Cooperstown In Bloom!

Not long ago I made a trip to Cooperstown because I had a scheduled mammogram (what fun!) at the local hospital.
It’s always a treat to visit this lovely village, which is steeped in history, especially in the springtime when there are flowers everywhere. An organization called The Clark Foundation provides and plants a wonderful collection of flowers for several buildings around the village, including all the churches, county buildings, the Farmer’s Museum and Fenimore House, and The Baseball Hall of Fame. The latter famous attraction brings thousands of baseball fans to town every summer. The village even played host to the senior George Bush 2 years ago at the induction ceremonies.
I’m not sure whether the foundation provides the wonderful flowers around the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital as well, but I think they do.

James Fenimore Cooper, whose father founded Cooperstown was a very famous local author. The most famous of his historical novels is “The Last of the Mohicans”, which was made into a movie.
The Clarks, a very wealthy family of lawyers, were co-owners of the patent for Singer Sewing Machines. The foundation provides a large number of wonderful services for our area. One of the most generous of its outreaches is awarding college scholarships to students in the surrounding areas.


Of course, I had my camera with me, and I took some photos so my blog friends could enjoy the show as well.

We've had 4 inches of rain in the last week and a half. Everything is so soggy outside. We can wring the water out of the soil in the vegetable garden. I don't know when it will ever be dry enough to plant. If anyone is doing a rain dance out there (like maybe in Australia where they NEED rain....) I'm asking you to please stop it!!

These wonderful containers were decorating the main entrance to the hospital. They've recently changed the display. I like combination of the orange/yellow tulips with the Johnny Jump Ups (yes Val, also known as heartsease). They are violas.



See how they've wrapped a wire around the tulips to keep them upright?



Oh so pretty against the old bricks and ivy.



Zoey, I'll bet you love the color of these tulips! Aren't they gorgeous?

My husband tells me they've taken all the containers away now but haven't yet replaced them.



And Sigrun, look at this container! I love it planted with the Johnny Jump Ups.
'


This is Bassett Hall, a very beautiful old building. The decorations on the main entrance door at Christmastime are a masterpiece.



These gorgeous containers were decorating the side entrance of the Baseball Hall of Fame.



I'm a very big fan of pink!



This is diascia (dee-as-ee-a). It's so beautiful combined with the pink tulips.

A statue of the famous author, James Fenimore Cooper outside the Hall of Fame.



This is just one of several local churches, all decorated beautifully with different colored tulips. They probably have something else planted there by now. Red geraniums seem to be a favorite. We'll see what they choose this summer.



These pink tulips made a lovely show.



Isn't this a wonderful shade of pink?

And, Alice, there will be trees in the next post - just for you! I'll have to get more building shots next time I'm over there.

I Love New York!

Two of my dear blogger friends mentioned in comments on my last post that they hadn’t realized NY has such a beautiful countryside. They pictured it as just a big city. This is a common misconception. When I met my hubby (in Australia) and he told me he was from NY, that’s exactly what I thought…..big city! How wrong I was. I saw our little valley for the first time in July of 1971 and immediately fell in love with it. We are about 5 hours from NY city. The state is a large one and NY city is just a small portion of it.
We have some of the most beautiful countryside in the United States. There’s also plenty of history here with many interesting sights to visit.
The Leatherstocking area is rich in Revolutionary War history. The nearby Mohawk Valley is the scene of a famous book called, "Drums Along the Mohawk"….a fascinating historical novel of that wartime period (there’s an old movie based on the book, which is wonderful). The book is one of a series written by Walter D. Edmonds.
Another famous book, "The Last of the Mohicans", is set in the beautiful Adirondack Mountain area, not too far from where we are. It too was made into a very famous movie, which most of you have probably heard of, and many may have seen.
We have the historical Erie Canal, which goes from Albany to Buffalo. They didn’t have to worry about the price of gas (petrol) back then :) The boats carried all kinds of goods back and forth. Loads of history there!
NY State shares the beautiful and awe-inspiring Niagara Falls with Canada. This is a sight for the whole world to see!
There are many other interesting historical sights and some very beautiful state parks to explore. NY State really is a wonderful place to visit. I think a lot of people don’t realize this and consequently don’t think of visiting our beautiful state. We are an under-appreciated part of the country :)
Our region is a dairy farming area and not too long ago was full of small dairy farms. Alas, they are few and far between now. Many of the farms these days are much larger operations, with cows numbering in the thousands. We sold our dairy herd back in 2000 and both work off the farm now. My husband misses the cows very much.
I thought I’d post just a few pictures I’ve taken recently of our farm to show you a little of what the countryside is like. If we’d still had cows we would’ve turned them out to grass last week. The grass is growing and turning green. The color is coming back after our long, mostly white winter. What a welcome sight!

