May 3 2009

The biggest news here is the new foster dog, Rusty,
who arrived last Sunday and is already a part of the family. This poor guy was transported all the way from Illinois, over several days, as there are just no foster homes available there. I have a fairly complete history of his travels once ABR got involved, at the end of March, but as he's a senior boy (just right for our senior household) the biggest part of his story remains a mystery. He is the easiest foster I've had, either due to his gentle and loving temperament, or his age (he's also the oldest, my vet guesses 9 or 10). As he encountered many helpful folks along the way from surrender to a generic shelter in a suburb of Chicago by a woman who just said "single working mom don't have time for the dog" and indicated she'd had him about a year, at each turn, I got emails saying the same thing: I'd keep this good boy in a heartbeat if I didn't already have 3, 4, in one case 6 dogs myself. The Illinois vet's office boarded him for a few weeks, and in the end one of the employees known only to me as "poor Jeanette" took him home with her for another few weeks while we worked on transport logistics. Jeanette is the one who sent along kibble, canned food, two kinds of treats, leash, collar, and brand new dog bed. She wrote me that he's such a gentle soul, and so he is. His transport buddies all called and emailed at each step, to make sure he was doing well, and each one repeated what a great dog he was (and is). Now here he is, just about the perfect dog, except that unlike my insomniac self, he is a VERY early riser. Between six and six-thirty in the morning, he will consistently get up and walk over to the stairwell door, waiting to see which one of us staggers out to help him down the stairs, out the porch, and into the run. Luckily he is as willing as I am to go right back to sleep! We had a series of 90-degree days just as he arrived, and I was so pleased that he was quite able to keep up with us on our moderate walks despite the heat. And the first time we let him run off leash in our monastery neighbors' tennis courts, he was thrilled! It made me smile to see him so happy just to run free and sniff - and then I wondered, had this boy ever gotten to do this before? My favorite shot of him so far is among the wood violets, who, like Rusty, are sweet and small and undemanding.
A perfect match! Brian has decided he doesn't look like a Rusty (as if I know what a Rusty looks like, at any given time there are many on the ABR web site and no two look alike). Much to my puzzled amusement, Brian claims he looks like a Glenn. Now who among you reading this has ever looked at any dog and said, "Looks like Glenn to me"? And as Rusty Glenn immediately began following Brian everywhere, his new formal name is Rusty Glenn Shapiro.

In other news, and there is some, we have a dove nesting in our weeping cherry,
exactly where a nest last year was knocked down by the neighbor cats. She's very pretty, and I wish her well, but not only has she made what I think is a very poor choice of nesting spots, given all the 40-foot trees around here, her architectural skills are awful!
I had thought this random pile of twigs was at best an abandoned nest, till I spotted the eggs inside. I hope to be able to tell tales of hatchlings soon, instead of scrambled eggs.

The garden changed overnight the first day of high temperatures, and now we are seeing the lilacs bloom
as the tulips and forsythia drop their petals. The daffodils wilted on the very first day, as did I, and are now just a fond memory. Soon to come will be the iris blooms, then peonies, then lilies.

So that's the news from here. Hope all goes well with all of you, and that your gardens are blooming and your dogs (if you're lucky enough to have them) are thriving too.

March 10 2009

Blooms, beagles and babies: all here for you to enjoy! First, the blooms, which are our forced forsythia stems, second batch. These, as you can see, are in some cases taller than I am!
And best of all, I do believe the outdoor bushes will be blooming quite soon, as we have finally seen enough snow recede to view the ground. Took a stroll yesterday, first time down at the pond in months, and all around the grounds noticed many allium sprouts along with the daffs, crocuses, and one very brave stand of tulips up out of the ground and just waiting for that much-needed warm spell to surge and bloom. The back terraces, as every year, have moved around a bit, so once the ground is not so soggy, Brian will have a big job to do in restacking the stones and supporting the terraces. But after such a very long and bitter winter, I am actually looking forward to weeding (that should last about a month).

Second, the beagle story (unfortunately no snapshot). Last October, mid-month, two nice young guys and their beagle stayed with us for a weekend. I knew I'd like them, as the beagle, Sheila, had more luggage than both of them. We had just gotten Brittie, our then-foster dog, back from the vet's with multiple stitches, so I had to make sure the dogs didn't socialize, but admired Sheila from a distance. Very cute, very smart, and I was primed to like beagles from Uno's Best of Show win at last year's Westminster. They left, and before the month was over, I thought I saw a beagle running across the monastery grounds right after our first snow. But then I said to myself (I talk to myself more and more the longer I live out here) "you're just missing Sheila" - and it happened so fast, I really couldn't be sure that I'd seen anything.

