Birthday time again!

August 29th. Stunning late summer weather. A perfect day to celebrate an 87th birthday. And celebrate we did. For a special lady....my mother-in-law. Paul and I gathered with his two sisters and their spouses for a lunch at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury to share the special day with her. The White Hart is, incidentally, where Paul took me out to dinner for one of our first dates. It was where he introduced me to black olives for the first time ("Here. Taste it. I know you'll love it.") It was love at first sight, both for black olives and for Paul.

After we feasted on tasty morsels such as 4 cheese quiches, omelets and homemade peach sorbet (with a candle for the birthday girl) we went outside for a group picture. Paul had a bit of a problem setting the camera up for a timed picture. He was snapping legs and feet but no faces, so we had to go to plan B.


Paul snapped a picture of us without him...................


..........and then handed the camera off to Betty's husband, Ron, so he could snap one with Paul in the group.

Paul had taken the whole afternoon off. Since it is so rare for him to have an afternoon off to himself he decided to not waste any of it. We decided to take a ride to Twin Lakes. It has been YEARS since we have been there. It is where Paul taught, or tried to teach, me how to water ski and where I learned a very valuable lesson about water skiing. Make sure you stand up as soon as you feel the rope tighten. Otherwise you will be skimming your bottom along rushing water that feels razor sharp....really razor sharp.

We couldn't remember how to get there but Ron told us just to take Pond Road and it will get us there. We drove and drove until we saw a sign welcoming us to Massachusetts but no Pond Road. That is when I remembered that Ron had said "Pond Road. Well, I THINK it's Pond Road. Or something like that". More vague then definite. Thank goodness for the GPS. We dug it out and it directed us to Hammertown Road. That doesn't sound too much like Pond Road but it did have a pond on it........

We had a beautiful drive between the two lakes. We stopped for a cold drink at O'Hara's Boat Landing and reminisced while we absorbed that heady smell of lake air. Years ago, in the late 50's or early 60's we had a very heavy rainstorm. It caused a landslide which went right through one of the lake cottages and washed it into the lake, killing a young girl inside. The only thing left standing was the chimney and fireplace, which you could see for years afterward as you passed by. Paul did not remember this happening and was curious as to where it occurred. I wasn't sure I could find the spot but as we drove along we saw that lone chimney and fireplace, still standing in a stand of trees near the lake after all these years. A sad sight.

We went through Falls Village on the way home and stopped at an antique shop that has recently opened in town. And am I glad we did. I have been looking and looking......and I mean looking and looking.....for a narrow bookcase to put next to my fireplace. I have looked everywhere, even on the internet, but I have not been able to find anything that narrow. We walked in the antique shop and Paul pointed and asked, "Is that what you're looking for?" And sure enough.......there it was.


It needs to be stripped and stained or painted but it fits just right. EXACTLY what I have been looking for. And for a good price, too.

It was a good way to spend the last Sunday of my summer vacation. Slowly driving through the shady, cool back roads and visiting places that had almost slipped from my memory.


And celebrating the birthday of a fine lady. Happy Birthday and here's to many more celebrations together!

64 and counting

Today I completed my 64th year. When I was young I thought it would take FOREVER to reach this point. It doesn't. When I look back on my life I feel as if it was put on hyper-thrust. Why and how does it go that fast? When I was young I thought 64 was, well, o_l_d. It's not. At least I don't feel old. Which is a good thing.

The day was very quiet and uneventful. Perfect birthday weather...warm, sunny, breezy, bllue sky. We finished putting urethane on our floor downstairs. I did some much needed dead heading in my gardens. I had a few cards and a couple of phone calls wishing me a happy day. Tomorrow we will go out to dinner with our very good friends. The only thing I wanted and didn't get? Cake!!

I think quiet birthdays have always been the norm for me, except for the year I was 16 and had a "surprise" party. My Aunt Mary kept a diary for years consisting of the everyday occurrences in her life. Nine years ago, on my birthday, my mother emailed me the entries my aunt had written from the time I was born until she passed away eleven years later.

