April!

photo by ana traina ~2012~

April, the month when floods violently carry away the unsuspecting frog and her jelly-like brood...or April, the month whose name is derived from the Greek word for “opening”: unfasten, unlatch, unlock, unbolt, unbar; throw wide, spread out, unfold, unfurl, unroll, straighten out, extend, stretch out! Yes, I like to think of April as the latter, a time when we can look within and outside of ourselves, a time when we can uncover, expose, lay bare, bare, pour out, disclose, divulge, and even reveal...To just be grateful for all the little surprises of our everyday lives. Moments, that lift our spirits and bring one to the very tippy-top point of awe...like this little joyous poem that I have uncovered and discovered this morning just by happenstance.  So here it is... I do hope it makes you want to put on your galoshes the next time we have some springy showers and dance...or even, perhaps, jump into a muddy puddle or two!

"Come forth, ye blossoms! --over hill and lea,
A breathe of sweetness wantons with the sea;
And mid the smiles and tears of tender Spring,
On dripping boughs I heard the throstle sing:
Ye cups and stars that strew the fair, green field,
Ye wings of gold the prickly gorses yield;
Ye pensive bells to purple pageants born,
Ye milk-white may-buds of the mantling thorn,
Ye violet gems and eyes of sapphire blue;
Wan, flushing wind-flowers and shy elfin crew
Of every crannied wall, --come forth!-- and fling
Your vernal showers around me while I sing;"

'A Song of Salutation'  E.M.Holden

O' Those Sunflowery Seeds!

photo by ana traina ~2012~

 Dear Zingertalers,

This year I made a vow to start my sunflowering early. So that I may be able to enjoy their brightly bold blooms much longer. Only problem is...starting the big and beautiful buggers from seed, this is not an easy task. Oh no, one must be sure to give the seedlets constant tender loving care. For example, like placing your seed box in a nice and cozy sun-filled spot to sit in.  Then there is the pesky reremembering to always be mindful of the watering chore, meaning not too much water and certainly not too little as we wouldn’t want the poor dears to die of thirst. No, that would not do at all. Well, so far so good as you can see by my photo. After just three days, I have some spunky sprouts poking their curious little leaflets up to greet the springtime. Hooray! Maybe, I have a little green Tom’s thumb after all. Stay tune for some sunflowery updates, coming very soonishly. O’ joy, joy, joy it’s spring!!!


LAST BITs OF ODDS AND ENDS ~  If someone is trying to become virtuous or preserve their virginity, they can anoint themselves with Sunflower oil or juice pressed from the stems of the sunflower.
In addition, if you’re trying to find out the truth, sleep with a sunflower under the bed and the truth of any matter will be revealed to you.  Also, if you cut a sunflower at sunset and make a wish, the wish will come true before another sunset.

Telephone Whisperings!

mixed media by ana traina ~2012~

 Dear Zingertalers,

Today,  I thought it would be fun to play a little version of the game telephone...by writing whatever line, paragraph, or story this image creates for you....

Only rules... Be brave, be free and and most of all be wildly imaginative!

I am so looking forward to hearing your zingerful tales!

With love and much muchiness,

Ana

O' A Bit of Spring's Honey!

photos by ana traina ~ 2012 ~

Blue Bells

ana's garden ~2012~

The sweet, sweet tintinnabulation of the Blue Bells, tells

all the icy and whispering winter fays, fare thee well!

Mr. Lazar D' Levine and his Invisible Girl!

drawing by ana traina ~ 2012

Mr. Lazar D' Levine and his Invisible Girl wanted to go to an astro-teller to check out their signs. For as compatible as Mr. D'  Levine and his Invisible Girl were, he wanted to make absolutely sure that she also was as keen as he when it came to sparkling wine. The meeting place for this fortunate event was to take place underneath a mystical and very purple Japanese Umbrella Pine.

The only trouble was Mr. Lazar had no idea where this wondrous pine stood. Although, he vaguely remembered, he heard it said, but only once I remind you, that there was a pine of this particular purplish kind...somewhere near or in the area of the southern arrow wood.

However, Mr. D' Levine’s Invisible Girl was becoming rather tetchy as she was wearing her very best, but terribly uncomfortable avocado-green high heeled shoes. Now tempers were high and toes were bruised, it was almost certain that one of them was about to absolutely blow a fuse. So with a fleck of his moustache a decision was made, they decided to go pet the Sea-dogs in the Schmitten Plaza Park’s zoo.

