UMass Cold Spring Farm

Today I visited the UMass Cold Spring Farm in Belchertown and it's beautiful! The cover crops are buckwheat and sunflowers. Both have pretty flowers.

I went to pick up a box of peach seconds for a friend who had to be at work. It was so heavy, I couldn't carry it! She's going to make peach jam and freeze some of the peaches.

Believe it or not, that's hydrangea above.

It was a lovely summer's day in the low 80s with a nice breeze. We walked around for a bit enjoying the day and the farm. 

Nancy W. said these little plums are tart.

Only a few of the apples are ripe. There are many varieties.

I had never seen doughnut shaped peaches!

The box above is plastic and what they use for the harvest.

Gleaning

Someone posted on FaceBook that today was the day to pick blueberries for free at the Birdhaven Farm in Southampton. You can't say "blueberries" and "free" in the same sentence and expect me to pass that up!

It was a little over 14 miles to this huge blueberry farm. The wife (I never got her name) told us how they had bought the land in 2017 and she introduced us to 4 month old Charlie was infatuated with Phyllis and he was smiling at her right away. Her husband was busily hammering on their new house which will also be huge when it is finished.

Speaking of being infatuated with Phyllis: I told her that we had to bring our own buckets and she told me not to worry. Yep, she had the coffee cans with heavy twine on them so you can string them around your neck and pick with two hands. 

Phyllis Picking Blueberries

There weren't a lot of blueberries, but as Phyllis said, "Plenty for blueberry pancakes tomorrow!" I'll be making blueberry muffins for sure.

I remembered that you caress the branch and draw the blueberries toward you. If they don't come off easily, they are not ripe yet. At one point we had a bird screaming at us to get out of his blueberry patch. We didn't.  I noticed quite a few bees and I couldn't figure out why -- there was no blossom to provide nectar. Short of drilling into a fruit, there was no food for a bee.

It was perfect for blueberry picking -- overcast with a slight breeze of relief from the low 80 degree heat which got really hot if the sun peeked through. Of course, I was hotter than usual because I was wearing my calf high gardening (rubber) boots. Phyllis couldn't figure out why I was wearing them and I told her that it's because I am really worried about ticks and Lyme disease. 

When I got home, it was still overcast so I figured I couldn't put it off any longer. I got the loppers out and went a-lopping. I was embarrassed yesterday when Iola was nearly attacked by that darn wild rose when she was leaving. This giant cane reached toward her, "That wasn't there when I came in!" she exclaimed. Yes, it's like a jungle with all of the rain we have been having.

I haven't picked up the cuttings from the front porch yet. Then I was thinking that might deter some of these door knockers. They bedevil us because it's an easy neighborhood to canvas. Solar energy, politicians, save the whales, change your electric company, etc. We get them all. 

Scenario
Violent bell ringing and knocking on Tina's door.

Me: What?! (Trying to fling open door in annoyance but deflated due to the fact that the rain and humidity has swollen the wooden door making it impossible to fling. Poot!)
Him: Hey, I got scratched on these thorns. You should pick them up.
Me: I didn't ask you to come to my door.
Him: I'm here with some really important information -- you might qualify for a rebate.
Me: Nope, I'm sure I don't qualify.
Him: What?
Me: Whenever I try to take online surveys that will give me a coupon or something, as soon as I put my age, they say I'm disqualified.
Him: No, see ...
Me: Yes, I see very clearly. And I clearly want you to leave. Be sure to have a nice day.

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Speaking of growing things:

Salt and Pepper Added for Size Reference

I have yet to taste one of these tomatoes. Three ripe ones and this have suffered the same fate. Phyllis has the same problem. She and my friend Ang in CT are convinced it's chipmunks. Or a chipmunk. Suddenly, Chip and Dale are not cute. I only left the green ones thinking he wouldn't chomp them -- boy, was I wrong.

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The movie I, Claude Monet was fabulous last Saturday (Amherst Cinema). The videograpahy was fabulous. They would find the exact spot where Monet viewed his subject, photograph it and dissolve into his painting of the same subject. It was terrific. I had no idea he was so poor during his first marriage which produced two sons. He remarried later and began to do all right. I saw many of his paintings in the movie that I had never seen before. Of course, at the end of his life, he was cursed with losing his eyesight. That must have been hell for him. He also did not think his paintings were very good. Can you imagine?

This coming Saturday we're going to see a movie about Hieronymus Bosch. (Yes, I had to look up how to spell his name and even then I had a hard time spelling it correctly.)

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Tomorrow I go for training to become an election worker. I'll be at a poll for the afternoon shift until closing. I don't know what I'll be doing, but I have done it before and it's not very taxing.

On Wednesday, I plan to go to my second Zumba class. I'm really going to have to make myself go -- last time I thought I was going to die! O.k., that is hyperbole, but the next day I hurt everywhere. 

Last Friday I went to the Craft Time at the Senior Center. I brought a hand stitched table runner to work on. There was only one other lady who was quite elderly. She said when she first started going to that group there were 20 or more women. Maybe there will be more this coming Friday.

