White Christmas

Well--White-after-Christmas...Thankfully, Christmas Day was lovely and clear.

Today, the 26th is quite the different tale. The blizzard is predicted for Long Island, and we seem to be getting it. Yesterday, everyone was able to get here and be on their way without the agita of weather to add to their travels. One family even escaped to Florida by leaving on a 6am flight. How clever of them! By 9am there were tiny flakes in the air, and by 10, it was a full raging snow storm. Church finished by 11am, and I drove home on the ugly, untouched roads. When I got down to the Village, things had been salted, and the roads were only wet and black. NY State doesn't seem to feel the need to anticipate, and always leaves the salting out on Rt 231 until there is too much snow on the road to make it work without the plowing. The wind is coming in sideways from the north, and so are the flakes. Oddly, for the last number of hours, the wind is still blowing, but the accumulation is less than I would have thought.

But, there have been a couple of ominous flickers of the lights, so here's hoping the power stays on. We have a fire place, but the wood pile is out back, untouched for quite a number of years, since building a wood fire in our house seriously throws off the temperature in the whole rest of the house. We have a fancy candelabra in there now, and that kind of subs for a real fire (when we remember to light the candles.) But, if the power goes off, and we need some serious heat to keep the temperature of the house up high enough to keep the pipes from freezing, we are going to need the fireplace. Here's hoping the tree limbs all stay where they are, and the electricity stays on. This storm is supposed to blow until dinner time tomorrow. Right now, though, things sound pretty quiet outside--don't hear the wind hitting the house the way it was before. I don't understand the way it can cool things off in the house, even though MyTreasure has spent countless hours sealing up everything he can stuff with weather stripping. As soon as the wind comes up, this place feels like an old log cabin, with spaces between the logs.

Merry Christmas, everyone! We had fun yesterday, not so much today.

I Don't Know...

I confess there are times when I wonder if I've gone over the top. Those moments you look at yourself and what you are doing, and say "How on earth did I get here, and how off the charts is this?" I arrived at that point two afternoons ago when I found myself ironing feathers. Does that sound ridiculous? There was a good reason, but for heaven's sake, who would think they would end up ironing feathers. Who even knew feathers could be ironed?

I found this cute little pattern for lavender sachets. The picture showed them trimmed with marabou. Marabou is that fluffy stuff that they use on the edges of fancy lingerie, satin slippers, and of course, your classic feather boa. Ha! I found out that they are nothing more than turkey feathers! But, I digress.

I found a cheapie boa in the dollar store, and thought for a buck, I could experiment. Seems the ends of the feathers are rolled into strands of string, and then wrapped with thread that keeps it all together. I cut it apart, and found that the feathers could be used, but they were all crinkled up from being wrapped. So, like any good crafter, I experiment.

The quill is almost like a natural plastic, and goes nicely back into shape when flattened with an iron. I have one of those tiny triangle irons, and it was perfect. The steam from the big iron actually revived the fluffy part of the feathers. Well--whatever works! I didn't think hot glue would be a good thing, so I attached my little feather pieces with Fabri-tac, which sets up very quickly. I think they came out pretty cute. Now we'll see if anyone at the church fair wants to take them home...

Little Dragon

October is birthday month around here. Most of the grandkids seem to have been born in October and November, so those parties march along in a row on weekends in the fall, and we get to celebrate. Besides the family parties there are "kid parties" for friends and classmates, and there is usually a "theme". Last year it was Pirates and Greek Mythology, and this time it is Dragons. I'm not sure how this will be carried out by the hosts and the guests, but an old pattern came to mind, and I took myself up to the attic to see if it was possible to locate this buried treasure. I confess that my section of the attic is challenging. I picked a likely place to begin the search, and what ho!--there it was. I selected some fabrics from the collection, and headed downstairs to the sewing room.

It took quite a few times reading through the directions until it made sense--I always have trouble with written directions. Give me a diagram any time. Really, they were pretty clear, and so I made my templates, stitched on the lines and started stuffing. The whole deal is doing the stuffing so that it isn't lumpy, and it turned out pretty well.

MyTreasure said I should have included a "Top of the Mornin' to ya!" squeezy button and a mini flame thrower, but I did no such thing. Little Dragon will be on his way to his new lair on Sunday--Happy Birthday Hadn!

That Was Fun!

I confess I am easily amused. I had wanted to try these cupcakes, and an appropriate audience was coming for dinner on Sunday, so I gave it a try. We had a leftover box of ice cream cones, and a way too big container of rainbow sprinkles calling to me from the pantry, and look how cute they came out! And, tasty too...

They are top heavy, however. I lost some of them moving from the kitchen to the dining room, so for the next time I have to invent some kind of a holder--I'm thinking a cake board with holes cut out--that ought to do the trick.

Heart Doll Project

My doll club was approached by two women from Women Heart, a volunteer group who visit women in the hospital who have suffered heart attacks. We offered them dolls to take to patients and they thought it was a very nice idea. Someone suggested that we make Raggedy Ann dolls, and the club ordered lables to be sewn onto each doll.

I couldn't get my head around the raggedies--seems like when your whole life has just turned upside down you need something more than "cute". I had seen other artists work doing "healing" dolls or tokens, and decided to go in a different direction. I took a pattern for a little "Friendship Doll" by Jill Maas and redrew it larger--more like a pillow to hug. I beaded them, like the original pattern, and added a hand and a heart. The heart/hand symbol is from the Shakers, and means "Hands to work, hearts to God". But, it could also be a healing hand, and since the hearts in these cases all are having problems, it seemed right.

