Samhain . . . Halloween

Tonight is Samhain, the time when the veil between this world and the next is the thinnest.  It is a time when long gone ancestors might be contacted.  Be careful though, it also is the time when dangerous spirits can also roam.  If you choose to try your hand at contacting via a Ouija Board, please take care.  Ouija Boards are not a joke, not a game.

To keep the evil spirits from my door, I set about carving my jack-o-lantern today. 

And, finally – the last one . . . .

Revenge

Once Upon a Time, some long years ago, a blizzard was raging fiercely as two brothers stumbled down the long road.  They were miles from any farm, and knew they had to seek shelter or freeze to death.  And so it was with relief that they spotted a saloon and pushed their way through the door.  Every eye in the room turned upon them, as the boys ordered coffee with the last of their money.  As the bartender went to fetch the hot drink, most of the regulars returned to their conversations.  But one man continued to stare, a massive butcher with a mop of red hair and a long red beard who was the worse for drink.  “You’re looking at me funny,” the butcher slurred, looming over the two boys.  “We weren’t looking at you,” said the older boy. “We were just warming ourselves by the fire.”

“Are you calling me a liar?” he shouted.  Around the room crowd grinned; they loved a good fight.  “No, not at all, we didn’t say that,” said the older boy quickly, waving his hands and accidentally striking the butcher on the arm.  That did it.  The butcher grabbed the boy by the collar. “No one hits me and gets away with it,” he roared and threw the boy headfirst into the huge fire raging in the hearth.

There was a moment of stunned silence in the saloon, and then the elder boy screamed in agony as the flames engulfed him from head to toe.  The younger lad shouted in terror.  The older boy stumbled out of the fireplace, as the little brother tried to beat out the fire with his small hands.  The butcher loomed above them, grinning sadistically as the flaming boy lost consciousness, his screams dying away.  “Your turn,” the butcher said to his brother.

The younger boy gasped in fear and fled for his life out into the raging snow. The boy’s little frozen body was not found until the spring.

One evening, a decade after the death of the two young boys, a burly man with a long red beard came strolling down the road, yes – the same one taken by the brothers’ years earlier. The butcher had heard rumors of a ghost but had discarded them as so much poppycock and tavern talk.  As he meandered down the road, he became aware that a silence had fallen.  In the odd silence, he heard the footsteps.  Footsteps that walked when he walked and stopped when he stopped.  Pulse pounding madly, the butcher turned.

Behind him stood a black dog with blazing blue eyes and sharp teeth. The butcher had seen those blue eyes once before, gazing at him from the face of a young boy trying to save his burning brother.  The black dog growled softly and took a step forward.  

The butcher whirled around to flee and found himself face to face with tall figure covered from head to toe in flames.  The burning boy reached out toward the butcher with hands withered and blackened by fire.  The butcher gave a terrified scream and fell, blood gushing from eyes and nose.  He was dead before he hit the ground. 

They say, to this day, the black dog and the flaming figure still appeared in that vicinity to harass travelers and speed them on their way.  Take care traveling down long dark roads.

Spooky Wisconsin

Edited by S.E. Schlosser

31 Oct 2019

October Ends

This month has totally gotten away from me.  What with cooler temps and yard work to falling pecans to I-don’t-know-what-else, by the time I’ve reached a point of sitting at my computer, I’m too tired to think. 

Today is National Cat Day.  The Demon Duo must know because they’ve been just a little more trying (annoying, tiresome, irritating, wearisome) than usual.  According to the National Cat Day website, the best way you can celebrate is to save a life!  So, ADOPT, don't shop.  Estimates reveal that there are approximately 4 million cats entering shelters every year with 1-2 million being euthanized.  They go further to say cats help lower blood pressure of their human roommates, offer love and companionship, tons of laughs and can alert owners to danger (the duo does that by peeling off down the hallway if someone they don’t know comes into the house).  Sadly, however, there are many humans out there that live under a veil of lies; lies that say humans are superior.  (hahahahahahahahahaha – snort, giggle -  haha).

 Daryl and Zack then

  

And, today

A friend sent me this recently – so just in case you don’t know the ownership rules, here they are –

Sooooo – check, check, check, check and yes, up at 530am to fix breakfast!

