The Death Orb (aka the Sun) was gracious enough to burn the stuffing out of me yesterday at the Farmer’s Market. I, unwisely, decided not to wrestle with the tent and instead sat for most of three hours under the baking sun. With my genetic disposition, a person would think I’d know better…but NO! So today I am suffering with badly burnt arms, mildly burnt face and blistered upper chest and a stripe of burnt area on one side of my neck. Stupid Sun!
The Death Orb Strikes Back
Written by andrea on July 11th, 2008Catholics Come Home
Written by andrea on July 9th, 2008Today I was exploring a site I came across called Catholics Come Home (www.catholicscomehome.org/) (I don’t know how to make an actual link yet on this blog). This site is pretty neat.
Since I’m a convert to Catholicism I really like reading stories of people who left the Church and came back, are coming to the Church for the first time or just have a renewed interest in their faith. I love a program on EWTN called Journey Home because I’m always finding points of similarity with the person being interviewed.
Anyway, this Catholics Come Home site has wonderful answers to questions about the Catholic faith that non-Catholics and folks just interested in the Catholic Church ask. A nice solid resource.
Today I also found a pdf file online with a worksheet showing how you can read through the whole Bible AND Catechism in a year. I think Dave will really enjoy this. We are always looking for new ways to spend a little time in our faith everyday.
Lookin’ for a Pup
Written by andrea on July 9th, 2008Today I went with my in-laws to look at some puppies. They are looking for a dog and actually kind of having a hard time of it. The towns around us are small and don’t seem to have shelters where you can walk in a view a variety of dogs. You can go to the bigger cities of Hartford or Springfield, but there really isn’t anything real local. Most shelters seem to be members of something online called Petfinder. I also didn’t realize the fees associated with getting a dog from the shelter. Good golly some of them are STEEP!
The puppies we saw today were oh so very cute, but probably not what both my in-laws are looking for in a dog. Hopefully, we’ll go visit a couple of the bigger shelters and find one.
I heard a story on the news about how vast numbers of dogs are being abandoned by their owners because of house foreclosures. That’s terribly sad.
Ideally, my in-laws would probably love to have a mid-sized, puppy-young adult, female dog. (And free…that’s my in put there, because I can’t imagine paying for a beast that is eventually going to cost a small fortune in food and vet bills.)
Workin’ Late
Written by andrea on July 8th, 2008My dear hubby had to work late this evening so it has been me and at first the TV. There is a big NOTHING on TV sometimes in the evening. We like to watch Mythbusters, Dirty Jobs, and things like that, but this evening I didn’t see anything worth watching. So I’m reading blogs. Some of the gals out there in the blog world just have the best ideas and nicest attitudes. I only read ladies who write nice things about their homes, husbands, children, faith and lives. My previous work life was filled with enough yucky stuff to last me a long time.
I can honestly say that I’ve never been more satisfied than I am now as a wife and homemaker. Being married is the best thing ever. Being able to present a good home, good meals, loving my hubby while being calm, collected and not a nag because I had a horrid day out in the work-world is fantastic. The feminists who convinced a generation or two (or more) of women to leave the home for the career world are nuts or just have never been married to an amazing, reliable, supportive husband because being at home trumps everything else.
Well, Dave should be home any minute and I want to watch for him so I can get him a nice ice cold soda as he walks in the door. He loves stuff like that!!
2-hour Pick-Up…Yeah, Right!
Written by andrea on July 8th, 2008Okay, I had every intention of picking up my house yesterday afternoon, but I got sidetracked. While loading the dishwasher I noticed that the zucchini I’d purchased on Saturday had a couple of spots developing, not soft and gross or anything, just thinking about heading that way. So I promptly grated both zucchinis, finished the kitchen chores, then sat down to find a good zucchini bread recipe and blueberry muffin recipe.
So I ended up making two fabulous loaves of Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread and 12 Blueberry Muffins, salmon, boiled fingerling potatoes, and steamed fresh green beans by 6 when it was dinner time. Dave got to walk into the house with a yummy scent of the Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread in the air. The muffins didn’t have enough sugar in them, but they still taste pretty good. But that zucchini bread is just great. I got the recipe from Food Network’s Paula Dean.
