New Jersey Oma

Mid-week

2012-02-01T16:35:00.001-05:00

Which would be Wednesday - Midweek.
Mild here in the NE, 60+ degrees today. But it still feels chilly, with the wind. And you know that winter will come roaring back, with snow and ice and nasty stuff.
Today I complained about the parking lot at work (and I rarely complain). I got to work, and not even paying attention, turned into my parking spot - which is on a dirty driveway, but luckily right next to the entrance door to the building. Unthinking I'd run over a broken headlight, which the guy, who rents the lot next door, where he keeps broken-down cars, left in our parking lot. I finally complained, I'm not in the mood to pay for two more tires! The dirt lot - huge - is littered with nails from boards that got de-nailed outside, and despite the lot being checked out with a little magnetic carriage, there is still plenty of debris to do damage to a car.
And I'm sick and tired of people parking behind me, blocking me in. I am tired of having to go hunt the blocker down, and then make him move the car. When I want to leave, I want to leave, I don't want to plan in time to find drivers who are blocking me in! And no, I don't want to smile anymore when I find them, and say the obligatory 'oh, it's okay' - I want to let out my inner German and let them have it!

Okay. You all can calm down now, tirade is over. I'm big and strong and make my message perfectly clear when I get my dander up. (wow, where did that come from, I said I was done!)
Really. I'm done now.

Change of subject? What did we have for supper last night ---- hmmm, I had creamed spinach, and potatoes, and baked/roasted chicken - I love, no, LOVE roasted chicken! And as a little treat I made some fried sage leaves - good, I tell you, very good!
I'm thinking tonight we'll have chicken soup. Which I really like right after roasted chicken. So it's all good! Tomorrow? Gyn appointment. Not so hot - worse would be a mammography. And no, I'm not getting that done tomorrow. And I'm looking forward to watching TV, and having someone sit next to me.

Emptying a house

2012-01-30T06:05:00.002-05:00

Up in MA we were busy emptying a house. It was a lovely, lovely home, warm, inviting, calm, it felt like a home. The owner is no longer here on this earth, and decisions had to be made on what to do with her possessions.

And we packed, and lugged, and threw out, and looked at pictures, and moved things, and had memories, and closure.

I was given a quilt the lady of the house picked out, bought the materials, and started for me. Her daughter finished it, had it quilted, hand-sewed the binding on it, and gave it to me on Saturday. What a special gift! I love the colors, and better yet the association with the memories of it.

The quilting is done with variegated colors, and it was sent out to be quilted.

The designer of the quilting part squared off the flowers to match them to the flowers in the border of the quilt. I love the colors, they are me!

Thank you, Karen, for finishing it, and

Thank you, Dorothy, for wanting to make a quilt for me and

choosing it!

I love it!

M was given one of his mother's quilts - his is the first quilt she ever made, the double wedding ring. It's just gorgeous. I put it on the bed tonight, just to sleep under a memory.

It is signed, and matches the colors in the bedroom like it was made for it. I cannot for a minute imagine starting quilting with the double wedding ring! And do you see the scalloped edges? Gorgeous!
And yes, it's signed, and pleased M tremendously to be given it.

To my Anonymous commentor: Vielen Dank fuer die lieben Worte, ich freue mich sehr darueber! Und viele liebe Gruesse!

Socks

2012-01-27T04:33:00.002-05:00

Does anyone fix socks anymore? I mean, I learned in elementary school how to. Yeah, I know, totally little house on the prairie. But we still had home ec, with mending, sewing, knitting, fixing things, etc.
So, anyway, to get back to the socks, no one fixes them anymore, right? You just throw them away.

Well, it turns out our tastes got more expensive. To go hiking in the winter, one wants to stay warm, and buying wool socks is part of staying warm. They keep you warm, believe me! But said socks are $10 and up a pair. And if those socks develop a hole, you think twice about throwing them away.

So I remembered my elementary school skills and mend, see:

Not as pretty as I learned it, but it's fixed. And no, I can't find sock darning thread in any Walmart anymore, this one is from a kit bought in Germany (probably from Tschibo), years ago. And the only color left from the kit.

Sometime soon I'll have to go back to Germany and see if they still make sock mending yarn (or I could google it, but that wouldn't be as much fun).

Weekend?

Back to MA, finish things up.

Next weekend?

MD and visiting with two cute, adorable little ones and their parents.

Enjoy your weekend!

Snow hiking

2012-01-22T19:13:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we had snow - about 5 - 6 inches. After shoveling around the cars in the front, we gave up and asked someone with a plow if he'd come by and plow us out. Yes, he did.

Rest of the day - not doing much.

Today we had a wonderful surprise, we got a visit from Nicole, Greg, Jackson and Evan. How cool! I loved seeing them, loved hugging the boys, chatting, having a cup of coffee. The were supposed to have gone to her grandfather's 95th birthday party in RI, they tried, but the snow storm yesterday morning made the trip too dangerous and it would have been too long.

I was so glad to hear they gave up and turned around to go back home, I was worried.

The other family went, albeit the night before. Smart decision!

We did go for a smallish hike after our visitors left. To the Hawk Watch again, but not off the road, none of the trails were walked on, and it was too cold to blaze a trail - 27 degrees F.

We did remember to bring some bird food, and after we put it on the ground, we did have a group of birds coming for dinner.

Trudging though the snow, but almost there

can never get enough of the view

ta-da! (my hero)

Mansion in the distance. So an 1980's thing.... Looks like it's all by itself, which is deceiving.

Nut hatch? I don't remember

I think this is a titmouse, but maybe not

(refresher course for birds, I promise to be better)

And for next time I have the red-headed woodpecker, which is gorgeous, but was shy.

Funeral

2012-01-18T16:36:00.003-05:00

We had to go to a funeral in Massachusetts on Thursday. M's mother passed away after she had a car accident last year, seemed to get so much better, and then she seemed to just fade away.

She was a very special lady, and I consider myself lucky to have met her.

She was well thought of by her neighbors, family and friends.

She was an amazing quilter, and if I ever make just one quilt as nice as one of hers, I will consider myself lucky.

As funerals go, this one was like the one for any close member in my family, everyone comes, celebrates the time together, and celebrates the life of the person that left us.

Truly the bitter-sweet.

Oh, just another weekend

2012-01-09T05:54:00.002-05:00

It seems I can't find the time or inclination to post more then once a week. I've moved most of the things at work all by myself (except for the heavy stuff), and I'm sore.
Saturday we did nothing, just relaxed. Yesterday a hike on the smallish side - under three miles - but on a new path, again in the Wildcat Ridge woods. With a beaver pond with two dens along one of the paths.

And I started on my quilt! I even have a picture:

nine blocks so far. I still have to cut one strip, add it to the blocks, and then am ready to put the blocks together. And then the fun will begin! It's lap size, and hopefully I sewed everything straight enough that it will come together easily.
I love the colors in the quilt, which was one of the reasons I choose it.
Well, I was going to upload more photos, but I have to blowdry my hair, put the soup M made into containers, make the bed, put on make-up, and go to work!
Okay, I decided to make enough time, to show a little bit more about the weekend.
In the woods again:

Beaver pond, with two dens

Roman ruins? :-)

New York City way in the distance, with all the zoom my little camera is able to give

At Hawk Watch, the view is terrific, no matter the weather

Obligatory mushrooms, and below my blooming clivia

Yeah, I got to sew a little bit!

Hikes

2012-01-03T05:53:00.002-05:00

The last three days we hiked. The first two, bridging the old and the new year, to the same spot. We took different routes, and really liked the longer, more scenic, and smaller trail to the Hawk Watch. Hawk Watch is an overlook, a huge rock, and it is very popular, on New Year's Day it was even crowded. But lovely, and the crowds come the shorter way, from a parking lot that is nearby.
Yesterday I wanted to go to another park - I'm having a great time discovering new hikes, and new parks. This one is still only 10 miles away from the house, and seems to be very popular, to go by the well-marked and well worn trails. Lots of people out as well.

We had lunch in the woods every day. Fantastic, and something I was never capable of, I never even liked to bring sandwiches, since I always had a hard time even choosing what to bring.

On the trail

Tripod Rock, it really sits on three small rocks, some bizarre leftover from the ice age

small island with beaver den

and the trail goes up again!

my hero!

And this was taken with my cell phone, you can see New York City waaayyy in the back.

some cool fungi, taken by M.

Btw, I keep seeing that my blog is being read by people in Slovakia - hello to you, and happy new year!

I'd love to hear from you!

New Year's Day hike

2012-01-01T17:47:00.001-05:00

We went hiking to the same spot again today. The weather was sunny, and I love the white trail. The trails are only three miles from the house. Here are the photos I didn't post yesterday:

This is already on top of the mountain, a huge rock, where one can see for miles, even NYC in the far distance.

warming soup for us on top of the rock, with the view before us.

On the trail

and in the middle of the winter, still beautiful color, at least in the moss

Below are my new winter hiking boots, over the ankle, and at the end of two days, they were rubbing my legs :-(

My man!

The best for last:

Happy New Year - Prost Neu Jahr!

2011-12-31T17:18:00.000-05:00

Almost there. It's a little after 5 in the evening and we are resting. We went for a 7 plus mile hike today to the Hawk Watch in the Wildcat Ridge woods. Nice. It almost drizzled a little, but the weather held. What a neat thing to do on New Year's Eve!

We watched two gorgeous little boys from Thursday to Friday. They are fun, and just lovely. And it's amazing how quickly they grow! And how funny they are! The little one, Evan, is 16 mos. old, and he woke up in the middle of the night. I wasn't able to soothe him back to sleep, so I laid down with him on the couch and both of us fell asleep, until Jackson (4), woke me up with the request to cover him up. In the morning we went to the playground by the school, and the boys loved it. Yesterday evening celebrated Nicole's birthday, we brought back the boys, and then all of us went out to dinner.

Some of the bloggers I follow do a flash back to last year. I won't bore you with that, let me just tell you that I totally changed my life.

Wishing you all out there a Happy and Healthy New Year - I'm off to enjoy my evening.

count down

2011-12-22T05:05:00.000-05:00

Busy! I finished all the orders that were on deck yesterday. I'm supposed to move into a new room at work, and I'll get going on getting the move started today. I'm still getting last minute gifts, I have to finish shopping to bring things to where we are having the Christmas celebration with family. It'll be a big celebration, with relatives coming from St. Louis (can't wait to see them), and my daughters and their families.

But I refuse to be rushed. I fully intend to enjoy it all, from the last minute shopping, to the last cookie eaten - oh, yes, I do want to bake some more cookies too).

My tree is standing in front of me, well, not directly in front, I'm sitting on the couch, the tree is quietly standing in the window across, pretty with all the ornaments I collected over the years. I had a phase when I bought only glass Santas, beautiful glass ornaments from home, then I collected vintage ornaments as I came across them at garages sales. I still have one glass ornament from my husband's grandparents, that has to be at least 60 years old!
Last night I was at Matthew's soccer school, and four women were chatting. The subject of how conscious of every minute we are here in the North-East came up. My daughter works in the city (NYC) and was complaining of all the tourists in the way of the day-to-day folks there. Standing in doorways to put on their gloves, button their coats, while the regulars just want to move on, standing on the sidewalk gaping up at the sky scrapers, while the regulars just want to get to the subway, they 'regulars' even talk faster!
We were laughing about it, and that is part of getting ready for some toning it down.

We fully intended to throw ourselves into the fray, join the shopping mob last night. But we stayed home, had supper - lovely white asparagus!, ham, and potatoes au gratin (for me) and macaroni and cheese (for him). And then we just relaxed.

And should I not get a chance to post again before Christmas, I just wanted to wish you a very merry holiday, a happy Christmas, and I'll see you in between - before the new year!

