Happy First Day of Spring, dear readers! After what seemed like an especially long, gray winter, Ms. Jeannie couldn’t be more thrilled to brighten up with some pastel colors and warm sunshine.
Ms. Jeannie’s 1949 Vintage Flash Card reminds us that spring has come again:)
To mark the occasion, Ms. Jeannie is taking you on a little photo tour of all things blooming here in her yard.
Sixteen Bradford Pear trees line the driveway, 8 on each side. They look spectacular in the Spring. In a few more weeks they will start dropping their petals, which look like a flurry of snow when the wind blows. Ms. Jeannie has to get her snow-fix anyway she can:)
If she were a bird, Ms. Jeannie would definitely follow suit of this brown thrasher and make a nest here in the tulip tree. He’s quite proud of this new abode and stays pretty close to home. Ms. Jeannie can totally understand why. If you lived in a tulip tree would you go wandering as much?
Ms. Jeannie was surprised to find the rosemary bush blooming also. For some reason, the idea that rosemary even blooms always surprises her, maybe because it is a year round evergreen in the South. Since it grows big quickly it is used in a lot of landscaping as a filler plant. When Ms. Jeannie lived up North, she never imagined that rosemary could get so big. But this particular bush is 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall!
The bright yellow forsythia bushes are like balls of sunshine popping up all over the yard! This particular batch sits next to the now famous fig bushes that you all have read about in past posts.
And of course there are the clusters of daffodils here and there. One day Ms. Jeannie is going to have a giant patch of all different varieties of daffodils. They are one of her most favorite flowers and really perk up the garden in early spring.
The Austrian poet and writer, Rainer Maria Rilke once said ” Spring is blooming so recklessly, if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking in the night.” Ms. Jeannie couldn’t agree more, although she likes to imagine there would be singing in the night instead of shrieking! Maybe Vivaldi felt the same when he composed the Four Seasons concerto!
This is the text of the Spring Sonnet, which is as lovely to read as it is to listen to!
Spring has come and joyfully the birds greet it with happy song, and the brooks, while the streams flow along with gentle murmur as the zephyrs blow. There come, shrouding the air with a black cloak, lighting and thunder chosen to herald [the storm]; then, when these are silent, the little birds return to their melodious incantations.
And now, in the pleasant, flowery meadow, to the soft murmur of leaves and plants, the goatherd sleeps with his faithful dog at his side.
To the festive sound of a pastoral bagpipe, nymphs and shepherds dance under their beloved roof, greeting the glittering arrival of the spring.
If you’d like to share any pictures of spring arriving in your neck of the woods, Ms. Jeannie would love to post them on the blog as a spring around the world campaign. Just comment below and she’ll get it all arranged!
Last week was a big week for the Catholic church with the announcement of new pope, Francis…
Pope Francis, aka Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Photo courtesy of countercurrents.org
Likewise – it was also a big week in the Ology household on a somewhat similar front. For close to a year now, Ms. Jeannie has been trying to identify the saint in her vintage Italian Catholic icon, that sits above her writing desk…
It was tricky business, because there a lot of saints of course, and their simple appearance and plain portrayals don’t allow for ease of searching. Just try doing a search for “saint in white and brown robes” and you’ll see what Ms. Jeannie means!
But luck or divine inspiration,as it might be, intervened earlier in the week which led one thing to another. Ms. Jeannie will explain…
It started with this collection of favorite items Ms. Jeannie curated on Etsy…
Gray Dress by natfulCardinal Watercolor Painting by SplodgelodgeLondon Church Door Photography by Jillian Audrey DesignsAntique Coral Rosary from theDeepsCardinal Red Flower Pin & Hair Clip from ArtTxVintage 1950s Mantilla Veil from Union Made Bride8 Vintage Religious Medals from Albrechts AntiquesVintage Set of Catholic Press Books from vintage archeologyMary, Mother of God Art Print by Portraits of SaintsCardinal Red Leather Tote Bag by Boga BagHandmade Vintage French Silk Ribbon Bracelet Cuff by RubanesqueVintage Concrete St. Francis of Assisi StatueRed Rose Photograph by B Linton PhotographyVintage French Holy Water Font from French ProvisionsVintage Ruby Red Glass Chimney from Albrechts AntiquesSt. Peters Cathedral Photograph by Shawn St. Peter
This is how Ms. Jeannie was introduced to Tracy from Portraits of Saints, who drew the beautiful Mary portrait…
Mary, Mother of God Art Print by Portraits of Saints
Since her shop is called Portraits of Saints, Ms. Jeannie thought she might know who the saint was pictured in her icon. So Ms. Jeannie sent Tracy a message and wouldn’t you believe it, in about 10 minutes Tracy came back with an answer! (It really does help to ask the experts!)
Ms. Jeannie’s icon is a portrait of St. Clare, a detail from the Five Saints frescoe painted by one of Italy’s greatest 14th century painters, Simone Martini (1285-1344).
