Archive for the ‘Musings’ category
November 25, 2017
When Gracie and I went out earlier, I was surprised by how warm a morning it is. The sun is shining, and there is a slight breeze. It was quiet except for music from the radio of a car being parked next door. The car belongs to a man who works for my neighbor, the landscaper. When he opened the car door, the music stopped. It was quiet again. I was still in the backyard waiting for Gracie. She took her time. I didn’t mind, though, as I got to be outside enjoying the morning for a bit.
My groceries are being delivered in a while. I open the door, and they are brought to the kitchen where I start putting them away. When I shopped, I aways hated bringing the bags inside the house as it took so many trips. Now I complain about putting the groceries away.
Last night for dinner I had leftovers. They were almost as good as the Thanksgiving meal. They reminded me a turkey is never a single meal. It seems to last forever. First is the grand meal then hot turkey sandwiches that night, cold turkey sandwiches piled high with stuffing and cranberry sauce the next day or two then turkey salad and finally turkey soup. My dad was a champion at picking the meat from the turkey bones. I think he looked forward to it every year. Not even the smallest piece of meat escaped him. He left an empty carcass.
This weekend will be a quiet one. I have nothing planned. Tonight I’ll watch a new Hallmark movie. I don’t know what it is, but I can guess. The possible plots are easy: two people will meet on a plane or a train or at the airport and fall in love, a curmudgeon will do a Scrooge like make-over and love Christmas, a kid will get his wish, someone who doesn’t celebrate Christmas will find it in his or her heart and in doing so will fall in love.
I’m watching the antithesis of those Hallmark movies on a program called Homicide for the Holidays. I figure it will counteract all the sugar from Hallmark. I just watched a detective at his desk talking on the phone about murders during a house invasion on Christmas Eve. Behind the detective were Christmas decorations. A gold garland outlined the window and cards were strung on a string across it. Quite festive indeed!
Categories: Musings
Tags: car radio, falling in love, groceries, Hallmark, morning, music, picking the bone, quiet, soup, Turkey, turkey salad, turkey sandwiches, warm day
Comments: 6 Comments
November 24, 2017
Gracie and I slept so late it was mirror to the nose time. After I finally woke up, I didn’t rush but rather took my time completing the usual morning tasks. Feeding Gracie came right after setting the coffee to brew. The papers took a while to read, and I had to do the crossword puzzles. Despite the hour being closer to lunch, I didn’t skip breakfast: toast with my second cup of coffee.
I have designated today sloth day. I’m not even dressed. All the sales don’t even tempt to go out, but I will shop tomorrow on small business Saturday as I still need a few gifts. Last night I went through a clowder of catalogues (I choose clowder because I like the alliteration) and found a few smaller presents I’ll order on line tomorrow. My list is short. I’m getting close to the end.
Dinner yesterday was wonderful. My plate was so filled I couldn’t eat it all and had to take home a doggie bag. There was turkey, of course, gravy, mashed and sweet potatoes, green beans, stuffing and cranberry sauce.; however, despite this groaning plate, I did find room for dessert: creme brûlée. My logic was it is a light dessert, easily managed. I ate every bit. Now I am looking forward to tonight’s dinner: leftovers.
The restaurant was filled. The whole time we were there not a single table stayed empty for more than a couple of minutes. We sat one tier up from the windows and had a panoramic view of the ocean, close to the shore and calm with no white caps, and we watched the spectacular setting of an orange-red sun bright with light as it disappeared below the breakwater. It was a perfect ending to a lovely day with friends, dinner and leftovers.
Categories: Musings
Tags: coffee, creme brûlée, dinner, doggie bag, full restaurant, mirror to the nose, morning tasks, ocean, papers, slept late, sloth day, sunset waves, Toast
Comments: 4 Comments
November 23, 2017
Today is a beautiful day, just chilly enough. The sun is bright and sharp. The leaves flutter a bit then the limbs swing back and forth when the breeze becomes a wind. I’m watching the parade.
