Summertime and the Livin' Is Easy

The Walking Stick above was on my screen door and he was about 3 inches long. When Cyndi and I came out of the movies yesterday, people were looking up at a light fixture on the outside of a building. It was a praying (or is that preying?) mantis that was about 5 inches long. I have never seen such a huge bug!

Well, I googled it and it is a Praying Mantis. Look at this from Wikipedia: Females sometimes practice sexual cannibalism, eating their mates after copulation. Occasionally, the females decapitate the males just before or during mating.

I had heard this, but I am wondering about the "sometimes." Would she refrain from eating him because he was particularly charming? Or did she think he would not taste good? Maybe she wanted him to pick up the kids from daycare ...

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We went to see "Florence Foster Jenkins" and I liked the movie a lot! It was about "Madame Florence" who had more money than sense and she was determined to sing at Carnegie Hall. Of course, neither she nor her husband seemed to notice that she was an awful singer, usually flat and many times shrill. Meryl Streep was great in the leading role accompanied by Hugh Grant.

Her pianist played by Simon Helberg (who plays Wolowitz on "The Big Bang Theory") quickly realizes the truth about her singing. 

When he does, his facial expressions are priceless -- and hilarious.

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I spent Friday evening to Sunday afternoon dog sitting for Brownie, who lives next door.

Mostly, he was bored with me because after I threw his rabbit a few times and took him for a short walk, I sat and read. He missed his "sister" who is Sophia and lovely chatterbox of a child.

Those are Cyndi's feet on the right and Brownie is asking me if he can go for a walk with her. Of course, it was o.k. and they took a long walk with much drama. (There was a barking german shepherd who wanted to play and a little girl stuck in a rut on her tiny trike.)

I was thrilled to welcome the family back home and I got a lovely gift from Sophia. I now have my own jewelry maker!

Busy Saturday -- Two Weeks Ago!

I don't want to say that it has been a long time since I did some lopping, but I had to use two hands to steady my water glass just now. I couldn't hold the glass in one hand due to shaking. I got a new pair of loppers -- need I say more?

It's like a jungle here! I had no idea!! I now have piles of cuttings to haul to the way back and no energy to do it. It's at least 4 wagons full of cuttings. Oh, well, they will wait. I have to admit, you can barely tell that I cut anything. Yes, it had gotten that overgrown. It has been so dry, I am surprised. But I guess that's why weeds are so hardy -- they don't need much of anything to thrive.

It's a lovely 77 F. but I have run out of shade -- and energy. Most of you know I'm not a morning person, but I was this morning. So since 5 a.m. (incredible to believe for me!) I've been puttering around doing laundry, dishes, all those boring household chores. As Phyllis Diller used to say, 'I change the beds, vacuum, and clean and no matter what -- six months later, you have to do it all over again!' 

A nap is beginning to sound good ... more later. I'll try to get you some pictures. I like to post pictures! Oh, you knew that. Ta ta for now.

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Last Weekend

It's true that I painted this tote bag last Wednesday, but I was too lazy to post it here. This is a copy of a Charles Sheeler called Three White Tulips in a Vase. The original is at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. I have not seen it -- in fact, I had never heard of him. A photo of the original is below. I know, I know, I made a bad copy. I just can't shake my impressionist leanings enough to be "modern art" as he was. I love them both!

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I should just stay out of supermarkets. 

I had made the usual Saturday rounds, Farmers' Market, Salvation Army (to drop off used clothing), and Whole Foods to get bacon. I couldn't bring myself to pay $11.00 for 8 ounces of bacon at the Farmers' Market. Luckily, it was cured with sugar and that was my excuse to not buy -- no sugar for me!

I was done and walking to my car when the woman who was parked next to me (whose car is facing out -- she must have "pulled through" from the other side) dumps out some liquid right where I'm going to walk next to my driver's door. I figure, "Nice! At least it's not so much that I can't walk around it."

Her driver's side door is right next to mine. I get in and am fishing for the seat belt with my door open.

The woman backs out. Thunk!

(Remember she is facing out?) She had bent her mirror back on my open door and looked at me angrily as if to say, "What did YOU do?" I pointed out that my door had been open and she shouldn't have been in reverse. She waved me on, but I didn't want to move because she was getting out of her car. It turns out, she did hit the car behind her. The guy and his kid had just arrived in time to see it all.

