In honor of Remembrance Day please see my new post on a WW2 Bomber Tour and Swing Dance. (Sorry for having to link back but I accidentally published this when I was drafting, so I trashed it and then recovered it, but now it is stuck back in the Oct 30 archives and is not showing up on the current Reader).
In honor of Remembrance Day, I would like to link back to last years blog about my Uncle Charlie – WW1 Vet – a post wherein I was able to trace his path across Europe during the last Hundred Days Offensive of the war, based on his war memorabilia. I have had many positive comments on this post, and it seems particularly fitting during this, the 100th year anniversary of the signing of the Armistice.
For those who might have already read the above, I am working on a post about a WW2 Bomber Tour and Swing Dance I attended last year. Check it out next week. In WW1 we may have sent horses to war, but in WW2 we sent 18 year olds up in tin-cans. I was horrified when I saw what they had flown in….it’s no wonder so many did not return. Lest we forget.
Poppies
“Have you ever noticed the lights flickering in the Barry House at night or felt a presence as you wandered through the building? Come out to the Museum on Friday and Saturday night to hear the gang from Paranormal People talk about what they do and share a few ghost hunting stories and then stick around at 8 pm to join them in your own night at the museum adventure as you get hands on and search for spirits in the Barry House. The cost is $10 for just the lecture and $20 for the lecture and participation in the investigation. Space is limited and $20 tickets for the investigation must be purchased in advance.”
They say that on Halloween, the veil between this world and the next is at it’s thinnest. So when I saw the Facebook invitation to Fright Night at the Museum back in September, I thought how perfect, and then did what I normally do…I clicked on maybe interested and forgot about it. This is a relatively recent habit of mine, probably a reaction to working life when everything was so finely scheduled, but now that I am retired and have acres of time I am reluctant to commit to things so far in advance. Who knows what I may feel like doing that day? Unfortunately, by the time I remembered and had recruited some friends to join me, (no way was I driving home alone after what was bound to be a spooky night), the house part was sold out. I guess they really did mean space was limited…..to 14 people. Oh well, not meant to be.
The next week I met one of the new part time librarians, and it turned out she was the curator of the museum….what a coincidence! It must be the universe, telling me I should go. I told her I was thinking about writing a blog, hoping this might score me some points, but she said they already had a big waiting list, so I bought a ticket from her for the lecture only, thinking I could always change my mind later. My friends had backed out by then, no one wanting to drive all that distance for a one hour talk and I couldn’t blame them. At any rate it might be interesting to see the ghost-hunting equipment. She said either night would do, they had space for 50 people, but had only sold 14 tickets for each night……um. Normally this small museum is only open in the summer but has a winter lecture series with topics of local interest. I had attended a talk there previously on The Great Lakes Storm of 1913, because I had a great uncle who died on one of the ships. As well as the museum and cultural centre, there is also the Barry house beside it, built in 1881 and decorated inside like a typical Victorian home of the era – 1880-1920. I had toured the house a few years before during a Blueberry Social Sunday, as they had an exhibit of one hundred antique dolls someone had donated to the museum and my mother wanted to see the Shirley Temple/Betty Boop dolls. My mother really enjoyed the house, especially the kitchen as it was full of furnishings she recognized from growing up in the Depression – the old wood stove, an icebox, etc. I remember the tour guide mentioning that the house was supposed to be haunted, but I certainly did not feel any presence at the time. (It was the middle of a summer afternoon, the ghosts would be sleeping, they are nocturnal creatures). Several people had died in the house, the owner, his wife, and a small child, but that would not be uncommon in that age, as people did not go to the hospital to die. If you were Irish Catholic like my farm ancestors, you may even have held the wake at the house and had the body laid out in the parlor.
Friday morning, I woke with a bad case of the flu. Although disappointed, I was in no shape to go anywhere other than from the bed to the couch and back again. As well, it was raining, and very windy, and it turned into a thoroughly miserable dark and stormy night, (although lacking the lightening necessary for a classic haunted house scenario). It must be the universe telling me to stay home. I did – it’s important to listen when the universe speaks, especially when you have a fever and ache all over. Best to leave the ghost-hunting to the more able-bodied souls.
A few days later I telecommunicated with the Paranormal People (the old-fashioned way via email), to see if they had encountered any ghosts, and they said to watch for the Podcast and video to follow. So, I’m sorry to disappoint that I have no first-hand experiences to relate, merely some thoughts about this and other hauntings.
Summary of Podcast:
The five Paranormal People (think your classic geek squad, but big and solid guys with nerves of steel), split up on Night One – one team went upstairs, one down. They said the found all those antique dolls particularly creepy – think Chucky from those old horror movies multiplied times one hundred, all those eyes staring out in the dark. They found it colder upstairs, which was odd. They had been in the house a few years ago, and found nothing major, although they “felt a vibe”, and tonight was not much different. The Echovox was quiet for the one group, (it didn’t want to talk to him), and spit out nothing but gibberish for the other group when they switched, although when asked how many people were there, said 12. (Not all ghosts are good at math). It also said his name twice and the museum. The Spiritbox was a zero. The K-2 meter went off downstairs but it was found to be a ground wire problem in the office. They said part of their mission is to debunk issues – to explain things logically if they can. On their website they say they don’t charge for paranormal investigations, this is a voluntary thing for them investigating haunted places. They mostly do private investigations for home owners, but occasionally when they are doing a public reading such as this, a ghost will attach himself to a guest, so instead of hearing from the house ghost, you may hear from a guest’s ghost. (Kind of like BYOB only in this case – bring your own ghost). And this is exactly what he says happened on Night Two. Someone named Clara spoke on the Podcast and said she heard her name Clara on the Echovox numerous times, and also her name from a previous life, (obviously already a convert). She felt a strong presence in the room upstairs, “someone wanted to talk to me” and recognized his voice. The K2 meter went up when this was happening. It went higher when they asked it to verify. Clara was “buzzed” and was going to buy her own Echovox. He said all this ghost-hunting equipment can be easily purchased on Amazon and E-Bay although some of it is expensive. He seemed most concerned that everyone had enjoyed themselves and had a good time.
