by Judy Handley | Sep 7, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 250: Tomatoes
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2019
Weather: Windy AM, Clearing PM; High 73, Low 58 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Thankfully, Dorian passed by during the night basically unnoticed and has finally moved on from the US. But it is now moving northeastward across Nova Scotia. Will it ever end? It is one exhausting storm to watch and one devastating storm to so many people. None were hit like the islands in the northern Bahamas and we still don’t know the extent of damage and death there. When I see pictures, it looks like total devastation. The Bahamians I met while sailing there were proud people who loved their country. Not sure how they will rebuild, but I know they will.
My day was totally dedicated to getting those tomatoes turned into marinara sauce. I did it and just put the pot in the refrigerator for the night. Hopefully it will get canned over the next couple of days.
by Judy Handley | Sep 6, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 249: Happy Anniversary to Heather and Jed
Date: Friday, September 6, 2019
Weather: Overcast, Rain Starting Mid-Afternoon; High 70, Low 61 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Happy 16th wedding anniversary to Heather and Jed! I tried to encourage them to go out to dinner or at least stop for Happy Hour on their way home, so I went over to be with the boys after school. But when they got home, we found out they had gone shopping instead. But at least they went shopping to by themselves an anniversary present. Evidently the modern gift for the 16th is silver hollowware, so Heather stretched that a bit to buy the stainless steel risotto pot she has been wanting. It is hollow and the stainless steel looks a little like silver. The important thing is that she and Jed were very happy with their purchase. They left the kitchen shop and stopped to buy wine and they both seemed very pleased with their selections. They were going to have mushroom risotto and good wine for dinner at home with the boys . . . a wonderful family celebration of the occasion.
I spent my day processing the 30 pounds of tomatoes I bought yesterday. The process for making marinara sauce is to first blanch the tomatoes, put them in cool water, and then peel and deseed them. I found my tiny kitchen perfect for this as the stove is right next to the sink. The next step is chopping the onions, celery, and carrots, sauté them, add the spices, and then then put all of the ingredients in the VitaMix. The Goldpebbles won’t eat the sauce if they see a piece of tomato, so the VitaMix takes care of that problem. Hopefully by late morning tomorrow I’ll have the sauce bubbling on the stove and then the canning will take place on Sunday. I have my Dining-in Group coming on Sunday evening, so I did a little getting ready for that today as well. The weather was not inspirational, and we are supposed to have more rain and tropical storm force winds overnight. If we are lucky, it will just be like a good nor’easter and things will clear by the afternoon. I certainly won’t be sad to see Dorian leave the United States. I think we are all exhausted with following the twists and turns of this storm and all of the people affected are still reeling with the damage it has wrought. Thankfully the US was spared the worst, but the news out of the Bahamas is just devastating. After Dorian pays us a visit during the night, it is supposed to make a pass by Nova Scotia and then hopefully out to the sea . . . finally.
by Judy Handley | Sep 5, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 248: Out of Focus
Date: Thursday, September 5, 2019
Weather: Partly Sunny and Cooler; High 77, Low 53 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
I felt like I was ‘out of focus’ today. I did a little of this and a little of that, but I couldn’t quite get a clear picture of what I needed to do. I was so saddened when I learned of Rich Kole’s death last night and I just couldn’t shake that today. I did go to the Farmer’s Market and Carrie from Peach Tree Farms had 30 pounds of tomatoes for me. So I definitely know what I am doing tomorrow. On Saturday Sam and Jonah have their first soccer games of the fall if weather permits. But it is possible that we will have tropical storm force winds in the wee hours of Saturday morning and lots of rain as Dorian passes by. So soccer games might happen, or they might not. On Sunday the weather clears and I have my Newcomers Dining-in Group coming to dinner. On Monday I have two doctor appointments. So, I’m not going to have to think about what I am doing for a few days. I just have to do what needs to be done.
by Judy Handley | Sep 4, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 247: Friends
Date: Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Weather: Mostly Sunny; High 86, Low 59 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Lunch today was with friends celebrating Olivia White’s birthday a little more than a month late. Her birthday was the end of July, but she was busy with friends at the time and August just got too busy for all of us. Better late than never. It was wonderful to be together today.
