Seaside Hotel

If you, like me, need something enjoyable and non-stressful to watch, beautiful clothes and scenery and food, please check out the Danish series, Seaside Motel.  It's delicious and entertaining.

There are seven or eight seasons (I'm in season 3) and you have to subscribe to Masterpiece through Amazon to see it.  If you're a passport member of PBS, as I am, I believe you can watch one season for free on PBS, but not the whole seven seasons.

It takes place in the 1920s and 1930s at a seaside hotel where the same guests come to stay every summer. The main character is Fie, one of the maids.  I have to make myself stop watching and get some sleep!

Tuesday

        I wish I hadn't been driving when I heard a poem on NPR yesterday--about how we're starting over as COVID winds down.  The line I remember is that we're all looking around with "a nervous smile," not knowing quite how to maneuver the world as it opens up after vaccines.  I feel exactly like that, sometimes  feeling very happy to be doing a normal thing again, then feeling questions arise: can I do this?  can I do that?  Am I ready to drive solo cross country--with Luci?

        I'm certainly ready to see all my people and may just wake up one fine day and hit the road.  But first, I want to get my yard re-planted and the irrigation system checked and a new table refinished.  Shades of Green had plenty of star jasmine so I bought four pots of it to get started.  

         Joy made me a list of plants, and I've been to both Evergreen and Shades of Green.  Evergreen is low on stock for the next week or two, but Sunset has lots of plants and gave me a recipe for the vinegar and orange oil weed killer, which I plan to mix up this afternoon.

         I saw a yard full of poppies two streets over and am hoping to name a run to Castroville and see if theirs are blooming yet.  Poppies are magical.  I meant to plant some here but forgot!

Last week of March 2021

Almost April, and I've gone nowhere further than Helotes.  As much as I'd like to see "Mama 'n em" and Betty on her birthday tomorrow, and as much as I'd like to see Day's family in Virginia, something's holding me back from actually packing and leaving.  The right time for travel will show up, but it's not quite yet.

Met Kate for an hour at Bee's for Mexican food. The food and conversation were  just right, but we were both then ready to go home.  Home, we've decided, is where we most want to be, having been mostly alone in our houses (me til I got sweet Luci) for over a year. We wonder, collectively, all of us how long it will be until we're ready to venture forth into the world.

The downsides of the last weeks of March are terrible. 

The horror of more mass shootings.  The unbelievable actions of Georgia Republicans to make it harder to vote and to outlaw giving water to voters standing in long lines.  The world as we knew it going haywire. 

As Martin Luther King said, "What affects one directly affects us all indirectly." It feels some days that we are walking on broken ground.  

As for me, I got a parking ticket, realized the dryer I'd just bought was a dud, and had a frightful few minutes of Luci in a parking lot--all of which added up to a desire to stay put for a bit longer. 

I gave my girl her first bath last night.  She didn't love it but she tolerated it and then ran outside and rolled in leaves and stole my shoe, doing her dog version of a revenge grin.  She is today a sweet smelling little bundle of mischief and affection. 

My mo to accomplish much of anything is low, spring fever maybe.  But I've watched three excellent documentaries this week: 

Time (Amazon)--a powerful documentary I'd already seen but was so worth seeing again--about a family who waited 21 years to be reunited with the father serving time in a Louisiana penitentiary.

Allen v. Farrow (HBO)--a four-episode documentary about Woody Allen and Mia Farrow in a custody battle after he abused two of her daughters.

Flannery (PBS)--a documentary about Flannery O'Connor, Carlene's classmate at GSCW in the early 1940s.  Carlene always says of her: "Flannery went on to fame; I just went on."  Flannery died of lupus at the age of 39. 

The Life Ahead

Sophia Loren, 86, stars in this beautiful film directed by her son.

And then this: in which she is being interviewed by her son about her 71-year acting career.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbX7oRz75LU

Ciao--from me and the puppy--and thanks to my soup-bringing dear friend Jan for the photo! 

The following updates

I just got this email--from Angie's List (of which I've never been a member):

"Linda, your house is 71 years old; we recommend the following updates....."

