Hi, everyone.
It's been a gorgeous, quiet and sunny day here in Delray-les-Plages with temperatures in the lower 80s, relative humidity at around 60%, a slight breeze. It was very enjoyable. It was a typical quiet Sunday. Gail took her weekly arthritis medication in the morning, but didn't sleep the afternoon away. I made chicken cacciatore with buttered penne and they had leftover banana nut loaf for dessert. It was good.
We were awakened by one of Gail's sisters at 3:15AM. She wasn't feeling well. Gail told her to call an ambulance and leave us alone. Like Rodney Dangerfield said: we get no respect. I don't sleep well and once awake, I have trouble finding sleep again. Drastic action had to be taken. While having my coffee this morning, I have configured our phone system to accept no incoming calls between 10:00PM and 8:00AM. We are not faith healers. Any emergency that arises can wait until 8AM.
I have Lucy draped around the back of my neck, holding on to my watch with her tail while I type, and being such a good baby. She's still in pink. The shedding process is started, but by no means begun. Right now, she's climbed on top of my head. She likes to climb up there and rest her throat over the bridge of my nose. She's watching my typing fingers intently, probably wondering what I am doing. Let me tell you it's not easy typing around 90 words/minute with a snake holding on to your left wrist, but I manage.
I asked dad if he was anxious to go to Montreal and finalize everything. He told me the quicker we got up there and returned, the better it would be. I have to agree with him. We're flying up there on April 24th, hoping to be back with his car within 7 or 8 days after we leave. We'll arrive on a Sunday, at lunch time. We'll retrieve his car immediately and start our business. I'm hoping to be at the border on Thursday morning at daybreak. I hate driving all the way from Montreal, but it has to be done. Our time up there will be very busy, no time to visit and lounge around in reunion mode. I have only told 2 friends we're going up there because I know those 2 don't know how to spread the word to the others. Winter has been rather mild up there, so I guess we won't have to lug Winter clothes during the few days we will be there. Much like him, I'll be glad when it's all done.
Acorns are raining from everywhere. Oy Veh, Kapiolani - as they say in Hawai'i. You people are way too generous. I'll have acorns galore if this keeps up. To everyone who sent me some of those, thank you. Now, if we could only get those 2 microbadges I was talking about. But many thanks to you all. This kind of makes me look like an acorn beggar. That was not my intent and mine cup runneth over. Many thanks.
OK, Lucy has decided to stick her cold nose in my ear and flicker her little tongue in there. I don't really enjoy that. But it's the Baby and there is not a molecule of malice in her. I hope she soon tires of that new game she just invented. She means no harm, she's just an inquisitive little snake playing with The Daddy's ear. What next, is she going to rip off my readers like she enjoys doing so much? I draw the line at that. You have no idea how many pairs of dollar store readers she has snapped in two since we own her. One day, I had to take the gold chain I wear with a shark's tooth on it to the jeweler. One of the links had become broken. He asked me how it happened. I told him my snake wrapped its tail around the chain and snapped it. The look on his face: priceless. He used a laser welding machine and didn't charge me anything. He has probably heard many stories about how a gold chain became broken, but that seemed like a new one to him. You can't make up stuff like that. You hear about it, but you never expect to come face to face with someone who experienced this. Gotta love The Babby. We do and you all know that.
Tomorrow will be laundry day. It will take the better part of the day. Once sorted, I should have 4 loads: whites, colors, darks and towels and such. It will keep me busy. Dad loves to fold clothes and he does a good job of it. I stuff the washer and transfer the clean clothes to the dryer. He folds them all, sorts them and returns them in the house. We make a good team. While laundry is underway, I want to make a batch of Chinese hot oil outside (because it smokes) and a large jar of giardiniera. Have you seen how much that stuff sells for in the grocery stores? No way will I pay that for something that simple. At the risk of repeating myself, let me tell you that we wuz poo' when I was a kid. I made a big jar 2 weeks ago and the crew basically inhaled it. I have to admit it was really good. This time, I'll make it with cauliflower, French shallots, carrot slices, celery sticks, canned black olives and green beans. I had added broccoli and mushrooms in the last batch, but they didn't survive the pickling process that nicely. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
While we are cooking between laundry loads, we will also start a large Ziploc bag of dehydrated fruits to macerate in rum in preparation for baking a fruitcake on Tuesday. Dad loves my fruitcake. No psychedelic colored little bits of questionable fruit in my fruitcake! I don't think so, Tim. We use pineapple, papaya, cherries, crystalized ginger, figs, apricots, pears, peaches, apples, currants, cranberries and blueberries in there. It makes an awesome cake that fills my large tube pan and rises over the top every time. It also weighs 5 or 6 pounds, but that's beside the point. Walnuts and pecans make it even more scrumptious. With dad around, we never lose even a smidgen of it. We figure that that fruitcake costs around $25 to make, worth every penny. We like to soak some brandy into it and let it sit for a few days. I can't eat it because it's too sweet for me, but Gail and dad sure go for it. It warms my old heart to see them enjoy it so much.
Take care, everyone.
Sylvain.