I am still waiting for them to post the video, as one of the crew was taping parts of the evening.
My Observations:
I did a bit of research on some of this ghost-hunting equipment and remain skeptical, especially after I read an article debunking it via a reasonable scientific explanation. (Once a scientist, always a scientist). Ghost hunters use EVP’s (Electronic Voice Phenomena) for demonstrating the existence of the paranormal, either EchoVox, Spirit Box or a digital recorder. They ask questions and wait for a reply. These devices are phoneme generators and they take advantage of the fact that the human brain is pre-programmed to latch on to any shred of a word and turn it into a real word or phrase, something with meaning. EchoVox is a cellphone app type program which has a database of phonemes, and Spirit Box picks up it’s phonemes from surrounding radio broadcasts. Phonemes are parts of words, and with 44 of them, you can make almost every word in the English language. When you have a lot of phonemes being thrown at you randomly, some of them will begin to sound like words, because your brain database subconsciously matches it according to context (your expectation), and then delivers the product (a whole word or sentence) to your conscious mind. Basically, your brain can interpret and perceive patterns out of randomness, a process called Audio Pareidolia. I experienced this myself when viewing a video on the Paranormal People website before I had done any research, and thus was as unbiased as a first impression can be. The Paranormal Person was in some other haunted house and asked if there was anyone there who needed help? (Yes, ghosts need help, otherwise they wouldn’t be stuck here between two worlds). And then I heard help, help, help, (I guess that’s why they call it an Echovox, if you don’t hit the delay on the recording it echos), which the PP guy interpreted as an answer and reassured the poor soul, yes we can help you. (We are Ghost-busters!) There was a suggestion, and then the expected answer. We hear what we expect to hear, but if you listen to the audio reply without the context, (the questions or video), it just sounds like a bunch of gibberish. K2 meters detect spikes in electro-magnetic energy, as indicated by a range of multi-colors lights at the top of the meter which may signify activity or communication from spirits from the other side. If you buy into the theory we all turn into energy after we die I suppose it is plausible….but they found a faulty ground wire, so that too may be subject to interpretation. I am not convinced, but it would be interesting do more research, or hear about other people’s experiences.
While I may have chosen to disregard Clara-with-the-previous life who so obviously wanted to believe, there was one anecdote on the podcast told by a member of the audience, and this is the kind of thing that is spookier to me than all the rest. A woman told a story about driving late at night and hitting a girl with long blonde hair, but when she stopped the car she could not find the body – there was nothing at the side of the road or in the ditch. She was sure she had hit someone, so being very shook up, she contacted the police, but the police officer said not to worry about it, a girl had been killed previously on that road and they had received several similar reports over the years usually around the anniversary of her death. There was no damage to her car, but when she drove to her mothers, the dog went crazy, clawing at the front of the car. It’s difficult to disregard this kind of story, where more than one person has experienced the same thing in the same place. I do recall several young girls being killed in that area in the past, one while rollerskating at dusk, she was hit from behind by an elderly woman, another a young girl who was killed while trick or treating by a drunk driver who fled the scene. So perhaps the universe sent me this miserable flu, so I might lie on my nice comfy couch in my nice warm house and not encounter any phantom girls haunting the river road on my drive way home. Sometimes it’s all in how you wish to interpret things, but I’m glad I stayed home.
While not all old houses are haunted, the ones which are tend to be over a hundred years old, and it is usually those who have some unfinished or unpleasant business in their past. Something awful has happened to keep the departed tethered to this place and this life. They are setting up a film shoot in another town nearby, for a teenage scream movie and the house they have chosen is the perfect setting. A twenty room Victorian mansion at the edge of town, covered by a maze of creepers and overgrown trees, it has been abandoned for over half a century. Someone bought it a decade ago with the aim of renovating it into apartment units, but there was a fire and the roof caved in from the water and he lacked the funds to continue. It really should be classified as a heritage building but no one can afford to fix it up to it’s former glory. They had to get permission from the town to let the grass grow all summer and the other day when I drove by, they were setting up ladders outside. Yesterday in the paper there were photos of the film crew, with lots of mist generated in the background to make it look extra creepy. Giant lights suspended from a crane illuminated it, casting an eerie glow – and are those zombies on the front lawn?
The house has a ballroom which occupies one of the upper floors, and every time I drive pass, I have a visual image of the ghosts waltzing on Halloween to the strains of an orchestra. While I have never heard that this house is haunted, it certainly would qualify.
There is another Victorian mansion nearby which does have a reputation for being haunted, although when a paranormal group visited there a few years ago, they failed to register anything untoward. Bequeathed to the city by it’s former owners, it now houses a thriving arts centre. They are always looking for people to staff the art gallery, but I would never volunteer there, even for the afternoon. It’s okay to visit on a First Friday when there is a crush of people around, but the elevator has been known to go up and down on its own, and strange things have happened in the turret room upstairs where they hold small concerts at night. The ghost is female, and haunts the attic. Too spooky for me, but I hope she appreciates the art.
My mother told me recently that in her early married years in the old farmhouse they used to hear footsteps on the upstairs staircase at night. I never felt uncomfortable growing up there, although we never went into the attic when we were younger. The attic door was adjacent to my bedroom, and occasionally it was ajar a bit, but we knew it was just a draft that blew it open, as the latch was flimsy. The small peaked attic, crammed full of old antiques, was over the original log cabin part of the house (1849), which was joined by a partition to the newer part of the house (1880). Old farm houses were either yellow brick or white clapboard like ours, with additions added as families grew. As my great-grandparents had nine children, perhaps it was haunted by one of them (below), but certainly by the time we were old enough to sleep upstairs, any ghosts had long departed, driven away by a gang of noisy children.
