Sept

Bob & Petey went to the Detroit RUSH concert. Apparently we are going to Texas so they can go again??? Petey turned 63 and I took him to Chicago for the Natural History Museum Pokemon exhibit. It was a HOOT! I've hired a gardener. I can't anymore. Z moved out and I need help.

Whoops! skipped August!

Aaaand it is practically the middle of Sept. One of my junk emails pointed out it is only 100 days till Xmas! I still haven't told you about the amazing trip this summer! Paulie put together a "Lit Stop" tour of Cape Cod that finally got my sorry ass to Emily Dickinson's house. Her kitchen (at the Homestead) is under renovation but we did get to stand in her room. It was supremely freaky. Haunted. Pete took a pic of me reflected in her mirror and it is eerie. Turns out Sue was not only cutting edge tech wise (first electric/gas/plumbing) but, she was also kind of a bitch. She had a button on the floor under the dining room to summon serving staff, who pretty much bailed every 6 months. She did have GREAT taste in wallpaper! Right, anyway other haunted history tours, we were all surprised how very somber North Bridge (shot heard round the world?) was. We swung by Walden Pond but it was $30 to park and raining to beat the band so we saw the wee cabin and bailed. We also visited Louisa May Alcott's (abusive? SHEESH her dad was CRAZY) parents house it was really more May's space than Lousia. The docent tried to tell us Louisa "ran" to Boston in five hours to attend a party. Ummmmm...doubtful...those freaking button up ankle boots? Hoop/Crinoline long skirt?? *shaking my head* Let's see we also saw Emerson's house. We went to the Erice Carle Museum of Picture Books. Had lunch with their Peter and he took us to the Lovecraft shop in Providence. We ate lobsters and clams and saw WHALES!!!!! SQUEEEEEEE!!!! Took the 7 Seas tour (tm) (big ass boat but still not as big as Humpback Whales) and met 3 whales: Dross, Salt and Satula. Saw at LEAST 8 other individuals, apparently it is snack time in that warm shallow area. We were 15 miles out and it was absoulutely stunning. Humans are so small and dumb. Also? Got the best pizza in the world back in Baldwin!

Bear's 40th (and Katie's 29th)

What an absolute adventure. First of all can someone explain why I get seasick on land but not on water? Switchbacks. OI...I booked the house!! I knew it was in the mountains...but hoooolyshit...I thought we were gonna die. LOL The charming A-frame house was literally on Lake Arrowhead had five bedrooms and a bar/rec room w/Star Wars Pinball, Galaga and a pool table. And approximately 160 stairs. We were there for a week. Full of swimming and tabletop games, grilling steaks and eating cake. It was peaceful, cool and lovely.

Bloomsday...

It is kinda Pete's gig. When he isn't literally run into the ground trying to take care of HIS patients and M.O's, he has in the past spent the day reading Ulysses in his hammock. Alas, he went to work today. I suspect because in 23 sleeps we ALL (well not the dogs...Miranda is coming to house/chicken/cat sit) go to Lake Arrowhead for Matt's 40th and Katie's 28th. In the mean time Z has taken a mental health day because: pollen, "this economy", Cheeto dust and anxiety about flying are just too much. I get it. My ass has been dragging for days. I wonder if Z isn't feeling grief about Uncle Eoorik. E finally cashed in his chips. We are all in a funk.

Monday

Iz spent the weekend in Portland,Maine with her girls. She is on her way home right now. Got new sofas so the Covid couch has numbered days, once we get past Christmas here w/SoCal kids? It will prly get BURNED (lol). Lot of yard work over the weekend. Z managed to FLIP the riding lawnmower. That was scary. Pete still doesn't have his MachE back. He should sue FORD...srsly... since Valentine's Day when he was off to pick up heart shaped pizza. I am old and tired.

Spring?

DIRECT SOW: I've planted peas, spinach and 2 kinds of lettuce. I've planted my beloved haruki turnips, french breakfast radishes and two kinds of arugula. It is snowing.

Danny's 5th

POKEMON and Climbing Gym!!! What a hoot! Izzy, Pete and I traveled out to SoCal. I was s'posed to go a week early because Fabi was going to Atlanta. That got cancelled; which was good-- because Delta was like..."ummmm...you might want to reschedule cuz FREAKIN BLIZZARD". I am glad I waited because the orginal flight was delayed by 5 hours and it taxied around DTW for 90 minutes. PASS!! Once we got out there it was wonderful. Warm and sunny and parrots and succulents. The boys are getting so grown up! I need to win the lottery even my endo says I should move out there for the winter. I love my house and land but damn it is truly very hard coming home to frozen gray and the Covid Couch. I think today is the last day of 20F. Praise Cheebus.

hey S'up?! weekend recovery mode

The Hashi's isn't hard to live with; not really-- I do need to got pick up my Rx soon though. But, dudes-- I am so freaking tired. Two social events in one weekend (using that term loosely)! J's bDay dinner in Brighton was Saturday night and despite a lot of pre anxiety about driving up North (actually coming home w/potentially buzzed driver was my bigger worry...The good doctor had one glass of wine early on and we were fine.) The roads were assuredly black ice because shitty freezing rain all day. eep. That is neither here nor there. Because GD it was fun hanging out!!! Best conversation IN MONTHS... Gregoire and James trying to decide if audio books count as reading! I was delighted. Great crowd, Nice steak, weird bathroom.

