Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Gather Ye Rosebuds


Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day, To-morrow will be dying.
-Robert Herrick (1591-1674)


Well, actually, the rosebuds (and lavender!) have already been gathered and placed in a decorative jar on my desk so I can see them and reminisce about my flower garden when it's covered in snow in another month.

The red, pink, & yellow miniature roses produce such tiny little pretty petals. When they're blooming I pick a few petite buds each week, along with a sprig of a ferny asparagus leaf, to place in miniature vases on the kitchen windowsill. Every now and then, as the buds in the vase go to full bloom, I'll pluck a few out & let them dry on the sill.

Little by little I start filling the rose jar with dried petals. This year I mixed in some of my lavender for color, too. I like to open it now and then and let the delicate scents of summer perfume the air.

So that olde line from the 17th century poem kept running through my head last Saturday when Ben came down to help Papa & I Gather Ye Cord Wood While Ye May...

Earlier that day, before Ben showed up, Papa had been out in the orchard sampling the apple crop.

He came in the house and said, 'Honey! Grab your camera and come get some pictures of the walnut tree. This is the best it's ever looked in the Fall.'

So we were outdoors moseying around when Ben came to get the wood-splitting party started. He & Jenny-dog ended up moseying along with us, too.

I call this next one the Ben-being-Eli shot...

You've got to click on the pic to truly appreciate that look on Ben's face

Truth be told, he was really just being grumpy at the photographer cuz she kept wanting more and more pictures... and did that stop her? No way José. I went a step further and started in on some live video in the afternoon. heheheh :D

About a half-hour into it in the late morning:

The pine rounds were kinda wet -on what must have been the north side of the standing tree- so they piled up the pieces to dry for the next few days before I wheelbarrow it all into the woodshed. So my job was boxing up any kindling, then removing the punky middles and bark as the fellas split. I stacked 'em up along the south side of the airplane garage so the sun will finish 'curing' them so they'll burn instead of smolder in the woodstove. 

Got some noisy action shots after lunch:


And some quiet, peaceful ones, too =)


Listen for the geese calling:


...and see that goofy camera shy pup (again):




One of the bulls showed up. I fed him apples:

..while the guys took the rack off Ben's truck until next year:

..and chewed the fat for a bit before Son One went home to his cabin.

Then I just had to get another shot of that walnut out back.. the light changed the perspective, doncha know ;)

..and then took one l-a-s-t picture. This time of the lilac & forsythia and the ivy on the elm at the north-east corner of the house:

-The End-
(of a perfectly, lovely, ideal day)



** Credits **
GabbyJaynlette 
for the inspiration, education, and tutoring of attaching HTML videos

Ben the Beloved 
for helping me figure out my camera's video issues

Eli-o 
for providing inspirational quotes 

Papa 
for feeding my addiction to taking pictures :)






4 comments:

  1. I think the Jenny video is my favorite!

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  2. ..yep. She's one cr-a-a-a-zy dog. I'd take more but they'd always look the same; ears laid flat, nervous look on her face, tail between the legs and then the disappearing act. Once she notices the camera's on her it's all over. I don't know when it all started. She wasn't like this when she was younger was she??

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  3. I think she was always like that... I cant remember her any other way. Boy I wish those horses had lived there when I did! So beautiful, watching papa feed them kinda made me miss the pigs.
    Great work on the videos! They work perfectly and add a fun dimension.
    Richard and I were both laughing out loud for the Why Why WHY picture!
    I think this is my favorite post so far :)

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  4. ah. gee thanks.. y'all make me want to write again =) It was a fun day to remember so I'm glad you were able to feel that in the writing and/or visuals.

    Thanks again for helping me learn how to add the live action videos! I'm gonna have to do some more in future pages..

    ReplyDelete