I Said I Wasn't Going to Do It

But I did -- cooked a bunch. I now have roasted radishes, chicken with Montreal seasoning, cooked Italian hot sausage, boneless pork ribs with buffalo sauce and homemade cream of mushroom soup.

I froze hamburger, chicken and sausage. Maybe I won't have to shop for a while! Dinner was ham with melted mozzarella on it and a side of broccoli. Anybody want a cook?

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Phabulous Phyllis had a birthday dinner for me at her house. Her house is stunning with her new furniture and arrangement of her art on the walls. Nine of us had a very lively conversation with wonderful food. Thank you, Phyllis!!

When I remarked that I had stopped at home to get into comfy clothes, Emily said, "That's because you wanted to match the drapes!"

The only one you don't get to see is Lisa who brought the caramel/salt chocolate birthday cake. I ate low carb chocolate macaroon cookies that I had made (in front of Emily in a bowl on the lower left). I'm pretty sure a good time was had by all.


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This morning I met Nancy (the one in the dark green above) at the Library for the a capella singing. It was great! There were the Bluestockings (females) and the Zumbye (males) singers. They were really terrific. Both groups are from Amherst College -- at 10:30 a.m., it was early in the morning for them, lol.

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It's cold as a witch's broom. It's 13 F. which I know is not that bad, but it was in the 70's last week! Sheesh! And windy too. Even more than blustery -- freaking windy!

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Yesterday (Sunday) we were greeted in church with some happy flowers on two of the window sills.

This is the sunny side.

This is the not sunny side -- I had to lighten it up a lot, so it's a bit washed out.

Just because I like it!

After church I zipped over to the knitting group at The Works which is a soup, salad, sandwich type of place. It was surprisingly full of hungry college students. 11 to 11:30 a.m. is usually early for them on a Sunday morning. 

We had a nice time knitting and chatting. I met a couple of new people including Zach who is a physicist with a new masters degree doing post doc work. Hmmm ... that sounds like his new degree is a doctorate. Anyway, he is making a large, very beautiful, blanket of many colors. The pattern looks like a half of a quilter's log cabin block. 

Log cabin quilt block. Zach's pattern looks like the right half of each of these blocks -- in other words, triangles. It's quite an achievement. 

After that, it was off to the Irish Club's lecture given by the Rabbi of the Jewish Community Center of Amherst. He had spent a graduate school year in Dublin (at Trinity College) studying five great Irish writers, including James Joyce. He had become passionate about Joyce's writing as an undergraduate.

He was there in the 90's which was a time of great social change and he told us about his experiences while living a "bifurcated life." His college friends were all goyim (non Jews) and when he went to Temple, he discovered a whole new community/extended family of very young and very old Jews. Apparently, any young Irish had to leave the country to find work.

It was a great talk and I learned a lot. The room was filled to capacity because many of his congregation were there to hear him speak.

Blustery Thursday

I counted at least 20 snowflakes before they melted on my windshield. It's really blustery -- messing up my carefully coiffed wet hair.  Yup, I'm actually at work early after the gym. A woman said to me, "You always feel better when it's done." (We had been remarking on how long a minute on a treadmill is as opposed to real life.) She must have seen the look on my face because she added, "Because you accomplished something so you feel better than everyone else for the rest of the day."

Now, that's a nice sentiment and I'm sure it cheers her. I don't want to quibble, but I'll tell ya, if I had had sex -- I would have skipped the gym in a minute.  Just sayin'.

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Another gym story: I was in the shower hearing a conversation and one woman was saying that she really didn't care for philosophy as a subject, but she went to this lecture anyway ... at that point, I was able to leave the shower to go to a changing room and I see the two women. They were standing there buck naked having a philosophical conversation. They had mostly strategically placed towels, but I was amazed. Of course, they are the older women with the killer bodies. I wonder if I'll ever be comfortable enough to do that. No, probably not.

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Geez, spoil sports ...

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (AP) — A Massachusetts shop that authorities say was attempting to skirt the state’s new recreational marijuana law by charging an entry fee and giving patrons “free” marijuana samples was shut down Wednesday.

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno’s administration issued a cease and desist order to Mary Jane Makes Your Heart Sing.

As police officers hand-delivered the order, an audible groan could be heard from a crowd of some 50 people lined up outside the nondescript strip mall storefront Wednesday waiting to gain entry, the Springfield Republican reported.

The newspaper reports the crowd quickly dispersed and no criminal charges were filed against the store operators.

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Left to right: Sharon, Tina, Lisa, Roxanne. This is me holding my no carbohydrate birthday cake, aka yellow tulips. What a joy to have such caring co-workers! (Yes, I'm now 67 years old; no, I don't color my hair.) 

