My New Toy

My new Birthday Camera came today, and I'm very pleased with it. It's a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS, an upgrade from the one I've been using (Jim's) a PowerShot SD 630. The new camera has image stabilization and 8 Mega Pixels vs. 6 Mega Pixels on the older one. It's also a little smaller, a little lighter, and blue. Very cool. Matches my eyes, don't you know. I took a photo inside the house of the same shot with both cameras, and there was quite a difference in the color vibrancy. I've been playing with the new one, trying to learn about it. Lots of manuals to go through - which I find annoying, but at least I know some of the things already, since they are both PowerShots. One good feature is that both cameras use the same batteries, the same chargers, the same computer connection cords. I'm really pleased to have the image stabilization feature, which should work well taking photos on vacation. It may save some otherwise blurry photos. I took a few photos outside to see how they would turn out, and so far I'm pleased. I will read the manuals to learn all the features, even though I'm not looking forward to it, just so that I can take advantage of all my options.

Jim spent quite a while today outside in the woods cutting back the brush and vines. He's got quite a pile going. The plan is to either get David's chipper working and turn the brush into mulch, or perhaps rent one. The main problem is getting the piece of equipment into the area - it's up a hill, and Jim may have to drive his pickup up there behind the shed. If that's what it takes, he might just have to make several trips to the dump with the brush and forget about chipping it. The idea is to make it easier, and if chipping it is too much of a hassle, the dump may be a better option. Our neighbor has just put down new grass seed, so driving over his land is not an option.

Jim took me to his favorite neighborhood pub this evening, before we went to a meeting. First he was startled to see that the name had changed - from the Triple Creek Restaurant to Tj's Corner Grill. It's the same as it was inside, just under new management. What Jim liked about the place is that it reminds him of the sitcom bar - Cheers. And he has raved about their cheeseburgers. Of course, I had to give the cheeseburger a try, and it was basically a meat loaf on a bun! It was huge! I only ate half of it and brought the rest home. The flavor was good, although it was a little overcooked for my taste. Jim is on a self imposed diet of very low carbs, so he ate some tuna salad and the crab soup. I'm glad to have had a chance to try the place, since it's one of his favorites.

PHOTO: One of our azaleas, taken with my new camera.

I Saw Your Wife in the Woods but I Thought She was a Squirrel

That's what the UPS delivery driver said to Jim when he walked over to sign for a package. I have to say, no one's ever mistaken me for a squirrel before. I mean, they are kind of tiny, right? Although the weather today was a little cooler, it was a good day for working outside. Jim has begun to clear away the brush from our downed Red Oak tree. When it was cut down, quite a bit of it fell onto our neighbor's wooded property, and Jim promised him he'd get it out of there. No way can we get the massive trunk out without some serious horsepower, but the more manageable limbs can be pulled away and piled up on our own property until we get a chipper in here.

As we were dragging the branches, a lot of them were tangled with thick, old vines that had entwined themselves through the limbs. It brought back a memory from my childhood during the 1950's at my aunt and uncle's cottage near Erie, PA. It was actually a little community called Avonia. My uncle built the cottage by himself after the tent they used burned down. They loved going there on the weekends, and took me with them. My Dad and I lived with them, and so he could go out on weekend nights, I spent the weekends with my aunt and uncle. We'd leave on Friday afternoons when my uncle came home from work, pack up the car with the cat carriers, the food box, and whatever clothing we needed, and were on our way. We drove from Cleveland, Ohio to the cottage, near Lake Erie, a trip of about 100 miles. We'd stop in Ashtabula, Ohio to have something to eat, then on to the cottage. In those days, it was a trip of about 3 hours. We'd arrive at the small, one-room cottage after dark, and the first order of business was getting the stove blazing. It was a black, pot-bellied stove that stood near one end of the room, and was all the heat we had. The rafters were open to the roof, and the cats would run up the ladder and spent a lot of time running along the rafters from one side of the cottage to the other. I slept downstairs on one of the cots covered with an army blanket, and Aunt Minnie and Uncle Ted slept up in the loft. The kitchen was on the opposite side from the wood stove. Our water was pumped from the well, and the bathroom was the privy outside. The pump had an old-fashioned handle, and had to be primed with water to get it going.

It seems that one job that never ended was clearing the brush from the thick woods. That's where I first saw those big wooden vines, a couple of inches wide and up into the trees, as tall as they were. My friends and I would swing on them like Tarzan. I also remember wild thimbleberries that ripened in mid-summer. They're red like a raspberry, only flatter, and the berry cap pops off like a thimble when they're ripe. The leaves were large and fuzzy, and there were no thorns.

Lake Erie was within walking distance, down a couple of dirt roads, then a short distance on a paved road. My friends and I spent quite a bit of time there. The public beach was off to the left, at the end of the paved road, across a fast moving creek. The right side was private, and we couldn't go there. We used a log to cross the creek, but sometimes there was no log, and we waded across. Once, when I was about 8, I left my friends at the beach and waded back across by myself, barefooted, and slipped on the moss-covered rocks. I fell in, and when I got up and out, I looked down and saw that I had a huge gash, an open flap on the instep of my foot, probably from a broken bottle. There was blood everywhere. I was crying and alone, and I remember a man just looking at me without offering any help. I knew I had to get myself home, so I walked, dripping blood the whole way, over the asphalt and the dusty, dirt roads, all the way home. It was at least a mile, probably more. Of course, Minnie and Ted immediately drove me to the hospital, where my foot was operated on, and I stayed for a week. The doctors were concerned about infection, since the wound was full of dirt and grit. Ted had to go back to work on Monday, so they went back to Cleveland. Minnie didn't drive, and there would have been no way for her to stay at the hospital. The next weekend, Minnie and Ted picked me up from the hospital, and I ended up in a wheel chair and on crutches the rest of the summer. I still have the scar, which looks like a large check mark on the instep of my left foot. My friends, who had stayed behind at the lake when I started on home and fell, knew something had happened, since they saw the blood trail all the way home.

The last time I was at the cottage, I was 12. My friends were the summer people, who had cottages like we did, except for the Fosters, who lived there all the time. They were a very poor family with lots of kids, and even at that young age I was shocked by their poverty. It was more than poverty, though. I was also shocked at the squalor they lived in. I still remember the way the dishes were washed, the greasy scum of the dishwater. I felt sorry for my friend Judy, who was a serious and quiet girl. I liked Judy and enjoyed being with her, but even so, I persuaded my aunt to say I couldn't go to a sleepover at her house. I had the willies just thinking about it. Not that our own house wasn't messy - Minnie was never known for her housekeeping skills - but, it was an average level of cleanliness/dirtiness.

PHOTO: Not exactly the kind of privy at the cottage, but I like it. From the Philadelphia Flower Show.

Rainy Day Monday

It rained all day today. Not that I'm complaining - actually it was a really good rain, not too hard or too misty. Growing things will really pop out now. The cats were disappointed. They meowed to go outside, so we let them out the front onto the porch. They like to sit out there and watch, at least for a while. Mostly, they thought it was a good napping day.

I got into my Domestic Goddess routine, since working outside wasn't possible. With the cooler weather, I made a nice pot of chili for dinner. Got a lot of things done that I've been putting off, and every time I went into the basement, I brought up more additions for the yard sale to add to the things in the garage. At this rate, we should have lots of good stuff ready in 2 weeks. Less than 2 weeks, actually. I'll have it rain or shine, since things will be sheltered inside the garage, but oh please let it be nice!

Ming Poo is fascinated with all the interesting stuff out in the garage, and escapes out there every time she can. Yesterday she was investigating a stuffed raccoon on the table. Jim said I should give it to her to replace her teddy bear that she shredded, but it's too large for her to play with. I found her a small teddy bear, and she's just as happy with that one. She's already chewed off the feather boa it had around its neck.

My Watercolor Class was tonight. There are some very talented women in this class. We've been doing landscapes, and some of the pictures are really good. A couple of the women are used to working with acrylics and are new to watercolor, and they are finding the adjustment to the watercolor media a little difficult. Their paintings are more vibrant with rich colors than the others, which tend to be more pale or pastel in comparison. Everyone is painting from a photo or picture. We are experimenting with different techniques, using sponging or wadded paper towels or salt or watercolor crayons. It's interesting to see what effects the various techniques produce.