So two loads of laundry, changing of the cat litter, the kitchen mostly cleaned up, baking and dinner was all that was accomplished yesterday afternoon.
I’m going to buy several more zucchinis, grate them and freeze them for future breads!! I squeezed the juice from the grated zucchini using a tea towel. I saved the juice by pouring it into an ice cube tray and freezing it. The next time I make a vegetable soup I’ll add the cubes. That way nothing from the zucchinis was wasted, we get the nutrients, and I don’t have to actually eat any zucchini in my soup. (I don’t like mushy veggies like zucchini or squash.)
Well, I need to actually go accomplish some cleaning!
Busy Week and Weekend
Written by andrea on July 7th, 2008Dave and I have been kind of busy lately so I’ve been neglecting the blog and my house…eek! Between Farmer’s Markets, holidays and visiting relatives, it’s been a bit hard to keep up with my housework.
Today from 11-2 I sold maple syrup at the Farmer’s Market here in town. It was our first day for this market so business was a bit slow, but I’m sure it will pick up as the summer goes on. The only blah thing is that I have to be outside for 3 hours in the middle of the day. Thank Heavens this isn’t Illinois so the heat isn’t unbearable, but it was still yucky today and all you guys that know me know that I melt when the temperature goes above 63. I swear I have polar bear in my ancestry cuz heat and me don’t agree with one another.
The rest of today must be spend doing some serious cleaning. I was reading on one of my favorite blogs today about her “two-hour” house pick-up after a holiday weekend. I think I’m going to follow her example, but make up my own version.
1. Take all the laundry to the basement and get a load started. (10 minutes)
2. Unload the dishwasher and reload it. (15 minutes)
3. Wash down all the counter tops, stove top and front of fridge (25 minutes because one of the counter tops has some stuff piled on it)
4. Make the bed (5 minutes)
5. Change the kitty litter (5 minutes)
6. Get another load of laundry started, hang previous load on the clothes line (15 minutes)
7. Clean bathroom sink, toilet, tub and mirror (25 minutes)
8. Vacuum living room and generally straighten that room (20 minutes)
Then after that I need to grate up zucchini for zucchini bread and prep some salmon for dinner tonight. I think we’ll have salmon (preparation method is yet to be determined), fresh fingerling potatoes and green beans, both veggies from this morning’s Farmer’s Market.
Okay, so it’s 2:45PM and Dave comes home around 5:15. I like to have my household chores and dinner started before he comes home so I can spend a few minutes with him when he arrives.
Mountian Laurel Sanctuary
Written by admin on June 26th, 2008Today I needed to drive to Woodstock, CT to buy some containers to package more of our maple syrup for the Farmer’s Markets coming up. On the way back, I stopped at a goat farm in Union and bought some goat cheese…very fresh as the owner had just finished making it! Then I decided to stop at the Mountain Laurel Sanctuary, part of Nipmuck State Forest. The Mountain Laurel is the state’s flower and is in full-bloom right now. A couple of bushes have already spent their flowers, but most are in their prime or still have buds to open.
From afar the Mountain Laurel looks like clumpy flowers all over a bush, but get up close and you can see spectacular little flowers with a unique shape. Most of the flowers in the sanctuary are either pink or white. It is just a beautiful, quiet drive along a mile of dirt forest road. Dave enjoys seeing the Mountain Laurel so many we can both go this weekend.
Today is a long, busy day for Dave at work, he’s got to stay until 8. It is kind of rainy and overcast again today. The temp is okay, but the humidity seems to be rising. There have been so many overcast days this summer, my poor tomatoes just aren’t being given an opportunity to grow.
Poor Tomato Plants
Written by admin on June 24th, 2008Because it has been rainy and cloudy here for what seems like weeks, my poor tomato plants just aren’t happy. Mostly, they are still leggy and small. A few seem to have shrunk. The bean plants, onions, sunflowers and potatoes are doing wonderfully. Our ag news said that tomato plants are “fruiting” in CT…hmmm, mine aren’t even flowering yet.
So unless it gets sunny and warm here soon, I might not have much of a tomato crop. I like the cool (cold) we’ve had, but I also really like fresh grown tomatoes.
Fabulous Weekend!
