Staycation update

Well, the first day of our staycation was not a vacation at all. It was hard work. We uncluttered the house, cleaned up the yard, cleaned up the deck, refilled the birdfeeders, did laundry, paid bills, and generally put our affairs in order. It’s all the things and more that we’ve been meaning to do for a while, but didn’t find the time or energy to do. By the end of the day, my back was hurting, but things were in much better shape.

We hosted a sleepover guest for my daughter. That did force us to order pizza for dinner. At least after all that work, we didn’t have to cook and clean up the kitchen after dinner.

Our daughter Zoe is turning ten years old on August 3. Where has that time gone? As dutiful parents, we have been trying to organize a birthday party for her. She wanted a sleep over with all her friends, and a traditional birthday party with streamers and balloons, and naturally a big cake.

Alas, most of her friends are actually away on real vacations. My guess is that the bad economy hasn’t hit the well-heeled crowd of Chapel Hill, NC. So, we’re taking her available friends throughout the week for smaller get-togethers. Last night, we had a sleepover, today a visit to Kanki, a local Japanese restaurant, tomorrow a trip to the museum, a trip to the water park, plan to see a movie later in the week, and maybe another sleep over. Phew! A weeklong birthday is more work and more fun for all.

Happy (week-long) Birthday, Zoe!

I want to do that again! -- Hillsborough Hog Day

Yesterday, we went to Hog Day in Hillsborough. We went two years ago and this year was much better. Now, Owen can enjoy rides. Alas, Zoe has grown so tall, that some of the rides are too small for her. Bob & I just pay for everything and try not to loose the kids. Owen emerged from every ride shouting, "I want to do that again!"

There's an annual BBQ contest that is taken very seriously. We sampled bbq pork sandwiches with cool coleslaw and lively vinegary sauce. We needed cold drinks after that. We gladly paid $5 for a large home made lemonade. The hog was very yummy, even for us yankees.

We tried a few more rides, and talked to the local political groups and candidates.

We even managed to vote early before we left Hillsborough.

Owen sliding down the big ship slide!

Riding the mechanical bull was scary.

New Hope Valley Railway & Bob's wrist

Last weekend we all went on a New Hope Valley Railway Train ride. It was a blast for Owen. We all were glad we went, but Owen was thrilled. He wanted to go back the next day.
I've always been a fan of trains and train travel. Over the years, I've read a several of Paul Theroux's train travel books. It is amazing how noisy, messy, smelly and slow steam trains are. Reading about it is much nicer than actually doing it.

On a different note, Bob had surgery on his wrist today. He had a nasty rebuild of his bones and tendons due to a bad Ganglion cyst. It went pretty well, but it was more involved than they expected. This is the second surgery for this condition, so we're hoping it works this time. He's not supposed to work or drive for 10 days. Right, like that's going to happen. And, He'll need a cast for 6 weeks. Mercy, it's going to be a tough ten days. He's pretty loopy on the pain meds. He keeps asking me the same questions over and over again. The most frequent questions are about whether or not the surgeon was confident, or did he get it all? Go to sleep now, Bob. Thank you, Percosets.

Daniel's visit

I'm overdue to update several things to my blog. This draft will have to do. I will add more links.

We had exciting visitors. Our new little friend Daniel kindly brought his parents to visit us!

We had a great time. We had fun being tourists in our own town. We went to WholeFoods, drove through UNC's campus. We went to the Carrboro Farmer's Market, LocoPops, Franklin Street, Southern Season. We drove out to the country to see tobacco in the fields, visited Hillsborough, ate at a nice Mexican restaurant (yum) and back to the mall for the wonder that is Southern Season! Now, did I forget anything?

Daniel was a delight. He's a great baby. We had so much fun.

Carrboro Farmers' Market

Today we visited the Carrboro Farmer's Market.

We bought garden plants, cut flowers, cheese, eggs and pork. Zoe and Owen were thrilled with the pussy willows. We just had to buy a bunch of them. I remember loving pussy willows when I was a kid. I remember stroking their fuzzy tips. They grew in a neighbor's yard. We were always excited when they bloomed in the early spring.

I grew up a city kid. We used to take drives to the country to pick apples or buy pumpkins. We didn't know or understand about locally-raised produce or local farms. Our food came from the supermarket in plastic bags.

Now, I appreciate local produce and crafts. I try to visit the market with my kids at least once a month. And, we go on the farm tour, and try to grow some herbs and vegetables. It's all a part of why we moved here to improve the quality of our life.

