June 16 2013

Finally the rain has stopped long enough to check on my little green buddies - but not before all the beautiful blue Japanese iris came and went. You'll just have to take my word for it, they were particularly lush this year, as was the yellow Siberian iris I got from a calligraphy student a few years ago. But the bearded iris, usually the queens of the garden, barely set any blossoms at all. I'm not sure if it was the cold snap or just how things go ... gardening is always a bit of a mystery.

We've added an extra little wing to our garden cage, just for Brian to grow potatoes and strawberries. We've been warned that strawberries are invasive and will take over, but the idea of too many strawberries doesn't seem to upset Brian. We can always do giant smoothies!

We did have really impressive rhododendrons this year; here's a shot with me next to one of our larger bushes just to give you an idea of what can happen when one doesn't trim things regularly, at least around here!

We also had our yearly get-together for Brian's birthday. Unfortunately multiple health problems made attendance much less than last year, but it was a quality (not quantity) gathering and we all had a really good time. Especially me, as our friend Jerry brings this "special" beer from Rochester, which much to my surprise I actually like, so usually drink my yearly quota of one while people are around in case I need help navigating. Here are some party shots:

We also went to our first "Bark in the Park" event this past weekend. I never could go with Sadie, who as you may all remember REALLY REALLY didn't like to be around other dogs, and always felt too guilty to leave her home and go without her. So this year I finally got there. Not quite as many dogs as I hoped (never too many for me) but here are some shots of dogs attending. I guess I just have to get some dog shots into everything, even if I don't know the dogs!

This last little girl had a front leg that was so much like dear departed Liza, the Great Dane, that I stopped and chatted with her people. She has the sweetest face, and they reported proudly she is so smart, dosen't even realize there's anything amiss and just is having such a great life. It did my heart good to see dogs with people that really love them. And yes, all those sweet puppies got homes that day - seems like they always do!

And now I'll close with one of my favorite shots of me and Sadie - gone but never ever forgotten.

That's it for now. Soon we should have something more visible of our just-planted pumpkins, now only a few inches high. But I have great hopes for a pumpkin patch in the former dog run. I have never tried pumpkins before so this will definitely be an adventure! More anon...

NEWS FLASH!!! Our neighbor kitty Irish, who has adopted me since Sadie's been gone, just went after an enormous "whistle pig" (groundhog) out in our triangle! I wish I could have gotten a photo, but it went so fast! I noticed another cat sitting at the top of our stairs looking north, so went to a north facing window to see what she was watching. I saw Irish's tail in the tall flower stems, and thought she was just after another bird/chipmunk/vole as she's a dedicated hunter. But then I saw another very big brown blob in there, and before I could even figure it out, she ran right at it and scared it back under the art shed where it apparently wants to take up residence. It was three or possibly four times her size! This was a big fat male (she's a very small kitty), and yet she didn't hesitate for a second. And then once it disappeared under the shed, I called her over to praise and pet her, and she came running right back to me. My hero!

April 26 2013

It's a very yellow season here at this time of year, with forsythia blooming everywhere and daffodils as well. Here's our hearty forsythia, the same bushes that were crunched to the ground beneath the fencing after Hurricane Sandy - so resilient, and always beautiful.

Also a delight to the eye, our various daffodils and jonquils - here's a sampling, including some that surprise me every year because I forget about the double ruffles, that show up later than the standards.

And speaking of surprises, I already found one in the garden cage: volunteer kale, which is really odd because I know I never planted seeds or seedlings, and don't even remember buying kale in the grocery store to cook. For me it's a bit like chard, I'll eat it if I grow it, but otherwise why bother?

Brian is extending the garden cage to enclose his carefully planted potatoes, as we thought they wouldn't tempt the deer because some sprouted in our compost bin last fall and were completely ignored. But our neighbor said when he planted them, the deer did indeed eat them to the ground - and below! So we'll soon have an extra wing complete with chicken wire.

And now, for a bit of non-garden news. My two remaining, loyal calligraphy students just recently completed their second Hebrew alphabet. Here they are with their final projects, looking (I hope) pound and happy. I know I am certainly proud of them!

That's it for now. Soon the lilacs and lily of the valley will open, and they really do smell heavenly. Then the irises, followed by peonies, and everyone else. Right now the war on weeds is at least a good holding action, as the cold nights are keeping weeds from overcoming our carefully planted stuff. But I know by mid-summer the forest will reclaim at least part of the lower terracing. We'll just dig it back out next year! Hope all goes well with all of you.

