It’s Time to Welcome Hummingbirds!

Above the flower bed. Over the lawn ...

A flashing dip and it is gone.

And all it lends to the eye is this --

A sunbeam giving the air a kiss.

From: “The Hummingbird” ~ Harry Kemp

Today I spied the first Ruby-throated Hummingbird of 2011 at my feeder.  About a month ago, I had placed a red flowering plant in a hanging pot near my feeder and had filled the feeder with my homemade nectar (see below).

The migratory Ruby-throated Hummingbird breeds in continental North America east of the Mississippi River and Great Lakes. They first start to appear at my home near Washington, D.C. in late March. A fascinating Spring 2011 migratory map can be found at: http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html



In the fall, most hummingbirds of the U.S. and Canada migrate south - even before the flowers and insects start to wane - to spend the winter in northern Mexico or Central America. Males generally migrate several weeks ahead of new hatchlings and females. Migration is done according to changing day length or photoperiod.

Hummingbirds are found only in the earth’s western hemisphere, so they are absent from the traditional European and African fairy tales, legends, and myths. When European settlers first saw hummingbirds they considered them a cross between an insect and a bird. They wondered how so much life could be bound up in these buzzing little bundles of extravagantly-colored feathers with their whirring wings.

Yet, there is a very rich supply of stories and myths about and decorative and ceremonial uses for these beautiful birds in Native American cultures. It has been written that the Pilgrims met American Indian ambassadors with hummingbird earrings; and soldiers and missionaries in Mexico met Aztec kings who wore cloaks made entirely of hummingbird skins. Stuffed hummingbirds were worn as lucky charms to bring success in matters of the heart.

In southern Peru, ancient artists carved out an image of a hummingbird so large that it can only be recognized at about 1,000 feet in the air. This massive image may not be far from the place where, in primordial times, the first hummingbird appeared.

In Peru and other South American countries, at or near the equator, there are, even today, an amazing 300 varieties of hummingbirds. In today’s Mexico, there is a common folk belief that hummingbirds bring love and romance, and dead hummingbirds are sold as amulets.

To attract these tiny avian jewels, you can place a red table cloth or towel in your yard or garden a few weeks before migration is expected. Those who have a red car or truck in the driveway are especially able to attract hummers! My next project is to add some plants to my garden which attract hummingbirds – a list of these can be found at: http://www.hummingbirds.net/attract.html

Preparing your own nectar is preferable to purchasing the expensive and less nutritious nectars sold commercially.

Cassandra’s Hummingbird Nectar Recipe

Add ¼ cup white granulated sugar to 1 cup boiling (to deter growth of bacteria in nectar) water
Cool and fill your red hummingbird feeder.

Any extra nectar can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Note: Never use honey, artificial sweeteners, or red food coloring as these are harmful to hummingbirds.

To prevent mold, your feeder must be cleaned and nectar changed every 3-4 days -- more often in hot weather.

Within My Garden, Rides a Bird

by Emily Dickinson

Within my Garden, rides a Bird
Upon a single Wheel --

Whose spokes a dizzy Music make

As 'twere a travelling Mill --

He never stops, but slackens

Above the Ripest Rose --

Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes,

Till every spice is tasted --

And then his Fairy Gig

Reels in remoter atmospheres --

And I rejoin my Dog,

And He and I, perplex us,

If positive, 'twere we --

Or bore the Garden in the Brain

This Curiosity --

But He, the best Logician,

Refers my clumsy eye --

To just vibrating Blossoms!

An Exquisite Reply!

To see some lovely hummingbird engravings from the 1832 book, Les Trochilidées ou les colibris et les oiseaux-mouches suivis d'un index général dans lequel sont décrites et classées méthodiquement toutes les races et espèces du genre Trochilus, Vol. II, by René Primevère Lesson, go to: http://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2011/05/hummingbirds.html

It’s Lilac Time!

I am thinking of the lilac-trees,
That shook their purple plumes,

And when the sash was open,

Shed fragrance through the room.

~ Anna S. Stephens

A lilac-themed corner in Cassandra's farmhouse parlor



I recently learned, via a gardening article in our local newspaper, why lilac blossoms are not as profuse in our Nation’s Capital region as at our upstate New York farm. Lilacs do not flower well in the Agriculture Department’s Zone 7 and in warmer hardiness zones. These zones also provide perfect conditions for powdery mildew to develop due to the oppressive heat of the summer months.