My sister and I spoke this morning, and we remembered our mother waking up early to get the turkey in the oven. Why it was so early neither one of us remember. While my mother was in the kitchen, we were all sitting in front of the TV watching the parade. The snacks every year were the same: M&M’s, tangerines and mixed nuts. We used a silver set to crack then pick out the nuts. Years ago I bought a set exactly the same. I fill it with nuts and put the bowl, the crackers and the picks on my dining room table. Tangerines were the best as they were so easy to peel. Only seeds marred their perfection. The M&M’s were first to go. My father always went with my grandfather to the football game. It was Stoneham versus Reading. My father had no connection to the high school. He never went there and neither did any of us. It was football which drew him.
When the parade was finished, my dad took over the TV. He watched football until my mother called him to the table. We stayed in the kitchen until we set the table. We had turkey, gravy, sage stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole and another vegetable or two. The cranberry sauce was always the one from the can. The sauce had can ridges which gave it a bit of a decoration. I always wondered why it was called a sauce when the cranberry was jellied. My father ate quickly, all the better to get back to his games. We lingered far more, just sitting and talking. Clean-up didn’t take long. After that were the pies: apple, my dad’s favorite always eaten with a chunk of cheese, blueberry and lemon meringue. By then it was late afternoon. Supper, if we had any room for more food, was leftovers, usually a hot turkey sandwich, the meat bathed in gravy. That meal was the official end of Thanksgiving.
I have so many things to be thankful for a whole day is not enough. I am thankful for family, for the connections between my sisters and me. I have been blessed with the best of friends, my other family, and I am thankful for them. I am also thankful for my Coffee friends. When I started this, I never thought people I hadn’t ever met would become such close friends. Most of all, I am thankful for the joy and wonder of each new day.
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Categories: Musings
Tags: chilly, crackers and picks, cranberry sauce, dinner, football, football games, M&M's, Macy's parade, mixed nuts, Stuffing, sunny, tangerines, Thanksgiving, Turkey
Comments: 18 Comments
November 21, 2017
Last night we all went to bed far earlier than the night, or rather the early morning, before, but it must have been too early for Gracie because she woke me up around 3:30 wanting to go out so we did. It was darn cold, and I hadn’t put on my sweatshirt so I urged Gracie to be quick. She was as she doesn’t like the cold either. I’m keeping an eye and an ear on Gracie as I heard her sniffing and snorting last night and this morning. She may have a cold so I’ll wait today but take her to the vet’s tomorrow for a check-up if she keeps snorting.
When I was a kid, Thanksgiving was the parade, M&M’s, walnuts and dinner. In school, we colored turkeys on work sheets to help pass the time. I remember coloring each feather on the turkey’s tail a different color. I hadn’t ever seen a turkey so I envisioned it more like the peacock I had seen in the zoo.
Wild turkeys are all over the place here on the cape and even in Boston where they have been known to attack people. I see them often on my street. Usually they travel in a group with one Tom and a bunch of females. The Tom always seems to be strutting, letting the world know he has a harem. The wild turkeys can fly. They even roost on branches. When they fly, they look lumbering like some military cargo planes.
I learned so many things when I was in the Peace Corps in Ghana. One of my skills, a seldom used skill, is cleaning chickens, plucking their feathers. In the market, I got to pick my chicken, my dinner for the night. I could never dispatch the chicken to wherever chickens go when they become dinner so Thomas, who worked for me, did the dispatching. He got the feet and head for his troubles and usually cooked them for himself. Foot and head stew is what I called it. The now dispatched chicken is dipped in boiling water to loosen the pinions. After that pull off the tail feathers first then the smaller feathers. My hands got tired when I plucked so I usually left the final cleaning, the pulling off of whatever was left, to Thomas. What surprised me was how skinny chickens are without their feathers. These were always free range chickens. Nobody had coops or fenced in areas. My chickens, except the brooding hens, left the yard in the morning and returned at night. I never knew where they went.
Before I left for Ghana, I read books the Peace Corps recommended, and I read the material the Peace Corps sent. I knew about the regions, a bit about languages, the tribal system, crops and the prevalent diseases, but I knew nothing about buying live chickens let alone how to pluck them. Why would I? Chickens never entered my mind before I left, and in my whole life I never thought about plucking them. Chickens came in packages from the meat counter, but out of necessity and being partial to eating chicken, I learned to pluck. Should that skill ever be needed here, I’m all set.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cold night, early to bed, flying turkeys, foot and head stew, free range chickens, live chic kens, parade, Peace Corps Ghana, plucking chickens, sniffles, strut, Tom turkey, turkeys
Comments: 18 Comments
November 20, 2017
It is 2:15, and because I’m wide-awake, I figure I can get started.
