Monday Look At This Blog

BA Travel Guide 

By the time we arrived in Buenos Aires and had been house hunting with our realtor (soon to be good friend, Rafael) , we felt that we had learned the barrios and we were on our way to finding out way around.
Because of this, I never thought that we would need a travel guide.

Boy was I wrong !
Sure we found our way but how much time did each trip take ? twice as long because we didn't know where we were going or where we were, half the time.

If I had it to do over again ( Oh how I wish I could) I would immediately call Sandra .. while she is a travel guide, she is a wonderful person ( friend) and not only would I get excellent directions and help but I would have learned my way around in a much nicer and less aggravating way.

So if you are going to Buenos Aires or just dreaming about it ... read her blog.
See if after a few times of reading, that you are starting to get a longing to go to Buenos Aires, learn to Tango, drink Malbec , watch Polo, go to the races for free and lounge on the grass under umbrellas and watch beautiful horses run past .. under the bluest skies and brightest sun.

Take the train to San Isidro on Sunday and go to the flea market in the park by the station.
Walk cobblestone streets and listen to a million birds singing in the trees that line the street.

Go to Chinatown in Belgrano on a Sunday.
Go to the Museums.
Listen to concerts in the park .. impromptu wonderful music.

Buy souvenirs at the feria in Recoleta, buy cool hip things in Palermo Soho and antiques in San Telmo.

Just ask Sandra, she'll help you.
Ask me and I will beg you to take me with you.

A Busy Sunday

It was quite a busy Sunday for Minette and I.
It was just perfect, weatherwise. Blue skies, light breeze, not too hot , not too cold.
The air smelled so clean and fresh ..

I spoke to the vet finally and found that Minette has nothing wrong with her, that is, there is nothing that shows up in any test or in her blood.
So while she has stomach issues, it is not something wrong with her, she is not sick.
Phew !

I got her new food in hopes that might change things.
We will see.
Meanwhile she is getting cuter every day and sweeter ... she is more affectionate. That really melts my heart .

She did a lot of bird watching and napping , I walked around the property with the "tree guy" and found out how many more trees have to come down.
Before we moved in, we had 5 large trees cut down. Dead trees, sick trees, threatening the house trees.

Now I have some new ones, one is threatening to fall on the house or across the street taking the power lines with it. It has to go tout suite!
And old oak tree is leaning towards my bedroom ... it has to be cabled to keep the leaning part from breaking off and falling on me while I sleep.

Three very tall dead pine trees in the back yard... one would hit the house and the other two would possibly take out the swimming pool area .. so this week, they all go.
Did I mention we had 5 trees taken down before we moved in ? and there are many more even after more are removed ?
What were we , crazy ? Neither one of us even knew how to mow a lawn ! We don't swim, we really were simple minded Romantics when we moved here .
Sort of like we were when we moved to Argentina after having visited once ... for 10 days .. so we moved there. With the dog and all of our furniture. We bought an apartment there. It worked out fine, for 7 years we were happy there and everything was fine.
So I keep hoping that although the worst possible thing that could happen, did happen, that the rest of the good luck will remain intact and where I live and what I do next will work out fine.
It is hard sometimes to think ahead ... it is a future I have a hard time imagining .. alone.

For now, let's just get these big dead trees out of here !
Did I mention the Chipmunk family? they have a baby . Minette wants him. Badly.

She is outgrowing her bed.

I Made It

The Rains stopped.
The Sun came out.
Life has begun to return to Normal.
Or as in my life, the new normal. I have still not adjusted to things but I am managing.
The kitten made a big difference.
I wondered a few times if I would make it through one more snow storm. Being unable to even open the front door, impossible to get the car out of the garage, terrified something would happen and no one would be able to help me or rescue me or whatever.
All my life, there was Someone there for me.
While the children are there .. for their mom  ... I live alone with a kitten.
A life I had no previous experience with and felt that I was getting way too many tests to see if I could do it properly.
I feel lucky , looking back, that I managed at all.
I picture me, lying in bed ... weeping ... mountains of Kleenex all over the house, no food, only coffee, and an occasional cinnamon roll .. a pitiful mess.
But I did it.
It is Spring, the sun is shining, the garden is over the shock of that sun shining and the warmth each day .. everything is blooming and half of it I don't recognise but it is all Good.

The kitten has a new pasttime , she lies on a little pillow, in the Garden Room, in front of the sliding doors .. a screen door is all there is between her and a family of tiny chipmunks.
The baby chipmunk is even curious about Minette. They met ... with only glass between them, they both froze then just stared and no one got all fussed, they just went on with what they were doing.

