Let it snow, let it snow!

Home today with time to bake, wrap gifts, shovel snow and best of all, nap. I stayed up last night for the finale of Biggest Loser. Then couldn't get to sleep so I think I got about 5 hours in. It started snowing at 3 a.m. and just kept on coming to accumulate about 8 inches or so here in Hartford. There was a period of sleet before it finally stopped shortly after noon. I tried to go to work but couldn't get out of my driveway. My snow plow man didn't come until about 11 am. but even if I could have gotten out to the road, the town truck had plowed a very large snow bank across the end of my drive. My car is low in the front and there is no way it would have bucked through that stuff. I hate to lose a day of work though.

Tomorrow we have a Christmas meeting up at the Great Escape Lodge in Lake George. It is going to be lots of fun. We are going to eat lots of good food, make blankets for the homeless and we have a gift basket raffle. We are finished at 2:00 and I will come home, pick up the Bus to drive it back to Hudson Falls to a truck repair place where they will change the oil, check all the fluid levels, tires and grease the chassis. I had made an appt. at the Cumins diesel engine shop in Richmond, VA for the OLF but they want $400 for the service. I am very happy I found this local guy who is much more reasonable. I fret about all the "stuff" I need to get done before Bernie and I leave but it just always falls in place and somehow it gets done.

I haven't had time to work on publishing my book in the last couple of weeks. I have been busy with holiday things in the church, basketball games and Jones' family stuff. Pete and I enjoy watching Tad play JV basketball with Hartford CS. My granddaughter, Emily is playing Varsity BB with Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, VT but I haven't seen any of her games yet. They don't play within easy driving distance for me in the daylight. We are dark here now at 4:20 pm. I have a grandson Colin who plays hockey for Lasalle Academy in Troy, NY - Haven't seen him play this season either. Frustrating!

You should see my house.....I have been packing stuff to bring to FL in bags and then grouping them for loading. So much for traveling light! For me, traveling light is impossible. I wish we were leaving right off though. The waiting is nerve-wracking as it gives me more time to worry about the weather etc.

I will try to keep you posted. I have designated a "blog reader" list on my facebook page for those of you who are on FB. You can read it right there. If you are one of my regular readers and on FB and don't get it, let me know. I will add you to the list.

Happy Holidays...... from me and Sebastian

November Sunday

It has been a month since I have visited my blogsite. I did receive one phone call from a loyal reader asking, "Why?" The call prompted this writing for sure. Some of you know that I wrote a book a few years ago about my journey through a total life-change as I became functionally blind, my 27-year marriage fell apart and I was forced to move from my beautiful home in coastal NC. The title of my book is Born Of Fire: A Yearlong Diary of Personal Transformation. My dear friend and author, Janet Lembke, edited and guided me through the process but like I said that was about 7 year ago before Sebastian and I went on the road in the Bearfoot Coach. Now it is time to revisit the manuscript and web-publish. I had looked into publishing the book through a commercial publisher a few years ago. The cost was prohibitive for me. I became discouraged and put the book away. But with the advent of web self publishing, it is doable. This is a lengthy excuse regarding my absence from my blog writing. I have been diligently working on BOF whenever I have spare time. I am getting very close to publishing and will certainly announce it to ya'll.

This post will appear on Facebook too. I guess since it is all Google web...... I want to bring my blog only readers up-to-date on what has changed in my life in the last month. My last writing here, I said I was leaving Hicks' and going on to subbing again. That did happen. But one day three weeks ago as I left my job at Fort Ann CSD, my phone told me I had several messages. I was wanted at the BOCES Gick Road Special Education Offices. I not only had phone calls but emails requesting me to fill a secretarial post to the director. The hours worked for me and for Sebastian for now. The job will end by mid-Dec. so hopefully the heavy snows will hold off. I like the job and it is good to be back, spending time with the friends I met when I subbed for them last spring for 3 mos. It just so happened that I had treatment for my eye spasms a week before the BOCES job began. I received the largest dose of Botoxin that I have ever had in the 12 years I have had to have the injections. I personally think it was too much for me to handle. My immune system which is already challenged from Sjogrens, went into a talespin. My eyes just couldn't stay focused or clear. The dryness was just awful as was the fatigue. But I am pulling out of that now. It seems to improve each day. I have about 5 weeks or so before I pull the old Bearfoot Bus out of Hartford and point it southward once more. ((:

