Marash Girl

Friday, May 13, 2022

Did you know that crab apples can be eaten?

Yes, crab apples can be eaten when they become crab apples (although Marash Girl doesn't believe that these apples can be eaten by crabs). Haven't tried eating the flowers yet . . . especially on Friday The Thirteenth!

Thursday, May 12, 2022

Meet the Doronicum pardalianches L. - The Great Leopard's-Bane

Meet the Doronicum pardalianches L., better known as the

"OUR BODIES ARE RESPECTED!"

Unknown Photographer These courageous women spent Mother’s Day advocating for abortion rights at the U.S. Supreme Court. One such demonstrator, Maryland State Delegate Charkoudian, writes the following. "I am devastated and outraged by the draft SCOTUS opinion to take away women’s control over our own bodies. The possibility of Roe v. Wade being overturned had already fueled our work to expand and protect reproductive healthcare access here in Maryland...Last month the Maryland General Assembly passed the Abortion Care Access Act to ensure that women have enough practitioners trained and licensed to provide abortion care. It also removes financial barriers by requiring Medicaid and private insurance plans to cover abortion care without cost-sharing or deductibles. Maryland Governor Hogan vetoed this bill, but the Maryland General Assembly promptly overrode Hogan's veto. Now, Hogan refuses to release the $3.5 million needed to implement the training program created by the law. I joined with over 80 of my colleagues to call on Hogan to release these funds."

Wednesday, May 11, 2022

Say Hello To The Hybrid Violet!

Please allow Marash Girl to introduce you to the hybrid violet - better known in the scientific world as Viola melissifolia Greene Violaceae!

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Coccocypselum hirsutum Bartl. ex DC. Yerba de guava Rubiaceae

Bet you can't pronounce the name of this beautiful spring flower! Let's hear you try: Coccocypselum hirsutum Bartl. ex DC. Yerba de guava Rubiaceae!

Monday, May 9, 2022

Newton Flags Its Support For Ukraine!

Sunday, May 8, 2022

And In Celebration Of Mother's Day . . .

Known as the Lesser Celandine, many a garden in New England celebrates Mother's Day with this flower!

Saturday, May 7, 2022

Meet The Narcissus pseudonarcissus L. Daffodil

Meet the Narcissus pseudonarcissus L. Daffodil. Put more simply, meet the newest addition to Marash Girl's front yard garden . . . the daffodil!!!

Friday, May 6, 2022

So This Is What Phlox Looks Like On A Sunday In May In New England. . .

Meet Phlox subulata L. Moss phlox Polemoniaceae...also known as Moss Phlox!

Thursday, May 5, 2022

Let's Not Forget the Hyacinthus orientalis L. Hyacinth Asparagaceae

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

Please meet the Prunus padus L.LC?

Bird Cherry [Prunus padus L.LC]

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Angelina The Goat

Visitng Blogger Rene writes the following . . . A holiday dinner wasn’t a holiday dinner without my grandfather, Ashod, telling the story of Angelina, his beloved goat. The topic of milk would inevitably come up in discussion (maybe in relation to the mashed potatoes), and my grandfather would ask me, “Have you ever had goat’s milk?” I’d shake my head no, mildly disturbed by the thought of milk from a non-cow source. “Well, let me tell you, it’s the best thing! Did I ever tell you the story about Angelina the goat?” We’d all nod our heads and giggle to each other, “Here he goes again!” His face would light up. “I used to have a little goat named Angelina, and she was the best little goat!” Sometimes he would even throw in his signature exclamation, “Oooh-weee!” He would go on and on, the details having faded from my memory at this point. Mostly, I just remember him repeating this story over and over, and looking back, Angelina must have been quite a special lady! I can’t remember where he had kept the goat, but I believe it may have been up on his family’s island in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. Maybe Marash Girl could remember? N.B. Marash Girl wishes Uncle Ashod had regaled her with the stories of Angelina! Marash Girl misses you, Uncle Ashod!

Monday, May 2, 2022

Have You Ever Seen Grape Hyacinth? Here's Your Chance!

