Anniversary & Etc

Yes, a year has gone by since the great undertaking of leaving the condo behind in Tucson. Here are the pictures that Real Estate Agent Susan Herlong took to market it. Working with her was phenomenal. What a pro!

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And, it is the first birthday of my pony Subaru today!

Was it only last Friday that Aidan's Camp Invention ended? That afternoon Wendy, Ili and I went to pick him up and see what he and his buddies had made.

Kyle, Christian and Aidan.

The three boys reversed their name tags and renamed themselves...missed the close-up of Kyle but here are...

Bill Fred

...and Bob George Larry

We went to the Energy Station for ice cream cones afterward. We can sit outside there and watch the traffic go by.

Cousin Iliana

The hostas by the barn, kept weeded by Wendy are showing their appreciation.

Sedum glorious in all its seasons.

Weather Report: Stay Indoors and Watch Movies

Weren't we doing this during the mega-winter?

The sixth (!) Harry Potter film was viewed late yesterday before John got home for the World Cup game he recorded. I am glad to have books. For a little while the World Cup was a draw for me, but I found myself falling asleep in the chair just as I did during those screenings with Keoni of Harry Potter years ago. A shoutout to those Harry Potter (and Hobbit) lovers that I have no doubt they are enjoying it all, immensely; I have no insight into the ennui they develop in me, nor do I have criticism of them. Have fun where you find it, says I.

Aidan had two of his Camp Innovation friends over and hour or two after yesterday's session. It is satisfying to see him with a couple of friends. Sixth graders. There's an action thriller for you.

Evenings are nice and the bug hordes are a bit diminished. Wendy invested in a five-games-in-one, mainly Badminton, set which got everyone outdoors for awhile at sunset.

Iliana wanted to paint with acrylics so I got us a few from Michael's in Quakertown (there's a dearth of art supplies in the region), and a couple of small canvasses. Ili likes that medium. It was nice to sit and paint for awhile, but, as I discovered long ago, I like using other mediums better. Still, was fun to push a brush around. My attention was captured enough to burn soup (!) on the stove.

I've started an order to Danielle Smith's online site.

John has re-wired the barn and added plenty of light and outlets. He began an arduous sorting of his heaps of tools in there so all horizontal surfaces are an amalgam of man stuff. Sometime there will be a space where I can set up some art stuff. Right now Wendy's kitchen table is covered with old sheets and painting materials. Ili needs more white Liquitex which is on the list today.

American Pie

Our Fourth of July was a pleasant one that started with Aidan and his cousin Iliana, just returned from a Greece trip with the Tucson Junior Strings, making a pancake breakfast for us all using John's new electric griddle.

We were fortunate to have thunderstorms blow on through and a brisk wind that followed it out died down enough by dark to light the fireworks. John had saved the Christmas tree for the final salvo. It made a fine conflagration that satisfied any inner pyromania.

That afternoon had been cool with bugs kept at bay by the wind and Ili and I went around the property with the dogs.

Frezz, at 110 pounds, yanked Ili completely off her feet as he made a surprise plunge into a small pond after frogs.

Later, Aidan and Ili went down to Crooked Creek and brought home a box turtle. He was beautiful. The youngsters learned he had to go back to the exact spot where they found him so he would survive. We hope he wasn't too traumatized by his brief capture by aliens. They didn't mean harm.

All-American food happened for the holiday meal. BBQ ribs that Wendy made. Iliana made the potato salad, I sliced up the cabbage for the cole slaw and shucked the corn. Yes, the first of this season's local corn. Makes me VERY happy.

As I drove  up and down Allentown Road on Thursday, I learned from a Mennonite lady that the strawberries and rhubarb I wanted for a pie were already over. The blueberries are now in season and were a good substitute.

Today was a trip into the city to go to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Very nice. The two cousins are doing a marathon Harry Potter film fest. They finished the third one late this afternoon. I read books.

The neighbors across the street put out a free fooze ball table which Aidan coveted. It is still there so he must not have overcome parental protest.

There is a story that goes along with the flag and telephone pole across the street. Sometime I'll tell about what we have learned about it.

