Judy – Page 68 – Dear Liza

Stitching Memories

Dear Liza,

This past month in Better Homes and Gardens magazine, I saw an idea I really liked. I usually don’t go for their ideas; they are too fancy or expensive or just not my style.

But this one struck a chord with me. The idea is pretty simple, really. You have dinner guests sign your tablecloth with a pen (or in my case, pencil) that will wash out.

You embroider over the signature, then wash the tablecloth, and there is the beginning of a keepsake!

I think this struck a nerve because for so many years we could (and did) have dozens of friends to our house. Dinners, parties, pizza, you name it. But then two things happened in succession. First, we moved away from our home of 35 years, Salinas, to Portland, where we knew literally three adults.

And just as we were getting to know more folks, Covid kept us from having guests over. Having taken all those guests for granted now feels criminally negligent. I want to cherish their presence in our home, to have them with us even when they are gone.

With vaccines, we are able to have people over again! I started the new project last week with Auntie Katie and her friend Marion, and I like the way it looks. I hope to get this tablecloth really crowded with signatures before long.

Including yours, when you visit this spring!

Love,

Grandma Judy

First Day Back in the Garden

Dear Liza,

This past sunny, warm week was so wonderful, I got to get out to the Blair Community Garden.

I pulled up the over-wintering burlap, borrowed the pitchfork from the tool shed, and turned over the heavy, wet soil in my ten by ten foot plot.

I think I heard some earthworms grumbling that it seemed early.

I was happy with my newly-turned soil, and the lavender and catmint seem to have wintered well. I will come back next week and give them a trim.

Once I had woken up my own space, I went to find Ruth, the manager of the garden, and see what I could to to help the rest of the garden. It is a community garden, after all, and all the members of its community help make it the wonderful place it is.

She assigned me the delightful task of ‘waking up’ one of the side beds. This involved light raking (which I do with my hands to avoid breaking tiny new shoots) and pulling off the mulch that has protected the soil and roots during the winter.

This was the best part of the day. Feeling the damp, chilly soil between my fingers and discovering the new plants there was absolutely life-affirming. I felt like Mary Lennox in the Secret Garden, healing the earth as I healed myself. And when I got to repair the edging of the bed with Ruth’s nifty battery powered drill, that was the icing in the cake.

Of course, the next day I woke up, with a sore back, to rain. But the world keeps turning and I have plenty of aspirin, and spring will come.

Looking forward to more garden adventures!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Making Valentines

Dear Liza,

I had so much fun this year, making Valentine cards for those I love! Each one is personal to its recipient.

Auntie Katie has a love of strong colors and deep feelings.

Cousin Jasper is a twelve year old boy who loves food and video games.

Cousin Kestrel is a ten year old art loving, nature loving, fairy loving sweetie.

Auntie Bridgett loves blue, which is complementary to orange. I added words that help describe her, as well.

And for Grandpa Nelson, I used the box from his favorite Valentine candy.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Mouse Goes to Olympics

Dear Liza,

We have been enjoying the Winter Olympics broadcasts. And so has Mouse!

The other evening, Mouse was napping on Auntie Bridgett’s lap and the curling finals came on. She sat up and stared at the screen, then hopped from the couch to the counter. She watched the match for quite a while.

She sniffed at the sweeper the curlers use, trying to figure it all out.

She followed the progress of the stones down the sheets, twitching her ears as they ricocheted around. We still don’t know who she was cheering for.

When the snowboarding started, she got very excited and looked ready to pounce! She is a very athletic, entertaining kitten, for sure.

Have a great week!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Winter Light Festival

Dear Liza,

February is a dark, cold month, and that’s why this is the time for the Portland Winter Light Festival. About six years ago, Chris Herring, an artist and engineer from Portland, visited Lyon, France, and saw their festival. He decided that was just was needed here in Portland.

He got in touch with all sorts of other folks here in town, and they have created our Light Festival for these dark evenings.

Friday evening, we walked out to the two small installations that are closest to our house. It was really cold, so we didn’t go far. They are in the shop windows of an auto parts store and a vintage clothes shop.

A glowing origami style bunny was in one window and a weird, day-glow scene with bouffant hairdos and tiny aliens was in another.

There are bigger installations across town, but they are a long, cold walk away. maybe we will drive there tomorrow evening. But for now, here are some of them, taken from their website.

