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Showing posts from August, 2014

FAIR TIME

The Champlain Valley Fair means the end of summer in our area of Vermont. I took my grand kids last year and my grandson has been talking about it with the anticipation most kids might save for Santa Claus for the past year. It rolled around again and I was chump enough to agree to take them once again. The age difference between my two grandchildren sometimes makes an outing a challenge.  Also Kristen is entering that stage of wanting distance between herself and her grandmother--or adults generally.  I told her she could invite a friend, leaving me free to concentrate on entertaining Dane.  Or leaving Dane free to entertain me. We negotiated.  I regular check-in time and spot with the girls, not games that would result in having to drag around prizes until we were leaving, and he and I would take turns picking the activities and rides.  That way we got to see the animals and the agricultural exhibits, ride the ferris wheel, and actually make it to the check-ins.  That way Dane a

Watching Netflix

I just recently signed up again for Netflix.  I signed up once a few years ago and never really got into it, but right now it is like my new best friend. I have been watching Last Tango in Halifax.  I saw a little bit of it on the first season, but not enough to say I knew entirely what it was about.  Now I am viewing an episode a day and really enjoying it. I never even heard of the series Rescue Me , but I am enjoying that as well.  It certainly does not give reason for hope in its portrayal of humanity, but there is something about the Dennis Leary character communing with the dead that has me hooked.  There are seven seasons of that to get through. I also have  Happy Valley  in my line up. I used to read.  Now I am watching television.  I am not sure that is progress.

Weekend in Connecticut

I was in Connecticut visiting my sister-in-law over the weekend.  We went shopping at the Corelle outlet and had hot lobster rolls at a place on the river.  On Saturday night we took a haunted house tour at the Mark Twain House .  Mr.  Clemens did not show up, nor did any other spirits that I saw.  Still, it was an interesting tour. Some day I will figure out how to get pictures off my new phone and I will be better able to share some of my little travels. So instead of a picture, I will share a quote: “Life is short, Break the Rules.   Forgive quickly,  Kiss SLOWLY.  Love truly.  Laugh uncontrollably And never regret ANYTHING  That makes you smile.”  ―  Mark Twain

Writers' Group Field Trip

I have belonged to a writers' group at the Jericho Town Library for a number of years now.  In fact, I just realized I have participated since its inception.  The group has changed members over the years, numbers growing and falling off. Right now there are three of us who meet on a fairly regular basis--the goal is every other week, but of course life sometimes intrudes on that plan.  We work on our separate projects and meet to share and offer feedback and support.  This has become such an important part of my life as have the the two women who have become writerly colleagues and friends. Sometimes we go on a field trip together.  Yesterday we went to a public event that was part of this summer's Middlebury College writer's conference at their Bread Loaf Campus.  You can see a video and a slide show of the campus HERE .  You can get more information Here . We attended a reading from a novel in progress by Margot Livesey .  I could only sigh at the craft in the hand

Craziness

I have kind of a quirky imagination, but there is some stuff that just cannot be made up.  I heard this on the local news the other night.  A toddler found a gun in her own diaper bag after being dropped off at a daycare center.  A LOADED GUN. The child's grandmother had "forgotten" the loaded gun was in the diaper bag.  WHAT?? Even more curious--the daycare's solution to this little problem--children will no longer be permitted to bring diaper bags or backpacks to the facility. Do we live in a crazy world?

Meatless Monday

It is zucchini and summer squash season. This is my favorite way to use it. Cheesy Squash Casserole   1 pound of zucchini, sliced* 1pound of yellow summer squash, sliced* 1/2 sweet onion, diced 1/2 cup butter** 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese*** 2 eggs, lightly beaten 1 T. sugar 1 t. salt 1 t. fresh thyme 1 cup crushed Ritz crackers 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165C) Bring a large post of water to a boil.  Add squashes and onion and cook until tender (about 15 minutes). * Drain well and transfer vegetables to a large bowl.   Add butter so it starts to melt. Add eggs, sugar, salt, and thyme.  Stir gently to combine and until butter is melted. Add cracker crumbs until moisture is absorbed. Turn into a 1 1/2 qt. baking dish and top with bread crumbs. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. *Here is a trick I learned from Lydia Bastianich:  cook the squash whole with ends in tact.  The squash does not need to absorb extra water.  Sli

New Shoes

My running shoes are past their prime.  Not that I run, but I do an exercise walk and running shoes are what I find most comfortable for that. In the spirit of full disclosure--or perhaps of TMI--I have been known to walk five miles in flip-flop sandals.  I know that is wrong.  Time to treat myself better. Anyway, I need new running/walking shoes so I went online to do some research.  Isn't technology so so grand? I learned something to pass along.  It is from Fleet Feet and is really about socks: At rest, the average foot releases 1 cup of sweat each day. On a 5 mile run, your feet produce enough sweat to fill an 8 ounce glass. 55% of foot perspiration evaporates through the shoes upper. The other 45% is absorbed in the sock and footbed of your shoe! Two trillion bacteria live on your feet (that’s 12% of all bacteria on the human body). Yeah, talk about Too Much Information! I did get new running shoes.  They are Asics gel nimbus and they were more expensive

Oh, NOOooooo.....

Changes.  They occur all the time. We can fight them or embrace them.  We can accept that they will happen in either event and simply float along with them. I can't say I disagree, but it is obvious to me that JFK did not practice yoga. Those who look only to the past or only to the future miss the present.  Being present is what I strive for each day. I much prefer this quote: So here is what I have to embrace in this moment: I stepped out my front door and noticed the maple tree across the road has started to change.  And I definitely have to change my attitude about it! Oh, I love the autumn in Vermont.  It is beautiful.  But that first hint that it is coming--a sign that beloved summer has already started its wind-down--that can throw me into a funk for days. For today, I will be concentrating on the gifts of this day, the blessing in each moment.  But I will also be exiting my house through the garage rather than the front door.