A Doodle Thought!

Daisy's Chaining by Ana Traina ~ 2012 ~

He loves me passionately, or... he does not love me at all!

O' the Cat's Tale!

Cattail Marsh ~ photo by ana traina ~ 2011 ~

The thing or two that I know about Cattails is nothing to write home to my Mama about.  I know that they are excellent for keeping your pond clean and that during WWII several million pounds of seed pods were collected, mostly by children, for the use of stuffing life jackets, pillows and mattresses. Period.  End of information.  So, it was astounding to me when I recently discovered and uncovered that they are edible. Yes, you have read rightly, Edible!

The roots of the cattail, called rhizomes, are delicious, I’m told. So this summer I intend to go on a wee investigating adventure with my old mucked up shoes on and wade into a cattail march. However, I must be careful for there are creepy things that live down there like, water snakes and snapping turtle and such. Rubber gloves, I think, are rather handy for this sort of pond-wandering in the dark adventure.  So hopefully this summer, I will muster all the courage that I can must, and run my fully rubber gloved hand down the leaves to the rhizomes, move along one, and very pull hard. Now, at home, I will wash the root, slice, and bake in the oven or boil in a pot for later uses.  Here are some interesting recipes that I have happened upon ~

INDIAN CATTAIL SPOON BREAD
(Traditionally served with a spoon.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

1/2 C. butter
2 C. fresh flower buds or cattails on the cob
1/2 C. diced onions
1/2 C. diced green pepper
salt
1 C. sharp cheese
pinch of chili powder

Melt butter in skillet and add cattail buds, onions, green pepper, and salt.
Saute for 5 minutes or until tender. Pour into greased baking dish.
Sprinkle with cheese and chili powder. Bake until cheese melts. Spoon onto
plate while hot.

CAT-O'-NINE-TAILS PANCAKES
(Shake bright-yellow pollen into a plastic bag while out in the marsh. A
dozen flower stalk will yield about a cup.)

1 C. cattail pollen
1 C. white flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/4 C. milk
3 T. vegetable oil

Mix cattail pollen, flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in egg, milk, and
oil. Set aside until batter thickens, about 10 minutes. Pour daubs onto
buttered skillet and fry until golden brown. Serve with maple syrup or wild
jam.

O' happy Cattail hunting!

A Salty Saga!

drawing by ana traina ~ 2012 ~

O’ if truth be told, this is a lill’putin legend of the reputed piratess, Captain Ciara Ó’Cracken, the Queen’s once upon sometime ago trusted Swan Marker, and her pokey toll-y-keeper, Paula de Shello. It was a damp and daunting Sunday morning in March when these harum-scarum swashbucklers heard the call of the sea and sailed off in their slimy ship of dreams upon a wee puddle called the Thames, allegedly looking for a particular spice. I can’t quite remember if t’was saffron, turmeric or mice, that would go nicely with the tasty mellow yellow jello.  However, I did hear, it’s been said, but you mustn’t quote me, that these journeywomen were looking for the rarest of rarest opaline gems. O yes, I am being quite the naughty specter by whispering tales of Captain Ciara’s hush-by-hush adventures! Nevertheless, I shall herald one last tiddly-bit of seafaring news, it has been said, but you mustn’t quote me, I reiterate, that Captain Ciara Ó’ Cracken and Paula de Shello were last spotted just over the horizon in the northern most north of all places, Hammerschmidt, Norway! Where they serendipitously struck fortune and fame by founding a soda factory, by no other name but Northern Light. Their most popular export is a bubbly pop labeled, Aurora Borealis Lime! So this is the end of my tiny tale, and those are the facts, but, as I reiterate again, you mustn’t ever, and I mean ever, quote me.

Last bit of Odd and End ~ Happy happy belated Saint Paddy's Day and go green zingerlings!

Just a Dash of Cobwebs!

photo by ana traina ~ 2011 ~

Cobwebs and Spiders have been used for centuries in Medicine. In fact, cobwebs are still used to stop bleeding. It is somewhat believed that Bottom had this very thought in mind when he said to the fairy Cobweb “I shall desire of you more acquaintance, good master Cobweb. If I cut my finger, I shall make bold with you.”

