Thursday, February 12, 2009

Skywatch and a Valentine wish

Another Skywatch Friday (which really takes place on Thrusday which doesn't make much sense but that's the way it's done).






The lane leading to my farm looks unfamiliar and eerie. Trees and fence posts loom up like islands in the mist and then disappear.

What better Skywatch photo than one with the sky sitting on the frozen ground. A heavy snowpack cooling the saturated air combined to create a recipe for very low clouds.

Click on the logo to be transported to the Skywatch site.





Now, on to brighter things. Valentine's day is Saturday so I want to wish you all a wonderful Valentines day. May you enjoy romance, good friends and excellent chocolate;)


This is the heirloom rose Paul Neyron-- a hybrid perpetual. It's 7-inch, fragrant blooms were the darlings of Victorian gardeners. Modern rose growers don't seem to appreciate it but it's one of my favorites. I wish I could give each and every one of my blogging frineds a bloom for Valentine's Day.

If you would like to try growing Paul in your garden, I found several bagged and bare root at Home Depot. Get him planted very early, as soon as the ground is dry enough to dig a hole.



I was looking at vintage valentines and came across lots of those little cheap cutouts cards. When I was in grade school we all exchanged these cards with our teacher and classmates.

Someone's Mom would bring pink frosted cupcakes and pink lemonade to school. For the last hour or so of class we would have a Valentine party. I wish I would have kept those little cards.

Does anyone else remember way back then? I wonder if kids still do that?




Below is a gruesome Valentine card (saved for some reason by the Maine Historical Society). You gotta love these sentiments. It was no doubt written by a man expressing his ideas of how and unmarried woman should feel.

The printing reads:

Behold my broken heart, by affliction torn.
I am pointed out by the finger of scorn.

Pray come and marry me if you can,

For I know I am longing for a man.














41 comments:

Gail said...

Marnie,

Love your sky sitting on frozen ground photo. The prose could be a poem, it is so beautiful.

Do I ever remember those days! We used to decorate a box and everyone would drop a valentine inside it! I would pick out favorite ones to give to my best friends.

Last year I framed a funny Valentine's card from the thirties for Mr I! He loved it.

Happy Valentine's Day to you. I hope it's a beautiful weekend and you eat of chocolate!

gail

flydragon said...

I love that first eerie picture!!
And a man definitely wrote that prose? on that early valentine card!! "For I know I am longing for a man"???? Ha! Just wishful thinking on his part:)

Rose said...

I agree with Flydragon--a man definitely wrote the verse on that last Valentine--how awful!

I remember the Valentine's parties when I was a girl, but mostly I remember sitting with my kids helping them fill out all their valentines before their parties. With my sons it was an ordeal--they didn't want to send any to the girls:)

Beautiful Skywatch photo--I love your description of it--"the sky sitting on the frozen ground." A perfect image!

Pat said...

That rose looks perfect !
Got a kick out of seeing the V day cards,reminds me of childhood.

Dog_geek said...

That is a wonderfully eerie skywatch picture! And I totally remember those valentines cards! And the parties at school with the cupcakes - and how we would each decorate our own little shoebox with a slot in the lid for the other kids to put valentines in.

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

Marnie, you wouldn't believe the Valentine's parties they have a school now. Granddaughter's class is having a chocolate fountain!

Loved the first picture of you lane. It's the kind of day you want to snuggle up with a good book and stay in front of the fire all day, with a pot of stew bubbling on the stove.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

Marnie, you wouldn't believe the Valentine's parties they have a school now. Granddaughter's class is having a chocolate fountain!

Loved the first picture of you lane. It's the kind of day you want to snuggle up with a good book and stay in front of the fire all day, with a pot of stew bubbling on the stove.

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

Susie said...

Hi Marnie,

That last valentine is really pretty sad. When I was in school we too exchanged valentines cards like those. It was always fun! We usually made valentine boxes out of shoe boxes or something similar to collect our cards in.

Happy Valentines Day to you!

marmee said...

yes marnie, kids still do that. i had to help abbey with her valentine's before i left for fl. she was all excited to get them done early.
they still make the shoeboxes to house their valentine's cards.
lovely rose.
and happy valentine's to you!
loved your most unusual sky pictures and what you said'
"Trees and fence posts loom up like islands in the mist and then disappear."

