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May 31, 2005
Silence is Deafening.......
Demian, Lori, Maura and Kieran just left .... we had a great visit; we played and colored and stamped and made stepping stones with handprints, and played and slept and visited with Great Granny morna and finally got to go see the miniature horses. Yeah yeah...so what if they moved to a different location, I found them again, didn't I?
Sure is awfully quiet around the old homestead right now....too quiet.
Oh? Did I mention that in the last week we enjoyed more food in Charleston? Took a harbor cruise on a Catamaran..toured the Charleston aquarium and ate all the lobster, shrimp and crab I wanted, walked and walked, ate and ate and finally had a private concert by the Charlie Daniels Band? Oh yeah..and flew home last Friday only to arrive 50 minutes before our grandchildren and their parents. A LOT happens when you aren't looking...it's still too quiet here
Posted by frani at 11:44 AM | Comments (3)
May 24, 2005
Some charleston highlights
We have eaten some very good food...rumor has it that the best chef in Charleston is at this hotel.
Monday's adventures had us venturing off to the Salve Market. However, I also found out no slaves were ever sold there and it is now home for vendors of the flea market variety. There are some beautiful handcrafted sweetgrass baskets here but I can't decide on any as yet.
Before lunch we took a walk down to the Battery where the Ashly and Cooper Rivers meet up ..Fort Sumter was out there in the distance. All along the walk were gorgeous homes...this historical district is very well maintained AND architecturally restricted even to color of paint.
We eat some more.
(Yes, Dru Ann!)After lunch we took a mule carriage ride..Sully and her sister mule friend..can't remember her nameum..Alice. Anyway, our guide was great and we even got a ghost story...well more couples Arsenic and Old Lace types but facinating none the less. Maybe we'll do the ghost tour Wed night.
More food
Monday evening took us for another walk down to the battery before settling in for dinner at one of the highly hyped seafood restaurants. I think this may be one of those occasions where if they have to hype the place then it's the hype that is a bigger deal than the food. It was tastey but nearly all fried..fine. the bloody mary's were good as well as the company so we had a fine evening.
This morning was off to breakfast..more food...a quick little walk down Meeting Street for a house tour, afterall we had to be back for an early lunch! Aggghhh. I spent the earlier part of of the afternoon at the pool and now I'm waiting to get on a bus to go out for a harbor boat tour then dinner and private use of the facilities at the Aquarium. Naturally, that is my idea of a good time.
Have a fine evening all...I'll try to upload some pictures sometime along. Ya know...in between meals or something.
Posted by frani at 07:29 AM | Comments (1)
May 21, 2005
Ta Ta for now...
Heading out to Charleston, SC tomorrow morning bright and early...
Going to be staying in this place; oh, ok...if they insist.
I expect to see some ocean and some dolphins and maybe some ghosts and eat food and see old friends.
..and at the end? We'll have some visitors in VT when we get back..yeah, those awesome grandchildren are coming to visit. all in all, it's looking like it's going to be a good week or so.
Behave while I'm gone...and of course I'll have camera and computer. ( and cell phone, and palm and and and...God I'm such a geek.)
Posted by frani at 08:04 PM | Comments (3)
May 20, 2005
More sun today, so far. I'm not going to complain about the yucky weather we've been having..much..but it has seemed more like april than May. The weekend forcast doesn't look great but then again we do live in New England. How come people in other weather regions lay claim to our five minute rule for weather change? How come that weather change is always toward the worse? Oh yeah, I wasn't going to complain..hey we don't have rain, hail, sleet or snow..yet.
I think I over-roasted my coffee beans the other day...this stuff tastes like Starbucks.
