Getting behinder and behinder

I am really getting behind today.  It was my intention to get up and get going.  Instead, I slept till 8:30, had my nice breakfast (cheese omelet, 2 slices of bacon, 1/2 cup grits, coffee), and worked a puzzle or two. 

When I opened the pantry to get the Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning for the grits I immediately thought, "Uh, oh...there's a dead mouse in here somewhere."  Sure enough, I found one caught in a trap, where it had been ripening for a day or so.  Not any longer than that, I'm pretty sure. 

So, I ate my breakfast and then put a newspaper plastic sleeve on my hand to take the trap containing the mouse out to the arena.  The empty trap was not going to be used again, so I dropped it and the plastic (which I would normally recycle) in the trash can in the garage. 

While I was outside, I remembered that I wanted to move the shepherd's hooks that hold bird feeders or hanging baskets away from the pile of crap leaned against the ash tree.  That's just in case Wayne sends Rudy over to take the crap away.  I didn't want him to mistake the shepherds hooks for crap.  I noticed a few weeds in the flower beds and since it was such a nice morning (cool-ish with a light breeze), I decided to pull the weeds.  Naturally, it got more demanding, so I went back to the garage and got the hoe and continued around the front of the house.  I was tired of it before I finished, but made myself complete the remaining three feet.  What a champ!

While I was outside I texted Chris to see what was going on with Andy, who was having gastric bypass surgery this morning.  Chris texted back that Andy was still in surgery, but he should be out soon.  A little while later Chris called.  I had noticed while I was texting Chris that I had a pretty good signal outside the garage, so while talking to Chris I pulled a lawnchair outside the garage and talked to him out there.  He said that the surgery was complete and Andy was in recovery.  The doctor said that everything went as expected.  So, Andy is starting the rest of his life today...I know he is hoping that all the health issues he has had over the lasts few years will be solved by this surgery.  Of course, we all hope that's the case, as well.  And I hope I remembered to move the lawn chair out of the way so I don't run over it when I leave for Kate's soccer match this afternoon.

When I went back inside the house, I was surprised to find that the kitchen wasn't cleaned up from my breakfast.  Why I was surprised is a mystery to me...I guess I forgot I hadn't done it.  So, I cleaned that up and then headed up to wash my hair.  That was two hours ago and it still hasn't been done. 

I wanted to place a coffee order for my Keurig single serve coffee maker.  I tried to do it online last night, but it wouldn't go through.  I tried again this morning and got the same message.  So, I decided to call the company and find out what was going on and place the order over the phone.  I reached Angela in the call center and we spent about 15 minutes or so giving and taking name, address, etc. and then the coffee order.  It actually took her as long to find the different coffee k-cups as it had taken me when I got my cart together.  I had a coupon for a free box of coffee and I had applied that to my online order.  She couldn't retrieve it, so she was going to email a new coupon (that doesn't expire until 2015).  Since we had a little trouble...again with the credit card apparently, she also gave me two free sample packs...a value of approximately six dollars.  She put me on hold to check something out and almost immediately we got disconnected.  Aargh!  I waited a couple of minutes, thinking she would call me back as she had my phone number...but, no such luck. 

I called back and reached a different call center.  This time I talked to Yolanda, who accessed my account to see what notes there were in it.  Evidently the problem was something with the credit card.  Anyhoo, we went through all the same stuff I had gone through with Angela including the coffee order.  Except when I was talking to Angela the order was still in my cart.  I had signed out of the account and when I signed back in and looked...my cart was empty.  So, I had to recreate the order from memory...the problem being that I had ordered 3 sample packs of coffee I hadn't tried before, so I didn't have them recorded anywhere and wasn't sure of either the brand or the flavor name.  I was trying to load my credit card account at the same time, so my mind wasn't totally focused on either task.  Eventually, though, I did remember all the sample packs that I wanted and it was time to do the credit card info. 

I use ShopSafe, which is a MasterCard product.  I go to my online credit card account, access ShopSafe and get a new credit card number generated.  This new number can only be used for one merchant.  In other words if I use it at Target, it's now dedicated to Target.  I can go back to ShopSafe and close the number, or increase the limit, or extend the expiration date, but it can only be used at Target.  Generally, I only use these ShopSafe numbers online.  It's linked to my credit card, but it's almost useless for a Target employee to try to use it fraudulently.  I use other generated numbers to pay monthly bills and just reload them as necessary.  Now that I've explained it...back to the coffee order.

