Maizie.

2-20-24 SHORT HILLS: Maizie died today. 

Two days ago she was frolicking in the snow with Blue looking like a puppy. She was the alpha from the moment she walked into our house eleven years ago. Whenever I came home, she was at the front door to welcome me back, pressing against my leg and howling for joy. Nobody else ever showed a drop of that kind of enthusiasm for me.

For ten years she was a therapy dog working with Judy visiting hospitals and schools. She met hundreds, maybe thousands, of people and left each of them feeling a little happier.  

We have had many dogs and many favorites over the years, but Maizie was at the top of the list.

We are very sad.

White and Cold II.

2-13-24 SHORT HILLS: Just when we thought winter was over, we got a ton of wet snow. They predicted this almost to the last flake, but I discounted the prediction as ‘forecaster-hysteria’. It has stopped by mid-afternoon, and the trees are starting to shed the snow. 

Yesterday I got the pool cover pump going to drain a big load of rain water, and I saw snowdrops about to open and snowflakes coming up, it was in the fifties. Today it’s in the twenties with a load of white stuff. Winter is back.

Judy was outside with the dogs a few times taking pix. There’s eight inches of wet snow and it’s cold, but there very little wind. I don’t see any damage at this point, but the problems may show up later. 

On Sunday we were in Brooklyn to see Lily and Danna’s new apartment in Brooklyn Heights. It’s just beautiful—roomy, bright, light, airy. Valerie’s fam was there along with Alison, Anna, Gardner and Emmett.   

Maizie taking a snow break.

Blue and Maizie checking out the snow depth on the table.

Maizie napping.

All four dogs trying out the snow.

Maizie on a visit to a Seton Hall pap rally.

Snowdrops open early, before the snow.

Anna and Emmett in sweaters that she knitted!

Me and Emmett.

Home Renovation.

2-6-24 SHORT HILLS: Back in NJ just in time for more home work. The painters are here to tidy up the room that had the electrical short and the fire, plus our bedroom, the living room, the kitchen and probably more before Judy lets them leave. Judy is one to never waste a disaster. If the painters [electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc] are here for problem one, they might as well look at problems 2 through X. So our lives are upside-down again for the week.  

I have stopped using the walker and am walking with a cane and a knee brace and sometimes without the cane. PT resumes this afternoon. I have done some walking outside in the driveway and on the grass.

Groundhog day, Feb. 2, was last week on an overcast, dark, rainy day. No groundhog saw its shadow that day anywhere in the Northeast. That means, according to legend, that winter is over. So far the rodent might be right. The last few days have been sunny and the afternoons have been in the forties—almost spring-like. 

I saw a pair of house finches, about a week ago, sitting together in the junipers for a long time. I saw them again yesterday in the yew tree next to the kitchen windows each doing extensive grooming. Pictures of them through the window and window-screen are terrible, but they are a pair and seem to be deciding on a nest site. Another sign of an early spring. 

House finches spending time as a pair perhaps considering a nest site.

Here they are again a few inches from the window and screen doing extensive personal grooming. Sorry about the bad photo.

Another pic through the window.

Snowdrops are always the first to show up.

White and Cold.

2-1-24 VERMONT: We came up last Saturday between bad weather days. It was an easy trip. As soon as we settled in, I started coughing from a cold, which is now starting to clear. Judy didn’t get it, so far. 

Vermont is white and cold. The sky has been overcast since we’ve been here. We have a foot of snow around the house. Judy has put on snowshoes and trekked out into the pasture with the dogs. They use her trail.  

 

Monday we went to Smith’s auction house to pick up Alison’s rug and Judy’s latest acquisition, a trade sign from an old inn. We hung it on the new side of the house, and it looks great. 

Tuesday the solar people came to the house to evaluate that part of the roof where the panels will be deployed and decided we can get a few more panels than previously estimated. 

Wednesday Dave the plumber came to fix a few leaky faucets and a leak under the kitchen sink.

Friday it’s back to NJ. 

Horses and Barns.

The upper pond and the brook.

