One year ago today: December 9, 2017, I know better.
Five years ago today: December 9, 2013, to much memorization.
Nine years ago today: December 9, 2009, where's the money?
Random years ago today: December 9, 2008, any questions?
A pre-dawn coffee says this is going to be a blustery day. Good, that will wind-test things I’ve recently put up, like the tarpaper on the roof of the red shed. Of course, this wind happens right when I cannot find my caulking gun. It was in the rehearsal room before I cleared that out for Wednesday’s audition. There’s a curious difference in backgrounds, the plans for today’s Xmas concert. I don’t fish, although I’ve been begging JZ to show me how for the past 15 years. I like to bake. But, as it stands, Cory and I will be out on the dock while the Alaine and her neighbor make cookies. I happen to particularly like baking cookies (which I can no longer eat), but they will not hear of it. And I don’t even own a fishing pole. Some east-coaster I’d make.
For example, who remembers the time JZ and I were there looking at the house with the bad attic? We got to a store, I only vaguely remember, but I bought theses two “marbles” for his step-sister, Alaine. They weren’t marbles, but some kind of stone I “knew” she wanted. She wondered why a bloke would get her marbles. Well, year’s later, that was today, everyone noticed a dish of candy in the kitchen, except it was not candy. It is replicas of candy in glass, shown here. Conspicuous in the dish were the two original marbles. She kept the marbles because they led to this hobby.
Wait, there’s more. Her new friend in the area wanted to sell a house full of antiques. And the place to do that in this neck of the woods is, you guessed it, Arcadia. But years and years later. These were the prize glass candies, I dug them out to get you this photo. Guess where they come from? Hey, you’re getting pretty good at this.
1938 Peugot.
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The rain let up just enough to get us to the concert in my car. That’s the most people in the car yet, hey, it is a work vehicle. We got in early enough to get really good seats, and the gem of the show was the hand bell choir. The Xmas concert was an appropriate hour long and the acoustics inside the church were top tier. The congregation sang both with the bell choir and the adult choir, the theme was totally traditional. For those who ask, no, there was no sermon, no proselytizing, and no collection plate. I did donate something afterward. Hey, these folks were fellow musicians and entertainers. All I can say is you have no idea, no idea whatsoever, how much work these hand bell choirs are.
Then, dinner. What a treat, Alaine does it again, although all the ladies present brought something. I did not go out fishing in the rain and cold, I stayed inside doing honors such as uncorking the wine (which I do not drink). Mercifully, there was a pot of coffee that kept me buzzing. I’m glad most of the gang has switched away from GMOs and chemical foods, so once again it was quality over quantity, and nobody was disappointed. Alaine and her hubby are the former owners of the number one Quiznos in America and they are both excellent chefs.
Okay, I cheated and had two helpings of potato salad. Like Cory says, everything tastes better with bacon. He also said they now make some kind of desert with bacon in it, but that one I’ll pass for now. It’s not the spuds, it’s the mayo I’m to avoid. So I rationalized, I mean what harm can once a year make. Of course, I have not spent a lot of time around the hotdog stand yet. In all, it was a charming, relaxing, and quiet Xmas for all. Except when the game was on, that can get rambunctious. But that is in the other room and I am a kitchen person. Season’s greetings to all, and comes from yours truly.
And remind me once more to have Alaine send me the dinner prayer. I could not pray along, being the only non-Catholic present, because I still after all these years don’t know the words.
ADDENDUM
This thrilling view is the soundproofing in the central wall. The significance here is that when I got home, there were four messages from people who want to visit and will need that room. That room gets finished this week. In the end, soundproofing is a job for the professionals. While I have deadened the sound, it is still there. I don’t have a soundproofing door, which doesn’t help. There is more soundproofing still to go, including the bathroom wall that was extended into the front bedroom. But we are seeing some real progress these days.
And I have a feeling for most of the next three weeks, I will actually be burning the oft-quoted 2,500 calories per day. I’ve been meticulous with my daily bike rides lately, but it has not rained lately. I’ve read biking takes 5 calories per minute, if so, I’m ahead by 300 calories daily. It is four miles to the coffee shop and back, if there was a bike path to the Dunkin in Bartow, I’d consider biking there, around seven miles each way. But it would involve crossing Highway 98 twice, not the best idea.
I contacted Rick the Plumber to plan to get over here to finish that plumbing. It looks like the whole stack beneath the bowl has to be replaced. It is that calcified cast iron piping. It’s leaking and does not look repairable.
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