September Song - sung by Lukas Nelson, with Willie and Micah on guitar

Today's song - September Song sung by Willie Nelson

The Standards

 I grew up with parents who had been through the Second World War. My father was in the Army and my mother was a nurse in a hospital at home. I became aware of the American Standards, or the American Songbook, very young. The Dorseys were familiar names in my house, and I am pretty sure my mother saw them. She sang as she worked around the house, and those songs are always in my head. 

A few years after she died I found myself wanting records of the old music. I went to my local book and record store. The owner said the music just wasn't available anymore. This was ages before the internet, and there were things that were impossible to find. 

And then, in 1978, when I was 30, Willie Nelson came out with his Stardust album. 

I was in musical heaven. Here they were - the old songs that I so wanted to hear. 

Willie was 45 in 1978. 

And now a technical note. When I used to post a video from YouTube, I would embed it but now when I try to do so, and look at the preview it is only the address that shows up. There is an actual "blogger" tab to hit, and it comes right up on my blog. However, I don't seem to be able to write anything with the video. Thus, I will post Willie singing "September Song" from Stardust in another blog post. And then, treat of all treats, I'll put up Lukas Nelson singing it with Micah and Willie playing along. I had Tom close his eyes and tell me who was singing, and he said "Willie" immediately! Lukas will be 32 this year. 

Today's song - Turn Off The News and Build A Garden / Lukas, Micah, Willie Nelson (one swear word warning!)

Blogging and me

The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates

I have said that Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility - William Wordsworth, preface to Lyrical Ballads

I am definitely not these fellows, but I do understand each of them with relation to blogging and me. I need to write down things that are swirling around in my head. Writing is very different from talking. Talking involves other people's thoughts and opinions, and mine can be lost or changed in conversation. This introvert needs the quiet of writing to sort out exactly what I think or feel about something. Even if I write only a few lines, or quote someone, or share a poem, it does me good. 

I haven't written nearly as much in later years. Well, duh! Three grandchildren came along in quick succession. And my emotions have been coming fast and furious without much time to "recollect" them in any sort of peaceful moments. But now the children are older, and though we still see Hazel many days, we don't see the boys as often because of distance, the busyness of the family, the virus. 

So I would like my compensation for their getting older and starting school to be  writing my "letters from a hill farm". A part of this is also spending more of my time at your blogs. I have visited as often as I could but not nearly as often as I wanted to. Reading another person's words and taking the time to respond is another kind of recollecting. I can take my time thinking over what they have said and then write back if I feel I have anything to contribute.

I am quite happy about my resolve to do this. I have really missed the connections, and have missed taking the time to write about even the small things. It is good for me. It clears my head and helps me to notice things I might not have in the bustle of the day. 

Today's Poem - Hare Drummer by Edgar Lee Masters

Autumn began in my part of the world at 9:30 this morning when the sun went into Libra. I went back to my beloved 

for a poem to share. This is from Masters' Spoon River Anthology which is a collection of poems that are epitaphs of people who lived in Spoon River. You may read more about it here. It has been a very long time since I've read it or thought about it. Tom remembers he didn't like it, and I wonder if we were both too young to understand. I feel encouraged to pick it up again since I really loved this poem. I'm much closer to the age for an epitaph now! 😲

Hare Drummer

Do the boys and girls still go to Siever's

For cider, after school, in late September?

Or gather hazel nuts among the thickets

On Aaron Hatfield's farm when the frosts begin?

For many times with the laughing girls and boys

Played I along the road and over the hills

When the sun was low and the air was cool,

Stopping to club the walnut tree

Standing leafless against a flaming west.

Now, the smell of autumn smoke,

And the dropping acorns,

And the echoes about the vales

Bring dreams of life. They hover over me.

They question me:

Where are those laughing comrades?

How many are with me, how many

In the old orchards along the way to Siever's,

And in the woods that overlook

The quiet water?

Edgar Lee Masters (1868-1950) 

Back To School

 I am tempted to say "the new normal". Though we are probably all sick of hearing it these days, it really is quite a good phrase. And I would say especially for children.  They go with the flow in a way that is hard for most adults. What is, is, and that's it. 

So here is our granddaughter Hazel today on her first day of school since March. 

And

Those eyes are still smiling under the mask. 

Nana is doing my best at not being nervous. We have no cases in our town as of now. The children all live here. Some have traveled over the summer, but have quarantined when they returned. Most have stayed right here, and had their own "pandemic pods". These groups have mingled with others as the summer has gone on, and we all feel pretty comfortable. We wear masks in stores and in outdoor groups like the Farmers' Market. 

The grandsons, Campbell and Indy are being remotely schooled at home. Their school is a bit different in that the kids come from different towns, and the boys' parents wanted to see how things are at the school before letting them go back. So far, so good.

Addendum: Just got a text from Margaret, and Hazel had an "awesome day"!!

