The cycle continues

So, after a couple of good days, we are off to a poo day start. Yippee! Apparently I don't care and won't help and am making mom suffer. My favorite line "Why do you get to sleep when I can't sleep?" Seriously? Sadly, logic doesn't work with mom at this point when she is in this particular state of mind - half asleep and angry. Yippee!

Sleepy. I did do laundry yesterday. I hope it turned out ok. I was otherwise focused. I also branched out and visited a new-to-me place. Interesting. Yay for interesting.

My next chore is to get off my butt and drive down to the car place, drop off my car and ride my bicycle back home. I can do that. I just need to do it. Then I will come back and knock out my list of tasks. Or nap. We shall see.

5 minutes down, 10 minutes back - not too bad. That is one reason I like Geneva, it is bike able. If only there were more bike lanes and places to lock one's bike. Though I would really love to live in a world where people could leave their bike unlocked for a month outside and not have it stolen. Wouldn't that be nifty? Sigh.

Lunch is done. She told me that she doesn't like crackers with cheese. I am really starting to struggle to find things she does like to eat. Sigh.

I do worry a bit when a day goes smoothly and as planned. Oh, and when it is a "pretty"day. I rode down to the Smith - got my work there done, turned over the show to Terren, went to the bank, and rode to pick up my car. Yes, the muffler needed replacing, and I had forgotten to get the car inspected (in November), got the oil changed, a wiper replaced and the right rear tire ministered to (it wasn't all that expensive - and I just got paid from the Smith, so...). 

Mom has been extra curmudgeonly today. I think I will maybe set up another appointment with a physician's assistant or a nurse practitioner. Mom seems to be in more pain than usual. Maybe it is psychosomatic, maybe it is real. Hard to tell, of course. And what level of pain it is, I have no idea. Maybe some physician sort will be able to get to the bottom of it. 

Anyway, I played some COD AW and did ok. I think I will do one full prestige and maybe a second and then give it up to play other stuff. I am not as attached to this one as I was to the previous ones. Yay.

Ok, time to do a little Smith work and then watch something on Netflix. 

April - the longest month?

Am I the only one thinking that April is dragging on forever? Yes, I know it ends tomorrow, but it can't come soon enough for me. It has been an up and down month. For me at least. 

That's four rides with the bike, so I am down to $75 a ride. Yippee! I hope to get that down to pennies a ride by the end of the bike's life. That would be nifty. It is another nice day (eeek, two in a row) so I think I will toodle down to the Smith this afternoon on my bike. I can hardly wait.

At lunch time, I am going to empty out the fridge and see what all is in there. I used up a couple of things I think - like the icky chicken casserole - ok, it wasn't icky - just not enough juice and way too many breadcrumbs. And I ate all of the ham and turkey salad - though putting it in the food processor was a great idea, I thought. It made everything a single consistency. 

I am excited to see the next water bill. I hope that the newly fixed toilet will really decrease it. That would be awesome. If I am repeating myself about this, it must mean I am really excited!!

Yay! I had a nice ride. Got everything done that I had to at the Smith, I think. I didn't have my ducks in a row and need to get a bit more organized before the next time Kelly and I meet. I set up the sound system and checked all the movie stuff. Go me!

Now, time for a car ride to get some Chinese Food for dinner. Huzzuh! It has been a while. Hopefully mom still likes it!

Mom ate a lot! Yippee!

After dinner, we watched the most recent version of Into the Woods - enjoyable though long. I love Anna Kendrick who did fine. The rest of the cast was good as well. Stephen Sondheim's music is just so chewy. But glad we watched it. Mom stayed awake through the whole thing. I keep wondering if larger TVs would be a good thing...

It is a sunny day!

We don't get a lot of them here in Geneva. So they are noteworthy. I am going to ride my bike down to the Smith to neaten up the stage, the area of the sound and light boards, maybe replace the sound board, set the theatre for tonight's movie and do a couple of other little things. Today is also bill day! Yippee! 

In all the hubbub bub, I didn't get to the bank to do anything with the filthy lucre that the IRS returned, grudgingly, to me. I still don't understand how someone who makes as little as I do needs to give anything to the government while corporations that earn huge profits get tax rebates?! WTF. Seriously. I don't know if Community Bank is open on Saturdays. Maybe till noon? I wish I could find Hannah again. I do like the staff at my branch, but she was funny.

