Glebe Hill Gardens

Not far from me lies the Glebe Hill Gardens, a splendid exhibit of day lilies and hostas.

Even though it is only a few miles away, I had never been to the gardens. Last week I ventured there with a friend to see what was to be seen.

The gardens offer 1,500 varieties of day lilies, 800 varieties of hostas, 50 varieties of ornamental grasses, 100 different conifers and has two water gardens.

The place is only open for about a month in the summer.

We actually were not there at the height of bloom; that apparently had occurred a week earlier. Nevertheless, it was an impressive display of color and a fine example of very hard work.

I liked the hostas as they looked cool and refined beneath the shade trees. The day we were there it was about 99 degrees, so I also really liked the shade.



I loved this garden walkway. It reminded me of The Secret Garden.



There were an enormous number of day lilies. A riot of color, really.



This is not a day lily. This is the plant that I can't spell that is used in healing; it has antibiotic properties. It starts with an E.



The day lilies all have great names, like Fire King. I did not write down any of them, unfortunately, but I think flower growers must have a bit of poet in them.



This one had a flaming color that reached out and took command!


My friend Meg and garden owner Gary Osborne spent some time looking for just the right day lily for her to purchase. Mr. Osborne later told me he is friends of my husband's family, having coached school with James' uncle at some time and they remained friends.



This was my favorite spot; it looks like an enchanted place. I would never get anything done if I spent time in this garden - I would be mooning about, looking for fairies!

Fantasy Book Reviews

Wildwood Dancing
By Juliet Marillier
Copyright 2007
407 pages
Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher

Cybele's Secret
By Juliet Marillier
Copyright 2008
432 pages
Alfred A. Knopf, Publisher

These books are deemed "young adult" fantasies by the marketers, but to be sure I couldn't tell you why these books by Juliet Marillier and others that I have read by the same author are in different categories.

No matter. A good story is a good story. Marillier excels at taking fairy tales and myths and changing them so that they are barely recognizable. However, their familiarity lends to the telling and to the reader's enjoyment of the story simply because it tickles at those fundamentals of life that create a good tale.

In Wildwood Dancing, the reader meets five sisters who have a portal into the Other Kingdom. On the nights of the full moon, they go dancing with outlandish and foreign creatures, few who are human. Jena is the second-oldest sister and she tells the story in first person. She is a thoughtful scholar who claims to be no great beauty. It is she who insists of keeping tabs on the sisters for fear they will get lost in this other world and never return. A series of adventures and missteps almost proves her a poignant prognosticator.

Cybele's Secret takes place a few years later, with sister Paula taking up the tale. Like Jena, she is also very scholarly. She travels with her father, a merchant, on a buying trip to Turkey. There she finds a way into the Other Kingdom, only to find that the other world is not quite the same across the ocean.

Both books have themes of love and sacrifice, family duty, and adventure. They are both quest books, which I greatly enjoy, and so I found the reading of these to go quite smoothly.

Fantasy readers, particularly those who like a tale that makes them think, should find Marillier's books to be quite a treat. I have read her works Sevenwaters books and always find her to be compelling.

Not a Yellow Squash

I do not know what this is, but it is not a yellow squash.

It is supposed to be a yellow squash. That is what I planted. But this is what has grown. It is some kind of squash... but what?

I do not have a single yellow squash growing, but I do have these things. Any ideas as to what this is?

Homeplace

I am something of an amateur historian and Botetourt County's history in particular has a great hold on me. My ancestry here goes way back, as does my husband's, and we intersect with a set of many-great grandparents back in the early 1800s. That makes us cousins but at a very great distance.

Recently I've had contact on Facebook from several folks who are Firebaughs who are interested in my husband's family history. Fortunately I have done a little research on that from time to time, which is a good thing since no one else in his immediate family seems to have an interest.

Last week one of these long-lost cousins came by for a few hours and we went off to see the ancestors.

This monument is in the Firebaugh family cemetery, which is on private property not far from where we live. It is not family-owned property anymore. I think this belongs to William Firebaugh, whose descendants populate this area.

