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| Peter on our walk recently |
This winter doesn't want to end. After a few days with temperatures in the 40s we have been back to the single digits in the morning for a week now. Thankfully it's sunny and we enjoy the warmth of our sunroom.
Today is the last day of the 10th round of Vidaza which Peter submits to every 6 weeks for 7 days. His immune system is shot and he has lost about 15 pounds. He is weak and discouraged. Hopefully things will improve soon. Peter is incredibly brave as he tries to come to terms with his condition.
A friend watched an interview with Ingmar Bergman. When asked about aging, he said that no one talks about it, but he has found that aging with any kind of grace at all is a full time job. How true, especially when you are battling a grave illness.
Since we can't venture out into the world anymore because of the danger of infection, the world is coming to us. We have had many wonderful visits from family and friends from near and as far away as Jakarta the past few months. Phone calls, e-mails and letters also keep us in touch.
We got a 50" HD TV and it has become our home entertainment center when we are sequestered. Although we don't watch TV, we enjoy watching a movie most evenings. The TV is wirelessly connected to our computers so we can stream our digital photograph collections! Peter has converted most of our slides to digital and although some of the slides have faded somewhat over the years, it is still fun to look at life back then on a big screen.
In spite of it all we had a wonderful summer. In August we rented a house with our friends Peter and Mary an hour from Portland directly on a lake. It was wonderful to start the day swimming
and enjoying our morning coffee on the dock afterwards, to cool off in the pristine water during the day and watch the sun set in the evening.
Paris, Ciara and Ysanne came with their friend Tristan from New York for a couple of days and as you see they had a grand time. There is little light pollution in the Belgrade Lakes region and we were able to watch the meteor shower lying on the dock one night.
We hiked a little, ate well and read a lot. One morning Mary and I had a private yoga class on the dock and a neighbor gave Mary and Peter a paddle board lesson.
All summer long and into the fall I was in a "putting up" frenzy and our larder and freezer are well stocked.
We have an elderberry tree in our backyard and it bore a record crop of berries this year.Years ago I brought a branch from our elderberry in Ruedlingen, Switzerland to Deer Isle and rooted it in our garden there. The sapling moved with us to Brooksville, Maine and then to Portland and has grown into a lovely tree.
I make elderberry syrup every year which is the go to medicine for our family when one of us catches a cold. It is quite miraculous how effective the syrup is when you take a tablespoon every couple of hours or enjoy it in a cup of tea, Ciara's preferred method.
They sell elderberry syrup in small bottles for about $17 in the stores. Ysanne quickly calculated that I must have made about $300 worth of syrup.
Peter is a passionate forager. He monitored the ripening of the elderberris and harvested them just at the right time. Simultaneously he kept an eye on our crabapple tree and one day brought in a huge basket full of apples with which I made a tasty jelly.
Once the tomatoes dropped in price at the farmers market to just $1 a pound, Heidi, her girls and I made tomato sauce out of an astounding 120 pounds.
Then there were 24 quarts of organic wild Maine blueberries delivered to our door.....I could go on and on.
Yesterday a letter arrived from Snell Family Farm with a month to month countdown.
"March: New England boiled dinner vegetables available. Carolyn is booking wedding flowers for summer and fall."
"End of April: Pansies, violas, sweet peas, snap dragons, and perennials ready. Don't rush out frost sensitive plants. Spend time planning and preparing soil."
Another cycle is beginning. We are so ready for those first warm days when we can sit in the garden. I look forward to watching Peter watch the "wildlife", the bees and butterflies sipping nectar and the birds flitting in and out of trees.
One last thing...Paris left for Sydney two weeks ago to attend the University of New South Wales for her Junior semester abroad. Here she is bidding her Opa farewell. As we hear via e-mail and FaceTime, she is happily settling in and is absolutely in love with her new surroundings.
Our warmest greetings to you. Be well, be happy and spread love all around.
