Shadow Play

Wow! I didn't get to blog all week because crazy Irene pre-empted/ and co-opted everything. But the other night, these oily lamps caught our flowers in a jar and it looked marvelous. I'm glad I had the presence of mind to take a picture as the oil in the lamp gives me a nasty headache, kind of like the variety I get if I'm behind a diesel engine for too long. Not to mention the moise from the generator next door...
Anyway, power's on and cleanup neighborhood wide is underway.
(And to any one who attempted to read this blog posting yesterday, all I can say is that the computer crashed three times (God bless dial up!) and it got posted before I was done writing and editing and it made no sense! Nice. Hahahahaha.)

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

First blog post Post- Irene! Bob and I lost power for four days and it felt like forever. All that food we bought to stock up in case of disaster and shortages? Thrown away! Lots of half-melted slimy berries and vegetables ladled from the "freezer". Pathetic.
It amazes me just how fast I become a sniveling wretch, unable to bear to be without a shower or a hot cup of coffee. The ever resourceful Bob managed to boil water on the gas grill but then of course there was no where to keep the milk. We schlepped buckets of water from our stream to flush the toilet so at least that aspect of life wasn't too disgusting. But all the dishes and laundry that piles up makes you wonder how people in "the old days" ever made art or did anything even vaguely interesting.
I think I took the above picture during the hurricane; it looks like things blowing by. I'm just glad the power- and my wits!- were restored!

As Above, So Below and Somewhere Inbetween

I was worried when we looked at this house to buy, as it's very near a small (but apparently growing) airport. I'd have to say in general we haven't been too preoccupied by overhead phenomenom although the picture makes the point that things do fly by frequently. That's nice when the "thing" in question is a bat or a blue heron and less so when it's a jumbo jet liner. I find the noise of the occassional helicopter to be more disruptive than the airplanes but then I find the motorcycles that scramble mufflerlessly up the road even more annoying. But it's always going to be something...

Like the earthquake that hit us yesterday. I was at work photographing $12,000 worth of Tiffany flatware and the wall started shimmying. Not to mention my knees felt wonky and there was a truly odd sound. I thought a delivery truck had backed into the auction house but of course it turned out to be the earthquake. Is anyone else interested in the acceleration of incidents of odd weather? It seems every time we turn around, there's a tsunami or a category 5 hurricane or a flood or a drought...

Garden Highlights: Seeing Red

I may be impatient to have my garden up and running nad looking like it's always been there (got the first year garden blues...) but there are some tasty moments occurring and they seem to favor red. This "Fireball" hibiscus was a birthday present from Bob and it's dynamite. This was right after a really heavy thunderstorm; the drops of rain are still visible. Some disrespectful beetle has gnawed a few of the leaves, but you can't have everything go well. Hell, this is gardening afterall!
Another showstopper was a birthday gift from my sister Beatrice. She got this Mandevilla (spelled wrong? It sounds like some Pontiac from the 1960's) at a Stop and Shop on clearance for (get this) $2. And this plant just keeps blooming and blooming...

Island Life

This is so cool. Bob and I discussed just how badly we needed an island in the kitchen and I spied this odd cabinet at work at the auction house. It was super cheap and oddly sized; it was only 22 inches high and no one seemed to know exactly what it was (labelled as "Dog Bed?" complete with question mark.) I got it for $12 (and it's made from actual wood! No fiber board!) and Bob added a bottom layer to make it counter height. He also put in a shelf and added doors. Even better was the fact that he ghad a slab of stone that a friend gave to him... and it fit perfectly. (What are the chances of THAT happening?) Here's a view of the other side. It's already been a big hit; we can't begin to imagine what we did before the island. It changed traffic flow in the kitchen in a good way; serves to keep me and Jules out of the way when Bob is cooking... only kidding!

So Bob will be preturbed; he wanted to repaint it before I posted this, but I was eager to share the results. I think it looks just great.

Life's Dark and Seamy Side- Problems in Paradise

So there is a downside to all that fine gardening we've been doing. The inside of our abode has been a bit abandoned and there are selected areas that have been, well... ignored and neglected. I suppose we do keep repeating the mantra, "We can't do EVERYTHING" and there is truth in this somewhat comforting thought.
Many sagacious friends have advised that a moving box left unopened often never gets opened. I guess that's why we have run around physically opening boxes and then leaving them where they were. At least they're not all closed up and the contents are free to sort themselves out and find a new home on a shelf or in a closet. We have books aplenty...
Unfortunately, that wierd household law of physics seems to apply here with a vengence: despite moving from a far smaller house with way less storage space (where our things fit comfortably) into more commodious digs, our possessions seem to have multiplied exponentially in transit. Go figure!
Here's another choice corner.

This blog posting is my attempt to remind myself that there will be plenty of stuff to attend to once the snows fly. Soon enough!

A New Member of the Family

I seem to have a birthday that keeps on giving. My mother gave mea check for my birthday, and she'd be proud of all the things I managed to procure (on sale!!) with her generous gift. The two most wonderful were a door for my studio (yay! We have yet to install it, but it's here). And this delightful Dr. Suess-esque Blue Atlas Cedar. He has quite the personality!
I have always played with an area of the garden thta I call the Blue Border, in which I try to include only (or mostly) plants with blue foliage or blue flowers. This little guy will provide a good basic skeleton for the Blue Border. Bob keeps warning me that this tree will get BIG but I assume that's probably not anytime soon.
All in all, I received all kinds of great gifts- mostly plants but art making items as well!!- and I've been thoroughly enjoying them. Thanks to generous family and friends the garden and our place is stating to look almost resonable.