Cemetery Tour

I mentioned that Nathaniel and I toured two cemeteries in Indy.  The first was an old Catholic cemetery, which I enjoyed very much.  I found a new first name, Eusephina.  (I love collecting names.)

The second was considerably bigger and had much more famous graves, including President Benjamin Harrison.  I got out of the car at the top of the hill for James Whitcomb Riley's grave.  This was the view from there:

When I was a kid, Grandmommy used to recite his poem "Little Orphant Annie" to me.  I loved it, and she wrote it down for me.  I memorized it, so I was thrilled to see that the statue on the monument for Riley has a child reading a book, open to the lines, "An' the gobble-ens'll git you ef you don't watch out!"

It's hard to see the words in the picture, but they were clear in person!  Nathaniel, of course, had to listen to me recite the whole poem.  This lovely marker was nearby, too:

And so, of course we left some coins.

The cemetery looked very much like the Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville.  The entrances are very similar, and I would guess that they were either designed by the same people or one inspired the other.  Unlike Louisville's cemetery, there were no ponds or ducks, though.  Instead, there were some really mangy looking deer:

Nathaniel liked this castle grave.  It's a recent one.

 

Book Review - The All-American by Susie Finkbeiner

 

This story is set in early 1950s Michigan, and the author does a great job of immersing the reader in that setting.  The story is told alternately by two sisters, 16-year-old baseball player Bertha and 11-year-old reader Flossie.  Both voices are distinct, and the characters have depth and growth during the novel.  The story touches on two elements that I've rarely read in novels: the Red scare and girls' baseball.  This novel is perhaps a bit slow, but I like family stories, and this one was a really good family story.  I really enjoyed Uncle Matthew, too.  I do wish the epilogue had referenced both sisters, instead of only one, and the ending was a bit abrupt, but it was still a good read.

I received a copy from the publisher, Revell, for an honest review, but all opinions are my own.

  

Weekend Getaway

This weekend, we met my inlaws in Indy and dropped off the three youngest.  Nathaniel and I had a little get-away while the kids had their own adventures, Saturday morning to Monday afternoon. 

We had a good time.  It's different, now, trying to plan any type of travel.  How much I can do depends on the day, and I have to have lots of sitting spells.  We did go to the state museum, which I've been meaning to see for more than 20 years.  We also drove through some old cemeteries (yes, I'm a weirdo who loves old cemeteries), ate really great food, and visited the Benjamin Harrison presidential site.  Now I am going to have to read more about him, because it was really interesting, and Nathaniel bought me a book.   We also saw the new Indiana Jones movie, which I really enjoyed.

Today, Nathaniel took me to some woods.  There's probably nothing I like more than walking in the woods, and this particular trail isn't something much.  A year ago, I would have thought this hill was nothing, but today, I struggled to the top.  It's been a rough week, with my lungs lit on fire from the Canadian wildfire air, and my leg not really cooperating much.  

This was the view from the bench at the top of the hill.  We sat there for quite some time, as I caught my breath, and Nathaniel just sat with me.  It's a beautiful view.  Another day, I could probably walk on down to the pond and get a closer look at the giant koi we could see from the bench, but for today, I had to be content with just heading back down the hill we came up.  It was much easier going down.  

 

Summertime

 

Malachi is up at Notre Dame this week for a Catholic conference.  He gets back today, so I am sure we will hear about it later, but in the mean time, I did get sent a few pictures.

Around my yard, the deer have wreaked havoc on all plants out front.  This is one of the few flowers to survive (for now):

I keep watering my cucumbers with water that I soak onion scraps in first, so it smells bad and the deer won't eat them.  Many of my vegetables are no where near harvest size, either.  I keep hoping...

These two are loving summer.  They are currently at a day camp, which they also attended last year and loved.  

Poultry

Yesterday, I let the poultry out into the third yard for some supervised exploration.

They are really pretty birds.

This is one of the Polish roosters (there are 2 like this one).

Here are two roosters (white ones), and one of the ISA browns is tucked behind our two Wyandottes.  

And, of course, Harry likes to walk slowly around looking majestic.  

Lastly, here is Lavender, Malachi's lavender orpington.  To the left of her is Belle, one of our home-grown barnyard mixes.  She is now at the bottom of the pecking order, after being quite bratty near the top for several years.  She's our only blue-egg layer left.

All together, we have Harry the turkey, 2 black Astrolop hens, 1 lavender orpington hen, 3 sapphire gem hens, 1 buff orpington hen, 1 barnyard special hen, 3 ISA brown pullets, 2 Wyandotte pullets, 3 mystery cockerels, and 3 Polish (2 cockerels, 1 pullet).  The pullets will probably start laying in August, and soon we will need to cull some roosters.

 

Book Review - This is Where it Ends by Cindy K Sproles

 

This is Where it Ends by Cindy K. Sproles is an amazing book.  I loved it.  It is unconventional, moving, thought-provoking, and beautiful.  This is the story of a 94-year-old woman who married at 14 and has been living on a mountain in Appalachia ever since, while keeping a secret that she doesn't even really know.  The characters are well drawn, and Minerva's character development will leave the reader with plenty to ponder.  Her spirit is touching throughout the book, and her relationship with the reporter is a gem.  Although there is plenty of heartache involved, it is an uplifting story.  I highly recommend this book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Revell, for the purpose of writing a review, but all opinions are my own.

Michigan and Such

 

We enjoyed some time at the lake in northern Indiana, near my in-laws' house.

Then on Wednesday, we went to Lake Michigan:

The water is so clear there!  We had great weather, and it was a really lovely day trip.

Grandpa taught Lydia and Malachi to use his ride-on mower.

We also had a good time blueberry picking.  We picked 38.5 lbs!!!

The bushes were loaded, and it was a really pretty day, even though it was a bit wet from the night before's rain.

Hall of Heroes Fun

Nathaniel, I, and four of the kids recently spent almost a week at my in-laws.  I looked into something new to do and discovered the Hall of Heroes about an hour from their house.

We were joined by our dear friends, and everyone had a ball.

The place isn't large, but it had lots of interesting things.  And there are free arcade games.

Gyunay even let Lydia give him a Superman curl for this photo!  I sent it to Elijah.  He's always trying to get Gyunay to have the Superman curl.

I enjoyed playing a few rounds of pinball myself.  We spent a few hours there, and then went for ice cream.

June Harvest Totals

 I'm a week late on the garden harvest, but pictures from vacation will be coming later!

On to the harvest:
Cabbages, Asian, - 4

Chickens -9, for a total of 62.9 lbs!

Eggs - 130 (We did lose a couple of hens this month.)

Garlic bulbs - 21

Garlic scapes - 3

Pea pods

Radishes - 52

Radish pods

Turnips - 7

plus herbs - sage, mint, rosemary, cilantro, thyme