Weather report: Turn On The Fan

Keoni's friend Nathan came over this afternoon to play soccer with Aidan, have supper with us and watch the pre-recorded USA vs. Belgium game. Nathan has played soccer since pre-school age. What a champ to come over for a game with Aidan. We love having him visit. He is life-guarding and teaching youngsters to swim for his summer job before starting college course-work at summer's end.

We miss you, Keoni!

Aidan was thrilled to see the UPS truck pull up this morning with his new, official, World Cup, soccer ball that Nana Betsy got for him. There are soccer fields in all the parks now. There are a phenomenal amount of parks everywhere. All nice, too.

Sunday was a different day for me since I took part in one of the six or seven mornings per year that our church volunteers provide a meal for the homeless At St. Augustine of Hippo Episcopal Church in Norristown which has been providing a Sunday meal for more than 20 years.

I didn't get a chance to capture this when it was out on the sidewalk as we came into the church.

In addition there was coffee, yogurt, hard boiled eggs and lemonade. We also had milk for children.

Mark has led this operation the whole 20 years. His words and prayer at the beginning of the meal were  concise and to the point.

By the time we carpooled back Lea (left front) and I had become friends.

I worked on cutting up the watermelon into 160 portions (for two each) and helping fill the plates. After some of the people finished eating they would come by the kitchen to say, "Thank You". A poignant moment happened for me when I looked up to see a boy Aidan's age and his father sit down together at a table and begin their breakfast.

Chaplain Andy gave the newcomers in our group a tour of the church itself which has a long history. The reason it came into existence was to accommodate the newer immigrants and working classes who weren't as comfortable (and vice versa, no doubt) at St. John's where the landed people worshipped.

Alter in the sanctuary.

And in the adjoining chapel.

Detail.

This one is for Keoni who never lets a piano sit idle.

And JM.

It has taken a day or two for me to assimilate the sad news that my old friend Susan is going into Hospice. She has been a fine friend and has made such valuable contributions of her abilities and time working for others. We did fun and memorable things together, too. I will miss her.

Valerie and Tim are now in Albuquerque. The first day, yesterday, they were in residence that welcome event was overshadowed by the loss of their suddenly very ill family dog Nandi; a surprise diagnosis of extensive cancer and she had to be put down.

The first load of the next-door neighbor's hay was already stowed away in the barn followed by part of this load before it went on to another barn. Wendy has enough pasture grass for the entire '14/'15 winter season. The smell of new-mown hay lingered into the next day.

One lane traffic in front of the house on Ridge Road as the tree growth was trimmed away from the electric wires.

Three rigs in all.

The things that fill my days, ordinary and extraordinary, become precious as I finish today contemplating what lies beyond the dust fuzzies.

It Was A Quiet Day at Lake Nockamixon

We had a relaxing day and ate lots of good food both at Stella's Cafe in Sellersville, and at The Butcher and Barkeep in Harleysville. In between, Aidan worked on his fishing skills where we spent a lazy afternoon at Lake Nockamixon which is only about a half hour drive from the house.

It's been great visiting with Betsy and have the family show her around the territory. Around this time tomorrow she'll be en-flight back to Tucson. She taught Aidan and I a card game which I'm sure will fill some sticky hot or rainy afternoons this summer. John wants to take Aidan back to the lake for more fishing. And, we have Green Lane Park Lake to investigate, too. It lies even closer to us.

Learning "Spite and Malice". 

Whenever we do something with our hen's eggs I am amazed at the brilliant yolks. These are almost ready to mix up for egg salad...

"Free range" for sure.

Sibling Rivalry Soccer & Super 8

Betsy arrived yesterday afternoon and we all partook of Harleysville Hotel hot wings before bringing her home with us. Aidan and Keoni fell into their evening routine of two-man soccer...

Somehow, some rules have evolved. I don't know what they are, but one wins and the other loses; and vice versa. Eso depende.

After this stiff competition the music started up again in honor of Betsy's arrival.

I don't know exactly how it happens, but their transition from sibling rivalry soccer to music collaborations is startling. It makes me happy though. I think you can see that it makes Betsy happy, too.

It is great having my grandmother counterpart for a visit to the family.

I'll see her again tomorrow when I return to PA.

