Counting Sheep

You Can Find Me Here

I think it's become fairly obvious that I no longer update here at Counting Sheep.

I started this blog 6 years ago this month as I was working at a large Boston bank in the IT department slogging to work every day and hating most of it.

Mercifully along came this and I went off to find a new career and I document my deliriously happy year at culinary school here. 

I had no idea what I was going to do with my life, but I knew it would never involve working in an office, in a high rise and being on call for 24 hours a day for 30 days at a time.  I also knew I wasn't going to start working the line in a restaurant at my age and stage in life. 

I began assisting in culinary classes and it was then that I fell head over heels in love.  I started teaching all over the city, but in the end, it would be the job I took at a small cooking school for kids that flicked by my Craigslist search one day that changed my life for good. I met Renee and Ashley and I started teaching classes for the 9-11 and 11+ kids.  My role progressed to doing all of the recipe development for the school and then in early 2009 I was asked to take over managing the school and adding on adult classes and parties and taking the school in a new direction while keeping the original concept of the school intact.  I never for a minute considered anything I was doing as 'work', I adored every single day.  I never wanted to call in sick, take a 'mental health' day or work less than the 10 - 12 hours a day I started devoting to the school - in short I was in love.

Then about the end of last year, the owner approached me about buying the business.  I talked to my husband and my family, I thought long and hard about spending money on a business, about being responsible for 40 - 50 employees, about what it would mean to my husband and I being able to travel or be in Maine or have a life and in the end it didn't take me long to say yes.  So from my lost 30's trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up, I've dived into my 40's owning a business, not just any business, but my own cooking school, and loving every single minute of it.

Feel free to trawl these archives.  They will forever live out in the ether somewhere for the occasional person to stumble upon when googling losing your job, career change or any of the hundred or so other things that pop up repeatedly in my stats, and since a busy girl can only write in so many places this means that going forward the only place you and I can talk or meet is over here at Amuse Bouche my other home for the last 6 years - please come on over and and join in.

Thank you for following along, for your thoughtful comments, for your unwavering support and in general for talking to me and leaving your thoughts.  I hope you come along for the other ride, because that's the one that has my heart and my life.

jo

Extreme Sheep

Via Three Woofs and a Woo

Catching up, Fanny Ardant and Devil's Thighs

Poor c.  I'm still around, I'm still breathing for the 4 or 5 of you who continue to come around.  I am cross posting this here, because I know that some of you don't come over to my other place to read.  I promise, it isn't always just about the food.  This little post just might tell you how good my world is these days.
Come visit.

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

All my life I just wanted a job I loved. I wanted to be that elusive person who couldn't wait to get up in the morning, I wanted to not resent overtime, or better yet, never consider time spent at my job to be overtime. I wanted to be my own boss, make my own decisions, I wanted my ideas to come to fruition. These days I have all that and more. Three and some years ago I answered a Craigslist ad to teach cooking at a kids cooking school. I was just finishing culinary school, I had been laid off from a high pressure decade long job in IT where I was out of my element and struggling to keep pace. I had a severence package and no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. In that old job I was on call 24/7 for 2 weeks to 1 month at a time and when they called it meant that the system had failed in its overnight processing and potentially billions of dollars were not going to end up where they should in the harsh morning light. There could be dozens of people on the conference call in the middle of the night waiting for you to figure out what happened and make it better...NOW. Sometimes the sound of someone;s pager or the phone ringing in the middle of the night can make my stomach sink.  I hated my job.  I was miserable. When I tell you that the lay off and my subsequent choice to switch careers was one of the best things that could have EVER happened to me, I mean it, with all my heart. The money isn't even close to what it was, but my sanity and my happiness have increased beyond measure. It doesn't matter how many hours I work, or how long I am there it is all good, ALL good.

