Com-Pac 16

THIS is our new boat. And, at the bottom, our old boat. Vic went up to Northeast Sailboat Rescue (Freeport, ME) today and fell for the mini sheila. The little Com-Pac will be delivered the week after Independence Day.

Vic's van does not actually have a trailer hitch; he parked it so as to be able to "visualize" a trailer hitch.

And yes, John and Sue and Tress, this means we should be able to take you out sailing. As soon as the licensing and permitting and transferring and stickering phase is done.

Yes, Ten

It's true, I've added ten new posts today. And I will add one more, after this one. I'm not saying that I won't get back into a funk -- things are not going my way, at the moment -- but for today, I'm feeling pretty, pretty good. Going out to see a (musically speaking) funk band in 10 minutes!

At Last

We have a few more colors in our blooms! I'm still planning to go through last year's posts to see exactly what the loosestrife and monarda have eaten up. Of course, my favorite is the black hollyhock.

Vegetables

And still no picture of the herb garden! You can see that we've enjoyed a whole bok choy. This pics are from a couple weeks ago.

Crocosminuts

This crocosmia was budding behind Dunkin Donuts. Can you see the bud?

Cats

From today: This is, despite appearances, a cat fight. Our cat (the gray one) circled the ginger one in slow-mo, with much hissing and related expressions of displeasure. The ginger one got up and raced off.

Tom

Tom (who worked for me in a specialized therapeutic program, three summers in a row) had his open house today, for completing his bachelor's degree. I got to meet both of his nanas and his mom and dad, and his sister, plus I got to talk to his Aunt Bern, who is a friend. It made my whole day feel bright, and I hope his day was equally so.

Seagull. Storm.

I took this more than two months ago, I think. I liked the determination of this bird. I had driven down to Good Harbor to take some sustenance from the sea, and he seemed to be doing the same.

Knuckles

My niece's new tortoise.

Lemon

For weeks, our yard was wholly yellow and white. (At least, our flowers were.)

Bye Bye Blizzard

We gave up our 23' sailboat, to Michael from Northeast Sailboat Rescue. Top pic is the boat in a sling, being hauled by crane around to the yellow trailer. Subsequent pics, self-explanatory.

Michael said three days later that a couple in North Carolina who are moving to Maine had already seen it in his online catalog and expressed interest.

We =will= have a sailboat this summer.

Memory

I completely forgot that I had already posted about both the MTELs and running into the board member. I logged on today intending to write about both.

I did spend about 12 hours in the last five days writing an essay for a scholarship competition, about 20 hours doing research for both my own thesis and a group "mini" thesis, about 15 hours emptying my cubbie at work of everything that I had contributed to it over the years, and about 10 hours with my daughter at the hospital, where she had surgery on her ankle. So no matter what you think, I am to be forgiven.

I will instead lament the absence of "wow" in my garden just lately. Prior to my irises' bloom, and during, and since, I've had astonishingly few blossoms. The yard is still lovely, of course, and we got some great salad greens out of the produce garden. But not a lot of anything else. If not for the evening primrose, there would be next to nothing going on.

This is b/c of course the gooseneck loosestrife and monarda have overwhelmed my lovely sun garden. I'm going to go back through posts from this time last year to make some decisions about which plants shall remain.

And -- *urgh* -- there's a 4-point Lakers lead.

Two Fat Ladies

I'm so excited that the Two Fat Ladies have reappeared in my cable lineup. A new channel, the Cooking Channel, is now just below the Food Network, and =two= episodes of Fat Ladies are on this evening. Lovely. (I know that one of the fat ladies has died in the years since taping. I'm just so happy that the show, at least, has been resurrected.)

Some of the best things I've observed tonight: Touting how "lean" game is (in this case, pheasant), while lining the pan in which it's cooked with "streaky bacon." One asking the other about a reputed ancient desire to be a nun--the lady receiving the question, with a butt in one hand and a martini in the other, shouting, "NOooo, nevah!" The two greeting a Scottish huntsman with the words, "Have you got more guns?" One of them sniffing crushed juniper berries and exclaiming, "MMMmm, just like a gin and tonic."

The two fat ladies, probably in their 50s or 60s, arrive on a motorcycle with a sidecar. And they gave me a great idea about a cool tomato pudding.

Pass the Test

I passed the MTELs, all four of them. Now I could be a teacher, assuming there were no trained teachers qualified for the job, and the administration was willing to pursue a waiver in order to hire me. Yeah, right.

I'm feeling down about being laid off, and about my prospects in the world. Can you tell? Yes, I got "the letter" this week from my current employer, officially laying me off.

I ran into a board member at Corliss Brothers, where I was buying a hardy pink plant as my Cathy plant (her birthday was this week), and Vic was buying a couple of rose bushes. This particular board member was a key supporter of my program, offering it about 5K a year. He said to me, "We spoke about your program at a foundation meeting. We know that it worked, and the idea people talked about -- 'cause we're always looking for programs that work -- the idea was, Why don't we just support it? But, of course, it's too late." WTF???

Turtle News

Victor's cousin Connie, who works at the New England Aquarium, is now in Louisiana. She is assisting with turtle rescue where the BP spill is washing ashore. Follow her efforts at the blog http://rescue.neaq.org/.

The Coolest Wreck

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/05/oldest.shipwreck/index.html?hpt=C2

Victor sent this to me today. It is SO cool. Oh, I don't regret New Zealand, but would that we could have gone to the Outer Banks as well.

Smelling Sweet

The wisteria is at its best this weekend. It smells glorious.

Strawberry

Watching birds gasping for air, unable to lift their heads out of the muck, coated with oil, I feel the need to have my garden around. I am reminded of the film The Road, in which the grayscape was relieved by memories of a flower- and sun-filled yard.

Pecans

I made a salad dressing that I haven't made in years. It's just as yummy (and easy) as I remember it. Plus, seeing the stained page that bears the recipe in my Cajun cookbook (and the equally messy page for Bananas Foster) reinforced for me that the book has been in my collection for more than 20 years. Ahem.

Pecan-Garlic Dressing

3 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3/4 cup olive oil

Mince garlic in food processor. Leave it running and add pecans, salt, pepper, and sugar. Stop machine and scrape bowl down.

Add vinegar, then, with motor running, add olive oil through top tube.

Summer

I wish I knew what I was going to be doing this summer. Other than getting my thesis under way. (And I wish I could fully commit to one thesis topic.)

I was talking about a position with one person, who calls and then doesn't call, promises and then doesn't deliver, and now I question whether I want to move forward with that position. Plus, it's such a distance away.

I think that I'd really like to pursue clinical psychology. But not until next year, at the earliest. So maybe, for this summer, I wait for something that fits.