Carolyn figured out how to pull out the telescoping handle on my rolling tote. I'm delighted, since pulling it to class from the parting lot was making me feel like Quasimoto from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I was all bent over, since the handle was only pulled out half the distance it was supposed to be. Now it works perfectly. When I told her it was actually a sewing machine case, she remembered that she has one tucked away in a closet herself, so she may pull it out and put it to use for her own watercolor materials.

PHOTO: An iris in our garden from a previous spring.

So That's Where My Frog Went

After all the nice weather lately, today it stayed cool and overcast, making it a good day to get caught up inside the house. I have plans for a yard sale of my own in 2 weeks, and today I got a jump on gathering things together. Jim is parking his truck outside the garage for a couple of weeks, so I have a 6 foot table set up inside, and it's already full. I went through the shelves in the back of the garage and found things I didn't even know we had. Apparently these were boxes that were set up on the shelves after our move here 5 years ago, without much done to sort through them. Now things are organized into auto related, yard maintenance, and insect control. When I was finished, Jim came out to learn where I had put everything, and did a little weeding out of his own. A lot of stuff came back inside the house. I found a couple of things I've been looking for over the years, such as my flower arranging "frog." I couldn't imagine where it was, but held off replacing it. I have tons of stuff to add to the yard sale things from the basement. I've been setting aside things for quite a while now, so it should be a good sale.

I found a new teddy bear for Ming Poo, and she loves it. It's small enough for her to carry around in her mouth and toss into the air. It had feather trim on the hat and a scarf, but I think it's already chewed off. This one may not last very long.

My tulip arrangements are beautiful. I took a couple of photos so that I can use them as references for watercolor painting. I spent time last night putting all my painting materials into the new rolling case I got yesterday, and it works really well. The telescoping handle had been sticking and was hard to pull out, but Jim gave me some silicone, and now it works very easily. I'm so organized now I can hardly stand it.

The azalea bushes are mostly in bloom, and they're really beautiful. It rained last night and gave everything a good soaking, just what they needed. The azaleas by the road are a deep red, my favorite color. Most of the others are pink - pretty, but not as vibrant as the red ones.

I'm having a really hard time with my typing. Paddle is lying on my arms, purring. Of all the kitties, she's most like a rag doll - limp and form fitting. She basically folds whatever way you want her to. Very Sweet.

PHOTO: Azalea Park, Brighton Dam, 2005. These bushes are amazing. They're over 6 feet high. Ours are more like 2 to 3 feet tall.

The Anniversary of My Diagnosis

Yes, today is one year since my diagnosis of breast cancer. So much has happened in a year that it seems to me that it's been longer than that. Time usually has a way of flying by, but this year was different because of so many things to learn about, so many appointments, so much to think about, so many decisions, and on and on. This is a real milestone. Of course it wasn't "easy," but in so many ways it might have been so much more difficult to go through, were it not for Jim, my good friends, and the support of family. They have kept me upbeat throughout everything, and I genuinely appreciate everything that was done for me. Jim went to all my appointments with me. He sat through hours of waiting for me to have chemo infusions, tests, medical exams, and surgeries. He ran errands to get prescriptions, shopped, cooked, and played nurse when necessary. From the beginning he said this was something that we were both going through, and he played his part every single day.

I have many wonderful friends. They called, sent cards, made food, took me to lunch, and made me laugh. My yard sailing "shipmates" made sure we were out every week, which kept up my spirits and got me out of the house for something other than medical appointments. We got together every week and made crafts. We went shopping and had dinners together with spouses. We went on adventures and entered craft fairs. And we always had fun. I have felt very much loved. It was a great year!

Today, being Saturday, we yard sailed again. I was thrilled to find an even better carrier for my paint supplies than the red luggage carrier I lost out on last week. This one is a tapestry covered rolling sewing machine case. It has a telescoping handle, wheels, zips around the top and pockets, and has interior pouches. It's large enough for a sewing machine, therefore it's nice and roomy. I put the caddy I've been using inside to take advantage of the compartments, and it's just perfect. It's new with the tags still on it - from JoAnn Sew Essentials, and the price is $49.99. My price? $8.00. Hooray!!

Cathy found a perfect rolling filing cart to house the Camera Club Library that she brings to all the meetings. This will make lugging the books back and forth much easier. I think hers was about $5.00. Carolyn found a couple of small things to supplement her craft stash, but Sharon beat us all by snagging a new pair of tap shoes - in her size - for $4.00. She's always wanted to take tap dancing lessons, and now she's all set. She's going to do a veil dance for her husband when he comes home tonight - wearing her wedding veil, some thigh high fishnet stockings, and the tap dancing shoes. She had us in stitches. Boy, is he going to be surprised!

PHOTO: Yarn spindles at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

Happy Birthday to Me!

What a gorgeous day for a birthday! Couldn't have been nicer. I really like having my birthday in the spring when everything is fresh and budding out. If memory serves, when I was growing up in the Cleveland Ohio suburbs, it was usually either cloudy or overcast or raining on April 25th. But here in Maryland, it's just pretty.

I spent some time this morning finishing up the grass weed pulling in the flower garden area. It's actually more than a flower garden - there's a huge lilac bush, an equally huge holly bush, some heavenly bamboo bushes, ornamental grasses, pink peonies, bleeding hearts, daffodils, lilies of the valley, and lots of bearded irises. I've planted a few new plants whose names escape me right now. There's also a little wishing well that camouflages the septic tank access area. This morning, in addition to pulling up the last of the grass weeds, I cut branches from underneath the holly bush. That really opened it up so that it's much easier to get the rake underneath. I'm really pleased with how it looks. Tonight I laid down mulch on top of the soil around all the plants until it started getting dark, then left the project and came inside. We need some more mulch and the whole area needs watering, but I think we're due for some rain tonight.

Today was another craft day, but first we celebrated 2 birthdays - Cathy's on Wednesday the 23rd and mine today. Carolyn and Sharon both brought cakes for us, and I supplied some peach ice cream and canned peaches. It was dessert heaven, then we opened gifts. Cathy and I both made out like bandits. A lot of fun. I have such great friends! Then we settled down to our crafting projects. Before I left, we had another plant exchange. We all brought some perennial plants from our gardens to share. I came home with a bleeding heart, a hen and chicks succulent, a white violet, lilies of the valley, and blood worts. (At least I think that was the name.) Last week it was purple violets, a red twig bush, pussy willows, dutch irises, and several others I can't remember right now.

Jim gave me the most beautiful card this morning. He always choses lovely cards, but this one is even more special than usual. My birthday gift is a new camera that I got to select myself. I finally ordered it this morning. It'll take a week or so to arrive, but that's fine - I mainly wanted to get a new one before our trip to Italy in October. This afternoon he brought me 2 dozen pink tulips. They're beautiful and still tight, so they'll last a while. I love tulips. I think this fall I'll plant some in our yard.

He also put the order in for our new stove today, and it'll be coming within the next couple of weeks. This one has 5 burners on the stove top. They all have a grill at the same level, so that you can slide a pot from one to another. Now I'm anxious for it to arrive. I'll be cooking up a storm. Time to get out the cookbooks!

PHOTO: A pond lily in our fish pond - from another year. It was beautiful while it lasted!

Right Brain Exercises

It looks like it will still be a while before we get a new stove. We had settled on one, but when we were filling out the sales info, the first question was, do you have natural gas? I would have flunked that question. We have propane gas, but I don't know the difference. Anyway, since we don't have natural gas, we have to first get our propane company to agree to come out and put the proper fitting or adapter in. Jim wants to get an agreement from them before we sign for the stove, so it will be a few days. No biggy, we'll get it taken care of.

We went out for dinner before heading to get the stove. It was nice. We ate at Mikeljohn's in Eldersburg. I was trying to explain this right brain/left brain thing to Jim, and he's not getting it. Perhaps because I'm not explaining it correctly, because I'm not getting it. I had my drawing class this afternoon, and we had an exercise designed to open up our creative right brains. This right/left brain concept is from the book by Barbara Edwards called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." This was an eye/hand exercise. We were to draw our left hand without looking at the paper. Our chairs were turned away from the table so that we couldn't glance at it. The instructions were to draw what we see, all the little lines in the hand that we see with our eyes, and follow along with the pencil. This is a contour exercise, as opposed to an outline drawing. When done correctly, that is connecting all the lines and following all the lines as opposed to making an "outline" of a hand, we have engaged our right brains. Well, mine was not done right. It was a left brain interpretation, an outline. Five fingers and the obvious lines, but not all the intricacies of the hundreds of tiny lines. I think I didn't get what she wanted us to do, which is why mine ended up looking like a hand instead of a scribble. If it had been a scribble, as some of the class did, that would have been the right brain engaged. Sigh ...

