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Here in St. Louis we face a trying climate for Roses. If it's dry, the aphids and spider mites and diseases attack. If it's humid, black spot and other fungi defoliate the delicate ones. But this year, despite having slurped up almost two feet of rain, our roses have been radiant. Go figure.
The beauty above left is the Linville Rose, given to us by a friend several years ago. It is a delicate creature. It nearly died in the ground from drought and blackspot despite frequent sprayings. So now it lives year round in a clay pot that is overwintered outside, buried in mulch. The delicate pink blush is more apparent in cooler weather.
Our hardiest specimen is this pink single rose, which looks like a wild rose. We planted it next to the front porch, where it will soon be overwhelmed by several varieties of day lilies competing for the same space. It is very hardy and needs very little care. Like the Linville rose, it blooms repeatedly.
I tried the macro setting on my camera to catch a close up of these nostalgic pink petals.
Today Norm bought a new line trimmer and then coaxed the mower to life and mowed front and back yards. It was time: the grass was getting perilously close to the 7-inch height that would have brought the Bel Nor Lawn Police to our door with a citation! It was sunny and warm today but rain is supposed to return tomorrow. I spent the afternoon at the car service place. Gracie went in for an oil change and came out not only with that but with new brake shoes as well. I'm afraid we should have named this car Imelda. But with a long drive to The Other Side of Kansas coming up, it seemed like a wise idea.
On Monday, we spent most of the day helping staff the Compton Cares booth at Gypsy Caravan, the annual craft & antiques market-meets garage sale event that has been a St. Louis Memorial Day tradition for 35 years. Admission fees benefit the St. Louis Symphony. Our church eventually made over $1,000 for our accessibility project--although when we and the first shift team arrived at 6:30 a.m. to find our tent blown down, much of our merchandise wet, and a steady rain falling that remained from a rousing electrical storm that had gone through two hours earlier, we were not sure we would make any money at all. The complete saga of the day is on my Compton Cares Update blog if you would like to read it and see more pictures.
Tuesday, Norm saw his eye surgeon for the 1-week follow up and he got a clear bill and release to drive the car, mow the lawn, lift more than 10 pounds and as Dr. Bias said, "resume normal activities." The rest of the day, we rested, since we hadn't rested on the sabbath or on the holiday! Naps are good.
Today, we did some household chores, I did some finances, and we spent the afternoon at the church folding, stapling, folding, addressing and stickering some 200 monthly newsletters, along with three other volunteers. (Our church does not have a secretary--budget cuts a couple of years ago.) After we got home this evening, Norm edged the lawn in anticipation of actually being able to mow it tomorrow. We have two dry days in a row! St. Louis is now more than 12 inches above average precipitation for the calendar year. Some of that mitigated the drought conditions of the past two or three years, but enough is enough. Our stone basement walls, circa 1922, are naturally porous and we are starting to get out the mops to take care of the slight seepage that occurs when the ground is saturated. Lots of overtime for the dehumidifier down there.
To our Colby, Garden City, Mineral Wells, Irving, Hutchinson, North Platte and other family readers, we are eagerly looking forward to seeing you at the family reunion which is coming up soon. Take care, stay healthy and don't forget to comment!
Well, we are ready for Gypsy Caravan tomorrow. This is the giant antiques, craft and flea market held on Memorial Day in St. Louis. Norm and I have been busy this week with organizing, pricing, crunching data, etc. The donations for our sale kept pouring in and after I tallied all of the price stickers we put on items, we have a total asking price for our items of over $2,300! And to think one member of our church started it all with 8 quilts! Let's all pray for decent weather (heavy thunderstorms are in the forecast) and for all of our items to sell. Four of us will be there at 6:30 in the morning to be ready for the early bird shoppers. If I have a chance, I'll have pictures and results to post tomorrow night. Happy holidays, everyone.
For more information about the Compton Cares project that this will support, visit my Compton Cares Update blog.
The poet asked, what is so rare as a day in June, but today was a rare day in May. Norm and I went to Forest Park to visit the Art Museum, which is free on Fridays. Our destination was the special exhibit, "Quilts in a Material World." Photography was not allowed, so I'm posting some overdue pictures of some of our spring flowers instead.
The collection of quilts was stunning, with examples from as early as the mid 1700s from the Winterthur Collection. The park was stunning too: people basking in the sun, golfing, walking dogs, paddling on the lakes. Every tree is a verdant green; it was calm and clear and the perfect temperature: 72 degrees. A day to savor for sure.
The lovely bicolor Iris, above, was already in our yard when we moved here in 2001, but it has multiplied tremendously. The purple and white hybrid columbine at right has established itself from a plant we set out three or four years ago. 
This pale lavender beauty shows up in more than one spot in the back yard. Lois, who lived here before, or her gardener, picked some lovely varieties. Since these photos were taken, more varieties of iris have appeared, including a yellow and brown one and a dark purple one, as well as the blue-and-white that we got from Norm's mom years ago. I'm always relieved when it appears. One mystery: although we used to have some yellow iris, none are blooming this year. I guess they are on sabbatical.