March 29 2013

Spring in Pine Bush.. our neighbors at the monastery not only built this igloo, but actually slept in it! And this was of course in the first week of (alleged) Spring, so those of you complaining about the West Coast cold should just imagine this as a taste of real winter. The folks had planned to sleep there longer, but one night was enough to prove the outbuildings of the monastery were much better, even if the heating there was minimal. And today, the igloo is standing still, though it looks like the top has collapsed in as we now have temperatures about 50 and there's very little snow on the ground (but still a bit!). And in a semi-related item, have you read about the indictment of Phil, the lying groundhog who predicted an early spring? While I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one to be annoyed at the lying rodent, the death penalty seems a bit extreme; and of course returns us once again to the issue of our governmental employees apparently not having enough to do so that in their spare time they file formal indictments against other species.

Just hours before another big snowstorm last week, I went out and cut some forsythia stems to force, so I could see something besides the monochromatic landscape of winter. Before I could even get them in vases, the snow began, and continued for another twenty-four hours. Really, this is no place for seniors like me!

But eventually they did what I wanted, and have lasted until just today, when I am going to replace them with new stems (unless I'm snowed out!). It's one of the advantages of life here, the ability to pick rather large amounts of blooming things and bring them inside with only a bit of time and trimming.

We had a particularly meaningful Seder this year, as our friends the Lunenfelds were able to join us once again. Ellie has been fighting cancer for over a year now, so we were especially grateful she was well enough to come along with her husband and two grown children. And they brought most of the meal - none of them are vegetarians and both Brian and Sadie were delighted at the chance to eat some poultry.



On another unrelated topic, did you know that delivery of USPS packages is at the discretion of the driver? I surely didn't until I got a slip in our mailbox informing us we could pick up a package at the local P.O. twelve miles round trip from us. After about two hours discussion with the local Postmaster, the USPS customer service (insert your own insulting joke here) and various irate emails to the Postmaster General, Governor Cuomo, both my Federal senators and anyone else whose email or web site I could find, we apparently will not ever be getting packages delivered here. I was told that it's always been the USPS policy that drivers don't have to leave their vehicles to deliver anything, and now that policy is being enforced by telling them that they can only deliver to addresses having complete turn-around driveways. They can't back up their vehicles! And if they do, and hit anything, they will be fired! To his credit, the local postmaster shared my dismay and anger. Our local P.O. is quite small and already overrun with packages they have no place to store, and people even more irate than I (yes, I guess it is possible though it seems unlikely as I do "irate" so well). I've included in my emails that it seems to me the USPS is not only determined to cause it's own demise, but is also perpetrating a fraud, as they sell packages larger than any mailbox I've ever seen with no caveat that purchasing them, and paying for postage, will only assure the package gets to the nearest P.O. to the delivery address. Anyone know of a stupider policy? Heres the Postmaster General's email if you'd like to comment: ppmgceo@usps.gov - and I hope you will! Imagine what will happen around Christmas/Hanuka time.. And why would anyone use the USPS when both FedEx and UPS seem to have no problem actually delivering the packages they are paid to deliver?

One last note, and a happier one. In April our sweet Sadie will celebrate her Bark Mitzvah! Yes, it's true, she will be twelve (or approximately so) but we are not doing a lavish party, just a small but sincere happy birthday to the girl that chose us to be her forever folks long before I figured it out. She is not even on the web site any more, has been declared a long-term foster, and so will stay with us as long as she lives. Such a good girl!

She now "sings" to us whenever either or both of us leave the house, whether for five minutes or hours, and is also currently enjoying large amounts of cottage cheese in with her kibble. Apparently after years of the same meal, she's gotten a bit bored, and as she must take her daily medication with dinner, this seems the easiest way for both of us. I've gotten a bit too old and cranky to spend a half hour on the floor feeding her kibble bite by bite.

That's the very complete update from here. Wishing you all a happy Passover/Easter/Spring and looking forward to what I hope will be a delightful summer. Send us your news!

February 12 2013

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's several thousand words' worth of our place after Nemo. We were, gratefully, not as hard hit as other places, but I still cringe listening to the nightly news when they speak of the many without power - it's been really cold!

In other news, last month Hyla and Ayro celebrated their fifth and third birthdays, while youngest sprout Caly observed. Also on hand for the celebrations, Aunt Cara and her middle son Dash, so Brian had the pleasure of both daughters and four grandkids.