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The small successes are the sweetest. I couldn't raise the stopper in my bathroom sink. Of course, it was full of water and fabric that I was pre-washing. So I googled it and fixed it. The hardest part was getting up off my knees!

I have to go clean the filter in my mini split air conditioner. Cheers!

Here There and Everywhere!

Wow, it has been a while, hasn't it? Although I'm not sure you've been reading -- perhaps vacationing or swimming to avoid the horrendous heat and humidity that we have been having.

In a bit you will see that I have been a little busy.

The Rock Voices concert of the British Invasion (17 songs) was a resounding success. 192 of us onstage at the Academy of Music in Northampton had great fun singing Beatles, Rolling Stones, Petula Clark and other songs of the late 1960's. I was thrilled that Mom, Deb, and Emily attended. Well, Emily stayed at my house with Jay. Emily is a brand new foster Mom. I'm a foster Grandma!!

Jay deciding that he wants to get the decorative horse.

Jay is five months old, teething, has taught himself how to roll over and squiggle around. He and I are enjoying Peek-a-Boo.

The next day I hosted a brunch for a dozen people. I got many compliments for the food. But I had spent many days decluttering (didn't want to trip up Mom) so when my next door neighbor walked in, he said, "Where is Tina and what have you done with her?" I laughed, but I have decided a clear counter and sink and kitchen table is the new normal. Retirement is great! (Next comes the bedroom -- that might take me a month of decluttering. I'm getting better at "letting go" of stuff, but it is a struggle for me.)

So as you have read, Mom was here from California. I trekked over to Boston and stayed with her for a few days. We were staying at Deb's condo rental because she and Paul have moved into the condo that they bought. What luxury! (Both places.) Mercifully, the air conditioning was tip top as Boston went into a heat wave with 90 F. plus temperature and 60% or more humidity. It rained every afternoon in short thunderstorms. It was like being in Florida.

One day we did venture out to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), which I had never seen. Modern art is not really my thing, but I was feeling as if maybe I should broaden my horizons.

Below is the cheeriest of Kevin Beasley's works. The beginning of his exhibit is a bunch of articles of clothing which he has covered with acrylic epoxy. You are first confronted with about a 7 foot bunch of hoodies and dresses 'standing up' so that it looks like ghosts. There are no people, just the rag-like clothing.

The bottom pieces are brand new -- large & expensive -- sneakers inbedded in wood (I think)

I liked Keogh's work a lot better. Here are a couple of samples.

The best part of the ICA is the huge glass wall on the way out. It's looking at the hahbah.

You can see the afternoon storm moving in 

Site of the original Pier 4 Restaurant. It will be condos.

Mom and I had a great time wandering around and meeting very interesting Uber drivers.

This country mouse was fascinated by the parking meters.

On Sunday (a week after my brunch), Deb had a luncheon/open house in the Community Room which is on the same floor as her new condo. There's an exercise room and the pool outside of the Community Room is salt water. Apparently salt water helps you to float but I have never had a problem with that. My natural flotation devices have served me well over the years. (That's what our SCUBA instructor called them.) Her luncheon was fabulous with food from La Familia Georgio. Yummy!

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Yesterday, I took a fabulous trip with the Amherst Senior Center to the Isles of Shoals. Thank you, Nancy Pagano, who arranged the whole thing!

The bus left at 8 a.m. (I know it's hard to believe but I was waiting for it at 7:30 a.m.) We stopped in Leominster about an hour later at a Panera for a coffee break. Then it was on to Kittery, Maine for a fabulous lobstah lunch. One of the women who ordered the 1.5 pound lobster didn't really know how to get the meat out. She said she only wanted the tail -- some of us nearly screamed, 'Don't forget the claws!!' She said her husband used to eat all of the other stuff and now she's divorced ... 

Then it was off to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for a 2 and half hour cruise to the Isles of Shoals. (A shoal is a hunk of land in the ocean surrounded by very shallow water.) I got to see Star Island where some of my friends go every year to vacation or go to art class camp. 

The weather was fantastic! It was a bit cooler and less humid and sunny. The day in Amherst had started out rainy and grey and we were worried about rough seas. Nope, it was wonderful. I got home around 9:15 p.m. tired and happy.  Oh, yeah, here are some photos I snapped.

Portsmouth Ship Yards -- birth place of first US nuclear submarine and other marine firsts.

Former jail, decaying

From the restaurant. We were on the second floor.

First major bridge on our way up.

As you can tell, I didn't edit these pictures at all. But you get the idea!

Today I have made zucchini chocolate muffins and they are yummy. I didn't have any ground cloves though and I think the author of the recipe is right and they need it. Or maybe cardamon ...

Today, after lunch with a friend, I'm going to Emily's to help out a bit with the baby. Tomorrow we're going to "Porkalooza" which appears to be a pig roast. I have only been to one other pig roast and it's yummy but I don't like seeing the head. I don't like remembering my food is an animal. (Except crabs. I don't care about crabs. I crack those suckers with glee.)

Have a wonderful weekend Everybody! 

P.S.

8-8-18