November Mandarins

My little Satsuma Mandarin tree has 13 mandarins on it. I ate one the other day, but it wasn't quite sweet enough yet. They are really sweet when fully ripe.
The dwarf Washington Navel has a few oranges on it again this year, but they won't be ripe for quite a long time. I'm just happy to have fruit so soon. They were just planted last year. I'm glad I had the orange trees removed that were not varieties that I like and replaced them. It's worth the short wait for something you like.
You can see in the picture that I seriously need to work in the front yard.
The other day I was very surprised to find a petite "Black Knight" Butterfly Bush at Lowe's. I didn't know the Black Knight was available in a smaller shrub. Six feet by 6 feet is supposed to be the maximum size. I'm going to plant it between the two Mandarins. The Pixie Mandarin that I just planted recently doesn't have any fruit on it this year.
I had some volunteer Zinnias come up by the duplicate Iris plants this summer. I hope they come up again in the spring. I like the bright colors. The other Zinnias were through and had to be pulled up. I enjoy my yard. I've made just a little too much work for myself and there is lots of work to be done. But that's o.k. Gives me something to think about.
Now if I could just get people to send in their memories of Winton for the historical society's newsletter, everything would be great!!

11-11-11

I have an Iris blooming now. "Autumn Circus." True to its name, it blooms in the fall as well as in April and May. It was just divided in July and replanted so I didn't expect it to bloom so soon.
Today is a special day. 11-11-11. My sister was expecting a new grandbaby today, but I don't think it happened yet. Too bad. Today is 100 years since the baby's great-grandfather was born. The first baby born in Winton on 11-11-1911.
Today I had an appointment with my eye doctor. Last year he wanted to remove the cataract in my eye. But I was scheduled for knee replacement surgery later that month, so he said to call him when I was ready to have it done. I never got around to making the appointment even though it's been getting hard to read the newspaper. I keep the magnifying glass handy. So, today I was prepared to make the appointment to have the cataract removed.
To my surprise -- my eye has improved. The cataract is better than last year. The doctor said last year my right eye was at 20/70 and today it's 20/50. I asked what would make it improve? He said something about the lens changes or something like that. Anyway I got to thinking -- it must be because of reflexology. Because of Miguel Gallegos working on my feet and sometimes my ears and finger tips, I went from horrible double vision (a plus 5 prism in each lens) to no double vision. So, if reflexology can do that, why not improve the cataract in the eye?
It's no wonder I keep going to Turlock once a month for reflexology treatments. There are other reasons of course. Pain or soreness in my back, hips, legs, stiff neck. You name it. I always feel better after a treatment.
I am so happy that I don't need to have a cataract removed, but just ordered new glasses instead. This was indeed a lucky day.

Garbarge Can Bouquet

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? I feel bad pulling them up when there are a few flowers left still trying to look cheerful. But, the lower parts of the plants were really looking bad. So, now to plant something else in their place.

My sister had her knee replacement surgery on October 5. She is doing very well, lots of physical therapy at Anberry. She will have the staples out this Thursday. Then see what the doctor says about her left knee. Might have to go through it all over again for the other knee.

Yesterday, I finally got the Winton Historical Society's newsletter printed and with the help of 3 other people at CLEO, we got them folded, taped; slapped on the labels and stamps and in the mail they went. I hope no one gave up on them. They were so very late. The next newsletter, the November/December issue will probably not go out until just before Thanksgiving. After that, I'll try to get back on schedule.
Sure would like to get more stories written by other people about their memories of living in Winton in the "good old days." Their memories of Thanksgiving or Christmas in Winton would be a timely topic. You can email them to me at WintonCA@aol.com Thanks.

Last Sunday's Old Timers

Above is the sign that Randy Heller put up in the park by the firehouse. Very nice sign to alert people to the Winton Old Timers reunion that was happening the following Sunday.
People brought their antiques to show. They were on display on the stage. The white butter churn with the long handle, the spinning wheel, the chair and high button shoes belong to Don Morgado. The quilts belong to Carolyn Wiens.
In the next picture, the old school desk belongs to the Winton School District and is usually in the district office where they hold their school board meetings. The dishes came from Ivaleine Cooper and also the doll, which belonged to her mother. I believe the clock belongs to Ivaleine also. The bonnet displayed above the doll case belongs to Carolyn Wiens.
John Esau brought in his big wheel bike. He says he can still ride it, but we didn't insist on a demonstration.
People enjoyed looking at the antiques and the large pictures of downtown Winton, taken in the 1950s.
Some of our regular Old Timers weren't able to make it this year to the reunion. We hope to see them next year. We did have quite a few new people, so we still had a good crowd.
The doll sitting in the rocking chair is Ivaleine Cooper's. The burlap bag looking thing is something a beekeeper uses and it either came from the Cooper family or the Varner family. The binder filled with old dress patterns is Carolyn Wien's. Most of the patterns came from Aunt Bertha Dirks.
There was a lot to see.
Last of all, was the birthday cake with "Happy Birthday Winton" on it. I don't think many people got to see it. The picture in the middle is the monument that the Clampers made for the community of Winton and which was dedicated in March of this year, commemorating Winton's Centennial. The monument is located next to the fire station in the Burbank park in Winton.
Everything on the cake was edible, including the picture.