The majority of our work related travels over the last 12-18 months has been by car. Woe is us...we both lost a level of frequent flyer status, Hertz doesn't love us quite as much and I haven't had to put in the hours booking reservations and changing them. I'd almost forgotten how painful it all can be but it all came crashing back last night. ...and I wasn't the one stuck "out there". Let's just say it was less eventful for him to travel to and from Brazil than VT and VA. Poor Morgan laments the disillusionment of not having the jet-pack he thought he'd have by now and I? Well I was sort of hoping for teleportation...sigh. I'd settle for a good airline which met our travel needs instead; ahem..I do know a good airline.
I seem to have injured myself digging up a shrub..yeah one of those deals where half way through the project and way too late to back out, you ask yourself why????????
I put the new registration stickers on our cars yesterday...yup, yup yup...I had only put one on the wrong car before realizing the error. Since when did they start printing the tag number on the stickers as well as the expiration date?? (um from the looks of the old ones, at least since 2003) And...so what if the sticker has a jigsaw puzzle effect to it, the pertinent information is legible.
New sample at Costco yesterday......Barq's Root Beer Floatz Tubes (rootbeer float icecream treat, yeah there is some in my freezer.
Time to get on with the day. Make yourself a good one, all.
Posted by frani at 07:09 AM | Comments (3)
May 15, 2005
Latest duck photo
Here's the latest duck victim...er I mean the latest in the continuing series of "Duck Photos". This is Olivia Joy. Not only is she my Partner in Crime's Grand-daughter, I think she could be a candidate for my future Grand-Daughter-in-Law...snort. Now THERE would be a pretty wild gene pool combination!
For you new comers to my blog...this Duck was given to my brother when he was a baby, a looooooooooooong time ago......65 years anyway. Many children have been in that duck over the last 65 years and I'm tring to keep a folder of the latest ones anyway. I was able to locate a photo of my brother WITH the duck and a few of my cousins as well as our own sons. Maybe someday I'll get around to scanning them.
Posted by frani at 03:03 PM | Comments (3)
May 14, 2005
It's Saturday and yucky outside
Through the clouds and gloom I can see a strange car in my driveway with a note on the window. I'd go see what it says but it's cold out there. Well geesh, it's not like it right outside the door, if it was I could read the note with binoculars. (I tried reading it with binoculars.) I'm nosey but not nosey enough to get dressed just yet. I don't suppose it's anything to get worried about...axe murderers probably don't leave notes on cars they leave in driveways. Do they even leave cars in driveways? Maybe it's someone who knows our tenant. Yeah, that's it. You know I'm going to get dressed soon right?
Speaking of tenant.....she told me at the beginning of the month that she was job hunting and thought she might be moving out by August. She'd applied for a job on the West Coast and thought she would know more by the time she got back from her month in Europe in June. A friend called Thursday and has a daughter apartment hunting in the area...was ours available? I don't play poker for a reason and my mouth has a habit of talking before my brain kicks in. We generally don't like to rent to "kids" of people we know. Then yesterday we got another phone call about the apartment from the neighbors' kids. let's just say these "kids" were not always the best behaved and considering past behavior I think they have a lot of cajones to even ask if our apartment is available. The sister called twice on behalf of her brother and the potential rentee stopped by and tried to give me a deposit check. Think Eddie Haskel. Remember I don't play poker and my mouth spews words on it's own sometimes. At least I was able to honestly tell him a friends daughter had first dibs ont he place. Ok...this is out of hand already and I don't even have a clear understanding if my tenant is even leaving for sure! Whew, potenial problems solved. I saw Colleen and asked if I could show the apartment today to friend's daughter...Collen was aghast...she had applied for a job in Montpelier and would stay if she got it! Oh happy day..I'm telling everyone she's staying!!! Oh and if you could, please keep your fingers crossed Colleen gets the job..I really want her to stay anyway. I made that very clear to her.
Greg landed safe and sound in Atlanta this morning, is winging his way to Cincinnati as we speak then Vermont by noon. Seems a funny way to get home from Brazil but *I* didn't make the flight plans. I will get dressed before going to pick him up at the airport. It seems only right. It's the old "what if you get in an accident" thing kicking in, ya know. Snort...sort of like wearing a thong outside of the house as a joke...who would do such a thing? What if you got in an accident?? (Happy Birthday Lizzie!!!!!!)