Much earlier in the month, our azaleas bloomed so fully it looked like they were on fire. Last year all of the buds were lost to the Easter freeze, so we have greeted every flowering plant this year with the kind of joy you reserve for survivors. The rest of this weekend we will be getting ready for and participating in a giant antique, craft and flea market known as the Gypsy Caravan. I've posted more information about it on the Compton Cares Update blog, since any proceeds our church makes from our booth will benefit the accessibility project's fund. If you are in St. Louis on Monday, stop in to our space in Lot C at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and say howdy.
The title of this post is probably going to tantalize Google searchers everywhere. My SiteMeter often registers a spike after I upload a new message, or it identifies specific search words (like party, aluminum cans, etc.) that people are looking for. So I apologize to all of these unrequited searchers, but hope regular Home Stories watchers will enjoy these pictures.
The fern at the top is a volunteer in its part of the garden. It appeared this month on the left side of the back yard, near the daylily colony. All of the other ferns are on the right side of the back yard, along the driveway. How it migrated that far, I have no clue. (Have spores, will travel?) All of these ferns were transplanted from our Ferguson garden, and ultimately from my mother's flower bed in Tulsa. Where she got them, I don't remember.
The two batches of violas are in our front bed, right below where last year's porch boxes held pansies and violas. They must have sprouted from seed that fell into the mulch below. Another front bed has a volunteer pansy, we discovered yesterday. Probably from the same distribution source. That's the fun of gardening. You never know what surprise will greet you when you go outside!
Norm's left eye is doing well, his surgeon said yesterday. No lifting more than 10 pounds or swimming or carousing allowed for a week. Eye drop regimen 4x a day. The doctor said the cataract was "really big" but Norm says sight with his new implanted lens is great. He's getting by with a $10 pair of reading glasses from the drugstore to read the newspaper until he can get a new prescription in a month or so. He's amusing himself by checking out the myriad digital music channels on Charter, part of a new money-saving bundle we got for our Internet service recently. And thanks, Carla, for identifying yourself as the mystery reader. Now, if those folks in the Netherlands would write me...I think it's Greg and Monique but I'd love to know for sure!
Just a note that Norm is resting well after having cataract surgery on his left eye this afternoon. After he visits the doctor tomorrow, there will be a fuller report. And sometime in the future, there might even be a picture: his surgeon has one taken of each patient at the end of the surgery! Stay tuned. And welcome to our new reader in North Platte, Neb., whoever you are...remember the comment feature is enabled, and a link to my e-mail is on the profile page. We'd love to hear from readers.
Cape Girardeau, MO, May 16--- To continue our adventures down river, we stopped by Abbey Road Christian Church, where the conference I'm coordinating on Saturday will be held. Two years ago, four women initiated building a labyrinth outside the building. Walking the labyrinth will be one of the activities of the conference. We wanted to walk in relative solitude, so we came by at 6 p.m. Note: Clicking on the pictures will probably enlarge them so you can see more detail.
Many people walk as a spiritual practice. At the center of this labyrinth is this stone sculpture bearing a verse from 2 Corinthinans: We walk by faith and not by sight. All I could think of as I walked the path was that to me, faith IS sight. I'm a lot like the apostle Thomas who had to see and feel for himself. 
This labyrinth comprises 11 concentric rings and is modeled after one from the 12th century on the floor of Chartres Cathedral. The paths are crushed stone and are delineated with river rock. I kept wanting to examine the rocks. One was shaped like a foot; another had crystals inside. Someone donated these golden iris plants that were in glorious bloom. All kinds of perennials surround the circle. Last year, one of the women told me, a killdeer had a nest in the rocks across the way. As we finished the walk, a killdeer flew in, landed, and ran across several rings. Robins and redbirds and blackbirds called nearby. It was an unusual experience and the highlight of our day. After the walk, we went to dinner and later to bed. The conference on Saturday went very well with 42 women from 15 churches attending. It was good to get home to our own bed on Saturday night, but we will long remember this trip.
It's been a week since I've blogged, and I can tell that the viewers in Garden City, Colby, Tulsa and Florida are getting antsy. So here is proof we are up and around. Today we drove about 110 miles south of home to Cape Girardeau, a college town on the Mississippi River across from Cairo, Ill. After stowing our gear, we took off for the Trail of Tears State Park, which commemorates the removal of the Cherokees from Georgia to Oklahoma. And many of them crossed the Mississippi very near this spot in the winter of 1838.
We saw an enormous variety of trees and birds in the park, but the highlight was the Mississippi River overlook. A local farmer was at the same spot, looking at the river which is 4 feet over flood (but falling) and trying to estimate when he might be able to get to his farmland on the Illinois side. His land is clear, but the road is under water. We enjoyed talking to him and he offered to take our picture.
This is one of many breath taking views of the river we saw today. This is looking north from the overlook in Trail of Tears State Park, about 10 miles north of Cape Girardeau. This is the clearest, bluest sky we have seen in a long time.