I know, I know - it's sounds kooky. I need to practice. I'm beginning to think I must be a predominantly left-brained person. My left brain wants to remain in control, and I don't seem to be able to switch it off. I'm waiting for that "aha" moment when something clicks and I can tell that I've switched over to the right brain. Meanwhile, I sit there feeling like I've done it all wrong. Like everyone else is speaking Chinese and I'm speaking French ... or pig Latin.

I did get outside for a couple of hours to play in the dirt before I went to class. The soil is still soft and moist from the rain a few days ago. I pulled up a lot more weeds, raked, planted a pussy willow and some spent daffodils that were in a pot. I added them to the ones in the flower bed, hoping they will come up next year. I've resolved to get outside every day and work in the yard, and so far I've stuck with it. I figure if I can try to keep up with the weeds every day, they won't be able to take over in the summer. That may be a tall order, though, as we have a lot of area that promotes weeds. Gotta get that mulch down!

PHOTO: A weathered bard door on Cold Saturday Farm.

No Baking for a While

Today was an outside day. I mowed the whole 2 acres, hand trimmed some of the grass around 4 trees, mulched those trees, planted the Dutch irises given to me by Carolyn, dug up some grape hyacinths to share with friends, pulled up some grass weeds, and now I'm struggling to keep my eyes open. It was good to be outside - the weather was perfect and beautiful. The ornamental trees are in full floral bloom everywhere. The redbuds are gorgeous. I meant to take some photos, but didn't get around to it.

We still haven't decided what to do about replacing our broken oven. Yes, we've at least decided not to repair it, since it will cost about $200 to fix, and the stoves aren't supposed to last more than 10 years. Planned obsolescence, you know. Not such a green concept, is it? Our house is now 9 years old, so it doesn't make practical sense to put that much into repairs. It's the oven igniter that is broken, and if we replaced it, it would be the 3rd time that part was put in. We already replaced it in 2003 just after we moved in, and now it's broken again. Enough.

We have begun looking, via the internet, at what's available now. It's actually kind of exciting. I still want a gas stove rather than electric. There are many more electric ones available, but I like using gas. I want to take the time to explore our options. We still have the stove top working, and I have our microwave, so we aren't likely to starve without a working oven for a while.

PHOTO: Bikinis in a shop window on the island of Capri. Love the colors.

ReMarriage - A Success Story

Today I had lunch at the Olive Garden with 5 of my friends. We all ended up ordering the bottomless salad bowl, breadsticks, and the soup. That's such a good lunch. It was really nice, since it's been a year since we've all been together. We used to have a knitting club, but that died away.

Paula has been very busy. She has created a magazine titled ReMarriage, about second marriages, step-families and the issues that come up with the blending of families, children, in-laws, ex-in-laws, homes, etc. Five years ago, Paula herself had 2 sons and a miniature-pinscher and married a widower with 2 daughters, a son and a golden retriever. When she was planning her wedding, she found that there was nothing on the magazine racks that targeted the second-time bride, and it occurred to her that there was a need for that market. Paula and her newly blended family faced many of the tough challenges that are written about in her publication. Now, 5 years later, the magazine has materialized. It's a top quality publication with all kinds of professional advice, good writers, interesting columns, advertisers, and sponsors. She has an on-line web magazine (remarriagemagazine.com) as well as a quarterly print magazine. She's been interviewed on television several times already, with more to come, and a large article has appeared in the Baltimore Sun newspaper and more are scheduled for other publications.

To give you a feel for what it's about, here are the features for the on-line magazine:

28 BLENDED BLISS By Mary K. Zajac
The wonders of making a new commitment, and making it work

34 WHAT’S IN A NAME? By Jacquelyn B. Fletcher
What to call the new additions to the extended family tree

38 HOME SWEET reHOME
Settling in to a New Life

38 YOURS? MINE? OR OURS? By Linda Odum
Finding digs that make everyone happy

40 NEGOTIATING THE MORTGAGE MAZE By David Pearl
The financial complications that come when remarrieds buy a home

43 ARE WE THERE YET? By Gail Buchalter
Navigating the pitfalls after the move is done

46 MERGING HOUSEHOLDS By Steve Appel
A seasoned designer’s advice on melding clashing styles

52 BEYOND THE WEDDING GOWN
The re-bride’s answer to “Whatever Will I Wear?”

Now we're all waiting for her to appear as a guest on Oprah, where each of us will be sitting in the audience, cheering her on and clapping! What a dream come true that would be!

PHOTO: Today I saw a doe at the deer feeder, in the middle of the day, 11:00. I'm pretty sure it was Penelope, the young doe who came every day to our feeder last year, often alone, but sometimes with her friends. This is a photo of Penelope as she looked then.

A Long Day

All went well at Book Club today. Everyone seemed to have a good time. When it was time to eat, I invited everyone to pick up their plate and create their own sandwiches. I laid the food out on the counter and that worked well. I am such a scatterbrain, though. After everyone left and I was working in the kitchen, I discovered that I never put out the iceberg lettuce for the sandwiches nor the organic grape tomatoes. Sigh ... I never buy iceberg lettuce, but did specifically for today's lunch, and now I'm stuck with that and a whole pint of little grape tomatoes. Tsk, tsk.

It was 4:00 before the last person left. By 6:00 I was on the road to go to my Watercolor Class. I had to fight with myself to go tonight. I was tired, and not really interested in painting. Carolyn started off the class with a demo of how to lay out a landscape painting - foreground, middle, and background. She also demonstrated some techniques, then we all sat down to begin our own landscapes. I am working on a Tuscany, Italy scene. At the end of class we mounted our paintings on the board for everyone to look at, then took them down and brought them home. Carolyn had already mounted last week's still life that we all painted, pre-instruction, so that she could evaluate where each of us was in our skill level. There are some really advanced students in the class; very artistic and creative. I was quite impressed.

It's been raining off and on today, and I think we are still due for some more this week. Jim and I talked about turning over the "tomato garden" area next to our garage soon, while the soil is moist and soft. We have a small rototiller that we use. It really works well churning up the soil. Jim seems to think we should go ahead and put the plants in now. I keep telling him that the Maryland natives say planting here should begin on Mother's Day, but he seems to think it would be fine now. Well, the rain may put us off for another week anyway. That's a perfect place for tomatoes since it's a southern exposure - gets sun all day. We already have the wire cages. With the price of food going up, I'm looking forward to enjoying our own crop.

Today marks 4 months since I had my mastectomy surgery, in case anyone is keeping track.

PHOTO: Red Maple leafing out.

Our Oven's Not So Hot

Tomorrow I'm hosting our Book Club for the 6 of us. I had a delicious dish, Crab Brunch Squares with Red Pepper Cream Sauce, that I planned to make, and was just about to go to the grocery store to get the final things I needed for the recipe. While checking the fridge for ingredients, I spotted a package with 3 remaining Nestles refrigerator cookies, and decided it would make a nice snack. Turned on the oven, and after the 10 minute preheat time, I opened the door to slide in the pan, and ... it was cold! Huh? Long story short, our oven is broken, probably the electric ignition that sparks the gas-heated oven.

That made a major change in my options for serving lunch tomorrow. Basically, I'm reduced to serving sandwiches. That's not such a terrible thing, but I wasn't planning on that. The sandwiches will be nice - roast beef, ham, cheese, chicken salad on croissants, with potato salad, olives, pickles, etc. - but not my first choice. Rats!

The saga of the oven will continue, once we figure out what our next step should be. We're either going to have this oven repaired, or possibly look into getting a new one. I haven't even begun to think about it. I'm just glad I didn't wait until tomorrow, an hour before serving, before I turned on the oven and discovered it was kaput. What a fiasco that would have been!

