Monday

OK. Got Neko. I started playing with it in 2018.

This week’s origami play will be with Tomoko Fuse’s polyhedra. The cube was easy. Got it on the first try. That was level 1. There are 63 more levels. 

I am trying to get enough documentation together to get a Real ID Virginia ID. And I am having a hard time scrapping up my 2nd proof of Virginia residency. It’s a solvable problem. And, I can always use my passport to get on an Army base or a plane. No biggie.

BUT. This didn’t help. Asylum management sent me birthday greetings.

OK. I am not Sylvia. Never have been. No part of any of my names is Sylvia. 

So I open it up.

And what happened to Dear Sylvia? If my last name were Garcia would Dear Garcia appear?

Anyhow. Two bads in one envelope. Not feeling the love. 

Going OUT to dinner with old work friends. 

Gratitude

How can I not be grateful? It’s the people in our lives that matter.


PS. It was a great surprise party. Loved it. 

And, I even got a candle! In the baklava. 

Spring.

Spring – Redbud Tree

Lovely spring day today. 65°. Sunny. Took a long walk.

Spring – The Orchids. 

Gave the orchids their monthly soaking today. And rearranged them a bit. 
 

Spring – The Old Bat’s Cave is looking springy.

Did some computer work. A little origami practice. And spend some time thinking about how I will stage the last act of my life. Surely 80 is when the curtain goes up on the last act. 

Rainy Day

 

Neko is about as good as Neko is going to be.

At least until the “animal” paper arrives from France. And, I seriously doubt that the paper will make my folding any better. But, it might. 

The 2nd orphan orchid from last summer bloomed. All 6 are currently blooming.

And, it turns out that all 6 orchids are different. They are all super easy to grow phalaenopsis. I have no interest in any other type. There are 60 or so different varieties of phalaenopsis. That should be more than enough for me. My gardening skills are limited. 

Last night after I stalked out of the mess hall in a snit, beer arrived at my room as a peace offering. Accepted. But, when the mess hall is about 25% full, I expect my dinner in less than 30 minutes. Apparently, the order got lost between the register and the kitchen.  Better luck tonight.  Like my gardening skill, my patience is limited.

March. I am almost 80. Damn that’s old.

psyCATotic

Pretty happy with today’s Neko. 

This would be day 13 of NO online shopping, doom scrolling, social media, YouTube, or games until after dinner. I have been pretty good at it. Not perfect. Maybe a B+…

What part of “one carry-on bag and one personal item” did this person miss?

I was behind this woman on my quick trip to Kona early last month. This was in the Chicago Airport. The gate attendant wasn’t amused. 

I have an embarrassing number of books in my Kindle Library. 1500+ Most are mine but some were Carlton’s. Last night I found a book, Mr. Adam, by Pat Frank – 1946. I paid $2 for the book in late 2016. Well,  I found it, tucked away in my Kindle. What a fine surprise. It was written as comic or satire. Elenor Roosevelt reviewed it in her newspaper column.  It’s a fun book and I am really happy that it was in the dark recesses of my “library”. So, why did I buy it way back in 2016. Well, I feel sure that it was “on sale”. And, I recognized Pat Frank’s name since he is the author of the classic postapocalyptic novel Alas, Babylon. 

And good thing I have a nice book to read tonight. I wasn’t overjoyed with dinner selections tonight and after waiting for my food to show up for 30 minutes, I stalked out. I feel sure it was a computer problem. Not to worry about me starving. I am nuking some excellent chicken soup. A brownie is thawing. And coffee is ready to brew.

Thursday

It’s been a long time since a crow came cawing.

We got new windows a couple of years ago. The exterior ledges are narrower. And not as crow-friendly as before. Nice to have a visitor. 

One CAT to rule them all.

Made Neko out of a 12inch square of truly inferior paper today. Hoping that “better” paper is coming from France. It is supposed to arrive in 2 to 16 weeks.  That narrows it down a lot. 

The last lunch: I may never eat another meal with a cheese course again. On the barge.

9.Jun.22 – I was fairly sure this would be my “last” cheese course at the time. Some things you just know. 

Strasbourg June 2022.  I’ll be taking the vintage elevator! 

Most through the photos from 2022. Had more than a few fine adventures.

So. What from 2022 deserves a do-over? I really liked the 11-day ferry boat trip in Norway in the winter. London in early summer with all the flower show stuff was fantastic. Paris. What’s not to love about Paris? The barge trip from Dijon. I have never had such great food meal after meal after meal. Strasbourg and Freiburg were both fascinating little towns.

But, do any of those adventures need to be done again? Maybe the barge. The elderly Swiss guy who made it a point to be sure I had someone to speak to at dinner went on those barges with some regularity. Of course, he was a 2 or 3 hour train ride away. 

Our barge group photo. Captain and all 9 passengers. We are eating snails and drinking Champagne.

Wednesday

CATatonia?

Think I might almost “mastered” Jo Nakashima’s Neko.  Well, “mastered” is too strong. Maybe I have “journeymanned” it. Still trying to find the ideal paper. It’s easy to blame the paper for poor results.