November and December eventually passed, with much snow and really bitter weather. During that time I caught sight of this little dog enough to be convinced I was not imagining things, there was indeed a very little beagle running around without a collar, in the foothills of the Catskills, in the middle of winter. But I also knew that a dog I thought was homeless the first year we moved here, was not, just not being kept to my standards. So I just kept obsessing about the dog, every night I went to bed, wondering who it belonged to, whether it was safe, warm, etc.

And then, in late January, Brian and I went out for our morning walk and the beagle was just on the property line between our neighbors and the monastery - just standing out in way too much snow and barking so sadly. It happened the neighbor came out just then, and I asked if he knew who this dog belonged to. He said "no one", the dog had showed up at their place a week or two earlier and his wife Jackie had been putting out cat food for it to eat (they are, as you might imagine, cat people). Now that I knew this was a dumped dog, I got on the phone and internet for several days, looking for someone, really ANYONE, to help round this dog up and take it to safety. I even contacted three beagle rescue organizations. Only one bothered to write back, and declined to rescue this beagle, telling me that perhaps animal control could take it for a few weeks prior to "putting it down", and that there were worse things than a humane death. Well, I certainly agree with that, but having worried over this dog all winter, my solution was NOT to ship it off to certain death. Finally I was able to convince a no-kill shelter about 40 minutes from us, already overflowing with dogs, cats, horses and birds, to consider taking the beagle. The woman who runs the place (Kerry, my new BFF) wrote that even though they were far too full, the story was just too sad for her to walk away from. So, if we would drive up there, get their trap, and bring the dog in, they'd take her and keep her for the rest of her life if they couldn't find someone to adopt her. YAY! We went tearing off to get the trap (which could have held a mastiff easily), and rushed right back, as yet another huge snowstorm was a day or two away. Our compassionate genius neighbor Jackie, after setting out the cat food and watching the little dog go in and out of the trap without it closing (poor dog was so underweight!), decided to leave a trail of the previous night's pork roast all the way down her path, into the trap, and at the back of the trap put a rather large piece to gnaw on. Success! Clearly not a Jewish dog, or at least not Kosher observant, in she went, gnawed for a while, then took pieces from Jackie's fingers while licking her hands. Up close she looked a bit worse than I thought, but clearly was someone's dog some time, not at all aggressive, just a bit confused. Off we went to the shelter, where I did cry at our goodbyes, but promised Valentine (we took her in Feb. 13) that life was really going to get better now. And it did - before I could get back from visiting my family in the Chicago area, Brian called me to share the big news - she'd been adopted! Valentine was only in the shelter 9 days, and would have been adopted even sooner but the shelter policy required a quarantine period to test for diseases and parasites. I do believe this is the best thing I've done this year!


Last, but clearly never least, the baby. While Hyla never takes a bad photo, this is one of my favorites. Am I wrong or is this not the perfect baby? Doting grandma in evidence as a knee...

January 10 2009

Happy 2009! I join almost everyone in bidding a not so fond farewell to 2008, and am hopeful (despite op ed pieces to the contrary) that all will improve in the coming year, both macrocosm and microcosm.


It is just as bitter cold here as those of you not here have been told it is. With our first snowfall in late October, this winter already feels like several years' duration. In December there were giant frost swirls all over the porch glass, and outside the absolutely white snow showed snarled traces of deer circles. The snow was well over a foot deep, and Brian waged a heroic battle keeping up with the necessary shoveling. Over one weekend there was a four-hour period when I saw three bouts of shovelling; as the coward who stayed inside I am impressed with Brian's tenacity and capacity! When the temperature rose all the way to 20, though, I did suit up and walk the usual half hour, on mostly passable roads with just a few icy patches. We are telling each other how lucky we are to have power (and a backup generator, which makes my winter cold fears somewhat lesser)as hundreds of thousands of houses in all directions from ours were not so lucky. Looking out at the white expanse extending everywhere, I'm glad we don't have to go anywhere on a regular basis.


