Eve of the Eve

I borrowed the title from a note from stepdaughter Linda; I think it's a nice name for Dec. 23. But I'm feeling pretty blue today. It's just me and Stan for Christmas, no other family here. Even Stan said yesterday, "I was just thinking it was a lot more fun when Jane and Dan were here." Now they're in Omaha, Elise, Kyrin & Pedro are up from Tampa and visiting his folks in Oswego (we'll visit them Dec. 26, weather permitting), Linda & Art are in Heber City, and Lana is in Austin, TX. Such a spread-out family sounds impressive--and it really is--but it's not as much fun on traditional family holidays. Since they are so far apart we'll only see them together at chance occurrences like weddings, or god forbid, funerals. So on other holidays we all travel as much as we can afford to. And I know that statistically there's apparently more people who visit relatives at Thanksgiving, I can get along alone with Stan on that holiday. This is the one that's harder. Maybe next year Stan will consider going to one of their houses for Christmas .....

Meanwhile, the weather is as gray as my mood. It's 43 degrees in Plattsburgh and our icicles, which were pretty impressive, are mostly melted. That's a good thing (in Martha-speak). Stan was up on the roof all afternoon yesterday shoveling off the snow. Nearly killed himself, the over-zealous idiot. But we do know that when the rain comes tonight it won't add weight to the roof because the snow is gone from it. That's Stan sometimes, safe but stupid. He keeps forgetting he's not 35 anymore!

Well, I did my treadmill like a good girl. Now I'm off to the showers. And maybe I'll make another batch of Spritz cookies, my favorites.

A Blue, er, make that Green-Ribbon Day

I did wrap gifts at the mall today. I arrived at 2:00 and there were two young lovelies working hard--just past college-age. (I asked later if they were students. Oh, NO, the one said. She'd graduated in 2004.) They were sisters. They stayed for about another hour and I was very grateful. The more assertive sister didn't quite want to leave the post to an oldie (that would be me), but the younger was ready to go so she just kind of hung around waiting for her sister. Like I said, I really was grateful for the help. Business was VERY steady! A couple had left about 8 gifts, ranging from a Scooby-Doo lunch box (no box around it) to a dinosaur in a sort of cardboard tray--you know, the kind that hangs on a rod in the store: has a back and bottom but no sides, front or top. Read VERY challenging to wrap! The sisters left me that pile to work on while the one handled the walk-ups. However, I did take one. He had only 2 things and brought his own boxes; well, they were Victoria's Secret boxes (nice boxes!). One was a very nice jog set and the other was a selection of 5 thong underwear. He was about my age. (Boy, I'd like to be the size that could feel attractive in a thong.) But the most challenging came later, a lovely older English woman who had bought gifts for grandsons. The hardest was an ice-fishing rod ... WITH reel attached. I KNEW all my Martha genes would pay off sooner or later! I got it wrapped and pretty attractively, too, I might add. Obviously I had fun.

But that was my second fun for the day. I bought myself a new toy yesterday.


Yup, they're snowshoes. I was just back from my first walk with them. There's about 10" powder to plow through in our back 40 and it was FUN. The dog of COURSE had to lead the way. I don't know how she can even walk for the rest of the day. This is how deep she was in, breaking trail for me!


As you can see, she's up to her chest. Boy it was tough going for a bit. Of course, the trail home was much easier because I was just pounding down what we'd opened up on the way to the dam. Whatever those muscles are on the outside of your hip joints were letting me know I should learn their names! Just sitting here now (10:00 p.m.) my fanny tells me it worked today.

But I remembered to take the camera so I got some nice pics. NYSEG had some crew working on the dam in the fall. Unfortunately they didn't get finished before winter hit. I wonder where they thought they were working that they could begin a rebuild on a dam in about October.....



Anyway, I think you can see rebar sticking out of the dam through the snow. (Faint dark horizontal lines at about 10:00 in the picture.) The crew didn't work for a few days while it rained, leaving their materials where they were, and then we got snap hard hard freezes for several nights. So much for their stuff. I wonder in the spring what will survive--the water pours over that dam with enormous power. In the inimitable words of daughter Jane, Oh well.

And I have to include a shot of my favorite photo subject at the dam, the tree that sits just opposite where I stand to take pictures. I love it in most seasons because it sits so nicely above all that ledgerock, and it has the chutzpah to keep growing!


Then Hollydog and I walked along the penstock and I took my "artsy-f_rtsy" shots. The little isolated weeds that managed to stay above the snow, even though their stems are only about 1/8" in diameter, never cease to amaze me.



Sturdy little buggers, eh? I'm always impressed at their hardiness, their determination NOT to be done in by something as inconsequential as 18" of snow. (That 10" powder I mentioned above is only the top layer.)

So it was a good day today. Stan came to the mall to treat me to a soda after my draining stint wrapping and we had a nice dinner of spaghetti (whole wheat, of course) and baby veggies. I'll be out snowshoe-ing again tomorrow. What fun.

The "Big Storm"

So we got the "big storm" over the weekend. Really, it wasn't as devastating as the forecast seemed to be. We got about 12 inches of snow--measured before and after with a yardstick on our patio table, which is not overshadowed by trees and is a pretty good fall-where-it-lies location for measuring. However, I didn't measure last night because I would have had to wade through about a foot of snow just to walk out to the table, so Stan measured this morning. Meanwhile the wind had picked up considerably and I'd guess we lost 1-2 inches to that. The excitement around here is that Peru, NY, made the national news because it got 18 inches, apparently a big deal (to everyone else) in this nor'easter. So while it's a bit blurry, here's what the pretty front yard tree looks like--note that the snow is right up to and a little over the bottom branches as compared to the earlier shot.


