The Holidays

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

The Rockwell Family

Jessica, Geoff, Chris, Mimi, Rocky

     We had a chaotic Christmas at Castle Yonder! It started on Dec. 11 when we had our first snow of the winter season, about 2 inches which made the woods look really pretty.

     Then Dec. 14, Rocky started having abdominal pain. We know he has gall stones and our Family Practitioner was very pessimistic about his being able to tolerate anesthesia in order to remove them surgically. Well, he toughed through it until the next afternoon and then insisted on going to the ER. I tried very hard to get him there, but due to my increased breathing difficulties I knew I could not drop him off, park the car, and walk back into the hospital in the bitter cold weather.

     We got ourselves as far as my car in the carport, and then I called 911 and the emergency crew took him there. We were pretty sure they would admit him, so I did not go along. They did admit him and for awhile talked about doing surgery. Then they saw how bad his lungs are, told him his odds of survival, and that it was his decision.

     By that time, Thursday, the pain had stopped so he decided not to have surgery, but to give it another try at controlling it with diet (hah!). I visited him for four hours on Thurs.  Friday there was a huge snowstorm and the hospital found reasons to keep him, so he was warm and safe in the hospital.

     But here at home, I was snowbound! Our neighbor, Rudy, managed to get up our hill Fri. afternoon to bring me the mail, but I understand he slipped and slid all the way back home. But I felt very secure knowing we have a generator that will kick in if we lose our power, and a gas log for additional heat. Just in case, I took the flashlight to bed with me.

     Geoff came 4-wheeling in late Sat. afternoon, but didn't quite make it. He got to the top of the hill right before our parking lot and must have taken his foot off the gas because his big diesel truck slid out of his control and ended up sideways across the road so no one else could get in or out.

     So then the two of us were showbound until Mon. morning when two of our friends with a 4-wheel drive truck and chains got in and pulled him out. By that time the sun was in and out and the snow began to melt off. Then Geoff could go to the grocery store and the grandkids could get in. It's stayed cold but no more precip.

     Christmas time is not the time to try to diet, so Rocky has enjoyed all the food that got cooked up by Geoff and Jessica. They left over the weekend, and sure enough, the abdominal pain started again Sunday evening and has been intermittent since then. 

     I don't know what to expect. 2009 was a year of great changes for us and thinking about what 2010 might bring produces a lot of anxiety. But, hey, the wishes can't hurt, so I'm wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"...The goose is getting fat."

"Christmas is coming,
The goose is getting fat.
Please to put a penny
in the old man's hat.
If you don't have a penny,
A ha' penny will do,
If you don't have a ha' penny,
God bless you!"





Here's a poem I learned many many years ago. And it always visits my brain right about this time of year--every year.


I posted it with the photo of our 2009 Christmas tree which probably wouldn't have gotten put up without the help of my niece, Rosalie. She helped me buy it, she and her husband got it wedged into the planter, and started digging out ornaments.


However, after they left I began remembering other ornaments, so went to our storage to dig out more. It took me three days to decorate this little ol' tree and then a couple more to find places for things that came out of the boxes. Way more is in storage than is being put to use and I can't imagine where it will all end up someday. 


I used to justify collecting fragile glass ornaments by saying someday I would give them away as gifts. Am I ready? I need to give that some more thought.


Also, imagine what a ha' penny would buy when today twice that much, a full penny, won't buy anything by itself. Times...they change, but tunes, trinkets, and traditions live on.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

First Snow of Season

                   Bird feeder on our deck during 

               the first snow of the season on

               Dec. 5, 2009

Steps leading to parking lot at approach

to Castle Yonder during first season's 

snowfall on Dec. 5, 2009

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Thanksgiving Weekend 2009

It's December! How can that be? One holiday flows into the next with very few days in between, it seems.