More Firebaugh Cemetery shots. Many of these folks were buried before 1860. This is a great graveyard, complete with a big ol' tree that has uprooted some of the stones.




This is Jeanne Douglass, whose parents were Firebaughs. She is a cousin to my husband, going back to that William Firebaugh fellow who had a great many kids. The tombstone she is standing by is for her grandparents. She had not visited the grave since she was a child. This is at Haymaker Cemetery.




I had actually never been to Haymaker Cemetery myself, so I found it an interesting place to tour.



As you can see, the cemetery is next to a field.



This is the Firebaugh home place, called Stonelea. It is no longer in the family, either. Legend has it that Philip Firebaugh in 1818 rode into town with saddlebags full of gold and plopped down the money for this home and accompany acreage. The stones with which the house was built were mined on the property and the quarry is still visible if you know where to look.



This barn harkens back to the days of the ol' ancestors, too - this is pre-Civil War (1861-1865, for those who aren't history fans). I have been in this barn and it has hand-hewn logs in it; you can still see the axe marks. They built stuff to last in those days.

Thursday Thirteen

Today I offer up a list of things for which I am thankful.

1. My husband, who is a fine man and the love of my life!

2. My family, even the ones I don't talk to, because without them I would not be the person I am.


3. My friends, because they are the family I have created and people who love me for me.

4. Writing, or the ability to write, which seems to be something I can't stop doing.

5. My spirit, which keeps me moving and trying.

6. The rural, mountainous area we live in.

7. Books and the ability to read them!

8. My computer and the Internet, which links me to the world.

9. My community, which generally accepts me, quirks and all, and waves at me when they see me in the grocery store.

10. My parts, like fingers and limbs and eyes and ears, which may not work as well as they once did but are still functional. How easy it is to take them for granted!

11. Good food, which makes the belly sing and the heart dance (even as it clogs up the arteries!).


12. My house, which keeps me safe, warm, snug and secure. It's a wonderful place, full of love.

13. Water, which cools me down on a hot day, fills me up when I shouldn't be eating, and makes my blood flower better. Without it there is no life, so it's kind of a big one.


Thursday 13 is played by many people, and you can read what others write on Thursdays here. This is the 147th time I have played. I hope you enjoyed it.

Li'l Bambis

We have three fawns that are staying around our house this year. I know there are three because I have seen them all together, but I have not been able to shoot a picture of them in the same shot.

The other day one of them walked right up to my office window. I held my breath until it turned around and I could grab a camera without scaring it.

We have fenced out my flower beds with plastic netting fence. We left a single unfenced entrance by the deck.

About three weeks ago I went outside to look at a couple of does that were in the backyard. A fawn had gotten inside the fence and was resting in my flower bed! I startled it and it jumped up into the netting. I yelled for my husband, who ushered me inside to give the little thing time to calm down. When we ventured back out it had vanished. I did not have a camera to get a picture, alas.

They will be grown and big deer by this time next year.

Zucchini Bread

"Hey good lookin' whatcha cookin'?" said my husband as he came in from work the other day.

I stood holding the egg beater at the ready, a big bowl of something on the counter and flour on my hands.

"Zucchini bread," I told him. "I harvested our first batch of zukes today."

"Yum, I love me some zucchini bread!" he exclaimed.

And it was very good. He ate an entire loaf almost immediately; in fact, he didn't even let me allow it to cool off!

It's fairly easy to make, too. I like the way it turns brown inside and have often considered making it without the zucchini just to see what it does.

I do not consider myself a great cook but I will share this recipe. I am not sure where it came from as it is handwritten.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
2/3 cup Crisco butter-flavored shortening
2 2/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
3 cups fresh zucchini, chopped very fine
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups of White Lily self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup raisins

(You can put nuts in it too if you want but I never do.)

