Wrong again . . .

As you can see the puzzle pieces are huge.  But I really liked the scene.

Thought I wasn't working hard enough in my Wii Fitness Coach work out. I finally accidentally found the list of things I could do to perk up the program besides just clicking on "No sweat!"  I had her crank it up and she threw in some more difficult moves which I liked. I ended up digging out the heart monitor and found myself pushing close to 150 bpm. I'd forgotten what the cardiac rehab guys had told me for my ideal beats per minute so I called this morning. Normal, 70 year old woman should be between 120 and 130. He checked out my results from the 12 weeks of rehab and told me I could go to the mid 130's but not over 140. So I checked out how things went today and I had to go back to my regular routine. I was surprised how hard I have to work to do pliés with bicep curls. So I'm going to just keep on working at my regular level and just let her beef it up a little when necessary.  Lesson learned for now!

On our cabin fever trip to Foster, RI and a snack at Shady Acres we had a pleasant surprise. A man sitting at the counter having his snack was a friend from our dating days! The minute I saw him I remembered our trip to Munson, MA for the motorcycle hill climbs. We had scrabbled our way to the top to get a good look at the action. On the way back down my feet got ahead of me and I was running pellmell without the ability to slow down. Sandy got in front of me and caught me. Good thing. I really was scared silly. I'm still wary when I'm walking down steep trails. Didn't realize how dangerous it could be. He and PS&D's Pop had a good time talking cars and politics. I put in my two cents too, naturellement! He is retired but his wife is still working at the Shepard Hill School. He's having a great deal of difficulty walking now. That's a real shame.

Finished my Grandma's Kitchen puzzle in record time - 5 days. Grampa did help me at the end. I took a photo of it and then boxed it up. I still think that it is an Alzheimer's puzzle. The pieces were too large for my liking. I may have to buy Ravensburger puzzles instead of Springbok for the next round, next winter!

Quote:  Early and provident fear is the mother of safety.    ____Burke

Cabin fever . . .

Back to England and WW II

Most assuredly have cabin fever. I just spent quality time with q-tips and organic pesticide oils cleaning up pockets of spider mites upstairs in the cold storage above the big bedroom attempting to save the Bonsai Gardenia Numéro 1. It's looking a bit peaked but I shall keep at it until I can put it out side, probably only in early May! It's such a beautiful plant but wow does it have problems. I may have to repot it too and even change the tray of rocks. We'll see what I can do playing Green Goddess! Gardenia #2 is very well and slowly some buds are unfurling. Didn't know that gardenias are very slow growing. That's a good thing for me. Maybe it'll help me to slow down. I'm always in a rush for something!

Grampa drove me to Cutler Middle School in Mystic yesterday and we watched Kiddo as his team won their game. The Groton Heat had to wait two hours for their next game so Kiddo and his Mom settled in to watch other games and Grampa and I went to their house so he could watch the Daytona 500 on the 60 inch screen, eat pizza and chips and drink beer! I went back for the second game and took all the back roads I could because I didn't have my license! The Heat got pretty beat up in this second game but Kiddo had an assist and handled his defensive duties well! He was all tuckered out and decided he really hated the Groton Celtics! So ends formal basketball for the season.

PS&D's Pop has offered to take me for a snack in RI so we can gas the car at better prices than here. I'll take him up on it just to get out. Had just enough snow last night to freeze on the driveway this morning but the bright sun is melting it away. Wish it would melt the whole yard. Still way too much snow. Can just about see the top of the rock outcropping to the right of the garage. And so I give it another  merdeski. (This is too funny. Spell check knows how to spell merdeski!) One other bright spot for today:  Kiddo had cut out all sorts of snowflakes and I had to color them. I used the pastels and they are very bright and peachy keen clinging to the fridge.

Quote:  O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath; a goodly apple rotten at the heart!  ___Shakespeare (Was he speaking of politicians?)

Disgruntled King Tut . . .

How 'bout that closet door?

Can't say I really blame him but Kiddo wasn't thrilled when he got up this morning and had to put on his school project costume so his kooky Mémé could get a photo. It really is too small for him so I cut the sleeves free just a bit and actually broke the elastic for the head gear! He was happy with that because he hated the head piece. His teacher managed to get it on him for one photo, which I haven't seen! He didn't wear the head piece for the presentation. Must admit it was awkward and too tight. But kiddos have to suffer a little in life! Finally found a book that he really liked but it's the first in the series and just came out in January. Doubt we'll see volume two for quite a while. He is in the middle of a lesson plan. He has to teach the class all about salmon! It doesn't seem to faze him at all. Good on him! He and Grampa put together his solar powered car late yesterday afternoon but they had to modify it because we don't have any solar power! They used a C battery and it works very well. We almost wore it out running it between the kitchen and the living room.

Hell's bells. It's snowing! Merdeski. I hope it's just some pesky little storm. We would like to get to Kiddo's basketball tournament tomorrow. But he already knows that if the roads are bad up here we won't go. It's supposed to be rain along the coast. Big brother's Grasso Tech team made State's last night against Putnam. Perhaps I can bring the Kiddo to see his big brother play at least one more time. I'm sure the next game will be a killer as they will be the low seed against a top seed. But you never know until it's over!