On a more serious note, Jim just learned tonight via email that one of his fellow members on the Environmental Advisory Council, Sher Herosko, has started a blog in which she announced that she has been diagnosed with a 2 cm brain tumor, and will be undergoing a lengthy and serious operation in 2 weeks. We are both in shock over it - this is the second person on this committee who is dealing with a brain tumor. Robin is the other person, and she is currently on a leave from her position on the committee. Both Sher and Jim resigned this week from the committee after a disappointing decision by the county commissioners to move forward with a multi-million dollar waste treatment plant, contrary to the advice of the Council. This has been an ongoing issue for quite a while. There have been numerous presentations, after considerable research, explaining a greener, more environmentally friendly and cheaper option. Other counties are having success with a "pay per throw" plan that has the benefit of educating the citizens and actually reducing waste and increasing recycling, but the plant is going forward regardless. Jim is very disappointed, and felt it wasn't good for him to continue the stress of being on this committee, given the politics involved. He was told by his cardiac doctor to try to avoid stress, following the stent surgery he had in the fall, so that's what he's doing. Now that Sher, Robin, and Jim are no longer on the committee, there are only 6 members left. I can't believe that both of those women have brain tumors. What are the odds?

PHOTO: My table setting for tomorrow, flowers compliments of Cathy's garden. She offered to give me some daffodils before they're gone by for a centerpiece. I think they look lovely. There are also some delicate pink flowers from a flowering tree, but I don't know the name. They inspired my pink motif. Click to enlarge photo.

Yard Sailing

Another warm one today, but very enjoyable. We went yard sailing again, and hit the big time with a yard sale at a local produce farm's parking lot with 50 vendors. It was productive for all of us. We ended up with treasures galore, but I'm still kicking myself for procrastinating over a new carry-on style piece of luggage with a handle and wheels - in a pretty red color - that I intended to use for all my watercolor paraphernalia. I've outgrown the small handled carrying tote I started with. This gem was $5.00. I set it down and looked at a couple of other things in the same vendor's area, and a man came over, picked it up, asked if they would accept $4.00, and it was sold. SOLD!!! I couldn't believe I had lost out on that, a perfect solution to my expanding equipment dilemma. I liked that it could be pulled and I liked the size. What was my problem? Sigh ... Sharon says it's like a black cocktail dress she gave away when her children were small, she was a single mother, and she figured she'd never wear it again. That was more than 30 years ago, and she's still mourning the loss of that dress. She's regretted it ever since, and she says now that little piece of luggage is going to forever be my lost little black cocktail dress.

Cathy found a great Coleman cooler. What was so interesting to us is that this cooler could also be used to keep hot food hot by plugging it into the car cigarette lighter. There is a fan inside to switch one way for heat and another way for cold. In great condition - for $7.00, down from $10.00, thanks to Sharon's superb bargaining skills.

Sharon's best find of the day was a beautiful portrait of a Shi Tzu that looks just like her dog, Angel. She and her husband have often looked at pictures of Shi Tzu's and they were never the same coloring or facial expression. This one is an exception, and they both love the picture. It really does look just like Angel.

My best find was a GE radio/CD player for the kitchen (actually to hang under the kitchen shelf) for $5.00. It's in perfect condition. Instead of mounting it under the counter, which would limit space, I have it on top of the refrigerator where I can easily access it. We played classical music tonight during dinner, and it was very nice.

We're supposed to get some rain tonight and/or tomorrow, which will be wonderful. Besides, I'm having Book Club here Monday, and I need to get the house ready and the menu taken care of. Yikes! What am I going to serve?

PHOTO: An ornamental tree in our front yard. I'm pretty bad at remembering plant names, and I don't know what this one is. Maybe a plum? Click on picture to enlarge.

Spring Plant Exchange

This has been a long day. I'm yawning, and it's only 9:10. The weather was beautiful again, and the temperature rose to the mid 80's. It was back out to the weed patch for me this morning for a while, then off to crafting at Cathy's. The flower bed is now ready for plants and a layer of mulch. It was dry as a bone. After it cooled down this evening I went back outside and worked some more before I got out the hose and gave the whole area a good dousing. I was afraid that the irises won't amount to much without some water. That goes for the peonies, which seem to be more frail, and the lilac bushes, the holly, and the heavenly bamboo. There are a couple of other things I'm unsure of at this point.

When I arrived at Cathy's, Cathy and Carolyn had both set out some plants for a plant exchange. I brought home a flat box with several planted pussy willows, a Red Twig bush, a jasmine, Dutch irises, lilies, and poppies. There may have been a couple of others as well. It was very hot when I arrived home, so I decided to wait on planting them until the ground was soaked and they would have a better chance. I watered all of them and left them as they were for now. We also have to make some decisions as to where each should go. Cathy's pussy willow tree, where these starters came from, is the most enormous you've ever seen. I thought pussy willows were bushes, but hers is a big tree. The catkins on the branches are big and puffy. I'd love to see these new plants grow like that. In the front of our house we have a couple of bleeding hearts and several lilies of the valley that Sharon gave me from her garden in years past. They look beautiful now. I wish I had some plants that I could divide up to share, but at our house, we don't have that many flowers yet that could be divided up. I'll have to come up with something else I can share!

Our crafting day was another great success. We had a good time as always, with cheesecake, fresh strawberries and whipped cream, compliments of Cathy's son Colin. He enjoys baking cheesecakes - they are absolutely delicious - and makes one nearly every week for us. We are all wonderfully spoiled.

PHOTO: Tulips and hyacinths at the Flower Show.

Jim's Concrete/My Drawing Class

We had a gorgeous day here today. No humidity, bright sunshine, mild temperatures - a great day for working outside. Jim was up with the birds this morning to rent a cement mixer. Another project. Today it was pouring a cement pad at the top of the basement stairs. In order to do that, he needed to rent a cement mixer and buy bags of cement mix. He had already made the wooden molds a few days ago. From what he said, this cement mixer was a great piece of machinery. It went fairly smoothly, except for an injury at the store buying the cement. Apparently, he lowered himself off the side of his truck and hit his tailbone right on the cart handle. He hit it pretty hard and it brought him up straight. He said he felt a wave of nausea from the shock, and he's been in pain with it ever since. I would like him to go have it x-rayed in case it's broken. I don't know what they'd do or how they would treat that kind of injury. If nothing else, it may need to be set if it's broken or cracked. He did the whole cement project afterwards, 17 bags worth. His wrist is also causing him pain from all the twisting he did yesterday pitching the mulch onto the truck and then unloading it at home. He's taken some Extra-Strength Tylenol for the pain, but it still hurt. He slept some this afternoon - the Tylenol wiped him out.

Meanwhile, I worked in the flower bed again pulling up grass weeds. I'm about half or more finished with my project. It looks so much nicer. In a couple of weeks the irises will be in bloom there, and it will be so nice to have it all tidy around them. I also pruned one of our flowering trees and a butterfly bush I forgot to prune earlier. Tomorrow morning I'll tackle it again.

This afternoon I went to my Drawing and Painting Class. We had a drawing exercise where we drew a Picasso line drawing of a seated man, Igor Stravinsky, but we didn't see the picture up right. The instructor passed out the drawing upside down, and we were to draw it upside down ourselves. This is an exercise to draw using our right brains. We were to draw only the lines we saw, duplicating what we were looking at, not trying to identify with words any of the parts, such as the hands, the tie, the face. By just trying to duplicate the lines themselves, whether a curve or a straight line or an angle, the theory is that we can recreate the picture much better than if we tried to copy the picture right side up. The whole class did a pretty good job. The drawings looked like the picture we were copying from, for the most part, much more than we could have done through copying.

I have a really hard time trying to quiet down my left brain. That's the part that is involved with language and details, logic and math, pattern perception, strategy, etc. (The right brain uses feeling, imagination, symbols and images, philosophy and religion, etc.) All through the exercise I kept wondering,"Do I have to do the whole thing? How long is she going to have us draw? I'm running out of room on the paper, etc. etc." Afterwards we talked about the experience (we had been drawing for 45 minutes.) She asked if we realized we had been drawing for that long, and some said no, they had no sense of time. Not me, I told her about the things I was thinking about, and she said that was my left brain trying to maintain control. The ones who had no sense of time were creating with their right brains - they were in the zone. I have a long way to go, getting into the zen of right brain daydreaming and creating. She says we have to be very relaxed in order for that switch to turn off the left brain. Here are the two drawings right side up. Mine's the one on the left, in case you didn't know. Click on the drawing to enlarge it.

