Notes From A Broad

Looking back

2013-06-16T00:43:00.000-03:00

I thought I would show you some photos from our days in Buenos Aires.
Wonderful, sunfilled, amazing, happy days in Buenos Aires.

Our home

The museum across the street from our super market

Neighbors

Pilar and Recoleta Cemetery and those skies, those amazing Argentine skies!

The park where we would stop on the walk back from the bakery, where we would sit on a bench and people watch and feed the pigeons. That tree ... that amazing tree.

Sweet Pup ... we will always miss him.

Closings and Beginnings

2013-06-15T21:47:00.003-03:00

The Closing went well.
Actually the entire day went well.
From when our Real Estate agent took us to lunch in a fantastic new place that we will no doubt spend too much time in from now on.
I see me in a rocking chair, on the porch of this restaurant on a summer evening, having a cocktail and watching my new neighbors go by.

The Closing involved my husband and I and our 2 attorneys ... don't ask me why we merit two, that is just the way it was.
And the sellers attorney.. a funny old gentleman that I liked right away .. especially when he was talking to the (difficult) seller and he said .. "I have other things to do today "..
So the attorneys were good.
The seller, not so much.. so I feel we were all very lucky she stayed home and was just annoying by telephone.

I signed my name more times in this closing than we did in Argentina.
That still has me puzzled.
But it still means we own the house ..

Then we went to the house to see it and ended up deciding to have the interiors painted.

Today was Pick Your Paint Day.
This is always hard for me.
It is never the color on the wall that it is on that tiny little paper chip.
And on top of that difficulty, I had 2 men with me! ... being patient !!.. my god the pressure !

So I chose .. something cream colored.

We are thinking of what to do with the gardens ...which are wild and need a firm hand and a hot tub ...that is going to be sold and there is a need for some more bird feeders and the pool needs a floating deck and we need a new kitchen sink and a new front door and french doors where the sliding doors stand in the dining room and ......
You might be glad that I will be too busy to blog much.

Today was a good day

2013-06-14T22:23:00.000-03:00

Today we had lunch in a beautiful old antique building that has been renovated and turned into a fantastic restaurant with delicious food and it was all a treat from our realtor !
We bought a house today..

It went easily and in an ordinary way as these things do ... in the US .
In Argentina, it would have been totally different and in its way, more charming, more confusing, a little crazy and a bit more fun.
But we were content with the way today went.

We went back to the house and met the painter and got ideas for French doors and gardens and decks and I just wandered the gardens and listened to the amazing sound of sooo many birds.
I saw more than a few Red Winged Blackbirds.
We will be visited by Hummingbirds soon, or so I have been told.
I am getting hummingbird feeders .. they will all be welcome in my garden.

I have big ideas for the pool and the pool house and all that jazz.
I have big ideas for the area where a hot tub stands but not for long ..
I even have big ideas for small charming stone walls ...
I am in the world of stone walls now... I gotta have one too !

If anyone has ideas regarding gardens, birds, and living in the country, feel free to offer them here .. or send notes.

Yes, Today was a good day.

Our old home in Buenos Aires ..

Change

2013-06-13T17:13:00.000-03:00

In Buenos Aires, winter meant rain.
Not heavy downpours , usually just showers or light dreary rain that lasted all day .. Combined with lower temperatures and the greyness of the day, it made winter seem long and dreary.
Luckily there were always bright, cheerful, warm cafes and shops and malls and museums to visit and get out of the gloom and cheer up and get warm and not care if it was winter outside.

Now we are in the United States again.
It is Spring ... it is raining. It has not stopped raining since we arrived ... well, almost.
It is not warm... it is dreary and grey and wet.
If we get in the car and drive to a town, we can go into a warm bright cafe and cheer up.
If we stay in the house we can eat M&Ms and drink hot tea and cheer up.
I chose the M&Ms and tea .. personally, I hate driving in the rain.

Tomorrow is the closing on our new home.
We will do the walk through and then go sign the papers and get our keys and walk around grinning like idiots.... well, I will, my husband has much more self-control.

Next will be the waiting for the delivery of our belongings... the slight frisson of worry about everything arriving .. everything that we said goodbye to back those months ago in Argentina .. will I be seeing them again here ?
Will we have a happy reunion next week ?
Let's hope the Gods of Moving House will look down kindly on us .. and let us get everything all in one piece this time ..

A few months ago I was up to my eyeballs in Argentine life .
Now I find myself in a quiet place, where you can hear the geese flying over in the evenings, honking.
A bit of a change from the taxis honking outside the building in Buenos Aires.

