Diggity Dig Dog

"I love the way it follows him around like a puppy."

"What?"

That was Cathy being her usual cryptic self. She was talking about the drill shown below. We had 3 holes bored in back of the Library to determine the soil for the future expansion. I'm told they went down 30 feet.

In the center of this flatbed is the digger. The guy's hat is the back end and the front is 3 red and white markers to the left.

It turns out, it's a big remote controlled toy. Nobody "drives" the drill; the operator has a remote control unit and he walks slowly and carefully in front of it guiding it to where he wants it to go. I was fascinated watching him get the tank-like treads onto little ramps. Can you see the water bottle on the ground behind him? There was one on the other side. I'm thinking it's a bit more subtle than if, "You hit the water bottle and you're screwed," but it did seem to be a way for him to measure how to get the drill onto the truck.

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Deb and I met for lunch at the wonderful Met Grill which is in the Natick Mall. After lunch, we strolled around the Mall. I felt like the Country Mouse -- there are so many stores, so many sights, so much bling! I enjoyed it thoroughly!

This is one of three crystal columns in the Swarvoski Crystal store. It reminded me of a waterfall.

I cannot eat cupcakes, but nobody says I can't look at them!

How about the fish below? Yup, it's made all from recycled plastic containers such as Wisk liquid laundry detergent, Folger's coffee can, Era containers, etc. (There were many fish in this store window.) The artist is from Quincy and I think her name is Sara Allesandro -- I took a picture and cut off her name. Darn!

The window goes with a tee shirt store, but there were lots of local artists' offerings as well. When we got there, there was a fellow about to play an acoustic guitar. He was about 7 feet tall (hyperbole, he probably was only 6'6") with black eyeliner, black clothing and black hair -- except where it was green. He had an entourage of people who were also goth. When he began to play, I had to swallow laughter. He was playing lilting folk noodling.

As Deb said dryly, "That's not the type of music that I expected to hear from him."

Birch trees are my favorite trees and the trunks of these trees caught my eye.  It turns out, they are not real, they are art. When we got closer, I realized that I did not care for the leaves (which are pieces of metal), but the tree trunks are masterful. 

And here is the roof on the top floor. I like the natural light and for some reason, I felt as if I were on a ship.

I had never seen this in a mall food court. Those are sushi on the round plates on a conveyor belt. You are charged by the number of plates you have on your table. I had first seen this when YaoYao took me to a sushi place in Hawaii.

I was fascinated by the barn board on this store's facade. It really seemed to be real reclaimed wood -- not made to look old.

After we relaxed in my hotel room (across from the mall), Deb and I went for supper at Ken's Steak House.  Yes, it is the one and only as in Ken's Steak House Salad Dressing. I don't know if it's only a local salad dressing brand, but it has been around here for years.  As we drove up, Deb said she expected to see mob types ... what we did see was many senior citizens (she lowered the age in the place a lot!). Can you believe the dark paneling? There were many stained glass windows -- of ducks! I don't know if Ken was a duck hunter or just liked ducks.

The food was delicious! I don't know why the place wasn't packed. In fact, the prime rib and Deb's steak were better than any I have had elsewhere.

They also had a singer in the lounge who was playing a very nice, mellow, acoustic guitar. I wondered if it were the goth guy from the tee shirt place who had removed his wig and makeup. A quick change into polyester slacks and !voila! lounge singer at night!

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Today, Sunday, I met YaoYao and her mother, Mary, at a "diner" that she had picked in Framingham. It turns out that it was only 4 minutes from my hotel room which was great. When I got there, there was a line out the door of people waiting. In fact, the wait was around 35 minutes. I say "diner" because it's a little hole in the wall in a small strip mall. It's not a separate diner and there's no aluminum colored siding. 

The breakfast/brunch was fantastic. I think my omelette had 4 eggs -- it was huge. YaoYao had banana pancakes that were each about a half inch high and large dinner plate size. She will be eating those for two days!  Of course we had to get pictures because YaoYao is leaving Boston on Friday. She will be living in Georgia.

 YaoYao's baby boy is due around the end of September. She looks great! I was/am suffering from very puffy eyes and sinus pain. Maybe I'll take an antihistamine.

By the way, the Chinese don't say, "Say cheese!" when they take pictures. They say, "Say eggplant!" That word in Chinese makes them smile. (The stranger who nicely took our picture said, "Say cheese!")

