"I don't think anyone should write their autobiography until after they're dead.” Sam Goldwyn

a joke from ubu this morning:


Subject: Doctors discussion

A Japanese doctor said, 'Medicine in my country is so advanced that we can take a kidney out of one man, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.'

  The German doctor replied, 'That's nothing, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.'

  Then the British doctor said, 'In my country, medicine is so
advanced that we can take half of a heart out of one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.'

And finally a Texas doctor said, 'You guys are way behind. We took a man with no heart OR brains out of Texas, put him in the White House and now half the country is looking for work.'
amen

good thing I woke early and hit the front yard as it's now raining again. I managed to eliminate one large half dead shrub, take down a small rock wall that was buried under years of dirt and reposition them around the "water" aka mud. It will take a few days for all the mud so sink and let me clear it out so it looks more black or maybe even green... especially the water fall.. hahahaha... well not quite.


But the redwood against the violets looks great and my columbines are blooming as is the jack in the pulpit hidden within the maidenhair ferns. and now jim is building a raised bed within part of the redwood walkway and i will plant gypsophylia from seed. always good to have and such a heavenly scent. My paltry little peony has not died .......yet. I will be amazed if next year it really takes over. Now i just have to finish hiding the black rubber that lines the muddy hole, get my stone pagoda, do something to hide the electricity post, and plant the remaining ajuga along the water's edges. Yahoo !!!

The other great thing is the full bath off the garden room. once again I came into the house literally covered in mud.... stripped down to bare skin, jumped in the shower and wrapped in a towel. tossed the muddy gardening clothes into the washer and came upstairs all clean and ready for warm clothing. The weather predictions which are REALLY laughable out here is for weather in the 80's later in the week so Jim and I will head straight for cannon beach  or tillamook. anyone want some cheese?

our weekend began early with dinner at a friends wednesday night. we thought it would be an early night but everyone else was going over to a jazz bar. I recall the days that those types of places were off limits due to all the smoke. But as people get enlightened about second hand smoke more and more laws prevent exposure to the non smoker nice pink lungs type like me.

and last night we went to the ballet and ate at the Heathman first. OMG do I ever love the Heathman. very NYC, busy, delicious and an amazing cocktail menu. so I had a raspberry crusta (crustas were the class of coktails invented in the 1850's with a sugar rim----- grandparent to the margarita and cosmopolitan... which not only TASTED great but had an aroma like flowers. I definitely need to learn to make this one. It may be my favorite ever. then we split a beet and blue cheese salad. and split bacon crusted salmon with spinach risotto and asparagus. and dessert was pistachio profiteroles.

I think we almost slept through the first ballet piece at thye Schnitzner ( dress circle) ...Whitebird finished their season with a bang. the four largest and maybe best West Coast ballet companies: Eugene, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. SF had a guy with the most amazing ass since Baryshnikov. yikes, I was mesmerized at first by the tush and then his dancing actually brought me to tears.

Jim filled the sedan with  gas yesterday and it cost $63. I must confess that I am not bugged by these high price tags as much as most Americans because we have  never been into car commuting and  never owned a gas guzzler SUV. so if these prices change people's car  and driving habits and maybe makes cities rethink mass transit it will be a very good thing. W wants Americans to remain in  love with their cars but I feel things must change and if it's the pocketbook that does it. good.

Most of the front yard decking is done. I have to finished enlarging the baby pond in front and then line it with the basalt I dug up. and then mulch the beds. Then start looking for a price effective stone pagoda. A friend pointed out that the reddish wood contrasts with all the green and makes everything pop. makes sense. so if we dont get rain tomorrow I will do the pondette... and if It rains I will work (finally) on the window coverings for the guest room ( red and white toile) cool huh?

I took the day off. and read magazines and parts of a Biography of Charlotte Bronte and napped with Abster  upstairs on the chaise under the new umbrella....and gave myself a pedicure with real  rose color on my toes and then waxed my legs from the knee down (both veet and nim are great products). In between i managed to fold some laundry and plant carnation and gypsophilia seeds in the top deck planters. [having decided not to grow tomatoes this year]
and Bailey's Manual of Cultivated plants did not let me down. the amazing bush on the east side of the house is a Japanese quince: genus Chaeomeles. it's gorgeous and in full bloom right now.

Someone I respect suggest I read Obama's first book, which I did and i liked him even less afterwards. Of course I will vote for him if nominated... but Hill is still my girl. I might make scrambled eggs for dinner. this is a great lazy  day.

jan next door is a wonderful neighbor. yesterday at 5pm I called her and said "Is it too early to start drinking?" she laughed and said she had some fresh halibut and she would bring it over and we could grill it.  We waited for jim to finish washing from a day decking the front steps with drinks on the top deck with our new fab  tilting umbrella
the blue margaritas and dressed the rims with a mixture of salt and sugar... and we had some "girl talk" until jim arrived.


 them we were all sufficiently tipsy we went down to the kitchen ....she schmeared ground pistachio nuts  all over the halibut steak..... then we sliced potaoes, tomatoes and asparagus... tossed them in oil and rosemary and threw everything on the grill. amazing dinner, amazing company. I love having neighbors like this. spontaneous, trustworthy and fun. YEAH !!!!!

we have a great black pine - large and mature-  along the property line with the troublesome neighbors. It's a great twisted tree- very japanese looking and two of the limbs were projecting over their driveway and so I decided to do the nice thing and trim the tree ( before they hacked it) and while I was doing so I saw a small pine growing up in there pathway to their back yard.  I assumed it was a baby off shot from my pine and so I decided I would cut it off at the base before it got any bigger and caused a potential problem.

