I wanted to use this picture, because it shows G'ma Opal in a dress,
and the story I want to tell is about G'ma Opal and a dress.  But, when
I looked closer at the picture, I had to giggle.  She does have on a
dress, but she also has on sweat pants. 

The Dress Story happened many, many years ago in Fernnook.
G'ma Opal wasn't a grandma yet; she was just a mommy.  She took
one or two of her little boys by the hand and they all walked down
Over The Hill to The Creek.  They went fishing and caught some
fish for dinner.  On the way home it started to rain.  That was a
big problem.  G'ma was wearing a rayon dress, and if you know
much about material, you know that rayon shrinks when it gets
wet.  It not only shrinks, it really shrinks!

Her dress was down past her knees when she started Up the Hill, but
it was far above her knees when she finally reached home.

A few days ago, in retelling this story to Debby (my SIL), Debby told
me her own rayon story.  She was coming home from school and had
on a rayon dress.  It started raining.  The problem was that this was in
the days of shorter dresses.  Her dress started off somewhere above her
knees and ended....too high to explain in polite company.  Her friend
was watching from the window of her home as Debby walked as fast
as possible toward her own home.  She said that she and her family got
quite a chuckle over Debby and the Rayon Dress.

From the mouth of Uncle Jim.  "'Possums are our friends."  Hard to believe
he actually said this...but he did.

Apparently possums kill ticks.   According to this article they may kill up to
5000 a year, and since ticks spread Lyme's Disease, 'possums are good.

Kent will not be convinced of this.  Maybe because the little guys have caused
so much damage to Fernnook Farm in other ways...and, they will persist in
eating the cat's food.  Just a couple of nights ago, I heard a slight crunching
noise on the porch and when I opened up the door, there was a big possum
enjoying a nice snack.  I shooed him/her away and brought the food inside.

Of course, there was the time that G'ma Opal asked the boys to catch her
a 'possum, because she was in the mood for Possum and Sweet Potatoes.
That is a tale worth remembering.

Yesterday the spider lily was bravely facing the chill October nights.
Today it is jazzing up the living room.  One of the grandkids, one who
looked suspiciously like Peeta, couldn't resist picking it.  That kid!
Gotta love him!

And, in more grandkid news, Kathleen followed two days ago in the
footsteps of Elsie.  Several months ago Elsie was happily cutting paper
in her room when she decided to give herself a haircut...a very severe
haircut.  It was drastic and quite disturbing to her mom and dad (and a
shock to all that saw her.)  Welllll, Tuesday Kathleen cut her hair,
and Natalie said, "I feel like I have triplets now.  Kathleen, Colyn,
and Peeta look so much alike!"

Every autumn I am surprised when my spider lily pops up out of
nowhere.  I always seem to remember it coming up earlier, and when
September passes and it hasn't appeared, I figure it is gone forever.

Then one morning, when I walk outside, there it is.  It is gallantly facing
the cooler days and nights like a soldier standing staunchly on his post.
What a brave little flower.  And it is aptly named, don't you think?

The leaves lay swirled
On the ground
Beneath the sweetgum tree,
Like a carelessly dropped
Spanish shawl

I haven't seen any hummingbirds for a few days now.  I am not going to take down
the feeders for a week or so...but I think we are at the end of this season.  I will miss
my friends, but I look forward to moving the wind chimes back to their place of
prominence on the porch.  I love to listen to them in the fall and winter just as much
as I love to watch the hummingbirds at the feeders in the spring and summer.

In my spare time, those few seconds that I can snatch out of my very full day,
I have been working with my plants.  I started several basil plants, and I am trying
to root several of each of the scented geraniums that I have.  Scented geraniums
are my newest fetish.  Really it is an old fetish that is being rehashed.  We grew
scented geraniums in the greenhouse that I worked in while I was at Mizzou.  I
loved them then, but I forgot about them until last summer when we were at the
Ozark Folk Center with Opa and Oma in Mountain View Arkansas.  That is a
place worth visiting.  And on top of the wonderful people, the fun music, and the
old ways that they are preserving, they had scented geraniums.  So this summer, I
just had to get me some.  They have been a thing of joy for me, and I want to try
to keep some for next year.  I am hoping to add more scents to my collection
next summer.  Now I have Lime Scented, Nutmeg Scented (which I think smells
like sage), and Orange Scented (which is my favorite of the three.)

