Playing Catch Up!

Dan took this picture of me while he was at a stop light on our way to Boston to see a play.  We had barely left our house around noon and I was already asleep.  You see, April 1st we went to Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai) and spent eight days with Dan's daughter Kara and her hubby and two kids there and the six hour time difference took almost the entire trip to for me to adjust to and then we left directly for Japan, another 7 hours and losing a whole day.  I never did adjust sleep wise in Japan but I sucked it up and after 11 days of that, it took me almost two weeks back in NH to sleep a normal night.  Once home I would wake up around 3 am, get up, read, clean, sew etc and then mid afternoon I would not be able to keep my eyes open so I would take a nap that would stretch until my normal bed time.  And it made me grouchy!  I had so much to blog about with those trips and other happenings but I could not muster the energy to do it - blogging is actually quite a bit of work and time consuming especially when you get so behind.  Well, how have I found the time now?  I had some nasal/sinus surgery early this week (because of weak nasal walls, deviated septum and the fact that I haven't been able to breathe through my nose while sleeping for years and years unless I pump my sinuses with Afrin and I did and chemicals like paint, fertilizer and second hand cigarette smoke would stuff me up immediately) and I am pretty much house bound due to the face bandage and swollen cheeks and huge bloody pig nose and although I am pretty uncomfortable, I can sit and type.  And what an unfortunate time to have a surgery like this but my doctor's and my schedule didn't agree all winter until May.  There are so many yard projects I need to be doing here at home and at the Kingston property and I can't do a thing until the bandages are gone and even then, physical exertion puts a lot of pressure on my face.  I also have absolutely no sense of smell (therefore no taste) and I only eat when my body screams for it because without those senses, I barely feel hunger either.  I am wearing perfume and burning house candles I can't even smell.

  Here's a bit of the face bandage - no way would I show you what it looks like full on - truly, the bandage is so tight that it pushed my nose up like a pigs, exposes my huge nostrils that are stuffed with two plastic tubes each and they are bloody - I keep looking in the mirror and laughing because I look so ridiculous.    Before I tell you about Japan, I'll fill you in on what I've been doing at home the last couple of days.

Yesterday found me in the laundry room at my sewing table hemming old summer play dresses that I found to be too "maxi" and I shortened them either to my knees or ankle length.  About 6 dresses in all.  Today, I am taking down the existing dining room drapes and hanging (and sewing) some new ones.  I am also going to paint the walls a rich medium shade of blue inspired by this picture of a dining room in France below.

 Below are a couple pics of the existing wall color and drapes.  I love the red but after four years we want a change.  When we bought this house, we changed the paint color of every room but the dining room and the master bedroom.  We also kept the drapes in the dining room.  It's time to do something new.

 I am stapling the fabric to wooden 1 x 2s and hanging them up by nailing in the wooden piece into the ceiling cornice instead of on curtain rods.

 Here is the first one done.  Below I have painted some paint samples on the wall - the bottom one is way too light - I don't remember choosing that light color.

Now, since I got home from Japan, a couple notable changes have occurred in my life.  I was released from my church job as Relief Society President only to be called as the Young Women's President.  I had a ton of organizing and planning to do when the change happened including organizing a fundraiser for Girl's Camp.  Here are some pictures of that event.  What we do is cook a pasta dinner and desserts and have the girls aged 12-18 help us set it up and carry it out.  All the attendees bring their best desserts and we hold an auction with those desserts.  All proceeds help pay partially or in full the camp tuition for each girl attending and perhaps some of the leaders too.

 For auction:  5.5 pound ganache filled M&M cake

 For auction:  Strawberry Cream tart

 For Auction:  Blueberry Lemon Cream tart

 For auction:  Raspberry Goddess Pie

 For dessert for the adults:  Chocolate Bouchons with a dollop of whipped cream and strawberry on tops.  All the youth and kids were served sugar cookie bars - a dessert I blogged about a couple posts ago.

 Homemade pasta sauce from our last year's tomato and basil crops frozen or bottled.

 The set up - cheery and cheer!

 Really good rolls from Annarosa's in Salisbury MA.  Sourdough with rosemary, coarse salt and olive oil.

 The start of the auction.   All youth and kids seem to have disappeared.

 Some of the desserts to be auctioned.

 Here is my 5.5 lb cake on the block.  Our auctioneer was Bill Johnson - he was fun!

 All the dishes we had to do when we got home from the pasta/dessert event.  The dishwashers were full as well.  It was easier to bring them all home than wash them in the tiny church kitchen sink in luke warm water and lack of space and too many people in one room.  The auction made around $1300!

Here are a couple other things that have happened or gotten done during the period post Japan and pre surgery:

Our pool was opened right when we got home from our trip and Dan has it all clean and balanced and almost ready for swimming.

This was the long border in my yard mid April right after we got home.  I enlarged its width a bit and crisped up the edging.  It looks dramatically different now just a few weeks later.  By the way, we had a very late winter and now a very late, cool spring.  Below is a picture of a weeping cherry tree we just planted at our entrances - we planted two - one of each side - in honor and remembrance of Japan.  I had to dig those tulips up to plant the tree and then I put them back in so they look droopy here but they've recovered well.  

In April all the fruit trees were either blooming or getting ready to when I went over to the Kingston property to meet with a carpenter.  Fourteen fruit trees loaded with blooms - I think it's going to be a good crop year!  Speaking of this yellow house here and red barn - my old stomping grounds - well, my tenant family in the big house told me they are moving out May 31st - the father got a job transfer to northern New Hampshire.  They moved in when I moved out 4 years ago! I've decided to sell the whole property - I'm done with being a landlady.  This means that my whole summer is going to be consumed preparing that property for sale.  I have tons to do!!!  

Lastly, for this post, I will mention I went to Boston a couple weeks ago to attend the Matisse exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts.  If you live in the area, you can't miss this!  It's scheduled through early July.  While in Boston, I visited my son Heath's office at St. James and Arlington, downtown Boston and we went to lunch together too.

So, here's the catch up and tomorrow, hopefully, while I am playing hooky from church (not really hooky, I am convalescing and bandaged still), I will blog about Japan.  I have to talk about that amazing country and culture.  

This is a stick of incense from Japan and a piece of pottery from that country - I bought tiny bowls in to which I put bits of flowers and they are placed in various areas of the house.  The incense reminds me of shrines and churches - I love that smell!