The Days of My Life

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This morning I was thinking about how time moves through my life.  Like my mother, I mark the passage of time by what is blooming outside my windows.  I’m positive that I could find an entry in my blog archives for the day each year when I noticed that the squill leaves had appeared, or the squill was in bloom.

Mother was very aware of the quality of light, and I am aware of the change of the angle of light.  I’m going to have to adjust my summer habits so that I can work in the studio very early in the morning, when the best light of the day comes in the east window.

The Ice Follies daffodils have been fabulous this year.  The weather has cooperated for the first time in a number of years to give a longer period of cool temps which those daffodils prefer.  Today I noticed that the Darwin Hybrid tulips were in full bloom and I believe the star magnolia will open tomorrow.

I’m going to cut daffodils for the kitchen counter.  I have so many different types of blooms that I should be able to have a continuous decoration for the next several weeks.

The gold finches have returned!  I saw both a male and a female waiting their turns at the feeder.  It won’t be long before we have crowds of them.  I’ll have to top off the finch feeder with nyger seed.

The chives are up, and I can see green at the base of the mounds of oregano and in the thyme.  The Lamb’s Ears are greening up, and I have day lily and purple cone flower leaves.  It’s time to return St. Francis to the herb garden.

I know that there are people who would find my life dull, but I love the constancy, and knowing what to anticipate.  A few more weeks and the peonies and iris will be decorating the gardens, my favorite time of year.  This is my own little bit of heaven.

300 Cubits?

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Wasn’t that one of the dimensions of the Ark that God told Noah to build?  I wonder if we have a modern day Noah in the area?  I have not seen rain like this for at least 15 years, when we got 17 inches of rain in 24 hours.

We have had continual rain, interspersed with thunderstorms and magnificent amounts of rain over brief times.  We’ve had a little hail, and LOTS of lightening.  This is the type of storm we have needed in shorter spans for the past several years, when, instead, we have had visions of the Mojave.   It’s really too bad that the ground is so saturated now that the rain can only pool and run off.

On the north side of the house there is a raised herb garden.  Originally, it was planned that there would be an area dug out to channel any water from the herb garden and the area to the north, around the west side of the house.  Instead of a wide channel, there is a narrow trench there, which we call the “Trout Farm,” that needs to be widened.  We planned to lay gravel in the bottom of the trench, and anchor black plastic pipes to help with the water run off.  The sump that pumps from the north side of the house is tied into this system.

The Trout Farm needs to be re-christened the “Trout LAKE.”  We have ponds of water standing through out the grove and to the west of the house.  I’m pleased to tell you that our basement is dry.  We have a double submersible sump pump system, so should one burn out, the other will pick up the slack.  Our house is almost at the highest point on our lot, so what water there is doesn’t have the chance to build up force running toward the house.

I’m sitting in the office, and I just noticed that cars are slowing down on the road.  I’ll bet you money that the two retention ponds have not been able to deal with the rain and have risen to meet on the road!  That’s a LOT of rain!  I suspect that we have a lot of neighbors with walk in basements who could go swiming in their own homes right now.

Where ever you are, I hope you are riding out these storms, and are safe and dry!

New Bird

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Dear Husband came out to the kitchen to sit this morning and said, “There’s a gross beak!  Wait, that’s not right.”  I walked over to look out the window, and there is our token Rufous Sided Towhee!  DH realized the colors were right, but the beak was wrong for a gross beak.  I had no idea that he had been paying attention to the birdwatching that had gone on when my mother was with us.  Clearly, he’s interested.

We get several birds who stop by on their way to more northerly homes for the summer.  It’s time to watch for the yellow-bellied sapsucker, and the evening gross beak.

 

P.S. Cop Car, I checked, and it’s an Eastern Towhee, not a Spotted Towhee! *G*

Comments

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If I am slow to acknowledge your comments, please forgive me.  I see them as they come through my e-mail, and it takes me a while to get to my blog.

People with something to sell seem to love my blog.  People who are practicing English as a second language  (and who NEED that practice), seem to find me fair game. The occasional sex-crazed looney comes by, too.  You all know what it’s like.  I read most of those posts, trying to be fair and not discourage someone who might really be interested, but usually the e-mail address makes me decide to delete the comment.

Friends are welcome here, people looking to pass on a virus or sell something are not.

Egret!

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I know that Cop Car will ask, “Which kind?”  and of course  wasn’t able to compare it to those in my bird books.  We were driving to exercise yesterday, April 12th, and Dear Husband saw the first of the egrets in the retention pond just down the road.  I’ll be a terrible driver in that area for the next seven months or so, as I try to get a look at the egrets and herons.

I posted his./her coming on Facebook, and suggested that this is a scout, come to make sure that the weather is ready for them.  He may turn around and go back to the flock and tell them to hold off:  it’s still winter here!

My-Sister-The-Nurse lives about 45 minutes south of us, and she says they have had egrets and herons for some time, but they look a little strange with their ear muffs and boots! *G*

I’m glad they are back.  It’s a piece of the Spring jigsaw puzzle that we’ve been waiting to find, and it feels good to know we are closer to our warmer weather.

What do you do…

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…with a husband who won’t let you help him?

Dear Husband has been ill off and on this week.  There’s a terrible upper respiratory thing going around, and just as it seemed that DH was on the mend and back to his old self, he came down with this dreadful cough.  He wheezes, and coughs, and struggles to breathe and won’t let me help him.  At the very least a cup of hot tea, or hot water, or cocoa…or SOMETHING HOT, would help relax his chest and throat and perhaps help to clear his sinuses, but he refuses.  Even a warm shower would help.

We’re on the edge of my forcing him to visit the doctor, and he won’t like it at all.  But, I don’t think he is showing good sense right now.