I confess I can't leave anything alone--I always have to put something extra into a recipe when I cook, or tweak the pattern when I sew, so my doll has evolved into a "Life Map". I decided that rather than fool with paint or dye, I would buy batik and use the colors as they fall on the fabric. This is a bit time consuming, since I have to design a different "map" for each doll to fit the color , but it is intriguing thinking up new little scenes, and each one is unique. I may rethink the batik part, and give the paint a try. So far there are only three of them, and goodness knows, what with all that is coming up in the next month, plus the church fair and holidays looming in the background, that may be the end of them. I really enjoy doing them though, and I'm thinking there will be others down "Life's Winding Road", especially if they have places to go, and won't be just hanging around my sewing room looking back at me.

End of Season Bonus

As I have confessed before, I am no gardener, but I love flowers. GF gave me these ageratum as a transplant from her own garden, and I stuck them into an empty place, and they have been happy to come back every year, in spite of my neglect. They are a bit invasive, and they keep trying to move over and are crowding out my rosemary, which I am proud to say has wintered over for the third year, and is finally getting to be a decent size. I always felt so bad about cutting off a "sprig" for our dinner when the thing was so puny. But, I digress.

This ageratum is the just about last thing that blooms in the garden. It stays green and leafy and leggy until now, when it starts putting out little periwinkle balls, and then I think, "Oh, it is not going to do too well this year." But, then the flowers keep getting bigger and bigger until they are 2-3" across. The bonus is that it is butterfly season, and they all seem to love this plant. One day there were 10 monarchs out there all enjoying the flowers and the sun--all right outside my kitchen window. Sweet!

A Non-Event

Hurricanes are serious business--nothing to fool around with. We haven't had a real one since the eighties, and the weather people keep saying that we are overdue. So, here comes this year's string on the radar maps, looping their way across the Atlantic, swooping through the Islands and heading on up the east coast. That seems to be the pattern this time around--the last few years they have all gone to the south and into the Gulf. Yesterday was supposed to be "Earl". I say "supposed to be", because it sure turned out to be nothing for us--not even a gust of wind. We had a couple of 20 minute straight down showers, but for the most part, the day was still, gray and humid.

I put our pots of plants down from the deck, and unhooked the ones that were up on hangers. MT moved the deck chairs to the basement, so that nothing would blow around--all little stuff like that, since we don't have a boat or anything. Well, there was nothing.

Come dinner time, I'm deciding what to make, and I decided to grill some corn, and some tuna medallions. I put together some compound butter and a batch of chimichurri, and we pulled the chairs out from the breakfast table, and ate out on the deck. I guess there was a little breeze that blew out the citronella candles, but it was a beautiful evening.

I keep thinking of all the stories of the hurricane of 1938 which was a direct hit on Long Island and Rhode Island and there was absolutely no warning system, and big loss of life. They say it was a beautiful day, and people went out to the shore for picnics and parties, and the storm blew in and the surf came up and everything got washed away. Now we are "warned" for days ahead and "prepared", but no storm this time around. Just as well. We toasted Earl over our dinner, and know they'll be others in his track. May they all stay offshore!

That's Better!

A very loooong time ago, I needed a place to put my music next to my piano. I collected this old record cabinet from someone who no longer wanted it, and my music was always easy to reach, since I was teaching lessons, and it had to be handy. It was never a pretty piece of furniture, and for some reason, I never got around to even painting the thing. I confess, I really didn't even see it anymore, and it has gone on in its ugliness many years after the piano students stopped coming.

I finally took a good look at the pile of books and old copies lurking there and decided it was time to make most of it go away. I found a skinny bookcase that looked like it would serve, but the box was 80" long, and was never going to fit into my car. The other day we hauled ourselves and our van over to the store, and brought it home. I got out the tools that were shown in the picture. The whole set of directions was pictures, which work best for me, since I seem to be a visual person, and if the words are written in the country of manufacture, they often do not make much sense. I set about putting this little sweetie together. It was fairly simple, and I only made one (pretty big) mistake at the end when I nailed the backing in place and then realized I had the wrong side forward--very akin to stitching in Hattie's (see July 19th post) legs backwards so that her toes faced her heinie, and her heels were out front. I got a little screwdriver that let me dig out the nails (all 18 of them) without too much damage to the part that was going to show when it went back together.

I'm so proud! I threw out two big bags of books and paper copies, sorted out a couple of piles that can go to other musicians, and moved my organ music down from the back bedroom onto the nice new shelves. Now, no more shame in the music room!

Baby Stuff

Garden Fairy has finally met her first grandchild. She has always been enamored of her friends' grandchildren, but has had to wait for the proper moment (as is appropriate) to have one of her very own, and now he has arrived.

I popped into the sewing room and put together some little sets that I call "Slurp and Burp"--a bib and a burp cloth. I have sewn a number of these bibs for other babies, and the parents always get back to me and say what a success they are, since there is no velcro to get stuck on other things in the laundry, and with a good old button closure, it won't come off the way a snap will when the baby pulls at it. I keep picking up remnant cuts of flannel when I am in the fabric store, and have a pretty good assortment of prints ready and waiting. Keep those babies coming! And--congratulations GF!