This past Saturday was a special day.  My youngest daughter got married.  They decided on a simple ceremony on the beach in Galveston.  And, while the day was sunny and bright, it was very chilly with a 20mph wind blowing out of the north.  Still, my daughter looked beautiful, the beach was pretty, and there were no miscellaneous gawkers or screaming kiddos around. 

In our “fall days”, we are currently in a warm stage (chilly, cool, warm, warm, very warm, chilly, repeat).  I think there is another cold front coming in tomorrow or Thursday.  That’s fine – I’m tired of summer now.  And, this weekend, we go off Daylight Savings Time.  That’s good too.  I’m a morning person.  I hate it when I’m up a couple hours before the sun.

Yesterday I wrote three letters – well, I typed up three letters – I don’t actually write, like with a pen and paper, too much anymore.  Still, I wrote three letters and emailed them off.  And, then I looked over toward the front windows to see three people in MY front yard, picking up MY pecans as fast as they could.  Aaarrrgggh!!!  What’s wrong with people??  I did open the front door.  Can I HELP you??  Oh, they were just picking up pecans (duh).  Did they realize they were on private property?  Oh, do you want us to put them back?  They did drop a couple hands full back to the ground out of a BULGING bag.  Then they walked on down the street. 

Good thing I have two kitties, I think my blood pressure was fallout out of my ears.

29 Oct 2019

in Review

We finally have had some cool weather – Wahoooo!  And, with the cool weather has come the season of working in the yard.  Oh, for the days when I could work outside six, eight hours and feel only a bit tired.  These days – four hours (tops) and I’m ready to crawl back into the house.  Standing in the shower is a big maybe.  If I sit in the shower, I’m not sure I can get back up.  And, I’m pretty much done for the day.  Done moving much.  Done thinking.  Done. Done. Done.

But! Yea! I’ve accomplished quite a bit.

It’s pecan-falling-season.  Now, Did You Know? the best way to pick up pecans (at least for me) is to crawl around the yard.  So much easier on my back than “step-bend over-stand up-step-bend over-stand up” repeat, many times.  I’ve spent a lot of the work in the yard time, picking up pecans.  Evenings are spent shelling pecans.  And, right now I’ve got almost six gallons shelled.  One more and I’ll stop doing that.

A week ago yesterday, Estate Sale Thursday, Ellen and I went to a sale located in Richmond (which isn’t so far – maybe 40 minutes).  Honestly, not very interesting.  But, there was this wonderful tree in the front yard.  A very huge, very old pecan tree.  Back in my girl scout leading days, I’d say this was a ten-girl tree – that is, it would take 10 girls standing shoulder to shoulder to go around the trunk. 

It’s hollow from the ground up to the first branch split.  I fear it is not long for this earth but it was still putting out pecans.

The biggest thing I’ve accomplished is the shed conversion.  Normally, the shed looks like this . . . . .

As of today, it is no longer JUST the shed.  It is now the GREENSHED.

After getting the last of it closed in, I moved in plants.  And, honest-to-god, every time I thought – “thank the gods, that’s the last big one” – I’d look over to a different part of the yard and there was ANOTHER one.  Still, everything did fit inside and I can actually get in to water.  I set up my plant grow lights.  Set the timer to turn said lights on/off.  Still have to get one more piece of plastic for the doorway but – it done.  Bring on winter!

And what, you ask, is the Gentle Craft?

Shoemaking.

Today is St. Crispin’s Day.  It is the feast day of the christian saints Crispin and Crispinian, twins who were martyred c. 286.  The date is most famous for the battles that occurred on it, most notably the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.  Because of the St. Crispin's Day Speech in Shakespeare's play Henry V, calling the soldiers who would fight on that day a "band of brothers", other battles fought on Crispin's day have been associated with this famous speech including the Battle of Balaclava (Charge of the Light Brigade) during the Crimean War in 1854 and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Pacific theatre in 1944 during which the Japanese fleet was nearly destroyed.

