More Japenese Internment Pics

I thought this information was interesting....i am finding all this so fascinating, so much History on your doorstep Kerry...seeing these 2 young girls makes me realise how very young some of the people must have been...we really have no idea do we? so much sadness and yet they are smiling. Gardening evidently helped them to focus on something other than their situation & gave them a purpose...how sad that they were not kept after the war was over.
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The Japanese Americans interned at Minidoka were an indispensable labor source for southern Idaho's agricultural-based economy. 2,4000 Minidoka residents worked in agriculture during the 1943 harvest. Despite the internment experience, most Japanese-Americans overcame the initial feelings of loss and despair and remained intensely loyal to the United States. In 1943, the U.S. Army formed a segregated all-Japanese-American combat unit, the legendary 100th/442nd Regimental Combat Team which fought in Italy and France, becoming the most decorated unit of its size in American military history. The greatest numbers of volunteers in the 442nd came from the Minidoka Center, giving the Seattle Japanese-American community one of the highest WWII service records of any nationality/ethnic group in the nation. Approximately 1000 evacuees from Minidoka enlisted in the military and 73 soldiers whose families were interned at Minidoka died fighting for their country. The families, because they were interned, could not attend the funerals. In January 1945, the War Department began allowing internees to return to the West Coast. The Minidoka Center officially closed on October 23, 1945. After the camp was decommissioned, the Bureau of Reclamation offered the land for homesteading to veterans. Farmhouses and irrigated fields now occupy much of the former site of southern Idaho's WWII concentration camp. The relocation camp experience was a severe test of the character and loyalty of the Japanese-Americans. For those interned, life in the camps was a bitter experience but, in the long run, served to promote widespread acculturation and acceptance into the mainstream of American society. In 1952, the McCarran-Walter Act nullified racial restrictions in the Naturalization Law, which opened the U.S. to Japanese immigration, and allowed for the first time resident Japanese aliens to apply for citizenship. Today, all that visibly remains of the Minidoka Wartime Relocation Center is the lone lava rock chimney tower and portions of a building wall, a solemn reminder of a complex and significant chapter in American history. On January 17, 2001, a presidential proclamation established the 72-acre Minidoka Internment National Monument in order to preserve and protect the legacy of this unique and irreplaceable historical resource.

More Minidoka Pictures

I love this one Kerry...it looks like they even built a scarecrow..it must have helped a little, to take away some of the sadness from an awful situation....using energy to create something useful. How sad that it as been pretty much lost over the years.

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Though not a professional gardener, Yasusuke Kogita (far left) loved stone. During his four years at the Minidoka Internment Camp, located in southern Idaho, he'd walk miles and miles into the surrounding sagebrush to find intriguing rock. He then engaged the help of his two young sons in getting sometimes massive boulders back to the camp, where he created an elaborate garden.
Those two young sons, are Ted, left, and Paul Kogita. Their memories of Minidoka are dominated by the image of their father lost in reverie, working and meditating in his rock garden. They say it was a great source of his strength, and a way in which he could control his world. Unable to leave his rocks behind, Yasusuke Kogita brought them home with him when the camp was closed. Today, those rocks -- some of them weighing two tons -- grace Paul Kogita's Seattle garden.

Japanese Internment Camp at Idaho

I am just putting this on my blog for you Kerry..i am sure you will find out lots more..it seems a fascinating place...i would love to help you in your search...i love finding out things about places like that....so interesting, I look forward to seeing what you find.....i put this on because it shows some of the gardens.

Garden at Minidoka Internment Camp near Jerome, Idaho Photo: National Parks Service
Kenneth Helphand has written a book about Defiant Gardens, which he defines as “gardens created in extreme or difficult environmental, social, political, economic, or cultural conditions.” The book is another one I have not read, and I missed Helphand’s February presentation at the University of California. What I can contribute is this: visit his website. My first written encounter with war gardens was an article by Anna Hosticka Tamura (2004) published in Landscape Journal. Tamura stresses that internment camp gardens have been neglected by scholars of landscape architecture. Writing about the effects of the camp’s garden, she argues that “the acts of creating and maintaining the ornamental gardens buffered the psychological and physical trauma of the incarceration experience.”
For the most part, I garden for the sheer pleasure of touching soil and leaf. But sometimes I garden because I know watering, deadheading, planting, and eating will steady my mind. The garden can transform a traumatic space into a more bearable place and disruption—however temporarily—into a more peaceful state of mind.