Shopping When I'm Hungry

They tell you that all the time--don't shop when you're hungry. At least I don't buy a lot of junk food, but I do tend to dig something out of the bag as soon as it hits the kitchen counter, and stuff it into my mouth.

We have had three days of rain--and these have been the ONLY ones all summer. We have been suffering with 90*+ for weeks on end, and I have been loath to turn on the stove, for any reason. I'm pretty creative when it comes to putting things together from leftovers, so we have not been deprived of nice dinners, and we have eaten out on our deck every night for at least the last six weeks. But the last few day's readings have barely crawled up to 70*, so I thought it would be a good time to make something that would take a while to cook, and picked out baby carrots, and mushrooms, and the most beautiful bag of potatoes from Massachusetts, of all places, along with an assortment of veggies that will get us through the rest of the week.

I need to use up the frozen meat in our freezer, so I have been resisting the sale fliers, and pulling lumps off the freezer shelves in the basement. I ended up with a package of chicken legs, and turned out a batch of chicken stew, with three containers that will return to the freezer for future lazy days. "Chicken stew with baby carrots, mushrooms and new potatoes in white wine and tarragon sauce." See--I could write those fancy menus. Come by for dinner--I'll defrost for you!

Edward Gorey Would Like These

I took myself to the produce market yesterday, since we were out of fresh veggies, and they always have an assortment of cut flowers, usually at reasonable prices. Since I enjoy having a vaseful on my breakfast room table, and since I am a terrible gardener and there is usually nothing out in the garden to bring in, I will treat myself to something pretty. They had cala lillies yesterday, white, and these, which I think in flower terms would probably be called black. Very unusual, I thought, and they were very fresh. I put them in my basket with all my veggies, and when I got home, I did my little arrangement, and there they are, sitting on the table.

I confess, they are starting to creep me out. They look like they are waiting for something to crawl into their centers and fall down into the waiting pool of poisonous...

...maybe I should have bought the white ones...

Lime Blanket Baby Born

I did a second baby blanket using Bernat Softee, since the first one went so well. They had the greatest colors--the usual assortment of baby pastels, but also some gorgeous darker colors not usually used for infant yarn. The first blanket was for a boy, and I used turquoise. It was so pretty. That went as a shower gift, but that little boy is still waiting to be born. There was another baby on the way, so I chose the lime green, since it is still summer, and I thought this baby was also a boy. Turns out they waited for the birth to find out what it would be, and she was born last night. I confess, all this technology is pretty great--they had pictures on the internet from the hospital room, everyone looking happy, baby looking sweet--wondering what just happened here. Must be very confusing...

We did a lot of driving last week--first upstate to the old ancestral home for a school reunion, then on to Cape Cod for most of a very pleasant (and cooler) week of pretty scenes, beach and fun. Cape Cod never disappoints, even after all these years. I wonder how it retains its salty character, in spite of all the nasty development that goes on everywhere else. The bonus was crochet time in the car, and I got the blanket finished--ran out of yarn for the last round of lace on the edge, but that was remedied when we got home. Last night the beautiful baby came into this world, and luckily, lime green will go fabulously well with her little pink outfits. Glad I didn't go for the yellow!

For A Couple of Dollars

I get so discouraged listening to people complaining about the economy, and all the things they "need" to buy. The cost of living has gone up, but there is so much that you can do to offset it that no one dreams of doing anymore. They don't understand that you can actually make things yourself, and save a ton of money. I had a friend who was once amazed to see me make salad dressing in a jar with oil and vinegar and spices. It never occurred to her that you didn't have to buy it ready made. She converted pretty quickly, and there is no longer any Kraft at her house.

There is a fabric warehouse near us that sells upholstery and drapery fabric at more than reasonable prices. Not only that, the men who work there are very generous when they cut, so you always get more than you ask for--not like Joann's where they cut it right to the 1/4", and sometimes if it is crooked, you get less than you ask (and pay) for. A couple of weeks ago I went to the warehouse, and of course, never come out with only what I go in for. There is always a box of 1-2 yard pieces for half price, and since I love all the colors and patterns, I can see them all as tote bags or pocketbooks, and some always go home with me. If I ever sew all the pieces that I have, we'll be buried in tote bags!

Here are the latest two, made from the same one yard piece--works out to a $1.50 a bag. I thought I would like to have a knitting bag that would hold my latest project with all the things I need, including the extra yarn, and Mother Necessity thought it looked like something she would use also, so she gets the other one. It travelled to Cape Cod last week, and I crocheted a whole baby blanket on the ride there and back. I'm all ready with the yarn for the next project, since there will be a new little girl arriving in December. Nice to have something lovely to work towards...

So Hot!!!