Today was origami, working on the photographs from 2022, and wine tasting.

Had a little wine this afternoon with my crew.
And this was before they started drinking the wine.

Our people don’t spit the wine out. 

Sally’s 80th and the “last” time for heels.

Last week I took those heels to the Goodwill. I decided that it really wasn’t safe for me to wear them. Because all old people know that falls kill. And, I am pretty sure that this is the last time I wore those shoes. Looking at my feet, I realize that the “last” time should have been earlier. 

Tuesday

CATastrophic?

The cat is getting better.  I might get it this time. 

The Twilight Zone

The Last Time. I hate to think about “last” times. At somewhere between 80 and dead, last times come entirely too fast. 


Swimming in Kailua Bay – December 2022.

This afternoon, while messing with 2022 photos, I found a “last” time.  In the winter of 2023, I didn’t swim out very far from the shore. In late 2022, I didn’t realize  I was going out that far for the last time. And it’s better that way. Things sorta slide into “I don’t do that anymore”. As opposed to “I can’t do that anymore”.  

 

Monday

More Spring – Winter Aconite (Eranthis hyemalis)

A very nice unseasonably warm day. I’ll take unseasonably warm in February any time. 

Neko – Cat – Yet another failure.

I have been trying to master this cat for years. This is about as close as I have ever gotten. Working at this cat is this week’s origami project. 

Another one of this week’s projects is to continue plowing through the 2022 photos. Today is day 9 NO online shopping, doom scrolling, social media, YouTube, or games until after dinner. And, I found this image from June 2022.

Dijon – Good Advice.

Taking advantage of the warm sunny weather I cleaned out the garden box.

Hacked back the rosemary and sage. Removed almost everything else. 

Ordered the replacement plants today.  The Asylum has a generous supply of planter soil. Someday before the plants arrive I’ll add some fresh soil to the box and turn the soil as best as possible. 

I am enjoying a scary period of tranquility. Nothing nagging at me to “get done”. No obligations. No responsibilities. I think I have finally settled into old age. And it’s about time. 

(What’s scary about tranquility? I am sure the wheels are going to fall off any day now.)

Sunny Sunday.

My silver frog earrings.

Some years ago, the staff at “my hotel” in Kona gave me these sterling silver frog earrings for Christmas. Last summer I donated them to The Asylum Jewelry Sale.  One of my friends, not knowing they were mine, bought them and gifted them to a male friend. He does not wear earrings. But he loves frogs and arranges flowers. Every week his arrangement includes a frog. This week, “my” earrings appeared. 

Day 8 of NO online shopping, doom scrolling, social media, YouTube, or games until after dinner. I did watch an origami YouTube video. 

Spring is springing up. I may survive winter.

 

Saturday

Adorable Fat Hens from Oxleaze Farm England – May 2022

Nothing much happening. Figures there are things that I can be doing. But, nothing has to be done at this instant. So, I am enjoying a “rest” day.

Of course this brings to mind Lincoln’s famous telegram to General McCellan.  

I have just read your dispatch about sore tongued and fatiegued [sic] horses. Will you pardon me for asking what the horses of your army have done since the battle of Antietem that fatigue anything? Jun 28, 2013

Nevertheless, I am having a rest day.

The Garden Box needs a do-over.

My garden box deserves a makeover. There is a huge rosemary plant. I must figure out how to cut it way back. The rosemary belonged to a former resident. I’d like to keep it. And there is a sage plant growing between the slats. It came with the box. I would like to keep it too. The rest can become compost. 

While on a “garden” tour of England a couple of years ago I discovered a strangely interesting perennial. 

Jerusalem Sage – Phlomis fruticosa

I wouldn’t normally consider planting something I saw in a pampered English garden.  But I discovered it again in a hot city park in Paris. Conditions in a Paris city park are more like conditions in my garden. This thing and the rosemary plant can duke it out for supremacy in Box #4.

Friday

Going home COVID test – March 2022.

Still reviewing photos from 2022. Mostly I am reliving the trips that I took in 2022. And thinking about the trips I might take in 2024.

It’s tempting to have a “do-over” trip. But, there are still new places to go and adventures to be had.  North Pole?

Day 6 of NO online shopping, doom scrolling, social media, YouTube, or games until after dinner. 

Thursday

The second orchid made it off the “Bloom or Be Compost” list today.

This is my biggest orchid. I think it is a bigger variety. Everything about it is bigger. Glad that it took my Bloom or Compost threat to heart and produced a large flower stalk this winter. At this instant, 5 out of 6 orchids are blooming. 

Day 5 of NO online shopping, doom scrolling, social media, YouTube, or games until after dinner. I had a little slip off into doom-scrolling this morning but I think I got myself back on the path.

I did get my tax stuff off to the tax boy for final processing. And I cut my hair. Also folded an origami model for the provider of outstanding occasional cookies. And I made it 1/6 of the way through the photos from 2022.  Made it out for a brisk walk and may even watch a meeting that I didn’t go to on YouTube. Watching that meeting will not count as a slip. It will be penitence for this morning’s doom scroll. 

Mar 8, 2022. I must have been having a good hair day!