Can You Blame Me?

My tax filing could not be easier. My mother’s filing seems like it should be fairly easy, especially when I look at the accountant’s 2007 filing. I decided I would get those taxes done this weekend. If you have read my blogs, then you know I am addicted to the Hallmark world. That was my downfall yesterday. I wasted the day away watching hours of movies on the Hallmark channel. To make myself feel better about that, and to justify not working on taxes, I did a little laundry, and I do mean a little. Cooked a pork tenderloin and baked some sweet potatoes. Fed the birds. What else? Okay, nothing. But today I was determined to work on those taxes. I got up early, but researched cell phone companies and what they offer for about an hour. My contract ends in July, so I need to get a jump on that. I made breakfast and sat at my kitchen table enjoying Sunday morning in my private Hallmark world. I was ready to go work on those taxes. But first, I called my sister and then a friend and then another friend. Now I will work on those taxes! I decided I needed to cook the chicken and pinto beans I bought yesterday so I can stock-pile my freezer. A girl’s gotta have options after a hard day’s work and she doesn’t feel like cooking from scratch in the evening. I realized I had not folded the clothes I washed yesterday, so I did that. Put them away, too! I made my 20th trip to the window to see if it is snowing again. I should clean the snow off the car, but I need to work on the taxes. I can clean off the car in the morning. Besides, I am hoping it will snow some more. I cannot put this off another minute. I am now ready to sit down and work on those taxes. Oh! I haven’t updated my blog. Let me do that.

Check out the picture of that bread! My friend, Kevin, made that. From scratch. With Rosemary and Garlic from his own garden. The boy can cook.

I had not seen my friend for a couple of months. He sent me an email asking if he could bring over the garlic and rosemaryartisan bread he just made, some cheese, some wine and a steak. The bread was truly a work of art. Can you blame me for saying yes to that? I had a very rough week and needed a friend so his timing was perfect. The dinner was wonderful and he did not mind that I greeted him in the pajamas my sister gave me for Christmas. I live in my pajamas at home. These happen to be the softest pajamas you ever felt in your life. I didn’t look so good, but I felt very comfortable. Kevin didn’t seem to mind. At least he was very polite about it and let me relax while he prepared dinner. Who would turn down such pampering? Not me.

My last blog mentioned that my mom was released from the hospital. Turns out they released her too soon and she went back to the hospital during her second night at home. She is again home, doing better, and still recuperating. My brother, Timmy, and his wife, Sara, drove over from Clifton Forge last Saturday to see mom while she was still in the hospital. Timmy and I are pre-diabetic so they came over with all kinds of stuff for me. The best part...they wanted to make dinner for me. Another dinner invitation! In my kitchen! I love it.

Timmy and Sara got busy on dinner right away. Timmy had the good sense to take care of his wife and sister before too long by pouring them a glass of wine. Ya gotta take careof the women.



This meal not only met all their new eating requirements, but one of the best meals I have had in a while.




Things taste so good when someone else does the cooking in your kitchen. They even brought with them our mother's old cast iron skillet. It somehow made the sauce taste better and added another level of comfort as we laughed and talked.


Things tastes even better when you enjoy the company as much as I enjoy them.


The next morning, I got a few bird photos. Unfortunately, the feeder you see hanging from the tree only lasted a few weeks. When I came home from work Thursday, I saw it on the ground all tattered from the squirrels’ effort to get to the birdseed.

Now I am caught up on my blog and the laundry. The pinto beans are nearly ready. It is snowing again. I should work on those taxes now, but I need to shave my legs. Can you blame me?

Ending Valentine’s Day on a Sweet Note

I don’t have a sweetie or a sweet thing or anything resembling a Valentine, but there are many sweet things in my life.

Friday, February 13, 2009 - My mom is home from the hospital after 2 weeks and 2 days. She is still very weak, but hopefully the comforts of home will speed her recovery. She is one of the sweet things in my life. Someone that sweet should not feel that bad.

That evening I experienced an evening of Guitar Blues at the invitation of my friend, Norm, at The Paramount Theater in Charlottesville. Jorma Kaukonen, founding member of Jefferson Airplane, four-time Grammy nominee Robben Ford, and Ruthie Foster thrilled the audience with their performances. Ruthie is the least known among the three, but for me her soulful blues voice was the icing on the cake. Sweet, very sweet. Thank you so much, Norm.

About a week and a half ago, the snow fell for the first time this winter onto the field beyond my kitchen window. I stood just outside the back door taking photographs. Here is what I saw. I was delighted when I downloaded the photos. The photos that look like black and white are completely unenhanced. I stood in the darkness not sure what I was capturing and only used the flash.

