PAINTING !

Since arriving at daughter's home six days ago, I have spend many hours each day in the "blue" room.  I have painted two coats of primer everywhere and one coat of regular paint on the walls.  I do one coat and let it dry a day, then go to it again.  In all I may paint 8 hours a day.  Today is the last coat of the color on the walls, then on to painting the trim, doors and windows.   If there is time and energy left, I will pull off wallpaper in the "pink" room while it dries. Daughter and Hubby are doing a major redo of the plumbing.  I like my job better.  We hope to have some before and after pictures soon, but I don't have time now -  have to get back to painting.  Truth be told, I am loving it!

Annual party

Well, it seems it is party season. On Saturday we had our annual dinner with friends. We go out for dinner most Monday evenings with this group.  A common denominator is that everyone has a motorcycle or had one at one time.  Twenty-three people were coming.  One did not show because he chose to watch a basketball game instead.  Then one lady became ill and had to leave with her boy friend.  That left twenty. The dinner menu was stuffed pork loin, roasted carrots, green beans in a fresh tomato sauce and home made dinner rolls.  Oh, I forgot the "Party in a bowl" salad.  That is what my daughter RM calls it.  It was two kinds of greens, colored peppers, white beans, bacon, home made croutons, and of course dressing.  Dessert was a chocolate  meringue frozen ice cream cake.

This was the set up.  We had to line tables through the dining and living rooms. Apparently we were so busy eating that no pictures were taken of the people at the tables.  The entertainment for the evening is a "White Elephant" gift exchange.  These two peole hit the jackpot with these blow up monkeys.

And then a headlight fixture for a motorcycle which seems to double for a Darth Vader helmet.

                                         

Ok, I wasn't going to tell  this but I had a bit of an issue at the beginning. I read the dials on the range wrong.  I looked at it and thought the time was 4:50 pm.  The guests were to arrive at 5:30 pm.  So it really was 5:32pm and they arrived and I was not ready. The 450 was the temperature!

Everyone jumped into to help so it turned out great.  

A walk in the woods

Last week I went on a walk sponsored by our local park district.  Even though the leaves have fallen it was beautiful.  Fall still is my favorite season. I love the crunch of the leaves under my feet and the smell in the woods.

 I would title this "Beauty of a fallen tree".

This tree is a survivor.  Some type of damage on the side, and a lot of carvings by lovers.

 But the joy became more somber as I looked across the field and saw these flags.  The were flying at half mast for the people who were killed in Paris.

The Russian Duo concert

On Saturday night there was a concert at our local school buy a group named "The Russian Duo". I decided to host a pre-concert buffet for neighbors and friends who probably would not be otherwise attending the concert.  We had 20 people for the supper, including the director of the organization sponsoring the concert and the performers themselves, Oleg Kruglyakov and Terry Boyarsky.

I recorded some of their performance on my phone, but cannot figure out how to get it here.  So if you want to hear them, just go to youtube.  Oleg plays a balalaika which is a folk instrument with only three strings.  Terry plays the piano.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ-Q_enFZE4

Personalized cards

Today I started working on a project that I have had in the back of my mind for a long time.  When I send someone a card, I want it to be personalized.  I am also thrifty (cheap?) so don't want to spend several dollars on a card. Here are a few samples of pictures I put on the front of cards.

These neighbors invited us to their annual Clam Bake/ Pot Luck.  This is the view I have of their property when it is foggy.  So I printed this scene on their thank you card.

Another was for another Clam Bake with relatively new friends.  This is a sign in their living room.

Sometimes I have go go back a year or two to find a good picture.  But it is fun. 

Part of the challenge was to find the best paper to use.  I bought some 67 # paper which seems to work well. 

Alash

Last night G and I attended a concert of Alash.  They are Tuvan Throat Singers.  I had never heard of this type of music, but G had heard them at a Cultural Fair on the Mall in DC a couple years ago.  It was amazing.  Listen here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xia8OERlNU 

We have a local nonprofit organization, ORMACO, whose mission it is to bring experiences like this to our community.  They are workshops in local schools for children and then concerts for the public.  Our good friend's son is the founder.

Cultural activities

Since Hubby is on another MC trip (which I chose not to go on) I have had a busy week.  Wednesday went to a Script Club meeting with staff from the Cleveland Playhouse.  We read the script from "The Crucible" and discussed how they will produce it.  That is a sobering play about the Salem Witch hunts and hangings in the 1690s.  Haven't decided for sure if I will go see the play.

On Friday I drive almost an hour to see a foreign film, Gloria, which was made in Brazil.  It was about a divorced women in her 50s who is trying to get her life back together.  They had a discussion afterwards but it was 9:30 pm and I was tired and had an hour's drive home.  It had great Brazilian music which made it more enjoyable.

On the topic of music, I was listing to Bossa Nova music from Brazil and came across a jazz singer, Diana Krall.  Hubby would have been tearing out his hair, as he really does not like jazz.  I love it.  So it is great that I can listen to an hour or two on You Tube when he is not here.

