Flowers for Dad

It seemed when I was growing up in south central Kentucky, everybody was a farmer. My Dad was one of those farmers.  Everybody milked cows, first by hand and then by machine.  Milk was hauled away in cans.  Eventually, farmers stopped doing that.    Like most, he also eventually had to rent out his crops and raise a smaller herd of beef cattle as he got older.  Then he began to put most of his attention and energy on gardening.  I don't know that I ever saw him look through the seed magazines every year, but somehow he always managed to find new things to put in his garden and new ideas to use.  He also raised fruit trees and different flowers, especially those that would help control the pests in the garden.  As a result of trying so many things and being so successful with his garden and fruit trees, he had to give away food and ultimately fed the whole farming community if they wanted it. Poor Mother would come home from a day at the office and have to can or freeze the fruits and vegetables for themselves and what wasn't given away because they couldn't stand to see anything go to waste..

This gardening phase occurred while his grand children were growing up.  So, naturally the oldest grandchild wanted to remember him via the grand children's casket flowers for his gardening.  She thought simply to say something on the ribbon of the bouquet.  I then asked the florist if he had a miniature rake/shovel he could add to the flowers.  The florist then had the brilliant idea for us to get his gardening tools and let him do his thing.  I drove back to Daddy's garage and found his gardening tools along with his old pair of gloves, that had lasted forever, and some gourds he had raised to make birdhouses for his buddies the Martins that kept the worms and bugs from his garden and fruit trees and the mosquitoes from us.

The bucket was an item I didn't know my sister had acquired.  When I was 5 and she was less than a year old, my parents moved to their own farm.  The house had no plumbing but had a pantry type room that had a water well.  This is the well bucket and rope.  Daddy didn't throw anything away but yet kept things all neatly organized. So, of course course he had kept the bucket. My sister also kept the address from the mailbox.  I guess we are like him.  She said she had been using these things to decorate her back screened in deck.

Below, you can see the beautiful bouquet of garden flowers including his favorites: lilies and roses.  The florist also included some flowers we can't identify which would have been like Daddy surprising me each season with something new peaking my interest once again and causing me to want to "figure out" what they are.  

Unfortunately, in my rush to drive 2 1/2 hours to get to my Daddy's bedside in the last moments, I didn't take my good camera as I thought I had and had to use my little Casio to take these pictures.

Hope you enJOY these flowers as much as we did.

Well bucket and rope.

He always had a bunch of sunflowers in his garden.

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Very Sad Times- Daddy's Gone

My Daddy's funeral will be tomorrow.  
So glad he's not working hard to breath anymore.

He was for the most part a farmer, but of course had to supplement with other jobs.  However, as age changes things, he rented out the hard labor crop of tobacco and raised his cattle and became an avid gardener.  He loved going through the seed catalogs and finding unusual and different things that had not been raised in our area.  By the time he added flowers to keep the bugs away and simply for the beauty, he had a gorgeous garden.  Also, because he ended up raising so much due to trying everything, we always said he raised enough to feed our (rural) community.  Unfortunately, back then we didn't take pictures of everything and don't have a picture of any of his gardens.

So we chose the following poem to put in his Memory pamphlet for the funeral. 

God’s Garden
God looked around his garden
And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, ‘Peace bethine’.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

Anon

Wordless Wednesday #14~

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Spring Update for Evening Purse

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A few weeks ago I went to a Ladies' Luncheon and realized at the last minute I didn't have a purse to take to this event.  So I grabbed one of my evening purses and a beautiful scarf that a teacher gave me from her home country, Spain.  I love the hand crocheted border which also may have some tattering skills added?

This is a triangle shaped scarf.

I tied the handle and stuffed inside and tied the scarf to the handle in each corner.

I carried it on my shoulder so this side would show.

Yes, I did get some kind compliments.  The best is when someone asks you for the designer's name and you get to say, "ME!" 

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Sunday Best~Shot/s of the Week

We had frost this week, but 2 tall trees protected one little flower down by the creek so it could bloom. 