Grampa and I were going to stop at the Roadside Diner for a coffee around 12:30. No room, not even at the counter so we settled for coffees to go, a home made Glorious Morning muffin for him and a magnificent fresh cinnamon, walnut honey bun for me. Heaven. Must get cracking on my Sprinbok, La cuisine de grand'mère before Grandpé disowns moi! He really doesn't like puzzle pieces for supper. Such a grouch.

Quote:  The crown of all faculties is common sense.   __It is not enough to do the right thing, it must be done at the right time and place.  __Talent knows what to do; tact knows when and how to do it.   _____W. Matthews

Very nice hoodie . . .

Grampa was out early today!

Took my bi-weekly journey to visit younger sister yesterday. We went out a bit earlier than usual since I had to return for a haircut at 3 pm. R. gave me a beautiful aqua/green soft, cuddly hoodie which just fits. I will be very careful when I have to wash it so I don't shrink it. It really is very good looking and comfortable. I'll wear it over a mock turtleneck unzipped! Cool beansies!  We had a delicious breakfast at the Harvest in Simsbury. Forgot that there was no school there this week and were lucky to get a table. The wait for our food was worth it:  delicious coffee, a type of eggs Benedict for me ( bottom up:  potato patty, crumbled crisp bacon, two poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce and a side of succulent fresh fruit). R. had stuffed banana bread French toast which was  delectable, sweet and delicious. I ate all of my food but we brought some of R's back home with us. We also decided we needed a monster chocolate chip cookie to snack on while we played cards! She almost beat me at cribbage and then creamed me twice at Casino. We laughed a lot because we kept losing track of the big and little casino!

Not making my trek to Groton today because Kiddo's Dad will pick him up after school for family haircut day! I'll go tomorrow when he has a half day and we'll return to Moosup for some sliding and working on his solar car with Grampa. I've just been offered  a drive to Ray's Hobby Shop and lunch at the Top of the Bay. Best be on my way!

Quote:  Two consorts in heaven are not two, but one angel.   ___Swedenborg

Nice excursion . . .

Couldn't help myself.  The frost on the bedroom window was sparkling this morning.

Haven't had optimal conditions for out door activities so we went for a ride to Hog Heaven in Sturbridge, MA.  I can always find something new and different to get for Kiddo. Poor Grampa has given up hoping I won't find something I like! Today I found a Klutz Complete Build-It-Yourself Kit for a Solar Car! Now that is very neat. I won't bring it to Groton but will dig it out when Kiddo comes for a visit on a sunny day. A quote from the back of the package: "Batteries Not Included. But it's not a problem. The energy for this car is provided by a one-million-mile-wide ball of nuclear fusion located at 8.5 light-speed minutes away. We have provided unlimited access it this source of power at no additional cost.It comes free with every purchase."  That just ticked my fancy. The drive home is so beautiful along 169 and we stopped at Java Jive for lunch. Grampa found a new radio station he liked which provided the background music as we ate our sandwiches.  91.1 FM is broadcast from The Pomfret School and plays all kinds of odd oldies with no real advertisements. Will watch UCONN women go up against Baylor tonight at 9. I'm not certain they can pull it off but I'm hoping. That would be a fantastic win.  Think I'll go tickle the ivories for a while. I've finally found some songs I like and are easy enough for me to play! Hope I don't forget myself and start singing out loud! An aside: bought gas in MA for 40 cents a gallon cheaper than Connecticut!

Quote:  It is sweet to feel by what fine spun threads our affections are drawn together.   ___Sterne

Blew it big time . . .

Bonsai Gardenia #2 in action. Had to have Puppies' and Dante's Pop take the photo.  I kept muffing it!

Oh well, I did it again. We brought Kiddo home 2 1/2 hours early this morning! Got up at seven and it was snowing with the forecast indicating we would get up to 3 inches today before turning into heavy snow tonight. Never one to take chances, especially with our Kiddo, we packed up early and were on our way. Naturellement, when we got to Groton the sun came out! So we went to McD's for breakfast before bringing him home. Ended up waking Mom because we needed to make certain we didn't drop him off with no one home.  That would have been a second time!! Not good. So I made the poor kid knock on Mom and Dad's bedroom door just so I could rest in peace!

We went to Kiddo's brother's basketball game last night. The Eagles of Grasso Tech lost to Goodwin Tech of New Britain but we had a lot of fun watching the game. Kiddo loved watching Big Brother in action. Very cool. Big brother will graduate in June. Can't believe we've already come to that stage in his life. He is going to school, working after school at Cardinal Honda from 2 to 6 pm and from 8 am to 2pm Saturdays. He also kept some of his hours at Big Y and works there Sundays. Super good kid. He and his girlfriend were at the house Valentine's Day and he asked me to guess how many roses he had given to his girlfriend. So I guessed a dozen. Told "Be real, Irène!" I guessed again. " Twelve roses?" With a shocked look that said " How could you think I'm that cheap?" He told me, " Three dozen." So I immediately asked the young lady, "How come?" Answer, "He was bad yesterday." Too funny. They then went out to dinner at Foxwoods! She is a Junior at Grasso, hairdressing, I think.

We're back to snowing in Moosup. Sick of it. Was going to get a photo of King Tut today but circumstances prevented me from doing so.  Maybe next week.

Quote:  To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt fully to understand.   ___Tuckerman

Not just for our kids . . . for all and sundry . . .

 Perry and Irene