Dreams

Last night my subconscious reminded my ego about a very important anniversary. I dreamed I traveled to Scotland and went to an event with Paul McCartney. I pulled him aside and said,

"Remember it was 50 years ago this month that we met in NYC!"  Now I had not thought about that day 50 years ago for a very long time. But my innermost knew I would want to be reminded and so it did. The dream also pointed up stuff I need to do to get ready for my upcoming trip to Scotland.  I need to pack all my stuff in one carry-on bag and get some pounds sterling before I go. This pic of Lennon and McCartney is from May 16, 1968 in NYC. I met them on the upper East side at an apartment where they were staying. They were taking tapes for folks who would like to record on their new Apple label.

May fests

May has been very busy. It started with our fabulous Spring Voices Chapel Hill concert on May 4. Then there was a wonderful Women's Voices concert in Durham on May 6 dedicated to refugees. We had a block party on May 9. Then there was a Mother's Day brunch at my house for Rick and Sandy's birthdays. I hosted our Third Wednesday cocktail party. I went to Boston for Molly's baby shower hosted by Bird where I got to meet her guy, Bear.  Molly's due June 13. Tonight we went to a party to hear from the tour company about our concert tour to Scotland next month. I made a yummy Salmon en croute which I recommend to you.

This weekend I'm hosting an Afternoon Tea for Sue and Scott as she is retiring from choral conducting and Scott is also leaving Voices. I am probably leaving Voices as well. All the roses in my garden are blooming!!! I'm still taking Spanish lessons and pottery classes.  We have a Spanish class dinner at a local Mexican restaurant tomorrow night.  The pottery classes are over for the season but I hope to start up again in September and learn how to throw pottery on the wheel. Below are some pics.

Voices Concert

Mother's Day Brunch

Block Party

Molly and Patti

Patti, Bethe and Helen

Bird and Molly

Shower cupcakes

Tapas dinner in Boston

Rose garden

Salmon en croute for the Scotland party

Below are some of my pottery art. I have a long way to go.

My pottery: pears and tray

My pottery: fruit

Visitors from California

ML, R, Arlo, and Lyle came to visit last week. They were on their way to Virginia Beach for a big family reunion and birthday celebration. Returning here, they had 2 more days before flying back to CA.

Spring Rites

Last weekend was both Passover and Easter which means it was very busy here. On Saturday we were with the Duberman tribe at his son's house. There were 14 of us. I was responsible for the matzoh ball soup and farfel kugel. I also made chocolate covered matzoh and asparagus salad. Sim made the potato kugel. It was great seeing his children, grandchildren, and great grand children.

Ellie found the afikomen

On Sunday, I went to church and returned to our Charlotte visitors coming over for an impromptu brunch. We took out food from The Goat, but it wasn't very good and they messed up the order for 7 dishes pretty badly. Later that afternoon, my new friend Mario and his visiting daughter, Miriam Lucia, came over for dinner. This was planned. They are from Mexico City so I planned a Mexican dinner with enchiladas with queso fresca , refried black beans, and a cured beef (la cecina de res); all smothered in a salsa verde made from tomatillos.  It was a lovely day so we ate in the courtyard.  Miriam does not speak English and my Spanish is pretty bad. It was a good thing Sim and Mario could translate for us.  She told us about her plans for her upcoming wedding in Palermo and a tour of Italy to follow.

Meanwhile, the Bilek-Burts had a great day in California.

Cathy, Mario y Miriam Lucia

Enchilada Hausteca con cecina de res, frijoles negros y salsa verde

Lyle

Also, Mason, and Lyle hunting for eggs

Below is a pic of some of the clay fruit I made showing the beautiful glazes I put on them at the pottery studio. I intend to make some more!

Atlanta road trip

I drove 6+ hours to Atlanta to spend a few evenings with Mary Laurel. She was on a business trip to the RH there for several days.  We ate in 3 wonderful restaurants that I will pass on to you next time you are in the Buckhead section of Atlanta: Sushi Bar Yu-Ka, Cafe Agora, and Gypsy Kitchen. The latter is a Spanish/Moroccan tapas place. Our hotel was the Hyatt Place in Buckhead and it had free parking!

The RH store in Atlanta is 6 stories tall and very beautiful. I spent the afternoon going from one room set to another enjoying the ambiance and deciding how I would spend a $25k windfall - wouldn't that be nice!  The exterior rooms high up on the large terraces were fabulous. Even the elevators were well decorated.

Happy to see you....

What is this picture?  The happiest folks I ever saw...Mary Laurel face timing from So. California to her family in Fairfax.

A Portrait of Life on a Shtetl

Sim's father wrote down his memories of his early life on a shtetl in the Pale of Settlement in the Ukraine.  John put it in HTML format for easy reading online.  If you'd like to read this very interesting document click here.