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As I was sitting in traffic on the Mass. Turnpike (stop and go for about 3 miles or so), I glanced and saw a very welcome text -- Lisa invited me to go to her pool. Ever the ready, I had my swim suit in the car, so I had a wonderful afternoon dip and chat with Lisa. 

She had had a wonderful weekend in NYC. Her daughter, Abby, played with her band (Potty Mouth) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden. Lisa sent us a picture and behind Abby was a huge glass wall (on the Museum) which reflected skyscrapers. Lisa and her husband stayed at the Warwick which is very close to the MOMA.

I can't begin to describe how beautiful Lisa and Chip's gardens are, so I brought a picture of one of her many gorgeous lilies. Of course, yellow is my favorite color.

Now it's off to work tomorrow (Monday). Have a great week!

Monday Night Musings

While washing dishes tonight, with blueberry muffins baking, I had time to think.  

Earlier, I had been horrified to read that a 15 year old boy who was drunk went looking for a friend (at Noon time) and knocked on the door of the wrong house. Somehow, he broke a pane of glass on the door, so the resident (not his friend) shot him dead.

This happened in Chicopee -- 20 minutes from here. What on earth would make that man so fearful that he would shoot through a door killing someone? Did he really think that someone at noontime was going to hurt/rob him? He must have thought that -- why else would someone use deadly force if not in fear for his life?

And this is where we are in America today. We are all afraid of our neighbors. This morning I had to usher out a man who didn't know the Library was closed until 1 p.m. on Mondays. When I told him the Library was closed, he just looked at me intently. At that point, I didn't know if he had mental health issues or if he was hostile. I got an urgent vibe from him. At that moment, my adrenaline started running and I said, "You need to leave now," and crowded him with my bulk, herding him toward the door. He was bigger than I am, but adrenaline makes you do weird things and I got him to leave without incident. (The book delivery guy had let him in.) 

I guess it's the senseless violence that seems to be happening every other day that is putting us all on edge. Maybe it's the hate speech we hear coming from religious and political "leaders." There certainly is a rise of bullying in adults.

We have so-called adults in this Town who cannot understand the theory of 'agreeing to disagree.' Instead, they have made a career of questioning the professional credentials and integrity of the Library Director, our architects working on a design for an expanded Library fit for the 21st century, and the Board of Trustees. Nobody knows the finances, square footage, and needs of the Town better than these narrow minded bullies.

On to happier thoughts.

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"Let's take a picture of all three cats!" she said gaily.

I had wondered why Emily had laughed. Apparently, cats don't pose.

Yes, Jackson is in motion. They won't stop, I tell you!

Yes, Lily is being hypnotized by a kitty treat. Those things must be really good because she sat there for quite a while.

And here's Lola being her usual suspicious self. I am privileged (after all, I am her Grandma) to have Lola come out and see me. One cat sitter was not sure Lola existed because she always hid.

Emily and I had a fine time last Friday. After a rough week at work, I drove to Worcester because I needed my kid and grand kitties. Emily and I went to dinner and then to see Ghostbusters. It was a very funny movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly -- no reality for me!! It was a bit loud so I would advise bringing ear plugs. (The weapons that splat the ghosts are very loud.) The only harm that came to humans was in the form of green slime which seemed to be icky but did not create any lasting damage.

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The blueberry muffins are yummy, by the way. I used a low carbohydrate mix and added blueberries grown next door. Boy, are those blueberries good!! (I had to taste the muffins because I'm bringing them into work and I had to be sure they are good.)

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Last Wednesday night after work, I went to a small breakfast place in North Amherst for a "wine and painting" night. Iced tea worked well for me as we tried to imitate Georgia O'Keefe's Jimson Weed.

I'll never be mistaken for an artist, but I really did enjoy myself. I especially like the teacher, Teri Magner, who is a retired art teacher. She has a fool proof method to enable you to finish in two hours. I like it! 

By the way, that's the palette under the easel. It's a plasticized sheet which I imagine can be wiped off and used again. Of course, we used acryllics which dry quickly.

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I did a bit of cooking yesterday (Sunday).

That's wild caught salmon in front and a crustless quiche with ham and tomato in the back.

This is chicken soup with baby bok choy and other stuff. I cheated because the chicken is from a rotissiere chicken. I also made a pot roast in the crock pot and hard boiled eggs for my snacks at work. So now I have lunches for work and I just have to heat up suppers.

Although I miscalculated today and had a salad with steak pieces for lunch. That was good but I was ravenous at 4 p.m. I was really happy that my blood sugar was 95 (100 is good), but I was hungry. I think I'll have to figure out an afternoon snack!