We haven't had a summer like this that I can remember. Usually we have a few, maybe five night that the AC gets turned on, and usually only because the sheets are so damp that I can't stand it any more. This year has been a different animal. We have had the hottest July on record, and the AC has been on every night, and sometimes in the afternoon when I can't stand it anymore. Today I was in the sewing room, but there was a wonderful breeze blowing through, and since I have a door in that room as well as windows, it makes it pleasant (provided there isn't an excess of noise outside. We had a pair of twin boys across the street who had a basket ball hoop, but they grew up and that ended.) And yet, I didn't accomplish much. I became mentally involved with a picture of a suede tote bag from a sewing magazine, and all my brain cells just flew away, in a direction they didn't need to go. But, once I figured it out, I got down to work. By then it was 3pm, or maybe 4pm. Dinner, still being in the freezer needed some looking into, so only a little was accomplished. In this heat, my microwave has become my new best friend, and luckily I have a couple of delicious recipes that set me up with dinner, and leftovers for second night. We have taken to eating later, and it is perfect out on our deck at 7pm. After this, I am planning on my gas grille. Somehow, I can't do an all-inclusive on the grille, so I have neglected it. Time to remedy that, but it won't happen until next week, since we are going to a wedding out at one of the vineyards, and won't be needing anything cooked for a few more days.

A couple of days ago we found our way to the beach with the grandkids, and it was glorious. They even now have an excellent lobster night there, and we get out there for supper on their deck--not as often as we would like, but it is wonderful when we get it together and go. With all this heat, it makes it a great choice for an evening's entertainment, since they have a different band that plays each night too--what more could you want? Maybe all this heat gets those of us without AC out of our houses, and doing things we wouldn't otherwise. However, I do turn it on to sleep--and I feel great when I wake up in the morning!

Hi Hattie!

Meet Hattie. Actually Hattie2. She is on her way to Haiti as part of a doll club project. About a year ago, I had picked up an intriguing little doll at a craft show, and wanted to experiment with it a bit. I had started to draw up a pattern, but it had sat for months, and now seemed like a good time to work on it. I came up with a working pattern, and transferred it to cardboard, and cut out two dolls. As it went, I only finished one in time for the club meeting last weekend when the dolls were to be turned in. The dolls aren't being sent off for a while yet, and since it has been so impossibly hot and humid here, the prospect of a day in the sewing room with the air conditioning on seemed like the perfect choice, and I could finish up H2 and get her where she needs to go.

Ha! Turns out she is Hateful Hattie--or at least that is how I came to think of her. Right from the beginning, every seam I sewed wrinkled, or buckled or went off the lines. They tell you to use small stitches when working on little pieces, but what a torture when you have to pick them out to do them over again. And, I was messing the seams up two and three times in a row! What was truly annoying was that this was the second doll. Most every time I do something I feel as though I am reinventing the wheel, because I like to design my own stuff, so I expect to make mistakes. But this was a do-over! What was wrong with me? The grand concluding insult to injury big finish was when I finally turned the thing right-side-out and her feet were facing the wrong direction. OY!

So--she's finished. Literally took me all day. At least she came out the way she was supposed to...and it was cool in the sewing room...

Making It Work

I am not fond of knitting. I love the things that you can make, and all the beautiful yarns in fabulous colors tempt me, but I tried it some more, and I just don't enjoy the process. I crocheted a blanket for a baby gift, and realized how much I like to crochet. You can pick it up and put it down, shove it into your purse, and if it comes apart, you just collect the last loop and go on with what you were doing. Once you get the pattern down you don't have to keep watching what you are doing, and I can finish a project in a reasonable amount of time, instead of months the way the knitting seems to go.

I have had my eye on the ball winders that they sell. Since I do much more work with fabric than I do with yarn, I have been reluctant to purchase one. But, after dealing with three messy pull skeins, I went on the internet to see if I could turn up something at a reasonable (read "cheap") price. For some reason, none of the craft stores that offer those nice discount coupons carry them in the store, and of course, if you buy it online, you get hit up for the postage. So, ebay always seems to be my place of refuge. Usually you can turn something up used with low postage fees--or sometimes free shipping! So, one comes up that's a little different than the kind I have tried before, nobody else seems to bid on it, and I win the auction, and it arrives in a box pdq.

It arrives minus the clamp that would hold it to a table surface. And, it doesn't work very well. Maybe the bidders know more than I do. But, the price was right, and like anything you are using for the first time, maybe there's a trick to it. I find a metal tablecloth holder for our picnic table that has the right size to fit into the slot on the ball winder's back, and attach it to my kitchen table. I give it my best shot, making three very messy "balls" of yarn, not happy with the results. Last chance, you machine--after all, I have about $10 sunk into this venture...I turn it on it's side so that gravity will keep the yarn from slipping off the spindle, wrap it around my toe for the extra tension that the yarn needs to keep from snapping back, and give it one last try. It works pretty well--finally! If MT will make me an L-shaped pair of boards to attach it to, with maybe a screw eye or two for the tension, I think I've got myself a ball winder.

Well, It Looked Great...

About that tart...No way did it want to come out of the pan. It was stuck on there like suction cups, and that crust didn't want to budge. I didn't use any baking spray on the tart mold, and possibly overworked the dough. I've never had that much trouble with pastry sticking before, but now that I think about it, it didn't have that much butter in the crust. Oh well! Next time. There's always a next time...

How Nice When Something Goes Right For A Change!

I offered to bring dessert to a gathering this weekend, and I pulled out several recipes that I thought would be good, and selected "Almond Plum Tart". Since our presence wasn't required until 4pm, I figured I had time after church to put this thing together and get it into the oven and chilled on the day of. Pastry always tastes better on the day it is baked.