My niece and her husband, Rosalie and Leslie, were here for five days over Thanksgiving and in addition to cooking a huge feast and some freezer meals for us, they did some projects around the house. Rosalie fitted some slipcovers I had bought for our recliners, planted eight Asiatic lilies, and helped me buy and place a Christmas tree, then dig out some ornaments. Leslie cleaned off our deck, cut off some grape and bittersweet vines, and pruned my blueberries. 

We also took a tour of The Bristol Speedway "Christmas In Lights." Wow! I hadn't seen it for over five years and it has expanded and is more organized into themes. And even more, they have set up some displays in the middle of the stadium so you actually get to drive on the racetrack. It's pretty spectacular!


MimiRock at Castle Yonder

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Rocky and I are very much looking forward to our Thanksgiving company, Rosalie and Leslie Rosebrock. So to all our blog friends, have a blessed Thanksgiving Day and a blessed rest of the year!

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Veterans Day

These are two pictures of my son-in-law, Tom Hohmann, who I honor today on Veteran's Day. Tom is a Vietnam Marine veteran, and currently serves as Secretary of the California State Council for the Vietnam Veterans Of America.

Not only am I proud of that but also that he joined our family by marrying my daughter, Sherry, in 1990.

Tom served in the Marines from April, 1968 to 1972 and identifies well with the old adage, "War is Hell." He was hospitalized three times in Vietnam, once for wounds and twice for malaria.

To those of us who remember the '60's, we all know that the attitude towards active soldiers was different than it is today toward the Gulf War and Iraq and Afghanistan soldiers and veterans. People go out of their way now to say they support our troops even though they hate the war. Back then, people hated the war and the soldiers; they held the soldiers as responsible for the Vietnam War as the officials who sent them there to fight Communism.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is now treated like a new disorder when, actually, it was first named that in the Vietnam War. It was called "gassed" in the First World War to explain unusual behavior of the veterans of that conflict. Using a different word, my cousin had a "nervous breakdown" when his unit was assigned to bury the Japanese dead on some Pacific Island during WWII. The father of one of my good friends, a disabled veteran of WWI, killed himself and his son when he found out his son had enlisted to go to Korea.

My brother served in the U.S. Navy during WWII, but lucked out and was stationed in Australia. I had several cousins who also served in the Pacific, and none were killed. I had an uncle in Iowa whose two brothers had been killed and I remember his parents showing me their purple hearts when I visited. I had a cousin my own age who came home from Korea and killed himself with his brothers War souvenir pistol.

None of these stories are that dramatic, and I mention them only to recognize that all people who live during non-peaceful times are adversely affected by the incidents of that time, even a little girl like I was.

Tom was assigned to the 2nd Battalion 5th Marines who were fighting about 25 miles SW of Da Nang. His company was Golf Company. He arrived in Vietnam as a Private in 1968, was there for more than three years--three years!-- and discharged with the rank of Sergeant.

Tom is a gentle bear of a man, bearded now who likes the neighborhood children to think he's "crazy."

He is a computer whiz and keeps up with all his VVA duties including many of their websites. He does a lot of household chores and loves my daughter very much. Unfortunately, he suffers from PTSD which interferes with the quality of his life and gets some limited treatment at the VA medical center.

I am very proud to have him as my son-in-law and I pray that the rest of his life remains calm, peaceful, and honorable.

R.I.P. Grousy

This is one of the last pictures taken of Rocky's pet grouse, named variously Bird, Grousy, Gomer, and Lover Boy. I may have written about him before. To summarize, in March 2008, this grouse, untrue to its nature, showed no fear of Rocky's truck, then generalized it to other trucks. Rocky started feeding him right away and for almost 2 years now has taken millet, one of the bird's preferences to scatter under a tree near the creek. Another of our friends, Jay, has been feeding him corn. Rocky was able to cluck for him and he would come out of the woods. He would make little clucking sounds when he ate and Rocky felt like they were having a conversation, in grouse language since Rocky couldn't understand it. Rocky could even take a twig and scratch Grousy's chest with it, but the grouse wouldn't tolerate anyone touching him with their hands. He didn't tolerate the chipmunks who came to eat the bird seed either, and would take aim and peck them on their heads.

