It's Spring, So That Means...

My annual exhibit time begins! Tomorrow is the opening reception of the Contributing Members show at the Rockport Art Association. This is my entry titled "Quiet Morning" (11 X 14, oils, priced at the RAA at $580.00). I didn't enter a photograph this year. After seeing some of the photo entries...maybe I should have...well, there is next year. Anyway, it's difficult to capture the true look of an oil painting with a photograph, but you get the general idea. You can see it in real life, and all the other artist's works, tomorrow through April 19th.

The I Give Up Factor

Yep, been thinking a lot along that line lately.  I just seem to be trying to shovel molasses uphill about everything!

The company A works for is dumping health insurance coverage for its part time employees.  95% of the employees are part time. Anyway, this month she MUST sign up for health insurance under the new Affordable Care Act.  (No lectures from those who hate it, please)  So, A hasn't a clue how to deal with such rigmarole as is on the state website...it falls to me to help.  I have spent several hours online trying to get her signed up.  She qualifies for state aid paying for the insurance.  First they wouldn't accept her application as they couldn't verify her information.  I called.  We sent a copy of her state ID as requested.  She got a phone call saying that she could complete her application online.  That was my job this morning.  Over an hour at the computer and four phone calls later (the type where you have to listen to the long intro message then choose 1 or 2 in answering several automated questions) (oh, make that 5 calls, they disconnected me after making my choices one time and I had to start again), they finally accepted her application determining she was eligible for state aid but they needed proof of residency.  Mind you, she has paid state income tax for the last 11 years and has voted here for 12 years...not to mention that they have a copy of her state ID.  So that was my last phone call...what to send them?  They wanted a utility bill in her name...nope. How about her cell phone bill?...nope, family plan.  We finally settled on a notarized letter from me stating that she lives with me, here, at this address, which they should already know.

Just mailed that to them.

Hopefully she'll get a letter with her options for a health plan without having to jump through more hoops.

Then, both of our humidifiers have quit working.  Same style, same manufacturer.  Holmes.  I emailed the company.  They asked for the special date code on the prong.  I sent the two codes.  They replied that they were out of warranty...even though one was purchased only a month ago.  I emailed back that I would never buy another of their products...ever.

The SC estate settlement still sits in limbo.  Just needs the judge to sign off on it and the funds can be dispersed.  We wait..........and wait.  They say that they are running behind.....6 months?

I have my hotel registration all set and, last month, sent a check for my seminar registration for NEESCO (piano technician seminar).  I haven't received confirmation of the seminar payment...I need to check on that. 

Why is everything so darn painful to get accomplished?

What next?

Arbitrary

Been a while since I've posted.  Not that many have noticed!

Anyway, I'm still alive.

Some stuff:
It's has been too darn cold and snowy and that has been taking a lot of my extra energy.  However, it's warm today at 40°. Unfortunately, I'm working in the shop, then going to a meeting at the Sandy Bay Historical.  Back to 20°s next week.

My mom switched her auto insurance.  She went to her agent with the required deposit check and the agent filed all the paperwork.  The company wanted it filed online and then mailed to them, as well.  Well, they goofed and issued two policies using her check and creating an electronic transfer check for funds from her checking account, realized their mistake, cancelled the extra policy AND THEN instead of refunding that extra $500 they took from her checking account, they just applied it, without her permission, to the first policy.  So, they got a double deposit.  She needs the $500 back and we sent them copies of her cancelled check and the cancelled "check" that they created.  They say they won't refund the money unless she proves that both amounts were taken from her account.  This she had to do by getting a letter from the bank.  Idiots.  The required info has been sent and if a check doesn't arrive soon, we'll head to the police station to file a complaint.  We'll also file a complaint with the state insurance commission.

I've got better uses for my time.  Why can no one do their job correctly?

It has been over four months since my lawyer has submitted all the paperwork to Probate to close out the estate of my aunt.  Four months and nothing has been done in Probate.  The papers sit there.  All that is required is a signature to release the funds.  Everything is done except for one signature.  Four months...unbelievable.

