i owe you

Posted on December 16, 2015 by is there any more pie?

I owe a number of people a lot of emails.

If you are one of my friends or family for which this applies, please forgive me.  I’ve been rude.  And out of touch.  And so very disorganized.

Right now I have a very, very, very slow computer.   Banjo Man saw this for himself last Sunday morning and shrieked, “How can  you stand it!!!!  We have to go to Staples right now and get a new computer!!!”

I think I need to have this one checked for viruses, though I seem to pay for a number of virus protection software programs.  Why don’t they work?

Sigh.

I’ve had this issue for months now and it certainly makes email and blogging and net-surfing and listening to my cd’s and accessing my photos quite…frustrating.

And I also have a very, very, very persistent migraine.  It won’t go away.  Oh, sure, it hides for a day or a few hours and then it returns.  I have no idea what is going on, because migraines have not been an issue for a while.

I’ve been doing a little Christmas shopping.

And a little sewing.

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I made 294 of the little gray and cream half-square triangles. They are for a mystery quilt, created by Bonnie Hunter (teacher and quilter extraordinaire). The large half-square triangles on the left are for a future baby quilt, though I haven’t decided how I’m going to use them.

And I’ve been very busy taking care of Banjo Man, who has definitely had two months of non-Banjo-Man-like home confinement.

This means I do his grocery shopping, among other things.  I will be so happy when he can buy his own bags of lemons at  Walmart again.

I don’t know where these past two months have gone.

Random pictures:

Buddy Cavalieri, my dobro teacher.

Buddy Cavalieri, my dobro teacher, performing at Java Madness, a local coffee shop.

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My attempt to decorate without getting the Christmas boxes down from storage–and therefore avoiding Banjo Man climbing a ladder.

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White raspberry birthday cake for my son-in-law and I to share!

Love to all,
More Pie

Posted in a more pie opinion, family, friends, personal female whining, rhode island | 4 Comments

good book!

Posted on December 15, 2015 by is there any more pie?

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If you’ve recently discovered Australian author Liane Moriarty (THE HUSBAND’S SECRET and WHAT ALICE FORGOT) you might want to check out one of her older novels, THE LAST ANNIVERSARY.

You can buy it for $1.99 on Amazon.

Do you subscribe to Bookbub?  They give you a list of  discounted ebooks via email.  Every once in a while a best-selling author discounts his/her earlier novels and you can discover some great new books that way.

Sunny and warm in Rhode Island this morning!  It feels like October, which is such a treat.

Posted in books & music, shopping | 1 Comment

going out tonight!

Posted on December 13, 2015 by is there any more pie?

We are actually going out tonight!   I couldn’t be more excited!

Banjo Man has been sick with a sinus infection–poor Banjo Man–and the past two weeks’ attempts at going out to celebrate my birthday (or just plain ‘going out’ anywhere at all) had been, understandably, total failures.

I made poor Banjo Man stay home. And I made him go to the doctor.  And I make him take his medicine.  And drink tea.  And go to bed early.  And take naps.

He is feeling much better.  We even went to town this afternoon.  A miracle!  We picked up a check at the consignment store because they sold these chairs for us:

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Somebody got a bargain.

So now we have money in our pockets and tonight we are off to Hope Valley, to the Wood River Inn , for bluegrass night.  We’ll have a very early dinner and listen to some fiddles and dobros (I hope) and guitars and–gulp–banjos.

Jeff is going to meet us there.

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Jeff & Angela, 2011

(Have I mentioned that this happy couple are expecting a little girl in April?  We are so excited!) 

I am already working on the quilt.

There.  Will.  Be.  Pink.

Anyway….this has been an exciting Sunday.  I picked up our Christmas cards at CVS, delivered some holiday jam (yes, made at the lake last summer) and am looking forward to hearing some music.

Banjo Man thinks we’ll be home by 8:15 PM to watch the Patriots play, and that will probably work out just fine.  He’ll be back on the couch before he knows it.

