|
5023. Trillium - 10/4/2013 8:49:45 PM Happy traveling, Robertjayb. Just a thought ... one of my kids is housesitting for the month, for a couple who travels a great deal and needed someone to look after their (ailing elderly) cat! The situation is a godsend because she changed jobs and couldn't find a reasonable apartment right away.
Another friend, a successful writer, has gone to Newfoundland (of all the cold places!) to housesit for people who have property up there but don't spend the whole year there. She is getting a lot of writing done in the different setting.
If you can find a responsible person for the winter, it might be a good deal for everyone... 5024. arkymalarky - 10/4/2013 10:53:57 PM Yay Delight Mom's!
Our CO house isn't habitable yet but the neighbors keep a good watch so far. 5025. arkymalarky - 10/5/2013 12:36:01 AM You really ought to swing by Robert. We're four miles off the interstate 5026. webfeet - 10/7/2013 11:24:50 PM So jealous of your friend, Arky, even though it sounds a little like "The Shining." What I would do to write in solitude--. I'd be able to finish all my projects!
I briefly had a week in Aix, then belle mere's good friends who live next door to la famille in the Alps put me in La Chambre des Abeilles, or the 'Bee Room' which was formerly used by the peasants to make honey. I used it as my bunker. I kept a bottle of wine in there, laptop, and by the end of the day, my children were playing hide and seek under the cot. I could have lived there. Except that at night, I was afraid of seeing a werewolf outside my window.
Speaking of werewolfs, reading Fred Vargas (Frederique) 'Seeking Whom He May Devour' (je ne sais pas le titre en Français) a thriller about the wolves from the Mercantour and a murder that takes place in the French Alps, a story close to my own heart. 5027. arkymalarky - 10/7/2013 11:53:49 PM that was Julian's friend, websitte, but you could suddenly right in solitude here. 5028. arkymalarky - 10/7/2013 11:55:26 PM that was Trillium's friend, webfeet, but you could certainly write in solitude here. 5029. arkymalarky - 10/7/2013 11:57:12 PM before and after: voice to text unedited, voice to text edited 5030. webfeet - 10/10/2013 2:41:50 AM Nice inner monologue, arky. Yes, that's why I don't log in very often. 5031. arkymalarky - 10/10/2013 3:04:09 PM Not an internal monologue webfeet, just a correction. You were looking at Trillium's post before, not mine. But I live in a very bucolic environment, so it's a great place for writing. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, with my new job I do a lot of my posting while stan drives us to work and back. 5032. Trillium - 10/13/2013 2:36:49 AM Some time ago San Francisco was in the news with pear twigs grafted onto ornamental Bradford pear landscaping. I loved that.
My own stealth project was to toss heirloom "tommy toe" tomatoes into random shrubbery and see what happens. :) this year I have two tomato patched literally going wild, one over my brother's azalea bushes and another near a public sports field where I like to walk. :) I very gratified and am going to redouble my efforts this fall. I would like to see wild random tomato patches, like blackberry brambles, all around!! 5033. arkymalarky - 10/13/2013 3:14:21 AM Stan loves tommytoes. We should try that! 5034. wabbit - 10/14/2013 11:43:44 PM t'ful, love the photo!
Hello Trillium and webfeet! 5035. judithathome - 10/17/2013 8:30:34 PM Well, our long "home" nightmare is over...a horde of electricians swarmed into our house yesterday and rewired the whole thing. It drove me absolutely crazy to have everything in such a mess and having all that in-and-out traffic ALL day long.
But it's over and Keoni can rest...he has been in a snit for months that the wiring will cause a fire and we'll lose everything we own. To tell you the truth, I'm to the point that I just don't care if it DOES.
By the way, while all that was going on, I was passing a kidney stone...not a fun day. 5036. wabbit - 10/18/2013 1:32:22 AM Ouch. 5037. arkymalarky - 10/18/2013 2:40:59 AM Sounds rough! 5038. judithathome - 10/20/2013 9:54:40 PM Last night, we went with the 7 other people to a "Phonecian"/Greek/Lebanese restaurant that is "family style"...extensive menu and one cook. One server, too.
Everything is cooked fresh...nothing hits the pan until you order. Huge platters of food, servings based on the number of people at the table.
I couldn't eat but did have one bite of three things and nearly swoooned over the aromas and the few tastes I had.
We had roasted veggies (carrots, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, onion, peppers, potatoes), roasted lamb, stuffed lamb sausage, huge bowl of lentil soup, roasted mushrooms, chicken, talipia, flalfel, rice, spinach pie, roasted potatoes, tabouli, hummus, baba ganouche...and fruit. Yes, fruit...4 platters full. Cantaloupe, pineapple, mango, paypaya, pomegranite, watermelon, apples, blackberries, raspberries, grapes, cactus pear (!), oranges...it was insanity.
Everyone took home at least 4 huge styrofoam boxes of leftovers. AND we had 2 teenagers with us! Teenagers who LIKED the food!
This place is in an old house and only has 2 rooms in which to serve people. Accomodates about 30. We got there at 5:30 and didn't leave til 7:45.
Including tip, the bill was $100.
I can't stress enough how plentiful the food on that table was...we could have fed 5 or 6 more people. For the same price. 5039. arkymalarky - 10/20/2013 10:32:59 PM I love restaurant finds like that. We tend to get lucky traveling, like when we're in CO, and sometimes can't find them again or they're closed the next year. 5040. judithathome - 10/20/2013 10:55:01 PM This place has been around for over 20 years...sometimes, they close down for months at a time but they always re-open.
I don't see HOW they can make ANY money...their food is stellar. I mean, you can tell nothing is pre-made. Just their produce bill alone should sink them. Not to mention the meat bill. 5041. wabbit - 10/21/2013 9:53:50 PM Had Chinese once in a similar situation, lovely old enormous Victorian house in Easton, PA. Husband was the chef and that night was on crutches. We were a group of maybe a dozen or so folks and several of us decided to lend a hand. Between us we got the table set, food served, table cleared and kitchen cleaned up. Couldn't beat the food, which was delicious, and the total price was also around $100, maybe less (obviously BYOB). Nothing like having dinner in the chef's dining room. We had a great time! 5042. webfeet - 10/25/2013 3:03:25 AM Arky, I guess the meaning was lost in transit, although maybe I need to get away from my desk more!
Judith, question: how was it the next day? All good?
Hey wabbit! Chinese food in an old Victorian home with a chef on crutches could sound totally creepy...but it wasn't! Yay for that!
My French husband is in Tahiti on a business trip...I hope he doesn't father a little island baby.
|
