All posts by Laurie Graves

I write about nature, food, the environment, home, family, community, and people.
Books, News

A Great Time at the Great Falls Comic Expo (2017)

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Last Saturday, right on the heels of all the birthday brouhaha, Clif and I had a table at the first ever Great Falls Comic Expo in Lewiston, Maine. Tired from all the festivities of the past two weeks, we weren’t sure what to expect at the Expo, but I am happy to report we had a great time. While the focus was on comic books and costumes, there was plenty of room for fantasy and horror and other overlapping genres.

First and very important, we sold enough books—Maya and the Book of Everything and The Wave of Time––to make the day worthwhile. This is always a very good thing. (How depressing to go to an event and barely make the table fee. Alas, this has happened to us a few times.)

Second, the other vendors were so friendly and wonderfully generous. They gave me tips about the many other comic book conventions in Maine. (I had no idea there were so many.) It didn’t take me long to realize I was among a group of kindred spirits who had a passion for fantasy and folderol.

Third, it was just plain to fun see all the people in various costumes—Ghost Busters, many Doctor Whos, and lots of other wild and creative characters. There were various events to spice up the Expo, including a drawing smack-down where two artists on stage had to quickly draw a scenario suggested by members of the audience.  One particularly good rendition—I think it was of a dragon being analyzed by the Cat in the Hat—was immediately sold to someone in the audience.

Many thanks to Benjamin Santos of Cosplay Convention Center for organizing such a terrfic event. Thanks to Benjamin, Clif and I will be attending more comic book conventions.

Celebrate

More Birthday Folderol

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What a two weeks I had of birthday preparations and folderol. They whipped by in a happy blur, first with my daughter Shannon and then with my daughter Dee. Their stay here overlapped long enough for all of us to go to Riverside Farm Restaurant for a birthday brunch on the lovely deck overlooking fields and a stream.

The best present, of course, was having my daughters here. Shannon lives in North Carolina, and we only see her twice a year. Dee lives closer, in New York City, but even so we don’t see her as often as we would like. This means when they are here, I focus pretty much exclusively on them, and I cherish the time I have with my daughters.

Normally, our birthdays are simple and low key, but as this was a 40th and a 60th, the celebrations and gifts were a little more elaborate. One of the sweetest gifts I received and have ever received was this necklace from both Dee and Shannon: A little bird “nest” with two fresh water pearls, symbolizing my two girls.

Here is a closer look.

Among other things, they also gave me a Maya-blue water feature that is solar powered. Right now, it’s on the patio, but next summer it will go directly in the garden. The water pouring from bowl to bowl makes a lovely, relaxing sound.

Going along with the gardening theme, my husband Clif gave me these snappy clogs. However, they are far too pretty for me to wear in the garden. At least not yet. Instead, I will wear them out and about on damp autumn and spring days. I have a scuffed pair of garden clogs for mucking around, and when these are scuffed, they will be worn in the garden.

For Dee, we decided to do something both fun and foolish—forty presents in honor of her forty years.  Numbered, so that she would open them in the proper order. Let’s just say there was a flurry of getting ready for this present extravaganza, and we all agreed that forty was as high as we would want to go with this idea.

Dee lives in a small apartment, and we made sure to mostly give her presents she could eat, drink, wear, or experience. Naturally, we had to indulge in a few punny gifts—four boxes of tea, four T-shirts, forty rocks in a vase. (Shannon came up with that last one, and I love it.) We all had some good laughs as Dee unwrapped her forty presents.

So now the celebrations are over, and Dee and Shannon are back in New York and North Carolina. I don’t mind saying it’s been a bit of a let down as Clif and I settle back into our routine of biking, working on our various projects, and taking care of the house.

Well, birthday celebrations can’t last forever, and what a good time we had. Happy memories for both Dee and me as we go forth into our respective decades.

One more thing to note: We also celebrated Clif’s 66th birthday, but it was definitely eclipsed by Dee’s and my birthday. However, please don’t fret for Clif. When he turned 60, we threw a big party for him,  which he thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Flowers, Nature

A Sweet Sweat Bee

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Busy, busy getting ready for Shannon and then Dee. But so exciting to have them here to celebrate birthdays.

Busy or not, Clif and I have still found time to go on bike rides, and today—-with its bright overcast—the light was perfect for taking pictures of flowers, especially this aster with its little visitor.

