The Dark Side of Gardening

I love gardening, I blog about it all the time, but there is a dark side to gardening for me.  I suffer from seasonal allergies, particularly in November and March.  Today the pollen count, even with rain, will be 648 p/m(3), that's parts per cubic meter, high, but not as high as it's going to get here.  Last year we had days where the pollen count was over 4,000 parts per cubic meter.  

After a day in the garden I'm coughing and sneezing because of allergic rhinitus  and my eyes are itching because even better, I have allergic conjuctivitus.  I do use prescription eye drops for the conjuctivitus, but I try to avoid taking anything for the allergic rhinitus because the 2 things my Doctor will let me take (I have high blood pressure) are Benedryl and Allegra.  Benedryl makes me spacey and mean-tempered and Allegra dries me out so badly that I usually end up with laryngitus   because of dried out vocal chords and I run around writing notes on napkins to communicate.

There are ways to help your allergies, take shots----not going to happen---, stay indoors, particularly in the morning when the pollen is the worse, close your windows, take a vacation when the pollen is the worst (we are, but we're going to Florida and I suspect the pollen won't be any better there) and stay out of you garden.  All of these things are unlikely to happen.

Right now it's pine tree pollen that's the worst and we have all kinds of pine trees in our yard.  I can't avoid them, not going to stay inside and I'm not taking medication, so I'll sniffle my way through March and hope that the pollen in April won't be one I react to.

Definitely a Gardening Day

Beautiful spring day, clouds building up though,  for rain is coming tonight and tomorrow, but for today temperatures in the 70's and just right for gardening.  I've been cleaning out the shady garden bed outside the garden proper.  The first couple of years we were here all I tried to  did was keep the weeds down, but about 4 years ago I decided that although it was in the shade all the time that I would find some plants that would grow there, and it has become one of my favorite beds.

I began by putting in Asperagus Ferns thinking I'd probably have to replant them each year, but they have been a wonder.  They're not truly a fern and originally from South Africa,  in some locations it's  been declared a weed, but I love them.  Delicate and lacy they've come through each winter, though this year they definitely got burned by the frost and I had to do some judicious pruning.

Each year I plant Coleus, Dusty Millers and Jacob's Coats in the bed. This year I'll add some begonias.   When the winter is mild, as it should be, they all come back.  This year I fear none of them will be back and I'll need to replant, time will tell.  There's also a Honeysuckle in this bed, but it hangs over the  garden fence and mainly blooms on the other side.  I've got Gladiola bulbs along the sunnier ends and put Pansies there in the winter.  The Mimosa tree overhangs this bed and though it blocks most of the sun its flowers are so pretty that I forgive it.  It is the last tree to leafout in the spring  and the last to lose its leaves in the fall.

The bed around the corner is my main rose bed and I started cleaning it today.  Last year at this time the Wisteria along the top of the fence had already started blooming, but not this year.

Mac is putting in a new raised bed in the garden proper.  Right now there are Day Lilies, Ginger Lilies and Freesias there.  Hopefully   it won't be so damp there now and I'll try some other plants in there.

In the small bed next to the driveway my Daffodils and Hyacinths have started blooming, finally!

It feels so good to have my fingers in the soil again!

Hilton Head Island

We spent the day in Hilton Head South Carolina yesterday.  Hilton Head is one of South Carolina's coastal islands, and definitely the most developed.  Getting there you travel highway 278 which  crosses the Intercoastal Waterway and then over Pinkney Island, the site of a National Wildlife Refuge and then onto Hilton Head itself.   It's a beautiful entry to the the island but it's so built up.  Though they make business's mute their signs all you see as you drive across the island is one strip mall after another.  We drove the length of the island to Sea Island Resort.  There are a number of beaches on Hilton Head, but I'd been wanting to paint the lighthouse, on paper only, at Harbor Town so that's where we went.  The weather was perfect, even warmer than it had been forecast, well up in the 70's, so it was hot sitting in the sand painting.

The harbor area was full up people,

 mainly old, rich Yankees enjoying our Southern winter.  Most of the cars in the 

parking lots were from up north or Canada, and nearly all

of the yachts in the harbor were New England based, and those yachts were big and expensive

 looking.

