Early Auditions!

Published on October 4, 2014October 5, 2014 by In The Vintage Kitchen2 Comments

This week in the garden there has been a lot of activity in the creepy crawly department. As it turns out Mother Nature was holding early auditions for her haunted garden tour that she’s hosting at the end of October. Naturally you have to pick the baddest of the bad and the most wicked of the wicked, and while there were a lot (a whole yard full) of entrants who came to try out, in the end it came to four who really made an everlasting impression. Here’s the cast of the 2014 Haunted Hollow Garden tour…

Most Haunting:

Camouflage of the most intellectual kind;)

…goes to Melvina, a 6″ inch long praying mantis. Six inches dear readers! That’s as long as Ms. Jeannie’s hand!

Most Scary

…goes to Pistachio, the poisonous saddleback caterpillar who auditioned with a hot pepper plant prop. Pistachio was quite cute in all his ferocity with a costume that looked like a cross between a scrub brush and a diseased finger.

If Frankenstein had a pet he may choose something like this!

If you come in physical contact with him Pistachio will not hesitate to sting you with his bristles – which then causes a welted rash for days. Luckily Ms. Jeannie does not know this from experience! While everything about him from his pudgy belly color to his markings makes you want to touch him – it’s his “eyes” looking at you from all directions that warn against it.

Most Creative…

goes to Roberto the red footed cannibalfly for his cool name and his cool conglomeration of costumes. Roberto couldn’t decide on which bug he wanted to be for Halloween so he decided to incorporate elements from all four of his favorites for a really spooky creation…part bumblebee and part beetle with fly eyes and dragonfly wings…

there's a lot of time and energy taht when in to building this costume! — There’s a lot of time and energy that when into concepting this costume!

Roberto was sure to incorporate the best features from each bug. He even threw in some spiky hair and extra long legs for added panache:)

And last but not least, the winner of the…

Most Creepy (but somewhat cute) category…

…goes to Wilomena the Wolf Spider and her four dozen back-pack babies! That’s right gang, all those little dots on her back are the kiddos. There was no holds barred when it came to Wilomena’s costume – this year, she was involving the whole family. Nothing like bringing your 57 kids along to make an everlasting impression:)

That’s a lot of eyes looking at you!

Wolf spiders are the only spiders that carry their kids around like this.

Here’s a close-up if you really want to see how that whole baby carriage works…

This picture gives Ms. Jeannie goosebumps every time!

Is Mother Nature holding auditions for a Haunted Hollow tour in your neck of the woods too? If so, You have to let Ms. Jeannie know who your winners are. Maybe next year the whole cast of characters can hit the road and go on a country-wide tour!

Seedlings and Snakes: Let the Season Begin!

Published on April 13, 2014 by In The Vintage KitchenLeave a comment

It was exactly two weeks ago today that Ms. Jeannie got going on her spring garden with the official planting of the seeds. And now here we are just 14 days later with sprouts that look like dancers…

The cucumbers and the snow peas are winning the race towards bloom day…

And the okra is not far behind…

Even the lone zinnia in the rescued and re-purposed pitcher has come to surface. Not doubt happy to have such an exotic home!

It is always fun to watch how each kind of seed unfurls…

The dill is dainty…

…while wax beans look downright pre-historic…

And then there was the sighting of an actual pre-historic…

“Just a baby,” said Mr. Jeannie Ology. This “baby” indeed, was three feet long, which was plenty long for the likes of Ms. Jeannie. Hopefully this little one will be gracious enough to stay out of the greenhouse!

Winter Wonderland!

Published on January 29, 2014January 29, 2014 by In The Vintage Kitchen6 Comments

Oh dear readers, it finally came! Snow. Right here in the South.

And nobody was more excited yesterday about this magical event then Ms. Jeannie. Well except for the birds – they seemed positively thrilled with this wintertime treat too:) The bird feeder was aflutter with activity all day long.

As the snow snow started to accumulate and the sky grew darker – the cardinals came for a visit and decorated one of the crepe myrtles just like it was a christmas trees and they were the ornaments.

