Cloudy Sunday

Does anyone know how much 2 cubic feet of mulch weighs?  My back knows what two bags of 2 cubic feet weigh and my back is not happy.  Luckily, the mulch is not wet (like last year). I did, however, discover that overcast and 57 F. is perfect for spreading mulch.  When you begin to sweat, you can take off your sweater.  I only got the decorative crab apple tree covered and spots in front of the house.  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Yesterday I met Cyndi for lunch at the UMass Campus Center.  She had brought an exhibit of Dickinsonian ephemera, and old old photos from Amherst College, Mass. Aggie (original UMass) and the Town of Amherst.  Everyone was fascinated by the large (about 4 feet wide and 3 feet tall) 1932 map of Amherst center.  It was done in sepia tones with a much older font style.

Cyndi was one of the exhibitors for the Amherst TEDx.  I got to hear the last speaker, Jeff Donovan, star of Burn Notice.  He was on a live stream because at the last minute, his agent said his contract would not let him attend in person. (He could see the audience.)  His talk, mainly directed at college students, started off with, "I hope you fail."  He went on to talk about his single welfare mother raising 3 boys in Amesbury, Mass. and how humiliated he was to have 'free lunch' in the school cafeteria.  He wasn't a great athlete, he wasn't a great student, and he certainly wasn't successful with the ladies. Then he went on to talk about how he didn't get into UMass the first time he applied, and how he had not been chosen for so many acting jobs.  

Obviously, his message was to persevere and be passionate about your work -- and life.  I was most impressed with his unabashed portrayal of his failures and how he had seen himself as a loser.  His talk was inspirational, in my opinion.  I sure hope it helped some struggling college students.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&\ It's definitely spring as my spring allergies have kicked into high gear.  We don't have puddles ringed with yellow pollen yet, but it's coming soon.  I saw a tree wreathed in white clouds of blooms at UMass yesterday.  I don't think it was one of the Japanese cherry trees because it wasn't pink at all.  I'm seeing magnolias almost in bloom.  They must have made a hardier plant many years ago, because that was once only a southern tree.  We have had them year round for at least 30 years.  

Whew.  Hard to believe that I had memories that are over 30 years old.  Oh wait.  My daughters are 30 somethings! I've got way older memories.  You  hush up, Sharon!

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The Murderer and the poet: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05rl3w8#auto

The story begins about 2 minutes in, after a BBC commercial.
Dan Lombardo, former Curator of the Jones Library speaks about 3 minutes in, and Bonnie Isman, former Director, speak of the forged Emily Dickinson poem that the Library bought.  I had to return the numerous donated checks.

Sumptuous Sunny Saturday

This day is so gorgeous and sunny, it's intoxicating! After the rough winter with feet of snow, we are all experiencing spring fever because it's in the mid 70's and sunny!

So, Ann, Cyndi and I decided to go to the very first Farmers' Market of the season in the center of Amherst.

Here's a cheese taste test.  Notice the partial description on the right: " ... a bloomy white rind ..."

Don't the scallions look good enough to eat right from the table?

Never a big fan of cider, I was intrigued by the hard cider (left), Pommeau, and syrups.

So I bought a Pommeau after a taste test.  Yes, it is 18% alcohol and it was ridiculously expensive, but it will be very yummy over ice cream or pears!

Who knew? I didn't know there is rainbow chard.

Aren't the parsley flats cute? I didn't buy any because I'm done giving the Bunny Buffet.

Pansies (and lettuce) like our still cool nights. And then their sweet faces greet you when you get home from work.

It's too early for the tulips in my yard.

There's a fungus among us.

 Then we walked more south onto the grass of the Town Common where they were preparing for the Extrvanga.  It's the yearly marijuana festival that the Town Police Chief says may be the last one this year because there are just too many people to fit downtown.

This shot is from the furthest south, looking north.  You can see the brick of Town Hall on the top right.  We were there around 10:30 a.m. so some of the vendors were just setting up.

The Happy Hempster (left) featured a "traditional grilled cheese sandwich" among their fare.

There are a zillion glass pipes (for smoking dope) behind the glass frames. (The dog was very friendly.)

Hula hoops are in again.

After seeing all that we could see on the Common, we went to the University of Mass. Hadley farm.  [We did note the many food trucks on the Common, including two fried dough places opposite each other.  I guess if you got stoned enough and had fried dough on the left, you might forget and buy fried dough on the right too!]

As we drove up, the three female babies were gamboling and running around.  By the time we walked from the car, they were only standing around this one spot, so the pictures are not great.  It turns out, that is where they are fed and about a half hour later (as we were coming out of the barn), two young girls pulled up in a golf cart sized truck with grain and hay.  I had never seen horses do the "Yay, it's dinner time!! dance before and it was quite a sight to see them literally kicking up their heels in excited anticipation.

This is before they were fed, so there must have been some leftover spillage from the previous meal.  When they were fed, the girls hooked three plastic buckets with grain on the middle board of the fence and put some hay in a round pan in further in the paddock.

Cute Kids

We watched one goat inside push the whole metal hay rack around his pen. (He shared a pen with the first 2 kids and Momma Goat.

This son of a gun on the right had been standing on the cement circle behind him.  As soon as he saw me stop to snap the picture, he hopped off and ran to me (looking for food, I suppose).  

And, no, that was not the end of our excellent adventure: we drove to Northampton and had excellent seafood for lunch at the Fishook.  All of that wonderfulness and I was home by 1 p.m. -- just in time for a nap!  I've got Monday off for Patriots' Day, so I will have to think of somethig to do ... 

Sunny Sunday in the Seventies

Well, I may have overdone it just a tad today.  Ann and I went to the quilt show.  We walked around for about two hours and had lunch there.  (Pictures at the end.)

Then I went for groceries -- I only had things like cans of beans in the cupboard. When have you ever  known me to eat just beans?  I came back, put the groceries away, froze a bunch of stuff, made two quiche, put an eye of the round in to roast, threw out all of the wrappings and trash and brought it and the recycling to the curb.

The quiche have asparagus in them and the microwave is cooking the rest of the asparagus.  Oh yes, I took the rotissierie chicken off the bone so I could toss its plastic package.

Now I just have to heat up after work! Thank goodness, I had hung up the clean laundry this morning.

The amazing creation above is by my friend, Timna Tarr.

The sparkles above have been created by the many glass beads which have been affixed to this quilt.

Above is a mini -- only about a foot or so wide.

Peek a boo!

Gus the Wonder Dog

This gorgeous bag by Gloria Fox was up for auction.

How cute is this?

It's hard to see here, but there are a couple of loon babies.

You know I loves me some black faced sheep!

The artist said the penguins were inspired by a Christmas card.

Moo

The one above seems to be everyone's favorite. I hadn't even noticed the fish until someone else pointed it out!

A lot of hand embroidery went into the making of this one.