25 Oct 2019

Reading …. for fun … or not

 I got a new book.  Actually, I’ve had it a little while, I just forgot I had it – it arrived and I put it on the shelf with my other herb books.  It’s called Culpeper’s Color Herbal, edited by David Potterton and is based on the book “The Complete Herbal” written and published by Nicholas Culpeper in 1649.  Nicholas Culpeper, 1616-1654, was an English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer.  His book was one of the most detailed works on medical and astrological treatments in Early Modern Europe.  He spent a great deal of time cataloguing hundreds of herbs.  Culpeper’s Color Herbal contains many of the notes, comments, and personal observations he made to contemporaries: "This not being pleasing, and less profitable to me, I consulted with my two brothers, Dr. Reason and Dr. Experience, and took a voyage to visit my mother Nature, by whose advice, together with the help of Dr. Diligence, I at last obtained my desire; and, being warned by Mr. Honesty, a stranger in our days, to publish it to the world, I have done it."

It's a very cool book with information on the medical use of herbs I’m familiar with (basil, hops, wheat, henbane, tarragon and such) to ones I’ve not heard of

  

Pellitory of the Wall – The juice clarified and boiled in a syrup with honey and a spoonful drank every morning is good for the dropsy; by taking the dose once a week, that disease will be cured. It is found under Mercury. 

Moneywort – It is good to stay all fluxes in man or woman. It stays laxes, bloody fluxes, the flowing of women’s courses, bleeding inwardly and outwardly and quells stomachs that are given to casting.  Venus owns it.

Sun Spurge – It provokes lust and heals numbness and stiffness of the privities proceeding from cold, by anointing.  Taken inwardly, it frets the entrails and scorches the whole body.  Pills of Sun Spurge helps the dropsy, pains in the loins and guts, but should only be given in desperate cases.  It belongs to Mars.

And, speak of reading . . . . .

Lights

And, so, as many such stories begin – Once Upon A Time . . . .

The young woman, of our story, realized she would have to pull an all-nighter in order to prepare for the next day’s final exam. The old dormitory had a large basement arranged for quiet with desks and comfortable chairs.  Since her roommate, shall we call her Jenna (?), liked to get to bed early, our girl packed up everything she thought she would need and went downstairs to study . . . and study . . . and study some more.

It was two o’clock, when she realized that she’d left one of the textbooks upstairs on her bed. Argh! She rose, and climbed the stairs slowly to her third-floor dorm room. The lights were dim in the long hallway, and the old boards creaked under her tired feet. She reached her room and turned the handle as softly as she could, pushing the door open just enough to slip inside, so that the hall lights wouldn’t wake her roommate.

The room was filled with an odd smell. She frowned a bit, her arms breaking out into chills. There was a strange feeling of malice (hatred, cruelty, evil) in the room, as if a malevolent gaze were fixed upon her.  A tired mind playing tricks, she thought, the all-nighter catching up with her.

 She could hear Jenna breathing on the far side of the room—a heavy sound as though Jenna was sleeping restlessly.

And so, our girl crept along the wall until she reached her bed, groping among the covers for the stray textbook. In the silence, she could hear a steady drip-drip-drip sound. Damn. Facilities would have to come to fix the sink in the bathroom…again.

Relieved to be out of the room without awakening Jenna, she hurried back downstairs, collapsed into an overstuffed chair and studied until six o’clock.  She finally decided that enough was enough. If she slipped upstairs now, she could get at a few hours’ sleep before her morning exam.

The first of the sun’s rays were beaming through the window as she slowly slid the door open, hoping not to awaken Jenna. Her nose was met by an unpleasant smell a second before her eyes registered the scene in her dorm room. Jenna was spread-eagled on top of her bed against the far wall, her throat cut from ear to ear and her nightdress stained with blood.

Scream after scream poured from her mouth. All along the hallway, doors slammed and footsteps came running down the passage. Within moments other students had gathered in her doorway, and one of her friends gripped her arm with a shaking hand and pointed a trembling finger toward the wall.

On the wall above her bed, written in her roommate’s blood, were the words:

“Aren’t you glad you didn’t turn on the light?”

21 Oct 2019

Wednesday, October 16 – counting down

I mowed some on Monday.  In the heat and humidity.  And, after a while, dragged my hot tired self into the house and was useless for the rest of the day.

With yesterday being errand running day, I planned to finish the mowing today.  Until . . . . I looked at the thermometer.  At 6am (that’s six o’clock in the morning when it is still dark outside), it was 77° with 86% humidity.   Oh ugh. 

This is pretty typical for us this time of the year.  Hot, muggy and then another cool front arrives.  Actually, I think we’ve already reached the high temp for the day.

