The holidays are over and it's time to start anew

Well, after the Indie Garage Sale in Utica NY, which was a lot of fun and a huge success, I had to scramble to get ready for Christmas.  I had done very little shopping, decorating or baking, so things got pretty hectic.  The Garage sale was tons of fun, even if it was a very long day, not including the 2 hour drive each way. It was great not having to navigate the NYC subways with my bins and hand truck at 6 am.  And I met some great crafty friends that I hope to meet again at future shows.  Now that this is my fulltime gig, I plan to do as many shows as possible in the upcoming year.

A few days before the Garage sale, I took a quick trip to NYC to see Carla in her Lincoln Center Debut at Alice Tully Hall.  While in the city, I had a chance to visit the Union Square Market to see my candles being sold by Re Jin of BaileyDoesntBark.  http://www.baileydoesntbark.com/  I enjoyed immensely working with her to create her Jae line of candles.   I'm sure she's still recovering from a month at the market.

Carla's debut was awesome.  She sang a selection of Charles Ives songs and was mentioned in the Times review.  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/arts/music/12axiom.html   "Mr. Adams’s gentler side was heard in a set of light-textured orchestrations of five Ives songs, sung with an appealingly burnished tone by Carla Jablonski, a mezzo-soprano."  

So on to Christmas and the hub-bub of activity.  I baked way too much stuff, so I'm shipping it out this week with the gifts that no one took with them on buses and planes home.  The girls left on the bus yesterday afternoon, and Ken left this afternoon to fly back to Florida.  His trip up here last week was a nightmare because of the east coast snow storm.  He rebooked, then flights were cancelled, and we even drove to Buffalo to pick him up only to find out that flight was also cancelled.  He ended up spending the night in the Charlotte airport before finally making it up here the next day.

The girls got their Snuggies.

Nina got her jar of pickles

 

And they went ice skating in Binghamton

And Ken and I took an afternoon trip up to Lake Cayuga, one of the Finger Lakes near Ithaca to take in the sights and walk around in the fresh cold air. 

It was a wonderful Christmas and as much as I looked forward to relaxing after everyone was gone, I feel lonely and listless today.  I miss the bustle of everyone eating, talking, and enjoying each other's company.  But I guess I'm ready to settle in for the long winter days, puttering around here, perusing seed catalogs and planning the year ahead.  Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to everyone!

Bought a car, Wolf Trap, Campfires and other stuff

It's been a busy couple weeks. Things are finally back to normal and I'm back to my retirement mode, still unpacking for good measure.

So I finally bought a new car last week. I had rented a car for a month when I moved, and it cost me a small fortune since I didn't drop it back off in Manhattan. When it was getting close to returning it, I dragged my butt out to shop for a car and bought a 2009 Kia Sportage. I originally went shopping for a Suburu because they have such a good reputation and gets around in the snow, which I will definitely need here in upstate NY! I ended up with the Kia because it's been redesigned and is better quality than when they first came out, and it was about $5000 less than the Suburu. In addition, I got a 10 year 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty for about $1300 extra which gives me peace of mind since I plan to keep it forever. Anyways, it's a sturdy little SUV and I think I'm going to like it a lot.
So I took my new Kia to Vienna WV to pick up my daughter Carla, who was an opera intern at Wolf Trap this summer. She reserved a ticket for me to see La Boheme Friday night and it was absolutely lovely.

I have to rave about Diego Torre, a Filene artist who played the part of Rodolfo; shades of Pavarotti. I was absolutely mezmerized by his talent. I met him at one of the after-parties, and he is the most humble and nicest guy you could hope to meet. He is going to be such an influence in the opera world. He is making his Met debut later this year, and I plan to be there. I enjoyed myself immensely. Sorry the picture isn't the best, but it's the only one I have.
The next day, we packed up the car and headed back home. Carla stayed a few days with me to regroup before heading back to NYC. Nina and her boyfriend Marcus also came up that weekend from Philadelpia and we all had a grand time, barbecuing, and had a couple campfires in the fire pit in my yard.

I loved having my 2 kids here for a few days, and I'm loving this small-town life where I can get to the post office or grocery store in less than 5 minutes. Last Monday, I had my things which had been in storage for the past 7 years delivered from PA. So the unpacking continues. I still have time to relax and take time to get acquainted with my new home.

We bought a landmark

This adorable little village I moved to boasts less than 1000 residents. So it stands to reason that everyone knows everything about everyone. I'm finding this out first hand. It started with the realtor, then the inspector, and now the neightbors we have met.

I went to the Post Office for the first time a few weeks before we moved so I could have any mail held until I got my mailbox up on the route. The clerk asked me if I bought the big blue house and I said, oh, you know it? She proceeded to tell me she lived 2 doors down and she was my neighbor!

The other night I was out getting my mail, and the kid who mowed my yard before I moved in stopped by on his 4-wheeler and introduced himself. He told me all about the family and said they had 2 daughters about his age and that he had spent a lot of time at the house. He also lives 2 doors down in the other direction. Yesterday, while eating lunch and watching the news, I heard a knock on the door, and it was our neighbors next door. We can't see them because of the woods, but they are very nice! They live here 6 months and in Florida the other 6 months in their camper.

The other day, someone pulled into the drive and asked if I wanted to keep the hot tub on the deck. Of course, he knew the previous owners who had told him the tub was being sold with the house, so he thought he would check. Obviously I want to keep it - my kids would skin me alive if I sold it! And besides, I'm envisioning a holiday party with all my family enjoying it this winter in the snow.

Anyways, the previous owners apparently were very wealthy by local standards and had big lavish parties. It's definitely a house for entertaining. Not only is there a huge deck with lights and hot tub, there is also a large picnic pavillion with 10 tables, chairs and umbrellas which were left with the house. It even has a commercial heater. There is so much electrical lights, speakers and sound system, it will take months to figure it all out.

In any case, the couple have divorced and I hear he is now very sick. Their business in town is for sale, and he's disappeared. They were apparently very well known in the area. I think we have a reputation to uphold. The wife lives nearby, and I'm sure she has driven by more than once to see if her old home is being tended to. I hope she's not upset that we cleaned up all the vines (very gothic looking) from the deck. Now that it's cleared, we plan to have it sanded and painted in a natural brown instead of the light grey. And we're keeping the grass mowed. Ah yes, we bought the Bianco house.

This is the before:

This is the deck now:


Obviously it needs some work, but we're making progress!

Worked on the vines today

I worked all morning cutting vines. They are pretty dead now after massive doses of weed killer last week. Here is what they looked like before:


Here is what my work accomplished today: