Boy, have we had a lot of rain. Mostly the misty sort but heavy at times. I went to a chamber music concert last night: a pianist, a cellist and a singer. They did Brahms Cello and Piano Concerto Number One and some modern pieces. The President of the Society said the Trump Administration had cut 70% of funding to the NEA. What a travesty.
Heard a lecture about the diplomacy that allowed the US to win the Revolutionary War.
Watching SLOW HORSES, LANTERNS, TED LASSO, and HIGH POTENTIAL. Also the series SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE from 1972.
Reading KIN by Tayari Jones and A GUARDIAN AND A THIEF, Maga Majumdar (That might not be spelled correctly)
Still going to PT to try and walk better.
The quilt is one of my friend Rita's. She is making me a Christmas quilt.
What are you doing?
17 comments:
That concert sounds wonderful, Patti. And you're absolutely right about how awful those cuts to funding for the arts are... Your reading sounds good - I'm glad of that.
Quilting is a unique and underappreciated art form. PT may also be underappreciated but it is valuable; keep it up, Patti!
It's been an odd week here. Christina aced her final test and is now an official emergency responder licensed in Florida. She put on her other emergency responder hat this week and went out on her second outing as an animal rescuer, sent to rescue a blue heron caught in a net. She brought Mark with her because A) he's worked with birds at the Albuguergue zoo, and B) he's cool and good company. However, as they approached, the heron actually worked itself free and flew off. They got an A for effort, however. Now that Christina's certified, she can now work without a supervisor and her schedule is changing, perhaps not in the most convenient way, which means our weekly schedules will have to be modified to account for her new working hours.
I recently rented a storage unit to accommodate my books, and spent two days this week cataloging and sorting them. I got six out of more than 120 boxes done. This is the first pass and when it's finished, I'll go over them once more to insure that I'll be able to easily retrieve any book I happen to want. I also have a number of items in storage that will be donated to my hometown historical society, such as a hand-written notebook of the 1870 census, old newspaper articles, and scrapbook that my great grandmother made before the turn of the 20th century.
We were all set to go to the beach on Saturday morning to meet up with Jessie at 8:30 when Walt Senior began having severe pains. Senior has a notoriously wonky heart and has been hospitalized for it several times over the las few years, so Walt and Christina rushed him to urgent care. Four hours later he was diagnosed with a raging case of shingles; the referred pain was so bad he thought it might have been a major heart attack. He's on medication now and feeling somewhat better, but shingles is no laughing matter; I had a single attack about 25 years ago and it is something I definitely do not want to repeat.
While all that was going on, Jessie was having an "Experience" at Walmart. Here she is texting with Christina: J: Just got cornered/followed in Walmart by a crazy conspiracy theorist. He did nuclear work and was an investigator and ran for mayor (not in this state) and all food is poisoned to monitor us and all water is poisoned and toothpaste was invented to kill the Jews... C: Wow! I was unaware of all that happening. Thank goodness that guy educated us about all that goings on J: There was some praise for Elon Musk and talk of a third eye as well. The 'conversation' was all over the place. C: Was it a conversation? or a one sided dissertation? J: Oh, he just ranted at me and followed me around for a while, occasionally pausing to look round nervously, asking if he was being watched C: Did you say yes, he was being watched? J: I did [laughing emoji] C: You are not very nice [evil emoji]
Just another day in Florida.
Heavy rains here most nights and morning, with occasional afternoon thunderstorms. Perfectly clear one moment and torrential downpours the next. Again, just another day in Florida.
More to come.
A storage unit?
That's the thin end of the wedge, Jerry. That way lies madness.
Needless to say (for those who are keeping up), this week has been all about Jackie and her knee replacement, which will reach the one week mark tomorrow. We were in the hospital from 6 am to 4:30 pm last Tuesday, until she was finally discharged. With the other knee 13 years ago, she was kept in the hospital for five days, followed by two weeks in a rehab place across the street that did little to help her recovery. This time she is resting at home for two weeks before starting PT. So far, she is definitely improving from day to day.
Back after breakfast.
Back again.
Family book club scheduled for yesterday as postponed at the last minute because Amy's cat Leila was suddenly doing poorly and they had to take to the emergency vet. Sadly, they had to put the cat down and Amy is devastated. It is amazing how a pet can become such a large part of your life and love. They are here for such a short time relatively speaking, but even with knowing that you will most likely have to say goodbye at some point cannot negate all the positives of having a well-loved pet. Family book club has been moved to October 4 and will be held much earlier in the day to accommodate Christina's new schedule. We'll also be taking family pictures that same day because the girls want one to mark my eightieth birthday later in the month. (That may mean I'll have to wear a shirt and tie, dang it!)
My second cataract surgery is schedule for this coming Thursday and I'm not looking forward to it.
I went on a Preston & Child spree this week, reading four of their novels, one in the Pendergast series and three in their Nora Kelly/Corrie Swanson series. I'm not looking forward to the shock of withdrawal when I finish reading all of their very addictive novels. Also read a John Saul psychological horror novel, PERFECT NIGHTMARE (complete with his typical child in danger trope), and the eighth book in J. D. Robb's Eve Dallas ...IN DEATH series. Since there are almost sixty books to go (thus far), my withdrawal from this series will happen far after mine from the various Preston & Child series. My FFB this week was X, a film tie-in by Eunice Sudak -- a melodramatic book of a melodramatic movie, but still worth reading (and watching).
