Moving along

Thanks to all who commented regarding the little foo fah of yesterday. My skin may be a little thin just now but I seriously can't stand passive aggressive behavior. Particularly from someone who has not one clue who they're dismissing with that syrupy finger wagging.
Next!

Most of this ice is finally gone. That something so beautiful to look at can be so scary is a wonder of nature itself. Those icicles are killers. Bob left for two weeks in Florida and a cruise to Cozumel. Being here alone is a
learning experience. Surprisingly, I slept well last night. Of course there was no howling wind or storms so we'll see how that goes.


There's the basic layout for the crosses so far. Certainly can't say I'm rushing things. I have been catching up with various bloggy friends and they continue to amaze and delight. Get yourself a cuppa and go see this years photos from Jan at Bemused-Photos from the Tokyo Quilt show are, as always, just fantastic.

The kids came over with Lucy last evening and we got enchiladas and burritos from Aunt Chiladas. Not bad for take out. Those guys really know their stuff although I think that most of the guys there are from Guatemala. In fact, most of the cooks at our local restaurants are from there. Many of the families used to come to the Pantry to get help while they got on their feet. They have done well and have a lot to be proud of.

Tonight I am heading over to my Friend Pam's house with Terry for our sewing night. We haven't had one this year yet because of the weather. It'll be good to be out and great to be with friends. Speaking of friends...you could have knocked me down with a feather when I answered the phone last evening and it was a call from my good friend Debra Spincic. All they way from Texas. I really enjoyed our talk. She has the lovliest voice. Her Madonna pieces are really so wonderful they must be seen to be believed. Anyway, it was a realy pleasure to be able to have a real live conversation. Check out what she's up to. It's always fun and informative.
I'd better get going if I plan to be ready for later. Thanks again for all the support and friendship.

NY snark

Here's Lucy! Little miss is what keeps me smiling.

Here's what doesn't make me smile. A comment from someone who clearly doesn't know me at all and misinterprets my NY sarcasm for something other than what it is. I don't expect anyone who "knows" me from the blog to really "know me" but most of the friends I've made in bloglandia and in personal correspondence are good friends who have stood beside me in these past horrible months, genuinely wanting to do something to help. To anyone who thinks that I don't appreciate that every day I say...pft! You add the sound effects.

At heart, I am a comedian with a sharp, very dry, sense of humor. It has been a necessary companion these past months of Roger's terrible illness and death. If not for my sense of humor I would be in a ball in the fetal position in bed. To say that I don't appreciate my life or my place in this life is to not know me at all. I have resumed my job of 13 years at the Pantry where I am , among other jobs, a listener. I listen to women who have been abandoned by louses and left with children to feed and no marketable trade. Women with no means of supporting themselves or the medical and social needs of having two children with Autism. Men of many ages who have served our country only to have been forgotten and left to find their way while not fully being able to understand what has happened to them. Most cannot even look you in the face, so bleak is their pain and guilt. I am cosidering another offer as well for a job in one of the churches in the village. I will most likely take that job too in a month or so.

For anyone who thinks that I'm sitting in some ivory tower complaining about the lack of help from the little folk toiling in the fields let me set you straight. I spend my days doing for others as much as possible and now I am trying to make sense of my own life too. The loss of my husband of 37 years and friend for some 40 has been devastating and nearly unbearable to me. My chin is up though and not being one to bitch and moan, I go through the days with a smile on my face and think of how very fortunate I am that Roger was savvy enough to leave me comfortable and cared for in a number of ways. I have a wonderful, if creaky, old house that is mine all mine and don't owe anyone anything but taxes. For nearly 6 months I went to the hospital everyday and, until the end, believed that my dearest friend and the love of my life would come home again. We spent out time together, as short as it was, really in love with each other. Last week was our anniversary and I had intended to write a little about our life together. Roger gave me the first home I have ever known in all my life. He spent so much of his time planning things for us to do and ways to make me happy and to feel safe. If it were not for him, I doubt I would have survived the things that happened to me years ago. We took a long-time friendship and turned it into a love story that our friends still comment about. It was one of those "if not for this, then that would never have happened" things. He made it easy to fall in love because we were already in like for years. There's a lot to be said for a boat ride on the Sound on a May evening at sunset. I still get a little tug at my tummy when I think of that night. I wanted to spend the rest of my life trying to make him as happy as possible and tell him many times over how much he meant to me. When I think of how sick he was those last weeks it causes me actual physical reactions.

