First Reads of 2012

So far this year I have only read two books, and one doesn't really count because I didn't finish it.

Our book group's selection for January was Chango's Beads and Two-Tone Shoes by William Kennedy, which came highly recommended by a bookstore employee.  This book also got lots of good reviews on Amazon. Our group is made up of 4 dedicated readers, so when only one person has actually read the whole book (and that member was trapped in the house recuperating from surgery with plenty of time on her hands), you could guess that it definitely wasn't our "cup of tea".  At first I thought it might be interesting:  Castro trying to overthrow Battista, a gorgeous dame, an investigative reporter, money, revolution, etc. but by page 100 I still didn't care about any of the characters, so I just gave up.  Doesn't sound like I missed anything!

Our group had read and been moved by Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise, so I decided to read All Our Worldly Goods, which had recently been reviewed in the Wall Street Journal.  (A little background:  a Russian Jew whose family had relocated to France in 1918, Irene became a successful French author. As the Nazis came to power, her success could not help her--she was denied French citizenship in 1938, arrested in 1942 and shortly thereafter died in the gas chamber at Auschwitz.)

All Our Wordly Goods is the story of a French family between the world wars with its concerns about heritage, class, change, family ties.  Her writing style is descriptive without being sentimental, and I enjoyed her look at the "circle of life" in this book.  Perhaps being an outsider and a keen observer helped her to really see and understand the people about whose lives she wrote.

Men At Work

With Ross visiting for the weekend, Mark decided he could use some help cutting down the big oak tree over the well.

Several large branches had broken during the October snowstorm and the oak has not been too healthy the past few years.  Its leaves would turn brown and start to fall by the end of August but it seemed to fare better during wet summers.

No wonder it didn't look healthy--the center portion is rotted!  The tree is
about 24 inches in diameter where Mark cut.  Because it was leaning towards the greenhouse, Ross used the tree rope and the "comealong" to help guide its fall away from the house and between two other trees as Mark used the chainsaw.  So the men did work--I just can't bear to watch them and waited until the tree was on the ground to take photos.

This oak has also acted as a lightning rod for our well--a lightning strike blew out the pump controller two years ago, and last month another lightning strike not only fried the controller but also blew out the pump down in the well.  $3,000 in repairs later, we decided it was time to take down the damaged tree!

Mark is finally feeling better after being sick with an awful head cold all week, and Thursday morning I woke up with it.  I'm still feeling lousy today and frantically using disinfectant everywhere in hopes that Ross won't catch it. I guess it's that time of year--my 3 book group friends all had colds too.

Hope you are keeping warm and staying healthy!

PIP

I have a fun Project In Progress!  When Dawn was home over Chrismas, we stopped at a local fabric store to look for something appropriate to make covers for the pillows in her Paris apartment.  There was a cute tote bag on display and Dawn realized it was exactly what she needed.

We bought the pattern and the same exterior fabric but had to wait for the store to order more webbing for the handles.  Once I had all the components, I got started!  It's coming together pretty easily and sewing the thick cotton webbing was no problem at all.  Now I'm ready to sew the lining and hope to finish over the weekend.  Book group is coming here this evening and I'm making stuffed shells!

A Mild Day

With 5 inches of fresh powder on Saturday, I was hoping to get some photos of the snowy landscape at the reservoir this week.  Sunday's below-freezing daytime temperatures warmed up enough by Monday to bring drizzle, fog, and then rain.  When the sun came out on Tuesday, temperatures climbed into the mid 50s! 

By the time Kita and I headed out for our walk in the early afternoon, most of the snow had melted and the ice was covered with several inches of water.  I'm not complaining--it was wonderful to wear a light jacket and leave my gloves at home!

The Art of Theater Costumes

As head draper for The Hartford Stage, B. W. Sellers is tasked with making the costumes.  He selected a number of his favorite costumes from many different plays over the years for an exhibition at the theater.

With the costume designer's sketch in hand, Mr. Sellers starts by "making a muslin" which involves draping, cutting, and pinning muslin on a dress form to match the design sketch.  Then the muslin is used to make a pattern.  I was surprised to see that he uses brown kraft paper to actually make the pattern.

The mannequins were posed with their hands holding a description of the costume.  This beautiful gown worn by Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet looks like black velvet but is described as being made from black-green and black-yellow velvet. 

I was pleasantly surprised to see the color differences show up in the photo!  It really looks totally black when you see it on display, but I assume it shimmers under stage lights.

The workmanship is incredible, and the fabrics are gorgeous--a treat for the eyes!

"Boeing, Boeing"

To celebrate our anniversary, we bought tickets to see "Boeing, Boeing" at The Hartford Stage which included a luncheon, courtesy of the New England Air Museum. 

A French play first produced in English in 1962, "Boeing, Boeing" is enjoying a 21st century revival as a fond reminiscence of the "golden age" of air travel.  It's the story of an American bachelor in Paris who is engaged to three different stewardesses who work for different airlines, but chaos ensues when their flight schedules change and all converge on his apartment at the same time.  I hadn't realized it was made into a 1965 movie starring Jerry Lewis and Tony Curtis!