St. Clare by Simone Martini
St. Clare was born in Assisi in 1194 and was one of the first followers of St. Francis of Assisi, who our new Pope chose as his Saint’s name. She ran away from home, cut off her hair, lived in a poorhouse, wore no shoes and ate no meat. She founded the Order of the Poor Ladies (eventually to be called the Order of the Poor Clares) along with a group of women and lived in poverty throughout her life. She was canonized on August 15th, 1255, two years after her death.
Ms. Jeannie is so thrilled to be able to put a name to a face now! Welcome home St. Clare!
Thank you thank you thank you to Tracy for the introduction. And now you know if you have any saint identification needs, she’s your gal!
Just as Ms. Jeannie said the other day “it’s amazing what a month can do” … well, it is equally amazing just to see what a a week can do when it comes to the wonderful workings of Mother Nature.
This was a picture of our fig tree cutting 11 days ago, having been snuggled into a moist grocery circular and tucked in a plastic Ziploc bag for just under a month…
After 4 weeks in a ziploc bag!
Do you see the little the root sprout jutting out there near the base?! A good sign that our fig clipping was getting a new start! Ms. Jeannie was so proud of little fig. She thought it might be best to wrap him back up into the Ziploc for another week or two to see if he could grow some more shoots. After that he was going to be transplanted to a plastic cup filled with vermiculite, as recommended by the NewEnglandGardener.
Well, wouldn’t you know dear readers, as Ms. Jeannie was showing off her new gardening feat to a friend – she somehow managed to break off the new sprout. That’s right – completely broke it off – right at the base. Ms. Jeannie thought this was a reminder about vanity. Had she not been showing off – she would have had a strong and sturdy sprout!
Oh well. Back to the Ziploc the clipping went. If Fig could grow one sprout – surely he grow another!
Back to bed…
For 10 days, Ms. Jeannie left it untouched. Yesterday, on Day 11, she (carefully this time!) unwrapped her clipping to see what , if anything was going on with it. This is what she saw…
Sprouts! Not just one but FOUR!
How exciting! The fig tree is on its way!
So the next step, according to the NewEnglandGardener, was to transplant the clipping to a plastic drinking cup filled with vermiculite. Ms. Jeannie allocated a plastic cup, Mr. Jeannie melted a few drainage holes in it, and Ms. Jeannie prepared for the transplant. Only there was one slight problem.
Ms. Jeannie didn’t have any vermiculite on hand. No problem, said the NewEnglandGardener. Thanks to his video, he also mentioned that you could use perlite. But, drat, again. Ms. Jeannie didn’t have any of that either.
So she she went online and found a potting soil/peanut shell alternative. She had both of those! She shelled about 10 peanuts, and mixed those shells with a handful of potting soil and made a new home for her clipping…
The NewEnglandGardener recommended using a clear plastic cup so that you can see the roots as they start to grow long and wrap around the inside of the cup.
Peanut shells act as lightweight soil aeration chips since they are big and cavernous.
Hope you like your new house, Fig! Now it is back to the shelf, where you’ll sit (out of the direct sun, of course!) for quite a bit of time while you grow roots and eventually leaves.
“I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!” ~John Muir
Happy Growing!
To follow the fig tree clipping journey from the beginning, start here.
Two weeks ago Ms. Jeannie held a little photo story contest on her blog with the chance to win this vintage photo…
The prize!
Well, we didn’t have any entrants, dear readers. Not one! But that is okay by Ms. Jeannie. This gives her another opportunity to exercise her imagination! She had been looking at this photograph for quite awhile now, trying to imagine all the scenarios and possibilities these two ladies could have gotten themselves into. For days and days she looked and thought, but she couldn’t get beyond a sentence or two. Not even with the handwritten prompt on back that read Grace and me. I have on Grace’s hat and she has mine on.
To help the story develop, Ms. Jeannie threw two other photographs into the mix…
and then the story just opened up a like a sunny spring flower!
Here’s the situation, Ms. Jeannie came up with, based on the three pictures…
Rudyard Noble just drove onto Main Street and already the telephone lines were hot with gossip. Word had it that Rudyard was here on a visit specifically to see Grace Dalton, who at the present moment was on a ladder in the rafters of her parents garage shed. There had been speculation of letters exchanged between Grace and Rudyard over an entire year, but this matter was not discussed publicly. Speculation of the Mayor’s family had to be handled delicately, and as first daughter of Wayfaire, the politics and private matters concerning Grace’s love life, although enticing, had to be considered off public record, for the betterment of the community at large. No one wanted to get on the bad side of the Mayor with that temper of his flaring up like wildfire in the July heat.
That being said, this was a horse racing community, and quiet bets were being hedged in every household. Everyone knew that Sam of Sam’s Machine Repair was doing his best to court Grace all the way to the alter.
But now it seems there was to be some sort of competition for Grace’s heart and it was going to be tough. Rudyard was a self-made man with a booming business back in New York, with the looks of a movie star and the language of a literary lover. Sam on the other hand, came from more humble roots. He worked with his hands, studied engineering and fiddled around with the science of botony enough to surprise Grace with a hybrid of wildflower wonders in his backyard garden. The linchpin was that new car of Rudyard’s.
