She Says Some Funny Things...

This is my youngest niece, Molly. Yesterday we drove to Target. It was a hot, humid day here in Kentucky. It felt very cool and refreshing inside the store, thanks to their air conditioning. When we walked out to the parking lot, we were hit by a wave of heat, and were remarking how hot it was. Molly said: "God needs a thermostat up there."

Collage

My most recent obsession... collage. I have no idea what I am doing; I just find images I like and mix them up together. Up until now, I have been using only paper on paper. However, in my most recent one, I added some tissue paper, tore it off in some places, and added some cloth flowers. It has a little bit of a 3-D effect. That's it above.

The remaining photos are some collages that I made a few years ago, and just found packed away. These are my very first attempts.

This one was done when I was in a crazy mood, and wanted to try abstract design:


"Bloom Where You Are Planted" was my attempt to cheer myself up after moving away from a city I loved:


The final two were inspired by a vacation in the Caribbean:



I really didn't think I would post these. I thought I would be embarrassed by my amateur attempts. I see so many accomplished artists' works in the blog world. But, hey, this is where I am! So, I am going to put it out there. Everyone has to start somewhere... right?

The Ol' Family Farm

My family owns a farm in southern Ohio. It used to be a dairy farm, but now it is a cattle-raising farm. It's not big, just 300 acres. No one in my family has lived on it since my grandfather's generation. My grandfather grew up there. When we were kids, my grandfather loved to take us to visit the farm. We went into the barn to watch the milking machines working, and to play with the cats and kittens who lived there. He had us taste water out of the sulfur spring. He took us to the grain elevator and told us how it worked. He took us to visit the little family cemetery where many of our ancestors are buried. My grandfather grew up before there were interstate highways. He never drove on them, preferring county roads and back roads everywhere he went. We learned so much from our grandfather.

Our farm has been in my family for many generations, since 1811. It was a land grant to Joseph Brown, my great-great-great-great (not sure how many greats) grandfather by an act of Congress. We still have the original document. It is signed by James Madison, President and James Monroe, Secretary of State.


My family lived on the farm and worked the farm all those years, until my grandfather and his two sisters left the farm. Since then, it has continued operating, occupied and farmed by a series of tenant farmers. It became a business in 1993, when my father and his two cousins signed incorporation papers.

Now we are required to hold meetings once a year. My sisters and my cousins, their spouses and children all gather for lunch, then a meeting at a manager's office. This year's meeting is Friday... that's what made me think to write this post. The man who farms it for us will be there, with his wife. He owns his own farm next door, and he has been farming our farm along with his own for a long time (not sure how many years). We talk about cattle and corn, wheat and soybeans. We talk about repairs to the barn and crop yields and the price of corn and beef.

When I was a child I thought the farm was fun. I envied the kids who lived there their way of life. When we began having "farm meetings" I though it was kind of a nuisance. Now it has deeper meaning for me. I think about the history and I wonder about all the family members who lived and worked there. I thank my grandfather for fostering an interest in the farm in me. And sometimes I wonder: was my ancestor Joseph Brown the original "farmer Brown"?

Summer in My Back Yard

Busy!

I am busy celebrating birthdays these days!

June 15: my twelve-year old niece
July 9th: my youngest sister
July 10th: my birthday
July 16th: my youngest niece, who will be eight tomorrow
August 2: my mother
August 28: my ten-year old niece
September 4: my oldest sister

My family (especially my mother) has always made a big deal out of birthdays. If possible, the whole extended family gets together. Someone bakes a birthday cake and brings the candles and matches. Everyone brings at least one gift. If the weather is nice, we all troop out to a local park for a picnic. Otherwise, we gather at someone's house (usually my youngest sister because she has the largest house). Or, we go to a restaurant that is family-friendly and has a large enough space for all of us.

Last weekend we all met at one of those restaurants. We had a group of fifteen and a very patient waitress. There were six chldren in the group, who kept changing places around the table... first sitting by mom, then by dad, then by grandma, then by aunt or uncle. The waitress kept track of everyone. There were requests for more bread, more water, etc., etc. Finally, we needed plates for birthday cake, and we took up time opening gifts. She was amazingly patient and efficient. Thankfully, we needed only one check so she didn't have to make separate checks. Then, all the men sat around exchanging cash and credit cards.

I was a waitress during college, so I still have empathy for them. (Guess I couldn't make it on the Supreme Court.)

My husband can't believe how we celebrate birthdays in my family. In his family, they send a card, if they remember. They exchange gifts only at Christmas and then usually wind up just giving each other cash. They are more likely to go out for a beer than have a birthday cake. They have just as much love for each other as my family; they just have different ways of showing it. I like their way as much as I like our way. It's just interesting how different they are. Mine just happen to be all clumped together on the calendar, so we have a very busy birthday season!

I Am Proud Again Today

I am watching President Obama's visit to Ghana today. I can't help feeling proud of our President. It's a good feeling to have a President who is admired by so many in the rest of the world. He is a man of the world, who can relate to people of other cultures. I believe that is what we need now.

A Birthday Story

I was born on my father's birthday, July 10th. So, every year we shared a birthday cake and blew out the candles together. It was nice sharing my birthday with my dad. My father died fifteen years ago, and my birthday became mine alone. I no longer had a shared birthday, though my sister's is July 9th, so we often celebrate ours together. At the time my father died, I was living in Philadelphia and my sister was living in Kentucky. For the first several years after our father died, my sister drove to Ohio on our birthday to visit his grave and place flowers on it.

One night, my sister had a dream, in which our father was speaking to her. He thanked her for the flowers and made a suggestion. He suggested that, rather than leaving flowers at his grave that she send them to me on our birthday. So, every year when I lived in Philadelphia I received a bouquet of flowers from my sister on my birthday. She still does it, now that I live in Kentucky near her. Today, I had lunch with my sister and three nieces and they brought me roses for my birthday. And for Dad's birthday, too.


Here I am at lunch today, with my nieces. Yesterday, I made a birthday cake for my sister, and today she and the girls made a birthday cake for me!
(See yesterday's post where we celebrated my sister's birthday!)