According to Angie, my house is a year younger than myself and we both have a lot of history, wrinkles, crooked parts and bulges. She's an expression of how I've changed since living here, a never-ending project . I love her exactly as she is, and  I wouldn't swap her for a newer or trendier model. 

I had a minor surgery on my toe this week, the removal of a wart by a podiatrist who x-rayed my feet three times each, revealing that I have crooked toes, just like my mama's. Luci is very attentive to the toe, red and swollen and smelling like the iodine I soak it in.  

I would prefer to have inherited other Carlene-qualities than crooked toes, but as long as I have my memory and can attend to updates as needed, I can live with crooked toes and bone on bone knees.  I won't need Angie to remind me that it's time for new knees, and I'll figure out--as Carlene does--how to find shoes to work around less than perfect toes.

Luci and I went to Artisan's Alley to get paint.  When we went up the stairs, she slowed down to match my pace.  Same thing when we went back down.  When I step off a curb, I find that the counterweight of her ten pounds on the end of the leash is exactly what I need for balance. 

I made myself a rib-eye steak last night.  I followed Kate's instructions and it was the best steak I've ever made.  Luci sat at my feet patiently, licking her lips, but never begged--though I couldn't resist giving her a couple of bites, which she took ever so delicately in her mouth.

Painting yesterday required getting on the floor, back up, back down again--each of which was accompanied by the usual groans.  Luci came running and licked me, her gesture of helping me up.  

If ever I knew an angel, this girl's gotta be the Top Dog Angel.  She's an extraordinary little friend who's doing her part to keep me youngish.  She loves every friend and every stranger she's ever met.  I can't count the number of people who have knelt down to pet her.  A little boy in Tuesday Morning  said to his dad, "Can we pet Luci one more time?".....then "Bye, Luci, I love you!" 

She has such a big and vibrant personality that it always surprises me how tiny she actually is.  If, like my house and me, she needs any updates or changes, I can't imagine what they are. 

Beto's

Tonight, because Will's high school friend Chris bought Beto's and because he reminded me how much we've always liked the Beto's vibe and empanadas, I went for a solo dine in the patio--my first time there since before COVID. 

Beto's on Broadway

I didn't take Puppy, but will next time.  It was so good to see dogs and little kids and people of all ages enjoying the food and the outdoors.

DOGS

1. 

Today Alfred (my house-cleaner/yard man/handyman) came to work in the house and yard.  Luci likes Alfred a lot.

She actually likes everybody a lot.

I left Luci with Alfred for a half hour while I went to the hardware store.  She's never been left with anyone, but I figured she'd be fine at home with someone she likes. While I was away, she howled the entire time and ran from room to room looking for me.  Alfred tried to distract her but she refused to be distracted from the issue at hand.

After I returned, she did her Wild Welcome Home jump and even jumped on Alfred--as if to say, "She's home!  You can stop worrying now." 

For separation anxiety, Joy and Alfred both suggested getting her a peanut butter Kong to chew on.  I already got her one, but it's nowhere to be found.  I'm pretty sure she buried it in the yard.

On the January day that Janet brought Luci for me to "just look at," Luci put her head on my shoulder and I fell quite over the moon in love with her. 

She was shy back then--in January.  Shy and recovering from surgery and a series of transports from one place to another.  For the first week or so, I had no clue that she could run like the wind--which she can and does every chance she gets.  I expected her to be a sedate little lap dog, but no. 

She makes me laugh every single day as she soars from one ball to another, then chooses one and tries to tempt me to catch her, ducking her head and going into high gear if I get remotely close.  You'd think once in a while she'd give me a freebie, but she's not that kind of girl. 

2.

Victoria highly recommend a book called A Three Dog Life--which I've just downloaded. 

Australian Aborigines stept with their dogs for warmth on cold nights, the coldest being a "three dog night."

Wikipedia

3. 

Netflix has a wonderful new series called DOGS.  The first episode is about medical alert dogs trained to alert parents of children with epilepsy when the child has a seizure. 

These dogs are trained from birth--much as seeing eye dogs are--to bond with the child with a particular disability.  

The second episode is so intense and beautifully done that I couldn't stop until I'd seen it all the way to the end.  A young Syrian refugee resettles in Berlin.  He knows that he may never see his family or friends again--or his dog, Zeus.  