Cheers!

Saddened but Still Trucking On

http://www.gazettenet.com/Larry-Kelley-killed-in-Belchertown-crash-8178835

Above is the link to the Daily Hampshire Gazette online account of Larry Kelley's death. I am shocked and saddened to lose a friend. I didn't always agree with his Republican politics, but he was a good man at heart and showed a lot of kindness to little old ladies like me. A lot of people will miss him a lot.

~~ Saturday

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Tina's Blue Vase

Yes, I went to another wine and canvas with Teri Magner. My painting is above (sitting on my couch). I absolutely hated the painting when I left at 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday. In disgust, I tossed my painting on the floor of my car. The next day, I was early to work and brought it in with me. Sometimes things look very different in daylight. Well, it still was just a bunch of blobs of paint, but it started to look better to me after I took a black sharpie to it. I think the details really helped.

Below is the original that we were copying. It's a pastel, not acryllic paint as we used.

Redon's Blue Vase, courtesy of Google

I like them both. They are both different, but I like both. 

Yes, I know that you have seen Palm Springs Night on the top, but this was supposed to show you that I actually do finish things. Most quilters have many UFOs (Unfinished Objects), but I do finish some things -- really. So I snapped a few completed items.

Jeanne and David Harlow's Creation

Well, o.k., so I didn't make this, but I did put it up on the wall! This is one of the items I bought on the Shutesbury adventure.

This is just a table decorative piece. I had thought it was done and then I realized that two of the triangles are hand quilted. Ooops. Guess I'll be finishing that soon.

This one is definitely not finished. After bordering the original Chinese print with silk, I am hand quilting around the flowers. I did finish one of these (spring flowers/fall leaves) and gave it to YaoYao.

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~~ Oops, I did it again! I drove Nancy and me to the Francine and Sterling Clark Museum in Williamstown. I was delighted to find that the new exhibit was Japanese wood block prints. Since I already knew a bit about Hokusai from the exhibit in Boston 2 summers ago, I had an even greater appreciation of the other artists' works. I do not like the modern ones as much as the ancient (1800s).

And the rest of the museum -- was like seeing old friends again. The 14 year old Degas ballerina sculpture with the gauze skirt and silk ballet shoes, Rodin's The Thinker, countless Monets and Van Goghs ... it was a feast for my eyes. Of course, my favorite is and always has been the John Singer Sargents there. It was a very satisfying three and a half hours.

And what could be better than Chinese food for dinner? I got home a little after 8:30 p.m., having left at 11:30 a.m. I'm thinking I'll sleep well tonight. 

(Luckily, it was close to 50 degrees because the Mowhawk Trail -- Route 2 -- is twisting and winding and steep. So even though everything melted, it still was in the low 40s when we left and I did not have to negotiate ice on a mountain road.

Good night all.

OK, You Can Stop Now

The snow that is. It can stop now. 

It has been snowing since before 9 AM and it's 3 PM now. I'm typing very slowly as my fingers thaw out. I was just out roof raking. 

For those of you sissies in the South, or if you're newly from Noo Yawk City, a roof rake is a flat aluminum rake on a LONG stick. And you use it when all of your neighbors are telling you that the weight of the snow will collapse your roof. It took me 20 minutes to put the three sections together -- the little button that holds the section securely in place did not want to stay depressed as I inserted the next length. I did try it without securing the button only to have the rake get stuck in the snow on the roof and the section pulled out. Adrenalin kicked in and I tugged that sucker off the roof.

Before any Roof Raking

I did what I could to the garage and around the front where the picture window is. Then I went to the right of this picture to get the roof over my bedroom. That's when I discovered the untouched snow reached almost to my knees. Oh, right. Guess we had gotten the actual 12 inches on the last storm and we now have 3 to 4 inches.

Apparently Someone Forgot to Bring in the Amethyst Glass Birdbath

When I was done, my body said, "Fool! You are NOT going to the rear of the house even if you can stand on the little deck." For once, I listened to reason and here I am, conversing with you.

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So today has been full. I went to church and as I walked in, I was coughing, so the greeters (and people I know) backed away as if I were typhoid Mary. That's o.k. They were convinced that I was sick and I didn't have to do that dumb handshake of peace. I think that was devised by big pharma to make sure every Christian makes every other Christian sick, thereby needing lots of prescriptions and over the counter medicines. 

After church, knowing that it was snowing merrily, I hoped that the organist would play a short piece so I could scoot out quicker. Nope. Then again, we're all New Englanders and this is just another blip.

