Confessions of a Grandma

A sewing project took up most of my morning.  I didn't get out for my exercise walk until mid-afternoon.  Making my usual loop, I happened upon a garage sale.  Now I have three big boxes of unwanted stuff in our garage.  I am adding to the pile gradually and will haul it off to the Clutter Barn next weekend.  I wasn't looking for a yard sale, but I guess that one rogue warm day got everyone in the mood for cleaning out. It was right there on my usual route, cheery yellow signs inviting me to stop by just to look.  "Just to look," that's what my head was saying as my feet carried me right on down the driveway.  I was out for my exercise walk; I didn't even have money with me.  How much more "just looking" can you get than that? Of course, I saw something that I have been looking for--a chair to put in the spare room where I can sit and watch TV while I do some knitting.  The guy was already starting to pack things up so...

My back wasn't quite as ready as the rest of me to be out digging in the garden the other day. Oof. I went off to get a pedicure at the mall this morning--along with every other retired woman in the county.  The wait was too long for me so I went shopping for some new bath towels and two new bed pillows.  Now I will just have to figure out a way to switch out Mike's nasty old stained pillow for the new one.  He is not so big on changes.  When I need to mess with him, I amuse myself by moving the couch and chairs away form the wall.  It never takes him more than a minute to start pushing everything back.  I guess he thinks I move things to sweep and then forget to put them back. So I don't have shiny toe nails, but my refrigerator is sparkling clean.  That makes me happy.  It's a true gift to get pleasure from the little things. I spent the afternoon at the library.  I volunteered to clean and organize the upstairs activity room a...

The sun came out yesterday and the temperature climbed all the way up to 80.  Such an unexpected gift.  Mike pulled a steak out of the freezer and got the grill ready.  I went out and dug up my vegetable patch.  Different priorities.  The pictures are from a last week supper.  Mike thought his burger with BLT was so beautiful it should be used for a TV commercial.  He thought my rice loaf with veggies should be scraped into the bin.  So judgemental--it was really delicious. Mike has gone to Pennsylvania for the next three days--to an antique motorcycle club swap meet.  He is taking some of his collection to sell. If he sells this poster, I will really kind of miss it.  On the other hand, the oil cans he wants to sell... We have another piece of land to sell--2.75 acres in Florida.  It doesn't look like we will  have the luck we had with the VT land.  Right now, you could buy some land and build a house in Florid...

We had a closing on ten or so acres of land that we owned in the central part of the state.  It always feels good to be getting rid of stuff we don't use and this is a first step for our vacation home fund. We also feel very good about the purchaser of the land.  It will used as the extention of a spiritual center  and it will conserved for its natural beauty and its water source.  Check out the link; the pictures are lovely.

We started out for Connecticut on Saturday morning in the midst of a snow storm that only got more intense as we drove over the mountains.  It continued to snow/rain/snow/sleet/rain for the entire trip, but we arrived safely and had a most pleasant weekend.  The sun even came out for a few hours on Sunday and we all ran outside to sit on the deck.  The clan gathered for Easter dinner--family getting together, everyone looking pretty healthy, and plenty of good food--that's a holiday in my book. The poetry group had its finale last night with a poetry reading at the Deborah Rawson Library .  Everyone read at least one of their poems.  Some were funny and others, serious and even somber, but it was all good. It is continuing to rain.  If April showers bring May flowers we should be due for one fantastic blooming coming up here.  I have noticed lots of daffodils are out around town.  Not mine, though.  They are up but have those buds cl...

For all those who celebrate this holday, have a Happy Easter.

What is up with blogger today?  Talk about cranky and out of sorts.  It is having a full blown tantrum!

I got a chuckle out of an article in yesterday's Burlington Free Press .  Then I kind of got irritated. Kohler luxury toilet costs $6, 390: toilet aficionados, look not further. A Wisconsin company is promising you "a figment of beauty and geometry" with piano music, feet warmers, and a slew of other amenities--if you are willing to flush out nearly $6,400. Kohler Co. is preparing to release its high end Numi toilet this fall. When it senses your presence, the toilet automatically raises an adjustable- height cover. A night light guides you to its heated seat. If you stay a while, plug in you iPod or turn on the built-in FM radio. A floor-level vent blows warm air to keep your toes warm. I am sorry that a picture did not accompany this tidbit because I am most curious to know what it looks like. Personally, I am not even considering buying one of these until it is perfected. I want a toilet that can sense gender and automatically open the lid only or bo...

I went for my walk today in spite of the fact that it was not even thirty degrees out and the wind was gusting at 30 MPH.  Can't say I enjoyed it much, but now I at least have the satisfaction of having gotten some exercise. In spite of my early training--give up something for Lent, go to church a whole lot, cook a huge feast, visit the relatives, and buy a new bonnet--Easter has never been a very favorite holiday for me.  I am not particularly religious so I don't get involved in that aspect any more.  I remember the visiting family and the feasting fondly.  On the other hand, my mother spent so very much time cooking and baking all kinds of  traditional dishes and carrying out other Ukrainian rituals that she was pretty much toast by the actual day.  In fact, the whole Easter time was a likely trigger for one of her breakdowns/psychotic episodes.  Maybe I am honoring her memory by being cranky and out of sorts. Or maybe it really is the...