I placed an ad this week on Craigslist for two part time jobs, one a part time weekend manager and one a part time adult cooking party instructor, I don't think I am exaggerating when I tell you that the response was like an avalanche, a tsunami and a direct indication of the current economic crisis. I am currently pouring through applications and trying to assess everyone's abilities and desires and how they can fit into our business. It's a daunting task and it is made more poignant considering how I found myself in my current position. I had interviews on Friday at 11,12,1,2,3 and 4. I can tell you that I have a new appreciation of the tasks of an HR manager. I have literally NEVER talked so much in one span and I can honestly say that I met some really interesting people. I loved hearing everyone's story and some had some incredible resumes to boot.  Alaskan fisherman-fireman-boat captain-heavy equipment driver-cook, Harvard grad, CIA grad, NECI grad, and on and on. Lesson learned?  Never, ever judge a book by its cover.

Anyway, all of this introductory diatribe is really just me leading up to saying that I have happily spent his rainy Sunday not speaking to anyone other that the puppy and my husband, who spent much of his day downstairs working on his solid modeling software on his ultra secret work project which has some tight upcoming deadlines.  I, on the other hand, spent much of the day in my kitchen watching subtitled films through the pass through and dipping into a multi stage Suzanne Goin recipe from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

We shopped on Saturday and I forgot to pick up a nice bread to make fresh breadcrumbs so I started the day with my Zojirushi and made a loaf of bread.  Don''t judge me folks.  I make bread from scratch as well, but today I had little time to make and proof and rest and shape and bake, so my lovely maker did the work while I fired off some laundry.  Once the bread was done I let it cool and then sliced it thickly to let it start to dry out.  Husband snuck upstairs and absconded with one of the 'heels' his favourite part and descended back to the depths to continue his work.  I later finished drying the bread out in a 200F oven while watching Paris, Je t'aime, isn't Fanny Ardant the best? I love her more than Deneuve. I marinated the chicken thighs in a sliced onion, 2 sliced serrano chilies, a load of thyme sprigs and 1/4 cup of vermouth in the fridge for several hours giving it a squash around in the bag every few hours between laundry loads.

While I made breakfast I sliced my leeks and floated them in a big bowl of cold water, swishing it around every time I passed to let the sand fall to the bottom of the bowl.  After breakfast with the Globe and the Times digested I lifted them off of the water and blotted them on a towel.  I sprinkled them with kosher salt and pepper and then in a big skillet with hot oil I seared them and got some nice brown color on both sides.  Brown=good.  When they were done I tossed in 1 cup of sliced shallots that made me weep when I sliced them, a few tablespoons of thyme leaves and stirred them around until the shallots were translucent.  I splashed in 1/4 cup of Vermouth and let it reduce and then  poured in some chicken stock.  All of this was poured over the leeks in a baking dish.  On went a crumpled up piece of parchment paper and a sheet of foil tightly sealed the dish.  While it hung out in the 400 degree oven, I cooked husbands chicken breasts for his sandwiches, or butties, as he calls them, for the week.

Later the thighs were removed from the marinade and dried.  Into that same heavy saute pan they went with some oil and I browned them. Then the saute pan was deglazed with some chicken stock.  The thighs were squished around in a mixture of sautéed shallots that were cooked with some thyme and vermouth and added to a goodly amount of dijon and 1 egg.  They were arranged on that bed of braised leeks, I poured over the chicken stock from the pan and then covered everything in the fresh breadcrumbs that had been tossed with some buerre noir or brown butter for you non francophiles.  This whole assembly baked in a 375F oven for about 35 minutes and came out all brown and lovely.

On the side we had some smashed potatoes with chive and a very peppery olive oil.

The verdict?  He hated it.  I thought it was okay, but certainly not worth spending a Sunday on.  Certainly not photo worthy, hence the lovely picture of Fanny Ardant instead. You win some, you lose some.  But the lesson learned?  Sometimes you just have to try something new, you'll never know if you don't try.

Lovely Newton Fireboys

Sunday, fire lit in kitchen, turkey roulade in oven 1, potatoes roasting in oven 2, cocktail by my side the CO alarms suddenly started going off in all the rooms of the house.  We pondered, we looked things up on the internet, we decided to call 911.

Three boys arrived with a lovely little meter that read over 39 ppm.

It should be below 9.

Do you think this might explain why husband and I have had vertigo and dizziness for the past couple weeks??

After testing the vent hood, the fireplace exhaust fan and closing the other fireplace chimney they decided they had to shut down our furnace...can you say BRRRRRRRR and tag it with a nice little tag that says NO USEY UNTIL FIXEY.