Tonight it's very cold, expected to be around 0 in Plattsburgh and you can usually minus 5-10 degrees from that at our (very modest) elevation. Just say cold. I'm sentenced to my treadmill: I don't go walking when it's below 10, especially if there's a wind.

I'm going to staff the Christmas Bureau's wrapping station at the mall on Wednesday, and I'm actually pretty excited about that. I love to wrap presents and will do the best I can. I don't plan to be Martha-y at this, just do the job. But I really do love to wrap so this will be fun. And I think I'm pretty good at gently asking people to pay for the service. I'll try to remember to post my results.

I'm revving up to do my workshop in Philly in January. This is one I'm really looking forward to. It's more creative than most, with me doing a "bad teacher/good teacher" and "bad presenter/good presenter" (to faculty) acting job and juggling questions/attitudes from my audience. This should be a lot of fun. REALLY fun. I've not done improv like this before and it's something I can add to my brochure if it's successful.

I hid the rest of the cookies I baked last week; Stan was going through them at a rate that meant none for Christmas. I did Spritz, Pecan Fingers and Peanut Blossoms. I like the first two and can definitely live w/o the peanut-butter ones. I'll bring them out Christmas Eve and hope they last till New Year's!

Butter? What butter?

PiLady is right, when you cook heavy cream the butter rises to the top. I know this because I've beaten whipping cream a second or two too long and it turns into butter before your very eyes. Amazing.

That dessert must be one that was eaten after a delightful and sense-ational meal of lutefisk and lefse. Lefse I like, or at least I never minded it. I never took the chance on lutefisk; fish jello does not pique my senses!

I'm starting to get into the holiday mood, earlier this year than last. That's probably because the weather is a lot more wintry this year. I think I remember Christmas being "unseasonably warm" last year. That isn't the case now, with temps in the 20s for the last week and week ahead. Not too much snow; just enough to look passably good. Here's our front yard at night.


(It's blurry because I used no flash resulting in a slow shutter.) We also have a spiral lighted "tree" in green that we have inside our porch. It looks pretty nice from the street. And I'm beginning to get out my snowmen. It's fun because I rarely put them where they were last year ... except for the big ones that mostly go on top of the TV.

Speaking of TVs I should mention that Stan & I have joined the LCD flat screen generation. Ours is a small but completely satisfactory 26" screen; we looked at a 32" but decided we didn't need anything that big. I watch TV pretty much every night but we're not devoted to it. It's cool except that I won't pay my cable company ANOTHER $10.00 for HD channels. So we spent an extra $60 and have rabbit ears to pick up the local HDs. All 3 major networks are available and so is PBS. So it's pretty neat.

I baked cookies all day and packed them to send to daughters & step-daughters. That was really fun. But I'm tired so I'm going to go watch said TV and I'll try to write again soon.

So glad I'm not Norwegian

I was looking in my 1979 You Asked for It cookbook (from St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Austin, MN) for a potato-leek soup recipe. I found it eventually in my companion cookbook, More Cooking from Minnesota, but that's not the point of beginning this blog. While paging through the St. Olaf cookbook, I came across a dessert that made me glad I'm not Norwegian, because if I were and I ate stuff like this, I'd have died of cholesterol-clogged arteries causing heart failure at a very early age. Listen to this:

This dish is called Romegrot (umlauts over both Os).

1 quart (QUART!!!) whipping cream
3/4 cup flour
1 quart milk, boiled
Salt, brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins

Boil cream 15 minutes. Add flour slowly, stirring constantly. Keep stirring and keep pouring of BUTTER; save butter. Add boiled milk. Let simmer until thick. Add salt. Put into a serving dish. Pour butter over; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon. Dot with raisins which have been soaked in water.

This was contributed by 3 women; apparently they all submitted the same recipe. Why do I think they're probably all among the departed roughly 30 yrs. later?

I just had to share that recipe. What a hoot. It doesn't even have any sugar! Boiled milk with butter & raisins. Yum.

Nothing else to say right now. I think I'll go get some raisins, just plain, without milk and butter thankyouverymuch.

End of November

Not a lot is new around here. I'm adjusting still to being completely retired. I'm so used to measuring my daily worth by what I've produced--and usually that's a mental production that may or may not be tangible in other ways--that I'm not sure what I'm worth when I don't do something mentally productive. I'm sewing some and doing x-stitch, and I need to get my January workshop all set up. That'll take a few days. But I am steadfastly avoiding sitting down every day and writing, which is what I need to do if I intend to really write something.

At least I haven't become a compulsive cleaner! I did vacuum yesterday but that was sparked by the fact that Susie the Cat had gacked on the white-with-colors Berber carpet. So I'm not feeling overly OCD.

I would love to do A LOT of cooking but the problem is that we'll just eat it. And I'm doing okay maintaining my weight by walking 2.5 mi. almost every day; I can eat pretty much whatever I want this way. I don't plan on losing the 15 lbs. I should lose: I don't look fat (when I remember to suck in my stomach) and I feel good. But if I do cook a lot, even with everything from Cooking Light, I know I'll gain. So I make oatmeal-raisin cookies (yesterday), good for fiber and iron, and let Stan eat most of them. At his age it won't hurt him.


Well, I am going to go cook now. It's turkey noodle soup from the Thanksgiving turkey. It's a meal that Stan & I both love.

This is about how I feel today: anchored but at the same time, not going anywhere.

Later.

New name for old ... just oldsters

We learned a new name for the leaf-peepers while we were on our Cape Breton trip: swivelheads. I like it a lot--makes me think of bobbleheads, but I'll state that almost ALL swivelheads have gray/graying/dyed hair!

