Newsletter

Last Wednesday, five of us from the Winton Historical Society met in the CLEO office to fold, tape, stamp and get the latest newsletter ready to mail. It's kind of a gab-session and also fun.
After we were finished, we went to the Jantz Cafe and had a delicious lunch with free pie! We were stuffed and took half of our sandwiches home to boot!
I thought I would take a break from the newsletter and recipe collecting and not think about them for a while. HA.
Two chances of that happening: Fat and Slim.
As soon as a thought popped into my head about a story, I was all excited about the next newsletter and couldn't wait to contact people to get information.
Guess that's why I never get much done around here, I'm always playing.

Here is a picture of part of the "Ellen's Blue" Butterfly Bush. It's planted by the house on the South side, I'm not sure if that is going to be too hot for it. The temperature is rising, supposed to be over 100 the next several days, so I guess I will soon find out if Ellen's Blue can take it.
One good-sized limb broke off the apricot tree last week. The tree was planted on February 14, 1996, so maybe some of them are getting a little old. And then maybe I should have thinned them a little better. (Read a whole LOT better!)
But it's hard to get much done when you have recipes and newsletters on the brain.
Some of you haven't sent in your recipes yet. Yes, you know who you are. You don't really need a personal invitation. If you live in Winton, or used to live in Winton, we want a favorite recipe from you. And maybe more. wintoncookbook@aol.com

Maggie

Hi, My name is Maggie. I love my home. Sure it's messy, but I don't mind, just keep that canned cat food coming. If she doesn't get it for me quick enough, I bite her on the arm, just to show her I want it NOW!!
Yeah, yeah, I know, she rescued me from the Animal Shelter. But that was 2 years ago. Do I have to be grateful the rest of my life? And I do give her a warning before I bite. First, I am very loving and if she doesn't take the hint, then I put one paw on top of her arm and the other under; look her in the eyes and Chomp!! I usually draw blood. But she needs to pay attention.

She's usually pretty good to me. We play and sometimes I get a little rough with her, but hey, that's part of the game.
In the mornings, I like to wake her up by pouncing on her feet.
That makes her hollar, so I jump down and wait for her to get up already!

I have my own little doors, so I can come and go as I please, but sometimes I stand by the big door and wait for her to let me out.

I'm a great hunter, but I don't think she really appreciates that.
One day I brought this big Blue Jay in through my little doors when she wasn't home.
It was hard, getting us both through the smaller door and then after I got it inside, somehow the bird got away from me.
Boy, my mama was excited when she came home and found the bird flying around in the bathroom.
The stupid bird-brain thought he could get out through the skylight.
Of course I just sat there, pretending to be innocent.
She never catches on. I'm too smart for her.

Here I am, trying to take my mid-day nap on the couch.

Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade is another picture of a Butterfly Bush. I only have 8, so you have almost seen them all. This one with the variegated leaves won't get as tall as most of my others.
This perennial flower is called Agastache Barberi 'Tutti Fruitti.' When I bought it, it had one stem, but the flowers were much larger. I gave it some 'Shake & Feed' so I hope the flowers will get bigger. Last evening, I saw a Humming Bird, getting nectar from the flowers, going up and down the stem and then going to another branch. So, I guess the flowers are big enough. I planted it for the Hummers anyway. It's so much taller than I expected it to be. I'll have to transplant some of the flowers in my 'sand box,' some got too big and are crowding others.

More Butterfly Bushes

This first picture is "Lo and Behold, Blue Chip."
It's a picture of just part of the plant.
It shouldn't get more than 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide.
I am so pleased with this plant.
The color is good. Lavender Blue?
But a nice shade.
It makes Ellen's Blue look pale in comparison. Ellen's Blue has not been photogenic, so sorry, no picture yet.





The second picture is of Nanho Purple. A nice dark color.
I have seen a pretty yellow Monarch Butterfly on the Butterfly Bushes, but so far have not seen any Humming Birds on them. They sure like the sugar water in their feeder though.
Last week, a medium size branch broke off of the nectarine tree and today a larger branch from the apricot tree. I know I haven't been thining them enough. Someone told me to leave 4 inches between the fruit. Well, I didn't want to be climbing up and down the ladder, so took a long handled rake and knocked some fruit off the trees. Darn! I need to do a better job of it.