In the process of looking for the base the tree just came up out of the ground and it became clear to me that it had been planted by the contractor- and not very well if after two summers no roots had entered the surrounding ground. Well here I was with this small pine in my hands and my husband shouting "put it back". But it was in a lousy place, wasn't being fed or watered. so I decided to treat  it as a part of my tree and planted it well in a side section of my yard.

Later in the bathtub jim and i had quite a "heated" discussion about this and I finally simply said I was leaving it where I had planted and viewed it as a part of grooming MY tree -- a slight fudge I know. Okay I did the wrong thing but it started with the best  and most innocent of intentions. and then I wasn't going to replace a tree under an existing tree.

Meanwhile I also planted peonies, removed a dead juniper and planted two new ones, got some spreading roses in the yard in one of the few sunny spots and removed a really ugly shrub hedge so we could see the hollies and mossy rocks I had arranged in the front  yard.   Jim is lining up his yellow strings for making the front yard decking straight and after he gets the landscape cloth and base beams on the ground I am going to enlarge my teensy little water hole into a very small  pond lined with large rocks I dug up--- years of leaves and pine needles had buried an old rock wall and so I brought these great pieces of basalt up to the surface of the ground as the edging top my little pond.

when it isn't raining you have to work really fast before the greyness strikes again. when the front courtyard is done of course I shall post photos.

as a Jew I inherited several semetic genes which are often made in to jokes but nevertheless are often true:

hating to pay retail
opinionated
dramatic
liberal politically

but the worst is the jumping to the worst conclusion over anything medical.

So when my urine seemed to be a darker color than usual I was sure I either had a liver  or kidney condition. Probably kidney cancer. yeah. my sister died of it.

Now beets turn my urine red and asparagus gives it a funny smell. and apples sweeten it. So in my infinite wisdom before i made an appt with my doctor to receive my death sentence I asked my husband -who shares the same diet as I do except for the coffee in the morning - about the color of his urine. Lo and behold he reported the same thing. Conclusion: no cancer but an overdose of marionberry pie.

For those who do not know about marionberries. They are massive and tart blackberries grown in oregon and I freeeze tons of them all summer for winter pie baking. Last week I just finished my last bag because  soon they will be available again fresh and I can go crazy for another summer. Blueberries and cherries freeze well too. and if you have not had Mount Rainier cherries you are missing one of the world's best treats.

stolen and  tweaked from another
The One Word quiz - and more.

1. Where is your cell phone? dresser

2. Your significant other? beshert

3. Your hair? messy

4. Your mother? gone

5. Your father? gone

6. Your favorite thing? ocean

7. Your dream last night? delicious

8. Your favorite drink? water

9. Your dream/goal? serenity

10. The room you're in? den

11. Your ex? none

12. Your fear? rattlesnakes

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

14. Where were you last night? here

15. What you're not? tall

16. Muffins? pumpkin

17. One of your wish list items? pool

18. Where you grew up? heaven

19. The last thing you did? typed

20. What are you wearing? cozies

21. Your TV? toshiba

22. Your pets? cat

23. Your computer? HP

24. Your life? good

25. Your mood? good

26. Missing someone? sometimes

27. Your car? infiniti

28. Something you're not wearing? undies

29. Favorite Store? sephora

30. Your summer? hot

31. Like someone? many

32. Your favorite color? pink

33. When is the last time you laughed? today

34. Last time you cried? yesterday (reading)

we all have categories of clothing. formal. work. casual. maybe fat and skinny and in between. Yes I have those but I have a few categories which make even my head spin.



1. Ruined but wearable clothing: these were accidentally dyed pink or got paint on them, have been patched too many times or I spilled tandoori marinade on them and the stain won't come out. these articles go into the painting and gardening canvas bin in my closet.

2. Beach: other than swimsuits pareos and flip flops, these include shirts bought during a what was I thinking mood that felt perfectly suitable for Sanibel and are ludicrous on a rainy day in Portland. Like my Carmen Miranda Hat with the plastic fruit or the way too long seashell classification shirt I wore at the gulf.

3. Semi's: these have been worn once and while not actually dirty they are not clean: like an angora sweater that one wears for two hours at a party or opera , or a pair of hiking socks you wore for an hour while curled up re-reading Jane Eyre.  Underwear is never a semi --- relax.

4. sexy- just for jim - stuff: like silk chemise, a kimono, a grey silk teddy, a black thong that I dare not look at from behind but he doesn't seem to mind. and for fun some red pasties that are ludicrously funny.