One of the treasures I found at the garage sales Stacey, Natalie and I went to
was a crock pot.  I already have three crock pots, and I use them all very
regularly, but I wanted one to make soap in.  I have the lard; I have the
lye; I have dried lavender, but I had no extra crock pot to make the soap in,
so when I saw one for two dollars, I snatched it up.  Now we can see how long
it takes me to actually make the soap...or if I ever do make it.

I have also been collecting seeds from my cypress vines just in case they don't
reseed on their own next year.  Today I took a needle and thread and hung
sever cayenne peppers up to dry.  I want to collect their seed also.  After
running my fingers down to tie a knot in the thread and licking my finger to
help tie the knot, I had a burst of heat in my mouth.  It caught me off guard!
I will remember that the next time I am stringing up cayenne pepper.

It has been so busy Up and Down the Gravel that I haven't had time to sit and
write about it.

The past three weeks were really filled with car problems and hay problems. 

Hattie's car had some major issues.  It wouldn't idle, but instead, it would die
every time the brake was pressed.  As providence would have it, our most trusted
and talented mechanic was at the beginning of a two week vacation the day it first
acted up.  The mechanic shop we took it to diagnosed it first as a mass airflow sensor,
then as a fuel pump problem, and then again as a mass airflow sensor.  After more
than two weeks and many phone calls and trips to Doniphan and the Bluff for
the car, we finally had it towed to our regular mechanic, who was off vacation.
He had it diagnosed and fixed within a day.  The actual culprit was the map sensor.

Whew.  So glad to be on this side of that problem.

The hay problems are exacerbated this year because it has been so very dry.  We
have had to start feeding hay and that means that we will go through more than
usual.  To top it off, we were quite low on hay to begin with.  We have some hay
from Papa's field, and were able to buy one load from the Baker outfit.  But
we still needed a lot more.  Tyler helped us to find some  that was north of Cape
Girardeau and Kent took an afternoon and evening to go pick up a load.  Then he
found some from a local farmer, Mr. Beal.  That is enough to get us through
much of the fall and winter.  It also helps that Joel finished fencing in his 3 acre
field.  Also, Kent bought a protein block for them.  The combination of all this has
made life a happier thing for the cows.  The bellowing has stopped.

Bill and Stacey and kids came for a flying visit from the Big City this past
weekend.  On Saturday we divided and conquered.  Stacey, Natalie, and I took
the girls and went to garage sales.  Kent and Bill kept the boys.  Jenn wasn't able
to go with us because she had a fall at work on Friday, and on top of that she
was feeling quite icky from the pregnancy. 

We girls found treasures and had a nice time, but at the last place we visited, we
left the air running because the little girls were too tired to get out of the van again. 
There was a lot to look at and when we got back in the van to leave, the battery had
gone down, and we had to have the van jumped.   We were at the home of a former
neighbor, Paul Smith, and she called her daughter's boyfriend and he came and gave
us a jump. 

Later in the evening we had a deck party at Papa Bob's house.  The kids always
love to go there.  Wilbur especially loved following Papa around and saying,
"Papa Bob...Papa Bob."  There is something about that name that is really
fun for kids to say.

Papa Bob went to the Big City to take Beth to a doctor visit last week.  While
there he saw Becky and gang (Anne and Trenten and Wyatt were in town too)
and Billy and gang.  They all went to Old St. Charles and wandered around the
riverfront and Katy Trail. 

While they were together Anne asked Papa what his favorite number was.  He,
off the top of his head, said, "Five."  Then she said, "No, what is your REAL
favorite number?"  He is really pretty clever and he caught on and said, "My
real favorite number is 17!"  They are expecting in June and that was her way
of letting us know. 

Mike and Debby are working furiously on the house.  They should start laying
tile this week.  They are hoping to eat Thanksgiving Dinner at Fernnook Lodge
this year.  All of their kids and their families will be here. 

We did get a short but lovely rain today.  I went and sat on the porch and just
drank in the smell of the cool rain hitting the warm earth.  The leaves were
floating down and the wind was blowing.  It was really, really nice.

