Blackberries and Siamese Cats

My Dad loved blackberries and made blackberry wine as well as jam.  He never tried domesticated thornless blackberries though; he loved anything free and blackberry plants are free along roadsides and fence rows in the South.   He would dig up the wild blackberries and transplant them closer and closer to his home.  He transplanted the plants with the weeds and briars that always accompany blackberries. He was able to mow around the patches as they grew but it was still a difficult pick that resulted in bleeding arms, pricked fingers and surprise critters.

When I was young and living at home, summer was blackberry picking time.  Mom would hand me a big bucket and point to the door.  Every year from the time the blackberries were ripe for picking until we went back to school, I suffered the ill-effects of chiggers and poison ivy found in the blackberry patches.  I swore that I would have a blackberry patch without the extras one day.

In 2013 I moved my domesticated, thornless blackberry plants that were barely living and planted on the fringes of our mature oak trees to their own raised bed garden.  I mixed their soil with chicken manure and oak leaves, coffee grounds and grass clippings.  I planted irises between them.  Then I waited for 2014.

In 2014, the blackberry plants produced like crazy.  Mike and I picked, and picked, and picked.  We had blackberry cobbler, blackberry pancakes, fresh blackberries and my favorite blackberry jam.  We gave blackberry jam to all my co-workers, my neighbor and my brother.  I finally had blackberries to eat and share and freeze and absolutely loved it.  Jima and I pulled the old canes out this year, wired up the new canes which are probably 12 foot long or more.  There are no chiggers, no ticks, no snakes, no thorns and no weeds in my blackberry patch but there are Siamese cats.

I have heard that other people have trouble with birds destroying their almost ripe blackberries.  I didn't this year and hope that continues in the future.  I think I did not have any issue because of two Siamese cats.   The black Siamese sisters are named Blackberry and Huckleberry and Blackberry, per her namesake, has a special affinity for the blackberry patch where  she waits for unsuspecting birds and human hands or feet.  There were many blackberry picking sessions that had to be interrupted to chase the cat out of the blackberry patch first.  Blackberry is incredibly sneaky and as a kitten could wait for the absolute perfect time to pounce on a hand reaching into the thick blackberry leaves concealing her.  It would first startle me and then the work of ejecting the cat from the blackberry patch would begin as she darted between the openings.  Her sister, wondering about the commotion, would join us to investigate in typical Siamese cat fashion and then join her sister in the high-spirited hide and seek game.  Both were eventually caught and tossed out of the patch so Mike and I could continue picking the berries.

I'm ready for 2015 and the joy of the blackberry patch with the "girls"; it is a success in raised bed gardening and in using cats for vermin control!

Shortest Day of the Year - Winter Solstice - 4th Sunday of Advent

We celebrated the 4th Sunday of Advent today.  The service was lovely, and the music haunting.  There was one verse in particular from an advent hymn that sent chills up my spine.  The hymn is "Each Winter As the Year Grows Older" and the verse is "When race and class cry out for treason, When sirens call for war, They over shout the voice of reason, And scream till we ignore All we held dear before."  The tune is sung to the better known Carol of Hope.  The words in this verse made me see images in my mind of Eric Brown's arrest and death, the protestors of police profiling and killing young black men and the senseless violence against NYPD this week.  Crazy world that we live in has been the same crazy world as long ago.  I truly disbelieve all who say the world is worse than ever.  Before, this type of news would have been hushed, covered up.  We would never have seen it the same day.

From the hymn "Creator of the Stars of Night" comes this refrain:  "Come, O Lord, and bring your light, O radiant star, our hearts' delight, O god with us, Emmanuel, with your love, the dark dispel".

On this shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, may we let light chase the dark away from us.  May truth and justice and clear heads prevail!

They're Dead, Now What: Your Role as Personal Representative of your Parents' Estate

My e-book is available for purchase now.  It is everything I learned as a crash course in how to handle the probate process in Alabama.  Fortunately the process is the same in most every state.  I feel it would have been an extremely helpful book to have in my library when both my parents' died within six months of each other.  My intent is to help someone else know what I know sooner than I knew it.  Let me know your opinion of it if you buy it.  And thank you for buying it, much appreciated!


http://www.amazon.com/Theyre-Dead-Now-What-Representative-ebook/dp/B00O170JP4

In Memoriam of SaraLee Oden Neely, My Only Sister

I have one Sister who passed into a better life November 16, 2014, at the age of 52.  She had Multiple Sclerosis and was taking many different medications and various treatments to control its symptoms.  It is my uneducated medical opinion that the medications and treatments killed her.  She died of advanced non-fatty liver disease, which caused total failure of her liver and kidneys.  Because MS is an auto-immune disorder, she was not a candidate for a liver and kidney transplant.  She was terrified of dying but in those last weeks she stepped up and was heroic in accepting that it was her time. Her last wish was to see her estranged brother but that did not happen to my knowledge.  God has her in his arms and she is not in pain or afraid any longer.  I will see her again when it is my time to go; I have no doubt there is a Heaven and that Sara is there already as God's newest Angel.

Update on Pond

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Here you go:

My brother recommended getting some feeder fish from the pet store and putting them in the pond to begin the biological cycle of nitrates and phosphates.  I need to sink a few broken clay pots to provide the fish hiding spots from the blue herons and raccoons that will be drawn to the water and an easy food source.  The cats should love the feeder fish too.  If nothing else it will be fun watching the cats watching the fish.  In the spring time I plan on introducing native American fish to the pond, which I must catch since bluegills and bream are not sold in stores.

Already under consideration is a upper pond and waterfall.  Just saying.

Income Tax Audit Results

We received back a refund from the State of Alabama - no explanation - of $53.  I think it is related to our energy efficient roof shingle installation.  I was on the conservative side in my estimate of what we could deduct from our taxes.  Very happy to come out on the positive side of a tax audit!

Pond Construction and Landscaping

We have hand dug a small pond that holds about 1,000 gallons US and filled it with tap water, dropped a submersible pump and filter that runs 350 gallons per hour through it. Starting to landscape around the pond today.  There will be two  scoops of river rock delivered today.  Then we will let it overwinter, get it biologically correct for aquatic life and add plants in the Spring and a few comets later.  This is my place to relax. More pics as it progresses.  You can see that our land is rocky.  All those little rocks came from digging. You can buy really nice landscaping rocks cheaply @ .15 - .17/pound.  Need a propane fire pit and bug zapper for comfort outside.  The cats think the pond is for them.

Income Tax Audit

We are being audited by our State's Department of Revenue for taking an energy credit for installing energy-efficient shingles on our roof.  We are on our second round of communication.  I must provide the cancelled check to prove the amount paid out  of pocket.  Would be good of them to state specific requirements in their first letter.

Happy Fall Eqiunox 2014!

I cannot believe two years has gone by.   In those two years my youngest daughter has married and has our first grandson who turns one in two weeks.  My honeybees have been a disappointment.  I am starting all over this winter and hope to be successful with honey output next year.  My gardens continue to grow and flourish.   We have hand dug our first small pond.

The reason for my silence has been grief over losing both parents, and a favorite aunt within six months plus the heartbreak of losing a beloved brother over a disagreement on how to divide our parent's home among five siblings.   I have written an e-book to help explain the Alabama probate system in as simple terms as possible.  I will share bits and pieces here but the book will be on Amazon for .99 in about six weeks with my personal reflections on being the personal representative of my Mom's estate.  Hope you buy it. Proceeds will feed the chickens and bees on 2- dog farm.