This was the worst case: rain followed by freezing followed by heavy, wet snow. We cut down a Russian olive bush that had uprooted and big grasses that were crushed. Filled up the truck and brought it all to the transfer station. New Year’s Eve was quite pleasant, though, not too cold and no wind.
Bell ringing at First Church, pickup jazz combo at the Glass Museum and hot chowder at St. John’s. Pastry from the Dunbar Tea Room. Giant puppets.
As we were walking down the street, Ron started talking in his duck voice.
Ron (loudly) “You didn’t know you married a duck, did you? Well, now you do.”
Me “And so does everyone else”.
Sympathetic woman bystander “That’s okay.”
This week ended with bad news about two people we know, Bonnie’s mother and an old friend of Ron’s. Judy is in Intensive Care and we just found out that Ron’s friend passed away of lymphoma on December 10.
We’d planned a couple of cheery errands today and were so glad for the diversion.
Made another trip to Sid Wainer and the produce stand in New Bedford. Picked up coffee and day-olds from Uncle Jon’s on the way. Stopped at the Wareham Y but couldn’t get the special membership deal straightened out. Hope it happens next week.
It’s supposed to snow tonight, possibly several inches, so we did the transfer station run today and picked up a raincheck item at Stop & Shop. Also dropped in to Sea Mist with a few questions.
We shut off the water here and disconnected and put away the hoses.
I got new tires for the truck yesterday!
This was Christmas dinner, using recipes and a few ingredients from Sid Wainer: ham; dry sautéed brussel sprouts with cranberries and maple syrup; black rice with mango and orange chunks in a lime juice/fish sauce/oil dressing; lentil, beet, pepper-crusted bacon and goat cheese salad with vinaigrette; sparkling cider.
I’ve been feeling punk for a couple of days and was not looking forward to cooking, so Ron, Mr. Fluffles and I took a nap until about 1:30. Afterwards, we prepped and chopped up a storm. Took us a couple of hours to prepare the meal, but it was well worth it.
Last night, after a very nice Christmas Eve dinner with friends, Ron gave me a beautiful lingerie set and a pair of slippers. We also got a grill light for the Weber.
I got a good deal on a wreath for $2.75 at Stop & Shop. Didn’t realize until later how pretty it would look on the shed.
Ron put up a hat rack in our coat closet, thus removing two annoyances with a single honey-do.
I’ve been pelted by falling hats for a while, and the hat rack has been floating around in the basement for at least a year. It finally occurred to me to put one and one together, duh. I tried installing the rack myself, but to be honest, I stink at power tools and Ron is very good with them.
Once the hats were off the shelf, I found three cameras, a pair of gloves and three pairs of binoculars!
We had our annual get-together at Cathy’s house: bagels, lox, quiche, fruit salad, cherry pie. For the first time, Ron was invited. We won a little bit of money on scratch tickets and managed to fit in chores afterwards, including dropping off the remaining Christmas gifts, laundry, transfer station run and food shopping. We had a nice visit with the neighbor’s Rottweiler, a hulk of a dog with a sweet disposition. We picked up a ham for Christmas dinner and a few odds and ends for the recipes from Sid Wainer.
I barbecued the eel. It was okay but a little too greasy for our taste. Kind of disappointing, but Fluffles loved it. He had cod and tuna as well. His stomach hasn’t been good the last couple of days, poor little guy.
We’d made plans for some time to bring Emme to Sid Wainer on a Saturday before Christmas. They put out their big buffet on Saturday mornings, and I remember Carolyn’s saying that they really rev it up around the holidays.
Sid Wainer did not disappoint. The three of us collected recipes of the tastings we liked, and we ended up with several cheeses, sausage, smoked chicken, bacon, polenta and black rice.
We shopped at the fruit stand for produce, then made a quick trip to the Fall River Newport Creamery for Awful Awfuls. On the way back, we pulled off the road so Emme could see the Olympia Times building, and we stopped in to Kyler’s for eel, salmon and sole. Made a brief detour to Wareham for gas.
We went to the Osterville library for the Friends’ annual tea. Ron wanted to donate the library, so he bought three ornaments at a substantial discount to give to the brunch bunch tomorrow. We stopped for more fruit for tomorrow, and I picked up a wreath at 75% off for the shed.
Back in Mashpee, we had fish for supper, then went to Heritage to see the lights and hear a concert of Baroque and Renaissance music – which Emme, age 15, loved!
What a day….
One year when I was at college in Vermont, I was sure that I smelled the ocean on a breeze.
One of the so-called Beautiful People said angrily “That isn’t possible.”
Guess what, jerkoff – it is. I’m reading a story in the NYTimes that says that at Stevens Pass, Washington – some 125 miles from the Pacific Ocean – it is possible to catch the smell of the ocean.
Where we were in Vermont is less than 100 miles from the ocean. Landlocked, yes. Impermeable to salt air, no.