Quill of the Hill

Page 4

Quill of the Hill

Roots n’ Shoots n’ Critters

By Kathy Hinkle

Have you noticed the lofty Sunflowers growing around our bird feeder outside the Ice Cream Parlor? We let the seeds the birds drop sprout and now some of the Sunflowers are as tall as the feeder itself. The birds use the Sunflower stems as branches while waiting their turn to eat. And, best of all, when the flowers go to seed we’ll save money by raising our own Sunflower seed. Many thanks to all the residents who put money in the Donation Box in Assisted Living which goes to buy food for our “Critters” around here – that includes the wild birds, squirrels (not deliberately), rabbit and hen. Judy Lawson even dropped off a whole bag of birdseed and Private Duty Sitter Lois Spickelmier not only generously donates money but also provided the cute lighthouse bird feeder on the City View Terrace. And she doesn’t forget the humans around here – everyone enjoys grazing on the donuts she brings from her daughter’s shop -- Sunshine Donuts at 37^th & Harvard.

Nature doesn’t always have to be ‘natural’. Have you noticed the ‘plant decor” on Louise Keplinger’s door in the Health Care Center? Vines running across the top and dropping down on either side, wreath on the door, flowers on the room sign and even a butterfly above the door and many more throughout the room. Now we wish they could all be real and that isn’t possible but it is delightful to see for all that pass by. Thank you!

And then some nature is delightfully real. Foundation Executive Director, Stephen Mason’s miniature horse colt, Dynamo came for a visit with his “mom, aunt and cousin” to the Memory Center, accompanied by his breeders, Tommy and Trudy Williams. They are great friends of St. Simeon’s and love to share their horses with us – you may have seen them in our Mardi Gras Parade or Western Days. Dynamo is not quite old enough yet to leave his home at the TNT Stables to live in Stephen’s backyard and will grow no larger than a big dog – okay a heavy, big-boned dog. We hope he will come visit Stephen here often while growing up. Did you know that some people are using miniature horses as seeing-eye animals?

For the June Garden Outing, residents this past week toured Cleo Cox’s Daylily Garden. Attending were George Thurman, Vallee Kidd, Margaret McConnell, Pat Nelson, Pat Washington, Marian Franks, Aline Young, and Madelyn Kyser. Mr. Cox has rare varieties you seldom see anywhere else and showed everyone how he creates new hybrids. Residents selected some of the most beautiful specimens and we are buying ten of them to grow here. You see Daylilies blooming now at various places and even in the woods behind the cottages - I wonder how they came to be there?

In July the Garden Club will have a program on Wild Birds at St. Simeon’s presented by our own bird watcher Paula Sampson. She probably keeps up with all the birds who visit here better than anyone else and has some wonderful stories for us – like the crow who caws at her to hurry up while she is refilling the bird feeders and spreading bread and fruit. As quick as she goes back inside he flies down to be first to make his choice.

In the Gazebo Courtyard we think we’re having some success with the mothballs keeping the white rabbit (Don Washington calls the white rabbit, Wiley Post – can you guess why?) out of our vegetables. That or he has grown tired of eating Vernon Lawson’s pepper and tomato plants. The tomatoes are growing faster than ever this year – if they all ripen at the same time be prepared for a knock at your door and when you open it there will be a sack of home (as in St. Simeon’s Home) grown vine-ripened tomatoes needing someone to eat them. AndI the Zucchini and Gourds are coming right along. The residents started most of our vegetables from seed.

We planted seeds that Ellen Henneke has collected through the years, including some from the ? Island in Maine. First to sprout were the Nasturtiums but the wild bunnies seem to have favored them. Maybe we’ll be lucky and even more of the seeds will reward us with flowers.

The African Violets residents started from a leaf cutting have out grown their “cradles” and moved into real beds/pots. Fran Lewis’s violets continue to bloom profusely just outside the Assisted Living Beauty Salon. We had a new violet come to live here. Elma Paul received the gift of a lovely plant which we later identified as a Persian Violet. Her room has one of the most beautiful views in all of St. Simeon’s. In addition to all the plants and bird feeders outside her window she also views our tree carving of a little girl with a bunny on her lap and the plastic fake deer. Okay, maybe a fake deer isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but this hill was the home of real deer long before St. Simeon’s was even a gleam in Father Eckel’s eye so he looks right at home...