Mary Laurel Expecting!

2 years.........

Georgia

It was so sad that ML and R had to lose Georgia. She was so sweet and they gave her a wonderful ending to her life. She will be missed.

New York City

We had a lovely 3 days in NYC. It included dim sum in Chinatown;Three Guys with Jim, Catharine, and Christine S; breakfast with my singing friends, Rich and Christine S.; lunch with Sim's friends from childhood; tour of Catharine's new 1889 limestone parlor floorthru apt in Brooklyn and dinner w Amanda and Catharine; lunch w Courtney and Moody's cousin, Mary; "A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder"; and "Sweeney Todd" w Bryn Terfel and Emma Thompson. We took the Bolt Bus up and back from Greenbelt.  It was really cold in NYC! Pics below...

Uncle Jim holding forth

Cathy, Rich, and Christine S. at breakfast on Fat Tuesday

 

 

Apt where we stayed

Mickey, Bobbie, Sim, Miriam, Elie, Betty, and Saul

Courtney and Mary at lunch

Cathy and Sim at lunch

Baby Shower

It was so great seeing friends and family at the shower for ML.  It was so nice of folks to come, some from quite a distance.  They gave ML and Robert some wonderful stuff for Baby.  Below are some pics.

quilt that I pieced and Patti quilted

quilt back

Hats that Mary P knitted for ML's baby

Signature that Patti embroidered and added to quilt

ML with her MICA friends.  Katie (left of ML) was hostess

Carol, Kathy, and Diane

HS friends, Genevieve and Natalie

Deborah, John, Carol, and Lisa

Bilek crew



Grammie practicing with Ari

Javi and Afton

End of February

I have not been good about blog entries lately. I think it has to do with my watching the Australian Open and then the Winter Olympics.  Dowton Abbey also used up my Sunday evenings when I usually post a blog.

Spent most of this weekend working on my China Visa application. What a pain! Turned it in last night at one of our pre-China parties for someone to take to the DC Chinese Embassy to process. I hope I see my passport again! Below are some pics from the covered dish party. Carol Liz and Alice are our leaders.

Lynn, Carol, Carol Liz, and Alice

 

 

Steve & Babs, Mark, Joannie, Margaret, Sim

 
 

The baby shower is getting closer and am so looking forward to it. Also we have some nice outings planned for NYC before returning home.

Had Sim's son and daughter-in-law over for dinner Saturday evening. Made some yummy stuff for that from an Israeli cookbook that we got in Sonoma. Below are some pics of the green beans and snow peas w olive oil &pine nuts; multigrains w pistachio, dried apricots & orange rind; and roast turkey breast marinaded in lemon, cilantro, mint, and parsley. Very Tasty!

The house next to where I lived as a child is on the market. I find myself looking it it's pics on line frequently. They want half a million for it but considering how lousy new construction is, it's probably a good deal. It's not as pretty as our old house but very close being built by the same builder at the same time in the 1920's. It has the stained glass window on the stair landing and roughly the same layout only in reverse, and a little smaller. I don't believe there is an upstairs sitting room for example.

My annual physical exam revealed that I have adult onset diabetes so started taking a low dose of Metformin for a few months. John told me about a book where you eat super nutrient foods and exercise which can reduce blood glucose w/o medication so will look into that as well.  My fasting blood sugar was around 160 and the HbA1c was about 7.2 both of which are evidently higher than normal. Never had a problem before so not sure where this is coming from.

 

 

The weather has been extreme from snow, thunderstorms to 72 degrees over the last few weeks.  I've been out walking the dogs and playing tennis when the weather finally turned nice. 

Zelda and Zoe in the snow

Last week we went to a concert by my favorite a cappella group- The Starry Mountain Singers.  The singers come from Elkins WV, Asheville NC, Brattleboro VT, and Durham NC.  Some of their songs are posted on Youtube so here are some links. Do check them out.  It's the kind of singing I would like to do.

Corsican Song  Sit at Home     Bells of Love

Burt/Bilek Selfie



New used rug for me from my acupuncturist





My 1963 WV Centennial pose

Baby's room w Geogia and ML's quilt
 

Holding 1-year old Christopher last week

 

Sim getting ready for poker by the fireplace

 

Early January

These first few weeks of 2014 have been jam-packed.  Sim and I have been to several wonderful performances by the NC Symphony including Hilary Hahn doing her fabulous thing with the violin.  We saw several good movies including American Hustle, Philomena, Wolf of Wall Street, and some movies I could have missed like Her and Inside Llewyn Davis.

I had a Sunday Brunch here with some of our friends to commemorate the anniversary of Sim and my's first date.  It featured bagels and home-cured gravalax made with dill pressed between the salt blocks I bought last summer.  I also served pancit, dumblings, spiced peaches, and tomato aspic. Then we all went over to Carolina Meadows for a Klezmer band concert. A week or so ago I hosted the block party here.  We take turns once a month. We had abut 20 folks here for that. 

I had lots of tax stuff to deal with making sure I get my own fourth quarter tax estimate close.  I also had the Voices tax return to review and all the donation receipt letters to get out. I've enjoyed testing some new roll recipes including skillet rolls, Sunday rolls, and pretzel rolls.  Yes, I will have to start my new year diet in a week or so.

We met with the local folks taking the China tour and that was very interesting.  The leader kind of tried to lower our expectations saying we get what we pay for...makes me a bit nervous. I think there will be 21 of us including the folks from out of town. Below are some pics of the travelers.

A professional came out to see about my dysfunctional pond and waterfall.  The pump died and he had to do a lot of fancy stuff to put in a new pump because the guy who built the pond didn't consider that one may actually have to get at the pump for some reason some day.  In the process of testing out new pumps we managed to destroy one of my 2 frogs.  Frog legs were seen floating after he turned on the power.  Needless to say we did not go with that pump.  It looks pretty good right now and the fish and one frog seem happy enough.

I'm looking forward to a trip to NYC and a baby shower for ML in Baltimore.  That will be here before I know it.  So far I do not miss being in the Savoyards production of The Sorcerer.  Voices' rehearsals start up at the end of the month.  In the mean time we have several more good concerts coming up.  I also enjoy seeing the items posted on FB that Robert has made with his 3D printer.