what's left

Sunday night, and my view through the screen door shows the tree silhouettes with gently fluttering leaves against the darkening sky. The remains of the day and weekend- also, trying to gather enough energy for the evening's work. Occasionally we hear an acorn crashing onto the deck.  Lucy has joined us inside for the moment, enjoying one of her favorite 'blankets'.

No, not this one, this is my lazy knitting that she was exploring the other night. She managed to leave everything intact, much unlike the state of my old attic room.

the demolition team behind my mom's home, picture by my mom

my brother and little L cleaning up, picture by my mom

Sigh- this is one of those things- hard to not be closer so I would be able to help out with my mom's moving and then moving back. Hard to not be closer to see little L and little B grow up. Always torn between two continents. My cousin who lives in the DR commented on my last post that even if we (my love and I) would move to Europe, family (and some friends) would remain in the US. I guess I have hopes that we showed T, V, and E enough of the old countries that they may return there some day too.

balcony in Rome, picture by me

the taller windows on the ocher building are from 'our' apartment- the walkers are T and V, the restaurant (Antica Taverna) where we ate our first night in Rome  

Or perhaps not. Who knows what we will tumble into, what path we may travel. I am eager to find out, but first, I have to iron some work clothes for the upcoming week. Work is a journey in itself these days. Have a good week y'all!

to dream, perchance to ... move ?

Although I may be just a tad young to already know this, I can say with 99% certainty that one thing I am not wanting to do is retire in Florida. This morning my love and I walked to a moving sale in our neighborhood (not that we need more stuff). The sellers were happy to talk about their move down south. Another neighbor we met explained that they were going to move as well, but to a place with lower humidity- my wish exactly!  And for myself I'd like to add mountains, evergreen forests, rocky hiking paths, all of this preferably close to the ocean.

My mom is going to have to to move twice, because my childhood home is going to be renovated by the housing agency. The picture shows my little brother (ahem) in the middle, with two friends who were very nice to agree to help tear my old attic bedroom down...since my dad build it himself, it had to go. I am having a hard time describing my emotions about that...I loved that cozy room.

See that window behind my little brother? That is the one he climbed out of and waved from when he was three years old, giving my mom and me our first grey hairs. We were in the yard below, hanging laundry.

this is the window, although years ago it had bars and a side-opening 

My little brother is going to move too, to a bigger house with a large space in the back for little L to run around and enjoy.

It is no secret that I have been wanting to move for years.We almost moved at least twice, but obviously didn't yet. And every now and then things happen and I start dreaming again, perchance to move to....Europe? Closer to family? Family is one reason, and frankly, the healthcare system in the US is another. (yes and I do work in a hospital).

R's family

my family...even the youngest one was there, but not born yet

But on a day like today, I enjoy where we are- this house, that still feels to me like a beloved old comfortable corduroy jacket, the wooded lot with the sounds of crickets and tree frogs and the breeze through the kitchen window when I mix up the pizza dough. Seeing Lucy and Mila chase each other and squirrels.

Fresh pictures from the yard this morning...it is weekend so I finally got a chance to walkabout!

birthday girl

Some day this week (we think) it is one year ago that our little Lucy was born somewhere on a porch. At first she was adopted by a family with another cat and several doting younger kids, however the resident cat was not charmed to meet her acquaintance. That is when we were asked to give her a home.

When I say asked, I mean that my teens were waging a relentless campaign to convince my love and me that she belonged with us. Once I laid my eyes on her there was no way back, and my love warned me that we would not, under any circumstances, let her go.

I spend many hours playing with her or just sitting with a sleeping kitten on my lap. I had the time then, freshly graduated and  unemployed for a long while.

Dinner tonight was fresh pasta (such luxury!) bought at the store of course. So much better than the dried stuff, and cheaper than " flying to Rome on a moment's notice."