As I was working on the ingredients, I had a vision of the last time I had made this tart. We were in Indiana for New Year's, and I was cooking dinner while our hosts were at work, and I was alone in the house. I pureed the plums in their blender, which diabolically unscrewed itself from its base, and bright red plum went all over their white tile floor, and right up their lovely yellow painted walls, looking just like the blood spatter patterns that they are always analysing on CSI. Of course, the lady of the house chose that moment to call home just to "see how I was doing..." Luckily, it all washed off the walls, and the tile floor suffered no stains. Agita!

Today was much better, it all went together without any hitches, and I even prettied it up a bit with the spider webbing design on the top. At first I thought I had chosen too shallow a pan, and that all the filling might not fit, but it went nicely and didn't overflow when it baked. I also thought that the pattern might obliterate itself in the oven, but when it finished it looked good enough to hand to the judges on a reality cooking challenge show. The people who will eat it won't be nearly so hard on me though, and we are going to enjoy eating it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Where Ya' Been?

I know, I know--haven't posted anything in a long time. So I'm guilted into writing this, even though I don't have much to say. Maybe it's our lovely warm weather--and note that today is cooler, so maybe my brain cells have started working again. Last week at WW I stepped up to the counter for the weigh-in, and the person asked me what I did on the weekend, and my mind was totally blank. I'm thinking, portents of things to come...

So--where have I been? Where haven't I been? We did two big trips--one to Hawaii, and then a cruise to Bermuda. Hawaii was amazing--landscapes that we have never before experienced (acres and acres of black lava fields), and much beauty (jungles with huge plants). Bermuda was lovely (all that gorgeous green water) with old buildings and lots of history. In Hawaii we stayed in a condo, so had a very laid back week, eating out when we wanted, cooking in a time or two, or just having munchies and happy hour for the evening. We had a view of the sunset from our supersized lanai, and we were on the third floor and could watch the birds fly by.





The ship docked in Bermuda for three full days, so we had time to experiment with the public transportation, and were able to travel the entire island on their equivalent of a MetroCard. We picked up lunch one day when we were too far from the ship, but the other days caught our meals at the buffet for lunch and dinners in the dining room. I guess we didn't leave a lot of dollars behind aside from our sight seeing. Sailing out of New York was a wonderful experience that I certainly would repeat. Of course, you have to choose your season carefully--too early and it is cold, too late and you are in hurricane season. We met some folks who had come on a different ship that had left a couple of days behind us, and they hit storms in the Atlantic and were sick. I would have been very unhappy with that...We were so lucky, with a smooth sail in both directions.


I've said before that my brain checks out on vacation, and stays awol for days after we come back. I still seem to be stuck in puttering mode, spending time doing crosswords and reading bubble gum books. Our schedule is due to change to summer mode--I'll be playing in various churches on Sunday mornings, and my exercise classes will end due to excess heat in our facilities. I don't want anyone collapsing while we're there.

We won't be travelling so much this summer, but maybe we can get together with the grandchildren at the beach or the park after school ends. That would be nice. We don't see them as much since they all started school. It seems like the calendar has nothing on it, but then I start to tally up where we have to be, and looka-dat--there's plenty on there already, starting this weekend with a trip to Albany for a fine wedding. Plus, we get to catch up with our faraway relatives that we love, but don't see very often. Okay--sign off here, and pack up that suitcase once again!

Party Day

The sun is shining brightly, even though the weather men were threatening us with rain. It will happen tomorrow instead. Tonight is the party for Jon and Sue, and it should be a ton of fun. Family is coming in from all over--again!

We all decided a few years back that we would travel to the happy occasions instead of waiting until the funerals. It has worked out very well, and we have visited in several places that we never would have seen otherwise. But, we are running out of children to marry off. This is our last contribution to this arrangement--our baby. (And oddly, she is marrying someone else's baby...Has anyone done a study on this? Oldest marrying oldest, youngest marrying youngest?)

We will have to start planning destination reunions or something else to get us together. Why not? We enjoy each other's company, and a vacation is a perfect way to spend some time doing fun things. Maybe the dart in the map thing--gets you someplace different. Now we need to get them all to retire, so that they have free time to come and play!

Didya' Miss Me?

I've been away. And come back and gone away--well, it's what you do when you are retired, and have enough sense to go and do it as long as the money holds out, and your legs...


We went to Hawaii for a week, with Garden Fairy and her spouse, since it was the occasion of their 40th anniversary, and they invited us to go along. Well, what the heck! It's a long ride, but you end up in Hawaii....We went to the "Big Island", and did the volcano park tour--that was an eye-opener! And, considering what is going on this week in Iceland, fascinating! The Island is half black lava fields, and incredible to look at and drive through. No describing it. You have to go there and see it--beautiful in its own way, and so different. I could never stay there for long, just because of it being so far from anything else, in the middle of the Pacific. Less ominous than the volcano and its lava fields were the signs at the edges of the island that read "Tsunami Evacuation Area", accompanied by the tall poles each attached to six or eight warning sirens. We stayed in someone's lovely two br/two bath condo, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We generally ate lunch out while sightseeing, and had dinner in on our beautiful two-sided lanai.

