German, Clean Up, and Shopping

 HERE FIO IS AGAIN, MAKING UP FOR HER MISSING BLOG!

Where does your girl get all the German words she is stuffing into your mouth, you wonder (or maybe you don't), but the answer is (1) from her late mother, whose mother spoke at least some German, 2) a German friend who years ago lived next door to her and her late husband, and (3) half a semester of the language when she was in college at the University of Texas. And to tell the truth, she'd still be doing the same thing today except that (sigh) life intervened.

Did Fiorella tell you she's been cleaning up and rearranging her bedroom like crazy? The next thing will be her salon, which contains not just her art supplies, but also all of her, her husband's, and his family's books way back to who knows when.

Actually, Fio would like to go on a shopping trip for some new shoes and...well, just to see a little of the city and how it has changed. Any takers?

Oh! Another German word for you today: the word "yes" in English is "yah" in German, with the "ah" being pronounced like the "a" in the English words "Ma" or "Pa".

 

 

TOTALLY CONFUSED--BLOG SHOULD HAVE BEEN RUN YESTERDAY

 Apparently Austin's newspaper, the American Statesman, has gone on strike, at least in Fiorella's neck of the woods. Sigh...does she have to fight this battle again? Remember when her family moved in a couple of years back and she was on the phone day and night trying to get hold of a news? GRRRRRRR!

On the brighter side, Fio will probably finish off Mrs. Gustafson's picture today. It keeps getting better and better, but Fio still has to put the finishing touch on the side of her late voice teacher's nose, which will be tricky because Mrs. G is sitting at an angle and wearing glasses.   

Good grief! Your girl didn't realize how many paint brushes she had collected through the years--art brushes, that is. TWENTY-FIVE, of all sizes, and a packet of five extras still in their wrapper!

If you're wondering, Fio switched from oil to acrylic (which drys faster) long ago, but she still has a full set of oil just in case. A set of colors like you see for sale in stores, though, is rarely necessary because if you already have a nice collection of basic colors--red, white, blue, yellow, black--you can mix your own colors. 

In other words, art is a cheap hobby and your girl has tubes from twenty years ago in still in her plastic bags to prove it.

OOPS--THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO RUN YESTERDAY!

ALSO "OOPS" BECAUSE FIO DIDN'T ADD IN A GERMAN LESSON. How about Musik, but remember, the "U"is pronounced like a cow m--oo--ing.

UP, UP, AND AWAY/ WHAT A GREAT DAY/ EXCEPT THAT THE NEWSPAPER / HAD NOTHING TO SAY!

 Your girl didn't know that the Austin American Statesman doesn't deliver on Memorial Day--or is it that the newspaper deliverers just took a day off? Whatever, Fio will let whomever it is to have a day off....a single day off--before she starts calling up the newspaper like she did the last time.

How wonderful it is to have friends who keep up with Fiorella by phone and on line because, as you know, she doesn't have any local friends, partially because she doesn't have any young children and partially because she doesn't drive.

Hey, hey, hey--it's been almost three years (or is is four?) since Fio moved in, but she has finally gotten her bedroom in totally good shape--in fact, it's a miracle! Now to tackle her study/salon/studio--whatever you want to call it--which will be much harder. After all, the room contains not just all your girl's art supplies (which are monumental), but also almost every book that she, her late husband, Fio's family, and husband's family ever owned. You want to drive over and help your girl go through them all some time?

THIS IS YOUR GIRL'S GOOD DAY! Her new glasses have been found--in Son L's car--which explains why Fio kept thinking that the last time she's had them with her was when she dropped them when we were in a hurry to get some place. WOW, WOW, WOW!

AND HERE'S THE BEST YET! Son L also found that gold necklace with the flawed clasp that Fio thought she had lost in one of her favorite eateries about a year ago!

 Your German Lesson (and mine): Nachmittag, which means  "evening time" or, as a poet would say "even time." The  ch combo is pronounced like an English "k," and "mittag" sounds just as it does in English, although the tt(s) are more vibrant.

