What a pair.

Remembering my father and my Aunt Barbara on the date of their birth,
March 29, 1914 and 1918.

They were a terrific brother/sister pair. They truly cared for each other and enjoyed each other's company so much. I will always miss them but the wealth of memories they left me will always keep me smiling! I am so very lucky.

The longest month

The longest month of the year is almost at an end. Does anyone else think that March just goes on and on and on and on? It is just something that is hanging between the cold and cozy snow-storms of winter and the warmth and green of spring. It is muddy and brown and sloppy. You can't go outside and work on the lawn because the ground is still oozing water. You get teased by a lovely warm day and then it's back to a forecast of snow.

Today was one of the nice days. The humidity was really really low.....almost desert-like, which made for a beautiful blue Albuquerque sky. The sun is setting much later now which means we are eating on a porch flooded with sunlight. Once we are able to traverse our driveway without slogging through mud we will be able to get back to our after-dinner walks. The buds on the trees are really getting quite swollen. I can notice the difference as I sit at the table at dinner and look outside. I think everyone is anxious to start outside work.

And I have such a craving for chocolate cake. How I would love a big piece of chocolate cake with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream...............

Okay......right now I am squirreled away in the basement on my computer because I can't stand the stress of watching the UCONN women play. Whenever they fall behind I have to come down here during half time. I keep checking on the internet to see how they are doing and once I see that they are catching up I can go back upstairs and watch the game. It is just too stressful to sit and watch them if they are lagging.

I've been reading such a good book, Anne Morrow Lindberg's "Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead". It is her letters and diaries from 1929-1930 and picks up where Gift from the Sea left off. It covers the time from when she married and had her first baby and then through the kidnapping. I am assuming the Hour of Gold covers the marriage and birth of the baby and the Hour of Lead is when the horrific kidnapping happens. It is a fascinating book. Such an interesting life. I never realized how much they flew. She and Charles spent months flying to Brazil and Venezuela and back and forth across the United States. When you imagine the little itty bitty plane, with an open cockpit, that they used to accomplish this it seems like quite a feat..........a scary feat. She had very little fear of flying. Unlike me who would have passed out (and probably thrown up) on a flight in one of those little shaky things.

Okay.....going to check the internet and see if it is safe to resume watching the game.

A visit with the twins.

A great day. We took a drive over to Rhode Island to visit the sweet little twins. "Twins" is not exactly the word I would use to describe them because they are so very different. These guys are for sure not identical.



Albion is so blond and bald. He is such a little tiny cute peanut. And he sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. What a precious little bundle he is to hold.


Having twins for grandchildren is the ultimate experience because there is one for grammie to cuddle........................


And one for grampie to play with.




Elliot is the big guy. He's got lots of hair and it's so dark. He doesn't seem to like to sleep as much as Albion.



Yup.....Albion's the little sleeper. ZZZZZZZZZZZ


Maybe Elliot just needs to cuddle with his brother to get some shut-eye!


Paul and I babysat for a bit while Megan and Brett went on their first post-partum date, which consisted of taking the dog out for a walk! When you've got two little babies in the house those little moments alone are really precious. Albion cuddled in my arms the whole time. What bliss for grammie. Megan and Brett are doing a super job as parents. One baby was hard enough for me the first time around. I can't imagine what two must be like.

Welcome, weekend.

It was so good to hear the final bell ring today. This seemed like such a long week and I am more than happy to welcome the weekend. Unfortunately the weekend always seems to go 10 times as fast as the work week.

My mother seems to be gaining ground in her recovery. She is now zipping around the halls with her walker and no longer has to have someone at her side everytime she makes a move. Every day will get a bit better. GO MOM!!

As she was talking to me today about being able to cruise the halls with her walker I got to thinking about what a neat idea it would be to start a business painting walkers. The walkers are such a boring and dreary gray color. Wouldn't it be fun if they could be painted bright pink or lime green or periwinkle blue? Or how about a popping flower motif? Or sailboats with a bright blue background for someone who loved sailing? How about a Boston Red Sox walker? Or better yet, a UCONN Huskie one just for me?? Folks could try to outdo each other with their walkers just like they do with their cars. It would make using a walker so much more fun. It's too bad that I have zippo artistic ability.

Tomorrow we are going to spend the day visiting the twins. And their parents, of course. I'm so glad they live close enough so we can enjoy them frequently. What a treat. Sunday I will come back to earth as I spend the day doing my dreaded taxes. UGH.