We got back in time to have the fam in for the annual egg-hunt and Easter dinner, which turned out nicely, partly due to the lovely weather, and all the flowering things in bloom. After that was the wedding--very pretty, and meaningful. And then I headed to Florida by myself for a few days of outlet hopping with the fine ladies of my family, some of whom I only see only on such occasions. These things have to be scheduled in at least once a year--they talk about male bonding--well, this is our female bonding. MyTreasure makes fun of it, but he has his days when he and his friend go off to the ranges to spend their dollars shooting off boxes of "ammo". I at least come home with something I can wear...





Well, the good news is that the shopping marathons balanced out the wine drinking on the lanai, and I lost a pound at Weight Watchers this week. WoHoo! Salad season is here, so maybe I can undo the damage that I did in February and March, and find my way back into my summer skirts by the time I need them. One more little hurdle--the wedding reception this weekend. But--it's only one day, right? And, we are so looking forward to seeing everyone. After all, this is our last wedding! Everyone is married, and how nice is that! Congrats, Sue and Jon!

Spring Or Else!

You know it was a bad winter when you feel like you have been let out of jail. Finally our weather broke, and we have had a string of decent days that could actually be called "spring-like", even though the official arrival of spring was not until this weekend. Only last weekend was that horrible storm--which could have been so much worse, had we had lower temperatures. Somehow, we escaped without any water in our basement, and we didn't get involved in the power outages that so many households suffered. I guess we did our time that once, and it was bad, since we were an isolated incident on our street, and of course, they got to us last. Our sympathies to all those families who had to wait it out this week.

My mini-daffs are in bloom, and the regulars are budded, and ready to go. The snow drops appeared last week, and were most welcome, and the crocus have popped the last day or two. How pretty is the color purple, after a long winter of brown!


I bought two batches of tulips and put them in a vase. The yellow ones were bigger, and I picked out some red with yellow edges, for pretty contrast in the vase. The yellows stayed the same, but the reds kept growing, and look how they ended up! A little odd, I thought.





Our niece was coming for the weekend, and I looked at my "Attitude Vase" and thought "too bad I didn't pick up some flowers". CarolA came in and she had brought the absolutely perfect cut Gerberas for that vase, and I just had to take a picture of it. I'm still enjoying them--those elbows just say it all, as far as I'm concerned! And happy spring to Y'all!

Wild Weekend

Sometimes the fun never quits. We started with a big storm that promised to hang out over several days. We always get at least one dramatic weather incident in the month of March, even though I try to convince myself that spring is in the air. For heavens sake, there are robins outside--in flocks, no less, picking away at whatever is in the lawn, and the little pokey things are coming up through the dirt--some are even budded. The temperatures are sticking solidly to the high 40's, and the air feels soft, not bitey, so at least it won't be snow.

Friday isn't great, with gloom and rain, but the weather men are offering up Saturday for the big show. We didn't have much to do, except get some appetizers ready and spruce up our fiddle/piano duo for a little entertainment at Garden Fairy's St. Patty's party.

Saturday WAS a big show. The rain came down, the gales blew, taking out trees and power lines all over Long Island, and plenty of other places as well. Our power flicked a couple of times, but never actually went out, so the food got prepared, and we had a fine time at the party. Cycle in "Spring Forward" on the old clock, and all is well. Choir in the morning, so don't hang out too late. We came in at 12:30, plus our one hour time loss, so call it 1:30.

Our clock radio does it's thing at 7:30, and at 7:38 there is a phone call from our church organist that he and his wife and baby are all sick, and can I play the morning worship services (first service 9 am). Well. That wasn't how I was expecting to begin my morning...

We had concert tickets for this afternoon in Manhattan, and the trains on our line were running, so we got there only a little late--missed the first piece. At least all that was required was to sit in a seat and do my best to stay awake. We caught some dinner in a restaurant next to the concert hall, and were back home by 7 pm--or is it 8 pm--or 6 pm? I guess it will take me a day to get it all straight in my head--which is still whirling a bit...

Wednesday Night Routine

Every year now, for many years I have played the mid-week Lenten service at the church founded back in the 1920's by my grandparents. I do not attend this church, but I have family ties there, so I go there whenever I can, and it gives me great pleasure to be able to play services for them, even though they have a miserable organ. The stained glass windows are nice...

I now attend Weight Watcher meetings on Wednesdays, and it works out that I go from there to the church service, and eat a late dinner when I get home. The pastor has made his sermons into a series each year for the weeks of Lent, which number six. The themes have varied from year to year--and this year he is preaching on the Seven Last Words of Christ. My attention sometimes varies, depending on how hungry I am, and what is going on in my life at the time, but I have been able to tune in this year pretty well.

At the end of the service the pastor announced that next week they would be serving corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick's Day downstairs in the church hall, and that his sermon would be based on the sixth word "I thirst!" On my way out, I confess that I couldn't resist asking him if there was any coincidence with the sermon topic and the date, and I did get a hearty laugh. I'm wondering what he'll do with the sermon....

Getting Implants!

Yeah, well it's not what you think...

Last spring, I was given the bad news from my dentist that I had to have a tooth pulled. It was a six-year molar, and I was mortified. I have good teeth. No way anything like that was going to happen to my good teeth. I sought a second opinion, with exactly the same verdict--it has to come out. Despair...Well, they weren't taking off a toe, or a hand--just a tooth. "We can do a bridge--since the two teeth beside the offender have fillings." Not on your life! Don't touch my two teeth. Do an implant.

