Good Day from Hermit Haven.

I am not entirely sure I don't have ancestors even through distant marriage in New Zealand. 

I DO know from researching on Ancestry that one of my half great aunts did, in fact, marry a one-armed wallpaper hanger named Pete, (last name Dennehy), fresh off the boat, from Ireland. He promptly killed another man in a bar-room drunken brawl and got sent off for life. That particular great aunt never remarried, which is zero surprise to me. I mean, choices out of desperation......they usually don't work out too good for anybody, do they? 

A piece of this that strikes me as odd, is that I wonder why he didn't just choose to be sent to Australia, since it was still a choice then (I believe). I sure would have, but I guess there were children involved, (which alas, usually means more to the parent then the children), but honestly, why would anyone expect their wives to take their kids to a prison, to visit a dad they don't even know, and who they are possibly afraid and ashamed of? Anything in this vein is pure fantasy. (One thing I have learned from studying people for so long is that the more dysfunctional a person is, the more weird and impossible, their dreams are, if they have any, at all).  

The funniest part to all of it is that he managed to sire a son named Brian Dennehy,  (not even sure how  THIS was possible),  who became a pretty good actor. You suppose he would want anyone to know this about him? I sure wouldn't and wouldn't want anything to do with anyone "back east", either, cause at some point, you gotta move ahead and choose the dream you want to live for the rest of your life. 

So,  since we are there: my dream for the rest of MY life, is to talk to plants, rock, snakes, badgers, deer, bigfoot, birds and other spirits that also want to communicate with me. 

Along those lines.........

I am so pleased that one of my tall bush cranberry bushes has decided to bloom (it's ONLY a year old). It's always a fascinating mystery to me how different plants react so differently to different micro-climates. In Vermont, the soil was also not good when I got there, because the northern neighbor's abandoned well, kept flowing into our yard, so it took me years to make it sturdy enough for plants. But the main point of this is that the Elderberry LOVED all that water and bloomed like there was no tomorrow, wayyyy before anyone else, with the cranberries a close second. It appears to be the exact opposite from Vermont, here. The Elderberry here is 3 years old, and hasn't bloomed even once yet. The Cranberry did, though. I know that means something, (micro-climate-wise) but I am not sure how much of the science I want to even know. 

I just love it that I can bear witness to it. It gives me a nice little puff of dopamine. :)

I remember planting honey berries in Vermont for the first time, and the second time, and the third time, until I found a more acidic and sunny spot, in the yard, where they could thrive. Despite the fact that they are a cross between honeysuckle (dreadful plant) and Serbian wild blueberries, they definitely exhibit more of a blueberry preference for their existence. That tricky Dna (thanks Mendel, I think). 

I will say this about Honeysuckle, and that is that it is a very tough son of a gun, plant, that will grow almost anywhere. If it weren't such a nuisance, I might even like it a bit more, because it DOES smell heavenly, while in bloom. Alas, it isn't even a good bird food. It's much like potato chips for humans, it's junk food because the berries have too much sugar and not much else. Nutritionally, they are much less fatty, low in protein (which is vital for migrating birds) and overconsumption can actually change the color of their plumage, restricting their ability to find a mate. For all these reasons and more, I find it a horrible plant which I try and eradicate whenever possible. 

Luckily, there's not much knotweed on our lot, because I am always on the lookout for it, but the Rosa Rugosa is even more INSANE. Another horrible plant that isn't fit for food, (the same is true of THEIR berry composition.) Kinda like the difference between cultivated blueberries and wild ones. The Rosehips from Rosa are much BIGGER and more plentiful, but they are missing a lot of the goodness inherent in the flavor of certain domestic roses. I mean, if you're going to eat RoseHips, it's important to have sweet vs. so tart you can't swallow, right? These buggers are TART! Since Sugar is a no-no, it would take me wayyy too much honey and maple syrup and money, to make those suckers even CLOSE to edible. 

Hard Pass on those, too. Off with their heads! lol. 

And they're so incredibly prolific, is that EVER a good thing? 

I mean, I garden so I can interact with my plants, not just throw a giant 6' round diameter mound of knotweed in the ground and forget about it. I guess that was also a thing in the 50's........did they even get a tiny bit wary when the nursery sold them that one, do you think? "UH-YUH, it grows fast and makes a nice hedge!" Well, it does have loads of Vitamin C, so I suppose that's something, but the plant is so ornery, I don't know how you'd even pick the berries! EEE-GADS!

Lawdy, but the things our ancestors did not know to be aware of, are killing all of us, now, and that's a sobering thing. I try to make sure that everything I do, moving forward, will feel good seven generations from now.  And, no, I am not really native (although only 2 generations removed), but I live like one and I am trying to honor my grandmother Nettie and all of the Elders I did not have the pleasure to meet this time around the wheel. 

So, on that note, here is my new baby.  (And here is, also, my bridal wreath). The both of them so very priceless. :) I often stick my face in the Bridal Wreath on the way by, it's a wonderful little puff of dopamine for my beleaguered nervous system. 

So Incredibly Essential to our survival, no?