and I have been enjoying our time outside. For the first time this year, we left the side door open, with only the screen door closed. The sun was shining and we had lots to dig in and play with out in the garden and yard. Finally we decided to come in for a drink and some lunch. I distractedly paced over to the kitchen, announced that I needed the kids to put their shoes by the door...blah, blah, blah...the usual. Ian, always one to speak his mind promptly, asked, "What is that?" He was pointing to a very long, but admittedly beautiful, sleek Black Rat snake!!!! I couldn't even wrap my head around what my eyes had seen at first! So, in a forced calm voice, I firmly told the kids to step out onto the porch. I grabbed a toy tub and inverted it over the snake, placing something heavy on the top, all the while calling to my daughter to come help. I poked my head out the door to check on the two kids and I spotted my senior neighbor, Nancy. Without hesitation I called her over to help. "I need you, NOW!" (This was especially delicious, because she calls me over on the spot a lot!) Next thing I know, Nancy (the neighbor) was sweeping the snake out the door! After only two screams (me, not the snake), the poor little thing (okay, not so little) quickly disappeared under the front steps and hid there the rest of the day! I wonder who was more scared...it or me! Once I convinced the kids that they could indeed put their feet down and that all was well, we continued with our day. You can bet I googled the topic of snakes at nap time till I was just short of an expert on the subject! That was Friday. Guess what one of the kids wanted to google today? Jake the snake! (It helps to put a name to something, I think!) Apparently, black rat snakes are great climbers and like White Oak trees (yes, I have one.) Either he came in through the bottom of the screen door after climbing the wooden steps, or he came up from the basement after hibernating there!!! I'm going to live in a fantasy world and choose to believe he came in through the screen door. Well, I guess that wonderful habitat I've been nurturing right outside my home is welcoming to all sorts of flora, fauna, man and beast! I'll just have to get used to it. This blog entry has been viewed 230 times
If This House Could Talk!!!
Category: Getting Back to My Roots | Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:54 pm If walls could talk, as they say....Apparently there is quite a story behind my simple little stucco Cape Cod house. My neighbor, Nancy, likes to map out the history of the neighborhood often. I'm glad she repeats the tale, because there are so many details to keep track of that I need it repeated! On September 11, 2001, my daughter and I pulled into the driveway to take a look at the house. We were immediately drawn to the huge red roses at the side of the house and the towering oak in the back. As we looked at each other to confirm that THIS WAS IT, a man came running out of the house yelling some unbelievable things. I remember thinking that the "seller" had to be nuts. I'll never forget that day. In 1950 a nice man, a contractor who worked for Dupont, built this place lovingly and THOROUGHLY out of cement block. Years later, the basement waterproofing company I hired to put in drain tiles in the basement nearly had a fit about the thickness of the foundation cement!They tried to add 2,000.00 to the bill, too. Anyway,the builder and his wife bought the land from a sweet lady who had just subdivided her farm property. Pasadena, MD used to be covered with strawberry farms and this had been one of them. It's amazing who still has ties to that sweet lady, even after several properties resulting from that original farm have changed hands a few times over the last almost 60 years. Her child's son now owns the house next door. I was given that piece of the puzzle by his wife a few weeks ago quite by accident. The ruins of two farm wagons sit at the far end of my property, too heavy to move. I'm glad I had to put some thought into what was to happen to them. They are both so old. It would be sad to see them in a dump. I think the answer is to refurbish them into planter tables (with really cool wheels instead of legs) and put them back into good use. I'd love to know who and what the huge White Oak has shaded over the years. It goes back a LOT further than the house and perhaps even the farm. I do know, that the guy who built this place planted a cherry tree (I nursed it back to productive health a couple of years ago), some var. Euonymous hedging, Rhododendrum, Dogwoods and Russian Honeysuckle. I kept what I could and it formed the backbone of my yard. To me, this is a cottage and I've planned the landscape accordingly. I wove edibles and ornamentals around each other, inter-planting to be able to fit what I needed in. I do regret the Rosa Rugosa hedge at the front, simply because I can't seem to make it look robust enough...probably coddling it too much. Like cottage "folk" of years gone by, I'll make rosehip jam, dry herbs, pick veggies for my dinner...Home sweet home. Last edited: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:54 pm This blog entry has been viewed 224 times
