Grandkids & Wallaby Walkabouts

"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo" - Paul Simon

What do you do on a lazy Saturday afternoon when you are babysitting two rambunctious
grandchildren? You go to the zoo!

Kate, upon hearing that we were going to the Zoo:
"Let's Walk and Woll!"

Zoo Boise has come a long way in the past 30 years, and now sports an African exhibit! The giraffes are adorable, and you can tell that they are gentle animals. I think that taking a few moments and watching these charming creatures could bring peace to the soul.
Joseph and Julius are pretty much joined at the hip!

The King of the Zoo Boise jungle was catching some ZZZ's. I just wanted one roar! Just one, but all I got was a snore and a couple of twitches. Oh well.

The mama, however, was awake and watching...

Another new exhibit is the Wallaby Walkabout.
You actually walk inside a large cage with these little guys. They don't seem to notice the humans gawking, walking just a few feet from them.

"Watch me wallabies feed, mate
watch me wallabies feed..."

Kate, Chicky and Samuel on the Carousel. I think it's the one and only carousel in the whole city of Boise. They really need to do something about that.

Giraffes also make great slides!


Sam's first trip down the slide by himself was not appreciated.

The second time down was with me, and although he is looking a little apprehensive, he was laughing by the time we got to the bottom.

"I love acting, but it's much more fun taking kids to the zoo."
-Nicole Kidman

Gardening and Mother's Day. In That Order.

Wow! Finally we had a nice weekend. With clear skies and the temperature in the 60's, how could we stay inside?

We bought our house from two gentlemen who were perfectionists, and when we first saw the yard I said "We don't deserve this". We have since set out to prove me wrong, so John trimmed the hedges to OCD perfection in the front. John:"Nature makes these beautiful bushes growing wild, and man looks at them and says "Hmmm...how can I turn that into a cube?" LOL, I guess that's civilization in a nutshell!

Pictures speak louder than words!

We live one block from Winstead Park, and after the Joy of Gardening, we went for a walk. Four times around the park is a mile, and we made it around a whole two times. I don't think I'll be joining the soccer team any time soon.
MOTHER'S DAY

I woke up on Sunday morning, and I was being honored ! Who knew? Okay, it was Mother's Day, but I like to think my kids thought of it. They took us to Bardenay for brunch, and while we were waiting for it to open, I decided to show the passers-by what a cool mom Nick and Ashley have, by doing the "washing machine". Lucky them!!! We were the first ones in, but it filled up fast. There were mom's with kids everywhere. I guess we fertile ladies have such an effect on our children that they want to take us out once a year, and buy us Bloody Marys. This is my first Bloody Mary ever, and probably my last. What is the good of drinking alcohol if it looks and tastes healthy? It kinds beats the purpose if you ask me. Give me a Mimosa any time.

I could have done a lot of things with my life early on, but I chose to create the humans you see with me in the picture above. (They have a sister in Denver, but I didn't have a wide angle lense so you'll have to imagine her.) They have turned out to be such amazing people and have given me so much joy, that I can't imagine
having chosen anything else.

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them."
Phyllis Diller

I woke up Friday morning full of energy and ready to start my day. I told Dana I would make pies and brownies for Jon's retirement party that evening, so I fired up the stove, cranked the music, channeled Betty Crocker and the fun began!

I make pretty good pies, and the added bonus is that I enjoy the process! My Grandmother Moore told me the secret of a good, flaky crust "More shortening, less flour." I also put 1/2 Tbsp. of vinegar in every batch of pastry, which makes it flaky, and I think it adds to the flavor. I've had so many pie crusts that just taste bland to me, so I appreciated this little tip from my niece, Lori. The brownies are courtesy of a Giradelli mix, I can't lie, but I noticed that they disappeared first!
Dr. Jon Dayley is Dana's husband and he is retiring from the B.S.U. English Department after teaching Linguistics for 28 years. That's a lot of words! He's written 8 books and speaks, oh about 4 languages give or take a few. He says it might be more accurate to ask him how many he's forgotten than how many he remembers!