And as for Sadie, she continues to be our happy wagger, not at all concerned with her "foster" status (about which she never says anything) and brings a smile to my face every day. And I hope yours, too...

December 31 2012

As this year, which has been so difficult in so many ways, for so many people we love (and so many more that we don’t) finally draws to a close, I sit here at the computer with Sadie Bluefoot at my own feet, typing whatever seems relevant. And why Bluefoot?

For reasons neither the vet, Brian or I can fathom, she managed to rip not one, but two, nails, one on each front paw. After a week of trying to stop the incessant licking with bitter apple spray and continuous “No, Sadies” night and day, I finally realized that this was not going to improve on its own. Plus I was beginning to be a bit psychotic from lack of sleep (it really IS a torture!). So off to Dr. Kate’s we went last Friday, an hour before they closed for the New Year’s break. Sure enough, Dr. Kate took one look, said “That must REALLY hurt!”, and gave us stuff to soak both paws twice daily for five minutes, and instructions to bag both front feet when Sadie goes out to the dog run. The good news here is that in solidarity with Sadie, who can’t go on walks till she sees Dr. Kate this Friday, I am not surprisingly foregoing them myself. And as winter has finally arrived here with over a foot of snow, icy roads, and general winter stuff I forgot since last winter was so mild, I am quite content to stay in and have a plausible reason to do so.

I am sure all of you are still reeling from the horrific event at Sandy Hook; I can only hope that this will indeed be some kind of tipping point and result in something more sane than the NRA position (unchanged over decades) that the solution to gun violence is more guns. Even though my teaching experiences now date back to the Paleolithic era in internet terms, I still remember them clearly and from my personal experience of confiscating home-made guns and knives from children barely into their teens, more guns doesn’t strike me as helpful to anyone but the producers of weapons and ammunition. I could go on and on, but instead will provide you with several shots of the grandchildren: Hyla, Ayro and Calder (Caly) Dotson being cute in various ways all year.

I tried several times to get a half-way decent shot of the full moon on our way too much snow, and especially the way the little solar lights cast starbeam shadows on the snow, but alas, our really low end digital camera was just not up to it. Or maybe it’s the equally low end photographer??? So I leave it to you to picture it in your own mind. I will never be a fan of snow, but even I can see how beautiful a pristine country snowfall can be – until we have to leave the house and actually deal with it.

And here for your viewing pleasure, my favorite Christmas photo, our neighbor cat (one of the dozen or so that have such great lives thanks to our neighbors' perpetual open door policy) taken by our neighbor photographer George - very cute indeed!

I end this year as I began it, wishing that all my loved ones have only good things come their way, and that we all will have only happy surprises in the coming year. We send many hugs to all, and especially to the far too many of you who have had such difficulties with health problems, both human and furry. It is said at the end of finishing one of the five books of the Torah, one chants “Be strong, be strong, and strengthen each other” – so I wish for all of us that we will in fact be strong, and will be more present this year than last to strengthen each other. With love from the frozen foothills of the Catskills, LK, Brian and Sadie

Warning: the following paragraph contains political ranting; reader discretion advised! In light of Congress’ continual abysmal lack of action, culminating in refusing to vote for the UN resolution providing adequate safeguards for disabled people worldwide (not to mention their SHOCK, SHOCK of the looming “fiscal cliff’ which they set up two years ago and have, true to form, done nothing constructive about), I have written the President to suggest disbanding Congress without pay for the foreseeable future, until they can actually do something for their constituents. But of course it’s too late now, as in a few days a (partially) new Congress will be seated, and my last feeble hopes are pinned on incoming Senator Elizabeth Warren. We shall see.. I have also sent repeated emails to the White House and Congress, volunteering to do nothing right here at my home for 50% of whatever is the lowest current pay there. If enough folks could be recruited to do this, we could immediately slash our legislative budget by half! I also think the UN should be disbanded, or at least the US should pull funding, since we have plenty of folks who will demonize both the US and Israel for free. And whatever funds are saved should go directly to Hurricane Sandy survivors (though not us, luckily, as we were very anxious and a bit uncomfortable but never had to evacuate) as many of them, more than two months later, are still without food, shelter, or a timeline to get them. And I thought the response to Katrina was bad – this is more than twice as slow and involved many times the number of people.