Other stuff?  Work, work, work.  Lots of keys in the shop.  Even a set all the way from Hawaii!  'R' has the large reservoir from the church organ in the shop, too.  He works on that - I work on keys.

We've been to a couple auctions and indoor yard sales.  I found six Statue of Liberties to buy at one of the yard sales.  At another antiques show and sale I found a liberty bond poster with the statue's arm and torch as a large part of the illustration.  The dealer wanted $400.  Didn't buy it.  At another table there was a very large bronze medallion commemorating the statue.  They wanted $125 for that.  Didn't buy it.

What I have bought is a laptop computer.  Not using it yet as it is at my computer guy getting set up.  Hopefully being portable will be money well spent.  This desktop on which I'm typing still works fine and will be my main computer until it dies.  Everyone seems amazed that it is still working more than fine after 10 years.  I treat my stuff good!

Stop & Shop supermarket has a 'new' low prices promotion.  They decided to hang banners from the light poles and along the main entrance for the grand celebration - the day before our last blizzard.  Half the banners got destroyed in less than 24 hours.  Didn't anyone think that outdoor displays would not be a good idea...in the middle of winter...the day before a blizzard with predicted winds gust over 50 mph?  More idiots.  What a waste of time and money.

We planted pepper seeds a couple weekends ago.  Last year they came in too late and we only got a few green peppers.  This year we've started earlier.  They're sitting in a nice sunny (when the sun is out) window.  Fingers crossed, nothing poking through the soil yet.

Nascar season has started.  Hooray!  Forced time off while we sit and watch the races.  The Daytona 500 is this weekend.  Wish I were there...the race...the warmth of Florida.

Well, that's a bit of my news.  Must head off to that meeting......

Leftovers...

from last year.

Last year I made the New Years Resolution to stop using my stairs as a filing cabinet for bills, paperwork, etc.  I am very pleased to report that only one item was allowed to reside on the corner of a step between the posts...the extra car keys.  That's right, I kept that resolution (see link).
http://harmonyclubwaltz.blogspot.com/2012/12/resolution.html 
As a matter of fact, it worked so well that it is my resolution for this year!  Let's see if I can keep the stairs uncluttered of paperwork for a second year!

Tidying up went even further at the end of the year.  I hired my super electrician to properly wire my workshop.  Thank you Bruce of Bayside Electrical for completing the work on schedule and doing a super job.  As you can see from the clutter of wires photos below, this work really needed doin'.  Each time Bruce had been here for some other minor work, he nagged about the workshop.  I had told him that 2013 would be the year and it was.  It's hard to show neatness in photos but I've added a couple below the messy ones.

A triple plug extension cord to help with my overhead lights.  You can see some of the new work in this photo.

Another multi-plug for overhead lights

Mass mess for a few of the machines.

Nice neat work running wiring for the new circuits.

Now I have convenient wall switches to operate the two sections of overhead lights.

Look how many extension cords have been eliminated!

Yesterday the girls headed to the mall to return/exchange Martha's useless (in my opinion) pan.  See my last post for details!  Macy's readily returned my mom's money, but the salesclerk was unnecessarily flippant.

Mom:  "I need to return this pan.  I was told that it could be used in the oven for a roast and it says it can't be used in the oven.  You can't even wash it in the dishwasher!"
Clerk:  "Well, you can still make a roast in it."

Macy's only had one pan that met our requirements and it was over $200.00.  For one pan!  We went to Sears next.  Nothing.  On to Kohl's where we found nothing except an enameled cast iron dutch oven that was shedding specks of cast iron off the edges.  At least it was too expensive, too.  Well over $100.00 as I recall.  On to Target.

Success!  The Giada De Laurentiis collection had a 6 qt. stainless steel roasting pan with lid.  Oven safe, dishwasher safe...all for $39.99!  Phew, Christmas exchanging done!

