Georgetown mystery.

Spotted at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Volta Place in Georgetown (DC) today. I always admire the Lutheran Church at this corner. Their sense of gardening matches my own -- whimsical, unplanned, over-packed, riotous. Today however, I discovered a new feature that may be the church's doing. This big fungus was manually affixed to a tree next to the sidewalk by the church. My sister will know what it is. But I wonder if my sister will know why it's there? She used to live in Georgetown but I don't think she drove 4 hours from her current home in the northern Appalachian Mountains to put it there. On the other hand, my sister -- an obsessive mushroom forager -- is whimsical and prone to unplanned, riotous acts so who knows.

Here's the church in October:

One article, full of common sense. I wish it would change my life.

Even my gardens are cluttered. But I think it's OK to clutter a garden.

The stuff clutters the mantels, crowds the table tops, overflows from shelves. It creates confusion, requires constant dusting, and makes no decorative contribution. Everyone ceases to see it. Usually 90 per cent of this clutter is too small to require a second thought. Having it on display is like wearing all the costume jewelry you own at one time. So unless you want to develop a serious case of bric-a-brac mind, the frivolous, petty, small junk must be cleared out.

From How to Keep House, 1948, Mary Davis Gillies.


Place firmly in your mind the protective mantra that if you haven’t felt affection for an object in six months, the unbearable pain you’re feeling at the thought of its demise is a kind of false consciousness. Also, beware of overindulgence in thriftiness, which is very often the first sign of hoarding. Indeed, when I roam my house with receptacles (for donation, recycling, and garbage), I call it my “anti-hoarding” prowl.

From this article on Slate.com.

A report on Hurricane Sandy.

We were so very lucky. Hurricane Sandy came through the DC area with a lot of rain and bluster but did surprisingly little damage. I was totally prepared for a week without power.

But my daughter and sister, who live in quite different locations, didn't fare as well and are in for some Sandy-related inconvenience and loss of income, at least in my daughter's situation.

She lives in Brooklyn, works in Manhattan, and depends totally on the NYC subways, pictured above (photo from inhabitat.com).  Who knows when the unprecedented damage will be repaired. I've always been amazed at how NYC keeps itself functioning but this is a brand-new challenge.  Daughter is otherwise safe and has power, so that's the good news.

Sister lives in Western MD and telecommutes but she lost power last night and at 10 AM was looking out her windows at a foot of snow, with another foot predicted.  [The snow picture is from her front porch but was taken in Nov 2008.] Also, she had not yet heard a single snow plow, which in those parts is unusual. 

I know they're luckier than others in Sandy's path but I want everything to get back to normal for both of them. Soon. 

Two recent trips: 3 hours, 19 mins to the west and we're at my sister's house. 3 hrs and 1 min to the east and we're at Bethany Beach. Both trips wonderful.

Bottom two pictures are from Bethany Beach, Delaware, last week. Weather was perfect. I swam with the fishes. (Those are people on stand-up surf boards -- the proper name of which I cannot remember at the moment.)  Top two pictures are going through (literally) and over the mountains to my sister's house on the Potomac in Western Maryland a week earlier.  I love her patio!  She let wildflowers grow freely between the flagstones and they look fabulous. She planted what she thought was chamomile but what grew turned out to something else.

My sister told me to stop fretting about global heating (yes, heating) and go find mushrooms. So I did.

What's this? you ask. It is my sister's mushroom harvest the first time (I think) she and Bro-in-Law went seriously fungi-hunting this year.

I don't yet know the details of what they ate (if anything), what was poisonous (if any were), and how much more they've harvested since this picture was taken a week or so ago (if any have). Sister Kathy said she felt a mushroom obsession coming on, and she rarely fails to follow an obsession.

An Io moth in Gormania. Found by my brother-in-law Bernie a couple of months ago.

I have other pictures from my visit with my sister and her family. To be published later, when I get my photo act together. Everything about this moth is beautiful but I especially like the subtle pattern on the wings. Like frog foot prints.

Lilacs and My Lovely Little Sister.

Kathy came to visit briefly on Saturday; she had to be in town for business. She brought me these gorgeous lilacs from her house Way Up in The Hills, the same house our maternal grandparents lived in. The lilacs are from shrubs that my grandmother grew. Maybe they even go back before my grandmother?? If they were planted when the house was built they might be from the 1930s. The little picture of Kathy is one that hangs around my sewing and knitting boxes, which explains the condition (I really should put it someplace safe.) She's in her Brownie uniform and is probably in the second grade in this picture. Isn't she cute? The house has smelled heavenly since Saturday.

My sister-in-law's sister-in-law's bumper sticker.

Credit to Dave P. (brother-in-law of my sister-in law) for the term.

Wisdom in the key of F.

Andrew Sullivan alerted the world to this very helpful observation from another blogger, Scott Adams.

Scott writes:
As I'm sure you've learned, it's impossible to speak to a spouse if he or she is near running water, or using power equipment, or concentrating on something else, or eating something crunchy, or wondering if the squeak in the distance is the cat dying, or there is a child within a hundred yards. Amazingly, that covers 90% of every conversation you might attempt at home.

Recently I discovered that spouses, like computers, must be booted up before they can hear what you say. Try walking into a room where your spouse is otherwise engaged and simply launch into your statement or question. Notice that your first sentence doesn't count. That might go like this.

You: I think the ice maker isn't working.

Spouse: What?

In that example, the spouse had not yet booted into listening mode. You can solve this problem with what I call the boot up tone. It is a sound that serves no function except to say, "Shift to listening mode." I highly recommend that you use your spouse's first name as your boot up tone. People are programmed to hear their own names even when they won't notice other background noise. And I recommend speaking in the key of F, even if that isn't your normal range, because it's a great tone for penetrating background noise. It's also a good idea to stretch out your spouse's name a bit. I turn Shelly into She-e-e-e-e-lly. Try it at home. It works. But use your own spouse's name.

Things made by RCJ, GWW, and PWJ (art on wall, canes, and quilt).

Step 1 in deciding to keep this piece of furniture: Put it on the carport where it will get in your way all the time so you have to do something soon.

This was my mom's 1950s sewing table. It opens up and has a storage compartment under the chair. When it's not being used it turns into cube. I love it and won't give it up, but it really isn't very practical other than as yet another piece of furniture that gathers dust. For most of its life in my possession it sat under a TV set. Not a good look.

My dad with someone other than my mom...probably just after WWII.

Meanwhile my mom seemed to be having an OK time somewhere else. 1940-something.

But it all turned out OK. At least when this pix was taken. 1946 is my guess.

My dad's handiwork.