Pretty neat, huh?

Love,

Grandma Judy

Sweet Spring Sunshine

DearLiza,

We have enjoyed a whole week of pleasant sunshine and temperatures in the 50s, so we have been doing lots of walking.

Little lavender crocuses are sprouting all over, making light purple carpets under the still-bare trees. Standing in the sun feels so good, I see why they are coming up!

Down at Moore Coffee, we enjoyed watching this sophisticated pooch wait for a treat at the bar. Grandpa Nelson found a comfy spot by the fire ring, since it is still chilly in the shade.

And at Sunnyside School, we visited the chickens. Clever girls that they are, they got up on their coop to find some sun.

I hope your spring is coming along nicely.

Love,

Grandma Judy

New!! Bluto’s Greek Food

Dear Liza,

As sad as I have been to see favorite restaurants closing, I am delighted to see a new Greek place open just a few blocks down on Belmont. Auntie Bridgett and I had lunch today at this new casual restaurant which has the tagline “Woodfired, Greek inspired” .

We got there just before the lunch rush arrived, so we could eat and watch the folks come and go. We loved that the grill where they prepare all the meat was just behind the counter, so we could enjoy the sight and smell of it on this chilly day.

We ordered the lamb souvlaki and the chicken, along with some delightful soft bread and extremely garlic-forward tzitziki dip.

It was all delicious at a very good price, just about $10 per person.

The restaurant itself was bright and clean, featuring the blue and white color scheme so popular in Greece. The back wall was covered with a vertical garden, with tropical plants delightfully arching out of pockets.

And as it turns out, they also serve beer, cocktails and french fries, so you know we will be back!

Nice to know that change goes in both directions.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Still Duolingo-ing

Dear Liza,

I have now been practicing French with Duolingo every day for 800 days in a row! This is partly an advantage of being retired; I don’t need to get up and go anywhere first thing in the morning. Cereal, coffee, and Duolingo are my first activities. Partly it is having a reliable study-buddy in Auntie Bridgett.

And partly it is a big, buttery longing to return to La Belle France!

I remember our trip to Paris in 2006, when my ignorance of even basic French drove me to tears of frustration and made for some awkward moments.

It was better in 2008, when we included Angers, Angouleme and Nantes in our itinerary. Having studied with Rick Hughes, I could read the wonderful historic plaques. I could understand the menus and signage at train stations.

But I still couldn’t talk to anyone! French seemed to gallop by while my brain trudged at a snail’s pace.

When we returned a few years later, I had done some Duolingo and studied with Veronique Sepulchre, and I felt more capable. I was still speaking French like a backwards child, but I was speaking French!

And when we are finally able to travel internationally again, I plan to be Paris ready.

La ville de lumiere, je vais retourner!

Love,

Grandma Judy

It’s the Little Things

Dear Liza,

It is still Winter here, but my walks around the neighborhood show me life sprouting on every rock.

These hundreds of types of moss and lichen are always in the rocks, drying to a flat brown and biding their time during the summer months. But give us a few days of rain, and they green up, send out tiny stems, and look very nice beside the newly sprouting daffodils.

Besides being beautiful in their own right, the mossy walls, to my fanciful brain, look for all the world like fairy houses. A few little caves, some nice sunny porches, and there is a whole fairy community right there.

I love being able to let my mind wander in such lovely places!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Adieu, Bistro Agnes!

Dear Liza,

We got some sad news this week about our favorite fancy restaurant here in Portland. Bistro Agnes, a small, pricy French restaurant with delicious food and great service, is closing up shop.

They were pretty new when the pandemic hit. They had only opened in 2018, just a few months before we found them and enjoyed our anniversary dinner in December of 2018.

Jason, our waiter, was knowledgeable and friendly. I think he understood that Bistro Agnes was the sort of place people went for very special dinners, and treated us accordingly.

We returned the next December for another amazing evening. Moules Mariniere and a pithivier filled us up with buttery French goodness. Nelson and I enjoyed a fruity red wine, and Auntie Bridgett got a fancy absinthe set up. It was amazingly pampering. The pace was leisurely, the food delicious, and the view of downtown outside, wintry and stunning. We spent more than two hours eating, drinking, and drowning in luxury.

I hope the folks who ran Bistro Agnes and their chefs will find new places to create wonderful meals and memories for the people of Portland.

Love,

Grandma Judy