Most of you know, that if snow is predicted or if it's snowing, it's mandatory to go to the supermarket and buy bread and milk. Well, on this low carbohydrate way of eating, both are off my list. I did, however, have to go to Aldis because I needed to cook for the upcoming week. I love that store! I spent $70 and got what would have cost me $140 at the other supermarkets in the area. By the way, if you eat such things, they had generic rice krispies for $1.79.

I now have two roast pork roasts dusted with garlic powder (I cut it in half and will freeze half), 4 baked chicken thighs with Montreal seasoning, a crustless mushroom quiche and roasted brussels sprouts. I froze 4 chicken thighs. I still have to cook cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and hamburger (might be meatballs). But I'm going back to Netflix and possibly a nap.

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The violence and court plots of Versailles on Netflix have begun to pale so I went in search of something else. 

I watched Woman in Gold and I highly recommend it. I seem to love anything with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds -- and both are great in this movie. 

It's the story of Maria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee who wants to reclaim some paintings stolen by the Nazis when she lived in Austria. The main painting happens to be Woman in Gold by Klimt. Her family had commissioned Klimt to do the painting of her aunt and, in fact, her father had given Maria the jeweled necklace shown in the painting after her aunt died at an early age. (The Nazis took that too.) The movie is condensed because there was a long legal battle. The Austrian government now considered it a national treasure and they did not want to give it back.

I won't ruin the ending for you, but I found it to be a very gripping story and one that we should pay heed to. Many of the economic and social events that led up to the Nazis seizing power are mirrored in today's times. We must never forget.

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After that movie, it was hard to find something to keep my interest. But now I'm watching a 2016 series called Frequency. I don't know if you could call it sci fi, but a modern day detective talks to her father -- 20 years ago -- through a ham radio. The two of them are trying to catch the same serial killer. The problem is, every time they correct something in the past, it makes something else worse in the future (2016). I guess it's a thriller because it sure keeps me guessing!

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Mom said she's sick of seeing this but I am not going to fix the mistake. She said, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing right." To be honest, for me, this is right. Just a little off, you know?

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Outside of Mom's door at Thanksgiving (Palm Springs, CA). I needed more color. It's still snowing at 3:45 PM.

Small Enjoyments

I really love the polka dot Jamberry wraps! This was a week ago. Today ... who knows?

But first, some friends and I are going to the Brattleboro Museum and Art Center in Vermont. It should be a nice leisurely drive in 26 F. weather with the sun shining brightly on us. A report comes at the end.

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Last Saturday it was a meandering drive up Rte. 202 to Rte. 2 to Athol. We were going to the Market Basket (a supermarket) because they advertised eggs for 69 cents/dozen. Wouldn't you drive 22 miles one way for that? No? Well, I figured that if I saved $5, I would cover my gas. Of course, I don't think I used $5 in gas. Today I'll be filling up with gas for the 4th time -- and I've had the car since November. I do love my hybrid!

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Yesterday was one of those days ... it's the little things that get you. I went in for routine blood tests -- fasting. This time I remembered and drank water before I went. (I had a phlebotomist speak sharply to me because I was dehydrated and she couldn't find the vein. Hmpf!) That was also lucky because the doc had ordered a urine analysis.  So I dutifully grabbed my not Tiffany cup and went into the powder room. I missed. Completely missed. How is it that I have done hundreds of these things and I miss?? I have to go back on Monday. She gave me a clear plastic bag for the cup. I declined the giant sign to hang around my neck reading "BRINGING IN PEE. STEP ASIDE."

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Pouf Parade Progress

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Yesterday ended very well, however. Cyndi gave me a ticket to see/hear the Post Modern Jukebox company at the Calvin Theatre in Northampton. It was wicked cold walking from the parking garage at the Thornes Market, but it was well worth it. They are fantastic singers and musicians. And the tap dancer was a marvel and a ball of energy. They performed for almost 2 hours straight and it was wonderful.  Thank you, Cyndi!

(Tap dancing is my all time favorite -- even more so than ballet.)

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Brattleboro Museum and Art Center

It didn't take Ann and me long to figure out that we had gone right past Nancy W's house! I had written her address down correctly, but I had it wrong in my head. I'll have to remind Ann of her co-pilot duties because she should have re-read my notes. (I had the museum address and 6 top restaurant picks in Brattleboro along with Nancy's address on a piece of paper.)

We chatted along nicely until we reached the Brattleboro Museum. It's a former train station and as you walk in, the first thing you notice is the marble steps leading to huge windows which look down onto train tracks. In fact, while in the classroom/poetry area, we suddenly heard train crossing bells and I wondered if it were a motion sensitive sound effect. No, as I looked out the window, I saw the gates on a train crossing going down and that was followed shortly by a passenger train. People got off the train, the traffic backed up onto a picturesque bridge, and then the train left. It was very exciting.

