Cape May Ghost Stories

One of my goals in 2020 (and 2021!) is to read more. See other books I've read or listened to here.

Perhaps I picked up Cape May Ghost Stories by David J Seibold and Charles J Adams III in Cape May? But I’m not sure.

Mysteries visions, strange noises, cold spells, papers fluttering, objects moving, and other spooky and startling events are only a few stories that are told to two authors when they reach out to find out if historic Cape May is actually haunted.

This book was written in the late eighties but it was fun read about places and land marks that are familiar to me today. Cape May is a Victorian beach town and one of the first beach resort destinations in the history of modern America. It perfectly lends it’s self to ghost stories and according to those in this book there are ghosts and spirits at every turn. Many of these stories are quite flimsy as far as evidence of life beyond the grave, but the spooky and mysterious nature fits in perfectly with the back drop of Cape May. The authors put out a call for people in surrounding areas to come forward with tales of the unknown and it seems there were quite a few to be told. Seibold and Adams tell the stories as it was told to them, sometimes doing additional research. Most of the names and some of the locations have been changed. I really liked how homespun this book is. It feel like friends who are interested in different things and writing books about them, ghost stories being one of those subjects. I would recommend this book to people who like local or small town stories, those interested in supernatural stories, or anyone who has visited and loved Cape May.

What books about local places have you liked?

More about books here:
BookTube
Goodreads

Best Nine 2020

I love to see my Best Nine every year! I use my instagram to look back at my life as well as be a pretty social media tool. In 2020, I didn’t insta as much as past years.

I really love to look back at my best nine for each year; they are not always what I was expecting! It’s also interesting how the photos end up being organized. Look at 2019, the whole middle row is rainbows!! Here are my best nine from past years:

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

I didn’t realize before making this post, but I started this practive the year we moved to Asbury Park. Looking back at it now, it’s really interesting to see the progression of moving to the beach!

Do you make a best nine? What memories does it conjure this year?

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I love, love, love beach towns in the off season, Gee, I wonder why?
On the theme of things I love, here is a thought provoking (to me) little article about how to rethink Main Streets.
Restaurants tuning into groceries and cocktails to go.
And here are some small towns you DON’T want to visit.
This was a neat look at interesting stage sets. Seeing things like this always makes me wish I was in set design or fabrication.

I saw this play when I was young and I hated it. Seeing this set makes me think I should revisit An Inspector Calls.

6 More Months of Zero Waste | Find the Hidden Plastic | November

At this point in your Zero Waste Journey you might be getting pretty adept at avoiding the major plastic and waste items. Plastic bags, plastic straws and single use water bottles are among some of the easier, more obvious, single use waste generators to avoid. Some items we have identified, like tetra-paks, to go coffee cups, disposable bathroom items might be less obvious and took us more time to root out of our lives. These items may be harder to give up completely.

Having become used to avoiding these two categories of waste, we have to move on to the next step. Time to level up in our zero waste journey and learn to avoid the more hidden plastic in our day to day lives.

Moving to the next step definitely involves more research and attention to detail. Reading labels, identifying what other names plastic goes by, and making sure to weed out hidden plastic items that we already own will take work.

I’m not much a tea drinker, so it’s taking me a while to get thru these old tea bags. When I use one, I rip it open, put the leaves in the compost and throw away the bag that contains plastic.

Here are some items you might not know contain plastic:

Kraft or paper looking to go containers - similar to to-go cups, these seem like paper, but are lined with plastic cannot be recycled or composted. Don’t be fooled! Bring your own togo container, or choose take out that use non coated containers.

Most clothing - polyester, acrylic, and nylon, are all plastic fibers. try to avoid them. Check labels, and try to buy only natural fibers. You don’t have to donate or throw away the clothes you love that contain plastic, but get a micro plastic catching bag to wash the plastic items you have already in your wardrobe.

Tea bags - almost all tea bags have plastic in them. Get loose leaf tea to avoid worrying about it!

Tampons and other menstrual products - tampons and pads are mostly made from or packaged in plastic. There are many alternatives, like menstrual cups, period underwear and reusable pads.

Disposable masks - these may seem like cloth but they are actually mostly plastic and will break down to micro plastics that will get into the soil, sea and air. These and other disposable PPE are quickly becoming the fastest growing litter on land and in the ocean. Use reusable cloth mask to protect yourself and others!

These are only a few examples of everyday hidden plastics. Are there others you know of and avoid? Share them in the comments!

I try to avoid take out, but sometimes we do end up getting something to go in a box lined with plastic. I wash these out and reuse them as much as possible.