Seasons

"Wyrd is mightiest, winter is coldest,
Spring is frostiest, longest cold;
Summer is sunniest, sun is hottest,
Autumn most glorious giving to man
The fruits of the year that God brings forth."

From: Cotton MS. Maxims
which is contained in--
an anthology of Old English Poety
translated by Charles W. Kennedy

Up and Down the Gravel

Through the years, a lot of things have been built down at Papa's workshop
and then hauled somewhere down the gravel.

There were 2 or 3 goathouses that were built back in the days when we
had our goats.  Pa's tractor pulled them down to our place where they
served our goats well.

Hattie's playhouse was built by Pa at his workshop and then pulled on skids
to our house.  It was the only thing she wanted for her birthday when she was
about 5 or 6.  Her grandparents on both sides and Kent and I bought the materials
and Pa built it.  That playhouse has provided a lot of fun for Hattie, her friends
and cousins, the grandkids, and many other little people that have spent time at
Fernnook Farm.

One of the oddest things to be built at Pa's and hauled down the gravel was
a bathroom for G'ma Opal.  In the summer of 2008 brother Mike built a
neat bathroom for G'ma.  Her other one was getting a saggy floor and was
quite a traipse for a 97 year old to get to during the middle of the night. 
Mike built it, cousin Alan did some work down at G'ma's house to get things
ready on that end, and the whole family was involved in moving it.  Granted,
some were only involved to the point of shaking their heads and saying,
"This'll never work!"

But, as cousin Kenny has recorded on video, with great patience and several
false starts, that bathroom was moved and connected to the side of G'ma's
bedroom and and served The General well for the last 8 months of her life.

This past week, Uncle Jim needed his back steps rebuilt so that a water heater
could be moved up them.  So, once again, he and Pa repaired to the workshop,
built the steps and then Kent and I helped to move them down the gravel to
Uncle Jim's place.  I haven't heard the rest of the story...that is whether or not
the water heater actually got put in place. 

For us, it was a cow week.  Mostly we have been working on finding and getting
hay.  It is so dry in Mayberry this year.  Usually we don't have to feed hay until
December or even January.  But the cows are hungry and need it now.  When
hauling one large load of hay, Kent hit a small deer.  He just could not get
the truck and trailer with all that heavy hay to stop in time.  That is the second
deer accident for us this year. 

Iin other news: Bill's family went to a Pig Pickin' at their church yesterday. 
Elsie was especially excited to play with her friend, Elena, there.  I texted Bill
today and asked him how it went.  He elaborated with one word, "Good."  Not
even an exclamation point or an emoji.

Joel is slowly getting his field fenced in.  He has been working lots of hours at
his job and hasn't had a lot of free time to put towards the fence.  He is also getting
a telescope as a gift for working at B & S for 15 years.

Jenn won third place in a quilt show.  She put lots of time and effort into the quilt,
and it shows!  It is really stunning.

Cypress Vines and the Girls of Fernnook

Both Mom and G'ma Opal had cypress vines.  Mom's was at the south end
of her porch.  G'ma's was on the east side of her sleeping porch.  Cypress
vines have lacy leaves and beautifully delicate red flowers.

Last year I bought a packet of cypress vine seeds thinking that they would
look stunning on a white trellis that is beside our shed.  I didn't get around
to planting them, though.

But this year, fairly late in the season, I ran out and planted those seeds.  I
wasn't sure if they would come up, being over a year old, and, sure 'nuff
most of them didn't.  However, after a bit three hardy little plants did poke
up out of the ground.  They took weeks to begin to grow beyond an inch
or two, but when they decided to make their move...it was stupendous.
The above picture was from a few weeks ago.  They are now an absolute
curtain of vine and flowers.

Cypress vines are just an annual, at least in the growing zone that Fernnook
is in, but they often regrow from the seeds that drop.  Both Mom's and
G'ma Opal's vines reseeded themselves for years, though neither one is there
anymore.

Every time I see my vine, I think happy thoughts of those two Fernnook
Girls.

Uncle Jim sent me a picture of them which includes three other Fernnook
Girls; Debby, Tandy and me (and Becky...who may someday be a part-time
Fernnookian).  I hope this picture uploads correctly.  It was taken in
2000.