Lovely boys though.  Really lovely,

Anyone have a spare 20k for a new furnace, donations accepted here!

**I corrected the C02 to be CO, because obviously I failed science. It was indeed the CO detectors.....

Etsy

The world may be falling apart, everyone I know might be getting laid off or on the verge...but I'm helping one step at a time by ordering all my holiday cards, handmade by people in their homes with love and attention on Etsy. 
I *heart* Etsy.
Looking for mittens?
A hat?
Some cards?
A gift?
Pay someone who works out of their house of dorm room.  Support the economy organically.
I call that grass roots putting your holiday money where it counts.

image courtesy kup kup

Just some general things that I am feeling lately

I'm sad to hear that Linens and Things is liquidating and going out of business.  So many jobs will be lost, some healthy competition to BB and B will be lost and many stand alone retail locations in prime areas will now be empty.  Given the state of things, big empty stores with 'For Lease' signs make people feel more unstable.

I am thrilled that this little, alright large, blip in the economy might make people consider reading cookbooks, taking lessons and getting back to the kitchen instead of the take out joint.  That makes me very happy.

I wonder sometimes how people who are having kids in this day and age can sleep at night knowing how difficult it will be for their child to get educated, find a job own a home.  I am sure this was the same or the generations who lived through WWII, past recessions and Vietnam, but still, it would keep me up at night.

I have noticed a distinct uptick in my neighborhood of people actually stopping to talk to each other when taking out the trash, walking the dog, etc.  I think that the feeling that we are all IN THIS TOGETHER is shaking off a wee bit of that Yankee BUCK UP stoicism.  I like it.  Maybe block parties are next, casserole drop offs, swaps, group yard sales, who knows?

I have been working my ever loving tail off this past month and after another 10 hour day I realise I could stay at work for another 5 or 8 and STILL not get everything done that I feel I need to do.  This is rapidyl apparent by viewing the state of my kitchen table.  Stacks, and piles.  Books, articles, ebay items photographed waiting to be written up, boxes by the door ready to ship, laundry folded in piles on the couch.  Why must everything always slip.  I need to work on more efficiency.  Tidy house, tidy mind.

In the midst of this, I have signed up, paid my dues, booked the date to take the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) CCP exam in November.  When exactly I will find the time to study all of my school notes on French and Italian wines and cheeses, regions, Serv safe, nutrition, Asian cuisine, Mexican cuisine and Food science notes is BEYOND ME.  Maybe someone will dictate them for me and I can sleep with my ipod on and absorb it while I sleep.

Last night I had a TERRIFYING, wake up with my HEART racing, SWEATING, leg CRAMPS dream.  In the dream I was being chased by a bear.  The bear slashed my 'friend' in the dream as I had to slam the door to stop the bear getting in.  After it slashed my fiend it tore through the door ripping it off the jamb and ripping the lockset out of the jamb and raided my house.  Freudian anyone???

We had some guys come in and clean out our attic of the 1950's era, useless, tissue paper thin fiberglass insulation in preparation for the blown in cellulose at R49 that we are having installed in November.  The guys found a bag of photos.  A garbage bag literally full of photos that belonged to the ex-wife of the builder/original owner of our house. I had heard about the divorce and that it wasn't pretty.  But seeing hundreds of photos torn out of album, some ripped in half of one person really brought home how difficult it must hav ebeen.  I knew that his son worked locally so I dropped the bag off with someone there one day recently.  I felt that it contained so many memories and pieces of her life that it would be a shame to discard it.  I hope that 15 years on, people can forgive and forget, but I guess I'll never know.  I hope that karma pays me back in kind and not revenge for this deed.

Anyway...that is the contents of my head, spewed out without spell check or self-check, this evening.