Please click on the following link to see additional photos from today’s blog. http://www.flickr.com/photos/35412116@N03/

The next morning greeted me with white beauty.

This beautiful sunrise carried in Valentines Day.

A friend told me he recently he bought Seal’s Soul CD. With no Valentine of my own, I gave myself the CD for Valentine’s Day. Ooooh, what a sweet indulgence. Thanks for the recommendation, Bill.

Now, here is my Valentine's gift to you. Very sweet. Please click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rooyt3ptNco

January Happenings

January can be a tough month. You have just come through three of the major holidays of the year, often followed by a big let down. January 09 held its trump card: the historical inauguration. That brought my friend, Ellen, back to town. Her grand daughter was invited to the inauguration, so Ellen flew up with her from Atlanta to deliver her to those that would watch over her for the next several days. Ellen wasn’t invited. Sorry. While she was not welcome at the White House, she was welcome at my house. I felt like cooking during her first night’s visit as we both enjoy that. I prepared sockeye salmon, baked sweet potato, a simple salad and fresh baked bread. Added to the mix was good wine, great music and candlelight. That combination seems to work best for me. After dinner we relaxed in the living room with more wine, music and conversation.

The night before the inauguration, I was invited to the Swope Farm for dinner at Ellen's sister's home. This is the couple I had Thanksgiving dinner with…at their Deerfield Farm. Sassy was there, too. I took 5 pounds of frozen at sea scallops. Unless you are on the boat when they are caught, it doesn’t get any better. Ellen prepared a special batter and fried them. We had corn from the garden, homemade applesauce and I cannot remember what else. But it was all good.

Knowing that I have a fondness for woodworking, Kenny gave me a tour of his workshop. That was cool.

The view from this property is unbelievable. I was able to get a few photographs before it got too dark. Imagine how beautiful this scenery is when things green up.

I took my lunch hour to watch the swearing in. After work, I went home with my friend Tammy so we could watch some of the festivities together on her much-larger-than-my-screen-TV. She is a wonderful hostess. We had a nice dinner and I got a good night sleep in a comfy bed. Sorry, no photos to offer.

I have been trying to get cardinals to come to my feeders and was finally successful. My attempt to bring them in also brought 8 squirrels and a Blue Jay. Squirrels are cute and can be fun to watch, but the little bastards spent an entire day trying to get up to the hanging feeders, including sitting at my kitchen window studying the situation…and one succeeded. That meant that I spent the day yelling at them (they just looked at me waiting for me to stop), pounding on the window (that scared away the birds but not the squirrels) and throwing little pebbles at them (which they chased thinking I was throwing them something else to eat). Something I did seems to have worked…for now.

The month ended with taking my Mom for a pedicure. She always seems to be in pain when she has a pedicure so I encouraged her to focus on a magazine. It worked most of the time.

A few days later I met her at the ambulance entrance to the ER as she was having serious difficulty breathing. That is something no one should have to suffer. She is an 84 year old trooper and is finally, today, showing some improvement so she is out of ICU. I hope she is able to go home soon. Of course, I had to get a photo of the sunset from her hospital room.

Now bring on Feb.

La Luna - Watching the Moon Go Down

Please see my Christmas blog... After I sent the email around this morning to let you know I had a new blog for you to read, I took a look at the moon. As you know, I usually watch the sunrise. This morning I tried something a little different. They don't call me DaLuna Delaney for nothing.

What I Got for Christmas

Giving is more important than getting. I know that. But let me tell you what I got anyway. It did not come in a box all wrapped up with a pretty bow on top. There are some things that you just cannot wrap. And, I got the same thing from everyone. The gifts were parceled out over the month of December.

I spent an entire day tagging along with my friend Tammy and Linda as they invited me to join them for a day of Christmas shopping. They were not going to a mall, so I said yes. We drove to Stuarts Draft and had a wonderful browse at Village Furniture where Linda won the door prize during the first door prize drawing of the day. There was far more to look at than furniture. While I don’t do country, that atmosphere sure had a good down home Christmas feeling. It was a good spot to begin. Leaving there we drove an hour to Monterey for their Winter Tide offerings. This was a very special part of the day for me. I used to live there and have a special fondness for the area and the people there. Because they were having an art and craft show at the Center, I was able to see several people that I would never have otherwise run into, not to mention the wonderful local crafts and artwork. Tammy and Linda allowed me to pay a quick visit to Rich Holman and to Joan and Tom Atkins. Now that was special. We left town as the snow started falling to return to Staunton where we visited some shops and then went for a drink and a light bite at the lovely Stonewall Jackson Hotel. It was a wonderful day. Thank you Tammy and Linda for the gift of this day.