Roses and Lilacs said...

It seems everyone of you remember those school Valentine parties. You know, I had forgotten about the box with the slot for cards. How odd I didn't remember.

I'm glad to hear kids are still having fun with cards and parties. I was afraid Valentine's Day had become politically incorrect for some reason. You never know anymore;)

Thought you'd all get a chuckle out of the broken hearted spinster card.
Marnie

joey said...

LOVE your foggy photo and heirloom rose, Marnie. Those old valentines might be a thing of the past ... went through my 'grandboys' valentine boxes when they were here and the cards of today look very different (none looked 'collectable' to me). Happy Valentine's Day!

Anonymous said...

I love the frozen tree sky watch picture. Just lovely! I had to LOL at the valentine! I think it was written by a jilted man bitter that the one he loved would not marry him!
My granddaughter is only 2 but so excited to take valentine gifts to her little friends at her daycare home. Valentines Day is so exciting for children, I have many wonderful memories of them.

kesslerdee said...

Thanks for visiting my blog- I found yours very interesting and fun. You have some great pictures! I totally agree about being single-it makes life so much easeir all the way around!

Tammie Lee said...

lovely to see a beautiful pink flower in the middle of winter. Your skywatch image is wonderful. I like it framed in red.

Kim said...

Loved you skywatch photo and your bird pictures on the side bar!

Zach said...

I am not going to lie, but that last valentines card was a little on the not-so-valentines side...lol. All the classes that I have ever done, never did anything special for valentines day. We would have valentines parties, but they don't sound as fun as yours did. No one's moms bring anything homemade now!

Thanks for the good wished on my mid terms, I need them!

tina said...

Hi Marnie, Paul is wonderful! That is one big rose! I also think the eerie sky picture is cool. Ties in with the last valentine.

Yes, the kids still do the cutouts. Up to about 4th grade or so. Maybe a little less, a little more. Whenever I see them it brings back memories. Gee, Valentines day was such a big deal to ME when I was a kid. I still love thinking of it. Thanks for the memories.

sylvia murphy said...

I have a friend who is from New Windsor. She still owns her family farm. She wanted to know what town these pictures are from. She kept saying that it is beautiful to visit. Looks cold to me :)

Anonymous said...

R&L, Thanks for stopping by the blog and commenting. I just left you a reply.

Sherri said...

Marnie, what an awesome picture!! I do remember those Valentine's! My girls gave them out too when they were in school. I don't know if kids today still do that. I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day!! The rose is beautiful!! I have a rose that is similar to that in my garden. It's called Reines de Violette, it is a little more purple/lavendar undertone but similar in size and shape. I love it! Thanks for sharing!!

Sherri said...

Marnie, what an awesome picture!! I do remember those Valentine's! My girls gave them out too when they were in school. I don't know if kids today still do that. I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day!! The rose is beautiful!! I have a rose that is similar to that in my garden. It's called Reines de Violette, it is a little more purple/lavendar undertone but similar in size and shape. I love it! Thanks for sharing!!

Balisha said...

Love that skywatch picture. Looks like the English countryside.
That last valentine is a hoot!

Marie said...

Very nice post. I wish you a very happy Valentine's day. Here in France it seems to me that it is "reserved" for people who are lucky enough not to be single. Isn't that unfair? :-)

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

You said "May you enjoy romance, good friends and excellent chocolate;)" And I say, well, two outta three ain't bad! :) Oh I LOVE your retro Valentine's cards. I love old cards like that. One of my friends sent me an old Valentine of a kitten (wearing mittens no less!) holding a flower bouquet. I see I have to scan it in now! :)

Christy said...

Beautiful image of the fog covered landscape. It is does give an eerie feeling but such serenity all at the same time.

A Wild Thing said...

The sad Valentine card reminds me of one that I received from my boyfriend back in 1967, he was a Marine stationed in Vietnam...the card was a hand-drawn pencil sketch on notebook paper, of a Marine with his heart ripped out and held in his outstretched hand, the words were...my heart goes out to you sweetheart...I love you, Tom...(I still have the note)

We broke up after he got back, but remain friends to this day...we were too young.

It's a white-out here right now, but only supposed to get 1-2 inches...we'll see!!!

TC said...

