WHAT A NICE DAY

A few years ago I was reading one of our trade magazines. I came upon an article that was written by a 19 yr. old young woman. Her father was an artist and she grew up going to many an art show and setting up with him. In the article she talked about all the places that her parents had taken her. At every show they made an effort to go and see the local sights. She said that she had been to every monument in Washington, DC.
That article affected me. We travel to many cities and up until that point my focus was get there, get in, set up, sell enough to pay the bills, break down, and get home. It was definitely time for a paradigm shift. We homeschool too. Why hadnt' it occured to me to stay an extra day and do something fun and oh-so-educational? We are now the new and improved Terra Family. I try and always book an extra day and to tie in whatever the girls are interested in at the moment into where ever we are. They have seen all of the Smithsonian with some it more than twice. They have been on hikes, to musuems, aquariums, special exhibits, and the Christmas windows at Marshal Fields.
Here are some pictures of what we did the Monday after the Pocono show. I had never been to the Poconos and wanted to go on a hike. PA has a lot of waterfalls!! Anyway, at the show was a forge demo. Really nice guys and they were local. Xan (girl #2 who will now be named) was grooving on the whole thing so we decided that we wanted to go over to their forge in Stroudsburg.

This is Ash. It was really nice to hang with him because he is getting ready to move out to WA state. He's moving to a town called Centralia, somewhere near Olympia. He is taking over some family property and setting up a forge out there. He told Xan that when we get home she can come out and play in the forge. With long pants and closed toed shoes, of course. Ash is also a former Renny and we shared Ren Fair stories. He was showing Xan how to work the steel and the fire. Look at this.

He was making this while he was showing Xan the ropes and then he gave it to her. How nice!
Their space is a big ground floor warehouse. We learned about how the steel arrives in sheets or poles. They have two furnaces, lots of steel tables, and these big machines that can hammer different weights like 25 lbs. or fifty lbs. Andrew showed us their portfolio. Everything from canopy beds to tree shaped spiral staircases. We arrived at the perfect time because they were feeling tired from the weekend and so they had time to hang out with us.

There we are having fun. Xan, Michael, Ash, Andrew (the actual owner) and Josh. It was a great morning! Thanks guys!!!
Andrew turned us on to some falls wich were bigger than the one I was thinking about going to. So around lunchtime we left the Artisans of the Anvil and went in search of the falls. If you link to their webiste check out the furniture in the portfolio. I want that sink!! And the bed!!
And find the falls we did. It was a nice walk/hike up and down the falls.

Here are Michael and Xan in front of Fullmor Falls on Dingman Creek.
After the falls we went into the town of Milford and had lunch at the Milford Diner. We are diner junkies. The waitress complemented me on my necklace. The one that I got from Vicki.
What a nice day.

THE VIEW WAS STUNNING

This past weekend we worked at the Poconos State Craft Festival. Nice show. Good quality art work and we had a stunning view. The show was a bit of bust (more than a bit really). It drizzled all day Saturday and it poured on Sunday. Which means that hardly any customers were there. A lot of sitting around in the damp and cold. We have enough years under our belts now that we take weekends like this "all in stride". I constantly remind myself that there are much worse jobs out there in the big world.
So, I took some pictures to share.

This is a picture of Michael (he's my husband who will from now on have a name) and Poochina. The vendor across from us had a pet capochina. Sweet monkey love. A very dear spirit who grooved on Michael. It drew a lot of attention toward our booth.....alas we were upstaged by a monkey.

This is Vicki. She and her husband are some of my favorite artists that I don't get to see often enough in our show circuit. They do brass sculptures and jewelry. I didn't know that we would see them there, so I was truly pleased to be able to visit with them. We bartered of course.

This is picure of some of Vicki's new work. I got a necklace that is a circle and it hooks together by the end ring fitting into the circle. I don't do her work justice. You can view their website for yourself and see their inspired creations.

These fun "bad day" mugs are made by our potter friend, Helen. She is whimsical and hoot of good woman! On our rainy Sunday I was thinkin' we could have used one of these mugs. Check out her work at her website.

And with a view like this there wasn't too much to complain about. So many times we are at shows that take place in convention centers with concrete floors, piped in muzak, and recycled air. The view was stunning.

JUST LIKE I SAID I WOULD

This picture is for Lisa.
We went out to dinner in Rutland a few weeks ago. All artists, all having fun. The waiter took this shot for us.
So, Lisa, just like I said I would.

CRAP SHOOT

Today we are off to the Poconos. Another opportunity to make money is upon us. I'm nervous about this one. They are all a crap shoot these days. And since we don't spend our summers here on the East Coast, all the shows that I'm booking are foreign to me. Our last show in Rutland, VT (Rutucky as it is fondly called by the locals) was a bust. EEK. We need cash and I'm edgy.
So, off to the Pocono State Craft Festival we go tra la, tra la. The Poconos. Land of the heart shaped bed. We are staying at The Super 8. I looked. I couldn't find any heart shaped beds.
I went over to AAA yesterday to pick up a guide book because I've never been to the Poconos and I want to go on a family hike on Monday. As an afterthought I asked the rep if she could look up the way to drive there. I thougth I would compare it to mapquest. She brought out a map and got onto her computer. She showed me on the map and then asked if I wanted a triptik. Oh My No!! Can you imagine if everytime time I travelled that I got a triptik? I'd have a closet full by now. It would be like a scene in a movie where you open up the closet door and you get washed away in...triptiks. Oh no, no triptiks for me. I've got a billion maps already in the car. From Florida to Alaska, Canada to Mexico, Puerto Rico to Hawaii, I've got it all. I can navigate the US quite well without a triptik thank you. I politely told her that it wasn't necessary and came home.
It seems that the Poconos has a lot of waterfalls and the Delaware Water Gap reserve. There will be ample opportunity to do something nature like and fun.
Oh, I know that some of my links are screwy. I'll fix them this weekend while we're watching HBO (kid fun in the hotel).
Off for another crap shoot.

THIS IS WHERE THE MAGIC HAPPENS

OUR MAILBOX

I really like our mailbox.
It is red with yellow and blue dots.
I have no idea why it is posting in these funky colors but, hey, it's posting.....
Yep, this is our mailbox.

WANTING TO KNOW WHERE I'VE BEEN...

I've been earnestly trying to post new pictures onto my blog. Really that's exactly what I've been doing.
The first one that I tried a few days ago worked like a charm! I interrupted important television watching so that the whole family could come and marvel at my feat of wonder. They did their appropriate "Yeah, that's cool" quips and resumed their television viewing.
I was so excited.
Oh, the pictures I can post.
The wonders that the very few who travel by here can see.
The glimpse of my most fascinating and intriguing life that they can experience with their visual cortexes.
But, alas, the computor blog God/Godess has failed me. That bugger has let me down!
No longer can I post a picture without Safari crashing. I am going to have to go the "blogger help group" and participate in some "posting pictures for the technologically challenged" group therapy. I emailed blogger support and got an email back telling me that I should try all these insightful "help" places first. Of course, I have already been there. I'm an engineer's daughter I'll have you know and very anal and methodical (when I need to be). Ah poop. And yes, I've sat down with husband and been to "how to reduse the resolution of your pictures" school. We got to travel to photoshop and everything! And by the way, he is not technologically impaired and he has no idea why this is happening.
Now after all that ranting....does anyone else out there have a mac powerbook G4 and use safari and "HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET YOUR PHOTOS TO POST!?!"
I'm calm now.
On the lighter side...we have purchased an antique stove. We were driving to a friend's party here in Saratoga Springs, NY. As we are driving, exactly at the same time, husband and I spot an antique stove that was sitting on someone's porch and there was a big sheet hanging from the porch that said, "Appliances for sale". Husband starts turning the car around. Girl #2 is the back yelling, "Oh no you don't! Don't stop." It was for sale...$60 bucks. It's an old "quality" brand made in 1936 and she's a beauty. Old enamel, beautiful tags, cool controls. All the bits that can rust have. We are going to convert her (maybe it's a him) into a cabinet. We're going to sand off the rust parts and paint them. Husband wants to keep our dishes in it. He wants to be able to say "Get the dishes out of the stove, please." It is our anniversary present to each other. 19 is the antique stove year.
Alas, no picture yet. Can you feel how forlorn I am?
I just know that you have been wanting to know where I've been...

MISSING HOME

This is a test to see if I can figure out the photo thing. I am very excited to see how capable I am. This is a photo that I took last September of Husband. It was his birthday and we went out on our friends steam powered boat for a sunset ride in Fisherman's Bay.
I look at it and realize how much I am missing home.

19 YEARS

You wake up one morning and you realize that you have spent almost half your life with them. I have now spent more time living with my husband than I have with my brothers or my mom or my dad.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have had more orgasms with this one man than any other partner you have ever had.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have farted in front of this one person more than you have farted in front of anyone else in your life.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have felt more annoyance for this one person than you have ever felt for any other being on the planet.
You wake up one morning and realize that you have longed for this one person more than you have for any other being on the planet.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you are half into your life together with this person beside you.
You wake up one morning and you realize that there is still a lot to learn about your partner.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have shared more joy with this one person than you have with any other.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have shared more sorrow with this one person than you have with any other.
You wake up one morning and you realize that you have cared about this person more than you have ever cared about anyone else in your life.

You wake up one morning and you say, "Has it really been 19 years?"

HOW I HAVE HELPED THE WORLD TODAY

Today I helped the world by:

I helped rid the world of toxic waste by emptying the litter box.
I helped rid the world of pollution by sweeping the kitchen floor.
I helped people with allergies world-wide by vacuuming up the dander on my bedroom floor. (I had dust moose)
I helped peace talks by speaking only gentle words.

I will help feed the world by working at the Farmer's Market today.

Wow, I am soooo awesome.