,

 

 

 

MUSIC, MRS. GUS, ANGELA, GEORGE/GERMAN

 You won't believe this, but while everyone else in the family went their merry ways this afternoon, Fiorella played around with her piano and, just for a lark, checked up on her soprano vocal cords, then changed into a lower tone and dropped DOWN into the next scale in a different voice, then went down in yet another voice. Thus Fiorella has voices scales (all linked, of course)--although she has to admit that the keys on each end are nothing to brag about. Is this a new discovery or does everyone have it? (PS: my three are in the key of "F.")

"But what about your painting of Mrs. Gustafson? you ask." Actually, it's coming along quite well--except for the top of her left arm and the fake necklace, which may take forever. to get right.

FIO IS SO TIRED Of  TV MOVIES STARRING ANGELA LANSBURY, that tall, always well-dressed, and well-spoken blond with the pointy chin who solves all kinds of murders like it was as easy as bleaching her hair. But what other movies are there available right now? 

George, the snow white Persian cat that has adopted Fiorell, is cuddled against your girl's knee even as she writes about him..... Maybe wants to be sure that your girl has spells his name correctly.

Hey! What's a good German name for dog? Let's try "Hunt," Which is pronounced hoond, with the oo having the same sound as in boot.

 

.

 

Mother

 Your girl has been running back and forth today and doesn't have anything new to say except that she's decided to bring all her poems together and try to get them published. How about starting with this one?

                           Last Lullaby

     I've held death in my arms to comfort her

And stroked her cheek and combed her tangled hair

And sung to her sweet sngs that once were dear--

Old melodies, a children's bedtime prayer

     I've held death in my arms and learned its face

And studied how her shallow breath grew slow

And warmed her limp. cold hands in my embrace

"It's hard, so hard," she said, "I didn't know"

   I've stood beside her peace and counted flowers

And listened to my sleepless brain shriek blood

And wept, regretting wasted lives and hours,

Inimically intertwined in love--

  I've held death in my arms in fear and wonder

  And kissed her, kissed her as one would a mother

By the way, the German word for mother is "Mutter" and the "u" is pronounced oo as in "moon."

How About a Second Chance?

 Watch out! Your girl is painting portraits again, and YOU MAY BE NEXT! In fact, she's wondering if she could set up a display of her work in her front yard to attract people who want more than what a quick photo of a camera is called these-days.

The portrait Fio is working on now is of her long-ago voice teacher and friend, Edra Gustafson, and it's difficult to deal with because her subject is no longer with us. But it's gotten Fiorella hooked and she's DETERMINED to see it through. (Will keep you posted.)

Art, music, and linguistics, and languages--Fiorella's four favorite things, all of which she is trying to improve herself in. 

In a way, art should be the easiest because all one has to do is design the project, then have at it, but "having at it" can entail a lot more than anyone can think. Unless you're creating your masterpiece in blood, all sorts of items that are necessary, like crayons ot chalk or paint, knitting needles, etc.,. Then there's the music and its ever changing vibes--- and all the languages of the world with their ever changing communications. Only linguistics--the study of languages--is safe, but what do you know--how can anyone understand the ever-changing languages without deep study?

GRRRR.....Fiorella wants to be born all over again and have everything be perfect!

YOUR GERMAN WORD IS VERY IMPORTANT: Ich, which means "I." The word is pronounced like "kick", but without the first K".

FROM MORNING TO EVENING

 Fiorella's day has been very busy today--first off to her doctor's office to get an official discharge of herself and her left knee, then, at home, continuing to work on the painting of her beloved voice teacher, Edra Gustafson, which is finally coming along quiet well. (Methnks it was merely a case of back-in-the-saddle again.) Hmm...wonder if your girl could start up a painting class for the neighborhood kids. ALL OVER TEN, OF COURSE!

The daily newspaper ran a picture of about twenty women--maybe more--lined up in front of the xxxxxxx and calling for gun control. For the sake of my nephew, who was killed by the UT Tower sniper and the children and teachers who were killed in Uvalde, for everyone whose friends and relatives have had their lives cut short by senseless murders, and for all of us who have lost people we loved,  your girl cut that picture out of the newspaper and Scotch Taped it to her shirt and, when questioned, explained that this was her way to join the ladies in so all anyone had to do to to find out her thoughts on gun control was read the newspaper page taped across her bosom. 