Tribute to Michael Jackson.

I just want to pay my own tribute to Michael Jackson. I could not believe when i heard he was dead at only 50 years of age...He was a troubled man, who was still a child in many ways..eccentric yes,... bizarre in many ways,yes....but a truly brilliant Singer and Dancer...he had a unique talent, but was also humble, gentle and kind.
He was recognised throughout the entire World..his music had appeal to all generations and age groups..He suffered malicious gossip the nature of which must have hurt him deeply,... because of his unwise, but always genuine care and compassion for children....He was proven Innocent in a court of Law of any sort of child abuse.... that was what his fans knew the outcome would be if there was any justice.

I wonder how the ones that brought about that allegation will feel about todays news ?? ..(guilty hopefully)..i still cant believe he as gone, so many memories of many decades enjoying his music, my daughter adores him as well...his music will live on....he will always be the King of Pop....i feel so much for the little ones he left behind...Goodbye Michael....your fans everywhere will mourn you for a long, long time.

My Mystery plants ARE pink poppies.

My Mystery plants have finally started to flower...and they are pink Poppies, both single & double ones..i am so pleased..but i have no idea where they all came from, it must have been the wind blowing the seeds from a neighbours garden, or maybe the cats bringing them in on their paws..but i am so glad they are not weeds...i have lots coming through all over the garden..lovely.

My New Family Member.

Here is my newest arrival, his name is 'Moses'..he is 8 weeks old...i love him to bits.
He sleeps on my head at night, he starts under my chin and works his way up to the top of my head, biting my ear on the way up !!..he keeps looking down at me until i close my eyes & then he goes to sleep as well. He has a huge appetite for such a small creature, he loves his kitten food, but chopped up chicken is his favourite..also he is good and always uses his litter tray....The other cats are not too impressed and just ignore him, except Jacey ( the old lady)..she keeps washing him and she even lets him into her box bed..none of the others are allowed to do that...i think they will all be friends eventually ..when they realize he is here to stay....I do put him in his cat box at night..once he as fallen asleep on my head i am able to lift him up and puthim in his box without him even waking up..he is so laid back nothing seems to bother him..but i suppose that's because he is so young...Bailey used to wake up at the slightest thing, you could never pick him up without waking him..but they are all different ..i think Moses just wears himself out running around and exhausts himself.

My Red Poppies are coming out.

My large Red Poppies are starting to come out at last..we had torrential rain yesterday and coupled with the heat & sunshine it seems to have got them moving...i thought all the heavy rain overnight would destroy them..but they were still standing when i got up this morning.

They are so dramatic..but sadly they only last a few weeks and then they are gone....until next year.

I have shared these with so many people over the years..and they all have them coming up now...thats a nice feeling.

Seb as moved home.

Sebastian (Seb) as moved into his new hutch...he loves it..hes got more room, as its nearly 6 foot in length (it doesn't look that big in the picture does it )? and he can also come out and run around the garden....when i am there to watch him...as soon as i put him in it he was running around exploring..then he ate some food, so i know he is settled ok...its good for him to get some fresh air...i will bring him in again in Winter when the weather gets cold.

Simon as been SO busy.

This is Simon my oldest Son..he as been so busy building Seb the rabbit a hutch..it is going to be a super dooper 2 storey rabbit house...it is so big he will love it when its finished...4 rooms for sleeping and eating in..on two levels ( he is even doing him a ramp to get upstairs)...To buy one like this in this country would cost a lot of money and not be half as good as the one Sim is building..i didn't realize how much work goes into building them..no wonder they are so expensive...cant wait for him to go in it...he needs some fresh air..he as been inside too long....i'll bring him in again when the weather turns cold in winter.

My Four Cats

Here are pics of my 4 cats..Lady is the here with Bailey the youngest one...they are always cuddling up to each other and are really good friends..they go everywhere together.

The other picture is the 2 older ones Smokey who is nearly 20 years old, and the largest and Jacey who is 17....they are all good friends, and get on well together..but the 2 older ones sleep a lot now and only go out if it is very warm (except for calls of nature)..but they are all lovely..i am having another kitten in a couple of weeks...am all black one..i would have LOVED a dog, but am not sure if the 2 younger cats would be happy with it..the old pair would be fine as they lived happily with Rosie (my Rottweiller) until she died 2 years ago..they all used to sleep together in front of the fire and she used to lick them both....i love my animals.