Lately we have been hearing a little too much of the sound of rain.
Water .. rushing water, splashing water and puddling water .. okay, it's nice, turn it off now !

We drive by fields where deer can be seen , hanging out where the cows are grazing.
We drive by fields where horses are waiting for a rider to come get them.
We drive by rivers that are now full and rushing and kind of scary looking.
We drive by homes that are 200 years old and beautiful, homes that look like a slight breathe of air will blow them down and homes that are Architectural Digest worthy.

We go into town, Great Barrington , and have coffee in the afternoon at a charming little coffee house .. funky might be the word more than charming .
The kids with the body art, piercings and dreadlocks, the older ladies with the set hair and neat little pocket books and the tourists with their windbreakers and sneakers and odd hats .. and the locals, housewives, bankers, and an occasional familiar face from TV or the movies .. all there to see on any given afternoon.

We will be leaving here ... going to our new little town with a new little coffee shop and new faces to remember.
There are fields of horses, a farm with Highland cattle and lambs and little goats, all together .. my new neighborhood .. Change is good.

Sightings

2013-06-11T00:23:00.001-03:00

Yes, it is true.. you never have a camera with you when you need one .

Todays sightings..

A huge wild turkey ran across the road as we were driving through the woods.

It poured rain all day but that did not seem to bother the horses gathered in the corner of the field , all facing in the same direction ... I have to ask someone about that.
Were they waiting for a ride ?

We drove past our soon to be new home... it has not seen a lawnmower in a while .. the house is hidden by overgrown bushes, flowers and grass.
Somewhere in there is my soon to be Enchanted Garden. .. which will be the stomping grounds of a new puppy and a new baby ..

Too many long legged spiders hanging out by our door ..

Chipmunks sitting on top of the wood stacked outside ..

Geese flying overhead, honking .. honking ..

Lilacs, Iris, Hydrangeas, roses and so many other flowers that I cannot name or remember blooming everywhere around us !

Even in the rain, it is quite beautiful here ..

Wonderful times

2013-06-08T17:28:00.001-03:00

Here we are, still in our old house in the woods in the Berkshires.
Before it was a house, originally it was the quarters for farm hands / apple pickers back many years ago, with about 16 bedrooms.
The kitchen, we are told, was in the basement.

Somewhere, way back then, there was an unhappy cook, if she was anything like me.
Imagine, standing in the basement, in front of a big stove, woodburning, cooking and baking for 16 hungry men , every day.
Maybe Sundays were the day off ?
Did she whine as much as I would have ?
These days, we have Mom's if we want to grab a sandwich or some soup .. this is Mom's.

This house is a huge wonderful old house full of all those idiosyncrasies that old buildings have ... the steps are smaller, they make me feel like my feet are too big.
They are steep and easy to fall down, so we always hang on for dear life, running up and down those things... oh, and they sort of tilt backwards, just in case you think you can go up the steps, not hanging on to the handrail.

Happily the place is modernized, very nicely and there is a full bath on each floor.
The rooms are furnished very comfortably and it has a coziness that works well at keeping me from being pitiful about not being in my own home yet.
There is a little bed under the eaves and a huge skylight upstairs where I can read , nap or daydream.
It is a perfect spot to lose oneself in Design magazines.
Yes, I have read them all, I can't wait for the next months issues to come out !

We have been adopted by the owners laboradors.
Brady and Dreyfuss .. Brown, big, one old , one younger and as sweet and loving and good natured as you could ever wish for.
I will miss them.
I think we might have to work out visiting days or shared custody or something ..

We have had rain just about every day.
Heavy downpours.
Scary if you are driving on roads that you don't know well, with steep drops on one side and curves and hazards like deer who decide to mosey across the road at night and other night creatures.
Then there was the huge flock of turkeys wandering through a field, into a yard, some of them doing a turkey dance of some sort, mating ? showing off their manliness ? Whatever it was meant for, it got a lot of laughs.

We see eagles and hawks and horses and Highland cattle and sheep and blonde cattle. No, they are not white, they are blonde.
Different .. gotta google blonde cows and see what comes up ..

We will be closing on our new home in the next 10 to 14 days.
There will be a bit of quiet from here ( much appreciated, I am sure) while we get settled in .. and we can say hello to our belongings, my shoes ! my bags ! clothes and treasures ! our comfy furniture and then find just the right place for it all.
I will try to post .. if I don't, don't worry, I am having a wonderful time.

Wishing you wonderful times too ...

Venice - What would it be like ......

2013-06-05T18:30:00.000-03:00

Yes, I am back in the United States, staying in the Berkshires in Massachusettes and waiting for our home in NY state to be ready to move into.
Yes , I am glad, no ... I am thrilled to be here.