Visit to Cape Breton -- LONG post!

Ciad Mille Failte! (One hundred thousand welcomes, in Gaelic. Pronounced Key-ad Mill Fal-chou)

Stan & I drove to Nova Scotia at the beginning of October. It's a heckuva drive; GoogleMaps says 963 miles one way.


View Larger Map

It took us 2 days and we had the dog along. THAT was ... interesting! The drive is all through moose territory; my eyes were tired at the end of the day. (Note: A moose's eyes don't reflect; makes them doubly dangerous in/near a road at night.)

One of the places we drive through on our way through VT, NH, ME, N.B. and mainland N.S., is Marshfield, VT. If I remember right, this is the sister city to Marshfield, WI.



I think my sister Siara had a friend who visited the VT town. What Stan & I found there was the Rainbow Sweets Bakery & Cafe, a place started by what were probably a couple of Woodstockies who had hung around New England after the event (Woodstock was in NY, which is NOT a part of New England). The food was outstanding but so were the prices. A brunch, which did include my first brioche, came to $39. Needless to say, we didn't eat a big meal even at dinner that day! But that man can really make pastries. Yum.

The trip took the place of Stan’s annual trek with his fishing partner Jerry, who had to spend time in L.A. awaiting/celebrating the birth of his granddaughter. This would have been Stan & Jerry’s 20th consecutive year of fishing Cape Breton rivers for Atlantic salmon, and Stan was mightily disappointed that Jerry had to cancel. Stan looked into going it alone but decided it would be too expensive. So, not that it saved him/us any money (!), I volunteered to go along, since we’d talked about going in the summer but never got around to it. I hadn’t been since 2000 when Jerry & wife Sally and Stan “took me around” Cape Breton. Jerry & Sally bought a house on Cape Breton that year and that’s the house Stan & I stayed in this month.



It was like being at camp for a couple of weeks. (This is “camp” as it’s meant in New York, a word used in place of cottage or cabin.) There was running water and a flush toilet, an electric stove and lights, TV but no picture, a decent boombox-style CD player/tuner, and a kerosene heater. The mornings definitely required the heater, even though the temps had been around 20-21° C (that’s 70s to us F users) when we arrived. In October!!! But things got seasonal quickly. When we arrived it was still pretty green, a few trees having turned. Here's the view from the porch (using a bit of a zoom).



While we were there the color arrived. Wow. I took this shot from the driveway, which climbs about a 35° angle (no joke) with a switchback.



I spent two weeks—11 days actually—on Cape Breton in October and never once saw a moose. Stan had said that was impossible but when we got back I told him I’m going to market myself in N.S. as moose repellant. I think I’d get hired! Jerry & Sally had sent us photos of a bull moose walking outside the kitchen window and I never saw one. They also said they had a black bear visit the yard; I never saw one of those either. I did see eagles while sitting on the front porch, and spruce grouse—endangered species in the U.S.—in the back yard. No good photos of those, all too far away.

The people are what make the Cape Breton trip so special. Carmel & Davey are a couple with whom Stan & Jerry stayed on their visits until Jerry got the house. They’re a terrific “Caper” couple: Irish as a shamrock and tough, tough, tough. I just realized I should’ve taken a picture of them; they’re such big players in Stan’s trips. And then there’s a couple new to me: Allen & Suzi Moore. He’s an architect, mostly retired, and she’s retired from building custom cabinets to training bird dogs. This links to one of Allen's most recent designs--click on the Slideshow. He designed (in the 70s?) the Church Street Mall in Burlington, VT, a place I'm pretty familiar with! They also have a home on Cape Breton, talked about a little bit in this article in Forbes. Other homes are Miramichi, N.B., the Bahamas, and home base is Newburyport, MA. During dinner Allen told me about a house called "Seven Doors" that he designed for a famous mathematician friend; the friend wound up marrying Allen's ex-wife who then had to live in the house she'd watched being built. (She didn't like the house--no bathroom in the crow's nest master bedroom!) Doing some librarian sleuthing based on clues from our conversation, I believe this is the house.

Anyway, they were terrific people, as were the others I met at the Margaree Salmon Association Annual Dinner. That was a bit of a tightwire walk for me: I kept hearing, "At last we get to meet the wife!" I wasn't sure just what size shoes I was expected to fill so I was a little restrained. (No, really!) Anyway, the dinner featured a seemingly endless fund-raising auction after and I'm very glad we stayed to the end because I bought the LAST item: a beautiful cutting board made by an old guy in Margaree Harbour who has no one to continue his work so I know this will be even more a treasure in the future. It is really gorgeous (the martini is there for scale ;-)).



I should talk a LITTLE about the reason we were actually there. The Margaree River on Cape Breton (includes the Northeast Margaree and of course, the Southeast Margaree) is a world-renowned Atlantic salmon river. It flows into the Gulf of St. Lawrence at Margaree Harbour. (I think.) The towns around the river are named like some in Massachusetts--Newton, Newton Falls, Upper Newton, Lower Newton--you get the picture. On Cape Breton it's Margaree Valley, Margaree Forks, Margaree Centre, Northeast Margaree, East Margaree, Upper Margaree. I think that's all! And they're all tiny, tiny towns that are really collections of homes within an undefined circumference as far as I can tell. It's a hard place to make a living but the people are resilient. They lumber and lobster and do 'most everything in between. You can see Cape Islanders like this one all over the island. It's most fun to watch them taking in the lobster pots--with lobsters in, of course--but we didn't see that this time. The last time I was there I was told that permission to lobster rotates in sections around the island so maybe it wasn't my section's time. And I only got to eat lobster once. But it and the mussels were absolutely grand.

