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Ah, Rodale's Organic Gardening magazine from back when it was little and pocket sized and full of wonderful advice was where I learned a lot about gardening and sustainable food production. We also had a magazine in Canada called Harrowsmith, kind of like Mother Earth News. Then they both got glossy and full of ads and tried too hard to appeal to urban back-to-the-land types, now it's all just big business.
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Ah, collecting maple syrup....tramping into the woods with the hint of spring in the air, tapping into the tree, going home for hot chocolate or hot tea, checking the tree later to collect the sap and boiling down the syrup in a little shed....my father grew up with memories like that.

I wasn't aware that Quebec was a maple syrup producer; I believe Vermont is, but I always thought of Quebec as being very cosmopolitan, not that that doesn't preclude back to the land living for folks in more rural areas.

In a few decades, children will have to learn about making maple syrup by going to nature museums.

It never ceases to fascinate me how people before our current generation learned how to use so much of what nature has to offer. I confess if I want syrup I go to the grocery store. But if I had maples instead of the prolific unwanted junk trees, I might be tempted to tap a tree just for the experience of it. It's innately satisfying to find sources of food and shelter directly, without going to Home Depot, Lowe's, or other store, but just going out into one's back yard.

Decades ago when Rodale's New Shelter magazine and Mother Earth News were the mantras of people concerned with pollution, earth sheltered homes, energy conservation, etc., MEN provided plans to build a cider press. I still have those magazines, and someday I still want to build a cider press to make my own cider from apple trees which I still have yet to plant.
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Oh yes, maple syrup is very much a part of spring in this area, though not as big as in Quebec. There are a few farmers who still tap and collect in the old way to make a little extra money each year, but they are getting fewer as not many are willing to put in the time and labour any more. Bigger producers have gone with collection tubing and reverse osmosis systems.
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Really GA, when I read Cwillie's post, it sounded so much like you! Not that Cwillie is not capable of beautiful writing also.
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Willie, is maple syrup collection common in your area?
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Willie and Send, I'm enjoying your poetic descriptions.
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The truth of those glorious Southern California signs that winter threatens to hang on while allergies caused by dust and pollen herald the arrival of a barely noticeable change in seasons here, Spring. Crows are hawking so loud in the higher up bare tree-tops one can hardly hear the woodpecker making holes weakening the branches which can break easily in the Santa Ana winds. Strong winds that dry your nasal passages, crack your throat. The late-night locals hooping it up blocks away at the bar after midnight can be heard if one dares to try some fresh air from an open window, sneeze, sneeze. Can you tell this is a negative exaggeration? For your entertainment. lol
Guess I should get out more and go to the beach.
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YES! Spring has turned you into a poet, or have you always been? I like your description of winter into spring.
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Those first subtle signs that winter is ending and spring is beginning. Cardinals are singing in the morning and the other winter birds are more active and vocal; the increasing power of the sun causes trickling and drip, drip drip sounds from snow-melt, even on cold days; those first tentative wisps of warmer winds from the south with the promise of more to come, soon. Locals are tapping in the sugar bush and you can almost feel the sap rising. Can you tell that spring is my favorite season??
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"Same Power"

I can see
Waters raging at my feet
I can feel
The breath of those surrounding me
I can hear
The sound of nations rising up
We will not be overtaken
We will not be overcome

I can walk
Down this dark and painful road
I can face
Every fear of the unknown
I can hear
All God’s children singing out
We will not be overtaken
We will not be overcome

The same power that rose Jesus from the grave
The same power that commands the dead to wake
Lives in us, lives in us
The same power that moves mountains when He speaks
The same power that can calm a raging sea
Lives in us, lives in us
He lives in us, lives in us

We have hope
That His promises are true
In His strength
There is nothing we can’t do
Yes, we know
There are greater things in store
We will not be overtaken
We will not be overcome

Greater is He that is living in me
He’s conquered our enemy
No power of darkness
No weapon prevails
We stand here in victory
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Love it when the guy starts talking to the dog, or cat!
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I know Veronica, you could call yourself a very funny lady!

Even though it's not my favorite thing, I am going to physical therapy-that is why I will be checking in less. Then, there is the full moon coming up. I really am missing everybody's comments! If I don't survive, I have asked my husband to check in here to say goodbye. That is as far as we have progressed with after death planning. It is enough!
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Veronica, Because you are who you are, no matter what you call yourself people will know who you are! I was kinda hoping we would not have to go through the name changes again because of the trolls changing their names so often.
Whatever name you choose or keep will be fine, I'm sure.

Cwillie, So sorry you became ill. I have noticed that even days before the actual symptoms of an illness we can get very irritable, so forgive yourself and start over. You are facing big decisions, and as long as you are undecided, that will add to your burden. You are right to ask for suggestions about deciding.
Get well soon. Then decide. For now, you can decide to defer the decision to a later time.
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My hubs does not have the best relationship with my dog (actually my mom's dog that I now have living with us). Hubs is not the cuddly type and this little dog knows it. She barks at him when he tries to talk to me.

I love it when, hubs will make himself lunch and he shares some with the dog. It is so funny as I listen to him talk to the dog.
Hubs: "I gave you 5 pieces of the burrito, I didn't put hot sauce on the pieces I gave you."

Dog: She looks sadly at him, blinking her eyes.

