By Lorelei Colton I have good news to report regarding our grange booth exhibit entry at the Troy Fair. We (Minnequa) got a 1st place blue ribbon! As always, all 7 entries were great and I’m sure the judges’ scores were very close and tight. Ours was titled “CORN – FOOD, FUEL AND FUNDAMENTALS” and we displayed several items that were included in those categories that were actually made from corn. I used the help of the Internet as well as my husband Ron and some friends to obtain information, plus Ron’s muscle was instrumental in the actual booth set-up. I’ll be taking a couple of pecan pies to the fair Friday to be sold to benefit Pomona Grange.
By Lorelei Colton Don’t forget the free breakfast at the Alba Church this coming Saturday, July 25, from 8 to 10 am.
The LeRoy Heritage Museum is featuring an ice cream social-type affair this coming Saturday the 25th from 1 to 4 PM – the hours which the museum will be open for visitors. For a small fee you get a BBQ sandwich, beverage, and ice cream sundae and afterwards can enjoy a stroll through the museum two floors and visit the gift shop. Proceeds benefit the preservation of artifacts and additional exhibits. By Lorelei Colton We were finally blessed with a gorgeous weekend, weather wise, and I believe I heard one local tv newscaster say it had been 6 weeks since we had a “rain free” weekend. Rain has been one of the main topics of discussion lately, whether I am at work, at church, out running errands, or visiting with friends and neighbors. I’ve heard of instances where simple family gardens are having problems with mold forming on vegetables as they mature, and even rotting the plants before they have time to develop beyond blossoming. I talked to a farmer located in the central part of the county who had hundreds of acres of hay standing unable to get to, amounting to thousands (yes, thousands) of square bales not yet harvested, due to being unable to get onto wet, soggy fields. It’s those kinds of conversations that remind me to keep my yap shut about such petty things as a few moldy pea pods. Our neighbors the Hojnowski’s have been having much better luck apparently, as Tricia told me in church last Sunday that their barn’s haymow is almost full. They’ve worked steady during every “rain-free” hour they could.
By Lorelei Colton I hope you and yours had a truly enjoyable 4th of July weekend. Ron and I (and Palin, of course) spent a couple of days in Lancaster County with my niece, Shannon. We left early Friday morning and were surprised to find the traffic not too terribly intense, which, of course, is easy for me to say as Ron was the one doing all the driving, not me. It was a beautiful day, weather-wise, seeing all the creeks and streams along Rt. 15 south full and rushing. As we drove past the Wheel Inn Club we spied a red fox scampering into the woods, and saw several deer grazing in bright green fields. In Northumberland we saw gasoline for $2.69 per gallon, and diesel’s lowest price of $2.91 in Port Trevorton.
By Lorelei Colton Rain, rain, and more rain. When I think about how exasperated I am with weeds two feet high in the garden, imagine how frustrated our local farmers are trying to get hay harvested! I told you about the huge squash plant – which is now well above my waist and dozens of blossoms on it as well as squashes forming. The tomato plants had to be “re-tied” they were so bushed out, we have lots of blossoms on the green beans, and pods starting to fill out with peas. As you can tell, I’m anxious for much harvesting myself. Also, I’ve seen lots of elderberry bushes in the area covered with blossoms, and Ron has picked a few black caps out behind the garage. Where is the summer going so fast?
By Lorelei Colton What gorgeous weather we have been having – even those humid days are welcomed as I seem to be reliving those 20+ below zero mornings of last winter. But, what a fabulous heat bill! On that note, I can imagine what the electric bill will be running the air conditioners… I sound like I’d complain no matter what, right? My dad (Max) used to refer to those kinds of people as: “they’d complain if you hung them with a new rope!” On that note, I’m reminded to count my many blessings.
By Lorelei Colton How wonderful to have gotten some much-needed rain! But, I must say that the thunderstorm that went through last Friday early evening was a real “blinger” – wherever that word came from. Our vegetable garden is leaping out of the ground. I saw little green tomatoes on the cherry tomato plant, blossoms on the green beans, green onions ready to pick, the sweet corn is more than “knee high” already, and I picked a big bunch of radishes Sunday and some were bigger than a walnut! The best we’ve ever grown! Our peonies were real pretty and now the prim roses are in bloom. Our oak tree out front has grown so much and gotten so thick that the other night when it was time to close up shop and go to bed, I looked out the front door and thought the pole light was out because the light was totally blocked by the oak tree’s foliage. It’s become an awesome shade tree.