So, now that it is a new year...today I,
took down our outdoor decorations before the upcoming blizzard (Thursday/Friday 10 - 14+ inches, winds gusting possibly to 50 mph, and temps too low, wayyy too low for me)

finished my business bookkeeping for the year

got my last estimated tax payments ready to mail

corresponded with 5 techs (some in the last day or two) about upcoming keywork

cleaned up the kitchen table (it had become a dumping spot...remember that resolution? stuff has got to go someplace!)

did some emailing

took A to work (must remember to pick her up tonight!)

2014 is off to a good start!

Except for the weather.

Martha's People Must Have People

We had a very nice Christmas.  Hope you did, too.  Everything went along pleasantly, even if one of our guests for Christmas dinner is never very pleasant.  And even though mom has a bad cold (that I think I may have caught).  Even though Mrs. Smith's frozen (ready to cook) pies were a huge disappointment with over-spiced pumpkin pie and crunchy peaches in the peach pie (I shall make them from scratch from now on).

Santa arrived at our house, 2013

We were fortunate to have had Santa deliver many good things under the tree and we are thankful for that.  Mostly we are happy that we can spend the holidays with each other and with friends.  But I do have to mention one gift...

On my Christmas list this year was a roasting pan.  I know, I know, not the most commonly requested item for Santa to deliver.  Mom didn't do too well with it, wrapping up an 8 quart stockpot (rather than roaster) with Martha Stewart's name on the product.  Mom realized that she had goofed when she was doing her gift wrapping and read the box where it said "cannot be used in oven".  The lovely salesclerk at Macy's, when specifically asked, had assured her that it could be used in the oven. At the wrapping point she figured we'd just return it after Christmas and try to find the correct item.  So, I decided to look at all the little icons on the side of the box and...Martha Stewart hasn't a clue.  The folks that work for her development team must have slave laborers working for them. 

Not only can you not use it in the oven, it is not dishwasher safe!  These days, who on earth would make pots and pans that you can't put in the dishwasher?  Oh, but it does suggest that this pot will look lovely displayed on a hanging rack.

Martha Stewart must have peons washing pots by hand for her.

Talkin' Turkey

You'd think they would make themselves scarce this time of year...

I've named him Dinner.

"Oh no, it's THAT time of year?"

Leftovers.....(how many can you count?)

Foolishness

This was posted on a piano technician's forum.  Does the US really think that crushing confiscated ivory will stop poaching?  I think not.

http://m.townhall.com/columnists/mikeshedlock/2013/11/17/us-crushes-6-tons-of-ivory-to-send-message-to-poachers-n1748005?utm_source=thdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

Thief of Duck Feeding

Now we know why the ducks were pecking along in the grass the other day!

He stole our action!

Duck, Duck, Goo...more Duck

Once again, A and I went down to Mill Pond to feed the ducks.  They are getting familiar with us, now.  Maybe too much so.  Anyway, they were very demanding, with one even flying at me while I sat on the bench bread in hand.

A starting a feeding frenzy.

The ducks were in a strange mood, besides being demanding, that is.  The majority of them would climb up on to the grassy area near us and feed on our bread offerings and something else that was around in the grassy area.  Don't know what they found, but I guess it was yummy.  They were softly quacking while poking around the grass or catching our bits of bread.

Then the quacking would get noticeably louder and in a great whoosh of winged duck, all but a few would fly back into the pond...where they would swim around for a minute or two, poking at each other, quacking...being ducks. 

Non-conformists waiting ashore.

Then, en mass, they would about face and swim to shore, hop up and carry on feeding as before.  We watched them do this three times within a half hour.

Bottoms Up!

Before we left, we had a good giggle watching some bottom work!

The "Duck Dynasty" folks (a favorite show) may like hunting and eating 'em, but we think duck antics are great entertainment.

It's Quackery

When A and I walked down to Millbrook Meadow we brought a loaf of stale Italian bread to feed the ducks.  With a bit of coaxing, I first got them to feed near the water's edge on a bit of shore near my feet.  Two got very comfortable with that and since, in their opinion evidently, the bread bits were not appearing quickly enough, decided to jump up next to me sitting on the wall.

My new best friends -

May Be Worth Noting

Deb dressed up...

