gardens

Philau is closed for Thurs. I had already assigned work to my students in case of closure and am glad they don’t have to be on the roads today. What with computers and plenty of heads up most people in my field can work from home—when they aren’t shoveling out! Don’t know if that’s a plus or not but it suits me.
I’m busy updating my Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro skills for an upcoming job and can use all the concentrated time I can get. Friends say they are sorry that I have to do all this but this is what I do, what I like to do. And all I learn goes directly into my class room as it becomes who I am.

and it’s still snowing in Philadelphia! The mayor has closed down the city – all bus service is stopped, highways closed and Philadelphia University is planning on starting at 10:00 in the am.

More snow – I guess the garden will wait. In the mean time things have been pretty busy. Among other things I worked on a flyer for The Costume Society of America and last week on a photo shoot of a 1955 gown by Luis Estevez. Totally separate events but both dealing with historic costumes. Funny how things come in bunches.

Well, the holidays are over and school has started. My first classes were yesterday. Right now I’m headed to VA to my Mom’s to dedecorate her house and to celebrate her birthday! My decorations at home are down except for greens around the door but it has been too cold to deal with that. This new header image is of those greens.

We’re driving down the Delmarva peninsula and it is still cold, but I hear it’s already over 50 degrees in Virginia Beach. So that’s good! Here the ponds are frozen and the fields which will soon have green things growing are all brown and stubbly but the sky is full of birds in “V” formation—I wish flying to Canada but that won’t be until around March. Yeah, I know, in Philadelphia, I still have to deal with Feb. and March but the days ARE getting longer and stuff is starting to grow. Really!

Get’s me making plans for my garden— the catalogs have been coming for almost a month now and we have been having snows that melt slowly watering the ground so I hope there will not be any dry spells this summer to turn my world into a dust bowl.

My back yard has a place that needs seeding but other than that it’s pretty ok—just maintenance and veggies. But the front – under the living room window, is a shady place that is just a mess of pacasandra and a stunted azalea bush that need work. There’s a project to think about.

Or perhaps along the side walk—we could revisit that as well. I like to plant seasonal things along my way from the house to the car. Then, if I’m busy at work and don’t have time to wander my garden, I don’t miss the changes.

Christmas came and Christmas went and we did get the cards finished—mostly, and the gifts purchased and wrapped—mostly, but the food was gathered in and everyone seemed to enjoy . . .

We still have some friends to celebrate with tomorrow, Bob’s best friend from the “dirty knees days’ and his wife, Linda, (whom I doubt ever had dirty knees!)

We had a terrific time hosting the faculty party for Design + Media—I’m so lucky to work with such wonderful and interesting people! and we always enjoy the “rude” dinner. Debbie, you’re the rudest!

New Years is in the offing and then we struggle with when to un-decorate. Bob would leave it up to the 4th of July. He’ll say not but he might.

So Happy New year to all and—2010, we’re really counting on you!

Well . . . it’s December 22 and that means 3 days until Christmas. This year we went to Kevan and Erin’s for an early holiday since they were here last year and this year is her family’s turn. That’s fair, I guess.

We had a wonderful time—even with (especially with) the BIG snow that blanketed the east coast. Lots of time with the guys, good food, gifts and shoveling! and shoveling!

We stayed an extra night to give the various areas’ snow plows time to do their bit—pretty amazing—only unplowed street between Washington DC and Philadelphia was mine. It was great how the city dug out the “Linc” so the Eagles could win, however. I’ll give my street to that! (It has been plowed by now.)

A most wonderful event was that when we got home my neighbor and cousin, Susan, had seen that our sidewalk, driveway and walk to the door were clear. Very wonderful as this was a 23 inch snow and all our shoveling muscles were done in from the snow in VA.

Down side of all this is that I really need that weekend before Christmas to get ready for Christmas and no matter how many lists I made and great plans and charts I made—the cards are still not done, and the gifts are still not wrapped, some not bought and the food not “gathered in”. And it’s December 22.

My nephew Jonna just touched down after a 28 hr. plane ride from the mountains of Afghanistan!
Welcome home Jonna!!!

Just about my favorite holiday! Good friends, family, good food, time to reflect and get ready for the wild holiday ride of the next month.
Wishing the same for all of you, especially my sister, Nathalie, who just came home from an operation, my nephew, Jonna, who is in Afghanistan, and my friend, Dennis.

I mentioned before that I used to weave. (See post Oct 12, 2009—I Had a Life as a Weaver.) I don’t weave now but I still like things woven. I was sent a most amazing email this morning on weaving with Spider Silk. I knew spider silk was one of the strongest fibers and that it has been used for gun sights due to its fineness etc. but this blew me away. Let me know what you think.

I live in a fairly urban area. Granted there are yards with lots of trees and gardens and it is about 3 blocks to a large park along a busy bus route, but it is in the City of Philadelphia and the usual wild life we get are stray cats and a possum or two. Today about 10:00 in the morning a full grown deer ran between my house and my neighbors—maybe 20 ft apart—into their back yard. It stood near a large bush and by the time we could get a camera it was gone. Don’t think my garden has seen a deer in a very long time, but you never know.

My street used to belong to a house on Germantown Ave. which was built in the 1600’s. Properties facing the avenue were long and narrow. Narrow on the street side but long enough to accommodate gardens, orchards and stables. During the Battle of Germantown, revolutionary soldiers had to hop fences as they chased each other through these narrow yards.

Land was subdivided after the Civil War and it is now a neighborhood of Victorian homes where stables or carriage houses have been turned into coveted homes. There has not been any livestock kept here for many years, (although Luke does keep chickens, but that’s another story). So a misplaced deer is a big deal.