During intermission we had a nice chat with these three lovely ladies who came to the play wearing their original stewardess uniforms!  Back in the day, being a stewardess was quite a prestigious position.  The two women who worked for Pan Am said you had to be fluent in English and one other language to even apply for a stewardess job.  The third said her father allowed her to apply only after she finished her college degree.

In keeping with the 60s theme, I wore a boucle jacket and an above-the-knee pencil skirt with ankle boots as my "go-go" boots.

The theater had an exhibition of costumes made by their draper, B.W. Sellers.  Here Mark is trying to decide which one would suit him the best.  The fabrics are sumptuous and the attention to detail is exquisite--I'll share more of these photos tomorrow!

All in all, we had a wonderful time.  Hope your weekend was fun too!

Last Reads of 2011

I finished a couple of books in December and suddenly feel that I need a break from reading!

Lost Memory of Skin by Russell Banks got a lot of press from critics who generally raved about this book despite its uncomfortable subject matter. A young man who is a convicted sex offender tries to continue living his life while realistically exiled with other misfits to the one area of a city not within 2500 feet of schools, daycares, or anyplace children might be.  (Hint:  it's not pretty.) Kid was arrested when he went to meet a girl he met on the internet, who happened to be underage and whose father was home to call the police when he showed up. The professor who befriends and tries to help him is also an intriguing character with a shady past.  This books raises lots of interesting questions but sometimes tries to be too clever, especially in its depiction of the genius professor who ends up teaching at a community college.  I'd have to say it's better than some I've read recently but I'm glad I got it out of the library instead of buying it.

On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry was our book group's December selection.  I suppose I have in my head the stereotype of Irish authors as being such good storytellers who see the humor in any situation and the tragedy in our daily struggles.  Sebastian Barry doesn't disappoint!  The story unfolds so naturally as 89-year-old Lily reflects upon her life after her grandson's suicide.  How a male author can inhabit the soul of this character so authentically is just amazing.  It's not a cheerful read but it is beautifully written and worth reading.

Cloudy & Cold

With unsettled weather predicted for the next few days, Kita and I headed to the reservoir this afternoon.

Even with fluctuating temperatures (some days in the 20s, some in the 40s), the ice is definitely getting thicker!

Snow!

Last night we finally got our first measurable snowfall since the big storm on October 29, 2011.  Granted, it was only 2 inches of wet snow.

It was just enough snow for the town to have to plow the roads. 

I would have preferred at least 4-6 inches so I could use the snowblower to clear the driveway.  Instead I had to shovel.  The sun came out briefly and started to dry the front walk.  I was hoping it would dry the driveway too, but now it's raining lightly.  When temperatures fall below freezing tonight, all will be ice.  But at least it will be a thin coating of ice--if I hadn't shoveled, we'd have a 2-inch thick block of ice everywhere!

We've been lucky so far, but there are still two more months when we might get snow.  After last winter and the October storm, it's been nice to have a breather!

A Special Celebration

Yesterday we met up with Lisa, Ken, Carolyn and Andrea, and Ann and Jim to help our dear family friend Anne celebrate her 90th birthday with dinner at The Tavern Restaurant in Westfield.  We've continued doing this every year since Mark's dad died because Anne was such a wonderful companion to him.

I caught Anne mid-sentence in this photo!  She's an amazing person--very positive, up-to-date, caring, and funny.  Anne's definitely "on the ball" and doesn't look a day over 70.

She had plenty of wishes to make too!  A little background:  Anne briefly dated Mark's dad in their early high school years and likes to joke that his mother didn't like it because of Anne's French Canadian background.  Who knows?  Anyway, she and Matthew married other people, each had two sons and one daughter, both lost their spouses late in life, and then they reconnected.  It's a very special love story.

Knowing Anne has truly enriched all our lives.  She's an inspiration!

Cold and Clear

We bundled up to take Kita for a walk in the reservoir this afternoon since it's supposed to be much colder tomorrow.

Today we took one of the more secluded paths which brought us to a couple of scenic overlooks.

This view looks over the reservoir property to Farmington Avenue and new condominiums in the distance.  The paved road I where usually walk is at a higher elevation but all the trees block the view.

Yesterday afternoon I met one of my friends from grad school at Harvest Cafe and Bakery in Simsbury for lunch.  We both had the French toast on their homemade bread--delicious!  It was wonderful to catch up with Helen as I haven't seen her since the summer.  We gabbed so long that we closed the place at 3 pm!

Stranger than Fiction

With a banned fungicide showing up in orange juice from Brazil, I was so relieved to read that the US has approved imports of orange juice from Canada!  You can read all about it here:

 http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45964089/ns/today-today_health/t/fda-clears-canada-oj-holds-other-imports-tests/

Who knew that Canada, our neighbor to the North, exports orange juice?  It certainly never occurred to me that was even a possibility.  I still can't figure where in Canada it is warm enough to grow oranges! 

Another strange thing:  we had rain last night but when I drove into Avon today, as soon as I went north past Country Club Road, there was snow on the ground...several inches!  A few days ago, that squirrel fell out of a tree in the reservoir...I wonder what will happen next...