And I’ll go back to wrapping presents and sewing.

Hurray for Sunday!

Posted in family, friends, just for fun, rhode island | Leave a comment

the beatles song birthday is here

Posted on December 9, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Yes, today I am sixty four.

Which is hilarious.  

How could I possibly be sixty four?  It’s a mystery.  And I love it.

Poor Banjo Man has been sick with a cold for over a week now, so his plans to take me out last Friday (my dobro teacher’s blues band was playing in Hope Valley) didn’t work out.  Neither did Plan B, a bluegrass evening at the Wood River Inn on Sunday.

I made Banjo Man curl up on the couch and watch the Patriots lose instead.  He was sad, but comfortable.

I bought myself a new Fitbit (the CHARGE HR) for my birthday at a Black Friday sale.  I think I wore out my last Fitbit.  I’ll start wearing this new one today.

And I treated myself to this cd, which is a compilation of songs from musicians I like.  I will listen to it when I am ironing half-square triangles for a baby quilt this afternoon.

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Because of Pandora and Amazon, I now have a bigger cd collection.

Banjo Man hopes to feel well enough to go out to lunch, but I have half a Spicy Italian Subway sandwich in the refrigerator just in case he’s not up to venturing outside.

Yesterday was my last dobro lesson for at least a month, maybe more.  We head to Texas for Christmas next week.  So I think I’ll try out the new fingering techniques while playing along with my new cd this morning.

(Retirement is wonderful.)

Humming…..”Will you still need me, will you still feed me…”

Posted in a more pie opinion, music, rhode island, shopping | 3 Comments

last one

Posted on December 8, 2015 by is there any more pie?

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I finished writing the novella for this anthology last April.  I did have some minor editorial hissy fits while on the way west in June, but all the various edits and revisions turned out fine.  And now it’s real.

Last week I organized 47 books.  43 were originals, 4 were repackaged reissues with gorgeous covers and my name in big letters.

I admit I loved those the best.

My Idaho books, ONE OF THE FAMILY and PLAIN JANE’S MAN made me happy.  When I wrote ONE OF THE FAMILY, my first book, an editor told me that no one would buy books about divorced women with children set in small towns.

She was wrong.

The cover of STUCK ON YOU, where the heroine looks like Dancing Mandolin Player, made me smile.  I bought the original painting for that cover from an artist in Canada.

Other favorites?

I’LL BE SEEING YOU, which begins in World War II at a North Platte, Nebraska train station and led me to research my father’s Navy career, pleasing him no end.

THE ONLY MAN IN WYOMING, with a very homely hero.  Did I ever tell you that Hoss was my favorite brother on “Bonanza”?

THE PERFECT HUSBAND, because every woman who saw that title laughed.

THE COWBOY, because it was a time travel and I *finally* had the chance to write a Western, with train robbers and outlaws and horses and guns.  This was the book that made me want to get up in the morning and run to the computer.

MADELEINE’S COWBOY.  It was my first “cowboy” romance (and tribute to Zane Grey) and after I mailed it to Harlequin I sat in the car and cried for long, long minutes because I was sure that I had ruined my budding career.

THE TEXAN TAKES A WIFE, which won several national awards and still makes me laugh when I think about those characters.

 Anyway, I unpacked a dozen or more plastic containers filled with books and I created six complete sets of my “life’s work” (as Banjo Man calls it) for my children and for me.  I labelled the containers and stored them in a closet under the stairs.

But there are many, many books left.  I’m not sure what to do with them.   I have donated some to the Salvation Army.   I packed the rest of them back into those plastic containers and put them back on the basement shelves, but I wish I could donate more of them.

Does anyone have any ideas?

 

Posted in books & music, writing | Leave a comment

non on-line shopping

Posted on December 6, 2015 by is there any more pie?

A few weeks ago my daughter and I planned a shopping trip up to the Big  Suburbs about 35 minutes away from home.  She had an appointment first, so she dropped me off at a shopping center where I enjoyed some coffee at Panera Bread and then, with plenty of time on my hands, I drifted down the sidewalk to see what else I could find.

