Confessions of a Grandma

Mike was discharged from the hospital yesterday and was very glad to get home.  He is getting a long, good night's sleep.  He was impressed with the care taken, but no matter how pleasant they try to make it, a hospital stay is still a stay in the hospital.  Sleep is always interrupted for some necessary monitoring, not to mention the needs of other patients. He is walking about and sat outside on the deck last night for a time.  I think his feet still hold him back more than the heart surgery. The heat has broken, but it is not the bright sunny day we were promised...at least not yet. I met my son for supper on Monday night and had a very pleasant time and a really good salad supper.  We treated ourselves to creme brûlée for dessert and it was delicious. On Sunday, Mike called me in the morning and told me not to visit that day.  He was still in the ICU--only because they did not have a regular bed available until that evening--and Saturday night h...

Last Monday while driving home from the hospital, I took the interstate, I89. Local people are pretty much aware that the eastbound lane is down to one lane going down French Hill as a large washout is being repaired.  Then there are the signs informing out-of-the-area folks (Flatlanders, as we like to call them) that the right hand lane is closed ahead. So I noticed that a full half-mile before the anticipated lane closing, all the VT cars are single file in the left hand lane.  We have toodled up and down the eastern seaboard states many, many times and honestly never saw anything like that happen before. I had to water my tomatoes yesterday for the first time since I planted.  It is supposed to be hot and humid for the beginning of the week.  So far the weather people have got it right.  But at least we are getting some welcome sunshine. I have heard the thing about women not sweating, merely glowing.  I am glowing so much lately that I am afraid ...

Libraries in all the states (except for Texas, the last I knew) provide summer reading programs around a common theme.  This year’s theme is Dig Into Reading. Lately, my library volunteer duties have included putting together some sample crafts.  The librarian will take a little road show to area schools to drum up interest.  This is a small sampling. These programs bring an incredible amount of traffic into our library—kids of course, but also adult and teen volunteers, parents and/or grandparents who bring the kids and browse the library stacks while they wait.  A lot of learning goes on over the summer.  The place will be jumping…not the like the quiet library I tiptoed around when I was a kid.

The past week was Vermont summer at its finest…well, at least if you like the heat and the sunshine. Weeding the garden chores were fairly easy.  It has been dry and even the weeds are not growing quite as vigorously as usual.  Watering the tomatoes and the planters is of critical importance, though.  Mike takes care of that job when he swabs the deck each morning. I have a few tomatoes almost ready to pick.  I also picked a bunch of lavender to hang for drying.  I do like to have a sprig at bedside.  Lavender is one of those smells you either love or hate, but I love it. I spent about 8 hours doing library volunteer work spread out over the Monday-Wednesday-Friday open hours.  The advantage there—besides doing something useful in the community—is that the library is air conditioned.  This week, I covered many, many new books in plastic and entered them into the catalog system.  Our library is small, but it is very, very busy, especia...

Every one has been saying there was no winter in Vermont this year.  Maybe so, but we are having typical April weather--which means no one would be surprised at the freezing temperatures and the sleety snow fall. I spent the afternoon working at the library.  I met with the state librarian consultant on Wednesday and had a quick tutorial in pulling books off the shelves for de-cataloging.  Our small library probably needs that done more than most because space is so limited.  Of course new books are coming in and there are always donations that need sorting through. Once the books are pulled I have to take them off the computer record, pull the bar code, mark the book as 'withdrawn' and then box them all up.  I can see where this is going to be a long time until completion. I spent the morning sewing some new curtains for my bedroom.  I am about half way finished with that and will maybe get more done later tonight.  Or maybe I will just have ...

It was a fairly nice day and I got out to do some yard work.  Mike went off for his exercise walk.  When I finished in the yard, I noticed that he hadn't yet returned.  That was two hours for a 2 1/2 mile walk.  I got a bit worried and went to look for him.  I should have realized he would have stopped at a neighbors for a catch-up chat. I decided to have a fruit and yogurt smoothie for lunch as a change of pace from the salads of the past three days.  I had the hardest time trying to find my blender.  This adjustment thing is going on a bit long this year. I noticed while sipping my lovely blueberry-raspberry-mango smoothie that the color matched my raspberry-pink shirt.  Then, when I was washing the glass and blender I noticed I was using a raspberry colored dish cloth.  I am just so matchy-matchy today. Note the cheery daffodils.  They are blooming beside south facing walls.  It is supposed to warm up over the wee...

The public library in Venice, FL has a rather large used book store run by the friends of the library.  It is almost as big as our Jericho Town Library circulation space.  The store is staffed full time by at least two volunteers--an advantage of a large retired population.  They wear  pink pinnies.   One of my volunteer activities is to keep the sale book shelf tidy and supplied, but I don't have to wear any particular uniform to identify me as a library volunteer. Anyway, I went there (Venice library) to pick up some magazines for some light reading in the evenings--since I knew I was going to be pretty worn out by then most nights here for a while.  I got (for $1.00--I am so, so frugal lately!) a September Coastal Living  and October issues of Family Circle,  Better Homes and Gardens,  and Country Living. What are the odds?  I ended up with two recipes, timely for Halloween celebration, for "easy" cake pops.  The proces...

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...