Unfortunately, this past Monday Rocky was driving down our lane to feed Grousy and saw him running down an embankment and before Rocky could stop the truck, the grouse had run right under its wheels. I wondered why Rocky took so long to come back home. He was grieving, I am sure, because the grief continues. Needless to say, he is devastated and "can't get over it." He salvaged 11 gorgeous tail feathers before he buried him and gave them to me for my feather bouquet--I was always asking him to get a feather for me, but I really didn't want to get one this way.  

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Dogs in Hats 1

Abe, the English Springer Spaniel

Abe, you devil, you!

Dogs In Hats 2

Bonnie the English Springer Spaniel

looking chic in a black straw hat

Dogs In Hats

Louie the beagle

he needed help holding his beagle hat on

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Finally, Autumn Color

Finally, some Fall color! Not as much as in the past, but pretty just the same.

In the middle picture, notice the black leaves. I'm not sure what tree this is; all I've seen tend to be small. Perhaps it is due to the above-average amount of rain we had this year.

Tree color depends on amount of daylight, temperature, and rainfall.

We will enjoy it while it lasts. We had the leaves blown off our mile-long asphalt lane, but it will have to be done again--in November, when all the leaves are off the trees!

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Badly, Sadly Neglected

Hello, Friends,

This Blog has been sadly, badly neglected--and I am the guilty person with no real good excuse.

But I've been missing it and the writing, so I'm back and hopefully will do a better job. Perhaps I'll not post every day but several times a week, anyway.

One weak excuse I offer is that I became a member of Facebook, and I spent lots of time exploring it. Pretty often, however, I do check what members of my family have to say.

Another weak excuse is that I ran out of appropriate pictures to add, so now I've decided to add some from my design collection.

So, only one comment about today's photo's subject matter. And that's the "leafpeepers" are likely to be disappointed this year since the tree color is really drab so far. The woods should be alight with color this week. I understand that Autumn color depends on light, temperature, and amount of rain. Well, we had the same amount of light that we always do except we had a lot of cloudy days, we had cooler than usual temps, and we had 2 inches above the annual average for rainfall. So, go figure...

See you tomorrow. Mimi

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Pro Turned Friend

This is our friend Kendria with her 15 month son Kyrin. We first met Kendria last April when she was assigned to follow our progress as we recovered from severe bouts with bronchitis. We enjoyed her visits so much, and in August she told us she was resigning from the Home Health Care to be a stay-at-home Mom. Her future plans are to accompany her doctor husband to Africa where they plan to do missionary medical services there.

Kendria asked if she could remain our friend and come visit us, bring her son and also her husband. We are delighted, and she made her first non-professional visit on Monday. We look forward to many, many more visits and we're glad she's not leaving for Africa for a little while yet.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Upside Down Tomato

Finally! They ripened! We had so much rain this summer and overcast days, they took way longer than usual. This is a "Patio" tomato, a determinate type. That means they have one harvest and then they're done. I picked five today and several more are partially ripe. We had tomato sandwiches for lunch and should have enough for salad this evening. My handy-man says they are "puny," but that's the way they're supposed to be since they are meant to be grown in a container. The canvas "bag" and frame came from the Garden Supply catalog, and can be washed out and saved for next year. Of course, new soil and fertilizer strips will have to be purchased fresh. I probably could have bought

tomatoes for several years for what I paid for this upside-down setup, but you can't buy fun! (BTW, I understand the cheaper ones you can buy from the big box stores fall down easily and cannot be kept from year to year, so I've heard.)

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Chris in Blue Stars

Our grandson, Christopher, as he marches with the Blue Stars, a troop within the International Drum & Bugle Corps. Chris gave up his entire summer to rehearse, travel, and perform 24/7.