Winter's back

Baby, it's cold outside.

Zoe at the Fair

 

Heather and I took Zoe to the Fair. Heather was a good sport given that it was a day of all Zoe, all the time.

The weather was terrific, just a bit too sunny. We ate a mess of fried food. We wanted to try the Fried Coke, but we didn't dare. We saw the crafts, visited the gardens, tried some of the games, and rode the ferris wheel. We had fun, but Zoe had even more fun.

We had to walk so much. When we had had enough we were on the far side of the fairgrounds. It was about as far away from the car as we could get without leaving the fair. To steal a good line from Lenoard Cohen, today I "ache in the places that I used to play." 

Pumpkins

Bob, Zoe and Owen went shopping for pumpkins today. I sent them to Whole Foods where they are 3 for $12. They kids were excited and the pumkins were good.

Of course, Zoe wanted one on the bottom of the pile. Owen kept saying, "punkin OH-ringe, not lellow." (Translation: Pumkins are orange, not yellow.)

At work today, we had pumpkin butter on crackers. It was really good. Then, tonight on the way home from my ArtsCenter class, I stopped at Weaver Street Market and bought two pieces of pumpkin cheesecake.

We're planning to go to the State Fair on Saturday. I hope it's not too crowded. Last year it was an exhausting and fun day. I hope to see the biggest pumpkin grown in North Carolina.

I think that's enough pumpkin for one post.

Trader Joe's is coming to Cary, NC!

We're very excited to learn that Trader Joe's is opening a store in a nearby town. We've been suffering (not in silence!) ever since we moved here.

I am going to be one of their first customers when they open their doors. I'll see you there!

Halloween is in the air

 

We hung up our Halloween decorations today. It's a bit early, but not too bad. Of course, I saw Xmas trees for sale at Lowes, so I don't feel too early.

It's been cool and rainy so it feels like fall. We are seeing the leaves change colors and start to fall.

I love the cool crisp days. You can enjoy the outdoors without dying from the heat. 

Julie and Julia

Last night I went to see Julie Powell, the author of Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of French Cooking. The book is now out in paperback and she's out touring to sell it.

Of course, being from Boston, I love Julia Child. I can see how some people feel she exploited Julia's fame. She addressed some of that in her talk. It's clear she developed a connection to Julia and she expressed her homage to her.

I enjoyed Julie's book and recommended it to friends. In fact, I sent my copy of the book to a foodie friend. Scroll down to January 22. She has over 100 cookbooks!

Julie Powell is much younger than I am, and I was surprised at her disclosure. For example, I would never write about selling my eggs if I had the ovaries or cojones to do it.

I went to the talk with a knitting buddy. I was late due to kids, getting a bit lost, and no parking. So, I missed some of the reading. The Q&A was good. Of course, I would have wanted to ask more questions.

Julie Powell is clearly smart and good with an audience. She's a clever writer, and sure had a lot of time on her hands to cook and blog. Given her intellect and her under-employment, she was bound to be an author at some point. She was very lucky in that her blog was picked up by the media and she got an audience and a book deal. I'm not clear how she got her audience.

Overall, I wonder how you get traffic to your blog. I guess you have to have a unique project or a special hook. Of course, it helps if you are a good writer.

Afterwards, we went out to a Mexican joint full of college kids. It was good to be out but it's a young crowd in this college town. I drank a Negra Modelo and had a steak burrito. Negra Modelo is my favorite Mexican beer. Just tasting one brings back memories of a Mexican vacation with my sisters long ago, but that's something I'd never blog about....

Health and wellbeing

I'm on the long road to recovery. I am nearly ready to join a 12-step group on my issues with the medical establishment.

I'm still fighting the infection and the newly-discovered, compounding problem of poison ivy exposure. This was the confusing thing about the diagnosis. I had a skin virus, then a bad allergic reaction and finally a staph infection on top. A triple whammy. I had to get I.V. antibiotics at the E.R. and now I'm on three ointments and four prescription drugs. Not bad for a simple day in the garden.

My dermatologist told me that my rash was about as bad as she had ever seen. The only worse case involved a state trouper who wrestled with a felon in a bed of poison ivy. She said in a quaint southern way, "You are best done with gardening." And, "You have no business gardening ever again." When I protested, she responded, "OK, you may try again in full body armor."

I love to garden nearly as much as I like to knit and read. I have struggled with gardening down south learning new skills and discovering new techniques. I'm going to have to knit a lot more. This is going to take some time to sink in.

