Update on Day 12

 E. is a lovely child -- except when she isn't. Now that she has settled in comfortably, she is more likely to express her frustration -- with screaming. 'Get into the car, we're leaving.' 'No, no, no, scream, scream, scream...' I was vowing to never put her into the car seat again when it hit me. A miserable summer cold which is now day 5. I have this great cough that makes everyone who hears it say, 'You don't sound good.' No kidding!

Tomi, God bless her! brought me a care package of sugarless throat losenges and tea. Included was a painting book and something else for E. We happily painted ONE page. I knew this was a must be rationed item because after six dots of paint, she wanted another page. It's pretty ingenious: each page has the paints on the top and you just add a wet paint brush. Ain't technology grand?

I discovered today that E does not like (crispy) bacon. Huh. Who woulda thunk it? This kid has eaten everything else I have given her.

Cutisms: I use an electric toothbrush. Now, when E. starts to brush her teeth, she says, "Beep," to turn on her toothbrush.

When backing up on her tricycle, she produced a backup beep beep sound.

Her favorite phrase is, "I help," which I have to admit is one of my favorites too. She helped unload the dishwasher and she dutifully puts her stinky diapers into the diaper pail. We have great fun taking the recycling outside to the bin. I hold the basket and she picks out individual boxes to toss in. I just have to watch her like a hawk because she thinks she can do anything -- like take eggs and milk out of the fridge. Eeek!

So we're getting along great. I'm thinking I should bring my ear plugs with me for when she has a fit. That's an idea. When she doesn't want a bath, which is always, it really echoes and bounces off the bathroom tile. 

Today for the first time in days, I get to go out on my own while she visits her parental units. Wahoo! I get to go to the Post Office and grocery store.

Happy rest of summer (and winter to you, Lesley). I wish you peace.

Space

 8/17/22

No, not the final frontier. I need space! I had/have plenty of space in my heart for 3 year old Emma, but I need space in my cabinets and house! Who knew that Oatie o's, Cheezits, rice crackers, bow tie pasta, mac and cheese, and juice boxes take up so much room? I had been enjoying a 'lean' cupboard in that I had no real pasta, or cereals, but some pasta made from hearts of palm and a couple of other low carb specialty items. Most of those specialized products come in multiples that you order online -- and they take up room.

Thanks to the generosity of Emily, Tomi, and Farah (who organized neighbors to contribute), I have a lot of stuff. Emily brought a high chair,a pack and play 'play pen,' step stool, slide, puzzle shaped mats for the deck, and stuff for baby formula production. (I'm not getting the 10 month old who got very sick with covid.) Tomi was invaluable in loaning me a potty seat although we don't seem to have any interest in that. However, my little bathroom has a step stool and potty seat added. There's no room for my shoes!

I am prohibited from showing you any identifiable pictures of foster children, so you will have to take my word for it that she is cute. I have a picture with just the top of her head looking at the cows (we went yesterday), but her hair is potenially identifiable in a bowl cut. I am told that her male parental unit is very aggressive with DCF (Dept. of Children and Families), so I don't want to get into that.

All of this came on quickly, sort of. Originally, I was supposed to have a 5 month old baby for last weekend. That foster mom (FM) backed out because she thought my voice sounded nervous on the phone.

 Ok. Then I was asked to provide daycare (full day only) for a 3 year old and 10 month old. Ok, I agreed to that. Then they asked if I could take E overnight through Thursday because that FM was feeling overwhelmed. I said ok.That was supposed to start on Monday (two days ago). On Sunday, I got an emergency call from their FM. Could I pick up E right away? Her baby sister and the FM were sick and positive with covid. E. had tested negative. So I did and we have been having a great time.

However, I told my social worker that I cannot take the 10 month old (who is already walking!). She and her FM are in quarantine for 5 days. I'm told the baby is much better but the FM is still sick and her parents got it too. She had brought the girls to the parents' house to swim in their pool.

Cathy V. and I had a super time walking for hours looking at quilts from the New England Quilt Show.

Here is the addy of this album of pictures:

 https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOBCFLw5k3c2qkF1Orq5vfwSuXLO0rEbAJ_72XdXXevK6TwqD7Gi3RnBdJnG95kKg

I apologize for not identifying all of the quilt artists -- there were so many! And I could have taken hundreds more pictures! I now have an inferiority complex which I'm trying to get over. I guess it's good that my main machine is broken. I still have the Featherweight (which is the same age as I am), but it's in the sewing room with no air conditioning. It's too hot to be in there. Well that's my excuse.

I now have 3 flowers on whatever that is. I have eaten this tomato and have 3 green ones.

This is Mr. and Mrs. Goldfinch sitting on Tomi and David's deck. She spreads the seeds right on the railing. They have a couple of hummingbird feeders but those suckers were too quick for me to photograph.

