Monday was Memorial Day and we had a good day. We went to the parade in Ulysses. I think it was the smallest one yet – just a group of veterans in front marching with the flags and banners, followed by various children’s baseball teams, the FFA kids from the high school, fire trucks, a vintage car, two horseback riders, and an antique tractor. But they all threw candy to the children on the street, which made it very exciting for our group. After the parade, we went to the Raymond Cemetery and walked among the graves, looking at the names and the flags of the veterans buried there. In the afternoon we had our cookout. Kurt grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwurst. There were various salads, chips, and for dessert, homemade ice cream sundaes and brownies. It was all so delicious.
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| Waiting for the parade. |
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| The parade! And candy! |
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| The Thayns at the Raymond Cemetery. |
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| Ice cream sundaes. |
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| Florence and her ice cream. |
Rachel and Tabor left after the cookout and we had the Thayn girls here with us for most of the week. They brought a lot of energy to the house. Miriam did a good job of keeping them entertained during the day. She did school with them. She gave them assignments. She worked at getting Florence potty trained. I had them help with jobs in the garden. Mabel helped me with the chores every day. They spent a lot of time playing in the Shillig’s yard where there is a gator to drive and a hover board, and a swing set. In the evenings, when Stacey and Hannah got home from work, they took over keeping the girls going. We had a great week together.
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| Swinging at the Shillg's house. |
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| Hazel hover boarding. |
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| Going down to do the chores with Mabel. |
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| Mabel collecting eggs. |
The beginning of the week was hot. Temperatures in the high 80's are not common here and on Monday and Tuesday we almost hit 90°. I enjoyed the heat, although I found I had to go easy on garden work during the hottest part of the day. On Wednesday, the first day of June, we had thunderstorms in the afternoon which cooled things off again – too cool sometimes. It was 34° when I got up this morning.
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| Chilly, but bright, this morning. |
June arrived on a glorious morning. I went out as the sun was rising to walk through the garden. The dew was heavy and the air was soft and scented with lilac. The dawn chorus of the birds was at full volume. June truly is the loveliest month of the year here. The irises are blooming. The first of the poppies have opened. The peony buds are swelling. June is luscious. It isn’t summer yet, that doesn’t come until later in the month. The last days of spring are tall grass days. Supple, green, and hip high in the meadows, the slightest breeze makes the grasses bend and sway. By the end of the month when summer sets in, the grass will stiffen and go brown. I love these tall grass days.
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| The first of June in the morning. |
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| The first of June in the morning. |
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| The first of June in the morning. |
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| Irises in the long border. |
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| More irises. |
My rhubarb, as always, is huge and impressive. I have a lot of it, maybe a dozen plants, which is strange because I’m the only one here who really likes to eat it. I love rhubarb crisp, strawberry rhubarb pie, rhubarb sauce on vanilla ice cream (Hannah likes that too). When I lament that we let it go to waste, I’m always told that I can always make whatever I want with it, but I’m not one to cook much, so nothing ever happens. But it doesn’t really go to waste, I’d grow it just for its beauty. Usually I’m diligent about pulling off the flower stalks as they emerge, but this year I decided to let them bloom. Their flowers are seven feet tall and very dramatic. But I will pull them off before they go to seed or I’ll have hundreds of sprouts popping up everywhere next spring.
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| Rhubarb flowering. |
One of the luxuries of this time of the year is that I finally get to sleep with the window by my bed open. Prior to the late 19th century, night air was considered dangerous. Many people believed that night air, also called miasma, carried diseases, so they slept with their windows shut. Later science proved such beliefs to be wrong and now opening a window at night in most circumstances is considered beneficial. Here in cold Gold, I don’t open my bedroom window during most of the year, but from around the first of June until the middle of September, when the nighttime temperatures are more temperate, usually in the 50's, I do. Our old house doesn’t have air conditioning. During the warmest weather, opening windows and doors with screens and maybe in extremely hot weather, running a fan, is sufficient.
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| The poppies have begun to bloom. |
My morning walks last week were especially lovely. Some mornings it was foggy and it was beautiful watching the sun come up through the low-lying mist. Other mornings were bright. Every morning was dewy.
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| Foggy morning walk. |
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| Foggy morning walk. |
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| Foggy morning walk. |
We had an exciting event on Thursday, our new freeze-dryer arrived. We can and freeze a lot of food from our garden every summer and we heard how freeze-dried food stores longer and is more nutritious, so the Howes, Shilligs, Fosters, and Thayns pitched in and ordered a freeze-dryer several weeks ago – and now it is here. We’re excited to see how it works out as soon as we have some produce to process. I think we’ll start with eggs. Probably candy will come next.
Miriam and Hannah left on Friday evening to take the Thayn girls home. With all of them gone, we went from eight people in the house, four of them under ten, to just me and Stacey. The house was very quiet. Miriam and Hannah stayed at the Thayns to attend a baby shower for Rachel yesterday. Rachel’s baby, a boy this time, is due in July. They just got home a few minutes ago.
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| On the way to church - dame's rocket. |
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| On the way home from church - buttercups. |
The drive to and from church today was especially beautiful. The wild flowers along the roadsides are spectacular. Mostly it is dame’s rocket, but there are buttercups, hawkweed, and cow parsley, too. June’s wild flowers are wonderful. After a chilly morning, the day has warmed up. The week ahead looks to be temperate and that will be good. I have lots to do outdoors and I’m looking forward to it.