Hubs: "Don't look like you are going to cry, I shared with you. I guess I could make a couple more, but you would sit and look at me like this even if I gave you more."

LOL!!! The big tough man has a heart!!!
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Oh my gosh Veronica.....that gave me SUCH a mental image!!! (the picnic table...)
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Send the horses body was in the hole it was just the legs that were sticking up. maybe when she got home from work he could have said."Hi Honey come out and see the new picnic table I just built for us"
Oh my gosh, he has passed on now but suppose she is on this site and sees this post. She could easily work out who wrote it couldn't she? Maybe I should just change my name.Now what should i call myself? Any suggestions?
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Over here one gentleman who was an ardent hunter/shooter person whatever you call them asked for his ashes to be made into cartridges (I just know I am using all the wrong words here) and then his buddies fired his ashes into the air - certainly not green I imagine but novel.

Or you ca have the ashes made into diamonds and crystals for a price. One lady had a firework display suing her hubby's ashes.

Id like to be dropped over the side of a boat in the caribbean so the sharks can feed on me because I don't think we actually are at the top of the food chain and that would prove it!
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If you donate your body to science, won't they cut it up for you and save burial fees? Then all the medical students would get a good laugh about my body.
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Jude and Stacey don't want to be buried, but I don't want to be eaten either!
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Cwillie, good suggestion-the roasted wings would not have made it into the soup, cause that would have tasted very good! Those white pencil-thick tendons were really trouble though.
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Sendme, next time roast the wings first (in your little toaster oven?) or boil them whole in the broth until they fall apart, then take them out to make the soup.
Mmmm, turkey wings. So much more worthwhile than those tiny little chicken wings they have nowadays. Can you imagine them with bbq sauce?
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Veronica, The horse owner's wife might still find out if he couldn't dig a hole big enough. This conversation comes up after I was cutting apart turkey wings for soup. That was so difficult, it would have been easier to dig a hole, discard the soup fixings, and go out for burgers!
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LOL...I just happened to pop on here when I saw your post cwillie..yep that was me...actually it makes sense....especially as I am a huge nature lover...it would be a proper way to go...and in the process I am feeding a Mama coyote and her pups...I like that idea
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I believe it was Hope that once posted she wouldn't mind if we just rolled her body out back for the coyotes to find, lol. With all the focus on the environment I wonder that there isn't more attention paid to "green" options... burial at sea? A simple shroud and planted in the forest?
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Oh Jude, I Don't Want to be Buried either! I can't stand the fact of being confined into a box, under the ground, and I know that it makes no sense at all, as I'll be Dead! So please dear husband or children, have me cremated, and sprinkle my ashes in the Puget Sound, or up on Mt. Ranier, or any other beautiful place of your choice! Heck, sprinkle me everywhere, like Joan Rivers did with her husband! Lol! She was so funny about it, especially when she dropped a little bit on the stage of The Johnny Carson show. There was some significance there, as she hadn't been invited back to that stage in years, because she was so well liked, and Johnny didn't like that! I would be happy to stay tucked in a baggie, up in some cupboard, then be buried beneath the ground in a box! Thank you!
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EEEEEEEK I know I am a Brit and that makes me different - I also know I am different from a lot of Brits too so don't think I am mad just because I am a Brit. I can't bear the thought of being buried. Its on two counts really. The first is simple - what if I wasn't actually dead and I am underground bashing on the lid of the coffin - no no no too scary

The second is this song. Its an old Yorkshire song and for brevity I have missed out the multitude of repeat lines - I haven't eaten duck to the best of my knowledge in years because of this song

ON ILKLEY MOOR BAHT 'AT - Translation On Ilkley Moor without hat
(Traditional English - Yorkshire)


Wheear 'as ta bin sin ah saw thee, (Where have you been since I saw you?)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at?! (On Ilkley Moor without hat?)
Tha's been a cooartin' Mary Jane (You've been courting Mary Jane)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Tha's bahn t'catch thi deeath o'cowd (You're bound to catch your death of cold)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then we shall ha' to bury thee (Then we shall have to bury you)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then t'worms 'll cum and eat thee oop (Then the worms will come and eat you up)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then ducks 'll cum and eat oop t'worms (Then the ducks will come and eat up the worms)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at

Then we shall go an' ate oop ducks (Then we shall go and eat up the ducks)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
Then we shall all 'ave etten thee (Then we will have eaten you)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
That's wheer we get us oahn back (That's where we get our own back)
On Ilkla Moor baht 'at
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My brother and sil who live in Montana, have several acres of land. They have a family cemetery on their property. So far it has 3 family members buried there, my brother's fil, mil, and his son....my nephew who was killed in a head on collusion when he was 23. I would like a family cemetery if I had the acreage.
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Never buried a person but did have a big hole dug for a horse once.

And on a disgusting note our blacksmith confided that when his wife horse's died he could no dig a hole big enough so he used a chain saw to cut off the legs and put them in separately. He never told his wife and we don't know if she found out
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Thanks GardenArtist! I am just a visitor there too!

Watching one of those home buying shows, the couple closed escrow and were told they were allowed to bury two people in their yard! Wouldn't that save lots!
I think it was outside of St. Louis. Eewwww! What if the previous owners already did that? An entire cemetery, right in your own back yard. A very green yard it was.
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