After the winter, the many days inside fighting respiratory ailments, and Norm's recovery period from the cataract surgery, this trip was a breath of fresh air, and then some. We'll long treasure this weekend and this view of the Mighty Miss looking south. The turbulence of the water can be seen even from this height. I'm here to attend a conference of Disciples Women that I coordinated. After I checked in at the host church today, and saw that all is ready for tomorrow's meeting, I realized I had done all I can do. It felt odd, after a week of stress, to need to do Nothing. So instead of doing Nothing, we went to visit our heartland river at the farthest point south we have been on it. It's a lot wider than it was at its origin in Lake Itasca , Minn., when we waded across it, back in 2000!
Last Sunday night the staff of The Current held their end of year party at our house. Since I'm retiring, this will probably be the last time we host a bunch of 20-somethings who live on pizza, Jimmy Johns and brownies under our roof. Part of the evening's tradition is certificates for everyone. Even Norm got an award, for being The Unsung Hero. (At least they didn't try to sing to him!)
Also traditional is passing the silver engraved mug from outgoing to incoming editor, so Paul presented it to Melissa at the conclusion of the serious business. Then everyone adjourned to the dining room table for a 2-hour game of Apples to Apples, which is a matching game involving nouns and adjectives. Go figure. They are a newspaper staff, after all!
This week Norm and I are back to exercise and Norm even mowed the lawn, feeling recovered from his cataract surgery. In the past 36 hours we have had 2-1/2 inches of rain so we haven't had much of a chance to work in the garden, which we had hoped to do this week. I've been busy working on my conference for later this month. Tomorrow we go to a special graduation for Heather, daughter of our friends Mike and Sandy, who is ready to start a career in respiratory therapy. And on Saturday, between showers, we have a work day at our church. So we are keeping busy despite the fact that the month of May and the Mother's Day celebrations bring some bittersweet memories of 10 years ago when both of our mothers passed away.
At long last it is Dogwood Week. Usually the third weekend in April is the highlight of dogwood bloom, but both in the city and the country, the lacy white and glowing pink dogwoods are sensibly late this year. This one is on the university campus, near Bugg Lake.
Monday night was the Student Life awards ceremony. Current staffers Paul, Angie and Sofie attended, and cheered when I was given an award for 16 years of advising the student newspaper. (Administrators hastily organized that when I told them I was retiring!)
One of the joys of a long teaching and advising career is running into former students and seeing their success. At the awards ceremony, two Current alums greeted me. Fred graduated in the early 1990s, and Michelle is a former editor, graduating in 1992.
On Tuesday, Norm got the all-clear from his eye surgeon. So Wednesday found us on the road to Cape Girardeau, where I needed to meet with women at Abbey Road Christian Church. I'm coordinating a conference there later this month, and we hope to include their lovely labyrinth in the program.
It was a beautiful day to be outside. We enjoyed the sun and had a nice lunch before heading home with a strong tailwind. I-55 south of St. Louis is a beautiful drive. Gas in Cape was only $3.45 compared to $3.59 in North St. Louis County. We filled Gracie up.
Thursday was exercise day. That evening we went to a trivia fund-raiser for a couple we have known since Maplewood Days. Their daughter suffered multiple seizures and needs a lot of care. Almost 200 people attended, in addition to volunteers. I donated this little quilt, which I titled "Star Spangled Sunbonnets" to the silent auction. The blocks were appliqued by members of my guild, and I hand quilted it. A member of our church bought it! I'm glad it will stay in the "family."
Friday, with Norm behind the wheel, we went to church to fold and prepare the news letters for mailing, and then we took them to the Bulk Mailing Center in the bowels of the downtown St. Louis post office! We must have done it correctly, because our newsletter arrived in our mail today. After all that work we had a late lunch at a south St. Louis landmark we had never patronized, Uncle Bill's Pancake House. Of course we had the special: 2 eggs, 2 pancakes, 2 slices bacon and 2 sausage. Plus the bottomless cup of coffee. The lovely server gave us the senior discount. We gave her a 20% tip. We bought gas for the Mazda at only $3.53 a gallon. Eeek. Then we came home and took a nap. After supper, we enjoyed receiving a long phone call from our boys in Florida, who announced they were sitting out on their lanai, enjoying the evening. Wish we could see them soon. All in all, it was quite a week.
Here in St. Louis we face a trying climate for Roses. If it's dry, the aphids and spider mites and diseases attack. If it's humid, black spot and other fungi defoliate the delicate ones. But this year, despite having slurped up almost two feet of rain, our roses have been radiant. Go figure.
Our hardiest specimen is this pink single rose, which looks like a wild rose. We planted it next to the front porch, where it will soon be overwhelmed by several varieties of day lilies competing for the same space. It is very hardy and needs very little care. Like the Linville rose, it blooms repeatedly.
I tried the macro setting on my camera to catch a close up of these nostalgic pink petals.