Palastine hill- one of my favorites in Rome

While enjoying the delicious ravioli, I let my mind wander, not back to the hospital (this took some effort) but to my vacation memories. Of my plans to cut some fabric after dinner came nothing, due to the birthday girl being a tad playful still and attacking anything that moved. So instead of sharing a quilt in progress, I will share some pictures, most likely taken by V or R.

Trevi fountain at night, it is spectacular

street view, Rome 2011

water

Most of the time, I start typing a blog entry with some vague idea of what I would like to share, and then end up with a completely different piece. The same will go for this one today I'm sure. Over the weekend I was pondering water, which is one of my favorite things.(We are experiencing quite a bit of water falling from the sky due to hurricane Isaac). A long time ago, I was asked what my favorite form of water was. I answered 'the ocean'.

Certainly, it is not rain, although a nice rainy day can be cozy if you can stay in, and after the drought this summer rain is more than welcome.(But it can also cause floods). I do love the ocean, and during family vacations we are usually drawn to it. My favorite coast is the pacific, both for the ocean and the shore.

Personally I am not such a fan of swimming pools but my niece little L feels strongly that these are the best places to interact with water (yes, sorry, couldn't resist sneaking a picture or two of her in here, this is in 2011 in the Netherlands).

insisting on the highest slide possible , E and little L

I adore snow, could watch it for hours, walk in it for hours (shoveling it is another matter). We haven't seen enough of it since moving to our current home.

The kind of water I enjoy most and most often however is drinking water!

T operating a public drinking water fountain in Rome, Italy, 2011

S.P.Q.R means for the senate and the people of Rome. Picture and translation by my love.

long

This picture of Mila about sums it up. It was a long week and my head feels kind of like ...cobwebby...stuffed with stories and experiences that I should somehow get rid of to enjoy the three day weekend.

There is plenty to enjoy- even if we are not doing anything exciting-sounding. Last night my love and I watched a movie. That was nice, because we both spend most of our evenings working lately.

Today is the day that V's bf K is being moved into his dorm in the big city, by a delegation of V, E, and J, featuring also the van that moved T several weeks ago. For this joyous and sad occasion, E made us all crepes with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and whipped cream early this morning!

With ample time to enjoy my morning coffee, the fog in my head started clearing up already. Above is a picture I took at Niagara falls.

I got to do some lazy knitting (while watching the daily show and the colbert report) and even sat down at the sewing table to cut some fabric for the quilt. Tonight we are double-dating with T and his gf L because they could not join us for dinner last week. If this keeps up I will be as mellow as can be by Monday!

one more

One more year for my love today, and one more post with pictures of a finished project.

 I guess I went with the saying that the love of a man goes through his stomach - I baked a 'perfect lemon torte' last night, and prepared yeast dough for the cinnamon rolls this morning. I tried out 'spicy baked pears' as well. Lunch will be caprese salad with at least the basil fresh from the garden.

 We are going out for dinner, a tradition of sorts. This is the first birthday without T, the first birthday dinner without the whole clan present. Transitions, transitions.

Nevertheless, this will continue to be a day of celebration! YOLO! (you only live once- for the people not living in the usa).

saturday morning

Slept in just a little bit, we are having a chimney sweep over for the first time ever. We have 'only' been in this home for 11 years. We enjoy that fireplace with wood from our own yard. From what I can overhear, we might have some problems...

Yep, we did. Nothing too scary, although repairs will add up to over $1000. Sigh. They came with one of those 'real' chimney tools that you see in Mary Poppins- but no dancing on the roof was performed unfortunately.

Since I don't get much done during the week there are no new things to report, so I'll share some old stuff.

I made this quilt for my niece B. The five of us have never met her because she lives overseas. It makes me sad just to tell you that. However, we love her, she is a miracle, and a very happy lucky girl. One day we will meet!

A little hat that I knitted for her. Vibrant colors fit her personality I think. Well, instead of happy, writing this post made me a little sad, because I am missing out on two beautiful little girls (L & B) as an aunt.

That means it is time for some weekend-labor! Greetings from me.