My computer is cold to the touch. My nose too is cold as the house is chilly. The setting on the thermostat automatically turns down the heat at night. I just haven’t gotten up to warm the house, but I’m getting close. Neither Maddie nor Gracie cares one whit about the chill as both are asleep. Before I go to bed, I’ll have to disturb Gracie by moving her so I can have enough room. She tends to stretch out on the couch and take far more room than is her due.
My dance card is empty until Thanksgiving. I still need to catalog the gifts I’ve gotten so far as I expect to send boxes to Colorado around the end of the first week in December which is coming closer and closer so I need to get busy cataloging. My Christmas preparations are on the move. I ordered gingerbread houses for my grandniece and grandnephews in Colorado. It is a tradition that started when my oldest nephew was 3. He is now in his thirties and is the father of two. He gets to watch them decorate. My niece’s two boys get the other house to decorate, to showcase their artistic talents, just as their mother did.
The house is warming. When my fingers started to get cold, I gave in and turned on the heat.
There is one house that at Christmas outdoes all the other houses. They have every surface, tree or bush covered with lights. There is even a TV out front which always has a Christmas movie playing. I went pass the street the other day and noticed the house is ready. I figure Thanksgiving may be the big reveal night, to use a little HGTV term.
Tonight I watched mostly Hallmark. They were actually two movies I hadn’t ever see before, and they starred two different female leads than their usual. The happy endings, however, were unchanged.
Well, I’m finally getting a bit tired. It is late, after three, or maybe it is the start of early, hard to know. I have to take the dog out one more time. I hope she’ll be quick.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 2:15am, cold, cold fingers, couch, Gingerbread, House, sleeping cat, sleeping dog, wide-awake
Comments: 4 Comments
November 19, 2017
The rain started last night. That just added to the misery. Gracie wanted out every couple of hours. The second time we went out, around three, it was barely raining, but once we were outside, the clouds opened and the rain was heavy. Gracie and I got wet. She didn’t mind as much as I did. When I heard Gracie panting around five, I braced myself but was surprised to find the rain light. It was also quite warm. From then on, we all, Gracie, Maddie and I, slept until 10:30. Gracie was wedged between me and the back of the couch. One of my legs was hanging off the couch. It was then I got up and my morning began.
Sunday is game night, but the game is different tonight because the Patriots play at 4:30 so we’ll watch and cheer on Tom and the boys. My high school team, from the school where I graduated a long time ago and where I worked for 33 years, won big time on Friday. They are 11-0 for the year and have one game left: the state championship, the high school super bowl.
All the cooking shows are giving their slants on Thanksgiving. I save many of the recipes, but when I cooked Thanksgiving dinner, my menu changed little from all the other Thanksgivings we had when I was growing up. To me, Thanksgiving dinner is filled with family traditions. There’s my grandmother’s date nut bread, my Aunt Bunny’s squash dish, my Dad’s favorite creamed onions, my mother’s sage dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy. My mother also cooked another couple of vegetable dishes; sometimes it was green bean casserole and one of my favorites, turnips. There were always apple and lemon meringue pies. I was talking to my sister the other night, and she’s making a lemon meringue pie.
When I was driving home the other day, all of a sudden, the image of my Dad at Thanksgiving jumped into my head. My mother’s table was round but somehow where my Dad sat seemed the head of the table. His back was to the kitchen. In from of him on the table was a dish of asparagus just for him, canned asparagus. I remember the spears were like wilted flowers, their tops hung over. He’d fill his plate with mashed potatoes dripping with gravy, creamed onions and a turkey leg. I still can picture him munching on that leg. It is one of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving.