What a great day that will be!!! I have a friend who is willing to learn to drive the bus and share the winter with Sebastian and me. Her name is Bernice Burnham. We share many of the same interests and she has a great sense of humor which is essential when riding/living with me.

I have been a busy person though (another excuse for not posting). I began a new series of paintings a couple of months ago. I have called it Through Will's Eyes. Will is my grandson who it turns out is a fine photographer. With his permission, I am using some of his shots as models. This is an exciting project for me. My daughter Theresa took me to the Georgia O'Keefe tourning exhibit at the Clark Museum in Williamstown, MA for my birthday a few months back. I have been to a couple of O'Keefe exhibits since her work has always inspired me. Seeing her work upclose and personal combined with Will's photos just got all my creative juices flowing again. The only problem with this is, I have interrupted the process with life, at least for now. I cannot tell you how many times this has happened to me during my 50 years of painting. I keep the painting out in my living area where I look at it each and every day. That way the juices are still trickling away just waiting to continue. See the photos attached. Progression from abstract underpainting to realism.

So between work, BOF (the book), preparing for winter, readying the bus, closing the garden and all the other stuff we do on a daily basis, finding time to write a journal has not been high on the list.

I must tell you I had a visitor in my maple tree right by my bedroom window last week. I put up one of Pete's birdhouses in that tree last summer. The tree is only about 10 ft. away from the house. I saw a flash of blue and there was a bluebird looking into the birdhouse. I crept away to get the camera but alas, s/he was gone when I returned. I am looking foward to a nesting pair in that place in the spring. I had a pair all summer but they were down on the lower locust grove area.

I finally was able to find a seasonal flu shot clinic in Saratoga. My boss gave me as much time as I needed to go up to Walgreen's. I stood in line for about a half hour which wasn't bad. The H1N1 virus is all around me but now that I am no longer in the classroom, I feel better about avoiding the virus. I have always opposed anti-bacterial soaps except for medical people since the natural bacteria on our skin is protective in its own right. I use, along with many others, the hand sanitizer now, and I wonder if we are not inviting more virus' than we are preventing. Certainly my skin has suffered from the frequent application of alcohol as well as soap and water. Time will tell.

Enough rambling for now. Enjoy the photo of Sebastian taken yesterday after we had to walk in the rain.
donna

After the first frost 09

My garden is just about finished growing. Just about because I have 4 wonderful stems of brussels sprouts which will be fine throughout the winter. I think they are so amazing. They taste nothing like the store-bought ones.

Today is going to be my last day at Hick's Orchard. I just haven't had the hours that I need and I have been working weekends. Now I look forward to leading a normal working life. I will be able to join friends and family on weekends and go to church. All the things I have missed since July. Bash and I are going to be out in the UPick orchard today. It is cold and raw. We will have our car there to warm up in between customers.

I need to write about being a Fan. I realized last week that I have never experienced being a fan before in my life. Oh sure, I have said I was a fan of so and so but I have never been face to face with them. I was working in the winery at Slyboro Ciderhouse on the weekend. It was extremely busy in the wine room. I was giving tastings to approx. 9 people lined up at my station like recipients of Christian Communion. I was moving back and forth along the line of people which actually was about 4 deep as well. I had been having a really good time with some jolly people on the end of the counter when they parted and there stood a woman whose face was so familiar to me, it was like looking into the face of a dear friend or family member. I felt like I wanted to reach out and hug her close. Instead, I said, "Hi, I am one of your greatest fans." She asked me my name and we shook hands. I was speechless. It was Rachel Raye. She is just as pretty in person as she appears on TV. So that is what it is like to be a fan I thought.