DROWN YOUR SORROWS IN CHOCOLATE

Another recipe because girl #1 asked me to send this to her last week. Which meant that I had to write it out for her. And because this has been her birthday cake for years and she is going to stay out on Lopez until we get there (I am so very sad).
Also, we went out to dinner in Rutland, VT with some wonderful artist friends and we ordered a mouse cake which was a tri-color mouse cake....but not nearly as good as this one.....

TRI-COLOR MOUSE

Chocolate Marquis (bottom layer):
10 oz. Semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into bits
4 oz. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 t. instant espresso, dissolved in 2 t. water
4 large eggs, separated
1/8 t. cream of tartar
2 T. sugar

Melt chocolate and butter together.
When chocolate is melted and smooth, whisk in dissolved coffee and egg yolks.
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar together until soft peaks form. Gradually sprinkle in sugar at high speed until stiff but not dry.
Fold 1/4 of egg whites into chocolate mixture to lighten it. Fold in remaining whites.
Pour into prepared mold. Refrigerate.


Mocha Mousse (second layer):
9 oz. Milk chocolate, (I like Cadbury. Tried Nestle once an didn’t like it)
cut into small pieces
4 t. instant espresso, dissolved in 1/4 C. water
1 1/2 C. heavy cream

Melt chocolate and coffee mixture together.
Whip cream until soft peaks form.
Fold whipped cream into cooled chocolate mixture. Mousse should seem very soft.
Pour into prepared mold. Refrigerate.


White chocolate mousse (top layer):
9 oz. White chocolate, cut into small pieces
1 3/4 C. heavy cream

Melt chocolate and 1/4 C. heavy cream together.
Whip cream until soft peaks.
Fold whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Mousse will seem soft.
Pour into prepared mold. Refrigerate.

Use a 9 inch springform pan.
Put a piece of plastic over the top layer otherwise it will get crusty.
Put each layer in the fridge as you make the next layer.
Make one layer right after the other, otherwise they won’t stick together.

So here it is...drown your sorrows in chocolate.

life is moving along...

Soon I have to go and pack up the car. We are off to Rutland, VT for an art show this weekend. Funny, it feels like we haven't done a show in a long time. We put so much energy in preparing for the wholesale show that we did in Philly last month that I feel it's been ages since we've set up shop.
It should be a fun weekend. I'm picking up girl #2 from her a stay with Granny. We will meet 1/2 way in NH at LLBean and do some shopping. A friend of ours is also in the show and we'll have dinner with her and her boyfriend on Sat. night. Girl #2 and the boyfriend are thick as thieves and always spend our dinners together drawing all over the table and making up jokes together. They particularly like to create sculpture with their food.
Yesterday my brother-in-law got a call from our lawyer. It seems that horrid sister wants to know who her brother's are hiring to come to mom's house and pick up their inheritance. WHAT??? Yeah, we think we'll hire each other. This is a woman who has moved a lot and every time has hired a service to do it for her. We do not hire people to move us, we do it ourselves. (ah, the lives of the poor and infamous) It does put us on edge, though. It makes us wonder what's she up to? Our lawyer thought it was a very strange thing to ask and is going back to the other lawyer to find out what's going on.
Girl #1 got a job out on Lopez. She's working the morning shift doing daycare at the Family Resource Center. I'm proud and sad. She is probably staying.
The weather has finally cooled off. We have turned off the air conditioners and have all the windows open. It's nice!!
Oh, the rodent in our ceiling.....it is a wasp nest. Hard to believe but true. They sounded just like a rodent scratching...weird!!
Roger, who I told that I was glad I hadn't seen him in so long, put some poison at the hole under the roof and they are dead. No more scratching, no more wasps, I am sleeping better and life is moving along.....

THINGS THAT I THOUGHT WERE A GOOD IDEA

Yesterday I thought it was a good idea to:

*mope
*put off calling the mortgage company because I got a letter from them saying that it just came to their attention that we have not paid our property taxes and if we don't than our mortgage will become delinguent.
*put off calling city hall and finding out how much we owe on our property and school tax which we have not paid because we needed the money and we are selling the house and that we would pay them off when we sell the house.
*put extra chocolate chips in the cookies i made.
*sit on the couch and watch a movie.
*check email every 1/2 hour to see if we have heard from horrid sister about the next step.
*talk to our lawyer, who has just returned from her vacation, about horrid sister and the next step.
*to sit on the couch, cry, eat cookies, and watch "eureka" on the sci fi chanel.
*to call roger, the exertiminator, because we have a rodent in our ceiling who is driving me CRAZY scratching at the sheet rock. (i just know that whatever it is is going to fall through on top of me)
*to make sezchuan spicy shrimp for dinner.
*to decide that the asshole, who we hired to paint and do some repairs on our house and we finally had to take to small claims court because he never finshed and we won the claim because he never showed up to court to the tune of $4800.00 and this asshole has telephoned us screaming and then showed up at our house screaming fuckin' profanity at us all the while saying "I'm here to finish the work", is not allowed on our property anymore and we'll just take the money and be done with it. he, by the way, never cleaned up after his first time here in the fall and left our collection of antique porcelain sinks that we had been collecting to take back to Lopez in front of our fence and they were stollen. we were off to a show and he promised me that he was coming over that day to put them back behind the fence where they belonged.
*go to bed and pull the covers over my head

These are just a few of the things that I thought were a good idea.

SHE'S NOT LEAVING ON THAT JET PLANE

Sorry for the lame title but I was at my Mom's house this weekend and she played John Denver. And yes, we all swayed and say along.

I called girl #1 last week to talk to her about flying back to NY in September. I'm thinking that we will be lucky if we can leave by the the beginning of October and it's time for her to come back and be with us. Guess what her answer is?.... "NO".
Shit. Now what does a good, thoughtful, caring parent do? It was all I good do to hold my super-mom hands from reaching through the phone lines and wopping her upside the head.
So, we made an agreement. Alright so I made the agreement. I gave her a week to figure it out. I told her that if she gave me a seriously compelling senario of a job, a place to live, and a homeschool agenda (it's her senior year) then I would seriously consider letting her stay. Really, I would. I mean, who can blame her...I don't like it here either. What makes me think that she likes it here and wants to come back to the awfullnes that we are dealing with?
So, last night I call her (the week is up).
"Hey, we need to talk about you flying home to us. What have you figured out?", I say with a bright and chipper sticatto.
"I'm working on it. I've been busy. I told you I am not leaving. You are not home. I am home and I don't like NY. I am not leaving.", she replied.
(I wanted to loose my cool. Scream at her that I own her and she better get her ass on a plane when I tell her to with no questions asked. Why didn't I raise a doormat?)
"Sweetie, honey, I gave you a week to figure it out and you haven't done that. We need to figure this out because the longer I wait the more expensive a ticket is going to be. I need this figured tonight", I calmly say back.
"I told you I've been busy Mom. (Oh, yeah, swimming with friends and overnights at the beach) Go ahead a buy me a ticket but I am not leaving", she says almost tersely.
Then it ensues into the Mom arguement of she's only 17 and she may not like it but she does not have the leisure to say "NO" about this until she's 18. (lame huh?)
She counters my "you need to come back (can't say the word home, she already told me NY is not home) and homeschool" ploy with the arguement that we don't homeschool and she's getting more done on her own than she ever did with me. (ouch!)
We came really close to "yes you are!" and "no I"m not!" but we didn't.
I finally said, "You have to come up with a date and if you don't have your plans to stay figured out by that date than you need to agree to come back to your family."
Dead silence.
"I'll call you tomorrow, Mom"
"OK talk to you tomorrow (you brave, powerful, not a doormat, frustrating, kick ass daughter of mine) honey."

She's not leaving on that jet plane.

THAT ABOUT SUMS IT UP....DOESN'T IT?

Yesterday horrid sister parked her car in my mother-in-laws driveway in such a way that neither one of her brothers could park there. Husband had to park on the side of the road.
That about sums it up...doesn't it?

BEAT THE DRUM SLOWER SO THAT I MAY FEEL DOUBLE TIME

I am awake much too early. For me, anyway.
Today is the day that husband and his brother are going into their family home to put post it notes on items of the personal property that they want. It's a shitty out of court settlement. They each get 2 1/2 hours individually to complete an impossible task. Hopefully it well get the ball rolling and we can ditch the East Coast.
I feel like I'm stuck in humid sludge and I can't move. Can't breath. Can't focus on anything worth focusing on.
I want to hold husband. Do not let him go into the house alone. But I must, that is the agreement. Something that I've learned in the last couple of months is that we are honorable people....horrid sister is not. Horrid sister is quite disturbed.
Husband is equipped with a voice activated recorder, a digital camera, a cell phone, pre-marked post its (his are blue and extra sticky), and a list that we have made. How unprotected he is. How vulnerable. He has not set foot into his parent's home since his mother has died.
She (you know who) cut everyone off as soon as their mom was buried. No access, no telling. I can't imagine what today will bring for her brothers. Her cruelty is.....no good words...just is.
I'm so.........just so......just so unable to express myself.
Can you beat the drum slower so that I may feel double time?

SOMTIMES YOU GUESS RIGHT

We often have to stay in a hotel when we are at one of our art shows. This time we are doing a big-deal wholesale show. The preparation has taken us weeks. We've created brochures, changed our prices, talked and talked and talked to lots of other folks who do this thing.
It's my job to book the hotel and figure out all the logistics. I bounce between expedia and orbitz and priceline. This time there was quite a learning curve of deciding to stay in the city (hotel cost and pay for parking) or stay outside of the city (hotel cost and pay the toll on the bridge and then pay for parking). After a week of looking I decided on staying outside of the city at a Ramada (over the Days Inn). Oh my, I chose right! The Ramada was recently bought by a family from India. The people are friendy. They have cool names like...Rashmi. And the best.....the hotel restaraunt is Indian. How could they have known that I love Indian food. The decor in the restaraunt is beautiful. At breakfast this morning they gave husband some groovy Indian chutneys for his eggs. I love it here.
Must go and have M&M's and HBO......
Sometimes you guess right.