Wishing you a week of happy surprises!

He's Still the One!

Today's post is dedicated to the love of my life on our 36th anniversary!

You're still the one -- I want to talk to in bed
Still the one -- that turns my head
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one -- that makes me laugh
Still the one -- that's my better half
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
You're still the one -- that makes me strong
Still the one -- I want to take along
We're still having fun, and you're still the one (yes you are)

Changing, our love is going gold
Even though we grow old, it grows new

You're still the one -- that I love to touch
Still the one -- and I can't get enough
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

You're still the one -- who can scratch my itch
Still the one -- and I wouldn't switch
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
You are still the one -- that makes me shout
Still the one -- that I dream about
We're still having fun, and you're still the one
You're still the one, yeah still the one
We're still having fun, and you're still the one

(Lyrics to Still the One by Orleans, the #5 song of 1976--couldn't be more appropriate!)

Ice on the Reservoir

Even though our daytime temperatures have been fluctuating wildly, most nights are below freezing now.

In the far distance you can see an area of open water.

Although it looks thin, Mark and I had a good chuckle on Saturday as we watched so many young boys trying to break the ice by heaving the biggest stones they could find onto it--without success.

An interesting thing happened today when I walked Kita in the reservoir:  I saw a squirrel fall off a high tree branch, land on his side on the asphalt road with a THUMP, and then he got up, shook himself, and darted into the woods!  It was easily a drop of 60-80 feet!

Sunset

It's amazing how quickly the colors change in a matter of minutes!

Wishing you fair skies and good weather this weekend!

Three Kings Day

One of our family's favorite read-alouds during the holiday season when Dawn and Ross were little was Tomie DePaola's The Story of the Three Wise Kings.

Every parent knows that kids say and do the most amazing, amusing, and/or annoying things on a daily basis.  Most we forget, but some make a lasting impression. 

In this picture book, the kings ask Herod, "Where is he that has been born to be king of the Jews?"  Apparently this made quite an impression on Ross.  One cold January day when we were in McDonald's waiting for his Happy Meal, I propped him up on the counter while I paid.  He would have been close to 2 years old at that time.  The place was not very busy, but during a rare hush in the crowd, Ross threw out his arms and loudly proclaimed to all, "I  AM  KING  OF  THE  JEWS!"  Not just once either...

Ahhh, memories... however, I don't remember what I said to Ross to clarify this King of the Jews concept.  I think the Happy Meal arrived and I hustled him out of there pronto.

Today I got to thinking about my dad using chalk that had been blessed to mark our doorframe with the initials K + M + B (for Kings Kaspar, Melchior and Balthazar) on Three Kings Day when I was little.  We also got a tiny manila envelope with incense at church.  Here's what I found out about this Polish custom after doing a little internet research:

The Epiphany or Feast of the Three Kings - Trzech Kroli
On Twelfth Night, Jan. 6, Poles take small boxes containing chalk, a gold ring, incense and a piece of amber, in memory of the gifts of the Magi, to church to be blessed. Once at home, they inscribe the date and "K+M+B" with the blessed chalk above every door in the house to provide protection against illness and misfortune for those within. For 2011, it would look like "20 K+M+B 11." The letters, with a cross after each one, stand for names of the Three Kings -- Kaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. They remain above the doors all year until they are inadvertently dusted off or replaced by new markings the next year.  (from about.com)

Hmmm, I always thought the + signs meant "and"!  I remember wanting to use the chalk on our blackboard and dad telling me that it was blessed chalk and not for playing.  I wonder what happened to all that holy chalk over the years...

Happy Three Kings Day!

Days Are Getting Longer!

It always amazes me that the plants can tell when the days are getting longer.  It's just two weeks after the winter solstice and there is plenty of new life in the greenhouse already. 

Barely a month ago nothing was blooming in the greenhouse, and now--WOW!  I'm so happy to see such beautiful color as we're coming to the coldest part of our winter.  And when Mark waters the plants, the greenhouse feels tropical with the warm humid smell of growing things--even if there is snow outside. 

Happy Thursday!

Surprises from Faraway Places

I wish I had a photo of the delicious fruit jelly candies that Dawn brought me from Paris, but I don't--I ate them! Dawn brought a variety of sardines for Mark.  Apparently sardines are a French staple--who knew?

Malima brought me a beautiful silk scarf from Italy.  I've worn it a lot already!  Great clear neutral colors that will go with tans or grays.

Malima also brought me a pair of earrings made by her cousin Molly who is a jewelry designer in San Francisco. To make these, she laser cut birch and layered it with fabric.  They're actually reversible--the other side is unstained birch which gives a shadow effect.  Can you tell she trained and worked as an architect before getting into jewelry?

Malima found this adorable handmade ornament at an Italian Christmas Fair.  It came with an explanation of the significance of the owl in Italian culture.  Malima is making good progress in learning Italian and was able to translate it for us.

Isn't it cute?

On a totally different subject, it is now 20 degrees at 11 am.  I just came in from walking Kita and have to admit that it feels cold out there.  At least it's sunny!

Keep warm today, wherever you are!