"emily", "football", "uk football" Emily Ho "emily", "football", "uk football" Emily Ho

A Kentucky Football Family

When I met my now-husband 12 years ago, I remember being flabbergasted that he liked the much dogged UK football team more than the celebrated UK basketball team. Actually, I take that back: he liked them equally, which around Lexington practically means the same thing - it's pretty uncommon.

We've been through the years of Guy Morriss, Rich Brooks, and now Joker Phillips. If you don't live in the state and haven't ever heard of those names, no worries as I had permanently blocked out Guy Morriss and the ridiculous Bluegrass Miracle against LSU. Here is where I link to the definition of "premature celebration" that is forever embedded into Kentucky football history.


I can't hate on that momentary lapse of judgement by then-QB Jared Lorenzen since we got our LSU redemption when they sat at a #1 ranking and our mighty Wildcats beat them in triple overtime during my wedding reception in 2007. My poor husbands family (who loves Kentucky football as much as he does) huddled around the DJ's little laptop squinting to make out the figures on the field that led us to victory. The UK fight song then blared over the speakers of my reception and the party was kicked off with a bang. I think that's the only reason we were able to get the men on the dance floor. Thanks Cats!


This weekend with the Cats v. Cards, the family will gather at my house in front of our obscenely large TV where we've watched many games. There will be screaming and accusing the referees of poor officiating. And for the umpteenth time, I'll be reminded: "Hey, remember that time you guys got married?" I will smile and nod and accept that I am among a Kentucky football family, and be proud of it.
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"Kentucky trees", "forests", "guest posts", "nature" Guest User "Kentucky trees", "forests", "guest posts", "nature" Guest User

A Perspective on Kentucky's Forests - A HerKentucky Guest Post

I'm so pleased to feature a dear friend's guest post today! Merril Flanary is a Kentucky girl currently living, studying and working in Sweden. She's a Renaissance woman - talented with words, musical instruments and a love for the natural world. I hope you enjoy her perspective on Kentucky's forests.

 -Lydia

Blanton Forest by Merril Flanary
Growing up at the end of a country road in a small town in central Kentucky, I was surrounded by forests.  Although my parents labored in flower beds near the house, they applied a more laissez-faire gardening approach to most of the property.  The eighty-year-old sugar maple and red oak trees planted when the house was first built were left to grow.  The shed where we parked the lawnmower was actually a ½-acre grove of pawpaw trees my dad saw no point in trying to contain.  We burned black locust for heat in the winter and revelled in the sight of dogwood blooms commencing Derby season in the spring.  For me, trees were beautiful and strong things that fulfilled our utilitarian needs almost as often as they provided us with seasonal aesthetic pleasures.  

I suppose it was all those years amongst my family’s trees that first sparked my interest in forestry.  A forestry summer course in high school sealed the deal.  After learning to identify a few species and how to use a compass, I was certain there was no better subject to study.  Soon after, I was enrolled as an undergraduate forestry student at the University of Kentucky.
   
Photo by Beverly James
Kentucky’s forests are incredibly complex.  Rivaled only by the tropical rainforests of Central and South America, Kentucky’s forests are among the most diverse in the world.  There are almost 100 native tree species found throughout the Commonwealth; the forests in the Pacific Northwest or the Rocky Mountains have only a handful.  The seven distinct ecological regions in Kentucky harbor an equal number of unique forest types, each with their own assortments of geology, soils, mammals, reptiles, insects, and birds.  Our forests are an important oasis for ecological processes and biodiversity.  

Kentucky’s forest industry is unique and significant.  Almost half of Kentucky’s surface area is covered in forests, most of which are owned by private landowners in small tracts less than ten-acres in size.  Unlike other states, where government or large corporations own much of the forest land, these private citizens provide 95% of the saw timber that makes up Kentucky’s forest industry.  Harvesting red oak, white oak and yellow-poplar, Kentucky is among the top three hardwood producers in the US.  

Blanton Forest by Merril Flanary
My love affair for forestry grew most significantly while studying and subsequently working in the forests of eastern Kentucky.  The remoteness and rugged terrain of this region are among the reasons it has earned the reputation of redheaded stepchild of Kentucky society, but it was for these reasons I found myself drawn to the region.  Dodging rattlesnakes and black bears, I studied and worked in eastern Kentucky for five years.  Nowhere else in the state are there as many tracts of intact forest, and it was in these forests my budding interests grew and prospered. 