Sure Minettes tail was whipping around like crazy and the chipmunk didn't come to the glass again but they acted pretty cool if you were to ask me.

I ran my errands today then realized there was nowhere to go and nothing else to do.
So I came home and called the vet.
Tomorrow Minette and I go see what the tests had to say and if there is a cure for her not-so-good tummy.
Fingers crossed it is something easy and effective and does not require anything that will be scarey.
I can't deal with scarey.
I can just manage to deal with this !

I find every day I am overwhelmed with the need to Shop.
I am looking for sneakers. But cool ones. I don't know where to find them.
I will look when we are in Hudson tomorrow .. a town populated with Cool People, they must have shoe stores.

More tomorrow.. fingers crossed for Minette.

Summertime

It is 84°! It feels like Summertime !

 It is actually noisy outside, in the back yard, by the bird feeders , a wild bunch there today !
I drove to Great Barrington Ma this morning.. to see a doctor about my hand .
It might be a carpal tunel thing, or a tendon, or a nerve, or a tired hand.
Whatever it is, it certainly hurts and aspirin or Advil  and the little glove that makes me look like a Skateboarder, are not working.
It mostly hurts in my thumb. go figure.

So .. my appointment is for sometime in June. weeks and weeks from now.
By then it will be gone or  I will be addicted to pain killers.
I will try some New Age medicine .. like Bloody Marys every 4 hours and only salads and chocolate cake for one month.
That way I will either be cured  or I won't feel it anyway .
But I will at least have a nice taste of chocolate in my mouth.

The Kitten wants to play.
She is also really reeeally interested in the birds and what goes on outside.
We have to be super careful she doesn't make a dash for it ... when one of the 5 doors to this house is opened. It is weird , every room in the house has a door to get outside.
Whoever built this house had issues...either a  need to have an exit available at all times or fear of being trapped or they owned a door company.
It turned out nicely though .. it is convenient to go outside , when the notion hits you, without even leaving the room, you can just walk out that door !

So right now all I hear is birds . I think I love it.

In Buenos Aires, we lived in a 4 lane city street .. Buses . taxis, cars, trucks, loud radios, horns .. lotsa horns honking and people ... everywhere.
But if you went to the back of the apartment, which was overlooking the courtyard behind the building, there was one massive tree and all you could hear if you opened the windows ... was ... Birds.
Just like my back yard.

So if I go lie down now on the bed and close my eyes, I can pretend I am in Buenos Aires.

But then a Kitten will pounce on me and spoil the mood.
I think I am better off lying on the bed with the kitten and playing with her ...

It feels like Summertime.

The Cat Hid My Glasses

Those glasses are either on my face   when reading or doing something that I need to see .. like cook or find something   and they were last seen sitting on my desk.
They have a tendency to be shy and quiet so it took a little while to realize that they were not still sitting there, waiting to be of use.
I know they are scared out of their wits and being quiet and it is just making it more difficult to find them.

I thought they might be hiding in a corner under the sofa ... which is huge and heavy and low.
But this morning .. early this morning, Thank you Minette, I took the Swiffer thingee and lay on my stomach on the floor and swiffed under the sofa, hoping I would hear that little sound meaning I was pulling my glasses out of their hiding place.
But no ... not even a dust bunny. ( lonely widows dust a lot ).

The kitten thinks the hunt for the glasses is just about the most fun thing we have done all week.
When I gave up , she began running through the house like an insane kitty cat then collapsed on the floor, by my feet, purring.
Who can be mad at her ??!

This morning the glasses did not come slinking back onto the desk, embarrassed that they were gone so long, sorry they didn't let me know where they were and when to expect them back.
So now I know it is serious and I must do a more thorough search.
I am sort of glad, it will be something to do.

Yesterday I visited the farm but they were having a sale/give-away of farming tools and junk. I had hopes that a small lamb or little calf might be part of the give-away but no .. rusty hoes and broken kitchen chairs were all I found.
And a lamp that looks suspiciously like the one I used to have..that my husband hated ... hmmmm.
I can't find my glasses but my old lamp returns 20 years later...
Does this mean IF I live long enough, my glasses will show up in a garage sale nearby ?

I have to get another cup of coffee ... I am listening to the soundtrack of Amelie .. the sun is shining, more flowers have opened, there are massive iris out there opening one at a time, rhodedendrums everywhere, purple, magenta and now white .. my nasturtiums are taking off and so are the sweet peas .. the pool cannot be seen right now- there is too much jungle around it ... I saved that for a hired person. I learned my lesson yesterday .

Maybe I will go have a chat with one of the sheep today. Get some advice on finding lost glasses.