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Permanent Feature:
The Borsa Diaries
This is the story, recounted in my mother's diaries, of two retired medical doctors (my parents) who bought an old peasant's house and a plot of land way up in the mountains of Northern Transylvania and turned them into their personal heaven. I found Mother's diaries in an old cupboard in the parental house and transcribed, edited, and illustrated them with photographs found in the same cupboard. Mother's and Father's letters sent to me in America were also found, transcribed, and translated; they form an intrinsic part of this book. So does Mother's cookbook--which is a bunch of recipes she used to cook the most delicious meals using home-grown vegetables and meat bought at the local market.
Mother and Father were in their seventies when they made the purchase, but every single morning they walked barefooted in the dewy grass to greet the sun and local larks with a broad smile on their faces, and every night they marvelled at the glorious moon and stars they watched from the wooden porch rising high above the mountain peaks, They planted fruit trees, vegetables, and flowers, made red currant jam and syrup, and built a new shingle roof, a wooden fence, and a new wooden porch. They worked every day with joyful souls, and working hard made them happy, so they stayed forever young: for Mother is ninety nine as I write, and she only stopped chopping wood when she turned eighty two.
Below are the first two sections the book: A Retired Doctor's Guide to Country Living Part One, including an inventory of the vegetable garden and tips on sowing and harvesting/picking fruit, herbs, and vegetables; and Recipes from Lia's Kitchen, including Mother's recipes, which I took down over the course of several interviews she agreed to give in her ninety-fourth year of life, when she was no longer interested in cooking and found the subject rather boring. Next comes the Diary for the year 1999 (September only) which also includes letters my parents sent to me describing their life in Borsa at the time.
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Some of my books (Bombonica Hopartean: A Book of Days; and Mrs. Bonaventure, Mrs. Bacon, and Mrs. Grosseteste--which is work in progress) incorporate my research as a music historian and medievalist: I have a Ph. D. in Musicology, and have taught Music History for many years.
Others (Matters of Couture, The Fine Art of Making Paprikas, Inscribed Houses) are based on childhood memories or more recent adventures.
Still others (The Borsa Diaries, Lia in America, Lia in the U.S.S.R.) are translations of my mother's diaries, which I have found in old cupboards in my parental house.
For a complete list, to to About me. For monthly features (stories and video clips) go to Archives.
I write to provide entertainment for myself and for my friends, and it may be that, with a bit of luck, my little stories might amuse you, too, pious yet anonymous reader.
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