Perfect World

           In a perfect world I’d’ve had the perfect amount of time to write a perfect letter blog for you. But we don’t live in a perfect world, I didn’t have the perfect amount of time, and I didn’t write a perfect letter blog, not that I ever do. But in this case, I was going to circle back around and tie some things together. My ambitions were greater than my time and stamina.

          I told Mike he didn’t have to stop for pictures of Dogwood because I’d get a closeup picture when I went to the church for the potluck. I did that. I took a picture and I meant to show it. I just didn’t go back and pick that thread up.

          Under the Dogwood tree grows a pretty little purple flower called Fringed Polygala or Gaywings. I always look for it when the Dogwood blooms.

          Looking around I spot more wildflowers. A pretty little one that also takes over the Kipps’ yard every spring (and Lamar graciously mows around them) is the Quaker Ladies Bluet.

          “Why are they called Quaker Ladies?” you wanna know.

          Well, there are several theories. One is that the pale color of the flower is similar to the shades of fabric used in making dresses worn by Quaker ladies. Another says the flowers are similar to the shape of their hats. Still another says they were so named by Indians as they would track where the Quakers traveled by seeing where the flowers grew, as the seeds dropped from their shoes.

          A little further along I see a sunny yellow flower. It’s got the saw-tooth leaves similar to a strawberry but it’s actually Creeping Cinquefoil. The young shoots and leaves can be used as a pot herb. In folk medicine, both the roots and the herb are antispasmodic, astringent, and febrifuge (reduces fever). An infusion of the dried herb is used in the treatment of diarrhea. It’s also used as a gargle for sore throats and is used externally as an astringent lotion. A concentrated decoction of the root relieves toothache.

          There was one more wildflower growing near the Dogwood at my little country church, one I’ve never noticed before. It’s a Starflower.

Something else I was going to circle around and pick up the thread for last week was the Bondi-barking-at-the-feather story. I only found a few feathers. No other bird parts. Later in the day, Bondi starts barking excitedly. By now I recognize that as her, “I found something!” bark.

When I went to investigate, she was barking at something under my workbench. “Did you see a mouse?” I asked.

I’ve got all kinds of stuff stacked up under there, so I started pulling stuff away from the wall. If it was a mouse, I wanted her to kill it! No love for mice in this house, let me tell ya! But it wasn’t a mouse, it was a bird. A bird with all the feathers gone from his back and he couldn’t fly. I tried to catch him to take him out in the weeds but he found an old drain tile to crawl into and I haven’t seen him since. He’ll probably die in there. Luckily, he’s so small he won’t stink for long.

          Besides missing those two stories that would’ve tied in with my last letter blog, I’ve skipped talking about all the wildflowers that are blooming.

Walking around my own yard I’ve found Chickweed, so called because chickens like the flowers and seeds. Made into a tea, Chickweed is a good source of vitamin C. It’s long been used for digestive disorders, sore throat, and rheumatism. It also has a reputation as a remedy for constipation, hoarseness and coughs.

Dead Nettle won’t sting you like other nettles and that’s why it’s ‘dead’. Despite belonging to the mint family, the leaves taste nothing like mint. Instead, they have a mildly sweet taste. Young dead nettle leaves have a mild, lightly peppered taste when eaten raw and they can be a fantastic addition to your salad.

They’re also a great substitute for more common greens, like spinach, kale, and lettuce. You can also blend them with other greens and some lemon juice to make a delicious green smoothie.

          In folk medicine, a tea has been used as a remedy for kidney disease, seasonal allergies, chills, and common colds. Consuming this edible can boost the immune system and fight off bacterial infections as well. Lastly, the leaves can also be used externally to stem bleeding and create a poultice to heal cuts, burns, and bruises.

          Another very common and invasive wildflower is Garlic Mustard. You can eat the young leaves raw or cooked. It has a long list of things its been used for in folk medicine. The leaves have been taken internally to promote sweating and to treat bronchitis, asthma, and eczema. Externally, they’ve been used as an antiseptic poultice on ulcers and are effective in relieving the itching caused by bites and stings. The roots are chopped up small and then heated in oil to make an ointment to rub on the chest in order to bring relief from bronchitis. The seeds have been used as a snuff to excite sneezing. And to top it all off, you can even make a yellow dye from the whole plant.

The Black Mustard is blooming, too. The leaves, commonly referred to as mustard greens, are excellent sources of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, selenium and manganese, while containing protein and small amounts of fat.

It’s also been used in folk medicine. The seed is ground and made into a paste then applied to the skin in the treatment of rheumatism. Applied externally, mustard relieves congestion by drawing the blood to the surface.

I have a patch of wild strawberries in the dog run. Mike would mow them over. I thought of Lamar and mowed around them. We’ll see if they fruit.

My fancy-schmancy lilacs are blooming. A cross between lavender and white lilacs, these are called Sensation Lilacs. I love the lilacs.

 And that’s not all!

          Blue and white tin can flowers ‘bloomed’ on my fence this week, too! Now the red ones have a little company.

          In other craft news, I was on the computer looking at something or another and a lady was doing a project with alcohol inks. As you may remember, and even if you don’t, I experimented with making my own alcohol ink using printer ink. The ink wouldn’t dry on slick surfaces no matter how long I let it sit.

          Well, this gal lit her ink on fire.

          Maybe it sets the ink, I’m thinking and gave it a try.

          It didn’t work. The ink still wouldn’t dry. I’m guessing whatever kind of ink they use in alcohol inks, it’s not interchangeable with leftover printer inks.

 >>>*<<<

          We lost Callie. She was bone thin and we knew she was failing. A couple of days before she died, she came to the front door and meowed. Mike thought she was asking for help so we brought her in and put her in the cat condo for a while. By the end of the day, she’d started meowing again and we put her back out in the cat room. Neither one of us needs a meowing cat keeping us awake all night.