One more cultural activity - Went to the Playhouse Square and saw "The Secret Garden" today.  They did it as a musical.  I'd give it an eight out of ten rating.  Great actors and singers, but they had a problem with the sound.  The music was much to loud.

Looking Out My Backdoor

Monday I was reminded of the song sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival, "Looking Out My Back Door".  "Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn."  This is what I saw out my back door:

That is a llama.  I kid you not.  It stood there for several minutes in the middle of the bean field, then walked back into the woods.  I called the Sheriff's Dept, but there was no report of a missing llama. Then I called my neighbor who flies an Ultralight.  Since he flies over all our properties, he knew which neighbor it belonged to.  Have not seen it since so I hope it found its way back home.

Gerry and I are taking a ten week class on writing our autobiography.  Our assignment this week was to make a time line of our lives, specifically showing what the teacher calls "Branches.  That is an event in your life that caused a transition in your life, positive or negative.  Re-reading  old Christmas letters for the past 45 years helped us with that. Then we each are to write a 2 page essay on one of the branches.

Shoes, brownies

As I mentioned in the previous post, I decided to go hiking.  When I arrived at the park to join the group, my shoes felt weird.  The soles came off of both of them. Don't know if it was just dry rot or the glue fatigued.  I finished the hike without the soles, but it was quite slippery on wet surfaces.  The shoes fit so well, that I am going to take them to a shoe repair shop to see if they can be repaired.  

That being said, it was a lovely hike in one of our local County Parks.  Next time I will bring my camera.  And hike alone.  You cannot stop to take pictures when with a group.

My garden is producing zucchini at this time, so I am looking for recipes to use them.  I really hate throwing extra into the compost.

The results are two loaves of zucchini bread and zucchini brownies.  Yes, brownies.  They have no eggs so are more gooey that cake like. The flavor is a bit different, but I am planning to frost them with chocolate frosting, which should cover up any unusual flavor.  Am invited to a pot luck Monday with the m/c group.  I won't tell them what is in the brownies until they taste it.  :)   Unless they read my blog.

GOOGLE told me Happy Birthday

OK, this is just spooky! This morning when I went to the home page of my gmail, there were several cakes with candles in the GOOGLE shape. When I put the cursor over them, it said,  "Happy Birthday, Bernice".

Hubby is in Colorado riding his motorcycle in the mountains.  He called this morning and put the phone on speaker and all of his buddies sang Happy Birthday to me.  I  have had several phone calls with birthday wishes and my book club members sang to me to.  So it has been a great day.

I usually go to a Senior Stretch exercise class every Monday and Wednesday.  Today I tried a water exercise class in a pool at a motel.  I found that doing the exercises in the water was actually easier and not as challenging.  Our county park offers hiking, which I am going to try.  It may be a well rounded exercise regime in the end.  Guess I am on an exercise kick now.

City Girl in the Country

We had the brilliant idea of not mowing a large part of our lawn this year.  It was nice in that it took much less time to mow, but at the end of the summer it needed a cut.  The question then is what to do with the cut long grass.  Part of it was baled by a neighbor, and part was picked up by "cheap labor" from California.  That is truly manual labor.  She did get room and board for her work.  

K was visiting for two days when her Dad came for a Gaming Weekend with friends.  It short but wonderful.

Dumpster Diving at MidOhio

We had guests over for dinner and asked them what they thought this was.  One guessed "a giant Lego set".  I think it looks like some huge Praying Mantis have invaded.  Anyone who knows Gerry, is not surprised to see unusual things on our property  He attended a big motorcycle show at MidOhio, which is a race track.  They have races and a lot of vendors.  At the end of the show (when it had been quite windy) he saw these awning frames in the trash. Two had canvas tops, the others did not.  One was missing a leg, others had broken parts.  He plans to make three that are functional out of these.  He has an old tent that he wants me to use for making a top for one.  The projects continue.  

Here are a couple of pictures of things he saw at the event.

This is a little trailer he built the day before he left.  There is a huge swap meet, which is a long walk from where the car is.  So he built a trailer that he could use to bring his "finds" back to the car. Also he rides the bike around instead of walking.

 It was rainy and camper were stuck and had to be pulled out with a tractor.  I must say I am happy to have stayed at home!

Enjoying sewing

One of our guest bedrooms has my sewing machine in it.  Along with this is a box of clothing that needs alteration or mending. Since it is in a guest bedroom, it seems that it is "out of sight, out of mind".  Today turned out to be a productive day as I tried on each item in the box.  A couple no longer fit - so to the thrift shop they go.  Some just needed a seam fixed which again was a rather quick fix.  And then there were several pairs of pants the needed hemming.  Who knows how long these items have been waiting for my attention.  One pair  of beautiful white jeans has flared or wide legs.  So I had to do research to see if they are still in style.  Seems that they are, which is great because they fit fine on the top, just are much too long. Of course in googling that I am learning what to wear with the jeans so they look their best.  It just makes me happy to make progress on this.

Another great project of DH

 We have talked about getting an entertainment center for one wall of our living room.

G has had a plan for one in his head for a long time  It would be made of a variety of woods and be adjustable.  Recently he was able to pick up two from the side of the road, took them apart and made this prototype.  