I keep getting distracted. Found a new thing in Theatre Manager that needs to be tweaked and rebranded and such. I don't think I will be doing it, but will be paying inHouse to do the work. Oughtn't to take them too long so won't be too expensive.

Because it is sunny, I thought, hahahahahaha, that it might also be warm. It is 9 am and it hasn't broken 40 yet. So maybe I won't ride my bike downtown. Then again, I have only ridden it three times, which is about $100 a ride - gotta get that number down in case this bike, too, is stolen.

One cute thing mom is doing now, is that she can't really make clear the difference between her bed and her chair. I will say something like - Mom, (while she is sitting in her chair) do you want to get in bed? And she says "I am in bed." Makes me smile for some reason. Any excuse to smile is a good one.

Did my major Smithing today. Set up the movie stuff, cleaned up the stage a bit, did a couple other little things. Then a nice trip to the grocery store. Though, we are having Pizza and chicken wings tonight for dinner. I can hardly wait. Yum, num, yum, yum.

Actively Avoiding

That pile of papers in the orange room is mocking me. Every time I walk past there, it looks at me with a glint in its eyes. It knows I need to buckle down and go through what could very easily be a wild goose chase - since I probably threw away anything from creditors after the bankruptcy - but you never know. My hoarding, must save just in case mind set might have led me to save the pieces of paper. And it all could be moot - the creditors could have sent their paperwork to the Fed and actually checked the "bankruptcy" box. Anything is possible. We shall see if I can get my act together and tackle that project at some point soon. 

The library wrote and told me that my next Harry Potter book came in! Huzzuh! So, I went down and got it and did a little bit of Smith stuff. Made lunch and did more Smith work. And I get to head in to the Smith for a meeting this afternoon. All in all a pretty easy day - despite the amount of work. It is such a lovely day outside, that I think I will ride my bike downtown. Yippee!!

I did, I did, I did ride my bike downtown. Hooray!!

Tonight's movie was the Stephen Hawking Biopic The Theory of Everything. I enjoyed it. It is interesting how thoughts he was just thinking at one point longish ago are taken for seemingly granted nowadays. 

After watching the movie, I watched a couple of episodes of Fringe and then was about to go to sleep when I remembered that I had to set up a mail blast to go out Friday morning at 10:00 am. Glarp. I had most of it down, just needed to add/change some graphics, tweak verbiage and such, create links and look them up and bob's my uncle - not really. I don't have an uncle bob. More's the pity...

March is ending

In case you hadn't realized, it will soon be April. Eeek! How did that happen? Hopefully, with the end of March will come the end of winter. That would be nifty. The mini-blizzard the other day and the cold temperatures really aren't as fun as they could be. 

Yesterday was a pretty long day at the Smith. I went early to finish up from the night before. Went in again to get ready for a show. Went in again to make sure that everyone was playing well together. I hope the event went well in the end. Today I need to go in and set up everything for a two showings of a movie. Yippee! 

I got mom some prunes. And some prune juice. I don't know that I have had much prune juice over the years. Worf thought it was good. Maybe mom will like it. Heaven knows she didn't like the ensure like drink that I got her. Sigh. I am hoping that her shingles will be over soon. That would be nice for us all. 

Sometimes I feel like I am that frog in the slowly heating pan of water. 

Tried to watch a movie with mom last night, but she slept through it. It was ok - The Soloist - Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Definitely had good music. And the story was decent. So, glad I saw it. Wish that mom had stayed awake for it. 

When it was time for sleep, mom complained that she could have gone to sleep "hours ago" which was funny to me because "hours ago" she had been asleep...

Got a lot done at the Smith in my one hour there. The legs and borders all look happy. I played a little bit of everything on the movie server and it all went ok. Now I am home where I am doing more Smith work. Yay!

I almost rode my bike to work this morning, but I chickened out when I saw the breath in front of my face. It has warmed up considerably since then, so a bike ride may just be in my near future. Yippee!

Well, crap. I just was moving my lap desk and it slipped from my hands and scraped up my laptops screen. Poo even. Oh well - this is not the end of the world. Right? Yup, I thought so.

Already did an hour of work

Here it is 8:45 am and I have already done an hour of work. I want to get a little of this blogging thing done before doing some bill stuff. Yay bill stuff!