So. Three months to heal, more time for the implant. More time to heal. Then the cap. $$$$$. July for the extraction. September for the implant. December for the cap. Extra time for the lab for the cap for the remake, since the first one didn't fit. Cap finally goes on Feb. 25th. Feb. 26th six-year molar on the other side breaks off well below the gum line. Yeah, I know the drill. Just take the thing out, and get the process started all over again. What the heck was I doing when I was six, and those teeth were supposed to be in formation for the rest of my life?

Well, you wouldn't want me to be unbalanced with an implant only on one side, would you? Think about it--how that would look?

Stalling....Again....

I am in my "don't want to get back to my real life" mode. I confess this always happens whenever we come back from a trip. This time it feels like we were gone for a month, instead of only eight days. We started with an overnight babysit in Connecticut, flew out to Las Vegas for a few days, then went over to San Diego for a few more days. We came back on the red-eye, which was a great flight, but I found it very disorienting. I understand losing a day or part of a day when you cross time zones, but it was so strange losing the night instead.

So, yesterday I vegged on the couch with my book and my down quilt. Today I am doing laundry, because it requires no brain power, and yet is a worthy use of one's time, because it needs to be accomplished, especially after a trip. I am hanging on the computer, because it requires no brain power, but it really is not a worthy use of one's time--just an excellent way of stalling. Maybe by tomorrow I will be ready to get my brain into gear and come up with a prioritized to-do list.

Our trip was great--caught up with some fine family, and got thoroughly sensory overloaded in LV. Saw some good art at the Getty in LA, and ate entirely too much all around SD. I'll be paying for that later this afternoon at Weight Watchers... Come on brain--defuzz, so that I can get back on track!

Calligraphy Issues or How I Spent My Last Three Days

I confess that I have always enjoyed beautiful pen and ink work. I got the pen--actually the first one that I had was an old one that came out of an attic, the old style holder with removable points. I fooled with a bottle of India ink--you had to dip the pen each time you wrote. Then I moved up to a set that worked like a fountain pen that filled with a little squishy thing inside, and it wasn't necessary to deal with the ink bottle every few letters. There was also a third set that had cartridges. With all of the systems, I ended up with black fingers, ala Amadeus. Sadly, my small motor coordination is so poor that no amount of practice was going to allow the lovely, symmetrical lettering that showed in the workbook illustrations.

And yet, I persist. There were wedding invitations to be addressed, and I stepped up and volunteered to do the writing. I pulled down the boxes with the pens and ink bottles, and tried out a bunch of points before making my selection. Then, there was the matter of lettering styles. I filled up a couple of sheets of copy paper before settling on what looked best. My fingers got black. I figured out how to rule off a sheet of card stock, so that I could slide it into the envelopes, and it would show through, and allow me to place the addresses in the center of the envelopes. So far so good. My writing is a little spidery, and the pen was crotchety until I changed ink, but I still like the look of hand addressed envelopes. I just wish I was a little better at. I would really enjoy doing more if I thought I could do it really well. Oh well. The envelopes are finished, ready for their stamps. Best wishes, bride and groom!

Wait, wait!! Where's spring?

Christmas is over, January is cold and done with, and then it is supposed to be spring, right? They are selling tulips in the grocery store--that means it's spring. Grrrrr! Or I should say Brrrr!

Every winter I do this to myself, thinking spring will be arriving, and wishing winter-be-gone. As we were walking along the other day, daffodils were poking out of the dirt about an inch high. I convince myself that this year winter will be short, and February doesn't exist. Part of the reason that I disliked living upstate was that March was still winter, and April, unlike the zephyr filled month of poets, was the worst slush/slop/mud scene I ever saw. I WANT MY SPRING!

Not gonna happen. We're digging out again this morning. The sun is shining, and the snow is still pristine, so it is all very pretty. But, in a little while the breeze will come up, and it will all start sliding off the trees in clumps, and the snow plow will come through throwing up the sludge from street level, making big dirty patches along the curbs. Yesterday there was already a large amount of water underneath the whole thing, so that there were big puddles that had to be negotiated if you wanted to cross the street. Up on Main Street, the snow plow barreled towards me--too fast for me to react, and splatted my lovely winter coat with big grey blobs. I also found out that my boots leak...

We do have an escape plan though. We are supposed to fly to the west coast to visit the doctor and his wife, and the 10-day forecast looks pretty decent. Here's hoping we get to fly out between the snow flakes!

Plenty Going On

We've been so busy that I haven't thought of anything to write. All my brain cells are being used to keep track of the details of our travel plans. We went to St. Louis to be with friends over New Year's. Then we flew to Florida to be with my folks while my mother had her hip replacement surgery. Next week we go out to Las Vegas for a few days, then fly over to Los Angeles to visit down in San Diego. In March we go to Hawaii to celebrate friends' 40th Anniversary--they really know how to celebrate! Then comes the surprise wedding of the decade, another quick trip to Florida, followed by the reception for the wedding couple. Next, a cruise to Bermuda, leaving out of New York. I think that's the big finish.

I have spent many hours on the computer working out plane tickets, and car rentals, and you really have to pay attention to what your are doing. We got caught a couple of times with night flights that were listed mixed right in with the daytime flights--only the little am/pm to differentiate. We have developed a system with a folder to keep track of the itineraries and reservations, especially with all the things that are prepaid. The best part is that you can actually do all this, and pick your own travel times, and that you have such great access to scheduling and pricing.

