Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Off the List

I'm taking Thesis off of our Big Projects list.

My thesis has been done, printed and bound for two years.  In those two years Bruce went to school full time, while working full time and got his masters.  The school era of our lives is over. Stay tuned for new Big Projects.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Pantry

Pretty self explanatory.  I finally have some pantry space. YaY!!!!!  It took me a dozen trips over the stairs but now I will have room to get all my wedding gift kitchen equipment OUT of the dinning room and attic and into the kitchen.  This meant getting all my summer canned produce goodness OUT of the kitchen cabinets because it was taking up far to much real-estate.
It is in the basement, part of a larger basement renovation project which I hope to reveal the first section of soon. The bookcase was already in the basement; yes, there is some discoloration on the bottom from moisture.  I think this bookcase was built in our basement and it is made of solid wood.  So the little bit of discoloration is just that, not buckled disgustingness that happens with particle board. We unloaded it, moving all the painting supplies and electrical supplies to their appropriate places, moved it to the "finished" section of the basement, cleaned it and re-loaded it.  And when I say we I mean Bruce did everything but the pantry-fying.  He's super, I was doing turkey day prep and cooking.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Garden Wrap Up

Our garden was a whirlwind this year.  I managed to purchase grow lamps over the winter and set up seedlings in the basement.  I started tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, broccoli, beans, butternut squash, spaghetti squash and acorn squash.  Bamm!

I got things going outside at the end of March with onion seedlings and neurotically checking to see if the asparagus was up.

April: Peas went directly in the ground.  Good puck peas!!! And I was able to start harvesting asparagus.  I won't lie I burned the first batch. It was. So. Sad.
The tomatoes, jalepeños, beans, peas, acorn squash, butternut squash and broccoli all came up from seed and went into the ground at the appropriate time.  I ran to the "DeathSpot" and picked up peppers, zucchini  summer squash and cucumbers. I also planted carrots and radishes.  I did this all before Memorial Day weekend, the lady that did my nails for the wedding might have commented about the dirt under my nails, fingers and toes. I also might have done all this planting in a tube top to prevent tank top tan.

Then we went away for 2+ weeks.

We came home and I had MADE VEGETABLES.  There were tomatoes and peppers and beans and peas and onions Oh My!  I tried to remember to weed, sometimes I even did.  I spread some compost and organic kelp fertilizer and harvested asparagus.

Then I had a pepper and the onion greens had turned yellow and fallen over, so pulled them out of the ground and I had MADE onions.
Insert around this point we also bought into a farm share.  Once a week we picked up a basket full of produce, milk and half and half; it was amazing and our grocery bill went way down.  We will do this again next year.

The onions kept very well in the fridge and they eventually went into salsa with garden peppers that was canned.

By August everything that was going to grow was producing.  I can't grow carrots or radishes in our yard after three years I'm throwing in the towel.  The broccoli never flowered (you eat the flowers) but we had tomatoes, peppers, squashes, peas, beans and asparagus.
We will eat it all!  I made sauce and salsa with the tomatoes.  The peppers and onions also went into the salsa.  Peppers also went into chili.  The bumper crop of jalepeños I used to make poppers. We got tons of corn in our farm share and I made this great roasted red pepper and corn soup. I also made two dozen pints of tomato sauce with tomatoes from the farm stand down the road. Oh! and Slow Cooker Ketchup from Simple Bites, which is amazing and easy and Bruce still hasn't stopped talking about it.

Before Sandy arrived we pulled the husks of plants, planted some garlic bulbs and mulched six inches of leaves into the garden.  Which is when I noticed that the broccoli had flowered.  Maybe next year I'll get it in the ground earlier or maybe I'll do something else.

October 2012

YaY we're all caught up!!!! I'll probably do a monthly re-cap like this at the end of each month but it will not be as painful as six in a row. . . I promise.
YaY better!, let's drink to its, Carl and Linnea's wedding weekend requires home-made sticky buns, first fire, Kenny got a new giant bone, first boots outing, sleep-over at Dan and Vanessa's requires going over the Zakim bridge, UMass football at Gilette stadium, band at halftime, to dark to get out of bed, fall from the office, Kenny and Bruce reading the card from a wedding gift, snugglin' waiting for Sandy, Tim is ready, Sandy rages we have a hurricane party and hope trees dont fall on the house, Halloween socks for halloween.

* We made out fine during Sandy, but our hearts go out to everyone on the CT shoreline, NYC, Long Island and Jersey that were not as fortunate as we were.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

September 2012

I really got back to working in September, not one early day or day off, I might have even put in some weekend time.
Go to Jack'N'Jill party see cutest husky puppy ever contemplate stealing, feel like death call out of work stay home with Kenny, sneak away weekend at the Pond to cold for swimming (human) or skiing, haul ass to get home from the Pond for Patriots season opener to find it's not on TV in CT commence Sunday Funday at the closest bar, dog-sit Sophie for two weeks, slice right thumb open with 8" boning knife across the knuckle requires four stitches and a splint, looking a little better, looking better, Sophie requires much snuggling but still wakes at 5am snuggling helps negate bitterness on the human end we are not 5am people.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

August 2012

We didn't think we'd get to "vacation" at the Pond this year. For me at work May started with a conference, then days off for wedding planning, a little work, then 2+ weeks off for the wedding and honey-moon, then planning and running a workshop, and getting experiments up and running.  By the time August rolled around I had some serious work to do at work with only weekends for the Ponds.  Then my grandfather passed away unexpectedly and whether or not I wanted to my brain was not working at work.  I took two vacation days plus the three days of bereavement time and Kenny and went home.  My parents and I (and most of the time Bruce) ate, drank, re-grouped and remembered.  At the Pond, because if you can that is the place to do those things. And because you are never alone at the Pond we did it with family, which, really, is the best way to do it.  Moral of the story for August: we spent more time at the Pond then we though we'd be able to and it was awesome.