Sea Pines Resort is an amazing looking place and driving through it we could see why people would make it a vacation destination.  Stopping by one pond we saw a bald eagle perched on top of a tree, in my picture he looks tiny, but in person he was huge, you could easily see his white head even as far away as we were.

  Basking on the side of the pond were a group of Anhingas, through with fishing for the day I guess.

After finishing my  painting we drove back to the other side of the island to have lunch at The Crazy Crab, a restaurant we'd discovered years ago and enjoyed a tasty lunch overlooking the water.  Mac had a broiled fish plate with scallops, fish and shrimp, while I had a 1/2 pound of

 of steamed shrimp.  It is so nice living in an area where fresh shrimp are caught locally 

and not trucked in from across the country.

All in all a nice day, but Mac and I both agree that we prefer Tybee Island

 here in Georgia to Hilton Head.  Tybee is more laid back and definitely less developed.  At Hilton Head it almost feels like you need to dress up to go to the beach, Tybee is a come as you are place.  Still, I'm pleased with my painting and glad we went.

I Knew It!

I knew it, it's not my fault that I'm overweight, it's those pesky bacterium living in my intestines.  Their insatiable need for "food" drives me to eat more than I need.

Gut bacteria have been linked to asthma, cancer and other autoimmune diseases and now scientists are suggesting that they may be linked to obesity.    They believe that the reason people are eating too much might  not be simply because unhealthy food is cheap and available, but rather that it's the bacteria living in our intestines that cause it. 

Now I've always known that humans harbor bacteria, both internally and externally, but I didn't realize to what extent.  I just read that the human body has 10 times more bacteria than human cells with 50 trillion microbes living in the average digestive tract alone.  

And basically what the scientists are saying is that when there is a change in our bacteria it may lead to obesity.  They transplanted bacteria from obese mice to slim mice and the slim mice began eating more and became obese.  Should we get rid of our bacteria, of course not, we need each other.  One scientist was quoted as saying, "...we're not so much individual organisms as symbiotic human-bacteria collecitves", now there's a thought.

So what are you going to do?  Well at my age I'm just going to relax and enjoy myself. Mac said he knew all along that it was an inside job!

Hunting Down the Ancestors, Again

I'm still working on our family history although it is starting to slow down and get harder.  What a kick it is to find how where my family came from.  On my Dad's side, with a name like Strader, I've always known we came from Germany, but family "legend" has always said that the first Strader came over in the 1800's to work in the breweries in Missouri, and that is completely wrong.  I was amazed to find out that the earliest Strader I could track down was William, Hans Wilhelm, Strader who was born in Rotterdam, which was part of the Lowlands, not Germany.  He was born in 1710 and died in Sussex County New Jersey in 1784.  So much for family history, not German at all, though there are German parts to the family.  Through my Father's maternal Grandmother Ellen Wyant I was able to trace back about 4 more generations to Peter Wyant who was born in 1763 in Germany and died in Virginia in 1838.

On my Mother's side I've been greatly helped by a newly found 3rd cousin Monica who has shared family photos and stories with me.  My only memory of my Great Grandmother Lizzie is of a very old woman, but thanks to my cousin I now have a picture of her as a young mother with her children, including my Grandmother Pearl who I'd never seen a picture of as a child!

And through my cousin I've been able to trace both the Irish branch of the family and the Cherokee Indian branch.   I've always known we were Cherokee for my Grandmother and Great Grandmother are on the Dawes Roll, that's a list of all the Cherokee Indians in the early 1900's in Oklahoma, the Federal Government made this list up so they would be able to give land to the Indians as Oklahoma became a state, and so the tribe could keep track.  But it was so interesting to trace the history back and find where one of my ancestors had married an Indian woman named Susannah Senicooie in Georgia before the Cherokees were forced to move to Oklahoma.

Who knows what I'll discover next.

What Makes a Good Neighborhood?

