A Tale about a "Common Book"

My Stargazer Lily has three blossoms !

"As a blossom can't tell what becomes of it's fragrance, we can't tell what becomes of our influence."

I just realized that this is my 101st. post !  And a whole year after starting my blog I am still having fun doing it and want to thank you all for your comments whether here in the comment section or in the many emails you send letting me know that you are reading my musings.  Thanks !

As I sit to write this,  the sun has peeped out from the clouds after the lovely rain of last night and today. We so needed this rain to water our very thirsty gardens and lawns and to replenish wells and ponds.  We still need more but we're thankful for the good steady rain in the night.  The air has a sultry, heavy with moisture smell so typical of this type of summer day. From my open doors that lead out onto the patio,  I can hear the happy voices of children swimming upstream  in the river.  The water is low and one can walk or rock hop up toward the old mill dam where the water only falls over the west side which is quite a bit lower than the rest of the dam's span across the Black River.  All this brings back such fond memories of my own childhood and the old swimming hole in the Branch Brook.

I am having a quiet afternoon and evening all by myself.  My hubby has gone to an antique car show nearby, driving the old '53 Chevy that he is helping some friends to restore to it's old self, or pretty much as it used to be.  Our friend Sarah, who is staying with us for a spell has gone north today to job hunt and to have a weekend with friends.. so it is just Lizzie and me and the hummingbirds who are really raising a ruckus or showing off for Lizzie who is sitting so intrigued in her rocking chair by my side.

I have been reading some poems that have been pasted into what used to be referred to as a "Common Book".  I found this gem amongst my Grandma's things years ago.  It seems that in the old days before the advent of stationary stores and department stores, at least in rural areas, it was common practice for folks to use whatever was available to make a scrapbook out of.  This particular little book was originally Drs. Starkey and Palen's TREATMENT BY INHALATION.  Copyrighted 1888.  As all the pages are covered with poems clipped from newspapers and seed catalogs etc. I can't tell you what the book was all about!!  It promises good reading about 'reports of numerous and interesting cases'.  The poems pasted over the pages of this book were written and sent in to newspapers and catalogs from which they were clipped and are from country people from all over the USA.  Lots of them are from our own Vermont.  AND they are GOOD!  Each contributor gave at the end of their poems,  their name and what town and state they were from and some times the county. Many of the poems were cut from the Park Seed Catalog.  I know just how folks looked forward each late winter to receiving their seed catalog in the mail.  To plan for their veggie gardens and dream of the lovely flowers they could grow once the winter snow was gone and spring had arrived.  Seems that catalog readers would contribute their poems to the publisher of the catalog and some would be included in each issue.

Upon finding this book a few years back, and seeing a poem written about the Park Seed Co. I googled this Co. to find that it is still in existence and doing well!  I sent them a picture and the story of the little Common Book along with a poem written about their Company. It was written by Florence Josphine Boyce, Washington County, VT.  They were delighted to get this and even put the story on their website for awhile. I ordered a catalog from them and now buy most of my garden seeds from them.

I pick this Common Book up from time to time and read a poem or two.  I can't help but wonder about these women who wrote them.  I wish they could know that their thoughts are being read and appreciated now, so many years later.

This little poem by Lalia Mitchell from Essex Co. written on Oct.12, 1901 is a favorite of mine.

At Home

I have wandered long, I have wandered far,

But at last I am home...am home,

With a gleaming light and a lounging chair

And a loved, familiar tome.

There's a kitten here on the hearth asleep,

As happy as I myself,

But best of all are the plants abloom...

Abloom on the window shelf.

You may talk of fame and its laurels bright,

Of the joys of those who roam,

But they'll miss the peace that's mine tonight,

When at last I am home...am home.

For the proud of heart, there are honors brave,

For the seeker, golden pelf, 

But I'm well contented with my hearth-fire bright,

And the flowers on my window shelf.

Enjoy your upcoming weekend.  Laugh often and Love lots!  And Blessings to you all.

Catching Up !

So much going on this summer !  We were blessed to hear from a dear friend, Sarah, who we have known since she was a baby.  She has been living and working in Florida for a few years and has decided she belongs back in her beloved Vermont.  She made a trip 'home' over a week ago to visit friends and check out the housing and job opportunities here.  She stopped to see us and when we heard of her new venture we thought she should stop and stay a spell with us while she does her investigating of the job and housing markets.  It has been a delightful week, going on two, with lots of catching up to do.  We have been off to visit mutual friends, had picnics and a work day with much visiting and dinner together.

Our God is so good and faithful in His watch-care over us!  He has opened a few doors, and closed a few for Sarah as she continues her search.  She was blessed with an offer for a one-day-a week job which she immediately accepted. I have no doubt that things will work out well as she trusts Him to allow her to find just the right thing for her.