AND IT WORKED TO SOME DEGREE! An older man, who, as it turned out, had known Fiorella's  father-in-law, stopped and talked with her about the horror days, and the doctor's assistant was almost reverent about the fragile newspaper clipping when Fio told him why she had it taped to my shirt.

Hmm....wondering if Fio could set up a painting class in her studio. Yours truly doesn't have much room, but maybe she could move things around a bit....

In plowing through her old jewelry, your girl was surprised to find she has far too many sets of gold earrings--any takers?

MIXED UP BLOG

What at a great morning! Fiorella received a phone call from Suzy an old pal from England whom she had taught together with at UT several years ago while her husband (Suzy's, not Fios's) was pastoring a local church. As usual, we exchanged information about ourselves and our children and our children's children, but really didn't have long enough time to spill quite all the beans, yet your girl's heart has felt warmer ever since.😋

One thing that really struck Fio is that she has a follower in ENGLAND! (Can your girl call herself an international celebrity now?😁)

Another thing Fiorella is grateful for is that she's almost finished her made-over-but-not-yet-completed painting of her voice teacher, the late Edra Gustafson, who taught long ago at...where else? The University of Texas!

This is a good day for Fio, but it is also a hard day for her because it's the date that her nephew and several other people were killed by a lone gunman from the top of the University of Texas Tower...and your girl has lived with this horror ever since, and which is why the Uvalde horror hit her so hard.

Fiorella apologizes for being so self indulgent regarding her family, and prays that you and your family will never ever have to face such horror.

QUIET AS THE GRAVE---

 As you know, Fiorella has gathered up her paints and brushes and been finishing off painting a portrait of Edra Gustafson, her beloved voice teacher from long ago, so she has decided to post one of her one poems from long ago about death. It's sort of melancholy, but the last line tells the picture--which is how your girl feels about her talents too.

     Quiet as the grave that holds me fast

When death has dumbed the drumbeat of my blood,

Beneath the soundless soil, still at last,

I'll sink in silence toward the muffling mud.

    But until then, I'll clatter through the halls

And shout hallos to friends and wail goodby--

I'll laugh aloud within the staidest walls

And shriek my anger to the somber sky--

    The dead are not notorious for their noise,

And I will lie a long time a long time quietly,

So until then I'll use my loudest voice

To make the wimpering world resound of me--

     And when at last I'm muted by the all-absorbing ground

     My unaccustomed silence then will deafen you with sound

 

       By the way, the German word for "dead" is tot and it's sort of an  "aw" sound                                                                   

Onward, No Mattter What!

HOORAY FOR FIO! She had the names of the pills for which she needed a refill on and thus wouldn't have to wait with her phone to the ear for what seemed to be forever this time around--except that the person in front of her hadn't caught on to the courtesy.

 Your girl didn't work on her painting of Mrs. Gustafson today. It needs a lot of touching up, but she wants to let the paint dry first. Also, the blouse is questionable.

How strange that Fiorella lives in such a well-populated area and yet she hasn't made any real friends even though she walks the local cul-de-sac almost every day for exercise...and curiosity. A couple of months ago, someone suggested to her that she should walk in the evening because that is when older people and their dogs gather as the sun is settling. (Fio didn't have the heart to tell said informant that by then all doors are barred tight in her neighborhood.)

 "What about your music," you ask. "Well, your girl resigned from the Methodists because, even though they'd been very kind to her, because her heart is Lutheran--born and raised. Now, let's hope she can find someone who will be able to drive her to the church, which may be hard because it is further away than the Methodist church". 

Our new word for the day is  and easy one: "Das Buch," or, as you guessed, means "the book." 😁

I AM NOT-NOT-NOT NON-ESSENTIAL!

 As a widow, your girl seems to be looked at as a left-over and might as well jump off a cliff, but her inner self still wants to learn things. and make things, to teach things and help people, to look forward toward tomorrow. Thus, she is trying to learn how to use THE PHONE, which is turning out to be both harder and easier than she expected. But what the heck, she learned to type when she was a child, so she should be able learn how to use THE PHONE as an--ahem--mature adult. 