Good.

If it does cool down, maybe I’ll mow some this afternoon.

I attend yoga classes Monday evenings.  My yogi is very good.  The classes are challenging.  She gives us easy to goddamned hard poses.  That said, I will have to look like this before I can ever assume this position! 

 (A surprise Halloween gift from my oldest granddaughter, Vicky.

It may, however, remain forever sitting on my desk regardless the season!)

I think I’m going pumpkin shopping tomorrow.  Last year I waited until a couple days before Halloween to get my pumpkin-to-be-Jack-o-Lantern and none of the stores had any pumpkins – NONE.  It was a dark Halloween night with no Jack-o-Lantern to scare away the lions, tigers, bears and other BEASTS OF THE NIGHT.

The Legend of “Stingy Jack”

Once upon a time there was a man, “Stingy Jack”, was his name and one night he invited the Devil to have a drink with him. True to his name, Stingy Jack didn’t want to pay for his drink, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. Once the Devil did so, Jack decided to keep the money and put it into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form. Jack eventually freed the Devil, under the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. The next year, Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised Jack not to bother him for ten more years.

Soon after, Jack died. As the legend goes, God would not allow such an unsavory figure into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since.

The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.” In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack’s lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. In England, large beets were used. Immigrants from these countries brought the jack o’lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect jack-o’-lanterns.

(perhaps not as scary as some stories but scary still to come mwhahahahaha)

So, as the header said – counting down – to Halloween!  Got your costume yet?

16 Oct 2019

ps: thinking I won’t be mowing since this front has brought rain.  good for my potted plants and flowerbeds. bad for the grass (it will insist on continuing to grow).

Seasons, Books, Nuts, and Other Stuff

We have reached the season of “My Closet Thinks I Have A Lot of Clothes”.  That’s because it currently is housing light-weight summer things AND heavier, long-sleeved things.  It goes like this. 

Last Friday we had a little cool front come through.  (Listening to the weather forecaster you’d had thought it was going to drop from 90° to freezing in a matter of seconds.)  A big wind came up and the temperature did drop to the 50-somethings.  The pecans rained down like hail.  All afternoon and evening there was “plink, plink, plinkplinkplink plinkadee do dah on the roof, the sidewalk, the yard.  It got chilly (wahooooooo) though not so much that I even thought about turning on the heat.  Saturday morning was, again, pretty chilly though not so much that I needed anything other than long-sleeves and jeans.  And, by Sunday, it started warming up.  Yesterday was hot and today we’re back in the 90’s.  Ugh. 

This is actually pretty normal for us here in the south Gulf plains of Texas.  Fall weather is cool down, heat up, cool down, heat up, repeat.  Sigh.  We are due another front (maybe) in a few days though. 

And, speaking of pecans, I’ve been out twice every day picking up a gallons-worth in the front yard and a gallons-worth in the back – four gallons a day.  In the evenings I shell pecans to send children. 

I recently read a really good book series – The Sharing Knife by Lois McMaster Bujold.  It consists of four books – Beguilement, Legacy, Passage, and Horizon.  Very good!  It is a story of love, hate, fear, happiness, prejudice, acceptance.  It examines the tension between the two cultures: the magical/traditionalist "Lakewalkers", who are fighting a Forever War against “malices”, and the techno-agricultural "Farmers", who tend to think “blight bogs (malices)” are less dangerous and abundant than they are.   The Lakewalkers think the Farmers are useless and the Farmers think the Lakewalkers are evil magicians.  

My Confederate Rose bloomed this year.  My sister gave me a rooted cutting a couple years ago and this year --- TA DA ---- flowers.

Originally from China, the Confederate Rose, a member of the hibiscus family, made its way to the US with English colonists in the 1600s.  The plant is known for its large blooms that change from white to pink to red before dropping off. It can be a large shrub or a medium sized tree reaching heights of up to 15 feet with spreads of about 10 feet.  Here you mostly find them as trees.  It likes full sun and consistent watering during the hot summer months though as it grows larger and older it becomes more drought tolerant.  If you’re in the frozen northlands (that’s north of Dallas) it is likely freeze to the ground and depending on how close to the north pole you are, it may not come back.  They can be grown in a container and protected during the winter.  It roots easily from a cutting and here it blooms in the fall. 