Spring Solstice

The first full day of spring, at long last. You can tell it's coming. The sun is so much brighter. The days are so much longer. The spring smell of wet ground is everywhere. There are swelling buds on the trees which give the hills a slightly different color. Daytime temperatures in the 40's and 50's are becoming the norm rather than an unusual happening. The air is full of birds swooping and darting with a case of spring fever.

To the Frueh family the first day of spring will forever be an unforgotten day. We will never erase from our memories the day that the barn burned to the ground. I think we all can remember every second of what happened that day, from the moment that we heard the first thunder boom until the barn was nothing but a black, smelly, smoldering, sizzling pile slowly being covered by a blanket of snow.

I know that for each of us there is probably one defining moment that we remember most of all on that day. The one thing that I remember with the most emotion that day is running into the burning barn and trying to free the cows. I remember trying desperately to undo their stanchions. It was so hard to do. They were so frightened and frantic and their big heads were flailing in the air in an effort to be free, making it so difficult to reach up and unlock them. I tried to dodge their strong heads but didn't meet with much success as my skinny twelve year old body was continually pounded in the midsection for my efforts. I could smell the smoke and hear the flames crackling in the hay mow just a few feet behind me. I can still see the bulging, frightened eyes of the cows. The hired man told me to leave, it was getting too dangerous. I think I was only able to free about three of the poor creatures. The firemen and the neighbors did the rest. I do not ever remember feeling fear the whole time I was in the barn, but I do feel it now, with a quickening pulse and faster breathing, when I think back to that time.

We built a new barn, but it was never the same. It never felt as warm. The hayloft didn't make as good forts. The barnyard where I dug for worms with my grandfather before his fishing trips was gone. As I say at the heading of my blog, "God gave us memories that me might have roses in December". The memories of that old barn give me a whole bouquet of roses.

Smile....it's library day.

I made a trip to the library after school today to replenish my book supply. As I was leaving the library with my new stash of books in my arms I saw a very smiley mother climbing into her car after tucking her about-4-year-old son safely into his car seat. I looked in the window and saw a really cute little kid sitting ram-rod straight, clutching his new books in front of him with an "I am so happy" grin stretching from one side of his face to another. I wanted to knock on his window and say, "Hey little kid, I know just how you feel. Isn't this the greatest feeling in the world?!" There is no better feeling than exiting the library with a brand new stack of books to read. I love to go home and stack them up on my bedside table. The thought of crawling into bed at night and starting on a new book is so delicious. And to think that there is a never ending supply of books to read. Imagine......I will never run out of books to read. EVER. I will always be able to have a stack by my bed. I hope that little boy was as excited as I was about his little stack of books. He certainly looked like he was. I hope his Mama is reading his new books to him tonight before she tucks him into bed. And I hope he NEVER loses that big smile when he leaves the library with a precious new stack of books.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone from someone who has not a smidge of the Irish in her. But I do love my corned beef and cabbage. What a good meal. I've always called it New England boiled dinner. It was always a good New England meal when I was growing up and had nothing to do with the Irish. Probably for good reason because even the Irish didn't eat it in Ireland. It was only when they immigrated here to the United States at the beginning of the century that they began preparing and eating it because it was the closest thing they could find to the bacon that they loved in their native country.

I love how it all tastes.....the corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, turnip. But it is more than that. I love the way the house absorbs that wonderful smell. And the way that all the kitchen windows get so steamy that you can't see through them. There is something about steamy kitchen windows that makes a house feel warm and cozy and full of loving feelings. It is a real comfort food, so nice to come home to. I hope everyone had that steamy window feeling tonight!

Finally

IT HAS FINALLY HAPPENED!!!

At long last. I've been waiting for this ALL winter. We finally have a real honest-to-goodness, cover everything with white, nor'easter snow storm. The birds were invading my bird-feeders all morning. How do they know that a storm is coming? There was no school today so I could revel in my season's fondest wish come true. I even enjoyed shoveling! It's not as good as what Oswego, New York has had this winter but it will do for starters. It came at a perfect time as it gives me a nice long 3 day weekend. Is spring really only 4 days away?


The Belly Acres room is my very favorite room for enjoying a snow storm. I have a wonderful panoramic view to the North, East and South. I feel like I'm sitting outside in the middle of the snow and wind but I'm in my little bubble, warm and dry. I made some red lentil and carrot soup tonight. We lit a fire in the gas stove (LOVE that gas stove), lit the candles, turned on the music and ate in our little bubble and listened to the wind throw the sleet against the windows. The meal just went on and on because we were enjoying it so. Geeeezzzz........how romantic can it get???