Back to fishing. Right. A friend came up while we were there and Stan played guide for him for awhile. He'd never salmon fished here although he & his wife had been here twice (she's my friend, Lorna). I think they both had a good time but I don't think any/many fish were caught. Once our friend left Stan fished on his own and did get a very large rainbow trout and the next day his one salmon. He was moderately happy--years ago there were many more fish to be had. But getting one this year beats last year's catch. And of course it's absolutely ALL catch-and-release here to keep the fishery going.

While Stan fished, I spent much time doing cross-stitch and reading. I walked a little but with moose on the loose I didn't do a lot. It's their mating season and I really, really didn't want to see one up close. Out the window, okay, but not face to face on a lonely dirt road with no weapon except my camera. The bulls are VERY aggressive around now and tales abound of things smashed and kicked by marauding moose. So the dog and I walked a little. I did spend a day in Cape Breton's "Lake Placid" town, Baddeck. It's VERY small and I think charming, again because of the people. The Celtic Colours celebration was in progress while we were on the island but Baddeck had nothing during the days we were there except for a very small art/quilt show. Nice work but nothing that I liked well enough to buy.

So I Christmas shopped in the small stores and galleries and got things I'm VERY happy with. This articulated fish



is my absolute favorite purchase. I especially like the slightly sad look on its face. If you hold it by pinching its lower lip and get it level, it "swims" all on its own. Too neat for words, and beautiful workmanship to boot.

All in all a wonderful trip. Beautiful place on the planet. Next time I told Stan I need a vehicle at my disposal and I'll do the Cabot Trail again (Jerry calls it the Cabbage Trail) like a regular tourist. But a five-star place to go for any and all.

Slán go fóill. (Good-bye for now; shlahn goh foihll)

Been awhile....

I haven't posted in almost a month?? Well, not like I lead an exciting life, so you haven't missed anything.

It's leaf-peeper season around here as I'm sure it is in many other places. It really is pretty to walk these days, though. Lots of color. But I don't like what it means. I dread winter, and then it's never as bad as I think it's going to be. At this time of year, with winter coming on, I'm all for global warming. (NOT.) I heard and saw my first flock of geese yesterday, and as late as they are, wouldn't you know they were heading west and not south? It looked like they were following the Saranac River, but as you follow it west you get into the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks. I hope someone spoke to their slightly misguided leader! I do love the sound and sight of those flights.

And it's apple season here too. I bought a new type of apple, maybe not new to you but it was to me. It's an early ripener, either Golden Ginger or Ginger Gold. GREAT eating apples. I'll wait with the Macintoshes until after we get back from Nova Scotia.

Ah, yes, Nova Scotia. I'll post about that when we get back. This trip is a aberration of one that Stan has been taking for 19 years. This, the 20th, would have been a bust since his fishing partner has to go to L.A. for the arrival of a grandchild. ("Has to" is important in that sentence.) So Stan was trying to figure out how to go alone and I offered to go along. I'm not going as a fishing partner, believe me, but rather as a spouse. (I'm way better at that role than the other!) We'll leave on Oct.4 and leave Cape Breton about 10 days later. It's the time of year for an island-wide celebration of all things Scottish and Cape-Bretonish so I should be able to go to art fairs and music performances. The concerts are all sold out, but the wander-in kind of stuff seems to be accessible. While Stan is wading in the rivers, I'll wade in the culture. That should be fun. We're taking the dog along and that should be an adventure in itself. I'm pretty sure I'll take her harness-leash. It keeps her from pulling while we walk and I'll need it because I can't trust her off a leash with bear and in-rut moose everywhere there. I'm told to pack for 90-degree days and 30-degree nights, as well as some temps in between. A challenge for this fashionista. I'll supply pictures, for sure.

All for now. My big excitement this week is going to FL to babysit Kyrin, who apparently now has four teeth and is about ready to crawl. I cannot wait to see her, and oh yes, her parents too.

"The Body"

Yesterday I went to the Montreal Science Center to see the "Bodyworlds 2" exhibit. It's one that shows a number of real human bodies (dead, of course!) that have had their skin removed so you can see all the stuff you usually only see in a biology course or if you watch "Operation" (if that's even on anymore). The bodies have been "plastinated," a patented process by which the body is actually turned into a plastic-like substance, looking sort of like those models of the body from that biology course. It was amazingly impressive. There must have been a dozen or more whole bodies and then a whole lot of body parts on display. AMAZING. My Best of Show piece was the circulation system in the hand and arm. That's all. No skin, nerves, bones, muscles. Just the whole venous/arterial system from just below the elbow to the fingertips, suspended in a clear liquid and lit from below (or above?). Beautiful, simply or rather, complexly (if there is such a word) stunning. If it hasn't already passed through your nearest metropolis and it comes there, GO TO IT. I was so glad I had. Here's the link to the Science Center's info on it: http://www.centredessciencesdemontreal.com/BW2/en/index.html. (It looks like I can't put a live link here, probably because of copyright and patent limitations.)

I don't think I could say the word amazing too often to describe it. As for the controversy that the exhibit apparently engendered in some of the cities it visited, with conservatives arguing that it disrespected the body, I can say with absolute certainty that I came out if the exhibit with more respect than ever for the beauty and complexity of the human. Period.

Wow.

Mid-August and not much happenin'

It's pretty quiet around here these days. I don't have too many projects on any burners so I'm doing little stuff, deciding what my cold-weather projects will be. The first one is to catalog Stan's fishing books. And then to maybe begin on his fiction, but I'd love to weed that collection! He thinks weeding is a sin. We shall see.