Santa sighting

2011-12-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

No clue what we did yesterday - oh, yeah, errands. Shipping packages, grocery store, etc.

Today? Well, since I broke the toilet (don't ask, I have a shelf of milk glass vases over the window next to the toilet, I took a vase down, and it promptly fell out of my hand and cracked the toilet), we bought a replacement and it was installed today. Yeah, we went with the higher seat (old people!), and it was installed without drama.
Then M was nice enough to take my washer apart yet again, since I have a tendency not to check the pockets for coins, a nickel got caught in the pump, and clogged up the works. Thank goodness it's an easy enough fix and doesn't require a service call (note to self, keep checking the pockets!)

We did manage to go for a walk. Close by, and it was great, and we are out of shape, and promised ourselves we'd be better about it in the future.

M walking toward a bat cave.

It's an old mine entrance, boarded up, but with openings

for bats to go in and out. There also is a platform,

where one can watch the bats.

Not at the moment, I think they hibernate.

Bittersweet, one colorful point in the mostly grey woods.

another spot of color.

And then we ran into Santa!

Really, check it out:

He wanted to know if we knew any naughty little people!

Of course we told him that everyone we knew was nice.

We don't know anyone naughty!

Quilting present

2011-12-16T06:26:00.000-05:00

Last weekend M's sister K and her husband R came to visit. We had tickets for the 911 Memorial, and went to Midtown to see the Christmas windows, the tree, the ice skating rink, Trump Towers, Times Square, the whole christmassy nine yards. See my last posts for pictures.
What I should have posted about first, was a fabulous quilted table runner that K made for us! It's gorgeous, I love the colors, and if I ever get that good at quilting, I'll consider myself lucky! Yeah, I know, I sew for a living, but believe me, industrial sewing with industrial machines is worlds away from quilting.
I just have to show a few pictures of the runner:

Isn't it gorgeous? I just love it! Thank you so much, K!

Family

2011-12-13T06:10:00.002-05:00

The day after our NYC visit, we had family over. My daughters and their families came for brunch, and it was great. I love seeing the kids, they are all so good, and hanging out with family is always a pleasure.

These photos were taken with our cell phone cameras.

we had quiches, bagels, cinnamon rolls, coffee cake,

oranges,

I don't think anyone walked away hungry.

even the littlest guest got his fill.

Here's to spending Christmas with you!

More New York Christmas

2011-12-12T06:59:00.000-05:00

There are so many more photos to share from our trip to the big city.

Here are just a few:

construction at ground zero

busy Times Square

it's impressive how many people are out at Christmas time

statues around the ice rink at Rockefeller Center

at St. Patrick's Cathedral

life-size (or bigger) manger,

and a mean looking camel

and the windows at Tiffany's

Christmas in NYC

2011-12-11T07:49:00.001-05:00

Yup, that's where we ended up yesterday. First the visit to the 911 Memorial. We had tickets.

Very moving, and one has to remember that for a lot of families it's the cemetery for loved ones.

Then, on to the Christmassy NY.

And there were Santa's all over - I guess the two

bunnies lost their way from Easter...

(it was a bar crawl, we asked)

Santa girl, just for M.

We also saw a girl dressed as a lampshade, with the legs from

a 'Christmas Story' - too late to take a picture!

construction on Ground Zero

Entertainment in the subway.

It was actually very good!

living statue in the subway station

On the Times Square Glass steps

The view - always amazing and very crowded.

brother and sister - happy

The obligatory photo of the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center

This year's star on the top

NY pretzels and chestnuts on the street

And this Sunday a lovely brunch with the family.

Thank you so much for coming!

It was great!

Loved seeing the kids....

Baby sitting weekend

2011-12-06T04:52:00.001-05:00

This weekend was taken up with little ones. My son and his wife came to visit and brought Noah (3), and Kate (7 mos). No problem on Friday, the parents left when both kids were already asleep. Saturday we spsent with parents and kids, the baby was no problem at all, and we went for a hike with Noah, his Dad and Nibby, their dog. We discovered a new hiking area here in the neighborhood, which we've been meaning to explore.
This area was mined for iron ore, and I brought home a couple of rocks with remnants of iron in them.
The ridge we hiked used to have iron mines on it, it still has a cemetery in the middle of the woods, no roads around, no village - spooky.

But after reading up on it online, I found out that the cemetery isn't that old, the beginning of the 1900's (okay, maybe not old to someone who grew up in Europe, let me just say 'Roman ruins).

Water play

Ready for take-off?

And what kind of face is this? With a hat?

vicious dog ;-)

downhill a lot easier, and below a happy little boy playing in water

little and big cousin

pretty Katie-did!

It never stops...

2011-11-30T16:20:00.001-05:00

Meaning the hectic. The on-to-something-new. You think you get older, you have time, and - guess what - yeah, I can hear the wild laughter of everyone who is retired. Next two weekends? Booked. And no room to hike. Used to be a hobby....At least I still get to take my morning walk most days.

The set table on Thanksgiving Day

We thought it funny to show ourselves before getting it all together, and no,

I do not have an after picture!

Okay, I do, but on my droid, and I do not know how to upload yet.

There has to be an app for that, but...

And our youngest guest.

I was too busy to take many pictures, but I did escape with the children briefly

while the dishes were cleared and done.

(no way was I going to be involved with that!)

.... and the Christmas rush starts

2011-11-27T13:24:00.001-05:00

Thanksgiving was lovely. The food was good, the cooking took forever, but was great, the company was the best, and time flew by much too fast.
Matthew wanted me to find bird food, he loves watching the birds come to the feeder. I told him to look on top of the refrigerator. He climbed on a chair, but couldn't reach it. I climbed on a chair next to him, to get the bird food. He looked at me and exclaimed: You can climb on a chair? What are you, 300 pounds or something? It doesn't collapse under you? (he's nine and trying out sarcasm and humor). After I recovered from laughing, I told him it wasn't very nice what he said, and to please correct that.
His answer: 'I'm sorry you weigh 300 pounds'

Happy Thanksgiving .... and on to the Christmas rush!
Thursday we went to MA, and went to a lovely quilting shop in the hills of Massachusetts. Of course I got a quilt kit! Now, the trick will be to find the time to make it.
Today? Trimming the tree - done.
Laundry - done.
Making the advent calendars for three families (one each!) - not done.
Christmas shopping - started....
Cookies? One dough made....
Off I go...

Morning - Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T06:18:00.001-05:00

It's still very early, I'm just up to take the turkey out of the wrappings, and start the sweet potatoes.

We did a lot of prep work last night. M made a mushroom soup, we fixed the stuffing, and opened the table.

Here is what I want you to see, it's M, chopping mushrooms.

He does the same with onions and celery, and anything else that needs chopping.

On that note, I need to leave you, and get going with the preps!

Matthew and Jessica will arrive later, after the go to New York with their parents to watch the parade.

I met them yesterday for lunch.

I asked them if they were excited.

No, they weren't. They didn't want to see a 'dumb' parade.

And then were outraged when their mother announced the parade

was three hours long.

And they would have to stand the entire time.

Even longer, in order to get a spot, they'd have to be there early.

I was laughing, cracking up, because it reminded me

of the times I tried to show my kids special things.

Same reaction.

It only becomes wonderful after the fact!

Enjoy your day!

PS, and oh, Matthew and Jessica will join us for dinner after the parade.

Monday before Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T16:02:00.001-05:00

The weekend was nice. Saturday we puttered around the house - I can't even remember what we did. In the afternoon we went to Matthew's last soccer game, they won 5:1! Good for you, Matthew!

Yesterday shopping and cooking. Not even for Thanksgiving, just to cook - we still need to eat every day, even though the big feast is on Thursday! We tried out a recipe in the Slow Cooker, or Crock Pot, as it was called in 'the olden days'. Chicken Provenciale, it was good!

We had friends over, and we talked about hiking in our area. Which will happen sometime....

I'm working on Christmas, with a large family there is lots to be organized, and checked, and emailed back and forth, and teased, it's fun. My one friend tried to organize us and tell us to go to a website, and have everyone check into that, but I'm happy with the emails. Part of the fun is telling what one bought for whom, and then remembering to leave the recipient off the list - tricky, I tell you!

If I get everything done at work, I'll take Wednesday off and cook and clean - a pecan pie wants to be baked, the rolls need to be done (I'm baking my own), the cranberry sauce can be made....

And I will have a big help in the kitchen, M loves to cook and is good at it! Excellent, even!
Still so not used to it, and it's so lovely to have.

I finally finished a jacket in fleece that I'd started last year. Turns out I bought too little of it, and it's the Polartec (expensive compared to the regular stuff), so I didn't really know what to do. I happen to have some remnants of red and multi-colored fleece, which I used to make the collar and pockets, and a stripe down between the zipper - and it looks great. I like it, and it's not like anything out there. (and if I wasn't too lazy to go to the car and get the camera, I'd show you what I look like. I'm retarded and can't take a picture with my cell phone, because I keep hitting all the other choices when I point the phone at me - I didn't get the android with both forward and rear-facing camera, drat!)
Enough rattling on about nothing,
enjoy your week!

Week before Thanksgiving

2011-11-15T06:42:00.001-05:00

The guests are invited. I'm still not sure, how many we will be for Thanksgiving, but that's okay!

Not much news here. Love the phone, still not sure of all the features. And still have questions about it, but that's okay, it's a learning curve. Matthew got a hold of it, and found the games right of the bat. And played. Jessica wanted to know if she could have my old phone. Not to dial out, just to have it.

More later - gotta run, I just ordered Christmas presents!!! Yeah, and not on anyone's list! (hope they like it)

New cell phone

2011-11-14T15:13:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday I decided it was time I join the newest technology, and went and got myself an Android. Holy smokes! What a difference! I got to hold it for a bit, before it was taken over by M, who had a blast. Played Angry Birds, tried out all kinds of things, and enjoyed it very much from what I could see.
It took me until the next day to realize I had no clue how to dial out. Really. Not a one.

And in the afternoon we went back to the phone store, and M got one too. Now it's hilarious, we're both asking each other, what this or that means, how to do this or that, and so on. I had the hardest time downloading google voice, which is the way I call my German relatives and friends, and I want to be able to do that on the new phone (did you know a cell phone is called 'handy' in Germany? I love that name for a cell phone, so much more graceful than 'cell phone'). What's your handy number? Where is my handy? Doesn't that sound nice?

Anyway, besides that, we stayed home this past weekend. We were both tuckered out from the work week, from all our running around, and we wanted to stay home. It was nice too, we got some things done, got rid of the blue couch (finally!), and the garage a little roomier, the gutters cleaned (my hero climbed on the roof and cleaned from there!).
All right, on to the Thanksgiving menu.... we're planning, how about you?

Quest

2011-11-06T14:17:00.001-05:00

Friday afternoon we left on a quest. The quest was to get free of the need to have electricity at all cost. Well, if this sounds like bullshit, it is. We left to pick up a generator for the house. Yes, we like our comfort, refrigerator, heat, light, TV.

And this is where we went to look for the generator, doesn't it look terrific?

Horses from Montana, in upstate New York

Friendly horses, too!

They are rodeo horses, unfortunately we never seem to be around when they are being trained.

On the way home we stopped at Kaaterskill Falls, I was determined to see the falls again.

There are still some leaves on the trees, and below are the trailmarkers.

And this is the view of the lower fall.

And of course there is an explorer in any male, no matter how old:

The whole falls, unfortunately the light either washes out the sky, or the fall is too dark...

Where is M.?

my hero!

love that man.....

