June 19 2012

It's that time of year again - peony season is just about over, but as you can see, it was a great season. I was wondering if the very mild winter would affect the blooms, and while some plants seemed to indeed be affected, not these! Right now we're careening from 90's to 40's and back again regularly. Today I'm wearing a sweatshirt INSIDE but tomorrow it's predicted to be in the upper 90's. Our vegetables are not happy, though, they really need less change and more moderation (don't we all???).There are buds on most of the ecchinacea and day lilies and a few other nameless plants, but as the nights are cool they just haven't bloomed yet. So color in the gardnes is sparse right now. In the lower terracing, only the salvia is blooming now.






On the south side of the house, the hardy nasturtiums just started blooming. Last year they bloomed right through November, earning an eternal spot in my heart thank you, Jerry, for the seeds).







And on the upper driveway the primrose have really taken hold this year. Can you see how the piliated woodpecker has decimated the old tree stump? He spent most of last summer and fall jack-hammering daily... At least we didn't have to do anything about it, unlike our neighbors, whose window sashes were completely destroyed. I guess that's what you get for not leaving tasty large rotting logs around.









A week or so after Brian's birthday party, old friends who couldn't make it were coming through the area, so we had another smaller but equally happy gathering. I include this picture mostly as it's the only one I've been able to get of Sadie in her summer "do". As an extra attraction for me, Roger and Kay brought an ice cream cake instead of the requested fruit. Any time is a good time for ice cream!



And instead of doggie updates, as there are none, here are five of the dozen cats I "sat" for our neighbors for ten days while they went on vacation. The first couple of days were pretty hectic, not that the cats were anything but loving, but truly, herding cats is an exercise in frustration. As seven of the dozen are officially inside cats, my job mainly consisted of walking across the street several times after dinner yelling "kitty kitty kitty" and then trying to get whoever was cooperative enough to show up in the door without letting two others out. Plus one of the guys (Mr. Mushie, the HUGE black cat I always referred to as "Budda") is quite the projectile pee-er. There is a three foot perimeter of incontenance pads around the three very large cat boxes, and a good day was having to change them only twice. Several times just as I was going out the door, Budda graciously resquirted all the clean new pads; so back into the fray I went, with gloves, mask, and giant sized garbage bags. But I am absolutely not complaining; not only did I get to know them all very well, but it was my only paid gig in May. Unfortunately my dear calligraphy students are currently beset by fairly scary health concerns, so we're on hold till everybody is certified healthy again.

Next week I will go back to Mom's, as she is finally scheduled for her second hip replacement surgery (delayed far too long because of her fall earlier this year). She is such a trooper, even though the pain is severe enough now to have confined her to a wheelchair with aides in 24/7 until the surgical date (June 25). I can only hope that it will go as well as the first, couldn't ask for a better outcome. All prayers/thoughts/hopes welcome!

And this Friday will be the fifth (American) anniversary of my father's death. It's striking that for so many years when I was living at home, my dad, who came from Poland at age six on his father's passport, never had an official birth certificate (so I guess he really couldn't have been president). So we always celebrated twice, on December 27 for the American one, and the last night of Hanuka for the Hebrew. Eventually my mother realized that while great fun for Dad, pretty soon her daughters were going to request two birthdays, and put a stop to it. Now all these decades later, on the much sadder occasion of his yartzheit, we still have that duality going on. I'll light a candle this Thursday night, ahead of his June 22 anniversary, and again next Wednesday for the Hebrew calendar. And because the two calendars rarely coincide, I am struck that this year is the first time since he died in 2007 that June 22 is a Friday, just as it was when he left. And next Friday night I'll go to services at Gidwitz, the last congregation he participated in, where the Shabbos reading is Chukot, the very parsha read the weekend he left. Somehow this seems not only significant but very comforting to me. That's the very long of it from here. I hope all goes well there and that each of you is having the summer you want, with the folks you like best. More anon...

May 27 2012

It's Brian's birthday! Today is the actual date, and here's Brian at 70 with a table full of lovely plants sent by family and flowers from our garden to cheer his day. The big birthday party was last week, to get a head start on the holiday weekend, and as you can see from these photos (and I won't put ALL of them up!!) we had a wonderful time. The weather cooperated after five or six days of rain, then the sun came out for the weekend and the sky was as bright blue as Brian's eyes.

Lots of lively conversation,
















lots of delicious food,




















lots of shared laughter. And the shot showing Brian with several men include men who were boys at Brian's 7th birthday party. Pretty amazing to have kept in touch all these decades later.
































Hyla and Ayro had the most fun down at the frog pond, where the hunt is always on. Lisa actually did catch a frog in the net, but of course it leapt right back out to continue it's froggy life in the murky depths. But it's fun for the girls, and a real pleasure to watch them watching the frogs.

















































My favorite shot, though, was the two of them running along the upper terracing "grandchildren's path", looking just like little wood sprites.