I can almost smell that rose! I even stuck my nose close to my monitor and thunk real hard for the aroma to waft on through the glass! And yes, I remember those little grade school valentines exchange parties. I think my two kids exchanged them in elementary school; they're 13 and 15 now. If memory serves, they did it from the first grade on up to about the third or fourth grade. I bet if I looked hard enough I could find some of the valentines cards from their parties.

BeadedTail said...

That first picture certainly is eerie but in a lovely way! The rose is much more Valentines Day like and I certainly remember those grade school valentines! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

sweetbay said...

I like the eerie Skywatch picture, and your description of it is perfect.

I love Paul Neyron but alas, I think he wouldn't like it here. So I will have to enjoy pictures of him in your garden. He's beautiful.

Iowa Victory Gardener said...

Hi Marnie,
Great post! What a spooky looking photo of the tree along the lane, but such a typical type look for this time of year and the weather we've been having lately!

Loved the reminiscing about Valentines... we too used to take a shoe box, decorate it and then make the rounds of the home room to put cards in everyone's box, then we had the party when we got to open them.

Oh those cupcakes too... lots of frosting and the little conversation hearts on the top! I send you a fun card and a dozen virtual chocolate cupcakes and some nice dark chocolate for you to indulge in today! How's that for guilt free gluttony? :-)

Sharon said...

You've got a wonderful blog!! I love the snowy, foggy photo & yes I do remember those valentine days in grade school. So much fun for the girls...don't really think the boys got into it. Happy Valentine's day!

duopastorale said...

Lovely misty skywatch :)
This I Do...

Jane Hards Photography said...

The sky shot is so ethereal with the circling mist.

Susan English Mason said...

Happy Valentine's Day. What a beautiful post. I love good friends and chocolate any day.

Nan and =^..^= said...

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!
I also remember those Valentines!
My nephew's in 4th grade and they still exchange those Valentines for the entire class...which is great...no one gets left out and my sister actually made cupcakes for the class! So it seems that some traditions continue!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

I'm almost caught up on replying to comments, now I need to go read all the blogs I follow! I try to read them on blotanical so I can pick posts, but I seem to miss posts doing that.

Our sky looked almost like yours on Friday. That's an awesome photo! I like the rose, too.

Your Valentines were interesting, but the last one was a little weird.

Thanks for your comment on my SkyWatch. The meme starts the time when the first place in the world turns midnight. I can't remember what time that is here, either 4:30 or 5:30 p.m. my time, I thought, but may be wrong. By the time I post around 4 or 4:30, I seem to be #140 or something.

TYRA Hallsénius Lindhe said...

Hi Marnie, this picture with the tree is a masterpiece, it is just like a beautiful painting!

Gorgeous Valentine rose as well and so very cyberfragrant too.

Tyra

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Hi again--I've posted my own retro Valentine in my latest entry. And I wanted to let you know I did my 2008 taxes, so that's one less return you'll need to worry about! :)

Jan said...

The heirloom rose you mention looks amazing Marnie. I'm afraid to buy roses...I don't feel like I could grow one:( I do have the carpet/knock-out kind, but those hold up well under all circumstances. I'm not sure I have a good place to put a rose, but that one might make me change my mind!

Both of my kids sent valentine's every year through 5th grade. It was usually in a small paper lunch bag and they would decorate the outside of it. I remember making a slot in a shoe box and decorating it. Those days were fun.

My son is in 6th grade this year...and, no valentines:( Now that they switch classes and don't have the same teacher all day, those days are over. He's growing up. Soon he'll be sending just one card...to a girl. Sooner than I'd like to admit to myself:-/

Oh my heavens, that card is HORRIBLE. Just bizarre. Had to have been done by some male chauvinist...what woman would do that?

Naturegirl said...

Marnie: As a participant of SWF..I also cannot understand why everyone posts on THURS>>>puts a lot of uneccessary pressure on us I think..any ay your photos is eery..ghostly..good illustration for mystery story!Love your rose! I hope
your day was sweet!

Anonymous said...

I somehow missed this post Marnie ~ I'm glad I totally didn't ~ that skywatch photo is spectacular. Cold and frigid looking but wonderful all the same. Hope you had a good Valentine's day too? I still have my daughter's decorated Valentine box from elementary school days. So fun to exchange those sweet cards. The vintage ones were so much prettier than the ones they sell today (at least in my opinion).