Posted tagged ‘coffee’
October 12, 2025
The rain started earlier. It is supposed to rain on and off through Tuesday. I’m just fine with that. I intend to loll round and give my sloth full rein. I woke up with a cold. My nose is stuffy, my voice hoarse and every now and then I cough just to add to the misery. The dogs are my role models. They are sleeping on the couch, one on each side of me. I just put on a sweatshirt, first time this season.
I am giving Dunkin’ a second chance. Yesterday my latte was black, bitter and filled with bottom grounds. Today I am ordering just regular coffee and a donut. I can’t remember the last time I had a donut. They were a Sunday treat when I was a kid. My father used to buy them at the Quaker donut shop at four corners. He was a plain donut man who slathered the top of his donut with butter. Mostly he bought glazed and jelly for the rest of us. When they moved off cape, Dunkin’ became the donut stop. My father would head there after he had finished his usher duties at the early mass. I always asked for a butternut donut. He never remembered.
Most families have rituals. My family certainly did. Many of them were centered around holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sunday was the only day of the week with a ritual, the family dinner. It was always far more elaborate than weeknight suppers. A roast was center stage. My favorite was roast beef. My mother cooked it medium with barely any red. That has stayed with me. I don’t like red meat. For dinner there were always mashed potatoes. My mother used a hand masher and seldom left any lumps. Back then there were few fresh vegetables available. We’d have corn or peas or sometimes green beans. My father loved canned asparagus. My mother only bought a small can as none of the rest of us ate it. My father usually cut the meat in the kitchen as there was little room on the table. My mother made the best gravy. It was thick and a deep brown. It went on my meat and potatoes. I loved that dinner so much was it was the last dinner my mother made for me before I left for Ghana.
Here is the Dunkin’ update. My coffee never arrived. The Grubhub driver called and asked if I was beside some store. I said no. I told her I lived in a house on a street with houses. That wasn’t what the app said she told me. I said the app was wrong. She said no. I guess I’m living in the wrong place. She posted a picture of where my coffee had ended up. It was in front of some industrial garage. Grubhub suggested I ride around to find the coffee. I didn’t as I didn’t recognize the garage. Grubhub refunded my money and added $5.00. I really miss my morning coffee.
Categories: Musings
Tags: coffee, Dunkin', family, grubhub, rituals, Sunday dinner
Comments: 2 Comments
October 11, 2025
The sun is so bright that everything gleams. The yellow and red leaves on the trees in the backyard seem to pop in the light. The breeze is strong enough to rustle the leaves on the oak trees. It is 62°. It is a lovely fall day.
I have a few chores to finish including screwing in the final two screws on the dog door, putting out my Halloween garden flag and adding books to my little library. The front door screen will stay in for the meantime. I’m not in the mood to be frustrated.
My dance card has two events today. I have a uke concert, and I was invited to the class of 1985’s reunion. That was just about my favorite class. I’m going to go to both.
When I was a kid, my days and weeks were much the same, but I never noticed. I went to school the same time every day, ate lunch the same hour every day, played at recess then spent the rest of the afternoon in lessons. I went home the same time every day. I’d change into my play clothes and go outside, weather permitting. This time of year the darkness came early and triggered the street lights. We’d go inside. We knew what those lights meant. We’d watch TV while my mother made supper. I remember the windows by the kitchen table got steamy from the oven heat. My mother never left the kitchen.
Sometimes I had homework. I usually had work sheets. We almost never brought books home except at the beginning of the year when we had to cover them. We used brown grocery bags as book covers. I remember cutting the bags on the sides, laying them out flat then putting the book on the paper to cut out the cover. Almost everyone had grocery paper covers.
Yesterday I had coffee from Dunkin’ delivered, a free delivery. I ordered two cups of two different coffees, non flavored. The first cup was delicious. The second cup was not. It had coffee grounds. It was bitter. I figured it was the end of a pot, coffee poorly made and too long on the burner. Dunkin’, you really disappointed me. How shameful!
Give me a hallelujah! After the shuffling and moving of the stuff on the stairs including the heavy step ladder, the toting and hauling of the storm door window up the cellar stairs one step at a time, the four attempts before I got it in the door and the unscrewing and pulling out the dog door, I expected to hobble today. It didn’t happen. My leg is the best it has been. It took nearly 7 weeks. I can’t believe it. I even put the Tylenol away.
Categories: Musings
Tags: chores, coffee, Dunkin’, homework, sunny
Comments: Comments Off on “Adventure in life is good; consistency in coffee even better.”
