Month: April 2025

Regular Day

What is your favorite holiday? Why is it your favorite?

Regular days are much better than holidays. There is nothing better than seeing a day stretching out ahead of you with no stress e days.to cook a special meal, ready house for guests, I am grateful for thes

Andrew and Molly Part 19

Molly blazed with resentment at Andrew’s reproach of her. Through no fault on either part she’d been left in peril. Assured by those who in authority that Andrew would not have survived his brutal Indian attack, decisions were made on her behalf. At their direction she’d accepted her fate and been married to Master Wharton. Had she tried to refuse, she faced serious consequences. Marriageable women were scarce in Jamestown. Though she truly grieved her lost husband, she was a pragmatist and worked to accommodate her marriage.

Providentially, she found her life fulfilling. Thrust into marriage and motherhood, her situation was much improved. She’d come to Jamestown with Andrew a pauper and virtual slave and in a few short years found herself a wealthy landowner, farmer, and mother. Her days were long and rigorous. With the help of Will and another bondsman, Perkins, she managed the farm and began harvesting the timber on her five-hundred acres. Young Jamie was fascinated as he busied himself with everything going on at the farmstead.

Aggie supervised Lizzie Perkins, Molly’s bondswoman in the house and at the weaving with the little girls at her knee. The farmstead ran like a well-oiled machine. There wasn’t a moment of the day that Molly could call her own. She was no longer the callow girl who’d come to Jamestown with Andrew. Had she wanted to marry, she could have had her pick of men. Grateful for her improved circumstances, she had no intention of submitting to the demands of a husband and the likelihood of having a string of babies. She gloried in her life.

Inversely, Andrew’s lot in life was far worse. Enslaved by the Indians, he’d been traded a time or two. He’d been relegated to work among the women, suffering constant abuse and humiliation. His life was a misery.. Scarred and scorned, he was the lowesst of the low. He yearned for the good times as an indentured servant with Molly.

Camping

Have you ever been camping?

I’ve been camping many times, as a child and adult. It’s wonderful to be outdoors away from all responsibility. Hubby and I tent camped for a while, then got a pop up camper. Eventually we moved up to a nice big camp trailer.

The Boys

Izzy, my little dog, is guarding his treat. Croc is checking to see if there might be a crumb left.

Good Morning!

When do you feel most productive?

My eyelids fly up like a cheap window shade before daylight. I am wide awake. Should I be inclined to dawdle, my big dog plods over and gives me a quick kiss. It’s always past time for his first outing and breakfast. I always have things I want to do.

Andrew and Molly Part 18

Andrew slept most of the next forty-eight hours, only waking long enough to tend his needs and ask after the baby.  With Rosemarie in attendance, the baby had little need of anyone else. Ecstatic at her reprieve, she’d barely relinquish her hold on the baby, sleeping on a pallet by its cradle.  The little girls were delighted at the acquisition of the baby, vying for the chance to kiss its pink cheeks and rub its blond fuzzy head.  

Even Jamie wasn’t too proud to hold it, being thoroughly tired of girls. The children insisted it was their brother, though Molly kept reminding them they didn’t know whose baby it was.  “That man gave us this baby.” Addie insisted. “When Pap gave  us a puppy we got to keep it.  We didn’t have a baby.”

“No Addie, That’s not the way it works with babies.  This baby may have a mother who’s looking for it, right now.” Molly explained.

“That’s not fair.  She can just get another one.  We need this one.” Addie insisted.

The baby quickly plumped up with regular feedings.  The childrens’ hand-me-downs were put to good use.  Rosemarie fairly doted on it, lavishing on it all the love she meant for her lost baby.

Late on the afternoon of the second day, Andrew woke and wandered through looking for Molly, encountering Rosemarie nursing the baby.  He asked after Molly.

“Mistress Wharton stepped across to see Mistress Bartles.”

“No, I am looking for my wife Molly, not Mistress Wharton.” He explained.

“The only Molly I’ve met is Mistress Molly Wharton. I just came after the baby got here.”  she answered.

He found Molly watching the children at play in the backyard. “Whose children are those?”  he asked.

“They are mine.  After you were gone, we all thought you were dead.  I found I was to have your child.  To save me from trouble, James Wharton married me.  You know what can happen to a bondswoman found with child. Jamie is your child, though James Wharton gave him his name.”  she paused.