At the party's end, happy but rather tired, I took this last shot of the table after everyone left and most of the stuff was stowed (please note the cake with colorful sprinkles, Hyla and Ayro made it for grandpa with I suspect a little help from their parents). Everyone including Sadie had such a nice time, we are so appreciative of all the folks who made the effort to help us celebrate, from Rochester, New York City, Connecticut, and elsewhere. Thanks to all!!! Now I just have to get used to the idea that I'm married to someone who's 70!!!

May 2 2012

Just to let you know what's going on, ahead of Brian's big 70th birthday party later this month:

First, Mom is home again and doing better than we feared. She is going to have PT and OT at the apartment for a while, and is always very good at keeping up with the exercises she's been given, so I'm hopeful the improvments she's made will persist. And, of course, thanks to all who were so supportive and concerned during this latest crisis. Your prayers were very welcome!


In garden news, after a very warm (VERY WARM) March, April was much cooler (except for our single 100 degree day) and now that May's begun, we've had lots of much-needed rain. The plants continue to confound.
My carefully planted bleeding hearts in the lower terraces either didn't survive at all, or are just a few inches high as you can see.

While the self-seeded ones, in cracks of the stone walls, jammed in to other planting beds, and everywhere else they don't have a visible toe-hold (root-hold?) are thriving. Go figure...



The lily of the valley plants are tumbling open everywhere. I wish I could send the scent along, it's one of my favorites and I love being able to make tiny arrangements with them that scent the rooms as I walk by. Too bad there's no "smellovision"!



















The very first of the bearded iris opened up too, little dwarves with lovely edging.













Also for your viewing pleasure, a shot of our hostas BEFORE the deer come and munch them down to the ground. Some years are better than others, but we're always grateful for whatever plantings the critters leave behind for us.








I put out a half dozen tomato plants weeks ago, and then had to cover them up with cartons three nights running to protect them from the frost. Finally we are predicted to have nights above freezing, so yesterday my chilies (for rellenos) got put in the ground, joining the arugula, lettuce, and garlic that wintered over. Still to get: basil, chard, eggplant, zucchini (remember when a single zucchini plant produced more than could be given away? it's now a delicacy costing about as much per pound as mushrooms!)

We've cleared away all of last winter's dead weeds on the lower terracing, just in time for this year's to make their appearance. Wish I could teach the deer to eat weeds. And Brian's built some new bridges to get the wheelbarrow over, as the old ones were rotting. The new ones are much prettier, too.

In the dog news, I was part of the team that found little Taylor her "forever" home. Her new family decided to change her name to Honey, and are transitioning by calling her "Taylor Honey", which, as these are Texans all, sounds about right to me.

















That's the wrap-up for now. Hope all goes well with all of you - send us your news!

April 11 2012

Update April 11: Before I could post the riveting news below, I was called back to my mother's side on March 28, when she fell and was taken to Highland Park Hospital. I stayed with her until April 3, when she was well enough so that I was able to fly back home (but of course not without concerns). By then, Mom had been moved to Whitehall, a rehabilitation center she's been at before with very good results. As of now, Mom's been taken off oxygen (finally!), is getting PT twice a day and OT once, and making good progress. My sister and brother-in-law got back from California the night before I left, and the grandchildren have been truly wonderful about visiting, calling, and giving Mom the love and support she needs. I'm still not sure when she will be able to go back home, but hope it will be soon. Thanks to everyone who has been saying prayers for her - keep it up! And now, the pre-emergency news as it was then:

March 27 2012: I'm just recently back from spending a week with my remarkable mother at her assisted living center, where I'm still the youngest, and the fastest walker. However, more folks every trip are asking me when I moved in, so if I needed any proof that my grey hairs are proliferating, I now have it. Mom's spirit remains the same, and her mind is just as sharp as always. But unfortunately her body is not keeping pace. Just today she began P.T., and for the first time in months was somewhat encouraged, as the therapist thinks he can really help her mobility, if not the pain. And something's better than nothing. I did get to see my niece Kim and her son Cameron, my nephew Kevin and his twins Julia and Phoebe, and my sister and brother-in-law, so had a good dose of family.

I took an afternoon to visit my father's grave. Standing there approaching in my sixty-sixth year on the planet, I could recall so clearly the salesperson who came to our house when I was just sixteen, and how my sister and I could barely suppress our giggles as he talked about the "view" from this grave site. But I have to admit, all these decades later, that on that particular afternoon, with the sun shinning, the temperature an unbelievable 85 degrees, and birds singing in the nearby tree, the view was a comfort to me. Less comforting is looking at the empty places next to Dad, waiting for Mom, Brian, and I. It's a bit strange looking at the place I know I'll be buried in. But this is better than the fallback plan Brian and I made years ago, involving a rental truck, drive to the ocean, and illegal dumping. You don't need to know more...