I am working on making a pillow out of my very first piece of needlepoint. It's a monarch butterfly that has hung on a wall for 30 years or more. I needed the wall space and decided to make it into the pillow it was intended to be. I've had to do several partial steps twice so I'm taking my time. I'll post a picture here when I've finished--it should be pretty and it'll go very well in my living room.

Wow. I have NPR's All Things Considered on right now and it just reported that Antioch College in Ohio is closing, terminating all faculty & staff by fall 2008. The best man at my first wedding is a grad of Antioch. It's hard to picture a whole college just going away. I remember when a late college--just buildings and grounds by that time--was sold in Iowa. I think it had been Parson's College and I know for sure it became Maharishi International University, home of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. I can't remember if I was still in Iowa or had just moved to NY when it built its levitation dome. Far out, right?

I'm trying to gear myself up to start writing ... anything. I can't have writer's block because I'm not yet a writer, but I'm a little fearful of not liking what I'll do. So I'm using my usual and highly developed avoidance behavior technique. If I write here I don't have to try fiction. Hmmmmm. Maybe I should try fiction here and it won't be so scary. I'll now have to take a little time to think about that!

The Outfit with Kyrin in It

Just to complete the picture of the outfit in the last post, here's Kyrin IN it:

End of July

Boy is July going out well. It's about a month late but we're getting July weather as we move into August. Tomorrow Stan & I are going to Parc Safari in Hemingford, Quebec, about 30 miles from here. He's never been there & I haven't been since the mid-'80s so it should be interesting. Parc Safari is an amusement park on the order of Busch Gardens, of course nowhere near as big, but a zoo and water park and rides, etc. Stan didn't even balk at the $35 Can. ticket price! It should be fun.

Last week we went to Malone, NY and then to lovely Bombay, NY to fabric shop and to take Stan's antique clock in for repair. It's really criminal that I have to travel 50 miles to go to a fabric store. JoAnn Fabrics closed here last summer--the company is only keeping superstore open, I think was the reason given. That leaves me with WalMart and don't even get me started on that. But the trip is a lovely one, up past Chazy Lake, through Chateauguay, NY, almost to Canada. The clock man is very close to the casino run by the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, and since we have to go back to pick up the clock I'm going to see about Stan driving the extra mile, literally, to the casino. We went once before and were both underwhelmed since neither of us is really a gambler. But I'd do it again just to do it!

Mr. Emery, the clock repairman, reminded me of a ditzy version of Stan, only he works on clocks instead of antique fishing rods. We actually picked out a "new" clock, an antique for the fireplace mantel, only to get home and discover that because of the way the infinitely UNwise builder of this house did the wall above the mantel, it's only 3" deep. No clock there. So we called and said we couldn't buy that clock but we're going to look at hanging clocks instead.

And as for the fabric shopping, it was definitely successful. One result is a new outfit for Kyrin that's the picture at the top of this post.

Color My Garden

I guess the title should be Color IN My Garden but I just like the looks of the title the way it is. I took a few pictures just now because so many things are flowering. The problem is that the garden is kind of big and the flowers aren't in clumps like they are in magazines. So this is the best I could do. But I think it's very nice. So here it is from the front.


And here's a shot where I tried to catch some of the color.



And this last one is a pretty nice one of the way I covered up the old well.


I still haven't remembered to check to see if the the gazing globe's swirls do really glow at dusk!

This is my garden in early July. Things are blooming but it's hard to capture how nice it really looks. The big pot is a new addition--found in the basement, moved out to this house from my old house and forgotten. Now it's a perfect cover for the defunct well and a great place for a gazing globe. I'll be out to get a new photo tomorrow, probably between thunderstorms. Weather right now is more like August: very cool nights and days that aren't as hot as August but not as hot as they should be in July either. And WE certainly aren't suffering drought conditions!

Starla, the ex-librarian?

So I just sent an e-mail to the woman who manages the information research course for which I wrote the textbook. I told her I won't be teaching in Fall semester (I had thought about it hard) and I probably won't teach in Spring semester either, although that's a bit more open. I actually said I'm ready to be finished with being a librarian. And while that was 1/2 my identity for a very long time (the other 1/2 was mom with the third 1/2 being wife) I may be ready to let it go. I sent my beautiful leather briefcase and datebook/wallet/phone & address book/instant note-keeper to my sister Allison, who can use them far more than I. They're in the mail as I write--mailed Saturday--so a very visible part of the librarian is gone.

I have, not illogically, mixed feelings about this step. Most of us in the U.S. have our jobs as a huge part of our interior identities, so consciously, intentionally walking away from that is a major shock to many internal systems. I'm working hard at remembering to take each day as a new one. I have no plans right now for anything, except that Stan mentioned that he wants to go to Parc Safari maybe this week. That's a pretty neat zoo/amusement park attraction just over the border in Canada. (Looks like I'm into //s today!) I haven't been there since I took the girls and my sister Siara and her family there in ... ... 1990? 1988? Who knows! I just looked at the Web site and discovered that it costs $35/person. Since the Canadian dollar is so close to the U.S. dollar right now maybe we won't go! I'll let Stan decide that one.

Back to the idea of being fully retired. Writing this right now is actually a demonstration of the whole retired thing: I have a couple of things to do but if I feel like writing in my blog, that's what I can do. Hmmm. Will I stay unemployed? Well, I did run into the college Provost's wife working at the closure of JoAnn's Fabric's and she said she works through a temp agency whenever she feels like it. I figure if the Provost's wife can do it, I could. We shall see.