Life on Mars

One of my favourite BBC shows is about to be mangled, mutilated and twisted by the craptastic American television formulaic ratings sweep system and it premieres this Thursday night.
If you haven't seen Life on Mars on BBC America I implore you now to net flix it, you tube it, or set your DVR on BBC America because that show is one of the finest hours on television.  I was inconsolable sad when the series ended, but through the magic of DVR I have been watching the old episodes. The cars!  The clothes! The music! The 70's! God how I love it.
Yesterday when husband was flicking though the paper he held up a two page spread that was an ad for the new series.  I have so say they have a least two of the charachters right on the money.
Harvey Keitel plays the asshole, chauvanistic DCI Gene Hunt and Michael Imperioli plays Ray Carling with his sleazy 70's porn stash.
The picture has me mildly excited that they just may get it right, but believe me I do not have my hopes up too high.  That bar has been smashed too many times before.
Life on Mars Thursday night...be there...and watch out for that song, it's a serious ear worm.

My apologies to Maine

I'd like to apologize now to the state of Maine.  As you can see by the rain and heavy cloud cover I was planning on heading up to visit Mom and S.D. again.
So you can plan your weekend accordingly, husband, the pooper and I will be departing the state tomorrow afternoon, you should know when we have crossed the border to New Hampshire when the clouds part and the sun comes shining through.

Tonight there will be chicken on the spit, corn from the farmer's market and gratin dauphinoise.  Mom is hunting and gathering as we speak.  All I want, oh rain gods, is one more ride down the stream to get me through the long winter, could we please arrange that?

A Update to the Update: The Finale

Part 1 here
Part 2 here

Why are these in my kitchen and not my laundry room?  stay tuned....

In order to actually give Sears the money I had been trying to throw at them since last Saturday I finally give up on the Sears credit department and drive up to the collection and meet the sales lady. 

She apologies profusely for the INSANITY that has taken place over the last week and rings in my sales again calling over a supervisor to swipe his card to approve all the various and sundry discounts and tax free options, etc.
I was going to write a check, but she suggests a credit card is easier.  Fine, I hand her my card and she swipes the card.  Authorization required.  Remember my bank account got hit in the old TJX debacle, well guess what?  They closed my credit card as well and I had no idea.  I sigh and figure these people must think I am the biggest loser ever.  We call my credit card company and explain that I am indeed standing right here in front of the sales lady.  No, I hadn't received a new card in the mail and no, I had no idea my account was closed.  After a brief dog and pony show they approve the transaction.
Sales lady then calls and cancels the erroneous dryer delivery for Sunday and confirms that they HAVE NOT canceled the Saturday delivery of the entire kit and caboodle.  We shake hands and I head off to work.

Later I get home and check the mail and what do you think my eyes spy?  That's right kiddies, the new credit card.  So I call them and dance my way through several people to be sure that they don't CANCEL THE DAMN washer payment on the old card.

Saturday morning husband and I begin the preparations for the arrival of the beasts.  Floors are washed, old machines disconnected, paths are cleared from the front door to the basement stairs.
During the afternoon in shifts we go out and run errands based around the ETA from the delivery call.
At the 11th hour I hear the squeak of brakes out front and a man hops out of the truck.  I head out to the garden with the pooper so all doors can be opened and husband takes the guy down and shows him the basement.
They come back up the stairs, the guy walks down the driveway gets in his truck and pulls down the street, turns around and heads the other way speeding past our driveway and waves to husband as he passes.

WTF?!?!?!?!?!

We wait a few minutes, a few minutes more and after about 10 minutes the phone rings.

It is Sears dispatch asking if we have had our delivery yet.  Husband explains the odd circumstance that just occurred, and the fact that the guy left his entire manifest for the days orders downstairs and the guy in dispatch says they are having a strange day, they had been trying to get a hold of these two guys all day.
As if this ENTIRE TRANSACTION couldn't get any more surreal.
Dispatch promises we will hear back from them and in about 20 minutes the Sears truck arrives back, the guys offload the machines and start assembling them in the driveway with no explanation on where they went.  Needless to say we never heard from dispatch again.

I'm hanging in the garden with the pooper when I hear husband's voice from the window.

"They won't go down the stairs, they don't fit."

It was about that very moment when I finally lost my cool.

I marched in as they guys were carrying my old washer up the stairs. 
"Where do you think you;re going with that?"
"We were told to remove it." he said
"Not now pal, move it back down the stairs."

They bring the old washer back down and hand me some paperwork to sign.  I ask of they are taking the other machines back since they won't fit and he says NO, you have to call and schedule that.  I tell husband to sign the papers I want nothing to do with it.

