On the Road Agin

 Yes, I keep hearing Willie Nelson singing that song. Tomorrow is the sixth day of my journey and I expect to arrive in Palm Springs early evening of 11/17/24.

Sorry no pictures although, as always, I was transfixed by the landscapes of New Mexico. I am entranced by the red soil and red rocks followed by light beige, khaki colored boulders that look like huge ice cubes. The 'scapes are followed by huge slabs of rocks as if some giant had cut them in angular, mostly rectangle shapes. And then there are the black mini mountains followed by yellow plains dotted with green scrub brush.

My first night (Tuesday) I stayed in Pennsylvania and then Indiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and tonight is Flagstaff, Arizona. The other motel rooms that I picked were very frugal and small. I had read guest reviews so they were all clean and comfy (but small!). The breakfasts ... well, they were o.k. to put something into your stomach, but nothing to write home about, lol. 

Consequently, I had decided to treat myself tonight to the Twin Arrows resort and casino. The room is luxurious and spacious. I even have a fainting couch! But I guess they don't call them that any more. There is a lot of bottled water, keurig coffee, and other amenities, including an air purifier. Woo hoo! The bed is comfy. The TV remote is in its own baggie and I don't know if I'm supposed to take it off! It works through the baggie so I left it on. I have listened to the video called "Welcome to our hotel" and the designers of the property have really put a lot of Dineh (The People, Navahos) history and culture into the building. It's fascinating. I am very impressed.

Some of you know that on Tuesday I had barely gotten to Hartford (CT) when the LOW TIRE PRESSURE warning came on. I stopped at a gas station and their air pump was out of order. I think these convenience store/gas stations don't want to bother with them at all. I got a brainstorm and went to a Honda dealer in Hartford which was about 10 minutes away. They took care of it and got rid of that darn warning which almost completely covers the dash. 

Another time I pulled off the highway to check my tires as they were bumping up and down and making large bumping sounds -- as if I had a flat. Nope, no flat. It turns out, that section of the road must have been rippled and it created that up and down bumping. Phew!

Today I got a warning that the battery in my "keyless remote" (key fob) was low. There is a key hidden in the fob, but ... this is going to sound dumb ... I don't know where the keyholes are to start the car and unlock the doors. Anyway, I went to a Honda dealer in Santa Rosa, NM. The young man very nicely put new batteries in both of the fobs (I have to bring both with me in case I lose one). When I asked him the price, he said, "Nothing. It's free on Saturday." I thanked him profusely (in Spanish). Before I knew I could go to Walmart and get the battery and replace it, I went to Honda in Northampton. They charged me $12! (That was before covid. I wonder what they charge now.)

So that's my update. I am in search of supper now. I have to decide between a snack bar or the formal dining room. Choices are fun!

Addendum: It hss been a bit chilly, in the 50s throughout. But the car warms up in the sun so I haven't been wearing my coat in the car. I forget to put it on while pumping gas, lol. I left my notes on gas prices in the car. The last gas I got was $2.77/gallon and that is with $0.10/gallon off because I am using the Love's app. It's going up now (before that it was $2.55/gallon) so I'm trying to buy gas before California which I have heard is over $3.00  Que sera, sera.

Cheers! Tina

Gathering Nuts

 October 20

No, it's not a gathering of people who are nuts. I have been watching the squirrels and chipmunks gathering nuts. Anyway, here's another rendition of The Blog About Nothing.

September 14

Emily and I drove from her house to Deb and Paul's house in New Hampshire. We went into North Conway to buy some goodies at the General Store for Sue's birthday. Pork Chop always like a photo opportunity and here he is on the Town Common showing off his good side.

We had a bit of a rest on a bench after walking up and down the main street.

October 3

The tree in the back yard was almost fully colored, it did get a bit brighter but it immediately started to rain and all of the leaves fell off.

At the same time, believe it or not, the flowers below were still in bloom showing the last vestiges of summer. This pot is at the church (I had been there making jam) and oddly enough I had one lilac flower at my house. (The flowers are gone now since we have had a couple of 32 F. nights. I'm writing this on October 20.)

October 6

Emily and I drove from Amherst to Washington, DC on October 5. We stayed at the Royal Sonesta in Dupont Circle. We had a $50 food credit per day at Certo, the restaurant in the hotel. (It was part of an Expedia deal.) Here we are eating an omelet each -- which came to $48.50. We laughed because we only had to pay the tip.

Then we ubered off to Paris 1874: The Impressionists at the National Gallery of Art.

Monet (above)

This is the description of the clown below by Manet. I thought the painting was relevant to today.

Below is a striking Renoir that I had not seen (and I keep forgetting the artist's name! Hence the explanatory card below).

Then we waslked over to the National Museum of the American Indian. The weather was lovely, sunny and in the upper 70s.

This baby carrier was totally hand beaded except for the wood ski-like back. Any baby in this would be snug as a bug!

This modern flag was also hand beaded with micro beads. The 'stars' were actually the two letter state codes that the Post Office uses. The red stripes had all of the various Indian tribes' names in slightly darker red beads! It was amazing.