We've gotten really good at packing, and managing the luggage. You can check the forecasts ahead so that you have the right clothes when you get there, and we haven't made many mistakes--we both have good lists, and I just leave all my toiletries in the case, so that I don't even have to bother getting it all together each time. I just refill my little bottles, and I'm good to go. I guess we are having the best retirement ever!

I Swear....

I swear I am not going to buy any more yarn. I have yarn stored for projects that have not even begun to see the light of day, and I do not need any more undone things waiting for attention. Isn't that what we confess in church every Sunday--things we have done, and things we have left undone?

So, an act of responsibility--the mere recycling of plastic bags becomes an act of obligation. I have bought those reusable bags for the grocery store, but still we accumulate plastic bags at an unconscionable rate. I save them up on my back porch, until the big bag is stuffed full, and then I take them out to the Materials Resource Center, which reuses them for their customers, and they always seem happy to see me show up with my supply. Unfortunately, I never seem to be able to just drop off the bags and leave empty handed. I try not to go until there is something there that I actually have a use for, and in that way minimize what I bring back home.

The item that I was looking for, unfortunately had been snapped up by someone who had a use for 500 antique wood spindles, and there were none to be had. Well. That took the wind out of my sails. But there on a shelf were cones of fuzzy thread. I picked one up, and it said 7700 (yardage?) kid mohair. Oh my. Too good to leave behind. Just what everyone needs--lace weight yarn. The last project I attempted with lace weight ended back rewound into a ball. Since things are sold there by the pound, I had the man weigh it up, and the whole kit and caboodle came to $4.62. Who could just leave it there, I ask you?

Sooooooo, it came home with me. I wound it into balls (I keep putting off buying a yarn winder, since I am not knitting, and not buying yarn, I do not need one....) and pulled out my new knitting stitch book that I received for Christmas from my lovely niece, and cast on for a scarf. It is lovely soft stuff, and if I will just knit it, should work up into some gorgeous lacework Christmas presents for next year. All I have to do is stay upright in the evening when the tv goes on and knit, instead of just lying on the couch vegging out. I'll consider it self-improvement. A New Year's resolution for 2010--Lord knows, there weren't any others!

Got My Christmas Present--From Two Years Ago...

A couple of Christmases back I was supposed to get a nice flat screen tv for my bedroom. They had them in all the stores, and they all looked great, with gorgeous pictures on the nature shows, and terrific color. The change to digital hadn't taken place though, and no one could say what was going to happen, least of all the salespeople. I confess at that time I knew zilch about the new technology, and when the sales talk started flying, I would get a headache and leave the store without my new tv.

We all finally got digitized, and low and behold--we still get great reception with our good old roof antennae. The added benefit to waiting was that the prices have all come down, and the tvs are even better now that some of the glitches have been worked out. I always hated the distortion that appeared on some screens--stretching everyone's image and making them look tubby. Time to check out what is in the store, and make a selection.

I went to one store, where the salespeople were helpful, and listened and learned. I went back with MyTreasure, and the prices were all different, but there were two models that were an excellent value. I went home and did a little more homework, and decided that store had the best deal. We returned, and pointed out our choice, and the man said those dreaded words "Let me see if we have that one in stock." Well, well. Guess they can put any kind of a bargain price on it if they don't have any to sell. "I can order it for you!" Never mind, I'll just go next door where I know they have the boxes piled up, and they will price match it for me (plus give me a $25 gift card). We got our box, which weighed almost nothing, with a convenient carry handle on the top, put it the PT, popped it on the dresser in the bedroom, and plugged it in. Yay! Beautiful reception, lovely picture, everything works!

I'm still chuckling at the saleschild in the second store who looked at us with sympathy when we said that the tv would be hooked up to an antennae. He explained that we could get a cable package for as little as $20 a month. (What does he know? I know they have basic for less money than that!) I think I'll drop back and tell him I'm buying plane tickets with the money I am not paying for cable. Merry Christmas to me!

About Those Potatoes....

I confess I enjoyed the buzz on Facebook about the food we all fixed for the holidays. Cooking is something that gives me great pleasure, and of course the second part is having people around who like to eat it up. I am getting better at preparing appropriate amounts so that MyTreasure and I are not eating leftovers through Valentine's Day, and even took the advice of the WeightWatcher people, inviting our Thanksgiving guests to fix themselves a plate to take home, in foil containers which I had purchased for just that purpose. Saved myself a few calories there!

At Christmas I made a batch of what we call "CIA Potatoes". It is a recipe that we got directly from the kitchens at the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park. After enjoying a dishful, and remarking upon it to our waiter, he went back into the kitchen and to our delight came out with a paper with the recipe written out for us. The name must have been intriguing, because when I mentioned it on Facebook, there were questions. So here's the answer:

CIA Potatoes

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 quart heavy cream
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 lb shredded Gruyere cheese

Heat the cream with the garlic, add the salt and pepper. Stir in the potatoes, so that they are well coated. Put them into a baking dish. Bake at 350* for 45 minutes. Pull the baking dish out, and top with the Gruyere cheese, and return it to the oven for another 30-45 minutes.

Not complicated, just really fattening! This recipe can be halved for fewer people. The 5 lb version is good for 12-14 people as a side dish. Enjoy!