Yolanda had read in the notes on my account that there was a problem with the credit card, so I gave her a different number which went through with no problem.  When I immediately got the alert from Mastercard that the card had been used in an online charge, I figured out what the problem had been all along.  Probably.  The first number I had used was dedicated to Keurig.  Apparently it is now collected by Green Mountain, which I didn't know.  I couldn't use the Keurig card to charge to Green Mountain. 

Meanwhile, that's an hour I'll never get back.  And I still wonder where the order will go.  I noticed on the receipt that she mailed me that the town says "Wharton West."  She told me that when we were dealing with the address and I told her it wasn't right.  She said she had fixed it, but it still says Wharton West on the shipping address.  The zip code is right as is the rest of the address and the UPS guy knows where I am, so here's hoping it gets here.  She has also emailed me a new coupon since the other one couldn't be used anymore.

Now, it's after 1 and I haven't washed my hair or eaten lunch and nothing else has been done in the house.  As the title says, behinder and behinder.  And now I've wasted your time, too.  Sorry.

Obviously, I'm killing time here.

I've been home from my New England trip for nearly a week and today was the first time I went to the grocery store.  And I only spent $120...which I think is pretty good considering it's been three weeks since my last grocery shopping trip. 

On that last trip I was trying to get stuff that would be easy for Wayne to make for himself, although I knew that with the three daughters and their families nearby he wouldn't starve.  As it is, he never eats breakfast...at least not at home.  I think he rarely has more than coffee on his early morning forays into town.  I never know if he will show up at lunch, therefore I don't plan for him to be here.  If he does show up, he will make himself a sandwich, or have cereal or peanut butter & crackers...he's not fussy, thank goodness!  I may or may not cook dinner.  If I know he has a meeting, I probably won't.  Sometimes I plan ahead a few days, other times I just make what I call a "miracle meal."  I can always find something to cook, even if it looks like the cupboard's bare...as if!  I bought lots of veggies and made myself a big salad for lunch.  I got home right about 1 PM and Wayne wasn't here, so maybe he ate in town.  If he eats lunch in town, I figure I'm off the hook for a big dinner.

My plan, as of now, is to make a meatloaf for dinner.  That could change, depending on how long I spend messing around on the computer.  When I came upstairs and turned it on, I planned on working in Quicken for about an hour and then going down to start dinner.  That hasn't really happened.

First, I checked emails and sent one or two.  That probably took 20 minutes or so.  Then I started checking on blogs that I look at every day....(Cousin J...please, don't get him fancy socks, even to wear just at home...it's just one of those little unfair things that he'll need to deal with...just as Sis will probably have to deal with things that don't seem fair to her.  When Wendy was in 4th grade, she was wearing boys knee high socks for the school picture.  Since she was one of the smallest in the class she was in the first row.  Those long white socks with the two or three narrow bands of color (that scream "BOYS SOCKS") make me shudder.  What was I thinking?  I had to buy them for her.  Surely they made girls knee socks. Let him have superhero underpants instead.)  Once I start checking blogs, I often feel the need to comment on them or post on my own.  So, that's where I am now. 

But just before I started on the blogs I remembered there was something I haven't done in a while...look on Facebook.  I had forgotten all about that activity.  Facebook reminds me of a soap opera.  It never really changes much, so you don't have to check in everyday.  But, it's been well over a week, I think, since the last time I looked in and that's where I'm going now.  Can you say, "killing time?"

Plans for the day...and the rest of my life, evidently

This morning I had three strong convictions (not the right word, but neither is any other word I've toyed with) form in my brain:

1)  I have 14 days to get my house de-cluttered and put ready to receive my cousin Judy and her husband David (from California...via Austin) who will be visiting for a few days.

2) It will take me the rest of my life (probably) to de-clutter my house.

3) I'll call Virgie and chat a while.  (Our chats usually last a minimum of 30-45 minutes.  The urge to call her came immediately after I told myself, "Please get busy and don't mess around today!")

Thank goodness the cleaning ladies have been here twice now.  True...the first time they didn't get everything done that I hope will become part of the routine.  They (mother and daughter) were here for 3 1/2 hours the first time and cleaned floors and bathrooms.  There was no time for dusting that time.  The second time they were here was while I was on my trip and, I really have been too tired to even look.  I did a quick sashay around the house just now and it looks like some things were dusted while others were not.

My cousin Judy tells people an elderly couple cleans their house.  She and David do it themselves every week.  David does upstairs and Judy does the downstairs.  David made out like a bandit on that one!  To the best of my recollection upstairs has a sitting room, master bedroom and master bath.  Downstairs has 2 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, living room, den, dining room, laundry room, kitchen and breakfast room.  And it's all very nice...no clutter, no dust.  I'm so envious!