Legend of the Confederate Rose.

Once the Confederate Rose was pure white. During the Civil War, a Confederate soldier was fatally wounded in battle. He fell upon the rose as he lay dying. During the course of the two days he took to die, he bled more and more on the flower, till at last bloom was covered with his blood. When he died, the flower died with him. Thereafter, the Confederate Rose opens white, and over the course of the two days the bloom lasts, they turn gradually from white to pink to almost red, when the flower finally falls from the bush.

While outside earlier I saw this little guy.  He seems to have taken up residence in one of my birdhouses.  That's ok.

15 Oct 2019

Adventures in Wining

So, this past Saturday, the Wharton downtown merchants held their annual Wine and Art Fair.  It takes place on the square, starts around 4pm and ends by 9pm. 

For a number of years, I managed a local antique store downtown and we participated in the planning, the fun and joy, and general madness of this major undertaking.  From experience, I will tell you – at one time or another every single person involved was ready to (1) run away and not tell where they’re going, (2) stand in the middle of the street and scream repeatedly, or (3) beat their head against the wall exclaiming – Why Me, Why Me.  OUR DAY would begin early – 8am - and end late – after 10pm.  And except for a brief walk around the square, I never actually “attended” the Wine Fair.

This year my friend Bobby and I attended.  And, I have to say, this past Saturday was a perfect day for it.  Blue sky, cool-ish temps, mild breeze. 

So, the way it works – each store owner serves a particular type of Texas wine.  They can put out finger foods if they like but there are a few food vendors sprinkled around the square.  There is all sorts of entertainment going on. 

Participants would buy a “ticket” which includes some sort of bag filled with general information on the wines, on the downtown stops, and Wharton in general.  They also would get a wine glass and a certain number of tickets for sampling the various wines. 

Then, they go shop to shop and get a sample of each wine being served.

Now, I no longer drink much wine.  I aggravates my allergies and gives me a crippling headache almost immediately.  But I know all the store owners and wanted to see what there was to see.  The nice thing about this fair – if you’re not going to sample wine, there’s no charge to get in.  And, since Bobby isn’t a wine drinker either, we walked the wine trail, looked through the various shops, spoke with people we know, looked at the wares offered by vendors and crafters, and generally enjoyed the day.

This (last) booth was really unique.  One of the local churches was making a memory book of sorts.  If you had a memory you wanted to share, they would write it down for inclusion in the book.

This young man was a very good magician.  Of course, I believe in magic so accepting is easy for me.

It was a very pleasant outing.  We went early so it wasn’t overly crowded although, for the sake of all the merchants, I hope attendance picked up.  The primary purpose is to, not only introduce some Texas vineyards, but to showcase each shop.  I will say, the downtown stores are each different from the other so you don’t see the same thing with each stop.    

14 Oct 2019

Two Part Story - trees and dripping

Part One:  Odd way to start off, I know.  Yesterday, Friday and Thursday were VERY TIRING DAYS.  I’m sure I mentioned that three more tree branches fell on the roof of my shed.  In order to do something about the problem, I had to clean up the yard on the east side of the shed.  It is a pain in the patootie too.  I never go over there (or almost never) except to clean it up twice a year – cut down all the trash trees, trim up the 4 o’clocks, the lantana, and anything else that needs to be done, all of which took a couple of hours to accomplish.  After everything was cut down/trimmed up, I made a million trips to the trash pile, cleaning up my mess.  That was hot Thursday.  Then, on hot Friday I thought to tackle the branches on the shed.  Behind the shed, it looked like this . . .

Climbing up on the shed (something that makes me really uncomfortable, specially when I'm alone)?  It was even worse.  So, I spent a couple hours on the shed roof, cutting off smaller branches with the hope that I might be able to shove those big ones off.  No, not even a little.  Obviously, it was all chainsaw work.  Next came a million trips to the trash pile, cleaning up my mess.  Then, my daughter and her boyfriend surprised me by coming by Saturday afternoon to help with the problem.  It was another couple hours work in the very hot afternoon sun for all of us along with the, yes, million trips to the trash pile.

Now, the same back of the shed area looks like this  . . .

and, there’s nothing on the roof of the shed – yay!

Just so you know how much there was – the trash pile now looks like this  . .

