Louie Part Two

 You remember Louie a few posts back, right?  Yesterday we took a trip over to Louie's house so the husband could order more plants.   Oh yes, we need more vegetable plants... the 500 or so we are growing on my screen porch aren't enough, apparently.

First, an update around here...
The two raised beds in the immediate backyard were supposed to be IT! REALLY!  NO MORE THAN THAT!  TOO MUCH WORK!.... NOT GOING THERE AGAIN!

Except... winter somehow erased that memory and now there is that big patch out in the lower field.  Seedlings are on my porch to the left.

  This is our first produce, last year's dried  oregano ..... I had labels made for the farm too, but found that it's expensive, not sure if I'll do that again.



  These are by far the most comfortable garden/barn/work shoes I have ever worn.  I have always hated the look of crocs, so I didn't fall into that fad.  However, I needed something for out in the garden and chicken coop and found these at our local True Value hardware.   I'm telling  ya, it's like walking on clouds.  And they breathe! no sweating.

  On to Louie...

 When we arrived he was giving a neighbor some tomato plants..

His little green house, which we are replicating to some degree...

 He's already got onions and broccoli rabe growing ( I know that's spelled wrong, some italian I am)

   His neighbor, Egdio, is also from Italy and grows a mean garden of his own just across the creek.

Wouldn't you love to have these two as neighbors?

 Egdio is helping Louie plant peas - which Louie says "You  can't-a buy better peas..ooh nooo".  Ofcourse, he wouldn't let us buy his either.

   Now, Louie raises rabbits for food and fertilizer.

This never sits well with me..however... in Louie's defense, the rabbits always have fresh water, large clean hutches and good hay, pellets and vegetables from his garden until their day of reckoning comes.

In my last Louie post I told you that I have "rescued" two of those rabbits before.

One, sadly, died at the paws of my barn cat. I built a large Bunny  yard as high as my shoulder and thought he's be safe from preditors.   Not.

Needless to say I was horrified.

The other died in a heatwave when we had a week of near 100 degree days.

While my hutch was large and shaded, the vet said the rabbit probably needed a frozen liter soda bottle full of water in there to help him with the heat.  I had no idea that even though in the shade and able to get inside his hutch if he desired, a rabbit could still die of the heat if not assisted.

Live and learn, is all I can do.

A momma about to have babies....

These are a mix of flemmish giants.. HUGE rabbits

These babies are just two weeks old.. see how big they are already...

uh-oh.

Louie

 Mike and I come from Italian stock (I'm a half-breed to be honest) , and as is typical of our history, our grandparents were avid gardeners. It was a means to feed their family, not just the hobby we nurture today.  Mikes grandfather had a fruit and vegetable stand in West Haven.  He remembers rows and rows of plants in the garage and out in the yard behind the store, and the scolding he'd get if he put too many potatoes in what was supposed to be a 5 lb. bag to be sold in the store.

 Grandpa Al in his shop

  My grandfather grew roses and tomatoes and peppers and there were fig,  cherry and loganberry trees in his back yard on Staten Island. I remember harvest days when we would climb ladders and drop fruits onto tarps from the trees.  I also remember being scared beyond  silly in my grandparents presence. They were a stern lot, speaking broken English and  always, in my eight year old point of view, so serious.   Occasionally  they'd take a giant Hershey Bar out of a drawer in the kitchen and give each of us a big chunk of chocolate.

      Mike decided about five years ago he wanted to learn the art of gardening with the traditions and methods our ancestors used.  Our grandparents are long since gone... however LOUIE... Louie Louie.. is still alive and kicking it up in his magnificent garden in Middleltown.  Louie was a sheetrocker in the building business for many years. This is how Mike came to know him.   He is also an italian immigrant and fantastical gardener. That man works wonders in the soil of the small plot of land next to his house.  He also raises and kills rabbits for food, the reason I sometimes despise him... but in fairness he has let me buy two in recent years so that I could save them from his dinner table.   One of those rescue rabbits died at the paws of my barn cat... ask me how awful I felt that day. No don't.  It's still awful.  (I'm sorry, Sonny.. I failed you.)

  ANYWAY... Louie is tight-lipped with his gardening secrets. You cannot ask him direct questions, he will not give a direct answer. In a heavy italian accent you can imagine this line ..."  Oooooh, you wanna know, huh?.....eeee hee heee.... well, I notta gonna tell ya".     Mike has learned that he needs to just walk with him in the garden as he does his thing, and  it is there that Louie starts to talk.  In the talking, he gives away little bits of information, especially when he scolds.  (What is it with the scolding?).    "You putta da seeds in That size seed cup?  Oooh, too big, too big.  You gotta starta small, so the plant gets a little root bound. Then a they grow strong, you see?  Then a you move them to the bigger seed cup.  You young a people want things too quick, that's a you problem."

