Downton Abbey - down to the wire

Here's me as the Dowager Countess, enjoying my tea under the trees.
"Where's the lemon? I asked for lemon!"

The penultimate episode in Season 2 was last night. Two hours of bliss, and thankfully G opted to lie down on the couch before it started and slept through it. His going-to-bed routine usually starts about 8:30, so I was prepared to miss part of the episode if he woke up.

Since I know now that some of you don't watch the latest episode on Sunday nights, I won't say anything to spoil what's happened. (Even though the 2nd season has been available for sale since at least early January. So some people on this side of the pond know the whole story.) But there are some interesting, surprising, and even shocking developments.

And by the way - wouldn't it be nice to be having tea out on the lawn, with that beautiful estate in view? I'm afraid for me, though, I'd be worried about inconveniencing whomever it was that had to haul the table, cloths, silver, china, and food all that way.

Reasons to be Cheerful and Thankful

The lilies of the valley are opening, and their fragrance is beautiful.


The forsythia blooms have peaked, and now the branches are producing leaves. A few blossoms have fallen, but the overall effect is still beautiful and springy. I may have to cut some new branches to bring inside and coax when these are done.


And last, I'm reminded again of how lucky we have been with some of our caregivers. Elizabeth, who is with us a couple of evenings a week plus during the day on Saturdays and part of Sundays, has the nicest way about her. She has an easy and infectious laugh, and endless patience. Great sense of humor and caring attitude. When she arrives, she makes of point of greeting G with a handshake and inquiring how he's doing. I get a hug and the same query. When she leaves, she shakes hands with G, tells him when she's coming next, and then gives me a hug. (We've had a few caregivers who act like they can't wait to escape and leave calling goodbye over their shoulders as they run out the front door.) When she's here during mealtimes, she joins us at the table (not all the caregivers do this, but I want each one to do what makes them comfortable), and it's wonderful for me to have her join us. Mealtimes without her are pretty quiet. I feel I can ask her advice on things, and she offers suggestions that are useful. I usually have a meeting or exercise class right after dinner, and she always tells me to go do what I need to do, that she will clean up. And the living room is always neatened, pillows plumped, cover on the couch straightened, lap robes folded, before she leaves. All this is on top of her care for G. We are very blessed to have her.

What's cheering you this week? Share in the comments or write your own post, then visit PlanetPenny's cheer this week to link your post and share with others.

Blatant request

My niece, who is a passionate vegan, as well as a wife and mother of three small boys, has been blogging about healthful eating for about a year now. She is also building a business called Veggie Kids around this topic and is always looking for ways to get the word out about her business and the information she has to share.

She's entered a contest for best vegan/vegetarian mom-blogs, which, if she finishes in the top 25, will up her exposure in the marketplace.

You can vote once a day through February 14th. If you wouldn't mind, click here, scroll down to find her entry "Veggie Kids" and click the Vote button. Right now she's number 19.

Vote early and vote often. :) Thanks!

Sense of humor required

As part of G's getting-up-in-the-morning routine, I slip his shoes (which are left loosely tied, always) onto his feet before he sits up on the edge of the bed, so that as soon as his feet hit the floor, he has better purchase. I didn't used to do that, but the day his feet slid out from under him and he nearly went off the edge of the bed, I changed our process.

There is always some wincing from G, because of back pain or because of foot pain, during this time. This morning, as I was putting on his shoes, he was a little more vocal than usual, especially when the second shoe was going on. I considered not putting it on, but thought it better to have both shoes on and have him complain a bit about it than to have him lose his footing when putting his feet on the floor. I asked him if it was his back or his foot that was hurting, and he said his foot. Oh, well. Nothing to be done but be as gentle as I could be.

After he sat on the edge of the bed for a few minutes, I said, as I always do, "OK, now move your feet back before you try to stand up." Then I looked at his feet.

OMG.



"G," I said, "I've put your shoes on the wrong feet!"

He looked down and burst out laughing.

And then was kind enough to wait while I ran for the camera to record my goof.

Downton Abbey

As hoped, last night's episode was excellent. So many story lines, so well told! More intrigue! A poseur claiming to be Patrick, who had drowned on the Titanic, with an unlikely explanation of why he didn't drown! Twinges of feeling by Matthew! More threats by Mrs. Bates!

A few days ago, I was catching up on old issues of Newsweek and read an article by a writer who was dismissive of the overwhelming popularity of Downton Abbey in the US. He said if the story were told correctly, Sybil would have carved a "V" for the Women's Vote on her breast, Matthew would have been killed not just injured in the war, blah, blah, blah.