Imagine Dana's delight and surprise when she learned that not only had Jon told his colleagues and students that she was an excellent cook and they would be having the party at their house, but that her band would be supplying the entertainment!

The weather was nice enough that we performed on the deck. The original plan was to perform in the house, which meant being completely unplugged would have been fine. However, performing outside when the wind was blowing away into the West, meant that not only were we unplugged, we were unheard! As you can see from the photo, it didn't phase us much.

Here we are trying to figure out what we're doing, which happens a lot with us. You would think after 16 years we would know!John and Jon talking trash while Krista while Krista stands by, providing eye candy.

The really cool thing about being in a band with an acupuncturist, is that she can put you into complete and exquisite pain anytime you like!

"The Ladies".

Photo op with Krista's husband, Jason. She shares.

Martin entertaining on his Hang drum.

As Jon rides into the retirement sunset and the guests go home and get on with their lives, I have only one thing to say. Next time, we're bringing the P.A.!

Potpurri: A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That

The irony is that even though my garden looks amazing, the weather isn't much better than it was in March when I took this picture! It seems like winter keeps nipping at the heels of spring, delaying her natural warmth and charm. I honestly can't remember a more miserable April since I've been in Boise, but even so, life goes on and I've been living it!

THE GARDEN:

Remember this? I blogged a little over a month ago when my garden was just waking up from a long winters nap.

Now it looks like this! It's really beautiful thanks to the gentlemen we bought the house from. They lovingly nurtured and took care of this beautiful space. If I blur my eyes just right, I think I'm in the gardens at Versailles. (smile). I'm going to plant a petunia border and some lavender in the front, and some hostas and coleus in the back. Other than that, we're good to go!

This picture doesn't even come close to doing this plant justice. I think it's a Pink Flowering Almond, and it's looked like this for several weeks. It's just now starting to fade and trade it's pink finery for green. What a nice surprise!

THE MUSIC

I'm a lazy musician. I think I'm a fairly competent one, but I'm not married to it like some of the the more dedicated types. I can go days without picking up my guitar, recorder, or singing a complete song. However, the more time that goes by without practicing, the crabbier I get, so I am really trying to have a DAILY music practice, which includes several things. First and foremost there is Beltane, my band which performs my original music.
We get together once a week for practice, and usually perform once a month. The big focus right now is getting the CD finished, and Steve Fulton at Audiolab is working on it. Look for it this fall.

John and I are in band at the Boise Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and we play once a month during the program year, and it also involves a weekly practice. We love performing for these wonderful people, and I have to admit both John and I are better performers now because of the diversity of the music. We've been challenged!
A few weeks ago, I joined the Boise Hospice Singers. It's a choral group and we meet once a week for rehearsal, with performances usually every other week. The first time we performed, we sang for a group at a nursing home in Meridian. The first song we did, was "You Are My Sunshine", and I completely lost it. That was the song my mom and I used to sing together when she was in the nursing home. The second time we sang I was more in control, although I have to admit to being a bit rattled (more than usual, ha), just being around situations that have strong emotions for me, but I do it in memory of my lovely mom.

I love all the things I'm doing, (I'll blog more about them later), but I have to say that despite all the neat things happening, my favorite time of the day is when John and I settle down for the evening, snuggled on the sofa together. I love being with him, and I love being settled and feeling content and happy.

A Little Gardening Music, Please!

Well, I'm unemployed and loving it! Now that the weather has warmed up a little, I'm able to get my sedentary self off the red sofa, shake off the last of the winter blues, and venture out into the yard. Lest you think I'm revealing some secret love and longing for tilling the earth, let me tell you that I really don't love gardening. I've had yards and gardens in the past, mostly because I feel compelled to beautify any space I occupy. Luckily, this yard is so perfectly planted and maintained, that most of the work will involve the fall and spring clean-up. My daughter will be mowing and trimming for us, so we won't even buy a lawnmower.