Left work early but later than intended and hauling to Camp Holy Cross Goshen MA for, Barry Kingston and the Screaming Souls live in concert wild horses couldn't drag me away, garden harvest, Christine and Kennay heading to the Pond weekend #1, welcome home, view from bed weekend #1, Kenny's view from bed tired dogs will sleep anywhere, early AM skiing aka August church, parents to be getting some rest, mom post sauce explosion, Kenny getting cozy with Nana, view from the deck, bon-fire on the beach, 5 quarts of diced tomatoes for salsa, Kenny likes raw corn, sunset after the rain, dog dockside, bomb threat at work, rides in the vette, boys on the dock.

Friday, November 16, 2012

July 2012

These days we find ourselves asking "what happend to July" doesn't really look like much, we worked on cars, with the breaks going in the Audi and zee Passat (got flooded in May and June and tried to die) needing resuscitation  that seems to be all that happened on the weekends around here.  Although we also replaced our well pump and did the plumbing twice just to be sure.  And if it wasn't one of our cars in the garage don't worry Tim was here to fill it.  It's nice to have company even if it's because apartments in Brooklyn usually don't have garage space.
4th of July farm share basket first corn!, it's not summer without margaritas, first pepper, onion harvest, and then I though about making root-beer but I didn't, zee Passat no drivers seat waiting for the water to go away, first bon-fire of the season, going for a ride to go swimming, summer pizza fresh tomatoes fresh motz., my girl Lexie got married with this view, we played washers, and danced the night away, muffins with farmshare blueberries, dying my day-before-the-wedding-dress, replacing the pump, watching the opening ceremonies instead of driving to MA because the pump plumbing is being re-done.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

June 2012

With a ten day honeymoon there's not alot to show but have to fear there will be full wedding and honeymoon posts.
Layover in Miami with frosty beverages, view from our room, 14 hour delay getting home, we came home Kenny got a hair cut, opening all the cards, Kenny 24 hrs post op knee #2, putting on an awesome happy hour for a work event with awesome co-workers, breaks went be adults call AAA, it's all wheel drive we need a flat bed, but we made it to F1 the next day, for Tap Dan's dirty thirty, and for the late night at Dan and Vanessa's apt.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

May 2012

For center-pieces/table numbers, I caught my side mirror as it fell off on my way to work, gown fitting, pizza night, view from the Copley Marriott for a 3 day convention, sushi night alone, Sophie my wedding planning buddy,  Kenny and Sophie, killing a computer, batchlorette night at Herring Pond, peonies came out, just in time, I picked up bands, Kenny got a tie, I wrapped bridal party gifts, we left for MA and got Chloe settled for a two week sabbatical in Mom and Dad's basement, Kenny and I snuggled the night before the wedding, flower girl getting an up-do, We're Married!, Hyatt Harborside Jamaica bound the next morning.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

April 2012

Stuffing wedding invitations, Ron left Arbor Mist so we drank it from the bottle while stuffing invites, invites ready for the mail-man, essie tropical collection for the honeymoon, hair dresser secured with an updo for the flower girl, center piece vase selected, "no it is too nice I will not come in", Easter baskets even though we didn't make it home, Star Wars pancakes thanks to the Easter Bunny, collecting more milk glass, asparagus makes an appearance, Bruce washed the car, then sprayed me, first of many asparagus harvested, bridal shower outfit, Kenny and Bruce amist the bridal shower gifts, shaving Kenny's paws aka Sexy Feet, Kenny Sexy Feet Gets a bath, breaking in wedding shoes, May will be busy so I should paint my nails.

Monday, November 12, 2012

March 2012

I will apologize in advance for the massive photo dump today and the next five days will be.  Each day represents a month during our blogging hiatus, with one collage of iPhone photos with a run-on sentence to describe what happened through the "lens" of my iPhone. So here goes March, for this month and all that follow the run on sentence starts from the top-left photo and proceeds left to right, top to bottom.
Kickin' my feet up at work wishing I was outside on a nice friday, collecting milk glass, dancing dress one size to big, mom collected milk glass too with some help, zee passat hit 190,000 miles, it was foggy in the AM, indecisive about wedding shoes, a planner exploding with too much to do, Kenny follow up X-rays, Shipping up to Boston, with whiskey sour when I got there, bed troll aka Sophie keeping me company at mom and dads during wedding planning.

Friday, November 9, 2012

Getting Back on the Horse

The blogging horse, hopefully.

Now that we're married and honeymooned and summer vacationed (yes I am aware it's November) it's time for the bender to end and get back to being responsible adults and homeowners.


Leme (also known as "let me") catch you up.


What have we done . . . got married, went to Jamaica, Kenny had another knee surgery, spent July working on cars, August we were at the Pond and I finally bought a DSLR, September we were (thinking, thinking) catching up on life and at the Pond, October there was a wedding, I worked some weekends and there was a hurricane. And now it's November and we've already had a Nor'Easter.  TaDa!

I cannot believe that it is almost Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years (am I getting ahead of myself?)

Everytime we're working on something house related I hear "where's your camera aren't you going to blog this?" Working on it sweetums working on it.  So look for some posts, wedding photos and thoughts on life.  Coming to a blog near you (this blog, hopefully, soon).