 I'm really enJOYing this carpet of purple down on the creek side.  Whatever this plant is, which may be a weed to some people, I do like it because it keeps other weeds and grasses at bay and doesn't get any taller than this during the summer so it doesn't have to be mowed.  It's growing well in shaded areas.

It seems the majority of flower color right now is purple.

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Earth Wonders ~ Photo Challenge | Movement

Movement of Water: The distortion of reflection ripples cause.

These pictures are untouched other than resizing and watermarking.

Comparing Bananas and Tomatoes - Shelf Life

*Warning: You may find some of these pictures disgusting, but then if you've own a refrigerator, you've probably seen this before.

I guess because it was that time of the year I would have normally been helping kids with science experiments, that made me want to check this out.  I did my own experiment.

Question: Will Bananas and tomatoes last longer on the counter or in the refrigerator?

Research: I've read many articles over the years that tried to tell me that fruit would last longer unwashed, washed, on the counter, in a cabinet, bag, or refrigerator.  I really couldn't tell if there was a difference.  In January, I had just read that tomatoes would last for a very long time when left unwashed, unbagged on the counter top away from direct sunlight.  I was also getting tired of bananas dying on me in a couple of days after I got them home.  There must be a reason Frigidaire put a "Fruit" drawer in my refrigerator.

Hypothesis: Fruit will last longer in the refrigerator than on the counter.

Test: As soon as I got home from the grocery with the bananas (which did come in a bag) and tomatoes (in a shrink wrapped Styrofoam container), I took one out of each container and put them on the counter away from direct sunlight.  The temperature of the kitchen was around 63°F @ night and 68°F during the day.  The rest of the fruit stayed in their containers and placed in the refrigerator's fruit drawer with a constant temperature of 43°F.  

Analysis: After one week, I took pictures.  Judge for yourself.

Which do you think was kept in the frig?

Again, which do you think was kept in the frig?  Hint: wrapping.

Conclusion: Maybe the experiment should be done again and leave the wrapping on the counter top fruit?  However, I'm keeping my fruit in their bags/containers in the refrigerator's fruit drawer.  Now I don't have to depend on articles I read.

Hope you enJOYed this science experiment?

Wordless Wednesday #14~ What's Different?

Small Change Entry

My very first "Wordless Wednesday" Photo was a "What's Different." 

Where do you drop your small change when you come home?  I made some simple changes.  How many can you find in these shots?  Probably more than I found.

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Revisit Blind Swing Canopy

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Last week someone found a post I made last summer when I still only had one Follower and didn't go to Linky Parties.  It was placed on Pinterest and got shot around a little bit.  Since this is the time of year around here to be working on something like that, I thought I'd revisit Blind Swing Canopy.  Hope you can use some of the information and enJOY a brainstorm.

Sunday Best Shot of the Week- Happy Easter

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Scavenger Hunt 4-8-12

This week's Sunday Scavenger Hunt List @ Ramblings & Photos includes:

1. New  2.  Life    3.Fragrant    4.Pink    5.Obvious

New

I just read the rules more closely and found out these are supposed to be fresh pictures taken over the past week with except maybe for one.  I've been scavenging through my files and most of mine were not taken during the previous week.  So I guess I cheat.  It probably would take less time if I just took the picture.

Life-a

Life (line)-b

Fragrant- Photo taken by Grand Daughter

Pink- taken @ Ashland in Lexington, KY

Obvious- all season, especially to people around Lexington and most of Kentucky.

Earth Wonders ~ Photo Challenge | BOKEH

Sew Easy Elastic Waist Bands- Not Just a Granny Thing

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An AWWT (Almost Without Words Tutorial)

Yep, I'm a Granny (actually a Nana) so I DO wear clothes with an elastic waist band for comfort.

I've put in many elastic waist bands for me and especially when I made clothes for my girls when they were little ones.  

Here are SHOTS of my favorite way to put in an elastic waist band, because it uses the least steps.  I used a serger, but you could use a zigzag or a stretch stitch.  

This was done on knit fabric, but I have used it on woven cotton type fabrics.  enJOY!