Written by admin on June 23rd, 2008We had a really awesome visit with my parents over the weekend. We left on Friday at around noon and drove 7 hours to Erie, PA. I called my parents a few times while we were driving and they encountered a few stumbling blocks along the way…more traffic and more construction than us. So they did not arrive until midnight. We quickly said hello and then went to our rooms for some much needed sleep.
We all stayed somewhere new for us and for the area. It was called the Towne Place Suites which had just opened the week before. It was a really nice place. It had an ultra modern interior design that is not my cup of tea though. The fabrics on the sofas, chairs and throw pillow were strange and in colors that are totally going to be dated quickly. But each hotel has to design their stuff to cater to different kinds of folks. The accommodations were really excellent.
On Saturday morning (my birthday), we went to a place called Eat n Park for breakfast and had an excellent buffet. My mom was funny because she kept using the word Erie as the word eerie. So to humor my mother, my dad and Dave navigated us past the Erie (eerie) Cemetery. After that, we found Presque Isle State Park (www.presqueisle.org) and drove through. We visited two lighthouses, the Perry Monument and then purchased tickets to take the Lady Kate for a boat tour around Presque Isle.
The boat tour was really nice. We floated slowly through the bay where there were lots of folks fishing from piers and from small boats. Then we went out into Lake Erie then back along the long side of Presque Isle and back into the bay. After that we went to the visitor center, where we were told by a wonderful lady that we just had to eat a hot dog at Sara’s (www.sarasandsallys.com) and then later get a dinner of fresh perch at Joe Root’s. So we did get the hot dog and some fabulous onion rings. Drove around some more of Erie. My father was driving and suddenly did a U-turn and stopped in front of a place called Stefanelli’s Candies. YUMMY! We all got a couple of chocolates to snack on.
After driving around a bit more and visiting another lighthouse, we went back to the hotel for a quick nap before dinner. As instructed, we went to Joe Root’s for dinner. If a local ever tells you to eat somewhere…go there, we’ve never been disappointed. I did not however follow instructions to order the freshly pan-fried perch and ordered prime rib instead. It was good, but it’s prominence on the menu made me think it must be really awesome. The shyly hidden perch entry should have been far more prominent on the menu. Dave and my mom ordered it and it was beyond fabulous. Dad had a steak that was also excellent. The bread with this garlic butter sauce over the top was melt-in-your-mouth wonderful.
After dinner, we went back to the hotel and sat in my parent’s room talking until midnight. We had such a great visit. It was so nice to see them!! And what a treat for my birthday!
I gave my mom her very belated, actual mother’s Day gift of the counted-cross stitch sampler I’d finished finally. And we gave them a photo of Dave and I that we’d had taken at Target a few weeks back.
For my birthday, Dave gave me a perfectly wonderful homemade card. I make cards for people, when I have the time…otherwise it’s Hallmark time! So Dave sat at my desk one evening diligently working for quite some time on that card…the result was fantastic. And as a gift he’s taking me to Vermont to a store called Basketville (www.basketville.com). Now, some of you know my affinity for baskets…I love ’em. So he’s rather daring to take me, wallet open and in hand, to a place where they just sell baskets. (I’ll be good…kinda!) I’ve got a wonderful husband!!
So yesterday, after breakfast, we all parted ways. Dave and I got home almost exactly 7 hours later, even though we took a southerly route which was far more scenic. My parents got home about 9 hours after they left, but they did have further to drive.
All in all it was an awesome visit and it was so nice to see them. I got to talk to my brother via phone on Saturday even if I didn’t get to see he, Elizabeth nor the girls. (I got to hear lots about them from my mom though…my parents adore being grandparents!)
I Get to See My Parents!
Written by admin on June 19th, 2008So tomorrow at noon, Dave and I are heading out to PA to meet my parents in Erie. It is kind of the half-way point. I’m very excited. I haven’t seen any family on my side since February. And the added bonus is that I get to see them on my birthday!! Yeah!
So I’ll drive Dave to work in the morning. Spend the morning with my sister-in-law, then pick Dave up at noon. We should hopefully get to Erie by around 8PM.
I’ve never hung out in Erie before…driven through, but never stopped. Oh, yeah, I stopped near Erie once, but it was because I was driving in a bad snow storm and my car was blown off the highway into a ditch. I only stayed as long as it took me to channel enough annoyance into my tires to get me out of the ditch. (hehehehe)