All the heavy thinking I want to do at the moment. Just to assuage my German conscience I'd better do the housework chore I assigned myself for today.

Later.

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th to everyone. It's raining here and I hope it keeps up for several more hours; we really need it. (I've never been able to figure out why the earth can't store extra water for times when it's needed. That would have been a sensible evolutionary move in my view!) Anyway, my garden would appreciate about a 4-hour soft rain. I doubt we'll get that but all is appreciated.

The rain does put a dent in many Fourth of July celebrations--the type with fireworks, at least. Here, the mayor of lovely Pburgh decided to save money by moving the fireworks to Friday, the 6th. That way it's part of the sailboat race "Mayor's Cup" celebration and there's no need for a 2d fireworks display. So for us the rain is really not a problem. I sympathize for those whose fireworks will be rained out though.

I'm actually doing this post because my youngest sister, Siara, took one of the best photos of me that I've seen in a long time. It was at Jane's wedding so I'm all dressed up, wearing make-up and everything. Well, at least eye make-up and lipstick, which is all I ever wear. Anyway, I really like the photo. Here it is.

Summer's Here
Flowers from My Garden
June 29

A Gift from Elise

I got my gift for all seasons today--Mother's Day, birthday, Christmas, next Mother's Day, ... ! Elise had a puzzle of my very own made for me, from Stave Puzzles. Their puzzles are something I'd read about some time ago: handcrafted, unique, wooden, highest quality both in workmanship and ingenuity. Amazing. And now I have my own. It has pieces that spell my name, and spell Grammy, and include a silhouette of a woman carrying books (librarian), gardening tools and flowers, birds and other wildlife. I can't even name all the special-to-my-own-puzzle pieces there are; I'll have to take them all out and look at them carefully. The pieces look like they're laser-cut, or else the company uses the finest bandsaw on earth. So terrific. Go to their Web site at StavePuzzles.com for more info.

What a fabulous gift! Thank you sooooo much, Elise! If it doesn't make me totally nuts (no picture accompanies the puzzle and it may include false edge pieces, etc.) I'll take a picture when it's finished ... in a few years!

Car Show ... and More

Not a lot is going on around here. My biggest task at the moment is adjusting to being fully retired. This means I'm finished with my textbook revision and I have no presentations, workshops or courses/classes to deal with. I'm pretty sure I'm going to say no to teaching in Fall '07 semester, too. But I haven't absolutely decided on that yet.

I'm getting back into reading for the visually impaired. I'm a novel-reader and am currently working on putting Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow on "tape." I actually record at the local PBS station where the Center for Independence has a tiny studio. Volunteers go in and read the local paper live there, and others read from magazines, and I and a few others read novels that are serialized. The Readers Radio station (I don't know if that's the official name) broadcasts on very low frequency, I believe, and listeners are those who've self-identified w/the Center to get receivers for the station. (I think.) Anyway, there's not a problem w/copyright because of the fact it's a limited audience, so I can read novels of my choosing. So far I've done Bel Canto by Ann Patchett, and now Turow's book; obviously I'm new at this. I went to record today after a break of about 6 weeks. I'll do a LOT of editing of this tape! And that's something else I do: I take the 30-min. digital tapes I record and make them into 55-min. sessions with an opening synopsis and a break for station ID. That's actually the toughest part; the reading is a breeze. (Well, usually. Today was definitely an exception.)

So other than that I'm trying to learn how to be more receptive to the idea that time has little meaning in my life anymore. (That may not be permanent!) I spent about a half hour watching/listening to barbershop tapes on YouTube today after my brother, a SPEBSSQUA member, mentioned one group. And I had to tell myself that it wasn't time "wasted." It was simply something I was interested in and I pursued it. Neat. And I don't feel guilty, although I had to convince myself of that while I was doing it!

The weekend was fun. Stan was in a car show.


He showed his Audi TT, a very cool car that I love to ride in and love, even more, to drive. I don't get a lot of chances--it IS his toy. But he came in 2d (4 entries) in his class--Foreign Sports Cars--and that was not too shabby (only 2 prizes awarded in that class). So here he is with the trophy.


It might not be too obvious but he was pretty pleased with the outcome. He loves detailing cars and mine is on his agenda. Cheaper than the commercial guys. And waaaay better.

My darling Kyrin is growing and doing very cute stuff. I am so in love with that video of her rattling newspaper. I watch it all the time. While I'd love to be near, I know that her mom & I need some miles, although I'm absolutely dedicated to trying NOT to steer my daughters' lives. My mom was a great role model for that. I know I could live in the same town and not intrude. Since I come from a family that was definitely not "extended," i.e., no relatives within hollering distance--or even easy driving distance in the 50s and 60s--I learned to exist with my mom close by phone any time and for any reason but far way in distance. I think my mom & dad were pioneers in that, in moving away from their nuclear families. It doesn't sound like much, but my mom was from Milwaukee, WI, and my dad from a small town near Green Bay--worlds apart at the time. And then when they chose to leave BOTH their cities of birth, well, the world ended for some relatives, I'm sure. And I'm a product of that, producing children who know no different.

This is all to say that I had an idea in my head of my mom approving or disapproving all my life and I hope my daughters don't have that as well. Their lives are their lives and my opinion means @#$%. Elise & Jane are truly strong women of whom I am VERY proud. I think I could live in the next block and would work my fanny off to not intrude.

So on that militant note,
Good night.

Heavy Sigh

So my garden is really coming along this year. It had better seeing as how I've replaced almost all the soil in it. Anyway, I finally bought a gazing globe to go in it. I got it without the stand because I wanted a particular kind of globe and I had to order it, figuring I could get a stand anywhere. The globe has crystals swirled around the inside and they collect sunlight and glow for a few hours at dusk. I ordered it from Target, it came very quickly and we went today to find a stand.