We live in what we think is a beautiful neighborhood.  It's called Redbird Creek,  named for the creek that runs behind it and for the Cardinals that live there.  It's full of mature live oaks and towering pines with landscaping kept very natural.  We are what's called a covenant protected community which means that we have a set of rules and regulations that govern how we keep our subdivision looking good.  We can't cut trees without permission, all building must be approved by an architectural committee, and no boats, ATVs, jetskis may be kept in driveways and must be screened from the road.And as you can see it is a beautiful place.  But now some in our community have decided that in addition to the rules and regulations we have that we should start fining our neighbors if they don't follow the rules.  It's obvious that most, if not all of us, are following the rules, but that's not good enough.  What a horrible thing to do to a community, turning one neighbor against another and 

actively encouraging neighbors to report infractions. 

 Mac and I take a 2 mile

 walk through our neighborhood everyday and have never seen anything being done that deserved a fine.  

 Well this was brought to a vote at our annual Homeowner's Association Meeting on Sunday and the vote ended in a tie, so we're at a standstill.  We don't know what's going to happen, but I hope that they simply let it die and realize that even without fines we'll continue to take care of our properties because no one wants to destroy the beauty we have here and we don't need a fine to make us do it.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, I Mean Visit

Yes the President is in town today.  Not to visit me of course, or anyone like me it seems.  He's visiting several African-American schools and colleges, a program for disadvantaged youths and meeting with the Mayor, who is also  African-American,  and then leaving.

Supposedly one of the reasons for the visit is to show his concern for jobs, but he hasn't time to meet with any of the local small business owners or indeed any business owners.  So last Friday the Mayor, Otis Johnson,  was sent notice from the White House for him, the Mayor, to meet with the local business owners and to compile a list of their thoughts on how to get the economy going and for him to then share the list when he meets with the President.

I'm not impressed.  More and more I'm concerned with how we have elected a man with so little experience in government that he thinks that photo opportunities and teleprompter speeches are all we need to solve our problems.

I hold the media responsible, in a large part, for his election and gain a bit of pleasure each time I hear that newspapers are losing readership and network news its viewers.  They've earned the right to fail.  Unfortunately if this President fails we'll all pay the price.

I Know Spring Must Be Near

I'm not a birder and have difficulty identifying even the most obvious of birds, thankfully we have lots of blue birds and cardinals and that makes it a bit easier.  But I can enjoy the birds without knowing  precisely who they are, and frequently my husband helps me to identify them.  And as the days grow incrementally longer the sound of bird song begins to fill the air here in Coastal Georgia.

Right now the Starlings are visiting, they never

stay past Spring, but right now they're filling our trees with their song and their chatter.  I read recently that they are one of the most successful bird introductions in this country.  They were brought from England

 in 1890-91 and released into  Central Park in New York City as part of a project to bring 

in all the birds mentioned in William Shakespeare's writing.  I always enjoy the Starlings, flying in good-sized flocks and  swirling about the sky in massed formations.

Usually by this time we have a pair of Canadian Geese who come in to nest on the island in the lagoon in our b

ackyard, but there's been no sign of them this year and I will miss

 them.  They always came to be fed and when the goslings hatched they brought  them over for our inspection.  Perhaps they wintered over in Florida instead.

We do have 3 Mallards who come each year and they seem undeterred by the "cold" winter we've been having.  Though they'll eat what we throw them in the lagoon they flee to the water if we walk in the backyard to feed them.

White herons visit regularly to fish in the backyard, and Mac, while enjoying their beauty, is less than appreciative of them eating what he considers his fish. 

 A frequent visitor of our birdfeeder is this small redbellied woodpecker.  Why he's called bedbellied when its his throat that's red is beyond me.

The robins are all here, and they too are transients, staying a few weeks and traveling on.  But as they come just as Spring is coming

 I'm always glad to see them.

Our cardinals stay all year and are found everywhere in our neighborhood, hence the name

 of our subdivision, Redbird Creek. 

 Mac spotted his first bluebird yesterday,

 and of course all the LBJ's (little brown jobs) are here, as are the Carolina Chickadees.   We have a birdfeeder out for them, but the rascally

 squirrels get as much from it as the birds.

But if there is any better way to wake  up  than to birdsong I don't know

what it is, for it means Spring, though the thermometer may disagree, is on its way.