Pete and I watched the Amazing Race the other night and we were both shocked that most of the participants could not correctly identify a photo of Jackie Kennedy. Why are people now-a-days so unaware of people who have made history? In an effort to be understanding, we searched our memories for images of former first ladies. We could both go back to FDR - we were young kids then and yet I would recognize Eleanor Roosevelt's photo. Those Americans on Amazing Race made me ashamed of them. They were in Cambodia and the Cambodians of every age knew who Jackie Kennedy was. Sad...

I haven't taken many photos this fall. It hasn't been as pretty as it usually is. So much rain and many cloudy days. I mowed my entire lawn last week just before the frost. It may be the last time. I discovered I have large areas of mole infestation. I will have to find a natural way of discouraging them from living in the main part of the lawn since I don't allow any poisons in my yard. They do make it tricky to walk though. Suddenly my foot sinks and twists. Easy to sprain an ankle.

I am finally going for Botoxin treatment this week in my eyes. I always put it off as long as possible since the after effects are difficult for about a month sometimes even longer. I think I have been 6 months this time. For 12 years I have gone every 3 mos for treatment so this was unusual. The only part of it has been I have limited my driving distance in the daytime and almost never drive at night. I pray the treatment works as it should this time so I can safely drive the MH to FL in Dec. I have a friend, Bernice, who wants to go along but I do have to teach her to drive the rig. She has been busy so we haven't done that yet. Also, I now have 2 dead starting batteries that are original equipment (10 yrs) and are done for. The replacements are very expensive but they have to be purchased. I have pumped lots of dollars into the coach this year and haven't used it once. }}:

I have begun editing my book and will publish it on the web soon. Web self-publishing is the way to go for writers such as myself. My creative juices have begun to flow again, Thanks be to God. I also have started a series of paintings from my grandson Will's photos. I call them Through Will's Eyes. I see the possibility of at least 4. The Barnyard Series from the last two years is nearly finished. There is one more I want to do of a chicken yard. Wish me continued "juicyness". Sometimes it is very difficult to muster.

Be well dear readers.....

Some Poetry I wrote

Myrtle Beach, SC '05

Restless Ocean
knocking on the shore,
Berms, dunes, fences, grasses-
A wall built by man
to keep her visits to
a minimum.

She comes to her shore
like an unwelcome relative.
She comes to claim what
is hers.

Man opens windows
to allow her to come in.
She comes, she claims
every 12 hours.
She drags it all back
with her. As she spits
out plastic bags, bottles,
cans - debris,
flotsam, jetsum - sort of -
except
it doesn't come from the Ocean but
from shore; From her visits
through those open windows.

Gifts of welcome?
I hardly think not.

Some Poetry I wrote

Myrtle Beach, SC '05Restless Ocean
knocking on the shore,
Berms, dunes, fences, grasses-
A wall built by man
to keep her visits to
a minimum.

She comes to her shore
like an unwelcome relative.
She comes to claim what
is hers.

Man opens windows
to allow her to come in.
She comes, she claims
every 12 hours.
She drags it all back
with her. As she spits
out plastic bags, bottles,
cans - debris,
flotsam, jetsum - sort of -
except
it doesn't come from the Ocean but
from shore; From her visits
through those open windows.

Gifts of welcome?
I hardly think not.

Mid-September

It is cloudy today and cool. We won't have many temps in the 80's any longer. More apt to be in the 60's and even 50's. No frost here in Hartford yet, came close though. I went out to clean out my garden and discovered a crop of green beans. Picked them and made 3 more jars of Dilly Beans. Then I cut the basil and made more pesto to freeze plus more tomato sauce for the freezer. I have frozen many bags of peppers, hot and sweet ones. The garden is now producing multi-colored and shaped gourds from one plant.