Spiders’ webs have been taken internally for chilling fever spells. Chapman’s Materia Medica (1824) recommends doses of five grains of spiders’ web, repeated every fourth or fifth hour for “obstinate intermittents, paroxysms of hectic, morbid vigilance from excessive nervous mobility, irritations of the system from many causes especially when connected with protracted coughs and other chronic pectoral affections.”

If cobwebs be burned on a wart it will be rooted out and never grow again. Pliny states that cobwebs, especially the part which forms the spider’s retreat is useful when applied to the forehead as a cure for watery eyes. The web must be taken and put on by a boy who has not reached puberty, who must not show himself to the patient for three days, and, furthermore, neither he nor the patient may touch the ground with bare feet during this time. He also recommends cobwebs moistened with oil and vinegar for cranial fractures.

The spiders themselves also seem to have been very effective. One sewed up in a rag or enclosed between two nutshells and worn around the neck will charm away shivering fevers. It should also be applied to the wrist or temples in the case of very bad or spiking fevers. If a spider be taken when neither sun nor moon is shining and the hind legs be pulled off and wrapped in deer’s skin, the combination will, according to some, relieve gout. Moufet remarked that “we finde those people to be free from the gowt of hands or feet (which few medicaments can doe) in whose houses the Spiders breed much, and doth beautifie them with her tapestry and hangings.”

A Pliny's recipe gives uses for spiders ~ The thick pulp of a spider’s body, mixed with oil of roses, makes an ear lotion. Among the best remedies for spider bites are spiders left to putrify in oil.



LAST BIT OF ODDS AND ENDS ~ If you find a spider roaming around your home, it’s considered bad luck to kill them. From a practical standpoint, they do eat lots of annoying insects, so if possible, just let them be or chase them outside.

Rosemary Ellen Guiley says in her Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft, and Wicca that in some traditions of folk magic, a black spider “eaten between two slices of buttered bread” will imbue a witch with great power. If you’re not interested in eating spiders, some traditions say that catching a spider and carrying it in a silk pouch around your neck will help prevent illness.

An old English folk saying reminds us that if we find a spider on our clothing, it means money is coming our way. In some variations, the spider on the clothes means simply that it’s going to be a good day. Either way, don’t disregard the message of good cheer!

Dragon Flying!

photo by ana traina ~ 2011 ~

Dear Zingertalers,

I'm fluttering off today for I have a very important date! But I want to leave you with this little utterance...

What do you suppose?
A bee sat on my nose.
Then what do you think?
He gave me a wink
And said, "I beg your pardon,
I thought you were the garden."
~English Rhyme

See you, tomorrowish and in the mean time keeping on Zingertaling!

Scribbled by a dizzy gnomette, Minsister of Belle-Lettres!

Ody and the Lenten Rose...

found on 101st street and riverside, photo by ana traina ~2012

I wanted to share this delightful tidbit of poetry which I discovered and uncovered about the Lenten rose from a book of poetry called The Chinese Poet Awakens, by the Appalachian poet Jeff Daniel Marion, because it made me smile and think of my dog Ody.

AFTER FAILING TO RECEIVE HIS APPOINTMENT FROM THE EMPEROR THE CHINESE POET RECONSIDERS THE WORLD

Beside my doorway this morning
the Lenten rose nods,
its bloom a blush of color
on yesterday's pale cheeks of snow.
Last night the faithful stars
appeared, steady travelers swinging their lanterns
through millions of dutiful rounds.
Who am I to them,
my days but a flintspark?
Now the old dog nuzzles my palm.
To her I am no title, not even a name,
just a friendly hand to scratch her belly,
to deliver her daily lump
of meat in a blue granite bowl.
She sniffs my leg, loving the scent
of all the dusty trails I've wandered
to come home.
By the river the blue heron stands
and waits, poised in the long patience.
Here the world offers itself, wave after wave
of mountains washing across the miles.
Here the sparrow sings from the sycamore.
I lift my voice
and come down to earth
here. 

my pal ody by ana traina ~2010 ~

LAST BIT OD ODDS AND ENDS ~ Use of Lenten Rose dates back to 1400 BCE, when it was used as a purgative to “cleanse the mind of all perverse habits”.  It is found in writings through the ages, from the ancient Greeks through the Middle Ages, when it was used by herbalists.  It has been used for animal ailments, to bless animals and keep them from evil spirits, to repel flies, to “purge the veins of melancholy, and cheer the heart”, or even in one superstition to make oneself invisible if scattered in the air!