Last night's movie (The Hundred Foot Journey) was good, not great. I was uber surprised to see that Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey both put up a lot of money for it. I wonder why. It was a cute story, decently done, but certainly was not exceptional in any way. It would have been if we could have tasted all the yummy looking food. Oh well.

Damn Civilization all to hell! Grrrr. Moving on.

I hope to get some mom stuff done today. Justin is supposed to come over and get the gate up - maybe bring a new oven, etc. We shall see. And it is a Jenny day - yay! One of the things I would like to do is get some weekend coverage. Speaking of coverage, I was ok'd for respite from the Alzheimer's association. Up to 40 hours before June. Now if I could only figure out when I could use some respite - besides all the time...I could really use a massage. What? Where did that come from?

I had a minor epiphany today. Ok, it wasn't my epiphany exactly, a friend had it and I recalled it this morning. I can make calzone type food items with grands biscuits and the appropriate innards - like mozzarella, pizza sauce and pepperoni. I am so gustatorily excited!!

Today, amongst the things I did, I went to the bike store and picked up my bike. I got some things added to it, and they attached my handlebar mirror for free. Yay. Oh, another teeny epiphany, I can now get my car looked at - it is six months past due for its oil change, 'cause I have the bike to get back and forth - walking from there is too long a way in my current situation. By the way, checking the mom cams isn't very data intensive, so I can do it when I am not connected to the web.

Also, our handy guy came and put a gate up across the top of the stairs - very cool.

Ok, enough for now, I am sure there is more, but not that is getting written by me just now. Pfffffft.

Great Intentions

Isn't that the name of a book? I had some great intentions today. And who knows, maybe I will get something actually accomplished at some point. Instead I slept a lot, woke up late, didn't do anything, played xBox (Damn Civilization - it is really hard to win an economic game - I took one darn capital and suddenly the game is over. Grrrr.)

My hope was to get some correspondence written, sort my active papers pile (bills and such), do some grocery shopping and think about the coming week - we have a fairly intense show coming up at The Smith this weekend. And another couple next week. I was also hoping to get the movies picked for April. And what have I done? Nothing. I did make mom some lunch that she liked - cream of shrimp soup was the featured part. I am wondering if swallowing is difficult for her just now. One of the things I was going to get at the store was more cream soups - I know she doesn't like cream of tomato soup. Neither do I particularly. If I do get more cream soups, I will have to lay in a supply of half and half - I don't really like milk. Sigh.

Fenders! That was a word I was looking for yesterday - I bought a fender and a rear rack for the new to me bike. And toe clip pedals. And they are going to install my mirror for me for free. Yippee! I need to remember to put the bike rack in the car so that I can bring the bike back home more easily. Where I am going to keep it is anyone's guess. Part of me would like to tear down the barn and put up a new barn building for storage. Thoughts?

Justin said he would come over tomorrow with the gate for the top of the stairs and possible a new to me oven/stove. We shall, of course, see.

So, I didn't do anything after all. I made a meal of leftovers and played and now mom and I are watching a movie called The Hundred-Foot Journey. Yippee?

Tic Tac Toe

Three days in a row. Are the "x" days or "o" days? Hmm.

So, I was thinking that I would see if the bike place downtown does layaway. If they do, I could start paying for a new bike now and have it in time for next Spring. I like the idea of layaway. Better than buying something on credit in my opinion. Teaches one the happiness and satisfaction inherent in delayed gratification. We shall see. Thursday I will inquire.

I found myself noticing bikes all over the place today. Silly of me, I know, hoping to see mine just sitting out somewhere. Still, it is a small town and anything is possible (though most things are unlikely). I also looked at The Smith to see if perhaps I had hallucinated and not ridden my bike home the other night and had just left it there. Another bike was there, not mine, unfortunately. Sigh.

The bright side - they didn't take my bike/car rack. Nor did I attach the rear-view mirror! Hurrah for small blessings.