When lilacs last in the door-yard bloom’d,

And the great star early droop’d in the western sky in the night,

I mourn’d—and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

~ Walt Whitman—When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d. I. Leaves of Grass. 5

Lilacs must be planted to receive full sun, cold winter weather, and mild weather with good air circulation in spring and summer.  No wonder our New York lilacs are so beautiful – they were planted years ago in the perfect conditions!  How I love gathering huge bouquets of the sweetly fragrant blossoms...

Lilacs characteristically develop a mass of roots.  Lilac cuttings easily root if taken in mid-June.  The cuttings should be 8 to 10 inches long, dipped in a rooting hormone, and placed in a sand medium under mist.  Since lilac blooms occur on stems that formed last year, branches should only be pruned in late spring as flowers fade from these stems.  I don’t believe our New York lilacs have been pruned for years, but I look forward to wielding my pruning shears next month!

With every leaf a miracle … and from this bush in the door-yard,
With delicate-colour’d blossoms, and heart-shaped leaves of rich green

A sprig, with its flower, I break.

Walt Whitman—When Lilacs Last in the Door-Yard Bloom’d. III. Leaves of Grass.

Two of Cassandra's Lilac-themed Decorative Bookcovers:

The lilac spread
Odorous essence.

~ Jean Ingelow—Laurance. Pt. III.

Happy Mother’s Day

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us;

when adversity takes the place of prosperity;

when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us;

when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

~Washington Irving

A New & Joyful Season

Grandchildren are a grandparent's link to the future,

and grandparents are the child's link to the past.

~ Author Unknown

Something wonderful – transformational, in fact – is happening soon: I am becoming a grandmother!  Our first grandchild, a granddaughter, is due in mid-May.

Despite the fact that some friends and acquaintances have hinted that perhaps I should feel wistful or even sad that I will now be fully considered an “older woman,” I have NO ill-feelings whatsoever about this next stage in my life. To me, this is a totally joyful and long-welcomed event – a great blessing and gift bestowed upon our family.

Grandchildren are God's way of compensating us for growing old.

~ Mary H. Waldrip

I consider our granddaughter’s birth as the advent of a new generation of our family – connecting all of our families’ past and future generations across time.  I look forward to sharing with our son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter gifts of time, patience, love, laughter, wisdom, experience, and memories; developing and growing with them all; and walking along side with them in whatever ways I can be of service.

Everyone needs to have access both to grandparents and grandchildren

in order to be a full human being.

~ Margaret Mead

Interestingly, I have discovered, I am considered an older grandmother; since I am nearly 14 years older than the current average grandmother age of 47!  It is amazing to me to realize that when I was born, my own two wonderful grandmas were 3 and 7 years younger than my current age.

A childhood filled with wonderful memories of time spent with grandma

is a better inheritance than a bank account.

~ Adair Lara

Cassandra's Maternal Grandma

Cassandra with her Paternal Grandma

Yet, this ”boomer’ grandma will NOT be, as Adair Lara in The Granny Diaries defines, “the stereotype…of a comforting human antique trailing a faint smell of lavender and strewn with cookie crumbs”!   I have every intention of following in the footsteps of my dear friends and youngest sister who are savvy, strong, healthy, active, involved and well-loved Nanas, Granbies, Nonnies, Namas, Mamaws, and Grandmas and to whom I have been listening intently!  I realize that I have lots to learn; so, my dear readers, please feel free to dispense your sage grandparenting advice to this eager new Grandma…

[She] is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.

Psalm 1:3

Marty Norman, in her book, Generation G, has inspired me by aptly comparing this season in life’s cycle to autumn:

“Fall is a good time.

I like to think that, like the fall season, I dance with light, that I reflect and radiate that which I have come to be and believe. I want to be a crisp breath of fresh air to those who are weary from the heat of summer…I pray that as my sun sets, I reflect the clouds about me and shine with all the colors of the rainbow. I like to think that although my leaves are falling, I am dealing with their loss with grace and integrity. I pray my hopes and dreams will germinate and fertilize next year’s growth.

I like that I am fall. I want to take advantage of the opportunity placed before me to prepare for winter, but I also desire to breathe life upon the coming spring. I look forward to time with my grandchildren…whispering with them quietly in the night…telling stories…building make-believe houses…listening laughing and sharing as only a grandmother can do.”