While I do believe there are unexplained paranormal happenings, and strange links exist between here and the afterlife, I remain skeptical that this kind of investigation can be quantified by communication devices in a public atmosphere. Unlike some medical people, I do not discount near-death experiences, (despite some perfectly plausible scientific explanations for such), and in fact read extensively on this phenomenon after a death in my own family many years ago, (I found it comforting). But then NDE’s are a whole other topic. Whatever you chose to believe is a personal choice – I prefer to believe in ghosts, but not ghost-busters. However, it is one thing to believe in a spiritual afterlife, (even if we just change into orbs of light or energy), but another to try and make contact with it. Ghosts are not easy to summon. They don’t wish to be hunted down. My philosophy is if they want to get a message to you, they will, not the other way around. Still, if the Paranormal People were to return next year, and I can attend, I remain open to being convinced otherwise. At the very least, a fun night was had by all….except for the ghosts, but seriously can you blame them. Do you really expect ghosts can be coaxed out when 14 people are staring at them? I think of ghosts as anti-social creatures at the best of times, (well except perhaps when they are dancing). While the veil may be thin on All Hallow’s Eve I bet most of them fear for their lives….all those weirdos on the streets! Happy Halloween and may all your hauntings be pleasant ones!
Do you have any paranormal experiences you would care to share?
Movie of the Day: Magic in the Moonlight – if you have not seen this 2014 Woody Allen film about seances and the paranormal, it is a visual treat. Set in the south of France in the 1920’s, the scenery and fashions are absolutely gorgeous, plus it stars two of my favorite actors, Colin Firth and Emma Stone. Break out the Ouija board!
As a fan of Big Band music, I was happy to see the announcement for a WW2 Bomber Tour and Swing Dance last June, an event promising a retro evening of dinner and dancing to a 23 person orchestra in an airport hanger, just like they did back in the wartime. Tickets were $75 per person, with the proceeds going to a children’s charity, but a bit too steep for most of my friends as it turned out. While I have “medical/work” friends, (shop talk and free dinners from drug companies), “artistic” friends, (art galleries and theatre), “book” friends ( book clubs and literary talks) and “shopping” friends, I have no one who shares my love of history and museums. My mother was not interested, she had already lived through that decade once she said and had no wish to revisit it. My mother had worked in a war plant for two years (1942-1944), from the time she was 16 to 18 years old. She remembers the young boys in her hometown volunteering for the war effort, and many did not come back. At ninety, she does not like to go out at night, but she was interested in seeing the airplane as she is always looking for new subjects to paint. So off we went to the local airport one sunny afternoon, along with a hundred guys, including a whole brigade of firemen on their lunch hour. There may have been a few other women there, dragged along by their spouses, but certainly we were outnumbered. My mother was not able to climb the stairs to tour the airplane but sat under one of the wings out of the sun and had an enjoyable chat with the pilot in charge, who was from Mesa Arizona but whose Canadian mother was from her hometown and had also worked in one of the war plants. Although he had moved to the US when he was younger, his mom had died the previous year at age 89, so he was happy to reminisce about her Canadian roots.
The Flying Legends of Victory Tour is organized by the Commemorative Air Force Air Base out of Arizona. Their mission is to take antique bombers on tour around the country, to educate people so they do not forget this important part of aviation history, especially now that there are fewer WW2 veterans left and those remaining are well are up in years. They tour all fifty states and Canada and you can sign up on their website to be notified if one is visiting your area next year. The plane they were flying that day was a B17 bomber. A four engine bomber, they were manufactured during WW2 – about 13,000 were made, about 5000 were lost during the war. (see Wikepida for more info). Those are not good odds, although the bomber developed the reputation of being able to bring their crews home safely despite being badly damaged. There are only about ten surviving in the world which are fly-worthy, restored versions which had never seen action, including The Sentimental Journey on display. The cost to tour the inside of the plane was only $5, so off I went, leaving mom visiting with her new friend.
Before we start the tour, a bit about the crewman positions on the plane. Here’s a link to a very excellent B17-Queen of the sky blog explaining the various crew positions and also a link to a Wikepedia article with more information than you might care to read. I wish I had made notes at the time but it was over a year ago, and I scarcely remember what everyone did. There was no official tour, but you could ask questions if you wished. Of course, all my questions came later, like how they decided who got which position?
This B-17 bomber, re-christened Sentimental Journey, had a picture of Betty Grable, a famous pin-up girl from the wartime, painted on the side. This nose art, as it was called, was designed to boost morale and although the planes were often named after women, sweethearts or wives, other subjects included hometowns, states, cartoon characters, mascots or something designed to scare the enemy.
I climbed the six steep steps to the front of the plane, which gave you a view of the cockpit and the pilot seats, off limits of course.
They were in town for a whole week, with certain days set aside for touring, and others for flights. The flights, ranging from $425 to $850 US, were all sold out, and well worth the money for flying fans because when would you ever get such an opportunity again. I did see the plane overhead periodically during the week, flying low along the river, and once over the farmers market but by the time I grabbed the camera the photo-op was gone. Even though you could hear its rumbling roar coming, I still wasn’t quick enough to capture it. It made me stop and think about what an air raid must have been like, the planes upon you before you could seek shelter.
Behind the cockpit, the bomb bay doors were open below, and there was a bridge with ropes you had to walk across to get to the rest of the plane, but with my fear of heights, I decided I just couldn’t do it. It was not for the claustrophobic either, as it was very tight quarters inside.
I exited back down the stairs, and went in the back entrance (below) to tour the rest of the plane.
First up after the bomb bay were three seats, two on one side and one on the other, for the navigator, the wireless operator and the bombardier, whose job it was to get the bombs dropped on target.