The lower pond after another snow fall.

Horses doing what horses do best--eating hay.

Bally snuggled into the snow eating something. Probably best not to ask what it is.

The new house living room has become a tavern.

The Joys of Home Ownership.

1-18-24 SHORT HILLS: We never did get to NYC for that dinner. We had heavy rain that found a way through the new roof and down the wall in the den to an electrical socket that dramatically shot flames into the room before the fuse blew. Yes, a fuse, we had a secondary electrical box that used fuses. [note the past tense.] The electricians were horrified to see the fuses and insisted that they be replaced with a breaker panel. We agreed. The process destroyed a wall in the kitchen entry room and necessitated replacing three light switches that were local collateral damage. They also replaced all the sockets in the den, six, I think.

The cause of the problem—a nail in the roof worked it’s way up through the   shingles and let the water in. The roofer repaired the damage. 

Now that all the systems are working, Judy decided the cosmetic damage needs attending to, and since the painters are going to be here anyway, lets take care some problems elsewhere. Several elsewheres as it turned out. 

So a loose nail is going to end up costing thousands.

Otherwise, the rain washed away the snow, followed by cold and then another two inches of snow. At least half of January has passed. I see the winter as December, January and February, so we’re halfway to March 1.

We were  supposed to visit baby Emmett this week, but Anna had a cough, so we cancelled. We’ll try again this weekend.

White-throated sparrow and Junco under the feeders. This was taken through the window which explains the blur.

When the water is frozen, you can eat snow.

Southern magnolia dusted with snow behind the feeders. As you can see, everybody likes sunflowers seeds, but not thistle seeds.

Judy and Maizie are on a therapy visit. When ever Judy is out of the house, the dogs all wait at the front door for her to return.

2024.

1-8-24 SHORT HILLS: Our Xmas Day party for neighbors on the road in Vermont and for Alison, Dan and Lily was another huge success for Judy. Beverages were imbibed, many empty glass bottles went to re-cycling. Food was devoured, but left overs fed us for days. 

We put the house back in order the next couple of days and then came back to NJ on a dry travel day a little before New Years Eve. Our NYE dinner was the same as usual—king crab, wine, Peach Melba—and we were in bed to watch the Ball Drop. I guess all those people in Times Square were having a good time, but glad we were snuggly tucked away.

So 2024 has begun, more PT for me. I am doing stairs now, and am able to take a few steps on my own without walker or cane. The big snow storm dumped about 2-3 inches on us, just enough to cover the grass

We had dinner with Lynn and Bill a few nights ago at a Turkish place in Madison. Alison and Dan are meeting us for dinner at Gramercy Tavern this week for my 86^th. 

Junco hopping across the snow.

Feeders in the snow.

Cardinal sheltering in the brush.

Enough snow to cover the terrace.

Maizie posing during a visit to Beth Israel MC.

Merry, Merry.

12-24-23 VERMONT: Xmas eve—we expect Alison, Dan and Lily sometime today. Our annual Xmas day party happens tomorrow afternoon. Judy has been preparing all week. I have tried to stay out of the way. 

Neighbors Steve and Diana had their annual Solstice Party two days ago with a bonfire to lure the sun back to our hemisphere. It was pot luck so there was lots of food to try. 

It doesn’t feel like it, but the days are now getting longer. Maybe by the end of January you will be able to see it. 

We have little patches of snow here and there. The ponds are frozen and patches of standing water are all frozen. The waterfall is still flowing but will be frozen in a couple of days unless there’s a warm up. The sky is overcast. I filled the bird feeders yesterday and the chickadees and nuthatches were here this morning.

We usually go to a church in the Strafford Upper Village for Xmas Eve Carol sing. The minister is very open and welcoming. The service is aimed at and for kids so it's just right for us.  

Blue skies from a few days ago. The horses working their hay.

Maizie and Blue fighting with a broken branch. Blanca watches from the top of the hill.

The little church in Strafford.

The upper pond and stream to the lower pond.

The waterfall still running from all the rain last week.