1947 Mary Margaret a year old today Went over in the afternoon. Clara came. Barbara (one of my aunts) and the children came. Had ice cream and cake.

1948 MM second birthday. Went over and had a piece of birthday cake.

1949 MM three years old today. Did not go over. She had a party. H (My grandfather) and Margaret (My Aunt Mary's sister) gave her a tricycle.

1950 Went over to MP (My house, MP being my mother Margaret Pendleton) for a roast beef dinner.

1951 Mary Margaret's birthday. We went over to her party. All the Frueh grandchildren were there.

1952 Went to MM birthday party. (I believe this was the party where I stood inside the door and grabbed the gifts from my guests as they came in while my sister politely stood next to me repeating "thank you" as I continued my grab-fest)

1954 MM birthday. Went to the Falls Village Savings Bank celebration and Misty Meadow (the name of our farm)

1955 Mary Margaret's ninth birthday. Sunshine. Very hot. We are listening to the radio. The storm was terrible (This was the day after the '55 flood. I remember standing outside the house and watching my father pull a man and his Volkswagon out of the flood waters with his tractor. Party? Cancelled.)

1956 MM birthday. She has gone to Cape Cod with the Fosters. MP and her fmailhy and M and I had a picnic at the Grove. (I remember this birthday.....my very first away from home and was missing home that day. The Fosters were so good and had cake and presents for me. Made me feel so much better)

1957 MM birthday. The children were over and we had a birthday party.

1958 MM birthday. MP and the children came over and we had a picnic supper.


A pattern of quiet birthdays set me up for a life of and un-party girl. I like it that way. If I can manage to quietly celebraty 64 more birthdays I will be 128. A goal to work for!

30 already??

Thirty years ago on August 10, shortly after midnight, a little dollop was put on my life that made it perfect. My third and last child jettisoned his way into this world. With the life cord wrapped around his neck 4 times he wasn't in a hurry to leave the mother ship. But once he did he never looked back or slowed down. A REALLY active child, his teachers always called him "enthusiastic"......and when they said that you could see them visualizing the quotation marks around the word. It was a nice way of saying "he never slows down and is driving us rather crazy."

He has been the joy of our lives. Always a smile for everyone. Always willing to take time from his busy day to help anyone who asks for help. Generous. Thoughtful. Easy to be with. Never ONCE gave us trouble as a teenager.

From the day he left me in charge of his Big Wheel as he went off to kindergarten.....

..........until he graduated from Taft and then RIT, he has made us proud of everything he has done in school. Never in trouble (except for the day he shot the paper off his straw across the lunch table and lost his position as Line Leader as punishment), he has always worked hard at his studies in a very mature way. We never had to press him to "get to work and do that homework". It was always done unasked.

He grew from a rather quirky little basketball player.............


...........into a mature and handsome young man who owns his own businesses. (https://rowfeeder.com/) (http://www.untitledstartup.com/) a little free pr!


It's hard to believe that the little baby who I sang lullabies to is now 30 years old. As the song says "I don't remember growing older. When did they?" We loved him so much when he drew his first breath. We never thought we could love him any more than that. But we do. Happy 30th!

Is this vacation or am I still working??

School has been out since June 14 and I have spent almost every day since then working and sweating (it's been H_O_T) in my gardens and on my lawn. Weeding, mulching, dead-heading, watering, planting and slowly watching things wither away in this persistent heat and lack of rain. At least I haven't had a lawn to mow. Right now it sort of looks like shredded wheat. Yesterday I screamed ENOUGH! As much as I love being outside I do have things (lots of them) in the house that need my attention and only 4 more weeks to get them done.