Virgie wasn't home, so I was saved from my own bad self. However, instead of doing anything too constructive, here I am on the internet.  I did make a call to the credit card company opting out of an offer and I have gone through some mail and shredded a few things, so I guess I'm not totally messing around.  If only I could get back in my cleaning mode from earlier this year.

And now I'll reconcile some bank accounts...so, I'm on the right track, I guess.

I've been reading Pillars of the Earth on my Kindle, so I have to set aside some "reward" time for that, too.  I've rewarded myself with about an hour and a half of reading so far today and I've only been up for 3 1/2 hours.  The other two hours were used constructively, planning the things I "could" do, such as mowing the yard, going to the grocery store, wrapping some Christmas gifts that are in bags & boxes.

Onward!

Ski jump

This is a view of the Olympic ski jump that I mentioned in the last post. I wanted to include the photo in that post but had so much trouble I just gave up. It's so simple to do this stuff when I'm at a computer. I suppose an iPad would be nice, too, but I'm not planning on getting one.

We are in Ludlow, Vermont tonight...the last night of the tour. Tomorrow at this time we will either be on a plane heading for home or we will be waiting for our scheduled flight to board. If we get to Logan early enough we'll see if any seats are available for the earlier flight.

It's been great! But, we are all ready to get home.

Mirror Lake and Lake Placid, NY

Ignore, if you will, the blank spot below. I've been trying since last night to get this post done right. Originally the photo wouldn't show up. Finally, I just decided to try and insert the photo again and leave the blank square where the photo was supposed to be. Actually, at this point I'm not sure what's going to show up!

The photo above was sunrise as viewed from our balcony overlooking Mirror Lake. It was very pretty although  I might not have captured the pinkish sky. You'll just have to trust me.

We left the hotel after breakfast for a relatively short day. We were back at the hotel and on our own by about 12:30 or so.

Our tour group activities included a short drive to Lake Placid. We boarded a pontoon boat for a cruise around the lake. The boat operator doubled as the tour guide and pointed out many of the elaborate houses once owned by very wealthy and famous people (not necessarily celebrities).

One of the "cabins" (that's what they're called, but most of them are quite large) was actually a collection of separate cabins. According to the guide, this person's original cabin burned down one year.  The owner wanted to make sure that didn't happen again, so there is a living room cabin, a dining room cabin, a kitchen cabin, a bedroom cabin, a bathroom cabin, a closet cabin...I believe you get the idea.

It took about an hour for the trip around the lake. Then we reboarded the coach and drove about 5 minutes to the ski jumping venue. This was the site of the Lake Placid Olympics in 1980.

We stood in the spectators area and watched a ski jumper come down the 90 meter jump. For summer training, the jumps are covered in porcelain (that's what the jumper told us in a Q&A session after his second jump. (our tour director said it was ceramic...don't know which is right). The landing area is covered with a substance described as something like plastic soda straws woven together. The jumper said the ramp and the landing feel exactly as if he were jumping on snow.

We could ride the chair lift to the top (which we did, of course) to observe his second jump. We were just yards away from the bottom of the ramp.

Then we rode the elevator to the top of the jump where we could look down at the ramps. Great view from up there.

We made one other quick stop at the home of John Brown, the famous abolitionist. It was closed, but we were able to walk around outside the fenced area where his tombstone is enclosed in glass.

Then we got back on the coach and were driven back and dropped off either in town or at the inn. Wanda and Dee got off in town and walked back to The Cottage, a tavern across the street from our rooms. Carole and I rode the coach back to the inn and snagged a great table on the outside deck of The Cottage. Carole and I ordered beers and sat in front of the fireplace until Wanda and Dee got there, then we ordered about 3 starters and shared them for lunch.

After lunch I took my first nap of the trip. It was great to have an afternoon to ourselves.

We had dinner reservations at what was touted as a wonderful restaurant...The View, which is part of the Mirror Lake Inn.

As I mentioned in the previous post, we have eaten pretty well during the past 9 days. None of us was even hungry as we walked to the restaurant. The first sign that we were going to be difficult came when three of us ordered Diet Coke...in a fine restaurant. We might as well have asked for a bag of Cheetos as a starter!

We did end up eating a full meal, but I think we have become a bit jaded and expect perfection in every dish. Mine was all good, but I left quite a bit of every course...except the dessert...I ate most of that.

It took about 2 hours for the meal, but nothing was done at a fast pace.

Tomorrow we go to Saratoga Springs. More then.