The night of Brian's art reception in NYC was the worst ice storm in years - we made it in, but had taken overnight bags just in case. When the few and the brave actually showed up that night, including our ABR pals Daniel and Tim, who live about an hour north of our house, we were able to confirm that going home was not an option. They were staying with family in New Jersey, and as they arrived several hours after we did, made it clear that no one was going back on our country roads that night. In spite of the horrible weather, we managed to have a good time, as Daniel bought a couple of paintings (another reason to love the dog people), and Hyla arrived with Lisa and Josh, quite literally stealing the show. I walked around the entire show, all 36 paintings, telling her about each one - and she seemed to listen! After the tour, Brian entertained her by crawling around with her on the floor, while the few other folks that arrived admired her motor skills and bright smile. We stayed that night at the home of Brian's kindergarten friend Sanford's, and just in case I needed confirmation, got real life experience proving I am way too old to crash on a couch any more. Driving back the next day was surprisingly easy, as the ice storm, having done pretty heavy damage all around us, was quickly melting away in an unseasonable heat wave. When we got home, we were relieved to see our house had not lost power - I think the monks and nuns next door have provided a blanket of meditative energy that we are lucky enough to be near! Truly, everywhere in every direction of us had power lines down.


Now well in to January, this past week's ice storm, while less damaging than the December 11th one, has hung on and on, as the temperature has not gotten anywhere above freezing in a week. So last night I went out to snap a few shots of the great outdoors, which looks very much like Narnia before the wicked witch was conquered. Everything is ice-coated, and while it does look quite beautiful in the sun, or this weekend's full moon, very sparkly and twinkly, now that it's been snowing yet again for several hours, and predictions are for another 10 inches of snow, we are on continuous generator alert, thinking the ice plus all the snow weight will probably bring down some trees or lines somewhere hereabouts. My digital camera efforts are not really doing justice to the scene, but you can get some idea.

And in conclusion, the only garden news in this seemingly endless winter is that yesterday I ate my first Aerogarden home grown tomato of this cycle. Delicious, but as with last time's try, even with free stuff that the manufacturer send me, it's about $10/per cherry tomato - and one would have to compare to small cherries at that! Oh well, soon the spring will come (I keep telling myself) and then I'll be back at full time weeding and foster dog care. And what is happening out your way? I'd love to know...

November 12 2008

Despite the cold, what a great month this is already! Seeing the great turnout to vote, particularly among first timers (note Hyla right there giving moral support) and people of color made me wish that my best friend Murphy, and my Dad, were alive to enjoy the moment. I was so moved and excited by the election results, perhaps more than most as I am a native Chicagoan, and also worked in the very same districts as an elementary school teacher (though decades earlier) that Barak Obama worked in as a community organizer. As you might imagine, hearing that anyone in any prominence politically had ever even been to the poorest and most disenfranchised Chicago neighborhoods was amazing to me. And even though some people I both love and admire had what I thought was way too much misinformation about Mr. Obama in general, the one point I could speak to from personal experience was that NOBODY goes to Chicago's South or West sides for political advancement. Particularly without press..


Closer to home, Brittie the amazing got adopted last Saturday. This is always both a happy and sad moment for me. I know when I get these foster dogs that I am just one link in a chain that leads to their forever home, but it is hard to remember that sometimes. In Brittie's case, having to deal with the aftermath of her surgery (stitches that had to be examined twice daily for two weeks, probably no big deal to most folks but for medically phobic me, a real challenge), as well as the continued debate about just who owns the bed, and who walks who, actually endeared her to me even more. And a week prior to her adoption, she gave me great proof that she is in fact the smartest girl ever. Our dog run is accessed through a dog door Brian made in one of our porch walls, and secured from inside by a hook and eye latch. I always unhook the door for the current dog, wait until whatever has to be done is done, then bring the dog back into the porch and relock the dog door before going out the human door and gate to pick up, if necessary. I do this because I am really worried that a dog that doesn't know me that well might bolt the gate and run off to who knows where, and I take the foster responsibility very seriously. So when I was out one night past midnight to do the final pickup, I was surprised to find Brittie running right up to me. I thought to myself, I really AM getting old, I'm sure I locked that door! But just assumed all those "senior moments" had caught up to me in a big way. But when it happened again, the next day in full sun, I began to really worry about whether I was losing what was left of my mind. Then the mystery was solved - I went back to the porch, relocked the door with Brittie watching, and waited. She calmly went over, lifted the hook latch up with her nose, and pushed the door open. Apparently she learned this just from watching me do it, as I certainly never tried to teach her. Doggie genius!