Taken 2 weeks ago before the fields began turning green. In the foreground is a corn crop that was harvested last fall.

Another view taken 2 weeks ago. These 2 pictures were taken at twilight.

The cut leaf maple with barn and shed in the background, taken just a week ago. The grass is much greener!

Looking towards the hill behind our farm buildings. The cats were keeping me company, as usual.

In the background are the Oz trees I mentioned a few posts back. The sky was so blue that day!

The barn and a machinary shed.

This view was taken from half way up the hill exactly one week ago. You can see the river in the background.

Thirty-five Years Ago!

On this day, thirty-five years ago, my dear husband and I were married. Wow! That’s a long time to put up with each other!
Isn’t it amazing how quickly the years go by? We’ve grown together over the years and are enjoying each other’s company just as much now as when we first met. Probably more, actually. It’s certainly true that you get wiser as you age (well, one would hope that we learn as we grow). How thankful I am to have such a patient, good-natured and loving man to spend my days with. Life is good!

The caption under the photo in the local newspaper read:

U.S. MARINE'S AUSSIE BRIDE

We met at the wedding of friends of mine, as I mentioned in an earlier post. Ross was on R&R (rest and recreation) leave from Vietnam, where he was serving as a US Marine. I was bridesmaid for my school friend, Pat, and her English husband, Alan. Ross had met a girl named Glenda during a cruise on Sydney's picturesque harbor (one of the many activities set up for visiting G.I.’s). She had introduced Pat and Alan to each other and she needed a date for their wedding, so she invited Ross to accompany her.
When we were first introduced I thought he looked about 15 and must be Glenda’s younger brother. His hair was white blond and his eyes a very clear blue. Glenda was explaining about how they met and we began discussing the planned events for the G.I.’s (member of the US armed forces). She was telling me how much fun they were and said she’d give me a call to let me know when the next one was scheduled. I wrote my phone number on the place card at my table and she gave it to Ross to hold for her, as our pocketbooks (handbags for you Aussies and others out there) were stored in another room. This may sound too detailed, but that’s an important part of the story, which I can’t leave out!
The wedding was at a wonderful restaurant called ‘The Rocklily’ and the dinner consisted of seven courses, with wine and finally champagne (for the toasts) served with each course. Then there was dancing! Ross and I ended up dancing one dance together. How this came about is a funny little story of it’s own, but I’m trying not to add too many details (this is hard for me, as you can probably tell).
On the way home Glenda asked Ross to give her my phone number so she could call me as promised, and that wicked young man told a fib….he said he’d lost it! Now, remember, he and I only danced one dance, and not much conversation took place between us, but somehow, there was an instant attraction. Just a spark, you know?
I received a phone call from this young man the next day asking me out on a date :) My mum and I had planned to have dinner at the local surf club so we invited him to accompany us. Those of you who have read some of my previous posts will know that we lived at beautiful Whale Beach (near Palm Beach, just north of Sydney, part of the ‘north shore’ chain of beaches in NSW). So Ross caught the bus out from Sydney, where he was staying, and went to Moby Dick’s surf club for dinner with us. We had a lovely night and he and my mum fell in love with each other :)
There were two more dates after that first night before he had to return to Vietnam. After that we began writing a series of letters that just didn’t stop! Ross extended his tour of duty in Vietnam and was given 30 days leave. He spent that 30 days in Australia and that’s when we really got to know each other, spending all of those 30 days together, seeing some lovely sights and talking endlessly. By the end of his leave we were talking about marriage :)
He was scheduled for another R&R in February and we planned to be married at that time. We set the date and sent out the invitations, but the Marine Corps wasn’t cooperating. They seriously discouraged this kind of thing. Ross did finally make it back to Australia, but not until April 16th, and this was only because he told his commanding officer that he was going, with or without his orders, and headed for the airport. The CO was a compassionate man and a good friend. He followed Ross to the airport and handed him the necessary papers.
I was working in Sydney at the time and talking to my friend, Susie on the phone (yes, I did work, but I just happened to be on the phone at that particular moment) when Ross walked into my office. Imagine my surprise…(you’ll have to, I can’t find words to describe it!)…I had just been telling Susie that Ross had said he might not be able to let me know when he was coming…that he might just ‘show up’. And suddenly, there he was!!
That was a Friday. My mother’s birthday is April 17th, and she had remarked earlier in the week that it would be funny if Ross showed up this weekend and we could be married on her birthday.

Well, we were…and the rest is history ! Happy birthday Mum! Had she still been living, Mum would be 89 today. She died in 1996 and I still miss her.