December 30, 2023
We still have clouds and a damp day though the rain has stopped. It will stay cloudy and in the mid 40’s all day. I have no plans for today.
Yesterday Nala was at her most larcenous. She found a new target, a bookcase in the living room which had been untouched by her. How excited she must have been to find it. First was one sandal which I mentioned yesterday. Next was a ceramic house from Porto, Portugal. I then covered the shelves or so I thought. Nope. She stole houses from Philadelphia so I moved the rocker to in front of the shelves. I had secured the shelves, her original target, but not her new target, the coat rack. The last item was from the coat rack, my Konica camera, one I bought the year I bought this house. It was on the driveway.
The second most memorable New Year’s Eve in my life also happened when I was in the Peace Corps. It was my second and last New Year in Africa. I was on my way back home to Ghana flying from Niger, from Niamey, from the desert and from the camels to Ougadougou, the capital of what was then Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso. I arrived there the morning of New Year’s Eve and stopped at Peace Corps and found an invitation to all volunteers from the ambassador inviting us to his house for dinner. I wore my best dress. It was made of Ghanaian cloth and had two straps, wide colorful straps. Anyway, the ambassador’s guests were wearing gowns and tuxes. We volunteers were not, but we were wearing our fanciest. Circling through the crowd were waiters wearing white gloves pouring champagne or offering hors d’oeuvres. The food table was filled with foods I hadn’t seen in nearly two years. I filled my plate with sweet potatoes, turkey, gravy, stuffing and real mashed potatoes, with squash and carrots. I sat at one of the tables with other volunteers. Their plates were as filled as mine. We ate and we drank champagne. We chatted at dinner. It was a wonderful evening. As we got closer to midnight, the coffee and pastries were served. We’re talking real coffee, brewed coffee and chocolate cake and so much more. We all stood with filled glasses for the countdown from 10 to zero then we toasted and drank for a Happy New Year!! We all yelled and hugged. We sang Auld Lang Syne.
I didn’t know many of those volunteers, but I knew them. We all clicked right away. I think it had to do with us sharing a love of where we were. We hugged a long time that night. That this was our last New Year’s Eve in Africa was on our minds. The New Year felt almost nostalgic. It would be filled with lasts.
Categories: Musings
Tags: ambassador's house, coffee, dinner, Lasts, New Year's Eve 1970, Ougadougou, Peace Corps Ghana
Comments: 6 Comments
April 30, 2023
The heavy rain started last night. I heard it on the roof. The dogs backed away from the door hoping the rain would stop. Later, they had no choice but to go out. The rain stopped overnight but will continue today. I did get my pansies planted yesterday but didn’t clear the Nala trash. That’s for another day.
Today is a day with no lists, no need to leave the house, a full larder and plenty of books and movies. It is a cozy day.
When I was a kid, I wondered what the nuns looked like under their habits. Once in a while I could see a sort of hairline under their wimples. One nun had black hair and the other white. I never really thought of nuns as people. They had their own race apart from the rest of us. I never saw nuns eat except for Sister Hildegarde who hid candy in her desk and ate it during the day. Nuns used to keep their handkerchiefs under the cuffs of their sleeves. When I was young, they scared me. When I was older, they amused me.
When I lived in Ghana, my days were mostly the same, but I was never bored. I was amazed. I was actually living in Africa.
Ghana was filled with color. The women wore dresses made with traditional cloths of many colors and patterns. By the middle of my first year, all my dresses had been made by the seamstress who lived next door, the wife of a tutor. I had bought the cloth in the market. My favorite dress was blue tie-dye. Men wore fugus, smocks, made on looms, woven in different patterns of cotton in strips then sewn together. Smocks were traditional clothing for men in the north and in the Upper Region where I lived. When I went back to Ghana, I was surprised to see smocks were now wore even in Accra, the capital. I have fugus I brought home. They are in different styles and colors. I also have some fugu cloth, white with black and red stripes.
My house is warm and quiet. Nala is napping beside me on the couch. Henry is napping upstairs on my bed. My ultimate cozies are the dress code for the day. I’m ready for my second cup of coffee and an onion bagel with cream cheese. I’m thinking life doesn’t get much better.
Categories: Musings
Tags: bagel, cloth, coffee, color, cozies, fugu, nuns, Peace Corps Ghana, smock, Upper Region, wimples
Comments: 2 Comments
February 19, 2018
When I got the papers this morning, I expected a warm day, but I was disappointed. It’s a chilly day. The sky is cloudy and rain is predicted for tonight. I do have a couple of errands to do later.