After that, we ubered to a movie! It was Wild Robot (animated) and we liked it a lot.  The next day, we zoomed off to Cincinnati.

October 8

We got to the Cincinnati Zoo shortly after they opened in the morning. Again the weather was perfect for a lot of walking and we did a lot of walking.

Flamingos preening

Red pandas napping in the trees

Fiona the hippo is the extra pink one on the right. I can't believe she's 7 years old already! Her younger brother, Fritz, and her mother are next to her. Fiona is pink because when they sweat, it's called "blood sweat" and it creates the pink color on their skin. She's still "too little" and needs to gain weight before she can have a boyfriend. She was born very underweight and had to be monitored 24/7. She made it and is healthy but still a bit small for a mature hippo.

This cheetah got very excited when two Zoo staff members came by with two dogs. They were companion dogs who as puppies played with the baby cheetahs. These dogs weren't her playmate, so they didn't go into the enclosure. It was thrilling to see her run over to that part of the fence because she's so graceful -- and fast.

These giraffes are actually different from those at the Living Desert in Palm Springs. One had spots that look like puzzle pieces (with rounded edges) and the others have geometrically shaped spots (more angular).

Little Blue Penguins. Their backs look bluer in the sunlight than what you can see here, They are little, about 12 to 14 inches long.

Another shot of the giraffes. I tried very hard to keep the photos in order, but I didn't succeed.

There were dozens of pumpkins everywhere. This is one of the smaller displays with smaller pumpkins. They are artificial but all were carved. The bigger ones (if they were real they would have weighed 20 pounds) were carved by artists. I think businesses bought they for a donation and had an artist carve their logo or their building on it. One section was all sports, andother was comic book heros. Emily and I wondered where they store all of the pumpkins plus the many pedestals.

More flamingos

Lioness

Red Panda pacing around his yard.

This picture otter be clearer.

Fiona again

The kangaroos were walking around and we got to go into the enclosure with them but we cautioned many times to stay on the path. I got nervous when one started walking toward us. I've seen them on TV being aggressive and I wanted no part of that. We walked fairly quickly through the enclosure.

More of our favorites (above) are the African Spotted Dogs. Their coloration is really effective camouflage up against the rocks.

Our next overnight was in Pennsylvania because it would have been an 11 hour drive with no stops back to Amherst which was too much for me.

October 10

We stopped in Hadley on the way home from PA so I could get a big pumpkin for the front yard.

October 12

A friend requested a bag big enough for a two litre soda bottle.

October 16

View from South Church parking lot

Yes, I have been at the church a lot, volunteering in the kitchen. We have made all kinds of jam, tricky pickles, and last Wednesday, I was peeling apples for applesauce. Or maybe it was for apple crisp. Whatever.  It was fun because the four of us chatted and laughed as we peeled. 

Yesterday, on Saturday (Oct.19), I was "squash" for the pork dinner assembly line. (I put mashed butternut squash either on a plate or in a box.) We had 30 people dine in and a total of 132 meals made.

In the neighborhood

Also behind the church parking lot. Of course, it was breezy that day and I couldn't get it to hold still!

October 18

I have been making things for the Sleighbelll Fair (November 23). Below is the midpoint in the construction of the bowl cosy (cosies?). I think I have made seven so far. I have also made a half dozen of little packets of catnip. I have more cosies to stitch. That's the 100% cotton batting by the way. I have plenty of polyester batting, but you can't put that in the microwave because it will melt. Ugh.

And here's my favorite! Barbie beds! Cathy's husband, Bill, constructed the wooden beds, Cathy made a mattress and charming pillows. I made the quilts and I have to paint the beds. Cathy might make the third bedspread.

Ooops! Here are a couple of finished cosies.

Okay ... I'm done! It's 2:30 a.m. so if there are typos or mispellings, that's why. I hope you have a great coming week. I'm getting used to its being 32 F. when I get up and the temperature rising to the 70s. My Canadian friends say snow is imminent for them and I saw that they had snow in the Adirondacks and West Virginia. I sure hope it doesn't hit here!  

Ciao!

It Really Is Fall According to the Date

 But we have very little color in the trees. Everything is still pretty green. There are a few maples that are red, but nothing spectacular. This morning surprisingly started with a pea soup fog and we have gone from 57 to 62 F. Although, the sun has come out so I expect it to warm quite a bit.

Here is a shot from this week last year (2023):

I was actually a bit early for my 8 a.m. eye doc appointment in Florence today. It's 9.4 miles so it only took about 20 minutes. After that, I treated myself to brunch at the Miss Florence Diner, aka Miss Flo's. I think it's Miss Flo's that started my love of diners.

Fond memories welled up as I sat on the 'bar' stool near the kitchen entrance. When Deb was about 2 years old, we went there as a family and the waitress looked at Baby Debbie, and then looked at her father and said, "Can't deny that one!" Not that he ever would, of course. (She is now in her 40s.) We got a good laugh at that. When I was an undergrad at UMass, I got to know some guys who had a car (they were upperclassmen) and for a treat, we would motor off to Miss Flo's for a late supper. One guy always ordered the lobster pie (there is a full restaurant in the back). I never tasted it and forgot to ask if they still have it. 