Gotta run. I'm we're going to play some soccer with the big red bouncy ball. Cheers!

I'm Back!

 As usual, I have been remiss. So I'm going to start with 'old' photos which also helps refresh my memory as to what I have been up to. 

On June 30th, I was dog sitting for Brownie while his people took a weekend jaunt to Canada. They picked a great time to head north because it was getting pretty warm. This is Brownie as he's coming back into their house after an outside break.

This, however, was his favorite occupation (and position).

Farah, being the sweet person that she is, gave me a lovely bouquet of lilies to thank me. The thanks was unnecessary, but appreciated.

At this point, I had begun staining my new planter which Jon put together. He did a great job with the million pieces.

Meanwhile ...

I have 3 of these muelin (above). They are now taller than I am. And I am told they only bloom once every two years. I'm wondering if I should cut them down. They sure are weird.

Meanwhile, the daisies went nuts and spewed all over.

Here is a more recent photo of the planter. The lilies on each end have shed their petals. The center is tall phlox. I'm collecting those seeds. Speaking of seeds, I had planted sunflower seeds in pots. The %$#! chipmunk dug them up and ate them.

Sunday, July 10th was ice cream day. Flayvors which is about a mile from my house, has a nice no sugar added raspberry swirl. I also got to say hello to the girls. Everyone else was eating while Bessie here was enjoying the cool earth.

Which brings me to July 14th in Cape Charles, VA (CC). Below is the jon boat (I have no idea how that's spelled) that we took out to go fishing. The big boat was having battery problems.

I was less than graceful when trying to exit the boat and started laughing. While it was good to laugh, it didn't help me get off the boat!

Motoring out to a good fishing site.

There were no fish. David and Jane's grandchildren (very small children) had caught them all the week before. So we declared victory and pulled up anchor. David had vowed to get us some mussels.

This is the first 'beach' that we investigated.

David would gun the motor and beach the boat. It was exciting.

Yes, all of those holes in the mud belong to fiddler crabs which are about the size of a half dollar.

It was a lovely day.

David told me that the big yellow claw means it's a male. They wave their big claws around to attract a female and to fight off other males. He said the females only want to see their wallet. Since he was my ride home I did not smack him up the side of his head.

Boat art:

Crepe Myrtles

Hydrangea in front of the volunteer fire dept. in Cape Charles.

More crepe myrtle

Persimmon in progress growing in the median in front of Jane's beach house.

Jane's flowers -- some are five feet tall!

Another day, we took the dogs dock diving. Audrey, the bitch, and Ajax, the dog, LOVE to jump off the dock and retrieve. David has made a "GET IT" which consists of pvc pipe filled with insulation which turns hard. Both ends are sealed and the whole toy is about 18 inches long.

I tried to share a link to videos of the dogs splashing around. At one point you will see 3 labs. A new friend, Wally, joined them. He was just learning how to dock dive. His daddy had to throw him in.

The Cowans became hooked on Longmire on Netflix. All in all we had a really fun time in Cape Charles, VA.  Oh, yes, I got gasoline for $4.23 as I was leaving Cape Charles. It was more at home.

I hope you are having a fun summer too!

No Excuses

 Monday, June 20.  The weather is so fabulous today -- sunny and in the 70s -- that I have no excuses for not working in the yard. [I looked back on a previous post and on May 21, it got to 94 F.] I hacked down enough thorns and weeds to fill 2/3 of a large trash container, toted 6 gallons of water to water plants, put the plant shelf back on the deck, and unrolled my loooong extension cord to the back yard.

How do I know it was 6 gallons? I used my shiny new watering can with the copper stripe and it's a two gallon can. I'm either going to do some mowing and/or rototilling in the back yard or I'm going to roll up the cord on the nifty plastic holder. 

In the meantime, I've got one load of laundry in the dryer and one load in the washer. One load of towels to go. I had forgotten that laundry does not do itself.  

This is in response to my doing not one blessed thing yesterday. Well, that's not exactly true. I did make Chinese chicken with green beans. I hadn't made it in so long that it really tasted good. 

Pink or no pink? I enjoy a juicy hamburger so I ask for medium pink. Invariably it is served to me one scootch away from being well done. So why do they ask???

Mid Calf Rubber Boots are my usual yardwork attire. So how did I manage to get poison ivy on both legs above the boots? You got me. I figured I'd treat you to only one leg -- it looks even grosser with the calamine lotion on it. Sigh.

Tuesday, June 14th. I decided to treat myself to a latte at Amherst Coffee. How can you not have a nice day when someone gives you love in a cup?

Sitting outside in the lovely sun, I not only got to look at their streetside flower boxes, but I looked up to see Frank Hugus having his coffee al fresco as well. We had a nice chat.