“You married Wharton! How could you marry Wharton?  Why didn’t you wait?  You didn’t even give me the chance to get back!  How could you marry so soon?” he demanded of her.

Will and Aggie walked up, having seen them in conversation.  It was clear Andrew was overwrought. Will addressed Andrew.  “Hold your peace, man.  Wharton saved her by the marrying.  She could have been punished or sold to another.  She was fortunate he offered.  She’d have been foolish to refuse.  Your capture left her in a grave situation.”

Molly spoke.  “I’ll thank you to compose yourself.  Will, can you put him up?  Come children!” With that, she left them, stalking to the house.

 

Emoji

What are your favorite emojis?

This prompt leaves me cold. I don’t need emojis. I use my words. I am particularly repulsed by the poop emoji.

Molly and Andrew Part 17

Molly was stunned to see Andrew standing before her.  She’d long ago given him up. He was emaciated and scarred, little resembling the healthy man she’d last seen.  He dropped to the ground at her feet, wrapping his arms around her legs. “Molly, Molly, I thought I’d never see you again.”

Overwhelmed at his unexpected return after so long, she was bewildered and confused.  As he wept and buried his head in her skirts, she dropped to her knees and held him.  The little girls clung to their mother as she called to Jamie,  “Go get Pap and Gran! Run! Run!”

Jamie whirled and ran, shrieking, “Pap!  Gran!  Ma wants you!  Hurry!”

Molly felt no connection to the poor wretch she was trying to comfort. Her crying girls added to the confusion by pulling at her. Amid all this, she heard the weak cries of an infant coming from his pack.

“Feed him, please.  He’s had nothing since yesterday morning.” With this, Andrew struggled to work a pack off his back.  He lay it on the ground, tenderly unwrapping it to reveal a starving baby boy, bound in a malodorous blanket.  The child could have been no more than a few weeks old.  “Help please,” he beseeched her.  “He may yet die.”

“God in Heaven!  Poor baby!  Hurry girls.  We have to feed him!”  Forgetting Andrew, she scooped up the wailing baby and ran for the house, pulling Hannah by the hand. Aggie kept up the best she could.  She couldn’t see Will, Aggie, and Jamie reaching Andrew behind her.  With the baby in one arm, she heated milk in a pan over the fire.  As it warmed, she hastily washed the baby, wrapping it snugly in a towel.  Dipping a clean cloth in warm milk over and over, the baby suckled. Meanwhile, Will and Addie supported Andrew between them, seated him at the table, and got him food and drink. Afterward, Will helped him bathe and get into James’ nightshirt then into bed in spare room.

In the interim, Molly and Addie bathed and dressed the baby, settling it in the cradle.  Once it was full, warm, and dry, the baby gave them no trouble.

As the excitement settled and the children played at their feet, Molly, Will, and Addie tried to piece the story together.  Apparently, Andrew and a few others had been enslaved by the Powhatan tribe, since his capture.  They had been able to escape after a recent trader brought measles, decimating the village, leaving no one to pursue them.  They’d been traveling several days and he the baby were the only survivors.

Molly had no idea what to make of Andrew’s return with the baby.  She’d married Andrew in England and then, thinking him dead, married James in Jamestown. So much time and life had passed that their time together was not not real to her. She had grieved and given him up long ago. She had no idea where this left her, but today there was business to tend.  

At Addie’s suggestion, she sent Will to pay the fine and bargain for the indenture of a sixteen-year-year old girl who was sitting in jail for the crime of having had a bastard child.  It had been stillborn yesterday, so she should still be able to nurse this baby.

She would just deal with what had to be done today and let tomorrow take care of itself.  For now, everyone under her roof was fed and safe.

Protect Your Roses: Tips on Tussock Moth Caterpillars

I was deadheading and treating my roses for black spot yesterday when I found this Tussock Moth Caterpillar.

Of course, he’d brought his friends to the picnic.

As you can see, he wasn’t feasting on the leaf with black spot. He’d chosen a healthy one. Left in peace, he could have defoliated my rose. I plucked him off and squished him. This caterpillar doesn’t bite or sting but those spiked hairs on his back will imbed in skin and are irritating. I will be spending some time today evicting these unwelcome guests.