Thursday, May 07, 2009

QUICK UPDATE ON “QUALITY TIME FARMS” OR MY BACK YARD IN LANCASTER, OHIO

     As I may have mentioned before, last spring I rototilled my backyard and turned it into a vegetable garden. This year for the most part all I had to do was clean up any debris, do some raking,and then plant. In cleaning up the garden area Johnny Jump-Ups  were growing everywhere. I Dug them up and planted them in a large flower pot.

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Nothing quite as nice as free flowers.They are a perennial and return each spring from same roots, forming expanding clump. Blooms second spring from seed.Once established, this species often spreads rapidly.

Next is the Peony Plant, I have two of them and they are planted at the back of the garden near two of the peach trees. Though they haven’t bloomed yet the time  for them is getting much closer.

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Peony flowers are often very fragrant and make a wonderful addition to any garden.

Now we will get down to it  “FOOD”

There is an area at the back of the garden about 14 feet by 14 feet that is my strawberry patch. This patch was started with four plants. Over the last few years I would cut the runners off and start new plants.

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I remember the strawberries of my childhood, dew-covered and fresh-picked early in the morning and served with shortcake and whipped cream. Won’t be long now…

One of my favorites TOMATOES..By following the tomato link I just learned, They were first cultivated by the Aztecs and Incas as early as 700 AD. Right now I have about 45 plants in the ground with about 20 more ready to plant. I’m going to have to give some of the plants away.

This picture shows one row with strawberries in background.

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This next picture shows the plants I still need to do something with .

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I have a total of six different varieties which I listed in a previous post and am trying out two different types of specialized soils to see what works best. If  you would follow the tomato link above  you would find out as I did; The French were convinced tomatoes had powerful aphrodisiac qualities and called them pommes d'amour or
l o v e - a p p l e s.

Now just for fun what is this:

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Thanks for stopping by  Joe Todd

Wednesday, May 06, 2009

REGULAR WEDNESDAY MEETING OF THE COMMON SENSE CLUB THIS 6TH DAY MAY 2009

mypictr_WORKER

     The closing remarks at the club were made by our newest member Bro. An Gree , who said: “There is one trait of character, and all to common among us, that is very hurtful to ourselves and very trying to our associates. I do not call it a malady---nor a complex--- It is rather a habit of thought, or reflections when one’s attempts are not very successful, It is now called, “ SELF PITY.” No one admires it, and it surely does no good to anyone. Usually it is a figment of the imagination.

     “One may reflect on, “I never had advantages, or I am not talented, or I am poor while others are prosperous and lastly, if I was only a member of the “lucky sperm club.” A sort of “odious comparison,” but not a just one. One assumes that all others are happy, or prosperous or content, when it may not be true. Even if true, why should I allow it to blight my peace, or my success. Why should I compare my “inside feelings” with others outside appearances?

     “ I wonder if the poet had such people in his mind when he said:

Twas ever thus from childhood’s hour,

I’ve seen my fondest hopes decay:

I never loved a tree or flower. But twas the first to fade away.

I never loved a dear gazelle, To glad me with its soft black eye, But when it came to know me well, And love me—it was sure to die.”

     There it is. Other people’s hopes were realized and their “dear gazelles lived and loved but mine, Oh! dear! Poor me!Isn’t it pitiable?

    “I like a baby and like the innocent prattle of the little ones, but when grown ups put on the “baby act” or adopt “baby talk” I am completely disgusted. Be a man or woman!  The sun shines on the good and the evil. The rain falls on the just and unjust.”  So, “ Be still sad heart and cease repining. Beyond the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate—is the common fate of all. Into each life, some rain must fall.

(As an aside: One should not as far as Bro. An Gree  “He has not had just a little rain in his life it has been a downpour.”)  

AS REPORTED BY SCRIBE JOE TODD 2009

Monday, May 04, 2009

JUST A FEW PICTURES FROM LANCASTER OHIO , MT PLEASANT & THE HOCKING HILLS

     I am still trying to get to “Devil’s Kitchen” which is about half way up the side of Mt. Pleasant. When I was a kid  it didn’t seem to be a problem. There have been two unsuccessful attempts . Next time I will try from the top down.

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There is the goal “Devil’s Kitchen”

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Thwarted again::: Trail ends

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Picture of Fairfield County Fairgrounds in Lancaster, Ohio taken from Mt. Pleasant

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Trail ends again….