So, if someone thinks that my personality is defined by not appreciating the plight of those around me who have to make their way out in the storm when I get to sit here being crabby and annoyed at the plow guy and the state of my driveway, let me just say, "you have no idea who I am and , clearly, no appreciation for NY snark. To each his own but stay out of mine.

Sliding along with a side of worry.

Here are some 15 minute play blocks I made with American Jane scraps. I don't belong to the 15 min. play group but I guess I'm playing along anyway. The most work I did this week was on the crosses blocks which I uploaded but for some reason appear at the bottom of this entry. Go figure.

I am worried for my friend Joanne. She was so helpful and kind to me during Roger's illness and now she is facing serious problems of her own affecting her husband's health. I can't stop thinking about them and I'm too far away to do much of anything useful. Maine is a long way away. Think good thoughts for my friends if you are so inclined.

I have had a bit of a horrible week here. Last Friday would have been our 27th anniversary. Friday was the culmination of a really awful week. I could feel myself stating to lose it all during the week. I was finally done in by the snow and ice. As I've mentioned here (too often, sorry)-I live up here on a hill. A rather big hill in the best of weather. Throw in a little ice and, putting it mildly, we're screwed. The addition of 4-wheel drive does nothing in the face of a couple of inches of solid ice frozen over a fairly deep crust of slush. Couldn't find anyone to come and help and Bob had many important meetings and a company dinner thing during the week. He just closed his eyes and kept going over the ice which made it even slicker. James tried to come and help but his car actually got stuck sideways in the drive with the bumper over the Belgium Block. Then, while attempting to remove the inch-thick coating of ice on my Explorer, without my realizing it, the plastic end came off the scraper and the metal part scratched my windows and left a scratch in the hood of my pretty car. There was so much of this ice covering the already deep snow that it looked like the glaze on a donut outside. Ice EVERYWHERE! I never made it out of the house one day after last Monday until yesterday. I'm the last one to get hysterical about the weather and I usually don't even mind being snowed in but this last couple of weeks have really done me in. It just brought to light all the things that Roger and James used to do to make life function smoothly around here. Strangely enough, there are a number of people in town who do plowing but once that ice set and crusted and got driven over, nothing but chemicals and higher temps was going to move it. A good friend of ours worked for the Town for 35+ years and recently retired. He was the guy who plowed the roads around here. Naturally, after 35 years he could plow on a dime and was very good at his job. They have a new plow guy and I'm sure in time he will get the hang of it...that is if a mob carrying flaming torches doesn't get him first. All over town people are going crazy because he has done the worst job of plowing you could imagine. The road I live on is good and wide-wider than most around the village. He has turned it into a one and a half lane mess. I see the same thing all over. Around the Library is a pretty big mess as well. Oh Lord, this just seems to be the winter of our discontent...sorry Mr. Shakespeare.

Yesterday we went to the annual Super Bowl fiesta at Joe & Jeri's house. Lots of people came this year since the temps went up to 46 and it was a spectacular day. More please! Anyway, I just go for the goodies. One of the ladies makes cream puffs. Forget all the other food. I just wait for dessert and the cream puffs. Although I did have a glass or two of a nice red....Oh, and maybe a couple of snacky things...alright, maybe more than a couple....and some shrimp...and a smidge of pulled pork...yes, that's right, a smidgen. That is if a smidgen were a very large spoonful on a nice roll....urp!

I did manage to do some sewing and took the advice of Gypsy Quilter on framing the crosses. It does look nice-thanks a bunch for the idea. I've got about 12 blocks done. More pics to come. I've really strayed from the original concept of making a quilt that looks like the one V, of Bumble Beans made. That's still something I want to do because I covet that quilt so much.

BIL Bob is leaving for 2 weeks+ on a cruise so I'll be hanging around here getting used to life in a new way. I used to think it would be good to be the Queen. Not so much now. I'm having dinner with James & Dani & Lucy later this week and with other friends next weekend. I'll get used to it...eventually.

Stay warm..