Lyman Orchards

Last Sunday I went with a friend and her son to Winterfest at a local orchard. There's quite a large market, and many free tasting stations had been set up. The place was mobbed so I high tailed it out the door to the ice sculptures and the huskies! One guy was carrying around a nine week old husky puppy, and virtually everyone came up to him for a pet and a look. He said to me, "Wish I'd known this when I was single . . . "

There was the odd Newfie and Banana Baby.



























































































And of course, on the way home, one of those wonderful old red New England barns.

Peabody

Went to the museum on Saturday for a raptor demo: in order, you see a barn owl, a merlin falcon, a barred owl, the wings of a golden eagle, and a red-tailed hawk. The green stone is called Smithsonite, and the doll is from the Yu'pik tribe. Funny, you can live in a place for a long time, but when you know you are finally going to leave it, you begin to appreciate places and events that otherwise would be taken for granted.

Watercolor

Took a watercolor painting workshop last week and created this. It was fun.

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning

while the whole wide world is fast asleep . . . It's 3am here, and I'm remembering this song from an album my father once gave me, Frank Sinatra, vinyl of course, and this song was on it. He also once gave me a dictionary which I still have. Those are the only two gifts I can remember him giving me, although I'm sure he must have given me more, like bicycles and stuff, but these were the most memorable. Wait, he must have given me the microscope, and the chemistry set. Can't imagine my mother choosing those things.

Haven't blogged in such a long time. Facebook seems to have taken over. I do enjoy it so. Funny, whenever I mention my dog, she gets more comments than anything I write about myself, esp. if I have a picture of her there with the message. And why shouldn't she get more attention? She's adorable.

Went to my first "jewelry party" last week at a friend's house. For Silpada Silver jewelry. Ever heard of it? Some nice pieces, but I don't seem to wear jewelry anymore, so bought a couple of pieces for gifts. I think the markup was really high and it was somewhat pricey, but I was helping out a friend and I had fun, so that was worth it.

Watched the new scyfy channel offering called "Caprica" tonight. Very interesting, and seems to have some promise. Robots, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, intrigue, religion, high tech computer stuff, good acting, good sets. Fridays at 9. I think what I watched tonight was the pilot.

Wanna see some photos from my visit to my family in Michigan in freezing cold December? Ok, here ya go.

Ok, I'm Up

What more do you want from me?


Slept twelve hours, and that after a three hour nap. Yesterday, I went to an art exhibit on the theme of preserving the Orchard Street Shul in New Haven. http://orchardstreetshul-artistsproject.org/index.html

My friend Robert Rattner had on display several magnificent photographs of the inside of the shul. Two other acquaintances of mine also had work shown.


Before that I met a friend from NYC for coffee at Koffee. So nice to see him. I was going to go to a crafts fair at the Jewish Community Center after all this socializing but realized I was pooped, so came home, and had to call in sick to a very short performance the gospel group was gonna do along with some other groups out in Madison. Just couldn't do the 40 minute drive.


Saturday morning I went to a couple of crafts fairs, but was disappointed, so I went to see the one day old baby of a client of mine. He was totally cute, and mom was a bit overwhelmed as this is her first child and she is 40. It felt very grounding to hold such a young sweet life, and made me remember my father who was so good at soothing infants. The baby's dad was so funny: the baby's bassinett was next to where he was sleeping on the sofa. He woke up, saw the bassinett empty, and slightly panicked said, "Where's the kid?!" Mom said, "Right here." Dad rolled over and went back to sleep.


Saturday night I went to a friend's trim-the-tree party, which she holds every year. She makes soup, we bring other stuff, have dinner, then decorate her tree. It was a small group, since people in the Northeast get freaked out over 1/4 inch of snow and a bunch of folks didn't show, but I went out there and had a great time. I realize I can't drink wine anymore, or not enough to make it worthwhile, if you know what I mean. Makes me too tired, and gives me leg and foot cramps. Here's a photo of an ornament I made to contribute to her collection; the fabric is from the material used to make her wedding gown for her marriage in October. I went to a fitting with her and asked the dressmaker for a bit of leftover, not knowing what I would do with it. But early in the week when I was thinking about the party, I began to make, by hand, this item. It's stuffed with cotton and lavender, and embellished with some vintage beads that were given to me a long time ago.