Life's Ironies

When we went to my Oncologist's office yesterday, we were sitting in the waiting room and overheard a patient and her husband talking to LaDonna, one of the oncology nurses. They were talking about the patient's doctor, Dr. Chang, one of 3 doctors in the practice. He's been an oncologist for 30-plus years and is very popular with his patients. In a cruel twist of fate, Dr. Chang has been diagnosed with a very serious and rare type of lung cancer. It's in both of his lungs, and the pain he was experiencing seemed to him and the staff as though he had gall stones, based on having pain after eating. Well, it wasn't gall stones, and it's bad. Unfortunately, the medical community doesn't have a targeted drug they can use against this type of cancer, like they do with other varieties of cancer that people are normally diagnosed with. He's being treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, with their best efforts. I truly wish him well, and I hope his doctors will be able to cure him. I asked LaDonna if he'd been a smoker, and she said no, he never smoked. She said he specifically told the staff "Make sure my patients know - I never smoked!" Dr. Chang is 61 years old.

The husband of the patient who was talking to LaDonna was very upset. He talked about what a wonderful doctor he is, and that he has done wonders treating his wife's cancer. It seems so ironic that Dr. Chang has helped thousands of other people over the years, and there may not be anyone who can help him.

Today Jim and I spent a lot of time in the yard. We got a truckload of mulch and Jim spread it under the bushes in front, and left me a pile near the flower bed I'm working on now. It's thick with invasive grass that I'm pulling up by the roots. I'm about half finished, maybe not that much. Jim figures we will need another 2 truckloads for the front. We went to the county recycling center, where they have free chipped mulch. After looking at it, it seems pretty good to us. They don't allow any plastic bags any more. It's actually quite organized in sections, with brush in one area, paper bags of organic matter in another, and a mountain of fresh mulch. It's free for anyone to come in and take what they want. We'll be back.

PHOTO:pink A pink dogwood tree.

Spring in Finksburg

This was another beautiful spring day. When we returned from my Herceptin appointment today at St. Joseph's, both Jim and I worked outside. While Jim finished the leaf raking, I gave the lawn its first mowing of the season. It's been 2 years since I mowed, and I had to be taught again how to run the lawn tractor. Of course last year I was in chemo treatment, but the year before I was suffering really badly with allergies that developed into asthma. Now that I know what to take if I begin to have symptoms, I should be able to work outside without problems. I really enjoy being on the mower. Some of the areas were so thick and tall already that initially the mower stalled from all the grass clogging underneath. Anyway, it was good to be out in the sun and fresh air and the lawn looks so nice when it's freshly cut.

I'm bogged down in paperwork again. I can't believe how much paper there is, between receipts, bills, statements, junk mail, filing, magazines, newspapers, and recycling. We can't even throw away junk mail any more without shredding our names and addresses off anything that goes into the recycling or waste basket, because Jim doesn't want us to be victimized by identity theft. Frankly, I think it's overkill. I agree about shredding the sensitive things, but just our name and address - I'm not sure that's a problem. But, it's not going to hurt, and who knows if it will help or not. The things that really drive me nuts are the envelopes from all the credit card companies with about 4 blank checks in them. We've never once used one of those things, but we get at least a couple or more every week. Now those have to be shredded, no question about it.

Jim is going to his final cardiac rehab exercise session tomorrow at the hospital. This is the 18th one. He's been going 3 times a week for 6 weeks now. His cardiac doctor suggested it would be good for him, but he's not convinced. His heart is in really good shape. As a matter of fact, it takes him a long time to get his heart rate up to the level they want him to be exercising, and they have other people waiting to use the equipment, so there's a disconnect. He says his problem is that he can't get enough air, breathing the way they want him to - through his nose. They asked him if he had ever worked around asbestos, and he said yes, quite a bit. They want him to take a pulmonary function test, but he's getting exasperated with all these medical tests and issues. His reaction is, when does it end? He feels like he's at a point where parts are being replaced or tweaked and one thing just leads to another. He resents taking medication. In reality, he's in extremely good health, with issues every now and then with arrhythmia or blood pressure that goes too high or tiredness or a trick knee, but that's not much. He takes a lot of supplements and exercises between 3 and 5 times a week, and feels a lot better than he did last year when he they found he had cardiac blockages. I'm glad he takes good care of himself - after all, I want him to stick around for at least another 20 years!

PHOTO: Yours Truly on the John Deere. Beautiful flowering tree behind me, I think it's an ornamental cherry tree. To the left, near the road, is my favorite tree - our Weeping Willow. It's really large, but looks smaller in the distance.

Where's My Advil?

I'm kinda glad this day is nearly over, 'cause I'm one tired puppy. I spent a lot of time - for me - outside today raking and pulling up vines and pruning off branches from trees and shrubs. Jim had an appointment today, so he wasn't out there with me, or we would have done a lot more, but I'm still happy with what I did accomplish. One thing that drove me nuts is that I lost my pruning shears underneath all the leaves, and spent a lot of time looking for them. When Jim came back, he looked for them too, but came up empty. I was just about to give them up for good, when I spotted a green handle. Hooray! I think one of the reasons I'm so partial to these is that I got them for a quarter at a yard sale, and Jim sharpened them.

All that raking kills my back. It's on a hill, so the balance thing is always there, and before I've been raking for even a few minutes, I feel it in my back. I'm determined to get more stamina and strength, and hopefully it will happen, but meanwhile ... Well, I keep thinking if I do some yard work every day, it'll get better.

We grabbed a quick dinner at the nearby Italian restaurant, because I had to leave at 6:00 for my Advanced Watercolor Class. Woo hoo! Got there with a few minutes to spare, and found a seat. There are 12 of us in this class - quite a jump up from the half-dozen in the last class, sometimes just 4. It will definitely be a good class, and challenging. We'll be doing human portraits, landscapes in 3 sections (meaning they would be framed in a series of 3,) animals with fur, and other things. We painted a still life tonight - daffodils in a jar.

Tomorrow I have another Herceptin infusion at 10:30. Well, at least we don't have to leave the house until 9:30, so I can sleep in.

PHOTO: Just prior to sunset in our front yard, yesterday.

More Yard Work

This was a good day for working outside. It was cool enough to wear a jacket, but not cold. It felt like rain much of the day, and was supposed to, but that didn't happen. Jim and I both worked outside raking - again! - on our hill, and it's looking really good now. Believe it or not, it's still not done, but much headway has been made. We also pulled up a lot of creeping vines by the roots and cut down the old dried grasses and flower stems from last year. I did what I could, but I don't have Jim's stamina. He spent a lot longer out there, hauling many, many trash barrels of leaves into the woods to decompose. The only other alternative would be to haul them to the dump. Not a good choice.

I had a surprise as I was raking. I unearthed a snake! It was about 18 inches long, thin and green. It was not happy with me at all and kept flicking its red tongue. I'm not especially afraid of snakes, but I don't know which varieties are poisonous and which aren't, so until I know, I'm nervous. Jim came over and used a rake to fling the snake away, but it still landed about 8 feet away, and just laid there without moving. I watched it for a couple of minutes and then went over to watch Jim. When I looked back, the snake was gone, and I didn't see which way it went. I hate when that happens. Soon afterwards I went in the house, and the first thing I did was to look it up on the internet, and sure enough, it was a garter snake. This was a photo from the website:



Actually a rather cute snake, now that I know it's harmless.

The cats have made peace since last night's brawl. I wish I knew what sets Paddle off. Today she's back to her old self, and I saw her grooming Ball's face earlier, as if she hadn't been trying to kill him last night. Fickle!

For several days now, we've observed the pond fish in spawning behavior. They're really being frisky. The males are swishing themselves along side or over top of the females, trying to fertilize the eggs that the females are apparently laying. We'll be having baby fish soon. I think many of them are eaten by the other fish early on, but we'll still end up with dozens, I'm sure. Last year we gave away half of the young ones when they were about an inch and a half long. We have about 21 fish now. We've also seen a couple of frogs who dive in when we walk near the pond. When I was raking I unearthed a snail shell near the pond from a snail I bought 2 years ago. It was about 2 inches long and lasted for a season, but that's it.