You see, Grace had a curious head for business. Not for the political glad-handing of her father’s world, but for the basics of profit and loss. She and Daisy, her very best girlfriend since grade school, had started a little hat business, which is what brought Grace into the storage shed on this very day.
Their business at first was just simple repairs…loose threads, ill-attached decorations, flopping flowers, etc. These quick fixes garnered the girls enough money to go to the cinema once a week, where they delighted in the costumes of Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Inspired, the girls began to feel the excitement in creating and then selling their own designs, based on popular movies of the day. Grace didn’t fancy herself as talented a milliner as Daisy, but she did have a special calming knack for dealing with customers and keeping the books figured correctly and organizing ads in the local newspaper. They became quite a little team.
That’s where Rudyard came in. Daisy had dreams of taking their business as far as Kentucky…to Lexington, the creative epi-center of the hat wearing kingdom. But Grace, although more timid in personality, had bolder ideas. She wanted to get to New York, to London, to Paris with their business. She wanted to walk in the footsteps of Coco Chanel and decorate the heads of movie stars and royalty.
Rudyard had left Wayfaire exactly four years ago this summer, and he was already such a tycoon in the New York business scene, he afforded his own fully furnished 5th Avenue apartment, a country Hudson River house upstate and now, his very own automobile. In their year of correspondence, Rudyard had become Grace’s university on big city enterprise, offering her step by step practicalities of what it would take to make it in Manhattan.
While this correspondence was building between Grace and Rudyard, Daisy was building something of her own as well – a love affair with Harry, Sam’s brother.
In addition now to hats, Daisy also dreamed of wedding dresses and babies and a house of her own. There was still lots of room for business in that head of hers, but Daisy was a prioritzer and Harry was arduant, so more often then not, Grace would catch Daisy sketching farmhouses instead of feathers, baby clothes instead of berets.
All this wedding talk on his brother’s behalf, got Sam thinking about his own future. He sat back all summer long and listened to Grace’s lyrical way with the language of hats and he wondered where he fit in to her whole new enterprise. Grace might be shy when it came to words of love but ask her about a certain style of brim or the cleaning and care of a certain type of fabric and she could talk for hours. He loved the idea of her determination but he also loved the idea of having a wife. And in all of the word’s spoken from Grace’s pale pink lips, she never once mentioned the word marriage to Sam. He noticed this. He was listening hard for some prompt or sign to keep encouraging him down the road of matrimony. He had grown quite used to Grace and he could picture her face settled into the same farm lifestyle that he wanted with her arms full of chickens and freshly baked bread and summer evenings on a porch in Wayfaire.
But now Rudyard is here, shiny and sophisticated and equally fond of Grace and her ways with language. Daisy’s gone to get Grace down from the rafters in the shed. She’ll have to pull the cobwebs from her hair and exchange her hat for Grace’s hat since Daisy’s style looks better with Grace’s dress.
Sam does his own rearranging. He puts on a tie – his one and only tie. If today is the day he is going to propose, he at least wants to do it properly. Harry says it is a rash decision. Hang back and see how Rudyard plays out – those are the words of advice Harry offers as they walk the back road shortcut to Grace’s house.
{to be continued} Look for more on this saga in coming blog posts!
Meanwhile, the trio of photographs is now available for sale in Ms. Jeannie’s shop here.
Spring is waking up slowly here in the South. The nights are still cold but the afternoons reach into the early ’60’s on most days now. This afternoon warming makes for delicious stolen moments around the 4:00pm hour when Ms. Jeannie likes to take a cup of coffee outside with her and dream about all the potential and possibility for her garden plan this coming season.
In anticipation of all this gardening, Ms. Jeannie has been going through some of her favorite recipes so that she can figure out what she needs to grow so that she’ll have the freshest ingredients possible. One of her most favorite things to make is soup, so you’ll be sure there will be a variety of vegetables popping up!
In anticipation of such gardening delights and in anticipation of the upcoming Irish holiday, Ms. Jeannie cooked up one of her most favorite soups…potato!
Creamy Potato Soup
This recipe came from her Irish Isles cookbook, which was a birthday gift this past summer from her dad.
Straight from Ireland – music and recipes! Photo courtesy of irishshop.com
Not only was it a gift of recipes – but it also came with a cd of classical Irish music, which made for a well-rounded cooking experience!
This was a very sentimental gift for Ms. Jeannie. Many years ago, she took a father daughter trip to Ireland and together, they explored the Southern countryside for 10 days. They stayed at 3 different hotels and visited about half a dozen cities and towns. There were sheep (so many!), crazy drivers, the perilous N7 , endless Frank Sinatra on the radio, fabulous museums, trips to the lace-makers, dinners in castles, driving tours of coastal fishing villages, a wet and wild tour of the Cliffs of Moher, lunches in pubs and a million miles of laughter in-between. It was a fantastic trip – one of Ms. Jeannie’s most favorite of all her travel adventures.
This cookbook is a compilation of recipes from the country hotels and manor houses all over Ireland. There are even some recipes from the places where Ms. Jeannie and her dad stayed!