Mommy Update

For those of you who may be interested..........my mother is doing well and on the mend. She was discharged from the hospital the day before yesterday and VERY glad to be discharged. She wasn't too crazy about that hotel! Because she is still very sore and somewhat unsteady from her fall she is spending some time at a rehabilitation center in Glastonbury where she will work with a physical therapist on regaining her strength and balance so she can go home, which is where she REALLY wants to be. The rehabilitation center is very nice and she seems to be happy there, although she says it is a bit boring since they won't let her leave her room without assistance. Today she settled down to watch her favorite soap opera on television and the basketball tournement was on! Horrors! How could they do that? It would have delighted me but basketball is not an appropriate substitute for a soap opera in a soap opera lovers world. She says she is going to work at her physical therapy VERY hard so she can get back to her home and her normal life.

On the weather front here........yesterday we enjoyed a spectacular day that felt like summer with a high of 74. Ooooo la la, it was NICE! But this is March in New England and you know what that means. Tonight it is COLD and we have a nor'easter heading our way with a winter storm warning out for all of Connecticut. I'll be doing my little snow dance.

The circle of life

When I was a little girl, oh so many years ago, my Bornemann cousins had a wonderful toy horse that I have never forgotten. It was a good-sized metal horse on wheels. When you pushed down on the pedals, or stirrups, the horse would roll along the floor. I thought it was the neatest toy. I have blissful, happy memories of riding that horse up and down and up and down the wonderful front porch that ran the length of their house. The sound the horse made as it rolled it's way across the wooden boards of the porch is as clear today as it was when I rode that horse for the first time.

Quite a number of years ago, I'm guessing about twenty, I was walking past an antique shop in Torrington and I stopped cold as I saw my favorite horse in the window! I couldn't believe it. It looked just like the Bornemann horse. I raced home and told Paul that he didn't have to buy me anything, NOTHING AT ALL for Christmas EXCEPT that horse.......that wonderful memory. Paul, being sweet Paul, had it waiting under the Christmas tree for me.


At that time my children were too big to ride it so it has sat in my dining room where I could look at it and smile, thinking warm and happy thoughts. I really wasn't even sure that the mechanism worked or if it was still sturdy enough to hold a child. This weekend when the Madden family was here Paul put Eamon on the horse. He showed him how to push down the "stirrups" to get the horse to go. And it WORKED. After all these years it still worked. Yahoo. And there was a bonus I never knew about, or maybe I just don't remember. You can actually steer that little horse. If you just push on one stirrup instead of two it will turn. How cool is that??

Imagine. Eamon having the time of his life on this neat little horse just like I did over fifty years ago. The circle of life. Isn't it great?

A weekend of ups and downs

Whew! What a weekend. We had the Maddens here because their bathtub was being re-glazed and they were unable to use the tub for two days. The fumes from the process were also too horrific for them to stay in the house so they sought refuge here. That's one of the advantages of living close to your family. It is always so much fun to see the little ones because they are constantly changing. I love watching them grow. That was the good part of the weekend.

On Thursday my mother went to the library to borrow some tapes. As she was coming down the stairs she made one of those little mis-steps that sometimes happens. Because she had a full bag of tapes in her hand she wasn't able to grab onto anything or correct her balance and she did a header down the stairs. She landed right on her face. She has a laceration on her leg and on her face and a HUGE and I mean HUGE goose-egg on her forehead, plus lots of other bumps and bruises and a possible concussion. I visited her in the hospital last night and, for all that she has been through, I have to say that her attitude is great. She seems upbeat and strong and has a wonderful attitude. She seems very determined to do everything she can to get out of the hospital ASAP. She's a plucky little lady. I can't wait until she is back home and I can see her name popping up on my IM buddy list again. I miss that.

My fingers are a'crackin'

I can't type much tonight. My fingers are killing me. I have been doing lots of manual work in the library this week.........taping, removing labels, etc. This has produced lots of those nasty cracks in my finger-tips. Every day I get a new one. I hate those things. I fantasize about having pain-free finger tips. All other fantasies hav been banished from my head. I had plans to soothe myself with some really comforting red-lentil soup for dinner. I bought a mini loaf of crusty bread to go with it when I went shopping this afternoon. But I couldn't find my recipe. I looked EVERYWHERE but it has just disappeared. I made something else which I really didn't like. By the time we finally sat down to dinner it was almost 8 o'clock.

I think I need a nice hot shower and bed. Ouch ouch.......the thought of the water on my cracked fingers. Ouch ouch. Maybe I'll wear rubber gloves in the shower.

A chill in the air.