Springlike Symptoms

This time of year is such a tease, warm springlike days, and then hard freezes at night.  I long for the softness of  spring.  While  working in the garden earlier this week I noticed that in addition to all my Spanish Bluebells that are coming up nicely (please bloom), that one of my purple Hyacinths is ready to open.  They are so pretty and last so long I always end up planting more of them.

We're going today to buy more lumber to make another raised bed.  Much of our plantings is done in raised beds because our water table is so high, we basically live in a swamp.  This bed will be an extension of Mac's vegetable garden with one end stepped up for me to plant more roses, climbers mainly.  I love roses and to quote Abraham Lincoln , "We can mourn 

that roses have thorns or rejoice that thorn bushes have roses".   I rejoice.

The freesias under the oak tree  are covered in "budlets"....have no idea what to call them, and are just waiting for a warm day to open.  The longer hours of sunlight say it's time, but the cold nights warn them to wait a bit.  They're usually our first bulbs to bloom, but this year it looks like the Hyacinths  may  beat them, and quite possibly the Daffodils as well for they are nearly ready to open.

I long for a long warm spring day where  I can start adding more plants to my  garden. What I fear is that we're going to have a long cold to cool spring and go directly into summer.  And summers in Georgia are a sight to behold.

Family History

I've been working on mine and Mac's family histories for a couple of months now.  I've hit some dead ends in his family and short of traveling to Spain I don't quite know what to do.  One of his 2nd cousins has been very helpful in sharing family memories and I do thank her.   The fact that family members also carry their Mother's maiden name helps some, but not enough.  I've been lucky enough to find his family's name on ships so I've been able to pinpoint their immigration, but records in Spain are harder to come by.  I've posted some inquiries on a message board in Spain, but so far no replies. 

Things have gone better on my side.  I've traced parts of my Dad's family to Germany, England and Switzerland.  He always said his Grandmother Ella Wyant was from England, but as far as I've been able to research she wasn't.

I traced her family back to Virginia and further back to Germany, but no English connections.

My Father, who was born in Missouri,  had always said that his  family had come from  Virginia and that the family was  related to General George Armstrong Custer, but so far I've found no connection, not sure I want to find a connection.  The Virginia part is correct though.

My Mother, who was born in Oklahoma, has a family history that I've traced back to Richmond County Georgia in the 1700's.  Her maiden name was Kennedy and I'm pretty sure they came from Ireland at some time, though Kennedy is a Scottish name too, but the only Irish connection I've found is her Great Grandfather Michael Finn.   My Mother had always said I had a Great, Great Grandfather known as Mickey Finn (that's slang for knockout drops) and sure enough  there he was.

It has been so interesting to trace the western migration of my family, from Europe to the East coast of America, to the South and across to the midwest.  Another thing I've noticed is  the repetition of names and that often helps in research.

I've searched a lot of census rolls and they've given a wealth of information, maybe I won't be so resentful when we fill out census forms this year.  Often the rolls list form of employment, where the person was born and even better, where their parents were born.

Genealogy.com has been wonderful, I could not have done it without them.  They're not free, but they're definitely worth the money.  Each day I add a little more to my tree and learn a little more about me.

Invaders!

Watched Nature on PBS last night about new species being introduced into Florida either by owners who no longer want them or can't take care of them, so they simply take them out into the countryside and let them go or by "escaping" from exotic pet dealers.

These animals include parrots, macaws and other exotic birds, iguanas, Madagascar geckos, and more distessing, Burmese Pythons, Nile Monitor Lizards, and other, large unwanted snakes.  The authorities are making a concentrated effort to get the Pythons out of the Everglades to protect the endangered species there, but freely admit that they will not be able to stop their spread because, in addition to owners releasing them into the wild, they're breeding in the wild.  What started as a problem with dozens of pythons is now one of thousands of them.  Near Miami they hold an amnesty day for people to turn in exotic pets they no lon

ger want and they got everything from Amazonian parrots, to Burmese Pythons to a Howler Monkey.  And the official running the program said that seeing what is being brought in he worries what is being released.

I worry about this because we live at the swampy end of Georgia and whatever there is in Florida eventually makes its way up here.  I can't even begin to picture a 16 foot python crossing the road, it's enough to deal with the alligators we already have.