I will force myself to stop watching for the night--but this series is not to be missed if you're a dog lover.  

First outing with Three Friends at Once

 Charlotte's birthday was in February, but we opted to wait to celebrate until after we'd all passed the vaccine markers and landed in a safety zone.

So Charlotte, Kate, Janet and I met at Mon Chou Chou at the Pearl for a delicious French meal.  We sat at a table outside and all ordered different things.  

It feels like a door has opened now for those of us two weeks past second vaccine--and it's truly exciting!

Thanks to you, Charlotte, for giving us a chance to get back into the world!

New printmaking video tutorials

For the past couple of weeks, I've barely picked up a brush.  Instead, I've been spending time with Nathan and Elena and being distracted by puppy care (and her constant stream of entertainment) all while limping around and finding careful ways to sit down and stand up.  

Now here it is nearly 2 in the morning and I'm wide awake watching videos by a new-to-me artist/print maker, Jennifer Nieuwenhof. Her work strikes a chord for me as does Jane Davies', both of whom I could (and do) watch for hours.  

Since I've had a busy week, I'm planning to reserve Thursday and Friday to try out some of these techniques. Neither of these artists is selling anything.  It's as if you, the viewer, are just sitting on a stool in their studios watching them work.  

One of the things I love about Jennifer's work is that she makes organic masks and stencils out of manilla folders and a hot glue gun.  I like her palette of grays and golds and bronze and the way she lays out her gel prints to make prints like nothing I've ever seen before.  This is a game changer for me and I can't wait to get started. 

Jennifer Nieuwenhof

Mama and Them

In Georgia, when we were going to see family, we'd say, "Going to see Mama and 'em."  It was like one word--Mama'n'em.

The "them" could be one other person or fourteen other people.  It was Mama who stood for the whole destination. 

So I am loosely planning a spring trip to Georgia to see Mama'n'em.  After Spring Break, before Easter.  Today, I got  steroid shots in my knees, so my grouchy mood is  already improving.  Knee replacements are on the horizon.  I get to decide when that happens.  

Before I go, I'm working--more accurately watching Albert work--to get rid of frozen plants and prepare for spring plantings.  Yesterday he dug up five large rosemary plants that were dead to the bone and trimmed back the Esperanza and others who promise to bloom again as the weather warms.  

Mama (aka Carlene) is making an exception and letting Luci come inside the house, but I hope to teach Furry Girl a few manners before we go--like not jumping up in Mama's lap and trying to kiss her.

Now that I'm not limping so much, I'm starting to look forward to embarking on a trip.  

Who trains who?

When Jan and I meet on the casita back porch to watch Carma and Luci play, we're like two mamas of toddlers.  She's reading Cesar Milan's book on training puppies and I'm reading How Dogs Think. 

Will came over Monday to go to an appointment with me and he gave me pointers on getting Luci to stop play-biting and licking.  Alfred gave Jan a suggestion for discouraging Carma's  digging huge holes in her yard: deposit Carma's poop in the digging spot and she won't go near it.  

Nobody is more joyous to see me than Luci--and her way of showing affection is to jump on me or into my arms,  vocalizing her happiness/relief-that-I'm back with an adorable little whine.  I enjoy these over-the-top greetings, so don't plan to train her to stop--though I may have to tamp down her enthusiasm for greeting her friends.  

Cesar might suggest stopping that behavior as well as her flights to the dining table top to gaze at birds in the yard--but I'm not going there.  If you want a friend who shows affection in more subtle ways and who doesn't sit on your table top, I would suggest sticking with human friends.

My favorite poem of all time about dogs is by my friend and poet and dog-lover Bonnie Lyons, in her book, Bedrock. 

Dog Training

Sometimes I think

the only lessons I ever learned

were from my dogs.

So here is the accumulated wisdom

of Sancho, Max, and Zorba,

three sage Airedales.

First,  yelp when you're in pain

but let it go when it's gone.

Second, travel the earth 

with a quivering nose.

Third, answer the needs of your body

with shameless relish

but then go right on

to the real purpose of the day: play.

And, finally, whenever possible

leap right

into the arms of someone

who loves you.