We get many, many varieties of birds in our back yard, and since we've raked, there seem to be even more. They are pecking at the dirt looking for grubs or insects, and I even saw a sparrow who was burrowing under the ground cover. It was so funny to see the foliage popping up as the bird scooted along under the leaves. They are also taking full advantage of the waterfall, both for drinking and for bathing. At one point I saw a robin and 2 gold finches sharing "the tub." Yesterday Jim replaced the filter that had broken over the winter, and the water must be running clearer now. At any rate, everybody seems to be enjoying it.

PHOTOS: I wanted to show some of the area we've been raking, as well as the steps Jim made, now that he put down the mulch, and a flowering tree in our front yard.

Can't We All Get Along?

I am really stumped about what has been going on with Paddle lately. She's our old lady Tonkinese cat, 11 years old, who has been Miss Timid all her life. And all her life she's been best friends with Ball, our 10-year old Tonkinese male. (All our cats are neutered.) About once a month she's been turning into a monster, going after Ball with a vengeance, with her hair raised and her teeth bared, like a wild animal, cornering him in the master bedroom closet, scaring the bejesus out of him. Well, it happened again tonight. As we speak, Paddle has been banished to the basement and Ball is traumatized and in hiding again. Ming Poo is wide-eyed and creeping around, and mild-mannered Pong is lying down upstairs on the blanket chest, totally disgusted with these hooligans.

I really don't understand it. I'm wondering if there's something schizophrenic going on with her. Maybe something has gone haywire in her brain to put her into this attack mode. Also, it's only towards Ball that the aggression comes out. With us and the other cats, she's her meek self. Ball has done nothing to warrant the behavior but it's happened 4 or 5 times now, and he gets terrified when it happens. Tonight I looked at his face after the battle, and he had a scratch under his eye along his nose. It was raised but no blood, so it may just be a surface scratch, but I think the fur is gone. I don't know what to do. All other times, they curl up and sleep together.

I spent part of the afternoon with 2 of my friends, Karen (Sharon's daughter) and Shay (Karen's neighbor and best friend.) Shay is a mural artist, but she is interested in starting watercolor painting now. She wanted to talk with me about materials - paper, paints, brushes - and techniques. I was thrilled that she came to me, after all I'm just a beginner! But I shared with her the things I had learned so far and answered her questions as best I could. We all had a nice time together, and I think I was able to give Shay some good tips. I know we will be keeping in touch by email, exchanging ideas and paintings with each other.

PHOTO: Paddle on the left, Ball in the middle, and Pong on the right.

Lunching with the Library Ladies

I just heard some thunder, so it looks like we will be getting some rain tonight. Oh! Just saw some lightening, so we're definitely in for it. It seemed inevitable today. The air was warm and humid. Jim's hoping it won't rain hard enough to wash away the mulch he's spread all down the steps he put in on the back hill.

I was treated to lunch today, along with some of the other volunteers at the library. There were 5 of us, including Ruthanne, who is in charge of the Library Link Service to Seniors program. LL is part of the Outreach Program at the library, the purpose being to provide library materials to the seniors in some of the local nursing homes, assisted living facilities, Meals on Wheels recipients, and Homebound patrons. I started volunteering with LL shortly after we moved here, but over the past year, while undergoing my cancer treatments, I haven't been very much involved. Now that I'm relieved of all the doctor's appointments, I'll be able to resume my volunteering. I really enjoy it and look forward to getting back into the routine again.

One thing that was funny is that Linda, one of the women in my Drawing Class last night, walked into the restaurant just behind Ruthanne and me. As Ruthanne was speaking to the hostess, Linda and I discovered that not only are we in the Drawing Class together, but we are both volunteers for LL. Ruthanne had no reason to introduce us - we were merrily chatting away! Too funny! It really is a small world. Or perhaps just a small community. The others who were there were Rhonda and my friend Cathy, who has been volunteering for a year and a half or so. I have to confess - I roped her into it. But actually, she had been thinking about doing some volunteering, and this fits well into her life.

After our lunch, we walked down the street to the Carroll Arts Council, where a purse auction is underway. The volunteers at LL had contributed donations to the auction, the proceeds of which will benefit the group who check in daily on seniors living on their own to make sure they are doing ok. The brochure said they make 1500 phone calls a month, so they must be keeping tabs on about 50 seniors.

In addition to all the purses and other items that were displayed for the silent auction, they had other "gently used" purses, tote bags, and scarves for sale that had been donated. There were dozens! It was fun to look through them, and of course I found one I wanted. It's a black shoulder bag with 9 zippered compartments. Wow! In perfect shape, and a good purse to have when we are traveling. For $10. All for a good cause.

PHOTO:

Brain Games

Wow, what a day! It was gorgeous outside, at least 81°. Started out foggy, but that cleared up and it was sunny and beautiful. Jim worked outside laying some mulch on the steps he set in on the back hill. He also put some around various plants and our small apple tree, Ms. Granny Smith, until the 4 bags ran out. We need some more.

I helped him lay out some sod over the drainage trench he had made earlier in the week. After adjusting the level of the rocks, he laid a layer of soil on top, planning to fill the top 2 inches with sod. Well, turns out there is no sod available yet except one really sickly, pitiful strip from Home Depot that didn't even cover the whole trench. I filled in the remaining area with pieces of sod he had removed when he dug the trench. It looks pretty sad, but with watering and some luck, it may fill in. At least it is something until he can get some decent sod.

My Drawing and Painting class began today, and took up the whole afternoon. Had to leave at 1:00 and didn't get back until 4:30. However, it was a great class, and I know we'll be learning a lot. First, we did three drawings without any instruction - a face, our hand, and a chair - to see how our drawing skills improve over the next 6 weeks. It's a 10 week course, but the last 4 weeks will have to do with color theory. Some of the exercises we did today had to do with optical illusion and seeing with the right and left side of the brain. You've probably seen examples of this, for instance a picture that can be interpreted as a vase, or as two faces. There were many such examples, and she indicated if you were seeing with the right or left side of your brain, depending on what picture you saw first. (With pictures that are black if seen as one thing and white if seen as another, the black one indicates you are seeing with your left brain, and vice versa.) It was quite interesting. Some of us were able to see things immediately, others never did see it unless it was pointed out. I was able to see everything except the rider on a horse. I thought it might be a snowman!

We learned the differences between right and left brain thinking. Right brain is involved with creative thinking, intuition, visual association, sensory input, use of hand gestures to explain things. Left brain is predominantly analytical, logical, verbal, uses mathematics, planning, organization. In our household, I'm the predominantly right-brained one, and Jim, the engineer, is predominantly left-brained. Good thing - that way we're not both too flighty or too detail oriented! Pretty good stuff.

PHOTO: Cherry blossom time in Washington, D.C. Another spring.

Potential Juror

This was a great day. Ran several errands and got another hair cut/trim. At least for the time being, I'm keeping my hair short. It's neat and easy to keep clean, combed, and it looks nice. That's what I've been told, anyway.

Tomorrow I'm starting another class at the Community College. This one is Beginning Drawing and Painting and it meets in the afternoon instead of at night. I'll be taking the second Watercolor Class on Monday evenings as well. This new class, so I've been told, is based on theory put forth in the book called "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards. Apparently we have to "learn how to see" and "process visual information" in our brains in order to draw. I have a copy of the book - my sister Debbie's - and started reading it this afternoon. It has her notes in it, which makes it even more special to me. I'm really looking forward to the course. The painting portion of the class is going to be working with acrylics. I've never done anything with acrylics before, and I have to admit I'm not too enthused about it. It seems like such a heavy medium, the total opposite of transparent watercolor, which really appeals to me. I did some oil painting way back in the early 70's, and I enjoyed it. I just did it on my own - no classes. I bought a few brushes, some paints, canvas, and went to it. I still have one of them - a portrait I copied of an old man, perhaps a rabbi, and I have to say I think it's pretty good! I ran across it a couple of weeks ago in the basement.