Off to get dressed, read notes, roast coffee and make an airport run. Have a good weekend all!
Posted by frani at 08:03 AM | Comments (1)
May 12, 2005
This and That
I see old people...in the mirror. Actually I think it's closer to dumb people. It was such a beautiful morning yesterday that I thought it would be a nice walk home from dropping the car off for oil change and inspection. Why should I bother the neighbors for a ride home?
I'll tell you why...3 miles is a looooooooong way when you haven't been walking regularly. My legs ache..my bottom aches...my neck aches and I think even my hair aches; it was windy, ya know. Actually, I think the breeze helped me from sweating to death. Yes, I had my cell phone with me and I could have called someone but at what point? I didn't really think it was a problem until I'd walked a mile or so and then I thought I could make a sort of straight line out of the route without cutting through yards. Well then, what about the humiliation of having to call someone to come get you a mile from home? That was silly, so I kept walking. I traded cars when I went to pick it up and you can best bet I'll get a ride over to pick up my car today even if I have to call a cab! It's not as warm today anyway.
So of course I rested the rest of the day, right? Wrong. I cleaned off the back porch and took down all the plexiglass covering the screens; hauled it all down to the basement. Crawled under the porch and dragged out a bunch of old pots. Now I can understand why I'd keep all those clay pots and plates but why on earth would anyone keep those plastic and temporary containers? Because it's easier to just store them under the porch. I sure hope the trash guy doesn't curse at me too much today. Ok, by last night I could hardly move. Yeah, I'll be taking ibuprofen with my oatmeal this morning, thank you.
Maybe today I'll stick with moving the beanie babies around and get the room ready for the grandchildren to visit in a couple of weeks. Have a good day all
Posted by frani at 07:40 AM | Comments (4)
May 08, 2005
Happy Mother's Day
I want to wish all my Mother friends a happy day...and my Daughter-in-Law and my Mother-in-Law...and my Sisters-in-Law. pppssstt..I have a much more considerate Daughters-in-Law than MY Mother-in-Law has. :-D
So, I've had a busy week while being home alone. I can't say I've always used my time wisely but a lot was accomplished. Whew..Hiring someone else to rake our leaves up from last winter was hard work! Actually I have hired her to basically take care of the mowing and such for most of the summer. I don't want to have to worry about mowing if I only have a short time home or if it rains when I do have time and all that good stuff. Just becasue she is pretty close to my own age and I suffered a tad bit of guilt about her raking while I was in the house doesn't mean a thing. At least I didn't sit on the porch sipping lemonade while she worked. Hey she likes yard work..it's a whole little business she has going and nooooooooooooooo Demian, she isn't in danger of getting her walker stuck in the lawn ruts. Hrumph. such a comment on Mother's Day ! snort.
So I'm roasting coffee today while someone else is winging his way to Brazil. One son has admitted being a little low on coffee and then maybe admitted he was lower than he thought and did I have priority mail boxes; I think I can handle that. Will put some coffee int her for you too MORGAN! Hey wait a minute...I HAVE to roast for myself too for this week since Greg didn't roast anything after he got home! Hhhmmm...this is no simple proceedure you know...this involves keeping track of the whole process in a computer program and everything. You didn't really think this was a slipshod operation, now did you? I think I can get the hang of this if I do it enough. I can even log in new coffee bean arrivals and print labels and everything. As long as I keep it up; I'm a use it or lose it kinda gal ya know.
I found out the fireworks from last week were a demostration by a VT pyro company at a Parks and Recreation conference being help down by the Lake...cool, just wish I had been able to see them.
Guess it's time to roast another batch of beans..have a fine day all.
