knitting and a book recommendation on may sixth

 i'm knitting a pair of plain socks with yarn from a mother and daughter dye company based in texas, olive yarns. i found the yarn at the 2019 vogue knitting live event, when i went with korrina. the colorway is called "city lights and taxi cabs", and i thought they caught the colors of nyc very well. i'm also reading lucy maud montgomery's emily of new moon. it's just as wonderful as anne of green gables, and i highly recommend it. it's the first of a trilogy, and the following books are emily climbs, and emily's quest. i never read these books until i was 26, when a fellow acting friend (named emily!) told me about them. they were her favorite.

"it had always seemed to emily, ever since she could remember, that she was very, very near to a world of wonderful beauty. between it and herself hung only a thin curtain; she could never draw the curtain aside--but sometimes, just for a moment, a wind fluttered it and then it was as if she caught a glimpse of the enchanting realm beyond--only a glimpse--and heard a note of unearthly music."

(from chapter one, the house in the hollow)

----

 also, the date today has a special place in my heart as it's my mom's birthday . . or would have been her 96th birthday. she was born may 6, 1924. i've been thinking about her today, and remembering the wonderful birthday celebrations we've had together.
 

here she is with kathy, warren and chanda in 2018; the last birthday we celebrated together.


singing happy birthday . .


and getting some help with blowing out her candle . .

mom and i from a visit two months after her birthday in july. we always enjoyed sitting quietly in the gazebo at her assisted living place and listening to the wind blowing through the trees and the birds singing.

a december visit with nana

 i drove up to connecticut on wednesday so i could put our car in the shop and visit my mom. our car has been stalling at odd moments and monday we would like to drive to the tree farm to get a christmas tree with korrina and brian. there are some steep hills on the way to the tree farm. i wouldn't like to get stuck.

the assisted living community is decked with holiday decorations.

it felt wonderful coming into a warm fire after a walk outside. it was cold on thursday.

on thursday i heated up progresso split pea soup and then made my mom a chocolate egg cream (which does not have an egg! it's chocolate milk with seltzer), and on friday i brought new england clam chowder from whole foods and a chocolate haagen dazs cup of ice cream.

reading about princess diana in the upstairs library.

we also played pool in the game room . . 

every room has a shelf upon which the room's occupant displays photos or knick knacks. i love this santa in his dressing gown.

flowers on my mom's dresser from the care committee at my sister's church . . the porcelain christmas tree on the right has been in the family for years. i'm not sure who gave it to my mom, but she has set it out every christmas since i was a child.

mom had a haircut last week . . 

which looks really nice on her.

my sister and brother-in-law's house is still being renovated after the mold problem. they now have new ceilings in three bedrooms and the den and everything is being taped and painted. this is toby's special corner . . underneath a side table.

the living room is also a bedroom . . with the couches from the den and a bed from the upstairs bedroom.

here you can see the ice covering the lake in town.

the hydrangeas are brown . . i wonder when the petals will blow away . . 

bundled up . . thursday was very cold but she didn't complain at all and napped in the little bit of sunshine we had. friday was cloudy again, but a little warmer . .

and saturday was cloudier still! (and the car was fixed. it needed a new starter part by the engine.)

the next morning

 morgana and chanda slept in the den. jason slept downstairs in the basement, and greg and i slept in the living room with kathy. the upstairs rooms haven't had new ceilings put in yet. my sister and brother-in-law had mold up growing on the ceilings from faulty gutters, so all insulation had to come out, and a new roof went up and new gutters were put in.

 making breakfast . . 

we had another visit with nana . . 

 playing one of our favorite games: "bowl." we each write on a slip of paper about five to seven different books, films, places or people and then act it out three different ways. first is words to describe, second is charades, and last is just one word.

 warren made it home in time for dinner this evening. we had a second thanksgiving feast . .

 and then more pie . .

leftover pumpkin pie and also key lime.

cousin maria visitis nana

 my cousin maria from arizona was in boston for a work conference, and so drove south to my sister's to have a visit with my mom.

 she has four grandchildren now, and always comes with photos to share.