ENJOY

My best friend, Andrew, dubbed my cheesecake "orgasmic". I think it's pretty damn close.
It was a staple in my baking business and since I'm on a recipe roll.......


VICTORIA’S ORGASMIC CHEESECAKE

Preheat oven to 375
INGREDIENTS:
Crust:
1/2 C. sugar
1 sick of butter
1 C. flour
2 t. cinnamon
1 C. walnuts or pecans

Filling:
1 1/2 lbs. Cream cheese
1 C. sugar
3 eggs
1/2 t. vanilla

Topping:
1 pint sour cream
2 T. sugar
a dash of vanilla


Combine all crust ingredients in a food processor and pulse until combined. Press into a 9” springform pan. Evenly cover the bottom and halfway up the sides.

Cream the cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar together. ( I always start with the cream cheese and beat it for a few seconds so it is smooth.) When fully blended it will be creamy. Pour over crust and bake for about 40 min. The cake is done when the center jiggles like firm Jell-O. Remove from oven.

TURN OVEN TEMP UP TO 500
Mix sour cream, sugar, and vanilla until creamy. Pour over slightly cooled cheesecake. Put in oven for 5 min. to let the topping set. After the cake is cool refridgerate for at least 6 hours before serving.

This cheesecake was a hit in our “Moonstone Baking” business. It is creamy (not at all like a NY style cheesecake) with a crunchy nut crust. In the Fall try laying sliced pears in the bottom before pouring in the filling. Autumn Cheesecake….YUM!! Enjoy!

THE COVETTED CHEESECAKE RECIPE

My mother-in-law, Audrey, was a great cook. She took great care and concern in the kitchen.
When I was pregnant with daughter #1 I came up with this hair-brain idea that I should bake desserts for restaraunts. Audrey, at some point in her life, used to make cheesecakes and sell them. These cheesecakes are a matter of legend in my husband's family history.
So, Audrey calls me up and offers me her cheesecake recipe. The covetted cheesecake recipe. The recipe that Audrey used to make ends meet. The recipe that she "wows" friends and family with. The recipe that her godson begs her for whenever she visits him. THAT CHEESECAKE RECIPE. We are talking about 17 years ago here. I remember sitting at our kitchen table and writing it down.
The sad part is....I never made the cheesecake. I had my own cheesecake recipe that I wanted to use. My own cheesecake recipe that I used to "wow" friends and family with. I politely wrote it down and put it into a notebook holder that I put all my recipes in. I used my own cheesecake recipe to "wow" the restaraunts and it was a mainstay in my baking business...just like Audrey's recipe was to hers.
Jump forward to the present and the planning of Audrey's Memorial......
Most of the family is gathered around and thinking of foods to serve. The cheesecake recipe comes up but no one has a copy of it (or so we think). We do not have access to Audrey's house so no one can go and look for it. Then......I remember sitting at the kitchen table all those years ago writing down her recipe. "Oh my God!", I say, "I think I've got it in my recipe file."
And I did. It was made for the memorial. I made one and my sister-in-law made one. They were great!!
Audrey is deceased. She has left her physical body. May her cheesecake live on.........


AUDREY’S CHEESECAKE RECIPE

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust:
10 Social Teas or equal amount of Graham Crackers crushed
1 T. Butter at room temp.
1 T. Sugar
Cream the butter and sugar together (this can be done by hand) and add the crushed cookies or crackers.
Press into a springform pan. (I think that a 9” or 10” size will do.)


Filling:
2 lbs. Cream cheese at room temp.
6 Eggs
1 1/2 C. Sugar
2 T. Flour
1 T. melted Butter
1/2 pint Sour Cream
1/4 C. Heavy Cream
1 t. Vanilla
Using a blender, blend at low to medium speed until completely mixed together.
If your blender can’t handle all of the ingredients at once then 1/2 the recipe and do two different batches that you can combine in a big bowl.

Spread onto the crust 1/4 C. jam of your choice.

Pour in the filling.
Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. After 1 hour turn off the oven and crack the oven door open. Let stand in there for 1 hour.


May I take a moment here and say that I feel really special. Audrey gave me the recipe. Me. I think she saw a kindred spirit in me. Who knows. I do know that it was me.
Me....The covetted cheesecake recipe.

ENJOY YOUR LATKES GUILT FREE

I have been thinking about my deceased mother-in-law a lot lately. No wonder because we are still in the horrible entanglement of her estate. I just can't even talk about anymore it makes us so upset.
This is Audrey's latke recipe....with a good story.

INGREDIENTS:
9 large russet potatoes, peeled
3 small onions, grated
3 eggs
1 tsp. Oil
salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:
Take 3 of your potatoes and boil and mash them. ()You may add milk and buter to your mashed potatoes if you wish.) Set your mashed potatoes aside.
Grate the remaining potatoes. Put in a large bowl. As you are putting your grated potatoes in your bowl press out excess liquid.
Add your mashed potatoes, onion, eggs, oil, salt, and pepper.
Mix all together.
Heat a frying pan, griddle or cast iron skillet over medium high heat with a layer of oil on the bottom of the pan.
Wash your hands and grab a handful of potato batter and shape it into a circle about 2-3 inches in diameter and about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. It is all personal preference.
Fry latkes. When golden and crisp on each side, drain them on paper towels.


When my Mother-In-Law, Audrey Thomas, was pregnant with her first child her father took her out to lunch at Ratners Dairy Restaurant. Ratners was a well known Jewish Orthodox Kosher restaurant on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. As they were finishing their meal their waiter came by asking how everything was. Audrey replied that her potato latkes were so wonderful and how great it would be to have the recipe. The waiter became distressed and did an about face into the kitchen. Audrey could see into the kitchen through the windows of the big swinging kitchen doors. She saw the waiter making frantic gestures to one of the cooks. Both the waiter and the cook came out into the dining room in heated discussion. The cook had a large ladle in his hand and was pointing it directly at Audrey. They both went back into the kitchen gesturing and discussing. The waiter then came out and handed Audrey a piece of paper with a handwritten recipe on it. He told her that Ratners is a restaurant and selling their food is their livelihood. It was against their policy to share recipes. But since it was quite obvious that Audrey was pregnant they had a religious philosophical conundrum. In the Jewish Orthodox faith it is believed that if a pregnant woman makes a request of someone that someone must oblige if it is at all humanly possible. Of course it was possible (even though they had a “no share” policy) for them to give her their recipe so they had to. He asked her to not share the recipe with anyone.
So Audrey got her recipe and she didn’t share it for many years. Ratners has since closed so you can enjoy your latkes guilt free!!

GODMOTHER

I've been checking email every 5 minutes. At least it seems like every 5 minutes. Looking for that response to an email that was sent. What will they say? How will they respond? Why the hell can't this just be talked through?
The frustrations still continue........

Today I fly to Montana with my Mom. We are off to the wedding of our God-daughter. Fun factor high!! It is going to be fun to be at a wedding. It is going to feel so good to be close to the West Coast. I am going to drink Moose Drool beer (one of my favorites). I am going to see my cousins (not really related, but close enough) that I haven't seen in years. To be West, drink, laugh, shed a few sentimental tears of joy, and connect with loved ones. I'm looking forward to it.
Sarah is my god-daughter. I really don't know her very well. She arrived on the planet when I was a teen. Soon after, my parents moved to Saudi Arabia and I was in England at boarding school. I got back to the states and did college...and on, and on. When my parents moved back to the states there was a distance between Sarah's parents and mine. I have no idea what happenned. Not really anything, I think. They just grew apart.
I grew up with Sarah's older brothers. As a child I loved them with all my heart. I haven't seen them in probably 20 years. Sarah's mom is my godmother. I see her every couple of years or so. We are friendly. Not close but we both have great affection for one another. I always look she and Uncle Vic up when we are doing a show near them.
I've been thinking a lot about this role as Godmother. "Godmother: A female sponsor of a child at baptism." At a young age I promised to make sure that Sarah kept in keeping with the faith that she was being baptised in. Episcopalian. I haven't been an Episcopalian since my early twenties. I am not a religious person. Very spiritual. New Age. Hippy. I'm a Goddess worshiper, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist and just about any other good woo-woo thing you can come up with. I have no idea what Sarah believes in. Honestly, I don't really know her. Love her from a distance. So glad that she is on the planet. Oh, yes!!!
So, I feel that it is most important to travel to Montana and look her in the eye. Ask, "Are you good with God/Goddess or whatever greater power you believe in?". Hopefully she will say, "Yes". I can then know that I have performed a Godmotherly duty. I can say, "We're good here".
For a wedding gift husband and I created a ceramic sculpture called "The Guide". It is a woman's face (mine but manipulated to not look like me so much) with a map coming out of one side of it like it were hair. One of her eye's is an antique compas (a real one, glued in). Her eye that you can see is closed. This sculpure is my physical interpretation of my role as Godmother. There is the map, the compass, the inward eye to your spirit. Man, I hope she likes it. It might be too "out there" for her taste. Oh well. It is from the heart and that's what counts.
So, today I am off to be Godmotherly with Mom the other Godmother.
Godmother.

I'M DONE

To a crispy fried beyond golden brown. I'm done.

My hair is puffed beyond recognition smoking like a rocket. I'm done.
My once melon-like breasts are crumbly dried hot peppers. I'm done.
My round goddess-like figure is pussy and stale. I'm done.
My legs that have held my body are stilts of dead wood. I'm done.
My feet that bear the burden of all of me are flat and sore. I'm done.
My aura is an undescribable mess of drab. I'm done.

May I go home now Mother?
May I now cool myself in the waters of my home?

I am longing to feel the cool night air licking my cheeks. Caressing my ankles.
I am longing to take this shrivelled up clump of me and fix it up right.
Pour home water on it, feed it garden food, and have the night heavens breath life back into it.

May I go home now Mother?
I'm done.