Today Keoni and I started out early for Meadowmount School of Music where he will spend the next seven weeks. It's about 360 miles from home. I am staying the night in Ticonderoga, NY's Super 8 motel and glad for the rest before returning home in the morning. We drove through the Catskills and the Adirondacks to get to the school. It's remarkably beautiful and likely so any time of the year. I am close to Lake Champlain and Lake George. Wendy and John will make the return trip to pick up Keoni in August while Aidan and I take care of Rhapsody Ridge chores. There are staggering amounts of history and outdoor possibilities much like near our new home. One almost doesn't know where to start.

I'll miss Keoni a lot this summer, but I am just as happy to see him forge ahead with the music he's loved almost since toddlerhood. We played tons of music all the way to Meadowmount.

Nathan told Aidan he is coming over to play soccer with him some more this summer before he starts his Freshman year at University of Pennsylvania in August. All that news is making me smile.

A happy footnote: My phone GPS syncs with the car audio just fine now. Before, there was a lapse and attenuated messages. Now, using the iPhone's own updated app works great. It tells me my turns in plenty of time to make them. It's improved a lot. Oh happy day! I can play music which it mutes when it talks to me. And I can make it LOUD through the car audio.

I missed a picture that is vivid in my mind's eye. Keoni walking toward Meadowmount registration and greeted by a group bear hug from his three Interlochen quartet friends from last summer.

When I got the iPhone our of my pocket the hug was over.

A couple of days ago the neighbor was cutting his grass...

Upstate New York has the same bugs as Pennsylvania.

Soccer Then and Now

Fiddling around with the video publishing possibilities I found YouTube actually will send your video to Blogger. Haven't figured out yet how to plop them into an open blog draft. A post is made for each video. But you get the idea. Aidan is so enthusiastically into the soccer scene. It was fun trying to capture a little of his efforts. They are the two posts just before this one this evening.

We do eat late here. I am trying not to think about it since I'm getting sort of snarly. I don't mind from the standpoint of waiting until John arrives from work which usually is seven if he's early and as late as eight if there is a traffic slowdown on the turnpike; yet, it is a challenge. The man works a long day.

We had a couple of Keoni's friends stay for supper night before last. There was plenty of laughter and lots of music all afternoon and evening. They were all six or seven years older than Aidan. Reminded me of when the kids among the family and neighbors were all younger than I. Aidan and I could commiserate a little. Then, suddenly age went away; Aidan and cello joined in an impromptu quartet they put together after supper. It really came out well.

Elizabeth, Grant, Keoni and Aidan.

Yesterday, the bugs drove us back from our walk before we completed our round of the nine acres. Austin and the goats were in the run-in shed...

The rain passed on through and gave us a chilly night. Another walk this afternoon was prefaced with bug repellent and hats. Aidan was ready for honeysuckle blossom gathering so he could extract the tiny nectar droplets when we got back. Most of the vines were threaded among the considerable wild raspberries along the edge of the woods. (The neighbor on one side is turning a huge swath of his woods into firewood; ostensibly, we hear, to make a road. Aidan and I think the road will go to a cleared area we found in the woods. Perhaps there will be a house built there.)

Blossom by blossom Aidan dripped each honeysuckle flower's minuscule droplet into a glass. After he was through half the pile he drank the one little drop that had accumulated in the bottom of the glass. Makes me so glad for bees.

Speaking of bees, there are so few. There are great numbers of clover blooms everywhere and copious flowers of all types, but I've never seen so few honeybees. Now and then, one or two can be spotted. The North American bee colony collapse seems to be what has happened.

Further bug report: Lightening bugs! Fireflys! They are everywhere tonight and are charming the family who stands out on the porch/deck to watch them. Aidan reports hearing frogs again.

After a couple of falls this past week--one from my bicycle--I decided to hang up my helmet and resume walking for exercise. My beautiful bike went back to the shop where I bought it. The crew there was very considerate and refunded the majority of what I'd paid last winter. I'm sort of sad, and at the same time there is some relief in making the decision. I just don't balance as well as in youthful times; some bruises and aches, but nothing serious. Tai Chi remains on my agenda.

Time to contemplate some dust fuzzies. Goodnight.