He is a dedicated musician and plays the trumpet, French horn, and piano. He plans to make music a lifetime career.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Box Turtle

This box turtle was hightailing across the road right in front of me. Its legs were stretched high and flying. I quickly braked and got out of the car with my camera, but my old legs just wouldn't move fast enough, so by the time I got to the turtle, he had pulled in his legs and head. I didn't have the patience to wait, so had to settle for the turtle inside its house!!!

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

A Poison Ivy Remedy

This is Jewel Weed, which will cure an outbreak of poison ivy rash. Unfortunately, it is seasonal while poison ivy is not. The cure is in the stems, which when broken or crushed exudes a juicy substance that spread on the poison ivy rash will dry it up and it will go away. My husband has tried this on himself; he has a lifetime allergy to poison ivy and will break out just getting close to it. We have tried freezing the stems, freezing just the juice in order to keep it for year-round use and have been unsuccessful. Also, the stems do not get liquified if there is a drought, although the plant comes up and blooms. We have all orange blooms, but we have seen it blooming yellow in other places.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Visitors From Ohio

I was so happy to see my niece, Rosalie, and her husband, Leslie, last weekend for a very short visit. Here's a photo of the two of them with our beagle, Louie. Leslie spent the two days getting the paranoid beagle to make up with him, as you can see here.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Look What Crossed Our Path!

Earlier this summer our neighbors cut down a huge dying tree that had partially fallen across our road. Its base, this stump, was left standing up a slight hill to the right. This week it evidently loosened its grip on the earth in the monsoon-type rains we've been having and rolled down the hill and crossed our road. It stopped just a few feet before the hill drops off sharply to a creek at the bottom. That would be to the left on this picture. The photos show different angles of this tremendously huge tree that was probably way over 100 years old. We're not quite sure what we're going to do with it now. Options are to have our neighbor drag it off with his tractor, or push it on over into the creek, or leave it where it's at--it makes for a good conversation starter when we have visitors.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Butterfly Daisy

My flower garden shouts out "Summer!" Not so many butterflies this year; perhaps it's the shade surrounding the yard.

I believe this butterfly is some kind of Fritillary, but I'm not sure and don't have my reference handy.

Update on the hornets!!! In a big-time downpour their nest got knocked down. Tore it off the branch and tore its opening even farther than it had been. The morning after I could still see a black insect or two, but yesterday I checked the remains which are laying on a lower branch, and it's totally abandoned. Mother Nature solved the problem of being too close to the carport for us!

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Day Lilies 2009

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

The Bear Facts - Current Events

Flash 55 Story

Ralph went to bed when Letterman finished his Top 10 List. A loud crash woke him; he leaped to his feet. In the kitchen, he saw shattered glass on the floor. A startled black bear stared at him. "Don't run," Ralph remembered, then barked like a dog, "Woof, woof, woof!" It worked; the bear left! 

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Nightime Visitors

 My reading chair is next to the bedroom window that looks out onto a small deck, and last night I heard cat hissing and little squeals. I looked out and there was our male cat, Greyboy, hissing and swatting at a raccoon, slightly larger than the cat. We've had raccoon visitors before and the cats usually just sit on the railing and watch the raccoons eat their Meow Mix. So it seemed unusual that there would be what sounded like a cat fight going on. I saw Mama Raccoon jump up onto the railing and Greyboy back off, so I grabbed for my camera and opened the door.

Of course, all raccoon eyes focused on me and I began snapping pictures. After several shots, Mama Raccoon decided she'd had enough and made a move towards me standing in the open doorway which didn't remain open for long. I watched her run along the railing and exit stage left, with the two youngun's coming along a good little ways behind her. She disappeared so I opened the door again and got a couple more shots of two little cuties. Tonight, I remembered to bring the Meow Mix inside before it got dark. 


MimiRock at Castle Yonder

A Real Hornet's Nest

       This is a hornet's nest! I spotted it yesterday while I was sitting on a lawn chair resting from pulling weeds in the garden. I was staring off into space and evidently stared off at a large rhododendron growing in the very top terrace of my flower beds and just adjacent to the back end of our carport. These first two pictures are taken from inside the carport using the close-up lens. Can you see three hornets in the top picture?