The next time you are on an airplane and tempted to complain about the seats, think about these. Note the overall lack of insulation, it must have been cold as hell up there despite their flight suits. I can’t imagine those poor kids (and they were mostly 18-25 year old’s), spending 12-14 hours in those tin cans, because that’s exactly what they were……pieces of steel held together by tons of rivets.
Next up was the ball turret position, and the turret jettison kit. Pity the poor soul who got that position. Located on the underside of the plane it was designed to prevent attack on the aircraft from below and was usually manned by smallest member of the crew.
The left waist gunner below. I asked a guy to take my picture here but he missed and took the floor instead. Note the spool of ammunition attached to the machine gun. There’s a better picture in this article link.
The rear/tail gunner position was also bad……so exposed, but important for protecting the back of the plane.
For me, the most poignant part was reading the signatures written on the bomb bay doors. Back on the ground, I looked underneath, where visiting WW2 veterans were encouraged to sign their names and list the number of missions and their crew members. Here’s a sample, written on July 21 2014. Earl Morrow, age 93 years old, but still able to remember everyone and their position, and his three crew members KIA killed in action – something you never forget. The “Delores” was shot down over Germany after 17 missions, POW 5/45. The doors were covered with signatures from the stops around the country. I wish I had taken more pictures of these.
Back to those rivets, while my mother was not a Rosie the Riveter, she worked on the inspection table at a die casting plant making aircraft engine parts – nose cones similar to the ones in this picture, but she says they were larger.
Her job as part of the inspection team was to check for holes in the unit, and check the threads for any defects. About 3 in every 100 were sent back. She left school at age 16 and was lucky to get hired so young, but an aunt had pulled her in. Coming out of the Depression, money was not plentiful, but her parents and brother had decided to try and save enough to buy a farm. They worked long shifts, sometimes up to 10 hours if it was busy, barely seeing each other for weeks. Because of her young age, she was put on the inspection team. She can’t remember her exact wage, but thinks it was less than $20 a week, or about $1000 per year. She said some of the farm girls who came in from the countryside paid $35 every two weeks for room and board and their wages barely covered the cost. She worked there for almost two years, with no time off for vacation, and when they had enough money saved for a down payment they bought a farm several hours away, right across the road from my dad’s farm, so essentially she married “the boy next door.” The 100 acre farm cost $5000, but with the expense of buying a team of horses and other livestock and supplies, they had to take out a mortgage, but it was a start to a more prosperous life.
My grandmother worked in the Brass factory, but married women had shorter hours, as this plaque explains.
These pictures are from a museum in her hometown which we visited this past summer. She had not been back in many years but was showing some art as part of a jury art show in the adjacent gallery. The museum was just down the street from where she used to live, so we went to visit her childhood home, and the owner let her come inside. I had knocked on the door as I didn’t want them to think there was some random stranger taking pictures of the outside of their house. It was quite nicely renovated. It sold for $1000 when they moved. My mom remembers my grandmother sending her down the street with a dollar to pay the hydro bill at what is now the museum building. And now eighty years later, she is showing her art there, which just goes to show life holds surprises, even when you are older. Like most women of her generation she did not work outside the home after she married, so it’s nice she has this chance at a late in life career.
The plane tour over, we stopped at the airport office and although I knew all 300 tickets had sold out quickly, just out of curiosity I asked if there were any tickets left for the dinner dance, and it turned out there were two cancellations, so we grabbed them for the following evening, my mother having now been enticed by the prospect of a nice meal and some big band music. (When my parents were dating they used to go to dances at a venue on the lake, where Glenn Miller and other famous Big Band musicians played). You were encouraged to dress in the style of the era, (and a few people did), but because it was so last minute, I ended up raiding my closet – thank god for that 80’s closet. (see The Vintage Corner) I had made a quick trip to the vintage store looking for some evening gloves or a hat, something to make it more retro, but no luck. It turned out the night was so hot and sultry, there was no need for gloves. The first thing I noticed near the entrance to the airport hanger was a yellow dress on a mannequin, similar to mine, only mine was a Laura Ashley sundress with a fuller skirt. But I do think mine was nicer, yellow is not a color I wear well but the material was so lovely I had kept it, even though I hadn’t worn it in decades. (I will admit, the waist was a bit tighter than I remembered).
They had made an effort to dress up the space with white tablecloths and chairs and army décor, but it was still an airplane hangar. The smell of diesel lingered in the air because the side doors were closed to the evening breeze.
Here’s the orchestra setting up, The Toronto All Star Band, none of them over the age of twenty-five. That surprised me, as I did not expect young musicians to be too interested in Big Band music, but I suppose a gig is a gig. You could attend the dance itself for $25. (Perhaps it was a good thing the airport hanger was so spacious, as last Sunday at the International Symphony Orchestra’s tribute to the Big Bands, we just about got blasted out of the back of the theatre, the music was so loud it drowned out the female vocalist, all those lovely Gershwin lyrics basically inaudible. So this band in the corner was a nice comfortable distance from the tables, with the dance floor up front the way my mother remembered). The buffet meal was excellent, well worth the price. Unfortunately, our table mates were not exactly great dinner companions. Three couples, who didn’t seem to know each other, two of the guys well on their way to being red-faced inebriated. The guy beside me was a pilot from a nearby city, but that was the only information I got out of him. His wife never said a thing all evening. It’s annoying when you sit beside someone you don’t know at a dinner function and they can’t be bothered to make conversation. I had introduced my mother as a local painter and said she had worked in a war plant – here is a living piece of WW2 history, in case you want to ask any questions. No one was interested, except in another drink. And while the music was excellent, no one danced. I saw the same ten couples on the dance floor all evening. After the dinner and speeches and silent auction, they opened the side airport hanger doors to let in some air, and a big gush of wind blew all the table decorations over. There was lightening in the sky and a storm threatening, so we left after the second set. My mother was tired by then, and wanted to beat the storm home, which we did, barely. Before I left, I said, goodnight to my table mates and said, hey guys, don’t forget to ask your wives to dance. You can bet those young WW2 soldiers did. It may have been one of the last evenings of their too short lives, but I hope they danced. Lest we forget.