This comes on the heels of my being screamed at by a very big, very angry woman in another supermarket (Stop in Shop). She's right: I was an asshole. I had to the nerve to say to her college age daughter -- who was going for the third different bag of cherries to "taste test" -- "that's called stealing."  I have learned my lesson -- I will never say anything to anyone again.

I'm running out of supermarkets to go to ...

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Below you see a result of my having scanned in a black and white photograph. Sorry that I can't figure out how to get it to a decent size. Anyway, the lady with the white collar is my Grammy (Marina), also known as GG (for Great Grandmother) to my daughters. I am the little girl and the woman with her back to the camera and silver hair is Avo (my great grandmother). The man is Michael, my paternal grandfather. I'm guessing my mother took the picture. That's probably about 1956.

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So I guess I should finally tell you about Sunday. Phyllis and I went to the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College. It is under renovation so only about half was open to the public. That was just about right.

The beginning was mostly Russian paintings. Some were interesting in a very modern way.

This, obviously, is winter. Apparently, I didn't get a picture of summer. Sorry about that! 

 I don't know why this one is so fuzzy -- maybe it's because I was excited at two still life paintings in a row!

And that's it. We capped our lovely Sunday afternoon with a coffee in Hadley.  Life is good.

Good Saturday Morning!

I started the day off with a bit of breakfast. These are some of Phyllis' "cherry" tomatoes. I used the quotes because they are huge -- at least three bites each! The scrambled eggs with bacon are on a luncheon-sized plate, by the way.

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Last night I spent quite  bit of time adding "Jones Library" to about 15 bags. They are from the BagShare Project. Roxy dropped off about 20 cloth bags to be given away. They have all been made fy Cindy. Both women are anoymous but are great volunteers  who are encouraging the use of recycled bags to take the place of plastic bags which are contributing to ocean pollution among other pollution sites. There are many beautiful patterns, but this is a quick view of some (www.thebagshare.org).

Well, all of the bags have been distributed between the Library and the Farmers' Market. The young farmers were thrilled. I may have to figure out how to get more to distribute. One young woman says she knows a sewing teacher who has many bags to donate to the BagShare group. That will be good.

It was bloomin' hot. The temperature was only 81 F. but the dew point was 69!  So ... that called for an iced coffee from Amherst Coffee.

Yes, that really is two giant pickles in a bag. I bought them from Sunset Farm (where Phyllis works) because they had taste samples and I really liked the lightly brined taste. They will be a good evening snack.

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From the "What Were They Thinking???" category:

Police removed a 5 foot alligator from a West Springfield backyard. They say it weighed between 150 to 180 pounds. 'There is no word on whether the homeowner will be charged.'  Charged with what? Being stupid? Cruelty to all the cats and dogs that got eaten?

The news article says a concerned neighbor called the police. Can you imagine getting up bleary eyed one morning and looking out your bedroom window and seeing a five foot alligator next door? "Holy f***k! How much tequila did I drink?!"

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Phyllis and I had a yummy stir fry tonight using many of the fresh veggies that she gave me. 

Here it is before I added the pork and sauce. The "rice" is Miracle Noodle rice.

After Addition of Meat

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It's Sunday now and I couldn't bring myself to go to church. I slept until almost 9 a.m., not realizing how tired I was. So ... I am now chortling about the fact that I just got 56 points in Words with Friends. Does that make me a bad person?

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Let the merriment begin! I met Nancy for lunch and we had a nice chat. She's going to Rockport and then Boston for a vacation next week. Her son and his fiance are flying in from Chicago to be with her.

After that it was on to Home Depot to get supplies to refinish my front door. I should be able to do that. Yeah, right.

Then on to Aldis.  Consequently:
A pound of bacon is cooking in the microwave.
8 eggs are on their way to being hard boiled.
A package of Italian sausage is baking.
Also in the oven: 2 chicken thighs with Cajun seasoning, 2 plain chicken thighs, and 4 chicken thighs coated in ground pork rinds.
The crockpot is slowly cooking sirloin 'steak' (great for fajitas!) with mushrooms, garlic and bit of white wine.