The Leek and Potato Soup Recipe that Ms. Jeannie just made comes from Newport House in County Mayo.
Newport House, County Mayo. Love all that ivy!
Built in the 1700’s, the country estate is now part of the Relais & Chateaux distinguished hotel group. It is a small, luxury country inn known most for its location overlooking the Newport River and its salmon and sea trout fishing, both in the river and in nearby waterways. The current owners, who were originally guests at the hotel, so fell in love with their accommodations they bought the hotel in the mid-1980’s to ensure that they would always have a fishing retreat to “come home to.” Imagine that! Going on vacation and purchasing your vacation destination because you loved it that much! Ms. Jeannie can totally understand – Ireland is magical like that:)
Here are some interior photos. The owners have decorated the hotel in a variety of antiques including Regency style mirrors. It looks like it has a lot of character!
The waterways surrounding the town of Newport. Photo courtesy of australiantraveller.net
It’s no wonder that soup is on the menu at Newport House. After a cool day of fishing on the water, Ms. Jeannie bets that a cup of hot potato soup is just what you’d want to have! She was delighted to see that it is still on the menu in the hotel’s dining room!
Ms. Jeannie’s Leek and Potato Soup…
Ms. Jeannie modified the recipe just a tad to incorporate items she already had on hand, which included a few bunches of fresh spinach tossed in at the very end.
Here’s the recipe, with Ms. Jeannie’s substitutions in parentheses…
Leek and Potato Soup – Serves 4
4 tablespoons butter (Ms. Jeannie used 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter)
1 1/4 lbs. leeks, cleaned and sliced
1 cup onion, chopped
3/4 cup celery, chopped
4 cups homemade chicken broth
8 to 10 oz. potatoes, peeled and chopped (Ms. Jeannie used 2 large russet baking potatoes)
1 spring fresh thyme, leaves pulled
1 fresh sage leaf, whole
Salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (Ms. Jeannie used 1/2 cup of 2% milk)
2 large handful bunches of fresh spinach
1. In a large saucepan melt butter (and oil, if using Ms. Jeannie’s version) over medium low heat. Add leeks, onion and celery and saute until onions are translucent but not browned (about 5-7 minutes).
2. Add the chicken broth, potatoes, thyme and sage. Simmer for 20 minutes until potatoes are tender.
3. Transfer to a blender and puree. Return soup to original cooking pot, add cream (or milk) and salt and pepper. Fold in spinach and cook over low heat for 5 more minutes before serving.
Ms. Jeannie served her soup with a multi-grain baguette which was good for dipping! And, despite having only a 1/2 cup of cream (or milk in Ms. Jeannie’s case) this is an incredibly creamy soup once it is pureed. And it is quick to make with few ingredients! Thank you Ireland for making dinner simple and delicious!!!
Over the next couple of weeks, leading up to St. Patrick’s Day (Mr. Jeannie Ology’s heritage day!), Ms. Jeannie will be trying the recipes in the cookbook from the hotels and country houses she and her dad stayed in on their vacation. These are sneak peeks of three of them…
The Park Hotel in Kenmare, County Kerry (Ms. Jeannie’s favorite!)Dromoland Castle in County ClareThe Shelbourne Hotel on St. Stephens Green in Dublin
Until next time…Slainte, dear readers! Which means cheers in Irish:)
After carefully cutting, wrapping, storing and dating (January 31st, 2013) her fig cutting as the NewEnglandGardener instructed, Ms. Jeannie was a little disappointed when she checked the clipping a week ago, only to see that nothing happened.
For three weeks the clipping had been tucked inside it’s plastic Ziploc, stored in a warm spot (on a shelf in the stairwell) and left unbothered to grow, grow, grow. But as of last week, the twig still looked exactly the same as when she started. No sprouts, no new green, no shoots. In the NewEngland Gardeners video, he already had sprouts after three weeks, so Ms. Jeannie worried that, perhaps, she had done something wrong and that she may have led her readers down a rocky garden path.
In speaking with a friend of hers about this matter, Ms. Jeannie learned another way that you could grow a fig clipping.
Method 2: Rooting a fig twig in a container of water.
In water! So Ms. Jeannie went out, cut another twig and placed that one in a jar of water and set it on her sill away from the sun.
This morning, she checked the status of both the Ziploc bag and the jar. This would now now be week 4 for the Ziploc bag and week 2 for the jar.
She was delighted to find this in her bag:
After 4 weeks in a ziploc bag!
Look closely and you’ll see a sprout at the very base of the twig…
A sprout!
Yey! Ms. Jeannie must have been a little impatient last week. This is a good reminder that you can’t rush Mother Nature. She is ready, when she’s ready!
The grocery circular that Ms. Jeannie wrapped the twig in is still moist, even though she has never added any more water since the start, and it is a little spotted with mold…
Still damp!
The Ziploc bag also contains condensation…
Condensation bubbles
…so essentially, Ms. Jeannie created her own little greenhouse!
Nothing’s happening with the twig in the jar of water yet, but now Ms. Jeannie knows just to give it time!