Photo by MarashGirl©2022 Sorry . . . Can't make grape jelly with the fruit from this plant! Can't even pronounce it's official scientific name: Muscari armeniacum Leichtlin ex Baker Grape hyacinth Asparagaceae Can Armenia really claim the original birthplace of this hyacinth?

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Mystery Quince!

Marash Girl needs your help in identifying this flowering plant! (Or is it a fruit tree? A tree that bears quince fruit?) What is it? A Chinese Quince? A Japanese Quince? Do you know its real name? Could it be, as one website suggests Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai Chinese-Quince rosaceae? Or, as another website suggests, Chaenomeles japonica Japanese Quince? Maule's Quince? Whatever it's name is, Marash Girl is delighted to have it growing in her side yard!

Saturday, April 30, 2022

How Do You Play Hop Scotch Using Negative Numbers?

Didn't even know "minus" numbers existed in the days when we used to play hopscotch along Lowell Avenue's newly cemented sidewalks! (On those previously rocky dirt sidewalks, playing hop scotch had been impossible!)

Friday, April 29, 2022

This New England Rabbit Turned Its Back On The Spring's Setting Sun . . .

Don't Forget the Rhododendron simsii Planch. Azalea Ericaceae

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Local Youth Ponders The Sunset . . .

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Smooth Shadbush Rosaceae Glorifies Spring Gardens!

Amelanchier laevis Wiegand LC = Smooth Shadbush Rosaceae

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Newton Proclaims Its Support For The Ukraine!

Monday, April 25, 2022

REMEMBERING WITH FLOWERS & PRAYERS: NEVER AGAIN, DEAR LORD, NEVER AGAIN!

Every year, on April 24, Marash Girl and Marash Boy go to the Charles River with aching hearts, remembering the attempted eradication of the Armenian people, an attempted genocide conducted by a country that shall remain unnamed here. With prayers that never again shall there be such devastation to any peoples.

Sunday, April 24, 2022

In Memory . . . Never Again, Dear Lord, Never Again!

In Memory of those Armenian People Who Were Slaughtered 1915-1920 . . . May They Rest In Peace "1915 - NEVER AGAIN!"

Images Taken From The Internet 106 years since the onset of the Genocide of the Armenian People ...Asvadz lousavoreh!

Unknown Photographer N.B. For recordings of interviews with survivors of the Armenian Genocide, go to the United States Library of Congress, or for recordings of these interviews and more information, call the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts - (617) 926-2562‬

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Wilbraham, Our Wilbraham!

Friday, April 22, 2022

Bougainvillea Glabra Choisy Glorifies Front Yards In The Boston Suburbs!

Thursday, April 21, 2022

(Not So) Common Periwinkle Greets Passersby On A Spring Day!

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

And Flowers Everywhere Continue to Celebrate!

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Churches Everywhere Were Celebrating The Easter Promise!

"From Darkness To Light"!

Monday, April 18, 2022

Rabbits Everywhere Were Preparing For Easter!

Sunday, April 17, 2022

HAPPINESS ON EASTER . . . AND EVERY DAY . . . IN ARMENIAN AND ENGLISH!

Greeting on Easter Day: KRISDOS HARYAV Y MERELOTS! Christ has risen and conquered death!

Response: OHRNYAL EH HAROUTIOUN KRISDOSI! Blessed is the resurrection of Christ!

And if you can read Armenian, here it is in the original:

Քրիստոս Յարեաւ Ի Մէրէլոց:

Օրհնեալ է Յարութիւնն Քրիստոսի:

Thank you, Uncle Paul, for teaching us this important Armenian Easter salutation while we were still young 'uns . . . and for teaching us the true meaning of Easter!

Saturday, April 16, 2022

A Hyacinth Blooms In Newton Corner Commemorating Holy Saturday . . .

Friday, April 15, 2022

Daffodils Bow Their Heads On Good Friday . . .

Narcissus pseudonarcissus L, better known as the daffodil,

bow their heads in remembrance of Good Friday . . .

Thursday, April 14, 2022

A Witch's Moneybags In May?