The used bookstore was closed, as were several other specialty stores.

IMG_0419But this store was open.

Because I do 99.9% of my shopping online, going into a store was like walking into a new world.  Funny  how unusual–and exciting–it was.

And so pretty.

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Love that color blue.

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Sparkly pumpkins!!!!

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I did get the giggles over these:

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Best dish towel ever.

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And I bought one of these, much to the bafflement of Banjo Man, who was not impressed with my shopping purchases.

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No more naked wine bottles.

I thought these were cute:

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I bought a tree ornament wine bottle stopper and an LED cork that turns any empty bottle into a light.

Don’t ask me why.  I’m sure it will come in handy.

It was a good reminder to step away from the computer once in a while and venture into the real world to see what is going on.  I’m sure my local stores would appreciate it.

Except this one.  I did not go in here:

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franklin mills and the mini shop hop

Posted on December 3, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Harley Chick, Aunt Pat and I have attended the Sew Expo in Worcester, Massachusetts every April for years.

Last year, while scarfing down taco salads in downtown Worcester and after proudly announcing what we frugally *didn’t* buy from the vendors at the Expo, we decided we needed to get together more than once a year.

Harley Chick would drive, Aunt Pat would plan the excursion and I would go along for the ride.

I’m very supportive that way.

I arrived at Harley Chick’s house at 7 AM.  I had my coffee mug and my envelope of fabric-buying cash and my list of fabric yardage requirements and photos on my phone of the colors needed for Bonnie Hunter’s new “Mystery Quilt”, which would begin online after Thanksgiving.

(I’ll write more about that in a different blog post, but just know that I actually had a *reason* to buy fabric, because I did not have a yard of gray fabric in my stash, nor did I have any neutrals, like ivory or cream, because I tend to buy colorful, modern prints with strange color combos.)

Aunt Pat had made each of us a gift:

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How cute is this bag????

First stop:  Franklin Mills.  This store in one of the many, many brick mill buildings in New England began in 1946 and sold remnants from the woolen mill.  Now it’s a huge fabric, yarn, trims and decorating fabrics store.

My mother sewed all of my clothes when I was a child.  My grandmother made wool braided rugs and knew every mill outlet store in a 100-mile radius from her home.  Going to mill outlets was part of my childhood, so now any time I get to walk into one of those old brick factory complexes I feel like a kid again.  They are usually down narrow streets, in the center of towns, near a river.  Some of the lucky ones still function long after the mill businesses moved down South and then overseas.

The Franklin Mills Store has been modernized, so it is light and bright and clean and filled with beautiful things.

Aunt Pat and Harley Chick, just inside the front door of the mill.

Aunt Pat and Harley Chick, just inside the front door of the mill.

We took a selfie–yes, I admit it–but Harley Chick emailed it to me and now I can’t find it on my computer.

I will keep trying, but let me just say we looked very young for our age and especially beautiful that morning.

Radiant, even.  And slender.

I found some fabric for this guy:

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And some fabric for this kid:

Harley Chick selected fabrics for graduation gifts for two of her nieces and she let Aunt Pat and I help.  Fun, fun, fun!

I found a yard of gray fabric for the mystery quilt, too.

And then we defied construction zones and street repaving to end up here:

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Around the corner of this building was a deli where we ate lunch.  I had the best eggplant sandwich I’ve ever eaten in my entire life and I want to go back and eat another one.  Or two.  And take one home for the next day.

Aunt Pat told us about her Halloween experience, where she handed out over 1000 pieces of candy.  One thousand.  Her town had closed off her street, where neighbors had popcorn machines, cotton candy machines and movies shown on the side of the house next door.

It all sounds great if you’re six years old, but standing at the front door for five hours giving out candy?

We felt her pain.