The first exhibit, called Luscious (a celebration of paint), spoke to me. I think they knew I was coming. Here's one of the paintings from Luscious.

Yes, that's what you think it is: two jelly doughnuts!

Loaded by Lauren Olitsky

Loaded really is loaded with fabric strips, strings, glitter, paint applied with a trowel, paint splattered, etc. Ann wondered how the artist knew when it was done and Nancy W. agreed that is always a problem. I know when it's done -- I want to start deleting things!

Minis -- Approximately 5 inches square -- with texture from the Open Call exhibit. I didn't get the artist's name

 Our favorites from the Open Call NXNE 2017 exhibit were by Elizabeth Panzer. My favorite was Queen Anne's Lace which is an archival pigment print. Another of hers which is just stunning is poppies in a double exposure archival pigment print.

Change Your Mind by Crolyn Enz Hack

This picture of Change Your Mind only shows you half of the installation. If you look above and to your left there is a tube connected to a huge suspended "flower" made out of lights and mesh. The purple that you see is painted screens and fabric wire. It had its own little room, so you were surrounded by the sculpture!

Radishes by Tina Swift (taken in Athol, Massachusetts)

from Windows to Creative Expression: Young Poets and Artists from the Poetry Studio

I forget which installation this is from but it's netting that is used to cover tobacco in the field. The stitching, which is not easy to see is a silver thread. It's much prettier and arresting in person. My photo does not do it justice.

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Tomorrow, Sunday, is the Super Bowl. I have to have all of my housework done by then so I can watch the commercials. I do like to watch the end of the game, but the game itself is really too long for me. That might be a good time to be sewing.

Before that however, I have to figure out how to do the knitting club, a church annual meeting, and a lecture by the Irish Club. I'm beginning to realize that I still love history (whose ever it is). Of course, the tea and scones after could be part of the attraction! And the live Gaelic music ... (insert big grin in anticipation).

Hmmm ... Guess I'll have to put my laundry in first thing in the morning. They really hate it when I go to work in my underwear.

Art Soothes the Savage Beast

This is Monet's The Church at Varengeville (courtesy of Google Images).

Below is my painting of The Church at Varengeville.

Okay, so I went a little nutty with the color. But Monet's was just too dark for me so I livened it up a bit!

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Here's the beginning of the "secret sewing project."

Above is a (paper) grocery bag full of puffs. It's the beginning of a puff, or bubble, quilt. My boss, Sharon, had seen a bubble quilt on FaceBook and admired it. I thought it was interesting, but wasn't enthralled. After she mentioned it again, I thought, "She really really likes those quilts." That's when I decided to make some bubbles over the long weekend. 

You kind of get into a groove watching TV and stitching the bubbles. It's a ritual: pin the four corners, make a mini pleat on each side, sew 3 and a half sides. Sew a pile, trim the threads, stuff a bunch with fiberfill. Sew up the stuffing hole.

On Tuesday, after MLK Day, I walked into Sharon's office and dumped the bubbles on her desk. Boy, does she ever know how to accept a gift!! She grabbed some and caressed them to her face all the while squealing in delight. My hair straightened out with the fervor of her pleasure. Phew!

Knowing Sharon, I had her lay out the pattern and she even made me a grid circling the colors that were lacking to complete the pattern. So now I have a few more bubbles to make and then I put a backing on and !voila! a puff quilt! Sharon calls it a poof quilt ...

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Friday Night Fun

I popped a fresh pork butt into the crock pot this morning before work and Phyllis and I feasted like queens. I was supposed to make cauliflower pancakes, but I ended up putting in a dish as if it were a casserole (it was good and I didn't have to stand over the stove frying the pancakes). Asparagus added color, but I didn't really like the 'gus -- it was too woody for me.

Then I got a call from Barry at Michael's telling me that my framing job was ready. He's the very earnest young man who was patient with me when I was choosing the frame. Phyllis accompanied me to get it and we chatted our way there.  What do you think?

Palm Springs Night

Here's a picture of sunrise and sunset that I took about 5 years ago. I figured as long as I was in the living room, I'd show you these photos.

After Michael's Phyllis decided that she would like to see Planet Fitness. And that's why Phyllis is so young -- she was interested in every machine and she wanted to know what those things are -- it was tanning booths that you stand up in. She said she liked the purple. Planet Fitness has LOTS of purple and gold  . It's pretty garish, but it sure wakes me up in the morning.