Today: chores around the house, raking leaves, removing the mess from the storm, making beef stew, making cinnamon buns (getting good at those), installing a programmable thermostat, making crescent rolls, folding laundry....

the sun is stunning - shining in a clear blue sky, happy.

No power, no Internet, no TV, no hot shower

2011-11-01T16:46:00.000-04:00

Well, the title says it all. The last post was happily written minutes before it made 'pfffff', and the power was off. That was Saturday afternoon. No power since, winter temperatures, no - see above - power for anything, and this is the first time since Saturday I'm able to check my email at my daughter's house.

Saturday to Sunday night we spent at home, hoping against hope the power would be restored. Of course we had no clue how bad it was around us. Trees down, tree limbs down, branches on power cables, on cable TV cables, and no warning signs, roads that are impassible in the middle of the journey, it's lovely. The highways are clear, it's all the other streets.
Pockets of power, the Quick Check store in our town has power, so does the fire house next door, but the rest of the town is a ghost town. No hotel room to be had, they are all booked.

We are mooching off friends, (actually we were cordially invited by friends) spending the nights at their (heated! hot water! showers!) house, and are having dinner with Matthew and Jessica and parents today. Schools are closed. Halloween was cancelled. Halloween was cancelled!! in America!! Really. They asked the children to postpone it until Friday, since there was just too much going on, no one in dark houses, no street lights, no traffic lights, branches down one could trip over in the dark, and wires down, possibly live.

We are trying to find a generator (no more living in the house without a back-up generator!), but none to be had in the Tri-State area. In Connecticut the power is out in most of the state.

We are all right. Healthy, clean (thanks to borrowed showers), laughing at it all, because how else are you going to make it through something like this.

I did get to see two little boys I adore, and I got to be their chasing-them-through-the-house-Oma.

I haven't heard from the MD branch of the family yet, I don't even know if they were hit by this storm.
But we're fine, and thank you for all your well-wishes, we even stopped by the house yesterday, first of all to check if we have power, secondly to get rid of some of the debris in the yard.
I'll keep you posted!

PS - 9 PM, I'm in front of the TV at home on our couch, showered, happy, warm and tired. The power came on early this evening, and we walked in on a house that was welcoming us by warming up.

Blizzard (in October)

2011-10-29T15:37:00.001-04:00

It is snowing. And snowing really hard. We were puttering around the house when a neighbor came over and said something about the tree in the back - branches were coming down. So we looked, and yes, branches were down - so out came the snow shovels and the chain saw. We got rid of the branches, and decided to move our cars from under the trees to the front of the house. We no sooner did that (lots of shoveling involved), when a HUGE branch came down! It would have smashed my car, and damaged his. Lucky stars!

(and M. just mentioned that the branch could have hit us - a thought that hadn't occurred to me yet....)

The branch smushed my clothesline

took down the ancient basketball hoop

and the deer are back, they looked at us like we were interrupting them when we dragged the earlier branches in the back.

Wish us luck!
M is going out to knock the snow off the tree leaning on our cable wire,
godforbid we lose our cable!!!

Massachusetts weekend

2011-10-25T06:12:00.000-04:00

The fall isn't as pretty this year. The colors really aren't popping, I don't know, maybe not cold enough yet? Even in MA, which is one of the fall color places, it wasn't overwhelming, I've seen prettier. But the light! My goodness, toward evening the light was just amazing. Like in a painting. I'd show you, but I only caught it while going over bridges, glimpses while driving, and never long enough to get the camera in action, not even out of the purse! I saw a photo that someone else took with that light, and maybe if I say pretty please, she'll let me show it.

We did have time to stop by a nursery, filled with fall flowers, hay rides, a corn maze and pumpkins and gourds, which got my attention. We stayed long enough to get an ice cream (soft serve, my favorite), and then I went on a buying spree - butternut squash for 49 cents a pound! I got enough to hopefully still have one for Thanksgiving. And then I got a green hubbard squash, a small one, these get really huge, a Japanese really orange variety, some little green and white squashes, and a huge cabbage. I wanted the huge cabbage for the leaves, I'm tired of making galumpkis (stuffed cabbage) with tiny leaves.
Sadly, I didn't find last year's favorite of mine, the buttercup squash. Declared so far the best by all of us.

Can you tell I went into winter food mode? I seem hungry all the time. I am working on perfecting my cinnamon roll favorite recipe, doing well with it, messed up a raisin bread by not having the time/patience to wait until it's done, but it still is really good, even with a gooey center in the middle, and I'll make a pizza with leftovers (meatballs, etc) tonight.
(and it was good!)

Pumpkins

2011-10-19T08:36:00.003-04:00

It's fall. And not as lovely as in previous years - maybe the glory is still to come? Anyway, it's not as colorful, bright, smack-you-in-the-face glorious as I remember falls.
And it isn't just me. We drove to the Delaware Water Gap on Saturday, intending to hike/walk a bit. I wanted to show off Millbrook, a lovely village we'd discovered years ago, when my children where still small, and there was one lonely park ranger (with lovely blue eyes), who doubled as the blacksmith.
Since then, Millbrook has been discovered by lots of volunteers, who added to the place, and have made quite a difference.

Anyway, Millbrook was closed. Sowere ALL the restrooms in the park, and several other attractions. Disappointed, and needing a restroom, we went to the (HUGE!) PA welcome building on the PA side. Where we heard this exchange:
'Where can I find the most colorful leaves?' Ranger: 'they are all over the park, sir'
'but I want the MOST colorful leaves, where would they be?'
'I don't know, sir, it changes daily, leaves that were there yesterday may have been blown away today, you'll just have to look'
'but can't you recommend a special spot? I came all the way to photograph colorful leaves'

At that point I had to walk away, it was getting too funny, and I admired the ranger's patience.

But, I promised pumpkins! This year I actually broke down/found a white pumpkin!
And I got the orange mottled one as a present! Thank you so much!

Lovely, aren't they?

Oh, and it looks like I am the hostess for Thanksgiving. Wanna come over?

On the menu so far:

Turkey

gravy

Cranberry sauce

mashed potatoes

stuffing

pumpkin pie

pecan pie

suggestions are welcome. Of course we'll have vegetables.

I don't know which ones yet....

Movie and so on

2011-10-14T16:26:00.002-04:00

Got a chance to go in the yard and take some pictures:

This is the yard, with the equipment truck in the corner straight ahead.

The movie is being filmed in the brick building, which used to be a coppersmith's forge

The dust containment system (not part of the movie, part of the mill)

covered in fabric from us, doesn't it look funny?

It needs to be covered, or all the tubes get wet and freeze

Logs ready to be cut for wood to make kilns

back to the movie set...

and M a stand-in for the actor

Old stuff in the corner

My hero!

and this is what he normally does.

Funeral

2011-10-14T07:16:00.000-04:00

My son and his family are here for a funeral. While a sad occaisson, I get to see Kate and Noah (and their parents, of course). Kate is fascinated with her brother, and loves it when he makes faces at her. Also visiting is Nibby, the 7-year old German Shepard.

Noah entertaining his sister.

On a different note: there is a movie being made on our lot at work. It's dingy and dirty there, they are using a building which had been abandoned, and as far as I know, it's a short film about someone freaking out over religion. M. made a podium with a cross in it with lights (I'll take pictures), and a couple of signs, besides fixing up a door. The yard is dirt/mud when it rains, and filled with old barn wood, and logs to make kilns.

Tonight: overnight guests again, Matthew and Jessica! Jessica will be getting tacos with guacamole, and Matthew a home-made pizza. No, we're not spoiling the grandkids!

Jessica practicing

Self portrait with kids

9/11 Memorial

2011-10-12T05:57:00.002-04:00

My daughter sent me this photo yesterday from her cell phone:

She was there, her office is hosting visitors from another country, so she got a ticket to get in to see the memorial. We had talked about it, I was saying how to me I remember vividly the buildings still covered with dust right after 9/11, the photos, the funerals, the videos, all of it, and how I felt no need to go see the memorial.

She called and told me to make a reservation to go see it. So she changed my mind, and I went online and did make reservations for the 10th of December.

New York Visit

2011-10-10T06:16:00.001-04:00

We went into the city via Hoboken and the PATH (subway). One ends up in the pit, or now basement, of the former WTC (World Trade Center). It's no longer a pit, like it was the last time I was there, it's all covered and I guess above is the basement of the new tower, and part of the memorial. One needs a ticket to get into the memorial, and it was too late at that point so all we could do is try to see it from the Winter Garden.

The Winter Garden is right next to the WTC, and was damaged during 9/11. Nothing is visible of the damage, and it's restored to the former glory - and beautiful it is.

On across the town, through City Hall Park, where this guy was waiting for us:

right in the bushes, not shy at all.

My lame attempt at jumping (although my feet are off the ground)

my strong man!

Weather was glorious - warm, sun shine, perfect.

Doesn't this bride look like right out of a fairy tale?

and the gorgeous view from Brooklyn toward Manhatten - post card....

yes, we 'stole' this photo from the photographer, and no, we don't know the couple.

And it looks like someone hung out their laundry. And I hope they are done soon with the refurbishing of the Bridge.

So hard NOT to grab a camera - this isn't taken with mine, which was in my pocket, but dummy me forgot the memory card, that was in the computer at home!

Then a subway and a PATH ride back to the car, and off we were to Liberty State Park on the NJ side:

This has to be the most photos from me,

thank you for looking at the entire post!

It was a perfect ending to a beautiful day.

(Lasagne and salad at home, a little TV, and exhausted to bed)

Visitors

2011-10-09T06:49:00.000-04:00

We have visitors for the weekend. M's sister and brother-in-law. They wanted to see where M hikes. So after a leisurely breakfast we set off for Harriman State Park. The NY Thruway is bumper to bumper. We crawl to our exit, and bumper to bumper again. Everybody is going somewhere! We get to the park entrance, and it's closed. Well, to drive along to the next entrance is not an option, so we turned around and headed for Skylands botanical garden in NJ. Good choice! We had a great time:

The color riot is beginning

Anyone, any clue what this is? Little purple berries, tiny, smaller then blueberries.

I wonder what this could be....

brother and sister

It took my cousin and me a long time to figure out what this is.

Osage orange - Edith, I got mine! There was only one.

Today - New York. Gotta get dressed!!!

Food

2011-10-06T06:22:00.000-04:00

Now that we have the bear out of the way (waiting for his/her return), let's talk about food.
Since I changed my life (check starting in March), I've been eating very well. And trying to stay within a limit, knowing I'm facing taking diabetes medication.
But this is what waits for me sometimes in the morning:

Who can resist that?!

Actually, it's not so bad. It's only one piece of toast.

And yesterday we had this:

Pork chop with apple and an apple gravy,

peas and carrots,

and garlic noodles.

And, best of all, none of it cooked by me.

All I had to do was show up and eat.

Yeah!

Thank you!

Bear and Pow wow

2011-10-01T20:16:00.000-04:00

The Pow wow never happened for us. My daughter-in-law called and asked if I could mind Noah (3) and Kate (5 mos), while she visited an aunt in the hospital. Of course I didn't!

They came, handed over the kids, and left. I suggested at one point to go to the playground, but was glad no one took me up on it, when M. spotted this out the living room window:

And it was closer than this to the house, it was digging in my garbage, about 10 feet away from the window, we didn't see it because the bushes were hiding it.
and this is him/her from a bedroom widow (in my house!) meandering off:

Yes, there is a bear around, and he is huge

Pow wow

2011-09-30T06:42:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow we will go to a pow wow, hosted by the Cherokee Nation. Who knew? Who knew that there was a pow wow or the Cherokee Nation here in NJ? I didn't!