At one of the crafts fairs I attended recently, my best find was walking the dog outside the building, and finding this vintage postcard just lying on the ground.
A happy birthday greet to me, I guess. It felt kind of magical and special to find it.

Friday afternoon I went to visit my friend G, whom I hadn't seen in ages. We had proper tea at 4 at her place, and her niece was visiting. I quite liked her a lot. She was on her way home to Bangalor, India, where she is from, taking a break from her PhD program for a while.


On Thursday morning, I took T. swimming at my fitness club, and he liked the place very much. We then went out to lunch at Bread and Chocolate, a nearby cafe with a comfortable atmosphere. I went home to prepare M's birthday dinner: Moroccan style chicken with cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, spinach salad with apples and roasted pine nuts, cucumber in yogurt with garlic, and homemade brownies with vanilla ice cream. I schlepped it all over to her house with the Bindster and we had a great time.



Wednesday I saw the naturopath and my therapist, and then had a client in the afternoon. Tuesday was the colonoscopy, and Monday was the prep for the colonoscopy. And did I tell you recent blood work shows I have Lyme disease again? But I thought I didn't have any symptoms.


WAIT A MINUTE! NO WONDER I'M SO TIRED!!


Now today I have to take Camilla back to the vet cause her diarrhea still isn't gone, even with all the drugs. And it's cold out. And it's icy. And I don't like it.


I look forward to coming back home and going back to bed . . .

Propofol Hangover

Angela Clemmons, our fearless and compassionate director.

Looking over the program.






















Angela's daughter.

The choir getting ready.

Here are photos of the Gospel Choir before our performance last Sunday. I'm not in any of them since I took the pictures!
**********************

Had the colonoscopy today. After they hooked me up with the iv, and started the antibiotics per the infectious disease doc's orders, and started the propofol, I was out in 30 seconds. Amazing. No wonder Michael Jackson used it to sleep. Results showed internal hemmoroids (which I knew about), diverticulitis (which I didn't know about), and they removed a small polyp. Not too serious I guess. Aren't you just sick of hearing about all my ailments? I AM! The prep wasn't as bad as everyone said, but I am tired. The medical center was only about a mile away which was wonderfully convenient, and I got a ride there from my neighbor and a ride home from my accountant! She used the same docs I did.

After the clear liquid diet all day yesterday, I had flying dreams last night!! I was flying and it was wonderful! No airplane! I could go up and down and everything, although I don't fly very far off the ground, just in case.

Finally cooking dog food for the pooch. I'm afraid except for a few processed kibbles, she's off her feed unless I make it for her. Oh well.

Thanksgiving in Manhattan

Setting the table.

On a dog walk.























Statue of liberty.





















The apartment.





















Building across the street.























A local fire department.





Photos from Thanksgiving in Manhattan.



* * * * * * * *

Fasting for the colonoscopy tomorrow. It's amazing how much I'm getting done around the house since I'm not thinking about food. Can only have clear liquids. I've changed the sheets on the bed, up/downloaded lots of photos and made Shutterfly sites so the photos can be visited, did laundry, put patches on ripped sheets/pillowcases, cleaned the kitchen sink, polished the stove and the teakettle, and did some online shopping.

The gospel choir concert was yesterday. I wasn't feeling my best, but I think we did well anyhow. There was standing room only at the church! Only one of my friends whom I had invited showed up. That's why I have to move to Florida. Need a new group of friends who do stuff.

Thanksgiving in New York City was really nice. Lots of new people, interesting sights, good food, lovely apartment in which to stay, Bindi got along with the resident dog Tess. Was invited back to stay anytime, which is a really special invitation. My knees and feet hurt from walking on so much cement taking the dogs for walks, but my efforts were much appreciated by Tess's owners. Met Betty Woodman at the dinner, who is apparently a very famous ceramicist. But we talked about Facebook, and how she doesn't understand how to use it. I encouraged her to not use FB if she finds it too daunting. There were additional famous people there I guess, but I just had pretty normal conversations with everyone. I didn't know who was famous and who wasn't!