This morning, while my coffee was brewing, I had a surprise burst of energy. I polished a shelf, swept the kitchen, washed the cat dish and cleaned the sink and counter. That’s the most housework I’ve done in a few weeks. I’d like to think this burst of energy will be a rare event.
I treated myself this morning and had two lemon biscotti with my coffee. I love the taste of lemon so much I could live on lemon squares. Lemon meringue pie tops my list of favorite pies. I think we were one of the few families where a lemon meringue pie was traditional for Thanksgiving. I even learned to cook a few dishes with preserved lemons.
I’d never turn down anything made with pineapple except maybe pizza. In Ghana I ate pineapple just about every day as part of my lunch, always a bowl of fresh fruits. I like Thai food with pineapple. I almost don’t care about the other ingredients. In my cook book from Peace Corps Ghana was a recipe for pineapple upside down cake. I always wanted to make it, but I had no oven, only a charcoal burner. A couple of old cook books from the 50’s have pictures of a finished pineapple upside cake. They are perfect and have a cherry in the middle hole of the pineapple.
When I was kid, only a few fruits were available all year. My mother bought bananas, oranges and apples. The apples were always red. The oranges had seeds. In the summer we had watermelon and grapes, green grapes. At Thanksgiving we had tangerines, our parade snack. I didn’t even know fruits likes mangoes and papayas existed. Coconuts were on tropical islands in the books I read. We were fruit deprived.
Categories: Musings
Tags: apples, biscotti, cloudy, coffee, cold, energy, housework, lemon, lemon biscotti, lemon squares, oranges, Peace Corps, Peace Corps Ghana, pineapple, preserved lemons, rain, Thai food, upside down cake, watermelon
Comments: 8 Comments
December 4, 2017
It has already been a long day. Alexa woke me up at seven. I asked her for another half hour, and she obliged. I got up after the 7:30 Alexa call, got dressed and hit the road. Gracie had her second acupuncture appointment. She was good and stood patiently until it was over. It took about an hour. When we got home, she ate and I had coffee and read the paper. The morning was normal. Then I took a nap. Yup, a morning nap, and I just woke up, got another cup of coffee and turned on the TV. I’m watching Krampus. Nothing is better than a movie about a horned-beast at Christmas who punishes naughty children. That sure beats coal in the stocking.
Today has a muted sun hiding behind the clouds. Every now and then it appears and brightens the day for a bit then the clouds take over again. At least it is warmish.
I did get a few things done yesterday, but I’m the only one who’d notice. The clean clothes piled on the rocking chair have disappeared. I carried them upstairs and put them away. The two bags of newspapers and the boxes which were by the front door are now in the trunk. I’ll bring them to the dump on Wednesday when it reopens. The kitchen floor and the hall are clean. I vacuumed. The pile of catalogues is greatly diminished. I went through most of them and ordered a few things on line. I’m sure, though, they’ll be plenty in today’s mail to take their places.
Last night was game night. This time I was a winner. At the last game night Tony and I won nothing. Clare won them all. Last night she won Phase 10, and I won two games of Sorry. Tony was stuck with the L on his forehead.
I’m going out later. Skip is coming tomorrow to do my outside lights so I need a few things: a spot light, a couple of wreaths and some lengths of pine garland for inside the house. Tomorrow, Skip and I will go and choose my tree so he can lug it inside and set it up for me. I’ll start decorating it and the house tomorrow.
I noticed last night that many houses have Christmas lights, more than usual this early. Some houses are decked in all white lights, some are LED colored sets and others are regular colored bulbs. Mine will be a combination. The driveway fence already has a trail of white lights leading to a huge star. That is always lit to keep the darkness at bay. The front fence will have colored bulbs as will the deck rail in the back. One tree on the side of the house will have huge ornaments lit by a spotlight. An old sled will stand by the front door with ice skates draped on it. They’ll have regular lights.
Krampus is just about over now. It isn’t Hallmark, but it sort of had a happy ending. It just depends on your definition of happy.
Categories: Musings
Tags: acupuncture, Christmas lights, cloudy, coffee, game night, Krampus, morning nap, naughty children, newspapers, Phase 10, Sorry, The laundry, vacuum
Comments: 16 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 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
November 12, 2017
The sky is cloudy again, and it’s chilly, low 40’s chilly. My heat is on almost constantly. Nothing is moving. I can see the backyard through my den window and not a branch, even the smallest, is moving. I’m glad for the stillness. It helps to keep the cold at bay. There is a chance of rain later.