For the German speakers:
Ein Powwow (auch Pow-Wow oder Pow Wow) ist ein Treffen nordamerikanischer Indianer (oder auch von Indianern mit Nicht-Indianern), um gemeinsam zu tanzen, zu singen, Kontakte zu knüpfen und die indianischen Kulturen zu ehren.

In all the years living here, I've never been to one.

In the country

2011-09-28T09:08:00.000-04:00

Gloomy day today, rain predicted. No walking this morning, we slept late, and I had to get things together to go to work, somehow the time passes, and it's time to go! So no spotting of diverse wild life.
There is no hunting in our area, it's too densely populated, if you did hunt, you'd hit a house or a person or a car. It's truly weird, we all live 'in the woods', the animals get used to seeing people and they aren't afraid.
We have so many wild animals living in the area because there is no hunting.
Once in a while the state allows a few days for bears to be hunted, but then only in special areas, maybe state/government parks, not in populated areas. Anyway, it makes for pleasant encounters (so far, since I haven't run into the bear yet).

The other day I showed Jessica the photos of the praying mantis. The next day she played on her school playground (which is backed up by trees and a field, backed up by more wooded area), when she came running to get us - she found another praying mantis! And recognized it from the photos - good job, Jessica!

Moving

2011-09-26T06:48:00.001-04:00

Wow, already a week gone by. And I was busy! I am back to picking up Matthew and Jessica after school, waiting with all the other parents and grandparents for the kids to come streaming out. Matthew's 9th birthday was on Friday, and he was totally happy. He got two gift cards to game town, and more gift certificates - at nine one likes to buy things for himself, although unwrapping gifts is fun too.

We were doing heavy lifting with help over the weekend, but it's all done. No, no hiking for us this weekend!
Here some more photos from last weekend:

One of the beautiful quilts M.'s mom makes,

this one is her pride and joy, and she requested that M. hang it

Some more quilts, and below a lunch wagon I happen to spot in a parking lot

and our ever-present deer, a little nosy fawn, taken without zoom, that's how close it came.

On this morning's walk I spotted two skunks, two deer and a fawn again.

Country living, anyone?

No one plants tulips anymore. They become expensive deer food.

We are all becoming experts at which plants will be avoided by the deer,

turns out, not many.

Visiting

2011-09-19T05:42:00.003-04:00

The weekend was spent visiting M.'s Mom. She was in a serious accident last March, and is having a very slow recovery. When you are 85 years old, recovering from a car accident is not easy.
We tried cheering her up, cooked up a storm, all her requested dishes, like macaroni and cheese (made from scratch), we brought NJ fresh corn (the best!), steak, and I made cinnamon buns that were so full of sugar, that they caramelized right in the baking pan.

We were told about a praying mantis in the tiny yard, and entertained ourselves by taking photos of it, and even feeding it flies. Yes, it took them! And devoured them right in front of us.

The Lady below makes fabulous quilts.

I was told she is working on a quilt for me, with the help of her daughter.

I was shown the beginnings of the quilt, and it looks fabulous!

I love blues, and M.'s favorite color is green. How perfect!

I can't wait for the quilt to be done, but no pressure!

and my photo of the praying mantis, the ones above are by M.

And of course the gorgeous butterfly has to make it here too!

Lovely days

Sun

2011-09-16T10:34:00.002-04:00

Our weather flipped. From hot and humid to cool, chilly even. It was predicted. I wore shorts and a t-shirt yesterday, thinking so what, if it get's cooler, I'll be more comfortable. Well, I forgot what 60's felt like. And with a bit of wind and some rain, it's cold!
I brought Matthew to soccer practice, and he wanted me to stay on the field. It's too cold and raining, was my plea, why can't I wait in the car? But no, I was wanted right on the field. Which reminds me, bring a coat, a jacket, something, leave it in the car, and don't forget a blanket or/and an umbrella.

Weekend? Going to Massachusetts. No, I never stay home. Or so it seems. We are bringing some local corn, maybe the last of it.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Question

2011-09-12T12:20:00.001-04:00

I started dating in March. I liked him very much from the very beginning.

'Does he swear?' my daughter asked.

'No, I don't think so' was my answer.

'Does he know you do?'

Color me speechless.

Hiking in the Catskills

2011-09-07T06:16:00.001-04:00

We hiked last week. A lot of possible hiking areas were closed due to road wash-outs. We did manage to hike the Escarpment Trail right outside Windham, NY. We wanted to hike to Windham High Peak. First we had to cross the brook that brought all the flood the week before. While running swiftly, it looked innocent enough. The bridge was gone, washed away. But we made it across by hopping from rock to rock.

Crossing the stream, or brook

These 'bridges' were pushed over by the water as well

A brave-looking woman, who didn't look so energetic on the way back

Through the 'enchanted forest', the trail really, really is over those roots

? a castle for a fairy princess? With her own umbrella?

fresh bear tracks

we saw toads

The view from the top

and on the other side of the mountain.

We hiked up 3,500 feet, and over 17,000 steps, which works out to a little over 7 miles.

Yes, I hiked up over 3,5 miles UP the mountain (and it was all uphill),

and over 3,5 miles down.

Yes, we were tired. Yes, our legs were sore the next day.

What a beautiful area -

we definitely will be back.

Thank you, Nicole and Greg

for this:

Windham, NY and the aftermath

2011-09-04T17:32:00.002-04:00

We did go to Windham. We hiked the first day, and the second.

On the third day we looked at each other and said 'think we should volunteer to do something?'

and the other one said 'sure'.

So we went downtown and asked if we could help in any way.

Sure, help was always appreciated.

So we cooked burgers and hot dogs and shish kebabs that were donated.

For all the workers digging in the mud, removing the garbage,

the home owners without power and a basement full of water,

and for the restaurant owners who had their places filled with mud,

and lost all their appliances.

And stood next to a little (figuratively) girl who is a college student home for the weekend,

who volunteered, even though her village was almost destroyed.

We made new friends, and I met a lot of people from the past.

These are the new friends, sisters, who grew up on the grounds of the house I now visit.

see the line? We think we served at least 500 meals for lunch.

And this is a glimpse of what the town looked/looks like.

We feel very lucky and grateful

Normal

2011-08-31T04:53:00.000-04:00

For us life returned to normal. Work (which also wasn't damaged), commute (slightly harder because of some closed exits), evenings (TV), all back to 'regular schedule'.
For a lot of people it is still not back to normal. Floods - the rivers are cresting NOW - closed roads because of flooding or damage, no electricity, no, we're still not all the way back. Just some lucky 'us'.

The walk around the pond is interrupted by a taped off area, some trees are ready to fall, and need to be taken down. Not safe. Some dark areas there as well. And lucky, lucky me that that is the only inconvenience!

We had planned to go to Windham, NY for the weekend. I still don't know if we will, since there was a terrible flood in Windham. The house we want to stay at is not affected at all, it's just will we be able to get there? No idea yet, we'll find out!

post hurricane

2011-08-29T06:14:00.001-04:00

While the hurricane roared through the area, we slept. I woke up briefly, went to look at the trees waving in the wind, listened to the rain, and went back to bed. Sometime during the night the electricity went out.
We woke up to rain and wind, not bad, though. We went for a what we thought short ride around the neighborhood, which ended up a little more extensive, we got coffee, and checked out which shops where open. We lazed around the house, decided what else we needed, went and got it, and went home again.
And waited for the power to be restored. That happened sometime in the middle of the night, after we heard our neighbors struggling with a generator.
We did go for a walk, to my usual pond, a little bit around town,
All my kids are/were fine.

I just got back from my walk. I only walked partway around the pond, it was still dark, and the power isn't restored in that section of town yet. And I met another walker, who told me that the other (dark) side was strewn with debris, and that he fell twice. No need for that! And I feel very grateful and lucky.

Here are some fun pictures from yesterday, some from the man-made lake nearby, water spilling over the dam and kids having fun sliding down the embankment:

Doesn't that look like fun? Okay, not the kind 'I have to mop up the basement because there is water in it' kind of fun.
Seen on our walk yesterday:

I'm off to work!

And thank you to my little brother, who called yesterday morning from Germany to ask how we were doing, and after checking on the Internet, told us what was going on in the world, since we had no power, no Internet, no email....
And Bon Voyage to my cousin, who will be going on a cruise on Wednesday, which sound just wonderful!

Irene --- our expected hurricane

2011-08-26T06:34:00.002-04:00

Life is normal for us so far. It's Friday, he already went to work, I will go as soon as I share my thoughts and a recipe here.
Someone asked for the chicken pot pie recipe, and here it is. We use P.ilsbury pie crust, ready made, it can't be beat.

1/3 cup butter or chicken fat
1/3 cup flour (all purpose)
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 3/4 cups chicken or turkey broth
2/3 cup milk (we used cream)
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas and carrots (we used peas only - just because)

Heat butter over low heat until melted, blend in flour, onion, salt and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mix is mooth and bubbly, remove from heat.
Stir in broth and milk (we used extra liquid, since we like it moist). Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Stir in chicken and frozen vegetables, reserve.
This is where I filled the ready-made pie crust. If you need a recipe for pie crust, drop me a note!
Oh, and Bake at 425 F oven until crust is brown. Oh, and you know about putting a top on the filling and fluting it? Yes? You're all set! Oh, and if you have someone creative in your life, hand them the pie before putting it in the oven, and ask them to make the vent holes. See what may happen?

Bon Appetite!

Forgot to talk about Irene. So far - ho hum, we'll see what happens. We're supposed to have the garage sale tomorrow, it depends on when the hurricane hits, before we make up our minds, I guess.

Chicken pot pie

2011-08-25T05:32:00.000-04:00

We made chicken pot pie last night. The last few days it has been just beautiful, cool nights, not too hot during the day, 'normal' weather. I'm sure the heat and humidity will come back with a vengeance before summer's end, but for a bit we can move easy.
And turn on the stove, bake a chicken, and then make pot pie.
Look at the pot pie!

the creator of the face

the finished pie

and the inside - yummy!

Earthquake, hurricane, wasps, what else?

2011-08-24T08:41:00.000-04:00

The earthquake that was felt on the East Coast yesterday didn't bother us much. I didn't feel it, I was in the car. My daughter, who was in the office, was dizzy, and didn't know what was happening until later. My son and family, who live in Maryland, are fine. The others were/are in Canada at Niagara Falls.
Big excitement, not much to it.
The bees are still around, despite being sprayed with chemicals. Even in the evening and early morning they are flying around. I can't go near, because of allergies. Hmm. Try Home Depot for stronger chemicals?

We'll be having a garage sale this weekend. Since there will be changes in my house, I'm going through closets, and deciding what else can go. Living in a house for over 30 years, one accumulates a lot of stuff, especially when one has a passion for garage sales (me)! Well, I did limit myself to the house, refusing to consider storing things in the attic, reason being that if one person living in a house by herself can't store her stuff in said house without spilling over, she should be considered being a hoarder.
Speaking of hoarding, I had to laugh when a friend of mine said she watched a whole afternoon's worth of the hoarding show, and ended up cleaning out her kitchen! Talk about an effective show!

More rigorous checking of my abode is required. I have stuff in the garage, meant for donation, I'll lug it to the garage sale (which will not be at my house), and donate the left-overs later. Making room.....

Wedding and Wasps

2011-08-21T12:47:00.001-04:00

Last night we went to the wedding of a friend's son. It was lovely! The food super, the music loud, the ceremony touching and funny, the couple beaming, my friend enjoying her day, the company at the table lovely, all together fantastic.

No, not the happy couple, just us.

(Not that we're not a happy couple)
(and of course I have something green in my teeth...)

That's the happy couple and the cake

and all the glasses at our table...

The one waving is the mother of the groom, doesn't she look happy?

We had a great time.