AS IT SHOULD BE

My husband and his brother got a letter from Horrid Sister. Basically the jist is....Mom loved and trusted me best and you are just going to have to live with yourselves. She is horrid alright. Now she is saying that she will only allow her brothers into the house one at a time with post it notes. Each brother gets to walk around with a pad of post its and put a post it on what he wants. Then whenever probate is over they get to come and pick up whatever is theirs. And we guess that she will decide who gets what when they both want the same thing or if either of them wants what she wants.
Wow!!! Isn't she the poster woman for fairness? No other family member is allowed in.
What a trip huh? There are things that Michael is interested in and we want to go and look at them to see if we really want that in our house. Imagine that? How insane and unreasonable of us. I have been in my M-I-L's house many times. I lived in that house for almost a year but for the life of me I can't remember what her bureau looks like or if the trundle bed in the guest room is really something that we want to drag across the country. What a pain. A royal fucking pain.
My husband and I wrote a letter to Horrid Sister trying to appeal to her sense of fairness and trying to just get her to do the just thing. Oh NO!!!!! It's not a part of her make up these days. She said in her letter that she knows for certain that her mother had no intention of giving anything to her son's spouses. That must be why about 7 weeks before she died she wanted me to walk through her house with her and tell her what I wanted. I really didn't want to do that with her so I put her off and we made a plan that I would do it with her when we got back from Florida. Frankly, there really isn't anything that I want for myself that is in that house. I am interested in deciding with my husband what is best to bring into our home and I am interested in things that our children want. What a witch!!!
So this weekend husband and daughter #2 and I spent time with my mom. On Sunday my mom set up a meeting with my two brothers and I. We all walked through the house and decided what we wanted. It took hours! My oldest brother only wants a few things and he was done in 15 minutes. So the rest of the day it was my other brother and myself and my mom. It was a sweet time. We walked from room to room and Mom talked about things. We learned a lot about our family history. I made lists of what everyone wanted. When we were done going through the rooms I sat down with my brother and we went through the things that we both wanted. We talked it through and when we were only down to one item we had daughter #2 flip a coin for us. Lots of stuff like nic-nacs and figurines and cake plates and dolls and beanie babies and barbies and the whole Franklin Mint collectable shit (was that my outside voice?) can all be divided later amoungst all the children and grandchildren. My brother and I had a really nice day and it felt good to give up wanting my Dad's chair knowing that now whenever my brother has dinner at my mom's house that is where he sits because he is the head of the house now. He should have that chair. He let me have the Spode Christmas China because it is really an expression of my mom and I want to always remember her using it. We split up a bureau and night table set because our Nana painted roses on them and that way we could each have one. I got the night stand that Daddo built because my brother has more toys and forts that Daddo built.
Mom is not even near death but it felt good to take care of all of it. It was a good day. As it should be.

OVER THE BRIDGE AND NORTHBOUND

This past weekend we did a show at Lincoln Center in NYC.
We stayed in a friend's loft in the village. These friends of ours are amazing jewelers that we know from the Ren Faire that we work at in Florida. In Florida they live in a converted schoolbus that has a VW bus welded to the top. The VW makes a loft and is their bedroom. The bus is painted blue and purple. They have a medieval style wooden door. They own 3 or 4 birds that travel with them and a dog named Shasta. They haved lived in the same loft for years and years. They are true Village Hippies.
We got there on Friday night and to my surprise and non-surprise their loft looks like the inside of their schoolbus. It was fun! There was also another girl there who our friends know from the Ren Faire circut. She has the most amazing cat!!! This cat is part African Servel (I don't know how one spells "servel" but this is how it is pronounced). This cat, Duncan, is amazingly large. He stands almost up to my knee and he is only a year old and not full grown. He kept us up at night wanting to play. At one point he dropped something wet, weighty, and gooey on husband's leg. Husband kicked it off and Duncan was in high chase. Ick...who knows what it was.
The show went well. It was fun to be in the city. EXHAUSTING but fun. We haven't done a show in the city for a few years and we had some people come by and remember us from other NYC shows. We had nice neighbors. A couple from Argentina and the husband does metal work. He makes all sorts of Judaica. One of our neighbors was from DC and she makes pocket books out of vintage fabrics and wool. Her stuff is neat. There was a guy who makes shirts and jackets that look like they came from the "Xanadu" movie, very 80's. And the creme de la creme was a gentleman named Michael from San Francisco who does wire sculptures. He hung them all from way up high....human figures afloat. They were wonderful!!!
We had a lovely lunch on Monday with our cousin David. He works at a music store across the street from Lincoln Center. We went to an indian restaraunt that had wonderful food.
With our bellies full, our pockets moderately stuffed with cash, and our eyelids being held up with toothpicks we drove out of the city. Over the bridge and northbound.

THE UPLIFT AND THE DOWNLIFT

My M-I-L's memorial tea was this past Saturday. I must admit that it was a lot of fun. There were a few tears but mostly it was a laughter filled hall. We set up with my brother-in-law and his family the night before and the day of. We set up card tables with tablecloths over them and put coffee mugs and teapots and paint brushes and flowers as centerpieces. It was set up like a cabaret. We had music (an original composition by daughter #2). It was the first time I heard her piece in it's entirety. Wow! My M-I-L died in the helicopter that was bringing her to the hospital. Daughter #2 explained that and told everyone the name of the piece is "flown". She was incredible. There was song. We had an MC who introduced people as they came up to the mike to tell stories. It was great!!
Horrid sister was there. She snubbed her siblings (no great surprise). She took our daughters aside and said things to them like, "I know you live with the enemy" and "No matter what your parents say about me...blah,blah,blah....". Our amazing girls held their own and politely told her that it wasn't like that in our house. Unlike her we do not engage in such talk in general.
I'm infuriated with her for doing this to my children. I am deeply saddened (sadenned? The first one looks right.) that she seems to have no filter, no sense of what you say to an adult verses what's appropriate to say to a child. It's is quite clear to me that at the moment she is venom and is not getting anywhere near my children!!!! I am also feeling like I let my girls down because I didn't see it coming. I didn't prepare them for her pulling them aside for a secret chat. What a dope!!!!! I apologized to them. I was blindsided. Well not really. In the context of everything that is going on it is true to horrid sister's character these days.
We have offered her a very reasonable settlement which was presented to her a week ago. No response.
She left a nine minute rant on her mother's best friends voice mail two weeks ago. She said that as long as she draws breath her brothers will never set foot into their mother's house. Shit...eh?
On a happier note...I've been taking a weaving class and love it. I get there at 7pm and two minutes later it is 9pm and the class is over. I love the rythm of moving my feet from treddle to treddle and gliding the shuttle over the warp. Back and forth, back and forth. It's a tidal and ancient rythm. It's sanctuary for my soul.
Like my weekend...the rythm of the uplift and the downlift.

MOVING DAY

I wish it was my moving day. Alas it is not.
Today one of our tenants is moving out. She lives in our one bedroom apartment. When she looked at the apartment I told her that if she wanted to fall in love this was the place for her. Every "single" tenant that we have had in that apartment has found the love of their lives and moved out because the apartment is really cozy and just right for one.
So, she's off with her boyfriend for their larger apartment in the sky.
Maggie is movin in and she already has a boyfriend. Wonder what that means.......
It's moving day.

TWICE

Many years ago when daughter #2 was a wee babe she had night terrors. They lasted for about six months. They started when she about a year and half old. Anyone who has lived through night terrors knows that they are frightening as hell!!
She would wake up in the middle of the night and scream. She wasn't really awake. She was in some in between place. She wouldn't let anyone touch her. She saw things that we couln't see. Her hysteria was uncomprehendable. She couln't have anything touch her which, of course, is impossible. She flailed, screamed, talked nonsense, cried. In the morning she would remember nothing and would be herself. My little old soul vibrant daughter #2.
I found that sometimes I could stop it coming. She slept next to me and there was this certain twitch that she would do right before she'd "go off the deep end". If I could catch the twitch then I could connect with her and keep her in the moment, soothe her into staying here on the planet instead heading off into places unknown to me. If I didn't catch the twitch then we discovered that if we got her outside under the stars, walk her around, try to hold onto a feral child, she would calm down, come back to us and still not remember thing in the morning.
In the daylight hours daughter #2 starting telling us a story. It was her waking story. One that came in bits and pieces over a couple month period. One of how her Mommy had left her with Daddy. Daddy was not a nice man and he killed her. Imagine how we felt? From the mouth of our babe comes a horrrific story. A very sad, very adult, very realistic in detail, horrific story.
We came to understand that our daughter. Our very young daughter was reliving her death. The night terrors we witnessed were her reliving her death. It all fell into place. We watched and listened with new ears. The things she said during her hysteria made more sense to us. They way she struggled we saw as her trying to defend herself. The daylight and night time came together as one. It was our truth. I believe it. I lived it. It was a heart wrenching time.
So, what do we do? I had a friend who is an herbologist. I saw her one day in the local health food store. I told her what was going on and was there anything that she recommened. Without skipping a beat she suggested a Bach flower remedy called "Rescue Remedy". She said that Rescue Remedy is really good at bringing people into the moment. I would have tried anything that she recommended!! Rescue Remedy worked so well!! Once we got it into her (it's drops), daughter #2 would settle down enough to be touched and it was easy to get her outside and after walking around she would wake up and then we could all go back inside.
Don't you think that is a great ending to my complicated story? Well, to that part of the story it is. The other half of the story is that someone overheard me in the health food store talking to my friend and decided that I was off my rocker. That person called Child Protective Services because night terrors can be a sign of abuse. Yes, they were right....just very, very wrong. So CPS shows up at my door one day and wants to come in and hear about my daughters' night terrors. They had already been up at school and interviewed daughter #1 and had already interviewed friends of ours. All before they got to my door. I was unnerved. I belong to a Goddess Circle and believe in honoring the Goddess. In my house I have many Goddess statues and wall hangings. I thought that I was fried. I had to sit at our kitchen table and tell the two caseworkers my strange story. Nothing ever came of it. The claim was unfounded.
I am full of the question as to why CPS has showed up at my door twice?
We are very thoughtful parents. We work on our relationship. We try to be better parents than our own. We try to always treat our children as individual humans not as extensions of ourselves.
I am hit with the realization that we live a very alternative life. People observe us and find us fascinating and frightening.
It makes me sad because I love the human race. I love life, people, the planet, all living beings (I could do without cockroaches and there you have it). I think that my children are awesome and turning out to be fantastic women. We get complimented often on how inspirational our family is. We get complimented often on how incredible our girls are.
How then does CPS show up at my door twice?
Twice?