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Heading back down very carefully

I am  fortunate to live only about five minutes away from “THE MOUNTAIN”

NOWWW LETS HEAD TO HOCKING HILLS AREA “CLEAR CREEK METRO PARK,FERN TRAIL,CEMETARY RIDGE TRAIL,PICNIC AND MORE”

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100_1662 Getting Hungry

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HOT woman on the trail:

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WILL FINISH THIS POST WITH GUESS WHAT??? MORE PICTURES

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100_1665 NOW NOT SO PRETTY

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Those aren’t Woodpeckers in that tree

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SHARKBYTES  WHAT IS THIS ??

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I know what this is….

This structure is just off the Cemetery Ridge Trail

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Finally a picture of Clear Creek

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At Home At Last

and what do I find :: In the alley behind my house…..

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GO FIGURE..THANKS FOR STOPPING BY I’M GOING GOLFING NOW

JOE TODD

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

A STORY OF CONTENTMENT

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          I had a dream last night that I can’t quite forget. I was in a cabin on an island in the wilds of  Whitefish Ontario Canada. It was a small cabin with a dirt floor and wooden rafters. There were no rugs or curtains. There was no dishwasher or garbage disposal or pop out toaster oven. There were none of the luxuries I had come to depend upon. There were only the bare essentials, a few pieces of furniture and a two burner wood stove. I had no use for the electric light and synthetic heat because the sun that filtered in through the windows gave light and warmth. A glowing fire was dancing in the fireplace and it also shed warmth to protect me from the chilly morning dew that crept in through the log walls. I opened the door of my cabin and stepped outside and the only sounds I heard were the faraway cry of a loon and the leaves of the silver birches rustling in the breeze. In the distance I heard the gentle lapping of the water against the shore. I looked up and saw the beautiful, intricate system of birch limbs shielding me from the bright sun. Through the limbs I saw the gracefulness of the wild geese soaring through the sky. There were no telephones, no cars, no supermarkets, no doorbells. I was alone and I was contented. 

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     The shrill alarm of my clock awoke me this morning, and I was angry that my solitude had been interrupted and my cabin on the island was gone. Instead I was faced with the telephone ringing, the milkman driving by, the scuffling of children’s feet going to school,the prospects of teaching, cafeteria duty, study hall, school conferences, dentist appointments,stops at the drug store  and supermarket,cleaning cooking and mending.  But what was it in my dream that I really missed? It was the contentment. Then I asked myself must I be alone in a wilderness to be contented? After all, isn’t contentment the ability to be happy with existing circumstances? Then I realized that true contentment doesn’t come from my physical surroundings, but comes from within me. I suddenly came to the conclusion that there were certain qualities I could cultivate to regain the contentment I missed.

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     First, I would like to grasp the gift of patience. I want to be able to endure my problems and crises in life without complaint. Of course everyone has patience to some degree, but I want to be able to be patient even during the most trying times.

     Next I would like to strive toward a simplicity of life. I realize this is much easier said than done. My good neighbor was over the other day  and we were talking about “stuff” as we sipped our coffee. Suddenly she said, “ you have to get shed of things!” Now, I find perhaps she was right. When New Year’s comes around I am tempted to do what the Italians do on New Year’s day. They simply open there windows and throw into the street everything they don’t want. If I don’t let my life become muddled with insignificant possessions and duties I will truly be on the path to serenity.

     A third quality for contentment is to have compassion. By this I mean having the ability to see the pain and suffering of other individuals and have the desire to help. It is fairly easy to have compassion for someone who is physically in pain and suffering,but what about mental suffering? This reminds me of a story Mom used to tell. “Remembering back to my college days at Capital University when I was required to take math courses; for some reason all the algebra,geometry and trigonometry formulas and equations never seemed to register in my mind. Yet, because of what was expected of me I just had to pass those math courses. My father realized how I was suffering so after teaching school all week he would drive up to my dorm at Capital every Friday and Saturday night and help me learn my math assignments. Let me have the compassion for my students that my father had for me.” My mother did have compassion for her students.

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     What would any of the qualities I have mentioned be without a sense of humor? Instead of always seeing the bad side of a situation, let me first look at the light side of it. Another story Mom used to tell; “One summer when my children were young, my brother Dean and his wife were coming from California to visit me. I hadn’t seen them for many years so quite naturally I wanted everything to be  just right. I had spent the whole week cleaning my house from top to bottom. When the day came for them to arrive I was proud that everything was in its place and shining clean. Finally, their car drove up in front of our house and I went out to meet them. I stepped out on the porch, looked around and could have just sat down and bawled. My girls had decided, without my knowing it, to help me clean by doing the family wash. Hanging from all our shrubs, dripping wet, were my slips, my husbands shirts and socks, and scattered throughout were dolls clothes. I looked at my brother, his wife looked at me and we all burst out in gales of laughter.”  I only hope as I grow older that  people when they look at me, will see laugh wrinkles instead of frown wrinkles.( As an aside, I Scribe Joe Todd  am not in this story, just my sisters Sara and Ginny.)