     We've had hornet's nests before but have seen them only when the leaves have fallen from the trees and the hornets have flown off in the late fall.

     So I recognized this for what it was--a hornet's nest! Right in my very own backyard--well my side flower bed, that is!

     At first, I thought it was abandoned, but then today saw black insects flying to and fro. I began snapping pictures with my camera.

     The top photo shows the inside of the nest. The camera lens did not capture the dark color of the inside of the cavity so you need to realize that the three insects are crawling around a cavity that goes deeper and deeper. 

     The middle photo shows only one hornet (it may be the Queen) but if this nest is like ones described on hornet websites, deep in that cavity there are covered egg cells and larvae going through one of five stages of metamorphoses. When complete, they turn into worker hornets who chew up wood pulp and with their saliva turn it into a paste that they add to this huge sac hanging from my rhododendron shrub. In the first two photos you can see how the sac is hanging from a branch--it is on the right hand side of the hornet's nest and is yellow.

On the last photo, below, which is the nest taken from its backside view (I'm standing on the garden's concrete walkway) you can see this same yellow branch but it's on the left hand side of the nest now. Notice how the Queen, the only one living to get this nest started, fastened the nest securely to the branch by wrapping the branch round and round with this wood-saliva mixture. When there are enough worker hornets to forage and feed all the growing larvae population, the Queen will be enclosed in this paper-paste sac and her only function will be to reproduce. By the end of the summer, the hornet colony will have grown to house hundreds (500-700) of hornets including the new Queens, the only ones who have the ability to hibernate and even create their own anti-freeze-like chemical. The Old Queen will die--long live the new Queens! 

     Then next spring, the cycle of life will begin anew! Our problem now is convincing our yard helper that we have to let these hornets survive. He will want to spray them, but they will kill thousands of flies this summer which make up 95% of their diet. They are far enough away from the walkway that we should be safe enough. Hornets are non-aggressive and attack only if their nest is intruded upon.

The way it's tucked into that rhodie shrub, I don't think the dogs will disturb it, and I know Rocky and I sure won't!

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

You Call This A Future?

55 Flash Friday

The nuns helped Olivia get ready for her trip to college. Olivia couldn't believe it! Since her mother died, nine years now, only the Sisters had cared for her.
Olivia went to meet her visitor, a man in overalls smelling of barnyard.
"Hello, Olivia. I've come to take you home to help with the chores."

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

"Bugle Boy" Our Grandson, Chris

This is a small portion of the Blue Stars, a drum and bugle corps sponsored by an international d. and b. organization. Our 15 year old grandson, Chris, is touring the U.S. this summer with them. They performed last night in Kingsport, TN about a 40 minute drive from our home.

Chris had to audition along with over 1000 others in order to become a member of this group and only 150 were selected, so he is very musically advanced for his age. Average age is 19 and many of the other members are music majors in college.

The Corps musicians play the trumpet, mellophone, drums, tuba, and xylophone. There are an additional 30 members of a color guard troup. Chris, in addition to the mellophone, plays the trumpet, French Horn, and piano and he can read music as well as play by ear. He is a Sophomore in High School and is a member of the marching band, the school orchestra, and a jazz band. He is passionate about music and wants to major in it when he goes to college. You can imagine how proud of him we are.

He got to visit with us for about half an hour following the performance last night and the following photo shows Chris between us two proud grandparents.

I snapped pictures of all the bands last night but video taped the Blue Stars program, so the only still photos I got was of their encore performance when they were in concert formation. He is one of the corps members on the far left, back row, of the photo, but with their helmets on it's hard to tell one from another. I haven't had a chance to check out the video yet, but will post it if it's good.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Moon Over Castle Yonder

There was a full moon last night and I stood on our deck and shot this. The dull circles are not UFO's, but spots on the camera lens.
(Obviously, I need to clean it.)

