Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

I was just about to throw away this box when Simon jumped up to knock it out of my hands. "I want that box!" he said, although it sounded more like "Meow!" We hope your day is full of simple, happy, "treasure boxes," too!  

 Here's the first zinnia of my summer! First irises, then lilies, and now zinnias.  This one is growing just at the base of our Little Free Library box. Here's what the Foliage Friend website says about pink zinnias: "Pink Zinnia flowers are said to symbolize prosperity, optimism, and growth. These blooms are believed to bring joy and happiness into the lives of those who keep them around. Pink Zinnia flowers are also a symbol of goodness and virtue, and are often gifted to show appreciation to others." Sounds good to me! So, with this photo, please know I appreciate all of you who read this blog. Sending joy and happiness your way!

Lucy the beagle came to live at Sanctuary House today! She was found on Monday, near death from the heat, but she's making a good recovery. She has ehrlichia, a tickborne disease, but is now taking doxycycline for that, and her ticks and fleas are all gone. She hasn't yet recognized the fun of dog biscuit treats, but I suspect that will come within a day or two! She is a happy, sweet, gentle girl, and we are thrilled to have her as part of our family.  

As we learned from Little Buttercup in HMS Pinafore , "things are seldom what they seem" . . . and so, it is with very little surprise that I now believe Winston the cat is not a boy at all, but a girl kitty!   But she's definitely keeping the name Winston! Maybe it's because I had great grandparents who named a daughter - my grandmother - Joseph (and called her Joe), but Winston sounds like a unisex name to me. And Winnie is her nickname no matter what gender.  The name Winston is made up of two words - one meaning joy or bliss and the other meaning stone. . . Winnie is my joy cat! She definitely wanted to play today, although looking at the camera was not on her agenda. Hope you are having some moments of joy and bliss in your day, too!

It was always kind of a joke in my family that my grandparents - my father's parents - didn't believe in eating anything on Sunday night . . . Sunday dinner was a big meal, so who could possibly want anything else to eat?!  Their son and grandchildren had other ideas. . .I suspect my mother was too polite to say what she thought. Even this little squirrel knows that Sunday supper is important! She ate a whole black walnut before scampering back into the woods. Hope you're having something delicious for Sunday supper, too!  

I will be writing about this in the July issue of News & Notes , but in the meantime, I encourage you to download the Merlin Bird ID app to your phone. It is a free app and identifies the birds that are singing near you and shows a picture of that bird as well. It's amazing! Just this morning, in a very few minutes outdoors, the app picked up sounds of American goldfinches, Carolina wrens, Carolina chickadees, indigo buntings, red-bellied woodpeckers, bluejays, tufted titmice, American crows, and fish crows. Many of those bird songs I already recognized, but until this morning I never knew the difference in sounds for American crows and fish crows! And I am constantly surprised by the many songs of Carolina wrens. The app also allows you to take a photo of a bird for identification. Because I have limited data, I'm not keeping a list of birds and songs on my phone, but if data use is not an issue you might want to add even more information on your birding adventures. And of...

My beagle, Mec, is named after my cousin America "Mec" Clemens, so I thought she would be the most logical spokesdog for today. Yes, perhaps America is an unusual name - but my Aunt Sue and her very British husband, the Rev. John Julyan Clemens chose that name for their seventh (of nine) children. Cousin Mec was born in 1884 and died in 1899.  Her gravestone says, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." We all know dogs are pure in heart! Doggie Mec is happy to be named America and even happier to be called Mec! She and all of us send you good wishes on this 4th of July! It's too hot to be outside - it's a perfect day to read a good book indoors!  

O Canada                                                                           Happy Canada Day - may we, too, always stand guard for our neighbor in the North!    

Sunny heat and high humidity are great for daylilies - not so much for people or other animals. Stay safe - drink lots of water and find a cool, shady spot!

 In case you've wondered, catnip or catmint is very easy to grow! In fact, it almost took over one area of our yard until Mariette the chicken discovered it. Apparently, chickens love catnip as much as cats do although I didn't notice any cat-like behavior. The bees definitely love the catnip flowers! And I suspect I might have to try it for tea . . . we'll see!

Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary proudly joins the celebration of Juneteenth! [Alas, in this very rainy day, the red of the flag appears more of a magenta color - but it really is red!] Read more about the real Juneteenth flag below. In 1997, more than two centuries after Betsy Ross is said to have sewn the first American flag, Ben Haith, founder of the National Juneteenth Celebration Foundation, developed a new American flag. The activist, also known as Boston Ben, led a team of collaborators who created the design concept for the flag as a reflection of the Juneteenth slogan “a new freedom, a new people, a new star.” As Haith’s foundation puts it, the design represents “a star of Texas bursting with new freedom throughout the land” and rising over a new horizon.   The paragraph above and those below are taken from a Reader's Digest article by Sheena Foster, updated on May 11, 2026,  Here's What the Colors and Symbols of the Juneteenth flag mean : A quick glance at the June...

 This little bee reminded me of the "procession out" hymn at Christ Church Cathedral (Houston) last Sunday - hymn 541, words by Jane Laurie Borthwick, now in the public domain. The last verse says: Come, labor on. No time for rest, till glows the western sky, till the long shadows o'er our pathway lie, and a glad sound comes with the setting sun, "Servants, well done." [Those reading this who knew Canon West may remember that he once said this hymn made him tired . . . but I rather like it! Hoping, when the time comes, we will indeed hear those words!]

Hot sunny days here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland can definitely bring sunburn and bug bites - in fact, that's a guarantee! Our horses are now fashionably dressed in lightweight, cool, fly sheets that also protect them from the sun. We got these sheets in 2025 at a big end-of-summer sale . . . hoping they will protect our horses all through the Summer of 2026! [Cindy Tawes took these photos.]  

 Two little wrens waited impatiently for mom and dad to feed them - the babies are already the same size as the adults and for a while it was difficult to tell who was feeding and who was being fed! The parent birds searched the ground and even the flowerpots looking for bugs for the babies.

These Easter lilies, originally at St. Andrew's in Princess Anne, for Easter 2025, are just starting to bloom for 2026 - a reminder that the Resurrection is always!  

 This year is going quickly - it's hard to believe that we've already reached the first Friday of June! Some children are already out of school, and my adopted "grandchildren" have only one week of school left before summer vacation. Early this morning two wild turkeys were searching for bugs in the horse pasture - I'm pretty sure that's a great place to search - but before I could take a photo, they were gone. And so here are the horses Imagine and Willow instead! And the first Rose of Sharon bloom, right near the door - all's right with my world!  I hope you are having a wonderful day, too!

Last evening Cindy called about a kitten - the day before he had been found by her daughter's hound, Nash, hiding under the front steps of their house. It was raining and the kitten was drenched. They couldn't keep the kitten, but no worries, we welcomed him to Sanctuary House. He's a tiny, long weekend surprise! We tried several names, but he let me know that his name is Winston, after Winston Churchill . . . so of course, I will also be calling him Winnie or Win. He will be a wonderful reminder of my beagle Winnie who died many years ago, and of my several ancestors named Winifred and Winnie.  I am eager to see how this little Winston grows into his name! And on this Memorial Day, I remember my cousins who went to war in service of our country and never came home - Higdon S. Tarver (1921-1944) and Christopher R. Huestis (1951-1971). May they rest in peace and rise in glory. If you too lost family and friends in wars, please remember them today. The Book of Common Prayer  ...

  Wishing you every blessing of Pentecost! If you have time this evening, I invite you to listen to the Whitsuntide concert from Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas. The live performance begins at 5 p.m. Houston time. Watch Live | Christ Church Cathedral - Houston 2026-05-24_WORSHIP_Leaflet_5pm_Whitsuntide_concert_v3.pdf  

The mulberry tree near our door is a male tree, so no berries . . . but the mulberry tree that hangs over the chicken yard is a female tree and it is full of unripe, still white berries. The chickens sit under the tree ready to snatch any berries that fall, and I watch the tree ready to pick the berries I can reach as soon as they turn purple.  But late this afternoon cardinals and tufted titmice flew into the tree and began eating berries. I'm not at all sure that there will be any berries left for the chickens and me!  

The bumblebees are very happy now that the clover is blooming in the wildflower area! There are so many "weeds" growing with the wildflowers that I keep thinking of the man in the Bible who had tares growing in his wheat field. Sometimes I'd like to mow the whole area, but I'm sticking to Jesus' advice to let everything grow together. In the Autumn, I'll cut it all down and we can start again! Want to read the Bible story? Matthew 13:24-30 Have a blessed day!