I used white wine because it was open and I couldn't see opening a whole bottle of red for that ...

We ate at 1:30 p.m. and since it's now 5 p.m., I'm hungry!  Wonder if there's anything to eat around here ... just kidding, I have leftovers from last night (the stir fry). I'm really happy that I will get all of the food packaging into the trash for tomorrow's pickup. I just have to pack modular servings for lunches and I'll be all set.

Since I still have laundry to do, bushes to cut, and car seats to wash, it's doubtful that I'll be doing anything on refinishing my front door. But I'll report back if I do. 

Have a wonderful rest of day and a great week. This is going to be a great week! I can feel it in my buns. Er, bones. 

Staycation

I am nearing the end of my Tuesday and Wednesday staycation -- a vacation at home. Originally, I had thought of going to the ocean (two or more hours away) but it rained all morning yesterday. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought I could just remember the ocean without having to drive four or five hours!

But I am having a grand time. I finished my landscape quilt called "Palm Springs Night."

The tape measure is because I'm thinking of having a frame made. (The colors are still too light in this photo because of the Noon time sun outside.)

What do you think of barn board for the frame?

I didn't think my neighbor would appreciate my driving nails in his fence to take a picture, so that's me holding it up.

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I threw in a wash and did some cooking. I made roasted curried cauliflower, sauteed pork chops. I also made the casserole below as I baked low carbohydrate biscuits. (I had biscuits and gravy for lunch yesterday.) The biscuits were made with almond flour and they tasted good but next time I will omit the salt. 

A Really  Nifty Casserole

One small eggplant, peeled and sliced in scant 1/4 inch thick rounds

One large zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds

1 Large onion (optional) cut into slices

1 C. shredded cheese

4 to 6 ounces linguica sliced into rounds (or sausage or no meat)

Spray a casserole dish with oil and cover the bottom with eggplant. Keep layering all of the ingredients (except the meat), using half the cheese for one layer. Top with cheese and linguica.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so until cooked.

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Phyllis had brought me some fresh garden vegetables (the zucchini was one). The tomatoes she brought were so good that I munched on them with cheese for supper yesterday. I still have little onions and yellow squash to cook and I think there are a couple of cute carrots in there. It's so wonderful to come home to a bag of veggies! Thank you, Phyllis!! 

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I now have my umbrella table and chairs on the deck. You guessed it, it looks like rain. I had to struggle too much -- that umbrella is heavy! -- to bring it in for rain. It will have to dry out if it rains. Which reminds me that I have to buy detergent to wash the green off my yellow house. And I have to use the hedge clippers in the back ... guess I'll be staying home this weekend ...

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One of my particular pleasures has been to watch the Murdoch Mysteries on Netflix. It's set in Toronto, Canada and it takes place after 1899, which is the year the police station was built. They have a female pathologist which was very unusual for those times and William Murcdoch is a Roman Catholic who is looked down upon because he is "a Papist." Of course, there's a murder in every episode, but there is also a mini morality play. They discuss the 'new' science, including the new moving picture machine. Harry Houdini makes an appearance as does the dissolute Queen's grandson. One of my favorites so far is when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show comes into town, complete with Annie Oakley (my heroine).

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Many of you know that Red Rose is my favorite tea. It is particularly well suited to making "sun tea." I did this the night before Emily's nail wrap party and I had splendid tea for icing the next day. Today it has only taken a couple of hours starting with cold water. No, I didn't put it in the sun. It's really yummy if you add 0 calorie peach drink. :)

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Diggity Dig Dog

"I love the way it follows him around like a puppy."

"What?"

That was Cathy being her usual cryptic self. She was talking about the drill shown below. We had 3 holes bored in back of the Library to determine the soil for the future expansion. I'm told they went down 30 feet.

In the center of this flatbed is the digger. The guy's hat is the back end and the front is 3 red and white markers to the left.

It turns out, it's a big remote controlled toy. Nobody "drives" the drill; the operator has a remote control unit and he walks slowly and carefully in front of it guiding it to where he wants it to go. I was fascinated watching him get the tank-like treads onto little ramps. Can you see the water bottle on the ground behind him? There was one on the other side. I'm thinking it's a bit more subtle than if, "You hit the water bottle and you're screwed," but it did seem to be a way for him to measure how to get the drill onto the truck.