Now, back to work!

News

Three Things Thursday: An Early Birthday Card, My Husband’s New Book, A Visit from My Daughters

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My weekly exercise in gratitude, or as some of my blogging friends put it, three things that made me smile this week.

First, an early birthday card, a flower from her garden, from my blogging friend Judy of New England Garden and Thread. What an absolute treat to get this lovely card in the mail! I will be framing this flower as a lovely remembrance of my sixtieth birthday. Thanks so much, Judy!

Second, The Wave of Time, my husband’s new book, an anthology of classic time travel stories by writers from the thirties, forties, and fifties. (These stories were originally published in science fiction magazines. ) Clif designed the cover, and it’s a beauty, if I do say so myself. If you like time travel tales or know someone who does, then this snappy book would be just the thing to add to a collection.

Third, our daughters, Dee and Shannon, are coming home for birthday celebrations—mine and Clif’s are in September, and Dee’s is in October. Both Dee and I will be celebrating milestone birthdays, her fortieth and my sixtieth. Clif will be sixty-six, not a milestone, but as far as I’m concerned, all birthdays are to be celebrated. Shannon is coming on Monday, September 11, and Dee will be coming September 16, and between the two of them they will be staying for two weeks. Such a treat! Really, the best present.

Because my time will be spent with my daughters, I won’t be doing much blogging—I might post a picture or two—and I won’t be able to do much commenting on blogs that I follow. I do plan to read blogs each morning, but I’m guessing a quick “like” is all I’ll have time for. On Monday, September 25, I should be back in the swing of things.

Until then, as Bill and Ted and Abraham Lincoln might say, “Party on, dudes!” And be excellent to each other.

A fun addendum: The items featured in the pictures below just came in the mail today. I think they speak for themselves, and they sure did make me smile. (Yes, Cheryl, we got the idea from you and your son.)

Animals - especially dogs

A Punk Named Sherlock

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This is our cat Sherlock. See how sweet he looks sleeping on Clif’s lap?

Nothing could be further from the truth, and this pictures give some idea of Sherlock’s true punk nature. You might call this Sherlock’s resting expression.

Nine years ago, when Sherlock was a kitten, and we first brought him home, he climbed my back ten times as I was trying to work at my computer.

Sherlock is a cat who likes to bite the hand that pats him, and we always have to warn guests not to touch him.

Sherlock is a bird snatcher, and he brings both live and dead birds into the house. We have gotten quite expert at chasing birds through the house and wrapping them in a towel so that they can  be safely released.

Sherlock’s sister is Ms. Watson, and he is such a bully—biting her to the point where sometimes there are little scabs of blood—that she hates to be in the same room with him. Here is Ms. Watson, on the lookout. Because of Sherlock, Ms. Watson is always on the lookout.

Like Launce with his dog Crab in The Two Gentleman of Verona, I could make a long list of Sherlock’s transgressions.

However, I will end with his latest exploit but spare you the gory pictures.  A few nights ago, Sherlock was in a fight with something that fought back hard. There is a huge wound on Sherlock’s neck that makes him look like a zombie cat.

Naturally, we had to bring Sherlock to the vets, and this little trip cost us $130. We were instructed to do unsavory things to the wound and on our own decided to treat it several times a day with peroxide. We have draped towels and blankets where Sherlock sleeps so that no stains are left behind from the wound.

All things considered, Sherlock is doing well, but needless to say, he is grounded. No more going outside for him. Maybe not ever.

I post this piece because I don’t want readers to get the feeling that it’s all skittles and beer at the Little House in the Big Woods. Far from it, as is illustrated by the  story of a punk named Sherlock.

My daughter Shannon, upon learning of Sherlock’s wound, commented, “Isn’t he a little old to be getting in such fights?”

Apparently not.

Addendum: My blogging friend Xenia from Whippet Wisdom advised against using hydrogen peroxide on open wounds. She noted that the peroxide interferes with the healing. A quick spin on the Internet supported her conclusion. Both WebMD and the Mayo Clinic advise against using peroxide on open wounds. So we will stop doing so! Many thanks, Xenia!