Sunday was pretty chill, (Literally! UGH my knees hate the cold.) I made waffles. We mostly just made sure we had bevvies for MONDAY NIGHT!! WHOOP! WHOOP! Petey grabbed Faygo red pops and he scored special label Labatts. The Wings' centennial and all. Spent Monday afternoon cleaning the bathrooms and "decorating" for hockey watch party. Finally, Monday about 4:30, I got the Toramina's ordered. Hockey was to start at 5:30.

Izzy asked Adri and I asked Nezka--and we had a huge puppy pile to watch Sergei's 91 get raised to the rafters of the Pizza Arena (LCA). An honor that was a long time coming-- that dude can skate.

It was a lovely evening. Katie and Z hung out for the ceremony and pizza and made the puck drop but Katie was wiped too; so Z took her home mid 1st period. We were all a little teary eyed RE/Vladdy and missing COACH. I, of course, made popcorn during the first intermission. Pete made sure the flag was straight and so... rituals in place... THEY WON! IN OT!! It was a GREAT game; reffing sucked. I don't like the 'Canes and my boys WON! SQUEEEEEE. Stayed up too late and had too much junk but it was worth it. Starting to plot for Danny's 5th. Plane fare procured...he wants a croquet set!!

I am not sure what happened to November

Sebastian turned 2! (See earlier post). Did I say I stepped down as Chatelaine!? But, now it is December 31. What a year. Attended a NO KINGS RALLY. Enough said about that. Let's remember pleasant things, in reverse order... I guess. Last night was quite unusual, not the normal Tuesday. Not only did we get oven fired pizzas ckingcafe.com downtown, but Izzy and I finally got our shit together for "Tarot Tuesday" at the Ypsi Cocktail Club.

Everything the reader said made perfect sense. I wasn't surprised. When we got home Matt & Fabi called and we watched the boys open our presents. They were in Mexico with abuela and the primos...next year is our turn! WOOOHOOOO! Did get to spend an afternoon with Dave and Lorine, that was so nice. Took them to Biercamp in A2 for lunch and just hung out and shot the shit. Christmas here was pretty quiet. The snow all melted on the day of and we had a high of 58F...then a wee blizzard so it is snowy again! #PUREMICHIGAN I have mastered the bird feed mix. 50% hot pepper flavored and 50% "no mess". OH HI! We had a mated pair of red tails raise two younglings. They were very loud. LOL. One of the juveniles saw that a goldfinch was trapped in a large feeder and it could not figure out how to get it. After an hour of entertainment Pete took pics and we laughed about the "hawk feeder". I let the lil doofus out and she escaped to live another day. Keiki's toe however? Not so much. My bff had a weird bump on her back right paw. It was like a bloody lima bean. SO GROSS. It kept getting bigger; didn't respond to antibiotics so it was amputated and girlfriend learned how to wear a boot. It was NOT cancer. She is fine.

October

Team Rocket and Gengar went out to SoCal for Trick or Treat and Gramma stayed through Sebas' 2nd Bday. He loves Cookie Monster and Gonger so it was a Sesame Street Fiesta. It also RAINED. We "pivoted" indoors and it was awesome.

Monthly update

This week is nuts. I saw Anna (Terra Nova) for an hour on Monday morning absolute delight. I do miss Becky but Anna is very good. She did say she wants to move out to SoCal. figures. Speaking of SoCal, Fabi has two conferences and will be travelling all week so I am gonna go be a 2nd adult in case of emergencies with Matty. Plan on making cookies with my Gboys! That of course is AFTER JeffandChris' wedding (get to see Lisa T and Skye) and AFTER LisaC and Paulie fly home. They are coming "for cocktails" (and tattoos)!!! Speed packing on Saturday! LOL Izzy has completed her apprenticeship at Lucky Monkey and Z and Katie are looking at 6 month anniversary of "dating". Katie hangs a lot...we are having fun turning her onto GBBO. She does not like ALIEN:Earth but she is being very brave! LOL Had to get the dogs new harnesses, the old ones wore right through. The peaches worked!

braindead & Greenhouse

1.Potential map for nonexistent writing project. 2.My poblanos look more like shishito. Jalapenos are sad. Cukes doing fine.I made cornichons.That was fun. Mint/Basil etc...FINE...tomatos outside doing well. Bunnies ate all the dill. 3. Compost is my new hobby.

My sweet little drummer boy's bDay.