Perhaps the writer didn't know this was ENTERTAINMENT and not a documentary. Whatever. I'm enjoying it immensely and can't wait for more. The last two episodes, next week and the following, will each be two hours long. Yes!

Reasons to be Cheerful in February

I have flowery reasons to be cheerful this week:

The forsythia branches that I cut 10 days ago are in full bloom,


and the lilies of the valley dug from the garden in early January are thriving. The flower buds haven't turned color yet, though I suspect by tomorrow there will be the first hint of white.


One of our dear caregivers brought me a little African Violet plant that she started from a leaf cutting about 2 months ago. She can't remember what the flower color will be, but whatever it is, I'm happy to have it. And I sent her home with newly dug lily of the valley pips and freshly cut forsythia branches to coax.

Outside, because we continue to have extraordinarily warm weather, the snow drops are up, and so are the crocuses, though the flower buds are only just visible. I've never seen snow drops earlier than March 1st - and mid March is more typical - but I looked for and found them on February 1st. If we get a return to normal (i.e., cold) weather, I don't know if there's anything I should do to protect them.


I spent last week's $40 class action settlement on a Chinese foot and body massage. It was heavenly.

And speaking of Chinese: my nephew just found out that he is a finalist for a Fullbright Scholarship for China, 2012-13. He spent his junior year in China and Taiwan and wants to go back. Not sure when he'll find out if he is selected, but this is wonderful news. He's fluent in several languages, but when I asked him if he had learned anything useful while he was in China, like pressure point foot massages, the answer was no. What kinds of things are they teaching university students these days?!

What's making you cheerful? Be sure to visit Penny for more cheer.

What a difference a year makes

My mom, Saturday, February 5, 2011
More shoveling was still needed to allow the cars to pass
on the far side of the turnaround between me and where she is standing.
Behind her is the rest of the driveway down to the road.

A year ago today, about 2 in the afternoon, began a blizzard of "historic proportions" as it was later called. We had fair warning so were prepared. At the time, G and I were living with my parents for a few months while our house was being remodeled to improve accessibility for G. G's older daughter K and her middle child, P, a freshman at university in Utrecht, were visiting us during his school break, and they, being from Holland and not used to this kind of weather, were very excited that they would be experiencing a blizzard. We made sure we were home by 1pm on February 1st, stocked up with some games and movies, and then we waited for the storm to move in. And it did.

It was a wonderful feeling, knowing we were safe and warm inside and with no need to be anywhere else. We hung out in the family room, which has big windows overlooking the long view down my parents' front yard, so it was an impressive sight to see the snow move in, the high winds, impaired visibility, all while still light. It snowed all afternoon and all through the night, and stopped by mid-morning. When the sun came out, more than 20 inches of snow had fallen.

My parents have someone who, unasked, shows up with his Jeep and plows their driveway, which is about 200 feet long and has a turnaround near the house. We were glad to see him appear that morning, but surprised when, about a quarter of the way up the driveway, he stopped, got out, got back in, backed down the driveway, and drove away.

So K, P, and I bundled up, got some shovels, and started in on the driveway where the plow guy left off, thinking he would be back shortly once we cleared some of the mounds he had piled up. We kept shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling. It was gorgeous outside, cold but not windy, bright snow, brilliant blue sky, and Oscar doing his best to chase squirrels through snow that was almost above his head. We let P, a big strapping 19-year-old, have the biggest shovel, I took the next biggest one, and K the smallest one. K and I would stop periodically to rest and enjoy the view, and so did P, but not as often as we did.

We shoveled all the way up the driveway and the side of the turnaround closest to the house, as well as the area in front of the garage. We thought the plow guy would be back, and my dad told us to leave the far side of the turnaround untouched.

By Saturday, 3 days later, with K and P safely back in Holland and no sign of the plow guy, I decided there was nothing for it but to finish the shoveling. My mom wanted to come out and help, so the two of us (and Oscar), spent an hour and a half or so and finished clearing the snow. It was fun to be doing this with my mom, and I know she felt great to be able to do the work. When we were done, we heard the roar of a snow blower from across the street, so we walked down the driveway with our shovels to offer our services to the neighbor. My mom knew he would say no but wanted to tease him a bit by us showing up with our shovels, ready to help.

I can't say I miss having a repeat performance of last year's storm. All this week we are above normal temperatures, in the 40's and 50's, and it is blissful. But I love remembering last year and how the blizzard played out.