Old homes

It was an old homes day. First of all, driving through several of the Erie Canal "port" towns let's you view a number of grand old homes from the era.  Then to check off one more of the 1001 gardens we should see before we die, the Phactors visited the George Eastman House on East Ave. in Rochester NY.  Historically, for both the man and photography, it is worth the visit.  And they had locally-made very good gelato to really excite Mrs. Phactor (let's see: blackberry, coconut, lemon sorbet, orange).  The gardens are only in part restored, but they certainly were nice enough looking, and you could see how they gardens were positioned to augment the house. The surrounding neighborhood is filled with pretty large houses with unique architectures. Many are multiple family residences now.  Some of the huge lots have been filled with condos and other criminal acts. On the way out of the city the huge Kodak ghost town loomed sadly beside our route.  Later we finished up by driving by 2 of the 3 houses TPP lived in as a child.  Gardens at the last one were in rough shape; no effort at all, although the stone smokehouse remains in good shape.  It isn't a heavy nostalgia trip, but a 50th HS reunion is sort of a heavy trip; how is it possible?  Also made a brief stop to find parents' and paternal grandparents' graves; it's a pretty enough, old cemetery in a little old town. Surprised how good the memory was to find such things and it underscored that this was nothing desirable. Now to see a bunch of classmates that haven't been seen in 50 years.  Only kept up with a couple of them; should be interesting.

It must be spring - tell tale signs

After a long, cold winter, the human spirit just loves signs of spring, those little tell tales that let you know the season is changing.  Here's a mess of crocus that occupy space around and under some hydrangeas the still need pruning.  These crocus are basically volunteers that have prospered in some borrowed space, and they are so cheerful. They used to be in the lawn, but then that area was converted into  garden (grass to garden good, garden to grass never), and they were not overly disturbed in the process and unbothered by the hydrangeas. It not only looked springy, but this Monday morning had a distinct springy feel to it. But what let TPP know it was spring was the sudden appearance at our house by contractors, who have been starving all winter waiting for the weather to warm. Oh, it's just like the turkey vultures returning to Hinkley, Ohio, but that's not to say all these people who help keep our residence from falling down are vultures, they just appear suddenly.  A painter showed up at 9 am, and she was no sooner getting going than the chimney flashing/caulking contractor shows up to put up their scaffolding. Without even get a swallow of coffee in between, the carpenter who's fixing up the garage and putting in a new door appeared to get some measurements and discuss the job again since it had been quite awhile since we had gone over the details. Us old house owners understand that keeping entropy at bay has a cost and that money keeps contractors alive. In fact they all love our neighborhood!  And it was also cleaning ladies day, but they were on their own in terms to trying to find a space in the drive.  Unlike the starving contractors, our checking account that fattened up over the winter while  hibernating will now start slimming down. So, it must be spring! Of course some garden expenditures may be coming soon too, and if TPP didn't hire these wonderful people, he'd have to do these jobs and not have time to garden. Keep your priorities straight, people!