13 Ways to Create a Humane Backyard

Do you know what 'Permaculture' is?  I am not a gardener but even to my remote reaches some gardening news occasionally arrives.  A year or two ago, I heard a program on NPR (national public radio) about permaculture, which is gardening with nature rather than against it.  Mostly what they discussed were things we already know such as that it isn't good to poison your yard with herbicides. It destroys the natural ecology of the soil and pesticides and weed killers damage important cycles in our own world, such as the weakening of the bee colonies (which we need for agriculture) and the killing of birds (who eat insects.)  One thing I didn't know however was that this new fad for black licorice mulch is also damaging to our yards and our water supply.  It is dyed black, for one thing, and the dye washes out into the soil and the drainage systems.

However, that wasn't my main topic for today.  I received a small chart from a charity that I send small donations a couple of times a year with 13 good tips to create a homage backyard.  I don't know about you but I LOVE having butterflies visit, and I enjoy watching my rabbit family, my birds, especially the cardinal family that frequents the yard, and I get a kick out of the ants of the squirrels.  Also I adore the shade from my 18 old trees.  

The tips:
1.  Provide water - a birdbath or small pond (and enjoy the action!)
2.Offer natural food sources, native plants to be specific (and in winter perhaps bird feeders)
3.Avoid lawn chemicsls: fertilizers, pestiides, herbicides (harmful to animals, pets, children, and our water supply)
4.Make large windows bird safe with stick-ons
5.Think outside the 'lawn box' Lots of gardeners are opting for wildflower meadows instead of the boring golf lawns of the past
6.Create a wild area or a brush pile for shelter
7.Plant for bees (do not fear them, leave them alone and they will leave you alone!)
8. Put up a bat house (For a couple of decades when our family got together in West Virginia, my parents' mountain retirement home, we would gather on the veranda at night to watch the bats swoop around the yard lamp.  Their aerial stunts were astonishing.
9.If you have a backyard pool, secure it for the sake of children and animals.
10.  SLOW DOWN - good advice for life in general but especially good for animals.  If you are driving the residential speed limit of 25, you have time to brake for animals.
11.  Create a safe outdoor space for your cats.  I have  a 'Catio" it is a 6 feet high chain link enclosure with chicken wire on top.  There is a cat door in a window of my den, so the cats can go in and out at will.  I have a few benches in the Catio and they go out to enjoy sunrise, sunny, and even to sit in the gentle rains.  That way no birds have to die but the cats can enjoy some outdoor time.  The Internet is full of attractive 'Catio' ideas.  Check it out.
12. and 13. need further research at humane society.org  - they include seasonal yard clean-up tips, and protecting your house from unwanted guests in a humane way (such as squirrels in the attic).

Needless to say a final tip was to please not litter.  It is shocking to me to see how many water bottles, soda and beer cans litter the woods, and even the parks.  If I were a coach, I would have my team 'police' the area after a practice and pick up their trash.  Also I have noticed that fishermen seem especially prone to leaving their garbage in the form of bait containers and lunch bags and cans where they fish in the local parks.  Teach your children to carry back what they carry out!

I am always pleased and proud to see how generally clean the parks are where I walk with my dog.  Of course, we always scoop, it is fast and easy.  I have doggy bag dispenser that clips on to my dog leash, so I always have bags on hand and as many people as I meet dog walking in our favorite park, I rarely see dog excrement left in the park.  Most people are considerate of others.

Treat the world as if it were your home!

Happy Trails,
Jo Ann

New Jersey Pinelands Event for August 2017

Just in case you aren not on their e-mail list, this is just in from the Pinelands Preservation Alliance.  I have attended man of their events and a visit to the Bishop Farmstead, their book store, and auditorium is always delightful.  I plan to attend this one and hope you do too!

PPA is excited to host an afternoon of music by the Greater Pinelands Dulcimer Society and a book signing by Michael Gabriele, author of New Jersey Folk Revival Music History & Tradition.  PPA's visitor center will be open and light refreshments will be available.  This event is free to the public and is family friendly.