So what’s next for the sprouted twig? Well, Ms. Jeannie is going to keep it in the Ziploc for one more week to see if any new shoots will form and then transfer it to a shoe-box size plastic container with potting soil as the NorthernGardener suggested. In the meantime, she’ll keep her eye on the water twig to see what happens.
Until next time, dear readers, grow fearless!
Grow Fearless Art Print by Feed Your Soul Art on Etsy
And don’t forget! You have until midnight tonight to enter to win this photograph (click on the ladies for contest information)…
When Ms. Jeannie first started doing her genealogy research, the holy grail of success for her was finding the faces of her ancestors. She worked close to a year before she uncovered any. Ironically, that first photo that opened up the pictorial floodgates, was right under her nose… in an album Ms. Jeannie’s mom had forgotten about in the back of a closet!
The day Ms. Jeannie looked at the face of her great great grandmother Martha, for the first time, she was so overcome with emotion, she cried!
The first picture of great great grandmother Martha (on right)
Silly but true. Ms. Jeannie is not really the weepy kind, after all. Anyway, she just got caught up in the moment. All those months of researching Martha’s life – her 11 kids, her journey in covered wagon from Indiana to Ohio to Iowa, her husband’s military service in the Civil War, her farm life in Iowa… all those details rolling around Ms. Jeannie’s head for all that time. And then suddenly – there was Martha! There was the shape of her face, the evidence of glasses, the style of her hair.
Since then, through help from online forums like ancestry.com and genealogy.com and the kindness of sharers, Ms, Jeannie has found handfuls of family photos. Her family. Spread out over many trees, many lines and many countries. These are some of the more recent finds…
Great Grand Aunt Anna’s house in IowaGreat Great Grandfather AlbertFourth Great Grandparents Maria & GarretGreat Grand Uncle J. WilliamGrand Aunt LeonaGreat Grandmother Juna and her sister Hannah
Had she never done the research, Ms. Jeannie would never have known what any of these people looked like. With the exception of great grandmother Juna, these were all brand-new faces of family.
Ms. Jeannie likes to look at these pictures and think about the context in which they were taken. What was great Aunt Leona thinking about? Why were Juna and Hannah wearing paper dresses? What was the pin on the lapel of J. William? Noticing small details like this paints a vivid picture for the imagination!
In the same vain, whenever Ms. Jeannie comes across old photographs for sale, she can’t help but do the same exact thing – she thinks about the back story surrounding each image. She has several examples of this in her Etsy shop… let’s take a look…(click on any of the pictures for more information about each photograph)
On first glance, you might just see a picture of a girl on a bench…
Ms. Jeannie named her Nina!
But crawl inside Ms. Jeannie’s head and she’ll tell you this story…
“Nina waited patiently for Spring. Well, technically, she was waiting for summer – but you had to get through spring in order to get to summer, so she had to dream in order. This summer, she’d be done. Done with high school. Done with wearing plaid skirt uniforms and done, done, done with all that homework, thank goodness. Sure, she was going onto college in the Fall, but that would be different. There would be boys, and classes she wanted to take and parents that she only had to see on breaks. At college, her preferences for life would bloom and Nina couldn’t wait for that. She’d study literature and she’d become a writer and her very first piece would be about the suffocation of long skirts and loafers.”
Here, you see two bathing beauties…
And Ms. Jeannie sees Rose and Evelyn…
“Rose and Evelyn stayed in their swimsuits the whole entire vacation. And who could blame them? With that ocean stretching out behind them and the infinity pool disappearing in front – it was all they needed. This was the vacation where Evelyn perfected her dive, and where Rose realized that she was now technically old enough to flirt with boys without looking ridiculous. It was an ego-booster for both of them, this vacation.”
This one is a school scene from the 1920’s…
Sometimes, Ms. Jeannie sees many stories in one scene. Such is the case, with this one! Here is all she imagined…
“There’s the obvious one, of course, about how smiling Dorothy is in love with Gilbert and absolutely thrilled that her crush of the past two years is now sharing elbow space with her.
There’s the story about lively Pauline (in the forefront) and how she talked her way into getting the traveling photographer to stop by her Biology 101 class. “You’ll want to document the budding scientific genius occurring in room 9, sir. I guarantee you that.”
There’s the story of Mr. Whipple, first year science teacher, who doggedly fought the school board for months over the right to buy 37 microscopes so that each student in his class (not just the boys) would have use of their own scientific study instruments.
Then there is the story of three friends, who spent all summer in the science lab researching why the bullfrogs in Tillman Pond were genetically bigger then the bullfrogs in every other pond in town.
And let’s not forget about humble Pauline who was the first girl, in the state of Texas, to win first place in the national science fair, which yielded not only a cash prize for her, but new textbooks and supplies for her school.