This morning when I went outside to bring some garbage out, I got stung in the neck. Same pesky painful bite, so I swatted at it, and went inside immediately to wash the area, and put ice on it. Well, this time I found out what it was: Wasps.

So my Sir Gallahad will go outside in a minute armed with a can of wasp spray and lay waste to those suckers. They must have a nest close by, but with my allergies I can't let them live in that spot. I was all for letting them be, but if it comes down to them or me, I'm afraid I pick me.

It's thundering, and that means we'll have a storm soon (it always rains in August).

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

Unknown insect stings/bites

2011-08-19T11:28:00.000-04:00

While putting the junk mail in the garbage early this morning, an unknown insect stung/bit me. It hurt! I brushed my arm off, and of course couldn't identify the culprit, who knows where in the grass it/he/she landed.
The last time I got bit/stung I ended up in the hospital, which I wanted to avoid in the worst way. So I washed the affected elbow with soap and water, doused it with alcohol, and put an antihistamine gel on it.

And then hoped for the best, since the last time this happened, I ended up in the hospital. I started having an allergic reaction the last time, with bumps appearing on my arms and legs, and I went to the emergency room, where I got a shot of benedryl, and was pumped full of fluids. I didn't want to repeat the experience, and tried my best - taking an aspirin, getting antihistamine tablets, took one (and now I'm sleepy), but I am avoiding having to go to the hospital.
Oh, and of course I took my (expired) epi-pen to work with me, handed it to the good-looking guy, and asked him to please give me the shot if he found me laying on the floor and foaming at the mouth.

A wedding tomorrow. We were invited, and we're going.
Hiking? Somewhere along the way....
Enjoy your weekend!

Computer problems, part 2

2011-08-18T05:53:00.000-04:00

The computer is in good hands. We think it's the fan assembly, and hopefully once that is swapped out, it will work again. A friend recommended a person living in my neighborhood who does this for a living, and he seems very competent.
The visits in MA and CT went fine. Teddy was really happy to see me, to meet my new friend, and other than give me a big hug when I came, and another when I left, the men got to know each other. Since they both have a lifetime of working with wood behind them, they had plenty to talk about.

I am into making gooey goodness. M. loves a VERY sweet danish, can't find them in my neighborhood, and grumbles about it. So I remembered my pre-diabetes days when I tried out every sweet yeast recipe I could find once I finally figured out how to make yeast dough, and started making gooey goodness in the form of cinnamon buns. I made a batch last night that involves a dough made with yeast and buttermilk and a few other ingredients including baking powder, and is baked like an upside down pineapple cake. Just looking at it gives me a tooth ache. But it is appreciated!
The last batch was shared with the relatives in MA, and they loved it as well - kids, if you read this, may I remind you that you are skinny people and you love sticking with healthy things. This is way too fattening for you! (not that the MA relatives are NOT skinny, they just appreciate sticky things and know how to handle it).
We are invited for dinner tonight, we will eat with Matthew and Jessica, and their parents. Can't wait! Jessica requested tacos, we'll see if she gets her way.
And when the computer problems are solved, there will be photos again!

Computer problems

2011-08-12T06:19:00.000-04:00

My laptop is acting up. Okay, it doesn't work. 'The screen goes black, and doesn't light up. One of my friends gave me the name of someone who fixes computers. The go-to-guy. That's where the laptop will have to go.

Yesterday, on my way to work I ran into the deer family again. The fawns were standing in the middle of the road. I stopped beeped, and one of the fawns moved to the side. Then the rest just stared at me. I beeped again, and the 'mom' moved to the fawn in the street, and nudged it on the side. It finally got the idea, and moved over to the other side of the street. Well, at that point I had to wait for all of them to be on the same side of the street, because you know that's what they wanted! Good thing this was in the neighborhood, where one has to go slow anyway.

Weekend you ask? Busy again. Back to Massachusetts, and then a visit in Connecticut to a 91 year-old friend who is sick We love you, Teddy!

Babysitting

2011-08-11T06:36:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend my daughter and her husband drove to a wedding in South Carolina. The boys were staying home with their grandmothers, who split the babysitting. My turn came on Saturday, and let me tell you, I'd forgotten how much work a four-year-old and a one-year-old can be! And I had help! I didn't have to cook, or shop. But it worked out, and how sweet it is to be with children, just the best.
The one-year-old is saying some words, like 'night-night' and choo-choo, and 'ball', and 'na-na' for banana, just great, and the four-year-old is exploring his world and his limits. We took them to the playground, and let the little one get 'lost' in the tunnels (which luckily are large enough to allow a grandmother to crawl in after him). When the mom came back, she told us, the little one stays in the stroller when she brings the older one to the playground!

This morning I saw a bat. Flying - I was still early enough, it was about 5:30 AM, so it was still darkish.
I saw the egret, I saw the deer family, and they were close enough to almost touch. They aren't skittish with me at all, I even get to say 'hello' and talk to them. I tell them how attractive their 'children' are, and what a good-looking family they make.

And to one of my readers who asked: no, no NJ Opa, a new addition to my life, maybe with time....

Skunk

2011-08-03T13:36:00.000-04:00

This morning I took off for my walk at 5:40 AM. And two houses down, right before the school gate, a skunk meandered out of the woods, crossed the street in front of me, maybe 10 feet away, never gave me a glance and disappeared around the corner of the house. In my almost 3 years of wandering this 'track' I've never seen a skunk. It never even occurred to me, even though I know there are some around. Yesterday I saw two fawns laying down in the grass by the school, still sleeping. My steps woke them up, but all they did was raise their heads and watch me.
Do you think I live in the middle of no-where? No, I don't! I live on the rim of the Greater Metropolitan Area (meaning New York), and there are houses all around, and towns lined up, one after the other. And I see foxes, deer all the time, beaver (in the pond), herons, swans, canadian geese, mandarin geese, I get scolded by the crows all the time, and I'm still waiting for my encounter with a black bear, which I'm sure will happen. No, I haven't seen a raccoon in some time, but they do rummage in my garbage. And in the winter, actually now too, they come up on the deck. I say now too, because we saw the paw prints of raccoons in a shallow bowl of water set out on the deck for the birds.
I used to see bats (Fledermaus) all the time, but there haven't been any in ages. I used to have to be careful with my deck umbrella, because they thought it was a house just for them, and opening it could be a 'wild-life encounter'.
No, of course I didn't have the camera on me this morning. Never on mornings like that. And the morning sky was so beautiful, light blue and pink with the rising sun rays mixed in.

Okay, enough! Tomorrow I will take the camera along.

Hike, again - August

2011-07-31T17:30:00.001-04:00

What a glorious day today - getting warmer, but not unbearable. We went hiking again, in the favorite park. For me part of the attraction is going swimming. And not to make the Germans jealous, our weather and water is perfect for swimming. You can just slip into the lake without a yelp because it's not cold at all. Water silky soft and smooth, and lovely.

We didn't swim at this spot, there were too many young people around, some of them with bee-bee guns, which put a damper on it for me. These type of things aren't allowed in the park, but people bring them in anyway.

A gorgeous spot, that required some climbing, and yes, I did it!

Canadian honkers came up to the rocks, and tried to bite my toes

in the water...

and while trying to take a nap, a group of hikers came by, said a hasty 'sorry' and jumped right into the lake, merrily splashing us. We beat a retreat, and hiked back to the car - it was late enough anyhow.

The swimming spot from across the lake

and said group of hikers

in the woods, and below:

a sweet smelling flower on a bush, which was loved by the

bees.

Oh, and anyone know the name of these flowers/bushes?
More impressions:

Rain today

2011-07-26T06:37:00.000-04:00

The walk this morning was sweaty, it looked like it was going to rain, but didn't. Lucky me! Very humid, but this is the East Coast of the US, and that's what summer is like.

I ran into the doe with her two bambis, the buck however was not with them - looking for another family, perhaps?
Here they are, last week:

Isn't he handsome?

holding still for a family portrait

Just across the street. They could be in my garden as well,

where they will eat anything in sight. Love hostas, love tulips (which I haven't planted in years because of this)

And here the little robins, they've flown off since:

I will have better photos next time, they are in the other camera.

And photos from our hike last week:

Checking to see what could possibly be hiding under the root.

Heat wave

2011-07-25T18:42:00.000-04:00

Last week was a record breaking heat wave. 108 d F in Newark, NJ, that's 42 C! With high humidity, it was terrible. Thank heavens for air conditioning! My brother was teasing me, saying we'd probably wouldn't care if they built 3 nuclear reactors, and I had to agree.
No air conditioning at work made for a sluggish day.
It cooled off a bit today, but is supposed to heat up again. Tonight it rained, and the parched poor plants are so happy!

My robins left the nest. Poor little robins, got photographed because they were just so close to the stairs! The wrens are still here, since we still get scolded by the parents.

The weekend was too hot to hike. We babysat for a dog, and when the dog got picked up yesterday, a little boy was left behind, who wanted to spend the night at grandma's. When I came to work this morning, Linda, my co-worker, asked what happened - I left with a dog on Friday, and appeared with a little boy on Monday!

The little boy wanted spaghetti for breakfast. Since I had some leftover, I heated it up with plenty of butter, and that was his breakfast. That's what grandmothers do. Wanna come over and have spaghetti breakfast? No problem!

The weekend was needed to rest up from a hard work week, it's tough battling the heat day in and day out. It felt good to be in the cool house.

Yes, I owe you photos from last weekend's hike, and of the robins, I know. But you'll have to wait until next time!

birthday one more time, and a hike

2011-07-19T06:02:00.000-04:00

We celebrated one more birthday on Saturday. Evan turned one! Yes, it's already one year ago that he joined his brother. His parents put on a fabulous celebration, with hay bales, hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, and ice cream cake. Evan got a whole cup cake all to himself, and loved it.
His dad worked hard to make the hand made fun signs, and my family actually made it for a family portrait, I think the last one was years ago!

Enjoying his cupcake

baseball among the haybales

the chocolate pudding eating contest

love the sign!

balloon race

the party

the family

the John Deere toy tractor, which set the theme of the party

more hand made signs over the food table

and handmade JD sign on the shirt (by me)

and the birthday boy with his hand-applied John-Deere t-shirt

(applique by me)

Pictures and story of hike will be in my next post.

This was a great party, like the last one, for the simple reason that we were all together.

Summer week

2011-07-15T06:13:00.001-04:00

Last weekend on the day we hiked, we also went to a firework in the evening. We did have to wait until after 10 PM for the firework to start, but it was worth it. The meadow in the little town was crowded, it also had a small midway, and the firemen, who sponsored the event, waited until the last possible moment to get the fireworks started.

Not bad, right? No, I didn't have the patience to take these pictures, M grabbed the camera and went for it, a little Canon, and did great! Turn off the flash and go!
We have some bird action going on at my house as well. The little wren came back, and again made its nest right next to the deck door. And until we got used to it, flew at us every time we went into the house.
Under the deck in the beams is a robin's nest, with gorgeous blue (my favorite color) eggs in it:

And the eggs look like this now, with it looks like only 3 babies hatched:

Since we are gone all day, and sometimes for a couple of days, the birds are mostly undisturbed.
On our wanderings, and on my morning walk (which I am skipping this morning to entertain you - anything for you), I run into this family:

I guess the whole family is in the other camera. It's a buck, a doe, and two fawns, like a real live nuclear family! And they really are that close to the camera. No, we don't see any deer while hiking in a huge park. We see them in my back yard. Or crossing the road in my neighborhood.
We are celebrating a first birthday tomorrow!
Happy birthday, Evan!

Hiking

2011-07-12T06:34:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a little humid, but the weather was nice. Not like today, hot and humid today, with the heat index way up there. So Saturday we went hiking. And it was lovely.

