Monday Monday, Ba Da ...

Anybody else remember that Mamas and Papas song?

Note to self: remember that two loads of blouses and slacks on hangers are really too heavy to bring upstairs from the laundry. Since I did that twice yesterday, maybe this note will make me remember next time. (Yeah, right.)

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Parking Lot Close to the Amherst Cinema -- called The Academy Lot

On Friday, I went to see Won't You Be My Neighbor? which is the movie about Mr. Rogers. It's a fine movie about a fine man. I miss him but I'm glad that he was not here for the horror of taking children away from their parent(s).

His whole mission in life was to tell the world that children have feelings just as strong as adults and they need to be encouraged and uplifted and loved. My favorite song of his (from when I was doing home daycare) is "I Like to Be Told." Let the kids know you're going to Grandma's house or whatever before the actual event. 

The movie is a great mix of file footage of interviews with Fred Rogers, clips from the show, and the clip of his testifying before the Senate committee which saved public television. Everyone should see this movie!

The sign for the Amherst Cinema is on the top left in shadow. I was really taking pictures of the stella d'oro.

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Then, on Saturday, it was back to the Amherst Cinema for the movie about Hokusai. 


Hokusai's most famous: The Wave

I have been crazy about Hokusai's woodcuts and paintings since Mom and I saw an exhibit of his work in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Imagine my amazement and delight when I was in Monet's cottage in France and I realized that Monet had a collection of Hokusai's (and others') works! Of course, I hadn't realized that Monet had turned his lily pad laden garden pond into a Japanese garden because he was fascinated with all things Japanese.

The movie was presented by the London Art Museum who had featured Hokusai in the summer of 2017. I would have liked to have seen that because they had the works arranged by themes in various rooms or niches. There was a lot of information including the fact that Hokusai was a very popular illustrator of novels.

There were experts giving the viewer all kinds of facts but I was so taken with a guy named Key (or Keyes, you know how awful my memory is). He got very emotional seeing perhaps the oldest Hokusai print known to exist. He was just overcome with its beauty. It was a privilege to see someone so happy and engrossed by his passion for this art.
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Here's my cherry tomato. The nail is discolored because I had just nipped off a sucker branch. Honest.

These are my "regular" sized tomatoes. They are about the size of a cherry tomato.

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I learned a very important thing the other day. Even if it won't fill it up, don't put seltzer into one of those travel containers with a straw. I had finished the water and dumped a can of seltzer into the container. Who knew that the seltzer would bubble up the straw and start spewing out of the spout on top? The other people at rehearsal were more amused than I. 

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It rained like crazy last night. I really think we got an inch of rain during one half hour. Anyway ... the plants liked it! And I like it because I don't have to water them!

Yeah, I know. Somebody oughta get out there and weed. Still waiting for Somebody to show up. 

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Stuff. As George Carlin said, "The only reason we need houses is to hold our stuff." Yesterday I decided to see if I had some sheets and towels that I can give away. Who knew I had so much extra stuff?? I now have three giant trash bags of mostly sheets. And I had already donated the twin sized sheets. Phew! I still have a lot more weeding to do in the linen closet. (Weeding is a library term. They weed the books that nobody is taking out any more or the ones that are falling apart. All of it is to make room for new materials -- but not in my case!)

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So far it's a perfect summer's day. It has just now reached 73 degrees at 11:30 a.m. It probably will go to the mid 80's which is fine with me as long as it's not too humid. Starting at the end of the week, we are supposed to get into over 90 degrees for more than a week. That's when we New Englanders begin to whine. Although ... my next door neighbors have invited me to use their family pass to the War Memorial Pool. That might be fun. Then again, I had better remember to bring ear plugs. It has been a lot of years since I have been at that pool with kids but I have vague memories of a lot of (joyous) screaming.

Cheers!

Sweet Summer Thursday

Yes it's a lovely sunny 77.2 F. and I don't even mind the heat because there is an intoxicating breeze.

Ann took me to the dump, er, landfill today so I could leave the unsold tag sale items at the "take it or leave it" spot. It felt good to get that stuff off the lawn -- it was too messy! The tag sale went fine and I'm very grateful to my daughters who were a BIG help. Besides myself, Deb, Emily, Naomi, and Phyllis were selling at the tag sale.

Deb was a sweetie and helped Naomi load into the car and take a desk to the Trading Post. Naomi really wanted to be rid of that unwieldy piece of furniture. Deb also pulled up my mailbox (as requested) with gargantuan strength and some guy bought it just few minutes later. 

And I earned enough cash so I can pay for this Sunday's ticket to Happy Together which is a concert of 70s music. Yay! Lisa and I are going to that.