Photo by Merril Flanary
When you walk ten feet in a forest in eastern Kentucky—with the smallest shift in aspect or a few feet in elevation—the scene completely changes.  In the bottomlands, dense stands of eastern hemlock and American beech trees shade freshwater streams and provide safe cover for birds.  Along a northeast facing slope, the perfectly straight stems of yellow-poplar grow as uniformly as the fields of corn that settlers grew there a century ago.  Majestic white oak, hickory, and black cherry scatter hilltops providing an abundance of food for an array of animals.  Perhaps the most endearing quality of these forests is the variety of plants finding purchase on the forest floor.  Squaw root punctures through the litter layer, maidenhair fern dances in a warm breeze, and Virginia creeper crawls over rocks and roots in search of sunlight.  

Photo by Kyle Napier
The diversity of Kentucky’s forests and the dynamic uses of these forests make them an integral part of our culture.  As a child climbing over broken branches in my backyard, I never thought I would one day commit myself to the study of forests.  It has been a rewarding endeavour that is far from over and makes my experience as a Kentucky girl all the richer.       


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"HerKentucky", "bourbon", "contests", "football", "giveaways", "makers mark", "needlepoint", "smathers and branson", "tailgating" Heather C. Watson "HerKentucky", "bourbon", "contests", "football", "giveaways", "makers mark", "needlepoint", "smathers and branson", "tailgating" Heather C. Watson

Smathers and Branson Needlepoint Flask giveaway!

Sometimes Football Wishes really do come true!

To get us all in the tailgating mood, the kind folks at Smathers and Branson have graciously offered to give one of their adorable needlepoint flasks to a lucky HerKentucky reader!


One winner will be awarded a Needlepoint Flask from the Smathers and Branson collection.  You can choose the Maker's Mark design, straight from our Tailgating Wishlist...
... or maybe the Mint Julep design, to get yourself in a Derby frame of mind.

Every Smathers and Branson design is so cute, it'll be hard to choose!

You can enter using the Rafflecopter widget below.  The contest ends Thursday, August 30, and the winner will be announced on Friday August 31. The winner can choose from any in-stock, non-monogrammed flask in the Smathers and Branson collection. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway




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"crafts", "herkentucky crafts", "knitting", "sky scarf knitting challenge" Guest User "crafts", "herkentucky crafts", "knitting", "sky scarf knitting challenge" Guest User

The HerKentucky Sky Scarf Challenge

Early last year, I taught myself to knit. This was attempt number eleventy billion to learn. I'm not sure what made it happen, but one day, the actions associated with knit one, purl two just clicked in my brain and off I went with the clicking and clacking of needles never far behind me. Then came summer. Hot, hot, hot summertime. Who wants to think about woolen hats and scarves when your brain melts just stepping outside? Not me.

With our recent cooler temperatures and nights of sleeping with the windows open, I've been thinking more and more about picking up my needles again. The imminent football season is also good impetus to start pinning new projects to my Ravelry to-make list and my Pinterest knitting board. Nothing helps you feel better about being lazy and watching a whole day (or a whole weekend) of football than having a newly-knitted scarf or two to show for it!

This week, I happened across a pin on the HerKentucky Craft Ideas Pinterest board. (If you aren't following us over there, you really should! These women have good taste!) That pin led me to a post on whipup.net (one of my favorite craft sites) by Lea Redmond and her idea for Conceptual Knitting - a Sky Scarf. The basic premise is this - you observe the sky each day, then choose a yarn to match the color of your sky, and knit one row each day. At the end of one year, you'll have a pretty amazing scarf with a cool story behind it.


Source: whipup.net via Her on Pinterest

I like this idea because it ties two of my goals for life into one thing - 1) to live, observe and document my life in interesting ways and 2) to craft and create beautiful things that are useful.

The HerKentucky Sky Scarf Challenge
The challenge couldn't be simpler! Today, I'd like to challenge you to gather up your favorite blue, gray, and white yarns. Beginning September 1, knit one row of a scarf based on what the sky looks like that day - where you are. Monthly, I'll share my progress with you here on the blog. Please share your progress with us, too - via Facebook, Twitter or in the comments of each month's Sky Scarf post!

 What's that? You don't know how to knit?

If I can learn, you can, I promise. I taught myself with some good diagrams and by watching Youtube videos. I suggest that you find a friend/aunt/grandmother who knits and ask them to show you. I was mystified by someone else trying to teach me, but you may learn that way in two shakes. We're all different, and that's the best!

