J is for Japan

J is for Japan

and Just doing the best I could.

Himeji, famous for its castle, is where we
had our spaghetti dinner.

Several years ago, Miss Landers was living in Japan and Ward and I went to visit her. Before our trip, she sent us literature* on almost every subject that would pertain to our visit. From broad subjects like religions to practical ones on how to ride the trains and use chopsticks. We studied them all and practiced what we needed.

We finally got to put all of our new knowledge to use when we arrived in Japan.  Miss Landers was a great tour guide. She took us to tourist places in cities as well as personal homes in villages. She was well integrated into the Japanese culture and gave us experiences of what the country was really like.

A few days into the trip, Ward and I decided that we were confident enough to strike out on our own. We wandered the streets of the small town we were in looking for a place to eat. I was hoping to find something that catered to tourists where I might have a chance to eat something other than fish and rice because fish is not my favorite food. Luckily, it was common to have a picture menu posted in the window of a restaurant. When I saw a picture of spaghetti on one of the menus, I decided that this was the place.

I ordered spaghetti and was relieved to see it was pretty traditional--tomato sauce with noodles. I immediately dove in showing my best chopstick skills which I had honed by practicing for months. In fact, I was kind of  proud how I was handling the long noodles. Well, pride goeth before a fall, they say. And this time they were right..

One of many pages of chopstick
instructions I practiced.

At one point during the meal, I looked around and the entire staff of the restaurant was standing behind me and smiling. When they saw me looking, they quickly handed me a fork. Apparently, I was not looking like a chopstick pro I thought I was. Instead, I was the entertainment for the evening. Oh, well.

We had a few more adventures on our trip that I'll tell you about another time. But now it's time to think about the letter K.

*This trip was before you could go on the Internet and find everything you need.

I is for "I Must Remember"

I is for 

I Must Remember

by Shel Silverstein*

I must remember...

Turkey on Thanksgiving,

Pudding on Christmas,

Eggs on Easter,

Chicken on Sunday,

Fish on Friday,

Leftovers on Monday,

But ah, me--I'm such a dunce.

I went and ate them all at once.

Do you ever have one of those days when you eat more than you should because it all tastes good? I had one of those days yesterday when we took my son out for his birthday. Thank goodness for the weekends when I can wear sweat pants with an elastic top. :)

*This poem was originally in Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein and part of my tribute to National Poetry Month this month.

H is for Hellebore

H is for Annie Laurie's Hellebore

This is a post I did last year. At the bottom, you will see a follow up to it.

I first met Annie Laurie at the library where she had been a long time volunteer--over 30 years. She came once a week and did whatever was needed, and before she left, she picked up bagful of books to read. Reading was her passion. Then she developed breast cancer and eventually she was not well enough to volunteer any more. That's when Beth and I began to take bags of books to her house, mostly mysteries which were her favorites, and stay for a visit. In the comfort of Annie Laurie's home, I learned what a character she really was. She was opinionated, strong-willed, and very funny. We always had a good visit with lots of laughter even when her health was rapidly failing at the end.

One of our memorable visits was when Annie Laurie took Beth and I on a tour of the flowers around her farm house. Flowers and plants were another passion of hers. Rail thin and hobbling with her cane, she showed us lilies, daffodils, and hellebores. The hellebores were the favorite of both Beth's and mine. Over the years, Miss Annie Laurie had developed a forest floor of them. Under the shade of large trees, she showed us the many kinds she had. I didn't really appreciate all of the different varieties she was showing us, but I did appreciate the unassuming, downward facing, simple blossoms I saw.

After that, Beth and I were both in love with hellebores and wanted some for our gardens. But you know how it is, we never got around to getting any. That is why we were both so thrilled and honored when her sister, Dot, give us some from Annie Laurie's garden after she passed away.

I carefully chose a shaded spot by my front door to plant mine. It didn't seem to take the transplant so well and it's large leaves flopped. However, it was surviving. Beth and I exchanged letters with Dot from time to time, and she always asked how our hellebores were doing. I said mine was doing fine. I didn't think that she needed to know that maybe I hadn't done such a good job transplanting it and that it was struggling. Then a few months ago, she said that her's were blooming and wondered if ours were. I told her not yet because I didn't have anything more than one small bud forming at the base of the plant. I figured when that bloomed, I would take a picture of it to send to her and carefully crop out the flopping leaves. 

