Having been on a few house tours, I’ve tried to approximate some of the features of the well-to-do homes opened for gawking.
I/we’ve done a few things to improve our environment, but now that I’m no longer an employee, plans to finish the basement have been put aside.
Wasted too many hours today on a FB thread that proved I can handle myself with a trio of malevolent harpies and very little else.
Made waffles. Turned out nicely in spite of some technical problems with the top iron.
We changed the sheets and punted on transfer station until tomorrow.
Ron put the portable fans in the attic, closed the windows and put the cover on the whole house fan.
I ordered a remote tune-up for my HP laptop, a fabulous anti-Trump/anti-Bernie poster and a Bissell floor steamer.
Paid Matt Mitko the $100 that we didn’t need to restore the lawn at Edgewater.
Worked until 11:30 on Warranty, cleaned up the kitchen, made coffee, showered.
Deep freeze last night. Nasturtiums did not survive. Kale did.
Went to 3 store samplings: Roche, Windfall and Whole Foods. Windfall was the best. Came home with some nice treats.
Alpha came with me to Hyannis. We stopped at the mall after Whole Foods. Their tasting ended early, at 2:15 or so, not 4 as advertised, so good that we went first.
Egg, kale and avocado sandwiches for supper. Plenty of ice cream and cookies for dessert! We ate ourselves into happy oblivion last night on 50% off Halloween chocolate from Roche.
Pipe burst in the outdoor shower; bad weld? Turned the water to all the outdoor faucets off.
Finished the rose bed cleanup yesterday with Ron’s help; he loaded everything into the truck. Brought it to the transfer station along with recyclables.
Enjoyed a talk at LL Bean on winter hiking survival tips.
Ron changed the water filter.
Ron brought me back and forth to Cormier’s so I could leave the truck for an oil change.
Mulched the rose bed and with Ron’s help, moved the giant mulch pile to the new garden in back. Opened up the old bags of mulch to fill in and level the plot. Put the rebar away.
Hibiscus is losing tons of leaves.
Scrambled eggs for supper last night. Ravioli and salad tonight. Freeze predicted for overnight.
Started cleanup of vegetable gardens and the rose bed. Cut down all the roses.
Did the CSA run and stopped at Jack in the Beanstalk.
We stopped eating meat, poultry and fish at the beginning of July.
Not having grown up in a vegetarian household, this has been a learning experience for me, particularly around seasonings.
Last night, I made a ratatouille with carrot greens, high in Vitamin C but bitter. The base recipe calls for white vinegar which brought the acidity “over the top”, so I dissolved some brown sugar to make a sweet/sour, Eastern European-style stew.
Many cuisines make heavy use of vegetables, and I’ve tried different combinations of seasonings: Japanese, Southwestern, Middle Eastern, Italian, Indian.
I set the clocks back this morning, including the cryptic touchscreen ones.
Didn’t get outside at all except to water the sod this morning and fetch the paper.
Made a sweet/sour ratatouille with onion, garlic, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, carrot greens and kale. Roasted kale and acorn squash. Mainly wanted to clear the counter of the poor vegetables that have been sitting on it for days.
I finished a little JSON programming challenge for a job application.
We did the laundry and changed the sheets. Ron did the transfer station run and cleaned up after supper.
We stopped in to see Janine’s art exhibit at the library and put in an order for her photo of a Maine lighthouse.
We went to the “Soup Bowl” fundraiser at the Tribal headquarters and met a gracious couple who came all the way from Truro for the event. She’s a selectman, he’s a former Special Ed teacher who’s made the papers with his organic gardening experience.
Later on, we attended a concert by Rhythm Future Quartet at the Cotuit Center for the Arts that rocked Ron’s world: very hard to do.
I bought him an MP3 of their first album this morning. He complained because there was “just music” and no liner notes.
Can’t win.
Got three bottles of red wine, one for us, two for gifts, and found that the cork(s) had dried.
Decanted our bottle this morning; Ron returned the other two.
Ron arranged the sod/turf to finish off the corner garden project. It looks quite nice.
Finished the tulip bed today. Added two more bags of topsoil and mulched. Tony, bless him, took a load of gravel for his driveway. Hope he takes the rest tomorrow.
Ron and I, mostly Ron, did leaf cleanup.
We brought a small load to the transfer station.
Ron made a nice lunch: bagel breakfast sandwiches and salad from last night.
Got a project from Jim. Struggling with changes to NEPS and Warranty.
Only 20 or so kids for Halloween.