If you are new to this series, here’s what we are working on for this 6 moth block. Follow along or pick and choose challenges to try:
June 2020- Say NO, Say Yes
PLASTIC FREE JULY
August 2020 - Carry No Disposables
September 2020 - back to school/educate
October 2020 - Beach clean
November 2020 - Hidden plastic
December 2020 - Repair before you replace

We started our tackling new zero waste challenges six months at a time in 2019:
January 2019 - Trash Audit
We separated and looked our trash to see what we are throwing away and what we can reduce.
February 2019- Declutter Everything
We went thru what we have to declutter and reduce.
March 2019- Switch to Paper
This month we moved to paper to get one step closer to reusables.
April 2019- Compost
Composting is an easy way to reduce food waste and prevent it from reaching the landfill.
May 2019- Meatless Monday
One of the best ways to improve the environment is to stop eating factory farmed meat and industrial fish. Small steps lead to big change so this month we gave up meat (or dairy or fish) for at least one day.
June 2019- No Bottled Water
We gave up bottled water as an avenue to give up more disposable plastic in Plastic Free July.
July 2019 - Plastic Free July!
Go plastic free this month!

In late 2019, we continued our journey to becoming more zero waste:
November 2019 - Zero Waste Kit
We created a zero waste kit to help us be more zero waste in our day to day life.
December 2019- No Gifts
We took Dec to give no gifts and get no gifts.
January 2020 - Clothing and Fast Fashion
This month we explored what fast fashion is, and how we can stop buying it forever.
February 2020- Use Mass Transit
The shortest month seemed like a good time to explore alternatives to driving our cars.
March 2020 - Bathroom Make-over
You’ve swapped out a few items to more sustainable choices around the house. It’s time to tackle a full room.
April 2020- Grow Your Own Food
April marks the start of spring in the continental USA, and when we can start growing food easily. But there are many ways and time to grow your some of own food.

Something to Try | Beach Butterfly Rescue

Operation Butterfly Rescue!

We took a short walk on the beach a few weeks ago when it was a cold, rainy, blustery day in October. As we beach combed, we came across a monarch butterfly that we thought was dead. But when we examined it closer, they had only been blown off course, their wings wet and heavy, and were unable to recover in the drizzle and wind. My practice in these cases, and what I did for this little fellow, was to carry them up the beach a bit, dig a hole, with one wall higher than the other to protect him for the wind, and place him in. now protected, they can stretch and dry their wings, hopefully to recover and fly on.

A few steps on, we came across another and repeated the process. And a few steps on, another. So we decided to take a different tact, and the next 3 butterflies that we found we put in a little bag that we were carrying, being careful to hold the bag open as not to crush them. Out of the three we brought off the beach, one was pretty bad off, two were pretty active.

We weren’t quite sure what we would do with them, and where we would put them, but we decided we would take them all the way home and put them in our greenhouse. At least it would be warm and dryer in there!

Unfortunately, when we checked on the butterflies the next day, the worse off one was already dead. The other two were perked up a little! We hoped that they would eventually feel good enough to fly away. We left them on their on own and checked back a few days later.

When we went back we found one, passed on. but hopefully the last of the three flew off!

Was the butterfly rescue a success? Probably not really. But I felt good knowing these three creatures got to be out of the wind and rain a bit.

We seem to always go to lengths to save wayward creatures (just the other day I took a praying mantis off a car in a parking lot, before it drove away with the mantis as unsuspecting passenger). Is this a common practice?

October Plant Update

Looking back at October’s plant observations, I sort of only took pictures of the brightest and bluest days! there was a lot of rainy days in October, that shook the blooms and fruit off the plants and bushes. There were copious downpours that made all plants grey, sodden and sagging. But there were clear bright days as well. Flowers hanging on for dear life.

Tall trees in Northern NJ.

Anyone know what these white drop blooms are?

Looking quite idyllic with a busy road right and train tracks out of view.

Tempted to buy any flower still blooming when we visit the farmers market.

American Beauty Berries provide a pop of color!

Someone said these are Asters?

This moth was STUNNING! Huge and iridescent.

One of my all time favorites.

I never managed to see what this fellow was stalking.

Our pumpkin fam.

But just down the road, they go bigger.

What was October like where you live? Was it a month full of observation or light on them?

Video | First Vlog | "Weekend" Reading Vlog | BookTube and Cats | Walk on the Beach

Hi, I’m Mo.
Thanks for joining me today! I post videos on Mondays and Fridays.
This is my first attempt at vlogging. Wow, making a vlog is hard! In my first ever vlog we read, walk on the beach in Asbury Park, visit a free little library, see some cats, see some boats, and check out some recently acquired vintage and thrifted books. I read one entire book for this vlog and started another.