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Mixed-Up Holidays

 

A Christmas cactus on my deck decided to

celebrate the Fourth of July with a firecracker

color of a bloom!!!


MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Flash 55 Fridays

Here's my Flash 55 for this week:

After his doctor’s appointment, George reported
“My memory’s bad, so Doc gave me some memory pills.”
“What’s their name?”
“What’s the name of that pretty flower with the thorns on it?
“You mean a rose?”
“Yeah, that’s it. Rose,” he calls to his wife, “What’s the name of those memory pills the doctor gave me?”


I know, I know, it's an old joke, but I was hard pressed this week for material.
Mimi

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

An Unusual Plant - Indian Pipe

I spotted this strange plant called Indian Pipe in our woods yesterday. I hadn't seen it for many years, and now it is in an entirely different area of the forest. There are several patches of it and I don't think it's fully matured yet as its top doesn't curve over as I recall from before. It was in a drier part of the woods waaaay back when and that's probably why it died out. Our footprints might have something to do with it also as we used to hike a lot in that particular area.

It has chosen to survive by growing at the top of the bank that was created when we put our road in. I stood on the road at the bottom of the bank and shot up in order to capture the pictures. No one will be able to hike up here without falling off the bank!

Indian Pipe's scientific name is Monotropa uniflora. I think it has probably just come up out of the humus of the forest floor. My field guide says it gets its nourishment from decayed organic material through a fungal relationship associated with the roots. It IS a flower, but a strange one!!!


MimiRock at Castle Yonder

33rd Anniversary

 

Here we are having crab cakes and soft shell crabs (and Chardonnay) at the best seafood restaurant in Bristol, The Starving Artist at Greene's Seafood.  We're celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. As I've said at the conclusion of the story I tell about how the Rock and I met, "WAHOO!!!"

We were married in Princess Anne, Maryland, which was not all that far from Ocean City where Rock lived. I lived in Wilmington, DE and we alternated weekends in each city for about eight months. It was 1976. We had a hard time finding a Pastor who would marry us because we were both divorced. Finally, Rock remembered he had an old college buddy who had become a Methodist minister and was currently in Princess Anne. So we called him and he gave us a time for a ceremony on a Saturday afternoon. 

But he still didn't marry us. He was a volunteer for the Coast Guard and was out on a boat, but expected to be back in plenty of time for the ceremony. A retired minister who lived nearby and his wife were to be the witnesses; we had no other attendants. Unfortunately, there was an emergency and the boat did not get in on time, so he evidently radioed the retiree who ended up marrying us.

I wanted to wear something new and special, and shopped all morning. I couldn't find a thing that I liked that looked filmy and seaside, so settled for a tailored pink pantsuit (this was the 70's, remember? I think it was polyester knit). It wasn't until the weekend was over that I realized we had taken no photos! I wanted no reminder of that pink pant suit, but it would have been nice to have had a visual memory.

We had no honeymoon--we were in a resort city anyway, and I was winding things down in Wilmington before I transferred to the southernmost county closest to Ocean City. So we went out to a fancy restaurant that had entertainment following dinner. The Master of Ceremonies was a friend of Rocky's. Then we went to our new home, a house that Rocky was remodeling, and the next 33 years flew past until now we're here and guess what? we still like, and love, each other! 

 

MimiRock at Castle Yonder

Flash Friday 55 For a 33rd Anniversary

 If you just tuned in, each Friday I post a short story of exactly 55 words. This is the brainstorm of Mr.Knowitall (Gman) who rules that it must have at least one character and a plot. 

So here is my story for this Friday which just happens to be the 33rd wedding anniversary for my husband, Rocky, and me. Not bad for the 2nd time around, is it?

THE STORY:    Jack Spratt wondered, if he could eat no fat, how was he going to help his wife lick the platter clean, so on the way home from work that night he stopped at a pet store and bought a half-starved puppy. His wife was, indeed, delighted so the three of them lived happily ever after.

MimiRock at Castle Yonder