   This weekend while Mike paid a visit and gathered some tips, Louie gave him a big bunch of dried oregano from last years crop. This Old House smells delicous with the scent of rich oregano.

A modern day ghost story

   Y'all  know by now that I do not consider myself a religious person,  and  then I always add that I am a spiritual person.   And I  also  inserted  a little southern slang right there, did it hit you? My cousin, who was born on Staten Island, like me, and just a few years back moved down south... has begun the southern speak.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!... but it takes some adjusting for those of us from New Yawk who still pahk the cah by the watuh.

  Actually I stopped pahking the cah  by the watuh a long time ago, because I got tired of sounding like a thug.

    But I'm getting away from the story....   So,  I consider myself a spiritual person and what does that mean exactly?  For me it means I believe in doing right by others, being kind, having compassion, knowing that I don't know exactly why and how we are all here today as we are.  The science makes sense to me, and yet there is the essence of what make people PEOPLE, and I can't deny that the mystery intrigues me and the idea that there is something left of us after our bodies have failed makes some sense to me too.   Heaven?   I don't know... would be awesome, though, wouldn't it. 

  Every now and then a little something happens that makes me think.  Last week there was a sad passing of an old friend of ours.  I spoke of Louie HERE.   Louie was 79 years young, had just come in from picking watermelons and having loaded them into his truck... walked over to the side of his garden, sat down probably not feeling well....  and passed away.   Just like that.   He seemed fit and healthy enough to have lasted another 10-15 years at least, so it took us all by surprise.

   Mike and I went to visit with his wife and children the night after his passing, before all the proceedings.  We talked of his love for his garden, his tenacity and temper, shared tears with his wife, son and daughter who loved him dearly. We walked out into his beloved garden, still lush with tomatoes heavy on the vine.  Louie would have been out there picking them if he were still among us.  Sad to see all the hard work he had just put into it, and the thought that he wouldn't be around to harvest the fruits of his labor, not this time.

  When it came time to leave, Mike and I hopped in the truck and started to pull away from Louies house and garden.   I got a text from my daughter telling me of Robin Williams death.  I responded with an  OMG - but when I looked down at my phone again it said   MING  instead.     

  Stupid auto correct text typo, right? 

  Except that was Louies famous word,  so frequent that it became a joke among us over the years when referring to him or his antics.   I'm not sure what it means in Italian.. maybe something really obnoxious.  But for Louie it was the word he used when he was aggravated, frustrated or surprised.. it was his OMG. 

 (after posting this I looked it up. What Louie was saying is actually spelled  a little differently if you're being grammatically correct-  Mingya - is Italian slang. It is used for just about anything, but the literal meaning referrs to men's genetalia.   Substitute for "Holy Shit!" "Damn!" "Come on!" ) To you and I, hearing Louie say it, it would sound just like MING.

   Message from the beyond on an Iphone from Louie?  I don't know... has anyone heard from Steve Jobs lately?....  but I do know he would have been just as surprised as we were to find himself - passed-.  I'm thinking that's exactly what he would say.

 

Unbroken

 Have you seen the movie yet?  

     Amazing.. amazing true story.   - 2014 , produced and directed by Angelina Jolie,  based on the 2010 non-fiction book by Laura Hillenbrand.   The film revolves around the life of  USA Olympian   Louis "Louie" Zamperini,  portrayed by Jack O'Connell.  Zamperini survived in a raft for 47 days after his bomber was downed in World War II, then was sent to a series of Japanese prison camps where he sustained unfathomable torture but showed a resilience I can't even describe.. except to say I was in awe and in  tears often throughout the movie.  The icing on the cake is knowing Zamperini went on to marry his sweetheart, raise two children,  and even ran with the Olympic torch IN JAPAN at the age of 81.  He recently passed in July of 2014 at the age of 97.   

Amazing. 

Back in the day, I used to think of Angelina as not much more than  a gorgeous but whacked young actress who was going to tip over the edge for certain one of these days.  Of course she has always been my husbands ultimate fantasy figure. 

In recent years, however,  I have a whole new respect for her. She has talent behind the cameras, as evidenced in producing and directing this movie.  She came to know this incredible man personally, and wanted to portray his  journey as authentically as possible.  I believe she did just that.   Angie also shows a generosity and soul so many other celebrities  do not possess.   And right here I admit.. way back when it was the -thing- I was Team Aniston all the way.    

 Only thing?..Sometimes I just want to throw her a cheeseburger, ya know? 

