Earth Day

I wanted to share with you what I see and hear when I walk out my front door. Being Earth Day I thought it was appropriate. Excuse the untidiness, I am in the midst of so many projects. Hopefully, later in the season I will be able to show you the fruits of my labors. The barrel I am trying to figure out how to convert to a rain barrel, it is part of the old softener system. I usually try to repurpose most things, I hate sending things to the landfill. Please turn up the sound, the prominent sound is the wind, but you can hear the bird song. Such a variety of birds, makes a chorus.

I was hoping to add a picture of my Grandfather, and dedicate this post to him. If I manage to get the album apart so I can scan his picture I will add it. Arthur G. Eldredge was a man of many talents, inventor, photographer, college professor, author. I have parts of his book on pollination, it was never published as they would not include his pictures at the size he wanted. Talk about stubborn New Englanders! I have letters from various publishers expressing interest in the book, he had taken all the pictures and wanted them just so. It would have been a college textbook. While looking for a picture to post I found a manuscript of a short story he wrote about his Father, William Wells Eldredge, Sr. He was a farmer, school superintendent and whaler, the story is about memories of stories he told when he was home. Grampa would have been right at home with Earth Day, many of my earliest memories are being outside with him. Gardening, fishing, "helping" him with his photography. He wrote endless letters trying to get DDT banned, which it finally was. His predictions of the harm that was being done were proved to be correct, as well as his warnings about various chemicals added to cosmetics and foods. I mostly remember his lab, being in the garden and watching him making grafts, or planting gardens. Most of the happy memories I have are linked to him and I also feel he was a person to live up to. Many times I would think "what would Grampa think" and kept myself out of trouble. Can you tell I loved him dearly?

This is the bed I worked on the other day, I cut down some volunteer mulberry trees and put down newspaper and hay to hopefully block out the weeds. The tulips coming up are ones that were here, with water and fertilizer they look better each year. I try to preserve any plants I find, sort of homage to those that came before. Today is supposed to be glorious so hope to get more done outside, plant some more things. I am also going to try and move some poppies, each year they come up and the wind blows them to bits. They are behind the garage so I want to move them to a more prominent spot. We'll see how that goes.

Wonderful Earth Day to you, protect and heal our world, we all can help.

Barbara