The original plan was to put it in the middle of a giant terracotta plant pot (+/- 2' diameter--used to have a ficus in my house on Cornelia St.) and surround it w/petunias (deep purple). No one in Pburgh had the type of stand needed--big surprise--so we came home. Stan had said for me to take the globe along to make sure it would fit any stand I found (I would have left it at home). And on the way in the back door when we returned (w/o a stand), the globe hit the door frame and shattered.

So I just ordered another one. And a stand.

Heavy sigh.

The Book is Finished

I finished revising my textbook today. I've been working at it for so long that I'm in a bit of a mind fog, not feeling absolutely sure that I'm finished. The bloody copyright permissions were the worst part, as usual. But if I don't do them the publisher charges for the service. When I do the requests I just send an e-mail, nothing terrifically official and I've got fast positive responses almost all the time. So I'm finished writing and thinking, at least for awhile.

This is really the beginning of my true retirement. Up till now I've had contracts to do projects at the library and I've taught as an adjunct. I still haven't decided about teaching in the Fall semester; I'll have to know darned soon, I'm sure. I wish I had a better feel for what Stan & I might do in the fall--visiting, I mean. Or maybe he & I will go to Nova Scotia, rather than he & his fishing partner Jerry. THAT would be nice. Maybe I'll suggest that. Jerry & his wife Sally are on their way there right now; it's about 15-17 hrs of driving and they're going to stay for 3 weeks. They bought a house on 100 acres to retire to. Retire TO Nova Scotia from northern New York? I think no one has told them about the direction you move when you retire, i.e., SOUTH. Originally their plan was to winter in NY and summer in NS. It's the wintering in NY that seems a bit odd to me. But I'm not them. And with Stan getting cold easier as he gets older, I don't foresee that in MY future!


So I've thought about Jane & Dan's wedding and have decided that I really do have perfect daughters. I dropped them an e-mail to tell them so yesterday. (I could have used some of that from my mom from time to time.) Anyway, I had a great time in the Midwest, where the wedding was held. We stayed in the Hilton and it was a VERY nice hotel. Since Stan spent a lot of time on his own while I was with the girls it turned out to be a very nice place to just kick back. He befriended almost everyone who came out to the patio where he sat smoking his pipe. Actually the whole time there was so nice that I don't even have any funny stories to tell. Sounds pretty bland, doesn't it? But we just had a great time. Thanks, Jane!

And I got to spend a ton of time with Kyrin. What a joy. She is such a terrific little girl. Go to the Pi Lady's blog to see the cutest video.

Gotta run. I want to check out "Starter Wives" on tv. I've seen one episode and thought it had potential....

Just a quickie.

I saw an article in the NYTimes today that talks about the decrease in the number of "meadow birds" like bobwhite, meadow larks, etc. and it reminded me of the other night when I heard my first whip-poor-will. It actually sings repeatedly "whip poor will." I never really knew that and it was pretty cool. Stan said there hasn't been one around here for 20 years or more. I guess there IS a reason I live here (easily said when it's 68 with a high of 81 predicted!).

Maybe I should change my name to Marlin--oops, make that Starlin Perkins?
Still just
Starla

The Wedding

My younger daughter Jane was married in a beautiful ceremony last week. They chose to hold the wedding in the Joslyn Art Museum and it was a terrific choice. I think I have to let this ride for awhile to get a little perspective before I write about it. But here are two photos from it that I really like.



And this one is Dan seeing his bride up close. Could he look any happier?



Here's a link to a few other photos.

WT-Day Minus 7.5

That's Wedding-Travel day, for the uninformed, and we'll be leaving about 6-ish tomorrow a.m. Our flight leaves at 8:25 so we need the time to get a ferry--I don't when they start running 3/hr; if we're lucky we'll just miss the 6:20 and catch the 6:40. I cannot WAIT to be on the road.

But it will be an interesting getaway: The temp right now is 44 and there's a FROST WARNING tonight. It's JUNE, not April, for heaven's sake! I'm not bringing anything in because I'd have to get up waaaay too early to put it back out. And it'll probably still be freezing at 6:00 a.m. I'm being fairly dumb and wearing shorts out to Omaha. but it's supposed be around 80 by the time we arrive there so I should be okay.

Well, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks just this second won the Stanley Cup (that's hockey for the uninformed previously mentioned). I certainly wish Anaheim had been able to find a name that was a LITTLE classier. The Ducks???? Only in the U.S. would a city possibly even consider naming a professional sports team after a Disney movie. I'm sure Disney owns the team in some sense but really, the Ducks???? Stan was so bummed when the Buffalo Sabres lost to the Ottawa Senators (whom the Ducks just beat) that I was kind of surprised that he even watched the series.

So, the WEDDING. I'm so excited about this. Jane is my baby, the younger daughter of two, and it still amazes me that she's old enough to do this. But hey, I was only barely 23. (What WAS I thinking?) This wedding is a terrific next step in Jane & Dan's beautiful relationship and I couldn't be happier. She will be a beautiful bride, he a handsome groom, they love each other and have a great future ahead of them.

I'll post pictures after the fact. I cannot wait to be there.

UConn Visit

Well, I'm back from visiting the University of Connecticut where I went to give a talk at a conference. That was very successful, as was the idea of taking my brochures for my workshops. I spent $50 on them, but if I get even one booking for a workshop that'll certainly pay me back.