Heat oven to 350. Grease two large loaf pans or three smaller ones.
Mix shortening and sugar in large bowl. Add eggs, zucchini and water.
Blend in flour, cinnamon and cloves. Stir in raisins. Pour into pans.
Bake 60 - 65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool slightly; remove from pans. Cool completely before slicing.
Store no longer than 10 days.

Cousins

My extended family is rather large; I can trace my family tree back to the late 1700s in Botetourt County and so I have lots of 4th cousins once removed and folks I barely know who I can call "cousin" if I so desire and be accurate. In fact, my husband and I are fifth cousins, meaning we share a set of grandparents about six generations back. Which makes me related to my father-in-law and all of his family as well; they are fourth cousins I think. They could be fourth cousins once removed. I get that mixed up once you get that far back on the family tree.

Anyway, my mother had four brothers and one sister, and they all had children, so my first cousins are bountiful as well. And they have now had children (my first cousins once removed; second cousins means you share great-grandparents, not grandparents, it gets confusing).

Recently a bunch of these  immediate cousins gathered to celebrate the graduation of one of the children.

My first cousin by marriage, Gina who is married to my cousin Matthew, and her daughter Madison, who is my first cousin once-removed. Madison is my aunt's granddaughter; Matthew is her son.

Kayleigh, on the left, is my first cousin LeighAnn's daughter, so Kayleigh is my first cousin once removed.  She is with Madison. LeighAnn is my uncle's daughter.

Ashleigh, who was graduating from home school to college, was the reason for the celebration. Ashleigh is my cousin Michelle's daughter, so Ashleigh is also my first cousin once removed.


Kelsey, on the left, is Michelle's daughter, so she is my first cousin once removed. Michelle, on the right, is my uncle's daughter, so she is my first cousin.

Supposedly I and all of these cousins are related to two separate presidents but I have never proved that so I don't make that claim and wouldn't make the claim for one of the supposed presidents anyway even if it were true. I am eligible for Daughters of the American Revolution and Daughters of the Confederacy inclusion but have never bothered to fill out the paperwork. I have set that aside as something to do when I am old(er).

I am lucky to have such an extended family. I know not many people know their first cousins, much less their fourth, fifth and sixth ones.

Thursday Thirteen

I am one of those people who often ask the odd questions; my mother called me a "why" child, because once I learned the word I never stopped wondering. Here are few odd things that have crossed my mind lately:

1. If a mouse is on a train, does he experience any sensation of traveling while he's roaming around down at my feet? Could he get motion sickness?

2. Do animals favor a paw? As in, are they left-hooved or left-pawed? Does mother deer tell Bambi, "Now, son, step out with your right hoof, not your left."?

 (Mother deer with suckling fawn!)

3. If I only read a book half way, or maybe just don't read the last page, does that mean that for me the story never ends?

4. If a tree falls in the forest does it make a sound - I say yes, even if a human isn't around. Because the noise exists whether I hear it or not. But I cannot prove this.

5. How does Teflon stick to my new loaf bread pans?

6. Why do they call it a #2 pencil?

7. How come I can never see the light turn into darkness when I am sitting outside watching the sunset?

8. Why do fireflies remind me of fairies every time I see them?

9. Why does well water keep my vegetable plants alive, but rain makes them thrive?

10. Why must I always question everything? Why? Why? Why?

11. If I have already fulfilled my purpose in life, how would I know it?

12. If I am wasting time, who's definition matters? If I enjoy reading a book, or playing a video game, or surfing the Internet, why is that wasting time? Shouldn't I get to define it?

13. Where is the soul, what is it, how does one see it, feel it, know it is there?

There you go. I have a busy, zany mind; welcome to a small piece of my world.

Thursday Thirteen is played by many people and you can meet more TT players here. This is my 146th time to play and if you don't believe me you can look here and read them all.

New Fire Station

On Monday, Roanoke City dedicated its new fire station, Roanoke Fire-EMS Station #5.

This will be my husband's new location because the battalion chiefs will be working from this station now.