Categories: Musings
Tags: cooking shows, creamed onions, football, game night, getting wet, outside, Patriots, pies, rain, Super Bowl, Thanksgiving, tradition, turnips, warm
Comments: 10 Comments
November 18, 2017
The sun has disappeared. Nothing is moving. The day is warm and quiet. Gracie and I went out first thing. She went into the backyard and I got the papers in the front. When we came back inside, Maddie gave me her demanding meow, loud and annoying, so I fed her first. Gracie was next, and I, as usual, was last. It’s two cups of coffee and two pieces of toast later, one with grape jelly my friend made.
I’m not sure why, maybe it’s the return of the gray day, but I have very little energy today. I even sat a while between cups of coffee, most unusual for me. Luckily, I have no plans for the day, no errands and no chores. I do have book two in the series by Elly Griffiths so perhaps the couch will be my spot for the day and turning pages my only activity.
I send cards for every holiday. That started when I was in college. My grandparents were around then, and one of my grandmothers was thrilled to get them. She was the one who wanted to be teacher so she loved that I was. I enjoy choosing the cards and lament my Hallmark store having closed. The closest one is in Orleans which always feels far but is only 12 or so miles away. When I was in Ghana, I made cards for every holiday except Christmas as I could find those. I used to go through magazines and cut out words and letters to make my cards, They looked more like ransom demands than cards. The Christmas cards I sent were wonderful. Some were hand-painted but even the ones commercially made were different. They had African nativity scenes, drummers, palm trees and even a camel or two. Each time I went back to Ghana, I was excited to find cards for Christmas. They went to family and special friends. I always send Edward Gorey cards to every one else for Christmas. I love his whimsey. The Edward Gorey house is in Yarmouth, and I go there to buy my cards. I remember last year I was afraid I had already sent all the available scenes but was glad to find one more. I’m hoping for the same this year.
I’ve started yawning which gives you a sense of today and the weather and today and me.
Categories: Musings
Tags: African cards, cards, Clouds, coffee and toast, Edward Gorey, feeding the pets, grape jelly, homemade cards, meowing, no energy, nothing to do, quiet, rain, warm
Comments: 8 Comments
November 17, 2017
The sun has decided to reappear and the blue sky frames it perfectly. The wind is strong enough to make the day seem colder than it is. I was out early this morning, at 7:50, when the wind was so strong it made me run to the comfort of the car to get away from the cold.
Gracie had her first acupuncture appointment at 8:10. She did quite well. The vet had some tasty, or so I assumed, dog food frozen in a small jar. Gracie kept lapping and was totally unconcerned about the vet and the needles. Gracie stood there until the very end when she decided it was time to sit down. The vet has the gentlest manner and she spoke softly and soothingly. Gracie gave tail wags. We go back in two weeks for another session.
When we got home, I went back to sleep as did Gracie, and the two of us just woke up. 6:45 is far too early to get up unless it’s Christmas or I have a flight to catch though getting up that early gave me time for one paper and a cup of coffee. I’m about ready for another cup. It is sort of my second morning.
I need to go through a few catalogues I’ve saved because I dog-eared some of their pages for second looks at possible presents. Making a list of what and for whom I’ve already bought gifts still hasn’t been done so it is the only item on my to do list. I’m figuring this weekend.
I watched the Celtics last night. I used to watch them all the time, but my interest had fallen back in the lean years. When I was a kid, I used to go to games at the garden. It was a quick bus ride to Sullivan Square then the subway to North Station and the old Boston Garden, the one which once fogged up during the playoffs. The last time I saw them live was about three or four years ago. Last night they won their 14th straight. It was against the Warriors, the world champion Golden State Warriors, and the game was jaw dropping. It was a test of sorts for the Celts to show how good they really are. They came back at one point from a 17 point deficit to win with a score of 92-88. Charles Barkley, never a favorite of mine, now an analyst for TNT, was all over the Celts before the game and at half time. I just hope when he ate his words they soured his mouth.