It was great to have Phyllis along -- thanks, Friend! We may not be wild and crazy, but we do have simple pleasures.

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I mentioned the paper shopping bag because Amherst has outlawed plastic shopping bags. You can buy the reusable ones, but other than that, it's paper all the way. I'm already in the habit of using the reusable bags (Aldis doesn't have any bags at all), but I did like putting the meat into plastic first. Guess I'll just have to hope that there are no drips. I can't figure out what to do about trash. Maybe I'll have to buy smaller kitchen bags. It takes me so long to fill up the normal size, it smells bad.

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Yup, that's our Abby -- Lisa's daughter -- on the left. She's in the band, Potty Mouth, and this ad for Fender guitars is on the wall at the convention center in Annaheim. How cool is that?

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There will probably be more later, but I was excited to show you my framed landscape quilt!

Moon Struck

Last Friday

Driving to the gym this morning, I looked over the snowless fields of corn stubble and saw the moon. It was incredibly huge, bright and low in the sky. It looked as if someone had  switched on an old fashioned incandescent light behind the moon. It glowed a soft yellow and the Man in the Moon seemed particularly benevolent.  Not wanting to create an accident (it is a two lane country road after all), I had to wait until I parked to get a shot. Here it is. The bottom bricks are the top of the building.

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So here it is Sunday night and the huge moon is low in the sky and a golden color. I just got back home from seeing the original Singing in the Rain (with Debbie Reynolds, Gene Kelly, and Donald O'Connor). Of course, I had forgotten my phone at home so no picture. I even went onto the back deck, but the trees block the sight of the moon. This lunatic has no pictures to share.

The movie, of course, was fantastic. I had forgotten the plot and only remembered the fabulous dance scenes. The only song where I really enjoyed the singing was "Good Morning" and Debbie Reynolds did most of the singing there.  Boy, was Cyd Charisse ever a hot tamale -- wow! So Lisa and I had a great time watching this movie. We can't wait for the next "oldie but goodie" movie.

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Church today was all about Martin Luther King Day (tomorrow) and how we should be seeking social justice. The Pastor began talking about symbols and mentioned how "the lamb of God" was often used for Jesus. She said a friend had been given a hand made stole which was lovely but which sported a lamb of God dripping blood. Ick, ick, ick. I don't understand why Christians continue to use this symbol -- isn't that a throwback from the pagan animal sacrifices?

As a Roman Catholic (in my youth), I got used to seeing Christ depicted with a crown of thorns and blood droplets on his brow. My favorite was the exposed heart -- I think that's what gave me the interest in medicine. (I now know that real hearts do not glow, nor do they have thorns around them either.)

I remember the former minister at the Episcopalian church where I used to go saying how he thought that image of Jesus on the cross was awful and nothing more than a symbol of torture. This came as a great surprise to me because I had been wearing a cross -- no body on it -- but still a cross.

At the Congregational Church today, the Pastor had trouble finding symbols in the sanctuary. There was only the one small cross in front of the lectern. No stained glass depicting the lamb of God, no statues, no nothing. There's certainly nothing to distract me unless one of the two candles begin to gutter.

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I had an enjoyable hour watching Jim Gaffigan in Cinco, his fifth TV special. He said there is one for each of his kids and he sure hoped it was his last special! I'm guessing he's Catholic. He told some really funny jokes so that I was literally laughing out loud. It's good to laugh. It cleared out my pipes.

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I have started a new series on Amazon Prime called "Sneaky Pete." It's about a fellow getting out of prison and he learns that bad guys from whom he stole money want their money back or they are going to kill him. So he takes the identity of his prison cell mate and shows up claiming the other guy's grandparents as his own. In the second episode there is some violence and I have a feeling that may escalate. But I can always close my eyes!

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I have tomorrow off and I'm really looking forward to sleeping late. Let's see if that happens. Ciao.

Monday Post Script

Yup, I slept late. Woo hoo! In fact, I lazed around in bed watching a Law and Order that I have seen at least 4 times. For some reason, the donk donk! at the beginning of the show is comforting. I think it's because they always get the bad guy. If they don't, it's continued and they get him in the next one!

Right now I have brussels sprouts, radishes, and bacon wrapped meatballs in the oven. I have already hard boiled many eggs -- I'm bringing deviled eggs to a friend's house. She's giving me dinner, so I'm bringing starters.

I have washed 8 million plastic containers and storage units and I have to fetch the dried laundry from the dryer. Oh, yes, I'll have to package lunches once the cooking is done. (I have already cooked some chicken thighs.) My goal is to make cream of mushroom soup, but I don't know if I'll get to that. 

And I have a top secret sewing project to finish.