I am sure all of you have pictures of children sitting in boxes and loving it.  He still is doing that!

This is how it looks after we put it together and raised it up.  We will now put are special items on the shelves to learn if the boxes and shelves are placed correctly.  So stay tuned.

Fireworks on the 4th

On the 4th of July our next door neighbors had a party, complete with fireworks.  Their sons bought $3,000 worth of fireworks.  One son did a lot of research to learn how to tie them together to have several go off in a row.  It was impressive.  I was more taken by the camp fire.  Some type of powder (sulfur, I think) was thrown on the fire, resulting in a beautiful blue flame.  

I am embarrassed that I have not posted for nearly two months.  During this time we have taken two long trips. The first was to Minnesota where Gerry attended his 50th class reunion.  We also saw family and then flew to San Francisco where we visited son and family.  The second was to Omaha Nebraska for G's cousin reunion.  It was three days long.  We then drove to Minnesota to say hi to my family and especially Mom, who now is in a nursing home.  She seems to have adjusted well to being there.  Is not in any pain, mind is still good. She just cannot walk.  

Still in CA

G and I are on a three day mini vacation in CA.  Left son and family and drove along the coast on Highway 1.  We are staying nights at a home through "Motorcycle Network", where you list your home for others in the network. The couple is near our age, avid motorcyclists and very inviting.  We are staying in Soquel, which is near Santa Cruz.  I posted the pictures mainy for me to remember.  It looks like they have filled in their pool since they are on water rationing here.  An interesting fact is that it has been almost 20 degrees cooler in CA than at home.  Go Figure! 

Open House at school

This is the second year that Gerry and I have been able to attend the year end Open House of grandchildren.  Their various projects are displayed throughout the rooms.  Here are a couple of them and family viewing.

Chef's dream

My sister in law, whose meals are to die for, got a new kitchen stove.  It is perfect for her type of cooking as you can see in this picture. I am sorry I did not get a picture of the meal she served.  Linguini with shrimp was the entree and rhubarb crisp for dessert. 
We  had a short visit with her and my brother on our way to the Mpls/St.Paul airport, from which we flew to San Francisco. (Since I am not an expert at posting from my tablet you may need to click on the picture to see sis-in-law)  

Visit with daughter in Maryland

G and I just returned from a four day visit with daughter.  One of the highlights was a visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. G has been listening to a biography of Leonardo da Vinci so was thrilled to see a painting of his: Ginevra de Benci.  This is the only painting of his in the Western Hemisphere. Leonardo is one of Gerry's heroes.

A second hero of his is Einstein. 

Seems his daughter likes him too.

I enjoyed the museum and memorials but am always drawn to nature.  On the way to MD we chose a scenic route instead of on the toll road.  The leaves are just starting to come out in Ohio. This is Lake Tappan. 

I will win!

As some of you know I am playing the Minimalist Game with my daughter, son and daughter-in-law. You can read about it here: http://www.theminimalists.com/game .  Basically the rules are that you get rid of one item on day one, two on day two, all the way to 30 on day 30 ( or 50 on day 50 which my son has set up on the spreadsheet).  Today is day 18.  It is becoming a challenge.  After all there are other things to do in your life too!! My strategy is to collect everything of one category so I can choose what to keep and what to throw.  These pictures show what I did today. This first picture is the pile of everything.

The second is what I am keeping.

The last is what is going away.

Cheery Crocus

The other day I noticed the crocus were poking their heads through the straw so I removed most of it. This is what greeted me today.

When warmer weather comes, our upstairs windows are full of ladybugs.  I caught them and took them outside. This last picture shows one on the flower with a honey bee.

The warmer weather motivated me to do research on planting vegetables in the garden.  I made a calendar to help me know when to plant the various seeds.  The tricky part is scheduling the planting so they are not mature when we are on one of our vacations.  

Windshield repair

I am sitting in an auto glass shop as I wait for them to install a new windshield. It seems that a rock hit it on our way back from Florida.  The crack had traveled about 24 inches already.  I am using the time to clear out old emails.  WiFi is great!

On a more somber note, one of my sisters, Marge, is quite ill.  She had a ruptured appendix and did not know it for a couple days. She had surgery but still is hospitalized.  I have not made a decision as to whether to go to Minnesota.  Relatives are great about keeping me informed.  The other family news is  that my Mom is now in a nursing home and will not be returing to independent living.  She is unable to walk on her own.  She is in a neighboring town to Mt. Lake as there are no openings in the nursing home in Mt. Lake.  She is on the waiting list for the local one. 

Marie Selby Gardens

                                                                    Today I spent a few hours at Marie Selby Gardens in Sarasota.  The first picture is of a Bay Fig tree.

This is a Rainbow Eucalyptus.  I first saw these in Hawaii and was blown away with the colors in the bark.

The Koi in this pond were all coming to the edge of the pond since they are made to fast each Monday.  They are fed a specific diet and for some reason not fed once a week.

The Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow plant has flowers in three colors.  It starts out purple, then turns light violet and finally white as it dries up.