When I got home, I picked up the mail and had a surprise. I received a letter in the mail from the United States District Court saying I have been selected as a prospective juror for the U. S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Wow! I have to fill out a questionnaire, return it, and if qualified, my name may be randomly drawn sometime between July 2008 and June 2010 to serve as a juror. I once served on a jury for a week in a DUI case and found the experience to be very interesting. Especially because the prosecutor in the case was a man who was totally blind and used his computer with earphones to access and translate the information for him. However, at one point the plug was accidentally pulled out and he didn't miss a beat - continued on with the case from sheer memory. I was totally amazed at his competence and his command of so many facts and figures. The reason it went to trial and went so long, we found out afterwards, was that the woman had previous convictions for DUI, and if convicted was going to lose her license. There was no accident, she was just weaving and driving erratically and was pulled over by a state police officer. We found her guilty. Afterwards, the judge said we jurors could meet with the prosecutor to discuss the case if we cared to, and we learned that he had lost his sight because of an eye disease while he was going through law school. I would guess he was in his late 30's or early 40's at the time of the trial.

I do look forward to the opportunity to serve again on a jury. I hope my name is selected. That would be so interesting to me. Stay tuned.

PHOTO: Is this a great photo or what? It was sent with a daily newsletter I subscribe to called Dark Roasted Blend. This photo makes me laugh.

I'm Finished!!

It's over! I had my final radiation treatment this morning, so I'm all through! Thirty-three radiation treatments behind me and a red, raw, and peeling chest. Now all I have to do is keep putting on ointment, wait for the "sunburn" to fade away, and go to my follow-up appointment in a month. Tonight Jim and I are celebrating together with a drink.

This afternoon Sharon and I went to Cathy's house for another crafting day, and had another great time together. They both greeted me with flowers and gifts to celebrate my last day of treatment. They are such great friends! I am so impressed with the albums those two have created. Sharon made a really pretty album in an Asian theme for a friend. It's very original and really a work of art. Cathy is using her own beautiful photos to create album covers on tiny, purse-sized notebooks. They're adorable! I'm getting jealous. All I'm doing is watercolor painting while they're putting together all these creative projects.

Jim had an Environmental Advisory Committee meeting tonight, so we ate early. He cooked us a steak on the grill, first time in months, and it really tasted good. He continued with his drain project today, adjusting the high level of the rocks - had to remove about a wheelbarrow and a half's worth - and poured a concrete pad around the pipe outlet. The kitties have obviously already investigated, since their footprints were in evidence. It was already hard, so their prints were only from having walked through the dirt. It would have been sweet if their paw prints had been immortalized. At least, I would have thought it was sweet. Jim would have other thoughts, I'm sure!

PHOTO: Two crackle-glass pieces I found at the consignment shop and a yard sale. I think they work well in the kitchen window.

The End is Near

I'm starting to get my energy back, feeling more like my normal self again. The last 5 radiation treatments aren't as extensive or long as the first 28 were, and as a result I think I'm starting to perk up. I felt a little energized today and decided to go through the cupboards and drawers in the kitchen to weed out things I no longer want or need there, and while I was at it I relegated some of the extra tools in the tool drawer back to the basement. In the process I boxed up a bunch of things to add to the yard sale pile. I'm planning to have one of my own in early May, and a couple of my friends will be adding their own unwanteds to the stash. That way we can call it a multi-family yard sale to generate more interest. I'm also planning to let my neighbors know so that they can get involved if they chose to. And the most important thing? Good signage! Large, clear, legible, and with arrows!

Tomorrow morning is my final radiation treatment. It's a major, major milestone. With the exception of the remaining Herceptin infusions, 6 more at 3-week intervals, I'm through with cancer treatments. This month marks the one-year anniversary since I was diagnosed on April 26th, 2007. There will be followups with my doctors every few months, but those should be more like checkups, like visiting the dentist every six months. I think I can now safely call myself a Breast Cancer Survivor.

PHOTO: A very small nest I spotted in a bush out front. It's an old one, not this year's. I thought it might be a hummingbird nest, but perhaps they are smaller and more compact.

Just Add Water

Jim started another yard project yesterday. He dug a trench in the yard leading from the house out across the back lawn. It's where the water from the air conditioning unit, the dehumidifier and the sump pump drain out, and previously the water drained through a black plastic corrugated hose next to the house. What he did was to put underground drainage piping in the trench to gradually let out the water along the perforated pipe. Today he bought a load of stone and some cement mix to finish off the job.

Boy do we have stone! Although all he needed was 9 cubic feet, he ended up with at least 20 cubic feet in the bed of his truck, plus two 80-pound sacks of cement. When I came outside, he was shoveling out the stone into the trench. Actually, he was wrestling with one of the cement sacks to get it inside a large plastic bag. It had started to rain. As I was helping him, I noticed the instructions in large letters on the bag - JUST ADD WATER. Hmmmm..... Well, it didn't take long to get the sacks into a dry area by the door, and they were completely covered with plastic, so all is well.

I wanted to help with the unloading of the stone, so I got a pair of work gloves and a shovel of my own and dug in with him. I soon decided I didn't like shoveling from the ground, so I got into the truck bed. I'm not as agile as I once was, but Jim showed me how to step up onto the tires and heave inside - with a little push on the backside from him. Shoveling was much easier from that angle. Then I sat down while he moved the truck to another spot and we filled that area. At that point he said that was enough stone, and I should get out of the truck.

I have this fused ankle that doesn't bend easily, and so I'm pretty awkward sometimes. Jim offered to help me down. "Just put your arms around my neck and launch yourself." Well, after a little hesitation, I did. You can imagine what's coming, can't you? One... two... three... OH NO! Jim's bad knee gave out and the two of us ended up in a tangled heap of arms and legs tumbling on the ground.

No permanent damage. I did manage to land on Jim's bad knee that he had operated on last May, and it's been sore all day. My wrist was a little sore, but not bad, and I think it's fine now. Hopefully, he didn't tear up his knee again. Luckily, his one year appointment with his surgeon to check on how that went is coming up soon. It was supposed to take up to a year to completely heal, and it's still a month before the year is up.

PHOTO: The Project. Jim is getting help from Ball, leaping over the trench and Pong is checking things out on the left. One of the bags of cement is nearly hidden under all the rock, and the other one isn't even visible.

Practicing My Techniques

This turned out to be a great day, weather-wise. Clear, sunny, and pretty warm. Sharon and I were all set for yard sailing, but it was pretty much a bust. Perhaps it's too early in the season. The thing is, of the 3 places that were advertised, there were tons of cars and people looking to buy things, and there was nothing but junk. I mean, we do have our standards, even if we are yard sailing. Really!

Cathy's home! She and her family have returned from their trip to Florida, complete with a souvenir photo of them riding Segways. Those look like way too much fun! I hope some day I have a chance to give one a try. I know before they were allowed to take off on their Segways, they had an hour's worth of training and practice, complete with helmets.

I spent some time tonight doing more watercolor painting. This time I made about a dozen abstract bookmarks. They were colorful, and I liked most of them. I intend to mount them on some card stock and embellish them with embroidery floss and beaded tassels. I also practiced making red hats and fans for some bookmarks for the Red Hat Extravaganza. They turned out pretty well, but I'm going to try painting a variety of styles of hats. I embellished them with big feather plumes and even tried painting some veils using a brush technique. It was fun, and with a little more practice, I'll start actually painting the bookmarks themselves. For practicing, I just used discarded cut up pieces of manilla folders. But afterwards I decided I needed to keep those scraps so that I could refer to them next time. I'm developing a whole portfolio of things I should probably be throwing away, but I think I'll hang onto them for a little while, anyway.

PHOTO: A hat shop in Annapolis. Inspiration for my bookmarks!

Watercolor Experiments

Our spring weather has turned cold today. It was drizzly much of the day, and Jim turned the fireplace on. Feels nice and snug in here, and of course the kitties love it. Once again, I slept a lot today. I started off with great plans and began working around the house, and before long, I was laying down for another nap. Sigh ...

Well, at least it's the weekend and I don't have to go to radiation tomorrow. Good thing. I'm starting to peel and it looks pretty ugly. Between the bright red raw areas and the dry brown peeling areas, it doesn't look like me at all. It's a little itchy, but not too bad.

I got my paints out today and did some watercolors. I tried working with something called Mulberry Paper. It's also known as Washi, or Japanese paper. It's made from the bark of a certain tree, and is a fibrous net backed with adhesive that I applied to my watercolor paper. I wanted to mimic a painting I had seen that looked really interesting because of the fibrous texture and the blending of the paint. I experimented twice, and wasn't successful at all. The paint couldn't be controlled and ran on the first attempt. On the second one, I masked off areas to keep the paint from seeping, and that sort of worked, except that when I tried to remove the masking adhesive, which is like rubber cement, it tore the fibers right off the adhesive. Oh well, maybe another time when I know more about what I'm doing I'll try again.