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Deb and I met for lunch at the wonderful Met Grill which is in the Natick Mall. After lunch, we strolled around the Mall. I felt like the Country Mouse -- there are so many stores, so many sights, so much bling! I enjoyed it thoroughly!

This is one of three crystal columns in the Swarvoski Crystal store. It reminded me of a waterfall.

I cannot eat cupcakes, but nobody says I can't look at them!

How about the fish below? Yup, it's made all from recycled plastic containers such as Wisk liquid laundry detergent, Folger's coffee can, Era containers, etc. (There were many fish in this store window.) The artist is from Quincy and I think her name is Sara Allesandro -- I took a picture and cut off her name. Darn!

The window goes with a tee shirt store, but there were lots of local artists' offerings as well. When we got there, there was a fellow about to play an acoustic guitar. He was about 7 feet tall (hyperbole, he probably was only 6'6") with black eyeliner, black clothing and black hair -- except where it was green. He had an entourage of people who were also goth. When he began to play, I had to swallow laughter. He was playing lilting folk noodling.

As Deb said dryly, "That's not the type of music that I expected to hear from him."

Birch trees are my favorite trees and the trunks of these trees caught my eye.  It turns out, they are not real, they are art. When we got closer, I realized that I did not care for the leaves (which are pieces of metal), but the tree trunks are masterful. 

And here is the roof on the top floor. I like the natural light and for some reason, I felt as if I were on a ship.

I had never seen this in a mall food court. Those are sushi on the round plates on a conveyor belt. You are charged by the number of plates you have on your table. I had first seen this when YaoYao took me to a sushi place in Hawaii.

I was fascinated by the barn board on this store's facade. It really seemed to be real reclaimed wood -- not made to look old.

After we relaxed in my hotel room (across from the mall), Deb and I went for supper at Ken's Steak House.  Yes, it is the one and only as in Ken's Steak House Salad Dressing. I don't know if it's only a local salad dressing brand, but it has been around here for years.  As we drove up, Deb said she expected to see mob types ... what we did see was many senior citizens (she lowered the age in the place a lot!). Can you believe the dark paneling? There were many stained glass windows -- of ducks! I don't know if Ken was a duck hunter or just liked ducks.

The food was delicious! I don't know why the place wasn't packed. In fact, the prime rib and Deb's steak were better than any I have had elsewhere.

They also had a singer in the lounge who was playing a very nice, mellow, acoustic guitar. I wondered if it were the goth guy from the tee shirt place who had removed his wig and makeup. A quick change into polyester slacks and !voila! lounge singer at night!

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Today, Sunday, I met YaoYao and her mother, Mary, at a "diner" that she had picked in Framingham. It turns out that it was only 4 minutes from my hotel room which was great. When I got there, there was a line out the door of people waiting. In fact, the wait was around 35 minutes. I say "diner" because it's a little hole in the wall in a small strip mall. It's not a separate diner and there's no aluminum colored siding. 

The breakfast/brunch was fantastic. I think my omelette had 4 eggs -- it was huge. YaoYao had banana pancakes that were each about a half inch high and large dinner plate size. She will be eating those for two days!  Of course we had to get pictures because YaoYao is leaving Boston on Friday. She will be living in Georgia.

 YaoYao's baby boy is due around the end of September. She looks great! I was/am suffering from very puffy eyes and sinus pain. Maybe I'll take an antihistamine.

By the way, the Chinese don't say, "Say cheese!" when they take pictures. They say, "Say eggplant!" That word in Chinese makes them smile. (The stranger who nicely took our picture said, "Say cheese!")

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As I was sitting in traffic on the Mass. Turnpike (stop and go for about 3 miles or so), I glanced and saw a very welcome text -- Lisa invited me to go to her pool. Ever the ready, I had my swim suit in the car, so I had a wonderful afternoon dip and chat with Lisa. 

She had had a wonderful weekend in NYC. Her daughter, Abby, played with her band (Potty Mouth) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden. Lisa sent us a picture and behind Abby was a huge glass wall (on the Museum) which reflected skyscrapers. Lisa and her husband stayed at the Warwick which is very close to the MOMA.