Going to M's on Thursday to make her birthday dinner. It's a school night for her daughter, so no party, just the three of us. Am waiting for menu of what she would like me to cook. But she's easy, she eats anything.

I hit a couple of holiday crafts fairs on Saturday. Found some things! :-)

It's raining, but still we've had no hard freeze.

Small Things

Yukky day, today. Tired, no motivation, bored, kind of depressed.
Thought I'd share a few photos of small pleasures/interests from the past few days.
























Went to a craft fair yesterday. On the ground in the parking lot I found this
list. Hmmm . . .

Loved this label of the sauce made by the nuns who had organized the fair. Have no idea how it tastes, but I'll take it as a hostess gift on Thanksgiving.

Went to my community garden plot and picked these late fall roses. No hard frost yet.

Cement horse lawn sculpture at a garden center being wrapped up for the winter. I think it's beautiful.

At the Starbucks closest to me, I saw this van. So clever, esp. the small print which reads, "Cats Too!"

Bronchitis

Saw my naturopath yesterday who said I have bronchitis. I got some acupuncture, the heat lamp on my chest, and some nasty tasting herbal tincture to take in tea or juice. I actually think I feel a bit better today, not so tired. I'm two weeks into this thing.

Had a nice long chat with my sis this afternoon. Among many other topics, we talked about the high price of sending parcels through the mail. It used to be a good way to get one small thing from one place to another, but not anymore. Very expensive.

Am off to Manhattan for Thanksgiving, just an overnighter at M's sister's, but am looking forward to it. To the Midwest on December 25, and will stay through my nephew's birthday on New Year's eve. 2010. Crazy.

Went shopping for a baby sling for a new mom present. Those things are expensive, too! Met a woman in the store who had two children and was giving me her opinion on them, and advised me to go to Marshall's as she said they had them for much less money. My sister in law makes her own, smart woman that she is. I bought a couple at Target, very pricey even for Target, but if I find one at Marshall's, well, that's why we keep receipts.

Met a new kind of dog on the street today: a dalmation mix from Puerto Rico. He was a rescue, and looked just like a small spotted dalmation. Very very cute.

Gospel choir rehearsal last night. Had to tell two women to stop chewing gum, first because one of them was making snapping noises which makes me nuts, but also because you DON'T CHEW GUM WHEN YOU'RE TRYING TO SING!! HELLOOOOOOOOO!!!

Tonight is supposed to be the Leonid meteor showers. Best viewing time around 3am. Guess I'll miss it. The temperature has dropped sharply from today.

Friday, Nov. 20

My bro's birthday. He's 45. Happy birthday, D!

Was driving in my car today practicing my songs for the gospel performance. Two girls on the street saw me rockin' out, and motioned for me to open the window, which I did and blasted the music. They smiled so big!! A precious moment.

Went to the community garden which has yet to have a hard freeze. Picked parsley, lettuce, greens, and roses. Bindi got to play with another small dog named Indy!! They were so cute together. I think one of the kids said it was a Havanese poodle mix. A poodanese. A Havoodle. Whatever.

Fifteen

I had lab work done today and they took 15 vials of blood!!!! I had saved up a few lab slips from various doctors, as I thought none of the tests were that crucial (I was wrong). Some slips had duplicate tests between doctors, and I pointed this out to the lab staff to see if they could just do the one test and send it to the various doctors who wanted the same result, but they gave me a bunch of hooey and proceeded to play vampire. Talk about inefficiency and overcharging in the health insurance industry! I guess it was my bad for holding onto the slips, but I've become so pain sensitive that I wanted just one stick for all the tests instead of going four times. The one I should not have put off was the one tracking the past infection of my knee, but it was a standing order with Quest lab and I couldn't remember the last time I had the test done, and they didn't remind me, so I was three weeks overdue on that one. And I guess I should have kept track of which doctor was ordering which test so that I could then call the other doctors and say there are duplicates, and what should I do, blah blah blah, but I'm not that organized. I don't see why Quest couldn't have contacted the doctors themselves, but obviously they stand to profit from doing the same test more than once. What should I have done?