We only hiked about 5 plus miles all together, but had a nice swim and a nap in the middle of the hike. Unlike my brother, when he meets two people on his hike, he won't go to that area again for years, we don't have that luxury. The park is huge, but it's being discovered by more and more people. While on the approach to M's favorite swimming spot, we ran into a group of 20 hikers from the Appalachian Mountain Club going for the exact same spot. Luckily they only stayed about 15 minutes, and then moved on, leaving us to take our nap on the rocks and go for a leisurely swim.

I didn't grab the camera during our swimming pause, this is a searose covered pond we saw on the way.

And we ran into this little fellow:

And these fun looking mushrooms, however, none of which I am familiar with, so no mushroom stew for us!

Didn't know this kind either, but loved the color.

But did eat these:

On the lake we swam in was the home of the beaver:

Nope, we didn't see him/them.

Lovely overlook, right at a swamp, with mosquitoes swirling around us:

(man with yellow towel)

Love that shot of the water.

I'll be back!

Patriotic

2011-07-02T14:47:00.000-04:00

This weekend we are in Massachusetts. Near the mountains, and the weather is perfect. We will have 4th of July kind of foods, macaroni salad, watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe, strawberry shortcake, etc.
Maybe a hike, time with (new) family, and laughing.

May all of you enjoy your long summery weekend, have pleasant days you remember fondly, maybe a parade, and the very best firework ever (only in New York, folks, only in New York)!

Family

2011-06-27T04:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend my whole family got together to celebrate a birthday, a new baby, and all getting together.
This was the setting:

beautiful, right?

And all along the property we picked these:

luscious!

The kids loved them, freshly picked, and perfect.

A family photo didn't happen, but this did:

All my grandchildren and me.

perfect.

And here all the kids except Kate.

I hope to get many more occasions to have our pictures taken.

The drive was fine, with company.

Humid, damp, end of June

2011-06-23T15:22:00.000-04:00

The end of June?! I can't believe it. How time flies. I haven't been home for a couple of weekends, and I won't be this coming weekend either. My poor neglected abode! But it still seems homey, everything works, and it is as if the house is saying hello when I walk in the door.

Last weekend was to support someone, and be there. This coming weekend will be to celebrate one more birthday, the entire family will be together for that one (just worked out that way). It'll be fun, and noisy, and crowded, and probably hot, but no matter, we'll be together.

I've been working on skirts, now I made my own pattern, just four pieces, elastic on the top, a hem, and it's done. The pattern piece is cut on the bias, so it falls nicer. In one skirt I added a side pocket.
Now I have to decide if I'm brave enough to wear it. And it seems so simple, that it's hardly worth showing (although I will get over that).

I owe two babies a teddy bear, and I will get going on that.

June Birthdays

2011-06-14T09:56:00.001-04:00

We have a slew of May and June birthdays in our family. Really, a lot! If we celebrated each one (which we have been doing), we do nothing else but birthdays for 8 weekends straight now. So the best thing is to combine them.
And the little ones were celebrated this weekend. Two little guys and one big girl. Three, four and seven.
Guest of honor at the party was a 5-week old. As far as the 7-year-old went, that was the highlight:

a proud big cousin feeding her little cousin

here is the birthday crowd, each with their individual cake.

Jessica thinks it's hilarious

and they boys just want to eat the decoration

and our attempt to shoot an Ann Geddes like image of the cutest little girl.

The aunties with the big brother of the baby

Matthew

and more cousins

and yet one more cousin admiring the newest member of the clan

Other than that, things are busy, every weekend something new, and like I suspected, the summer will fly by. This coming weekend I'll be in Massachusetts again. The following weekend in Maryland. Hmmm, M-States, is there a sign or something?

Maybe one of these days we'll stay home. My poor neglected house.

But I'm happy, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Washington

2011-06-06T15:51:00.000-04:00

Over the long weekend we were in our nation's capitol.
The weather was perfect, it just turned from 90+ degrees and humid to something bearable and livable.
I got to see the First Ladies gowns again, and got to admire M. Obama's white Inauguration gown. Gorgeous! No, I didn't take pictures of it, it wouldn't have done it justice.
Among the highlights of the trip:

yes, on the lawn of the WH

yup, it is who you think it is

and that is me on the WH grounds

Cool!

Vietnam memorial

cool shot at the right time of day - the capitol is 2 miles away, hard to believe

Lincoln Memorial

and the boat just because it's beautiful - from Old Town Alexandria

The best part of the trip of course was this:

More photos from the weekend

2011-06-01T11:45:00.000-04:00

Meant to add more pictures from the weekend.

As I'm getting ready to go on another trip tomorrow. I am so looking forward to it!
I'll miss Jessica's birthday. But I promised her we'll go shopping for her birthday present, which pleased her.

Over the weekend her goldfish died, and she cried bitter tears about it. She also wrote him a love note, which she read over the phone to me. She has a new one already, named 'Swimmy', and is all happy again.

Seine fishing

everyone pull!

spider crab

puffer fish

blue fish/striped bass

and a party on the lawn of an old mansion, with the beach behind the trees.

What a lovely setting.

Off to new adventures!

(although I started one yesterday, having forgotten to order oil, I ended up with no hot water, which is not a good thing in 90 degree weather. Oil to come today, hopefully all will be good!)

Summer

2011-06-01T06:46:00.000-04:00

Well, we have the summer temperatures. But we had an awesome weekend, not marred by extreme weather in any way. Sunshine, except for the parade day, Monday. No, we didn't see the parade, a thunderstorm was blowing through and the parade was being held up, so we decided we needed to worry about our traffic home (which was fine, btw, nothing terrible).
The weekend included fishing, a lesson in seine fishing, rock throwing, relaxing, a visit to Sag Harbor, home cooked meals, and togetherness, and part of the group even went swimming.

All in all a perfect weekend. Especially nice was to show the island to someone new to it. Who saw it with new eyes, and wondered about the woods, the many open spaces, the old, old houses, and the general feel of the place.

Memorial Day

2011-05-27T10:10:00.000-04:00

Ha, summer starts unofficially here in the States this weekend. Half of the US is on the road to visit the other half. No kidding.
Of course we'll be joining the ones on the road. And yes, our trip will take us more than 50 miles from home, more like 120. And yes, we are going to be lunatics who will start at the height of rush hour, between 4 and 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Hmm, I don't remember traffic jams on the way out to the sheltered island on holiday weekends, but we must have sat in some. Considering we need to go around/over New York City....
Oh, well, but to be there! I remember the smell of the wild roses last Memorial Day weekend. And we'll see the parade that goes around twice, because it's so small.

I had help cleaning my basement and my garage. You have no idea how huge that is! Huge. If I wanted to, I could even get a car into my garage, after the junk has been taken away!
And I'm ashamed to admit I had no idea I had this many jelly jars! I better get cracking making jams and jellies.

And yes, I'm still walking. In a city these days, part of the time. With blocks and blocks of houses, but it still feels like suburbia, with tree lined streets, trees that bloomed already and are now green, little gardens in front and back of houses, sidewalks, a pretty park that is being used by early morning walkers or runners.

Next weekend will be a long one, and we are going to our nation's capital.
I will be reporting with photos!

In the meantime, have a great holiday weekend!

A day without rain

2011-05-25T21:56:00.000-04:00

Here is a grandchild that I visited last week:

She is cute and tiny, and perfect!

And here is her proud family:

It's been raining every day. With sunny breaks in between sometimes, but raining every day none-the-less.

Today is gorgeous, low 80's, a beautiful almost summer day.
Over the weekend we went hiking, and it was lovely, and look what we came across:

no, we don't know what kind of snake it was. It also seemed hurt, and I am not in the habit of giving first aid to snakes.
The rest of the hike was uneventful, but lovely.
Busy week, and a busy weekend coming up.

MA weekend, again

2011-05-14T07:52:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Jessica's and Matthew's parents came back from a short trip to Italy. Big excitement all around, parents happy, kids happy, and Oma happy (she got to go home).
The kids slept with me. We piled in their parent's bed, and the kids were allowed some TV.
Last night Jessica said to her father:
Daddy, I slept on your side of the bed, and you need to change your pillow case, 'cause I drooled on it!

One of those things one needs to write down.

Cathy is visiting from Germany. She's here on a business trip, and she'll go on to visit her Mom here in the States.
In the meantime it's Saturday, Cathy left, and the weekend has started.
Life goes on....

Children

2011-05-10T15:45:00.000-04:00

The week is glorious. Weather is springlike, sunny, mild, flowers very suddenly are here, and I swear I just turned around and everything is green. The dogwood is blooming, and I'm just a little bit sorry that I won't be seeing my pink dogwood. I'm babysitting for two of my grandchildren, since the parents left the country to celebrate a birthday.
I'm doing fine, the kids are very cooperative, but of course they get to sleep in bed with me, watching TV before I turn it off! (and almost unlimited Xbox - sssshhhhh, don't tell!)

Yes, that's what grandmothers do. We walk to school each morning, and if I have time, I walk to pick them up, and they get to walk home too. It's not yet 4 PM and I have walked my 10,000 steps.
Did I tell you all how well I did at the last doctor's appointment? Not on meds yet! Keeping diabetes in check by walking and watching my carbs. That's all I do! Yes, and I managed to lower my cholesterol. Really.

And someone else watches with me so I don't overdo.
And for that someone is the photo of the church we attended at Easter below.

News of the baby? She went home! She took her Mom too, of course, but the little peanut is doing fine, even though her mom has a cold. But they'll be more comfortable at home, I'm sure.
Welcome home, Kate!

More celebrations

2011-05-08T18:52:00.002-04:00

How do you like the header photo? Cool, isn't it? Yes, at that moment and from that advantage point it is the greatest city in the world. Where I celebrated a birthday. And was celebrated - it was so lovely. A matinee, dinner near 5th Ave., in a lovely Italian restaurant, finished off with gelati, and a stop of a view like that - oh, please, show me something better. With such lovely, lovely, none-better company.
Yes, even at my age, there are 'princess nights'.

The dark tower growing slightly to the left of the middle with the cranes on top is the new World Trade Center. After 10 years it's about time that something grows in the awful hole.

Makes you wonder what the holdup was.

big, shiny city

More to celebrate: Mother's Day, with a soccer game, the company of grandchildren, a dinner, the company of a special person, just so nice, and a beautiful, sunny day.
Topped off with the news of the birth of a new granddaughter: Katherine Margaret. Margaret being the name of my mother.

To my kids, thank you.
Chuck and Sue, thank you.

To M, thank you from the bottom of my heart, it couldn't have been better.

A hike, a birthday and a mishap

2011-05-02T08:59:00.002-04:00

On Saturday I was babysitting two little boys. One nine-months old, who needed to go in the stroller, so we could go to the playground with his brother, who is almost 4.
The mother thoughtfully put her mountainbuggy stroller in my trunk, so I could use it.
I took it out, tried to open it, and it promptly collapsed. So I grabbed it by the front, pulled the wheel from under the stroller forward, snapped it in place, and realized my thumb was caught. Truly caught in the stroller. No way to pull it out, to slide it, to twist it, it was caught. The baby was sitting in the dirt next to me, the four-year old running up and down the drive way, and I had a stroller stuck to my thumb.

Not a single clue as to how to open or close it. Nothing, nichts, nada. I tried what levers I saw, nothing was budging, still had a stroller stuck to my thumb.
Luckily I had my cell phone on me, called a friend, who also luckily lives within 2 miles of me, and was willing to help. She came right over, tried various levers and buttons, and also couldn't figure out how to make the stroller collapse.
So we unscrewed it - that is, she did. Can you imagine?!
And yes, you are allowed to laugh.