On Saturday, June 11. Emily and I had a great time going to a nursery in Worcester. That's where I saw Midnight Sky purple with white polka dots petunias. They are spectacular but I wasn't going to pay $45 for the hanging pot they were selling.

Emily's newly planted urn

Allergy Valley. This picture of the pollen on my car is from June 9th. It has abated a bit, however, I am keeping CVS in business buying allergy medicine.

Where have all the flowers gone? Everything seems to bloom at different times. The climbing red rose in the front is all done blooming and the leaves are lacy from the bugs. I'm contemplating getting some bug spray to see if I can get the bush to bloom again. The peonies are done. What follows are some of my flowers.

The pinks seem to be doing all right. I have deadheaded quite a few blooms, but there are still some. The 'watering can' lights up at night, including a lit stream of 'water.'

The pot at the top of this photo has my starter tomato plant (with flowers!).

I have two clumps of these lilies in different places. They are very cheery.

The daisies at the top really went wild. It would have been nice if they hadn't spilled onto the grass where they will get mowed.

It's tomorrow. Of course it's today. You know what I mean.

A thousand thanks to Jon McCabe who put together my new planter.

Phyllis' friend called it a trug.

trug

/trəɡ/

Learn to pronounce

noun

BRITISH

1. a shallow oblong basket made of strips of wood, traditionally used for carrying garden flowers and produce.

I bought stain and polyurethane but might have to wait until the weekend to put it on since it's supposed to rain tonight and possibly other days. There is a black liner that goes inside before the soil.

Cheers! Be good to yourself.

On the Road from California to MassachusettsM

 

May 25, 2022

Barroooo! It's the joyful beagle bay from Brownie, my next door neighbor. At 7 a.m. he bursts out of the house warning the rabbits he's out. And he's also saying good morning to me who is making coffee at my kitchen sink. I reply, 'Good morning, Doggie Boy!' and he responds with, 'Barrrrooooo!

It's good to be home on these (finally) cool spring mornings. I'm feeling particularly smug because I have made two kinds of chicken and ribs in the oven so I will not have to cook for a while. The cooked food is cooling, some for the freezer, some for the fridge. 

It's wonderful, sitting here listening to the birds chirp their little hearts out. When it gets hot, I'll have to close up the house so I have to enjoy the songfest now. It's almost 10 a.m. and time for a second cup of coffee. A homemade blueberry muffin is calling to me too. After this, it will be more doing battle with my garden of weeds. I'm pretty achy but doing better after a day off. So I thought my coffee break was a good time to tell you about my trip. Here are my notes.

Monday, May 9

Left Palm Springs late -- around 10:30 a.m. but headed out relaxed, having packed the car the night before. Never will I bring so much stuff again!

Arizona Rest Stop

I was really fatigued and couldn't find a lower cost motel so I stopped at El Rancho, "an historic inn." I think I got the second to last parking space in the lot, attesting to its popularity. There was a couple with their dog and a single man having a political discussion in the lobby which was very "old timey" in character. There were heavy furniture made from what looked like a split rail fence, an old player piano, western style rugs, and an 'operate your own' elevator.

To operate the elevator, you had to pull open a heavy metal door and then pull open the brass metal inner gate. I wrenched my back on the first door because the last user had not closed the door upstairs. The poor desk clerk had to run up the stairs to close the door so the elevator would come down. (I had already 'run' up those stairs due to desperately needing the only restroom in the public area.) 

I was informed there was breakfast available to purchase at their restaurant.

Every space on the walls of the second floor was covered with pictures of old time actors. Some of the pictures were autographed.

Needless to say, I was a bit grumpy after the elevator incident. I finally found my room and noticed the light switch was already in the up position, but the room was dark. I accosted a young man who had a hat that proclaimed him "Security" and he calmly pulled the string to the light on the ceiling fan. That and the bathroom light was it for light.

Room Decor

The bathroom was really small!  When I sat on the toilet, my chin almost hit the sink. The creepy shower curtain may be a picture of the actress that the room was named for -- but I forget the name. All the rooms had names of old time actors.

When I finally got into my jammies,  I began to calculate the mileage from Palm Springs to Holbrook,  Arizona. I knew I had stopped at 7:30 p.m. but I was surprised that I had only driven 452 miles. No, for some reason, my phone hadn't adjusted my location and when I looked on the postcard for El Rancho in the room, it told me I was actually in Gallup, New Mexico and I had driven 548 miles.

I have to say that driving in New Mexico was a treat. The scenery was so beautiful and unique. The hills and mountains were many colors and sometimes smoothed from the wind and small round holes in the rock -- from the wind? There really wasn't any place to stop and take pictures. 

At that time, I was heading toward Santa Rosa and I didn't know if I was heading into fire. I wasn't but there were 120,000 acres on fire. People were being evacuated from large areas and one of the few times I found an NPR radio station, they described how all of the cattle feed had burned. Farmers were thinking they would have to just sell the cattle because they had no feed (and no pastures).

