Hercules the Guppy

***I forgot to add that our one little guppy, whom I have dubbed "Hercules", survived and entire week in the 29 gallon aquarium with no aeration! This little Titan has outlived every other fish I had in there by over a year. Even when I did a near total water change, she just kept ticking..... I haven't bought more fish because I just didn't have the extra cash to spend on them and then have them die on me. But I have decided that I will hunt out some cheap feeder guppies, which is what she was, to place with her to keep her company. I guess she deserves it!

Wow, an entire week with no lights!!! Last Sunday's gig at the Irish Fest actually went on in spite of the terrible winds that brought our city to a near halt. I wasn't there but a few of my fellow strummers did show up to play! Awesome dedication!

We camped out in our house this past week with no power. By Tuesday, everything in our freezers had gone bad and we had to toss about $250 worth of food. :( We did have hot water because our water heater is gas operated and it was not affected. The following week's weather was in our favor so we were able to keep windows open and used candles and flashlights at night to get around. Since hubby is home (currently job hunting, which was delayed a week due to this) we did get a few things done that did not require power and we actually had time to talk to one another, imagine that! And of course, I had plenty of time to practice my acoustic, non electric dulcimer as well!

Our city was an unbelievable site with trees and limbs down on nearly every street, many on top of homes and cars and many on power lines which kept us in the dark. We ourselves fared very well with only a few small branches and leaves to clean up. I always say a prayer for our 4 trees when we have high winds because they are large and I would hate to lose them. Our utilities are underground, and we are guessing that a transformer was blown somewhere near us.
This coming week we will be "playing catch-up" from the things we weren't able to do last week. I have a show coming up the first weekend of October. I will be at the Lincoln Days Celebration in Hodgensville, KY that weekend selling my hand mades. I have much sewing and other work to do in preparation for it.

This past Saturday morning, two of my girlhood friends and I attended a class to learn how to cast plant leaves in concrete to create garden art to use as bird baths, feeders, ornaments, or whatever you want to do with them... We had to leave them there to dry and I can't wait to see how they came out! We all hope to make more of them as Christmas gifts for family and friends. I will post pictures of them when they are finished!

The Louisville Dulcimer Society will be busy this weekend! We will be playing Saturday at the Bedford, KY Apple Festival and also Sunday afternoon at the Irish Fest on the Belvedere in downtown Louisville! If you like American and Irish folk music, you will love these performances! If you want to jam with us, come and join us in Bedford on Saturday afternoon because we will be jamming after the performance along the street beside the County Courthouse!

The Beford AppleFest will have plenty of good food and craft vendors if you come just for the festival atmosphere! Kentucky is a haven of fall festivals and there is a wealth of history and culture to experience when you attend! Hope to see you at one of these!

Mt. Washington Fall Festival 2007

Heirloom Gardening and Seed Bags

Vintage Seed Bags
I have been making seed bags this week in preparation for the fall festivals and craft fairs, although I am only doing a few of them this year. We had one almost every weekend last year from Sept. to mid Dec. but there has been less working capital this year and it limits how many I can apply for. (Click on photo for a closer look!)

These little seed bags are one of the things I have been working on this past week. I print old Burpee Seed catalog covers on muslin and then make them into bags. I also age them with tea and other stains. The upper one is from 1936 and the lower one is from an 1888 seed catalog.

"The Tomato Man", Gary Millwood, whom I met at the Bellewood Presbyterian Children's Home Arts and Crafts Show in 2007, directed me to a site of a Burpee seed catalogue collector friend of his who hosts the images. (Unfortunately, there was no Bellewood show this year.)

Gary introduced me, or re-introduced me actually, to the nearly lost practice of heirloom gardening. My parents and grandparents did this by saving and sharing seed from year to year, rather than buying seed or seedlings for their gardens. It is slowly coming back as people begin to learn that more and more heirloom plants will disappear if they are not kept in use. I have purchased some heirloom tomatoes and plan to keep the seed and try it next year. Gardening has been slow for me this summer as my knees will not cooperate. Hopefully they will be in better working order next spring.
Wish me luck!