Stuff that fills the day

On this little farm there are many small things that need done every day and then the stuff that just needs done if you can get around to it.

The preserving of beans was my priority this day. Those pintos that I grew and dried, and the big lima beans.

So, last night and this day was taken up with re-hydration of said beans and the pressure cooking of same.

While they cooked, I cut the mustard and the collards and cooked and froze them.

My back is out of whack and I cannot blame it.

I imagine there are people who would not be bothered with this stuff. But, it is part of my life. I grow it. It must be saved to eat.

I imagine that all goes back to the hungry days of my childhood.

I do judge my parents for not growing food. It is such a simple thing to do and even if they had to share with the bugs, it would have been a very positive thing to do for nine hungry children...But, no, they did not grow one radish. They were LAZY more than ignorant. If I, at 6 years old could grow a potato garden from skins and carrying water to the plants in the middle of the weeds, they could have gotten off their dead asses and tried.

All of that is far, far gone.

I am off to bed.

Love,

Betty

Quote :

The main thing, Ruby said, was not to get ahead of yourself. Go at a rhythm that could be sustained on and on. Do just as much as you could do and still be able to get up and do again tomorrow. No more, and no less. Charles Frazier; Cold Mountain

Ada would never have survived if Ruby hadn't come along - hadn't been willing to stay and teach this protected "lady" how to look after herself.

Ruby Thewes is one of the finest characters in modern literature, if you ask me.



(Can't find a version of this one that will embed, but you have to watch it -it's necessary.)


Annie

There is so much joy in eating from your own garden. I had a brief relationship with a man who grew a magnificent garden. I believe it was his garden that drew me to him as he had few other redeeming characteristics. He had half the back yard in raised boxes with every thing growing that grows in Florida. He picked off the bugs but finally gave up and use a minimum of killers. He had to kill the dirt in the beginning. He built a sun shield across the top and a sprinkler system across the beams. Of course, the hurricanes came - or at least pretend ones that tore up the overhead stuff - and I thought this unpleasant man would cry. He cooked us a great feast from his garden - and I had the fun of picking the bounty - fresh lettuce for salad that nite - even carrots (which don't grow well in Florida - and little round potatoes. Thanks for bringing back a happy moment from an otherwise series of events that I have put out of my mind completely. Good to remember vignettes of joy regardless of their source.

Unfortunately my bountiful neighbor'sgarden encouraged rats to take up residence in my attack and I have only planted marigolds. They don't seem to attract anything but my smiles.

I forgot - my sister-in-law in Michigan grew a magnificent garden in her backyard with a pretty white picket fence and an arch with blooming vines at the entry. They owned five acres of wooded land adjacent, in its natural state, wildlife and all. She had a staring off match with a full racked deer next to the garden, and the deer started snorting and pawing the earth and he was very big. She ran into the house; he called his quite large family and they helped themselves to her tender young plants.

She gave it up to the deer. They continue to entertain in the garden that refuses to die, coming forth in some form each year with full bounty enjoyed by the deer. She no longer cans tomatoes but buys them at the Farmers Market. She took up photography and has great pictures of her little family on her back porch looking in the sliding glass door - she figured they were looking for desert.

It reminded me of Little Pine Key in the Keys that was pretty much turned over to the Key deer that residents often allowed to graze in their yard and drink in their kitchens...they were about the size of big dogs as adults and mediature poodles in their youth.. They are an endangered species so people sort of accepted them to stay on the island. It was a careful driving zone for sure. They were so tame an open car door would be an invitation to hop in or through....

Finally found this one:

Quote :

Ada had learned that it was not always Ruby's way to start a job and finish it all at one time. She worked at things as they came up, taking care of them in order of urgency. If nothing was particularly urgent, Ruby did whatever could be done in the time at hand.

I cannot read this book without thinking of Betty

Two women, one fictional, one real, who had every excuse to give up, but instead, grew stronger through the adverse circumstances of their lives.

My heroes - ought to say heroines, I guess, but heroines are often helpless creatures that need saving - like Ada.