Posted by frani at 11:50 AM | Comments (1)
May 03, 2005
Fun, Fingers, Fireworks, Footprints...
I feel sorry for my neighbors. They work so hard on their yard, everything is meticulous in design even if it is a tad over designed for my tastes. I think it was the recent addition of some crouching cement feline that put me over the edge. That and the fact that whenever I look over there, I keep thinking some wild animal is out to stalk my kitties. At any rate, why do I feel sorry for them? Ahhh...they have to look over into our yard. I usually refer to it as controlled wilderness or the natural look but I'm afraid it's totally out of control and bordering on eyesore. Ok, I'm happy to report that I am making an attempt to get things back under control. I've hired someone to come rake my leaves and I've even managed to rake a few piles myself. I decided I would do the "fun" raking and as long as I was hiring someone to help, I would let them do the parts I don't like. I uncovered my hostas along the house, found the bleeding heart I transplanted out of the way of porch construction 2 years ago and remembered to look for some wild lupine I see nearly every year just before I run over it with the lawnmower. Nancy found more lupine yeaterday while raking but not quite enough to just give our yard over to it for it's asthetic beauty. Maybe I'll dig them up and put them with the bleeding heart for safe keeping until I can find a good place for them...yeah that's the ticket.
Onlne Bill pay is great...as long as their sites are up and working when you want to use them. In the past month I have been unable to pay my American Express bill or renew my car registrations when I wanted to. Good thing *I* dont' procrastinate.....so is the online services really going to be any more convenient than using the mail?
Finger foods....yup, this time confirmed. A North Carolina "dessert shop " confirms an employee lost a finger tip in an accident and another employee scooped it out of the bucket for a drive thru customer before being told of the incident. Hhhhmmm...why do I find this incident a little far fetched.
Why is it that I can find many updates on the run away bride saga but very little about North Korea's testing a nuclear weapon?? (I had to dig for that one.)
I'm drinking Bolivia Peaberry coffee this morning...I know I haven't given a coffee report in a while so here it is. I'm finally able to discern the subtle flavors of some of the coffees without having forewarning of what I'm drinking. Just because it tastes like someone poured a half a cup of orange juice into my coffee is no reason to scoff at my ability to discern Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from any other. The old yirgacheffe is a bit more citrus-y than the new, I think.
Someone was setting off fireworks last night. I wasn't informed before hand...the nerve! The grand finale sounded fantastic and I was even able to see a little of it if I leaned way over while on my porch and looked through the woods. Thank Heavens the trees didn't have all their leaves yet. I still don't know the reason for them but it doesn't really matter because I missed them. boo hiss.
Knoel hopped into the mail carrier's truck yesterday while she was delivering packages to us ( packages? for us? how novel!) He also left his muddy footprints all over Nancy's pumpkin orange VW convertible.
All this is merely a distraction...I am impatiently waiting for someone else to do their job. Is it Friday at 3pm yet? Has any one come up with the name of that "law" yet that seems to plague me and every one else for that matter...you know the one: that the amount of time it takes to do the task is directly porportional to the time in which you have to put toward it. Otherwise known as finishing ones task by Friday at 3 so everyone else can start theirs now...
Tap Tap Tap...int he meantime I'm getting some things done around the house while I'm home...yardwork, paperwork and housework. Oh yeah, I've even lined up Eldon for the summer. I'm not sure what the real plan is but it has something to do with the rotting living room appendage fondly known as the sunroom/greenhouse. Well only the window stills are rotting but since the room is largely made up of slanted semi-solar windows, it's safe to call it rotting. When Leo asked what we wanted done, I just told him to think up something. I just wanted to get him scheduled for playing with us this summer. Hey, there is a method to my madness...I figure if he can get excited and plan a project that meets our needs, he is more likely to finish it and we all win...right? right.
Have a fine day all...I'm going to enjoy some sun while it's out even if it isn't all that warm.
Posted by frani at 08:04 AM | Comments (1)