Friday, December 11, 2020

Serendipity

Somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty years ago, my father-in-law, a self-taught cabinetmaker, built two bookcases for me.

Friday, December 4, 2020

Noon Thrills


Yesterday, while taking Mamie out for a noon stroll, I heard a BOOM!.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

'Tis the Season


When our kids were little, there was a family one house over from us that brought color to the street.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Eyes From Above



         
I admit I may have scoffed a bit when My Guy installed the Nest camera in the garage window.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

That's Entertainment!


Yesterday was a date with the dental hygienist, although I would have preferred, say, waterboarding or perhaps major surgery.

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Back when the earth was cooling. . . .


My trusty (and only remaining) CD/tape deck system finally gave up and locked into paralysis.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Friday, November 6, 2020

Saturday, October 31, 2020

BWAHAHA!!

          Halloween is here. Or some ragtag semblance of it.

Sunday, October 25, 2020

Fall's Bounty

          It’s official. Autumn is the most beautiful time of the year, even it’s really just for optimists, since what’s necessary  to appreciate it is a blind disregard for those dark winter days crouched waiting around the corner.

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Malevolence Afoot

After initially digging in my heels and clinging to Old Blogger for as long as possible, I finally bowed to the inevitable and have been resolutely plodding on with this new stupid one.

Monday, October 19, 2020

Covid to the rescue

It’s now in the dictionary: FOMO, otherwise known as fear of missing out. Unless you were born popular and confident, we’ve probably all had that moment at some time. That New Year’s Eve at home, where you’re actually perfectly comfortable with your bowl of popcorn and rented movie, but still have this nagging feeling that you look a little pathetic.

 On major holidays there are articles about the poor souls spending it alone, and therapists offer advice in articles on coping. When you’re young, it often feels like there’s something wrong with you if you’re not gadding about in a clutch of friends or on a hot date every weekend. As an adult, do your neighbors often have a herd of people over, or do they recount the great dinner out they had with friends the other night while you were home caulking the tub?

          Problem solved! Anyone in today’s world with an active social life is suspect, and should even be avoided, considering the number of people they may have connected with. Plus, there’s the added bonus of feeling superior to anyone reckless – and let’s face it – clueless enough to be out there breathing someone else’s air.

          Missing Out is now the new cool. Introverts rejoice!

 

Sunday, October 18, 2020

Break out the acorn squash


We’ve been driving around admiring the foliage, which is stunning in this New England state full of sugar maples.

Friday, October 16, 2020

Thursday, October 15, 2020

Monday, October 12, 2020

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Revelations at hand

So here we are on the sidelines, conscientiously in our masks, watching in disbelief as the gyre widens and unnamable things slouch their way along.

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Friday, September 18, 2020

Idiots, Chickens, and Ducks

Yesterday I popped into a local semi-fancy ladies’ shop in hopes of finding something on their sale rack, the only way I would ever buy anything there.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Focus on This


It was touch and go, but I actually remembered my eye appointment today.

Monday, September 14, 2020

Girl Gang

 We’re beginning to feel the shortening days around here, especially right after dinner.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Tuesday, September 8, 2020

Tobacco, golf, and hornets


    
More tobacco headed to the barn
Today was a golf day, this time 20 minutes away over the border in Connecticut, farming country.

Saturday, September 5, 2020

News Flash



Okay, just as I threatened promised, if you’re looking for something to fill those coming long fall and winter days indoors, I have just the solution:

Friday, September 4, 2020

Man the barricades

     For the third morning in a row, I opened my iPad to update any comments on my blog and things looked different.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

Big Game


(Apologies to the squeamish for the yuckiness of the photo portion.)

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Sunday, August 30, 2020

Condo Bounty


You never know when you’re going to need emergency mozzarella, do you?

Thursday, August 27, 2020

A Different Kind of Farming


I guess it’s a good thing we’re hunkered inside today for a rainy, cool day.

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Stasis


          Amazing that it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve posted, but life lately hasn’t exactly lent itself to daily updates about the goings-on around here.

Monday, August 10, 2020

Farm Sales and Trust


          I realized yesterday how dull my life had become when my heart skipped a beat after I pulled open the drawer filled with a jumble of measuring spoons, a garlic press, cheese knives, measuring cups, meat mallet, and I don’t know what-all.

Friday, August 7, 2020

Post Storm



This afternoon I ducked into a convenience store in town to replace the half gallon of milk I’d poured down the drain.

Sunday, August 2, 2020

The only good fly is a dead fly


     Summer means long sunny days, more time to enjoy the outside, but also flies.

Friday, July 31, 2020

Underwater


This afternoon at yet one more medical appointment I would rather not have been at, I sat in the stripped waiting room, my temperature at 97.1 and my hands still slick from the hand sanitizer.

Thursday, July 30, 2020

Unfamiliar faces

Standing in the front yard this morning while waiting for Mamie to do her business, I saw two odd little growths that must have popped up after last night's rain, like - well - mushrooms. 

Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Market Report


No, not the stock market, although a day in the grocery store can have the same emotional ups and downs.

Saturday, July 25, 2020

Anticipation and Annoyance


Each year, after a particular medical appointment, I treat myself with some shopping therapy afterwards. Like it was all meant to be, the store sits practically next door to the medical offices.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Pearly Whites


At our dentist, there’s a dental hygienist we’ve always called Chatty Cathy because she never. shuts. up.

Monday, July 20, 2020

Ripley's Believe it or Not returns

I'm on my way to the dentist (more on that later, I'm sure), but I had to post this. My Guy may have found this on Facebook. 

Sunday, July 19, 2020

Dining in Masks


Last week we had dinner out at a restaurant for the first time since March. It was a heady experience, sitting there with another couple to talk to (!!), people bringing me food and drink.  We were sensible, though. We ate outside at a patio, our table positioned a good 10 feet from the next. We arrived in masks, gave our orders in masks (to the masked waitress), then ate and replaced the masks when we left.  But it was still magical. So magical because life almost felt normal again.
          Where we ate had an already-existing outdoor dining area, surrounded by flowers and greenery, but I’m sure you’ve seen the less successful versions. Restaurants around here without the good fortune to have outdoor seating have slapped a ring of Jersey barriers up in their parking lots, and gathered tables and chairs, some of which look like they’ve been resurrected from someone’s basement. Maybe when the sun goes down (which here in the height of summer doesn’t happen till 8:00 p.m.) it feels a little less Spartan, but I’m not tempted.  
          Buoyed by our dinner success, a few days later My Guy and I went out to a hamburger spot for lunch. It was grey out and misting gently, and I tried to remember if the restaurant we’d chosen had a covered outdoor area. We arrived, and I saw that it did, but was already filled. Across the asphalted parking lot the restaurant had added a tented area but that had all the charm of a car wash.
          We tentatively went inside. Would we like a table? Okay, we said, if we’re far away from everyone else.

          Sure enough, we were given a booth off in a corner, the other diners so distant it was difficult to make out their features.
          In the center of the table was something that looked a little like a quilt square but turned out to be our link to the restaurant’s website and therefore the menu, accessed with our phones. No need to touch a germy menu, and no need for the restaurant to pay for disposable ones.
          Again we ordered in masks, had a relaxing meal, and felt a little as though we’d gotten away with something.
          Now if only everyone else would continue to stay home.