Time for bed for me. Good night all.

Guess What I Did on Saturday

Why, yes, you are correct -- I went to the Amherst Farmers' Market! And I had a fine time.

Of course, I had to make picio pacio with fresh basil and tomatoes. I did use shiratake angel hair instead of pasta.

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On Friday night, Cyndi and I went to see Finding Dory. I enjoyed it immensely. The animation was great, the voices were great and it was a relaxing escape from the real world.

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Fireworks in Cape Charles, VA, were wonderful. So was the company. Emily drove (God bless her!) and we arrived a day before our hosts. When I called David, he said, 'Go into the back yard and look at my tomatoes!' 

You see that bush that's taller than the six foot fence? Yup, those are his tomatoes. I think they are planted over a plutonium dump ...

The next day, Emily and I decided to treat ourselves to supper at the marina. It's a very casual fisherman's bar and restaurant. When we were leaving, we saw this:

You can't really see it from my cell phone picture, but it was actually a double rainbow. I had never seen one of those in person before this.

After all of the crew had shown up at the beach house (8 people, 4 dogs), some of us zipped over to the marina to meet the crab men.

This is a bushel of crabs. (The basket comes with a lid.) I wonder if they recycle the basket -- I'll bet they do.

This is the first cooked batch of three. David has perfected his steaming method to ensure even cooking. He only cooks 1/3 at a time. Emily fished the clawing crabs out of the basket and put them into the cooking strainer. My job was to spread the hot crabs out on the table so they would cool a bit. We covered a whole large picnic style table with crabs. And we sat crab picking for a couple of hours. I was trying to be neat, but I smelled like a giant crab. And Alec, was like a crab picking machine. He ended up with about 2 pounds of crab meat -- which Alex turned into wonderful crab cakes the next day. No wonder crab meat is so expensive!! It's hard work picking crabs!

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While at Cape Charles, Emily treated Jane (our hostess) and me to nail wraps. It was fun -- as long as Emily was applying them!

These remind me of Delft. They are called "Amsterdam."

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Got some new sandals.

They are fun, but I learned the hard way that if I wear them too long, the soles of my feet hurt. They have little raised dots that are supposed to massage your feet (I guess), but after a while, it hurts me.

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Who knew? Who knew that a "sirloin steak" from Aldis is a bunch of layers of thin beef? I should have known because the package said, "Great for fajitas!" So to fill the crockpot, I cut it into chunks, added a tiny bottle of red wine (individual glass sized bottle), mushrooms and onions and I got a wonderful beef soup! I then added shiratake "rice" and it's yummy!

I also made a veggie casserole with queso fresco. I used onions, green beans, zucchini, black beans (canned) and a bit of low carb tomato sauce.  Oh, yeah, when the casserole was in the oven, I also roasted some brussels sprouts. I did some more cooking for the week, but I don't want to bore you with it. I'm bringing lunch every day and I just heat up for supper so this method of cooking works well

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I got a new deck! Well, sort of. We were able to keep the stairs and the flooring, but all of the spindles and the top railings had to be replaced. I know I should have taken "before" pictures but it looked so awful -- unstained and very warped -- that I didn't. I'm very happy with it now. JB from across the street did it and today he refurbished my tired air conditioner in the kitchen. Yay!

I have been dying to put my umbrella table on the deck -- and it has been raining off and all weekend. I don't really want to encourage mildew on the umbrella so I will wait. It's a little deck, but it's what I could afford way back when and it's still a good size now. Neat but not gaudy!

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I worked some more on my landscape quilt tonight. I need to used several different colors of thread and it's a pain in the neck winding a bobbin for each color. At the same time, I was watching, "Dancing on the Edge" and "Endeavor" on PBS. I'm liking both series.

Oh, yes, I discovered "Marcella" on Netflix. It has six episodes. It's about a British detective who returns to work after a Mommy hiatus. It's not for the faint of heart! There is a serial killer murdering people by putting a plastic bag over their head and watching them die. Ugh, ugh, ugh. But I liked the rest of the drama. The last episode had one scary part that had me scream and leap out of my chair. 

On a brighter side, I have been watching "Transparent" on Amazon Prime (thanks to Emily). It's quite good with an ensemble cast. Jeffrey Tambor is an older actor who plays a dad who has finally decided to live his life as a woman. I've only watched three episodes, but he is struggling with telling his three adult children. His divorced wife is Judith Light (from "Who's the Boss?") and she plays a great Jewish grandma (aka Bubbe).