I know this is not the name of these flowers, but as a child that is what my father called them, so that is what I call them. They are native trillium. They also flower in white. Bloodroot is a completely different plant and it's flowers aren't even red. I can't call them anything but bloodroot, though. Old habits die hard.
They are not what I would call common, as up until we bought the farm I had not seen them in the wild before, but we have several good sized colonies of Trout Lilies - named such because of the liverish colored spots on their leaves. In England, they are referred to as the Dog Tooth Violet. They are fond of streamsides and dappled sunlight. Don't blink or you'll miss them. The blooms last less than a week. This year they bloomed the last week in April.
They are very small, so you almost miss them. You have to really look.
They have a lovely pendant shape until the sun hits them, then they open up and the effect is similar to that of a turk's cap lily.
The liver-spotted leaves are particularly noticeable on this one:
I have discovered many interesting things in just a short period of time as an amateur genealogist. First off, while childhood was obviously deadly, being a woman was, too. All that birthing took its toll on our female ancestors. And most of the details of these female lives have faded away into obscurity - their family names and histories taking a back seat to the accomplishments of their male counterparts.
Not everyone died young, however. The saga of the Darby Kelley line in America is also replete with amazing tales of long, productive lives. Our paterfamilias in the New World, Darby Kelley, signed the Association Test in Brentwood, N.H. in 1776, when he was 70 years old! He was ready, willing and able to fight in the American Revolution as a senior citizen.
His great-grandson, General Benjamin Franklin Kelley, took a bullet to the chest in the first land battle of the Civil War, and lived to tell about it. In fact, he lived into his 80's. And one of the Kelley men's wives lived to the ripe old age of 103!
Secondly, I am amazed at how industrious the Kelley men were and how much they were able to accomplish in such short periods of time. The America of the late 1700's and early 1800's must have been a place of great opportunity for this to have occurred. I do not see the America of today being as open to advancement. We have become a country with very little socio-economic maneuverability. I am not sure the feats of social mobility and success accomplished by our ancestors can be done today.
Samuel Kelley, an immigrant's son, was able to carve out a homestead for himself and his family in the wilds of New Hampton, N.H., and in just a few short years had built and owned half the town. Upon his death, he was able to leave a farm to each of his children. Imagine that - all from an immigrant's son.
William Bowdoin Kelley, Samuel's son, went on to found the New Hampton School, a prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire. Some of William's sons went into the fields of law and medicine, studying at Dartmouth. Another of William's sons, Benjamin Franklin, became a Major General in the Union Army during the Civil War and was appointed to several prestigious posts after the war. So much accomplishment in such a short period of time.
The momentum of my ancestors' success seems to have slowed by the late 1800's. Strangely, I am encountering less and less information on the later Kelley ancestors than we had for the earlier ones. Most of our direct decendants seem to have stayed in the Northeast, particularly in the Pennsylvania/Maryland areas. Accomplishments for the Kelley line seem to be slight after the Civil War. I will do more research in this area. Perhaps I am wrong, and of course, there are just so many more names and family lines to keep track of the closer we get to the future.
But I have a feeling that changing times in America had begun to wear away at the success our earliest ancestors enjoyed.
Heeeer's BO! Or BoBo... or Bogart... or Beauregard....
He is a border collie - black lab mix or so we are told. He is a very good looking dog, but Ian will have his hands full. He was adopted from the Saratoga Humane Society.
In December of 2011, Rich and I had some business to discuss with our business partner out in California, so we decided to dovetail that with a trip to view some of the wineries in Santa Barbara County. Our friend and business partner, Marc, is a wine-country insider, so you can be sure we got the deluxe tour.
One of our favorite wineries on the visit was the Foxen Vineyard. They now have two separate tasting rooms. We preferred "the shack" of course - made famous in the movie, "Sideways". And who wouldn't? All I can say is good thing we had a designated driver that day.
Anywhoo... their Pinot Noir is excellent. We like to serve it whenever possible. No shame in that.
I am planning on integrating several new needlepoint projects into the decor of the Manor House when it is completed. Arcadia, a wall tapestry, is almost complete after 10 years. I will be taking it off the stretcher frame soon and will post pictures when it is done. It will be framed and hopefully hung on the wall in the living room.
I have also been working on the Beasts of the Field needlepoint series by Elizabeth Bradley. I have just completed the pig panel. Here it is before it has been blocked:
There are four Beasts of the Field panels, which can be made up into a rug or a wall hanging or made into individual pillows. The panels are connected by a greek key design border for the rug/wall hanging. I intend on working these panels up into a rug to be used in the Manor House.
I have also just started one of the panels of the Natural History Series of tapestries from Elizabeth Bradley, as well. I will be stitching a total of six panels in this series to be made into another carpet.
While I am a huge fan of the Ehrman Tapestry kits, I have to say I have been enamored with the Elizabeth Bradley needlepoint kits of late, as there are amazing possibilities for stitching many of her designs into fabulous carpets and wall hangings, all with beautiful borders. And her designs can be customized with different color backgrounds, as well. Her designs are charming and a bit old-fashioned, more of a vernacular style than the modern kits of Ehrman.