There’s still one more big branch that needs to be cut up and some smaller ones to be cleaned up but that’s easily manageable.  They left shortly after and by the time I showered, I was done, too tired to even hold up my phone, much else sit at the computer (the reason why this is a two parter).

Part Two:

This is the last day of National Storytelling Week.  Storytelling is an ancient form of entertainment.  And, in case you ever need a storyteller for some event or other, they can be found on line (who knew)!  

So, stories, might begin with - ...Once upon a time or Not in my time, not in your time but in the far away past ......

The Licked Hand

Once upon a time, a young girl named Lisa often had to spend time alone at home at night, as her parents worked late. They bought her a dog to keep her company and protect her. At night, the dog slept under Lisa’s bed.

One night, Lisa was awakened by a dripping sound. She got up and went to the kitchen to make sure the tap was off. As she was getting back into the bed, she stuck her hand under the bed, and the dog licked it. Reassured all was well, she got back in bed.

However, the dripping sound continued, so she went to the bathroom and made sure those taps were turned off too. She went back to her bedroom and stuck her hand under the bed, and the dog licked it again.

But the dripping continued, so she went outside to check that all the faucets out there were off. She came back to bed, stuck her hand under it, and the dog licked it again.

The dripping continued: drip, drip, drip.

This time she listened and located the source of the dripping — it was coming from her closet! She opened the closet door, and there found her poor dog hanging upside down with its neck cut.

Written on the inside of the closet door was, "Humans can lick, too!"

Sleep well tonight.

6 Oct 2019

/äkˈtōbər/

Already.  And no, it did not do anything like cool down even a little bit last night.  Though, my yoga teacher commented that we have a cold front coming in next week – yay!  I checked the weather today – sorry, 88° doesn’t even qualify as a cool front much less cold anything.  I will say, in all fairness, we are supposed to get one or two days of 81° as the high but I’ll wait until they actually get here before I call it any type of a front.

October.  Has 31 days.  Birth stones are pink tourmaline and opal.  Flower is calendula.  Zodiac signs are Libra and Scorpio.  And, in October, Sputnik 1 was launched by the Russians in 1957, the Great Chicago Fire occurred in 1871, Marie Antoinette was beheaded in 1793 and the Mayflower landed at Plymouth in 1620.

October is also -

Bat Appreciation Month  They are the only mammals able to fly, they eat insects, navigate with echoes to detect objects, are important pollinators, have been around 52 million years, sleep upside-down, and live every where humans live and manage to avoid us quite well. 

Month of Free Thought  The observance was inspired by German freethinkers who emigrated from religious persecution in their home country to start over in America.  Free thought is the viewpoint which holds that positions regarding truth should be formed only on the basis of logic, reason, and observation, rather than authority, tradition, revelation, or dogma.

Squirrel Awareness Month  Yeah, ok.  I’m always aware of squirrels – damn annoying pests that they are.

and, today, October 1 is

International Day of Older Persons  “Between 2017 and 2030, the number of persons aged 60 years or over is projected to grow by 46 per cent (from 962 million to 1.4 billion) globally outnumbering youth, as well as children under the age of 10. Population ageing is poised to become one of the most significant social transformations of the 21st century. Older people have always played a significant role in society as leaders, caretakers and custodians of tradition. Yet they are also highly vulnerable, with many falling into poverty, becoming disabled or facing discrimination. As health care improves, the population of older people is growing. Their needs are also growing, as are their contributions to the world. The International Day of Older Persons is an opportunity to highlight the important contributions that older people make to society and raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of ageing in today’s world.” 

To celebrate the arrival of October, I set . . . .

out my terracotta pumpkins (as much as I’d like to cover the porch and steps in the real thing, in our heat and humidity they’d be a pulpy mess inside a week) and

put my little witch by the front door to keep all safe.

While out in the back yard, I noticed my Silver Vase Bromeliads are starting to bloom.

These are the easiest of plants to grow.  They like bright light but no direct sun.  Keep the “vase” filled with water and the soil moist.  They will produce “pups”.  You can remove the pup when it’s 5” tall and, Voilà! you have another plant.  Trust me when I tell you, starting with one will net you 10 before you know it!  I plan to give about half of these away before they have to be moved to the greenshed. 

And, after that, I know nada else.

1 Oct 2019