If you wish to read more about the airplanes of WW2 I can recommend two excellent books. The first, Unbroken, by Lauren Hillenbrand, was made into a movie a few years ago, directed by Angelina Jolie, and is based on the true story of a plane crash in the Pacific, the pilot adrift on a raft for weeks, and then rescued and held in a Japanese POW camp. The thing that struck me about the first part of this book, (his training and missions), was the poor condition of the planes. They knew a high percentage of them would not even return from the first flight, and the chance of death was even greater when couldn’t parachute to dry land……but still they sent them up. If they came back damaged, they’d repair them as best they could and send them out again.
The second book, A Higher Call, by Adam Makos and Larry Alexander, is also a true story about a German flying ace who escorted a badly damaged B-17 Bomber (flown by a 21 year old US pilot on his first mission), back across the English channel to a British airbase, instead of shooting him down. Flash forward fifty years later, and the US captain sets out to find the German pilot who saved his life, they meet and become friends. This too may sound like a Hollywood movie, but a similar thing happened to a local man here. Late in life, he hunted down the POW’s from the German submarine crew his ship had captured in the Atlantic, and they held a reunion in 1992. He said it was one of the highlights of his life….a reminder of how the world has changed……and how much it stays the same with war still raging. Lest we forget.
Here’s a spooky book to read while handing out the Halloween candy….and a link to last years blog on decorations, Come In For A Spell.
(I had not intended on doing a Halloween post other than this short book recomend, but the opportunity arose for A Visit with the Paranormal – so stay tuned for Fright Night at the Museum early next week).
The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I had enjoyed British Crime Writer, Ruth Ware’s earlier books (In a Dark Dark Wood and The Woman in Cabin 10) but found this one very slow going at the start, to the point where I thought I might abandon it altogether, but I am glad I stuck with it because the ending was brilliant. The stage must be set, but I don’t know if we needed seventy or so pages to establish the protagonist as poor, cold and alone, and then the next seventy pages to establish the Gothic mansion as decrepit, cold, creepy and full of magpies…and well Gothic. I noticed she used the same descriptions over and over……her breath huffing in the frosty air……the cold draft at the window…..shivering in the rain etc……it made me long for a cuppa hot tea. But once the story got going, it took flight just like those menacing magpies…..and I couldn’t put it down. Even though I had guessed part of the ending half-way through, there was still a surprise twist. Jolly well done.
Add the soundtrack from some classic Hitchcock….
Autumn is very late this year – the trees are just starting their annual decorating. I remember gazing out at this tree when I was in grade eight, as my desk was close to the window. While the teacher would be droning on about some uninteresting subject, I would be rejoicing in the glorious fall colors. We used to play soccer in the field after school, kicking the ball around under a canopy of orange and gold. It is still standing, although the other trees are gone, made way for a parking lot. I still get the pleasure of looking at it when I walk, I think of it as my tree, even though we are both a bit the worse for wear after forty plus years.
Chestnut trees are also a fall favorite of mine. My grandmother’s farm had chestnut trees in one of the fields and every Thanksgiving (Canadian, so mid-October), my little brother and I, brave but ready to run at the first sign of a big dumb cow, would gather them up and then use them to build fields for his barn set – what fun we had lining them up as fences for his toy animals. As a young girl who was horse-crazy, their glossy finish always reminded me of a chestnut mare or the sleek racehorses we would see at the fall fair. We have two giant chestnut trees in front of our library so when you go inside to pick up your books, you’d better beware lest you be boinked on the head by a falling chestnut. Last year one of the librarians displayed a chestnut wreath she had made on the checkout desk. She emailed me the instructions, but I was too late, so this year I was prepared and gathered up several baskets after the first windstorm.
First I shellacked them with a coat of acrylic varnish to maintain the shine, as they will dry out quickly. I raided my mothers art cupboard and used a spray can, which was quick and easy but you might get a more even application by painting it on. I did this a few days ahead of time to let it dry.
Next I took a ten inch straw wreath, (but any size would do, I started small to experiment, but hers was quite large and impressive), and wrapped it tightly with some nice decorating tape. Make sure any loose ends are secured with straight pins, as you don’t want it unraveling after the glue is on.
Then using the trusty old glue gun, attach the chestnuts in any pattern you wish. I must admit my first attempt was not perfect, as I have too much spacing between some of them. When collecting it is better to find chestnuts of different sizes and some with flat bottoms for odd spaces. The librarian had filled in the holes in between with Spanish moss, but after googling I found others have used small acorns to fill up the spaces. I prefer mine having the pretty decorating tape showing through.
It could be hung up with wire, but is fairly heavy so a table wreath with a candle in the middle is a nice option. I decided to place mine on a wicker tray and added some bows in the corner and some fairy lights.
You could use this for a centerpiece for American Thanksgiving, and then swap out the bows for something Christmasy. These are not the kinds of chestnuts you roast on an open fire however, as these are horse chestnuts, which are toxic to humans and animals. (The difference is in the shells, smoother vs spikier and the point).
horse chestnuts
Total cost – around $10 – $4 for the straw wreath, $4 for the ribbon (with Michael’s coupon), glue sticks, chestnuts free for the taking. All told it took me less than two hours to make, so this would be a nice idea for hosting a tea/craft afternoon.
Since the weather is cooler now and more conductive to baking, I made Date Nut Loaf, using the recipe from my farm cooking bible.
This is a quick and nutritious tea bread – buy the bite sized dates to save time.
If you are interested in more fall decorating on the cheap, check out last years (unpublished) blog, Autumn Decor, for some dollar store finds.