What do you like to see people do in vlogs? Do you like just DITL or vlogs with a theme?

Books I am reading in this vlog:
Through a Glass, Darkly (1950) Helen McCoy
The Old Country (2005) Mordicai Gerstein

Cats in this Video: Martin, Flounder, Irving, and some neighborhood friends

Original music by audionightlight. https://soundcloud.com/anlight/tracks

Blog: http://www.madcatquilts.com/blog
Instagram: http://instagram.com/madcat1
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/120401161-ana-mo-shoshin

Please Like, Comment, and Subscribe!

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I wasn’t able to see the Harvest full moon last night, but my friend @mermaidtrousers got an amazing pic (above). This is the first of two October full moons, so hopefully I can catch the next one!
I don’t really believe that New Jersey is the food center of the world, but it is interesting to read all the different and diverse companies that call NJ home. Not listed is Sun Ramen, xx.
This is a bittersweet story of tic toc, humanity, and lack of dignified old age.
I thought this list of Banned Books, or those that people want to ban was fascinating. I was shocked at how many comics made it to the list.
I’ve been seeing some good mushrooms this week!

On My Mind On Friday Morning

I missed the comet that was visible last month. Luckily there are photos.
Every year there is a shark to keep tabs on. Let’s check in with May.
A fox and a thief.
Reading about some of New York Mag’s favorite foods of Brooklyn and Manhattan made me want to go on an eating tour of NYC. Once restaurants re open and it’s safe to travel to the city, of course!
I would love to visit some of these pools right now.

An Unexpected Break

That’s what happens when your internet goes down.

June Plant Update

I see a definite theme in my warm weather plant updates: Flowers. I love flowers. In the warm weather, I love to see all the flowers that are out as they bloom. In June, we travelled a little, tried to continue our daily walks when we weren’t working, and hung out in our own yard. We stayed away from the beach, now that it’s packed with people. But we were able to sneak in some beach walks, too.

There are several lakes about 5 min from our house. If you see them at the right time, they are shockingly scenic.

I was captivated by this shade of purple.

Puff ball.

Spire

Coxcomb?

The last of the irises.

We wondered down to Cape May NJ this month and stopped at some farm stands on the way.

A very flower full traffic island on my walk to work.

This color of rose is pure magic.

Another stunning sunset.

And a very blurry houseguest.

What do you love most to observe of the Summer plants?

Victory Gardens

Last month I posted about how many new gardens had cropped up around town. I’m not sure how many of these victory gardens were created from the desire to be more self sufficient, the fear of food shortage, from having more time to experiment, or from boredom of being at home most of the time. No matter the reason, it’s been a great pleasure to walk around our neighborhood and spot new gardens or check on the progress or others.

In the beginning of June, this garden, which has parts spread out all over a large yard was fairly small as seen here. I’ll have to try and capture a after pic for next month as this garden is now huge!

This property has a lot of raised beds inside a deer proof perimeter.

All lettuce.

This community style configuration of raised beds was spotted in a large apartment complex.

I’ve been watching this garden for a few years, as it’s just down the street from me. They got a late start this year, but now it’s really rolling.

Did you create a victory garden this year? It’s not too late if you are still considering it. Hopefully all the viriety of beds shown here can inspire you! Have you spotted any gardens on your walks?

Mad Cat Garden | May 2020

Up until May, it felt like the landscape of our garden changed daily. In May , it feels like we have settled down a bit. While we are still adding features, plants, and debating even more, May was more a month for planting and growing. And best of all, for our first harvests!

Right at the beginning of the month we got a dirt delivery and in our style put it on the front lawn. I highly recommend anyone with the space, who is building a garden of any kind, to have dirt delivered. The delivery fee often seems high, but the lack of plastic, not having to go to any big box stores, and that you can know where the dirt comes from is totally worth it. We really struggled with getting bags of dirt for many reason, so this is a great alternative. And you are supporting local businesses not corporations!!

I’ve never put the garden in a before and after picture here, side by side. I thought that would be great for this post, since so much has changed from the beginning of May to the end.

In the first picture above, our first backyard bed was just planted with tomatoes and peas at the start of May. Towards the end we have moved some things around, added flowers for pollinators, our peas are blossoming, and everything has grown. You can see in the second pic above that we have a new bed that we made at the end of April and filled with our dirt delivery. We made this bed form a cabinet that was in our basement when we bought the house.

In the two pictures above, we have our “lettuce bed” when we first planted it with baby plants from a local market, our over wintered spinach and red onion. Next we have it really filling out, with more lettuce to replace those the squirrels ate.