Nothing brings out of every detail in the yard like a little bit of snow…

The total accumulation was one inch, which is pretty paltry compared to our northern neighbors, but when it only snows once every 3 or 4 years here that seems like a blizzard 🙂

Ms. Jeannie believes that this was BoyO’s first introduction to snow.

Frankly – he didn’t quite seem to care for it so much – preferring, instead, to dream about the snow here…

As you can see he has flawlessly worked his way from being a summer stray (okay stay but outdoor only, please!) to being an indoor kitty that now occasionally visits the great outdoors. How clever of him! At least he has wonderful house manners:)

Ms. Jeannie hopes that everyone is having a wonderful start to the New Year. It’s been quiet on the blog all month as Ms. Jeannie has been especially busy this month working on her vintage book of the month club which now has close to 80 members. Goodness gracious. It’s fun to know so many new readers:)

In the next post – you’ll see that another of Ms. Jeannie’s wishes (in addition to a good snowfall!) came true this past Christmas thanks to the lovely and talented Mr. Jeannie. Stay tuned…

Hornet House Tour: The Inside Architecture of A Nest Revealed!

Published on December 28, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen6 Comments

Oh dear readers – the nest! If you have been following along on Ms. Jeannie’s blog since the summer, you will remember the bevy of construction activity that occurred from May through November just under the eaves on the second floor of her house.

Here’s what we were all looking at half way through the project in early August…

And here is what we were looking at this morning, taken 5 months after the above picture…

The baldfaced hornet nest now 8 months old.

As you can see it just about doubled in size and changed shape quite a bit from the circular ring wrap style to a much more solid outer wall. If you use the pinholes in the eaves and the gutter as guides you’ll see precisely how much bigger the nest actually became.

The occupants…

…bald-faced hornets, left the nest about a month and a half ago. In that interim, a few high wind days started making part of the nest fray at the edges. Those two situations, combined with the fear that the whole thing might start to disintegrate, propelled Ms. Jeannie to take the nest down today. Which means today was the day for a hornet house tour!

Somehow, a hole formed at the tip of the nest possibly either from damage by the wind or a bird. This is what the tip looked like in Autumn…

And here is what it looked like this morning…

Ms. Jeannie thought at first that perhaps a bird might have made a home inside. In her mind the inside of this nest was roomy and cavernous and since it has been really cold so far this winter – this seemed like a cozy little dwelling for a feathered friend.

Before the official removal process began. Mr. Jeannie tapped on the side of the nest just in case. No birds came out – so he began to carefully separate the nest from the house. As it turns out a flat paint scraper is the perfect tool for such a task…

The nest is like a fibrous newspaper material but so thin it is was like slicing butter.

The whole nest came down in less than a minute.

It left a little bit of a muddy imprint which will easily come off with a brush and some water. It’s amazing how the whole thing clung on there with so little binder.

And now for a look at the inside…

It looks like a honeycomb! The white parts are cobwebby bundles of babies that never made it.

The whole entire nest is made up of these thin ribbons of paper-like material that go every which way. So much for Ms. Jeannie’s idea of a hollow interior!

Between some of the layers there are more cobwebby waffle cone colonies…

and others are hard and waxy and smooth to the touch…

And look, dear readers, some of the lady bugs from November did decide to move in!

They are probably not too happy about the relocation process, but this is a great example of nature helping nature. One creature’s abandoned housing project is another’s apartment building.

So now we know, after all these month’s just exactly what those hornets were working on. Overall, the nest weighs about one pound and measures 16″ inches (length) x 9″ inches (width) x 8″ inches (depth) and smells very faintly like spring dirt.

It is so very fragile that Ms. Jeannie is afraid to handle it much. She is completely amazed by the fact that this hung out of doors, exposed to all the elements for seven long months while hundreds of flyers went in and out and around it. It survived wind, hail, heavy rain, hot Georgia sun, humidity and freezing temperatures, not to mention, birth, death and new tenants.

What a good little nest:) Nature is such a marvel. Ms. Jeannie can hardly wait to see what is in store for this new year!

Swarm’s a Brewin’: A Prediction Has Been Made!