Ann and I went to the Pine Hill Orchard in Colraine, MA. It was a lovely day for a wagon ride (which really needs heavy duty shocks, in my opinion!), so we hopped right onto the wagon after we parked. It was a fairly long and bumpy ride and then we walked almost to the end of the row which had honey crisp apples. The more common ones such as McIntosh were closer to the front. As I was about to tell Ann that I had enough, a stern looking guy popped up at the end of the row and said, "You were supposed to buy a bag first." This was news to us (no signs to that effect) and I was congratulating myself for having the fabric shopping bag rolled up in my purse. Ann had a reusable bag with a sweater. We told him we were going to dump the apples in the paid-for bag. He said, "I'll wait." Holy smokes, I thought he was going to zip tie us next and march us off to the pokey. I guess they have a lot of people who think the apples are free. The 'big' bag was $23! We split a medium sized bag (about 8 apples, they were really big apples) for $15. Ann, bless her, treated me to my apples. 

I have felt very unproductive lately and I don't know what I have shown you, but beyond the two Barbie-sized mini quilts, I have finished these quilt tops. 

Yes, it's time to change my couch cover to Fall colors. I have the fabric all washed, I just have to put it one. Maybe I'll more to show you -- I have to get cracking on items for the Sleighbell Fair! (No, no dammit dolls this year. They were hard to make!)

Emily and I went to Glen, New Hampshire to visit Deb and Paul in their country home (vs the condo in Boston). This was taken on the common in North Conway which is next door to Glen.

Pork Chop allowed me to take his picture. He actually had a really good time and had many admirers who smiled at the happy dog, happy dog.

I know you're probably sick of looking at my glass collection, but I wanted to show Elaine and Lorne the 'jewel' that they gave me. It's glowing pink/purple in the top right. (It's totally visible when I sit in 'my' chair.) I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to take a better picture. Right now, with the shades closed, it's a very deep purple on the right side and gold on the left. I love it! I also have my new beaded humming bird on the green martini pitcher. I got it at the Ace Hardware store in Palm Springs. We all love that store because the employees are so nice! It's also the type of store that if they don't have it, you don't need it.

This coming Saturday (Oct. 5) will be Emily and Tina's Great Adventure. We're going to drive to DC to a hotel in Dupont Circle. The next day we will go to the National Gallery of Art to see: Paris 1874: The Impressionists. (I may have switched the title around, but you get the idea.) Then we motor off to Ohio.

We are going to the Cincinnati Zoo, woo hoo! I hope to see Fiona the Hippo. But if it's too chilly, she won't be swimming in the pool. I don't know what backstage things we might get to do. Here's last year's picture from when Emily and I fed the giraffes at The Living Desert in Palm Springs.

It's time for me to buy a big pumpkin for the front yard. I imagine my front steps with cute little pumpkins -- and then I remember I don't want to entice squirrels up onto the porch. That's too close for comfort for me! When Mom first moved into her house in Quincy, I opened the back door to the small yard and there was a squirrel there waiting expectantly. He wouldn't shoo away. The original homeowner had been feeding him/them. Here I admire the coal black squirrel in my back yard (I have only seen one), but he will have to walk to the stump in the front yard to eat pumpkin. Although I suppose I could put some in the way back rough. Nope, can't encourage the bears. (My neighbor about 5 houses up the street had a bear fishing in her koi pond last year.)

I hope you have a lovely rest of fall! Cheers!

End of July Good Afternoon!

 It has been a rollercoaster ride including buying a new washing machine, inhabiting the desert with temperatures 10 degrees above normal (can you say is it really 112 F.?), paying exorbinant plane and rental car prices, getting stuck in Denver for hours due to the "computer glitch," buying a new laptop (mine died) having LOW TIRE PRESSURE in my car twice in three days bla, (the first was when I was in Holyoke), bla, bla, bla.

Now for the really good stuff! Mom is fine. She had her battery changed, they may have done an oil change too but I didn't ask. My Debbie Darling picked me up in Boston (and got me a hotel room!!) which saved me another three hours of waiting in Denver for a plane to Hartford which was ultimately cancelled. And I did not catch covid on my travels! 

More really good stuff: Emily met me yesterday in Mystic, Connecticut and we went to the Mystic Aquarium. We had a really good time. It was only 69 F. when I left the house (stopping at the tire store in Northampton first to check the tire pressure and get rid of the warning that obscures everything else). It was a perfect day in the 80s with a slight breeze as we walked around viewing the fish and other animals. It did creep close to 90 but we were in our cars with the a.c. by then.  For your viewing pleasure, I submit some of my favorite shots. (Yes, there are more, but enough is enough!)

I have no idea whose hand that belongs to above, she insisted on putting her fingers in this fish's face. But she did provide a size reference. He is a big un!

I thought it was interesting the way the water actually camouflaged the shark above. A better view of the same shark is below.

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I love sea horses! This guy kept moving around and bending down as if he were camera shy.

There were more water lily flowerx, but I liked this shot.

And we leave with a sea lion leisurely swimming on his back having a great day.

I hope you all have a great day and happy adventures!