Sunday was time for a 'short' 5 plus mile hike. And it was glorious. The weather perfect, and everything pretty and green:

Getting a close-up of the moss

A lean-to to spend the night.

Anyone know what kind of tree this flower is on? It's fairly small, all by itself in the middle of the park

On top of the mountain.

And another lone blooming tree.

And a birthday celebration:

Blowing out the candles.

I had made the potato salad that she knew and loved from HER Oma.

A great party,

and a full weekend.
Happy Birthday, Erika!
I am so proud of you, and I love you

Still alive

2011-04-27T19:33:00.000-04:00

No time. I have no time for blogging. My life is very happy, and very busy.

Our Easter was lovely. We went to church, and had dinner at my house. We made ham, and potatoes au gratin, with asparagus, caramelized carrots, broccoli, home made rolls, and three kinds of dessert. We were supposed to have been 14 all together, but Matthew got sick, so his Dad stayed home with him.

Last weekend we went hiking for 7 plus miles in Harriman State Park, a wonderful spot, which even my mother knew. I had driven her and my Dad on a trip just to see, and ever after she wanted to go back there.
Well, Ma, I made it! We walked just about all day. It was cold and gloomy, and rained toward the end of our hike, but we were dry thanks to ponchos and good hiking shoes.

The day after we walked in Midtown Manhattan and got theater tickets for The Adams Family on Broadway for later in May.

We are planning a trip to Washington, DC the beginning of June. I am really looking forward to that.

Maybe I'll be back in between to report, maybe not, it depends on my time.

I hope all you out there are having a wonderful time, and that you all are enjoying your lives!

.... and busy still

2011-04-11T17:15:00.000-04:00

Hiking was on the plan for the weekend. And we hiked. In Massachusetts at the Quabbin Reservoir. Beautiful! One of the largest man-made reservoirs (ask aunt Google), and just gorgeous.
I requested at some point to see an American Bald Eagle. And promptly one was found for me, far away in a tree, but an eagle in the open! How cool is that?! To even spot it is something.
Of course now I want to see one closer.... never enough.

Busy, busy, busy

2011-03-29T12:34:00.000-04:00

Too busy to visit you all out there, and too busy to share what's going on with me.

I did have company over the weekend, my sweetie pie grandson Noah brought his Mom for her baby shower. And a nice shower it was! There were his cousins, all of them! He got to play and run around with them, and he got to sit on my lap and watch youtube videos of trucks and truck crashes on my lap.
Jessica was upset when he left, because she had such a good time with him.

And his little sister will have lots of nice clothes when she is born!

I chatted with the other grandma, and was sorry that she doesn't live close anymore, she is a lot of fun. One of the aunts lost a lot of weight and looks terrific. Got to see Noah's other girl cousin from Tennessee, and it's amazing how fast she is growing up.

The expectant Mom.

Looks great, and feels great, she says.

Opening gifts, I just realized there are all the girls, the sisters, sisters-in-law, and daughters!

A balloon toss and the gang all on the stairs.

aren't they cute?

And I learned how to text. Which proves the point that one never is too old for anything.

(very happy)

Snowy March weather.

2011-03-23T07:58:00.000-04:00

The snow plows going by woke me up this morning. It's supposed to snow all day and into tomorrow morning here. So please don't tell me about sunshine and flowers blooming and bees flying otherwise I'll add mosquitoes to it in my imagination!

Beginning. New beginnings are wonderful and scary at the same time. To meet up with someone at any age brings back all the anxiety one had as a teenager, and one - okay me - must remind myself that I have lived a few years, can tell things, am usually a confident person, and to stop with all the silly stuff and just enjoy.
So I'll enjoy. And if I focus on that, it all is well.
Very well!
I also realized I can't blog about our time together, because it wouldn't be fair. I should tell about the blog, and ask permission or at least warn that I do have a blog.
Those are the thoughts running through my head.

And when I'm not thinking, I am totally happy.

A walk in the woods

2011-03-21T04:46:00.000-04:00

A hike in the woods was planned for the weekend. In preparation to hopefully do more and longer hikes. The weather was nice, but we still have that chilly wind.

How terrific to come back home smelling of fresh air!
And to have the company of an experienced hiker who brings soup for lunch and a heater to warm it up.

St. Paddy's

2011-03-17T05:47:00.000-04:00

Life does go on. And while there is not a drop of Irish blood anywhere in my family - nada, nothing, nichts - to cheer up, I'll post a few pictures from a few years back, when there was a parade in NYC that was advertised as 10,000 men in skirts. I am normally not a fan of the bagpipe, but that parade was impressive.
A friend and I went, and we totally enjoyed ourselves. We also heard of evidence - second hand - of what is under those kilts, if it's true?

So drink green beer

eat green bagels

and if you can still find it, have a green milk shake!

(the German in me shudders)

Japan

2011-03-16T12:23:00.002-04:00

It's so very difficult to chat about mundane things with Japan going through a terrible time which could really happen anywhere on earth.
And two terrible bus accidents in this area which pale compared to the other side of the earth.

As do so many small things here, which are of concern, but really manageable when held up to Japan.

I too, like some other bloggers, will be back once I feel I can comfortably segue from this disaster to more ordinary things.

Mixing it all up

2011-03-14T10:12:00.000-04:00

For the weekend we visited the family in Maryland. It was so great to see them!
We had two little boys playing with worms:

We went out for lunch, and Noah was returning his Dad's wink. And no, I don't have dirt on my face, Jackson thinks I'm his wrestling/rough housing buddy and head-butted me last weekend. Totally my fault, and I'll behave a little more grandmother-like in the future (maybe).

The boys played and played, and had a good time with each other

We walked in the woods, had lunch out, and just had a good time in each other's company.

shaking a tree that's their size, and just goofing around.

I got teased because I make phone calls to someone new in my life,

and that's fine.

Rain, rain

2011-03-10T06:34:00.000-05:00

It's supposed to be raining today. Heavy at times. My house is snug on the side of a hill, and I have no worries about it. At work, though, it's a different story. Rain gets in through the roof, since the building is at least 100 years old. We're pretty much covered via a clever rigging under the roof. Oh, and Linda is back for the week, I needed help. I had missed her!
More changes in the air, life once again making unexpected turns. But it's all good, and I'm looking forward to whatever comes next.

Some more photos from last Sunday.

And I'm spending lots of time on the phone at night.

And it's cool.

Communion

2011-03-06T19:34:00.000-05:00

Matthew is officially able to take communion from today on. There was a little ceremony in church, and I was there with his family, and we had a small celebration in the afternoon.

The children taking communion

The proud (toothless) sister

doesn't it look as if Evan is waving hello?

I actually made it in a picture!

No, baby is not drinking, it just looks that way

Father and son playing Wii

I can't believe how big my first grandson is getting!

Love you, Matthew!

Changes

2011-03-04T05:56:00.000-05:00

Saturday is turning out to be a regular Saturday. And that's fine. The special something will be postponed to some other time.
Sorry to be mysterious! Some day there will be an explanation, I promise.

Other than that, it's cold! I'm complaining, yes, I usually don't dislike winter, but this one took the cake, and can off-put even the most staunch Northern European off winter.

I got ready for the morning walk. So I better get my shoes/boots on, and get going.

Saturday

2011-03-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

I have something to do.

Something I haven't done in ages.

And yes, I'm so looking forward to it!

Sunday, and the Oscars!

2011-02-27T17:21:00.000-05:00

Usually I don't go overboard with the Oscars. And it's not different this year. I only saw a couple of the movies that are up to win, and one of them last night. Sherri and Steve invited me over for dinner, and they had rented 'Salt' and 'The Social Network'. They were both 'eh'.
Salt was entertaining, and somewhat typical of the genre, and The Social Network didn't endear Facebook to me any more than it was before. I don't even know why I am keeping up my FB account, it's so locked-down that hardly anyone can get to me or share something with me, and aside from that I'm using my maiden name.

No, I'm not that worried about security, I trust Aunt or Uncle Google with a lot of stuff. I figure with all of us out there spewing data into the stratosphere someone will have to dig pretty deep to get to a little old (opinionated) lady like me.

This isn't even what I wanted to blog about! Sometimes I just sit down and it just comes out.

Anyway, we had pea soup last night (made in the pressure cooker, which Sherri used for the first time in 10 years), it was very good, and potatoes baked in aluminum foil in the fire place - those are just delicious!

Today is clean-up day. Trying to get all the stuff I don't need or want or will never use out of the house - ha!
I have to laugh at that idea myself. But I'll try.
I also saw the first tips of the snow drops and daffodils peeking out of the ice and snow out back!
Yeah, spring will come!

Tired

2011-02-23T20:40:00.003-05:00

Puuuh, I'm tired tonight. It seemed like a long day.

I brought my serger (overlock) to the repair shop yesterday, since one of the loopers was acting loopy. The seam it sewed was really not very pretty at all, and it was holding me up, I just couldn't get it fixed. They have a 24 hour turn-around, and I dropped the machine off, and worked on the filters, cutting fabric pieces, sewing in zippers, etc. This morning I got the call the serger was fixed. So I went to get it, brought it back, and it's a pain to set it up, it has to be connected to all the threads again - 5 of them, the belt has to be attached, and then it's a go.
No, it's a no-go, since something is hitting the housing. Brief discussion with myself - do I really want to figure out what it is? No, I decide. That means lugging it back to the car, driving it all the way across town, and then waiting for it to be fixed. Of course it wasn't the fault of the fix-it place, it had to have happened while I transported it! Well, I let it go, since it got fixed, and that's what I wanted.

And then I hustled. I got 22 of my 15' filters with zippers on the end done. Tomorrow more cutting and sewing.

No wonder I'm tired!
The header photo was taken a while ago in NYC, in Central Park, and in the background is the Dakota Building. I read a book by Jack Finney 'Time and Again', and I fell in love with the idea in the book of going back in time and visit NYC at the end of the 1800's and the beginning of the 1900's. The book is based on that idea with photos of New York at that time.
And the Dakota Building plays a part in that book. At the time the Building was built, it was so far up in the city, that people said 'it might as well be in the Dakotas'. And that's where the building got the name.
I still pull the book out once in a while and read bits of it. Actually it's probably the 2nd or 3rd time I buy and lend it. I keep lending it, and when I find it at a garage sale, I buy it again.

What's one of the books you find you buy over and over again?

PS - 'The Shipping News' by Annie Proulx is an another one I have to have....

The Sheltered Island

2011-02-20T18:40:00.000-05:00

That's where I was overnight. So quiet and sleepy in the winter. And so awfully cold! Yesterday was cold and windy anyhow. Jessica and I braved the weather and wanted to have just a moment outside.

Cold, cold!

She's a good sport

And yes, that's part of the Atlantic. The 'sheltered' part, but still, that cold wind from the sea whips across this island too.

And, unless you bring your own boat, below is the only way to get there.

What did we do? We left late on Saturday,

then stopped at a couple of wineries.

We played Scrabble with Matthew

and he won (okay, he had help)

We had supper at the house,

then watched a movie before going to bed.

The wind was blowing and howling around the house.

It felt so cozy.

In the morning:

The light coming in hit the ship just right.

And it was too cold to go photograph the sunrise (15 degrees F)

This is where we stopped on the way home:

Channing daughters winery

And no photos of our stop at the Vodka distillery!

I'll go cry in a corner now about the snow to arrive tomorrow....

Rocky Horror Picture Show

2011-02-17T15:33:00.000-05:00

Last night nothing was on TV. So I flipped (I can, I'm all alone, the remote is mine!!! Queen of the remote!). Anyway, I got stuck at the beginning of 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'.
Since this is my blog, I get to tell about how I found out about this cult classic. In 1985 I had my girl-friends son from Germany staying with me as an exchange student - actually that's a whole new story in itself.

