Author: robin

Life Is Crazy Out There

- robin

I worried about the blog today. I have almost nothing good that I can share about yesterday.

The day was filled with STUFF. I sat at Medical City Dallas for hours while my daughter Jami had appointments. Watching people at the hospital is not as fun as it used to be. The masks hide so much!

Driving home, we hit heavy traffic where a left lane ends and merges into the right lane. We were in the right lane. the truck in the left lane wanted to speed in front of us but did not make it and honked for about 15 seconds at us. He then put his window down and yelled at us. Really yelled, nasty things.

I took a photo of the truck. The truck number and licence have been cropped out of the picture. I was so sad that my favorite Amazon had a driver who did that. We decided not to report it. Maybe he was just having a bad day?

We had to go to Willow Bend Mall to pick up a few things I had ordered for the weekend…..then I went and bought new sandals! We are booked for Kaua’i after the new year, so I am getting ready now. That’s the one good thing from yesterday.

We stopped at the Kroger to pick up milk. On the way home, there was a man walking on the sidewalk. The truck in front of us stopped, NO BLINKER. I guess to pick him up. She pulled over to the side of the road and as we passed her, she came charging out of her truck, yelling at us! …”Get the f*** off my tail”…I guess that she was having a bad day too….because we did not do anything wrong and Larry thinks that she was fighting with the man on the sidewalk.(We just drove away not confronting the crazy woman)

People are getting frustrated and angry. I have to remember to not let anyone bait me and to stay calm. It is hard because I am tired. Just tired.

Photo: Blue Buddha in our French apartment. Purchased Paris November 2018

I looked at Blue (Buddha) today…and remembered the day Larry bought him for me. Staying Zen is important right now. Staying calm and giving the other person the benefit of the doubt is best. Life is crazy out there…

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Charming Dinner Guests

- robin

The past months have been so strange! Some of the things that Larry and I love so much have left our life. It is time to find ways to compensate, right?

Over the years, Larry and I have traveled to Pennsylvania often to visit friends and family. During our trips, we would almost always include a trip to Bucks County Playhouse.

I will never forget the first time that we went to a production there, (and not knowing exactly what to expect) Marvin Hamlisch was accompanying the actors. From that moment on, I was hooked.

A few weeks ago, Larry recieved an email from the playhouse. It was announcing a production for Sept 1, and it would be a production online. We bought tickets and planned the evening.

The play/reading that we saw was DEAR LIAR. Staring Marcia Mason and Brian Cox.

It was wonderful! I planned dinner around the reading. Larry and I had the best evening.

Photo: Picked up dinner at Blue Goose
Photo: Dinner and a play.

We watched the reading on my laptop, in my studio. Dinner was Mexican and our dinner guests were charming.

Photo: Brian Cox and Marcia Mason

We loved every moment of this experience. I felt like Marcia Mason and Brian Cox were doing this just for us. They are amazing…..

Are you familiar with this play? George Bernard Shaw and Mrs Patricia Campbell……enough said. Look it up. It is wonderful, romantic and if you are a letter writer like me, you will understand the importance of real mail.

Be happy today.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

September~ Robin’s Book Suggestion

- robin
Circling The Sun by Paula McLain

The synopsis reads:

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal best seller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, ( published 2015) transporting listeners to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman – Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, author of the classic memoir Out of Africa.

Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe, who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.

Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.

Set against the majestic landscape of early 20th-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit.

*** This author also wrote The Paris Wife and I admit that I liked Paris Wife much better, but Circling The Sun was interesting and colorful. I am giving this book an average rating, because it felt average to me. I did like experiencing the narration about Africa. It felt real.

I rate this book…

Three Daisies.

Till Next book.

Robin

Sunday Dinner And A Movie

- robin
Photo: Laundry room calendar

There is a calendar in the laundry room. It has Matilda’s photo on each month. (It is one of my favorite Christmas gifts) I love seeing Matilda as I go about my day. Today being August 31st, I will turn it to September. I wonder what photo of Matilda will be there?

Yesterday was Sunday and that means Sunday dinner and a movie. We were to be picnicing at the Dallas Arboretum but it became rainy and we picnicked at home.

Photo: Picnic at home

We had fruit, chicken salad on croissants, poppy seed muffins and deviled eggs.

We thought that we were going to be outside and decided on Rose Champagne for our beverage.

Photo: Sunday, picnic inside

Dessert was cherry pie…..

Photto : Cherry Pie

Larry’s photos turned out so much better than mine yesterday. I was as gloomy as the day was and my images reflected it. For our movie, in honor of Olivia De Havilland (Yes, again, I am a fan of hers) our Movie was The Ambassador’s Daughter.

Larry and I enjoyed our last Sunday Dinner and Movie for August 2020. It was perfection.

Have a happy last day of August.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Le Pique-nique Annule

- robin

We had plans to go to the Dallas Arboretum for a picnic today.

Photo: The Back Garden.

But… it has been raining forever and now it is wet and humid.

Picnic food is prepared and ready, but I think that we will stay home for dinner. I have the perfect movie to watch and at least will stay dry and happy……

I hate canceling a picnic. For any reason.

I wish you a happy day.

Love you beyond the stars and moon.

Me

The Life Balance

- robin

Yesterday was a strange day for me. So much oddness keeps putting me off balance.

I was ready for bed and was walking to the kitchen for a glass of water…when I saw Larry……

He was at the patio door…..laughing. He had said, what a beautiful night, when he opened the door. I said, please dont keep the door open and let anything in. (I meant mosquitoes or moths…) But when he the door opened, there in the middle of the patio was a little possum, stopped in his tracks!

  • Photo: internet possum photo

Larry was laughing so hard with the door open, I was sure that baby possum was going to join is in the house. But when baby possum regained his composure, he scurried away before I could get a photo.. I was glad because I dislike possums.

The neighborhood where our little Cottage is situated, is surrounded by big trees, lakes, creeks and wildlife. River otters swim in the lake and bats fly high at dusk. A feral cat comes by every few days to drink out of the bird bath and sleep in the gazebo.

I am ashamed to say, I have been taking things like this for granted recently. Perhaps baby possum stopped by to remind me that life is a fine tuned balance…

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

Lost And Found

- robin

A long time ago,(1990) I made a pie for Larry. He loved it and it became his favorite pie and I made it often. Some how, I lost the cook book that his pie was in. (it was a little cook book from a small restaurant in North Texas)

Over the years, I kept trying similar recipes for this pie, but they were not quite right and I gave up.

Last week, I went to ABE Used Books online and looked for my old cookbook with Larry’s pie in it. Guess what I found? YES! It arrived and yesterday I made Larry’s pie.

Larry is happy. He remembered the pie and loved every bite.

Mark this cook book…FOUND.

Love you beyond the moon.

Me

A Pug On The Rooftop

- robin
  • Photo: Matilda’s Doll House

When Matilda was here last week, she put the pug costume head on her doll house. I just do not have the heart to take it off. It makes me smile everytime I see it.

Yesterday while I waited for the AC repairman to come, I worked in my studio. It was very warm with the AC not working, so I turned on my fan and a Netflix movie and worked on a new dress that I was making.

  • Photo: Pattern and dress in progress

The dress is almost complete. I have enjoyed working with this batik fabric.

I watched this movie on Netflix….it was the perfect movie to have on while sewing.

It is a sweet movie, with a nice story of love and family. Sometimes I need reminded of certain things. Certain GOOD things. It is easy to find the sad/bad in things. The amazing thing is, that along with the unhappy things, are blessings that we might never notice.

I wish you a day filled with many blessings.

Love you beeyond the moon.

Me