Published on November 1, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen4 Comments

On Wednesday, Ms. Jeannie walked out her door right into a storm cloud. Not the fluffy white ones you see in the sky but an air combat show performed by hundreds of lady bugs. Goodness gracious – what could all this be about?

The screened porch was a bed of activity…

As were the doors and windows on this one particular side of the house…

Good thing the door knob on this screen door broke off last summer - otherise I think they might have used it to come on in! — Good thing the door knob on this screen door broke off last summer – otherwise I think they might have used it to come on in!

At first Ms. Jeannie thought that all these lady bugs might have something to with the 14ft. holly bush on the side of the house. But then she looked up to at the hornet’s nest and saw that so many were gathering up in that area…

There were so many lady bugs flying through the air that it was difficult to take pictures. They’d land on the camera lens, on Ms. Jeannie’s hands and in her hair – they really were everywhere!

Even the baldfaced hornet’s were a little wary of these surprise invaders. you can see one hornet peaking out behind the wood trim here just as the little ladies were moving up the gutter…

Were they trying to take over the nest?

After doing a little bit of research, Ms. Jeannie discovered that lady bugs were swarming all over Northeast Georgia on Wednesday. It was nice to know that she wasn’t alone in this matter!

Apparently, the lady bugs chose a balmy 75 degree day to move in. Not to the hornet’s nest though – they wanted to move in with Ms. Jeannie! According to nature folklore, lady bugs are little weather predictors for the coming season. And when they arrive by the hundreds that is your warning to batten down the hatches because it is going to be a cold winter. The lady bugs in ms. Jeannie’s neighborhood were out real estate shopping for a warm and cozy winter home!

All this makes sense, but it is curious as to why they chose Wednesday for their invasion, and even more curious as to why it was only a one day affair, particularly since the weather has been warm all week. On Thursday there was no sign of them anywhere – not even a few stragglers. And since everything is sealed up on that side of the house, (hopefully!) Ms. Jeannie wonders where they all went. Perhaps they did move in with the hornets. Ms. Jeannie will keep her eye out and keep you posted.

In the meantime, she hopes everyone had a great Halloween. She was late wishing you a happy holiday yesterday, but luckily she got her pumpkin carved in time for trick or treaters last night. This year she went with an owl theme. It was also the first time she tried her hand at a relief style carving. Hope you had a spook-tacular day!

The Colors of a Southern Autumn

Published on October 23, 2013October 23, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen4 Comments

Fall colors are just starting to seep into the autumn landscape here in the South. Usually, in Ms. Jeannie’s area, peak fall foliage time hits in early November, a couple of weeks before the Thanksgiving holiday, so we are just at the very start of the season now. But today was a blustery day, with leaves flying all over the yard and Ms. Jeannie couldn’t help but admire all the pretty colors turning from green to gold to rust that had just started occurring these past few days.

Primarily from mid Georgia to south Georgia the state is made up of pine trees, which of course are green all year round, so in order to get a fill of fall foliage, one must look to the decorative trees. Here are a few samplings of some traditional (non-pine!) Southern trees on their colorful journey from summer to fall…

The Scuppernong Grape Vine — The Scuppernong Grapevine

When the afternoon sun hits the grapevine it is like a giant light has been turned on inside the vines. So bright that it almost hurts your eyes to look at!

And Ms. Jeannie’s most favorite…

The Magnolia tree is really the grand spectacle of fall foliage in the South. All these leaves come from the same tree and were picked on the same day, so as you can see it is a colorful character in Fall. Ms. Jeannie thinks it is Mother Nature’s equivalent to the argyle sweater, with all of its blocks of repeating solids! The color range is spectacular. In the picture – the center leaf is a metallic silver, but can also count copper, lime, canary yellow, russet, pumpkin, neon green, chocolate brown, amber , hazel, emerald and cinnamon among its many shades. Fascinating that all that could be on tree at the same time. Add some pretty smelling, dinner plate size magnolia flowers to the mix and the tree is absolutely perfect!

Many Southerners use the leaves as garlands for their front porches and mantle pieces. Holiday time in the South really is a beautiful experience.

Magnolia garland for the mantle. Photo via pinterest.

