A productive weekend

May 19, 2008
Broad Brook, CT

We've been dodging raindrops over the last few days, but managed to get some things done.

Saturday and Sunday both started out clear and nice, but turned wet in the afternoon. I suppose this is typical spring weather in the northeast ("If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it'll change"), and the fact that we notice speaks more to our being spoiled by spending so much time in the desert. Considering how long we lived here before moving away, it's kind of like "How soon we forget". But, Spring has almost fully "sprung" here and summer weather will be here before we know it. I think the pollen count is down a bit over the last few days (maybe just from "excessive" to "extreme"), and most of the trees are fully out. There's one old maple in the front yard that's just shedding its seeds, and the breeze has blown them all over the place. That'll be over in a day or two and we'll clean them off the roof of the coach.

Al and I are 80% done in putting the fence around their small (16' x 12') garden. He had 2 sections of pre-fabricated picket fence for the front, facing the house, and a roll or wire fencing for the other three sides. We stained the pickets (well, the first coat anyway) on Saturday. I felt like I was "Tom Sawyered" into helping, as it was painful to just watch him do it by himself. We aligned and plumbed the fence posts, and I designed a set of brackets from angle iron and short bolts that'll allow the front sections to be easily removed for access, which we installed on Sunday. We started pulling the wire fencing around, but held off on attaching it until Pat finishes planting and we get a new power stapler. You can't finish projects without the right power tools.

On the food front, I'll back up to Friday night. We made Mahi Mahi with the macadamia nut crust and curried couscous, and Mike and Lynne Bower came over. This recipe is becoming a stand-by; we made it for Annette and Erik while we were in Alabama. Since Lynne doesn't like fish, hers was done with sea scallops in the same preparation a great idea courtesy of Geri). Everyone but Britt liked the meal, so we'll call it a success. We had several nice white wines, primarily Chardonnay, thanks to Mike Bower. We've generally decided that an "all Chard" evening doesn't leave us in the best of shape the next day, so we'll try it with red wines the next time.

On Saturday, Geri made a kickin' batch of Chili that seemed to stretch into late-night snacks and Sunday lunches. After dinner, we got on a move kick. We're finally getting the handle on the whole NetFlix thing, avoiding spending big bucks to buy DVDs. August Rush was in our batch of mail that came mid-week, so we watched that, followed by Terminator 3 (how's that for genre jumping?). I could swear that I'd never seen T3 before, although I'm told I did at some point.

Yesterday, she made a great antipasta salad and a one-pan chicken meal, roasted with potatoes, olives, artichoke hearts, capers, peppers, and probably a few more things. Her son Chris came over for dinner with his wife Christene, his son Nathan, their daughter Lindsay, and Christene's Mom. Geri's daughter Melisa and her son Jesse stopped by as well, so we had a full house. Dinner was buffet style and everyone had a good time. Afterwards, Geri and Pat watched August Rush again while I let Al beat me 2 out of 3 at cribbage, with a break in the action for a quick trip to the local German Club (everyone's German at the German Club) for a couple of Guinness (I know, Guinness isn't German). They no longer have it on tap; bottles are OK but not as good. By the time we finished off the evening with Iron Chef America, everyone was ready to hit the hay.

Today is Pat and Al's anniversary, so we'll make a roast and dig out a good Cabernet. I'll also process some pictures that have been in the camera for a while, and may get them posted later.