Since our theme for July is anything to do with summer and vacation n'at, I decided to post some photos of where hubby and I spend a lot of time. Some of the time, we even get to relax.
This is the Red Garden, right outside the sunroom in the back of our house.
And to cool you off a bit, here's what it looked like only a few months ago:
This is another garden in the back yard:
Here's a view looking down the path to the terrace area:
And this is the Blue Garden in the front yard:
Notice I skipped photos of the vegetable plants (although you might be able to see the kohlrabis in the Red Garden photo). They're much too embarrassing to show after seeing Annette's.
So, that's kind of a mini-tour of my yard. Hope you enjoyed it!
11 comments:
Beautiful, Joyce!
I loved your n'at link, too. As a native Pittsburgher, I have to admit that we really do talk like that, although I laughed out loud when I got to "neckstore neighbor." I have to quibble with "pertineer," though. I've always heard it pronounced "prickneer."
Enjoying these views of the lovely environments in which the Workingstiffs labor, er, make that relax!
Gina, I always thought it was "pridneer."
I try to not talk like a "Yinzer," but it doesn't last for long. My younger son "jags" me about it all the time, especially when I leave off "to be" before a verb (ie the grass needs cut, instead of the grass needs to be cut).
Pat, there's at least as much labor involved as relaxation. But it's worth it. Most of the time. When we're mulching, planting, and pulling weeds we wonder about that.
Joyce -
There's no reason a Pittsburgh accent isn't as valid and worthy of respect as an Oxford one. I had a boss for awhile who was very condescending about it, so I would try to do things like shout up the hall at him, "Yinz want copies uh this n'at?" My father, who was raised in North Braddock, also used a triple plural construction that I've never heard from anyone else, but I suspect it's also a local variation. One bird's nest is a nest. Two are nests. Three are nestses.
Maybe I'll write a whole blog post in Pittsburghese sometime. Now, that would be fun!
Beautiful gardens, Joyce. Notice I didn't show MY flower beds. They're choked with weeds this year. :-(
And I've heard it as pridneer, too.
Joyce,really nice photos!
I have to laugh about the whole Pittsburgh accent. It's really surprising what a difference only a few miles can make.
As you know, I live about 60 miles west of Pittsburgh,and most of our colloqualisms are totally different. However I do say, "the grass needs cut."
My daughter went to college in PA, an hour north of Pittsburgh, and a lot of her classmates were from Pittsburgh. During her first semester she mentioned to me that everyone said "yinz," she didn't know what they were referring to. In Youngstown we tend to say "you guys."
Of course, New Hampshire is many miles east of Ohio, so it's not that shocking that some of the words used are different. But I can remember visiting in NH, and trying to order an ice cream cone with "sprinkles," only to find out that in New Hampshire, they're called "jimmies." :-)
In Nashville, they say y'all and the grass needs cutting. My husband, who's from Philly, calls sprinkles jimmies. And Gina, I love the triple plural construction!
I think every regional dialect is equally worthy of respect, and to bring it back to writing for a minute, I think having a good grasp of regionalisms is a very big help in building setting and character.
Oye, you guys!!!! More grass!!!!!
Gosh, even though I've been gone from PA for quite a while, I recognize 'neckstore' and 'petineer' immediately. Don't recognize prickneer.
Patg
Laurissa, we call them jimmies in Pittsburgh, too.
I was watching a program called Things That Aren't There Anymore on our local PBS station the other night. A woman was talking about skyscraper cones at Isaly's and the different flavors of ice cream. She said, "My favorite was chocolate chip, but we didn't have chips in ours, we had jimmies."
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