Sunday, August 13, 2017
1:00 pm to 4:00 pm
PPA, 17 Pemberton Rd. (CR 616), Southampton NJ 08088

Members of the Greater Pinelands Dulcimer Society desire to preserve folk instruments, among which the Appalachian Mountain and hammered dulcimers stand out. The extended dulcimer family also includes other well-known instruments, like autoharp, banjo, bozouki, bass fiddle, folk harp, mandolin and penny whistle.  You will hear a variety of playing styles, from old-time mountain music to Irish jigs and airs.

Schedule of Events:
1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Book Signing
1:15 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Mountain Dulcimer Performance
2:00 p.m. - 2 :30 p.m. - Michael Gabriele - Talk and Q & A
2:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Greater Pinelands Dulcimer Society Jam

More information about the author and this amazing book:

"New Jersey Folk Revival Music - History and Tradition" is a new book written by New Jersey author and historian Michael Gabriele and published by Arcadia Publishing/The History Press. The book-190 pages with over 80 photos-provides a narrative on the evolution, traditions and history of folk revival music in New Jersey.

Marvelous Day of ART in Pitman!!

Today, Saturday, Saturday July 22, I spent the day in Pitman was a couple of friends.  I had a mission - to see the work of a former student of mine from when I taught at the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia

Brigitte O-Dowd was not only my student in the graduate education program, she was also my student teacher at M. E. Costello School, her senior year AND she was brilliant at both!  She was always a wonderful artist with a unique vision and great technical mastery.  Along with that, she was also a warm and engaging teacher.  The students adored her!

We got connected again via Facebook and I was pleased to see she had work on view at The Studio 120 North, on Broadway in Pitman.  

First. we had lunch at a corner pizzaria which was delicious, then we went to the wrong gallery - the Pitman Art Center, but though it was not the gallery where my friend's paintings were on view, it was a wonderful gallery and we all enjoyed the gorgeous wood carvings  of Wolfgang Finger.  These were of special interest to us because one friend, Barb Spector, is a bird-watcher, and many of Wolfgang Finger's pieces were of birds, in particular a monumental owl carving, and my personal favorite, a red-tailed hawk.  Also, at one time, I had taken up wood carving, but soon had to let it go as I had arthritis in my fingers from years of teaching and typing, and joint problems with my right wrist, same causes.

Finally we found The Studio 120 North, and I was thrilled to see Brigitte O'Dowd's figure paintings and to find that she will offer a course on the figure in early autumn.  More on that when the time comes near.  Also I will let you know what other courses and works on display at The Studio 120 North.  Art is such a great way for towns to adapt to their new world and save themselves.

By the way, you can rent space at the Pitman Gallery and Art Center for your event:  (856)553-7757 and PitmanArtCenter.org

Two other events coming to that area are The Pitman Craft Show on September 16th and the Gloucester County Fair July 27 through 30.  Events of interest to me at the Fair - Recycled Garden Art Contest and Flower and Vegetable Show, plus Clay Pot Decorating Contest!

Pitman has really experienced a renaissance.  I remember the run-down Pitman Theater in the old days, (20 or 30 years ago) and it is wonderful and flourishing now - SAVED!!!!  And Broadway is chock full of interesting vintage stores, places to eat, and galleries of various kinds.  

Along with all that culture, a must see is the Pitman Grove for fans of domestic architecture.  I almost bought a house there once myself, it was love at first sight, but reconsideration when my father took a look:  "No insulation, ancient wiring - you don't have the skills or the money to renovate this place"  The rest is history.  I found my beloved bungalow right after that and have been blissful here ever since, but I still love the Grove!  Go there and take a walk, but find a cooler day than we had.  It was a sweltering 95, so we couldn't walk around as much as we wanted but we plan to return for that Arts and Crafts Fair in September when all the world is at its best (to those like me who love the fall).

Happy Trails!
Jo Ann

Music on the Waterfront! XPN Festival 2017

I am letting you know about this although I won't be going this year.  Sadly, it is too hot and too hard to sit outside for me these days and I can't take the sun either BUT that said, if you love live music, you will enjoy the WXPN Music Festival I am sure.