BLUE SKIES OUT THERE

We had a very good weekend. It was our first time doing this particular show and it was fun. We had great neighbors. On one side we had a woman from Isreal who made jewelry out of bottle caps and on the other a husband and wife who make hand-made chenille jackets. We laughed a lot. We ate chocolate. It poured!! I was very glad that I decided to book us under the big top. We saw many of our customers that we haven't seen in a while. Which means that it was a good thing that we sent out a mailing.
I want to share with you a few of the artists that really caught my eye. At every show that we go to we all try to walk around and look at stuff. During dinner we usually discuss the things that intrigued us. It's fun to know what each other is attracted to and why. Two of my favorites are href="http://www.monaadisabrooks.com">Mona and href+"http://www.primitivetwig.com">Bill & Marcia Finks. Mona makes funky dolls and other sculptures. The Finks' do metal sculpture. I bought a metal sculpture from Bill a month ago. It's a pair of old spice tins made into a couple. We call them the Mccormicks and we just love them!!
This blog took me a couple of days because I wanted to put the links in. One day to think that I wanted to to it. One day to print out the instructions. One day to ignore the instructions. One day to try and use them.
Tomorrow is daughter #1's interview with the CPS caseworker. Hopefully this will all be over soon. But, I do see blue skies out there.

AND WE'RE OFF.....

I'm up before everybody else. Not uncommon. I'm the morning bell. The wake-up call. My gentle voice rings through out the house, "Wake-up girls. Time to get up.". Five minutes laters my gentle voice rings through out the house, "Wake-up girls. Time to get out of bed.". Fifteen minutes later my gentle voice rings through out the neighborhood, "Come on girls. Get up.".
Twenty minutes later my gentle voice rings through out the county, "Get out of bed now!!!!.".
This morning we are packing up for a show in Tarrytown, NY. This one is supposedly a very snooty one so we washed our rubber floor mats yesterday and the side panels to our tent. We want to look fresh and snappy for all our customers. Husband says it feels like the circus everytime we set up and break down. Not just because we are clowns. It's the magic of creation. Starting with a blank space and filling it.
So, off we go in our big white van, Moby, with hopes that someone remembered to bring cash for tolls. We've been known to forget and have to borrow from the girls. This show is at an estate, it might even be some sort of national park...something like that. It's a mansion called, Lyndhurst. On Sunday morning we get a free tour of the mansion. I'm thinking...homeschool!
Mornings that we leave for shows are like being at the horse races. We are twitchy, anxious. Everybody running around trying to gather what they need and trying not to forget the stuff you really need. We pile into our very own big white, starting gate...and we're off.

IT'S REALLY GREY OUT THERE

In a million years. No, in a million, trillion years will you guess what I did this morning.
We got a visit from CPS. Someone called in a complaint about us. There is a child abuse hotline here in NY and someone called in their hot tip of the day. They feel that our children are being homeschooled improperly. They referred to it as "educational neglect". They said that our children have to work in our pottery business. And something to the effect that there is just all around neglect.
The interview process was rather painless. The CPS worker was pleasant and great with our youngest daughter (who was wigged out!). We answered all her questions. We gave her a tour of our apartment. She interviewed daughter #2 (daughter #1 was at a friends house). We had to give her someone else to contact to ask about us. We did. We talked about unschooling and child directed learning. We set up an appointment for her to interview daughter #1.
Now we just sit back and wait. Who would do this? Is it someone wanting to give us a hard time? Or is it someone that in their heart of hearts truly feels that our children are not getting a proper education and we are neglecting them? We will never know. Ouch!
There will always be a case file on us now.
Is this backlash from horrid sister? The timing works. The call was made on the same day that she finds out that her brother is revoking his waiver and contesting the will and her as executrix. Would she? Could she?
I can't find my rose colored glasses. It's really grey out there.

RAINING BUCKETS

It is literally. Raining buckets out there. I sit at the our desk in front of the window and see rain. Lots of water. I find weather comforting.
I told him. Read my last post if you're interested in what that means. I don't feel like getting into it but I talked, he listened, was receptive. For the moment it is enough. In the near future I will have to revisit the discussion because he needs to talk. For the moment...it is enough.
We went to the lawyer's office yesterday and Husband singed an affidavit saying that he is revocing his waiver of consent (for his sister being the executor of his mom's will). He and his brother are also contesting the will and contesting their sister as the executrix. How sad and ugly it all is. Both brothers and their spouses spent three hours with the lawyer on Monday. Draining, draining, draining. In a nutshell...Sister is not really doing anything illegal. Here in NY state the executor gets carte blanche. She is within her legal right to shut everyone out of the house and it is her right to divide (all by herself) the residuary estate equally between she and her brothers. She may decide who gets what as long as everything is monetarily equal. She could, if she gets insane enough, liquidate it all and give her brothers equal shares of cash.
So her brothers are taking legal action. They are going to contest her as executor and contest the will. They are going forward with their pistols blazing, the fog machine spueing, the fireworks bursting. And....I can't say anymore about it right now. I can't tell you what their plan is because who knows who will read this....I can't tell you what it is they are really after because I don't want it read by the wrong person. When I can, I will......
I will say that we thought long and hard about it. It pains husband and I to do this. Sister has become suspect and untrustworthy. We don't want to cause her pain. Husband wants fairness and equality. Sister isn't answering questions directly, not allowing access to their parents home, she's being secretive, she won't even get together with her brothers to plan mom's memorial. Now it is time to let the lawyer deal with her...we are getting nowhere. In a way it is a relief. I am so emotionaly distraught about all this. Kinda nice to know that I don't have to spend all of my being trying to figure out what to do next to make sister be reasonable. I can sit back and breath and let the lawyer do her job.
It's raining buckets down my face.

There's a riff in my universe

It's late. I awoke from a very sound sleep. 4:00 AM and all is quiet and still and I am unsettled.
Something happened. Something unsettling, frightening, not outrageously terrifying. Maybe close to terrifying. I need help women!! I need women to tell me what they would do. What would you do if someone you loved caused something that could have quite nearly injured or possibly killed those nearest and dearest to you (included the person that caused this event) and is not taking responsibility for it.
The event:
We haved planned an outing with an overnight in a hotel for my Mom's birthday. We decide to take her car because we own a van and her car gets better gas mileage than our car. Husband is driving the car. Two hours into our outing we stop and get gas. I buy chips for everyone. We get back on the road. Husband is driving. I am in the passenger seat. Daughter #1, daughter #2, and my mom are in the back. The girls are passing the chips forward for husband and I to have some. I pass the chips back. I think that I am looking at the directions (not clear, but I am not paying attention). Husband reaches his hand in the back to get the bag of chips. I look up we are in the left hand lane and we are startling close to a red jeep next to us. I say in surprise Husband's name. He makes a sound of surprise and the next thing I know we are swerving out of control all over the road. He is trying to gain control but it seems that every time he turns the wheel the front end of the car goes in that direction and the back end goes in the opposite direction. Daughter #2 is crying. Daughter #1 has grabbed her and is holding daughter #2's head to her chest. My mom is saying things like, "Oh my god!". We swerve out of control 3? 4? I don't know how many times and then we are driving down into a ravine or embankment through an old fence and toward bramble (big bramble bushes). When we hit the bottom, husband swerves the car quickly to the right so that we do not hit a bunch of metal pipes (or post or rails) that is on the embankment going up the opposite side. The car stopped.
We all ask at the same time if everyone is ok. Everyone is ok. Nobody was thrown around. Daughter #2 is crying. Her head still being held by daughter #1. My mom is saying, "What happened? What happened? Oh my god!". Husband starts the car and turns it toward the embankment to drive back up it. I say he can't do that it is too steep. It was he stops.
We get out of the car. It is a mess. The bumper is broken and pushed back. The driver side headlight is broken. The driver side mirror is broken off. The car is covered with scratches, big ones, all over the roof, the sides, the back. There are dents in the side where the car was turned suddenly in the bramble.
The man in the red jeep in walking down to our car to see if we are ok. Some other car, a white one, has stopped as well. The red jeep man is saying things about how lucky we are to be allright. Stuff like that. Husband is telling him that the driver side brake seized up on him and he was desperately trying to remember the high speed defensive driving class that he took thirty years ago. A cop shows up. We are all out of the car now and sitting on the grass. Stunned. I call AAA. They are coming to winch the car out. More cops show up to make/take an accident report. We've got 3 cruisers and an EMT guy (but the EMT doesn't stay). The car gets winched out. We get towed to a brake place to have the brakes checked. We are all still stunned. We walk over to a chinese restaraunt dive and we all order bad chinese that none of us can finish. We wait at the brake p[ace. It seems that the brakes check out fine. Apparently this was a freak thing...perhaps.
We all get back in the car. Husband wants to drive to make sure the car is ok. It seems there is no mechanical damage. Husband saved the bottom of the car by avoiding the metal in the ravine. We drive to our first destination. To the Flax clothing sale. And then to the hotel where we order in. We go to the Corning Glass Museum (out of sight wonderful!!!) and we drive home.
What would you do if your husband caused an accident that he hasn't apoligized for. He said he was sorry that the car is a mess. He said that he was glad I wasn't driving because it was terrifying. I think I snapped at him and came back with some answer like I felt a comment like that sounded like he was saying I wouldn't be able to handle myself or the car. He got up to ask some questions at the info booth (we were all sitting at a table having birch beers). It was then that I asked my daughters what happened before the red jeep came so close. "Dad had is hand in the back seat" was their reply. When husband came back the girls took off to buy stuff and my mom went to the bathroom. I told him that I thought he should apologize to my mom. He said he had. I said that I believed him that the brake seized but I had just found out that his hand had been in the back seat and that action had set off a series of events that ended in a car accident. He nodded agreement.
As we were sitting in the ravine, husband and I got out of the car first. We gave each other a hug. Apparently my mom was saying to our girls stuff about look what your father has done.
I told husband that we should pay my mom's deductable on her insurance. He agreed.
I awoke with a start tonight. I cannot participate in a play where husband is the savior. He caused an accident. He handled the car well when it swerved out of control. He kept his cool. He saw the big metal stuff at the bottom of the ravine and avoided it. He caused it and not once has he said to anyone that he is sorry for causing it.
My head hurts. My toes are numb. My chest is tighter than Jane Fonda's ass. My marriage is in an iffy state as it is. I have to talk to husband tell him how I feel. Our daughters need to know that he is sorry for what happened and take responsibility for his part in the cause. He needs to talk to my mother.
I am grateful for his cool head under pressure. I am not sure that I could have handled the car as he did. We could have easily flipped. I am not comfortable with his not admitting his role in how this came to be.
How do I approach the man I love and say, "Hey, you've got to come clean on this one." or "Our girls need to know that you are taking responsibility for what happened."
Oh I know that I am going to talk to him. Mom leaves this morning and we have an appointment with a lawyer. Later on today. I wish that I could have a heart to heart before my Mom left but that won't happen.