The station consolidates two structures, old station #5 and station #9. Station #9 is officially retired, and both old buildings will be sold. My husband was captain at Station 9 for almost 10 years before he received his promotion.

The closing essentially eliminated 12 jobs, although the local media has not reported that recently. It was publicized when the decision to close the stations was made several years ago but apparently that has been forgotten.

You can see media coverage of this here: WSLS, WSLS (stations closing), Roanoke Times. Station 9's old blog is here and you can see in the header what the old station looked like. I don't know if new Station 5 will have a blog. Apparently that depends on the firefighters and who has an interest in keeping it up.

Anyway, on with the tour:




The new structure cost about $4.5 million.



They also introduced a new ladder truck to the public. It is a Quint, which means it carries water and has a ladder. It cost $843,000.



Firefighters J. D. and Dennis, both of whom have worked with my husband for many years. Dennis is going to be a daddy in the next month or so. He was very kind to me while my husband performed his duties and saw to it that I had water and found the rooms with air conditioning. He also gave me a tour of the building.



The new battalion chief's office.



The turnout gear locker. If you have never been in a fire station when the bells ring and the fellows all run for their gear, it is an amazing sight. It's like a ballet on speed.



Dennis and my husband, who was all decked out in his dress uniform.



The pole for a fast exit from the second floor. I understand this pole came from old station #3 and is about 100 years old.



The crowd was large for such an event: about 250 people. Many were dignitaries but others were retired fireman and local citizens who wanted to take pride in this new structure.



Captain Kevin and Fire Investigator Ronnie.



Captain Kevin and his crew created this very large table - it's about 18 feet long - to serve as the eating place for the firemen. The table has inlays of pictures of the closed fire stations as well as a tribute to tomorrow's firefighters in the middle.




Dignitaries made long speeches. Mayor David Bowers had a hard time keeping a straight face at one point. Tears fell during a presentation to Battalion Chief Bobby Slayton, who has been with the Fire Department for over 44 years. He retires this month. Unfortunately the heat was miserable; the event was mid-day and the bays of the fire station, where everyone gathered, are not air conditioned.



And there's me and my sweetie.

Too Hot to Handle

Our weather has been very un-June-like and instead has been more August-like.

The temperatures have been in the high 90s for a week now.

How hot is it?

It is so hot that when I go outside after taking a shower, my hair dries instantly.

It is so hot that ducks are flying upside down so their friends will get a breeze from their flapping wings.

It is so hot that eggs cook on the sidewalk.

It is so hot that the trees have started walking toward the pond.

Well, you get the idea.

It is hot. Can't do nothing about it and I am thankful we have air conditioning.

That picture, by the way, was taken yesterday afternoon. The thermometer was in the shade. The gauge on the other side of the house, which was in the sun, looked like this:

Books: Split Second

Split Second
By David Baldacci
Read by Ron McLarty
Abridged 6 hours
Copyright 2003

These fast-paced spy/mystery books are what David Baldacci is known for, but as I hadn't read or listened to one I thought I'd pick one up.

This went very quickly. The plot was very exciting but the character development was minimal. I don't know, though, if that is because of the abridgment so I will withhold judgment on that.

Much of the book was set in Virginia, and I always like to read things set in the state. It makes them feel close to home, sort of.

Michelle Maxwell is a Secret Service agent charged with protecting a presidential candidate. During a stop at a funeral from a friend, the candidate is kidnapped. Michelle's career is effectively ended.

Eight years earlier, Sean King had been watching a presidential candidate when his charge was gunned down. King lost his career, too.

The two join forces when the two seemingly unconnected events start to look connected. They sift through old evidence, lies, and cover-ups to discover the truth.

The book ends with the two joining forces to create a private investigator's agency, so even though I haven't looked I am sure there are other books out there featuring these two characters.

Not bad entertainment while driving in the car, that's for sure.

Summer Solstice Musing

Mid-Summer's Eve. The evening is warm with scarcely a breeze, so warm that a naked dance with the fireflies is not out of reach.

