We brought Garbo over to Gaston & Rosalind’s to play with Bogart & Fozzy. Once the dogs got exhausted, we decided to go to a movie. Gaston recommended 9 and we watched the trailer:
 and agreed it sounded interesting. We looked and it was playing at the dollar theater. We go, get drinks and popcorn, watch the coming attractions, and then the movie starts. And what we see is this:
Not a movie I even heard of, but one I am very glad I saw. I highly recommend it. Oh, and be Italian!
After Tracy got sick last year, I spent a significant amount of time investigating pet insurance. I settled on Pet Plan based upon reviews, feedback, the cost and coverage, etc. It looks like this was a wise choice.
If anyone has a pet but does not have pet insurance, I strongly recommend you get some. If you would like a referral to Pet Plan, please let me know (and make sure I have your email) and I will gladly give you one.
Stopped by the Vet this morning and Tracy is doing well. Very affectionate, nuzzly, and purring up a storm. They are going to remove the catheter this afternoon.
Yes, I am alive….
A & I hosted any of our friends who had no place to go for Thanksgiving. We had 23 people. Fortunately, it was a nice day so we were able to eat out on the deck.
We made stuffed dates, a turkey (using Alton Brown’s recipe), roasted yams & squash, two types of stuffing, and roasted green beans. In addition, Guenievre brought a smoked duck, vennison, and two types of rolls. And everyone else brought sides and deserts – I cant remember who brought what to list them out. The important thing is that everything was delicious, food was plentiful, and everyone had a good time.
Around 8pm I got a call from Galleron & Rae. It was a very nice surprise.
Unfortunately, all of our guests failed to properly tire out Garbo who was up and at em early Friday and demanding a walk and park time. People, she is supposed to sleep for three days after that much activity….
The rest of the weekend was pretty good. A had to work on Friday & Saturday but we had Sunday together.
Lets just say it was a silly weekend 😉
Got a lot done, but not everything that needed to be…
Tried out a really good chili recipe and an even better corn bread recipe.
Went shopping for a new couch on Sunday and found a likely candidate, but the place does not deliver, so thats a challenge.
Used Garbo to help catch a neighbor’s dog that we saw wandering loose and watched almost get hit by a car. Little scary but Im glad she is safe and back home.
Else wise, a pretty relaxed weekend.
Garbo learned a new trick – to use her curly tail to balance things…
Lets see… on Saturday, A & I had the day off together, which NEVER happens. We slept in a little, too Garbo for a nice long walk, cleaned out the fridge including washing it down inside, stopped by The G’s to try out their Wii Fit, then ran a bunch of errands, which included buying a Wii Fit. For the record, this may be the first video game console I have owned since the Atari 2600. (Consider yourself either old or geeky if you didn’t need to click the link to know what I was talking about.) That evening we engaged in the next step of the Cock Ale.
A few notes on the cock ale …First, for those who don’t do period brewing, or even any brewing, the cock ale recipe is kind of legendary. Everyone talks about it in a chiding sort of way, but I dont know anyone who has actually done it – few internet accounts show that people dont read as they have used raw chicken. Fools.
Secondly, if you take out the chicken the recipe sounds really good – ale with raisins, dates, nutmeg, mace, and sherry. Yum. This leads to my plan. I have done a very very basic ale for the base – I didn’t even add hops, but have used oak chips for my bittering agent, which is a first for me. I have siphoned off maybe a half gallon of that for comparative purposes. Then I have about a gallon with cock in it – well its a gallon jug with the adjunct ingredients and topped with the ale. The remainder is the recipe without the cock as that actually sounds quite drinkable.
Now the dimea… I really wanted to have it for Rapier Academy but couldn’t get my act together to get it done. Now my choice is to either bring it to Golden Rose and offer it up as a side highlight, or save it for Pennsic and bring it to the A&S display in the barn (do they let you display alcohol? I dont even know…). I would really like to make it more of an A&S thing then a curiosity thing, but it means either I only brew one beer for the baronial parties as I only have two kegs – and I despise bottling. Plus I have to store and transport it and space going to Pennsic is always at a premium.
Anyway, back to the weekend… Saturday night we went to the Bavarian Brathaus in Cary. A had heard ads for them on the radio, and we quickly convined a small crowd to join us (The Gs, Wystric & Sunnevia, and Duncan). Awesome food, awesome waiter, and good times. Afterwards we went home and played with the Wii for a little while.
Sunday… A worked, and I ran errands, took Garbo to the dog park, did laundry, and cleaned the house. Thank heavens for Brigida. Without her the house would not have been half as clean for the party. That evening, we got a call from Maddellena begging us to come help her eat a turke. She had fortuitous timing as we both realiezed we were hungry and without a dinner plan. We finished what we were in the middle of, grabbed showers and headed over for a very fun evening. Then back home, a few more tasks, and then more Wii.
Monday, A did a few last minute things around the house, and headed off to work. I took Garbo for a long walk, and looking at the weather and forecast called the Gs asking them to bring their pavillion over. I got back home and realized that there was nothing more to be done I watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory as I did random bits that came to me.
At just before three the sky opened up and I became convinced that we would not have anyone for the party. Silly me. By my count we had 43 people come by. And I am sure I missed one or two in the counting. That makes this the biggest cookout we have done so far. Thanks to everyone who came, who helped out, and who helped clean up. And special thanks to Dreya for making the beds look like someone actually tends to them.
All told a really good weekend.
You know whats good about not shopping for your veggies until you need them? You get fresh veggies and things dont rot in the refrigerator as you work your way through your week’s menu.
You know whats bad about not shopping for your veggies until you need them? You have to run to the store all the time. Well, whats a day without a visit to Harris Teeter?
Last night, I went home, grabbed Garbo, ran to A’s work to bring him something, then off to the dog park. My plan was to get home before A left work, decide on whic menu item I was going to cook and when A called to say he was leaving work send him to the store.
What happened instead? At the dog park someone grabs the ball from Garbo and tries to hand it to me. Part of her game at the park is to not give the ball to me, and actively keep me from getting it. I step forward to grab it and *WHAM* a dog that was running at full speed crashes into my leg. Totally my fault – I didn’t look before I stepped out and well, its a dog park not a human park… dogs are supposed to run at high speed. Fortunately, I didn’t go down or do any serious damage. And the dog bounced off my leg and kept on going like nothing happened, a sthey usually do. But, for the rest of the night, my leg hurt. Especially when I put weight on it.
So, by the time I collected Garbo and limped home, A was calling to sya he was leaving work before I even got in the door. Best laid plans, right? I could not even begin to contemplate going shopping for ingredients, then standing in the kitchen and cooking on my leg. So, Chinese take out it was. Sesame chicken – yum!
Today my leg feels fine.
Not sure what got Garbo going, but something was in the front lawn. When I finally got her quieted down and on the leash, she was all over the lawn sniffing and searching and very alert. She did take off after a bunny at one point – my shoulder still aches – but I was somewhat prepared as she was so alert. She is laying quietly now, but if anything moves she is all alert – I shift in the couch, one of the cats twitches its tail, anything. I am hoping this does not last long and she falls to sleep soon.
I have lost count, but between the crud and now the dog, I seem to have woken up at 4am every day for the past two weeks. *sigh*