Poem and song for these times in particular

The news from all around is so very upsetting and hugely anxiety provoking. It seems the "opening up" and the going back to school, maybe particularly colleges with their large, mask-less parties, are bringing new cases just when we had begun to relax because the cases had gotten fewer. And the tourists. If you live in a tourist area, you know. I can't understand why people feel they have to travel now. And these aren't poor people who are stuck in terrible city conditions. Tom saw a Tesla in our little Co-op parking lot and he looked up the price, and mon dieu, the car's base price is 80 thou. Our local lawyers are crazy busy because of people buying houses to get away from the cities and the virus. Anyhow, it's enough to drive one mad so here is a little respite. 

If we can't actually be there, let us have such a place in our hearts and imaginations when we are "on the roadway, or the pavements grey". 

The Lake Isle of Innisfree
By William Butler Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,
And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;
Nine bean-rows will I have there, a hive for the honey-bee,
And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,
Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;
There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,
And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day
I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;
While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements grey,
I hear it in the deep heart’s core.

Eating like a child; and another sweet grandchild saying

 Last night, this is what I had for supper.

Lettce, yellow beans, and corn from local farmers, our cucumbers and potatoes, and a glass of milk. These happen to be all my childhood favorite foods for summer suppers. The only thing missing is peas, which we will probably have tonight. 

And before supper, Hazel Nina and I were outdoors at our new fire pit which we haven't lit yet because the weather is too hot. She suddenly told me I looked "so cute" that she had to go get a phone to take a picture. As with Campbell Walker's adorable words the other day, I will say again, how many 72-year-olds hear that adjective applied to them! She also moved around a bit because she wanted to include the barn. Photographer in the making?

Blueberries - 2020 Report

 I just went looking through the blog, and apparently I didn't post about the blueberries last year. I'm so surprised because I had been doing so for a few years.

Anyhow, today was the last of the blueberries we bought from our neighbor. 

This year the price was $5.75 per quart, down from $6 two years ago. Who knows why? What I do know is that there weren't very many - 17 quarts in all.

July 30 - 4 quarts

August 2 - 3 quarts

August 4 - 3 quarts

August 6 - 3 quarts

August 10 - 2 quarts

August 12 - 2 quarts

In 2018, we got 26 quarts, and we thought that was a small amount!  In 2017, 43 quarts. In 2016, 61 quarts!

We are friendly enough with this man and his wife, and in fact sell them a dozen eggs a week, but we don't know them well enough to comfortably ask them why they think there has been such a steady decrease each year. One year, I did give the man a list of the differences in amounts for a couple years, but he gave no response. I sure wish I knew how many we got last year! 

We've eaten quite a few fresh, and the rest are frozen for breakfast smoothies.

Dennis Waterman - New Tricks Theme EXTENDED

The Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line (Official Video)

How did they get away with it?

 I'm watching the British television show New Tricks for maybe the sixth time, and every time I see it I wonder how Mike Moran, the man who wrote the theme song got away with such a copy of The Traveling Wilburys song, End of the Line.

I have searched and searched and can't find any controversy about it, though I did find this:

A version sung by Dennis Waterman was used as the theme too for the pilot of another BBC production, New Tricks, although this was soon replaced by a similar-sounding song, "It's All Right", by Mike Moran, which is easily mistaken for End of the Line.

Yet, apparently, there was no brouhaha, no lawsuit, and as I've found, barely a mention.

What do you think? 

And after I wrote the above sentence, I went to YouTube and tried to insert the video of both songs, but something has changed. This may be to do with the new Blogger. Anyhow, as with most things in life there is good and bad about it. I can now "share" immediately on a blog post, but I don't seem to be able to insert into a blog post. The only solution I have for right now is to put up both videos in separate posts, and hope you come back here to see why in the world they are there! 

Quote du jour/Campbell Walker

Our grandson Campbell Walker spent the night at his cousin, Hazel Nina's house for the very first time last night. The two of them showed up at our door this morning and I was in my nightgown. Campbell said, "You look like a young girl!" How many 72-year-olds hear those words first thing in the morning?!

July, with a touch of the first day of August

I can't believe I wrote so little in July. I meant to post about many things that are in my head!  

I have written a few times about one of my favorite songs, "You Go To My Head". It has that magic line "like a summer with a thousand Julys". The weather, the flowers, the ease of life - there is no other month in my year which offers so much pleasure, so much pure joy. 

Even in these times, July gave so much to brighten spirits. I could talk and talk but I'll just post some pictures of this past glorious month.

First up are the CSA flowers. I didn't sign up last year but this past Christmas Margaret gave me a present of the first six weeks of this season! What a joy they have been.

June 24

July 1

July 8

July 15 

July 22

July 29 

Such beauty! They take my breath away. 

We watch Gardeners World on Britbox faithfully each week, and we have learned so much over the past couple years. The most important thing is about pollinators. We've had flowers for all the years we've lived here, but mostly they have been daylilies. There have been a few others - iris, sedum, aquilegia, hollyhocks, but for the main summer season we have been awash in daylilies. They are wonderful and are themselves good for the bees, but we wanted to be a little bit more helpful to the butterflies and bees. Several plants were talked about on the show, and I ordered a few of them. We dug up a whole bed of just daylilies, and moved them to another area of the garden, and planted several new-to-us plants. They have been a grand success. Everything has grown and they have brought in scores of pollinators.