We continually seed our “radish bed” so that we have radishes growing in all stages. We put some potatoes in that bed and purple cauliflower as well. Our raspberries live right next door and they have grown tons over the month. I’m unconvinced if we will get berries. I’m pretty sure the birds and squirrels will eat them before we do, if berries arrive.

Another addition we made in late April was to add a little bed for just flowers. We repurposed an old drawer (which we had previously urban foraged as a shelf), and put any and all wild flower seeds we had in it. This year we are concentrating on using up old seeds which may or may not be viable. By the end of May, quite a few of the seeds had come up.

No before pics of the front beds this time. In the original front bed, the orange thyme is going bananas, we’ve put tomatoes bc they do so well there, flowers for pollinators, and a flower that we planted last year is coming back up. The herb bed, below, has new basil from the local market and we planted a bunch of herb seeds. We are waiting to see if they come up.

We added another bed in the front as well, but haven’t planted anything in it by the end of May. Now we have 3 beds plus a few pots in the front yard. We have 9 beds in the back (two of which are blueberries and one for wildflowers). We have many many pots in the back yards as well as a place for raspberries. In June we hope to plant and tend but I don’t think we will add more beds. We have other projects planned, tho!

In May we ate herbs, radishes, lettuce, kale, snap peas, and spinach, from the garden. The bluebs are bluing and there are many so we are hoping to eat some soon. There are blossoms on the tomatoes and almost blooms on the peppers. We are sooo excited to eat more in June.

Are you keeping a garden this year? What style do you have (raised bed, in the ground, container, windowsill)?

May in Review

Phew, is every month is 2020 just gonna be a whole new rollercoaster, or what?

I went back to work this month and my husband continues to work from home. So it May we had to make adjustments to our schedule about how things get done around the house and when we take our evening walks, etc.. We were still able to tend the garden and eat well at home.

We have been trying to support local restaurants by eating out occasionally, but mostly we eat at home. In May we were able to start eating from the garden! Radishes and lettuces were our first harvests, but we were able to try snap peas and kale and a few other things as well.

Adjusting to a new work life has been interesting, but I feel that my work is doing a really good job at trying to keep the public and it’s employees safe where possible. We wear masks and gloves and work in teams. It’s hard to get used to taking these precautions, especially when you see so many people walking around as if nothing is happening. But to me it feels good to know I am thinking of others as well as myself. And it makes me feel as if I’m living in a not too distant sci fi future. Which I guess I am.

#watchercats were plentiful this month and it’s hard not to pet them when they let you! But to protect them I have to restrain.

Once again, this month I have to give thanks that my family and friends are safe and well. That no one I know has been in mortal danger bc of a virus of or the police. I have to give thanks that my community supports it’s members regardless of the color, race or creed and that I am part of that. I hope that your community provides the same for you and the world can realize that as well.

May was full of many things. June might be even more jam packed.

Something Nice

Two very different bird’s nests both using quite a bit of found plastic.

Mad Cat Garden | April 2020

Spring is here and the garden is booming. OK, well not booming yet, but it feels like it after so many months of dormancy. We are making plans for even more beds, and the layout of the garden changes almost weekly right now. Always giving up a bit more grassy space to more food making space. Adding some touches here and there to make the garden functional but also beautiful. We feel incredibly lucky that we have the space and now time to make more of an effort in the garden.

Tom has always like to go out in the back yard, but he likes it now that the weather is warmer. He even went after a squirrel or two in April. Quite the feat for an old man of 16 years. We watch him closely, and he never put the animal at risk.

For most of April just about all the blueberry bushes had not only leaves but many bell shaped flowers on them as well. The are still filling out, but bees and bugs have started visiting regularly.

We’ve seen a lot of early azaleas in the neighborhood, but ours have only shown the slightest movement all through the beginning of April.

Our raspberry bushes are taking off this year! We didn’t cut them back, but we have seen a lot of growth and new plants shooting up. We have cauliflower, radishes, carrots and one potato in this bed by the raspberries.

Our lettuce bed took a bit of a beating from squirrels who were having a grand salad, but by the end of April, everything was back on track. We planted peas in beds and in pots, and by the end of the month we had some tomatoes in these beds as well. A lot of what we plant is still trial and error. We gathered buckets and have been trying to start things from seeds in some.

This shelf came with the house and was downstairs unused for years, so my husband modified it this month to be a new bed. We will purchase a few yards of dirt from a local landscaper to fill it and all the others we have planned.

Our friend gifted us a rain barrel she wasn’t using at the end of last year and we finally got it up and working. It collects water from the gutters and we repurpose our Dr Bronners and vinegar jugs to carry water. When the barrel is full or when we know it will rain, we fill all the jugs to make room for more rain.