Book of the Day:
For more decorating ideas and recipes, see the Susan Branch book – Autumn from the Heart of the Home (published in 2004), for typical New England (Martha’s Vineyard) fare, or check out her website and sign up for her free monthly newsletters….they are always a cheerful read.
Autumn from the Heart of the Home by Susan Branch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a big fan of anything Susan Branch, this book one of my favorites. I re-read it every year to get in the mood for the season, for the inspiration, the decorating tips and the yummy recipes. Let the leaves fall….it’s time to get cozy.
After the Harvest – An Update on the Potager plus what to do with a twelve pack of snakes.
I had high hopes for The Potager back in June, but there may have been a reason my dad planted his garden in the corn field where it could sprawl among the rows of corn. Sprawl is the key word here. My potager was a testament to good soil, it was so prolific, but then it was a hot humid summer with lots of rain, ideal conditions for a rain forest.
Where are the monkeys?
It rained every weekend, and during the week, every few days in fact. This made the mosquitoes plentiful, and some new species of tiny black bug called no-see-ums appeared and left bites which itched for days. I had never seen a no-see-um before, but they left a lasting legacy of scratch marks. I gave up and refused to go out. Luckily, I did not have to water as Mother Nature did it for me, even as she left us bereft of any beach days.
The romaine lettuce was bountiful, and after the first crop, I replanted and it was bountiful too.
Three cucumbers sprouted from the small-garden plant, just the right amount for a Greek salad, with some tomatoes if only I could find them, and when I did find them, many had split from too much rain.
The tomatoes threatened to strangle everything so in early August I gave it a haircut. By mid-Sept it had grown back, requiring a regular trim every 4 to 6 weeks.
I untangled the sole squash, mistakenly uprooting it’s lifeline, and leaving the fruit to wither on the vine. Not deterred, it re-blossomed, producing a final harvest of five smallish orbs.
I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the multi-colored carrots, and so were the bunnies. We were both disappointed.
While the tops were luxurious, the carrots were sparse, spindly and white, (and maybe useful for the Simply White Dinner). They say you reap what you sow, except I planted three seed potatoes, and got two.
In mid-October (no frost yet, leaves barely changing), I dug up the rest of the russet gems. Not bad for a first crop, but hardly enough to get me through the winter like my Irish ancestors. 
Luckily the orange carrots were plentiful, if somewhat deformed from being crammed into too small a space. The bunnies were delighted, as God is my witness, they would never go hungry again. (Scarlet O’Hara – Gone with the Wind). 
Due to the intricate web of netting I set up, the birds didn’t get as many of the strawberries, but then neither did I – it was too much of a hassle to open and re-close all those wires to pick one or two berries. While reading about another bloggers garden adventures, she recommended rubber snakes be set among the strawberry plants and moved every few days in order to fool the birds. Thank god she told me Walmart sells them online, because I don’t know where you would buy a twelve pack of snakes, and also thank god, those birds aren’t too bright. I’ll keep that in mind for next year, or maybe I’ll just freeze some of the carrots. I also wish I had put spacing and gravel around my boxes like Empty Nest Adventures did, for easier access.
Next years orange snakes?
After the Harvest is a time to reflect on lessons learned….next year plant less, no matter how much you may anticipate the early specimens being carried off by nighttime woodland creatures.
Plant one of everything, one squash, one cucumber, if it’s something you don’t want to breed like rabbits or possibly two like Noah and the Ark, two tomatoes, two potatoes, but no zucchini – ever.
Or just buy more boxes……the New England Arbor charity sale is coming up…..
After the Harvest
PS. There is nothing so wonderful as a golden field of wheat being harvested, or so awful as After the Harvest when you would have to bale all that straw into small bales, with a baler which was forever breaking down, and then load them into the hayloft, a process which was hot and dusty and took hours. Now every time I pass a field with those really big bales that are scooped up by a front end loader, I wonder, why didn’t someone think of that sooner?
Song of the Day: Harvest Moon – Neil Young
If you have ever dreamed of packing in city life and moving to the country then this book is for you. Canadian author, Brent Preston turned fantasy into reality in this account of starting an organic vegetable farm and ten years of trial and error and back breaking labor before finally achieving a profitable outcome.
The New Farm: Our Ten Years on the Front Lines of the Good Food Revolution by Brent Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A must read manual for city dwellers and lovers of the organic food movement about a family who chose to leave the rat race and follow their dream of running a profitable organic vegetable farm. Dust off those fantaseeds and learn the gritty reality of where your food comes from.
Although he might have started out with a simple plan in mind, by the end of the ten years he had mechanized his operations, hired agricultural co-op students for summer labor, perfected a delivery service and marketing campaign, and ended up specializing in just three crops, one of which was lettuce. One of the things he did initially was to participate in the local farmer’s market every Saturday morning, but after a few years of this he packed it in. If you think about it, never a weekend off for you or your kids, up at 4 am to load up the truck and then later in the day unloading the unsold produce. Plus, while he said while he enjoyed the social aspect with the regular customers and the other vendors, there just wasn’t enough profit in it to continue. Better to cater to the fancy restaurants who would pay premium for anything fresh and organic.
There is no doubt we are what we eat and organic food is in – food in it’s natural state. Ask a person who has been lucky enough to live to be over ninety and chances are they grew up on a farm. So farmers markets are booming because organic food is so popular, but are the farmers doing well? I grew up on a farm, 100 acres, so I know how hard it is to make a living on one and how much work is involved. We had a dairy farm with Holsteins when I was a child and my dad had a small herd, three milking machines and a cream contract. He got up at 4:30 am every day to milk the cows, then he would come in, shave and have breakfast (bacon and eggs and perked coffee), as we were getting up for school, by 7:30 he would have left for his other job, home at 4:30, early supper, then milk the cows again, and he would be in bed by ten or falling asleep while reading the paper. On the weekends there were all the other chores to do. Even back then you couldn’t quite make a living on a farm without a second job, and with a growing family, he finally switched to beef cattle instead and cash cropped corn, soybeans and wheat, and while that was a lot of work too, we were finally able to take a family vacation without being tied to the milking schedule. Now farming is big business, a thousand acres or bust. There was an article in the local paper recently about the International Plowing Match which listed a combine as worth $500,000, and a tractor with GPS the same. My dad’s first tractor in 1948 cost $1000 and had a side seat upon which we kids would ride – heaven forbid, no one would let kids do that now. My elderly grandfather who died in 1951, was against the new-fangled modern machinery, as they had to sell his beloved Clydesdale horses in order to buy it. 