It would probably help if you would pray a little for your girl too because Fio taught herself to type by memorizing all the typewriter letters when she was a kid whenever her mother was out of the room, which has served her well, but now she's in the big league--or are the letters in the same order still? 

However, your girl does have something to announce: TODAY, SHE ACTUALLY MADE A PHONE CALL BY MEANS OF THE GADGET ALL BY HERSELF TODAY! Yes, let the bells ring and the nations cheer? Wie bitte (which means in this case, "How's that!")😁

Fiorealla is really restless about how slowly the heavy black paint that she's used as a background is drying on her portrait of her wonderful singing teacher, Edra Gustafson--but she shouldn't have used two different types of paint, one because one just stuck with the acrylic because and the other stuff is going to have to sit for half a week.

Auf Wiedersehen, which means "good bye!" as you've heard in many movies.

Oops! it looks like Fio got ahead of herself!

(The pronunciation is "Auf Weeder-sayen.")

Moving Forword--Up, Up, and AWAY!

 OOOOOOOOOWOW! It took Fiorella three hours to go through everything in the cabinet drawer one of her drawers of her bedroom and the space above it....and she's still not sure she took care of everything. 

You guessed it! Fio's on a a housekeeping binge----which shouldn't be so hard because she only has three rooms--a small bedroom, medium-sized art room, and a small display room, but the bedroom, of course, is the one that collects things fastest. It's where your girl can flop across the bed and think life out.

One of the things Fiorella has still been thinking about is her former voice teacher, Mrs. Gustafson, and she's hoping that some of her records are still extant. 

Nun, what should be our word today? Snicker--Fio has already sneaked it in: "nun," with the "u" pronounced as in "foot" means "now."

And just for kicks, your girl will throw in the word for girl: Madchen. (The "a" is pronounced like Englsh "say.)

Has Fiorella also told that the English language is derived from the German? Not that both of them haven't changed as time passes on. 

O M G ! Does your Fio sound like a teacher herself? Well, she holds a Doctorate in Linguistics from University of Texas and has done lots of teaching in her day....

 

WRITING AT ALMOST MIDNIGHT......

 Yes, Fiorella is one of those behind-the-times people who don't know how to work a Live!y, which she thought was just a fad toy until she took a seat in her granddaughter's kindergarten graduation and noticed that every person in the room, no matter how ancient, had flipped open a silver and black container to record everything in the room so she spent a lot of time playing around with the contraption, and by evening, was able to call her brother on it. WOW!

Ah--what about das Deutsch (the German) we're supposed to be learning? Well, how about adding "Thanks" to it?  Danke schon, with the "o"pronounced like "a" in "say."

Sigh....Fio spent a lot of time this evening searching for the $400 shoe inserts that correct her wobbly feet, but it looks like they're gone with the wind. She's lost her new glasses too. It's a wonder she can still walk the local cul-de-sac every day.

Did your girl tell you that her two romances are still selling? Wow! The checks are nice too.

OMG! Fiorella got black paint on the white slacks she was wearing today. Good thing that she has two other pairs...and maybe she could paint a design on the half-cast ones.

 

 

 

 

 

From a Round Up to Your-Daily-Deutsch to Mrs. Gustafson and Fio's Art

O, Lordy, Fio has all her dates messed up again, but let's just keep rollin' along......

Fiorella spent most of the morning at her Granddaughter's end-of-school round up, and then, at her doctor's command, got her heart checked out--and is happy to announce Doc says she's doing Gut, which is "good," in English. Keep your ears open and you'll notice that a lot of German words sound like English words which is, of course, because we derived them from das Deutsch. 

And then there's a very important word bitte, pronounced bittah, which basically means "please" and involves many pleasant inquiries and discoveries. Got it?

Back to your girl's life and her determination to finish off the half-portrait she's made of her former voice teacher, Edra Gustafson, Fio would hope Mrs. G's family would have some photos she could borrow to photograph for her painting.

 ********** Later in the day: Never mind trying to locate Mrs, Gustafson's because Fio found out that she didn't need anything more than she already had--so she gathered her paints, and started correcting the adjustment of the layout, then took it from there and now has almost all of the painting finished. Fixing the throat, maybe doing a bit of hair styling, stuff like that.