Well, not fancy or anything, but more than the norm of jeans and jeanish things.  Two and a half weeks ago I had to temporarily assume the role of president of our local historical society when the reigning pres was hospitalized.  I'm the vp.  Of course, much to my dismay, this was just two and a half weeks before the annual meeting and 'chowdah supper'.  The informative email that I received from the pres's wife was that nothing had been taken care of.  Oh _____.  So, while juggling a massive amount of key work (which seems never ending at this point still), tunings, SC estate stuff (though now minor), and of course canning(!), I endeavored to get it all together for the meeting...which I had to lead.  Which I can force myself to do, but I hate public speaking.  And to my surprise the recuperating pres. showed up and ate. Well...it's done with.

And...

I am so glad to back to jeans and a t-shirt today!

And Then...

I decided to try my hand at canning.  You must understand that, although I can cook, I'm not enamored with cooking.  But I do like a challenge and I hadn't tried canning before.  My mom had made relish years ago but she didn't remember what she did.  Honestly, I think my grandmother did most of it!

So, armed with some internet research, canning jars, ingredients, and a friend's large pot, I dove in.

I learned a lot.

1. The size of my kitchen (read teeny) is detrimental to the process.
2. The recipe that says it makes 9 pint sized jars of relish requiring a large bowl, large pot, and large colander, really means gigantic when describing those items.
3. Due to number 2 above, I threw away a lot of diced up green tomatoes.
4. A food processor would be handy.  All that hand chopping is tiresome.  But because of the aforementioned teeny kitchen there is no room for a processor worth buying.
5. However, despite the odds being heavily against me. It worked!  I made relish!

Batch 1 - green tomato relish 

This morning I went out to buy smaller canning jars.  Half pints this time.  This afternoon I'll be at it again.  It's fun in a masochistic sort of way.

And Still...

tomatoes

I think we are up in the hundreds range.

A Family Story - part five

Well, it has been nearly a month since I wrote here.  Kind of a long time, for me!  Once Marion, George, Peter, Mr. Marshall, my grandfather and his wife moved to Florida it was long spells between visits.  We traveled to Florida several times to visit with them.  Then, with more family of our own, we moved to Florida, too.  By then I was married and we had a daughter.  My folks moved down at the same time.  We all lived about two and a half hours from Marion, George, Peter and family. 

Over the next few years the families visited each other frequently, especially for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Thanksgivings would alternate between the households.  Always Peter would say grace and although we could not understand most of what he said, we could always hear our names in his prayer.  Shortly after Thanksgiving of 1990, Peter became ill and died.  While obviously a sad time for Marion and George, they were relieved that he would not have to be without them to care for him.  They put the Morse Shores house up for sale and moved further north in Florida.  They bought a small house on a lake where George enjoyed fishing until his death in 1993.

Paul at home in Connecticut

 Marion felt very insecure living by herself after George's death and Paul left his home and job in Connecticut to move in with his mother.  Hating the hot and humid weather that draws others to Florida, Paul wanted to move back north but Marion didn't want to live with the cold winters.  They decided to move to South Carolina where the climate was a bit more moderate and where Marion and George had often spoken of living.  They bought land and built a house in the north western part of the state in 1996.

Marion, Christmas 2003

It was in that home that we continued our holiday exchanges, particularly at Thanksgiving, and as my parents had become seasonal Florida residents (snowbirds), they stopped to visit with Paul and Marion on their trips back and forth between Massachusetts and Florida.  And it was in that home that both Paul and Marion died.  Paul in December of 2010 and Marion, just over six months later in July of 2011.

Paul (L) and Marion (R) with Marion's PT nurse after Marion's stroke in 2006-07.  This is the last picture we have of them.

A Family Story - part four

I left off where?  I believe it was about the time that Marion and George got married.  That was 1955 and happens, also, to be the year that I was born. 

Marion

According to their wedding certificate, George's two sons were the witnesses, so I would think that they were at least 18 years old at the time.  George and Marion moved in with George's father, Mr. Marshall, and for a time so did George's two sons and Marion's son Paul.  Paul would have been 10 years old at the time.  It must have been quite a crowd! 