Oh, Ms. Jeannie could practically write a novel with all the situations going on here! Now it’s your turn to look close and see what stories you see…”
This one is a miniature portrait…
Ms. Jeannie called her Marion and wrote about her neighbor, Arnie (short for Arnold)…
“Marion’s got a suitor in her neighbor, Arnie, across the street. Well, technically he’s not really her suitor yet – but one of these days she’s going to fall head over heels for him. He just knows it. In the meantime, he does his best, on a daily basis, to try to impress her – nothing’s really gone gangbusters so far. Most of the time she stands there, with her arms crossed and that same as ever are you kidding me expression. But Arnie’s of a hopeful mindset…one day, she’ll see it.”
Ms. Jeannie got a little help from the inscription on this photo postcard…
This is what she thought was going on inside Bobbie’s world…
“Oh that Bobbie – she’s quite a clever kidder, calling her beau a schnook like that. She hopes this subtle Merry Christmas postcard tactic is all that she will need to make handsome Dean realize that she is quite over the moon for him. It’s only taken her the whole semester to get her nerve up – but what the heck does she have to lose now? It’s Christmastime and she’s feeling hopeful. She’ll just slide it under Dean’s dorm room door before she heads home for the holiday. Let him stew on that during winter break!”
Of course, all these photographs are open to interpretation,. You may see something totally different in the bathing beauties or in Bobbie’s cheering stance, but that is sort of the fun of these old photographs. Don’t you think?
Following this train of thought, Ms. Jeannie came up with a fun little challenge for all of you dear readers!
Here it is..
What is this scene all about?
Now it is your turn to come up with the back story about this picture above! Write your own quick little story snippet about this photograph and email it to msjeannieology[at]yahoo.com
It doesn’t have to be long… just a few sentences is great. The most creative entry, as determined by Mr. Jeannie Ology (for fairness, of course) will win the picture! The challenge will be open for one week so be sure to get your entries in by midnight on Tuesday, February 26th. Winner will be announced via blog post, and also email, on Wednesday, February 27th.
Lucky for you – there’s a little extra help with this challenge! On the back of the photo, written in pencil, it says…
“Grace & Me. I have on Grace’s hat and she has mine on.”
Here’s a few more close-up views of the photograph. In case you want to know the size – it measures 2.5″ inches x 3.5″ inches.
On this special day of love Ms. Jeannie was thinking of her grandmother, Dorothy Ruth, who hand crocheted the tablecloth above that Ms. Jeannie used as a backdrop for her valentine message. Dorothy loved to sew, embroider and crochet. She wasn’t a professional seamstress, although she made a lot of clothes for herself and her family, including wedding dresses for all three of her girls and clothes for her grandchildren.
Dorothy with Ms. Jeannie’s mom as a baby.
She would never dream of calling herself an artist or a designer, even though she had so many artistic tendencies and talents. She just loved the act of sewing.
Dorothy’s husband, Philip, loved to build things, and in his spare time, he would make furniture. When Philip built a table for their living room, Dorothy loved it so much, she didn’t want to get a scratch on it. So she made this very tablecloth to protect the finish.
Now when Ms. Jeannie looks at this tablecloth she sees great reminders. She sees how one stitch leads to a circle, which leads to a flower, which leads to a pattern, which leads to a piece, which eventually leads to an entire tablecloth.
She sees how doing things that you love, however small they may seem, can lead to big things. She sees how true happiness can offer protection against the marks and scratches of life.
Protect what you make with love.
Protect what you love with what you make.
Make what you love.
That was Dorothy’s way. And in keeping, Ms. Jeannie’s special valentine message for you… May all that you love to do today, inspire and protect all whom will love it tomorrow.
All of November and December, Ms. Jeannie was waiting for this one particular tree in her yard to drop its seed pods…
They have these wonderful round pods that Ms. Jeannie thought would look fabulous strung together in garlands for her mantel, on her Christmas tree as part of her natural ornaments and maybe on a wreath for her front door. This is what the pods look like up close…
They sort of reminded Ms. Jeannie of stars, especially when she was looking up at them hanging so high in the trees! Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas, because these little stars didn’t fall until just two days ago, long past holiday time.
Now there are hundreds upon hundreds covering the ground. Ms. Jeannie could have made a million miles worth of garland!
Curious as to what type of tree these little beauties belonged to, Ms. Jeannie did some research and as it turns out, they are from the Sweet Gum tree, which is indiginous to North America, Mexico and Central America. The gum tree has been around since pre-historic times and is actually classified as a living fossil. It is one of the oldest recorded trees in history. Goodness gracious.
Ms. Jeannie found this information fascinating because the shape of the pods reminded her of some other-wordly items like the spiked wrecking ball weapons from the Middle Ages…
Ironically, you can buy these on ebay for $20.00!
Or those crazy underwater sea urchins…
Sea Urchin from the Getty Collection
The sweet gum pods (or gum balls, as they were nicknamed) are actually known as the tree’s fruit and contain one to two seeds within each pod. The trees can grow up to to 120′ feet tall and the leaves turn beautiful colors in the fall. Ms. Jeannie estimates her tree to be about 80′ feet and is indeed one of the tallest in her yard.
Here is an example of a sweet gum in the summer…
Sweet Gum tree photo courtesy of scstrees.com
and in the Autumn…
Sweet Gums in Fall photo courtesy of flickr.com
This species of tree was first recorded by Spanish naturalist, Francisco Hernandez de Toledo in the 1500’s.