Photo By MarashGirl©2022 Perhaps Marash Girl should have waited until Halloween to post the photo of this plant, a Witch's Moneybags Hylotelephium telephium (L.) H. (Hylotelephium telephium - Orpine), that appears in her garden in April (the plant, not the photo)! Marash Girl wonders which witch lost the moneybags this past October . . . and which witch gave the plant its name . . . Or perhaps Marash Girl should be using the plant's other name: Garden Stonecrop! More appropriate for a garden in May, don't you think?

This Turkey Is About To Trot Across Maple Avenue

Yesterday, after having traversed Maple Circle, this turkey paused to look both ways before trotting across Maple Avenue!

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Othocallis siberica (Haw.) - Speta Siberian Squill

Othocallis siberica (Haw.) Speta Siberian Squill decorates Marash Girl's front yard!

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Sedum spurium M.Bieb. - Caucasian-Stonecrop!

Sedum spurium M.Bieb. Caucasian-stonecrop

Marash Girl wonders whether her ancestors brought this plant all the way

from the Caucasus to New England!!!

Monday, April 11, 2022

Welcome Home!

Sunday, April 10, 2022

SPRING SPRINGS UP THROUGH THE AUTUMN LEAVES . . . .

Saturday, April 9, 2022

He, And Many Like Him In This, Our Country, Need Our Help!

"Help me, please, for food . . . Have 3 kids . . . Need job . . . God Bless U"

Friday, April 8, 2022

On A Grey Spring Day . . . .

Thursday, April 7, 2022

Prayers For The People Of Ukraine

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Crocus nudiflorus Sm. (Knights of St. John Crocus)?

Crocus nudiflorus Sm. (Knights of St John Crocus)?

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

A View From The Dentist's Office . . .

Monday, April 4, 2022

The Old Claflin School . . .

And speaking of Miss Forsythe (see yesterday's blogpost) brings to mind the way in which kids at Claflin (Elementary) School responded to taunts from their classmates, insults which were always only a moment away . . . One such example follows.

When a kid heard the words, "You're a jerk!" . . . her answer, accompanied by a grin, would be as follows:

"A jerk is a pull, a pull is a yank, and a Yank is a good American!"

But an easier reply would have been, (and often was), "It takes one to know one!"

Sunday, April 3, 2022

And Continuing The Celebration . . . More Flowers!

Please meeet Ficaria verna Huds. Lesser Celandine Ranunculaceae!

Miss Forsythe And The Forsythia Bush!

Every spring, Marash Girl remembers Miss Forsythe, her fourth grade teacher . . . reminded her students that every spring, they would remember her . . . Why? Because her family name was given to the beautiful Forsythia Bush, a bush which flowers every spring. And here it is again, for all to enjoy, in Marash Girl's neighborhood park, pictured in the photograph above.

As you can see, Miss Forsythe was right! Marash Girl remembers Miss Forsythe yet again . . . year after year . . . and how many years has it been since Marash Girl was in 4th Grade? . . . Marash Girl's not saying!!!!

Saturday, April 2, 2022

'WHAT? You're Sending Your Daughter To College?"

'WHAT? You're sending your daughter to college? . . . Oh! You're sending your daughter to college to get an MRS! Now I understand!"

N.B. FYI, Marash Girl's father was mortified at the thought . . . as was Marash Girl! How dare they! Perhaps this memory should have been posted yesterday on April Fool's Day!!!

Friday, April 1, 2022

Remembering Betty & Veronica . . . And An April Fool!

Years ago, when Marash Girl was in her early teens, Cousin G. (name omitted to protect the innocent . . . or not so innocent) arrived in the United States of America from his home in Paris. Visiting Marash Girl and her family in their living room for the first time, Cousin G. spotted a then current issue of Betty & Veronica . . . (not the copy shown below!) In shock, he asked what they (Marash Girl and her sister) were doing reading such “trash” . . . although, as he asked the question, he never once took his eyes off of Betty’s breasts!

N.B. This is April Fool's Day, is it not? And who, Marash Girl asks, was the April Fool?