I ran a weird fever for about 3 hrs. while I was driving to Storrs (5 1/2 hr. drive). Then I got an ill-timed sinus headache on the day of the presentation and I wound up leaving the conference earlier than I had planned. But my timing turned out to be really good: I missed a nasty thunderstorm that passed through the Glens Falls area about 1/2 - 1 hr after I did, and then I had REALLY good luck: A State Trooper passed me on the highway when my cruise was set for about 75 (65 mph highway limit). Oops. I turned off the cruise--no brake lights showing--and slowed to 65, let some people pass me while I watched the Trooper up and down on the hills ahead (in the Adirondacks). I thought he was on a mission but he just seemed to be cruising in the left-hand lane. Then about 10-15 miles later I saw him hunkered down in among some trees & bushes in the median ... as I went past with my cruise at 70-71. I was behind another car--can't remember if it was a Canadian license or not--but again I switched off the cruise and slowed a bit. And doggone it, the Trooper pulled out behind me.

Now I've never gotten a speeding ticket. Ever. And there I am, a gray-haired lady in a spiffy bright blue Beetle, being a (pretty) good driver. So I'm thinking of the many cuss words I know--there are quite a few--and the Trooper pulls up next to me. I glanced over, thinking he was going to tell me to pull over and then get the other car too (I've seen that a lot lately). But no, he pulled IN FRONT OF ME and THEN turned on his flashers!!!!! He was nailing the car in front of me for speeding! I very carefully put on my turn signal and pulled left to go around--a little below 65 mph--and got my heart started again. Whew doesn't begin to cover it!

The worst part of the whole incident? I was in a 50-mile no-cell-service area so I couldn't call Stan and tell him about the near miss. RATS! I had the earphone in and the cell on my lap for MILES but there was just no point. Service is available when I'm about 1/2 hr from home. AAAARGH!

Will I stay at the speed limit in the future? Probably not, but then, I rarely go 10 mph over. Driving to CT however, about 1/3 of the trip is on the Mass Pike where everyone, and I do mean everyone (but me) was going 85. I did a little over 75 from time to time but felt much more comfy at 75. So they passed me. I was very okay with that.

I was taken out for dinner near UConn to a very nice restaurant where I had, for the first time, soft-shell crabs. You eat the whole thing; they're a little crunchy. But it's a very mild crab flavor. I don't know that I'll ever order them again; now that I've had the experience and it really did NOT wow me, I can pass it up in the future.

No photos for this report. I may not be back here until after Jane's wedding.

Kyrin

This is the funniest photo of Kyrin to date. Kyrin is my first and only, so far, grandbaby. I'm her Grammy. She was born in November--a Thanksgiving girl. Elise, my older daughter and Kyrin's mom, was told she was due on Dec. 20 and Kyrin decided to pop in (or out) early by almost a month. Then again I was told my due date for Elise was July 4 & she was born on June 4. Kyrin's weight matched her mom's: 7 lbs. 10 oz., and they were 1/2 in. different in length, Kyrin the longer of the two. There were more similarities between their arrivals, enough so that I declared that if there was one more I was going to start believing in UFOs! But there's a sweeter picture of her.

Spring

Spring is Here ... I Think

So spring is finally arriving ... we think. There were dire warnings of a hard frost last night and I think Saranac Lake got down to 32 but it looks like my just-appearing plants in my garden are okay. Tomorrow it should be in the 70s, more like it should be at this time of year. Then Thursday it's supposed to be "high 80s." Go figure.

We're really behind in our house/garden chores this year. Right after I got back from Wisconsin we left for 5 days in Texas. That was a terrific trip--hot, sunny, mega pool time for me at Lana's ranch. It actually is the Davis Daisy Rodeo Ranch but I like to call it DaLana Ranch, for Laura being near Davis. It's really a gorgeous place, as are her 7 horses. Wow. We had a great time. I took photos and will eventually arrange them into a sort of walk-around. Let me know if you want to see them; I won't inflict them on everyone!

Stan & I are recovering from a horrible cold we picked up down south. He found out today he has acute bronchitis from it; I'm luckier and seem to be getting over it just fine. But we were really wiped out with it, especially the end of last week. On Saturday my voice went lower than it has EVER been. I really did sound like a man. At least that didn't hurt! But not being able to do much before feeling just exhausted meant that my garden is still not completely mulched. At least I got all the oak leaves off it, finally.

I'm working my fanny off on my book right now. I have that talk to give at the end of next week -- and I've lost all my materials for it. They were on the floor in my den and my darling husband asked if the papers he found on the floor should go into the burn barrell with my wastepaper and I said sure, after just glancing at them. Well, so much for planning ahead. Thank heavens I had put together a preliminary PowerPoint program so I can work from there. I hope I can remember what I was thinking when I did those slides...... I'll be glad when that's over!

And I can't let a spring note go without a nature note. Today on my walk I saw one of the funniest things I've ever seen in "the wild." I'd heard a noise like someone banging on a lawn mower for a little while when walking and I did hear a mower around the same time. But then the mower stopped and the banging went on for a bit and I was getting closer to the sound. I looked around and saw a Downy woodpecker (they're only about 6" long) pecking at the back of a metal road sign! It was clinging to the perforated post the sign was on and banging away on the sign. When I got right up to it, it stopped and looked at me as if it were saying, "What! What?!" And then after I was safely past it started whanging on the sign again. It was looking for ... what? steel ants? (I mean, there are grease ants and sugar ants and fire ants and pis* ants--really they're called that at least in Iowa, so can't there be steel ants?) It really was funny. Then again, I'm easily amused.

So I'm posting a picture of spring. I cut this bunch of lilacs and they're currently scenting up the whole house. Yum.

Happy spring.