 

 

GERMAN IN YOUR FUTURE?

 Although your girl has half-learned a fair number of languages, she's never really been comfortable in any of them except in her native English, but none-the-less, she's decided to try to pick up some German, the long-ago ancestor of English--and because she's lonely, she'll take you along with her.

Actually, Fio does does know a few German words she got from her Mother, who got them from her mother, so your girl will start with them and report that in German, the language is Deutsch and a mother is a Mutter (with a capital letter.)

Your next conversational must-have is "Do you speak English?" If you get a blank stare, try "Kennen sie auf Deutsch sprechen?" (can you speak German?) and beten--which Fio means "pray") 

Interested? Fiorella has unpacd her old book and is ready and waiting to roar, but wants to start slowly, both for your sake and hers. On the other hand, the whole thing might fall to pieces--it's hard to put together a good program for just herself and an audience she can never see. 

Assignment: repeat the sentence "Kennen sie auf Deutsch sprechen?" five times a day.

If Fio make mistakes, please tell her. Your girl hasn't pulled out her German book in years.

Same Old, Same Old

 Fiorella has had quite a day so far. First, Son L took her off to a regional clinic where she got a check-up and was (thank you, God), pronounced to be in relative good health---but when she got home, she discovered that her computer was on strike and wouldn't accept even her most clever quips and comments.  😟

Luckily, Son L knew how to charm the mechanism into obedience, but Fio is still suspicious of it. 😊

Later in the day, her favorite athletic therapist paid her a visit, and, to check out her outdoor legs, had her walk a couple of blocks--which, of course, to a Fiorella, who walks the cul-de-sac almost every day, was duck soup. 😁😁😀

HOW NICE! Son K and his wife sent Fiorella a cute little purse for Mother's Day! Thank you!💗

Please, please, please, pray for your girl, who is still wrestling with her Jitterbug phone. 😠

 STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW! FIO HAS DECIDED TO TEACH HERSELF GERMAN--and you too!

 

 

 

 

LANGUAGES, LANGUAGES, LANGUAGES!

 Your girl has decided to teach herself German on her own rather that try to learn it through someone else or a "method." After all, when she was in college (Linguistics at University of Texas)) and had to pass a test on learning second language, she whipped through her exam with flying colors--in fact, she was the first person in the room to turn her exam in and the proctors were very suspicious of her, especially when she wanted to leave the room immediately because, as she kept explaining to them , her dog (a Lyndon Johnson Beagle) was having puppies.

How did Fiorella do it, you ask? Easy--she chose the language she heard almost every day, but had never studied or used herself--FRENCH, the native tongue of her best friend, Nichole Domingue. Also, she  (at college picked up a dingy little French language book in a second-hand store in Waco, her home town, the next time she visited her parents--a book she still has tucked away somewhere in her art/music/languages shelves in case some one wants to check her out.

Oops, regarding the easyness, Fio doesn't want to leave out her high school "book learning." After all, French is derived from Latin, and Miss Osborn was the BEST--she even attended your girl's final college graduation!

Getting back to Fiorella's decision to give German a shot, Fio won't be totally alone. Not only does she have a textbook left over from when she took that ein semester of German in college, but one of her cousins has taught himself the language. 

Hmmm....maybe it runs in the family. (Hi, Tom!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 Fiorella, clumsy as always, has banged her left toe on the door and IT HURTS! She tried bandaging it with a couple of--well--plastic bandages--but they just acerbated the wound, which means your girl is going to be hippity-hoppitying around the house for a while and she won't be able to make her daily walk around the cul-de-sac. Also, she's lost her shiny new glasses--GRRRRR TWICE OVER!

On the other hand, the newly arranged inside of her bedroom is still looking good, and Fio may be able to add a couple of things to make it look better--and maybe even locate her missing glasses! (Could the cat have made off with them?)

 ***********************************************************************************

 May 14--OOOPS! Fio is late again--family problems. 

Fio will compensate by sending you a short-short she wrote a while back. It's called "Paradise."

George was relieved to find out that every day in Heaven was, well, heavenly, and even more relieved to see that each day was as lovely as the day before--the sunrise was always a blushing gold, the sunset always a drama of orange and black, the grass was always green and smelled of eternal spring, and when he played golf with his spirit guide he and always won.