In July of 1986 I was 19 and preggers w/my first child. I went from 98lbs to 185. There was free soft serve ice cream in the college (EMU/Sellers) cafeteria. When term ended I moved to Flint. We quickly got a rental house on Oklahoma. It was “ok”. Good shady yard…ok immediate neighbors. On the bus route. My little sister came to help that summer. This week he turns 39. He earned his PhD in microbiology from MSU. He is married to another MSU PhD and they have two gorgeous beautiful boys that I am ABSOLUTELY THRILLED to be their Gwamma.

ummm... Yeahhhhh

Pete tested positive for COVID 1.5 days before we were supposed to have left. NO LISA. NO ALBULQUERQUE. *I* was sick for WEEKS longer than the good doctor. Ugh. SRSLY? FML. We did see the grandboys later. Danny kept asking me..."Gwamma why are you coughing when you laugh?" Jano got a B+. I gave Jen back her MS. It was super clean and a solid read. This spring's growing season has been a manic roller coaster. There. I updated this.

Springtime

My pepper seedlings are showing their wee green heads. I got a "thank you" token from YDL of a little planter w/basil seeds. They too have popped. All five hens are laying, even Padme. Giving eggs to Katie (Z's girl of 3 months now) and Anna. Ironic that if I had access to Matt's lemons I could make and sell curd and be RICH! LOL! It is windy and rainy and after Izzy's 27th bDay dinner tomorrow Pete and I are flying to Albuquerque to hang with Lisa C and Paulie for a few days. I am reading alot. Can't write. Absolutely cannot concentrate.

One more week and I'll be in SoCal for my birthday weekend...

In the meantime I chase "park grackles" out of the chicken pen (they are eating the organic kibble for the hens...who only want to eat the fatty scratch) and watch the squirrels steal the bird seed from the song bird feeders. Someone sent me rainbow flame pinecones????? No card, just like the mysterious Xmas Jam.

pepper seed or gravity feed

Feeding the birds is fun. Feeding the squirrels? Not so much! The hot pepper suet and feed assuredly works well, but is so pricey! One squirrel braved the flavor but then tried to clean his whiskers on the picnic table. The gravity feeder we bought recently also works but it is so small the bluejays don't fit. Need to get the big one.

Trying our best...soylent green

The whole fam has embraced eating less red meat, despite only one of us actually identifying as vegetarian. I found a line of products (fake meat) that are slightly healthier choices than IMPOSSIBLE and BEYOND. They are so delicious and 97% believable because of the high amounts of fat and sodium. So...we tried ABBOT's chick'n today in a "chicken salad" ciabatta for lunch.

Not bad, from frozen to food in ten minutes, believable shaped chunks that browned up nicely. This would be good in rice bowls, tacos/burritos etc...discusssion of how to bread it ensued. 8/10.

New Morning routine-I am not a product.

Yep...dumped Goodreads and Meta. Dobby is FREEEE! BUT! I have joined storygraph and bluesky! My morning routine used to be feed and water chickens and dogs. Have a longer 2nd coffee and delete emails, which usually drifted to FB to check on humans that I like. Peek at news, run screaming. Lately? I also check the SoCal fire map.(Last night the Eaton Fire was 89% contained.) After coffee, (weather permitting), walk dogs, post a picture of walk, so other peeps know that I am alive. Do some Yoga. Attend to my Scrabble addiction and perhaps watch a couple of cute fossil hunting and mudlarking/dog/moose videos... maybe a water color tutorial. Eat something. Shower. Get on with the day. Whelp, I have a weird big lonely hole now. It is too cold to walk dogs and no gossipy shenanigans or (thankfully) "getting influenced" to buy poorly made shit w/the good doctor's very hard earned cash. I am no longer MAKING content for an already finacially oversecure asshole. I am currently stuck using the ifruit (devices themselves and email), G**gl3 (though I did just give wikipedia $) and as little as possible is purchased from the big beautiful river. Speaking of that online giant, they failed to deliver the VERY POPULAR "Oynx Storm". They didn't anticipate the power of basic bitches who like dragons. BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Good thing I had the audio on pre Order. It is a fun read... lil too much sexxy time for my hormonally unbalanced old ass BUT...the dragons ROCK! I am also reading "The Last" by Hanna Jameson, if it weren't for the lexapro I wouldn't have gotten past the end of the world intro to the cozy murder mystery that is so far, pretty engaging. Do you remember IRL when that young girl turned up DEED on the hotel water cistern? Similar plot...but not... COMMENTS WELCOME! lol

Lexapro...sure why not?

Hey...s'up? Bailed on FB between the ads and the unsolicited "friends" nope...back to the '90s. The Eaton Fire out in LA is 89% contained. Matt. Fabi and the boys are safe. I can't wait for it to rain out there. Meanwhile, the temp is minus 3F here,so THISOLDHOUSE and the exterior wall plumbing/taps are dripping and cabinet doors are open. Fingers crossed. The Lexapro is a.) assuredly helping with sleeping and pooping. b.) takes the edge off panic doom spiral but kind of just muffles everything...It is like hiding under a quilt in a cave. The hellscape is still out there I just don't care. Still fat. Got a new fitbit.