Month: December 2015

We did laundry, changed sheets, read the Sunday Times and did the transfer station run.  Peter and Bonnie gave us a second pound of coffee; good timing, we were almost out.

Stopped at the Organic Market for coffee beans (to clean Ron’s coffee grinder, which I had defiled with Savory), yogurt, peanuts and donuts!

Had enough daylight left to finish late fall cleanup, including leaf pickup, in the front.  Ron mowed the back.

With our work schedule, we’ve been running a bit behind on yard maintenance, so was very relieved to get this done before the ground and everything on it freezes.

I shopped at CVS first thing for discounted LED outdoor lights and worked on the intractable problems with preowned images.

Glued the woven ends of the sailor’s wreath and put it in the bedroom.

Ron and I were doing a second load of laundry when we learned at 12:45 that FarFar’s closes for the season today – and ice cream was predicted to run out as early as 2 – so we dropped everything and dashed up Route 3 to Duxbury.

Having neglected to bring a cooler, we paid a small fortune for a styrofoam box and ice from the packie across the street from FarFar’s.  We also stopped at “my little bakery” and French Memories, then Lowe’s in Kingston.

We got back to the Cape in time to pick up leaves at Edgewater, front and back.  I was keen to get this done since we’re supposed to get “weather” starting tomorrow night.

Finally found and watched a copy of Downton Abbey’s last episode.

A very, very good day, indeed.

Sandy Neck, Christmas Day

We received more than we gave.  Here’s how:

We received $100 in gift cards and gift certificates, $8 in tips and two pounds of gourmet coffee.

We brought home a huge bag of leftover bakery gifted from work: at least $40-50 worth.

We gave out $70 in tips and spent $40 on gift cards and $70 at the bakery for family and friends.

We got a $20 store credit from Williams Sonoma and $25 in statement credits.

This morning, we had breakfast muffins from the bakery, a cheese omelet, coffee and mimosas with orange and lime juice and Prosecco.  Ron has been playing some gorgeous Classical CDs.

As Ron put it, we have no stockings, tree or decorations to take down and no tinsel and wrappings to clean up: just our outside lights, which we’ll leave up, probably until New Year’s.

I made beef stew yesterday and a salad this morning.  Worked on the rope wreath.

We went for a late afternoon walk at Sandy Neck beach.

Did my Monday stint at the bakery, asked the boss more questions, this time about sales and marketing.  Shared my concerns about being extraneous with the manager.

A CFO is the one who’d negotiate with bankers and investors.  In other words, seems to me that what the boss has is an accountant.  Nothing wrong with that, but “CFO” feels like “fake it till you make it”, and that doesn’t seem necessary for what is a very well-run and increasingly popular business.

Last night, we picked James up and drove him to Walmart to get a Christmas gift that was sold out at Game Stop.

I was up early again today.  Warmed up a lot and rained for most of the day, especially heavy about now.

Feels like I’ve been on my feet all day, which is crazy.  Had a lot to catch up on: hangings in particular, including James’ fish; dishes; cooking.  Did some more around vehicle images for NEPS.

Met the Mold Doctor this morning.  His office gave him the wrong time, so Robert was already in the truck for his ride to work.  He thinks the mildew is very minor, treatable with Lysol and bleach.

Dropped off a cake that Ron picked up at the Senior Center for Robert and saw Paul at the Commons today; helped him move a few items into his building and into the elevator.

Made some calls about insulation at Edgewater.  Turns out, HAC is in charge of a program for which Peter et al qualify, so they can get recommended improvements for free!

Got Robert’s permission to give his old books and toys to Standish.  Liz was pleased.

Very rich baked spaghetti casserole for supper.

I was up at 4:30.  Read for a while.

Did laundry and changed the sheets.

We had a bunch of errands in Hyannis: returned a matte and bought 4 frames at AC Moore while Ron shopped at Home Depot.  Picked up lens cleaning material at VisionQuest.  Bought five spice jars at BB&B.  Bought a gift card for Cindy at Stop & Shop while Ron redeemed soda bottles – 75 cents!

Returned to Mashpee for transfer station run and a quick stop at CVS.

Spent a good part of yesterday making a heavy soup and experimenting with some dried fig pieces that I made into oatmeal squares.  Made a big salad as well.

We deposited our checks last night.

Today I addressed and mailed the rest of Ron’s holiday cards, did more banking and some work for NEPS.

Bought a glorious 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven to replace the old one, which is pretty rusted at this point.  Incredibly, I got it at Williams-Sonoma for $60 LESS than the Amazon price – plus a gift certificate for $20.

And that scares some people.

Inflation and low interest rates are mainly problems for the financial industry and rich savers.