The last tractor my dad bought came equipped with air conditioning and a few years after he died, they had CD players, now they are steering themselves. While farming may be mostly mechanized now, organic vegetable farming is still labor intensive, especially during the harvest. It’s not a job many people want to do, and often the farmers must hire seasonal workers from Mexico or Jamaica to help out.
September is the best time of year to visit a farmer’s market as it is bursting with the last of the summer produce and the early fall harvest. While the peaches and berries may be almost done, the plums, pears, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, new potatoes and onions are coming in.
Our local market is open Wednesdays in the summer and Saturdays year round. Even in the winter, the inside of the old building is full of root vegetables and cheese and butcher shops, but in the nice weather the outside stalls see the most action. They really need more space, but it’s been in the same place for eighty plus years and you don’t mess with tradition. Located in an older residential part of town, there is one small parking lot and you have to drive round and round waiting for someone else to leave. With about 50 spaces for 200 people it’s kind of like musical chairs for grownups. Luckily, no one lingers long. While you can get a pour over coffee with freshly roasted beans, there is no cafe to sit in or cooked food available. We don’t see a lot of homeless people here but one day a woman with her cart piled high with all her worldly possessions asked me for some money, and with my hands full I shook my head no, but then after putting my produce in the car, I went to find her, and gave her ten dollars, which I suspected might go to drugs but who knows? A friend of mine keeps Tim Horton’s coffee shop gift cards to hand out for this reason, but there is something so very sad about begging in front of a place with so much plenty.
Even in the winter I will visit about once a month, because there is still cheese, and apples and oranges to buy, but I’ve often wondered why they open at 6 am. All the vendors are yawning by noon, or closing up early as they have been up since four loading their trucks. Wouldn’t 8-2 be more civilized hours? If they are supplying restaurants do they need to buy that early? If I don’t get there by 11:30 (or I’m still playing musical chairs), I may miss my favorite cheese stall or they might be out of Gouda.
The cheese wars can be fierce. There are two cheese vendors, right across from each other, and the Battle of The Gouda got so bad last year, they both decided not to post their prices. They will glare across the aisle if they think you have abandoned camp, but if they have run out, what is the alternative? My grandmother was Dutch, so I grew up on Gouda, the mild form, not the spicy seeded variety she bought from The European Shop.
Dutch Inheritance
The market cheese is better than at the grocery store and they will give you a sample if you are undecided. Even if you know you will like it, a sample will often tied you over if you got up early and missed breakfast. Buying cheese at the market is also much cheaper than in the grocery store so I usually stock up on aged cheddar as well as the Gouda. The one cheese vendor has recently retired and been bought out by the egg lady beside them, who I don’t think has gotten the hang of the weigh scale yet as she is very generous with her pounds, or kgs. I don’t buy eggs from her though as I can’t stomach those brown eggs with the bright yellow yolks. It reminds me of the eggs growing up on the farm, but I know free range chickens are all the rage and I am sure they are full of omega-3’s.
I like to look at the flowers, the glads are out now, but I seldom buy as I have lots of flowers at home.
I have my own semi-successful potager, so I don’t feel the need to buy tomatoes, cucumbers or lettuce, but one whiff of the dill brings back memories of my mother canning dill pickles. You can get a free bunch of dill with every large purchase.
The early apples are starting to come in, which will soon mean spies and pies. I can smell the cinnamon now.
My favorite time of year is when the summer fruits are available, the strawberries and peaches. You can get a bushel of overripe fruit for ten dollars and make a whole batch of jam for what you might pay for two jars. There is a jam vendor also, for when you run out, who also sells homemade fruit pies. So definitely there is a cost savings, and the food is so much fresher and better tasting, not to mention not loaded with tons of preservatives and artificial ingredients.
Not everything is better at the market though. Sadly, it is home to the world’s worst bakery which sells the most tasteless bread ever baked, not to mention tarts with uncooked dough and a scant quarter inch of fruit filling. The next time I walk pass, the owner asks if I want something so I venture a tactful complaint – I figure if no one tells him he can’t fix it. He tells me he hired a new baker so I bought butter tarts this time. Same thing. I gave up. There must be an art to making play-doh like that? Butter tarts are a national institution in Canada but I have a fine recipe inherited from my mother. We have much better bakeries in town but I suppose once a vendor has tenure in the building, it’s for life, and so many people don’t know what good pastry tastes like. But the bread – there’s simply no excuse. Bread is the staff of life, but so is good nutritious food. If you ate today, thank a farmer!
PS. Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving today!
Wild Turkeys
While trying to take a picture of a water lily in my neighbors fish pond I was struck by how lovely the music of the waterfall was.
There’s something about the tinkling of water in the background that is so relaxing, be it a small backyard waterfall or fountain, or one in a local park or in a big city like Rome.
Photo by Sarah Acconcia Norris on Pexels.com
The Trevi Fountain in Rome is one of the most famous fountains in the world. They say if you throw a coin in the Trevi that your return visit to Rome is guaranteed. Back in the last century during the Audrey Hepburn/Roman Holiday craze there was a movie called Three Coins in the Fountain, a 1950’s chick flick, about this same legend. I watched it recently (inter-library loan having managed to locate it in some obscure archives, thus saving me the $60 advertised on Amazon), and while as a movie it was rather dated, the scenery and especially the fountains were…….bellisimo. (Coins are meant to be thrown using the right hand over the left shoulder. An estimated 3,000 euros are thrown into the fountain each day. The money has been used to subsidize a supermarket for Rome’s needy; however, there are regular attempts to steal coins from the fountain, even though it is illegal to do so. Wikepedia)
If you are a Frank Sinatra fan like me, the best thing by far about the movie, other than the stylish clothes of the era, was the song of the same name.
