Young men in suits

A couple of young men, dressed up in suits (see the end of post...for Sepia Saturday this week.)

So this is my sepia photo for this week. My father is standing between his mother and father. I think they probably are dressed for church, thus the white summer shoes and stockings on my grandmother. Dad wore a shirt and tie every day of his working life. So did Poppy.  This was in our back yard in Dallas, TX in 1942.

In my life, my sons aren't required to dress up in suits. Except for the occasion of weddings.  When my oldest got married April 22, 2019, we all were dressed up!

That's not quite long enough ago to merit a Sepia Saturday post.  But you go with what you have, right?

Russ (best man) and groom, my son Marty.  Marty's coat of velvet with embroidered swags on the left side...and a nice satin vest, a bit of his wilder nature coming out for this, his second wedding.  I think this once would have been called a smoking jacket. For work he wears a polo shirt with his employer's logo on the sleeve.

Myself and my son Russ. I think Russ started work as a consultant wearing suits, but has now gone more casual with polo shirts with a collar, and left the necktie behind. Maybe not when he makes presentations. I'll have to ask him.

My son, Tai on left, having fun telling his half-brother Russ an emotional story.  Apparently Russ liked hearing about it. Tai is now working at a high school helping at-risk students move toward attending college. I don't think he would wear that new suit very much...but he's set for weddings now!


And the Sepia Saturday prompt shows 2 very young men dressed in their suits...I do wonder what the occasion might have been, something an Armenian culture would promote.

Today's Quote:

“One of the greatest barriers to connection is the cultural importance we place on ‘going it alone.’ Somehow we’ve come to equate success with not needing anyone. Many of us are willing to extend a helping hand, but we’re very reluctant to reach out for help when we need it ourselves. It’s as if we’ve divided the world into ‘those who offer help’ and ‘those who need help.’ The truth is that we are both.”

Casandra Brene' Brown

Repotting on the porch...

When I started, lots of sad little plants that spent the winter inside...but the new "organic" bag of dirt has been added to their new placements...with a bit of the old.  I know that may mean any diseases might be carried forward, but hey, the dirt in empty pots was outside freezing all winter, so maybe that killed off any organisms. At least that's what I hope.

 Rosemary is much happier in the bigger pot.

 Lavender is happy to help the fairy in their new location.

 And the 3 big stems of Kalancho have been divided to share pots with 3 coleus plants.

 The geranium is peeking around the post, now in a hanging pot.

I just added new soil to the gardenia in the big pot, and the last 2 coleus are in a nice big pot.

But I still have the succulents to do...and the orchids. A gardeners life is never done.

And now (Wed. May 6) there are going to be nights with possible frost, and even a freeze expected. So I just hauled everyone back inside again. Good exercise. They've had a few days of sunhine and even up to 80 degrees. Such is spring in Western North Carolina.

Today's Quote:

Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.
Casandra Brene' Brown

For the birds

 Yes, by the color you can tell, though my phone camera can't exactly focus on a Cardinal that far away.

The dogwood has just about lost all it's blooms, while the maples are decking themselves out in leaves as well.

 There's Big Windy (I think,) with lots of green on it's slopes.

And my first hummingbird on the feeder.



Today's quote:

Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. Practicing spirituality brings a sense of perspective, meaning and purpose to our lives.
Casandra Brene' Brown,

Indoor plants

This orchid doesn't know when to quit.  Yes, still blooming. I admit to thinking it really wants a bigger pot...that root is reaching for some nutrition...just going right over the top of the little pot. But I can't make a bigger orchid pot without the studio. So I'll be putting it into another pot when something moves up to a bigger one.  Shifting pots. I even have some old mugs that aren't used for drinking out of any more.

 One of the African Violets on the kitchen windowsill is in bloom!

 The Kalancho in the bedroom has been blooming for months also. I've now put up my lacy summer curtains in the bedroom. And the Kalancho has just been taken outside and divided into 3 more planters. (More on that later!)

 And another violet is bursting with huge leaves.

Quote for today:

We cannot selectively numb emotions, when we numb the painful emotions, we also numb the positive emotions.

Casandra Brene' Brown

Mom's cornbread

 I cooked it in my large skillet...rather than a square 9 inch pan. I just haven't got one that size.

 so it was finished in 20 minutes rather than the 40 my mother's recipe called for.

It was pretty darn good, but very thin for my favorite way of eating it. I would split it in half and spread butter on it, then toast it till it was warm again, then drizzle honey on it. It tasted great that way...but I think I prefer less corn meal these days...it was kind of gritty.

Mom's Cornbread:
Flour - 1C
Bk Pwdr - 3-1/2 t
Salt - 1T
Sugar - 3 T
Corn meal 1 c yellow
Egg, slightly btn - 1
Milk - 1 C
Shortening/butter 1/4 C melted

Sift flour, add dry ingredients, sift again, add cornmeal, mix.
Combine egg, milk and melted shortening, cooled.  our into flour mixture and stir just enough to moisten dry ingredients, no't beat.
Turn into greased sq. pan adn bake 425 degrees 40 min. - cut into sqs. serve hot!