On Monday I was privileged to help out at the Family Center, along with 5 other folks from church, as we prepared 180 bag lunches for children who may not be getting much lunch now that school is out.  We set up an assembly line as we made the sandwiches, bagged up the cherry tomatoes and added an apple to each lunch bag.  It was a fun time and we enjoyed the camaraderie while doing something useful.

I am looking forward to a visit from my sweet friend Debbie on Friday after attending our class breakfast in the morning.  I have to hustle to get my housework done as I seem to find so many other fun things to do this summer.  I have managed to sneak  in the reading of two good books though!  It has been so beastly hot that I have to just settle down in the afternoon in front of the fan and take a rest and catch up on my reading.  It would be so good to go swimming but such an effort to get to the swimming hole and back up to the car that we would be hotter then than when we started out from home!  We did get in a morning of kayaking, early, before it got too hot.  The water was low but it wa a fun paddle and such a pretty day!  Then lunch and of course ice cream !

I have been neglectful of writing here in my blog but hope all will understand and not give up looking to see if I have added any more ramblings.  We were fortunate last night to escape the severe thunderstorm predicted for our area.  We got a little rumble now and then and maybe a little 'heat' lightening but nothing to be concerned about.  Thankful for this !

The saga of the red squirrels vs. husband continues as he has come up with yet another possible solution to our over abundance of these little rodents.  He now catches them in his and the neighbor's have-a-heart traps and busses them off to visit their country cousins away off on a back road near the woods and a cornfield.  So far I think they have stayed there!  BUT don't know just how smart they are at returning to their old home area.  Just hoping they are welcomed by the country cousins and won't even miss the Village!

Cousin Janice sent us a picture of a very early motorhome.  This was made by Ford in the late '30's and was called a "House Car".

The interior was nice too !

Couple pictures of the Gypsy Wagon after completion.

Here is the peaceful scene on the water as we kayaked in the morning

Finally, I have a new quote that could be adopted as one's motto.

 "Don't tell God how big your storm is...

Tell the storm how big your GOD is !!!

Real Summer Days

This is real summer !  Nice cool mornings and if we get up nice and early, we can get the outdoor work all done before it gets too hot.  I finally got my garden weeded and tended to a couple of the smaller flower beds.

Dennis THINKS he has won the battle with the red squirrel ! Oh yeah, there are two of them.  They are enemies and love to fight and chatter insults at each other.  We watched the other day as they had a knock down drag out time atop the feeder, the winner shoving the other off and going to stand on top of his world with his back feet jumping up and down. Guess he doesn't know about beating on his chest like an ape would do. Dennis sort of won his battle by taking the feeder away !   It was about time anyway.  BUT they still sit in the cherry tree, come way out on a limb and think about walking the tight rope to where the feeder used to be.  They are truly baffled.  We notice that they now climb up the garden hose that is reeled up on the side of the house then proceed to get onto a shutter and on up to the rain gutters.  On the way they seem to peek in the window to see where that man is that has taken the feeder away!

Speaking of wild life, our neighbors, the ones who bring us the quail eggs, are raising an orphan quail.  He is a tiny little fellow and they hope he will make it.  She showed him to us the other day.  Such a tiny little feather ball !  All this stuff about quails all at once. First, our introduction to the gift of quail eggs.  Before we saw the little one, some  friends from up north lent us a book to read..."That Quail, Robert" by Margaret S. Stanger.  A delightful story, so far about a family who found an abandoned baby and took him home to raise.  It seems that when a mother quail leaves her nest with the young ones she never returns to the nest where her chicks hatched.  They saw her leave with twelve little feather balls following her across a driveway into the woods.  So the family decided to check out the nest later.  That is when they discovered there was a baby left behind in the nest !  As mamma never came back, they adopted this little one and the book goes on about his life growing up with humans.

This little fellow was kind enough to allow me to take his photograph.

These hot afternoons are a great time to stay inside and do something we either push to the bottom of our 'want to do list' or the NEED to do list.  So on these hot ones, I decided to do something from each of my lists.  I cleaned out my closet...from the Need to do list.  I got 2 boxes of things I haven't worn for more than a year and shuffled about some other things.  Then I decided to get out my paints and do something from the Want to do list.   Paint a small watercolor, being inspired by our trip to the Northeast Kingdom last week.  It was a fun, relaxing afternoon and I pretty much liked my painting.  Sometimes I am not too happy with what I end up with !

Summer in The Northeast Kingdom

Well, hubby is asking if I'd like to take a ride and have an ice cream.  I don't have to be asked a second time !  So hoping you are enjoying this summer weather.  Find a nice swimming hole or maybe take a paddle in a kayak on a quiet pond far from the noise and busy to-do of crowded places.  I hope I can do exactly this later this week !    Keep cool !