I understand that he is an adult, and has the right to make decisions for himself, but doesn’t there come a time when you can tell the choices your loved one is making are not in their best interest?

My husband is half German, half Sicilian.  I think that may be one of the most stubborn mixes of nationalities that exists.  He is very hard-headed.  I’m generally willing to let him make decisions, but when we differ in our paths, he usually wins because he simply refuses to negotiate.  That can get old.

Any suggestions for improving our interaction?

I’d Call It Spring!

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Up until today I wasn’t willing to say that spring had arrived.  I know that once we get to the Vernal Equinox, it’s technically spring, but we weren’t seeing signs of it in things that should be green or blooming.

And then we came to April 9, 2013, and everything that grows is telling us that SPRING IS HERE!  We’ve had some pretty bad thunderstorms for the past couple of nights.  Thunder and lightening woke me briefly last night, and we could hear heavy rain on the skylights early in the day.  The result?  Grass greening up, and the squill has formed a tight green mass around one of the trees.

I have Ice Follies daffodils in bloom!  There are pods of daffodil greens coming up in all the gardens.  Tulips and hyacinths are beginning to show flower development, and the iris are shooting up.  I need to add some dirt around the iris corms.  Some of them are sitting on top of the dirt, where the soil has eroded away during the winter.

We still haven’t seen herons or egrets this far north.   I know they are down near I80, but it’s much warmer there.  We’re keeping  watch.  I think by next week we may see them.   Red wing blackbirds, Eastern starlings, starlings, Blue Jays, flocks of robins and house finches have returned.   The cardinal songs are loud and long. Chickadees and juncos are still here.  I’ll be watching for the visitors who stop off on their way north, like the yellow bellied sap sucker, and the gross-beaks.  We rarely get more than a couple off those birds, so it’s really fun to see them visit.

Our house is very clean and tidy.  No one has come to see it in the last week, but that’s okay.  We have long been confident that it will take us a while to find the right buyer.  Meanwhile, we continue to work on the grounds and the basement and the garage.  I think we will have time to let the exercise class come for breakfast in May.

I’m ready for the forsythia to bloom, and the star magnolia to burst into flower.  I’m eager to see if the new hydrangeas have made it through the winter.  I want the trees to shade us from the increasing hours of sunshine.  I’m READY!!!  Come on, Spring!

 

April 2, 2013

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This will be a memorable day for me.  Today we put our home of 23+ years on the market.

Our realtor called to let us know that he had put the listing on the MLS.  He had to use a temporary picture of the house, until they can get the current picture in place. It was something to do with the rules of the road for the Multiple Listing Service.

Minutes later, he got a call from a local realtor, asking if the house was available to be seen!  Three hours later, the first couple came to see it.  I asked our realtor if that was common, and he said it NEVER happens that way.

Last night, knowing that today was the big day, I started the laundry, tidied the office desk,  put away odds and ends and washed dishes.  I asked Dear Husband to dry dishes and put them away, while I finished with other chores.  We were well on the way to putting the house in condition to be seen.  Still, we had to push a bit today to be sure it was ready.

We do not open the house to prospective buyers.  They are to arrive with a realtor, who uses the lock box to get a key to let them in.  We are supposed to be going out the garage door as they are entering the house.  We slipped away and ran an errand as they looked things over.

I doubt seriously that we will get a bid from this visit, but everything has been so unpredictable that it’s possible.  We will see what we will see.

 

 

Easter 2013

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We are no longer hosting the large family holiday celebrations at Casa Buffy.  Our family has splintered over the last few years, now that both Dad and Mother are gone.  My-Sister-The-Nurse  had the basement of her condo finished last year, and now has room for all her family plus Frankie’s family, Dear Husband and me!  She’ll be hosting us for Easter.

I found this adorable dinner roll recipe.  The dough is shaped into small oval rolls, and before it’s cooked you make two snips in the dough to create “bunny ears.”  I’ll need to be careful not to over cook, or we’ll get brown ears, but I’m going to give this a try.

I’d like to do the goofy deviled eggs that look like little chicks.  Rather than cutting the egg in half, you make a cut cross-wise about a third of the way from the end.  Scoop out the yolk, and do the regular yolk mixture.  Then, you refill the egg, put the white back on like a little cap (slightly tilted), and make the tiniest carrot beak.  I think they used capers for eyes, but there must be other options.  Here’s a link to Rachael Ray, who shows how to make the eggs.

And, of course, I’ll be making Vernice Kastman refrigerator rolls for My-Sister-The-Nurse. She’ll hide them all, and everyone will let her get away with it. It seems like a small price to pay for being treated to Easter dinner.

I’m looking forward to having more time with my family. That’s one of the best things about being drawn together to celebrate: family time!

Things To Do

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Do you do “To Do” lists?  I usually have one right before dinner parties, family gatherings or major celebrations.  I occasionally had one to guide my work day.  I periodically make a list of quilting projects that I want to complete. (There are projects that make me feel really guilty!)

My present list is very paper and/or computer oriented.  Each of these items is time consuming, and none of them are any fun.  Too bad!  They still have to be done.

Enter Checkbook into Quicken program

Balance checkbooks

Create an Excel program for 2012 charge cards

Create a budget, working with charge card info

File a billion pages of recipes

Complete 2012 personal filing.

Empty personal files in lateral file at window

Reorganize files at office desk

THANK YOU NOTES!

I will feel so incredibly virtuous when I wade my way through these tasks! It’s good to be organized.  I really believe that you face the day with more energy when tasks have been completed..  I’ve set many of these things aside while I worked on the house, but now it’s time to see to the information glut.  I wonder if there will be a day when I will be “paperless?”   Nah….books, cookbooks and magazines will always be a problem for me.  All the more reason to make everything else paper free.