A little inspiration from inside of Emma’s:

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And a peek at Sammy’s Christmas gift:
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Thanks, Harley Chick and Aunt Pat!!!  I had the best time and hope we can do it again.

Because I really need more fabric.

Posted in friends, quilting, rhode island, shopping | 4 Comments

sarge was here and banjo man gives thanks

Posted on December 1, 2015 by is there any more pie?

Sarge likes to drive at night, so he arrives home in the wee hours of the morning, before dawn.

He loves Thanksgiving.

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Visiting with Grandma.

Banjo Man had a list of “Things For Sarge To Do That Banjo Man Can’t Do Because Of His Knee Surgery”.

Needless to say, this kept Sarge busy on Friday.  He climbed into the attic to put poison up there, he cleaned the gutters and he raked leaves.

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The old guy raked leaves and the young guy carried the cans of leaves to the compost pile.

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Sometimes they goofed around.

And then Sarge escaped for a lunch date with a former girlfriend who is now a competitive body builder.

When he came home he was exhausted.

Body builders will do that to you.  So I’ve heard.

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He slept until 4 AM and then disappeared into the night to head back to New Jersey.

Thanks, Sarge, for all of the help.

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giving thanks for family and friends

Posted on November 30, 2015 by is there any more pie?
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Mayme and Ginny have the Pilgrim spirit!

We had another wonderful Thanksgiving, thanks to the special people in our lives.

Banjo Man always has new recipes he wants me to try, so this year I indulged him by making “stuffing in a bundt pan”.

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This made  Banjo Man very happy.

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We didn’t starve.

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Mayme spoiled us with shrimp, cheese and sausage before dinner.

Nancy and Mike made the yam casserole (yummy!).

Ginny created her usual jaw-dropping desserts.

And then the annual games began, men against the women, no holds barred, screaming allowed and cheating banned.

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Look how serious they are.

They lost.

Twice.

The women laughed.

Because Thanksgiving is all about the food…and the games.

Hope your day was filled with food and fun!!!!

Posted in family | 1 Comment

loving this wednesday

Posted on November 25, 2015 by is there any more pie?

The day before Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days.  I get to organize groceries (and Banjo Man) and make big messes and cook tons of food and listen to music all day long.

Heaven.

My newest favorite Pandora station is “Laurie Lewis”, a California folk singer.  The best singers pop up on that station.  I write down the songs I love–I keep a notebook by the computer–for future purchases.  Yesterday afternoon I almost knocked over the iron twice while leaping from the sewing machine to the computer to see who was singing those beautiful songs.

I did eventually move the iron and the darn cord that kept tripping me.

And I bought three cd’s.  But don’t tell Banjo Man.  My song addiction is becoming too obvious.

So many songs, so little time…

Anyway, back to the pre-Thanksgiving festivities.

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Sarge arrives tonight.  He might drive home right after work or he might take a nap and then drive home in the middle of the night.  We never know.  But in case he is hungry when he arrives I have made one of his favorite meals:  beef and pepperoncini.  Two chunks of beef roast, one large jar of pepperoncini and a container of beef broth go in the crock pot.

Cook on high for hours.  Or whatever.

If I make it the day before, I refrigerate the broth separately (after cooking) and skim the fat that has risen to the top.  But there isn’t much fat in this dish so I don’t worry about it too much.  If I have the time I will remove the stemmed tops of the peppers.

It can be served open-faced on toasted sourdough rolls, topped with cheese and broiled.  With the “au jus” on the side.  Or in a sandwich piled high with pepperoncini.  Or just in a big bowl of beef and broth, with bread for sopping up juice.

I’ll let Sarge decide.

I’m really looking forward to this Thanksgiving.  Sarge’s Pictionary skills are unrivaled, the usual friends gathered around the table are hilariously competitive when it comes to the post-dinner games, and daughter NancyK and husband Mike will join us this year (NancyK got the day off, hurray!).

I’m grateful for all of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you!!!!

Posted in family, food, friends, rhode island | Leave a comment