5. At home clothes: the really fuzzy comfy stuff that you neither wear out in front of others nor sleep in. I am wearing some right now: a flannel kilt almost down to my ankles, high red cross country wool socks, a red turtleneck completely stretched out and deliciously comfy and one of my huge sweaters with a hood that I bought on ebay. No one other than my husband and very best friends even know this section of clothing exist.

there are probably other categories too but I have to get back to Jane Eyre  for book group --------------- Mr. Rochester is about to propose. yummmmmmmmmmmmm. He is almost as good as Mr Big.

months ago jim added a cat hole to our bedroom suite so abi could come and go and now she has gotten into some very very bad habits  ( like jumping on the kitchen island and budging expensive glassware over the edge  ans watching them fly into smithereenville)   and we've decided not to give her the run  of the house at night. So jim is designing and making a little door with a mini bolt so we can lock her in with us at night.

She is fascinated by the process. she knows this is some attempt to stymie her and maybe if she watches him  work she can figure out ways around it.


Meanwhile I have added aluminum foil to the island edges to prevent her from jumping up there. It really works but obviously it's not a perfect solution. In Montgomery I used a wall of aluminum foil to terach her to never enter the dining room so I am confident I can conquuer and redirect this new habit.

After two years here (almost) I finally got the utility room organized. it's a room off the kitchen hall- probably the original master bedroom in the 1939 farmhouse this structure once was...but we have a large freezer in there.  this is also known as the black hole of calcutta where we keep overflow supplies, holiday stuff, cleaning supplies, cleaning tools, wrapping paper, picnic stuff thermoses, flower arranging crap, light bulbs, candles ... you know... all the crap that builds up over a lifetime and you use infrequently but when you DO use  you are mighty glad you have it.


Last sunday I was gardening in shorts and drank cosmos in a batik sun dress on the deck. today I hunkered down witha fire- three layers and watched it snow. go figure. and last night we saw four spectacular dancers do a Trey McIntyre piece called JUST. OMG. and then slaughter on tenth ave. (balanchine? yes!) we came home, I got out my silver tap shoes and we played for a while on the tile floors while Abi watched us like we were nuts.

You scored as Zoroastrian Pagan The Zoroastrian Pagan is a rare breed who follows the teachings of Zoroaster, the religious reformer. He believed that there were no gods, and it was naive to put faith in them and give them names. What one should focus on is merely serving one side of the cosmic duality; work on good or light deeds, and the world would become more good or light. Pagans of this variety are rare, but often feel like they get more done without the hassle and clutter of pantheons and gods. They're smart, analytical, and occationally cynical.  thaks from daenarys-- did i spell that right?

another day at the plant nursery; this time one contorted filbert to be grown in a container, a corkscrew scarlet Japanese maple to frame the view from the stair well windows, several more mahonia (oregon grape holly) for the eastern hedges, and a few miniature elms for bonsai----- actually  pinjing. because the Chinese inbvented miniaturization of plants and the Japanese borrowed it and renamed it Bonsai.

And then some carnations and gypsophilia seeds because my herb garden was a huge disappointment. Oh I had plenty of sage and mint but the basil never took off. so i shall do the flower route instead on the top deck.

Jim is going to fortify a little bench nook off the north patio so my pinjing collection will have a place to reside as it grows. I have never miniaturized before because I didn't live in the right climate for it. But we really MUST stop leaking money on trees and  shrubs and flowers ( i am avoiding annuals this year for the planters- rocks and mulch.

the pond filter has been cleaned. we got the front electricity working so my birdbath is plugged in and bubbling away and  we might even have the raw works for low voltage lighting which can let us put some uplights fixrd on the prized curly bark maple that adorns the north patio. Can you tell I want summer to be here? FAST

I am trying to be an organic gardener. It's partly an ethical good for the earth thing but there is this streak in me from the 1960's Whole Earth Catalog that says everyone should have basic survival skills that don't hurt the earth but allow us to thrive. With that philosophy in mind I took a glass on edible plants so I could forage safely.
I learned how to start a fire for warmth; I made sure I could preserve my own food - although I don't that much-  and I learned not to use pesticides and chemicals in my garden. I confess to using some pellets that make the earth more alkaline under my many camellias and rhododendrons. and I add something to the composter that speeds up the process of making dirt.

But I weed by hand. It's a comforting and soothing activity. I put on one of three pair of gardening trousers, knees pads, washable gardening clogs, long socks, rubber covered garden gloves and a broad brimmed straw hat with a chin strap so it doesn't fall off as I climb around in the under story of the yard which is becoming a naturalists dream. . I have my hand tools in a gardening bucket filled with nooks and pockets- I keep it right inside the door near the boot trays and cat leashes... and go out and pick at each clump of grass, dandelion  or chickweed that I can find.  It's funny about weeds because some of them I cultivate:  the wood violets and the storks bill alone because while they are weeds to others I love them and they fill in the spaces so well and have such wonderful flowers. and occasionally a tree blows in- that's how we got two of the vine maples along the studio's  southern wall.  sometime it's worth it to let a plant alone for a season as it might do something interesting and you'll like it.

It's the same thing that makes me mend clothing with interesting and perfectly placed little patches and it's a small way of making the universe right when things go awry. And heaven knows that happens a lot.