As always, I wish you a week filled with joy, good books, good shows, and good friends, Patti. Stay safe.
When Kitty had her knees replaced, Jeff, they started PT the very next day. I'm not sure if that was a good thing, but it kept her mind occupied.
My best to Jackie. Tell her I said that you should be her devoted slave over the next few weeks...and the next couple of dozen years.
When my daughter-in-law's mother had knee surgery at least a decade ago they started PT the next day, I was there and her shrieks of pain were horrible. Jerry-do you think someone in the family will want those books? I donated all of mine to the library sale. George's idea of a room at the Buffalo Library was a good one.
I like the quilt very much. Deb's daughter Victoria is very crafty.
We're not really loving LANTERNS as we're finding it pretty unpleasant. ANNA PIGEON is watchable but she's still pretty self-destructive. The last REACHER episode was so ridiculously over the top as to be cartoonish. LIONESS is very intense.
We're really enjoying the French SIMON COLEMAN (MHz) because it's different from the usual cop show. His sister and brother in law died in a car wreck and left him the upbringing of his nieces and nephew. He transferred from Paris (where he was an undercover cop) to Aix to take charge, and despite mistakes they make it clear that he is very close to them and caring.
We haven't started NEAGLEY or FAUDA or SLOW HORSES yet.
Not much reading time with the surgery and, as Jerry said, being the servant. She has to see the doctor a week from Friday, so hope she can move around better by then.
Can't believe Senior didn't have a shingles vaccine. My mother had shingles twice, so all of us knew to get the vaccine as soon as it was avaliable, then we upgraded by getting the more powerful two dose one.
It's always something in the House household. They could make a pretty good sitcom about your family, especially with all the animals. Maybe sell it as an American Durells.
My granddaughter Amy has already told the family (and me ) that when I die, she was taking my books. One of the reasons I'm cataloging them now is so that, in fifty years or so, after I die (and certainly not sooner), she'll have an easier time with them.
Jackie is watching the updated Tommy and Tuppence show on Britbox. Not me, despite the presence of the great Imelda Staunton.
She'll be watching series two of MOBLAND next, but Guy Ritchie is fingernails on the blackboard for me. Still, great cast. That's Paramount +, I think.
I remember when Rick Robinson would occasionally post photos of the gorgeous quilts his wife Barbara made. Absolutely beautiful!
Western NY will dry out this week after enduring rain just about every day last week. Katie is recovering from Covid-19. I went and got a Covid-19 shot a few days ago. I got my flu shot two weeks ago.
We woke up to 53 degrees this morning. Feels like FALL to me!
I'll start watching SLOW HORSES, SEASON 6 today. I had the same reaction to REACHER that Jeff did. A ludicrous conclusion!
Patrick used to be into quilting when he was working on his PhD. He said it relaxed him. Hope the PT is helping! Stay safe
Patti, I envy you all that rain. It has cooled down here, and I am loving it. Both of the books you are reading sound good. That quilt is very nice. I did some piecing and quilting in my early thirties and enjoyed it.
I talked last week about the first two days of the Planned Parenthood book sale. We went to the book sale three more times (Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday), and Glen and Doug got reasonable amounts of books and I bought way too many as usual. I never learn.
We are watching: COLUMBO, BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES, and MIDSOMER MURDERS. All of those are rewatches. New shows are RIDE OR DIE, GOOD SHIP MURDER, MARLOW MURDER CLUB and MURDER IN A SMALL TOWN. We finished Season 2 of THE ARK (also a rewatch), but now we cannot watch Season 3, which is new, without paying for it. We have not started SLOW HORSES yet, but we will.
Glen is continuing to read THE LOST PIANOS OF SIBERIA by Sophy Roberts, which he bought the first day of the book sale. He has about 100 pages left in the books and he is enjoying it a lot. Now I am eager to read THE SIBERIAN DILEMMA, the next book for me in the Arkady Renko series by Martin Cruz Smith.
I am reading WIVES LIKE US by Plum Sykes, which I bought at the book sale. For some reason this was on my wish list and I thought I would like it, but now I don't know why. I am going to finish it, because it is entertaining enough, but this book about wealthy people living in mansions in the Cotswolds in the UK has no depth at all. It is a satire on that lifestyle, but I would have liked some more believable characters.
I also made quilts in my thirties. All by hand, which was limiting and in the end hurt my thumbs. I struggle with books about rich people. SLOW HORSES got off to a strong start.
That is a handsome quilt. Arts (or crafts, though quilting goes a bit beyond simple craft, or certainly can) shouldn't debilitate the artist.
I am several days late. Again. Work and home have been active.
Our kitchen is currently being simultaneously demolished and rewired.
I read TOWER HILL, a recent nonfic about the Virginia slave plantation and the owning family. The book description suckered me in by referencing the Nat Turner Revolt. Not much Nat Turner content but a really good book. The Blows left volumes of family letters and financial and management documents behind.
Also, I just found out Lee Harvey Oswald's wife, Marina, is still alive. 85 years old.
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