You have reminded me of the luxury and pleasure of having a garden. Much work is involved, but it is a labor of love. Even in winter we are harvesting from the garden. Yesterday I uncovered the winter salad, removing the snow from the plastic covering loaded with snow. One head of lettuce will make at least two meals. I love salad. Our freezer is full of produce from our garden harvest. Frozen tomatoes are great for making pasta sauce. Pumpking and squash, cut into squares and frozen, are great for soup.

Everything tastes better and is healthier when home grown. One must pay extra for store-bought Bio vegetables. Everying one plants in his/her garden is Bio unless you choose to use pesticides.

Betty, Your folks were mentally impaired and thus not able to exercise enough judgment and foresight to provide for children.
I am glad they had you and glad they gave you away.
We spent our day yesterday in vain. We tried to convince my brother to stay in a hotel or motel.
No luck. I am having a hard time not blaming my folks for his situation.

That does no good, I know.

Many harsh things happen to good people in spite of the caring of those around them. Especially adults - the thinking in the adult mind is pretty set even if it is not in the paths that we would choose for the person we love.

I have a family member whose choices make no sense to me and are very destructive yet they are logical to that person's mind who sees my ideas as selfish - that I am selfish to want good for the person I love.

I've come to the conclusion that the affirmations, "Let go and let God" and "detach with love" were carefully thought out. While I apply them with care and do what I can, I cannot blame myself or others for a brain that directs bad choices in spite of the good intentions of others to provide caring guidance.

It is frustrating when one sees another making choices that we know will lead nowhere or to disaster. These same people tell us they respect our opinion, however when our opinion doesn't agree with what they want, it is ignored.

Dear Alice,

Where will your brother go?

I wonder about people who are anti-social. I understand them, I think.

I know of a man who lives out in the woods. As far as I know he lives out of trash cans for food and wanders arouind during the day with no evident purpose. I imagine his habitat is discovered many times and he is asked to move on. He is not old. He carries all his belongings where he goes.

I think he is happy. He has been doing this for the 30 years that I have lived here.

Today, I thought of him. David and I went tromping through the woods by the river, he looking for fish and I enjoying the beauty of unspoiled nature. How quiet it is in the woods!

I came across a very large hollow tree....it was three feet around and hollow from the root and up as far as I could see. As I stood there admiring it, it came to my mind what a wonderful little hide-a-way it would make. Shelter from rain, and cold...a perfect hide out. Just behind the hollow tree was the river. The mucky part of the ground going down to the river was covered in spider lilies. Their fragrance was delicious!

I wonder if your brother has chosen to simplify his life because the simplification allows him to breathe. Sometimes a person has to escape from everything.

I used to have dreams of sitting on a big rock looking over a barren desert that went for miles and miles and miles and ended in a hazy horizon. Peaceful dreams. No worries, no confrontations, no expectations, no complications and most of all, no decisions.

There is nothing you can do. Love without judgements.

Love,

Betty

I forgot, Alice, It is his life. There is nothing you CAN do without his resentment. And, like DK said, let go and let God.

Annie, you have me pegged fairly well. I wish I had the force that Ruby has. Snort.

Love,

Betty

I do not force people to do anything. It is against my nature. I am a briber.
With my teenagers, I found it more advantageous to offer inducements to do what I wanted rather than issue ultimatums.
I cannot think of a way to motivate my brother to reenter society and it is frustrating.
He thinks no one should ever die, completely ignores the fact that he almost died.

i am with your brother. I wish that no one ever had to die. In fact, I believe they never do. They pass on and in passing on they encounter a new life. I have no idea how they get there or how many years it takes for it to happen, but my mental gut tells me I have been someplace before and will be again. Perhaps I am nuts, but I do not care.

I like the idea.



Today, my David and I went in quest of rivers. We walked and walked through hardwood forest. I found some wild pecans and the little yellow eyed grass. It is akin to little blue eyed grass which is the smallest iris in the world. I grew that for a while, but people are such twits that they could not see the wonder of it. I love tiny little iris. Perfect in miniature.

Tomorrow is always a new day.

Alice, I am glad that your brother has a town family that loves him. How lovely is that?



Love,

Betty

A lot of people like my brother and I am glad.
He was tons of fun before his breakdown and is pleasant now.

I am glad we reconnected.