Sunnylands

Sunnylands, the Annenberg Trust. We did not have tickets for the mansion/art museum, but the gardens (below) were wonderful. There were many benches so we took our time.

"We are not a botanical garden, you are supposed to feel as if you are in a painting." ~ /Sunnylands docent.

Nope, not going to linger here whether there's a performance or not!

There's a bee in here somewhere.

Labyrinth

On the move.

This water was one of many 'streams' which provided lovely water music.

This wall in the great room is made of stone squares. From the movie, there is a similar wall in the mansion. Many of the walls there are covered with priceless paintings, i.e., Monet, Van Gogh, Gaugin, etc.

These animals are made from flip flops by women in Kenya.

I took this picture for Sharon -- didn't think they would survive in my suitcase.

6:23 a.m.

It was 6:23 a.m. when I first saw him.  I was looking out of my bedroom window waiting for the sun to turn the mountains from pink to gold  at sunrise. Movement near the pool caught my eye and it was then that I saw him. It was a full grown coyote who headed to the other street. He came back soon and sniffed around the house across from Mom's. Later on, he zipped by my window and he was about eight feet away from me. Obviously, he was making a grid search. My friend and neighbor, LeeAnne saw him too and she had her camera ready. (Photos courtesy of LeeAnne Wilson)

Yup, he was successful. It appears that there is one less bunny in the neighborhood. These are jack rabbits which have longer, more stickiuppi ears than Amherst bunnies. They seem to be leaner too -- maybe from running away from coyotes.

If you noticed the big brown patch on the grass, it's because they are scalping the grass right now. Yep, they take off the whole top layer (scalping) and then they re-plant the winter grass.

The city of Palm Springs is spraying for mosquitoes every morning until 8 a.m. all week. I wish they would spray for crickets. We have so many coming into the house that I'm looking up recipes for cooked crickets.

And, apparently, yesterday began the "We Are Going to Trim EVERYTHING with Chain Saws" Week for the private landscaping companies. The noise begins at 8 a.m. and continues forever. Or at least for a long time.

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You know, I try to be open to new concepts and 'think young.'  But I have to confess that I went back and changed "AM" to "a.m.". It just didn't look right. Just as I date myself by putting two spaces after a period (before a new sentence), I also persist in spelling "theatre." Some things are just comfortable.

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More in the adventures of pickle ball. After nearly dying in the heat of full sun, LeeAnne and I got smart and went out at 5 p.m. last night and it was GREAT playing in shade! We're getting better although we still have lots of graceful, but misses by a mile, episodes. It's fun and we sure are moving! I have to let a lot of the balls go by because even though it's smaller than a tennis court, I'm not up to racing to the opposite side. I consider it as a way for LeeAnne to improve her aim by hitting it to me. We get really excited when we get a volley going. Hey! It keeps us off the street!

Mom looked at me as if I were crazy when I asked if I could use her walker. It has great storage under the seat for the paddles, balls, water bottles, and key to the courts. (I also figured if I collapsed, LeeAnne could push me home, but don't tell LeeAnne I said that!)

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Speaking of Mom, she is doing really well, thank you very much. No more fluid in her lungs, no more partially collapsed lung, no more shortness of breath, and yesterday her oxygen level was great! (We have a little gizmo that you put on your finger and it measures your oxygen level.)

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I'm getting weary of political ads. Here, they seem to be employing the Trump School of Name Calling. There are two different ads calling opponents crooks and one woman called someone else a snake. None of these candidates are running ads for what they stand for, what their ideas are -- they just slam the opponent for being a crook. I don't know why the one who says the other guy stole $300,000 of public money isn't sued for slander. Is there proof? If so, why isn't the guy in jail? So many questions, so few answers.

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I am being hounded by an 800 number on my phone. It's a recording telling me that I have a problem with my Apple products. I don't have any Apple products and even though I have blocked this number I still have at least one call per day from them. Originally, I had six (or more) calls. I just don't know why they can still get through.

Meanwhile, Mom's computer is infected with something -- she's getting a million popup ads. I downloaded AdAware and that hasn't helped a bit. Some of the most persistent popups are from Google and says to go to 'myinboxmanager' or some such thing, but I'm afraid it will make matters worse.

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Gas prices here are hovering around $3.79/gallon vs. an average of $2.80/gallon in Massachusetts. Guess it's a good thing we're not going on any long road trips. 

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No luck in the volunteering at the art museum -- their docent program won't be taking applicants until 2020! And they want me to become a member to volunteer (in the gift shop or ? sweeping up?).

