I have been known to be prone to small accidents, maybe this is one of the reasons He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed don’t allow me to use the lawnmower or the new thingy he bought to cut the brush(oversized weeds) taking over the yard.
Most of my life I have a permanent collection of small bruises, some of them I have no clue about how they got there and some of them did still have the yelled 4 letter word attached to their memories. Generally I don’t blame myself if doors jambs, chairs, tables, or any generic corner of something decided to jump and attach me. I mean I swear I had clearance; I did spend 5 years in architectural school so I should be able to guess distances, better, NOT.
On the other hand I hardly ever have any kitchen mishaps, if my memory serves me right I had broken not more than 6 glasses my whole life! Plates if you count the two broken by radical temperature changes might get to a high number of 3. Considering the amount of time I spend sharpening my knives (I just cannot deal with blunt knives), very seldom I cut myself.
All of it is just to try to explain how annoyed I am because of yesterday’s accident.
I decided to cook some beets early in the afternoon, so they would be cold for a salad by dinner time. One of the advantages to work from home is that you can have this sort of impromptu decisions and act on them. So I got the 4 beauties in water and set the stove alarm to check on them in 15 minutes, and so I did. They were ways from being done so I set for extra 10 minutes, walk back to my desk and decided it was way too hot to stand it without the AC. Turn it on and thought to myself “ I must pay attention to the alarm sound since this noise from the AC is so loud”, then of course I proceed to get distracted and suddenly I smell something burning, the funny part was that my first thought was “ hey the AC is burning” so I turn it off and then it hit me.
The sweet smell of burned beets.
The pan is scorched beyond salvation but I did manage to recover 85% of the beets, and they even taste pretty good after the burned part was removed and they had time to “air the smell”.
He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed did not complain too much, maybe because he still remembers the time he got the electric oven on fire.
But Holly Golly Miss Molly I hate to waste a perfect good multi-purpose pan.We spent the whole weekend fixing the fences and cleaning weeds that transformed the backyard into a jungle. And we have the pains and aches to prove it. We are both moving around like we are 103 years old and moaning a bit but it was worth it. There is still some work to be done in order to let the dogs out there, the little fence to the tomato patch is now screwed in place since the post that held the hinges seems to have disappear, He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed suspects the guys that cut the tree down just got that post into the shrewder along with some of the smaller branches they cut.
We still have to spread the woodchips, now they make a small hill close to the fence and we know way too well that Matisse will think of nothing but jumping over the fence from that advantage point. Because the whole lot of woodchips is soaked wet from the rain we had to leave it for another day since our muscles could not deal with any more abuse yesterday. I have to say it took longer than I thought but I am very proud of He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed work, sure the fences are a bit crooked at some places but they are standing, and somehow it looks a bit more organic with the not so square angles.
I finally had the courage to clean the mess the tree truck did on my garden at the side of the driveway. For weeks I would stare at it and just felt too overwhelmed by the amount of work it would take to fix it.
The worse part, close to the garage doors, are still looking a bit bare since they really did a SMASHING job driving on top of all kinds of plants and flowers but at least now it looks neat, bare but neat.
He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed is always great about sensing when I need a “pick-me up” gesture so while he went to his church(Home Depot) to get a few bags of concrete to set the new fence posts he got me a big vase of black-eye susans that were on sale. Right now they don’t fill much space but I know they spread and by next year will be all over.
I wish I had taken “before” pictures of the jungle so you would have a better idea of how much work it was but we will settle for “after” pictures, maybe even today.
We are both on the short side so even if we are not standing tall( mostly cause of the aches) we are damn proud of our hard work.Last weekend was a busy one. In a not-all-work way, this is rather very nice. He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was in the mood for a breakfast at George’s, it is amazingly busy for such a not-anything-special kind of place. I guess it could be called a not-so-grease-spoon place or a friendly service and honest prices place or yet a not-plastic-food place. Best of all it is about 3 minutes from our house so even if I am not big about going out for breakfast I have to admit it is almost like staying home.
We always bump on someone we know there, we don’t always can remember their names but alas it probably is a mutual thing. We have lived here for over 7 years and maybe we have been to George’s 10 times all together, so it is not something we do often but makes for a great way to start a weekend.
After breakfast we went to BJ’s get dog biscuits and paper towels (much used by dogs lately since they been a bit sick) and with that out of the way He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed was gracious enough to take me to TJ Maxx for some much needed couple of Capri’s for 10 bucks each( yeah I got lucky). Shopping does not agree well with He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed so he drop me there and went get some work stuff done at a nearby town, but honestly it works perfect this way.