Oh women. Oh women. What would you do? I just want to know. What would you do?

the horrid sister

So it has been many months (perhaps longer) since my last post. Husband's mom has passed away and we are in the throws of dealing with her estate and getting our house ready to sell. We finally get to go home for good. AHHH thoughts of going home...just one house..one property...one address...home!
Things here on the East Coast are not going to well at the moment. Husband's sister is being horrid! Mom-in-law has been dead for 2 months now and sister (who is the executrix nominee) won't allow anyone into m-i-l's house, is being exclusive, and has admitted to starting to divide the stuff that gets divided between she and her brothers. What the fuck!? When she gets emailed with questions she claims that we are bothering her and keeping her from doing her job. When she gets asked specific questions she is evasive and doesn't answer them. She has backed everyone into a corner and now we are in the process of looking for a lawyer to represent husband and his brother. Brothers against sister...how ugly.
We went and saw a friend of ours who is a criminal law lawyer and he said that she is showing all the signs of someone who is getting ready to rip us off. We didn't want to hear that. We want to get together, forget our differences and just do what has to be done. Sister-in-law has not gotten together with her brothers at all. She conveniently is not available whenever they have tried.
She stood in our kitchen 4 weeks ago and told husband that he is being hateful. The poor guy hasn't done anything but asked to get into his mom's house to say goodbye to her. Now everything in the house is being dimantled and put into piles. So much for saying goodbye there!!
So, off we are going to court. s-i-l is going to have a cow!! When she finds out that her brothers have got a lawyer and want her to cough up some accounting, let them into the house, share lists that she found that mom had made, and give an inventory of the house she is going to pop a gasket. Wish I could see it but that pleasure is going to have to live in my imagination. If she doesn't comply than they are going to petition her to be removed and replaced by husband (who is next in line on the list in the will).
Other than that we are all doing well. Daughter #1 is flying home to Lopez in June and living with friends until we arrive. She has got herself 3 jobs: working at Isabels coffee house, working in a bookstore, and babysitting. It's a safe place for her to experiment being on her own. Daughter #2 is totally envious of her sister being 17 and being able to take off. She is in the middle of some powerful puberty and we never know what face is going to greet us at any time! She still likes to play soccer and still wants to be a chef. Husband is busily producing ceramics. He is distressed with the whole estate stuff. Me? I'm taking a weaving class (my solace!!) and trying to "keep it together".
Must be off.....
will be back.......

Mail

I like to get things in the mail. Since I don't write letters (I am a terrible correspondent) I order things on Ebay. It's the best way to keep a steady stream of packages arriving on my door step. My neighbors must think that my life is full of friends that I constantly correspond with. I've got them all fooled!!
I really like ebay. I hate to shop. The mall...egh!!! I will go to the occasional store to try on stuff to figure out what size I am then I head on home to ebay. I have found over the year that I have been ebaying that I must have discipline. "Yes grasshopper, do not get sucked into the auction. There will always be another to bid on." I am a thrift shop ebayer. I go for the bargains and only what I really want. Well, I go for the bargains. There has been an occasional "Why did I get that?". Because it was cheap is usually the answer.
I buy books for girls (I like half.com too) and gadgets for the home and shoes and clothes. God, I love to buy clothes. I like Flax, Sacred Threads, Overalls, and Blue Fish and games (don't forget the games!).
Just today we got a game called "curses" and a book for Artie. The former from ebay the latter from half.com.
I like to sit at the computer and look at all the offerings. I call it being on the love lines. I'm connected to other humans. I'm purchasing useful item for my family. I'm contributing to some other human's household instead of a huge corporation. I am so full of goodness I just might go up a pant size!!
It's good come out of the closet and announce to the world that I like ebay!! I love the ebay commercials on TV. I, too, do it ebay!
Blessings....V

The Out House

We have payed off our property. An achievement that I never thought that I would attain.
Now we are getting a loan. We may be poor but we have great equity! Getting the loan, we now have a line of credit, was easy. What has not been easy is getting the home insurance that we need to have in order to finalize our loan.
We live in a dome. Michael designed and built it. We live off of solar and wind power. We do not a toilet inside our house. We have an out house. We have a post and pier foundation and we have torch down roofing. We don't even tell the insurance agents anymore that we have a woodstove.
Well pardon me for living creatively and thoughtfully!!!!!
I like our out house. Lot's of people on Lopez only have out houses. Our out house is built to look like a shed. On the inside there are shelves in the back that have paint cans on them. I must admit that wasn't our doing...it was one of our caretakers. I can live with the shelves and paint though. Years ago I started stapling postcards on the wall. Our friend Andy sends us the classic artists on 4x6 and I dutifully wait until I've got a stack of them and then out there I go to staple them on the wall.
I like to sit and do my business with the door open. I get to look at the meadow and the tree line in the distant. During the day I hear birds and crickets. In the spring we are serenaded by frogs. In the mornings sometimes the mist is ethereal and enchanting. In the night I can hear the deer snorting. In the rain I dawn a light rain jacket and sit in the dry and watch the rain splash as I splash. I see Humphrey Head in the distance. It looks like a cliff, rocky and majestic. Sometimes our neighbor is using his air strip and a plane is going overhead and the out house rattles.
We have a book of jokes there for the one who likes to sit and sit and sit. We have toilet paper. We have peat moss for when you poo. We always sprinkle a can of peat moss over our poo. It keeps the out house smelling of dirt instead of feces.
I like our out house. I've been using an out house now for 10 yrs. It makes me feel connected and ancestral. For all the women that have squatted in the fields and on the trail I honor as I sit in my shed looking out over the meadow into the plum trees.
When we have off-island visitors we tell them that we live rustically. If they sleep over they need a tent ( our dome is too small), our shower is in the kitchen, and we have an out house. We have a large garden and the most amazing blackberries in season. I think that my out house is in paradise!!!
So, screw the insurance agent who is speechless at the thought of no indoor toilet. They are dumb founded when the word dome comes rolling off my lips like melted chocolate. But I don't want to get started on my insurance issues!! I hate( and I mean, HATE! Like getting shingles, hate. Or having a roach infestation, hate. Or fingernails on the chalkboard, hate) insurance and I'm right in the thick of having to deal with getting it.
Oh the woes, the woes, the woes.
Blessings....V

Voodoo

Something weird happened today. Michael doesn't like me to tell people about his "voodoo" but I'm going to because no one reads this and I want too.
Today Michael was by himself in our booth over at the Anacortes Arts Festival. I stayed home with the kids. He got a volunteer booth sitter to stay in our booth while he went to the bathroom. After he gets back and the booth sitter has left Michael discovers that someone has gone into his backpack, leaving it open and stolen our digital camera. He immediately calls me and tells me that it's gone. He knows because he NEVER leaves his backpack unzipped. He then says that he has got to find the person who took it. It was obviously not the booth sitter. I ask how are you going to find this person and he says he is going to use his "voodoo".
Michael is a telepath and very psychic. He calls me a couple hours later to tell me that he found the culprit. It was a middle aged woman, well dressed, with long brown hair. He saw her walking on the opposite side of the street from our booth. He caught up with her and invited her into our booth to have some privacy and confronted her. He told her that he knew she had the camera and she could either give it back or he would get the police. At first she denied everything but then she gave him the camera and two pens that she had stolen. It was kinda funny...like the pens mattered. And off she went ... a criminal at large. I bet Michael scared the hell out of her. He is really intense and who knows what he actually said to her to make her believe that he knew that she had the camera. I imagine that he told her some dirty little secret that she had hidden in her mind. He probably blew her socks off!!!
I don't know all the details yet, we didn't have time to really chat about it. Michael said that he had a whopping headache. Poor guy, he really put himself out there to catch this person. He was determined. He was so distraught because it would be such a struggle for us to replace it.
Even if he did the call police what would he have said? "Well officer my psychic vibe says that this woman has my camera" or "I know what she's thinking and she's thinking about my camera".
We did agree that the promoters of the show need to know that a thief is around and to let other vendors know. So he was going to call them and let them know.
Weird huh?
Other than that I feel like I'm fighting off a cold.
Blessings....V

