Family Entertainment – Michael Stephen Wills Photography

A Day at Iron Kettle Farm

We miss you, Mom.

October 19, 2020October 1, 2020 MichaelStephenWills6 Comments

One Saturday of October 2012 we enjoyed this last outing with my mother Catherine Ann Wills. She passed away June 2013 at the age of 90 years. We miss you, Mom.

A display of large pumpkins near the entrance to the Iron Kettle Farm.

Enter…if you dare….Corn Mazes are popular tourist attractions and are not simply corn fields. The plantings must be made later, planted thinner and fertilized less than those used for crops.

These small, inedible squash, once dried and hollowed out, become gourds. The plant is in the Cucurbitaceae family of the genus Lagenaria. The squash on this table are too small for anything but displays and decorations, such as centerpieces. Great fun and make and enjoy.

These ornamental squash, also know as cucurbita are not are large enough for use as food. When dried, will last a long time.

Take your pick of pumpkins….

…the pumpkins are sorted by size and price.

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We chose small to medium sized pumpkins.

Thankfully, the trees kept to their usual habits and did not talk to us today.

My dear wife, Pam, was in her element. She loves gardening.

We left the wheelchair at home and Mom enjoyed exploring the exhibits, watching people and the exercise.

Birthday Card

capturing a personality

November 19, 2018November 19, 2018 MichaelStephenWills3 Comments

Last year, you read about our grandson’s 6th birthday celebration in “Volcano Cake.”

A year has passed and we were amused at the changes and what did not. He makes his own clothing choices and the shark shirt reappeared, surprisingly it still fits. GMa combed his hair and he refashioned it, messy and spikey is the look as in these photographs of opening the furry birthday card (“The Grinch” was the cake theme).

I used a Canon EF 50mm f/1.2L USM lens, tilted the flash to bounce off the ceiling to gently brighten his face. For the memories we left the kitchen “as is” in the midst of cake baking, decoration.

View a larger version of each photograph by clicking twice. First to open a page, a second click on the image will yield the larger version.

Leprechaun Home Invasion

Saint Patrick Day Family Humor

March 22, 2018 MichaelStephenWills9 Comments

In a previous posting we hiked through the only European Union Leprechaun Preserve on Slieve Foy above Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland.

This home was lower on the mountain, on the way to town.

Entrance with Calla Lilies, Carlingford — Caring touches to a well tended home entrance along the Tain Way, Carlingford, County Louth, Ireland.

You will not find Calla Lilies thriving in front yards here in Ithaca, New York (43 degrees north latitude) as they do in the Temperate Oceanic Climate of Ireland, pictured in Carlingford on a June day. At 54 degrees these Calla Lilies are growing at a latitude 800 miles north of Ithaca, in the middle of Quebec Province, Canada.

In spite of this, here in Ithaca we keep March 17th, Saint Patrick’s Day, warm. In the home of our three grandchildren (3, 4 and 6 years old) who live in Ithaca they celebrate by playing tricks on Leprechauns.

This year, we visited Saint Patrick’s Day eve and reviewed their bag of tricks with the Leprechaun in Chief, their Mom. In response, the Leprechauns leave them letters to make it clear the tricks did not work. On top of this, the children have big laughs on the tricks played in return. A favorite is finding their socks taped all over the mirror.

Mom pulled out a few of the Leprechaun letters and we read them for the children to great laughter as they remembered tricks of previous years. Afterwards, when alone with Mom, Pam and I recalled the tradition in Chicago, to color the river green (a well as green milkshakes, etc), and suggested to the Leprechaun in Chief to put green food color in the toilet. It was a winning idea.

The next morning Mom, on hearing the toilet flushed repeatedly, found her 4 year old daughter totally appalled. “The Leprechauns used our toilet (and did not flush). YUUUUKKKK.” She then ran upstairs hoping for a “clean” bathroom up there. Well, green milkshakes are off the menu.