Canada Geese

What a thrill as we sat on the back porch today
and watched these beautiful geese
float effortlessly & gracefully down the river!

What a Scene!

Rocky River (April 18, 2009)

Pa Joe's March 2009 Memories

March has had enough pretty days to make the peach trees bloom. I have one variety, “Intrepid”, which is more frost hardy and blooms a little later than the other varieties. They are only in their third year so the trees aren’t very large; but, they did have lots of blooms. Despite two different occasions when there was frost, they seem to have a few little peaches forming on them. We have temperature lows forecast that are below freezing for next week. I guess we shall see! Spinach and English peas are coming up in the garden. The onions are looking good. Broccoli and cabbage are suffering from mole damage (along with a lot of daylilies that are also suffering mole damage). Potatoes are planted but not up yet. Some of the muscadines froze during the winter. Not every variety did; however. Some varieties are more cold-hardy than others. I have read that those that freeze out during extreme winters will usually come back out from the roots so I haven’t given up on any of them.

The new plantings at Rocky River are starting to bud out including the tame varieties of blackberry I planted. I had feared that they had not lasted through the lowest temperature drops, but apparently they have.

Daylily orders are consistent but smaller than usual. Also, more people are paying with credit cards. I have been busy enough that any weather good enough to work outside has been taken up with digging and washing. We appreciate every call!

Debby and I went to the temple for the stake temple day. We saw lots of old friends there. Much of the day was spent with Jenny’s dad, Wayne Bradford. He is a member of the stake presidency and was obviously working very hard. There were so many people there that they were scrambling to find places for everyone. Wayne looked really tired and we were concerned for him. He told me how much he and Rosemary were enjoying the assignment, despite the work, because they could do it together--a nice reward after a long life of service.

I read a book recently, The Savior and the Serpent. It is one writer’s feelings about “The Fall” of Adam and Eve. I enjoyed reading it because his opinions so closely mirrored thoughts I had formed about the subject. Obviously, he is a very smart man!

I also read a Louis L’amour and an Agatha Christie lately. Sometimes, you just want to be entertained and not have to think much.

I got to see Chas’ last tournament game of the season. Debby stayed at Rocky River to work on her seminary lesson. For a four year old he is a quick mover on the court. I think he has the most charming smile on the floor. I even believe that in a year or so he will figure out why he runs from one end of the court to the other. In the mean time, he is the handsomest runner out there.

We have had visits from the Shepherds, the Whites, and the Bradford-Moffitts this month. They were joined by our close families -- the Joneses and Kampsnider-Moffitts. Blake came in for a long week-end and he and Brett joined the Rocky River crowd also. We have had such a good month seeing family. The weather was too sloppy to enjoy the Rocky River property as much as we would like (Matthew’s family missed it altogether) but, nevertheless, everyone else got some dirt in their shoes. There is a hole on the beach area that is so deep someone in China was disturbed when it was dug!

Nonna Debby's March Memories

March came in on a Sunday. It also came in like a “lion”. Heaviest snowfall we’ve had in years! And here I am on the 31^st witnessing March leaving like a “lamb”. I guess the old adage is true.

On that snowy Sunday, our church meetings were cancelled. I had been hoping and hoping for snow – for lots of reasons. One of them being able to get some pictures at Rocky River! So, even though I had felt lousy with a cold (?) for several days, Joe agreed to take me to the river. I made lots of pictures even though it was bitter cold and I didn’t feel so great. But who knows? It could be several years before I get another chance. It was so beautiful.

We took lunch to Mom’s on the 8^th to celebrate her 92^nd birthday. Brett, Gracie, Lori, and William joined us. I made her an angel food cake, which has become the tradition for her birthday the last several years. It’s about the only kind of cake I ever make. I sure wouldn’t want to take her a cake like any of the ones she makes – hers are too good!

On the 10th, a record was broken when the temperature reached 80 degrees. That beat the 187?? record of 79 degrees. Joe and I took advantage of the nice weather and spent the afternoon and evening at Rocky River. Joe put fertilizer and lime on the yard. Then, he made and hung a swing from the one and only limb we've been able to find that fit the bill. To make sure it was safe for the grands, we each took a turn to make sure it was adequate. Works great! While he planted some southern magnolias, I made two BIG piles of brush -- one down on the sandbar and the other on the hill above it. Joe cleaned up a bit and went to Spencer to return some things Hugh had left after the building project and to go to Chas' game. While he was gone, I studied my seminary lesson. I was on the back porch and all of Winton Hillis' cows were right across the river. It was such a pretty scene. I noticed a little calf that was close to the bank of the river. After a little while, it became obvious that it was really interested in getting to the water. It would try one spot, chicken out, and try another as it walked right along the edge. Something spooked it at one point and it ran like crazy. I thought that had put an end to its adventurous spirit. I went inside for a few minutes and as I came back out, I heard a big splash, and all the cows took off. I looked up the river and sure enough, there was the calf. It started walking up the river and I hurried to catch up with it to see if it was going to have to have help to get back to the pasture. I watched it until it was out of sight, walked all the way to where I could see the bridge and never saw it anywhere. There were some gradually sloping places upriver, and I'm guessing it got its footing on one of those and made its way back to the pasture. It was nearly dark when Joe got back but we decided to burn one of the brush piles anyway. It was all dead stuff and we knew it would burn quickly. It was a really pretty fire and to add to that, there was a beautiful full moon that came up over the mountain. It was a warm, beautiful night.

Blake came home on Saturday (13^th) to spend a few days with us during his spring break. Matthew & his family came by that afternoon and it was good to see all of them. Madison, Kennedy, Jacob, and I had fun playing upstairs.

We spent some time with Betsy and her kids at Rocky River on the 16^th & 17^th. They spent the night that Monday night. Eric and fam came Monday evening and the kids came back with Betsy the next afternoon. All the kiddies had a lot of fun exploring and playing together. Joe and I did quite a bit of work at Rocky River that whole week. He went to Grandma Moffitt’s on Wednesday with Eric & Chas. They met Steve and Glenn there to cut a walnut tree that she was afraid was going to fall on her house.

Joe and I spent the night at Rocky River that next Friday night. On Saturday morning, I went to Spencer to get Mom. It was a really nice day and she spent the rest of it with us at the river. The Whites came about the same time and Eric & kids came to cook some things on the fire that Eric thinks always burns out there. (Bob Pope said once that he could always tell when we were there – he’d see/smell smoke!) We got a lot more work done and enjoyed the day very much