Anyhow, during that year I was also hanging out with Colleen from across the street. We'd do goofy things, hang out, laugh, etc. One night C comes over and says 'what are you doing tonight?' 'oh, nothing' was my usual response. So she told me to get dressed, we were going to go see the RHPS with Gregor at midnight. I had heard about it (some people went over 400 times!), cult classic, I tell you!

Kids stayed home. Well, it was all that I heard about it! The audience answered questions, sang the songs, it was wild. I didn't expect to like the movie, but some of the songs just stay with you, there is a reason it was the theaters so long! Okay, you forced me to admit it, I liked it. (sorta like Las Vegas, I didn't expect to like that either, German austere Protestant upbringing and all...)
Actually I just looked it up, it came out in 1975, and we went to see it in 1985, and it had never left the theaters. Unheard of in today's time.

Anyway, the whole thing is just captivating. Yes, I'm a fan. Susan Sarandon, how young she is in that movie! And Tim Curry - I just wait for him to come down that elevator - what a role! And I wonder if and how much courage it took to play that part.

It put a smile on my face. My favorite song, you ask? I don't know, I like 'there's a light over at the Frankenstein place',
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEt01nVJDus

or the 'Sweet Transvestite' - I'm still full of admiration for Tim Curry taking on that role, there has to be a little of, oh, never mind, a lot of 'let it all hang out' spirit there!

the 'Time Warp', of course ----
and more. No, I didn't see the whole thing, just up to 'I am making a man'.

And no, I never went to the theater to see it again either.

And remind me to tell the Gregor story some time. The one with the boa constrictor.

Work

2011-02-16T15:41:00.000-05:00

Work is ... well, unexpected. I am working by myself now, since the money wasn't coming in as regularly as I liked. So now that it's only me, wouldn't you know it's pretty steady! I just got a pretty big order from a customer, 60 filters, to be finished in 3 weeks. Pretty easy, just a straight tube, with a zippered closure. I was a bit nervous, but I started today and was already able to sew 30 of the 60 zippered closures. The customer dropped off a check today, so I'll get the rest of the material tomorrow.

And oh! it got warmer. Still long underwear in the warehouse kind of cold, but definitely warmer. Heaps of snow are melting/disappearing without a whimper. Good, right?

And I hopped on the treadmill again. I had taken a break, it somehow seemed I was too tired. Maybe when all the mess is gone, I'll take up my morning walk again. It was just too dangerous at the moment.

Monday

2011-02-14T19:16:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day - is there an equivilant to 'bah humbug'? One for Valentine's Day? Hmm, maybe there should be. No chocolates, no roses.... but a long phone conversation with my little brother (the older of the two, they are both little brothers). And funny, too, that I call them little brothers, the older of the two is 6'6" (2 Meters), the little, little one only a little bit shorter than the older.

Actually I didn't mean to go there. I just meant to tell about my weekend without any photos at all! My daughters came over with their 'youngens', and we had a lovely afternoon together. I made clam chowder from scratch (New England, of course!) and tried the crazy no-knead recipe for bread I had found. Crazy because you need at least 18 hours of 'messing around/rising' time, and it's baked in a cast-iron pot with the lid ON. I had serious doubts about it, but it was crazy enough to give it a shot. When I took the bread out, I was convinced it was ruined. But no, very crunchy on the outside, nice and tender on the inside! If I get the timing right, I'll make it again.

Anyway, I was meant to keep Jessica and Matthew overnight, and when Jackson asked if he could stay as well, of course I said 'yes'. Which meant that all of us piled on the trundle bed (pull out), and I had to promise Matthew that I wouldn't sneak off and sleep in my bed. And stay there until he woke up. All right! And then we got up, and Jackson came and joined us. And he told me later also not to leave before he wakes up.
This is getting difficult!

Chocolate chip pancakes in the morning. Yummy!

Brooklyn Bridge and new skyscraper

2011-02-10T05:52:00.002-05:00

Back in October I walked the Brooklyn Bridge with my friends Sherri and Steve. We noticed this skyscraper and wondered about it, not having heard anything about new skyscrapers, or anything else. It is remarkable looking, and today in the New York Times the mystery was solved.

It's designed by Frank Gehry, one of the famous architects, who also designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. I guess we weren't interested enough to check on it at the time.

The NYTimes calls it the finest skyscraper in almost 50 years.

We appreciated it on our walk, and appreciate it even more now.

(note to self, let Sherri know)

Sunday, and NO new snow!

2011-02-06T08:18:00.001-05:00

It rained yesterday. And that's enough about the weather.

A little bit about work. I sew for a living, and no, I am no expert. The sewing I do at work is so much different than home sewing, it's two different sets of skills. For one, the sewing machines are heavy duty, sort of like driving a truck, partially with the possibility of great speed, against driving a mini cooper.
Some of the machines are very old, like this example from the 1930's, and yes, it still works:

It has the free arm, and I can't find any newer machines like this, that are reasonable. It has double needles, and it's a bear to work with, since for some reason the power to the machine is intermittent, which means sometimes it races and breaks the thread, and sometimes I have to coax it to even start.
And then I sew on something like thick felt, with one side coated with a thin layer of plastic/polyester:

And I not only have to sew them into shapes, I also have to sew in a metal frame. Yes, nothing in home sewing comes close. Home sewing machines seem slow and delicate to me when I sew 'for fun'. To give another example, the finest needles I have at work are an 18. Mostly I sew with a 20 needle, sometimes 22, and as a home sewer you may know that most of the time you tend to stay around 10, above or below. And that's what the machines are set for, I'd have to have them set-up for finer threads and needles.

Change of subject.

And since I posted about Matthew and his injuries (he's much better now, thank you), I have to post something about Jessica. She was busy drawing and making books about bunny and 'tertl' on her snow day.

And I just love that grin.

Yesterday I was brave and drove in weather I normally would have avoided, to hang out with a six-month old and his brother and mother. While I was driving up their driveway, which is an eighth of a mile long, I came across this:

Bucks!

Greg promised me he'd look today for some of the antlers, which they shed at this time. They should be easier to spot on the snow.

Finding antlers, or complete racks is my brother Claus' sport. And he finds pairs, which is pretty special.

But I maybe told you about that already?

Anyway, here is a happy 6 1/2 mos. old:

We gave him some of those baby treats on a tray. He managed to get one in his mouth, and wasn't impressed.

Coming home after some shopping, this was in the driveway:

No kidding.

Enjoy your Sunday, stay warm, and have fun if you are watching the Super Bowl.

Concerned

2011-02-04T05:46:00.000-05:00

Thank you all so much for worrying about me! Yes, the photos in the last entry were taken while driving. But the dangerous looking ones, with the truck next to and behind me were taken while practically standing still or crawling at 5 MPH past an accident. Which I also photographed, but it's not much to see, they were cleaning up the accident as we were passing.
Just to keep things exciting, we are looking forward to another snow storm tomorrow.
I'll keep you posted!

Ice

2011-02-02T14:51:00.000-05:00

And I did go to work. And yes, it didn't look good ---- here are some scenes from today:

And then I got to the kids, and Matthew fell on his face while sledding in front of the house. And this is the kind of damage the layer of ice does:

Poor baby!

The Ice Storm commeth

2011-02-02T06:40:00.003-05:00

Well, the above is the title of a show that was on Broadway, a long time ago. And I just saw that I'm not very original with that title. It's being used in just about every newspaper that is covering the storm here in the Northeast.
Home again today.
No driving, the schools are closed all over the place. No NJ buses, some trains are suspended, flights are cancelled, it's a mess. And I am NOT putting my body in the middle of it. No, sirree babadoo, staying in.
All those projects I've been procrastinating on can be worked on. Or not.
I have enough food, the electricity is working so far, I have heat, I'm fine.
Yesterday I put my trusty camera on a tripod and came up with this:

My beloved Amaryllis

This one grew out of an offshoot of one of the others, I've been nourishing it for years, it's finally blooming.

I made my own 'cakes' for the birds yesterday. I like the suet cakes, they are a little more squirrel proof. But all the stores were out of them. So I bought some cheap shortening at Walmart, melted it in a pot, and added seeds. I then put the mix in shallow bowls, stuck them in the freezer for a little while, and was able to just pop them out. And the birds love them!

Correction: I just remembered the show was called 'The Ice Man commeth'.

Eskimos

2011-02-01T08:20:00.000-05:00

Eskimos are supposed to have lots of different words for snow.
We don't, but we have and are getting a lot of snow.
I was going to go to work this morning, but - you guessed it - we are having another snow storm.
It's supposed to last through tomorrow.
I was trying not to be a baby about driving in it, but I have to get up a fairly big hill to go home, and if just one car is in front of me, I won't make it. And even our town, which is excellent about snow removal, gets behind sometimes. So home it is for me.
Maybe I can catch up on some of my projects. The trouble is that I get tired shoveling snow, and then I have no energy for fun projects I might like to do.

Anyway, enough complaining about the snow, some more photos of fun driving in the stuff when the sun is out:

Going to work in the morning when it's sunny.

Snow Fun

2011-01-30T18:48:00.001-05:00

It was my brother Claus' birthday today. A year ago Nicole, Jackson and I were celebrating with him.
Today we just called. Too far to go, too expensive, although it would have been fun.
Happy Birthday, Claus!
And in his honor, the photo below. Claus loves walking in the woods, and always sees some kind of wildlife.
We were outside (here in the States) playing in the snow today, and disturbed a buck with a gorgeous rack, and his doe. The buck got away from me, both he and I were too startled. The dog ran barking after the buck, we yelled for the dog to come back, which eventually she did.

When I talked to Claus today, he was saying that he went for a walk today, no snow there, but he did have the crystal clear blue sky kind of day. So cold that your nose hair freezes! He loved it, he didn't meet a soul on his walk (he claims when he meets two people on his walk, he won't go back to that part of the woods for years, he calls it crowded).

Nicole came to visit me with the boys yesterday. We hung out, and let Jackson play. Went to the store, and on dropping me off, Jackson begged me to come home with them. Since they had to come back for something today anyway, I just did. It was great! We had pizza, the other grandma came as well, and this morning when Nicole was at the grocery store, Jackson and Dad played in the snow fort. The even got me to crawl through it!
(no photos of that)

Yes, I just had to show off below, I can do it too.

more snow photos

2011-01-27T16:59:00.000-05:00

Erika and the kids followed me home, and helped dig me out.

The help was much appreciated, thank you!

This is the house across the street.

I'm only posting it, because I love the light (and check out that sky! Amazing color!)

Above is my house. Do you see the mountain of snow that is higher than my hedge?!

Up the street, isn't it pretty?

Deep, deep snow.

These kids didn't have school today, the ones in my town did, with a delayed opening.

My helper

More fun in the snow

Below is today's snowfall in centimeters.

SNOW!

2011-01-27T08:48:00.000-05:00

Alright, what else can I say, that photos say so much better.
Also, before I show the photos from this morning, let me tell you that I never went home, I stayed at Erika's with the kids, and later we will go to my house and shovel my house/parking space out.

Sleep over

2011-01-26T15:37:00.000-05:00

The snow started this morning (it wasn't supposed to snow in the morning), and didn't stop. When I checked the weather on-line for the town I'm working in, it even said we had a snow storm at the moment! Well, knock me over with a feather. You can't believe any weatherman anymore!
So I left early, after I got the last box of my big order out, and went to Jessica's and Matthew's house. The roads were, well, all right. I made it.
I picked up the kids - walked to the school - and they thought it was an adventure walking home.
I will probably spend the night.

I am working on a project. If it works out, my life will drastically change.
I'll keep you posted.