Here at home, while we weren't as hot as the Chicago suburbs, it was also unseasonably warm for most of March. We had our own little mini-summer, nice but confusing to me and the plants as well. Right now we have jonquils and daffodils blooming,(the only thing that's close to on time) irises a good twelve inches out of the ground, and day lilies also up WAY too early. In the back terraces, the allium are up, the crocuses already bloomed and dying back, the peonies just poking through, ecchinacea as well, and the bergamot well on their way to taking over every terrace they are planted in. I wonder, though, as I see less blooms on the bulb plantings, whether the other flowering plants will also have less blooms. I know peonies in particular need cold weather to flourish, and we didn't have that at all this winter (and this is NOT a complaint, just an observation). Several of our evergreen ground cover and shrubs also look pretty pathetic, and I'm not sure if it's caused by lack of cold, lack of moisture (no snowpack to melt) or just general malaise. Time will tell, and then I'll tell you.












As for the dog news, in March I was part of only one successful adoption, but one is enough to keep me going. Lucky Carlin found his forever home with a man who can't wait to finish his training and go out into the great outdoors with his new best friend.







And sweet Sadie, now approaching her eleventh birthday, gave me a very Brittany greeting when I returned, lots of doggie singing and generously brought over each of her three toys to me, just to show me how glad she was that I was back. What a great girl, we are so lucky to have her!


And speaking of "lucky to have", here's Grandpa Brian having a really good time with his adorable granddaughters Hyla and Ayro. A very photogenic family!

My calligraphy students have just completed their second year, and this week we'll have our traditional calligraphers' pizza party. They stoically pursued Italic, our sixth alphabet, in deference to Rose Ellen who's waited over a year and a half (Italic was the reason she enrolled in the first class) while I insisted they do other, easier alphabets.




We were delayed almost every other week either because of weather, car problems, work conflicts, road work or trips, but finally we've covered lower case, caps and numbers. I'm continually impressed by their persistence, hard work, and delightful dispositions. They are wonderful students and women well worth knowing. And I think most of us (including me!) will be glad to go on to the next alphabet, a version of Rotunda that I'm far more comfortable teaching.

February 7 2012

Now that the hoopla over the Big Event, PUPPY BOWL EIGHT, is finally over, we can move on to other things. As you can see, Sadie and I were wildly unexcited over the football stuff, though Brian really seemed to enjoy it


While we really are enjoying our fairly snowless winter (so far!), for those of you who yearn for the snow (and those are generally you who live where it is not) I'm including a shot of the one snowfall we've had since October, so you won't think it's a completely unwhite season. I'm just relieved that I have not had to do any shovelling thus far, and with Brian 90% healed from his knee surgery, it's a good bet I won't have to do much. It's pretty to look at, I agree, but not so much fun to live with.



And while on the general subject of Brian's knee surgery, I am happy and somewhat astonished to report that in yesterday's mail, right after last Friday's fifth boilerplate letter from FEMA informing us once again that the damage to our house (never claimed, wasn't any) did not, upon FEMA inspection (never happened) warrant any help, we got a check - no letter, no explanation, just a very welcome check. I'd love to take all the credit for my great advocacy skills, but after I had refuted all their ridiculous reasons for declining to help (not at all limited to our non-claim on the house, but ending in their stating they couldn't get in touch with Brian's doctor, whose name, address, cell phone, office phone and fax number were of course prominently on display in every bill we forwarded)I knew I needed more muscle. So we got in touch with the one state senator in our eight years here who did more than send us a generic email (shame on you, Chuck Schumer! and THANK YOU Senator Larkin) and put us in touch with someone in his herarchy that handled Federal matters. Two weeks later, voila! A check! Sometimes government works - if you complain long enough, loud enough, and have a friend...






In other news, I have succeeded in dieting off almost all the extra pounds put on by the December (and beyond) extravagances. Though I do really well on my own slurping down anything chocolate, I was helped by our generous and wonderful friends who sent very many cookies, fudge, avocados and other treats, all very much appreciated, and all eaten far too quickly. At least Brian got a few pieces of everything. Here's a few mouth-watering shots - are you hungry yet?























And we had a nice surprise this past weekend, when Lisa and Josh, and Josh's mother Laura (who is wonderful just like her son) with Hyla and Ayro, paid us a visit.