Shown below..... with the authentic Louie. 

 Bravo, Angelina Jolie, and Louie - I sure hope there is a reward at the end of this life.. if anyone deserves it, you most definitely deserve it. 

Little Gems with big impact

    With summer just around the corner, gardening on the farm and that little bit I do at the cottage by the sea is in full swing. 

    Mowing happens weekly,  weeding happens almost daily - and here's what I discovered about that... It's much easier to take a four prong rake and simply claw through the soil in a garden regularly than bend over and hand pick out weeds now and then.  I suck at the hand picking, because I get lazy about it and it gets, well.. out of hand.  The frequent raking is so much easier.  And the plants love the "aired out" soil.  

      As I do that little chore I remember how I learned this simple technique -  wise words of an old farmer friend, Louie.  He was a master gardener, and he kept his secrets close to the vest.  Now and then he'd toss us a gem. One of those was... "you like to breathe, don't you?  Well... so do the plants."  79 year old Louie passed years ago, suddenly, out in his garden.  A sad day. A post on the old gardener, HERE.  

   Living on a farm, but not having grown up on one... takes work,  mistakes happen, and a readjustment of the sails is needed, frequently.   We've had a small horse farm for 30 years - but only for the last 8 have we lived here at This Old House among fields of hay.  It had pretty much gone to the weeds when we acquired the property - How many of you knew that growing hay isn't as simple as letting the grass get really really long and then cutting it?  (we didn't).  Indeed.. there is a whole science to growing good feed hay and even mulch hay or cow feed hay (which has different requirements than horse hay)  - from the type of seed you plant, to the ridding of unwanted and even toxic weeds, to the amount of sun and rain available that season, to the number of DRY days strung together so you can cut it at the right time, toss it, let it dry, toss it again, and get it baled up and off the fields before the rain comes.  Then there's the baling or rolling. 

   We've just started our first cutting - a little late due to the number of rainy and cold  days we've had.  What we notice this year is we added in too much clover in a few sections of some of the fields...   Clover molds up easily in hay bales - and mold in a hay bale means you throw it out instead of feeding it.  Cows and their multiple stomachs have more tolerance for crap hay than horses do, but with horses you don't want colic (bad stomach ache that can turn deadly) ... so you throw out any bales that are iffy.  That costs money. 

    You learn as you grow. 

    Speaking of learning - on the better health front, I've discovered having lived with fibromyalgia for a while now, two things are very important to anyone living with chronic pain.  

     First - despite the pain you feel daily,  KEEP MOVING. Unless of course you're actually injuring yourself more. (your doctor can direct you)   It really does help you feel better and keeps you mobile.  My cousin has a severe form of arthritis, has since he was very young.  He gets regular IV infusions of a strong drug that helps him keep going.  And keep going he does -  having just completed a 70 mile mountain bike ride.  He is my hero.   As for me, I've been light weight training out in the gym, hiking with the dogs, kayaking occasionally and walking/running on the tread mill when the hiking is hindered by weather or heat.   

     

     Secondly -  what you put in your mouth matters.   Besides the increased exercise I've also been trying to eat better - I know after several attempts over the years to conform to certain diets,  I'm just not gonna stick to it.  What I can do is be more conscientious about what I put in my mouth.  It really and truly is all about what you put in your mouth.  The icing is the exercise but it all starts with consumption. 

  Something else I feel very strongly about -  A good way to bring more joy to your own life, to feel a sense of accomplishment,  for better mental health and a connection to your community, a connection to people in general, and a way to focus on the positive aspects of life instead of being dragged down into the swamp muck that also exists -  is to be a part of the good works going on out there.  Volunteer in whatever  capacity you are able - don't ever doubt that even the smallest outreaches have value.  Every drop in the ocean contributes to that ocean. 

    I was recently the recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow Award given by the Lions Club International in our community for my humanitarian contributions in our little town.   What an inspirational evening it was, with my family in attendance.  To be among like minded people who are so giving of themselves, so caring and motivated to make change for the better in our community and in society itself is uplifting.  It makes the other not so pleasant "stuff" of life seem not so imposing, looming, dooming.   This doesn't mean you have to commit to joining a club, either -  I am not a Lion.   

    Some easy ideas - Got grain bags? Collect the discarded ones and give them to someone who recycles them into tote bags. Recycling is an awesome thing to do for our environment.  Got stuff you don't need or wear anymore?  Give to the local Salvation Army or Good Will.  Volunteer at the local dog shelter once a week - walk a dog, get in your exercise- win win.  Love books?  Got a volunteer local library?  Take a shift.  Donate Blood.  Like to knit?  Make hats for the homeless, make lap blankets for those who live in a local nursing home.  Bake for the church events, the fire house events.  Join the walks at the Relay for Life events held around the nation.   It's awesome if you're financially well off enough that you can give monetary donations to causes you believe in, but that doesn't have to be the case.  Your time, your caring contributions are just as valuable. 