Butterfly Bushes

Several Butterfly Bushes are blooming in my backyard. The one above is called 'Black Knight' and is my largest plant. I really like the dark color.
The pink one is named 'Pink Delight' another pretty color.
The darker one above is 'Royal Red' sort of a red violet color. The sun was bright, so the picture doesn't look as dark as it really is.
I have a couple more in bloom, need to get a better picture of Ellen's Blue and Adonis Blue.

Koehn Family Recipe Book

I just acquired this recipe book. It's packed full of good recipes.
These are from the Roy and Edna Koehn family of Winton.
They are all good cooks and they included all their favorites here.
I can't wait to try some of them.
Some of the recipes will be submitted to the Winton Centennial Cookbook,
but if you want ALL of the recipes,
contact Gail Iken at 209-394-7026.
This book originally sold for $7.00, but is now going for $5.
It has 106 pages of recipes of every category.
Sprial bound and published by the Morris Press Cookbooks.
It's a bargin to be sure.

The Old School

Remember this old Winton Grammar School? I just recently acquired a scan of this picture. I hadn't seen this one before, showing the entire west side of the building. Starting on the left, was the fifth grade, then sixth, seventh, then the office at the end by the bell tower. The eighth grade class was to the right of the bell tower, kind of around the corner.
I remember what a big deal it was to be in the fifth grade and move into that classroom next to the upper grades. The year that I was in the fifth grade, the new school was built (now the Sybil Nye Crookham School) and we all picked up our books and moved over there. It was mixed emotions for me. I loved the old school. The new one had better lighting and heating and the bathrooms were modern. But the old school had a lot of charm and I missed the old one.

Week in Review

I haven't been keeping my blog up lately. Not in the mood to write silly stuff, I guess.
Well, what did I do all week? Monday was an appointment with the reflexologist and we won't go back again for 6 weeks. I felt really good after my treatment. I'm doing so much better.
We went to browse The Greenery nursery again. I'm still looking for the red Coreopsis, but haven't found them yet. The orange flower above is a Daylily and the second picture is a Morning Glory vine.
Tuesday was the Winton Historical Society's meeting. That's always enjoyable, visiting with other people who are interested in the history of Winton. Grace turned in two recipes and will submit some Oriental ones, I'm hoping for some of her favorite Japanese recipes. We have a little over 200 recipes now, not quite at the half-way mark yet, but we're getting there.
I worked on the Winton newsletter. I have a 3 page story from someone that I would like to include, but there just isn't room for all of it. So, I am trying to figure out how to cut it down and still keep the story intact. If we published every month, I could get by with a "to be continued" but I don't think it would work with skipping a month.
Last Saturday, three of us looked through boxes and boxes of pictures at someone's house. I took quite a few home to scan. Only did a few so far. Got to get busy on that. A few of them will be in the next history book of Winton.
I got my electric lawn mower on Tuesday. It was on my doorstep when I got home late afternoon. It was heavier than I expected, but I managed to 'tumble' it into the wheelbarrow and put it on the patio. The grass really needs cutting, but it's been too wet. Had some rain the other night and the prediction is more today, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen.
I went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for the 3 recipes I want to try. Cost me a fortune! Well, almost. The spices are expensive. I was surprised to see how much more it costs to buy the coarse ground pepper. I guess the cheap, fine stuff is what they sweep up off the floor!
The Butterfly Bushes are blooming. It's surprising how fast they grow. I haven't seen any butterflies or humming birds on them yet, but my sister has butterflies all over hers.
A few weeks ago, after being gone a few hours, I was going to use the small bathroom. I was startled to see a large Blue Jay in there, trying to get out through the skylight. Maggie just sat there, so unconcerned. You'd think a cat would be excited to see a bird flying around in the house, so I knew she brought it in herself, through the cat doors while I wasn't home. The bird was really tired and thirsty, so I thought he's been in here a long time. I got the broom, thinking I could herd him out the patio door, but I couldn't reach the bird. Finally, I was able to get the screen off the little window in the bathroom and left the bird alone. Fifteen minutes later, the bird was gone. It took me a couple of days though, to get the screen back on the window. Oh, the joys of living with a cat!!

So, just a few minutes ago, Maggie brought me a gift. I left the patio door open and she comes in with a small sparrow in her mouth. She puts it down by me and it flies off, wanting back outside! It flew into the patio door, hit the glass and Maggie was right there to pick it up again. The bird got in the corner and I managed to pick it up and let it fly outside. Maggie meowed and bounded out the door to try to catch it again. I'm sure she's mad at me.
Well, that's the way it goes around here.
All in all, it's been a good week. Enjoying life as it comes.