Gees Bend Quilt

Sunday night

In the last few weeks, as I contemplated what retirement may be like, I thought that one big difference would be Sunday evenings.  In the late 70's, I worked in a high pressure job.  I was trying to learn and do things right, and I was responsible for things that were out of my control; and I suffered from Sunday night heebie-jeevies, a nervousness about what tomorrow might bring that threatened to bring my weekend mood crashing down.  Until the last few years, I suffered from the Sunday h-js.  When I thought of retirement, I thought that Sunday nights were going to be just another evening - an evening filed with later night TV, or late night reading, or sitting on the deck watching the fireflies without worrying about "bedtime".  Sleeplessness is no longer a big threat if you are free in the daytime to take a nap if you want.

So, tonight it is 8:45 on Sunday night.  I am watching a show called Craft in American on Roku.  It is about quilting in Gee's Bend, Alabama.  I am thrilled with the prospect of hand quilting my pink and white quilt that came from my mother.   I am thrilled to be able to watch crafters and artists who love to work with their hands. It is very freeing to think that I can start that project tomorrow if I want.

Bring on Monday!

Free as a bird

Retired!

If you Google "how to retire", most of the articles are about how to retire early.   I never even thought about retiring early -- I couldn't imagine what life would be like.  I loved going to work and waited a long time to actually write and deliver my resignation letter.  It was a decision that I made, and one that was also made for me.  When it is time to leave a job, it is pretty obvious.  Just like anything else, you follow the signs.

I have over 135 books on my Kindle that need to be read.  I have a jewelry studio bursting with beautiful beads and elements that need to be used.  I have a kiln for precious metal clay that needs to be fired. I have letters to write, walks to take, and many places to visit.  And, not least, George will love having me home. We are looking forward to all things big and small.  Big trips are being planned, but small things too;  more time on the deck in the sunshine, more bird watching at Plum Island, more weekday trips to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester, more weekday lunches together.  The possibilities seem endless. It is very exciting.  It's time.

Time to say goodbye to working, so that I have time for more hellos to everything else!

A trip to Bermuda will make your heart sing!

George and I just returned from a week long cruise to Bermuda on the Norwegian Dawn.  This was our first cruise together, and my first cruise in over 30 years.  It was delightful.  We loved the ship and the people who work there; all passengers were there to have a good time; the food was excellent, the beds were soft, there was plenty of room in the cabin, and we had a balcony for a view of the ocean when we wanted it.

Bermuda was sunny and gorgeous.  The turquoise blue waters are unbelievably beautiful, and our only problem was that our camera didn't take pictures that show that beauty.  It was like my camera decided to filter the direct sun, so the pictures are ...  mediocre.  But our pictures do just what we need them to do - remind of us the natural beauty we saw.

We swam and frolicked at Horseshoe Beach, and took a taxi ride around the island with a very nice guy named Oliver.  He showed us the schools, the grocery stores and the gardens where people grow their own food, since bought food is so expensive.  We took a  boat to a reef and sunken ship, and watched the fish swirl around in the blue waters.

Our trip was a huge success.  Lets go back.

Snowy Owls on a Saturday morning

George and I went to Plum Island this morning to see the snowy owls.  We saw one, barely.  The way to find the snowy owl is to look for the people with binoculars crossing the road from their cars, and then point your binoculars in the same direction they are.  This particular snowy owl was on the ground, in the snow, next to a thousand other clumps of snow.  He was well camouflaged.  In fact, I am surprised we even found him.  He was not far from the road.  As one woman said when she tried to explain to us where he was; you could hit him with a snowball.    If it looks like a snowball with a gray tinge, and two eyes, it is probably a snowy owl.   We watched him watching us.  Then we left.  He stayed.

Plum Island is located on the Parker River National Wildlife Preserve.  It is near Newburyport, MA. and about 40 miles from our house, or a nice Saturday morning drive.  We go there often.  The waterways are mostly frozen now, so we are eagerly awaiting the thaw, when the ducks will be back.  We have seen hawks, a bittern, all kinds of wonderful ducks including pintails, buffleheads, teals & mergansers; willets, yellowlegs and other shore birds....I could go on, but I'd need a birdbook to name them all.