     Lastly, may I always remember the three essential qualities of life itself: First something to do, Second someone to love, and third something to hope for.

     As this passage from the Sanskrit so aptly puts it:

Look to this day  For it is life  The very life of life.  In its brief course  lie all the varieties and realities of your existence.  The bliss of growth; The glory of action; The splendor of beauty; For yesterday is already a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision; But today, well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope. 

Penned mostly by Sister Sara and a little by Scribe Joe Todd.. Any errors were made by Scribe Joe Todd   

      

Saturday, April 25, 2009

UPDATE:::COMMON SENSE CLUB:::BROS. JOE D. VISITS HARPERS FERRY ON WAY TO Washington D.C.

As you may recall from the past meeting of The Common Sense Club; Bros. Joe D. was dispatched to Washington D.C. on a fact finding  mission. On this 25th day of April we received an update from Joe. “Fellow members, to date the train ride has been expeditious and  smooth . My plan is to spend a day here in Harpers Ferry and soak up some history.”

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100_1392 As you know Harpers Ferry is located in a gap of the Blue Ridge Mountains and at the confluence of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers. I would not want to be traveling on these rivers.”

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     “Today we may be having “Tea Parties”well on the night of October 16th, 1859, John Brown and an armed ban of 21 men set out for Harpers Ferry from the Kennedy farmhouse in nearby Maryland. Their goal was to seize the United States Armory and Arsenal and start setting free slaves.

100_1399Thirty-Six hours after the attack began, Brown and four of his associates were captured. Ten insurgents lay dead and seven had escaped. As a side note the first person killed in this uprising  was an employee of the railroad, a freed slave.

     Brown and his men were tried for murder and treason. On December 2nd  1859 Brown was executed in Charles Town Virginia.His six compatriots were hanged over the next four months.

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     Pictured below is a typical street in Harpers Ferry and a walk way over the river.The walk way then connects with the Appalachian trail 

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     Pictured below is the building where Brown and his men made a stand before being captured by federal troops under the command of Robert E. Lee

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     Every one might have been happier if they had just stopped at the local tavern for a spot of Ale.

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     Well, tonight at my own expense I will be staying at the Bavarian Inn in Shepherdstown W.  Virginia overlooking the Potomac River.

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Will be having dinner at  Betty’s Restaurant in Shepherdstown with a very attractive woman I met on the train.

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Time to turn in now. I will be sending more dispatches to Scribe Joe Todd of The Common Sense Club as time allows.

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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

REGULAR WEDNESDAY MEETING OF THE COMMON SENSE CLUB THIS 22ND DAY OF APRIL 2009

     First we would like to introduce our newest member. Bros. An Gree recently arrived from France.

BEAR1  This session of the Common Sense Club closed with the following remarks by Bro. Charlie L.

     “Men and brothers, I want you to consider that opportunity is a mighty hard hoss to halter. You may lead him to the water tank but he won’t always drink.

     Some of you men are waiting, day by day, for something to turn up. You might as well sit down on a stump in the middle of a pasture field with a pail between your knees and wait for a cow to back up and be milked. It just don’t happen. Even when the cow is tied to a post and can not get away, she will often kick the pail over about the time you have it full of milk.

     Some say that opportunity knocks once, at least on every man’s door, and they are waiting to hear the knock. Well it did that when you were born. You were ushered into a free country with the whole land before you and needs of all kinds on every hand and that is all the knock needed on your door.

     We have to many alibis and excuses and pity ourselves and envy the fellow who seems prosperous, but the fact remains that most of our successful men have been handicapped. But will power , determination and energy overcame all hindrances.

     A card on my table says, “ I felt sorry that I had no shoes until I saw a man who had no feet.” Edison was deaf, Milton the poet was blind and Lincoln was poor, but have we ever heard of them wasting any time with vain regrets? Brothers do not regret the past but learn from it.

     The best we can do is to do well the first thing our hands find to do and no doubt there will be another job ready as soon as the first one is finished.

     The man who is seeking employment and praying that he may not find it is seldom disappointed. He that loveth ease and sloth shall be a poor man, although opportunity may have banged on his door repeatedly.

     We should so act, “That each tomorrow find us farther on our way.”

Let it be resolved: We send Bro. Joe D. on a fact finding mission to our Nations Capital.

goodbyeTedBear 

 REPORTED BY THE SCRIBE: JOE TODD 4/21/09