Category Archives: Sylvia

Ladies of the Night Sky

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Last night was beautiful.  The weather was warm and the sky was clear.  I looked up at Venus as she made her way toward the western horizon.  She had sisters with her–the ones that we call the Pleiades.  With camera on tripod, I used a 30-second exposure to capture the scene.

Venus and the Pleiades

Venus and the Pleiades

At first glance, I saw only six of the seven (Pleiades) sisters. Celaeno, the dimmest of the lot is there midway between Taugeta and Electra on the right.  (See it here.)

You may detect some motion in the photo.  There was some.  During the thirty seconds that the shutter was open, the camera moved over eight miles.  (An angular rotation of 450 seconds of arc)

As I was completing my shoot, other ladies of the night passed by not forty feet from me.  They were the female deer that we see regularly.  It was the little bit extra.  Like whipped cream atop your hot chocolate.

My mind was on another lady.  Not a lady of the night, but a lady at all times.  I’m talking about my lovely bride, Sylvia.  I went back in the house, put the camera on my desk and took a seat beside my wife.  We spent the next hour talking about the day and about a hundred other things.  On that high note, I ended my day.

Almost Daffy Time

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Daffodils will soon open

Daffodils will soon open

Rain and warmer weather dominates the forecast.  I do believe that is Spring in the air.

It won't be long now

It won’t be long now

I keep my eyes open for the signs.  Lately, I’ve been rewarded.

Sylvia Update

It was a week ago today that Sylvia had a mishap on roller skates.  Since I brought her home from the ER, she has had her arm in a plaster splint–they tell us it is not a cast.  I haven’t bothered to research that one.  A sling helps her support the arm, and when she sits a pillow provides a handy support.

She is not in pain.  What she suffers from most is frustration at the limitations that are imposed upon her.

We’ve made arrangements for some help with some of the household chores.  (I was having trouble keeping up with them.)  That is working out very well.

Sylvia visits our primary care physician tomorrow.  Perhaps we’ll learn more then.

Happy Mothers’ Day

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Best wishes of the day for all you mothers out there.  That includes birth moms, adoptive moms, surrogate moms, critter moms and any other moms that I may have overlooked in ignorance.

Special wishes to Sylvia, the mother of our sons.

Not a recent photo

Not a recent photo

Here hoping your day is “super good.”

No Blahs This Monday

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The sun shone bright as it rose this morning.  I rolled over and went back to sleep.  You shouldn’t blame me that clouds soon covered the sky and gentle rains began to fall.  It was all following the script laid out by the erudite prognosticators at the weather bureau.

Just as change came upon the world this morning, things will be different around here.  Nellie will no longer be eating dry kibble.  That is not agreeing with her, but it does make for good barfs.  This morning as she watched, I spooned out some wet cat food from the can.  She made a beeline for it as soon as I walked away.  Then Nellie made it all disappear.  I just hope she can keep it down. :pray:

The last few days Nellie has been spending more time with me.  When I settle into the recliner in the evening, she comes and gets comfy on my lap.  That will also change today.  Sylvia will be returning home this afternoon.  She left last Monday morning to spend a week with her dad.  Nellie and I will be glad to have our lady with us once more.  Yes, it’s going to be a great day!

Hope Is on the Way!

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If you live around this part of Michigan, you’ll remember the first day of spring.  It really did look just like this:

Yes, this was taken on Wednesday morning in Grand Rapids.  When I said that I was ready for spring . . . this is not what I had in mind!

As I write this, Sylvia should be somewhere in O’hare Airport waiting to board the plane that will carry her to Grand Rapids.  I think she must be bringing some of that warm Florida air with her.  A look at the forecast shows that the cold snap should be ending and warmer weather is coming.  That is good.

During Sylvia’s absence, Nellie has become a bit more comfortable with me.  It appears that she only wants to be around us when we are sitting.  If we are standing, she keeps her distance.  If we take even a step in her direction, she runs away.  I’m wondering if she was abused.  At least she doesn’t flinch and draw away if I extend my hand towards her like she used to do.

Lately, I get nearly an hour of “kitty time” in the evening.  That comes during the time when I watch some TV before going to bed.  It seems more and more to be a real good arrangement for everyone.  At least I’m not going to trip over Nellie when walking through the dimly lit house at night.

I’ll try to post a bit more next week.  This week has been filled with distractions.

Sylvia Hits the Ceiling

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The project started last week in the guest room.  It’s a continuation of the work Sylvia has been doing on the ceilings.  It involves wetting the “cottage cheese” that the builder installed, and when it has softened, scraping the bumpy, lump plaster off.  This leaves a smooth finish on the ceiling and results in a room that seems much brighter.

Work has begun on the guest room ceiling.

This week, attention has shifted to the other end of the house.  The dining room and kitchen were Sylvia’s Monday/Tuesday targets.  Wednesday, she did some clean up in those rooms and moved into the dining area.  She had to stop before finishing.

This morning in the dining area.

Looks kind of bare, doesn’t it?  After breakfast, we cleared the family room (the open area behind the camera).  Needless to say, a lot of items are piled up in other parts of the house.  I’m not going to show you that. :beam:

The final step is to paint the smooth ceilings.  We love the results that we see in the rooms that Sylvia has already done. :awe:

Happy Birthday Sylvia!

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Sylvia at 9 years of age

Cute back then.  Wonderful today!  Congrats my love on completing another trip around the sun.  Many happy returns.

You can leave a comment with birthday greetings on this post.  Sylvia will see be sure to see it.

Bad News Sunday

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Photo from: http://www.mcphersonvisionsinwood.com/ 

My friend Doug McPherson is building a recipe box similar to the one in the photo for Sylvia.  It will be my birthday gift to her.  I know that Doug worked very hard to have it ready for Sunday, but he found a tiny flaw and he was not satisfied.  He gave me the option of taking that one or waiting for him to build another.  What would you do?

Doug had told me that he was not satisfied with the recipe box.  I knew that people would see it in Sylvia’s kitchen and would ask where it came from.  Many of them know Doug.  I told him that we would wait.  He was relieved.

I thought that the box he showed me looked better than the one in the photo, apart from the flaw.  Sylvia’s recipe box will be made from maple and walnut wood.

After church, we went to a nice restaurant for an early birthday dinner.  We had steak and ordered a side of shrimp.  It all tasted good, but the shrimp didn’t sit right on my stomach (for a lack of a better description).  I suffered, let’s call it intestinal distress, for more than 24 hours.  Very unpleasant.  Fortunately, the birthday girl didn’t have any problems with her digestive tract.  She is made out of good stuff–the best, if you ask me.

Sylvia thanks all of you who left birthday greetings for her yesterday.  That was very nice of you to do that.

Midnight Wishes Sylvia a Happy Birthday!

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Midnight & Sylvia – January 2010

Sylvia’s birthday is today.  I normally reserve Mondays for Midnight on this blog, but Sylvia is a very import part of Midnight’s life–and of mine.  So we wish her Happy Brithday.  This year she is 21 years old, with a few years of experience.

Compare the picture above with the next one.  See how much kitty has grown.

Sylvia and Midnight watch TV in the evening.

And then Midnight spots something.  He going to check it out.

Could this monster be the itty bitty kitty from that first photo?

So Happy Birthday Sylvia.  Many happy returns.  Midnight says, “Hey lady, would you scratch me behind the ears?  Please?”