John and I spent several hours chopping down old growth and raking fall leaves out of the beds. I trimmed, (well more like hacked,) my roses and pulled errant grass from where it doesn't belong. I walked around, reveling in the new buds and pondering the names of plants and bushes only beginning to reveal their true nature.


The very large flower garden in the back has been cleared of last years finery, and is trimmed and ready to grow. I wonder what treasures we will find there?


My daffodils are blooming heartily in the front, and my Magnolia tree has only one, shy pink blossom, but I hear whispers all around her, so I expect more soon.

This is the guardian for my stately Norwegian Maple. I don't have a name for him, nor have I decided what to plant for his "hair", but he seems to be doing a nice job already.

"Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden." Orson Scott Card

OUR NIGHT ON A SLEIGH RIDE

I HATE BEING COLD ONLY A LITTLE LESS THAN I HATE BEING COLD AND WET, SO WE WENT ON THIS SLEIGH RIDE. - Susan Nelson-Sangiorgi

Our friends, Dana Marsh and Greg Arndt gave us two tickets to Bogus Creek Outfitters Sleigh Ride as a wedding present, and we finally booked an evening on Feb. 21st 2009.

The evening started out great, as our friend Nette was in the
lodge and we got to visit with her while we waited for our sleigh to
show up. She and I were happily visiting, when all of a sudden I
hear John yelling: "Susan, they're here and they're about to leave!" My arms full of
fleece blankets, I ran lickety split down the the stairs, out the front
door, jumped off a small snow drift and fell down. Yes, I fell... right
in front of two sleighs full of revelers. I picked myself up, dusted
off my pride and proceeded onward.


We climbed up into the sleigh and I bundled up for the long, 15 minute
trek across the mountains to the tenderfoot cabin. I was wearing my
wool pea coat, a wool scarf, long pants, boots and a fleece blanket.
But even so, the gentleman behind us heard my intense suffering and
offered me his blanket. I took it.

OUR VIEW

When we arrived, the cabin was warm, and the music was good. Doug Cameron was the hot young cowboy serenading us. Perfect!

The meal was prepared and ready to go as soon as we sat down. It
consisted of cream of broccoli soup in a bread bowl , and a very thick
steak and prawns for the maincourse. Hot chocolate and blackberrycobbler finished off a perfect meal.

We had a wonderful time that night, horses behinds and all!

"No spring, no summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one Autumnal face."- John Donne


I HEART fall. Seriously. It's my favorite time of year with it's brilliant leaves, warm afternoons and cool evenings. I feel truly inspired and energized.

But even the splendor of autumnal grace cannot stop fate. Fall began on a sad note. John's dear friend of many years, Erich Korte passed away suddenly. He was a funny, kind, brilliant and completely unique individual, so it was appropriate that we sent him off with red balloons. John still can't bring himself to delete Erich's name from his address book.

Hope springs eternal, and on September 19, John and I were married in Camel's Back park under a tree. How very hippie of us!

We took some new whacked-out pictures of "Beltane." I know it looks like we were in a mysterious, otherworldly dimension, but we were actually in my bathroom. Sorry mortals! (wink)

We welcomed a new member into our family. This is Nick's dog, Aussie. He is part Australian Kelpie and part Border Collie. He is well-behaved little love!

Halloween brought with it gusty winds, rustling leaves, bite sized snickers bars and...VAMPIRES! Ashley and Wendie were a lovely foil to Father Nick, the long suffering vampire hunter from the Cole-Ustick area.



In November, we did our first gig at the Shangri-La Tea House and Vegetarian Cafe. What a fabulous place!


Fall finally gave way to winter and the winter holidays!


On Thanksgiving, we went over to Wendie's.

Ashley, Nick and I imbibe.Wendie and Elizabeth. Thanksgiving Turkeys, all!


Soon, Xmas was upon us, and I cooked the usual fare.



Bing and Danny are always guests for dinner.



John's granddaughers, Ella and Kate came to town. Yummmm! Pizza!!

And far away in California, my grandson Dagan was coloring away.

Sigh....another year has come and gone and I am a little older, and I hope a bit wiser!!