I can't begin to describe how beautiful Lisa and Chip's gardens are, so I brought a picture of one of her many gorgeous lilies. Of course, yellow is my favorite color.

Now it's off to work tomorrow (Monday). Have a great week!

Monday Night Musings

While washing dishes tonight, with blueberry muffins baking, I had time to think.  

Earlier, I had been horrified to read that a 15 year old boy who was drunk went looking for a friend (at Noon time) and knocked on the door of the wrong house. Somehow, he broke a pane of glass on the door, so the resident (not his friend) shot him dead.

This happened in Chicopee -- 20 minutes from here. What on earth would make that man so fearful that he would shoot through a door killing someone? Did he really think that someone at noontime was going to hurt/rob him? He must have thought that -- why else would someone use deadly force if not in fear for his life?

And this is where we are in America today. We are all afraid of our neighbors. This morning I had to usher out a man who didn't know the Library was closed until 1 p.m. on Mondays. When I told him the Library was closed, he just looked at me intently. At that point, I didn't know if he had mental health issues or if he was hostile. I got an urgent vibe from him. At that moment, my adrenaline started running and I said, "You need to leave now," and crowded him with my bulk, herding him toward the door. He was bigger than I am, but adrenaline makes you do weird things and I got him to leave without incident. (The book delivery guy had let him in.) 

I guess it's the senseless violence that seems to be happening every other day that is putting us all on edge. Maybe it's the hate speech we hear coming from religious and political "leaders." There certainly is a rise of bullying in adults.

We have so-called adults in this Town who cannot understand the theory of 'agreeing to disagree.' Instead, they have made a career of questioning the professional credentials and integrity of the Library Director, our architects working on a design for an expanded Library fit for the 21st century, and the Board of Trustees. Nobody knows the finances, square footage, and needs of the Town better than these narrow minded bullies.

On to happier thoughts.

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"Let's take a picture of all three cats!" she said gaily.

I had wondered why Emily had laughed. Apparently, cats don't pose.

Yes, Jackson is in motion. They won't stop, I tell you!

Yes, Lily is being hypnotized by a kitty treat. Those things must be really good because she sat there for quite a while.

And here's Lola being her usual suspicious self. I am privileged (after all, I am her Grandma) to have Lola come out and see me. One cat sitter was not sure Lola existed because she always hid.

Emily and I had a fine time last Friday. After a rough week at work, I drove to Worcester because I needed my kid and grand kitties. Emily and I went to dinner and then to see Ghostbusters. It was a very funny movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly -- no reality for me!! It was a bit loud so I would advise bringing ear plugs. (The weapons that splat the ghosts are very loud.) The only harm that came to humans was in the form of green slime which seemed to be icky but did not create any lasting damage.

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The blueberry muffins are yummy, by the way. I used a low carbohydrate mix and added blueberries grown next door. Boy, are those blueberries good!! (I had to taste the muffins because I'm bringing them into work and I had to be sure they are good.)

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Last Wednesday night after work, I went to a small breakfast place in North Amherst for a "wine and painting" night. Iced tea worked well for me as we tried to imitate Georgia O'Keefe's Jimson Weed.

I'll never be mistaken for an artist, but I really did enjoy myself. I especially like the teacher, Teri Magner, who is a retired art teacher. She has a fool proof method to enable you to finish in two hours. I like it! 

By the way, that's the palette under the easel. It's a plasticized sheet which I imagine can be wiped off and used again. Of course, we used acryllics which dry quickly.

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I did a bit of cooking yesterday (Sunday).

That's wild caught salmon in front and a crustless quiche with ham and tomato in the back.

This is chicken soup with baby bok choy and other stuff. I cheated because the chicken is from a rotissiere chicken. I also made a pot roast in the crock pot and hard boiled eggs for my snacks at work. So now I have lunches for work and I just have to heat up suppers.

Although I miscalculated today and had a salad with steak pieces for lunch. That was good but I was ravenous at 4 p.m. I was really happy that my blood sugar was 95 (100 is good), but I was hungry. I think I'll have to figure out an afternoon snack!

Time for bed for me. Good night all.