Bloom on end of smashed stock

Well, the stalk with the bud grew and grew until it was about 6 inches tall and was ready to bloom any day. And that's when it happened. Workman at the house stepped on it. I was upset, but worried more about what I was going to tell Dot. However, a few other buds showed up and they actually bloomed this week. And the best part of all is that the stalk that got stepped on has a flower on it's end also.

Now I could say something about the tenacity that Annie Laurie had in her life and how that was represented by my hellebore's blooming on a broken stem. Or I could say something about the blooms and how they were a sign from her, that she was still with us in a way. However, I would really like to think about my hellebore in the terms of how much Annie Laurie, Beth, and I would have laughed during the story I would tell about the hellebore I tried to plant and how it got smashed. :)
_________________________________________________________________________________

Follow Up

The hellebore continued to bloom last spring and developed new, healthy growth. This spring it came up and formed flower buds. However, that didn't last long because it got stepped on again. And wouldn't you know it, that was just when Dot called and asked about the plant. I said that it wasn't blooming, but didn't elaborate. However, thank goodness, it is sprouting new growth again.

And what have I learned from all of this? Well for one thing, this is truly a special plant and it is the perfect to remind me of the beautiful and tenacious Annie Laurie. And another thing is that I better replant this in another spot as soon as possible before it gets smashed again. After we get done with the snow this weekend, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

G is for Got It

G is for Got It--Blogging Fatigue, that is. 

I made it almost a week with the A-Z Challenge before the blogging fatigue set in. Or maybe, I'm just tired today. Some days are like that especially if the night before has been a toss and turn night. So as I thought about what to write for the letter G, I couldn't come up with anything that seemed easy enough to pull off right now. Did I mention I was tired?

As I was doing some chores around the house, here are thoughts I had.

Garden Flamingo

Golden Delicious Apples--these were developed in WV in the county next to where I grew up.

Golden Horseshoe--Speaking of West Virginia, the Golden Horseshoe is awarded to 8th graders in WV who are highly knowledgeable about their state. It was a big deal in my family.

Gum--I like to chew it. Couldn't chew it as a kid. Made it once not very successfully. Liked teaberry flavor and I have a teaberry plant.

Grade school vs. primary school vs. elementary school Are there really any differences?

Green advertising--what a gimmick

Gluten fad--speaking of gimmicky advertising.

Googling--how many times a day do you look something up with Google.

Then I looked through a few of my pictures, and considered these.

Gaillardia or Blanket Flowers

Gripping roots

Girl Cat, Annie

As you can see, I was kind of stretching it by the time I got to my pictures.

None of these ideas are going to happen right now. Maybe another day. Time to move forward to the letter H. Or maybe time to relax and get a better night's sleep tonight.

F is for Frosted Flowers

F is for Frosted Flowers or

This Week's Edition of a Second Look

If you're visiting from the A-Z Challenge, a Second Look is a feature I do every week where I look around my yard and document what I see. I take a "second look" and try to see beyond the weeds to the wonders of nature that are in my own backyard. Here's how it all got started.

Winter weather has returned and we've had several mornings with temperatures in the 20's--too cold for me in April. However, it's not been too cold for the frosted flowers. They have all survived just fine. I guess if they bloom in spring, they have to be able to tolerate cold weather. The birds have started to build nests, and the deer are enjoying munching on all of the new growth. (Sigh).

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

This group of grape hyacinths was a volunteer.

The pansies planted last fall are blooming again.

Wooly bear. This is the first time I've seen one in the spring. I am used to seeing them in the fall as they are trying to find a place to hibernate. Wooly bears spend the winter frozen as a caterpillar, and thaw in the spring to pupate and turn into a tiger moth

Glory of the snow. 

The dogwoods are thinking about blooming.

Daffodil (See the D post for more daffodil pictures.)

This deer had just raised its head to take a breather from munching on day lilies.

The peach tree has fewer blooms than last year.

However the forsythia has more blooms. This forsythia is just a few scraggly branches in the back corner of the yard. However, its yellow blooms are always a welcome sight in this forgotten corner.

The birds are starting to build nests in the nest boxes. The first one is a sparrow's nest and I think the second one is a decoy nest to go with the first one. The third one is a bluebirds nest. I have removed the decoy nest to give something else a chance.