So I was browsing through one of my favorite Tumblr blogs and fell into a reverie of ... What would it be like to live in Venice ... Italy.

We would do it differently this time .. no big apartment with room for visitors who don't visit that often .. none of our own furniture shipped hither and yon ... No .. just my husband and myself and our suitcases and a rented apartment in Venice .

Falling asleep at night to the sound of water slapping against stones.

Waking to the sounds of the city wakening, gondolas and market boats and shoppers and tourists and church bells and doves and pigeons ...
Hmmmm ...

Shopping, anyone ?

2013-06-04T10:53:00.002-03:00

My friend Razmataz has some wonderful jewelry and goodies for sale on her blog. You have to go look. I have just been sitting around impatiently waiting for her to get this on the blog and ready for me to make my orders.

www.razmatazmarket.com

Since we are sort of just sitting around waiting right now ( house closings take way too long , don't they ?) ... I am happy to do some shopping.
Lately house magazines and catalogues have taken up most of my time but jewelry and other goodies are just as interesting and important.

I mean really, don't you need to look good while house hunting ?
Don't you need to show up at the closing wearing something that will be appropriate for the Big Day ?

So do go look and tell me how you enjoyed the shopping or just window licking.

Tell her I said Hello !

Time

2013-06-02T21:25:00.000-03:00

Time is speeding up .. we have only about 2 weeks until we have the new house closing, if nothing goes wrong ..

Right on time, our ship came in .. the container is in a safe place and waiting to be delivered.

They will deliver, unpack, take away all the mess ...

IF we have the house in time.

So far . . so good.

Spring is arriving with a bang in the Berkshires.

I like the flower part quite a lot, every day something new is blooming, birds and butterflies and hummingbirds are all around .. the people who own this house have a certain magic touch when it comes to flowers and birds ... and dogs.

This is a beautiful time of year to be here.

We went to New York City for the weekend.

It takes a bit of time to get there, but this trip we made sure to have a room in a hotel that would make things much easier.

The time flew while we were there and then with storm warnings, we left early.

Next time we will hope for not so hot, not so stormy weather .. and more time to spend with the loved ones.

Especially the tiny new one..

Next time, I am going to be talking about Swimming Pools .. getting rid of one.

Gardens ... a large one that needs taming.

Decks and patios and putting down slate or granite walks ..

Did you have a good time this weekend ?

Did it fly by and you just sat back and said, Where did the Time go ?

In the Land of Rip Van Winkle

2013-05-29T22:04:00.002-03:00

You know, I am in the land of Rip Van Winkle.

The Revolutionary War and Mohicans , the Vanderbilts, the Roosevelts and more history than I can even think of at the moment.

We won't discuss my ever wonky memory .. some days everything is clear as a bell, others I am lucky I remember the names of my children .. you know, what's his name and his sister .

We are going to be living near some wonderful homes that belonged to some pretty interesting people ..

They now belong to the National Registry of Historic Homes and are safe from demolition and urban sprawl ... if it were ever to sprawl this far into the countryside .. and I intend to spend quite a bit of time, wandering gardens and taking photos.

Which I will share here.

I am reminded of all this as I sit here in the near dark, as the sky gets ever more black and thundery looking .... that Headless Horsemen rode near here, that Indians hunted in the forests nearby , that settlers came through winters that I cannot even contemplate to make a new home here .. as I sit in a 200 year old house, with a dishwasher and a new car sitting outside..

I am struck by the age of it all and how little I really know or remember about it all.

( not that I should remember the Revolution ... I am not that old ! but lessons learned in school tend to fade fast for some) ..

I am going to start paying attention again .. I will learn more or remind myself of the history of this place .

Do you live in a Historic place ?

Near monuments or sites of great events ?

Do you ever think about it or is it just the neighborhood, the area , your town , your home ?

Thunder is rumbling .. I think I will go make sure the windows are all closed and look out the windows, just in case there is a ghost of a horseman out there ..

Muffins and Memorial Day

2013-05-28T15:24:00.000-03:00

Another Day, Another Muffin.
I have become one of those people.
I go to markets based on their speciality. So we go to one market for its produce, one for its soups, one for the roast chickens they have every day, fresh and tasty and one for the muffins they make daily.
Today was chocolate chip and the other is all chocolate...they also have banana !
Each muffin is the size of a nice sized coffee cup.
This is my main meal of the day.
Or it should be.
Actually, what is wrong with eating muffins for lunch and dinner ??
You have grain, protein ( bananas have protein in them .. chocolate is proven to cure everything that ails you or at least make it not bother you so much ) and sugar .. which keeps you cheerful and being cheerful is much appreciated by husbands and children and neighbors too I imagine.
I know the dogs next door love me.
See... it works on pets too.

