It's been quite a while and quite a late spring/early summer. The week before Easter my father finally shuffled off this mortal coil in the way he would have chosen, asleep in his own bed after an unattractive couple of days in the hospital. We'd been expecting it for a good 3-4 years--after the first 12 months, the Hospice people finally decided ( Read more... )

I guess it takes a real shove to get me to post these days, what with snow, book fairs, and a pile of yarn shaming me to knit faster, faster. But since ljs   has thoughtfully provided me with associations, here are some random thoughts.

1) Book-collecting -- I started buying books for myself based on specific edition features when I was 11 or 12 and ( Read more... )

Since I haven't been, why would you be ( Read more... )

And no fires here at the moment, but still a great deal of smoke in the air from all of the weekend excitement all over the northern part of the state. It's going to be a long, flaming summer if it's already this bad in June.

Random progress notes:

On the over-long kayak trip a week ago, one of the highlights was the flock of turkey vultures (12-15) ( Read more... )

The Pasadena book fair last weekend was quite productive (even profitable!), although every year the dealer list gets shorter...unclear of show management will be able to justify it again next year without some clever rethinking. Still, we got to see favorite customers and good friends among the dealers and the weather was pleasant enough, even in ( Read more... )

My saved draft turns out to have disappeared.

My virtual sisters-in-law sucked up most of the weekend and grated up all my good cheddar cheese and left popcorn making scattered (although to be fair they did wash the broiler and the bacon-greased griddle, so on the whole a plus I suppose).  Sister N's visits always make me  very territorial about ( Read more... )

We're having a bit of meteorology. Not like the mid-west or anything, but extremely variable from moment to moment. Steady rain last night, woke to soft damp fog, then the rain came back with a brief squall about elevenses. Then we had the eye of the storm, so to speak, clearing with a touch of sun just long enough for me to make the required run ( Read more... )

This is the first time in many years where there will be no traveling to relatives on or about actual Christmas day. Since we managed to see both sets of aged parents for the Thanksgiving holiday, we've postponed the Christmas celebrating until New Year's. There was a moment of panic day before yesterday when B's 95-year-old father was unresponsive ( Read more... )

Every time I think the travel has died down there's another small trip...as soon soon as we got back from Houston there was the Thanksgiving mad dash to San Jose--down and back in a day with three of B's four offspring wedged into the back of the Prius. We went on the Friday to avoid the crowds, so our own Thanksgiving dinner (if you don't count ( Read more... )

it's hot ( Read more... )