Right now I am sitting at the Smith babysitting for a band that is rehearsing for an upcoming East Coast swing of a tour. It reminds me of the times I have hung out with bands in the past. Back in college I was sort of briefly the band manager for a group of guys I knew. Rockford, I think was the band's name. I recently reconnected with a few of them on Facebook! The other was when I was living in the Bay Area and was briefly the lighting guy (when they played gigs where there was a lighting rig set-up) and lugger for a band called Hobo. Not as glamorous as people think it is, the life of a musician. Or any artist for that matter. A lot of time is spent just sort of sitting around. It does have its cool bits. And this time I am getting some work accomplished - which is more than can be said for those days gone by.

What's the Blog About, Alfie?

Do I really need to figure out what this blog is supposed to be about? I hope not. My poor little grey cells would have too difficult a time with that task...instead, for the nonce, I will continue on in my willy-nilly way, typing whatever comes into my pretty little head. For me, it is a great way to get some writing done, which gives me a sense of accomplishment, no matter what else I do or don't do during the rest of the day. Like yesterday.

So I didn't get much of the stuff I wanted done yesterday accomplished. Oh well. Life is that way. One of the things about not getting stuff done, is that it will, most likely, still be there when you want to try again. And if it isn't, huzzah! Win-win! And if you do it - win! Win-win-win! Hurrah!!

What did I do instead of the things that I had outlined? Well, it took longer at Sam Bonney's than I thought it would. He is a very nice guy - just speaks a little deliberately. His secretary, Kathy, puts up with a lot, I am sure. :) Then we went to a camera store - wow - that place was totally cool! I dropped off a video of a) a movie I made and b) some home videos that I collected. They are going to transfer it to digital for me. Yippee! Next we stopped at Church's to ask them to come get the bumps out of the carpet. They said they would! Phew!

But wait, there's more! We lunched on sandwiches and then went to see Cars 2. Not as good as Cars, but still fun. We went 2D because that is the way mom likes it. Then Rite-Aid for mom's prescriptions and Wegman's for a few veggies for the evening's "breakfast for dinner." Next, I walked downtown carrying all of my change, only to get to the bank 6 minutes too late to change the coins for bills. Sigh. Went to Ed O'B's and chatted with Morgan, met Kyle and Sully (Morgan's father). See, no room to get the things done that I had planned. Maybe today.

And even more! I went to Ventosa - a winery - to see if I could run into Karynn - and I did! It was great to see her, albeit briefly. I also went to Beef and Brew. On the way, I ran into the Turkish Women. Gulsun had bought a bicycle! Or maybe the three of them chipped in together. I don't know for sure yet. And I went to Dana's Time Out for the second time. Wow. All in all, a busy day. Yippee for busy days!

Photos from July 6, 2011:

It was hard picking just three today...


Mom saw this wall first - I thought it was cool enough for a photo - in Waterloo, NY, near Sam Bonney's office.


This was breakfast for dinner - a sauteed vegetables and cheese omelet, bacon, home made hash browns, and an english muffin. Yum!


Karynn is the one on the left in this picture. :)

Odd and Good

My mom remembers the weirdest things. Yesterday she asked me if I had thrown away a lamp shade frame. I said I had. It took a few tries to convince her that it was gone. She was pretty insistent that she had wanted it so that "one day" she might recover it and use it. And since all things are possible, this might have happened. The frame had been sitting on the porch for years - at least 3. And there are two more out there - though those are are still covered...

The Chinese woman didn't call yesterday, so I guess my days as an ESL teacher are over for now. Kinda sad. But it is her loss.

I took another test ride yesterday. Now I can't decide between the Trek 7.2 and the Trek 7.3. My brain will cogitate on it for a while. They are both more expensive than I would like. And there are the accoutrement that I would need - lock, helmet, rack, etc. to add to the price. And being geeky, I wouldn't mind a bike computer of some kind - that will tell me mileage and speed and things like that. I don't think I need a GPS, but...Glarg. Well, I don't need the bike right now, with a trip looming on the horizon. Oh, and a bike car rack of some kind probably. Sigh.

No tennis yesterday, but I did get out and juggle for a while. People often seem surprised that I can juggle. I don't know why. I wonder what percentage of the population can actually do a decent three ball cascade...(Side rant - it is 7:30 in the morning here in Beautiful Geneva NY and the Hobart and William Smith Colleges landscapers are hard at work with power tools! What the heck is that about? Not that I am asleep, but I could be. Goodness gracious, when will it end!!) I started Morgan (the bartender at Eddie O'Brien's for those of you who haven't read all of my blogs - and shame on you - get reading - you aren't getting any younger and you have to catch up!!) on the juggling road. With limes. We shall see if she did any practice. I have decided to take mom there after her doctor's appointment on Wednesday.