I had bought the packet at Michael's with a 50% off coupon. The package was regularly $5.00 for 3 sheets, about 8 1/2 x 11 inches, so I paid $2.50. When I slit open the package, there was only one sheet inside. I cut up the sheet into 4 quarters to experiment and to do my final painting, but I've given up for now. My next chore is to take it back to Michael's and get credit for being shortchanged. Luckily, Michael's is very close on my way home from radiation, so I don't have to go out of my way.

I did complete my earlier stained glass painting and that's it on tonight's blog. I'm glad I completed it, although I'm not happy with it. It's my interpretation of the photo on the left side of my blog, under my profile.

The Agony of the Leaves

I've been drinking more tea recently since I bought my new Bodum Assam Tea Press Tea Pot, one of the treasures I found last week at my favorite consignment shop. It's a 4-cup glass pot with a tight fitting infuser for loose tea leaves, and reminds me of a French Press coffee pot. I enjoy being able to see through the glass to watch "the agony of the leaves," as tea aficionados describe the leaves as they twist and turn and unfurl in the hot water. I have the book of the same name, "The Agony of the Leaves," in which Helen Gustofson writes of "...the century-old phrase used in the tea trade to describe the transformative moment in preparing tea: when the oxygen of the boiling water allows the tea leaf to release its flavor. The leaves may appear tormented and miserable, like autumn leaves in a storm, but they may also look dancing and fanciful."

I've always been attracted to the elegance and comfort and romance of drinking tea. From the countless cups offered in English murder mysteries to the beautifully photographed spreads in glossy magazines, I'm a sucker for it, and often join in with my own cup of tea. About 8 years ago I spent a great deal of time planning a web business devoted to tea. My plan was to offer all manner of tea things for sale - gourmet teas, teapots and teaware, cozies and napkins, placemats and table runners, invitations and notecards, candles and candle holders, cookies and biscuits, lavender sugars and lemon curds, books and magazines, gift baskets and flowers. I would have articles on brewing, recipes for scones, advice on hosting tea parties, children's parties, theme parties, showers, and hat decorating competitions. I would write about the history of the tea industry and it's historical importance in countries around the world. I would have challenging contests and prizes for the winners.

I even had a business meeting with a small business startup advisor. But, after all the planning and research, I decided it was too much to take on. I was working at the time, and didn't have the time to devote to it. I didn't have the capital I would need to invest, and I didn't know enough about creating a website and making a business out of it. I still have the name I chose - no one has it on the web, I've checked - which I'll keep secret in the event that some day I might pull out my plans, dust them off, and give it another go.

PHOTO: My favorite tea room - Serenity Tea Room in Frederick, MD.

Photons vs. Electrons

I just returned from my radiation treatment, and before I forget what I just learned, I thought I should get it all down. I had the first of my final 5 radiation treatments this morning, and it's a different ball game. The configuration of the linear accelerator is different - the bed is placed at a 90° angle to the machine now. While I waited and watched, the technicians inserted a metal plate into a frame in the machine, which would be placed nearly touching my skin.

The metal plate is a special alloy they had poured of lead, nickel, cadmium, and other metals into a mold, with an irregular hole cut into it matching the outline the doctor had drawn around my scar. The liquid alloy recipe is put together under a chemical hood, because the fumes from the cadmium they use is carcinogenic. The plate they made for me has an oval shaped cutout in the center about 2 inches wide and 7 inches long. Once the plate and frame had been snapped into place, I laid down on the table, and they moved the machine over me very closely, within a centimeter of my skin. The machine was nearly touching my chin. I was told I no longer had to hold my breath during the time the machine was sending out the radiation. Then they checked their measurements, left the room, and turned on the machine. This treatment was probably about 30 seconds long, and it was over.

Before I left, I asked Peggy why I no longer had to hold my breath to raise my chest away from my heart, and she explained that I'm now receiving a different type of radiation energy. Before, they were giving me photons. This new type of radiation energy is electrons. The difference is that the photons, having no mass, pass right on through the body, whereas the electrons, having mass, stop when they hit something in their path. The radiation using photons aims the rays from different angles to concentrate the beams toward the tumor site, therefore the machine is moved in a circular way around the body, giving dosages at precisely measured locations. What the doctor is looking to accomplish now is to treat the skin and scar area around the mastectomy. The radiation doesn't go further than a centimeter or so into the body, therefore it won't go in as far as the heart. The lead alloy mold assures that the energy goes only where they are aiming, preventing the rays from penetrating anything but the specific area they want to treat, within that oval area carved out in the lead plate.

I do have a science background, but mainly in Biology and Chemistry. Physics was not my strength, and I'm wishing now that I had paid more attention at the time. Who knew that later in life I would be trying to explain radiation energy pathways in a public forum. I hope what I wrote is clear.

PHOTO: The wishing well in our front garden in mid summer.

Minoring in Chocolate

Now this was a beautiful day. The temperature was at least 68°, perhaps higher, with clouds - no rain - sunny and breezy. Jim decided to put in the stairs up the slope in the back yard, and got the project nearly completed. All the steps are in, but they still need to be anchored with ree-bar. I think they look great, and they will be much safer for both of us. He spent several hours working on it, using a pick and a level and getting each step in exactly where it was supposed to be. I came outside and did some more raking. It's a little discouraging. There are so many leaves out there, and they all get caught in the juniper ground cover and the periwinkle and the flowers that are trying to come up. I worked for a while, raking and clipping vines, but couldn't do as much as I wanted to. I ran out of energy. It was nice afterwards to sit out there together with a beer, imagining how it will look once it's finally cleaned up.

Went out again tonight to our monthly crafting party at Carolyn's. Tonight we made some fantasy flower vases. They were cute, but not really my thing. One of the women brought a large bottle of wine. Hooray! Lots of gossiping and catching up on what's going on with everyone. Sue has a 17-year old daughter who will be going to college in the fall. A couple of months ago Sue brought in the most delicious pastry horns stuffed with whipped cream. They were amazing. She said they had been made by her daughter, who was practicing for her entrance exams into Culinary School. Tonight I asked her how that turned out. Well, she's been admitted into Johnson and Wales Culinary School. She will be majoring in Baking and Pastry Arts, with a minor in Chocolate. Who knew! I never knew anyone could take courses in Chocolate! And get a minor in it no less! Johnson and Wales is a wonderful school for culinary arts, and I'm sure, after sampling her pastry before she's even begun, that she will do wonderfully. She wants to go to Switzerland or Belgium or somewhere else in Europe to study as well, and it all sounds very exciting. I asked Sue what her daughter's long term goals were, and she says she wants to work in a 5-star restaurant or hotel, and eventually have her own 5-star bakery. Did I mention that she's 17? I truly wish her all the best.

I'm down to my last 5 radiation treatments. I was given new markings after today's treatment, because the last 5 are concentrating on the mastectomy scar instead of the whole chest wall. I have black magic marker encircling the area that the doctor wants to treat. The good news is that all the clear tape that was put on me everywhere over the past 5 1/2 weeks is now gone - including the blue cross that was just under my chin on my chest. No matter what I wore, if it had a normal neckline, it showed, and I hated that. I always felt that people thought I belonged to a weird cult.

One of the women in the craft group is Claudia. She's also now undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She was diagnosed right around Christmas, had a lumpectomy, no chemo, and is a week into radiation. She has the same radiation oncology doctor I do, Dr. Salinger, and goes to the same facility I do every day at 4:30. She's a teacher, and she says getting the treatments at that time of day means she can't prepare her classroom/materials for the next day's class, since she has to leave right away to get to her appointment, and then she can't go back. I believe she teaches art. I told her I only have 5 left, and mine's at 8:30 am. Perhaps they can give her my time slot when I'm through. It is a Sorority, you know, and we have to look out for each other.

Claudia said today, April 1st, was the 5th anniversary of her husband's diagnosis of kidney cancer, and there she was, in the same room, sitting in the same chair, all alone, waiting for the doctor to come in. It really affected her, and brought back the whole impact of that shocking diagnosis. He didn't survive, and died 3 years ago.

And now she's going through her own cancer story.

PHOTO: Jim working on the new steps today.