In fact, after a while, the perfection got somewhat boring....

"I really didn't know heaven would be so much the same all the time," the new entry said to his spirit guide.

The being looked at him in surprise and grinned. "What made you think this is heaven?"

   ***********************************************************************************Couldn't Couldn't resist printing this little poem I wrote a while back which I may or may not have posed earlier:

I missed the trash

But the bag will last

   Until the coming week--

There's not that much

 But just enough

     That the neighbors will really freak!

EEKS, FIORELLA MISSED A BLOG AGAIN!

 Unfortunately, Fio not only missed a blog but also lost her new glasses and is sickish again--or is she always sick?

On the other hand, she spent half a day taking apart the stacks of the what-evers against the inside wall of her bedroom that had accumulated since she moved in, then re-stacking them into a much smaller and more usable pile. Now to tackle the window side next week.

Your girl is on the prowl for a nice Lutheran church again. The Methodists have been very kind to her, but she can't keep up with their really magnificent choir music. Also, as she has said, she's not totally cured herself yet--sniffle, cough, achoo! 

Fio's family should be known as "the peach people" because we are o-v-e-r f l o w i n g with them. The fruits are weighing the trees all the way down to the ground. Wow--my family had a nice bounty of  peaches every springtime, but nothing like this!

Your girl has started to work on some of her old paintings, ones that hadn't get further than outlining on a paint board and so far, they're coming along pretty good. It all seems weird though because Fio hasn't used her paints for a long time and can't even remember what the difference is between oil and acrylic. WHY ISN'T THERE SOME KIND OF PAINTING GROUP DOWNTOWN IN AUSTIN LIKE THERE USED TO BE?

 

From Spring to Washing Machines

 Spring has sprung, as they say so at about five, Fiorella put on her somewhat-faded pink straw and picked up her cane, but there was no way she could make it even half-way to the bottom of the cul-de-sac--especially with her long slacks on. Hmmm...maybe she should switch to an evening schedule for the summer....

Pray for your girl: she now has a Jitterbug.Smart 3 and is trying to figure out how to use it, but having to remember a four letter number to get to one's camera working seems to be going overboard. SOB--ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS LIFT A CUTE FOUR-SQUARE BOX TO HER EYE  AND SNAP A FAMILY PICTURE LIKE HER FATHER DID!

Well, to tell the truth, Fiorella has also used a camera to snap pictures of people or events she wanted to paint but who wouldn't stand still or didn't have the time to pose--such as a child--or the family of guinea pigs your girl once had.

 Speaking of pets, George, the big white Persian, really has a crush on Fio.  He purrs like a rumble truck when he sidles up to her and always greets her with a several good licks on her nose. Hmm--maybe he wants Fio to immortalize him in her blog....💗

Oops, Fiorella accidentally mixed some of son's clothes with hers. It's hard to see what is whose when a certain someone has left some of his stuff in the bottom of the washing machine.

Remembrance, Facebook, Pill, Dump Trump, Mrs. Gus, Art

 HERE IS THE REAL "MAY NINTH'' BLOG!"

Fiorella enjoyed going through her   "MY PASTBOOK" so much that she's ordered the next one in line. The past five--maybe more so--years of her life have been such a scramble that she needs to see everything in print to remember it. The saddest part though, will be the absence of her faithful Sonia, whose memory still brings tears to your girl's eyes.

Hip, hip. hooray! Walgreens said Fio's medication refill will be ready by tomorrow or the next day--and your girl has exactly two pills left!

Back to Fiorella's past, one of the best parts of it was making  DUMP TRUMP buttons and spreading them as far around as possible--and even staking signs of the same accord, although some of her neighbors  were rather nasty about it them. (Wonder what they're thinking now that Trump and his cronies tried to take over the Capitol, hook line, and sinker?)

Has Fio told you how well the painting the portrait of her old (and beloved) voice teacher, Mrs. Gustafson, is coming along despite your girl having to use a photo of her mother to get her teacher's hair "right?"

Then there's the two-by-four painting of her own family which she started about forty years ago that she wants to finish off....