Magnolia garland for the front door. Photo courtesy of RSHcatalog.com

An unexpected surprise occurred when Ms. Jeannie took a first time road trip to the North Georgia mountains, in early November, several years ago. About an hour away, near Blue Ridge, Georgia, the trees offer up a completely different view of the season…

There, the foliage rivals the best of any Vermont town. Red, green, orange, yellow, brown – one tree after another just gets prettier and prettier. And because it is up in the mountains – the air is crispy, the roads windy and the fruit stands plentiful. Whenever Mr. Jeannie and Ms. Jeannie get a little nostalgic for their New England Autumns of past, they make a trek up to the mountains. Close your eyes for a second and then open – and tah-dah you could very seemingly be in Vermont! To give you an idea of the dazzling array of color – here are a few pictures courtesy of pinterest – that were taken in the North Georgia mountains…

Ms. Jeannie is making a trip up to the mountains in the next couple of weeks, so that she can go apple picking. It’s officially time for apple pie season! So stayed tuned for more fall foliage pictures to come!

In the meantime, are leaves changing in your neck of the woods yet? If so, what color palette is Mother Nature painting with in your yard?

Summer’s Cast of Characters

Published on September 16, 2013September 17, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen10 Comments

This past weekend ushered in the first cool weather of the approaching Fall season. The temperatures brought 75 degree days and 55 degree nights, which means that Autumn is definitely on its way. How exciting! Ms. Jeannie just loves this time of year between September and Christmas.

In an effort, not to rush the season, nor lose sight of any end of summer magic, Ms. Jeannie has been compiling a little nature journal for you, of all the creatures she’s encountered in these past few weeks. They have all made her summer so memorable!

The goldfinches have been hard at work collecting seeds from the coneflowers in the garden…

It’s precarious business – getting all the seeds while still keeping your balance!

Boy-O is still looking for just the right nanny job. This is still his favorite way to spend the day…

Tomorrow morning he goes in for a little “procedure” so he doesn’t populate the world with his own little nursery full of kittens. As cute as those little legacies would have been, Ms. Jeannie explained to him that all of tomorrow’s events were really for the best. He seemed pretty thoughtful about the whole thing during the conversation…

And then went right back to napping. “Piece of cake, Ms. Jeannie,” he meowed as he closed his eyes.

The little fig that Boy-O was looking after, unfortunately has not faired so well. It got caught up in a dramatic bird rescue (see hummer story below), which cost it it’s two little leaves. So we are back again, watering and waiting!

A hummingbird got caught in a spider web inside Ms. Jeannie’s screened in porch last week. Luckily, with the help of a step ladder and an umbrella he was freed before he really started to panic. This incident really caught Ms. Jeannie off-guard – imagine how fragile a creature these hummers really are, and how strong spider webs are. This was just a regular web – nothing gigantic about it. And webs are everywhere in nature. Could they really be such a peril to light little birds?

After some research, Ms. Jeannie learned that hummingbirds actually use cobwebs as a binder when making their nests, so eventually this little bird would most likely have worked himself free. But Ms. Jeannie was thankful anyway for Mr. Jeannie’s quick abilities in rescuing this little flyer…

Billy Bob and Betty Boop have moved onto greener pastures. Apparently, Ms. Jeannie’s neighborhood didn’t really take too well to all of Billy Bob’s antics. He was constantly getting his head stuck in the fence, head butting just about everything, and climbing all over the feed bucket at dinner time. Ms. Jeannie thought these were supposed to be the fun things about having goats – their comical personalities and theatrical displays – but Ms. Jeannie’s neighbor was looking for less dramatics.

The day before they left for their new home, Ms. Jeannie filled them full of Saltine crackers – their most favorite snack.

Billy Bob most appreciated it!

Due to all of our rain this summer, giant mushrooms are growing out of the trees down by the creek, which really has turned it into a magical forest. Ms. Jeannie is half expecting to see little gnomes or fairies pop out from behind those umbrellas!

They really are quite pretty when you look at them up close!

Right on schedule and just in time for fall, a new zig-zag spider, also has built a web in a bush along the driveway.