Winton Old Timers, Sunday Sept. 25, 2011

Picture taken last year by Norm Giesbrecht.
This Sunday (Sept. 25) is the annual Winton Old Timers reunion.
This year is special because it is also Winton's Centennial year. Several people are bringing large antiques to display on the stage. Rosalie had nineteen 12x18" pictures printed of Winton, taken in the 1950s, these will also be displayed. The pictures are not in the "Memories of Winton 1911-1950" book so they will be new to a lot of people.
Reminder postcards were mailed out to people who attended in recent years, but you don't need to receive a card to attend. Are you a Winton Old Timer? Or do you know Old Timers from Winton? Then join us this Sunday at Winton Middle School on Cypress Avenue, between Almond and Gertrude Avenues.
Registration starts at 10:00 a.m. Lunch is served at 1:00 p.m. Tickets for adults are $8.00 which includes Rizzonelli's chicken breast, KFC coleslaw, Agnes' Baked Beans, dinner roll, coffee, iced tea or lemonade. This year we are having birthday cake for Winton's 100th birthday. People 90 years old and older will be honored.
Norm Giesbrecht will be there again to take pictures for us. Pictures from prior years will be shown on the overhead screen.

Members from the Winton Historical Society will be there to collect the dues for membership. The annual dues are for October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. For $10.00 per year, members are mailed a newsletter every other month with stories from the "good old days" about people of Winton or people who used to live in Winton.
We will be selling back issues from the last 3 years for $1.00 each. All 32 newsletters are available on CD in the PDF format for $5.00. What's neat about having the newsletters on CD is that you can do a search with the free Adobe Acrobat reader (a free download)and find the article you're looking for or just search for specific names, etc.
Hardcopies of the newsletters that are from 2008 or older are free. If you can't make it to the Winton Old Timers, but want to join the Winton Historical Society, send a check for $10.00 payable to WHS and mail to PO Box 554, Winton, CA 95388.
We encourage people who are interested in Winton history to attend our meetings on the first Tuesday of each month in the C.L.E.O. office on Winton Way at 1:30 p.m.

The Winton Historical Society will also be selling the "Winton Centennial" recipe books with 650 delicious recipes in a binder format with a picture of Winton's first Thanksgiving on the cover. Other vintage pictures of Winton are inside on each divider. Books sell for $15.00 each or $20.00 if mailed within the U.S.
The Souvenir coffee mugs with a picture of the Winton Depot are now only $5.00 each. Available at the Winton Old Timers, but not available for mailing.

Winton's first history book, "Memories of Winton, 1911-1950" will be there this Sunday. Available for $35.00. This hardback 530 page book with 750 pictures can be mailed within the U.S. for a total of $40.00. Checks payable to Lorraine Richards, mail to 59 La Playa Way, Atwater, CA 95301.

Fall Flowers

When I look at this picture and compare it to the one I took in the spring, all I can think is, "my how you have grown."
I love to look at before and after pictures. My neighbors probably wonder why I am always taking pictures of my yard, but I like to see what it looked like in the past and what I liked or didn't like and then decide what I want to change. It's never finished. I used to dig up my plants every year and move them around. No one ever said my yard is neat, but to me it's never boring.
I'm still looking for a red Penstemon. So far I only found them online. The plants are so small when you get them in the mail, but I may have to resort to that.
Yesterday I was surprised to find a couple of the more unusual Coreopsis at Lowe's in Merced. Usually you only find the yellow flower, either single or double, but look at the picture below.
The flowers on the left are Sienna Sunset Coreopsis; the two flowers on the right are from Route 66 Coreopsis. No, I didn't plant them that close together. They're just posing for the picture. I was so excited to find the red flower, the picture on the tag had a flower like the yellow with the red center and I thought, lucky me, I found a red one.
So, the next morning a new flower opened up and it looked like the picture. I really like the red better. I read online that the flowers turn red in the fall. The plants are "mounding perennials."
I've been able to find some Perennial Asters recently. The darker purple on the left is from the nursery at the end of Applegate Road in Atwater, the one on the right is "Weed's Purple Aster" from Lowe's. Neither one will get very tall, about 15 inches. I was looking for the 4 foot tall blue flowers, but no luck so far.
The hunt goes on. I keep looking for something a little out of the ordinary.

Removing the Lemon Tree

Pictured is my front yard with the big lemon tree. No one seemed to like the lemons, the rinds were thick and bumpy. The tree was too big with roots above the ground.
Joe and Keith came at 7 o'clock this morning to remove the tree.
Not much of a tree left. I was surprised at how fast it went. Two hours and they were gone.
Joe wanted me to see how big the roots were. That tree was probably 30 years old.
Hooray, the big lemon tree is gone. Now to find another dwarf Mandarin tree to plant in its place. I'll look for the "Honey" Mandarin unless someone can recommend something better. I have the Satsuma and I want one that will ripen at a different time. The Honey will, but it does have a lot of seeds. I can deal with that, so that's probably what I'll get. Maybe I can find one in Merced.
Keith even put my flag up. Just in time for tomorrow's 9-11 memorial day.