First thing on my list yesterday was wash windows......inside and out. All 23 of them. This is not an easy process. We have double hung 12 over 12's (that's 24 little itty bitty individual panes to wash in each window) with a storm and screen combination. There is a pattern you have to follow. First you clean all those itty bitty panes (pains) on the inside. Then you have to remove the top and bottom storm and the screen before you proceed to step 2. In step 2 you pull down the top sash, stand on the window sill, reach over to the outside (but not too far or you'll tumble) and wash the two top rows of panes. Impossible to reach the bottom row that way. Then you push down the top sash and push the bottom sash up to the top, reach over and do the same thing. If you are on the second floor this can look pretty scary. All the time you are leaning over cleaning the outside you look down and think "please dear Lord, do not let this window break loose with me leaning on it". Once you're finished with the scary part you push the bottom sash up just a bit and reach out and clean the bottom 4 panes on the outside. Not scary because you can do this sitting on a chair. Then push bottom sash all the way to top, bring down top sash and do those bottom 4 panes.

Now you can take the screen outside and clean it with detergent and then hose it down. This results in VERY black water. While you are waiting for the screen to dry you can clean the two storms. Piece of cake. Just prop them up against the wall, a chair, a bureau, anything and clean. One nice solid piece of glass. No itty bitty panes. Now go outside and retrieve clean screen. Insert upper storm in window. Then insert screen. Sometimes it won't go in easily because upper storm won't stay where it is supposed stay and keeps dropping down. Holding the storm with one hand while pushing the screen up with the other and a little strong language helps here. Then insert bottom storm in window. DONE. By this time you are so hot and dirty and sweaty it is time for a break and a cold drink.

There was a time, believe it or not, when I could do the whole house in one day. But that was in my youth. My youth has long since gone and left me with a body and mind that move a bit slower. Halfway through my window cleaning process yesterday I decided that I would change my work habits. I would divide it up into two days instead, cleaning the downstairs windows yesterday and upstairs today. Sounded very doable. By 2pm yesterday I changed my mind again. How about just doing two rooms a day? That sounded better. So I did two rooms and a bathroom yesterday.

Today I did two rooms but at the end of the day I changed my mind again. How about doing just one room a day?? Even better idea. And tomorrow I'm going to choose one of the smaller rooms with only two windows......and one of those windows only has 6 over 6 panes.

But I have to do it fast because I am also staining the deck tomorrow. How many more weeks until I go back to "work"??

Wired up no more.

It's August already. School (gulp) starts this month. The sun is setting a little earlier each evening, making us feel a bit more rushed on our nightly walks. The katy-dids are chattering. The evening air is cooler and makes for better sleeping. I wore long pants for the first time this summer yesterday. It seems like summer just began and already we are seeing signs of the end.

Paul must be feeling a change in the air. Something about the coming of fall makes you want to clean and straighten up your messes. He has been busy doing that all evening.

Quite a few years ago when we were first becoming a computer family Paul built his own computer. He was so thrilled with what he could do that he couldn't stop. He kept building and building. Everyone in the family, including my mother, has had a computer built by Paul. His study became a holding cell for all the computers that he built that had no other home. Today he decided he'd had enough. His study was becoming claustrophobic. So much technology in one room was making his head spin so he decided to dismantle everything except for two lucky computers.

Computers mean wires and........oh boy.......did we have wires. We didn't realize how many until we started taking things apart.

There were wires draped from the window and across the walls.

Wires on the floor.

Wires under the table.

More wires in boxes.

And there was a surplus of keyboards.

And computers connected to all those wires. No wonder his study was as hot as Hades all the time. Windows would be wide open all winter long.


Disconnecting all these wires is a big undertaking. He wasn't a happy geek. Anyone who knows Paul and how he reacts when things don't go perfectly knows exactly what he is saying at this point. EXACTLY.

It's midnight and he's still working. He said he was going to bed early tonight. That is not happening. He's looking forward to "downsizing" his computer collection. He says it will make his frazzled life seem a little more "calm". But at the same time it was hard for him to pull the first wire. He put so much into these computers that he feels like they are his babies and he is being disloyal to them by unplugging their life support. All I know is that it is going to make the house seem a lot quieter once they stop breathing.