Nanny Finola Tobblesnobble and her Charge!

drawing by ana traina ~ 2012 ~

Nanny Finola Tobblesnobble and Miss Julia Muphet have decided, today of all days, to run away and join a traveling circus called, Everywhere. Never heard of it you say? Well, for your edification it is located between Here and There Street, just beyond Over-Yonder Hill.  For Nanny Finola Tobblesnobble knows how the lemon cookies do crumble, and she agrees that her charge Miss Julia Muphet is quite accomplished in the very fine art of Yo-Yo-ing, and therefore thoroughly ready to join the creme de la cream of the Everywhere Circus  ~  Now rest assured, all will be well, for this is in no manner or way fanfaronade on the part of Nanny Finola Tobblesnobble, because it is a very well known fact that she is incapable of telling Miss Julia Muphet even the littlest of taradiddles.

A Shadowy Innovation...

photo by ana traina ~ March 9, 2012

These particular and very rare elm trees do not have leaves, they have men!

My Man Steve!

photo by ana traina

Who is Steve? Well, Steve is a simple man of little means who sells books on the corner of 96th and Broadway. That’s the short answer to my question... Actually, I don’t know all that much about Steve, except, that he likes his coffee light and sweet, plays a mean game of chess, and his humble book stand is charmed. Well, to me it is. Somehow, every time I pass Steve’s stand there is a book that magically calls out to me.  Also, Steve let’s me pay him what I think the book is worth. Steve is a very good business man.

My last treasure that I picked up from Steve’s stand is entitled, “The Indoor How-to Book of Oats, Peas, Beans, and Other Pretty Plants", by Hazel Perper.  Now, I ask you with a title like that, “Who could resist?” 

This book amazingly was written in 1975.  On opening it, I was toot suitely transported right back to my childhood days, growing up in Riverdale, NY. Where odd days of my juvenescence float in my memory, like the day I discovered I grew the world’s largest and prize winning tomato in a 12 inch by 12 inch square, using my mother's miracle grow for fertilizer.  Needless to say, this tomato was never entered in any contest other than my imagination. Or the day I planted my dead parakeet, Tweetie, in my side yard hoping he would grow into the sweetest sugar cookie tree ever!

Yes, I have the most tender impressions that paint my memory with smiles... Riverdale was an odd place to grow up, nothing really ever happened yet everything happened. It was mysterious in this way, just like this peculiar little book that called to me from Steve’s charmed stand and took me on a magic carpet ride via memory lane all the way back to my frolicsome days of my springtime sillies.

photo - day 1 of Yam rooting - ana traina

LAST BIT OF ODD AND END ~  SWEET POTATO ROOTING, inspired by the Indoor How-to Book of Oats, Peas, Beans, and other Pretty Plants ~ By Hazel Perper !

The sweet potato has never made it into the living room, but where it flourishes best is in an old jelly jar filled with water. Here is how to grow your own sweet potato plant.

You must purchase, do not steal, a yam/sweet potato from the grocery store. When you are picking the yam, look for specimens that have healthy looking ends. Unlike rooting a traditional potato, a sweet potato will not root from the eyes on the vegetable. The yam's ends will produce the sprouts during the rooting process. Mushy or damaged ends will not work well for rooting.

Fill a glass with room temperature water about halfway. Place toothpicks or wooden meat skewers around the yam, at the halfway point. They should protrude enough so they will rest on the glass' edge and hold the yam up from being submerged in water. Only the very bottom of the yam should be in the water. If this is not the case, either add water or move the toothpicks.

Allow the yam to sit in the water and it will produce root like spikes from the bottom. When the water runs low, add more to the glass. Do not allow the yam to stop touching the water, or this will halt the rooting process. When the roots reach 6 inches long, it is time to plant the yam. Yams prefer rich, moist soil.


In closing this tale, I would like to say that I am really looking forward to my next magically carpet ride with Steve steering the fringe! Also, stay rooted to zingertalesandmore for updates on Ana's Yam progress... you just never know what will flower!

A Doodle Thought...

...and just think Dear Zingertalers,
 Daylight Saving Time begins in only three more days... Well, Hooray!!