Being a grandmother is the best.

I believe it is the only thing in life that is not overrated.

~ Marty Norman

Fabulous Flamingos!

How I have enjoyed the amazing tropical birds here in Florida this winter!  Last weekend, while visiting the Sarasota Jungle Gardens with my family, we enjoyed a show featuring exotic birds – Macaws and Cockatoos; encountered a white peacock (see below the close-up shot of his lacy tail feathers); and delighted in photographing at very close range the lovely flamingos - talk about “…things bright and beautiful”!!!



Interesting flamingo facts:

♥ Flamingos are generally placed in their own order – Phoenicopteriformes – and recent molecular and anatomical studies have suggested they are related to grebes.



♥ The coloration of flamingo adults ranges from light pink to bright red due to aqueous bacteria and beta carotene obtained from their food supply. A well-fed, healthy flamingo is more vibrantly colored and thus a more desirable mate.

♥ Flamingos “filter-feed” on brine shrimp and blue-green algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the shrimp and algae, and are uniquely utilized upside-down. The filtering of food items is assisted by hairy structures called lamellae which line the mandibles, and

the large rough-surfaced tongue.

♥ Flamingos often stand on one leg, the other tucked beneath the body, which recent research has indicated may allow the birds to conserve more body heat, given that they spend a significant amount of time wading

in cold water.



♥ Flamingos, in glands lining the whole of the upper digestive tract, produce what is known as “crop milk;” and both parents nurse their chicks for about two months until the chicks’ bills are developed enough

to filter feed.

♥ Flamingo tongues were considered a delicacy in Ancient Rome, and ancient Egyptians believed flamingos to be the living representation of the god, Ra.

For more fascinating facts, consult the Flamingo Resources website.

Antique Decorative Publishers' Valentine's Bindings

...from Cassandra's collection...

A Margaret Armstrong binding

A page from "Sweethearts Always"



A Margaret Armstrong binding

A Margaret Armstrong binding

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentines: A Brief History & a Sampling from Cassandra’s Antique Collection

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

~ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

February has been a month of romance since ages past. St. Valentine’s Day originated from Christian and Roman traditions - the Roman Catholic Church recognizes three martyred saints named Valentine or Valentinus. During the Middle Ages in France and England it was believed that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, thus began the practice of celebrating Valentine's Day as a day for romance in the middle of February.

The oldest known valentine still in existence today is considered to be a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. Several years later, King Henry V hired a writer, John Lydgate, to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

During the 1600s, the holiday began to be popularly celebrated in Great Britain; and, by the mid -1700s, it was common for friends and lovers of all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. Due to improvements in the technology of printing in the late 1700s, printed cards began to replace written letters. The manufactured cards made it easier for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Less expensive postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of posting valentines.

In the 1840s in Worcester, Massachusetts, a young woman named Esther A. Howland, inspired by the fancy lace-covered English valentines that her father sold in his Worcester stationery store, began to create and sell the first mass-produced valentines in the U.S.

Esther initially created several sample valentines and persuaded one of her brothers skilled in penmanship to inscribe sentiments in the cards. The valentines proved extremely popular - despite their high cost – many sold for $5 to $10 each, and very extravagant ones, bedecked with ribbons, satin, and silk, cost up to $30.

Esther’s business boomed, and she recruited four friends to help her fulfill the orders and created an innovative assembly-line approach in making the cards. Seated at a long table, one worker cut out small colored lithographs of sentimental subjects, the next laid them on brilliantly glazed paper backgrounds, a third assembled the layers of lace paper that framed the central design, and the fourth pasted down a printed sentiment, typically inside the card or under a flap where only the recipient could see it. In 1881, Esther sold her business to the George C. Whitney Company.

While other manufacturers of valentines competed for the affection of the public, none could compete with the quality, taste, and style of Esther Howland. She is credited with having popularized the lace Valentine, and propelling it into a major industry and came to be known as "The Mother of the American Valentine"..

My bounty is as boundless as the sea,

My love as deep; the more I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite.

~ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

A life without love is like a year without summer.

~ Swedish quote

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

~ Lao Tzu

To love is to receive a glimpse of heaven.

~ Karen Sunde



Love is the only gold.

~ Alfred, Lord Tennyson

All thoughts, all passions, all delights,

Whatever stirs this mortal frame,

All are but ministers of love,

And feed his sacred flame.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

~ Mother Teresa