Lilacs
This is one of the biggest patches of lilac bushes I've ever seen in my life. There's a patch that's slightly bigger on Route 3, on my way to work in Saranac, but this patch in Wilmington (on the Bonnieview Road) is really magnificent. I love lilacs and don't have any on my property. I'm not sure I'd want something quite this grandiose--they hide the house for 5 months of the year, but maybe a few well-placed bushes would be nice. My grandmother had some special white French lilacs at the house in AuSable Forks and those bushes, though not thriving are still alive.

She wouldn't be pleased if she saw the grounds of that house today.

My mother was on national television last night. Her segment of Antiques Roadshow was on. There I was, in my living room, watching away while all these Rhode Islanders displayed their treasures and suddenly there was my mother nodding politely and talking about her mother and her grandmother and listening intently to what the nice man was saying about her piece of curly maple furniture. It was great. My friend Linda called me from Ann Arbor the minute it ended and said "I saw Liza on television!" Isn't it great to have people recognize your family like that? It was fun. Linda and I had a long conversation. I really miss her during the year and am looking forward to having her here. She'll be here for a week, starting Saturday. The women from Balto come Saturday as well, but they leave Thursday. Busy times in Hawkeye.

Raining again today, cold and miserable. I took Thursday off because the local meterologists promised sunshine. NOAA, however, says perhaps not. The long range forecast looks like a bad dream--a long bad dream.

I continue to monitor Barbaro the race horse's progress. So far he's doing well but it's still very uncertain whether he will survive or not. The owners have some old race horses on their farm that were never any good at the track but they kept them anyway, saying "We are their keepers," so I feel good that if this horse survives they will take good care of him, even if they can't use him for stud. He is nickering at the mares in the vet hospital where he is now. I love it when horses nicker, it's an incredibly sweet sound.

I bid on a tent on eBay but lost by $2.50. My maximum bid was $100, so at least the person outbidding me had to spend more than he wanted to (his initial bid was $25.00). I looked at a bunch of other tents like the one I didn't get and they all cost $95 plus $25 shipping, then I decided I would try putting up my screened gazebo on my deck with a sheet on the deck for a floor. We'll see how many bugs get in. I just want a screened-in place to sleep outside and I can't afford to build a screen porch. I bought a screen gazebo several years ago for $30 and have never, ever put it up. This must be the year it was meant to happen. If it ever warms up and stops raining.