By Lorelei Colton As I sit here at the computer starting to compile the weekly column, its early Sunday evening and there is a brisk breeze coming in through the open window – acting like we’re in for a thunder storm. I hung a load of sheets out on the clothesline before I headed up to church this morning, and when I returned home I found some of them had blown off the line onto the ground. Fortunately the new-mown grass was clean and dry so nothing had to be re-washed. Ron roto-tilled the garden yesterday – it really is looking great. The green beans have jumped up out of the ground and are nearing 10 inches tall! Ron and I are reflecting on last winter’s weather and are gearing up for it by planning on canning and freezing everything we can get our hands on.
By Lorelei Colton We finally got the entire garden in, and I can honestly say that it is one of the most beautiful vegetable gardens we’ve ever had. Since Ron’s dad “Pa” was alive, anyway. He was the “workhorse” in the garden – tilling, planting, weeding, de-bugging – you name it. He was great at it. And, Ron and I both agree that he would be proud of ours this year. We even have blossoms on the tomatoes and pepper plants, because they came from Lancaster County and seem to be quite a bit ahead of the varieties and plants around here right now.
By Lorelei Colton First, I must make a correction to last week’s column. It was Lois Myers that had joined us on a trip to Rochester for the annual lilac festival. Sorry for the error. My mistake became apparent when we all were sitting around the table after Rural Brotherhood last Thursday at our Alba Church, eating, cleaning up, visiting, and commenting on the vases of lilacs on the tables, and that some had come from the bush purchased on our excursion.
By Lorelei Colton I have decided that May is one of my favorite months. It is so refreshing to see lush, green leaves on the trees, and, yes, even those pesky – yet pretty bright yellow – dandelions spotted on lawns everywhere. I picked a big bouquet of lilacs from the back yard, only to be reminded of many, many years ago when friends Ginny Case (now deceased), Carol Bastion, and Peggy Bulkley and I tripped off to Rochester to their annual “Lilac Festival”. I am sure one of the bushes I now have is from there, the other one from my Aunt Maude Foust’s back yard when she lived right up the hill from us in Cowley.
By Lorelei Colton Is spring finally here? What a gorgeous past weekend we had, weather wise, anyway, even though we woke a couple of mornings last week with a definite coating of frost on the lawn. We decided to yank out a couple of forsythia bushes that have not blossomed well at all over the past 2 or 3 years. I’ve seen bushes on abandoned farms or along the road where apparently some type of dwelling had been at one time, and they were flourishing – after years of neglect. I decided ours had just worn out their welcome. We’re going to try our hand at a raised asparagus garden instead in its place. Ron got the garden plot tilled and it looks wonderful – even adding a couple of feet to both the length and the width - per my request to add a few hills of potatoes and a row of sweet corn. I’m in hopes to planting peas, onions, lettuce and radishes this week.
Sympathies are extended to the family and friends of Bob Grantier who passed away this past week.
We were so sorry to hear of the fire that destroyed the Sutton garage (in Canton) last Monday night during that horrific lightening storm. Also, that next day, there were a couple of businesses in Troy that had suffered “computer” issues as a result of that storm. I’m grateful we came away unscathed. I need to make a correction to last week’s column. The rummage sale I visited on Saturday (the 18th) was the East TROY Baptist Church – not the East CANTON. Sorry for the confusion. By Lorelei Colton Unfortunately, I’m again starting out this week with messages of sympathy to the families and friends of Barb (Smiley) Eiffert, and Miles Pratt. Barb graduated with my brother Art (Shoemaker), who passed away just two short months ago, from Troy High School in 1957. Barb suffered a long, hard battle with cancer - and most certainly she, too, will be sorely missed as will Mr. Pratt.
By Lorelei Colton Sympathies are extended to the family, friends and neighbors of Alba resident Dave McKerrow, who passed away last week following a brief battle with cancer. And also the same extended to the Aimee Hansell family. Aimee also passed away this past week and her battle with that dreaded disease was unfortunately much longer, her having been on our church’s prayer list for quite some time. We are all so sorry for these losses. I read in the local newspapers that Al Smith passed away. Al was married to my cousin Marcella Hyde-Smith of Canton. Marcella passed away last year.
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