Every Day Matters

Adventures in Gardening

We really looked forward to gardening on our new property and bought lots of seed and plants. We have a beautiful garden, with a 6 foot fence to keep critters out. I would guess that it is about 20 x 20 feet, with nice pathways and some permanent plantings.

Well, we are not the most successful gardeners in the world.The raspberry bushes are doing pretty well, but all the blueberries got eaten by birds. Who knew that birds know the difference? Next year we will have a local farmer "tent" the blueberry bush, which is huge.

All I really wanted was radishes and herbs --- I used seeds. As soon as the radishes were 6 inches high, something ate them. (I also found  out that they should have been planted in early April).We figured out that it was a groundhog, My dear son-in-law was determined to get rid of it, and bought a Have-A-Heart trap...3 weeks later, we got it! We think he was living in one of the outbuildings that form the border of part of the garden. So Ken took him down to the Brandywine and he scooted away very fast.

In the meantime, a rabbit discovered a way to get in and ate all my parsley. Boo hoo. Chives and sage are thriving and so are a few varieties of basil. Sage was already here and I had no idea that it was winter-hardy and spreads so much. A few years ago I made chive butter from the flowers and may do that again, as well as make flavored vinegar using my African Blue basil.....which actually turns the vinegar pink! Also will dry and freeze basil.

Laura has done all of the work in this garden, bless her heart. She is picking tomatoes and cucumbers now, and the lettuce that the rabbit has left us. The squash she planted got huge and then got some kind of borer, so cross that off the list. After all, a garden is supposed to be FUN, not a chore!

On the other hand, we have 40 or more hydrangea bushes in every color and variety imaginable, and spread out over most of the property. A gigantic white one has blooms the size of basketballs! Such fun to watch everything blooming.

Moving report....

 

Well, I ended up having 109 boxes just in case anyone was wondering what I have been doing for the last almost 4 weeks! I expected the experience to be painful, and it was, in every way. Movers were great and almost everything has been accounted for and touched. Unpacking has been a huge challenge because I cannot find a place for every thing and because my back hurts, so I am VERY VERY slow.

Zack loves it here except for the workmen who are still around more than he would like. He often takes refuge under a bed. We lost him for hours one day --- he had gotten into the innards of a sofa bed! He loves the beams here, and climbs to the highest ones all the time...and sleeps. I wish I had his balance!

We love this property and discover something new almost every day. 36 hydrangeas, a huge persimmon tree (50 feet tall and just as wide), blueberry and raspberry bushes, a smoke tree. We planted the herb and veggie garden 3+ weeks ago. My radishes appeared very quickly, got about 2 inches tall....and got totally eaten by something. The next day, Laura saw a groundhog in there sniffing around and that night it ate my parsley! We knew it had to be coming thru the shed because there is a 6 foot fence around the garden. So Ken got a trap and, today, 10 days later, we caught it! Ken took the trap down the road to the Brandywine River and released it nearby and it scampered off to the river. Good riddance!

I love being here near the grands, whom I see every day. They are in and out a lot. They are finished school and enjoying the pool. I yearn to be done with all this hard work so I can get into a less demanding routine. I am just tired and old!

sharing an old post for D-Day

https://everydaymatters.typepad.com/every_day_matters/2014/06/normandy.html

Good meal tonight

Still packing. Today was box #60 !!!! Our last move was a lot easier, but it was 23 years ago and I was not old! I have edited and condensed our belongings every day and am sick of it. Today I took off an hour and made a delicious new dinner....Tomato and Spinach Pasta.

Below is a link to the recipe from Dr. Vegan (huh?) - I am not vegan so did not use vegan cream cheese. I guessed at the amount of everything. I had an 8 oz bag of spinach and should have used the entire bag. I also used chickpea pasta, which we really like. I also like recipes that can be done in stages like this one. Total prep time was probably 15-20 minutes. 

Tomato and Spinach Pasta

A quickie here because I am so overwhelmed with other "stuff". Editing our belongings (keep, toss, donate) and packing for our move leaves little time for much else. I am really tired of it all and just want this move to be over and done with. Movers are coming on May 17. I have so many lists and have packed 40+ boxes so far. This is all just exhausting.

I decided to make a composed salad meal for dinner and will not share the recipe because it was such a PIA. Daniel Boulad's Smoked Trout with Grapefruit and Radicchio. Delicious but there is a good reason I have not made it for 15 years! LOL

My only pleasure during this time has been our beautiful property where we will be living. There are so many surprises every week as more and more plants pop up and trees burst into bloom.

So much time....

I spent so much time this week with medical and health stuff, mostly with trying to make appointments. We are transitioning our medical care to doctors who are not affiliated with Christiana Care, but who are with Penn Medicine/Chester County Hospital. We are done with the anxiety we feel when using C.C. -  never feeling confident in the care we get.

It certainly a challenge to find new doctors! You read about shortages, but until faced with finding new doctors, you do not realize how bad it is.