Gracie and I have to go to Agway. I am out of canned dog food, and that’s a calamity. I also need to buy biscuits, dog and cat treats, cat food and bird seed. Shopping at Agway is, for me, never an inexpensive stop. My animals expect and do get the best. Gracie is pickier than the cat and drives me crazy when she turns her face away from the treat I’m offering and holds out for something better which she usually gets. It is too late now to alter the behavior I have fostered in Gracie, the spoiled dog.
This morning I enjoyed biscotti with my coffee. It was, of course, chocolate biscotti. My mother wasn’t a coffee drinker except with biscotti which she loved. When she came to visit, I’d give her a half cup of coffee purely for dunking purposes. One Christmas she even made her own biscotti, and it was delicious. She kept a few but sent most of it home with me as the rest of the family didn’t eat biscotti. What fools they were!!
The cloudy days make me feel languid. I need a bit of sunlight, a natural pick-me-up. It is so easy to love a sunny day and feel like conquering the world; instead, I just sit here hoping for a sudden jolt of energy.
Having lived here for so long, I am familiar with all the quirks of my house. I can identify the sounds. That’s the ice maker adding water or dropping cubes in the tray. I can hear the clicks of the furnace before the heat blasts. The thump is Maddie jumping off the couch or from one step to another. I used to hear the scurry off the mice in the eaves, but the exterminator took care of that. Just a few minutes ago, I heard an unfamiliar sound. I stopped typing to listen. The sound had a rhythm, a rat-tat. I knew it had to be a woodpecker. I banged the wall, but the sound stopped for only a minute. I had to go out to the deck to scare the bird away. The sound has stopped.
Tonight is game night and football night as the Pats are playing the Broncos. We’ll all be watching. My sister in Colorado is working on her football game menu. The Pats never do well in Denver, but this year Denver is not doing well. They are last in their conference with a 3 and 5 record. The Pats are first in theirs with a 6 and 2 record. The Pats are favored. I hope that comes to fruition.
My dance card is not empty for a change thanks to game night.
Categories: Musings
Tags: Agway, biscotti, Broncos, canned dog food, chilly, cloudy, coffee, Denver, dunking, house sounds, languid, Patriots, still, Sunlight, woodpecker
Comments: 8 Comments
October 28, 2017
My morning ritual seldom changes. I take my time. There is rarely a rush. The first thing I do is put the couch, aka my bed, to rights then I go out with Gracie, pick up the papers and put her into the yard. When we come back inside, I start the coffee, and while it’s brewing, I feed Maddie and Gracie. At this point I am into the first fifteen minutes of the morning. I grab my cup of coffee and read the Globe then toast an English muffin, grab another cup of coffee and read the Cape Cod Times. By the time I am finished with the cryptogram, I’m about an hour and a half into the day. My e-mail is next then I stir my creative juices and start in on writing Coffee. Sometimes my muse is wild with inspiration while other times I just sit and stare hoping for the whisper of an idea. I have been writing Coffee for 12+ years. The sitting and staring are getting more frequent.
When I was a kid, I sometimes had to go to confession on Saturday. I didn’t have a whole lot to confess so I used to pad my transgressions. I’d mention lying though I seldom lied. I did fight with my brother so I had that to fall back on. Disrespecting my mother or father was a good one. I think every kid used it. I wasn’t mouthy, but I was great at eye rolling or smirking. I used to give numbers like lying five times. Those were purely speculative. I never really kept count. The priest would mete out my penance. Usually it was a few Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers. I said them quickly so I could get out of there. I didn’t want people thinking I was overloaded with sins meriting a huge penance.
Today is cooler than it’s been but still sunny. The house was cold when I woke up. I turned on the heat and put on socks. I hate having cold feet.
I’m back on YouTube. Today is disaster day. I’ve watched tsunamis and volcanos and now it’s a meteor. Frantic scientists, members of the near Earth orbit emergency task force, are working to prevent the meteors from colliding with Earth and destroying life as we know it. Isn’t that always the way?
Categories: Musings
Tags: coffee, confession, creative juices, disaster, disrespect, e-mail, English muffin, games, inspiration, lies, meteor, morning, muse, papers, penance, ritual, transgressions
Comments: 10 Comments
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