So .. Memorial Day Weekend in the Berkshires ...
Small Town American at its most charming and beautiful.
Each little town had its own parade or celebration and we noticed that horses and flags and old cars and motorcycles played a big part.
Then there were the fire engines and flags everywhere ... every where .

We took a long drive, past our soon to be ( something like 2 weeks from now ?) home.. where a gardner is missing.
Where a pool sits and waits for ..what ... removal I hope.. although I am hearing this is not simple nor easy nor inexpensive.
But it has to go, one way or another.
I discovered on the drive by that there are massive amounts of flowering bushes, masses of poppies around trees and so many familiar bushes and flowers that I no longer remember the names of ...
I am going to have such fun !!
We found the supermarket that our realtor told us about .. oh my .. huge.
H u g e.
And it has a view .. fields, apple orchards and in the distance, a range of mountains.
I am so going to enjoy grocery shopping after this move !

So that is about all that there is to say , it has rained too much, we found that every time we start driving in the direction of the new house, it rains .. so we stopped.
Then we went yesterday and it was great, but after we got home, it rained some more.

Oh ... and we saw the Highland Cattle in the same pasture with the little lambs and some regular cows .. we saw a huge stable that boards horses and once again I must remember to go to the Equine Advocates once we are settled in and see if I can volunteer.

Wishing you a good Summer, now that I guess it is official and all ..
Memorial Day 2013 ..

It Is All Good

2013-05-22T17:19:00.000-03:00

Ahhh, life in the Country.
You wake up to bird song.
You smell freshly cut grass.
You fall asleep to the sounds of ...nothing ..
Nothing might include birds, the wind and or rain.
But no dogs barking.
No cars honking.
No neighbors playing music too loud or yelling.

We get thunderstorm warnings on the phone .. .
But no dogs bark and music is not played loudly until the sun rises.

I am not in Buenos Aires anymore.

Which is in many ways, still a slightly sad thing.

I am so happy to be back in the United States.
I am so glad to see and talk to and touch, my family again.
I am so glad to have such variety in the grocery stores.
I am so glad to hear English wherever I go and I can understand the news and the music on the car radio.

It is all Good.

Having said this ...
I miss Buenos Aires.
I miss having our long walks to the market, the bakery, stopping for afternoon tea, coffee and figuring out where will we go for dinner.
I miss the neighbors.
I miss the park with the dogs.
I miss the music .. everywhere you go, there is great music being played.
I miss trying to figure out what everyone is saying.

But we are Home.
It is All Good.

Things Change

2013-05-19T11:28:00.000-03:00

Yesterday we got up early, hopped in the car .... well, let's say I wanted to hop but I sort of dragged my tired a** to the car and plopped into the front seat and took a long ride.

We went to the area where we used to live a long time ago, where we used to shop and had fond memories of a nice Bloomingdales and a very nice Saks Fifth Avenue.

Upon arrival, we knew Things Had Changed.

The mall was huge, the shops were strange ( as in unknown to us) and the shops we remembered were not as welcoming, not as interesting and certainly not as appealing.
The merchandise seemed sub-standard .. cheap and certainly nothing original.
The staff was cold, indifferent and thankfully, unhelpful ( I worried one might come over and ask me if I needed help ... they gave me the impression if I didn't like something, I might be ordered to leave )

I did buy some blush and eye shadow from a seemingly normal and charming lady at the Clinique counter and we ran into a lady that we knew from many many years ago who 1- surprised me that she remembered us 2- was warm and friendly 3- kissed us goodby.
That kiss meant a lot ... I told my husband, I am Missing the Kissing.

Upon arrival in Argentina, we were kissed on one or both cheeks by everyone we met.
And you are kissed every single time you meet them again.
On the street, in a shop, wherever , you will get your kisses.
It is charming and warm and too bad they don't do it here.
Too bad they don't do it everywhere .

Shopping in Argentina can be a long process.
You walk in, say hello, perhaps chat about the weather or something, then shop ... taking all the time you wish, no one bothers you.
Try things on, buy them and as you pay and leave, you get your kiss .
Here .... well... everyone stood around, waiting for a customer and no one got kissed. Too bad, it would have added something to the experience, I am sure .