I am going to start going to a Direct Primary Care practice near our new house. No insurance. Patients pay a monthly fee and have amazing access to their physician. I called the practice just to get information and a real person actually answered the phone! Imagine that. Then I called a new spine doctor for an appointment because my broken back has never really healed and I want to see if there are any new treatments that might help because I refuse to have surgery. I also called the trauma surgeon who operated on my broken arm over a year ago because it is still broken. I need one more x-ray/visit and then I am going to go to a surgeon at Penn, but probably not until fall because of our move (and summer). This is called a non-union and there is no reason for why my arm has not healed. The surgery will need to be re-done or I will have to have a bone graft. The easiest appointment to schedule was my foot surgeon, who is very accessible. My foot always hurts...a structural thing. Last appointment I made was for a dexa (bone) scan.

All of this took me the better part of the week (including filling out online forms on portals once I made appointments - what a drag to do the same forms, over and over) and I am still waiting on a call back from an infusion center where I go once a year to get a drug for osteoporosis (after leaving 2 messages, days apart). GRRRRR  There is no longer such a thing as making a few phone calls and having it all done!

There are too many portals....and none of them can "talk" to each other! Right now, I use 3 which is ridiculous. 

Anyway, this has been an annoying week with a lot of aggravation that I did not need! The Golden Years are not so golden, that's for sure!

 

This and that

I do so much thinking about this move and the carriage house that my brain is too tired to compose posts here. This is all such a huge challenge. I blame it on age, but it is only partly that...this is a big undertaking with so many moving parts that my head is often spinning.

Demo started last week on the carriage house and there is no longer a powder room. It was necessary to take out the tub/shower which, oddly, was the only bathroom in the place. There was no bathroom upstairs where the sleeping area is! Still trying to figure out why. We are having a full bath with an easy-access shower put in upstairs....that was roughed out and partially framed last week and will be interesting. Thank goodness Laura is soooooo resourceful because, like everything else, it is odd. The only place to put a vanity was under a window! She found a mirror that gets mounted on a side wall and pulled over in front of the vanity for hairstyling, shaving, etc. 

I just wish I could go to sleep and have it all be done when I wake up! I get a headache just thinking of what has to be done.

Packing is slow and often tedious. Some things are really hard to get rid of, but must be gone. I will have 48 inches of closet space!!! Not much after our huge walk-in closet here in Somerset Lake. I already edited my purses, scarves, sweaters and summer clothes. So that is a good thing. 

Off for my weekly ZOOM call with "my girls".

 

Snow day

I usually love snow days. No need to justify staying in my nightgown all day! But today is different because I really wanted to make soups this week and my trip to the grocery store may have to be put off all week due to the weather. So instead, I am sorting and packing.

I have been doing a lot of packing, even though we are not moving until spring....we close on the property this week. Laura, Ken, and the grands will move into the main house and we will be having renovations done at the carriage house before we move in. My living room and dining room are full of boxes of STUFF that was moved from our beach house, sorted, and then re-packed. Plus some other items deemed "necessary, maybe?".  I will start moving boxes to the garage at our new place, to get them out of the way. I have also been working on culling the huge number of books that we own. It pains me to get rid of them, but it must be done. 

Carriage House  link no longer working

Because I am challenged when it comes to inserting photos, that is a link to the house when it was used as an AirBNB. It is a lovely place --- timber peg construction which is rarely seen. We have been told that it was Amish-built.

 

 

 

 

Saying goodbye

We recently sold our house at the beach --- which we built 23 years ago. We were lucky to live in such a pretty house just a few blocks from the ocean in a nice community, next door to my sister and also near my brother's. But the time came when it was just not reasonable to stay there. Keeping up two homes became such a chore and outweighed the pleasure. We have been packing up the house for weeks, off and on, and yesterday was the final visit. We can still visit there but at our son's and not have any responsibility. Meanwhile, I still have to go through and sort/put away all the STUFF I brought home. UGH! I am so grateful to Laura, Ken, my brother David, our realtor Kyle, my sister, and our son who all helped with this process.

Below is a painting of the house which Laura had done for us. My photo of it is so crooked! And then there is a photo of the house.

Lots of good memories which we will hold close in our hearts, especially of the time the grands often spent there.

 

 

 

I am re-using an old post from 2009, with some updating (in purple)......what has changed since then is cancer and its aftermath, two wonderful grandchildren, and a move coming soon. I am more picky about what I read because, more than ever, I need to be entertained! I do not read nearly as fast as I used to, so have less to show for my reading. I often return 80% of the books I get from the library.....it's a good thing they are free!

Salon Sunday: Bookish Things about Me

                                   November 2009

                                Twenty Bookish Things About Me

1. I read fast, but not as fast as I used to, and like books that immerse me immediately and carry me along.

2.  Although I’ve always loved to read and write and think about stories, I majored in Elementary Education in college.

3.  I have met Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Berg, John Gilstrap, and Esmeralda Santiago.

4. I love libraries. Last week I was able to take myself to the library and was in heaven as I was actually able to walk around and leisurely browse, something I have not been able to do for a couple of years

5. A few years ago, I began “allowing” myself to abandon books that did not grab me in the first 50 pages. This has been very liberating. Except now it is more like 15 pages!