Lady.

Here is a picture of my cat 'Lady'..that i told Sharon about..she is pure white like those squirrels, that she has in her garden....she as blue eyes, so is not a true albino as theyu have red... The vet said pure white cats with blue eyes usually meant they were either blind in at least one eye or deaf, as it IS a genetic defect..but happily she was neither and is a very healthy 5 year old now...however she is an 'hermaphrodite'..she as no womb (from birth) but has got both male & female characteristics..and hormones, but i called her Lady as i wanted her to be known as a girl..that is what she looks like to me...she is a lovely girl and gets on well with all the other cats..just part of the family.

PLEASE let it be one of these not a weed.

I do so hope this is my mystery flower...look closely at the leaves..could this be what is taking over my garden ??....i do hope so as its so pretty...but i suppose there are all sorts of weird and wonderful WEEDS out there too ...i will have to wait and see, ... i will feel a bit of a fool if its not a Poppy as i have been showing them to everyone who as visited me this week, i think i am becoming a gardening bore !!!.....ill just put it down to old age and stupidity if they all turn out to be weeds LOL.

My Mystery plant..is it a Poppy ?

It seems i have got a mystery plant also, well at least its one i haven't planted ..i do think (and hope) that it is one of the pink poppies...They have so many varieties and all the leaves are different just like the flowers... IF its one of those i will be so glad, because i have lots of them popping up all over the garden..i know some folk say all poppies are weeds..but i love them all...i did plant a pink one about 6 years ago..it came up once but didn't re-seed or grow again..so where these have come from i really dont know..but i think the seeds travel a long way on the wind and a neighbour may have planted them in their garden.. knowing my luck it probably is a weed.....If anyone as any ideas please let me know......i will keep watching them with interest.

Foxgloves at last.

Its always lovely for me to see my foxgloves, these are my first ones in flower, i think they get more sun where they are, but the salmon coloured ones haven't shown at all...hope i haven't lost them...when we were kids we used to put the flowers on the ends of our fingers, and pretend we were monsters (well i was VERY young)..but then as i got older i realized i was playing dangerously as it is from the flower that we get the drug Digitalis (used for heart problems)..but i'm still here to tell the tale.

Birds LOVE red hot Pokers !!!

The only trouble with Red hot Pokers is that the birds love them as well...they eat right up the stem (well they do in my garden..even though i have got cats)..they swoop down and steal all the tops a bit at a time, until there is just a stalk left....a bit like us with sweetcorn i think !!..i wonder if that is another reason folk throw them out ??..must get myself a little scarecrow..i have only got the orange tops on most of mine already....i love birds..but they have got such a cheek !!

Could this be your mystery plant Kerry ?

I was looking at how scruffy my red hotpokers were getting again..they seem to need to be split every couple of years as they give out new shoots..and as i dont want them everywhere i usually throw them out or pass them on to folk..i was just wondering if this could possibly be your mystery plant Kerry ???..as folk do throw them out when they start to spread their new shoots.

I still keep the new ones as Red Hot Pokers are lovely when they are at there best as you can see in the one picture...but your plant does look like one to me....anyway it will be good to see what it is next year.

Lazy, Sunny afternoon.

We have had a few glorious sunny days, but today is the first time i have been able to just SIT and relax,...this is my idea of bliss at the moment..ice cold Cider (or beer) and a good book...I am not sure but i think Dee as read the 'Twilight' series of books ??..i am now on the 3rd one, Eclipse & i cant put it down..if anyone had told me i would enjoy a set of books on this subject (vampires) I would never have believed them..but she is just such a good writer, i read the first two in a few days..and will no doubt do the same with this and then breaking Dawn (the 4th in the series)..there are certainly unlike the normal books on that subject..which i wouldn't give a 2nd glance to..but these are so absorbing... Edward one of the main characters is the inately good, but Carlise & Esme are too..so its understandable..and Bella is so vulnerable you so want things to turn out good for her....am i losing my marbles ??....did i just say all that ??..about a book that i think my grandchildren would love (well they saw the film and loved that..and the books are even better, much better.)..anyway its a wonderful way to relax and spend this much needed sunny interval...sometimes a break from reality can do us the world of good can't it. ??