I went to a little shop last week in Great Barrington.
I like this place , funky odd looking clothes .. not your typical Banana Republic or preppy looking things .. and a lot of what look like handmade bags and jewelry.
The name of the store is Karen Allen which meant nothing to me at the time.
I have been in a couple of times and this time was bound and determined to buy something.
And wouldn't you know, everything was too big !
Even the handbags !
But I found a pair of earrings that are beautiful and bought those.
As I was wandering around, chatting to the lady behind the counter another lady came out from the back, smiled at me and went back into the back.
She looked familiar but it meant nothing until we walked out and I looked at the name and my husband said, she was in Raiders of the Lost Ark ... Karen Allen !
So that was fun. And the shop is lovely.

Next weekend we are going to NYC to shop and visit with the boy child and his bride.
There is a baby to shop for.
A baby who will be here in just a couple of months. I have a lot of work to do ..

The Best Laid Plans

2013-05-16T10:47:00.000-03:00

For some time now, even when living in Buenos Aires, I have been browsing home magazines and home decor magazines and books and daydreaming of a new house. Here or there, the house was what I dreamt of, not so much where it was.
Then as we all know, life has this way of changing things up now and then and we decided to move back to the United States.

Here came my opportunity to find and furnish and live in a house "of my dreams"..
This "dream house" had a few things about it that made it perfect for me ..

Two story, Center Hall Colonial would suit me.
High ceilings, wood floors and lots of large windows overlooking fields, gardens or woods, no neighborhoods please.

A fireplace or two and plenty of rooms for guests, both big and small and tiny.
A kitchen where the family would gather on holidays and on a property where I would not see another house, only gardens and trees.

As we all know, no matter how good your plans are, they don't always work out .

We found a home.
I don't know why we initially liked it.
I don't know why it didn't take me longer to like it.
I am not quite sure why I like it .

It has neighbors !

It has no fireplace, not enough extra bedrooms to suit me, it is a Mid Century Modern and all on one floor .. no Upstairs/Downstairs !

It does have Possibilities.
It has gardens that are more than I had ever hoped for .
It has trees , a small private forest, one might say.
A single story home might not be a bad idea as the years go by .
It has what one might call Style .. or at least it will when I am through with it !

Just a short walk up a hill on a nice quiet road, there is a farm.
There are Highland cattle and sheep and goats and horses..

We will eventually have a cat and a dog. And we will get to know the neighbors horses. Maybe even the neighbors too .

So when things aren't going your way and you find yourself battling to keep on a path that you have set for yourself .. a list of Things you must have ...
Remember... sometimes what you think you must have is not exactly what you will get or even want .. in the scheme of things .
And that might just be a Wonderful Thing.

House Dreams

2013-05-15T11:25:00.000-03:00

Just a note to say hello and that things are going along very well here and we are so very busy with this and that.
At the moment we are enjoying living in a 200 year old house while we wait for our mid-century house to be closed on and moved into.
I can't wait !
We drive by, wander the gardens, sit in front of the house and discuss what to do with this and that and probably cause worry among any neighbors who see us and wonder , Who Are They ?! What Are They Up To ?? !

My mind overflows with plans for gardening, the grounds are a bit unkept at the moment but also have a fabulous hidden garden feeling .. with as yet uncounted huge trees and flowers everywhere and vines ... Wisteria and who knows what else !
Then I wonder, what if the wisteria starts to pull down trees ? we had that back in the last house we lived in the US .. Coming soon to a blog near you ..Adventures in Gardening ~
I have a huge book that was given to me many years ago .. an Encyclopedia of sorts on flowers and plants ... it is finally going to come in handy !

I daydream about standing at the 3 !! kitchen windows ( a windowed bay at the end of the kitchen where the sink/stove/counter are located ) and watch the birds and creatures out in my private woodland... I can't wait !!

When I am lying in bed at night, trying to get my weary mind to stop spinning around, I think about The House.
I have to know where the furniture is going to go, so I can direct the movers when they finally arrive .. so at night when I am the only one awake ... I see the house in my minds eye and know What will go Where and How it will all look (hopefully).

The house is not as big as some we have been looking at and I wonder will my furniture fit !
What if there is no wall for a certain very long chest from South America ??
What if the bed doesn't fit in the guest room which is small and has a wall of french doors to a glass conservatory sort of room ??

What if ? I hate "what if's " ... they keep me awake too many nights.

We think we are moving in about 4 weeks.
Until then, I will drive by and gaze at my Home-to-Be.
Admire the flowers that are coming up in my Garden-to-Be.
Puzzle my Neighbors-to-Be.

And buy more Home Magazines ... and study ... and Dream.

And That's All It Took

2013-05-11T16:37:00.000-03:00

The days have been sunny and cool and we have enjoyed being out and getting the 23 million little things done that have to be done upon arrival on a new planet, er, I mean country.
Even when it is your own country, your old home.