It is a wonderful place.   Oh, yeah.  On the way home from work in Medford on Friday afternoon, we saw an American Bald Eagle fly by; black huge wings, white head, soaring near the river.  Incredible.

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog. I'm not sure what got in the way, but life is a series of ebbs and flows. Keeping in balance, and doing the next right thing -- sometimes just takes all our attention. Every day I am more grateful for another day to give it all another go. Lately I'm considering what jewelry I want to make, how I can do a better job of organizing all my hobbies. I've decided that anyone who wants to come and have dinner with us will need to accept and enjoy all the materials that I have stored in the diningroom. Not everyone has a kiln, a metal embosser, boxes of paints, brushes, cutters, paper, stamps, yarn, plastic canvas, beading tools....my dining room is a storehouse of fun. You just have to realize that serving and enjoying food is only a small part of life in my dining room. Maybe I am talking about forgiveness. As we learn to love and forgive each other, we also need to forgive ourselves. I am in working on forgiving myself for my curiosity, my enthusiasm and my ongoing collections of the stuff I need to create things. My kiln is my friend, and enjoys a big place in my heart as well as my home. Tools are like old friends. They are there when you need them, no longer how long since you've seen them. Have a creative day!

Life gets a little crazy sometimes. Keep dancing.

California in December

We had a great time visiting California to see my family, and enjoy a trip to the San Diego Zoo Safari park. The palm trees were gorgeous, and the sunny blue sky was amazing to see. Boston is great, but we really enjoyed the scenery and the sunshine. We stopped at a fruit stand in Temecula, and bought red oranges and grapefruits and wanted to buy lots more. George and I stood by the car in the parking lot and ate 2 oranges each right there! Delicious.

Home again, and now it's all about Christmas. We are busy decorating the house, and had a great trip to the outlet mall and our favorite store: Villeroy and Boch, where I bought some beautiful Christmas plates and a tea setting. I love the festive colors of Christmas, and we leave our decorations up until February.

Blogging has been something that has gone by the wayside of my busy life. I'm very grateful to have such a nice family to visit in California. Onward with the holiday plans!


Enjoy the season!

Safari park picture taken by Devin!

Lemon Meringue Pie

We have decided that we really like making these. I learned that baking a pie crust should not be done while watching The Name of The Rose on TV, or you might overbake it by 5 minutes and have to make a second one from the remaining crust. So, this is not perfect, but definitely a labor of love.

And a really nice treat on a Sunday afternoon.

Thunder's Apple Tree

When my cat Thunder died three years ago at age 17, we planted a very small apple tree in her honor. Last year we were not quick enough with the spray and the borer caterpillars had a picnic on the leaves. It was sad. This year, we were out there with the first warm spring day and sprayed every weekend and watched it closely. It had an abundance of healthy leaves & blossoms. Most of the apples seemed to develop down low.

A problem.

During the night, little night animals would come and pick off the apples one by one. We have skunks, raccoons & woodchucks and any of them could have been the culprit -- or maybe all three. Anyway, all summer we have watched as the apples become fewer. Now we are down to just this one.

So, here is a picture of our one apple for which we have high hopes.

Have a great day.

Hurricane Irene means a lot of waiting here in Boston

Hurricanes are so much fun to watch on the weather channel. So much going on. I'm sorry for people who have damage and flooding in their homes. I have been assured that our gutters are all facing the right direction. I was beading today at my little kitchen studio, and heard a freight train of rain coming down the track. It was a huge downpour, and I was glad when it stopped. George went out for some last minute supplies and got soaked. I shut all the windows and made popcorn.

Tomorrow is church, and since I'm the cantor, we will try to get there if it isn't dangerous to drive. But, it will probably be too rainy to take the chance. They'll have to do without me, the ten people who do show up.

This has been a slow hurricane, with a lot of talk, anticipation and concern.

And lots of time to turn into the weather channel for more updates.