Friendship is a precious thing. And in one day I celebrated life with friends over lunch and then tonight I got word that the husband of one of my best friends from New Hampshire passed away today. I am still in shock over the news. I have often visited with Leslie and Rich in Rye, New Hampshire, and am devastated by the loss of Rich. He was chef extraordinaire, a dedicated and loving husband and father, and the proud grandfather of Luke and Piper. My deepest love is sent to Leslie and daughter Jess and family.
by Judy Handley | Sep 3, 2019 | 2019 Life Logs |
2019 Life Logs, Day 246: Sand in My Shoes on First Day of School
Date: Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Weather: Sunny; High 83, Low 62 degrees F
Location: At Home in the Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
It was the first day of school for the Goldpebbles. It is really hard for me to believe that Sam is in seventh grade this year. Jonah is in fifth grade and little Ollie is growing like a weed and is in second grade, not so little any more.
01 Granddad Picks Up Sam and Jonah at Woods Hole Day Care
When Mark and I ‘landed’ here on the Cape in 2011, Jonah and Sam were both in preschool and Ollie was still to come. On the first day of preschool that year, Mark and I picked Sam and Jonah up at the end of the day. I just took a trip down memory lane by looking at the photos of that event. My, how these grandkids grow up so quickly! I didn’t see them today, but Heather took photos that she shared on Facebook. Thank you, Heather.
Now to the sand in my shoes today. I got up with absolutely nothing on my calendar. I decided that I wanted to spend some time at the beach, take a long walk, and enjoy the sunshine. Then I realized that I could do all of those things by driving to the Outer Cape to see the gray seals at High Head Beach in North Truro . . . a field trip for the first day of school. When Heather, Jed, and the boys told me about their trip to High Head Beach this past weekend, I knew I just had to go there. So today was the day. It is about an hour and a half drive and then a 15 to 20 minute walk through deep sand and up and over a dune to get there. But it was certainly worth it. What I saw was a beautiful beach with what I would estimate to be more than a hundred gray seals frolicking in the water. From a distance they just look like black rocks in the water. Some were far in the distance and some were just off the beach where I arrived . . . a greeting committee.
Since I have never seen gray seals before, I just sat in the sand and watched them for over an hour. Sam had told me that they have HUGE nostrils and he was certainly right about that. Their heads are elongated and they appear to love just sticking their noses straight up for long periods of time. A few times it looked like a couple were in a little battle with their heads while looking towards the sky. Seagulls lined the tide line to watch while little sanderlings skittered about. Just glorious. On the walk back to my car, I took the time to look at the dune flora. There was a ground cover with red berries that I was not familiar with, but when I got home I looked it up and found it to be bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi). Evidently it has small whitish-pink urn-shaped flowers in April and May and red berries that appear in August and last through the winter. There was also a lot of sweet goldenrod (Solidago odora), but what I found out when I looked it up tonight is that it is not the same as ragweed, which is the popular belief. Evidently, sweet goldenrod does not cause seasonal allergies and if you crush the leaves, they smell like licorice. Who knew? Certainly not me. But that’s why you go on field trips and do research afterwards. I also learned a lot about gray seals this evening. Grey seals (Calidris alba), spelled ‘gray’ in the United States, live on both shores of the North Atlantic. They are known as horsehead seals due to the shape of their heads and are commonly referred to as “true seals” or “earless seals” as they do not have external ear flaps. Average females are about seven and a half feet long and weigh about 550 pounds, while males on average are ten feet long and weigh about 880 pounds. I also read that at low tide, the gray seals at High Head Beach sometimes come up on the beach to lounge around. I will definitely be returning at low tide to see the seals on the beach and to enjoy getting more sand in my shoes.
One more tidbit, this time about Hurricane Dorian and President Trump. When I got home, I turned on the television to get an update on Hurricane Dorian. Thankfully it has moved on from the Bahamas and it looks like it will skim the US coast, maybe making landfall in the Carolinas. Hurricanes are never good news, but then this was the best case scenario projected and hopefully it veers off and doesn’t make landfall at all. The devastation in the northern Bahamas is heart-breaking with information from Grand Bahama Island still to come. But in listening to this update, I also saw a video clip of President Trump giving a hurricane press conference this weekend. I couldn’t believe what I heard him say. “A Category 5 is something that I don’t know that I’ve even heard the term . . . ” Really? Well, Mr. President. Katrina and Maria would be two very devastating Category 5 hurricanes that hit the United States mainland or a US territory and most Americans know that. Plus, there have been seven Category 5 hurricanes since you have been President. How sad that you don’t know this very basic information.