Quote for today:

Faith is a place of mystery, where we find the courage to believe in what we cannot see and the strength to let go of our fear of uncertainty.

Casandra Brene' Brown

Exciting times

I think whatever is going to happen in the next few months will indeed show the better side of humanity. And possibly the worst side as well.  After all, the Yin/Yang, Tai Chi symbol shows how right in the heart of the biggest area of light is the tiny beginning of darkness, and in the heart of darkness is the little glimmer of light.

 Yes, I brought home a new geranium...with lots of buds on it. Flowers are for sale at our nursery in Black Mountain, NC. And I bought some potting soil too.

 These little coleus (colei?) will need to be transplanted in the next week!

 I can barely say the name of this new hanging plant... a lot of different colors.

And just look what's happening on the rose bushes! These weren't trimmed back in the winter, but it doesn't seem to bother them at all.

I don't like the way red (and yellow also) just blasts away in digital photos.

Today's Quote:

1. “The dark does not destroy the light; it defines it. It’s our fear of the dark that casts our joy into the shadows.”

2. “Cruelty is easy, cheap and rampant.”

quotes from Casandra Brene' Brown, I'll bring some more soon.

Wrens on the balcony

 I'm pretty sure there's a baby bird somewhere under all the moss and leaves.

 But no amount of putting the camera close to the hole will show the bird...

But there's a parent bird bringing bugs in its beak (his tail is just sticking out the hole in the little house.)

It was cold a couple of nights last week, so I worried about the little one, and hoped the parents would be keeping it warm.  Then the next day, suddenly no birds were coming to the nest house...that was on Tues. April 28. I had the living room door open, and was keeping an ear out because they usually cheeped a bit when they landed on the balcony railing.  Nothing.

 I waited till Wed. to pick up the house, put it on the railing, and probe gently with a plastic fork to move aside some of the dead leaves and moss.

Yes, there was a nicely formed nest, made of pine needles. (I have no pines in my immediate views from the apartment.) There were also a lot of pieces of moss that must have been brought out of some planters somewhere.  But no evidence of a bird. The egg shells had also been removed. I hope he fledged and is safely flying around somewhere.

Today's quote:

Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day saying "I'll try again tomorrow."

MARY ANNE RADMACHER

It's Saturday again - 3 stories of Alaska

Don't the days run together when I'm not interacting with any scheduled types of activities.

The Sunday church is available on YouTube, and I can catch the whole thing whenever I want rather than getting up and dressing special (it used to be in Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes.)

Well there is one weekly thing that I try to work on earlier than Saturday itself...to publish on Sepia Saturday.

Let's see if I have any old photos that are somewhat linked to this photo. Navy nurses sitting on a rather old jeep, with some strange sign on the building behind them. Does it refer to the base name? I don't even know when this was taken...but it does say Alaska. Mmm. That immediately made me think of something close to my own life. No, I've never been there. But I know people who have!

My friend from 7th grade...

My long time friend, whose father was stationed in Alaska during WW II. He died there, probably in one of the fierce battles against the Japanese in 1942-43. These attacks on American soil were after Pearl Harbor in December 1941 but didn't get as much publicity. I don't know much about it, but there're some details available through Wikipedia...HERE.

And here are some sepia photos of Alaska.

US Troops in Alaska in 1942-43

Japanese attack on Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

Another story...another friend from 7th grade...

This dear friend got this shirt and thought it was so funny, back in about 2014 or so. Now Corona beer isn't exactly anyone's favorite to order any more...though it still tastes the same, especially in a bottle with a lime stuck in the neck, but it's just got a bad connotation these days.

I had been a bridesmaid in my friend's (pictured above) wedding in 1961 or so. Then she and her husband went to live in Alaska, where she had both her sons. They spent a while there, in a cabin type rough life, and she remembered it fondly. Yes I did have a couple of photos of her smiling with the children, but couldn't locate them, and they don't really show the wilds of Alaska.

We both enjoyed the TV show "Northern Exposure." She said she had been in the bar that was featured in many episodes, but it was in Washington state, not really Alaska.

AND...my third dear friend and father of 2 of my sons...

I haven't found any photos of my ex husband, who was on isolated duty in Alaska for the US Coast Guard on an Aleutian island, where no women were, nor anything but birds and fish, and supplies were flown in when the weather would allow. It was a LORAN station, watching out for the very close Rusians, after all, it was 1962!

I wrote to him for about a year. I was in Illinois for some of that time, where I'd met him, and then I was as stewardess in Miami FL when he returned and visited me, and well, we fell into love and marriage.

no longer in operation - USCG Cape Sarichef Loran Station on Unimak Island

Today's Quote:

When all the ordinary divides and patterns are shattered, people step up to become their brothers’ keepers. And that purposefulness and connectedness bring joy even amidst death, chaos, fear, and loss.

REBECCA SOLNIT