Achillea millefolium or yarrow. The yellow is Coronation Gold and the red, Paprika. 

Perennial hollyhocks. I hope they do indeed come back. They have thrived with just a bit of rust on the leaves. 

We planted Walker's Low catmint a few years ago in honor of Campbell Walker, our grandson, but we got another plant and put them both together because it is a real favorite of the bees. It was loaded with pollinators the whole month. The pink flower next to it is my beloved mallow that I've written about over the years. It has been gone a couple years but popped up this spring in force! Mallow is another favorite of pollinators.

We have two Monarda plants which are just beginning to blossom. It is also known are bee balm. This is a zone 3 variety so I'm hopeful it will come back again next year.

And then there is the Echinacea! It has been a butterfly airport! The other day there were eight at a time.

I just took this little movie of the action.

The daylilies have been in their glory with color after color just exploding throughout the month of July. They'll be around for a few weeks yet, I hope.

One of my favorite views because it shows the coming, the here, and the spent daylily. My daughter just told her daughter it is like life itself.

This one is Indy Charmer in honor of Indy Thomas, our grandson!

Little Fred, bought in honor of a man we both loved.

I'll stop. You get the idea. There are daylilies all over the place, in every direction you look. And when Margaret and Matthew moved into their house down the road ten (!!) years ago, we dug up bunches of them and planted them down there so they, too, are surrounded by these beautiful flowers.

And then there is the veg garden. More glorious than last year, its first year. I've written about the calendula coming back. 

I just went out and took some pictures so you could see it as it is right now!

The amazing, amazing tomatoes, bought locally and two were gifts. There is one nearer the house, too, and we've had four tomatoes from it. There is nothing in the world that tastes better to me!

Potatoes. They've been eaten a bit by the dreaded potato beetle, but I think the potatoes themselves will be great, and coming soon!

I bought some special red corn this year.

Cukes and peas are coming fast and furious!

A zucchini plant bought at the Farmers' Market.

Sorry everything looks so washed out in the photos. 1:36 pm with bright sun. You may notice the dryness. We've had to water more this summer, though we've been lucky to have some good rains in between.

The Farmers' Market has been the highlight of my weeks. I've bought vegetables and homemade ice cream and homemade pastries and Thai spring rolls. A veritable feast. This virus time has been a locally supportive time. Everybody is cheering everyone else on, and supporting all the farmers and cooks and artists. My instagram account is a happy place to visit every day, and the Market on Sunday mornings.

Ran into some old friends one day.

Pulling her mask down to pose for me!

We celebrated birthdays - Margaret's 38th and Indy's 5th in July. 

We've seen Margaret's family the whole time. We are kind of like one family in two houses. And now it's so good to be seeing the boys again! They kept themselves quarantined for a few months, and then we all began to get together again. We are quite safe here, and we are all careful. I still am nervous about tourist season, but local businesses are really good about masks and distancing, and we don't travel very many miles. None of us know what the fall will bring but I'm thankful that we can all be together again.

Merrily down the stream

When the virus came along, our local movie theatre began to offer streaming movies. Part of the cost of the film went to the theatre.

And oh, what wonders we've seen.

Once Were Brothers - about the band called, well, The Band. Did any of you buy Music From Big Pink? The film was just great. It was narrated by Robbie Robertson with lots of old film and footage. Excellent even if you weren't into the music then.

The Booksellers - about the antiquarian book biz in New York City. Absolutely fascinating. These are passionate folks.

Up From the Streets - about New Orleans music. Perfectly wonderful.

Sometimes Always Never - I think Bill Nighy may just be my favorite actor ever. This is a quiet, moving film that we loved.

Never Too Late - wonderful film about older men and a woman having "happy endings". One of my other favorite actors is in it - Dennis Waterman from The Sweeney, On The Up, New Tricks. He was born the day before I was.

Next up is Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things. So looking forward to this.

Death By Chocolate Cookies

I've had this recipe for ages, and decided to finally make these cookies.

Instead of Baker's chocolate, I used

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Melt half a 12-ounce package of chocolate chips. Set aside the other half.
Stir until melted and smooth.

Stir in:

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
2 slightly beaten eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Add and stir well:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Then stir in the half package of chocolate chips.

Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 12-13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and feel set to the touch.
Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute and then transfer to cooling rack.

The recipe said it makes 1 1/2 dozen. Mine made 11 cookies. Perfect to split with
our daughter and her family.

They were some of the best cookies I've ever had. Really. They are a little bit like brownies in cookie form!

Making my first contribution to Weekend Cooking since the new "ownership".

An unexpected gift of flowers

Last year I bought six flats of calendula plants, and planted them in our new vegetable garden. I thought it would be nice to have flowers and vegetables growing together.

and a few weeks later

I loved them and made bouquets all summer.

I wrote a note in my calendar to buy them again.

On May 30 this year, we wondered what was that ring of green?

We wanted to leave it because it didn't seem like any weed we had ever seen.

A month later, we saw it was a calendula patch!

I looked it up and calendulas are self-seeding! We considered thinning the patch but then thought we would let them grow as they would.

And what a success they have been!

Today's pictures

So, now I'm wondering will this happen again next year?!