As the sun settles behind the mountains, a cardinal gives the all clear cheer while a dove in the brush by the fence coos goodnight.

It is twilight. Evening tide. Time for gentle souls to fall under the spell of the pixies and fairies who will rise and dance beneath the half-moon. Magic and softness and a promise of newness lies on the air, in the thin, nearly imperceptible twist of the oak leaves as the breathing of nature stirs the air.

Softly now, move softly among the roses and hear the echoes of those who went before. They call to you, those elders, their voices audible only to those who have will to listen. Do you hear them?

It is a time to dream, is it not, on this longest evening of the year? For soon the winter's howl will be close and the fires of man will smell in the air. It is never long away, those times. They come around as surely as the sunrises and sets each day.

Listen now as the owl calls and watch the night fall upon you. The stars twinkle, each light a small beacon crying out to sorrowful souls. The fireflies dance. Go dance, and be free.

**Written on the Summer Solstice**

Heavy Burdens

My phone rang and rang tonight, up until 10 p.m.

And always it was bad news.

First the bad news was about my husband's family. Two of his aunts are in the hospital. One I have written about before. Aunt Jenny had surgery for pancreatic cancer in early November. She is not doing so well. I love Aunt Jenny; she was a substitute teacher when I was in elementary school and I remember her coming in and teaching. When I married her nephew, she welcomed me with open arms.

Aunt Frannie lives in Salem and I do not know her as well, having not spent much time with her. She is in the hospital with a problem with her leg. I do not know the particulars on that but it does not sound very good.

The sisters are not in the same hospital. Their other sister, Aunt Nancy, is in North Carolina recovering from knee surgery. And their brother, my father-in-law, is on oxygen, though he continues to work far too hard for a man of his age. They all worry me.

And then my brother called tonight to tell me, among other things, that my grandmother who lives in California is in the hospital. They are unsure what is wrong. It is hard to know when you are this far away.

My grandmother turned 90 in March.  I wrote about that in this post. I called her last on June 11, which was my grandfather's birthday, and we had a long chat. My grandfather passed away in 1989.

I have never spent much time with my grandmother, for California is a very long way away. For a long time I did not have the money to fly out, and have never had the time to drive out. Living on a farm generally means you don't take long trips like that, because someone must feed the cows. Then as we've aged, someone has had to be here to help out the older folks. Now I have a problem with my ear that keeps me grounded. I cannot fly unless I am sedated. I don't think I will ever get to California.

On top of that, my heart has been sagging for months now, with personal sorrows and troubles that I won't share but which have plagued me for some time. I try very hard to be happy in my writing in this blog but sometimes it is impossible not to feel totally overwhelmed by life, even though I know I really have nothing to complain about.

But tonight I feel as heavy as a dew that has stained delicate silks strewn about the grass. When the sun rises I know I will feel a little lighter, but right now, with darkness knocking at my windows it is very hard to recall.

Thursday Thirteen #145

Today I shall give you a few of my favorite little peeves. We all have them, the little things that just drive you nuts even though they shouldn't.

1. Food labels. I read labels a lot these days because my doctor told me to watch my sodium. But on food labels, servings aren't the entire bottle of soda. No, the labels are for half a bottle. Or half a candy bar or 1/8 cup of cereal. They are very misleading unless you read the entire thing, measure and do the math.

2. My phone rings and it is my bank trying to sell me insurance. Excuse me? You are my bank. I don't want to buy insurance from my bank. I buy insurance from my insurance company.

3. Telemarketers. Thanks to the government "do not call" list I get fewer of these than I once did, but still, the little loopholes about being partners and doing business with someone gives them the right to call you all the time make the list less than perfect. I do believe some countries don't allow telemarketing at all, and good for them.

4. Warranties that aren't. A warranty should cover all costs. I hate replacement warranties that are not. As in, something breaks and you can get it fixed but you have to pay a small fortune in "shipping and handling" that is nearly as much as what you paid for the item. I bought the product in good faith and then I have to pay for you to fix your mistake?