WHAT ALTERNATE PLANET HAVE I LANDED ON?

So there I was with an enormous washer and dryer in my kitchen, an old washer and dryer in my basement and my sanity pretty much in shreds.

This is the corner that was the problem...

After pondering it, husband, the engineer, grabbed his tools and ripped out part of the old door frame (we haven't had a door there in years) and a false corner inside the stairwell that was causing our pain.  Of course I assumed there was no way we could make this happen, we would never be able to get Sears to come back and bring them downstairs.  But I should learn to never doubt the man that made this entire project happen with just the two of us. We dismantled the bases from the machines, shimmied them across the floor of the kitchen and the carpet of the living room and VOILA(!) they turned the corner no problem.

The steps down...

Husband at the bottom of the steps (4) walked the machines down as I supported from above, we laid them down on the carpet in the basement, reattached their bases, shimmied them into the utility room, made all the connects, shoved the old machines in a corner and here we are at 8:00, finally showered, advil taken, and having a cocktail.  Now the old Maytag washer and Kenmore dryer just need to be hauled out to the garage and I will freecycle them sometime soon to move them out.

Next up is putting some finish carpentry on the newly opened raw space, and maybe finally ripping out that nasty carpet in the basement, oh and in the living room while we are at it, and putting in hardwood floors and repainting and....but that is all for another day.

Load 1 done.

An Update to the Vent

In case you need to catch up...here is part 1.

When we left our fair heroine, she was expecting the sales lady to go into the store yesterday evening and enter my order, call the credit department.  The credit department that both she and I had ALREADY SPOKEN TO.  The credit department that instructed her to call them with the authorization number and they would manually put the order through.

She went in, tried to input my order and again it was declined.

She called the credit department, and said that she had been INSTRUCTED by CREDIT that AFTERNOON to call with her series of numbers and the PURCHASE WOULD BE AUTHORIZED.

Credit....said...we...can't...do..that

Are you shaking your head yet?  I was.

This morning I am sitting at the kitchen table and the phone rings with an automated message from Sears that MY DRYER IS SCHEDULED TO BE DELIVERED ON SUNDAY.

Are you scratching your head yet?

I said, are you sure there is only a dryer on the order?  Yes ma'am.  Okay, I say fine deliver it and I call the sales lady.

NO she says, CANCEL THAT DELIVERY, I haven't ordered anything yet.

I say, look.  The dryer is on order even though you can't see it IN YOUR SYSTEM, just go in and ADD the washer, the platforms and THE CORD which IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE PURCHASE OF A DRYER!!!!

Okay, she say, I'll do that today.

I just got home.  Guess what happened when she tried to order the other items that would still come in UNDER my CREDIT LIMIT with the F*CKING SEARS CARD - you got it....she COULDN'T PUT THE ORDER THROUGH.

Tomorrow morning I have to meet her at the store and she will honor the discount while I PAY IN CASH.

Then I will come home and write a long ass letter.  Anyone wanna proofread for me, cause I am sure there will be quite A FEW SWEARS SPRINKLED IN and maybe JUST A FEW CAPITAL LETTERS.  I am officially out of breath from all the capital letters.

I need a drink.

I feel a mild need to vent

Saturday: Natick *cough* Collection *cough*.  (sorry I still can't call it that)

Sears: Armed with all my Consumer Reports research we duck in the door and try to surreptitiously look at the washers whilst avoiding the shark infested sea of sales associates poised for attack and find a washer and dryer we are interested in purchasing.

We talk numbers, dimensions, Energy Star, Top load vs front load, you know the usual.

We agree to open a Sears card, even though we could easily pay cash, but we want to get the extra 20% off on the appliances.  I mean come on people...no tax AND 20% off, wouldn't you?  I'll just pay it off when it comes and close the card.

They approve me for a $$ amount a wee bit above what these mothers of cleaning glory in Ferrari racing red, with their matching holy glory pedestals, pedestals that will allow my aging bones to actually retrieve the LAST SOCK in the back without kneeling prostrate on the basement floor, will cost.

Sure, we buy the 5 year service contract.  One replaced motherboard later could make it all worth while.
Our sales lady says she'll ring everything in Sunday and call me.