Fed Up

We have completed 8 days of our 11 day New England fall foliage tour and I am really tired and stuffed to within an inch of my life. The food has been outstanding and I almost always clean my plate. We've had lobster out the wazoo  My legs are tired, my butt is tired and my mind is tired. 

We are in Lake Placid, New York, at the Mirror Lake Inn. Our view is of the lake and it's really beautiful. Theres a small (man-made) waterfall below our little balcony. We have the door to the balcony open because we are freaking hot!  We have turned off the heat/AC most of the time.

We arrived here at about 4:45 this afternoon. We walked into the shopping district where I finally got the last of the t-shirts for the grands. I got Jax one that says "I didn't do it. No one saw me do it. I need to speak to my grandma."

My sinuses have been causing me some problems for the last few days, so I've been taking an antihistamine once or twice a day.   That has helped a bit, but this afternoon after lunch I took 2 pills and it has really made me tired. I took 2 more a little ago and wish I could go to sleep right now. I need to stay awake for one more hour to take my thyroid medicine on an "empty" stomach. I think it would take days to actually have an empty stomach.

At dinner I could only finish half my roast beef sandwich and half my beer. I couldn't finish my one beer...seriously...

Then we came back to our rooms and finished the left over cheesecake we had after lunch. It was Carole's birthday, so we helped her celebrate. At the restaurant t
he cheesecake was served hot, topped with meringue. Each piece was huge...at least a 4x4x4 inch piece. Ours was the last to be served, but we couldn't finish it because we had to catch the ferry to cross Lake Champlain. So we got to-go containers and hurriedly packed them up. I didn't think I could possibly eat any of it, but I ate every bite.

Small world...one couple on the tour was from Spring. She told Dee that she knew where El Campo was because she had played Mah Jong there once. She had met some of the people from El Campo, but couldn't remember the names. She and Dee had talked about this several days ago. At the tavern where we were eating our sandwiches, Karen and her husband had eaten there, too. When they paused at our table as they were leaving, Dee asked Karen if she remembered any names. Karen answered, "No, I went there with  my friend, Virgie Johnson, and...". I don't remember how she finished the sentence...I was just dumfounded that she was a friend of Virgie's and I met her while having dinner in Lake Placid. She was on the tour, so technically I had met her before then...but, still.

Tomorrow I think we go on a boat ride and then watch someone demonstrate ski jumping. I don't know how that is accomplished as I don't see any snow around here. Then we have lunch on our own and the rest of the day to ourselves before a big dinner tomorrow night.

Who would have ever thunk I'd get tired of fabulous food!

Laugh Fest

Dinner tonight was one laugh after another. We began the evening by polishing off a bottle of wine that Carole got for us while we were at Boothbay. We had been hauling it around for several days along with some empty small plastic water bottles to pour the wine into if there was some left. Hah! As if!!!

Since we were back at the hotel relatively early this afternoon, and Dee, who didn't want any of it, had scheduled a massage, it seemed to be the best time to drink it.

At dinner, between courses, we talked and dredged up old funny stories. Some of them had us almost in tears, we were laughing so hard.

One of the couples on the tour stopped by our table and commented on how much fun we always had together.

And we do. We can find humor in the smallest things...a joke, a look, a memory...we just click, I think.

I reminded them of Wayne's drunken, naked watering after a rodeo meeting one night which we all howled at. We also laughed at some of my mother's shenanigans, such as driving her small car out of the left side of the garage when the car was parked on the right side. She had backed into the door on her side of the garage and it wouldn't operate, so she just kept maneuvering back and forth until she eventually was able to back out of the other side.

We kept reminding ourselves of our funniest memories and laughed harder and harder.

Many of the meals are included in the price of the tour, but usually not the alcoholic drinks, with one or two exceptions. So, tonight when the waitress brought the bill for our drinks. Carole offered to put the drinks on her card. I remembered that I had some cash in my pocket, so I reached in to get it.

Let me tell you about this pocket. I bought some knit jeans at Coldwater Creek. The right front pocket has a special kind of extension...a place at the top part of the pocket that goes almost to the zipper. It's about the size of a credit card. I only discovered it by accident a few days ago when I thought I had lost my credit card, but finally found this little "hidden" pocket.

I reached into this pocket so i could pay Carole for my drink and pulled out my credit card, then my room key, four one dollar bills, ten 28 cent stamps and finally a five dollar bill. As I placed all these things before me on the table I was a little amazed. "It's like a clown car in my pocket!"

Just the words "clown car" make most people laugh...and we did. And I'm still laughing as I write about it.

There's nothing quite as wonderful as laughing.