The banking , the hotels, the temporary rental,new car, new people...all handled brilliantly by my Husband.
The one who still has a Memory.
He also knows exactly what has to be done and when ,where and who has to do it.

I am sure at one time I knew all this too but it seems that my mind/ memory has taken a Leave of Absence.
Lucky me, his mind still works.
I do admit that I remember everything about houses we saw and which ones we loved, hated and especially the one that got away.
And all the decorating ideas!

Now there is just one house to remember, one house to decorate, one house that will soon be all ours.

I loved a house that you could see the living room from the upstairs bedroom, looking down through the ancient floorboards.
It was so charming and had such possibilities ...
And a millionaire to buy it.

I loved a house until I saw it's location ...across a busy street from a trailer park.

I loved a house that was perfect , we made an offer, they left out that little detail about someone else offering first.
It seemed as if our dreams were really not coming true , at least the way we were dreaming them.

And then our new realtor/ best friend forever took us with her while she looked at a house she was about to list .

It is not the house of my dreams.
It is not even in the woods and there are neighbors.
But it grabbed us.

We went back to see it ...... Twice.
And that's all it took.

We bought it.

Photos will come later.

Shopping

2013-05-09T19:45:00.003-03:00

We have been back for a few weeks now and I have found that I have done very little shopping.
Oh yes, shampoo, conditioner and a few beauty products but not really much in the way of shoes, clothes or well ... anything that I was looking forward to.
It seems that once we got here, the focus was all on finding a House .. buying a Home.
We have ... almost .. so now it is time to relax and wait for Things to be done, Tests to be taken, this and that to happen, then we will have the Home.
But ... then I will be shopping for the New Home.
Pretty things, ordinary things and hopefully garden and fun things.
But ... where are my new clothes ? my new Bought in the USA shoes ?

I think this week ... which is almost over ... should not pass without my having bought at least one pair of shoes, a new top or bottom or oh, even a piece of jewelry. What do you think?

Oh oh ... what about a new Handbag ? yes... that might work too.

Malls are not really close by.
Boutiques can be irritating and touristy where we are staying at the moment... and styles here seem to run to jeans and loose shirts, boots and sweat shirts, not exactly what I wore when in Argentina.
So while we won't be seeing me in a sweatshirt, there must be a shop where I can get some more casual tops and maybe a sweater or two .. the sun shines but it is still quite chilly .. my blood is thin, it still misses Argentina.

Yesterday we drove into The City. Well, not even The City .. we drove past it and into New Jersey !!
It poured rain, the roads were flooding, there were times when I feared sinking or being crushed under a wind tossed tree.
We drove over the George Washington Bridge and the top half was lost in fog.
That was so creepy, eerie and downright scary !! and then suddenly, we were in New Jersey and we could see the car in front of us again.
Then the drive back ... first we had a little fog , then a lot of rain then as we arrived in the Berkshires, the skies grew lighter and it stopped raining .. welcoming us back.

I think I will wait until Sunday in the Summer before I take that drive again.
Have I become a country girl this quickly ?
Or am I just a bad weather wimp?

Wait til you hear about our new house !
Later .

A Mouse in the House

2013-05-08T20:58:00.001-03:00

I guess if I were naming today, it would be Wet Wednesday.
It was drizzling when we left the house, on the parkway into New York City, we hit the rains. And boy did it rain.
Lanes on the road were closed , so deep was the water.
Everyone was crawling along, making a 1 1/2 hour ride close to 3 hours .. that were full of tension .. trying to see , trying not to drive into a bottomless puddle, avoiding the simpletons who were driving over the speed limit while everyone else was creeping along , trying to figure out if we were supposed to pay that toll back there , which lane gets us into the right road ... my head is aching from it all.

We got all the bank things done in about 20 minutes then drove back home .. this time dealing with thick fog and then suddenly, the skies cleared, we were out of the fog and traffic and flying along, homeward bound.

I have suddenly become a HomeBody ..
I like staying home. And this isn't even My home !
Also .. we have mice.
Well, actually, the landlord has mice , they are just staying with us while we are here.
The mornings are full of suspense , you can imagine, was there a mouse here last night, is there a live or dead mouse here this morning ?
I would so like not to have to deal with this aspect of 200 year old houses in the woods.

But ...