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Note to self: the next time you think jalapeno poppers for breakfast are a good idea, remember that it is not.

Just kidding -- I made the poppers (along with Belle's Biscuits) at breakfast time in order to beat the heat. It worked well because the oven did not seem to make the kitchen hotter.

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It was time to water the violas. The one pot that yelled at me is not pictured here because they are very sad. I'm thinking about moving them to the back of the house (north side) which will be cooler for them. I think these got more shade from the crab apple tree.

And, surprise! Somehow, I now have a peony in the front of the house. I don't know how that's possible because as far as I know, you propagate them using a root. I sure as heck didn't dig one up and put it there! It's peeking out from the rhododendron which doesn't bloom. I have to hack that back a bit to reach the water faucet easier.

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So at the landfill, I struck up a conversation with the attendant. I never got his name but he became quite voluble after I told him I had worked for the Town for 30 years and I even knew one of his colleagues who used to work there.

I mentioned how in California, they only have one recycling bucket for home owners. We have a red one for plastic, cans, and glass. The blue one is for paper and cardboard only. Each bucket is picked up every other week so I'm always going online to find out what week it is.

He said, "They are killing recycling." What? It turns out, even though there are machines in California to separate the cans from the paper, the loads that are sorted are "contaminated" with wrong items. And we used to sell the sorted loads to China, who cleverly make things out of the recycled trash. But ... they won't buy and are rejecting the contaminated loads. This guy said some communities have resorted to burying the "recycled items"!

He said the Amherst way with two buckets is the original way and some communities are going back from the one bucket way to that. I guess it was for convenience for the homeowner that made communities choose the one container method. 

I agree, it is a royal pain in the neck having two containers inside and two outside. But I'm glad our stuff is actually recycled.

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I told you last time that I would show you my tomatoes. (Thank you, Emily!)

The bucket on the left is a "regular" sized tomato and on the right is a bush type -- cherry tomatoes. If you look really closely, you can see basil on the right which I have to move out. I have been waiting for the lettuce to die out so I can use that pot. I think the green leaf is just about done, but the red leaf lettuce can be harvested again!!

If you think the tomato leaves are pale, it's because those bloomin' cottonwood seeds/fluff are all over them. I'l be putting stakes into the pots soon ...

And the other gift from Emily is happy as a clam ...

Below is from the back.

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Last Sunday my fabulous neighbors invited me to a barbecue. What a fabulous meal they grilled! Ribs, lamb, and pork were expertly done and the sides were fabulous. I especially liked the Asian slaw. So that I knew I could have dessert, I brought a carrot cake cheese cake (Kristie H. Sullivan's keto recipe). The outer edge is carrot cake and the inside is cheese cake. I was very proud of myself because I figured out how to make the blueberry topping. It was delicious and even some of the kids liked it!

Leftovers

One of the adults said it must be good for you because it has carrots in it ...

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Speaking of recycling -- we were earlier, remember? -- I saw on FaceBook that there is a company that scrapes gum off sidewalks. It then cleans it and turns the used gum into sneakers! And they are bubble gum pink and (supposedly) smell like bubble gum.

So now my question is: how many wads of chewing gum does it take to make sneakers? I found this whole thing very interesting because I don't chew gum due to my extensive dental work, but yesterday, I saw someone else's gum hanging off my tire. My first instinct was to flick it off my tire but then I realized -- what would I do with it?? So I let it wear off.

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My blood tests came back that were ordered because I will be volunteering at our local hospital coffee shop. Everything that is supposed to be positive is and everything that is supposed to be negative is. So I'm good to go. 

They will do a criminal records check and I think that's it. I was surprised that they didn't do a tine test for TB. Apparently, they don't do that any more but there was a blood test that indicated negative for TB. I thought they had forgotten it! That tine test was a pain. They made a few punctures and you had to return in a few days to have it 'read.'

It's really important in this area that we are tested for everything. We have many many foreign students and professors. And many 'regular' residents travel extensively for research and/or fun. 

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I really am enjoying retirement! Ann and I had lunch at my house yesterday. I had put some chuck roast in the crock pot in the early morning so we had lovely pot roast and a fresh salad. Of course, I included olives on the salad. I think Ann likes them as much as I do. (Her hubby doesn't like olives so I don't think she buys them.)

Well, that's it. Tonight I go to rehearse with Rock Voices. I sure missed going while I was battling my 9 day cold. Since I need all the help I can get, I have been going twice a week. Tuesday is Northampton, Thursday is Hadley.

Ciao!! 

Yes, I'm Still Here

Except for taking the trash out to the curb on Sunday night, I hadn't been out of the house since Saturday afternoon. Today (Wednesday), I ventured out.