While replying to a comment back in August, I stumbled upon a travel blog about Rome, with lots of gorgeous photos. So if you wish more information check out this blog……there’s no point in me recapping the whole history of the Trevi fountain when there is a very excellent blogger (Musings of a Whimsical Soul) who already has.
There are two fountains near where I live, one in a local park where I should be walking every day for exercise but don’t. There is often a cold wind off the river in the winter and in the summer it is too hot, but I have no excuse for spring or fall. Still, is is lovely to look at while driving by.
The other one is a larger more expensive fountain downtown. Someone with a lot of money and no heirs (or spending their inheritance), bequeathed $250,000 to the city for a waterfront legacy. Although officially named after it’s benefactor, it is commonly known as the Fish Fountain, because of the fish on the sculpture, thus destroying any hope he might have had for lasting fame. It looks nicer on a clear blue sky day, not foggy like here. Although still warm, we have had many cloudy, rainy days in September and a whole week of the same forecast ahead.
For those of us with less money, the craft store, Michael’s has their fountains on end of season clearance now.
Not quite the Trevi…..
A small indoor fountain can provide some tranquility over the winter as well as add moisture to the dry air.
The local garden center was all sold out of outdoor fountains, although they assured me that one of their landscape architects could design me something like this.
No thanks, it looks like a cross between a fake fireplace and a sacrificial alter/crypt. Still, something smaller for next summer would be nice – gardeners like to plan ahead. In the meantime, I will throw a coin in one of the fountains, and make a wish that the warm weather would never end.
Arrivederci Summer! I know someday you will return…
Please join me while we take a last peek at summer and enjoy the first signs of fall….no pumpkin spice or mums involved!
Let’s say goodbye to the flowers first. The petunias fared well with all that rain.
The dinner plate hibiscus are always late to the party, but they are like Beyonce, they make such a statement when they finally arrive that nobody minds.
The Rose of Sharon was so full of flowers it bowed down to Mother Nature.
But the morning glories were not so glorious, lots of foliage draped over the back fence but no buds in sight.
They were very late last year so I still have hope, but here’s a link to last years (unpublished blog), A Glorious September Morning, plus a bee having his last drink of the summer.
The nectar of the gods
My mother always grew glads and zinnias in the farm garden, but this year my glads were a disaster both in color and form. My vision of them lining the back fence like little pink soldiers faded into the sporadic appearance of a spike of pale lavender or orange. Lavender is okay, and peach I could handle, but I dislike orange, and pale orange is even worse. Is it too much to expect the color on the box is the color you get?
Next year I’ll just buy some at the farmer’s market.
I have never had any luck growing zinnias but my neighbors were prolific,
and the water lilies in their pond finally bloomed.
The sunflowers are drooping but are decorative enough for a vase.
Sunflowers in a Vase
The lavender was late as I replanted it all in the spring, but it still bloomed if not extravagantly.
The hot humid rainy summer produced a rain forest jungle of a vegetable garden which desperately needs sorting out. More on the potager in another blog, after the harvest.
Where are the monkeys?
The monarchs have all flown south, except this little guy with an injured leg/wing who I rescued from a parking lot. He was able to crawl a bit so I brought him home to lie among the lavender.
This year I have seen more monarchs than I have in years. After the township sprayed all the ditches, they almost became extinct, but now that gardeners are planting milkweed again, they are slowly making a comeback. They tend to congregate in Point Pelee Park in southern Ontario on their annual migration route, before crossing Lake Erie to the US and eventually Mexico. Tens of thousands cluster to rest and wait for the right wind conditions to cross the 40 km stretch of lake – the park posts the daily monarch counts on it’s social media pages. One picture is of a friends backyard near the lake, and one is a weather-watcher picture of Point Pelee. I wonder how such a small creature can make such a long journey? For more information on monarchs, check out garden blogger Invitation to the Garden‘s wonderful post on The King of Butterflies. She also has posts about the different kinds of milkweed you can plant to attract butterflies.
just dropping in to say goodbye
Rendevous at Point Pelee Park
Our last look at the beach, and my favorite photo of this summer.
Beach Day
Our first look at fall, the maple leaves they are a changing….
The chestnuts are starting to fall from the trees near the library. Chestnuts always bring back memories of gathering them on my grandmother’s farm at Thanksgiving. Last year one of the librarians made the nicest wreath from chestnuts…..nothing I would attempt as I’m sure it involved lots of glue.
The crab-apples are ripening and getting ready to drop and annoy all the grass cutters.
The first of the apples are being harvested. We stopped at an orchard last week and they had Galas and Mac’s just picked that morning, a bumper crop.
The scarecrow festival has started with a large party in the town square.
The crunch of dry leaves underfoot and the smell of wood smoke reminds us summer is winding down. The days are growing shorter, it’s getting dark by 7:30, time to go inside, light the candles and welcome fall. And if you are in the mood to feather your nest check out last years (unpublished) Autumn Decor blog for some cozy fall ideas.
Fall Flowers
There will be a harvest moon on Sept 24, so here’s some music for a fall night. This song is about as jazzy as I get but it has great lyrics and it always reminds me of my student days and walking home through a park after pub crawling….not sure anyone would do that now in downtown Toronto, they’d probably be mugged or shot.
Song of the Day: Moondance by Van Morrison
“Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moondance
With the stars up above in your eyes
A fantabulous night to make romance
‘Neath the cover of October skies
And all the leaves on the trees are falling…”
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