How to mend a broken heart and other parental challenges

Today my daughter, Xan calls up one of her buddies to wish her a Happy Birthday. I had seen said friends Mom in town yesterday and she told me that today was her birthday. Well come to find out said friend is having a Birthday Party and Xan was not invited. Said friend's Mom felt pretty awful about the whole thing. She is a yacker and went on and on about how bad she felt. Finally I had to tell her that I had to get off the phone and take care of my daughter who's feeling I could tell where hurt.
Poor Xan. She has a broken heart because she is feeling left out and not liked. Poor Me. I have a broken heart because Xan's feeling were hurt. I want to make it all better for her. I want her to be well liked and feel secure in her friendships. I don't want people to blow her off and have her feelings hurt.
We talked. Xan expressed how that in the last month her friend has not been returning phone calls and has snubbed Xan when she has seen her in town. Xan cried and went upstairs to be alone. She came down later and when I asked her how she was doing she said that it felt really good to say out loud how she had been feeling about her friend. We got Xan on the phone and called around and got her a playmate for this afternoon. Someone that she really wants to play with summer and our schedules haven't worked out. So all seems good. But is it? Xan has a few friends in Saratoga and less here on Lopez. All my buttons are being pushed. Are we doing the right thing? Do we need to move back to Lopez , like yesterday, so that she can get involved in the public school so that she can socialize? My baby is lonely and I don't know how to fix it. What a crappy situation!!!! Because we were gone from Lopez for four years she lost all the connections that she had with other kids her age and the reintergration for her has been challenging. Artie remembers all her old friends as they do her but Xan was only 4 when we left and remembers none of her old playmates or they her. Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!!!! I worry for my children's' well being.
No one told me that with mothering came such intense emotions and the desire to slay any mere human that would cause my children emotional turmoil. Maybe I need to heed the cliche that rolled off my tongue yesterday like dew off a petal..."Whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger". Loneliness, not belonging, feeling like no one likes you, these are all feelings that we all have at all stages of our life. I can't make these things not happen or the hurt to go away...I can only let her know that she's a good person and well liked by more than the few and help her to love herself.
I am going to buy her an address book and let her get the addresses of all her friends here so that while we are away she will keep in touch and keep the friendships going.
Parenting is a difficult task and somewhere along the line I lost the directions!
Blessings.....V

It's not a small world after all

It's been a long time since I blogged. I needed to spend some time away to figure out what is this that I am doing. I've decided that I will continue to blog. It is good and cleansing to write.
This weekend we went to the Faerieworlds Festival at a place called "Hornings Hideout" in North Plains, OR. It was attractive to us because we sell M's artwork at the Florida Renaissance Festival and we thought this would be just a fun. It was. I do not know how to do links yet but the web address is www.faerieworlds.com.
Anyway it was a weekend of music (Celtic and ethereal), faerie artists (Brian and Wendy Froud, Amy Brown etc...), and a craft village (people like us). I went with the expectation of learning more about music and making a lot of money. Well, the girls had a blast!!!! They mingled with the faerie artists, got autographs and danced up a storm. Michael and I worked very long hours, we barely slept, and we made a moderate sum of money. Two stores approached M about wholesaling and that is good and exciting. These two stores made our weekend. I learned some about some new bands. I listened to Solas, Woodland, Taarka, Rasputina, and Trillian Green. All of which I liked. Music for some reason is not one of the things that we spend our money on and it was a treat to hear so much of it!!
Now I am back home and today I went to the Froud's website. I learned over the weekend that they are one of the promoters of this event. Ahhh, a light goes on in my head. That is why the festival was the "all about Brian Froud show"! I was thinking it a bit odd over the weekend. Michael had had a conversation with one of the promoters a couple of weeks before the show. They talked about him making commemorative mugs. He did and they were a bust. All that work for not..because everyone there was into getting there Brian Froud print or book signed by Brian Froud. We have about 24 Faerieworlds Festival mugs (with dragon skin and dragon handles) if anyone wants one. We need to have a talk with that certain promoter about the whole thing.
So today I am thinking that it is not a small world after all!!! I spent just about an hour at the Frouds website and that led me to the Mythic Journeys website and I also went to the Desert Sin website. Desert Sin is a dance/performance company in LA that focuses on middle eastern dance and performance art...very cool!!! They look like a bunch of blue Krishnas in their publicity photos. And then I was Comic-con a comic book conference. All of this came from the Frouds and where they have been and what they are doing. There are a lot of people out there doing and experiencing things that I very rarely think about. My world is puny and hopefully not insignificant. Right now my brain hurts with the expanse of humans and thinking of all their puny lives like mine. That's a lot of lives and worlds and experiences. There are so many of us. So many who know and experience so much that I can't even imagine. I feel really, really small at the moment. It's a humbling, good small.
I'm back.
Blessings.....V

The Take It Or Leave It

We have a recycling center here on Lopez Island. We call it The Take It Or Leave It and we call it Neals' Mall.
Neal is the guy who works for the county waste department and he runs everything at the dump. He is very tall, thin, has a really long beard and long hair, very quiet, soft spoken, wears glasses, and always has a pair of overalls on. We love Neal!!!
A part of our very cool dump is the recycling center. We are way into recycling here! And a part of the recycling center is The Take It Or Leave It.
The Take It Or Leave It is housed in a huge shed closed on three sides and open the whole width of one side. Most stuff is put into categories, by whoever brings it in and by volunteers when the dump is closed. We have clothes: baby's', children's', women's', men's', tons of jeans, coats, dresses, shoes, boots. You name it, we don't take it to the thrift shop we take it to the dump! We don't buy things at the thrift shop, we go to the dump!
We have books, bikes, vacuum cleaners, lawn mowers, pots, pans, games, dishes, old fencing, couches, chairs, anything and everything.
My husband loves to go there every Sat., Sun., and Wed. He's sometimes gone for hours. Sorting, waiting for someone else to bring in a load, chatting with friends. It's his coffee clutch. Everyone at the dump knows Michael. He's a true scavenger. He keeps a list on our desk of things that he wants to have appear at the dump. There are many like him on Lopez. They have a friendly competitiveness between them...they are always wanting to be the first person there when the dump opens and the last person there when it closes.
Sometimes Michael will go two or three times a day to see what has been brought in.
Today I was suppose to meet Michael at The Take Or Leave It at noon when it opened to pick up something he saw on Sunday but couldn't fit it in the car. I waited, he was late. While waiting I picked up 5 pairs of jeans for Xan to try on. Someone came in with a Uhaul and unloaded a bunch of stuff from their house that they just sold. From them I got two shucking knives, a silver ladle (I even went to them to make sure that they wanted to give it away. They did. Yay me!), a pair of scissors, a silver serving spoon and two boxes of ziploc storage bags. Oh, and a really good small knife.
Michael just walked in the door from his second round of recycling. He brought home Artie some professional hair dyeing capes and glitter for Xan.
Life is full of stuff. I love our Take It Or Leave It. We collect stuff and we leave it for someone else to collect. Stuff! Wonderful, wonderful stuff!!!

I've had the flu...

I've had the flu. A yucky, on the couch for days, flu. I am now going to attempt to finish this 100 things thing so I can write about more important things!

More of me...

36. As I child I would sit in my closet in a white frilly dress and smoke cigarettes. Somehow is was a sacred place for me.
37. I gave up smoking when I was in my twenties. At the time I smoked 2 packs a day.
38. I do not find myself very interesting and it is very hard to write this.
39. I was once asked by a therapist if I felt alone. My reply was, "no". They said that this is uncommon of people who have suffered abuse. In my case, incest. Maybe I have angels or spirit guides who stick close enough to have their presence felt?
40. My favorite charities are The Heifer Project and Food For Life. I give to them both.
41. I am a democrat who has voted for Ralph Nader for years. This year I will not. I am sad about that.
42. I want life to be an adventure. I don't want to blow the only chance I'm getting as me, Victoria.
43. I believe in reincarnation.
44. I was in the hospital room with my Grandfather when he was dyeing and I did not tell him that I loved him because I was feeling self conscious. I regret that.
45. I love to walk on the beach in the rain.
46. I like food...all kinds.
47. When I gave birth to my first daughter I was terrified. Really terrified!!! I was beside myself with anguish over her being a girl and I would have to be her Mom.
48. When my second daughter came along we invited some friends to her birth and we had chocolate cake and champagne after she arrived. I'm getting all weepy thinking about it. It was great!!!
50. My love for my children overwhelms me. Nobody ever told me it would be so big!!
51. Sometimes I wonder what planet my husband came from.
52. Sometimes I wonder what planet I came from!
53. Most of the time I think that we are each others' salvation.
54. Before moving to Lopez Island. Michael and I lived in Tucson, AZ for 5 yrs.
55. I miss it there sometimes. I particularly miss the smell of mesquite burning in peoples' fireplaces in the winter.
56. After Michael and I were married we traveled to Mexico. We bought a Volkswagen "thing" and drove it back to MA. It took us about 5 months. We were looking for a place to live. Tucson won.
57. I love the Mexican influence in Tucson.
58. I believe that when I am cooking I infuse whatever I make with love.
59. I like my lifestyle of traveling, selling artwork, and homeschooling.
60. I am starting to learn about permaculture.
61. I drink a spirulina smoothie just about every morning. My mental health needs it!!
Spirulina has natural lithium in it.
62. I have an ulcer.
63. I think that people view me as really nice and always happy. Most people don't know me very well.
64. I very rarely confide in people.
65. I like my own company.
66. My mothers' voice rings in my ears whenever I am getting dressed. It says, "Are you wearing that?".
67. We own a van called, Motor Yacht Trixie.
68. When Artie was a toddler she use to run up to our Volkswagen van, Aunt Tobey, and give her a big hug and a kiss. I think the kids at the Montessori school thought we were weird.
69. Life is a trip. I just keep wondering when I'm going to get there!
70. I love to go snorkeling.
71. I like to meet people. People are very interesting to me.
73. I believe that everyone has an incredible story to tell.
74. I have some wonderful extended family.
75. My very dearest friend is a man.
76. I believe in the Goddess and that Jesus Christ was an amazing prophet.
77. My favorite Holiday is Passover.
78. Birthdays are a big deal in my house!!! We love to make birthday cake creations!!
79. My husband moves at warp speed and sometimes I get tired just thinking about all the stuff he does!
80. I like to watch "Gilmore Girls" and "Judging Amy" on TV.
81. As a family we watch Star Trek.
82. My favorite movie is "Time Bandits". Well, one of my favorites.
83. When I was a girl, I belonged to The Partridge Family Fan Club.
84. I'm glad this is almost done. It cuts my chances of total humiliation down.
85. I like to make people feel good about themselves.
86. I coo over my cats. I think I make a complete fool of myself trying to get their attention.
87. Michael met and got married in NYC.
88. When we lived together we would head over to Times Square and see what movies were playing right then and there and go see one. We called it, Movie Roulette.
89. Now I play Check Roulette.
90. Michael and I were married at city hall. The Justice of The Peace held the doors open an extra few minutes because Michael was running back from the Judges' chambers with our exemption (not to wait 24 hrs. after getting our marriage license). We were married at 11:37 AM on August 17, 1987. Nobody except us has been married at that time. As far as I know.
91. I'm sure you can do the math....but, I've been married for 17 years.
93. Xan is really forward to me being done with this so that I can pay attention to her. She keeps asking me if I'm done yet. Can you relate?
94. I collect shells. I've got boxes of them. Someday I'll put all to some use.
95. I own an old upright piano that was my solace as a child. I have dragged that piano to several locations. My father calls it "that god damn piano". It would have easier if I had bonded with a teddy bear. But I didn't so where I go...it goes. Right now it is in storage here on Lopez.
96. I have a stuffed animal that I made as a child. His name is Ricky raccoon. I love him and he sits on my bookshelf.
97. I have had all my furniture in storage since we moved to Lopez. It has been 11 years. We plan to move everything out this summer...or next.
98. I tend to be impatient. I like immediate results.
99. I have a desire to create mosaics. I want to work with tiles and stones and mortar.
100. Life is good!
101. I like to sing.

