A SUMMER PLACE

Hello dear friends!   Happy first day of summer!  It's really a glorious day here, sunny and warm.  A rarity this year.   We were still wearing our winter coats and the beginning of this month.  As a result the garden is quite a bit behind schedule, but when plants bloom, they really bloom.   The tulips were abundant this year.  I don't remember planting that many.   And the roses have thousands of buds on them.  Can't wait to show you my New Dawns on the arbor.  Hopefully in a couple of weeks.  BTW, that yellow plant is woad.  An herb that is used in dying fabric indigo.  I experimented with it last year and dyed some wool the prettiest shade of pale blue.  Can't wait to have another go at it this year.

This is our latest project.   We enclosed our porch, using some old beveled diamond paned windows.  The first picture is a view from inside.  It's time like this, that I wish I was a better photographer so that I could truly capture how magical the light reflects from all those bevels.  But alas, a photographer I am not.  Am I the only one that uses the word "alas"?   Yesterday, I went to the butchers for some bacon to make beans for a neighbor and asked for four rashers and she didn't have any idea what I was talking about.   Maybe my purpose in life is to keep funny old words in circulation?  I use the word "shan't " a lot too.   Wouldn't it be fun to be one of those old ladies with a bun and an apron using old archaic expressions?   Of course, I'm in no hurry to be an old lady, perhaps in another quarter of a century.

Speaking of characters, this little village is teeming with them.  We have a resident witch, whom I sure frightens small tourists.   She goes about in a long black woolen coat, winter and summer, and wears a black veil over face.  Surely, she's quite cracker dogs but we are all used to her and no one bats an eye when we spot her.  But we notice quite a few tourists doing a double take when she passes by.  She seems quite oblivious to it all and quite content.  That's the beauty of living in a village, we all accept each other's  idiosyncrasies (Whew! there's a word to spell).

About a month ago my husband was out for his morning walk  when he passed the church with a hearse parked out front.  Mr, K., the undertaker, was sitting  on the steps strumming his fingers and giving Ran a good hard stare.  Ran nodded his headed and said good morning as is required, lest anyone think you are a snob.  Mr K., sprung into action, "Would you mind giving me a hand?".   Seems the casket was too heavy for him and his assistant, both nearing their eighties, to handle.  Ran had to laugh.   You see, when he was in high school, he had a job doing this very thing.  "Oh you've had experience? Then take this end!  (the heaviest)" .  So Ran became an accidental pallbearer.  And that is what life is like in a small village.  By the way, Mr K. runs a funeral home/ riding stables.  My friends from the big city find that quite humorous.  As they do, that our police station has an answering machine.  If you have a "real" emergency. you know to call the county sheriff, as it might take several days for the village police to get around to checking their messages.

When in evening, ye say, it will be fair weather.  For the sky is red.  In the morning, it will be fould weather; for the sky is red and lowering.
~Matthew 16:2-3~

Growing up in a little port town, with a father that sailed for his daily bread, I was familiar with the saying, " Red sky at night, sailor's delight.  Red sky in morning, sailors take warning."   There's so much wisdom to be gleaned from the Bible.  Even if you are not a Christian, who can argue with the wisdom of  Proverbs?   I have a lot of friends that love to read self-help books, but if you ask me, there's really only one Book of life's instructions you really need and that's the Bible.   For instance, I was wondering what type of oil to use for cooking, there's so much conflicting information.  I remember when coconut oil was thought to be the worst oil ever, now everyone is touting it as some type of miracle food.  It's all so confusing, but then I thought that olive oil is Biblical,  good enough to use to anoint people with, so that is what I use.   And as for diet, who can forget that Daniel refused the king rich food, for simple vegetables to build up his men?   Who would think that the Bible was a diet book?   So anyway, that was one thing that has been on mind. 

Sorry there's not much information in this post.  And I'm sorry for the heggotty-peggotty  layout.   It's been so long since I've posted, that I've quite forgotten how to do it.  But I do hope that you will stop by and say hello!