Spanish naturalist and physician Francisco Hernandez de Toledo (1514-1587).
Francisco was the court physician to the King of Spain and in 1570 was sent to the New World on a botany trip specifically to study medicinal plants. In his journals, he noted the sweet gum tree bark as having a fragrant juice resembling liquid amber. Indeed, this liquid amber is where the tree got its name. Native Americans taught pioneers in America how to peel the resin from the bark and chew it in order to quench thirst, thus making it one of the first chewing gums in America.
The sweet gum tree was introduced in Europe in the 1600’s, planted in the gardens at Fulham Palace in London by way of Reverend botanist John Bannister, who had traveled to Virginia to bring back exotic tree cuttings like the magnolia, black walnut and cork oak among others – all of which are still represented in the palace gardens today.
The gardens at Fulham Palace, London. Photo courtesy of geograph.org
Throughout history the resin found in the gum tree has been used homeopathically to heal a host of ailments from skin conditions to bronchial infections. Likewise, it’s wood has been used commercially in the manufacture of low-grade hardwood products, plywood, crates, furniture and as an ebony wood alternative.
Ms. Jeannie had no idea, her tree was so useful! Now having learned all this , she is going to go out with a plastic bin and collect all the gumballs so she will be sure to have enough for her 2013 holiday crafts…
Place CardsHoliday wreath lightly spray painted white makes it look frosty!Garland!
Ms. Jeannie pinned these pictures above to her Historic Holiday board on pinterest, plus a few others. Stop by and see them here. She can’t help but think that these would be lovely spring wedding decorations for table decor or used in bridal bouquets – especially if you were having a spring outdoor wedding. These sweet gums are full of rustic charm and potential!
If you have any creative ideas about other ways Ms. Jeannie can use the little beauties, please send a message!
Mid-February marks two special events for Ms. Jeannie and her valentine. First, the holiday of love of course, and then two days later, February 16th, marks Ms. Jeannie’s wedding anniversary. Each year, her and Mr. Jeannie Ology alternate planning something special between the two events.
It’s fun to keep each another guessing as to what’s in store for a special treat. Some years, there are elaborate plans like a weekend getaway or an expensive gift, but mostly they are simple celebrations – a special dinner, a movie, a bottle of champagne. Time spent together is all that matters. Really they could sit at home and do nothing and still have a grand time together.
It was like that right off the bat for them. They struck up this wonderful conversation when they first met here…
in the lobby of the New York Hilton Hotel. Both were there on work purposes involved with running a tradeshow. Ms. Jeannie on the corporate side, Mr. Jeannie on the entertainment side. Ms. Jeannie had just been promoted to a new position with a ton of responsibility and Mr. Jeannie was there to keep the show moving along at an interesting clip. For three days, they worked side by side. For three days, they talked, they laughed, they got to know one another. For three days, they kept discovering small things they had in common…
…a profound love of Ireland. Photograph by TootsFair.…the same favorite movies. Vintage movie real canisters from PassedBy.… a newly discovered fondness for white cherries. Photograph by AmeliaKay Photography…the thrill of spontaneous travel. Vintage suitcase from epochco.…and a shared respect for each other’s dreams. Inspirational art from typoem.
As you can see they covered a lot of topics! By day three, it felt like they had known each other for years.
On the afternoon of the third day, the show ended. Ms. Jeannie packed up. Mr. Jeannie packed up. Ms. Jeannie felt ill at ease. In just a short while Mr. Jeannie would walk out those hotel doors and disappear from her life. Ms. Jeannie’s heart ached at the very thought of never seeing him again. So what did she do?
She gave him her phone number. Please note: this is a re-enactment for story purposes only and not Ms. Jeannie’s actual number.
By the weekend they went on their first official date here…
The Central Park Zoo
As it turned out there was a special celebration going on for the sea lions that day, which involved free cake for all zoo-goers. There was also a film crew, party balloons and a giant fish cake for the sea lions. It all felt very festive! Ms. Jeannie took this as a good sign:)
On a quick side note: If you have never been before to the Central Park Zoo, you must visit. It is a fabulous little hideaway tucked into Central Park and is often overlooked for the much bigger, much more well known Bronx Zoo. A lot of people don’t even know it exists, because it is laid out in Central Park in such a way, that every time you visit you feel like you have unexpectedly discovered it. Ms. Jeannie’s favorite exhibit is the penguins where you can watch them both on land and in the water in the same exhibit.
It’s like one massive fish tank. Photo courtesy of penguinnewstoday.blogspot.com
Ms. Jeannie just loves these penguins. They have zippy little personalities and always seem to be having a ton of fun. If you are lucky enough to find yourself alone in the exhibit – it can be very peaceful – just you and the penguins. Ms. Jeannie could watch them for hours!