5. The weather. Okay, I can't do a darned thing about this but it is not supposed to be nearly 100 degrees in Virginia in June. That is August weather. In June it is supposed to be 75 degrees and breezy and clear, not hot and humid as hell. But there is no climate change because it snowed last winter, remember?

6. Artificial sweeteners. Aspartame and sucrulose are rat poisoning in disguise, dumped in our foods, and I am finding it more and more on those labels that are so difficult to read. This is probably all to the good because it means I have to resort to real foods which I should be eating anyway, but I worry about what this stuff is doing to other people. And to me when I slip up and eat it.

7. People who pull out in front of you and then slow down. I don't know what these people are thinking. Maybe something along the lines of, "I need a new car, if I slow down this yoyo will rear end me and their insurance will buy me a new one."

8. Toilet paper holders. I hate having to put new rolls on the holders. So there.

9. I'm like, you know what I'm saying? and other stupid phrases that permeate people's speech sometimes. I know a few people who are so busy saying those phrases that I never have a clue what they are actually trying to talk about.

10. PEOPLE WHO SEND EMAIL OR INSTANT MESSAGES IN ALL CAPS. This is terrible Internet etiquette and I find it quite irritating because it is quiet shouting. It makes me want to hit the delete key immediately.

11. Along the same lines, people who forward stupid political things to me. Most of it is wrong or just opinion and when you do forward such things you're just adding my email to some spam list. Or at least to a list of your friends whom I don't know. So stop it already.

12. Dogs in stores. Unless it is a service dog helping a disabled person, dogs do not belong in Lowe's or Kroger or Walmart or any other place where pooches seem to be turning up lately. I don't care if it is your little snookums. Leave the dog at home where it isn't likely to get close enough to me make my allergies flare up. Not everyone likes dogs, particularly big dogs that look like they could swallow your leg in one single gulp. Please be a little more considerate.

13. Lastly, the hard plastic from hell that covers batteries, computer and camera accessories, and other things. It requires dynamite to get that stuff open and it seems like a terrible waste of resources. Can't they come up with better packaging?

Many people play Thursday 13. Go check out the list of folks playing this week here. Ya'll come back and see me, ya hear?

My Brother, The Peacock

Recently I visited my brother at his house, which is about six miles away and is beside the farm where we grew up.

He has a thing for birds. He raises chickens, guineas, and peacocks.

This is the bird I believe he calls Othello. He has two males but I forget what he calls the younger one.

This is Othello pre-strut. It was growing dark and I had only my small (and old) Nikon Coolpix with me so the photos did not turn out as well as I would have liked.

I had never watched a peacock be, well, a peacock, before. Apparently it is not the brightly colored feathers that are the attraction for the female. No, it must be the plump little bottom, which shimmies and shakes as if in dire need of some great attention. I had never seen such a show.



And she, being female, paid him absolutely no attention!

The Four Seasons of Fincastle

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I bid in the silent auction to win an item.

The item was a set of framed prints by Connie Marsh, who once lived in the town but does not now. They are pictures of various historical sites in Fincastle, one in each of the four seasons. It is titled The Four Seasons of Fincastle. In the late 1990s, when I was very involed in the organization, sales of this print were a big fundraiser for Historic Fincastle, Inc.

A silent auction, for those who may not know, involves writing down bids on a paper by the item. The last bid on the paper when time is called is the winner.

I did not start bidding until 7:15 p.m., and the auction was to end at 7:30 p.m.

It was an anxious 15 minutes for me for I was bidding against someone with a reputation that, if true, meant he could have written down any price and not blinked, whereas I was bidding in $5 increments.

However, I have always wanted this particular set of prints. I think it is quite beautiful and it reminds me of simpler times and a period in my life when I was working avidly to keep the historic nature of the Town of Fincastle foremost in people's minds. While it was not a particularly happy time in my life because of my mother's illness, it was a very busy and productive one.

This is a photo of the picture that I brought home. Yesterday we hung it in the hallway.