Hack Hack

Been sick for a week with some weird virus. Started in my chest and has stayed there. No runny nose or sore throat or fever or anything, just this phlegmy-ness in my chest and great tiredness. Oh these mutating viruses, is there no end to your uniqueness? Quite a bit of wheezing so haven't gone to the gym, but should go and just do an easy bicycle workout for my knees. But I think I might have picked up the virus there. Or else at the gospel workshop two weeks ago. Went anyway on Monday night, couldn't sing, but lip-synced the words to try to learn them, and enjoyed the neverending humor of the director. There were a couple of other people there too who weren't singing cause they were sick.

Had lunch at Midori today, the Korean/Japanese restaurant near me. Yum. Udon soup with seaweed and vegetables. Kim chi. Pickeled radish. With a friend I haven't seen in quite a while. I could have yacked with her for a long time but she had somewhere else to go. Came home, took Bindi for a walk, visited the dogs Rosie and Roscoe across the street, talked with my neighbor about the need to live in the moment, not take the future for granted, be aware of the preciousness of each day. We both had stories of people who had just dropped dead in their 50s and 60s.

All the leaves on the trees are nearly gone, but the air temperatures are still moderate. No frosts yet. But it looks bleak.

Doctors and Dolphins

Saw my radiation oncologist yesterday for a followup. I had felt some irritation on my tongue, at the place where the cancer was, and I was freaking out. She said everything looked normal, and likely the antibiotics were changing the flora in my mouth and making it more sensitive to whatever. That was a relief. Today I go to the foot doctor with the MRI cd to find out what's going on there. I described the pain to my naturopath last week and she said it could be gout. Gout? Gout? My old dead alcoholic abusive grandfather had gout! Oh this body, this body. I feel like it's decaying bit by bit. The dentist on Friday, for which I have to take another antibiotic 30 minutes before, as dental work can put bacteria into the system, and the ID doc wants to protect my previously infected leg.

But I did take Bindi on a longish walk yesterday, then I went swimming at the gym, came home, took a nap, and drove to Guilford for the gospel singing workshop rehearsal since the idiots in Cheshire never got it together to do enough publicity so that we could have it here and I could drive ten minutes instead of 30. Oh well, the director rocks, is seriously funny and brilliant, and the woman next to me was actually quite friendly. The music is beautiful and uplifting, even tho in my mind I change some of the words, and the group is big. The other women from Cheshire I was hoping to car pool with folded on my, so lame, I swear, so I had to drive myself again. But there was a message from my friend D. who wants to get together Friday night, so that's good.

Big news. Had to cancel my trip to St. John as my travelling companion now has to have hip replacement surgery a week before we were to take the trip. So I've decided to spend three times as much money and go with a group on a wild dolphin adventure off Bimini in April. http://www.asiavoight.com/Dolphin.htm

I actually consulted Asia Voight, who is an animal communicator, if you believe in such things, when Camilla was having all her problems years ago. It was done by phone, and I found Asia's advice very helpful. So this will be an educational/spiritual trip, as well as fun in the sun and sea. It's only a group of twelve, all our meals are prepared for us, etc etc. I don't have to do a thing except show up in Ft. Lauderdale on April 24, where a hotel room will be waiting for me. This is my 60th birthday present to myself. Unlike the Disney or other organizations who offer interaction with dolphins, Asia's approach with the wild dolphins is absolutely no touching or feeding. I like that. There is a great deal of controversy about interactive swimming with dolphins and manatees, so we will fall on the side of deep respect for them. I think we will sleep on a boat for the five days as well, in order to be able to jump into the water at a moment's notice should creatures arrive.

Eleven year old girls carving and not carving pumpkins at the Halloween party last Saturday.