6. I like audiobooks and never listen to anything else in the car. But cars no longer have DVD players and I have yet to master the art of using another source.

7. I rarely re-read books. Some books that I have re-read are really old favorites like Desiree by AnneMarie Selinko and Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport. This week I was reading some reviews that I wrote of books from the past and am thinking maybe I should re-visit them because they were better than most of what is out there now. And I probably will not remember what they were about!

8. Frances Parkinson Keyes is just about my favorite author of all time. I discovered her in my early teens. Now, Anne Tyler claims that distinction of being my favorite author. I love her calm, linear style.

9. When I am in a new place, I love to find independent bookstores. 

10. Reading a good book is the best thing I can think of doing.

11. When my children were young, I read a lot of mysteries and now I rarely ever read them.

12. I dislike and distrust most memoirs.

13. I like “foodie” fiction and essays. My favorite writers in the food essay genre are Laurie Colwin and Nigella Lawson. Add Ina Garten to that list now. Great lady!

14. If I do not see books in a person’s home, I wonder about that person.

15. I do not read books about the Nazi/Holocaust experience, nor do I read science fiction, fantasy, time travel, memoirs, mysteries (although I do read some thrillers).

16. Even though I just said I do not read fantasy, I have been a fan of Nick Bantock’s for 20 years and own almost everything he has written, even his children’s pop-up books. And I like the type of magical realism in Alice Hoffman’s earlier novels. Packing up for our move, I have had to discard/donate many of my books, and it is like a knife in my heart to do so.

17. I rarely read BFB (big fat books) because I find that most of them are overwritten and the authors could have used an editor who was not afraid to say this.

18. I love to talk about books and authors, and have a fascination with the publishing business. Not much makes me happier than to read about books, and add them to my long long list.

19. Although I do not think I have ever read a book that did not teach me something, my main purpose for reading (novels) is entertainment. Thus, I have little patience with those novelists whose writings are convoluted and esoteric. I like forthright and linear writing/stories. 

20. Epistolary novels are STILL my favorites.

                                   November 2009

                                Twenty Bookish Things About Me

1. I read fast, but not as fast as I used to, and like books that immerse me immediately and carry me along.

2.  Although I’ve always loved to read and write and think about stories, I majored in Elementary Education in college.

3.  I have met Anne Lamott, Elizabeth Berg, John Gilstrap, and Esmeralda Santiago.

4. I love libraries. Last week I was able to take myself to the library and was in heaven as I was actually able to walk around and leisurely browse, something I have not been able to do for a couple of years

5. A few years ago, I began “allowing” myself to abandon books that did not grab me in the first 50 pages. This has been very liberating. Except now it is more like 15 pages!

6. I like audiobooks and never listen to anything else in the car. But cars no longer have DVD players and I have yet to master the art of using another source.

7. I rarely re-read books. Some books that I have re-read are really old favorites like Desiree by AnneMarie Selinko and Valley of Decision by Marcia Davenport. This week I was reading some reviews that I wrote of books from the past and am thinking maybe I should re-visit them because they were better than most of what is out there now. And I probably will not remember what they were about!

8. Frances Parkinson Keyes is just about my favorite author of all time. I discovered her in my early teens. Now, Anne Tyler claims that distinction of being my favorite author. I love her calm, linear style.

9. When I am in a new place, I love to find independent bookstores. 

10. Reading a good book is the best thing I can think of doing.

11. When my children were young, I read a lot of mysteries and now I rarely ever read them.

12. I dislike and distrust most memoirs.

13. I like “foodie” fiction and essays. My favorite writers in the food essay genre are Laurie Colwin and Nigella Lawson. Add Ina Garten to that list now. Great lady!

14. If I do not see books in a person’s home, I wonder about that person.

15. I do not read books about the Nazi/Holocaust experience, nor do I read science fiction, fantasy, time travel, memoirs, mysteries (although I do read some thrillers).

16. Even though I just said I do not read fantasy, I have been a fan of Nick Bantock’s for 20 years and own almost everything he has written, even his children’s pop-up books. And I like the type of magical realism in Alice Hoffman’s earlier novels. Packing up for our move, I have had to discard/donate many of my books, and it is like a knife in my heart to do so.

17. I rarely read BFB (big fat books) because I find that most of them are overwritten and the authors could have used an editor who was not afraid to say this.

18. I love to talk about books and authors, and have a fascination with the publishing business. Not much makes me happier than to read about books, and add them to my long long list.

19. Although I do not think I have ever read a book that did not teach me something, my main purpose for reading (novels) is entertainment. Thus, I have little patience with those novelists whose writings are convoluted and esoteric. I like forthright and linear writing/stories. 

20. Epistolary novels are STILL my favorites.