Monday I get a call that she tried to ring it in but credit was up and down all night and that when she was finally able to ring it in, the charge was declined as over the limit so I needed to call credit.

I call, I explain that I only purchased the sexy washer and dryer in Ferrari red and not another item that they see pending for $1399 so could they please take that little mess off my record and let the nice lady ring in my $3500 worth of laundry love?

Well ma'am thank you for your patience, are you sure you didn't go to another department and purchase something else?  No, I am quite sure I don't have a new plasma TV in my living room thanks. Well ma'am  that transaction is pending and needs to 'drop off' the system first before she can ring in the sale.  It will take a few days before it clears, tell the saleslady to keep trying.

HUH?  OKAY.

Call saleslady,explain.  She speaks to her manager who agrees,reluctantly, that this is indeed how the credit department works and that we will have to keep trying to ring in the sale.

Tuesday- call saleslady, nope.  Sale wouldn't go through but I will try again Wednesday.

I bet you can guess what happened today.  I am pretty tolerant of 'system issues'.  I've worked in a bank for a decade in the back end and I know that things take time to reverse and correct themselves. 
But seriously people.  I am all done.  Sales lady's solution was to come to the mall collection and open yet another Sears charge, cause they have 3 different ones and we'll just put it on the new card.

Um NO. 

I polished up my bitch-o-meter and spent a lengthy amount of time on the phone with credit explaining my story, being passed to another person, explaining the story yet again, yelling I AM TRYING TO GIVE YOU PEOPLE MY MONEY AND YOU WON'T TAKE IT until a supervisor got on the line and I explained yet again about the 24 photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, my painful purchase and gave the supervisor the sales lady's cell phone number and said WORK IT OUT.  I am tired of calling you and calling her and getting nowhere.  I AM THE CUSTOMER, YOU ARE THE EMPLOYEE MAKE IT WORK.

Sales lady heads to the store tonight to speak directly with credit to get a magic authorization number and all I can say is a call better come in that my new LAUNDRY LOVE BOXES are coming Saturday or I am going to really explode.

On another note...I was in Newton off Walnut street yesterday parking int he lot near Star to head over to Jin Mi Co for Kimchee and Mirin when I witnessed a lady pull up, get out of her car. 

She walked over to a meter with a broken sign that someone had obviously hand made and used a rubber band to affix the sign to the meter.  She took the sign off, walked over to her meter and using the same rubber band she wrapped the sign around her meter and headed off to Starb*cks.  Does it get any cheaper than that?

Maine Style

A shopping post in the style of Madame Blackbird.

I decided since it is raining in Mass and raining in Maine and both Mom and I chose this lovely week as one of our vacation weeks, why not head back up to hang out here for a few days.

Today we jaunted out on one of our foodie adventures interspersed with a visit to Marden's, Maine's version or Building 19 located in the shell of an old Wal-Fart in Waterville.

What else could one do on a cold rainy day?

I hung my camera casually on my neck and took a few clandestine photos.

First, Mom and I tried to determine the ugliest shoes.

I give you exhibit 1.  Not really avert your eyes ugly,but pretty high up there on the list.

Next up are these hooker height version of an espadrille, not likely to be seen with an izod anything.

Now these babies, are beginning to, and I quote the lovely Blackbird, "make my neck itch".

Now these, zebra anyone(?) are really starting to tip the fugly scale, but the piece d' resistance that puts them over the edge is the leather fringe with the hammer nail heads.  Oh yes. And don't the proportions make your feet look like elf feet or mushrooms?

Now these, these, are my pick for the winner.  Come on...blue strawberries.  BLUE STRAWBERRIES with peek-a-boo toes.  Is it supposed to appeal to the latent post 1980's Strawberry Shortcake fan?

Are you looking for a little something to fit on that space over your couch, perhaps a nice piece of art?

Sadly I didn't really capture the full 3-D effect of this one.  The boat, it's coming right AT YOU! And for only $15.99!!

We thought we might have a little look in the furniture section to see if there was a couch we might want to replace the ancient one we have up here.  Suddenly we turned a corner and Mom grabbed my arm and said "Joan!  There it is!"