Things Are Coming Along Nicely
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:38 pm The first place my tutoring and daycare students seem to look, as they come into my house, is towards our table farm! The Areogarden actually looks as ample and full as the ads show! Every day, for several days now, one of my preschoolers announces that a sunflower seedling has let go of the seed! I explained that the seedlings come out of the seed, then begin to grow their leaves, pushing the seed case up with them as they grow. Soon, the seed falls off of the seedling.In a few weeks we can plant them out, designing our maze as we go. It's funny...what they tune in to and what they tune out. I put a really sweet movie on, The Secret Garden... nothing. A little dirt, a few seeds and BAM!(Actually, I'd rather play in the dirt, too.) Our radishes, peas, greens, strawberries (leaves) are peeping out of the soil. The American Cranberry bushes have decided to bloom this year and have shown their little beaded buds. I screamed with delight like a little girl when I saw that! If my Contorted Mulberry actually bears fruit this year, I'm sure YOU will ALL hear my screams of pure joy, sans internet!!! Seven years till fruiting...now that requires some patience. I've decided to add amaranth and quinoa to our sunflower maze. As I understand it, one of them is a cool season crop and the other prefers warmer soil. We'll figure out a way to do it. I do my best thinking standing out in the garden (after some research), scratching my head, staring for endless moments at possibilities, talking out loud to myself, and...probably scaring the neighbors!!! Last edited: Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:40 pm This blog entry has been viewed 211 times
It's Official...We Have Three New Young Gardeners!!!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:24 pm My daycare family was busy during free play time today. Ian and Jamie were creating a Duplo and cars imaginary town and Aiden was figuring out the workings of Legos. So Miss Rhonda decided to choose her own fun activity...of course I quietly plopped myself down on the kitchen floor (with only a passing thought about how I'd get back up)and began planting more seeds in paper towel holder cups. Only about thirty seconds went by and I had the two older kids by my side, asking to join in. They did it all, from scooping soil into the cups, placing a seed on top, covering and gently patting (tucking the seed in) to watering them in! We talked about how important it is to follow directions so things turn out right. Miss Rhonda read directions from the seed packets and we chose our projects based on what would work now. Soon Aiden (2) was right there, too. We put the cups in small "greenhouses" made from leftover carryout containers. Since our bunny, Elmo, (he used to be part of a bunny duo named Thelma and Louise, but had to be renamed for obvious reasons)plays outside with us, we made sure to plant some dandelion greens for him.He loves the leaves but considers the flowers too gourmet. The kids all have tiny wild strawberry container gardens to tend now. We finished with sunflowers and let our imaginations paint a picture of the sunflower maze we will soon create. The kids often plant stray seeds or rocks they see while playing outside. I'm fine with that, in fact I'm so proud that my little kiddles have discovered the joy of gardening! Who knows, maybe they'll even like weeding!!!! Last edited: Wed Mar 25, 2009 6:28 pm This blog entry has been viewed 196 times
Off to a Great Start
Category: Getting Back to My Roots | Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:19 am My mother's parents came from a farming community in northern Spain. My dad's folks were mid-western farmers. In fact, Grandma traveled westward in one of the last covered wagons in 1900 as a baby and ended up in California, one of 13 children. She always liked to tell us that she almost bounced out of the wagon and that would have put the entire family line out of commission! She ended up being the only sibling to make it to old age, so she called herself "lucky 13". When I was 19 a family cookbook came into our possession. It was the A to Z of sustainable living, circa the late 1800's or so. I LOVED that cookbook. It even contained hand written records of my grandfather and his two brothers' births.Those boys soon lost their parents, my great grandparents, before the youngest was old enough to be on his own. Fast forward to 1977 and somehow I, at the tender age of 19, had a strong sense that I needed to protect that book, begging to be allowed to be its caretaker. My mother assured me that it would be fine. It was lost for many years, then permanently lost in a fire. Last summer I paid the family cookbook a small tribute by googling some fig recipes. I have three fig trees...couldn't decide which kind I wanted, so I ended up with more than I needed. I don't waste it, though! My googling yielded me a 100 year old recipe for candied figs... FABULOUS!!!!It involved a three day process which, by the end shed new light on what "visions of sugarplums danced in their heads" must have meant. Most of the edible landscape and orchard setup is in place and much of it is about to bear or already has.I planted quite a bit of the early veggie seeds already. The herbs need a bit of sprucing up and adding to, so I'll be expanding to some not-so predictable items, like soapwort. By summer I hope to be washing my hair in homemade soapwort and lavender shampoo, then rinsing with rosemary infusion. To me personal progress involves a fair amount of looking back! This blog entry has been viewed 277 times