We are so happy to be here.
We are enjoying Everything, even the too long , too tense ride into the city.
Which did not tempt me to linger for one moment.
Have I suddenly become Country Girl ?
What happened to City Girl ?
Did I leave her in Buenos Aires or was that Country Girl just trying on the city for size ?
Whichever one I am now, it is good .. it is all good.
I am looking forward to warm , dry days when I can photograph the local wild ( and not so wild) life and share them here .
Until then, I promise, no photos of little mice.

and Look What Happened .

2013-05-06T10:22:00.000-03:00

I am sorry that I am overwhelmed with all the house hunting, inspectors inspecting, lawyers lawyering and all the Fun stuff that comes along with relocating from one planet to another, finding a new home and then settling in.
We are far from settled in to our new home but at least we found one.
So until I can sit down at my own computer and share endless stories about the Fun and Madness of packing up and moving from Argentina back to the United States and finding a new home .. look at this wonderful building and consider visiting Buenos Aires.
That is what we did and look what happened !
Happy Monday~

Almost There

2013-05-02T18:22:00.000-03:00

The offer was made. The offer was accepted.
All those dreary details that do not include paint colors, furniture and decorating are being seen to on a daily basis.
The decorating is so much more interesting .. if you know what I mean.
The house is the total opposite of what I dreamt of. . what I imagined for my furniture ... the surroundings are a bit less woodsy and isolated than what I dreamt of .. perhaps this is a good thing .. we will see.
But at the same time, there were houses that looked like they might fall over .. that still appealed to me in some way.
Houses surrounded by 100 year old trees, that might fall over too one day.. that still appealed to me.
Fireplaces and isolation and views... that appealed to me.
Now we will have a little of it all, but not such an old house .. not the old beauty full of character but a house that absolutely does still trigger all my decorating and design reflexes and I am constantly imagining this and that in this room or the other.
So we are moving along now.
We will hopefully be in our new home, furniture and all in about a month.
I am unable to download my camera which is bursting with photos of all that we have seen since arrival back in the US.
Enjoy the quiet spell, once I have my own computer ... you will "enjoy" constant catching up on images from Where We Were and Where We Are Now.
It won't be long now, we are almost there ~

Waiting

2013-04-30T16:46:00.002-03:00

Waiting.
Waiting for offers to be made.
Waiting for offers to be accepted.
Waiting for unexciting things that must be done, to be done quickly and finished !
Waiting for our ship to come in.
Waiting to move into a new home.
Waiting for our furniture to arrive ... my Things ! my Clothes ! my Handbags !! my Shoes !!!!
Waiting for the Fun Days of Decorating.
Waiting for the Lovely Days of Gardening.
Waiting for New Arrivals and Happy Family Days and Nights and Weeks and ... well, you get my meaning.
I was never very good at Waiting ~

Happy

2013-04-27T23:18:00.003-03:00

It is Saturday night, we have been back in the United States for a little over one month and I am sitting here listening to my son have a discussion with his father about this and that .. while my daughter in- law naps on the other sofa and the only sound from outside is Silence

We are in a small town in Massachusetts, in a 200 year old house.

This makes me happy.

We got emails from friends in Buenos Aires today.. they miss us.

I miss them.

I miss the sweet people in the street, the shopkeepers who knew us and helped us and when we spoke Castellano and they would pretend that we spoke perfectly ...

I miss my furniture.

I miss my paintings and The Rug.

That rug was bought when my son was 4 years old.

It has lived in a few homes, in a few states and now another continent .. and now it is on a ship and I miss it .

It is time it has a new home.

I am tired of the clothes I brought. I have worn them for a month.

My skill was pretty impressive in picking out the tops and bottoms that would make multiple outfits for a month .. today I got to skip the coat and wear my little "tuxedo slippers" instead of boots.

It is time we had a new home, with nice big closets for my stuff. (shoes ... handbags)

We have seen a few houses.

Quite a few.

We went as far as making an offer on one .. actually, you can call it a bidding war.

Our "opponent" pulled out all the tricks and managed to win the house.

We stopped looking for a couple of days and tried not to think about buying a house.

Then Thursday, we looked at a house, with the realtor as she had to do something for someone at this house.

Now I think we want the house.

Monday we will go and take another look.

It is everything I said I did not want.

I have to come to grips with that.

If I do and If we do and If it happens, you will hear all about it.

For now, I am being Mom.

Cooking, listening, advising ( whether anyone needs it or not ) and laughing and enjoying myself ... very very much.

It's Saturday night and I am surrounded with family( with only the girl child missing) and the sound of famiar voices and laughter and I am Happy.

This and That

2013-04-25T22:54:00.001-03:00

We found a house that was perfect for us.
The location, the house , just about everything was perfect.
We were in love.
For about 2 days .
But there was this couple.
They saw it first.
They did everything they could to keep us from getting the house and they were successful.
So the house hunt continues.