After last week disaster at the washer (as in I did check his pockets, recover the cell phone, some coins, some dog bags and a couple of pens but somehow one elude me and you can imagine the rest of the story) he does need a couple of shirts and shorts but he said he was not in the mood and I can live with that even if it means washing and ironing the survivors a bit more often.
We got back home and I could not complain that He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed needed to work, so I just kept myself busy between dogs and house stuff but by mid-afternoon I was again feeling like being more social so I called G and we went to grab a coffee at our Target Starbucks. It always feels good to be able to do stuff on the spur of the moment, it is not the way things happen are here, people usually need to know in advance and for a while it bug me. So to my surprise we end up making last minute plans to go to Da Capo for dinner, she had been there with me last Wednesday but it has been a while since we did anything all four of us.
I was very pleased to find the restaurant very busy, G knew at least 3 other tables, mostly some relatives of her and next to our table was a couple we did some work maybe 4 years ago. Going to Da Capo is a bit like going back to Rio, because everybody knows me there, they make me feel very special and apart from that the food is delicious. Actually we will be going there tomorrow because it will be the official ribbon-cutting-by-the-mayor-affair, but will happen at lunch time so we need to get back to normal work stuff after it.
Sunday He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed had a meeting at 8:30 so we just buggy out of bed early and he got going and me and the “boys” had a good time doing a major cleaning, ok, they don’t help much with the cleaning but they were good boys. There were no big fights with the vacuum cleaner, by now they just avoid it instead of challenge it. True is Matisse was already not feeling well so I guess that was one of the reasons he barely move from his spot.
He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed called to let me know he was bringing some meat to have burgers, I had plans to do some gardening after lunch but it was awfully hot and humid so I change the plans to spending some time with a very interesting book.
Monday morning arrived with a very sick dog, I hate to see my big guy walking around looking so miserable, I took him out at least 5 times before noon but there were also some “accidents” in the house, not that I blame him. By 3pm we agree a visit to see the vet was in order, she was tied in surgery but they told us to bring him and she would see him as soon as she could.
Now he is medicated and seems to be recovering. He actually likes the special food he is supposed to eat for the next 10 days so I am not complaining. Well apart from the heat… enough already!I am having an exceptionally girly week.
Yesterday I met with the Social committee of my sorority chapter to plan the “socials” for the incoming sorority year. Yeah, I know, I never mentioned it here but I do belong to a sorority, with all those Greek letters, but not related to any colleges. I was “adopted” by this group over 3 years ago, and I call them “my girls” being that the ages are mostly between 70 and 80’s. Actually I was told this is the biggest sorority in the world and we do a bunch of good charity stuff but we also have some fun while doing it.
Today I have a dinner date with G, we always have a great time together. Lately we only manage coffee at the nearest Starbucks cum Target place but we both agree we need more time, you know, the whole catching up and talking relationships stuff works better with a glass of wine or 3!
Last but not least tomorrow is Special K get together for haircut and color day! Yuuupie! We go to this private salon and Jane always work wonders and make us feel pretty, oh well, maybe if we don’t look anywhere down from our necks!
It is very unusual for me to have this much ME time in the same week. I just feel REALLY lucky!We live in a small town, not tiny but small, specially compared to other places I lived before.
At first I was enchanted by the squirrels on our backyard, at least until Matisse went thru a window to try to catch one, I am still amazed he did not hurt himself, considering the window broke in a thousand pieces.
We are just one house removed from a very busy street but we often see skunks and raccoons, a few times we saw coyotes by the end of our street and once we were having dinner and I just saw a fox across the street out of the kitchen window, but mostly we keep a healthy distance and try to be careful while walking the dogs.
Since the big maple went down we have been walking the dogs a lot more, they miss having the open yard to spend some energy running around, Matisse rolls his rocks around (he is a true Mick Jagger) and Jack just keep bringing his ball to play catch, so we try to compensate and take them out for walks a bit more often then we like.
Last night while we took them out one of the neighbors drove by and warned us about a black bear she just saw on her backyard. We cut the walk short and did another very short one before bedtime.
This morning I was careful while taking them out but at the same time wondering if maybe she was just kidding. By late afternoon I was surprised when He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed came home after a meeting and told me that the bear was seen by two other neighbors, one of them we know well and have no reasons to doubt.
I have very mixed feelings, at one hand I am afraid, especially because of my dogs, having no idea how they would react if we encounter the bear, but at the same time I really want to see it. I mean I have seen bears at the zoo, and close enough, I mean safe but not from a mile away, but to have a chance to see a real wild one, although one that fancies a visit to town seems to be a very special thrill.