She’s about as big as an egg from leg to leg. Hopefully those hummers will stay clear of her area!

The resident red-tailed hawks have been on the hunt a lot lately.

One of them landed in the yard just as Ms. Jeannie was pulling in the driveway. Oh how she wished she had her camera with her on that day! The hawk was about 2′ tall and just stood in the yard for a few minutes watching Ms. Jeannie watch him. It was a marvelous moment.

A blue tailed lizard, also known as a skink, emerges every evening now from its home underneath the porch steps and hangs out on the brick window ledge for a few hours.

If you’ve never seen of these guys before – they are really colorful. Their tails are a bright, bright blue and their bodies are black with yellow stripes. Interesting enough – if under attack from a predator, they can voluntarily pop-off their own tails, which will still wiggle about and deter whatever it was that was chasing them so that they can get away and hide. Eventually their tales will grow back – although their new tails will no longer be blue but instead match the color of their body. The ones with blue tails are the babies of the bunch.

These little guys have been jumping around the garden for weeks now. They are also the dinnertime band when Mr. & Mrs. Jeannie eat outside on the patio. In this picture, they are rehearsing in Ms. Jeannie’s wax bean garden. It’s good to know Ms. Jeannie’s twig supports are coming in handy for other activities too!

The scuppernong grapes are just starting to ripen on the vines. A few more days of warm sunshine and Ms. Jeannie will be inundated!

Which is exciting, because it turned out to be a dud year for the figs. With all the rain and humidity, 90% of the figs just molded in all the moisture. Most of them wound up looking like this…

Which of course was a little disappointing because Mr. Jeannie really hoped to perfect his fig barbeque sauce this year. But Ms. Jeannie’s holding out hope – there is a second batch of figs which, now that our sunshine to rainfall ratio has balanced out, might just turn out a good batch of figs yet. Here’s the ones that are still growing…

Of course, the construction site hasn’t been affected by the weather whatsoever. Those bald-faced hornets keep going and going and going. Now their nest has taken on the look of a pig snout when viewed from below and a horn of plenty (no pun intended!) when viewed from the side. Maybe they are getting into the Thanksgiving mood:)

As you can tell in this picture below – they have completely sandwiched themselves against the gutter now. It will be interesting to see in which direction they go next!

And last, but not least, a little concrete flower greeted Ms. Jeannie this morning when she went she out to water. This was a marvelous surprise, especially because Ms. Jeannie did not plant any impatiens this year – only last year. And yet, here this little beauty is – growing out of a crack in the concrete right under the garden hose. Imagine such a feat! This little seed must have overwintered and waited all summer to grow, grow, grow. She is like a little last gift of summer before the Autumn settles in.

Ms. Jeannie can hardly wait to see what the next season has in store in the nature department!

Under Construction: Part One

Published on August 7, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen10 Comments

All summer long Ms. Jeannie’s house has been under construction. A new addition (or wing) as Mr. Jeannie Ology likes to call it, is being added just off the second floor guest room. Here’s a photograph of the work that is being done…

The workers have been hard at their project since early May. When Ms. Jeannie first noticed the activity, their scaffolding was the size of a golf ball. Now, it is the size of a 20lb. Thanksgiving turkey…

Ms. Jeannie thinks the architect on this crew was inspired by Frank Llyod Wright’s Guggenheim Museum in NYC …

Or the turban style head pieces seen often in India and the Middle East…

Alas, there are no hats to be worn on this job site! The construction crew at Ms. Jeannie’s have a style all their own. These guys are bald faced hornets – tough little critters that are actually part of the wasp family.

They build their nests out of strips of chewed up wood and saliva, which wraps (literally!) around the interior comb protecting the queen and her babies. Up to 400 wasps can live in a nest this big – and from all the buzzing and commotion going on, in and around this nest, Ms. Jeannie is sure the structure is at capacity.

When the nest was about the size of a grapefruit, the pest company came out to look at it. They said because of the positioning – between the house and the gutter – that it wouldn’t get much bigger. Ha! It has doubled about five times since that day. The pest company offered two solutions. They could come geared up in hazmat suits and “dust” the nest which may or may not get rid of them all or we could all just wait until Fall when the weather turns cold and they would abandon the nest themselves.

