Life Goes On

I always dislike the end of October and this year is no different.  It means t-shirts and shorts have to be put away until next May...or June...or July, and I have to find socks that don't bind my right ankle.  (You'd think that after nearly 5 years, my right ankle would be shrunk back to normal instead of still swollen at the double breaks?) I'm always cold (thanks to the Warfarin I have to take to keep my blood thin enough to flow thru the mechanical valve in my heart) and my fingers ache (that might be due to the amount of knitting I've been doing.)  The yards are covered with leaves that are demanding to be raked up (or is that Jeff demanding I help rake leaves for the compost bin?). Add in the fact that the Forester is still at the body shop so we're behind in hauling wood and our great idea of renting a leaf vacuum is on hold, too, coz the Forester has the hitch for the utility trailer. 

Jeff and I both caught colds when my mom was in the hospital at the end and while I manged to keep mine to just sniffles and a sore throat, Jeff's turned into a full-blown head cold...which he shared with me this last week. Now it's been my turn to be sneezing, coughing and blowing my nose.  I've spent the day feeding the woodstove, knitting and watching TV. (Not a bad way to spend a cold, windy day but the woodpile on the porch is getting low.)

Monday I worked in the shop in Cooperstown and restocked my shelves with another Little Girl Chic gray and pink sweater set and a couple of vintage 50's sets in navy and pink...for a girl, and navy and tan...for a boy. And a couple of roll brim hats with knitted flowers.  (I came home to find that Fanny the Dog had eaten one of my last 2 pairs of Crocs, and the remote control for the TV/cable box.)  I got a skein of pink yarn to do another Pretty in Pink set but haven't found the mojo to start it.  Instead, I finished socks for Jeff and me and dug a couple of more skeins out of the box to make us both more. (Sock yarn doesn't really count as part of a stash coz it's kept in it's own box.)  I may even use up some leftover yarn to make baby socks.  

Jeff and I picked most of the garden this week.  There's baskets of zucchini, green beans, peppers, cabbage and beets waiting for Jeff to start canning again.  He's still got to dig the sweet potatoes, carrots and more root veggies that I care to know about. Now if we can only get tomatoes to ripen....

Josephine Molinaro Terico

My mother, Josephine Molinaro Terico, of Smallsbush Rd, Herkimer, died today at Valley Health Services, Herkimer.  

Born January 13, 1914 she was raised and educated in Herkimer.  She always enjoyed sewing and worked as a 'waistmaker'...sewing machine operator...in various Valley dress factories starting with Derby Sportswear and Joy Taylor in Herkimer and Focus Dress in Little Falls, retiring in 1973.  After her retirement, she and her daughter made fabric dolls and toys, selling them at area craft shows and at Cooper Country Crafts in Cooperstown until her sight failed. Josie was proud that her work could carry 'the union label'.

On April 15, 1948, Josie married Tony Terico.  He died in 1993.

Besides her parents, Joe and Marta Molinaro, and husband, Tony Terico, Josie was predeceased by brothers Louis and Peter Molinaro, sisters Rose Molinaro Salerno, Mary Molinaro Fiala, Caroline Molinaro Fiore, Antionette Molinaro and Francis Molinaro Osredkar, nephews Louis (GiGi) Salerno, Francis (Chick) Fiala and Francis (Joe)Fiore, and nieces Rosemary Fiala Verruck and Caroline Fiala Paul.  She is survived by her daughter Mary and her friend Jeff Day, nieces Mary Salerno, Josephine Fiala Morgan and Marti Molinaro Millen, nephews Edward Osredkar and Peter Molinaro and the great grand-nieces and nephews of the Molinaro, Fiala, Fiore, Verruck, Millen, Morgan and Paul family. 

There will not be a public services.  Memorial donations in Josie's name may be made to the Frank J Basloe Library, Herkimer, earmarked for the audiobook fund.

Where has Time Gone?

This past month...September... has been hard to write a post.  Nothing's physically wrong, just nothing happening that I wanted to write about.  The garden's been having a hard time existing   Blight and bugs attacked the tomatoes and eggplants, peppers didn't seem to want to grow.  Jeff dug the potatoes and got about half a bushel...mostly reds.  He found out that white potatoes don't produce in hills like red ones do. We still don't know if there are any sweet potatoes. As long as the green tops keep growing, he's not digging them up.  We got 3 small cabbages...that were rotten inside when he cut them open to use in soup.  The green beans and zucchini were great and we're still picking them!  The wax...or yellow...beans are plentiful but don't seem to ripen.  The herbs did ok in the beginning but bolted in September.  This month I've come to understand why so many pioneer women had nervous breakdowns.  A lot of hard work goes into a garden with no guarantees. 

Jeff still feels raised bed boxes are the way to go so he's built more raised bed boxes...with more to still build...but it's getting more difficult to fill the boxes with soil & compost. The t-boned Forester is at the body shop getting a 'face lift'.  When it's repaired, Jeff will be back in business hauling pallets, compost, and probably even some dirt that we will have to buy. He's also got to get a couple more hog panels to finish the wood shed and rolls of plastic to skin the green house. I refused having a trailer hitch installed on the Outback...at least right now...so that's put a stop to a lot of projects.  Jeff's spent some of the free time fishing and I've enjoyed going along some of the time but those hot days turned into cold nights that I didn't enjoy.  Cool temperatures or lots of flying bugs...I don't know what I dislike more.

I've kept busy knitting, selling 11 baby hats and a couple of sweater sets in September, but I'm running out of steam! September was a good month in the shop and October's staying strong so I'm trying to knit on a schedule to keep my stock up.  I've started rewarding myself with a couple of chapters from a mystery book if I finish something during the day!  I did a couple of pairs of wool socks for the wife of a cousin in Wisconsin, and worked on another pair for Jeff.  I even worked on socks for me!  I'm trying to decide what designs to use for holiday knits for the shop. 

My mother is doing well physically but is not happy at Valley Heath.  Most days she knows that's where she belongs now, but some days....  My cousins came from Detroit and Milwaukee last week to visit her and she was pleased the day before and the day of their visit but the day after she was looking for a fight...with me and the staff!  Oh, well.