Two Marshall houses.  I remember visiting the family at this bottom one.

At some point George's sons moved out and on to lives of their own leaving Marion, George, Mr. Marshall and Paul.  I, of course, was very young and don't remember much about those years.  I remember visiting once in a while and remember Paul living there even after George and Marion had a child together.  It was shortly after that child, Peter, was born though, that Paul left to live with his father.

Mr. Marshall, Marion, and Peter

Peter was born in 1961 with Down's Syndrome and a host of other conditions that go with it.  The doctor told Marion and George that he doubted that Peter would live past two years.  Peter was doted on by Marion and family and all that focus on him, no doubt, was a major reason that Paul moved out.

Paul with Peter at the house in Morse Shores, East Fort Myers FL 1966(?)

After Paul graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Army.  At about the same time, Marion, George, and Mr. Marshall decided that there would be more opportunities for Peter in Florida.  They sold the house in Connecticut and bought property first in Cape Coral, then in Fort Myers, FL.  Marion's father (my grandfather) and his second wife followed them south.  It was in a neighborhood called Morse Shores that Peter grew up.

George, Peter, Marion 1984

 

How Is the Garden Growing???

Here it is today.

Jungle tomatoes!  Cukes are taking over and they are supposed to be 'bush' plants, not vine.  Peppers, well, eh.

Compared to the photo in this post:  http://harmonyclubwaltz.blogspot.com/2013_05_01_archive.html

Here are a couple shots of plants given to us by our hippie friend, Pete.

These are going to be purple tomatoes.

R says these will be purple, too.

And of course, a massive amount of cucumbers.  This weekend I think I'll can (jar) some sweet and sour.

I kind of forgot to check the plants for a couple days.  Should have this many more in about 4 more days.

A Family Story - Found Photos

Thought I'd post a few photos that I just found.

Marion, in 1942, on 31st Street, Camp Shelby, Mississippi.  Could this be when she married Connie?

Connie 1944

George and Marion 1955

For the fun of it I have included this last photo.  Parrot Jungle just outside of Miami!  A really cool, old Florida attraction that I believe no longer exists.  I went while on vacation with my parents when I was three years old.

George, Sr., Parrot Jungle 1956

A Family Story - the third part

So, last I wrote, I had left Marion and family in San Diego.  They remained there for the duration of the war.  My grandfather worked as a groundskeeper.  His daughter, Marion, worked in a defense plant.  A Rosie the Riveter! 

Marion with Paul as a baby and at four years old

At some point in the late 40's the entire clan moved back to Stamford, CT.  Marion, Connie and Paul moved into an apartment created in a Quonset hut near the beach.  My mother remembers visiting them there.  Shame that there are no photos of it.  My mom and dad remember Connie as being a real nice guy.  He owned a gas station, worked hard, but got nowhere. As a husband, he evidently was not Marion's ideal.  Connie liked to spend more time with his buddies over a couple beers than home with wife and baby.  Sometime in the early 50's, I think, Marion divorced Connie and took Paul to live with her parents.  For several years they lived together in a small rental house in Stamford.  Marion's dad, my grandfather, worked as a machinist for McCall's publishing.  Marion earned a certificate in bookkeeping and found a job in that field.  I suppose that my grandmother spent a lot of time taking care of Paul!  The fifties years moved along and Marion met George.  They were happy together.  George was divorced and had two sons.  When George and Marion married they all lived together with George's father.  Marion, George, George Sr., Paul, Arnold and Allen.  It was a full house that burst at the seams with the children moving out as soon as they could, especially when another son was born.