We were so sad that they only had the loveseat so we kept looking look!
Over on the other side of the room and there were its friends.  You could have a whole living room set! And the upholstery is a lovely cold crunchy creamy vinyl....MMMMMMMMMM.  Wouldn't that be nice in hot weather...in shorts?

and in white too...

That concluded our little shopping event and off we went to the Farmer's Market in Downtown Waterville.

Thank you

Card Compromise

Yup. I got hit.
called me at 5:00 PM
Sorry Maam. compromised.  Must close account.  Now.
Leaving for Maine at 9:00 AM
No access to Cash
Pricks.

** I realised after reding this again that some may think I am mad at my bank.  No, its the thieves that can suck it.

Lofty Choice

My early years were spent living and visiting old mill towns in Mass.  I grew up in Chelmsford, bordering Lowell and Nashua and the Merrimack river. These towns were all industrial mill towns at the turn of the century. In fact, My Mom remembers living in that area as well as growing up in Cornish NH/Windsor VT in the same sort of towns.  She remembers the rivers ran green or blue or red depending on what colour the factories were dying fabric or leather that week. Sure environmental pollutants..but pretty ones! (I kid)

My Italian Grandfather ran a clothing factory not far from the North End near the old elevated line and the Garden (The Gah-Dnn if you are a local) and I remember going to the factory and visiting him and 'his girls'. I have always had a burning desire to one day live in an old brick mill with enormous floor to ceiling windows, preferably on a river, with open duct work and a roof garden.  It's been a dream for as long as I can remember.

Husband and I were returning from picking up our meat CSA from Stillman Farms over in Brookline and I showed him the water works in Chestnut Hill across from the reservoir. I had always pipe-dreamed of living in that building when I went to high school near there over 25 years ago.  I assumed the tower top would hold a nice hot tub overlooking the reservoir. Of course now it has been converted into condos which at $3.4M they are a wee bit out of my range.

Now one of my other dream buildings on the banks of the Charles in Waltham is being converted to office/condo space.  Every time husband and I return from Hannaford's and cross over the bridge and I see the back of the Waltham Watch factory butting up to the slow moving river, floor to ceiling windows spaced apart like soldiers, I dream of living here.  There we were Sunday reading the paper, flicking the pages when I squealed.  Husband looked up from his copy of the Times and raised an eyebrow.  Look!  Look, they are converting 'my building' into condos.  can we please, can we, huh huh huh?

A pipe dream I know, but a girls got to have her dreams...right?

oddities and one offs

My fabulous brother-in-law Mr. King, has helped me solve the wireless issue with a suggested firmware upgrade to the old SMC router.  I am officially UN-TETHERED.

I have finally made a decision about a serious change in my life regarding a job offer in my current career.  It took lots of pro and con lists and consultations with everyone in my inner circle.  It is not an easy decision, but I am totaly comfortable with my choice, and honoured to have been asked.

I am looking forward to hanging out in Maine for a few days with my Mom who drives up from VA next Friday for a month long stay.  It's a girlie sleepover with 3 cats, one is a new addition to the family and rumoured to be rather like a disobedient wild teenager. We are looking forward to dining on things that we like and exploring some new places.

My garden continues to heal itself from that hailstorm with amazing speed.  I cut back the zucchini leaves that were damaged and new ones sprung up and a few zucchini are currently growing.  Every day i go out and chip away at the torn and shredded leaves and it is starting to look normal again.  The hummingbird has returned to discover the monarda I planted just for them and I even saw 2 new birds, either a pair of pine siskin or some kind of warbler sticking their noses in my tiny petunias.  Are there other nectar eating birds besides hummingbirds in my neck of the woods?

There are gooseberries cooked down with elderflower cordial just read to make a fool1 for dessert, I have crabcakes chilling in the fridge upstair to fry up for dinner with a salad.  I used my snazzy new cherry pitter and pitted the pint I bought at the farmer's market Tuesday, tomorrow they will become a clafouti and I need to find something to do with my skirt steak that is thawing out from the freezer.

Time to go make a vodka tonic and wind down.  I hope your Saturday evening is just as lovely.

1  fool² • n.  chiefly Brit.   a cold dessert made of puréed fruit mixed or served with cream or custard: raspberry fool with cream.