 

cooking, Food, Food for Thought, People

In Praise of Decency and Hard Work

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In the United States, this long weekend is Labor Day Weekend, a time to honor those who, well, labor. In the United States, many people work extremely hard, and hats off to them for all that they do to keep this country running—the teachers, doctors, nurses, social workers, librarians, shop workers, volunteers, those who work at home, the caregivers. I could go on and on and have left many out.  For those at the very top who sponge so much out of society, I hope they appreciate the hard work that keeps them in place. (Snarky, I know, but appropriate for this time of widening inequality in the United States.)

Labor Day weekend is also a time when we bid a bittersweet farewell to summer. Yes, autumn is lovely, and there is much to look forward to, but barbecues and patio time are coming to an end.

Accordingly, we invited our friends Judy and Paul over for a barbecue on Saturday. Judy is a pie maker extraordinaire, and she brought over a raspberry pie for dessert. I nearly jumped for joy when I saw the pie because although I’m keen on all kinds of berries, raspberries are my favorite. As my 60th birthday is coming right up, I immediately proclaimed that this pie was a birthday pie. What then could Judy do but leave the leftovers with us? However, as she told me that she had two peach pies at home, I figured I was, in fact, doing Judy a favor by keeping the leftover raspberry pie. Or so I tell myself.

For the main meal we had potato salad made with sour cream and turkey bacon; chicken breasts marinated in a lemon, garlic, olive-oil  mixture and brushed with a mustard sauce; and corn drizzled with brown butter. Farewell, farewell sweet summer.

Over dinner, one of the topics that came up was the devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas. So many stories of brave, selfless people helping each other without regard for income, skin color, or ethnicity. Pets were rescued, too, which I found particularly cheering.

For the past week, I had been thinking about the heroism in Texas and about how people really do pull together during catastrophes. Now, if we could just do the same thing when there isn’t a catastrophe, in everyday life.

I mentioned this to Paul and Judy.

“Everyday life is hard,” Judy said.

So it is. Most of us can rise to the occasion and be our better selves during a flood or an ice storm or a tornado. But when things settle down, self interest, pettiness, and even greed too often kick in. While we all need to take care of ourselves and our families, it is very easy to cross the line to selfishness, begrudging others what we think we should have as a matter of course. In short, we have trouble being consistently decent to each other.

Decency, a humble concept, is hard work, something that must be continually applied not only to other people but also to how we treat animals, the earth, the water, the air.

Somehow, thinking about hard work and decency seems appropriate for Labor Day Weekend.

 

News

Three Things Thursday: Sandhill Cranes (?), A Mostly New England Pizza, Coleus

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My weekly exercise in gratitude, or as some of my blogging friends put it, three things that made me smile this week.

All right. I’m going to start with the best thing first, and the title, of course, gives it away. Yesterday, we took the long way home from our bike ride, driving in the car along country roads, listening to music, admiring the scenery. As we came to a large field bordering some gardens, I caught sight of four majestic birds flying overhead. They had long necks and long legs, and at first I thought they were great blue herons. But there was a group of them, and generally herons fly alone. And, the birds were brown.

“Look!” I said, but as Clif was driving, he really couldn’t look.

Then birds landed in the field, and “Stop, stop, stop!” I cried.

As Louis Pasteur observed, chance only favors the prepared mind, and in the back seat, tucked in my bike helmet, was my wee wonder of a camera. Clif duly pulled over and stopped. Out I jumped and snap, snap, snap. I had never seen such birds before, but right then I really didn’t care what they were. I just wanted to get some pictures of them, and I was successful. Because of the distance, the birds aren’t as crisp as I would like, but they are recognizable.

All right, readers. Verify my excitement. Are these sandhill cranes? If so, then joy, joy, happy, happy. I have never seen them before, and I didn’t even know they were in Maine. If these are not sandhill cranes, then what are they?

Whatever the case, those birds certainly made me smile. Wowsah, as we Mainers would say.

The next two things that made me smile are far more modest. After all, what could compete with seeing those birds?

But simple pleasures are still pleasures, and here they are.

An absolutely scrummy pizza we made with Portland Pie pizza dough, available at our local supermarket; tomatoes from my garden; basil and garlic from Farmer Kev’s; Cabot’s cheddar cheese; mozzarella; chicken sausage; and olive oil. Clif put it all together, and oh my, was it good.

Finally, the burst of color that the coleuses provide in my shady yard. No, they are not native, but I love them anyway.

Phew! What a week! I’m still agog at seeing those birds.