Confessions of a Grandma

 We took care of everything we could at our new house in Florida and decided to head back to Vermont where I plan to sell my condo. There are a couple of projects to take care of and then there is the sorting through all our combined stuff and deciding what to get rid of and what to take to Florida. I am distressed at the amount of craft paraphernalia I have collected. Don makes fun of me -- the man who has not one, not two, but THREE 20'x40' storage units packed full. Furniture (now we have three households of it), tools and toys (big boy toys). Don did a lot around the place in FL that we sold and he did a lot of handyman jobs for neighbors after the hurricane damage, but he was constantly complaining about having the tools he needed and other materials, all in storage up north. It's a beautiful time of year in Vermont -- so lush green (it is the Green Mountain State for a reason). My lilacs are fading, but the iris are about to bloom. It's cool and Levi is finding he...

Our puppy has grown fast, but he still has a puppy attitude. He likes to play fetch with his balls. He likes his chew toys. He LOVES playing tug-of-war. My arms are getting muscular from the tugging because he is pretty strong. Most of all he loves to run. If it's in the rain, even better! Zoomies are a nightly thing. He does have his routines down and well timed. Sometimes he wears himself out and can't even stand over his water bowl.   Not that he's spoiled, but he does like to nap with a pillow. Don remarks everyday to me, "For someone who didn't want a dog, you are awful attached."

 

 It has been a while since I have had the time or the inclination to sit down and whip out a post.  Don and I were busy looking at houses. The manufactured home in a retirement community was nice but there was no garage and Don NEEDS a garage. So we started house hunting and hunting. We looked at houses until we were crossed eyed but managed to find a place we both liked. Then there was the packing and the cleaning and general hassle and stress of buying and selling. We only moved 3 miles but moving is moving! To say the people we bought from were not user friendly would be an understatement. It's probably telling that almost all the neighbors we have met so far have expressed relief that the couple has moved away and we had direct and clear advise to change the locks ASAP. So now it's cleaning again and unpacking. When that is all done we will head back to VT to sell my condo --basically start most of this project over again. My manufactured home sold very quickly and at a go...

 

 I was in JoAnn's the other day and saw this bright green so I decided to give a small quilting project another try. My last quilting project was somewhat of a disaster. I was making a quilt when I had the detached retina and for a long time after that I could not see straight lines unless I closed my left eye. I went ahead with the quilting anyway and it was amazingly wonky so I gave it up for a year or two now. I am not big into holiday decor, but this seems made for St. Patrick's Day. That and some Irish soda bread. I don't mind a little corned beef and cabbage, but I wouldn't bother to make it. Don wouldn't eat it. If you are into the wearing of the green, have a Happy St. Paddy's Day.

  The Last Resort is a look at the history, present, and future of the beach vacation industry. The author gives insights to a wide range of aspects of tourism -- financial, social, cultural, political, and environmental impacts. All the impacts are considerable. I was most taken with the story of Fiji. Pre-resorts and it's discovery by the tourist industry there were clans, some fishing based and some farming based. Totems for the clans included the flora and fauna of the shore and forest. Turtles nested on the beach. The clans were interdependent and cooperative, a self sustaining society living under the Fijian concept of solesolevaki, translated as "the direct opposite of individualism." Not quite paradise because the area was prone to seasonal cyclones, but the community preserved and stored food and supplies sufficient to get all the people through the storms, Then the developers came. The clans living near the beaches were promised a regular income for allowing ho...