According to a transcript of a lecture I found online from Paul Burig, presented to the Wheeling Historical Society, Mr. Burig states that General Kelley's military career was "checkered", yet by Mr. Burig's own words and the accounts of others, it appears the General's career was anything but.
General Kelley was commissioned colonel of the 1st (West) Virginia Infantry, the first Union regiment to be recruited on "southern" soil in May of 1861, after his return from Philadelphia. This was initially a 90-day commission. Kelley's military responsibilities during the war mainly focused on the defense of the B&O railroad throughout northwest Maryland and the northern Virginia counties that would later break off and become the state of West Virginia. The railway was the main supply line for Union troops in the area, so this was a commission of some strategic importance. His military headquarters were located in Cumberland, Maryland throughout most of the hostilities. His first orders had him and his forces, along with the 16th Ohio and the 9th Indiana regiments, marching all night through a driving rain to attack rebels at Philippi on the morning of June 3rd, 1861. Although considered a battle of little consequence in the scheme of things, the Battle of Philippi was the first land engagement of the Civil War. B.F. was appointed a brigadier general after this engagement in recognition of his service.
B.F. also has the distinction of being the first Union officer to be wounded in a Civil War battle. He took a bullet to the right breast during the Battle of Philippi, a wound that was roundly considered to be fatal. Dispatches of condolence began to circulate among Union officers on the assumption B.F. would not survive his wound. Amazingly, the General recovered fully, although The Wellsboro Agitator, a newspaper in Wellsboro, PA, upon his death in 1891 had this to say about the "Hero of Philippi" in their obituary of him: he was said to have been "suffering for some time from the effect of an old bullet wound received at Phillipi during the late war." So, unsurprisingly given the state of medical care at this time, the wound bothered B.F. until his death and may, in fact, have contributed to it some thirty years later.
In addition to engaging the rebels at the Battle of Philippi, B.F. and his troops also participated in the pursuit of General Lee's Army through Northern Virginia after the battle of Gettysburgh in July of 1863. Two of B.F.'s sons were also involved in fighting for the Union. His son, William Bodoin Kelley, was a First Lieutenant in the 1st. West Virginia Infantry; and his son, John Goshorn Kelley, was a Lieutenant Colonel in the 7th West Virginia Infantry.
For all of this, perhaps the General was best known for his part in one of the more daring escapades of the Civil War - the kidnapping of him and General Crook by McNeill's Rangers. Coming in one of the next installments of the Genealogy Chronicles.
Source Material: The genealogy research of Jackie Farrell, Paul Burig, West Virginia Archives and History.
Amazing what can be found in the detritus of rural life. I thought this was an interesting juxstaposition between an old, yet perfectly usable spoon found buried in the ground next to the stream and a miniature indian kettle.
The weather for working on the farm has become finer. It's been a pretty breezy spring overall, but at last the temperatures are warm enough for some serious outdoor work.
We have planted some ditch lillies on either side of the bridge. They should fill in nicely and help keep the bank from eroding. That is, unless the deer don't eat them down to the nubs. Yes, I've been told deer love daylillies. Well, we'll see about that. Last I checked I was smarter than deer.
Rich has gotten his cedar logs for the trellis system in the hop yard. The yard is staked out and is shaping up nicely.
The fields are greening up, but the grass is not yet growing. That will give us some time before we have to start the constant chore of mowing.
We roto-tilled a 20-foot long border in the Soggy Bottom to put in a Moon (White) Garden. Last year I planted some white species Anemone sylvestris, which have popped up their heads and some cinnamon ferns and ostrich ferns. As of last weekend, it looks like most of the ferns made it through the winter. I also planted 6 Digitalis grandiflora, which are a creamy white version of the classic cottage garden plant. They've also survived nicely and should bloom this year.
For the 20 foot long border, I'm thinking of adding in some more of the Digitalis, some white astilbe, more of the Anemone, white Japanese or Siberian iris and Polygonatum odoratum Variegatum (which is commonly known as Solomon's Seal). We are aiming for a naturalistic look.
The word "canape" conjures up a fussy, stuffy dinner party staple. But I think poor canapes have gotten a bad rap. The whole idea is to offer up a little something to nibble with cocktails until dinner arrives.
First of all, let's address this: how did appetizers go so wrong? Either they end up being these ridiculously, impossibly complex"artisinal" concoctions that no one (in their right mind) planning a dinner party has time to make or on the other end of the spectrum, they're pre-made, overblown fat-bombs that fill you up guests before dinner. Rarely are they actually appetizing.
That's why I like the term canape or bar snack. Unlike "appetizers" or heaven forbid "apps", a canape is usually quite small and generally a simple topping on a carriage of bread or toast. I like to expand on the idea to include other simple nibbles or bar snacks like nuts, homemade crackers or cheese biscuits. I think the French and American southerners are brilliant at these types of appetizers. The French have their gougeres and the southerners have cheese wafers and cheese straws. That's how you do cheese as an appetizer, not a cheese platter with four pounds of waxy cubed cheese and crackers.
When entertaining, I suggest sticking to one or two (at the most) canapes or bar snacks before dinner. Trust me, no apologies will be needed when you don't lay out the ubiquitous vegetable platter with ranch dressing dip. No one will miss the dried out, pre-cut supermarket celery sticks. You've got something better up your sleeve.