 Variations on a Theme

As I read the comments on the original whipup entry, I saw lots of variations on the Sky Scarf idea. Some people thought that observing the sky at sunrise or sunset could produce interesting results. Some people might like the idea of assigning a color to each mood and producing a row a day based on how they feel on that particular day. Of course, Heather and I brainstormed that we could make a scarf that corresponds with the UK basketball season – five rows of blue for a win, five rows of white for a loss. Everyone wants a solid blue scarf, right?

Join Us!

Mention in the comments if you'd like to accept this challenge. Then, go forth and buy yarn!

Here are some of our favorite local knitting shops:

  • With Ewe In Mind - 800 Jefferson Street, Paducah, Kentucky
  • ReBelle - 225 Rosemont Garden, Lexington, Kentucky
  • The Woolery - 315 St. Clair, Frankfort, Kentucky (with an amazing online shop)
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"football", "sec football", "uk football", "university of kentucky" Guest User "football", "sec football", "uk football", "university of kentucky" Guest User

How I Became A Football Fan

Football Field
Some rights reserved by juggernautco
Born and raised in Kentucky, it's easy to become a basketball fan. For most of us, we're surrounded by it. It's not an exaggeration to say that a whole lot of Kentuckians eat, sleep, and breathe college basketball - whether their blood runs blue or red. Football is a different story. We aren't like other SEC states. People don't name their children Crimson or their dogs Bear. We have to work to become football fans.

As a young kid growing up in Western Kentucky, I remember hearing about my uncle and dad playing football in high school. I remember the neighbor boy showing off his football pads and grossing me out with his mouthguard. What I remember most, though, are Sundays watching football with my dad. We would be lazy on the couch and watch NFL games. My dad liked the Cowboys. Beyond that knowledge, my memory is fuzzy.

I'm not sure when my love of football was firmly cemented, but here are some of the memories that led to my current love affair with football:

The first Super Bowl I really remember watching is Super Bowl XX in 1986. I was five years old and I loved William "Refrigerator" Perry, especially his nickname. To a 5-year old, it's really funny to think of a refrigerator playing football. I loved how big he was. I remember loving the Bears' goofy Super Bowl Shuffle video, too. Funny, I didn't even know I was watching greatness in Walter Peyton's sweet moves.

In October of 1993, I remember the movie trailers for Rudy. I was a 13-year old girl. None of my girl friends liked football, and boys were still gross. I wasn't about to be seen in public with my little sister, and my parents weren't interested in the movie. I begged my mom to let me go see it. Back then, you could do that. So I went to a movie about football all by myself. I loved it. I went to a Catholic school. Notre Dame was a Catholic school. So began a period of loving the Fighting Irish. That year also featured the first bowl game I remember the Wildcats playing in, and I cheered them on, loudly, in the Peach Bowl.

The first weekend of high school, there was a home football game. Even though my school's team wasn't very good, the student section was the place to see and be seen. Unsurprisingly, I was the only one of my group following the game and trying, often in vain, to explain first downs and sacks to the group of girls around me. I thought I was the coolest. I wasn't.

By the end of high school, I was dating a football player as was one of my best friends. We went to away games together, and I coached her on the vocabulary of the game - pointing out the accomplishments of her running back boyfriend. The best thing to come out of my relationship with that high school boyfriend was a deepening love for football.

It's still amazing to me that I chose a college that doesn't have a football team. What, exactly, was I thinking? Despite that fact, college is when I really came into my own in regards to football. I went to a couple of UK games with friends who scored student tickets. I saw a UK quarterback chosen first in the NFL draft my freshman year (that still boggles my mind). I watched future Super Bowl (backup) quarterback Jared Lorenzen eat pizzas across the street from our house on University Avenue. I watched The Bluegrass Miracle. More importantly, I spent Saturdays recovering from Friday night studying with College Gameday on television in the background. I did the same thing on Sundays with NFL Countdown.

Traveling the state for work in the early 2000s, Monday Night Football was the bright spot of my week. I remember watching Brett Favre (he's my favorite, I don't care what you say about him!) play his heart out the day after his father died on a Monday night while I was in a hotel room in Pineville. I remember, too, sitting in Paducah watching the Monday night Peyton Manning and the Colts scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to beat the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers - one of the most thrilling quarters of football I ever witnessed.