Ongoing saga -- health care venting

I couldn't cope with the misery of my skin "infection" last night. I got out of bed at 5:00 a.m. and crept downstairs and just groaned and wept. A real pathetic sight.

At 6:00 a.m., I took a long hot shower, which helped. I got my wits about myself. I decided to either go to the emergency room or back to my doctor. I woke up my husband and asked him to get up. He was dazed and confused...not too surprising.

He called my primary care doctor's office. We couldn't get through to my doctor's office. It's a part of UNC medical center. It's big and bureaucratic. The system is terrible during off hours. A answering service takes your message, then gives it to a nurse. Thirty minutes later, you convey the same information to a nurse. She then calls the resident on call. Over an hour later, while I'm actually in the examining room of the primary care office, (I got sick of waiting and decided to just storm in. I went in before 8:00 a.m. as they opened and begged to be seen right away.) a resident finally calls and asks me all the same questions. She says, "Oh, don't come to the ER, go to your primary care doctor."

So I see a nurse practitioner, who tells me she thinks I don't have Impetigo, but Shingles! They draw blood just in case. She sends me to a dermatologist across town. She says it looks like Shingles. She takes a culture just to be sure. She gives me two new prescriptions (finally, some pain meds!).

So, at 11:00 a.m., I'm finally getting medicine for a condition that I have seen three doctors, a nurse practitioner, and four appointments, not to mention treating it for a week with the wrong medicines. My face feels like someone took a blow torch to it. And, I've spent $160 on co-pays, $50 on medicines, and missed two days of work. Did I mention that I don't get sick pay?

Shingles is painful and miserable. We know way too much about it. In fact, my husband had a case of it a couple days after our son was born. I think his case was brought on by the trauma of our son's birth that included horrific anesthesia with eight attempts to get the spinal/epidural in, followed by very difficult C-Section with added bonus of bowel surgery, and ending with our son in distress and needing a week in the NICU. That's another long story for another day.

Obviously, the poor man was freaked out and was then terrified that he would spread the virus to our newborn. In his case, the winner, on-call doctor's advice was to check into a hotel until he was symptom-free. Another great piece of advice?!?!

I think my case was brought on by the hell of going on vacation with my family to see the rest of my family. A prescription for disaster: Sleepless nights in one bad bed with two kids, the stress of driving with those same kids, the ususal family Sturm and Drang, the state of my father's health, the ongoing issues with siblings, and more.

Sunflowers

 


Our front yard is a bloom with sunflowers. Zoe and I planted them together in June.

They are very easy to grow, fun and cheerful. We were pleased to find many of them in bloom after we returned from Boston.

The deer have decapitated many of them, the bees and butterflies are visiting them, and now the birds are pecking out the seeds as they dry. They must be tasty! 

My brilliant daughter

This week Zoe performed at The ArtsCenter. She's been going there for summer camp.

Hubby went and video tapped it. I was in the clouds of happiness seeing her on stage!! I am so grateful everyday for her being a great kid and that we live in such a nice community where the arts are encouraged.

Go to Zoe Marta's blog. Enjoy!

family portrait

 
Thanks to Bob Miller for this photo. It's rare to get us all in one picture. 

Gardening down south

I'm an avid organic gardener. But, my gardening history has been limited to the Boston area. I've been trying to learn how to garden down south. The soil is so different. The climate is so much warmer. The bugs are very different. And the critters are just too much.

In my urban garden in Boston, I didn't have a lot of sun. Six hours a day was typical. We had a lot of shady spots since I had 100+ year old trees on my property. We couldn't plant tomatoes until Memorial Day. Here it's blazing hot and sunny with small, newly-planted trees. We do have a lovely grove of trees behind the house that may have been there for a while, but they are really a buffer between me and the power lines.

The soil in Boston was acidic, but friable. Over the years, with my organic gardening methods, I made the soil in my beds beautiful. Here is hard red clay. It's impossible to dig this soil without breaking your tools or you back.

We lived in the city. Now we live in the country. There were critters--racoons, skunks, and squirrels. Here we have rabbits and deer. I haven't seen any racoons or smelled any skunks. The rabbits and deer are more adorable. They will eat anything pretty or delicious.

The best part is discovering that there is so much to learn in gardening. Move a couple hundred miles, and you are in a whole new world. I remember a quote from Thomas Jefferson who said "Though an old man I am but a young gardener." Thanks, Tom, I couldn't have said it better myself.