After killing off my first car, my dad helped me find a "new" one.  The Opel Kadette had been reintroduced by Buick in the early 60's as the American answer to the VW Beetle.  I have always wondered why the bigwigs at Buick never thought to question why the Germans had discontinued it in the first place.  That vehicle had some quirks. This car presented challenges from the start.  It had a manual transmission. Now, I had taken driver's education in high school and back then all the driver's ed. cars were manual transmission.  I remember that I had done really well on the first written test after the introduction lectures (I did school well) and the instructor handed me my A+ test and  remarked about how easy it was going to be to teach me how to drive.  He changed that particular prediction as soon as he sat next to me behind the wheel and discovered I had no feel for the clutch at all.  Let's just say my mechanical ineptitude is epic. ...

I'm offereing this guest contribution to my blog today--in honor of the fact that I will not have to go on more blood pressure medications as long as I continue to do well on the DASH diet.  I had a doctor's appointment today and my blood pressure was down from last fall...and I still need to lose a few pounds. Living Healthy: Why It's Easier Than You Think Living healthy is so important to us 'old folks'. I have always been a health advocate, so I've always been interested in living healthy. My husband, however, was a little harder to convince. By the time he was in his 40s, he had high cholesterol and needed to exercise more to lose some weight. He took his cholesterol medication, but kept on with his junk food and sedentary lifestyle. It was when he was 54 that we found out that he had more serious health problems that could have probably been avoided if he would have taken the doctor's advice when he was younger. Living healthy doesn't mean fo...

In the news today, gas prices reach $4.00 a gallon.  It seems that the old notions of supply and demand no longer drive the economy.  I never really understood much of economics anyway, but this whole speculation deal really leaves me scratching my head.  I make it a point now of combining errands and working out an "always turning right" kind of route to follow.  I am thinking it is time to up my number of "no car" days as well. My first car was a used and abused old Chevy Impala that was approximately the size of the QEII.  I bought it in 1968, I think.  It was an automatic transmission, which was good, but it had no radio, which was really bad.  I remember having to hang a transistor radio off the open ashtray on the front console.  Yet, I feel free to tut-tut anyone driving around with a cell phone to his/her ear. After my son was born, the radio was less important.  I put his car seat in the middle of the front passenger seat--it ...

I sat down at the computer last night to catch up a little bit, but the wind knocked out our service.  Things were really swirling around as the wind seemed to come from any and every direction, sometimes all at once. So I did the only sensible thing.   I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed and slept for ten hours.  Yes, I had a very busy few days with Kristen and Dane with lots of out door walking and visits to the parks in spite of the chilly (freezing cold) weather.  We went to Oakledge Park one day and walked trails by the lake and visited the tree house and the swings.  We went to the Ethan Allen Park another day and climbed up to the tower two times and in between played on the swings and slides.  We took their Uncle Kevin out for lunch. We also did a lot of drawing, reading of stories, running around in the back yard, and a certain amount of eating of pop corn, ice cream and chocolate.  We made a visit to the Lake Champlain Chocolate ...

I sorted more books at the library on Monday and then went back for the poetry workshop.  The theme for this year's program is "The Ear of Poetry."  We spend some time listening to poets read --either recorded or members of the large group--and there are amazingly talented people in our small town area.  Then we  break into small groups for work sessions.  I am really appreciating the two other women in my small group.  It's eerie how we are on the same page without having known each other from before.  (Ha!  I made a small pun.  Ear-y, get it?) Yesterday I got out and did some cleaning up in the yard and garden--some raking and a lot of bending over to pick up debris.  I went for an exercise walk, but the yard work was much more of a workout, I think.  I can still stand upright and walk today, though. Last night I went to a "rockin rivets" class at a local bead store.  We learned how to drill small holes in ro...

This book is written by a physician and geriatrician.  It is about a cat that lives on the Steere House Nursing and Rehab. Center in Providence, Rhode Island.  Oscar lives in the wing that houses those in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.  The thing about him is that he senses the end of life and is unfailingly there for dying and their families. If you have experienced the heartbreak of caring for someone with dementia, or, if you have experienced evidence  for the souls of animals, you will not get through this beautiful story with dry eyes. You can read about the ten signs of dementia in contrast to "normal" lapses in memory here .

 I think that there is very little more dead and dreary looking than a Vermont flower garden in the early spring.  But even at its saddest, the potential of the garden is still there.  We have to try to remember it as it was and can be again. Even before all the snow has melted the crocus will be in bloom. The daffodils are sure to follow.