I’ve chosen today to be a quiet day with some music and some more of the mystery I’m reading, The Crossing Places, by Elly Griffiths. Gracie will have to fight me for the couch.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 6:45, acupuncture, blue sky, catalogues, Celtics, Christmas, couch, flight, frozen dog food, Gracie, North Station, presents, reading, Sleep, sunny, tail wags, windy
Comments: 8 Comments
November 16, 2017
Last night was a long one. I wasn’t at all tired so I watched a movie, Sink the Bismarck. At around 2:00 I turned off the lights. At around 3, Gracie’s panting got my attention. I have learned to move fast and get her out the door when she pants. I didn’t even stop for my sweatshirt, and it was cold. Gracie decided to walk around the yard to find the perfect spot. Finally, she squatted and the two of us went back inside to bed or at least I thought that’s where we were headed, but Gracie stood right beside and stared. When I didn’t move, I got the paw. She wanted to eat so I fed her. Gracie has me totally trained. Well, we went back to bed, but at 8:00 the panting began so out we went. When we got inside, I went back to sleep and slept until after 11. Gracie did too. When we woke up, we finished the usual morning routine. Gracie and Maddie are back asleep. They live stressful lives.
I have hit the wall, not the famous yet to be built wall, but the news wall. When I turned on MSNBC, I swear it was a repeat. I heard about another Moore victim, Trump’s triumphant trip to the Far East, in Trump’s words, of course, the best trip ever by a US president and the tax bill. That was it. I would have screamed, but I didn’t want to wake Maddie and Gracie. I turned to YouTube and am now watching a Yeti like creature, the Snowbeast, mauling and killing skiers. I find it more optimist than the news. At least you know where you stand with a murderous beast, not so with the tax plan.
I stayed inside yesterday but have no choice today. I have to go out. I need a few groceries and I have to stop at the pharmacy.
Today is bleak and rainy. It was raining at 3AM so I knew what to expect. Luckily, it is warm, in the 50’s. We are in a weather pattern of cold nights, warm days and no sun. I just can’t conjure energy amid the clouds. I need to treat myself out of this weather induced funk, but I’m sure how yet. I just know it will include chocolate.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 8AM, bleak, cloudy, dog panting, eat 3 AM, feeding the dog, go out, late sleeping, long night, MSNBC, out to pee, rainy, Snowbeast, tax plan, the wall
Comments: 6 Comments
November 14, 2017
I was awakened at five by Gracie’s panting so I got up and opened the front door. I didn’t go with her but did check a couple of minuets later, no Gracie on the grass. In a panic I ran barefooted outside to the wet, cold lawn then noticed the lights, the motion detector lights, were on in the backyard. I had left the gate open and Gracie saw it, went in the yard and did her business. She showed up a bit later at the front door. I was thrilled. That means on the coldest nights Gracie can go alone while I stay inside and man the door. During the daytime, though, I’ll go with her.
I had an early morning meeting, early for me anyway, at nine. Alexa’s dulcet tones were set to wake me, but I beat her to it and woke up on my own. That gave me a chance for coffee and a tiny bit of the paper. I was meeting ready.
Dismal is still with us. The sky is cloudy but not as dark as it has been. It will get down to the 30’s tonight. I am not enthused.
This time of year, my mother and I used to buy just about every issue of the Christmas magazines. We’d talk on the phone discussing the recipes and the decorations and then we’d decide what new recipes to try. My usual Christmas goodies to make were two or three kinds of cookies, one being orange cookies, my mother’s favorite, date-nut bread, fudge and toffee. My mother made mostly cookies, one kind was always sugar cookies. They were my favorite. She made great sugar cookies. My father was thrilled this time of year. All the goodies were in tins on the dining room table. He’d make several trips every day. Every morning he had date-nut bread slathered with butter. I used his mother’s recipe, about the only good thing she made. To say she wasn’t an inspired cook is an understatement, but the weird thing is the date-nut bread recipe is the only recipe handed down from my grandmothers.
Every Wednesday both newspapers have food day so I cut out recipes I know I’ll probably never make but want to have just in case. I also cut out recipes from magazines for the same reason. Under my table here in the den are three huge baskets. The middle one is overflowing with recipes. Every now and then I pull them out and go through a few piles in case one inspires me to action. I keep telling myself the recipes need to be organized but that’s as far as I get.
I have a couple of house things to do but none are pressing. That might have to do with my having three new books to read from the library. They are right where I can see them, and I swear I can hear them calling my name.
Categories: Musings
Tags: 30˚, backyard, cloudy, coffee, dew, dismal, dog outside, five o'clock, meeting, newspaper, recipes
Comments: 10 Comments
keepthecoffeecoming.blog 