Not too much happened in the front beds. The mint and catnip are starting to really take off. Other than that, they are waiting to get tomatoes and more veg.

Seeds are still growing up in our guest room. My husband is diligently taking them outside to harden off on nice days.

So many things changed in April from the beginning and the end, perhaps the most of any garden report. Is it the same for you?

Asbury Park Gift Guide | Mother's Day in Lockdown

I’ve always wanted to do a gift guide for Asbury Park. My town has so many neat places to visit, cool shops, and great restaurants. I love to promote it. But something about promoting retail didn’t quite ring right with my blog. Once quarentine started I realized that this gift guide wasn’t promoting retail as much as it was promoting small business and community. That’s just right for this space!

This year is going to be a weird one for gift giving, but that’s all the more reason to put some mindfulness into it, instead of just picking something up from a big corporate shop. This gift guide is cutting it a little close but in a year like this, a belated gift is fine and welcome, I’m sure! Here are a few things that are great ideas if you live in or near Asbury Park.

Get flowers delivered (or to deliver) from local purveyors.
Meaberrie Market has amazing flowers, dinner, sweets, and specials every day they are open and for mother’s day.
BluebellNJ sells flowers, candles, dried bouquets and flower art.
AP Greenery’s site is still saying they have normal hours, but their instagram has more info. They have awesome floral arrangements and plants.

Since mom can’t go to her favorite Asbury Park spots, give her a keep sake from them.
Who knows when concerts will come back? In the meantime, get mom some Stone Pony merch. (Or is she’s more a foodie, try the Scone Pony. )
We love Silverball Pinball Museum and they are open for take away pizza, and have mugs, tshirts and more available to help support them through this time.
Rebel Supply is selling merch, mystery packs of vintage clothing, and selling masks. The store has got to stay closed but pick ups and delivery is available.

Now that many restaurants are back open for take out, get her a meal, or give her a gift card for pick up or delivery or to use after restaurants have reopened for guests.
Some of my favorites are Franks Deli (great for sub sandwhiches and the best local cheesecake!!), I hear The Galley Pizza has great cheesesteaks, we are super excited that Ada’s Gojjo reopened for takeaway (my attempt at injera was a bust, so I’ll be happy to eat some authentic Ethiopian food again!), and of course Talula’s has pizza, provisions, cocktail kits, merch and more!

I’m sure you can find similar things near where you live, also! Use this guide as inspiration for your own city or town. There’s so much more I could have listed. If you want to see more small business guides, please let me know!

This mother’s day I probably won’t see my mother. I haven’t seen her since the beginning of March. I hope we can be reunited soon. And I you are reunited with your loved ones soon as well!

April Plant Update

Oh my goodness, being home and taking a walk everyday coupled with the fact that we had an early spring in March, made this April one heck of a month for plant observations. I literally had hundreds of photos to go through.

A carpet of magnolia petals.

A blurry yard bouquet.

Sun thru daffodils.

What kind of pine is this? I love the adorable cones!

Our Japanese maple just waking up for the year.

So many early azaleas!

Our monstera much prefers this spot to where it used to be.

This was some perfect morning golden hour light.

A very good holly tree.

I’ve been taking stump portraits.

Cannot resist cherry blossoms. Ever.

Lake views.

I have to crop these bushes, but at the moment they are bright and beautiful.

We’re trying to tame this grandma rose bush to go a different direction.

Love this neighbor’s cacti.

What is this ground cover? it is magical.

Perfectly rain soaked tulip.

The lilacs have been early, but i’m always happy to see them!

Apple blossoms?

We had some kale that bolted. When we put it in the compost bin, it flowered!!

I could have added so many more photos to this post! What were your plant observations in April?

Victory Gardens

One of our new favorite things to do on our nightly walks is to spot all the victory gardens cropping up everywhere. We always liked to see when and what and where people were planting but it has taken on a new meaning and a new sense of pride. I’m always happy to see people turning to a new avenue of sustainability even if it’s one that’s actually ancient.

I have a chip on my shoulder about beds in front yards, I love them!!

The bucket method.

All strawbs lining both sides of the drive.

Such a great use of limited space!

Very elaborate set up!

Simple and using reclaimed materials.

All you need is a little space. Sometimes just a very little space.

Have you started you victory Garden yet? Have you seen them cropping up where you live?

Something Nice: Presents from Friends in Lockdown

We have some wonderful friends who Summer in Asbury Park. Due to the state of the world, they are here early. The other day they left on our porch a gift of seeds, homemade jam and preserved lemons.