Here’s a video of the exhibit Ms. Jeannie found on youtube. It gives you a feel for these active little guys…
So back to the date… the zoo, turned into an all day outing. And by the end of it, they still didn’t want to part. So they went for pizza. Then they went for cappucinnos. Then they walked to the subway – the long way – 25 blocks in total. They just kept walking and talking without realizing! It turned out to be a record breaking 13 hour first date, from 10:00am in the morning until 11:00pm at night. It was grand. Ms. Jeannie felt lucky to know such a great new friend.
Marvelous dates kept occurring. Ms. Jeannie knew she had met her romantic match when Mr. Jeannie took her up on the roof of an old hotel on the Upper West Side. “So they could look at the city at night,” he’d said.
Few things are more romantic then looking down on Manhattan from that perspective. The city almost looked fake. And all the lights seemed to twinkle. It was quite magical. New York provided quite the backdrop for falling in love.
Fast forward a few years, and Mr. Jeannie proposed in Florida on a tiny little boat during a Christmastime vacation. Ms. Jeannie was surprised, she had no idea Mr. Jeannie had such big plans prepared! Ms. Jeannie said “of course” without hesitation. Mr. Jeannie cried the whole boat ride back to shore:)
A few years later they were knee deep in wedding plans. Since it was so expensive to get married in the city, and because they were such big fans of road trips, they decided to get married somewhere else. They looked into Vermont, into Maine, into Connecticut, but couldn’t find just the right place. A friend of Ms. Jeannie’s tol;d her about a fabulous movie she had just watched, noting in particular, the gorgeous coastal New England town setting. Here’s the trailer…
The next weekend, Ms. Jeannie, Mr. Jeannie and their newly adopted border collie, were on the road to Rockport, Massachusetts where the movie was filmed. If you are unfamiliar, Rockport is located on the very tip of Cape Ann, just north of Gloucester (which, incidently, was the setting for the movie, A Perfect Storm). It’s a 5 hour drive from NYC and only a 45 minute train ride from Boston.
When Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie drove into town, this is what they saw…
Bradley Wharf. Photograph courtesy of fineartamerica.com
Bradley Wharf sits in the center of the scenic inlet that leads out to the Atlantic Ocean. The town of Rockport surrounds it on three sides. The red barn, known as Motiff No. 1, is the most painted barn in America and Rockport, itself, is an actual artist community. With views like this how could it not be?!
Rockport Harbor
The town sits nestled against the hillside, facing the water and is filled with gorgeous, historic seafaring captain-type homes.
View from the harborHouse built in 1711House built in 1900House built in 1771House built in 1840
Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie stayed at Carlson’s Bed & Breakfast, the only b&b in town, at the time, that would accept pets. Sven Carlson was a painter himself along with his wife (who dabbled!). They were extraordinarily interesting hosts.
Carlson’s Bed & Breakfast (on the left) . Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie stayed on the top floor in a yellow wall papered room that was bright and sunny.
Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie did all sorts of exploring up and down the coast. They went lobstering with a boat captain as he picked up his pods for the day, they went shopping on Bearskin Neck (see photo below) and they ordered take-out lobster from Roy Moore Lobster Company which they took down to the beach to enjoy. True picnic decadence:)
The shops of Bear Skin Neck.
You might also recognize Rockport from the movie, The Proposal, with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds. The movie is supposed to take place in Sitka, Alaska – but it was actually filmed in Rockport and the neighboring town of Manchester-By-The-Sea.
Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie returned to Cape Ann several more times for vacations. Each time having more fun then the last. They decided on the Emerson Inn as their wedding venue, because it was located on a bluff right above the ocean. Also Ms. Jeannie loved that it had literary connections in it’s namesake, Ralph Waldo Emerson.
It had been lodging house, always, since the very beginning in the 1850’s. Ralph Waldo who spent summers at the hotel with his family, was said to have gathered poetic inspiration from the landscape.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Boston born poet and philospher credited with leading the transcendentalist movement in America.
Ms. Jeannie and Mr. Jeannie were married at 8:00pm in a small candlelight ceremony, by the town clerk. They wrote their own vows. They held each other’s hand. Mr. Jeannie cried:) They danced to Ella Fitzgerald’s At Last. They had two cakes, a traditional lemon creme pound cake with rolled fondant and fresh flowers and then a red velvet groom’s cake in the shape of a lobster. Both of them agreed they were the best cakes they had ever eaten.
The Emerson Inn at night.
For their honeymoon, they traveled with their pup, up and down the Massachusetts coastline for a week, exploring each small town. They visited parks and cafes and antique shops. They ate lobster and drank wine and walked to the beach every day. On their last night, they stayed near the water’s edge until late in the night looking for their dreams in the depths of the stars.
Fast forward all these years now, and Ms. Jeannie and her valentine are still adventuring together and still dreaming. Their pup has come and gone, their lives have twisted and turned, and their love has lasted. And for all that, Ms. Jeannie feels incredibly lucky. To know such experience and to know such a man.
Thank you New York Hilton, thank you Central Park Zoo, thank you New York City, thank you best dog ever, and above all, thank you Mr.Jeannie for starring in the best love story of Ms. Jeannie’s life.
In the Vintage Kitchen: Where History Comes To Eat 