Flowers are blooming everywhere.
My sinuses are not happy.

The birds and bees are out ..... and little gnats that make a person walk down the street waving their arms around and make spitty noises .

We went to a mall.
It was huge.
I said hello to Banana Republic and Pottery Barn, my old friends.

We are trying out North American pizza again.
I am now comparing it to South American pizza .. that won't last long.
It has been so cold, I have enjoyed soup everywhere we go.
The best soup so far was chicken noodle from an Italian restaurant.
I need to try some Egg Drop Soup next .. the last time I had it was in Buenos Aires and I had one of those pesky Chinese food reactions that calls for Benadryl.
Who knew eating a bowl of soup could be so exciting ?

We found a supermarket called The Big Y.
I walk through the place like a person from another planet who has never seen this thing called a Super Market.
It is huge and has large baked goods, fish and packages of paper towels and toilet paper that require a van to bring it all home.
In the years we were away, everything got larger.. or was it all just smaller in Argentina ... which is a huge country ... something to ponder.

Our new car runs like a top and gets washed often.
We have discovered the do-it-yourself Car Wash.
I like it.
Sort of.
I have this lingering fear from childhood that something will break and we will be trapped in the car, in the car wash, with all those things squirting and blowing on you.

We saw a house that is by a private airport.
Small planes, the sort that you crank up to fly.
The house is adorable, the neighbors not so much and there is this lingering fear of a small plane falling down short of the runway .. like in the guest bedroom.

We drive past horse farms every day.
We see cows. Yesterday I saw sheep.
There is a wonderful wonderful place here called Equine Advocates .
A place of shelter and rescue for horses. .
I had hoped that living nearby , I would be able to volunteer there.
Now I have to find a house first, then go volunteer.

This weekend the Boy and our sweet daughter in law will visit.
I am excited. I will cook for them.
We will go wandering.. antiquing .. maybe even house hunting ... perhaps, they will bring us luck.

I want my own house now.
This has been fun, but you know how it is .. when you do something all the time, it stops being fun.
So it is time to find a house and get our belongings delivered and get a dog and a cat.
Oh .. and make a nursery in one of the bedrooms ..

It is all Good

2013-04-22T10:35:00.001-03:00

We woke to bright blue skies, birds singing, daffodils blooming and full of anticipation of Good Things happening this week.

Being back in the US , back where family is close by, where the food is familiar and quite tastey and where I understand everything everyone is saying, is Good!

The weather has been pretty good.
We did have rain, but even that was nice.
Staying in an old house with woods and streams nearby, hearing the rain hitting the skylight puts me right to sleep and waking up to a newly washed world with the sun shining again makes a person cheerful.

We take walks up the hill, past farms, fields of corn ( now cut down but this summer it will be quite a sight, miles of corn fields ) and past a grand home with tennis courts and private roads and old fences with barns that probably house nice cars these days.

We see hawks floating high above, on the look-out for field mice and small things .. the yard has been full of tiny little birds right along side the larger birds, pecking away, catching worms and eating whatever it is tiny birds eat ..

Everything is getting ready to burst into bloom.
The trees have a green haze on them, the buds are ready to pop !
We enjoy our drives here and there, seeing horses in fields, cows, there is a sheep herding place north of here, I would like to see the Spring lambs running around.

Today we drive to an area called Red Rock.
It is just so beautiful.
We looked at a house there but of course, as luck would have it, it was too small, no fireplace and not good for us ... but the area is wonderful, with houses up long winding driveways, a river that runs alongside the road, over big rocks and through the trees, very "enchanted woods" feeling.
We will go visit with our realtor. ... bringing this and that and high hopes.

The people we are renting this place from, left a bottle full of yellow and white daffodils on our doorstep the other day.
They now sit on the kitchen table, cheering up the rooms.

One day we were in hot sunny Summer, then here we are , early Spring.
It is all Good.

Next week ....

2013-04-20T22:50:00.004-03:00

We had a date tonight.
Well, we didn't actually have a date tonight.
Not a romantic date.
More like a date to meet a realtor at a house .. a date to meet a lady that is selling a house.
A house that I/ we have fallen in love with.

Not to say too much too soon .. but ...

It is exactly what we want.
It is the color I want.
It is the size we want.
I even love the name of the town.

All I can say at the moment is that offers will be made.
Hopes will be high ... excitement levels will be high ... anticipation and planning will be full speed ahead.

But for now ... I can't say anything.
But you know why I am not saying anything.

I will say something .... sometime next week. . . fingers crossed.