SATURDAY NIGHT RUMINATIONS

I am just sitting here at the trusty computer checking out some new blogs I have found and thinking that I really should post something. You know that feeling you get when you know your adoring public is just hanging on your every word?? Well, maybe not.

Here is what is currently happening. Yesterday my 14 year old cat, Calvin, had his tumorous third eyelid removed. He had been having some pro bono magnetic resonance therapy, which I referred to as hocus pocus therapy ( after all, it does involve something that resembles a divining rod ), but it did not help his eye. He looks good as new now, but I have to give him artificial tears and polymycin salve.

It rained hard here all day and although we do need the rain badly it was pouring when I went grocery shopping...not cold...just pouring. But rain and October ar powerful associations and therefore I found myself buying "Fall Food", you know, like meat for pot roast, parsnips and buttercup squash. Amazing how powerful a simple rainy day can be.

Speaking of fall, I have a dilemma. This spring I bought a metal trough type windowbox for my kitchen window next to my back door. I planted it with impatients and let them go. They are so beautiful now that I cannot bring myself to pull them out and plant mums and pansies. So now I have a schizophrenic looking tableau, a basket with sunflowers, oak leaves with acorns and bittersweet hanging on the back door, a window box full of pink, white and salmon impatients and a zinc watering can with bittersweet in it. I am afraid the little men in white coats will be here for me anytime, lol.

I am not sure why these italics keep appearing and disappearing, they seem to have a mind of their own!! For the first time in my life I am having a contractor paint for me. Pretty exciting stuff for a girl who demands perfection in such things and then doesn't do a very good job when she does it herself. We were to have the kitchen done and also the foyer, stairway and upstairs hall. That area still has wallpaper which was put up on bare wallboard when the house was built. No plaster, no paint, no sizing and I can tell you from stripping all the other rooms in the house that it is a bear to do. Plus the stairwell is impossible to get to. The color for the foyer etc will be a straw color, no problem. I pride myself on being very good with color and can actually carry color around in my head until I find the perfect shade. That being said, I am making myself crazy with the kitchen color. The floors and countertops are a darkish blue which I still like although the countertops are showing some wear, the cabinets are pickled oak. They are the bugaboo! I would paint the kitchen a straw color or camel color, but the cabinets have a pink tinge which looks awful with any yellow tint. I would go with a nice taupe but it has to be really dark to contrast with the cabinets. Do I "wuss out" and just go with white again? It seems so boring. Right now I am partial to Copper Mountain from Ben Moore, but I am afraid it is kind of lifeless. What to do, what to do? It was supposed to be started in a week or so, but sadly the 60 year old painter died last weekend, very suddenly. Now his son, who also has a painting company, will do the job in the middle of November. How many more colors can I sample before then?? My kitchen looks like a quilt festival already ;>)

So, those are my crazy thoughts running around in my head tonight. Maybe I should just go and eat some chocolate...what do you think??

Later,
Janet

BLUE SHUTTERS

We stayed at The Blue Shutters Inn, a classic B&B type arrangement in an old house ( I am guessing the early 1800s by the floors and general architecture of the original structure) that has been added onto many times over the years. I believe there are four rooms in the Main House. There is a newer structure with 6 rooms in the back. The Inn is owned by a young couple, Paul and Ewa , who make your stay a very pleasant one. The rooms and baths are not "fancy", but are very serviceable. The location is perfect...steps from the Marginal Way, close to Perkins Cove and a short walk uptown to antique shops, funky boutiques, restaurants and and a bakery to die for, Bread and Roses Bakery.

Late Saturday afternoon we returned from our ocean walk and found wine was out on the sideboard. I helped myself to a glass of Chianti and sat on the porch listening to the ocean, reading the new Romantic Homes magazine. Does it get any better than this?? Oh yeah, it was sunny and about 72 degrees...just perfect. We ate pizza outside at Caffe Prego and got dessert to go. Quite delicious, but little did we know that the bakery was open late and we could have chosen from a much larger selection there. It is really lovely to stay somewhere where you can walk uptown and to the beach in the evening and enjoy the sights and sounds after dark. The only downside, we were not in a residential neighborhood so Housepeeping was not an option. Sorry!

Later,
Janet

FOOD SNOBISM

OK, everyone who knows me at all well knows that I am a bit ( OK, more than a bit) of a food snob. I make 99% of our food from scratch and enjoy cooking comfort type foods for Bob and myself. Bob brags to his friends and co-workers that he eats "restaurant quality" food every night. So, call me gobsmacked when I tried a sample of this chicken at Trader Joes. It is so very delicious that I swear to you I could eat the whole bag which they proclaim is 5 servings. Even though it is dark meat chicken, the batter is light and tasty and it is not greasy at all when baked for 18 minutes and it is not salty. The sauce is just the right touch of tangy and sweet, with a hint of ginger. Serve with some brown rice and roasted broccoli and it is a quick and tasty dinner and the chicken is only $5.

Tasty, Tasty, Tasty!


Later,
Janet

MAINE AGAIN

The pictures above were taken on The Marginal Way, a walking trail that runs above the ocean for over a mile in Ogunquit Maine. The house belongs to a very, very fortunate homeowner. Imagine how much a home overlooking this view is worth ;>)






These bottom pictures were taken on a beach in York Maine. Maine does not have many sandy beaches, but the ones it does have are certainly divine on a beautiful mid-September day.

Off to a Birthday party for my French amie, Valerie.

Later,
Janet

MAINE #1

StoneWall Kitchen Flagship store in York Maine. You can sample every product, buy some exquisite blue and white transferware and eat a lobster roll in the cafe garden. What a treat for all the senses.




Later,
Janet

LOOK WHAT I FOUND

Remember a few days ago when I told you I had worked on a ferry in the summers during college?? I showed you a picture of the MV Valcour cruising its way across Lake Champlain from Burlington VT to Port Kent NY. This weekend we were visiting a Flea Market in Kennebunk ME and what to my wondering eyes should appear?? This plate still had the $1.79 price tag on the back from the Ferry Dock gift shop. Wanna know how much this treasure ( at least to me) was ??? Best deal ever.....$1.

Who says you can't find a good deal once in a while?
Later,
Janet

Anniversary # 18

We are off to Ogunquit Maine tomorrow to spend a couple of nights at the seashore celebrating our 18th Anniversary, a Scintilating Seashore Sojourn, if you will. I just realized that I don't know what the 18th Anniversary is?? Probably something prosaic like paper towels or lawn fertilizer.

On a related note I have spent the better part of the last two days trying to find something to make the 40 Longs look like grapefruits, but alas, I have not been successful. Something that my father would refer to as "an over the shoulder boulder holder" in black peekaboo lace. Ladies, take it from me, such a thing does not exist.

Later,
Janet