We had a lovely, albiet, brief honeymoon at a beach further north before Ross had to return to Vietnam. It was just a few all-too-short days together, but we had the time of our lives! And we are still enjoying each other's company! Of course, we’ve had our ups and downs, but here we are 35 years, and 3 kids later, and we’re still blissfully happy. I can honestly say I’ve been truly blessed. When our grandchildren are old enough to appreciate it, I’ll tell them this story :)

Happy Anniversary to us!

How Old IS That Camera?

This is a sort of 'Self Portrait Tuesday' post, with a little added....

In a previous post (http://colorsofthegarden.blogspot.com/2006/01/green-and-growing.html) I mentioned that we’d had our first Canon camera for a long time. I wasn’t kidding when I said it was old.

See….?

That’s the camera in my hands. I was the ripe old age of 22. Ross was 21. Yes, I'm 10 months older. He thinks he's very funny when he calls me his 'old lady' :)

These pics were taken in September of 1970, before we were married, when Ross was in Australia on 30 days leave from Vietnam. He was a US Marine and we had met the previous June when he was visiting the land of Oz for the first time on 6 days R&R. (rest & recreation). On this day we were touring the beautiful beaches south of Sydney.
We were first introduced at the wedding of a couple (Pat & Alan) who were close friends of mine (and now ours), but that’s another story :)
Our courtship (such a quaint oldfashioned word) consisted mainly of about a million letters! Our wedding was in April, 1971.
I should add, for those of you who haven’t read my profile, that I was born in Australia and left that wonderful country shortly after our marriage, to come to the US at the tender age of 23. You can probably guess that I miss the land of my birth very much, even though I love this country with a passion too. America is a wonderful place to live! I feel I’ve had the best of both worlds. In Oz I lived at the beach and here I live in the country. Who could ask for anything more?
But oh, how I miss those magnificent Aussie beaches! They’re the best in the world. Well, the Aussies think so anyway (and they’re right mate!).
I am now an American citizen (so I can vote!!) but my heart will always be at least partly, in ‘the land of droughts and flooding rains’. I always cry when I hear that song....."I Still Call Australia Home". Getting a bit sentimental here!
Ross and I have used that faithful old Canon camera through all our years of marriage…..for weddings, and all kinds of memorable occasions.
It began acting a little unreliable a few years ago, (although it still works fine…a good cleaning and servicing did wonders) so Ross surprised me one Thanksgiving with a neat little Vivitar camera. It too has been great, and very reliable. I hope I’ll still take the time to use both of these cameras even though we now have the digital Canon Power Shot.
I had some fun with it today taking pics of the birds and the farm in the snow.

There's our barn for you again Alice!

Those chickadees don't keep still for very long!

I'm still learning...with a long way to go!

Australia Day

January 26th is Australia Day.
Our daughter Kathleen, who was born in Australia, called to ask what the Aussies were commemorating with that holiday. I wasn’t sure…I couldn’t remember, but I thought it might be when Captain Cook discovered Australia. Wrong! I asked my husband, who was born in this country (he’s a fair-dinkum Yank. That means ‘true-blue’ for all the non-Australians out there), and to my surprise he knew! Well I wasn’t really all that surprised because one of the many things he likes to read about is history. We spent three and a half years, between in 1979 and 1983, living in Australia, and during that period he read several history books about that country.
Of course he dug out "A pictorial History Of Australia" and looked up ‘Australia Day’ for me to read about.
Here is what I read (just the relevant paragraph)……

‘Captain Authur Phillip had returned to Port Jackson in the Supply and in the afternoon of 26 January he led a party of officers and marines ashore in Sydney Cove. The Union Jack was hoisted, toasts were drunk and volleys fired and three cheers were given by all. Later that day the rest of the fleet arrived and next morning the work of creating a settlement began in earnest.’

The year was 1788.

Thank you Kathy for your question. I relearned something old.

Later that evening I was reading a blog called Gardening for Dummies by Stuart in Western Australia, and he had a post about Australia Day (Stuart, I borrowed your flag, hope you don’t mind). He said Australia Day was the equivalent to the US 4th of July holiday. Well, sorry to disagree Stuart, but it’s not! (I suspect you were just generalizing).
The US Independence Day (July 4th) celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This was the document declaring America’s independence from England. No more bowing to King George III!

That happened in 1776.

The Aussies have never declared their independence from England, which seems to be just fine with most people. I guess they never felt the need to be separated from their English roots.
That’s the way Aussies are :)

One more thing happened that day which made it a very special day indeed. A dear friend called from Australia to wish me a happy Australia Day!!

Thank you dear friend. You made my day :)

I hope all you Aussies out there had a happy Australia Day!

(I want everyone to count the number of times I used the word ‘day’ in this post :)