The weather was lovely, in the 70s, sunny with a nice breeze. But since I'm still hacking and coughing with a heavy cold, I stopped into the doctor's office to see if I could have an appointment. I had forgotten that they close for lunch, so I was faced with three empty chairs in the reception area. For pete's sake, the Library office stays open during lunch! We traded off lunch times. I guess that's too difficult for the doctors' office. Luckily, I only had to wait 3 minutes. But I digress.

Me:   I need an appointment. I'm coughing up green and I've been sick since Friday night.

She:  We don't have any same day appointments today with the doctor.

Me: That's o.k., a nurse would be fine.

She: We don't have any nurse here today. Would you like a same day appointment tomorrow?

Me: I guess I don't have a choice. Sure. What time?

She: You'll have to call tomorrow morning to get a same day appointment.

Do you ever feel like you're living Catch 22? I went across the street to the pharmacy and bought cough syrup (with no sugar). While I was there, I had brought a new blood sugar test kit with me because I couldn't get the lancet contraption to work. The pharmacist said they would be right with me and I said I didn't need a pharmacist (they looked really busy). I told the 12 year old pharmacy aide what I needed and she said, "I don't know how that works." Maybe if I had dressed it up like a cell phone ... 

The pharmacist finally got it to work, but I think it's not quite right because the needle part doesn't protrude far enough outside of the protective housing. But I'll make it work.

At this point, I'm on a crabby road to frustration but I continue on to our local Big Y supermarket (right next to the pharmacy). What could go wrong? One of the things on my list (3 cheers for remembering to bring the list!) was almond flour. Most of the local supermarkets here have Bob's Red Mill brand and it's small, affordable packages. In horror, I see that the Big Y is selling Pillsbury almond flour (guess who has jumped on the ketogenic -- low carb -- craze) for -- wait for it -- $13.85!! WTF.

So I use my voice google on my phone and find out that Walmart (on the way home) has Bob's Red Mill for 8 dollars and change. [At this point, I am at my 5th time out of the car. I started off at the Post Office.] 

Happily, I find the flour aisle. But wait -- there's no Bob's Red Mill. It's some other brand and it's more expensive. On closer inspection I see that the quantity is at least a third more than at the previous store, so I scoop it up.

Then I remember that it would be nice to have a scatter rug in the living room in front of the front door. I find a nice one and throw it in my bag with the cookie rack I REALLY need! I just opened up the rug to get the creases out and there's a pull in it.  Sigh.

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My first stop today was to get my mail at the Post Office where I have a box. I got so sick of finding mail in a snowbank or, worse, a nasty letter from the mailman telling me to shovel. My neighbor's box is next to mine and he never once shoveled.

But today was the third time that I got my neighbor's mail in my box. I just happened to check it because when I got back from California, it was crammed full with his mail. I won't recount the whole Post Office encounter because it's even more painful than the doctor's office. It started with a clerk who thought people were addressing my neighbor's mail to my street mailbox ... and proceeded with a supervisor who wanted to do a Spanish Inquisition with me as to what day the mail was left incorrectly. After he told me that he had a newbie deliver on this route twice in the past week, and he continued to question me, I just said, "I'm sick, I have to go."  Apparently, it was too much for him to realize that he had to speak to two carriers (the "regular" and the newbie), so it was necessary to grill me.

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Yes, the hydrangea that Emily gave me for Mothers' Day is doing well. It only had buds when she gave it to me. The white dots are the chemical that's supposed to help it be blue.

 

Yes, the peonies have bloomed.

I have Queen Anne's Lace mixed in with the peonies on the East side.

From the East side of the house.

From the West side of the house.

West side.

For those of you who like purple.

Personally, I think my neighbor waited a tad too long to mow his lawn. Yes, that's hay. He's done this two years in a row. I always feel badly for him because it's so high (at least six inches) and it takes him forever pushing his power mower. Rrrrr, rrrrr, rrrr! The former owner (The Col.) had a riding lawn mower with a bag which is what this guy needs. 

Finally, here is what happens when the cottonwood trees let go.

See that white at the edge of the grass? That's cottonwood seeds. For days now it has looked like it's snowing at various times throughout the day. Add the spring pollen which rings puddles with yellow and it's a very Daliesque setting!

By the way, my pots of violas (above) love this cool weather. Next time, I'll show you pictures of my tomatoes and basil.

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I've been watching Frasier on Netflix. I get a kick out of Bulldog, the sportscaster. He is the one that makes all kinds of noises with gongs and whistles and his radio audience eats it up. I found it really funny that because his team lost, he told his audience that he would do his show hanging from the ceiling. And in the last shot of the show, he was hanging from the ceiling. I'm not sure that he really grasps the concept of RADIO. 

Cheers!