November 8 2012 Hurricane Sandy

Now that we're back on line, here's our up close and personal account of Sandy (the second "storm of the century" in the past two years).

Our storm preparations: clear all objects off windowsills,

move garbage cans, outside plants and lower porch plants inside, get as much as possible off the floors of my studio and the rest of downstairs,

tie down the wood pile, cook a big batch of soup, take down all hanging plants, cover north facing windows with blankets (I had read about that, it was supposed to stop shattered glass from spraying everywhere, which sounded like a great idea; it wasn't until several days later that I realized that perhaps stapling a flimsy blanket to the window framing was not going to stop a tree branch hurled by hurricane force winds once it hit the glass), gas up the generator and fill both 5 gallon backup containers.

What to have on hand: water, food, flashlights, blankets, chocolate. What to do first when the power blows: eat all ice cream in any freezer. Then wait an hour or two and start the generator.

It was pretty scary here, especially that first night that Sandy was literally on top of us and whipping the trees around like grass blades. The wind was even worse that I had feared, but luckily for us the rain was less so. We had a few minutes here and there of heavy downpours but mostly nothing or light rain, so no water in the house. And oddly enough, Sadie, who quakes with fear at even the smallest thunderboomer, was completely unmoved by the hurricane. She did roll her eyes towards the windows a few times when the wind REALLY howled, but other than that didn’t much seem to notice. The last news item I saw on t.v. before shutting the generator down Monday night was, sadly, about someone in Queens who’d been killed by a tree coming right through his house. I thought, okay, that’s enough of that, I’ll just get out my library book and read by candlelight. Of course the book I started began with – a man just widowed because a tree came down on his house and killed his wife. So I spent Monday night lying awake in bed wondering how many seconds we had if I heard that unmistakable “craaack” that meant one of the big oaks was moving our way …

Our power blew out Monday about 3:30 p.m., and didn’t get back on until Sunday night about 6 p.m. Thankfully we had our loyal generator (my new best friend); I got quite adept at powering up and down, which used to be so intimidating to me. Now it’s just second nature.

Alas, poor Brian still is the only one able to wrestle the generator out of its house to refuel, and also the only one who can lift five gallons of fuel to pour. I hold the funnel (hey, it helps!). We’ve been talking about rigging something that would avoid the dragging since Hurricane Irene, but so far it’s just talk. Maybe this year…

The monastery folks were wonderful, as always, and invited us over for any lunches or dinners we wanted to join them, and also loaned us a propane unit about 5 days in as my microwave ideas had pretty much run out. I sent Brian over for meals and to cook up some pasta (they have gas for heat and cooking so could do this) and he brought home really delicious meals for me – so large that one lunch lasted for two. And as they are all Buddhist vegans, no problem for me with the meat issue. We never did use the propane but it was nice to know we could have…

When the storm passed we were able to see what had happened, and again were very lucky compared to so very many. Our chimney cap blew off, a piece of fascia on the north side of the house as well, and our fences were blown down or sideways; otherwise, except for my sanity, all else survived.

It was infuriating to know that six miles down the road power was restored in 24 hours; but again, given what we could see when we had the generator on and could watch t.v., we knew how lucky we were. Also infuriating were the robocalls stacked up for us at our off-site voice mail about the election; I kept swearing at them as I erased them, fuming that there was time and money to do that, but not one official, local or otherwise, had time to come out here in seven days. Seemed like the very definition of “adding insult to injury”. I was deeply insulted and certainly felt injured by the lack of information.

Yesterday some local workmen came out ahead of today’s storm (yes, another one is coming to us as I type) and thankfully got everything put back in place. I went on line to file a FEMA claim, and while I filled out everything I could, the site informed me that our county (Sullivan) has not yet been declared a disaster area. Tried to make some calls to state officials but not only were they absent for the election, most didn’t have phone machines on to take messages. Much like our electric provider, these folks really don’t want to deal with ranters like me. So they just make themselves inaccessible. Today I was able to reach a human (I assume) and was told the paperwork had been filed and to check on the web to see when the declaration finally is public.

And just now the snow has begun, so I’ll end with just a shot of our newly upgraded furnace (this small local disaster, ours alone, hit a week before the storm; all’s fixed now but the thousands it cost made me feel like you should all admire our shiny new parts that we got instead of anything else in the foreseeable future. But we have heat! Yay!).

P.S. This morning (Thursday) we have power (no outage last night) and the snow is mostly melting. Again, yay!