The 2007 UK season was a milestone one for me. My new boyfriend, who wasn't a sports fan at all (and that worried me), agreed to watch football with me. We watched the Wildcats beat Louisville for the first time in four years at a bar on our fourth or fifth date. He was sweet and acted interested, because he knew it was important to me. A month later, he was still around to watch the most thrilling game of football I've ever seen (and he was genuinely interested by that time!) - the night the Wildcats defeated the #1 LSU Tigers in Commonwealth Stadium in triple overtime when Stevie Johnson got loose once again!

The Aftermath
Attribution Some rights reserved by Chris Breeze
While I'm less interested in going to games in person, now, being old and preferring to sit on my couch, I'm no less thrilled with great football. When pressed, I'll tell you that the Green Bay Packers are my favorite NFL team, but I really just love a good game (and for my Fantasy players to do well!). Just like in basketball, I have teams I regularly root for with no good reason (Texas/Oklahoma/The New York Giants) and teams I regularly root against (USC/Ohio State/The New England Cheaters Patriots). I'm the strongest Gator Hater and I wrinkle my nose at houndstooth when those teams are playing Kentucky, but on BCS Championship night, I'm always rooting for the eventual champions (because you know the champions come from the SEC!).

Sports is my thing. I've always been the girl who likes sports, and I take way too much pride in the fact that I can talk sports with "the guys". More importantly, though, football and sports are a way that I mark time. I'll remember, fondly, the moments mentioned above, and I can't wait for another season of memorable moments to be made.





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"gardening", "guest posts", "kentucky natives", "kentucky places", "plants", "retta ritchie-holbrook" Guest User "gardening", "guest posts", "kentucky natives", "kentucky places", "plants", "retta ritchie-holbrook" Guest User

Native Plants for Beginners - A HerKentucky Guest Post

Today, local garden enthusiast Retta Ritchie-Holbrook shares with us her efforts to fill her garden with native Kentucky plant species. Be sure to check out her fabulous list of resources, as well. Maybe my black thumb isn't so black after all! Maybe I just need to choose more native plants!

wild-columbine-native-plant-kentucky
One of the flowers from my friend - Wild Columbine
My first true foray into gardening began when I bought a house and decided I wanted to make the landscape more appealing. My mother is an avid gardener and grows the most beautiful flowers. I guess you can say the desire to grow things runs in the family. The only problem was I didn’t seem to be very good at it. I would buy an array of bright, colorful plants only to watch them die. Sometimes, I would get lucky, and the plants would live for a few years until they became diseased, got pests or we would have a drought and I would miss watering them a few times because I was traveling for work. I would then have to yank them out and replace them. Gardening seemed like a lot of work and I simply didn’t have the time for it.

This process went on for a few years until a friend brought me some plants from her own garden and told me they were Kentucky native plants. I had not heard of native gardening at that time but those plants thrived and are still in my garden today. This encouraged me to learn more about native plants.

Native gardening or native landscaping is what its name implies: growing plants that are native to your area. I slowly started replacing my less hardy flowers with mostly native plants. They did so well that I began adding more and more flowerbeds with native plants and I’m currently in the process now of turning my backyard into mostly flowers and plants and less turf.
butterfly-weed-purple-coneflowers-celadine-poppy-rattlesnake-plant
In my garden, left to right: a.) Butterfly Weed & Purple Coneflowers b.) Celadine Poppy (Good in Shade) c.) Rattlesnake Plant

Some benefits of native plants:

  • They require less fertilizers and fewer pesticides.
  • They require less water and often do better through droughts and other extreme types of weather.
  • They provide shelter and food for wildlife. This also helps to manage the pests since wildlife feed on the pests, eliminating or greatly reducing the need for chemical pest control. I personally have not used pesticides for years.
  • They are usually not invasive because they are a balanced part of the ecosystem and have natural predators.
  • Native plants are beautiful, hardy and come in a wide variety of options. I recently added some native bushes, such as the spice bush, to encourage butterflies to breed there.

kentucky-native-plant-bed
One of my flowerbeds doing well even after the early summer drought.

Because native plants are adapted to the local environment, they are easier to grow and create ecosystems for birds, pollinators and other beneficial critters. Now my yard is alive with butterflies, birds and more. I looked out the window just the other day to see a gold finch eating seeds out of the coneflower heads. I’ve seen several new species of birds and butterflies just this year alone that I had never seen in my yard before and I love it.
lady-bug-larva-eastern-tiger-swallowtail

Left to right: a.) Lady Bug larva b.) Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

 

Just a few of my favorite plants (Many of these have several varieties to choose from):



Places to visit for inspiration:



Online Resources for Native Plant Species:





Where to buy native species:



Native Plant Societies:



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