Ms. Jeannie liked option 2 the best. The nest is high up off the ground and bald faced hornets eat mosquitos and flys and caterpillar types in the garden. They only get troublesome if you bother them and since they are now residing in an out of the way area, Ms. Jeannie is not really concerned. Plus, she thinks it might be fun to see just how much bigger this nest could actually get and to see if she can take it down and inspect it more closely once all the wasps leave in Autumn.

So this is a TOO BE CONTINUED post. We’ll check back in a couple of months for our own private unveiling of the Guggenheim Georgia! in the meantime, if you’ve had any encounters with our construction crew in the past please share your comments!

The Day Aunt Lorraine Inspired A Storm Sale!

Published on July 7, 2013 by In The Vintage KitchenLeave a comment

It’s a gusher around here! 7.5″ inches of rain in 3 days.

Just about everything seems waterlogged. The grass is spongy, the first figs showed up fat and bloated, the creek overflowed and flooded the banks. Goodness gracious, what would Aunt Lorraine think?

Aunt Lorraine? But who is that again, Ms. Jeannie?

Well my dears, Aunt Lorraine is that lovely, thoughtful woman that gave young Burt that wonderful gift of a book called Storms: Their Origins And Effects, back in 1966.

Vintage 1966 Children's Book available in Ms. Jeannie's shop. Click for more info. — Vintage 1966 Children’s Book available in Ms. Jeannie’s shop. Click for more info.

In her inscription, she wrote the following:

Dear Burt: I hope you don’t find this book “too childish” – I still enjoy studying it. Hope you have a nice birthday. Love Aunt Lorraine.

She pasted her note into the book on lined notebook paper.

In honor of the Aunt Lorraines of the world – who enjoy a good storm and see in them, the joy that they can bring to others, Ms. Jeannie is hosting a two day storm sale in her shop. Now through Tuesday evening take an additional 25% of all items using coupon code: STORMY upon checkout.

Happy shopping!

Twitter and the Birdbath

Published on July 5, 2013July 5, 2013 by In The Vintage Kitchen4 Comments

Happy (post) 4th of July! It was a rainy one here in Ms. Jeannie’s neck of the woods, so instead of traditional fireworks, she and Mr. Jeannie watched fireflies, grilled in the rain and made frozen lemon mousse for dessert (recipes coming soon!). It was a magnificently delicious day.

It has been so stormy here for the past week, but luckily, this afternoon, there was a brief break in the clouds and the sun appeared for a little bit. And do you know what , dear readers? No one seemed more excited about this occurrence than the birds, whom immediately took to the birdbath. This seemed sort of ironic to Ms. Jeannie – but who is she really, to question the bathing habits of her feathered friends.

Anyway, it was a bevy of activity. A veritable line up of birds, waiting patiently to get in. Some opted for a full fledged bath…

While another bird just opted just to get his feet wet and wade about…

Mockingbird was making a big production of his pool time. The others were in and out in a flash…

But that Mockingbird, he just wanted to take his time.

wading — Sort of la-de-dah-ing away the afternoon.

The other birds thought they could share the pool – but Mockingbird would have none of it. “Wait your turn,” he said.

Wait your turn. I'm not done yet. — I’m not done yet.

But Mother Nature knew how to reprimand his inability to share, for as soon as he chased Brown Thrasher away, the sun disappered, the thunder rumbled and the rain came down again…

Rained out. — Bath time’s over. The pool is closed.

Now Mockingbird is nowhere to be seen. But you can bet he’s close by. Ms. Jeannie is just sure that he’ll be the first one pack in the pool once the sky clears again:)

On another bird front…Ms. Jeannie is pleased to announce that she has joined the great big blue bird’s nest on the internet…Twitter!

She’s not quite sure how to use it all yet – but she’ll get there eventually. You can keep up with her here if you are around the neighborhood. She looks forward to expanding her horizons and reading all that you post. So of course, if you are on Twitter as well, please let Ms. Jeannie know so that she can follow along with you.

Cheers to a sunnier weekend!