TheCapeBlog

We battened down yesterday morning in anticipation of high winds. Ron pounded in stakes for the big lilies and we secured them with plant tie tape. They did very well as did everything else.

I made a couple of salads yesterday, including grilling almost-gone-by squash and marinating almost-gone-by cukes. Tomatoes from last week’s CSA were horrible.

We took off for Hyannis yesterday around quarter past twelve. Stopped at Four Seas, which was smart, we didn’t get back to the house until after 3.

Ron exchanged windshield wipers at Auto Zone near the airport. I made an appointment at Hyannis Toyota for a second opinion on the truck. We picked up groceries at Stop & Shop and produce at the CSA.

After supper, I did a run to Andy’s for a 30-pack of Narragansett. My favorite cashier was there, carried it to the truck for me.

Yesterday, I made eggplant parmesan and a frosted spice cake for Ron.

Bad news on the truck. The oil pan can’t be easily replaced. Removing it would disturb other parts, like tie rods, that are so rusted they are likely to break.

The funds transfer from Rockland to the Coop worked itself out yesterday. I forgot my credit card so had to borrow from savings to pay for it, but that’s not a tragedy. Ron dropped me off in Teaticket and still got to Rockland on time to pick up Robert. Light traffic; I was able to stroll across Route 28.

Watched a fine webcast from Cato about plea bargaining yesterday.

We bailed on the news last night: Corona, Corona, Congress, Congress. Opted for wine and cold supper on the deck.

It’s afternoon. We’ve already done two loads of laundry and changed the sheets.

I helped Ron clean up his tree project yesterday and got him to stop piling everything up until the truck is back.

The neighbors across the street had a big house party yesterday: 10 cars. Fortunately, they don’t seem to like us so it’s unlikely that we would ever be less than a social distance from them.

Ordered supplies from “Jo Jorgensen for President”. I agree with her on almost every issue. Glad she got the nomination, I was hoping.

Last night, watched a film about the Jazz Loft (821 Sixth Avenue). The building is now for sale for over $14 million. We also watched the Magnificent Seven.

Ron is stuffing insulation into the area above the dryer. I am trying to psych myself into doing something equally useful, even if it’s just putting together a cold salad.

Ron is sawing off pine tree branches. It’s his favorite thing to do except for the sap.

My truck has been leaking oil. It’s at Midas, needs a new engine oil pan. Lori is giving me 10% off, which beats Toyota’s quote.

Ron drove me back from Falmouth, which was nice. The trip wasn’t a total waste for him: he picked up a gas additive at Auto Zone and a DVD at the thrift shop on Davisville.

I made a really good cold cauliflower and egg salad for lunch with red onion, pickles, celery. Cauliflower pizza with vegan pepperoni last night.

We were able to do a walk to Falutin’Vill last evening, about two miles. Nice. Love that area.

Ron bought walnuts yesterday so I harvested basil and made pesto today. Froze it in an ice cube tray.

Made two nice zucchini bread loaves and prepped a pound and a half of turnips for tomorrow.

Misfits box arrived on time today. Nice supplement to the CSA. We have enough produce for a while, so I cancelled next week’s delivery.

We had some really good corn that Ron brought home yesterday. I’d steamed three ears for me since I prefer cooked to raw; he ate two of them.

Funny how the days fill up even when we have nothing special planned.

Ron observed this morning that we live in a bubble: we have a good governor who has kept Covid-19 at bay.

We can visit New Hampshire, Rhode Island or any of the other New England states. We couldn’t easily visit Em in Washington or Ron’s friends and relatives in Arizona, not that we had plans.

We are hesitant to spend money on nice-to-haves but non-essentials, like a smart thermostat.

More pertinently, I would like to go thrifting, but the prospect of any retail shopping is even less appealing than usual: since the tourons arrived, there has been an increase in Covid-19 cases.

It’s unsettling that some biotech companies with promising treatments for disease-resistant bacteria have shut down.