And I am always glad when good things happen in Camden.  I went to college for my second BA at Rutgers and gained a fondness for Camden and Camden History that I have kept over the years.  I often visit (as you know if you've visited my blog before) the Camden County Historical Society on Euclid Blvd, behind Lady of Lourdes Hospital to keep up with new shows on Camden History and to visit with Bonny Beth Elwell, the Library Historian there.

So here is the information

    July 20, 2017
Single Day Passes Available 

NEW for 2017!  1-Day Go-Everywhere Passes for the XPoNential Music Festival (Jul 28-30) with lawn access to the BB&T Pavilion are available for the first time (Friday and Saturday only). 

Single day passes for Wiggins Park-only performances and 3-Day Go-Everywhere Passes are still available.

Wilco, Spoon, Amos Lee, Drive-By Truckers, Angel Olsen, Strand Of Oaks, Foxygen, Joseph, Hurray For The Riff Raff, and more will soon take the stage at the XPoNential Music Festival presented by Subaru! Check out the complete line-up here! 

As a member, pick up your XPoNential Music Festival 3-day or single day passes at half price by using the offer code IHEARTXPN. 

PS. Already a member of XPN at the $25/month level (and above) and have not heard anything about your complimentary passes? Give membership a call at 1-800-565-9976.
Free At Noon 
Tomorrow

Friday, July 21
WXPN Free At Noon with Ride 
World Cafe Live, Philadelphia
RSVP

Ride's new album,  Weather Diaries, is out now. Ride will also be performing at the TLA on July 22. 

Next Week - Friday, July 28

No Free At Noon - See you at the XPoNential Music Festival! 


Many thanks to Comcast and Rafferty Subaru for supporting the Free At Noon Concert Series.

Crossroads of the Revolution Events

As you may know, when i retired, I volunteered at various historic sites, two of which were connected with the American Revolution - Indian King Tavern in Haddonfield, and Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield, National Park  Though retired for some time now, I am still on a couple mailing lists including Crossroads of the Revollution and as you may not be on their mailing list, I am posting their list of upcoming events:  

July 21
Art in Food and Food in Art lecture at the Bouman-Stickney Farmstead Barn in Stanton. Author and food historian Peter Rose shares the ways that 17th century Dutch art gives glimpses into the Colonial diet. 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. More information.

July 22
Research Your Home's History at the Montclair History Center in Montclair. Discover the resources available to research your Montclair home. 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon. Required registration and more information.

Log House City at Jockey Hollow Visitor Center in Morristown. Find out more about the hundreds of cabins built by Continental soldiers to survive the harsh winter of 1779-80. 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. More information.

Songs and Stories of the American Revolution at Washington Crossing State Park in Titusville. Musician Matthew Dodd performs rousing 18th century songs and tales at the Visitor Center Museum. 2:00 p.m. More information.

July 23
Washington's Encampment at the Dey Mansion in Wayne. Reenactors share what daily life was like for the soldiers who were with Washington during his July 1780 stay at this stately mansion. 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

Open House at the Garretson Forge and Farm in Fair Lawn. Visit a classic 1719 homestead offering a rare surviving example of the simple farming life of the 1700s. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

DAR Van Bunschooten Museum Tour in Wantage. The Daughters of the American Revolution share the stories of an early Sussex County family. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

Tour Historic New Bridge Landing in River Edge. Visit a Revolutionary War battle site and authentic sandstone buildings telling the story of early Bergen County. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

July 26
Uncork History: Decorative Arts Tour of Liberty Hall in Union. Enjoy a summer evening with a VIP walking tour revealing a unique 240 year decorative arts history. Then relax in the garden over wine with friends. 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm. More information and reservations by July 19.

Museum of the American Revolution Bus Trip, departing from Union. Visit Philadelphia's newest museum, plus the National Constitution Center and lunch at the City Tavern with fellow history lovers from the Union Township Historical Society. 8:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. More information and reservations.

July 29
Musket Firing Demonstrations at Washington Crossing State Park Visitor Center in Titusville. Join a park historian for an interpretive talk about some of the weapons used during the American Revolution and their use during the Battle of Trenton. 2:00 p.m. More information.