I was just reviewing my cooking schedule for the coming week. Speaking of cooking; I have had little opportunity in my life to cook just for me which at this stage would be very little fuss. It seems there was always someone who had to be fed. Now I am alone but I feed Pete and the neighbors and his family. We have an active community here and everywhere one goes, one is expected to bring food. I had to dig out old recipes and find new ones to keep up with the "modern palate". Whenever I find myself wishing I didn't have to cook, I think of the loneliness I felt during those times when I had no one. I much prefer the job of creating something new or an old favorite and sharing it. For instance, we have two openhouses on Sat. I have to work Sat. so that means I cook Fri. I am making a dip(spicy cheese) in my little crock pot for Pete to carry along with some chips, also making a plum kuchen which is a german plum cake with custard on top for Mary Beth's (Pete's d-i-l) b'day celebration also on Sat. I will get to that one late. Then our church has a fund raiser Pie Sale on Sunday. So I will make an apple pie for that on Friday and need to make some choc. chip pumpkin drop cookies for my neice the following Wed. She has invited us for dinner and I offered to bring dessert. So it goes -- week after week. Pete and I are invited to several people's homes often and we lament that we need to reciprocate. The question is, WHEN??? I just don't have the energy or the funds to entertain. He doesn't either since he has been working as a carpenter with another man. I do enjoy it though!

I am off to work in a little bit but wanted to update my blog. I am going to sell my gourds to Hick's Orchard as soon as someone lifts the basket into my car. Too heavy for this old lady. Sebastian and I get to work outside in the orchard checking in and out the UPick customers once a week. I dress warm and bring a book. He on the other hand, obsesses about all the cats around the yard. Today I am in the Winery. We have 6 new flavors of hard cider wine now. I like them all.

I have been called for Jury Duty next week. It is the first time in my life since I was married for nearly 30 years to a lawyer/judge, I was never eligible. I am going to try to postpone it though since the orchard is counting on me during this their busiest season.

Enjoy this harvest season ya'll,

Note: the photo of the river is a shot of the headwaters of the great Hudson River away up in the northern Adirondack MTs.

Ah! September

Dear Readers....
I'm watching old re-runs of Touched By An Angel as I post this writing. I always liked this tv show. I like gentleness and happy endings when I am entertained.

Here we are on the cusp of autumn. There is a full moon tonight. The moon is in Virgo. My virgo friends and I have been celebrating our birthdays for a few days. We are a joyous group and get along well together. I have been posting lots of pictures on Face Book. There are some good ones of these birthday celebrations.

My work at the orchard has been sporadic. There are others there who want as many hours as they can grab so the rest of us get what's left. Soon we will be very busy and we will all work more hours. The opportunity to be home has been good for me since I have had to put away the veggies from the garden. I also have been preparing the motorhome to make the trip to FL at the end of Dec. The lawn this year must be mowed twice a week. I mow about an acre and a half. And then there is Sebastian who needs me home. This time has given me an opportunity to paint again. My grandson Patrick manages a resort in Sugarbush, VT. He and his companion Sarah very graciously asked me to show some of my work in their lobby. Pete and I went up there for a couple of days and delivered five paintings. The lobby space is lovely. The paintings look great there. Having a nice place to show my work has helped to get my creative juices flowing again.

I have had time occasionally to go for a bike ride too. The weather has been perfect for the last couple of weeks. Cool nights (close to frost one night) and warm sunny days with low humidity. I rode a couple of days ago to N. Granville and back which was about 13 miles from Pete's. I load the bike and start from his place because the shoulders of the road are very wide up there. Here at my house, they are narrow, cracked and weedy. Since my eyes have been in spasm a great deal lately, I need wiggle room. I was riding the bike trail but driving over to Hudson Falls takes a lot more time out of my day. Riding Rt. 40 is right here and Pete's place is 2 miles from me.

If you would like to look at some of my paintings, check out another blog I have made: http://castleandcobwebgallery.blogspot.com

I saw a hawk on the wires as I rode by. See the photo. You can also see what looks like white fencing way back in a field, it is actually white wrapped round hay bales.