A bubble can definitely feel like a trap in which a bacterial infection could get out of control, we could find ourselves marooned because our cars needed servicing that we couldn’t afford, we are hesitant to go out because of risk of exposure to people who are from Covid-19 “hot spots”.

If those limits weren’t enough, it’s been hot, crazily hot. It hit 100 the other day.

Historically, the end of July/beginning of August is the hottest time of the year, but the intensity of the heat this year is unusual, and it looks like we won’t have decent walking weather until mid-August at the earliest.

It’s 5 PM and 88 degrees. This has put a major crimp in our walk schedule.

I’ve been doing a lot of cooking in the last week or so. Today I made zucchini bread with gluten free flour, which was the only type on hand. Turned out pretty well. I gave one to Robert, frosted half and left half alone, and used less than half the amount of sugar called for. Made a big salad for supper. Ron brought home corn, and we have stuffed zucchini left over from yesterday.

It’s been great to drive Robert home from work.

I’m amazed at how fast the days go by with no real schedule. Get up, make coffee. Cooked a whole box of Silver Spoon oatmeal this morning, then made the zucchini breads. Had lunch. Watched a little of the hearings with the CEOs of Google/YouTube, Apple, Facebook and Amazon. We’ll watch BBC News/America and PBS NewsHour in about 15 minutes, have supper, then watch the next episode of “Hannah” on Prime. As the king of Wry wrote, so it goes.

Ron did a light shop today, we split the cost.

Ron and I took Robert out for a quick lunch today at Le Bon Jour, just across the street from his branch.

Since he only has half an hour for lunch, some places are still takeout only and it was far too hot to eat outside (it’s now 100 degrees here), I wasn’t sure how this would work; fortunately, they were open for dining in. We ordered different bowls and all of us enjoyed our choices.

I was shocked (shocked) to realize that yesterday, I sewed, ironed, cooked, vacuumed, washed dishes and did laundry.

Ron mowed the front lawn.

This morning, I did the transfer station run early. The guys at the transfer station said tomorrow will be a scorcher. Glad there’s nothing on the calendar that requires being outside. We are getting too old.

Speaking of which, Ron suggested a walk last night when it was humid and probably around 85. I say probably because we didn’t look at the temp until a half hour or so after we got back to the house. I made it to the start of Fairneny then felt I had to stop.

The day before, Geri invited me to lunch at Captain Scott’s, then a walk on the Sandwich end of the Canal afterwards. She and Free know a trail that took us from the canal through the woods to Town Neck Beach. Great walk and delicious Greek salad for lunch.

Betsy sent a nice email telling us how much she likes the Wampanoag calendar.

We did the usual Sunday chores, laundry and changed sheets, and I made a big salad for lunch. We had burritos for supper with stuff from the frig. I did some minor gone-by cleanup in front of the fence.

My main accomplishment today was finding out how to delete unread messages that Mail has lost track of: mark for forwarding, cancel, then delete.

Yesterday I walked over 3 miles. We did the falutin’ walk in the late evening; it was almost dark by the time we got back. I was dripping from the heat and humidity.

This morning I moved the four pieces of leftover ceiling tile to the attic and weighted them down with a trunk in the hope of straightening them out. Also increased the temperature setting to 90 on the attic window fan. Found some insulation to fill in the area near the drain pipe in the basement.

I got to drive Robert home from work three times this week.

Had a 40 percent off coupon at CVS and splurged yesterday on an oximeter. The refund for the one I’d ordered from China back in May more than covered the cost.

Prepared and mailed Betsy’s package at UPS. Their service is far superior to that at the Mashpee post office.

We donated blood this past Tuesday. It was a busy day with CSA in the afternoon and chauffering. Took it easy yesterday, watched TV for part of it, did a small shop after dropping Robert off.

Been hot this week, hand watering has been essential for anything not planted in the ground.