I think Sugar knew that Callie was dying. I didn’t see her at all for a day and half before Callie died and those two were inseparable. When you’d see one, the other wasn’t far away.

          Saturday, a week ago, Callie came to Bondi’s fence, something she’s never done before, and Bondi let me know she was there.

When I went out the next morning to feed Sugar and Callie, there was no Sugar and Callie was wobbling all over the place.

And we never saw her again.

We didn’t find her body, but nonetheless, we know she crawled off somewhere and died.

          Animals can be so funny.

It used to be, when I’d take food out to the cat room in the mornings, Sugar always went for the dry food and Callie, who didn’t have any teeth, always went for the soft food. Now that Callie’s gone, Sugar goes for the soft food.

Another funny thing I’ve been meaning to tell you is about Bondi. Every since we put the pet door in the screen door, Bondi uses it. Even if I’m coming in or out, she’ll wait for the door to shut then she’ll come through the pet door.

          Things die and things get born.

          This is an egg mass at my pond. They’ll be frogs when they’re all grown up.

          Bondi surprised me and went right out into the pond. She didn’t just get her feet wet; she got her whole undercarriage wet! 

         She seemed to enjoy it, so I let her wade around while I took pictures of this guy.

          I don’t know what his name is but I do know that’s he’s a damselfly. They fold their wings down along their body whereas the dragonfly holds his wings out to the sides.

          Speaking of Bondi…

          Mike and I had gone to Mark’s Valley View for breakfast one morning and the owner, Mark, likes to tell us stories about Bondi’s brother. He really loves that little dog. “He’s so smart,” Mark brags.

          Somewhere along the conversation, Mark says, “He had two rows of teeth. We had to have them pulled. Did yours have that?”

          “No, I don’t think so,” I said.

          Later, I tipped Bondi’s head back and looked. She does have a double row of teeth in the front! Her baby teeth never fell out. She’s got and appointment to go see Dr. Lori on the first of June.

          The cats continue to do their job, bringing in mice. Blackie is turning out to be a good hunter, too. His growls drew me to the patio on this day and he was trying to keep Bondi from taking his mouse.

          Bondi chased Blackie all over the yard and I’d gone back into the kitchen when I hear Blackie growling outside the pet door.

          “Oh, no you don’t!” I told him. “You are NOT bringing that thing in here!”

          For whatever reason, he wasn’t able or willing to climb the fence with his mouse to get away from Bondi. I opened the gate and shooed him through. That took care of that problem.

          Since Bondi is now allowed to have mice, she’s not nearly as interested in eating them. I was working on the tin can flowers when I saw her get something from one hidey place and move it to another. I went to see what it was and it was an old dead mouse.

          I took it away from her and tossed it. “You’re not saving it for later,” I told her. She watched as her mouse went sailing over the fence. She wasn’t happy with me but she’ll get over it.

>>>*<<<

          Mike and I are working on re-sheeting another section of our old metal roof. We had plenty of one-by-fours left over from previous jobs, so we went to work getting the purlins down before the metal was delivered.

          When the afternoon sun became too much for us, we climbed down and did other things. For me, it was either writing or working on tin can flowers. For Mike, it was either watching TV or mowing the yard.

          And thus starts the Peggy-come-pull-me-out season.

          We had two apple trees planted in the field by my clothesline. On one side the tree is doing good. On the other the ground was too wet. That poor tree struggled to hold on for years. “We really should move it,” I’ve said more than once. Did we move it? NO! We waited till it was dead, took the fence down, pulled out the skeleton, and Mike mowed it — or tried to!

          First stuck of the year!

          The second stuck came a few days later in a different but equally wet part of the yard.

          C.C. Allis delivered the metal a day early.

          Mike set up the extension ladder and together we slid the forty-foot sheets to the roof. It was a job but Mike and I are a good team.

          I worry about Mike over-doing it and getting too hot. He’d help secure the sheet, then I’d send him off the roof and I’d finish screwing it down while he cooled off and rested before we’d hoist another sheet to the roof.

          I had my camera up there with me.

          “Your camera’s going to get too hot in the sun,” Mike said.

          “Take it down with you then,” I said.

          Once on the ground, Mike yelled, “Peg!”

          I turned and looked and he was standing there with the camera up to his eye. He wanted to take my picture, something that hardly ever happens. I have to tell ya. I’m like a lot of you and don’t like my picture taken. It just reminds me I’m old and overweight.

          I’ll stretch it and maybe no one will notice, I think and then laugh at myself.

          “Peggy, Peggy!” you say and shake your head.

          I know, right! It is a sad state of affairs.

          “Show us the right one,” you say.

          Okay, okay. But only under protest and only because Mike took it unprompted.

          Speaking of stretching pictures…

          We had a guest speaker at church last Sunday. At the end of service, I took a picture of the people standing around talking.

          “Look at that, Miss Rosie,” I said showing her the picture. I got the front of everyone else but the back of you.”

          She looked. “Yeah, delete that one.”

          “I can make you tall and skinny. I’m gonna do that for one of my pictures,” I told her.

          “Do that,” she says.

          I love the Kipps.

 >>>*<<<

          The honeysuckle is blooming. Most of what I have here are the kind that's considered invasive.

          Another invasive on our property is the Autumn Olive. These will open into little four-petal flowers.

             My Quince bush has never been quite the same since Mike mowed it over. It’s a lot bushier and I only gets a few flowers. Still and all, I’m glad he lived.

         And lastly, this is what the pussy willows matured to. Interesting, huh? 

          I think this pretty well catches y’all up.

          Let’s call this one done!