A Family Story - Part 2

Marion and her family lived in the Greylock area of North Adams for most of Marion's childhood.  She and her siblings, my uncle Tom and my dad Al, would tell many stories of those growing up years.  Like the boys smoking corn silk, "hiding" behind the mill to avoid getting caught, while their fathers watched from the windows above them.  Or Marion, just a young girl, having to care for her parents and brothers during a flu epidemic and how when she headed out to get bread from a neighbor sank knee deep in mud at the foot of the back stairs, with only her screaming bringing the neighbors to check.  I remember a short tale told each time we drove past a vacant lot at the foot of the Mohawk Trail, entering North Adams.  "There used to be a house there," my Dad would say.  "There was a big mudslide that came down the mountain and destroyed it." (Obviously never rebuilt!).  As a youngster, my uncle Tom built a glider.  Full sized!  The neighborhood boys dragged it up part of Mount Greylock and "launched" him off a cliff.  It flew.  Uncle Tom flew!  His dad heard word of it and took an axe to the glider!  Tom would become a professional pilot in adulthood. 

Marion in her late teens

While living in Greylock and working at the mill, there was occasion, some mill business of some sort, to travel to New Bedford and meet with other mill workers.  That's when my father's family met my mother's family and became lifelong friends.

The Birch/Jennings kids at Mausert's Pond, l-r: Marion, Hugh J., Tom, Norman J., and Al (my mother was not yet born)

Marion, Tom, and Al grew up and into the start of WWII.  Tom entered the Army Air Corps and was stationed in Arizona for part of the war.  Al joined the Navy and spent the majority of the war in the Pacific.  After a short stint when Marion and her parents lived in Stamford CT, the three moved west to San Diego (Marie, Tom's future wife accompanied them) to be closer to Tom and also, they felt, where Al would come ashore.  Sometime near the beginning of the war, Marion met and married Connie, an Army man.  During her time with her parents in San Diego, my cousin Paul was born.  That was Feb. 8th 1945.

Upcoming in Rockport

Please, if you are in the area, support this effort!  We will be attending the concert on July 14th.  I'm sorry that the images did not show on this posting of the flyer but you get the info!

ROCKPORT NAVY WEEKEND 2013

July 12^th – July 14^th

The US Naval Academy (USNA) Offshore Sail Training Squadron will sail to town in five NA-44 foot sailboats. Sailors from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME, the USS Constitution in Boston, MA and the Navy Band in Newport, RI have been invited to participate in the weekend events.

Midshipmen/Advisors and Sailor Hosting

The RocNavCom is looking for Rockport residents to host the 40 midshipmen and 10 advisors during their visit. The hosts will be responsible for room and board Friday, Saturday and Sunday, transportation to morning events. Due the lack of available lodging for visiting active duty sailors, the RocNavCom is looking for Rockport residents willing to host sailors in their homes. The sailors only need lodging; no meals or transportation is required. We are holding to the Navy standard of the buddy system; hosts must be able to accommodate at least two midshipmen or advisors.

Kickball

The US Navy and USNA will play kickball with Rockport children 6-16 years old on Saturday.  The children and sailors/midshipmen will be mixed together on the teams, no rivalries. The game will be held at Evans Field at 10:15 a.m. Lunch will be provided for the players after the game at 12:15 p.m. There is a limit of twenty (20) children playing.

Sailboat Tours

One of the USNA’s 44 foot sailboats will be open for free public tours on T-wharf from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Midshipmen will be on hand to answer questions.

Pancake Breakfast

Sunday morning there will be a benefit pancake breakfast at Brackett’s Oceanview          Restaurant from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Enjoy breakfast with visiting midshipmen and sailors while overlooking beautiful Sandy Bay! $5.00 donation at the door, the proceeds benefit the Rockport Navy Committee.

Navy Band Concert

The Navy Band Northeast’s Pops Ensemble will perform a free concert at the Rockport High School, 24 Jerden’s Lane at 1:30 p.m. Sunday July 14^th. Tickets will be available Saturday, June 29^th at the Rockport Police Station 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

  

Raffle

The RocNavCom will be holding a 50/50 raffle. Tickets are available from committee members. The drawing will be held during the USN/USNA vs. Rockport Police/Fire softball game at Evans Field on Saturday night July 13^th. Need not be present to win. The game starts at 6:30 pm. Public is welcome.

For more information go to: www.rocnavcom.org