Eagles and other island life

I heard my first Eagle this week. For those of you that have never heard one. They sound earthy and primeval. It's the sound of home. We have one that lives in the forest behind our house and circles over our meadow looking for something to eat.
This week I have been playing "Safari Jane" out in my garden. It's a trip! The grass is breast high. I go out with my trusty weed wacker and my clippers. I wack and clip until my muscles ache and my face is beet red. I won't tell you how long that takes...I'd be embarrassed.

More stuff about me....

24. Hard to do this when you've forgotten what the first 23 were.
25. I was 25 when I finally figured out that I had a "self". Until then I was looking at myself through my parents eyes. I was a late bloomer.
26. I like to bake. When going to potlucks I usually bake something.
27. I love to travel!!!! I have a dream of global schooling my girls.
28. I spend time at the travel websites for fun. I love to plan trips.
29. I like to weave. I own my loom. I haven't had an opportunity to weave in a long time.
30. I live in a dome home. Michael designed it and built it. It is small and we are planning to build another.
31. When I close my eyes I can feel a millions of other beings on the planet. Been that way since I was a kid.
32. I believe that there is a force greater than ourselves. It binds us all.
33. I love the ocean. It is the blood of our planet.
34. I cry at movies. I am emotional.
35. I have traveled a lot. When I was in high school my parents moved to Saudi Arabia. I went to a boarding school in England. I have been to many places...but never Paris. I find that strange.

My grumpy daughter is in from raking and I must read with her. I promised. Gotta go... Blessings...V

100 things about V

Well I'm waiting for Michael to get home from the dump. We have a recycling center that we call "The Take It Or Leave It" and we also call it "Neal's Mall". Neal is the guy that runs the dump. Michael is the guy who is a "Take It Or Leave It" junkie. Sometime I will have to tell you all about it.
But, until he returns (he's been gone a while) I will do some active self indulgence.

V's 100 List
1. I am 42 yrs. old.
2. I have two girls Artie, 15, and Xan, 9.
3. I live part of the year in Saratoga Springs, NY and part of the year on Lopez Island, WA.
4. Michael is my husband and he is an artist, ceramicist. We sell his work at Art Shows and thus we get to travel and live in two places.
5. It seems that we are always scrambling for money. I married for love not wealth.
6. I was born in MA and don't particularly like it there. Too puritan, too New England, too something that has always given me the willies.
7. I had a pretty crappy childhood.
8. I have a very difficult relationship with my Mom, then my Dad, then my 2 brothers.
9. I was raped by one of my brothers for years.
10. As a result I'm sexually uptight. It comes back in haunts me at odd times and in weird ways.
11. I'm always in need of therapy and never get there!!
12. We homeschool our girls. It works really well for us. I am an unschooler and pretty liberal in my thinking.
13. I became a Unitarian Universalist about 3 yrs. ago. I love it!!
14. Lopez is home and everytime I set foot on our property here I could just burst into tears of gratitude.
15. I have my degree in Theater Arts. An emphasis in performing.
16. I worked as an actress for many years. Did some commercials, a few movies, and lots of stage work.
17. I gave it up when I realized that acting was never really my dream...it was my Moms'.
18. I do a few acting gigs now and then but it takes up so much of my being that I am very selective!
19. I love cats!!! They are great entertainment.
20. I like to garden. Here on Lopez I have a big one and when we were living here full time we ate out of it year round.
21. I know lots more about vegetable gardening than I do flower gardening.
22. As a homeschool Mom, I figure that I won't have anytime to myself until I'm 50. It will be my Crone present to myself.
23. Our bumperstickers say: "Expect a Mackerel", "God is too big for one religion", "Pro Child/Pro Choice","If it's not fun why do it?"(I got that one at the Ben and Jerry's Factory) and "Celebrate Life". I think bumperstickers say a lot about a person.

He's home, gotta go and get the kids. Blessings...V

It's about time

I can't believe that it has taken me so long to figure out the whole comment thing. This is my test run....Is anybody out there?
I read all the stuff at the blogger website this morning and maybe I can even stick in some links and photos. Photos would be nice. Wouldn't they?
Both the kids went off for overnights last night. It's so very unusual for Michael and I to be alone. We made ourselves a nice dinner of local salmon, mashed potatoes and cabbage with gorganzola cheese. We watched "White Nights" a good movie from the eighties. Too bad I'm having some yeast and ulcer problems...otherwise the evening could have been very romantic indeed!!
I find myself just blabbering on so that I can get this up and see if anyone leaves any comments. I'm tingling with 21st century excitement. Blessings....V

round and round we go....

I remember that soon after our dome was built the girls would race around the downstairs. Round and round they would go. I love being home!!! Michael designed and built us a great sacred space. Right now a friend of ours is over having a glass of wine with Michael. They are talking about other artists on the island and basically catching up.
Michael has a piece of artwork up at the Community Center and tonight we went to an artists' reception. It was fun to chit chat with our friends. It was funny that the only people there were the artists. It's a good thing that artists have a lot to talk about with each other.
It rained all day yesterday and two of our sky lights leaked. I guess it's good that we know but yesterday I wished not to know. We had to move our bed and set up a pot to catch the slow drip. It brought me back to the days when we lived in our travel trailer while we were building the dome. I remember one very wet winter night when the trash bag that was covering a drip in the ceiling collasped on us while we were blissfully slumbering. It was cold, it was shocking, we were disgruntled, and it seems like such a long time ago!!
Blessings.....V

Speedy Little Demons

Xan and I boiled up some sugar water for the Hummingbird feeder that I found. She measured out the sugar and the water in a nice 1 to 4 ratio and set it on the stove to boil. She got to do the "clicker" to light the burner.
After the sugar/water cooled I put it in the feeder and set it out in its place outside our window. After about a 1/2 hour Xan notices that a Hummingbird is there doing its thing. I am sitting here at the computer doing my usual Ebay thing and listening them zipping about out there. They sound like bullets!! I say, "Don't stand near the Hummingbird feeder our you might end up with Hummingbirds sticking out of your skull". They are fast speedy little demons!!!
I am in my element...home.
Must go to do my daily read aloud with Xan.
Blessings....V

The Grass Is As High As An Elephants Eye...

We came home to an unmowed (is there such a word?) lawn. Thigh high to be more to the point. It's ok though. We couldn't find anyone to mow it and we gave up in April figuring that it's only grass and we can deal with it. Well, we are dealing with it.
For the first week home we decided that we needed down time and every day I took a nap. I needed some recovery from packing up our apartment and from Mom's birthday party. Now I feel recovered and am ready to face the idea of doing things here. Yesterday was yard cleaning day. We all spent the day weed wacking, pruning, raking and few minutes to jump into our new ponds. I sat outside with the girls and it was wonderful. I got some good Mommy juice watching them play in the water. We made some steps on one of the sides of the our ponds and they sat on the steps catching tadpoles and daring each other to jump in. Artie was the bravest and went for the first plunge. She jumped in and landed on the next level of steps. We had forgotten about those! She didn't hurt herself...was just surprised.
Last night we went over to the community center and watched a movie. It was "Fleeing By Night". A Chinese film with subtitles that Michael read to Xan. Very good movie. It seems that we have to travel 3000+ miles and take a ferry to an island to get some culture.
Another travel story...
At the beginning of our trip we stayed with our friends Ken and Cassie in Appleton, WI. Appleton seems to be about the same size as Saratoga Springs. It has a very hip downtown. We walked downtown on a Saturday and went to an Art Show. It was a show of 35 ceramicists from WI. How nice for Michael to get a chance to walk around and look at other peoples art!! Next to the show there was an Art Center and they were having a gallery show. It was all recycled art. It was "way fun"! I particularly liked the "cereal box woman" made out of cereal boxes. We saw lots of instruments that the kids could bang on. Max (Ken and Cassie's son) really liked the bang away on part. It was a great day!! Our time with Ken and Cassie was too brief. They have a daughter who is 7 months old and really loved Michael and I. She would make all sorts of smiles at us. Of course we couldn't pick her up. Xan and Artie could..but not the grown ups. Only Mommy. Not Daddy or Michael or Victoria. Ah well we'll be visiting them again....
Blessings.....V