Behind the Scenes Museum Tour at Washington's Headquarters Museum in Morristown. See rarely-exhibited items from the museum's extensive collection, including some related to Alexander Hamilton and World War I. 10:30 a.m. Reservations and more information.

Ringwood Manor Cemetery Tour in Ringwood. Take an outdoor walking tour to learn the stories of those buried in the manor's historic graveyard. 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Required registration and more information.

July 30
Open House at the Proprietary House in Perth Amboy. Discover the diverse 250 year history of the nation's last remaining original Royal Governor's mansion. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.




Recurring events and site tours*

Tuesdays
A Child's View of History at Liberty Hall Museum in Union. Kids can learn 240 years of history through the eyes of the mansion's young residents, and enjoy hands-on artifacts! 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Required reservations and more information.

Wednesdays
Tea and Tour at Historic Morven in Princeton. Enjoy a cultured afternoon at the home of Declaration of Independence signer Richard Stockton and his wife, poet Annis Boudinot Stockton. 1:00 pm. More information.

Tea at the Proprietary House in Perth Amboy. Following teas and homemade desserts, discover the only Royal Governor's house still standing in the United States. 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. More information.

Thursdays through Sundays
Whitall House tours at Red Bank Battlefield in National Park. Learn the story of the October 1777 battle and the Quaker family who faced the Revolution literally at their front door. 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. More information.

Sundays
Wortendyke Barn Open House in Park Ridge. Visit an authentic New World Dutch Barn representing family farming from the region's first European settlement through the 20th century. 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. More information.

*Please contact site to confirm dates and times before visiting.

Discover Revolutionary New Jersey all spring and summer long. Watch your inbox for our eNewsletter for August events.

Crossroads Heritage Partners are eligible to list events on our website. Contact Kate Brindle by email or at 609-341-3246 for details.

Crossroads launches search for Executive Director
Do you have a passion for history and a background in non-profit fundraising and management? Qualified candidates are invited to submit applications for the executive director position at Crossroads of the American Revolution Association. For more information, visit the Crossroads website.




Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area, 101 Barrack Street, Trenton, NJ 08608
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Grandpop Wright's Deck Chair

One other item I forgot to write about in my previous post was my Grandfather Clyde Franklin Wright's Deck Chair.  He was a Merchant Seaman, as was my Mother's Grandfather William C. Garwood.  Clyde Franklin Wright traveled all over the world and brought home items from his man visits to foreign lands.  All that remains of his many souvenirs (they were cleared out of the house and disposed of when my Grandmother Mabel, his wife, was forced to go to Ocean City to care for her mother, Catherine Sandman Young, who had suffered a stroke) was his mahogany deck chair.

This chair almost perished too, when my parents retired and moved to West Virginia, but, with the help of a friend who worked at a local hardware store in Collingswood, I rescued the chair, all disassembled in the garage attic of my parents' home, and put the pieces together and  have the chair in my den.  It has to be disassembled to be moved through doorways as the writing desk arms are very wide, but I love it and I think of Clyde Franklin Wright's many years as a sea going sailor when I look at it.  I never met that ancestor as he was killed by a hit-and-run driver when my father was a child.

Family Heirloom Project

Like many older people, I have acquired a number of family heirlooms.  None of them have any financial value to recommend them but they have connections to family members I knew when I was growing up, and to stories about family history.

My grandmother Mabel, my father's mother, was a notable seamstress.  In her youth, she and her mother, Catherine Sandman Young, had both supported themselves and their families when they were widowed, by sewing.  At one point, they made uniforms for the military through the Schuylkill Arsenal.  At that time, they lived in Philadelphia.  Catherine Sandman Young's family had come from Germany and a Philadelphia Census from the 1800's lists her profession at age 16 as "seamstress/dressmaker" so her sewing machine, a wooden covered cabinet portable that fit into a treadle table is of special importance.  Both Catherine and her daughter, Mabel, were also prolific quilters and I have two quilts made by Mabel, and a couple of her afghans (or lap robes).  One of the saddest little items is Mabel's diary from the summer when her twin sister who suffered demential from a head injury sustained during an purse snatching assault, committed suicide in their home.