 May 10

It's a slow start -- already 7:30 a.m. My sinuses are wreaking havoc.

                        **********************************

I crashed early (4:30 p.m.) at a Quality Inn in Amarillo, Texas. I only drove 424 miles (plus a few being lost which should be added in). This room is wonderful, comfortable, has wifi and is $100 less than El Rancho.

I stopped early because of a predicted thunderstorm. About 10 minutes after I settled into my room, torrential rain fell. There was no hail though. Other parts of Amarillo got 'golf ball sized' hail which damaged cars. Glad I missed that.

Free breakfast with the fewest carbohydrates. 

Wednesday, May 11

Amarillo, Texas to Springfield, Missouri. 544 miles.

Gas prices continue to fall. Now it's about $3.89/gallon vs. $5.89/gallon in California. (Some gas stations are charging $6/gallon in L.A.)

Stopped at Jerry's Cafe on Route 66 after I could not find the BBQ Shed. I had really wanted local BBQ. It was not in the cards. The food at the Cafe was really plentiful and inexpensive, but not very good.

Rest stop bathroom art.

A way to stop the landscape from being trampled.

Took a picture of a Will Rogers statue outside of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Editor's note: so many people have asked me if I stop or drive straight through. Um, well, there is the bathroom necessity. And I was doing a good job of rehydrating according to the numerous water bottle caps I found in my car. Some of my best pictures are from rest stops!]

I stopped at the Days Inn since I had such a nice stay in Amarillo. There were two Indian guys (as in from India) doing computer things behind the desk along with two women who seemed to be hotel employees. The two women were frantic because their whole computer system was down. I asked if they had a room and one woman said, "I don't know! The computer is down!" Thinking the computer would be up at some point, I asked the price of the room. "I don't know! The computer is down! We don't write anything down!" At this point I realized that meant no wifi or anything so I went across the street to the Red Roof Inn. Unlike the biscuits and gravy, muffins, Danish, yogurt, and coffee of yesterday's Days Inn, I was told breakfast here would be "muffins, bananas, and coffee."

So ... I walked across the street to the Waffle House which has the happiest crew in Missouri.

They were all very friendly and especially happy because this is the first time they were all together after 'the covid.' After this, I had to pull over and take a nap. It dawned on me that I was heading for a carb coma having eaten too many carbohydrates. I did not eat all of the hash browns nor toast, but I did eat the sausage and eggs ... Not gonna do that again!

Thursday, May 12

Woke up at 6 a.m. which is better than yesterday's 5 a.m. Left around 8:40 a.m. and arrived at LaGrange, Illinois at 6:30 p.m. Drove 497 miles.

Rest stop chandelier on the way to LaGrange.

Alaine was so sweet to buy vodka for me and she and Todd and I had fun chatting until around 8:30 p.m. They treated me to a wonderful Indian food dinner at Karma which is a short walk from their condo. 

Alaine and Todd in one half of the garden that she has created. It's fabulous to sit on their patio drinking coffee and enjoying the gardens. I'm going to have to ask her to send me pictures of the summer garden! (I spent two nights there. They were so hospitable that they almost got stuck with me forever.)

See what I mean? Who wants to leave when they give you a breakfast like this. Todd made the delicious fritata. The good bread is from the Farmers' Market.

Saturday

Hung out in LaGrange and left late -- around 11 a.m. Arrived in Barkleyville, Pennsylvania around 7 p.m.  Had driven 447 miles.

In Indiana was the Starbucks "iced tea."

Notice how my notes are getting smaller? The Iced Tea Incident:

I stopped at a Starbucks (I have a gift card from my birthday) and ordered a large black iced tea and a mini lemon scone. When I got to the other end of the counter, I see a large clear plastic container that is totally white. I look closer and see what the server has done. She filled the cup with ice, poured in cream and stuck an English Breakfast Tea bag on the top. Really. When I said that's not iced tea, I was informed, "That is how we were taught to make it." I got coffee instead. I sure hope that girl is not going to college to learn brain surgery.

Sunday

Am leaving Barkleyville, PA Motel 6 at 7:18 a.m. for home. Woohoo! 

I only drove 260 miles to home but it felt like 400. When I was in NY state, a massive thunderstorm with torrential rains hit. All of the cars and trucks were driving very slowly with their emergency lights on. We crept on for seemingly an eternity until we hit the Massachusetts border and the storm cleared. There was no way to pull off the two lane road or even stop under a bridge. it was very tense! I got to Amherst around 5 p.m. and went for Chinese food before going home and starting to unload the car.

And there you have it, Friends. I was just watching HGTV and they were talking about revitalizing a small town on Route 66. I may have to drive more of it.