Had a lovely time at Beef and Brew - chatted with two visitors from PA, Larry and Amy. Mostly about beer, but a bit about life and such. :) And on the walk home, I met a woman who knew my mom! How weird is that? And my mom remembered her, which is even weirder!

By the way - for newer readers (if there are any - hello? Is this thing on?), the ostensible reason for this blog currently is a picture a day...

Pictures from June 20, 2011:

The third bike I have test ridden - this was a trek 7.2 with a 22" frame.


New clubs from Renegade!


I have always liked the bush in the back of this picture. I don't know what it is, but it is cool!


Huge mutant dandelion! Eeek! Run away!!!

reblogging and blogging and blogged

How does one know if one has been reblogged? I can't imagine that I have, but anything is possible. The stats continue to amaze me. I am getting visitors from all over the world. True, not many of them, but still...

More tennis yesterday. Not a lot more, but still...I like that phrase - but still...

Finished reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - moved to tears here and there. I would recommend it to people who like to read. :) Whether or not I will read his first novel, Everything is Illuminated, remains to be seen. I doubt I will get it from the library before we leave. Yup, we are leaving. Friday. Lots to do before that...

I got a call out of the blue - I like it when that happens - from a professor of mine from Hobart and William Smith. She is producing an opera and was wondering if I wanted to be in the Chorus. I told her I would be interested in helping out in any way that I could - and that I was traveling around the time of the performance, so I wasn't sure what I could do to help. There is an organizational meeting on Wednesday at Houghton House. Yippee!

Wednesday is also a doctor's appointment for mom. Life is good.

Oh, I get to take another bike for a test spin today. It might be "the one." Why can't finding a relationship be like buying a bicycle? :) Hmm, maybe it is...Now I just need to find a good "bicycle shop!"

Will Kelly, my Chinese English Student call again today? Anything is possible...

Pictures from June 19, 2011:


Now, who wouldn't want a piece of that? :) I like self timers on cameras!


And there it is - the camera that I have been using for most of the past 8 years!

Good Advice?

As my nephew hopped into his rental car and headed off to Norther NY, he gave me some advice. He said not to worry about the lack of comments from the Saucer people and not to worry about not getting everyone's written release for their pictures. Just to go ahead and get the thing done without those things. Once it is done, if people complain, people complain! So, my goal, to finish my part of working on the draft by the end of the week and get it off to Heather, the designer! Come hell or high water. Grrr! Hear me roar!!

A friend found a dateable person on Plenty of Fish. Congratulations to her!! That means there is hope. Actually, though I am getting fed up with Plenty of Fish (the dating site), my hope still stays strong that I will find someone dateable. Of course, there is always the current crush of the month to keep my mind occupied. Speaking of whom, I got a book out of the library that she apparently liked. We shall see. I will read most anything that someone recommends. Or at least one thing that they recommend. If I find it atrocious or just not to my liking, I will take their further recommendations with a grain or three of salt.

Went for another test ride yesterday and liked that bike a lot more than the first one. The first one just felt hard and a little painful. And I don't like that. This one was more mellow feeling. So, the bike place has ordered one for me to test ride. If I like it, I will get it. Yippee! I forgot to ask for a time frame and they didn't offer. Hmm.

Also, I met with the Chinese woman who was interested in having me help her with her English. She only gets one day off a week from her job, so we will be meeting Mondays it seems. Nice person. I hope I can help! Like some other immigrants, she has been staying in her comfort zone, spending most of her time with people from her own country and not really immersing herself in the culture (such as it is) here. I hope I can help her change that...

Lastly, I ventured to a new to me bar. Inland Reef. I have seen it for years but have never been in. Morgan, a new friend, was working there for the last time, so I stopped in to say hello. I ended up playing two games of pool with a pool hustler - not that I got taken, since I don't gamble on pool, but he was happy to tell me how he loved to play for money.

Oh, I guess that wasn't lastly. I did want to mention that I feel a little guilty whenever I do anything not with my mom. I feel sad that she is sitting alone in the house reading one of her books, or watching television or doing whatever she does when I am not around. Then I realize that I can't live her life for her and there really is nothing for me to feel guilty about. And that mostly assuages my feelings. Yippee!