  When I saw this picture after the event I said - Jeez, Karen - go get a haircut. And so I did. 

 Side note:   The sharing of these pics is not intended to imply that I believe I'm - all that- in any way.  But I have learned to appreciate all that is good about me, instead of the laser focus I used to have on all that is not perfect.  What a perfect waste of time.  If you're doing that to you, stop the nonsense.   Take stock of your strengths and nourish them. Encourage the art of looking for the good, in you and in others.  The ripple effect, ya know - that drop in the ocean?  yeah. 

  So about that hair cut - Another tip that was passed along to me and I'll share with you.  I'm not one to fuss a heck of a lot with the aging experience or make up and hair.  I'm hoping like everyone else that  I stick around for along while and age gracefully and naturally.  I love LOOONG hair, but for most of us it's not particularly flattering to just let it grow out and hang there, drab and without decent shape.  That ages us.  I'm lazy about going to the hairdresser, admittedly.  There's no doubt, though, when I get in there and tell them to lift me up, indeed they do.   So take care of yourself in the little ways that help us appreciate who we are and what we have.  It matters. 

  A shout out to my niece, who graduated from Uconn... and landed a job in their finance department!  Yesterday the family gathered at The Mansion at Bald Hill in Woodstock, CT to celebrate her accomplishment and future success - 

 

 

    

Thanks for stopping by - 

Whats growing here at This Old House

 We've finally gotten much needed rain and I don't mind the dreariness at all.

I love the sight of green, happy plants

and the smell of fresh spring earth.

All the shrubbery we planted around the house last year has almost doubled in size...

a mild winter saw to that.

 Perennials I heisted from our old house when we moved here

are thriving.. I've done this every time we move..

taken a piece of my old gardens to the new..

This is an idea I got from another blogger, Pam  - http://ouradventuresinhomeimprovement.blogspot.com/2012/04/ladder-for-garden.html

It will also have two birdhouses on the top step.

Now I have to figure out what to plant in all the pots and tins.

Any ideas? Full sun most of the day.

This is what you call an EPIC FAIL.

Our Italian gardener friend Louie said it would be alright to put the tomato

plants in as long as we covered them if frost were predicted.

WRONG.

It's too early, folks.  

Sometimes I think Louie just wants Mike to learn the old fashioned way.. trial and error..

instead of giving him the information straight up, the easy way.  

It is what it is.

Funny Video about this very thing... (Thanks Di!)

PS.. some curse words here, so if you're offended or have children nearby,

as a commenter pointed out... be warned.

The greenhouse that my two guys built has really come in handy...

I'm starting a small rose garden around it.

Here you see the one Julia Child I planted last year and a few peonies.

The rose is very happy - I recommend this species highly!

I've ordered three more to complete the border.

Inside the greenhouse are my zinnia seedlings, oregano, parsley and a few remaining

tomato plants that escaped the treachery outside.



 In the big garden the blueberry and rasberry bushes are thriving...

Broccoli is happy....

peas too....

Hay fields are rich after all that chicken sh*t drama...

..and Opie, Max and the minis are grazing the good life.

Max is showing his age more this year (25!)

and it's been more difficult to keep decent weight on him.

The horses are wormed regularly, and

he already gets the maximum amount of quality grain he can be fed safely.

They also get good quality hay besides his pasture grazing.

Any horse folks out there that have experienced with aged horses?

Any suggestions? The vet says he's healthy and his owner isn't concerned.

This horse is such a gentleman, we're lucky to have him here.

Opie is fat.  Middle aged life agrees with him very well, thank you very much.

For him I need to be careful that he's not fed too much or too rich a diet.

Same goes for the minis, who fatten up very very easily.

"Who you calling FAT??"

The chickens are ecstatic about their new free-roaming ways..

I just worry about the coyotes.

My little Seaside Garden (wishful thinking at it's best!)

 has filled in nicely this winter with all the  wonderful warm weather

beach walks we've taken. I've gathered pieces of shells and driftwood with each walk.

This is the first year for the phlox to bloom and it looks happy.

I need to complete the border with it.

Frasier is now a full fledged member of the family,

used to the routines.

He's more confident that I'm COMING BACK

every time I walk out the door without him,

and he's made a great pal - Bailey.

Ben could care less.. just stay off his bed.

 This might be my longest photo post yet. If you're still with me,

thanks for tagging along and I hope you have a great day.