 

 

 

 

 

ANGER, ANGER, ANGER---

 Fiorella's son rented a companion for her about two months ago and and Fio sent the young woman out the door this afternoon. The girl had a nice smile and was supposedly well rained, but her main quality seemed to be that she could make Fio cry and cry and cry..... 

First there was a review of the Uvalde tragedy, then a reprise of the UT Tower murder of Fio's nephew, which had destroyed the family.  Later came a request from her companion to tell her about the worst situation she'd ever been in, which was when someone whom she had thought was a good friend ran her out of town by methods your girl could never even imagine using. 

Then there was Fio's re-introduction to Austin's art scene--her companion had assured her there was one, but your girl soon learned that was only if you were still driving. Daughter was kind enough to drive her over to the  scene twice, but no other artists showed up. 

When questioned, Companion said it was because the city didn't give enough money to take care of the elderly. Fio cried for days. Why had her companion guided her to a place that didn't exist?

 Fiorella's rented companion made Fio lift an eyebrow when she said that your girl could get acquainted with residents her age if she went outside in the evening when they walked their dogs, but when Fio gave it a whirl because she likes dogs, she found she was still walking alone. 

SORRY--THIS BLOG WAS SUPPOSED TO BE POSTED YESTERDAY--now you know for sure that Fio is written by a real, live, mistake-making human being!

 

 

FRUSTRATED! IMPRISONED! BORED!

 This is not Fio's best day. She went on a wild goose chase for the cosmetic she'd bought while she was out doing her weekly shopping, then finally found it in a bag of chocolates at the front door, so you'll have to wait a while before seeing your girl at her glorious best again. 

Whatever, Fiorella doesn't feel well--maybe because she hasn't taken her daily cul-de-sac walk yet, maybe because she needs more outlets for her boiling-hot energy and mounting anger. ACTION--SHE WANTS ACTION!

You should see what Fio has done with some remodeling of her studio--but you won't be able to see it because no one visits her! Besides--does anyone commission paintings any more? FIORELLA NEEDS NOT ONLY MORE ROOM, BUT THE ATTENDANCE OF MORE ARTISTICALLY AWARE FRIENDS! AND REMEMBER, YOUR GIRL ALSO WRITES!

Also, somewhere along the line, Fiorella wants to pick up German, which she used to half-know, but lost when Russian came along, and Spanish, which she would love to pick up because it's all around us.

Your girl would really like to be writing nice verses for you, but that time is past, and, as you may remember you'll probably remember, her poems could get pretty sharp too!

PLEASE, SOMEONE! GET ME A GOOD STORY!

 

 

 

 

 

FROM PHONE TO FORMER "HELPER"

 NO! Fiorella is NOT happy! She can't figure out her new "phone," even though the whole rest of the world seems to be happily clicking along with it! In fact, the best she can do is open up the thing and close it!

Had a wonderful visit from Daughter and her big, big baby (that's how they run in our family), and Fio is hereby formally announcing that Baby has both of his great-grandfathers' blond hair. 

Your girl is not at all interested in Briton's new king and queen. In fact, the whole scene seems to be somewhat bizarre--two antiquated elders being displayed in a carriage covered with tasteless gold knick-knacks--maybe to prove the royals are still alive? 

Switching subjects, your girl has decided to go full-speed-ahead regarding her art. She's already pulled two half-finished paintings out of storage to work on, and if any organization in Austin sets up an outside pavilion, she'll do her best to be first in line.

AHEM: Fiorella has bumped one of her "helpers" off her list because the woman paid more attention to your girl's family than to her.

 

 

SSOMETHING'S WRONG WITH YOUR GIRL'S COMPUTER

 Fio may have posted this poem before, but it's a good one!

  

           Jack-in-the Box

    How to suffocate the clown:

First you push its face way down

Deep into the shiny box

Until the mechanism locks 

    Then you tuck the box away

Where you wish for it to stay

For Jacks are troublesome at best,

Embarrassing when there are guests

    When all that I have said is done

Hold your tongue and tell no one

Tell not a soul what you're about

For he might let the damn Jack out--

    And that is how to handle the latter

    But a Fiorella in the box is another matter!