So the search continues.

At some point, my search for a volunteering position led some search engine to think I was looking for work and they keep dangling a TSO position in front of me. (Transportation Security Officer) The requirements are high school, citizenship, background check, not in past due debt of $7500 or more. The pay ranges from $17 to $25. 

These are the people that gave me a full body pat down in Hartford. It was a little embarrassing, but I don't think if they had had more education that would have lessened my discomfort. 

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I made macadamia nut bark (chocolate) this a.m. I used Swerve instead of sugar. Yum!

Cheers!

Saturday, Sept. 8 Is Go to Phyllis' House Day

Hear ye, hear ye. Saturday, September 8, please go to 197 Pondview Drive between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to see Phyllis' tag sale. I know she would like it if you buy something too!

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Nothing much to report. Although last night, I did go to see Linefork. This was a movie about Lee Sexton, renowned banjo player, who lives in Linefork, Kentucky. It was a very interesting documentary, but the style was totally new to me. The movie began with two and a half minutes of looking down at a moving train made up of a zillion empty coal cars. That was followed by some minutes of looking at trees. Then a river. You get the idea. I expanded my horizons last night.

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I have been wrestling with my sewing machine. At the moment, we are at a draw, but I shall conquer! I have taken it apart -- and put it back together again. I only have one more hurdle which is how to lower the feed dogs, and then I should be in business. I'm kind of frustrated because I really wanted to just sit down and sew and I have had to tinker with the machine. Bah humbug! So I started another wall hanging. I have to give myself time to get over my mad (at the machine) and proceed logically.  :)

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I have also done battle with my health insurance provider and Medicare. That's a work in progress, but as of today, there were three (count 'em three) people working on this one measely doctor's bill from June that they never billed correctly. Sigh.

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Then (but wait, there's more) I had asked online for information about solar. He made an appointment to give me "numbers" about solar for my house. He called yesterday at 3 p.m. as he said he would. He shares his computer screen with me and he's showing me an aerial shot of my house. I'm looking at it as he's chattering away and I finally said, 'That doesn't look like my house.'  He has the right address but they (the numbers guys) gave him my neighbor's house. So he had to call them and 'expedite' a new print out. (Is that a verbal boot up the ass?) Well, gollee gee, the sun exposure was the same! Who'd a thunk it? Meanwhile, obviously the configuration of the house was different, making the roof different.

Then the guy asks me what 'look' -- what configuration -- of solar panels I wanted. He didn't get it: just tell me how much I'm projected to save per month on the electric bill! He starts rattling off about 23 cents per kwh, blah, blah, blah. I finally said, 'I don't care how many kwh I use, what is the monthly saving?'

Finally, I get some figures after a lot more blather. If I rent the solar equipment, no money down, no cost for the equipment -- I'll save $10/month and after 20 years it will increase by 2% or more depending upon the prime rate.  If I buy the equipment (no cost quoted), I'll save $20/month.

At that point, I said I wasn't interested and he said (slightly hysterically), "You'll save over $11,000 over 20 years!!" Now this guy addressed me as "Tina" right from the get go. And when I asked salient questions, he seemed to snap to and maybe think I was younger than I am.  Because in reality, I'm not doing any planning for 20 years from now.

Then he followed up with an email. I'm sure he thought the line, "You have to get your electricity from somewhere!" would put me right over the top and I'd call him up begging for the name of an installer. Certainly I would want two or three guys banging and hammering on my roof and dropping nails for me to step on to install that stuff.

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Being a poll worker was kind of fun. I left "early" at 9:30 p.m. (I started at 4 p.m.) Next time I'll bring a supper. I had thought a big lunch at 2 p.m. would suffice. It didn't.

Most people who were voting were nice. But there were some who were incensed when their name wasn't on our list. They were unenrolled. It says quite clearly on the census form if you do not fill it out and return it, you may become unenrolled. Those people just had to show an i.d. with their address and they could vote.

Speaking of paperwork: I got a notice to be a juror. Luckily, they let you postpone it, so I postponed it to next June. Apparently, after age 70, I can opt out. But I don't think I would do that. After all, I don't have to report to work, so I might as well do my civic duty.

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Emily and I are getting excited about our trip to Cape Charles, Virginia next week. Of course, we don't know how baby Jay will react to such a long trip. I think I'm going to get some soothing music CDs in addition to our favorite mysteries on CD. I wonder if he likes Swan Lake?

Cheers!

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