And to conclude, we have almost finished putting the gardens to bed. Just one last tomato left to eat, and many bags of frozen tomato pulp to use all winter. As usual, the garden continues to surprise. The green zebras, best producers for the last two years, barely got a few dozen tomatoes out this year, I don't know why. The big reds were rather late (end of August!) but huge and delicious, and continued to set tomatoes all October. But the most prolific of all this year was something called Georgia Peach Tomato, which is actually yellow and about the size of a plum. They were the first to be edible, and put out so many toms I had to take bags of them over to the monastery. Sweet, pretty, and long-lived - what I wish for all of us!

October 14 2008

Yellow Mums

Red Brown Mums

Asters and Mums

Woods Looking North

Woods Looking East

Maple in the Woods

Burning Bush

After a cold first week in October, the weather warmed to perfection and the leaves began to really show color. Now along with the dozens of shades of fading greens, the forest is full of golds, reds, browns and endless combinations of those colors. It seems to me the color is far better than last fall, perhaps because we had such a wet spring and prolific summer. Whatever the reason, it's easy to see great displays of color at every turn of the country road up around here, and all around our own property. As most of the garden dies back, the mums and asters bloom here and there, keeping thoughts of winter back for now. The birds continue to feast on the coneflower seeds in groups. We've had a huge coneflower crop this year and seeds are everywhere, still on the stalk, scattered on the ground, and I hope at least a few don't get eaten and will spring up next year.




Brittie
We now have our fourth foster dog, Brittie, who came to us in pretty sad shape but is now doing so much better. It seems that her former owners were rather neglectful of her health, by the time she got to us she needed 4 teeth pulled, and 3 lumps removed, in addition to the minor things like an ear infection and overlong nails. Good, strong girl that she is, she came through very well, and yesterday had her stitches removed and was certified as perfectly healthy. She is quite easy in the house, but outside is rather challenging, to say the least. Only weighing a bit over 40 lbs., she manages to pull both Brian and I (total weight 275!) even though we have two leashes attached to her harness. The harness was purchased because I was really afraid she'd choke herself with just a collar. She is reputed to come from hunting stock, and I guess all the critters' scents and sights out here are just more than she can sit still for -literally. As I am no dog whisperer, I'm still trying several techniques (and please do send any helpful tips along) with varying small degrees of success. Next try is to fit her with a Gentle Leader, which I've heard helps dogs that pull hard on leash. Or, I could just get a sled and not worry about the high cost of gas. I'll bet she could get me in to Pine Bush in half an hour and not even be worn out.

Brittie with Toy

















Left Side
















Right Side




















In the Dog Run

September 7 2008

In the aftermath of Hanna, which for us was a fairly mild rain and five hours of anxiety waiting for the wrath of the storm which never appeared for us (Brian reports the monks, whose living quarters are slightly elevated from us and in a vastly more open space, did have some wind damage), the triangle planting actually looks happy for the first time in a month. Apparently a few minutes of overhead watering is just not enough for the thirsty plants now proudly raising what's left of their flower heads. Next year, sprinklers! Of course that assumes I'll remember any of this by next year.

Our vegetable garden has really grown, as you can see from the photos, and we are now not only harvesting plum-sized yellow and green tomatoes faster than we can eat them or give them to the monks, but at last the big reds have arrived. And big they are, about the size of small cantaloupes and just delicious. I've been pulping and freezing for weeks now, and have accumulated more bags of tomato pulp already than I had last year, when I only began to do this after the first frost warning, when the plants we stripped covered the entire counter top with tomatoes in all sizes and stages of ripeness. Thus I discovered that it is in fact possible to ripen a tomato inside over a period of several weeks - who knew?

This afternoon we're going to put in our entire fall crop: lettuce, radishes, and peas, just to see how that may go. As all but the lettuce were given to us by our intrepid gardening pals the Packers, who are responsible for at least 50% of the flowering plants in the back terraces (such an advantage to know gardeners who have not moved in a few decades), nothing to lose and possible eating to gain.