 

 this one is of her youngest grandchild, philip, in his baptismal gown which our grandmother josephine made maria when maria was a baby. actually, it might have been made for grandma's own children: maria's mother and my father and their two sisters. i think our cousin joanne fixed it up for philip and maria and her husband, tom, flew to salzburg with it for the baptism. morgana visited philip and his dad, maria's son michael, in march, which was before the baptism in may. you can see that post here.

 all of us with mom . .

 my sister put together a delicious dinner that we had in the assisted living's private dining room for residents and their guests. she had soft foods that my mom could eat (my mom has lost her top teeth) which consisted of manicotti, soft italian bread (i took off the crust to make it easier), and antipasta with soft olives and mozzarella cheese and cut up ham and salami slices. one of the more difficult things to eat these days for my mom are bits of salad like arugula. it's easier for her to eat small bits of cucumber. she still has some teeth on the side of her mouth, top and bottom. it's not easy getting old!

 they're discussing a photograph of my dad when he was about two years old that my mom has hanging in her room. i'll try and remember to take a close up of it next time i'm in connecticut.

 picking out clothes for my mom for the next day when we'll take her to the dentist (oral surgeon) to discuss extracting the roots of the teeth that fell out.

 we weren't sure what this was all about . .

 nighttime reading material . . the carlos acosta book was very good, and it's been made into a movie.

 the next evening, after the dentist visit, we took mom out for dinner at a neighborhood restaurant. 

 it was a fun night . . 

and mom did very well with eating. she had meatballs and antipasta with us, and even italian bread without the crust again. for the time being we won't do any extractions, but we won't be getting her dentures either. neither dentist thought she was in a position to take care of them properly. both had experience with dentures getting lost at assisted living residences and nursing homes, and since she has memory loss, they thought she would forget that she can't bite into hard foods, like apples, which could cause problems. as long as she can be served soft foods, all should be well.

hello again . .

last friday the weather turned cool and refreshing. by monday it was once again muggy and hot with temperatures up to 90 during the day, humidity at 70 to 85 percent, and nighttime temps no lower than 82 degrees. so . . everyday now when we walk in from outside we're a sodden mess. we have to jump into the shower to cool off and to feel a little more energetic. i think i had the AC on again tuesday . . but maybe i'm remembering last tuesday!! every week has been the same. it's rather funny. (not really.) i don't keep the AC on because i find it just as uncomfortable as the heat. i like having the windows open to the air and the breeze, and that's one good weather condition we have had this summer. breezes have been plentiful. they come from either the river, blowing in from the north or the south; from the street windows or from the courtyard windows, and they bring the aroma of the sea.

last saturday morning greg, chanda and i drove up to connecticut. we were supposed to leave friday afternoon, but chanda had a rehearsal for a dance performance. we came home sunday evening. here are some pics:

 my mom lost all her top teeth, but she's adjusted by chewing on a few teeth holding up on the left side of her mouth. i brought her chicken soup on saturday, and her favorite: chocolate ice cream.

 late blooming summer roses by the gazebo. they were wonderfully sweet smelling.

 the weather was much more pleasant (not as muggy or soporific, but we still all had a nap after lunch).

 back at my sister's house, we had a dinner of spinach salad and organic hot dogs. i think i've posted this before. hot dogs are incredibly easy, except i wasn't successful at grilling them today. when i tried to light the grill, it flared up at me and then went out. i decided not to try again, and instead cooked them under the broiler (which was also very easy and much quicker than the grill).

 my latest knitting: a shawl from the taproot magazine.

after eating the salty hot dogs, i craved something sweet and found a brownie mix in my sister's pantry (she was away with my brother-in-law at his brother's house in virginia as his brother had had a stroke; he's doing better now). i also thought they would be a soft dessert for my mom for the next day's visit.

dusk falling on the giant rhododendron bush . .

giving toby her nighttime treat . .

next day . . chanda showing nana her photos from prague. 

having her brownie . .

 driving through middletown on the way home . .