Then there was Christmas at Waynesboro Manor where my mother lives. Families are invited to attend and to bring a covered dish. This assisted living facility had a fantastic turn out this year. So many people. So much food. Not everyone in my family could attend, but those of us who did were happy to be there for our Mom and enjoyed making her, and each other, laugh. Thank you Waynesboro Manor.

My dear friend Tammy and her husband invited me to join them for dinner and the performance of “A Shenandoah Valley Christmas” featuring Ben Jones (Cooter Davenport in Dukes of Hazard) and various local musicians performed at the Court Square Theater in Harrisonburg. The performance was filmed for 3 television airings later in December, none of which I saw. But I was there, in the moment. Why would I need to see tape that was cut and spliced only to reveal what someone else thought I should see? I was quite satisfied with the real thing. The taping was completed prior to intermission. Afterward, they promised to play lots of country music. We left after intermission because a child sitting behind us got sick during the performance. We had to call that one done. Thank you Tammy and David for inviting me to share this evening with you.

Our family celebrated Christmas together the weekend before Christmas at Renick and Tina’s house. Everyone made it except the California family, whose absence we always miss this time of year. We had many hours together filled with laughter. Thank you Ren and Tina for bringing the family together at Christmas. Thank you family for all the love and joy you give.

Christmas Day I picked up Mom and took her to my sister’s house where we spent most of the day Cynthia, Sammie (her dog) and Nicky (her cat). I gave Sammie quite a long walk for his Christmas present. We both enjoyed that. Cynthia had prepared a wonderful meal. Mom sat patiently as I took at least 50 photos of her (times three because I discovered the rapid shot feature on my camera). Thank you Cynthia for making this time possible and for all the time you spent making sure it was a nice Christmas day. You helped take the lonely out of Christmas.

That evening I had Christmas dinner with the two couples that allow me to dog sit for their wonderful dog children. Bob and Shirley’s son, Matt, joined us. That was fun as I had never met their people children. I was thrilled to spend the evening with these people for whom I have developed a special fondness. Thank you Bob, Shirley, Matt, Charlie and Cynthia for sharing such a special day with me. And thank you for the time you offer me during the year with all of your animal

children.

The day after Christmas I travelled to Timmy and Sara’s in Clifton Forge, VA. We had a relaxing evening watching movies on the Hallmark Channel and had a delicious dinner prepared by Sara. We agreed the Hallmark World is a wonderful place to live. The people and basic plots are pretty much the same. The problems are small and find easy resolution and everyone lives happily ever after. Oh, and everyone lives on a lake with beautiful mountain views covered by layers of perfectly formed snow flakes. I love the Hallmark World. It has become my guilty pleasure. The next day, we left around 8:00 AM to drive 28 fifty-minute country miles to Paint Bank, VA for a gourmet hill-billy breakfast. I don’t know who decorated this place, but you have to see it to believe it. Your eyes cannot take it all in the first time. A second trip is required. I cannot wait to go back in the spring, especially when the thickly planted Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron are in bloom. We explored the grounds after breakfast where you can stay in The Depot Lodge, the Section Foreman’s Cottage or the Caboose. These buildings offer a B&B experience. There is also the renovated Tingler’s Mill where they now offer various forms of entertainment. The grounds are beautifully and thoughtfully landscaped and offer lots of places to sit quietly when the weather allows. We also visited a nearby General Store, a furniture store and a bakery. Oh, and we saw Hollow Hill Farm where they raise buffalo and Scottish Highlander cows. We drove 100 country miles that day which took us through much of the countryside where we grew up. The road back also took us by the house in which we were raised. I have not seen the old home place since it was sold several years ago. While I did not see anyone, I felt I could imagine part of their lives on the other side of the exterior walls of the house…that side of the walls where my memories live. Thank you Timmy and Sara for the time you gave me and bringing me to a part of the world you have discovered.

Thank you, Shelia for the nearly 3 hours of phone conversation on Christmas Day. You have been such a faithful friend to me. Thank you Melon and Old Con for touching base with me and always reassuring me of our special bonds.

Lastly, I got the unfailing gift of morning. Thanks for the beautiful sunrise and the time given to me to enjoy this wondrous part of the day.

What I got for Christmas was more than I could ask for. Time and love is a special thing to give. And I got a lot.