Sharing the Wealth With My Animal Buddies
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:37 pm Is it my imagination, or are many of the birds who hang out in my yard getting rotund? I know the squirrels are kept busy with acorns from the huge old White Oak. (I actually used one of those botanical classification questionnaires several years ago to figure out what kind of oak it is) The bunnies seem to be getting plenty of food, too. Between the rugosa hips, ornamental grass, Rose of Sharon hedge and leftover wildflower seeds in my wildflower garden, even winter is a feast! I know summer was plentiful for them, because they ate most of my blueberries, all of my grapes and had their fair share of my cherries, strawberries and blackberries. This summer I think a little tough love is in order... a better netting system for the grapes and blueberries will probably be enough.I've also fenced in my veggie garden. I still love to share with them, although the sharing to them means taking all they want and THEN leaving something IF any is leftover for me! All they have to do is make their cute little animal sounds and frolic playfully in the sunshine and I smile like an indulgent grandparent at them! I am probably imagining this, but I could swear that my little gardening pal, a robin, has returned to hang out while I'm outside...waiting patiently for me to turn on the hose and begin weeding, watering and tending his "worm collection"...my garden! Hmmm...sounds like I have too much time on my hands! Actually, I spend most of the day teaching and tutoring! There's always time to tune in to nature and to stop and smell the roses, though. Last edited: Sat Mar 21, 2009 5:37 pm This blog entry has been viewed 248 times
Planting Rocks
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 3:02 pm The digging bug bit me during outside play time yesterday, so I dug up a persimmon (carefully, to keep from wrecking the taproot) and proceeded to show and tell the kids about roots. Then, of course, I found two other edibles that needed a better home, so I moved them. Before I knew it, the little 2 year old was digging a nice planting hole for his rock! He happily buried it, dug it up, spread the dirt around the grass, then buried it again... Sounds just like me!!!! The kids are watching closely for signs that the sleeping plants are waking up.If the buds aren't giving me enough hints, I know it's almost spring by the huge smiles on my dogs' faces when they go outside! We're planning a cool sunflower maze for the back part of the yard. Can't wait. Errr, uh, of course I mean the kids can't wait!!! This blog entry has been viewed 235 times
I'm Amazed at the Response!
Category: Sharing the Joy with Others | Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2009 6:48 pm I've been table top farming with my little daycare group. They love it. My dad gave me an [edited] and I set it up and discovered that I LIKE it! I'm not much for things with technological bells and whistles...but I really enjoyed the process. Of course I'm thinking of ways to use it without having to buy all of the little designer props that go with it. The mini hydroponic garden is really attracting the attention of several of the most unlikely candidates...my middle school tutoring students. GREAT! Of course, they'll get the entire A to Z of my latest gardening exploits upon showing the least bit of interest, so beware, my students! I'm most proud of the paper towel roll plant pots and the seeds that I saved from last year's garden.I guess I'm showing my roots.. (In the 70's we had a lot fewer hi tech gadgets!!) Any plastic containers (like salad boxes) are being immediately enlisted and added to my little farming table. One's filled with mesclun mix seedlings. The light from the [edited] seems to spill over and provide light for them as well...in fact it's made my crop of daikon radish sprouts absolutely blazing green and delicious! Today one of my daycare students, a sweet little girl, decided that she was going hunting for worms to harvest and place lovingly in our outside garden. I was transplanting a tree and the kids were fascinated by the roots. We're also monitoring the banana peels we placed in the compost pile. The kids expect them to "turn into dirt" and check every day to see if they have magically done so! This blog entry has been viewed 252 times
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