That's most the news here. Self-serving insert: I'll just take a moment to encourage all my young readers (I think there may be two or three under forty) to use that internet, twitter, facebook power to support my unofficial but very sincere run for the presidency. In light of the current slate of Republican candidates, since clearly no one is too preposterous to aspire to the presidency, I am moved to offer a genuinely independent alternative: ME! I will not be collecting any direct donations, will not be campaigning, and will not create a superpac run by my relatives. But I can balance a budget, owe no political favors (with the possible exception of the previously mentioned Senator Larkin), have way less baggage than Newt and like almost everyone else, way less money than Mitt (whose name, as Jon Stewart mentioned months ago, means "with Romney" - yiddishist all laugh now). When Newt is the moral arbiter, and Mitt represents the unemployed (and I'd be just delighted to be an unemployed person who somehow gets over $20 mil a year, and I'm betting you would too), I think I have a pretty good chance of being elected by folks with a few fuctioning brain cells and some residual memory. And wouldn't Brian be a great First Man?

Last and probably best, these are dogs adopted recently by the team at ABR that I work with:

Leah,


Mia,


RJ

January 11 2012

It's been about a year since I last posted (and I'll bet all 3 of my readers were puzzled) so this is a condensed version of life in the foothills of the Catskills. This winter is the opposite of last, so far, as we've had only one freaky snowstorm in October, right on Halloween, that was surprising but too depressing to photograph. Halloween? That's the time for light jackets, warm days and trick or treating on a mild night. Not so much in 2011, as most Halloween stuff on the East Coast got cancelled. What a sad day for the kids..

We had our annual Brian's Birthday Party in May, but this time I had to ask all my dog buddies to leave their kids at home, as Sadie just doesn't seem to like her own kind - and shows it, unfortunately. It's odd because she's so very gentle with the grandkids, and pretty laid back these days with most folks.
Oh well, I guess she's picked up some of my bad habits in this year and a half she's lived back with us.














Less pleasant news item by far for us was Hurricane Irene, which was well covered by the national news but left out our item: Brian injured himself very badly in the cleanup afterward, and wound up needing knee surgery in mid-October. We were without power for 5 long days, relying only on the generator (my very favorite appliance ever) - tolerable but not much fun. The house, thankfully, was not damaged, though we had a small leak in the basement that kept me busy mopping up and wringing out dog towels. Compared to so many folks who either lost their houses or almost did, we were lucky.
BUT (yes, there's always a "but") a rather impressive tree came down in the storm, pushed our fence back and then dangled in the utility wires until Sept. 1, when the crew finally came to untangle, cut and remove it.
They did a great job, but of course when they left there were still lots of small tree-sized branches scattered over the private road, so Brian and I suited up and began dragging them off the road.
That's when Brian went one round too long, tore out his meniscus on both sides of the knee, and then waited for several weeks for it to get better. It didn't - hence the surgery, rehab, etc. Poor Brian really suffered until the surgery was done and he began to heal; for me the 5 days he spent in the knee immobilizer and on crutches, unable to do very much at all including make his every two hours feeding schedule, were pretty grueling. But we all got through it, and once Brian was on the mend, it was Sadie's turn. I knew this was coming, but explained to Dr. Kate that I was not prepared to have two patients in stitches (insert your own joke here) and Sadie would have to wait till Brian was de-stitched and at least able to drive himself to rehab.

She had her surgery in November, and came out of the removal of several "bumps" and "lumps" like a champ, but looking like a Frankenpup. Three of her four legs were shaved for various inserts and tests, and she had three shaved spots, one on each side, and one on the back of her neck, with neat but to me nauseating stitches laced up tight. How to keep her from chewing? First I tried one of my shirts, which being such a good girl she let me put on. Nice fit, but the scoop neck was so scooped she could walk right out of it. Next, another shirt, another style, and this one worked for the entire time we waited for the stitch removal.

As for the garden, alas, the entire lower terracing was overgrown by 3-4 foot weeds even before Brian got hurt. It was a very wet season, and by the time I could even think about the gardens, I couldn't see them! I'm just hoping that the plants will be as forgiving as they have in the past, and we can slowly reclaim the plantings. I actually thought it had snowed the other night, as the moon was full, and the long piles of weeds still waiting for something else to happen looked white and silver in the moonlight. I had to go outside to prove to myself it wasn't so!

I'm still teaching my loyal students, now down to 3, as we approach the end of our second year of instruction, and they are still a joy. We all hope that the 4th woman, badly injured in an accident right after Brian's birthday, will recover and rejoin us soon. And Brian had two grants last year, one to teach another art class in Pine Bush, and the other to create a mural for the local high school. Both projects went well, and he's waiting to hear about another class this year.

So, that's enough for now. I hope to be better at posting this year than last - I could hardly be worse, as this post alone has equalled all of last year's! Here's hoping most sincerely for a better 2012 for everyone!