And now, just so Ron Paul and Steven Colbert won't be lonely and uncontested in their recent announcement to run for President and VP in 2009, I hereby announce my completely unfinanced and unsolicited run for President all by myself. Thus far I have no running mate, so please feel free to nominate yourself or anyone else (preferably someone still breathing, though as a child growing up in Chicago at the time of the first and most formidable Mayor Daley, I know this is not a firm qualification for political office). And here's my three-plank platform, which will revolutionize Washington as much as Brian's cooking as First Man when I take office in 2010: Plank One: no one can serve in any position for more than ONE TERM. Thus I will eliminate the full-time job of every single politician in office, raising money for re-election. Plus there's the added benefit that without having to attend endless gourmet fundraisers, something might actually get done in terms of real legislation. Plank Two: yes or no vote on anything, with no amendments, earmarks (just why do ears need marking to the tune of several million dollars? I guess that shows my political naivete) or insertions. This will brilliantly cut down on the tree massacres needed to print out the simplest current proposals that regularly run hundreds of pages (one paragraph of legislation, the other 199 of "earmarks") and again, might actually encourage people to propose laws that would be helpful to persons other than themselves and show up to vote for them. Plank Three and last: absolute cap on interest anyone can charge on anything, bank loans, credit cards, car loans, (insert your own favorite here, my campaign is nothing if not user-friendly). Thus I forestall any repeat of the current mortgage mess (and by the way, how do you feel about your tax money bailing out Fanny and Freddy while their daddies, the CEOs, made $30 million between the two of them last year and of course don't have to return a penny). So there it is - vote for me in 2009! Create your own bumper sticker, too. Maybe I should have a contest to raise money, as we really don't have the room for more than eight people at our gourmet dinner table, now featuring the all-tomato menu.

August 19 2008

After the heat of July, we've had unseasonably cool nights for a week this month. While that meant the lettuce continued to be edible long past expectation, and we did get quite a nice group of chilies (that's two relleno dinners so far, yum!), the tomatoes are still waiting on the vines, lots and lots of different kinds and sizes but none ripe. As I've been delivering the overflow cucumbers to our neighbor monks for a few weeks now, they too are eagerly awaiting what will certainly be an impressive number of tomatoes ready all at once. Since there are about 20 nuns and monks in full time residence at the monastery now, I'm sure every one will be eaten.

The coneflowers are now really tall, almost all are pink with just a very few off-white stands here and there, even though I thought I put more white seed out last year. The goldfinches are gathering around as I hoped, to snack on the seeds as the plants die back - at least those I don't cut to bring inside. The marigolds are just huge this year, and after a slow start, have filled in quite nicely and nod their not so little faces in the sun in such cheerful, busy clusters, I can't help but smile back. While I was checking yet again to see if any tomatoes were getting soft to the touch, I was accompanied by two little hummingbirds. Amazing little creatures, they hovered a plant or two down from the ones I was checking as we all three moved down the row. I welcome the company, and am always delighted anew at their speed and delicacy.

We are still fighting with the moles (or voles) for possession of the hydrangea. They make new tunnels that drain it's water basin; we fill the holes; they make new tunnels; and so it goes. There's what Brian and I had planned, what the land wants to do, and then the random things that happen because of the other critters living here or passing through. We can't imagine how minnows got into the pond, since it has an outtake pipe that reason tells me should deposit them all on the ferns every time the rains lift the water level, but there they are, clearly not tadpoles (though there are dozens of them too). And plants coming up in unexpected places, thoughtfully planted by the chipmunks or squirrels or birds - like the sunflower that just appeared in the rock wall. Or, my favorite find, stands of wildflowers like the purple "strife" that is starting to flower in the back jungle, or the really lovely stand of Queen Anne's Lace lining up along the edge of the flat mowed grassy area next to the vegetable cage. When I walk along the road in the morning it's quite a sight, white Queen Anne's Lace, purple strife and clover, yellow ragweed, blue chicory, and smaller little wildflower blooms on vining stems that are orange.

I've already dried quite a bit of mint for tea this winter, replanted the onion sets I still hope may grow large enough to eat next year, have been harvesting the Italian basil and grinding and freezing pesto cubes, and this week will start dividing the ornamental allium bulbs and digging them in for the winter. I'm encouraged to see some small columbine, bleeding hearts, and coneflowers popping up in the front terracing, too. Plans for repositioning some of the perennials in the lower terraces will wait for a few weeks, but as we've now mapped it out, by next year the plantings will actually go all the way down the hillside to the pond. What an achievement! as the last vestiges of the former garbage dump is reclaimed as a flower garden.