I do not get paid to research nor to endorse any product, but when I happen upon something that really works for me I do want to share.  So  for what it is worth, this is something I really do use and feel it works like they say it will. The other day, Mike had a blood vessel burst while taking a shower.  It took him a while to notice.  The result was a bloody towel, blood spots on the bath rug, and drips down the hallway and into the dining room.  Specific details are not relevant so let's just not go there.  Anyway, this is a picture of carpet that covers the hallway and dining room: The carpet is not white, it is "sand."  I picked it so that tracked in sand would not be glaringly obvious on a day to day basis.  Blood, on the other hand, and as you might well imagine, will be very obvious on this particular surface (blueberry pie filling, coffee, spaghetti sauce, red wine, fruit juice--yeah, it's all been there, too, and way more than actual...

Yesterday I noticed a  bus for a doggie day care going by.  It looked like a small school bus except that it was purple.  At least one of the several doggie day care places around here will pick up dogs and then deliver them at the end of the day.  I realized that I never saw a doggie day care place in Venice, Florida. Now, Venice is dog paradise as far as I can tell.  The sidewalks are abuzz with people walking their dogs each morning and evening.  Many of the dogs seem never to even have to touch their feet to the ground since they are carried or carted in strollers or bicycle baskets.  Dogs have their own beach.  They have a downtown parade and an official day in the park.  There are dog grooming places and even higher end salons for the pampered canine.  No day care facilities, I'm guessing because the population is so heavily skewed to the retired who don't need day care or a bus to transport their pets. What I did notic...

I have no idea why I picked up this book, but I am in the middle of reading the joy of less: a minimalist living guide (how to declutter, organize, and simplify your life) by Francine Jay.  So far I have not lerarned one new thing.  In fact, I should have written this book myself. There was an article in the Burlington Free Press the other day about Vermont high schools that are actively recruiting tuition paying students from China.  Resourceful way to address budget pinching.  Once, after hearing yet another harangue about running schools more like a business, I had thought of of sending our students to be educated in China.  You know, the outsourcing thing that businesses do. Seriously?? Donald Trump for president?  Of the United States? And really...what's with the duck mouth?  This is an unattractive man.  I mean, I have more substantive objections to his politics, but shallow attracts shallow.

Among the delights of springtime in Vermont--frost heaves and pot holes.  I finished up my list of errands from yesterday (finished up today; my list of errands was more ambitious than I was yesterday).  The roads are in terrible condition, with deep holes filled with water, cracks, sags and bumps.  In addition, the highway department has started some kind of major project on a nearby bridge which has so far involved tearing down a number of buildings, setting up a blasting area, and stopping any two way traffic in the vicinity.  This will impact my usual shopping routines. I guess that I had better start to re-acquaint myself with what is going on in the area--and the news in general.  I usually like to listen to NPR for my understanding of current events, but way too often lately I have been an avoider.  The news is either depressing or it is triggering my high blood pressure. Maybe I'll continue another week or two of blissful ignorance.

A member of the poetry workshop shared this Zen poem with the group.  as if mending socks, I repair my mind and live on         ~Lady Yoshino Yoshiko (1915- ) It struck me as especially poignant in light of both historical and current events in Japan. ~~~  I do like a cookie with my tea.  Okay, I like two cookies with my tea (like I can't see that eye rolling thing).    My new favorite is Newtons Fruit thins (cranberry, citrus, oat) made by Nabisco.  They have 140 calories for a serving size of three (Wow, 3, I short changed myself).  They also come in blueberry or raspberry and chocolate. ~~~ As I was running a number of errands today, I had the car radio on and happened to hear a couple of ads for an organization promoting diversity -- not just at work but in neighborhoods as well.  I was reminded of this picture that my nine year old grand daughter drew for me. For some reason it just cracked...

The morning's snow and sleet has changed to a steady rain.  The air is cold and damp.  I am planning on attending the library poetry workshop tonight.  It is a fantastic opportunity, led by a retired English professor and poet from the University of Vermont.  Still, it's cold and damp.  It's going to take some effort to get bundled up and force myself out of the warm and cozy house after supper. I believe I was missing my sewing machine.  I spent a few hours yesterday making a shoe hanger for my closet and a jewelry pillow to hang on the door. I didn't do any sewing all winter, but I did do some beading. It's curious that I can arrive in Florida and have everything unpacked and put away within a matter of hours, but in my own home it has taken me two and a half days to get everything put away. Well, I have to admit it's easier when you are dealing with an empty closet.  I did do some shopping in Florida--living the Florida lifestyle at Beall's....

We are home again and somewhat unpacked.  Everything around the house was pretty much in order.  We are so exhausted I feel like I could have walked the whole way.   It will be an early night and a good old Sunday morning sleep in.   I have thirty-something e-mail messages and 71 blogs to catch up on, plus a whole bunch of submissions from my writers' group and all the reading for the poetry workshop on Monday.  I can't deal with any of that now.  The main computer is doing all its updating stuff and being even s...l...o...w...e...r...than I am feeling right now. We had a safe enough trip--got past Tampa just in time and avoided bad weather the rest of the way.  I sure do know I'm not in Florida any more, but there is not as much snow as I was anticipating. My pillow is really insisting that I wash my face, brush my teeth, and kiss it good night.  You know how demanding pillows can be--best that I obey.