Da Capo is officially open for business. The last few days have been very stressful for my clients with all the final inspections and they did have some glitches last night with the computers but the mood was festive. They will start advertising today, on the radio and newspaper, so yesterday was supposed to be a soft opening but they did have a nice crowd wanting to try the new place.
The food was divine; we already tried the desserts last Sunday when we stopped by to check if things were under control. I am very picky about desserts, even in good restaurants around this area they don’t prepare them in-house but they do at Da Capo. They keep it simple, just 3 options of Italian classics and a New York style Cheesecake and every one of them are very well done. Monday we stop there on the way back from another job and end up staying for 4 hours helping with last minute stuff. Our reward was the best pizza I had in US territory. Mmmm’ kay in New York I can get thin crust and the right kind of mozzarella but in our neck of the woods it is simply impossible, well it was until yesterday. Last night I barely had to look at the menu to choose, well I did spend so many hours designing the menu I can almost list the dishes in the right order by head. He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed seems to be quite pleased with his choices too.
Sunday when we were there they held their staff meeting so we end up getting to know all the waitresses and waiters, yesterday it felt nice that most of them remember us. Our clients are very happy with what Boe Studio did for them so they treat us like royalty and hey it feels REALLY good. We get the kind of pampering I was used in Brasil.
Yesterday we met yet another cousin, Sofia, a very bubbly girl from Corfu, which by chance I visited some 10 years ago. She told me about her favorite Brazilian dish, I was surprise her choice was bacalhoada, which actually is more a Portuguese dish but we do make it around Easter in Brasil.
The past two days I have been having trouble with my left hand; the pain starts at my wrist and spreads to my hand, I am giving it a day to get better if not I guess a visit to the walking clinic will be in order.
Ooops I just heard the radio blurb for Da Capo, she practically went verbatim with what I wrote for the menu, somehow it makes me feel GREAT. It makes me feel like a I belong to something that is part My Big Fat Wedding and part Big Night, a nice italian restaurant owned by Greeks from New York.
Look at those lil piggies!
Thanks to Special K (the BFF not the cereal) now I have freshly done toes and nails.
We always enjoy our girl time together and she wanted to have a mani and pedi, I could not afford it right now so she treat me to it! Special K is not just good for my looks; she also does wonders to my mental state.
We had some good laughs and manage to improve each other’s day apart from the sheer pleasure to have presentable, oh strike that, to have extremely good looking nails and toes now.
Bring the sandals out!We live in a quiet street, well maybe not so quiet since we are just around the corner from the busiest street in town, but still most of our neighbors are old people that live quiet lives.
My favorite are a couple, well into their 90’s, they drive this old big car (yeah, not good with names here) and they always wave to me and sometimes even stop for a quick chat. They do go out much more than I would expect someone of their age, by and large it is the miracle of America for me, since in Brasil old people mostly just stay home.
They once told me they have been married over 75 years and they do look like most of it has been happy years. Once they mentioned that they go to the hospital twice a week because she is under some treatment, but apart from that he just drives her around, she is fond of driving around.
I went to take Matisse for a walk, I usually take one dog at a time specially when I know there are plenty of temptations in the form of squirrels and birds and chipmunks. I was just out of the door when I saw the ambulance drive by, and the old couple car behind it, he stopped almost in front my door, because the ambulance was waiting to get to the main street, he looks at me and puts his hands together in an universal gesture that means “pray” while he looks ahead to the ambulance, I respond in kind and nod and he makes the sign of the cross and drove away.
I don’t really know them; I don’t even know their names. They are the old couple in the big car. I just got a bit disappointed with myself, because I wanted to pray for her, and I did but I could only refer to her as the old lady from the old couple with the big car.
They have not been very lucky, with the amount of rain we have been getting and specially because the storms have been fierce and they are so delicate. I truly love the way they look like butterflies on a stem, almost like they are made of paper. I love flowers but I even love them better if I planted them as I did with these poppies. Again it came to me for free, just a package of seeds from some magazine and they seem to love the spot I choose.
We still don’t have a backyard in working order. Actually every time I look at the dismantled fence and the sad dead tree I feel a little helpless. The whole thing looks so desolated it is rather overwhelming.
He-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed said we might be able to fix some of the fence this coming weekend, being it will be a holiday, not that he ever makes much difference as he probably will work right thru it again.
It will depend on the weather since we have to pour new footings for the posts and wait until they dry to be able to get the fence up. We need to get the small one first, around my raised bed, since otherwise the dogs will get to what is left of my tomatoes and herbs.
I am keeping my fingers crossed since life is way better when we have a yard for the boys. Looking at the state of things they will probably think we built them a jungle gym.