 

 SOMETHING'S NOT WORKING RIGHT with my computer! SEE YOU TOMORROW!

NOW AND THEN--

 Your girl walked the walk at about 7:00 pm and never will again, at least not at this time of year. Don't know how it is in your neck of the woods, but in Austin, Fiorella is toasted inside and out. 

Fio did get some good work in on a couple of unfinished portraits, though. No more procrastinating, although neither of the portraits had been commissioned. But what the heck--someone might like Fio'sy style and retain her.

Did Fiorella tell you she's lost her trademark big pink hat? Her last hope is to check up with her choir church this Sunday--pray for her. (She likes that hat!)

Hey, hey, hey! The camera your girl wanted has finally come through, and Son L has committed himself to teaching Fio how to use it to so she can rejoin the modern world and (1) take pictures that of her family and art projects and (2) post onto Facebook like she used to do. Yes, step by step, your girl is trying to reenter the modern world again.

This is a poem Fio wrote this sad poem long ago, probably when she was in high school or early college, and she's printing it because it's falling apart:

    I watched a laughing child in years gone by

Beneath my window gather bits of spring--

Arbutus whiter that the moon could cry

The joyous news of life's awakening 

    A child would touch the vine about my door

And just as quickly, shed it its coat of frost--

Her feet had scarcely trod the forest floor

Before the winter's hard campaign was lost

    The seasons roll themselves up into years

As springtime swiftly burns away to fall--

And an aged woman clothed in black appears

And walks the dying world within my wall.

 

LONG, LONG, AGO.....

Found some pages of a blog that your girl used to put out years ago so here goes:

Motherhood has given me a great deal of poise. Nothing can happen to me in public 

that something worse hasn't occurred at home--although I did get a little uneasy 

several years ago when we were in a check-out and my eldest questioned me about

exactly how the sperm got to the egg,

When my eldest was an only, I scrubbed his sneakers daily before he went to

 pre-school. My second and third, just nineteen months apart in age, were lucky if 

we could even find their sneakers.

My mother and I are at different stages in our lives. She stops at an exclusive dress shop in Salado when 

she's on her way to Dallas and I stop in Abbot and buy turkey wings.

When I was a kid, my mother used to drag me around from store to store and I hated it.

Now my nine-year old daughter drags me around from store to store and I still hate it. 

I think shopping skips a generation. 

 My teenager is growing up. With a patronizing smile, he now passes all the cereal premiums 

on to his siblings--except the really good ones, of course💗😋

DULL, DULL, DULL

 Fiorella is doing her best to pull herself back together, which includes having to call in for a new doctor's appointment (anti-coagulant, whatever that means) since she missed out on the one today. She's also staying out of daughter-in-law's way because the "Let's walk around together outside for a while and talk" line that Fio's once-a-week helper told her to use just made Fio's relationship with daughter-in-law even worse.

Let's face it--Fiorella has too many appointments, but if she didn't, she wouldn't have anyone to talk with at all. Her neighborhood is amazingly tight lipped.

In the meantime, your girl can do some work on her bedroom, specifically the side facing the hall which has about thirty-five papers taped onto it--everything from yellow pages, red pages, white pages, and a photo of Son K and his grandfather in the old house which makes Fio cry because it's so sweet.

 Fiorella's only other activity has been to cut some leaves out of green paper to dress up her somewhat wilting paper frame of Sonia dog.....gone but not forgotten.

AND NOW EVERYTHING DROPS ON FIO'S HEAD AND SHE'S AFRAID IT'S TOO MUCH FOR HER!

CAN YOU HELP?

 A NEW MONTH, A NEW DAY! Your girl just got word that one of her old romantic novels is paying a dividend--a small one, but who cares 💗💗💗

It's action time! Fiorella is sitting still no longer! She's tired of watching old time TV from her bedroom because there's nothing else to do. Instead, she's going to do her best to go out and meet new people so she can prepare herself to face a brave new world---alone or not! 

Surely along the way, there's a need for a former college teacher, a published writer, a city-wide-PTA president, and a proven artist--someone who shook the hand of President Johnson, who is  Phi Beta Cappa and every other academic laud one can name, who played in local theater and even wrote--and performed in--a musical play for children.

Remember your girl now?