Gardening circa 1909 Friday, Jun 21 2013 

gardening and Historic Photos , , acairfearann 14:23

1909002213

Or how to grow pole beans properly. A photograph taken of Esperanza’s then garden. Remember, it supplied the tenant farmer, his family, and Aunt Carlotta (pictured at the far end of the row) over the winter; it supplied all the guests at Esperanza, ranging from a constant 5-8 with spikes of close to 20 for weekends throughout the summer.
The garden shown is no longer part of the property, that section was sold off in the 1960’s and is now a winery.
My pole beans don’t look like that. Not only are poles not big enough, but this time around in addition to the turkeys, there was a nice young doe taking a nap….they are now netted.

 

Wordless Wednesday: Roses Wednesday, Jun 19 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , , , acairfearann 09:21

IMG_0928

IMG_0931

IMG_0922

IMG_0921

IMG_0917

 

From the Guestbook: 1878 Tuesday, Jun 18 2013 

Esperanza and Historical Events acairfearann 13:22

IMG_9533
I am not sure exactly who ‘Zenobia’ and ‘La Belle Peppermint’ are, but I do know that the latter was derived from a summer dress, striped red and white, at least judging by another cartoon of ‘La Belle’ showing a tall, slender woman dressed in a most remarkable dress of big diagonal stripes. Our clothes are very boring these days!

 

Not necessary Monday, Jun 17 2013 

gardening acairfearann 15:16

The turkeys that is. To be quite precise, the turkeys deciding that the bean patch on the slope was the ideal location for a dust bath. We shall see how elderly firewood works as mulch, I placed sections in between each row and around each squash plant. The theory being that they can’t push aside the chunks of wood. The uncertain factor is how, or if, the insect population which came with the wood will affect the plants. They didn’t, thankfully, get the pole beans; and I only had to replant some of the yellow wax beans. So, I suppose I can look at it as a way of ensuring a longer harvest.
It is very nice that they were able to raise a successful brood; but there are other places, plenty of them, where they can get a good dust bath. I wonder how young wild turkey tastes….

 

Peony: Festiva Maxima Saturday, Jun 15 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 14:02

IMG_0864

 

Row, Row Your boat Friday, Jun 14 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 14:59

merrily, merrily down the stream.
I wouldn’t recommend at least one bridge in town. Now granted it was already closed due to a catastrophic failure* of an abutment, the water up to the railings is entirely expected for that bridge but the suspicious bit of white water in the center where it ought to be smooth…
The lawn is a swamp. People never seem to grasp that wetlands can occur on the top of the hill. They ought to come to New England. The North lawn and big garden is one giant puddle, as is most of the east and south areas. I can’t even get at the main flower garden, as it is surrounded by water on all sides. The place is a bit of a mess.

*if a single granite stone abutment moves downstream by about 4 inches and down by about 8, and said stone is on the order of 7 feet long, a foot tall, and two feet wide…you have a Problem. The consensus in Town Hall was that the bridge deck ought not wobble… Who knows when it will get fixed; the gates closing it look suspiciously permanent.

 

From the guestbook Thursday, Jun 13 2013 

Esperanza and Genealogy and Uncategorized , acairfearann 15:17

“An Acrostic To a Young Lady on the day her wedding to Maurits C.C. van Loben Sels:
Helen Ellsworth – lovely name!
Echo of thy strength and sweetness
Love, that’s made of flowers and flame,
Envies thee thy rare completeness.
Name like music on our life
Earnest, mellow, gentle, singing
Let us, ere its long eclipse,
Linger on its bell-like ringing
Seven names though thou shalt wear,
Worthy, noble and complete,
On them thinking now I swear
(Rose by any name so sweet)
Thou, when memory fails, shalt be
Helen Ellsworth still to me.”

by Robert Underwood Johnson, May 31, 1905
Not a bad acrostic. Line 3-4 rises above the rest, quite the turn of phrase there.
I ought to add: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Underwood_Johnson for information on the author!

 

After the Storm Wednesday, Jun 12 2013 

Landscapes acairfearann 22:29

IMG_0841

IMG_0837

 

21st Century! Tuesday, Jun 11 2013 

Esperanza acairfearann 12:19

Your random trivia for the day.
Who knew…. the wireless connection can be accessed by my computer upstairs in the house, with the doors shut, on a rainy day!
It is a bit spotty, and not exactly fast. But still. Given the size of the house in question, and the number of plaster walls, in between me and the modem right now… Plaster is bad for the wireless signal, though even worse is the new metal lathe. We inadvertently turned the kitchen into a Farraday cage when it was re-plastered and we used metal lathe instead of the wood. The kitchen is close to the modem, but unless you can get just the right angle through the doors, forget it, you will not get a signal. Though Why one needs the internet in the kitchen?
The house’s internet connectivity is notoriously bad, I usually use a hardwire connection; but the chimney sweeps are at work and I need to get some writing done. Apparently upgrades in the computing power and the modem have made a difference. Now if we could just get rid of the static on the phone line. But that is a problem way down in the town. I keep expecting the phone company to tell us we ought to just drop it, they don’t want to repair it again. Which would annoy me.

 

Enjoying Summer Saturday, Jun 8 2013 

Modern Photos , acairfearann 16:06

Robin enjoying the summer. (He is currently dripping wet as I write this, tropical depressions and all that). Not bad looking for a 28 year old thoroughbred though!
IMG_0749

IMG_0807

 

« Previous Page — Next Page »