From the other side of the family, I have chocolate pot made in occupied Japan, that sat in my Grandmother Lavinia Lyons' china cabinet and which I had always admired from childhood.  She said when I had a house of my own, I could have it for a house warming gift.  Good to her word, when I bought my house, she gave me the chocolate pot.  It isn't all that old or of any financial value but it was hers and it is beautiful.  My mother also had a fondness for pretty china and I have a Staffordshire bowl that she kept for many years and a delightful little-house cookie jar.  When I was  very small child, and home sick, my mother let me play with the little house cookie jar.  It has pride of place in m own china cabinet.  I also have my own mother's sewing machine which I have always used and still do.

I have a lot of personal mementos as well, a charm bracelet begun in the 1950's and finished in the 1970's, a sweater from Mexico from 1964, and a number of very old and beautiful postcards which I have collected all my life.  My daughter, too, has many mementoes of her childhood.

Then there are the family photographs.  The oldest ones I have date from 1884, of Catherine Sandman and her new young husband William Adam Young.

Like many people my age, I worry about what will become of these family heirlooms when I am gone.  They passed on to me because the grandmothers who gave them to me knew i would value them and care for them.  Who will care for them after I die?

Often, sadly, I see little stage sets of chairs, furniture, baskets of wool and knitting needles, forlorn tableaux of someone who has died and their relatives have put their possessions on the curb for scavengers and the trash collectors.  It is heartbreaking.

Once my sister saw a bag of family items on the curb near her home and falling out were old family photos.  She stopped and the two relatives were clearing out their mother's house and said they didn't want any of that old stuff.  My sister took some of it, a box of opera gloves with a working woman's employee card - she was a ballroom dancer for a big hotel in New York.  Their family passports from Italy were there and a lot of  photos of New York tenement backyard gardens as well as relatives back in Sicily, and postcards and letters from the 'old country.'  How could they put those irreplaceable family history items in the trash?  I can't understand it, and it worried me.  I took some of the items and put them in the Gloucester County Historical Society Library in their genealogy collection.

No one wants this stuff and the historical societies are overflowing, so if family doesn't want it, it is doomed.  Therefore, I made a looseleaf binder with a page for each photo of the object I wanted saved and the family member it belonged to and a  little family history.  I thought I would have it color/copied at Belia Copy Center and make a booklet for each of my four siblings, but the main binder for my daughter so when I am gone, these things may be saved somehow.  It is all I can do.

PREDICITON;  The day will come, maybe in 30 years, when such family items and family history will be of great value because we live in an age where nothing is saved and so the things will be increasingly rare and sought after.

Two 4th of July Parades 2017

Tonight, Monday, Jul 3, 2017 at 6:00 p.m. Gloucester City, New Jersey will have the local town 4th of July Parade down Broadway, the main street, from the Southern border, around Jersey Avenue northward to near the bridge approach, the northern border.

I will probably attend that parade because one of my oldest friends, since the 1970's, will be Grand Marshall.  Dorothy Stanaitis loves parades and had been in many including Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Parade, the Columbus Parade, and others.  Dorothy has been an exemplary citizen of Gloucester City.  She was Library Children's Program Director for many years, and held the children's story hour.  She was and IS a brilliant storyteller.  She creates an entire program around a story often including clever small give-aways and food items.  She also served on the Citizens' Conflict Resolution committee (by another name I don't recall anymore) for many years, and has participated in the beautiful baby context and Camden County Arts Festival, as a judge.

We know each other because she hired me for a federally funded Outreach Program to bring library services to children in Gloucester City.  I worked in that program for about 8 years until I became a full time teacher, also in Gloucester City.  So that will be a fun parade.

Tomorrow, my own home town for the past 30 odd years, Mount Ephraim will hold its parade, and I will pop over to have a look for a time, then return home to comfort my noise traumatized pets.  I will probably meet up with Dorothy at Roosevelt Avenue.  I usually watch from the corner of my own street, Green Ave. at the 7-11 Convenience store, but this year I may venture a few blocks south and sit with my friend and her family.

Happy 4th of July everyone!
Jo Ann