It was "dangerously" cold today. The wind chill was 35 below zero. Brrrrrrr. The short walk from the parking lot to the school building was a killer. I had to scrunch myself into a tight little bent-over ball, skinny little legs sticking out of the bottom of my coat churning away like a little egg beater. There was less body exposed to the elements that way. My mouth was full of grit from the flying dirt. Just that short walk cause extreme painage to my poor hands. That cold air is a hurtful thing. As cold as it was, I saw students leaving school today with shorts and short sleeve t-shirts. And they weren't walking hunched over. They were strolling along as if it was 70 degrees. "No brain, no pain" has to be the only explanation for that.

Forty-one years ago this month Ellen fell out of the hayloft and broke her leg. Or was she pushed by Henry? Hmmmmm. We will never know! Out of five children I think that is the only broken bone that we had. That's a pretty good record for a bunch of kids living on the farm.

It's squally out there.

This afternoon a cold front moved in with "blow me over" winds and snow squalls. As we were eating dinner on our porch I would look out the window and could watch a "blizzard" happening. I knew it was only a squall and would be over in a short time but I still tried to pretend that it was "the big one". It was enjoyable while it lasted. It is still wickedly windy and will be that way for a couple of days. Wickedly cold too. March is coming in like a lion. Spring is only 15 days away but I'm still not ready. I haven't had enough of winter yet!

Back to work

It's back to work tomorrow after enjoying an extended week-end. Those three day weekends are wonderful. It looks like the weather will cooperate this week and let us work a full five days. But there always is that possible 20 below zero wind chill on Tuesday (after 50 degrees yesterday?) that might give us a delayed opening. We still haven't had a real gollywhomper of a snowstorm this winter. I really need just one to make my winter complete. Time is running out.

Last night we went out to eat at Sunnyside with our good friends. We enjoyed delicious homemade pasta, topped off with a huuuge piece of chocolate cake (so naughty but so good). We went back to their house afterwards to watch a movie. As we were getting out of the car we stopped to watch the lunar eclipse. What a sight. Nature is truly truly beautiful.

Nice Ice Day

I woke up this morning to a view of nothing but ice out my window and those welcome words "Torrington public and parochial schools are CLOSED today". (I love how they emphasize the "closed" on their announcements). I turned off my alarm and snuggled back to sleep for another two hours. With the weather reports that we heard last night we were expecting a late opening at the most, so this was a nice surprise. It was pretty nasty out for a while with downed wires and falling tree limbs. By late morning the sleet and freezing rain had turned to lots of heavy rain, making everything pretty messy. There was quite a bit of flooding around the state but things don't seem to be too bad here. I did my usual Saturday housecleaning today and then relaxed with my book just as I have been wanting to do. Paul and I watched a movie tonight, The Illusionist. Great movie. Lots of twists.

A Stereo Birth

Anyone over the age of 50 can probably remember living in a time where "stereo" was a word that was not in our vocabulary. We all had little "monaural" record players; little square boxes with one speaker. If you owned one of those tall spindles that would let you stack your '45's so they could drop down one by one you were really hot! It certainly wasn't much by today's techno standards but we were as exited about owning one of those record players then as kids are about iPod ownership today.

I had a discussion in school the other day with someone about the moment that stereo was introduced to me. No one else remembered it like this. I wonder if anyone else does.

My father talked about it for days. I had never seen him this excited about something that wasn't related to milk production or hay bales. For five brief minutes we were going to be able to turn on our television sets and experience "stereophonic sound". I don't know where he heard about this event because he never watched television. Maybe he read it in the newspaper that he fell asleep over every night. The evening of the big event my father scurried around the living room like the energizer bunny in order to set things up. He moved the television to one side of the room and on the other side he plugged in a radio, measuring the distance between each very carefully. He centered some chairs exactly between the tv and radio and instructed me to sit there. I don't remember if anyone else in the family was sharing this historical moment with me. I only remember thinking that this felt like an occasion that would probably rival the Wright Brother's flight.

Okay. Okay. Sit tight. It's almost time. With a grin as broad as his barn he turned on the television set. The announcer explained what was going to happen. We were going to hear stereophonic sound for the first time. Daddy turned on the radio, as he was instructed to do, just as the orchestra on television started to play. I sat perched straight up on my chair, hardly able to stand the anticipation. "Listen, listen", he said. "You can hear music coming from your right and your left side". And so I could. What was being played on television was also being played on the radio. And I felt like I was sitting in the middle of an orchestra. I can remember the announcer telling us to listen for the flutes on the left and there they were. And suddenly there were violins on the right. I thought it was all so beautiful. It was a whole new world. It was stereophonic sound. After five minutes it was all over and I was thrust back into my monaural world. I can still remember so well the thrill of hearing this breakthrough in music.

I wonder.........does anyone else remember witnessing this birth of stereophonic sound??