Tag Archives: roses

Old books and pretty flowers.

My bloggy-vacation is going by too quickly!

Our weather has been amazing.   In response, my flowers are doubling their growth every couple of days.    I love it!!

I’ll show you some pictures while I talk about  a much needed break that a close friend and I took, in an antique store recently.

During the visit I came upon a book entitled Household Manual.

Published in 1879.

Authored by J.H. Kellogg, M. D. Yep! The guy who invented cereal flakes.

I got a kick out of some of the things I found in this gorgeous little green hardbound Victorian book.

I had to buy it.

Fantin Latour has bloomed for almost a full month this year! An intoxicating gift.

Dr. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism and he has some very interesting things to say.

For instance, in the segment titled ‘A Live Hog Examined’,  Dr. Kellogg writes, “Stop, friend, admire your savory ham, your souse, your tripe, your toothsome sausage, in its native element. A dainty beast, isn’t he?”

Under the heading ‘Greens’ I was interested to learn, “This kind of food contains little nourishment, but is well relished by some people.”

He had some hearty (and accurate, in my opinion) criticism for women’s fashions of that day.

Particularly the corset. Here’s a link to some common problems with corsets.

“The absurdities of fashionable dress are too glaring to require exposure. All admit the need of reform, but few have moral courage to break Dame Fashion’s shackles.”

He recounts the tragic news story of a young girl who wore her corset to bed (because she dearly wanted a tiny waist) and died.

The book contains a lively section on first-aid  and poisons.

My favorite is the cook book section.

The recipes are sometimes as brief as one sentence.

Directions include measurements  like,   “One teacup of flour  and two teacups of dry snow.”

Conventional cooking wisdom was so much broader back then that it was actually possible to write vague recipes like this and have confidence that anyone reading it would

clearly understand.

One of many bits of wisdom: “Laugh and grow fat is an old adage. Laugh and get well would be just as true.”

 

 

 

Parenting Is Like Gardening. Part 1

This is part one of a two-part post originally written in 2008. I’m currently taking a blogging vacation. I’ll be back by August 1, 2012. Have a great summer!

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Frankly, I don’t really know why I’m even doing this. We’re dull folk. Who’d even care to know what I think? I’ll just blog away and hope I reach my niche.

I can’t even explain how incredible the potential for my roses looks this year. They are virtually covered with buds. One is even ready to bloom (Therese Bugnet – a fabulous rugosa who is thriving in our high desert climate). I expect to see actual blooms on her by tomorrow. woo hoo!

I planted a rose today that has virtually NO information with it except that its name is Spanish Sun. [update 2012: I found this.] Why did I buy it? Because bees were passing out when they flew by!! The fragrance is THAT strong. She appears to be a shrub rose but I cannot find any information about her online. [Update: Turned out to be a floribunda.] The blooms are a deep yellow and fade to a light buttery yellow as they age. The leaves have a reddish tint to the edges. I hope she can handle our winters – we’ll see. [Update: She couldn't.] Maybe I’ll be willing to get out and do the hard labor of winterizing her if she proves to be worth all that work. [Update: I wasn't.]

My kids (especially my son) keep asking when I’ll be done spending so much time in the yard. hahahahahahahahahahaha… they’re obviously NOT gardeners.

Seriously, though. I think he’s having a tough time (and so am I for that matter) shifting into this period of his life where I play less and less of a role in the hourly day-to-day of his world. He was my only child for the first 7 years and he was also very much my little buddy. We’re very similar in so many ways (I’ve apologized to him for his having so many of my traits…) and it frequently makes my hubby laugh to watch the two of us. Anyway – he’s 16 and I see incredible potential in him. He’s so capable but he’s still fragile. He wants to be out in the wide world…but we’re easing him into that.

I’ve heard several negative comments over the years comparing homeschoolers to greenhouse plants. The truth is that greenhouse plants are fine while in the safety of the environment they were grown in, but if you set them out without a transition, they quickly either die or struggle for the length of their days.

I’ve seen it in my own garden.

The little plants need to be ‘hardened off’ to survive in the real climate and withstand the weather and the wind and the temperatures. Children need similar treatment. Allow them (as each year progresses) to have more and more contact with the hard facts of life – some ugly and some wonderful. It’s their hardening off period.

Part 2