Pictures from June 13, 2011:


Next door's roses!


On my ride, I came across this yard! Looking cool!


This was the second test ride bicycle. I liked it better than the first.

First Trial Bike Ride

Bikes have changed in the past 30 years. Or is it 20. I can't do math anymore. Sigh. Anyway, I finally went to take a test ride or three. The bike store was open today (always closed on Wednesdays). Unfortunately I got passed from one guy to another and he promised to pass me to another after I came back from my test drive. But no one was available. So I just left. Without the bike. :) I am not sure I liked that one. We shall see after I have something with which to compare it. So maybe Monday I will go for another test ride. And probably stop in at Eddie O'Brien's...

Roast corn! I am going to roast some corn when it become ready here in Geneva. Which it isn't yet. Our next door neighbors - Luke and Laura (tee hee for old time General Hospital Fans) have a gas grill - at least until their friend takes it away. If that happens, I might invest in one myself. One day. Cate turned me on to the happiness that is grilling. Thank you Cate!

I bought a piece of salmon for dinner last night. It came with its own cedar plank and brown sugar/black pepper corn topping. Turned out yummily!

All in all a lovely day yesterday. And today looks to be replete with adventure. Off to Hector NY to visit Two Goats Brewing Company. It is good to have a hobby. :) And later, my nephew and great nephew are coming for a brief visit. Hurrah!

Pictures from June 9, 2011:


This is the bike.


Ooh, cedar plank salmon!

Unexpected can be great!

I had a plan in mind. I often have a plan in mind. I like to have a plan in mind. That way, I haven't failed to plan or planned to fail or whatever that saying is. So, my plan was to go to the bicycle shop and test ride some bikes. I would really like a bike. I walked all the way down there - all the way being about 6/10s of a mile. And found they were closed. Always closed on Wednesdays. Whatever. I did, though stop at the bank and at a game store in town. I wish the game store luck. I can't imagine what their daily nut has to be. Digression, gotta love it.

So, anywho, I was mildly disappointed that the store was closed. Well, that just means that I get to go today. Yippee. I decided to continue with my plan and walk to Wegman's - another 6/10s of a mile. But I got sidetracked. I hadn't, as of yet, actually made it inside of Eddie O'Briens. And I don't know how often I will frequent the place. But I am getting ahead of myself. I went in and sat at the bar. I wasn't planning on staying, but Morgan, the bartender was too darned beautiful (sorry Morgan, had to say it) sweet, intelligent and personable for me to just say "hi" and leave. She was great and I know that whatever she does in life, she will do it excellently (with all of the caveats that go with life). She fed me lots of tastes of beer that I have already had. Yippee. And then a $1.50 pint of Yuengling - which, after all the tastes, wasn't too bad. I also met Greg. And a server named Tracy. And another server whose name escapes me just now. Maybe it will come to me. Anyway, I had a grand time with Morgan at Eddie O'Briens.

On my walk to Wegman's, I came across three young women all dressed the same, in Belhurst shirts. I spoke with them, because that is who I am. They are, it turns out, here working for three months at Belhurst. From Turkey! I will, one day, know their names. I apologize, but Turkish is not a language that I am familiar with, and their names were a challenge for me to absorb. They were on their way to the Big M market (Madia's) to get some groceries. I "made" them go to Wegman's instead. I think they were happy about that. Instead of making them walk home again, I walked, quickly, to get my car, so that I could drive them home. Sweet kids! I hope to run into them again before their time here is over.

So, the long and the short of it - say yes. Make a plan and take what comes - go with the flow - see the possibilities and pick the ones that offer the most growth, not the ones that offer the most safety or comfort. Life is too short for that.

I also went out to the Beef and Brew. It has quickly become my hangout of choice - at least on Mondays and Wednesdays. Met a whole slew of college staff members. Fun was had!

Pictures from June 8, 2011:


Step two - buy tennis balls - step one was accomplished when I brought my tennis racquet up from Clayton, NC. Now, I just need to get my butt out there and hit some balls. Sigh.


Can't help myself - I like taking pictures of the Seneca Lake!


This was in the shade. The other side said 97!


Taps and Morgan at the very end. Someone actually eager to be in a picture!


More of mom's peonies.