The Shelburne Museum - Alzheimer's

We are spending one more night here at The Essex, so we didn't have to rise extra early this morning. Instead we were able to sleep in until about seven, eat breakfast at 8:30 and then board the motor coach by 9:30.
N i i i i i c e!

We went to the Shelburne Museum this morning. You'll have to go to www.shelburnemuseum.org if you want more information.

I think Steve told us that there are 47 buildings to visit at the museum. I whispered to Carole "and we have 45 minutes to do it in." Our time to explore has typically been less than half the time most of us need. The time works okay for me, usually...but I could have used three hours to explore in a more leisurely fashion.

The first exhibit, Alzheimer's: Forgetting Piece by Piece, was beautiful as well as incredibly sad. One can't help getting emotional while walking through this exhibit of quilts constructed and lovingly sewn in honor of, or in memory of, loved ones who were stricken with Alzheimer's.  

Boxes of tissues are found near each "room" in this exhibition. And they are needed as you read the plaque next to each quilt that gives the name of the quilter and the name of the quilt and also a two or three paragraph story by the quilter telling about the mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, sister...well, you get the idea, the loved one who suffered from this awful disease.

I read every one of them. It took about 50 minutes to get through the exhibit, reading the stories and also the quilters' explanation of the elements of their quilt and how it depicted the loss of memories and dignity that is the cruelty of Alzheimer's.

It was, as I said, both beautiful and sad.

Two of the stories, however, had lines that made me laugh out loud. In one, the quilter's father loved to drive his Porsche. Eventally, the time came when it wasn't safe for him to drive anymore. Several excuses were tried to keep him from driving, but he always had an answer. If they said he was no longer allowed to drive in North Carolina, he would respond with, "Well, South Carolina is just down the road". Finally, his daughter, the quilter, had to take his car away in the middle of the night. From then on he would tell people that he had two daughters...one who traveled around the country and taught and another one who stole cars.

The other funny line wasn't in the description, but on the quilt.  Each small (about 3 x 3") square had a quote by the mother, who had died of Alzheimer's. One of the quotes went like this: "Someone came and stole all my bras. I wouldn't care if they had asked me. Goddammit!"

Amen.

Vermont

The building in the picture is the Vermont state capital building. It is located in Montpelier on a lovely expanse of green lawn. It was one of our photo op stops today.

We are getting really good at packing up and getting ready to leave early in the morning. This morning Carole and I were dressed with no place to go by 6:30. The breakfast buffet wasn't being served until about 7.

The buffet was excellent, of course. In addition to the usual cereals, oatmeal, fruit, scrambled eggs, muffins, toast, etc., this morning there was also an omelet station, bagels & lox and an egg lasagna. Good eats!

Luggage was loaded onto the bus at 7 and the passengers were boarded and ready to pull out by 8. I must say that everyone has been really good about being a few minutes early. We've never had to wait for anyone. That makes our tour director, Steve, very happy. He's a nice guy. Very informative with quite a few corny jokes he will tell during his information sound bites.

We were bussed up the mountain to about 2000 feet and then got into vans with a congenial driver who told us about the mountain and the observatory at the summit.

The weather did not allow us to go to the observatory. There was snow and ice with 60 mph winds gusting to about 80 mph. The temperature was about 21 degrees with a wind chill factor of about -7.

But we did get to what they call the 6 mile point. We were asked if we wanted to step out of the van. Dee and Wanda stepped out first and we took their photo right outside of the van door. Then they got back in and Carole and I stepped out to have our photo taken. None of us stepped more than 2 feet from the van and the driver was holding an arm to guard against a mishap. I don't have a photo to post here since they were taken by camera, not by phone.

The observatory is manned year round by weather observers. Mount Washington recorded the highest surface wind speed ever observed ( a human was there to observe it). The wind gusted to 231 mph in 1934. That's a lot of wind!

Omni Mount Washington Resort

We had to get up before 6 this morning because our bags needed to be ready inside our rooms by 7, which meant we needed to be dressed and have makeup and hair done by then. We went down to the nice buffet breakfast, which had just about anything a normal person would want. I'm counting us normal as we were content with our choices of breakfast foods.

We got on the bus and departed the Harraseeket Inn by 8 AM. I'd like to know what kind of damn vacation is it when you have to get up before 6 AM.

We left Maine (and its' lobsters behind), or so we thought. We have Shakespeare stops fairly frequently...about every hour or two. I hadn't heard the term before the tour. Shakespeare stop...to pee or not to pee. The stops are planned to be at a visitor center or the spot where we'll eat lunch or at one of the points of interest selected for us.

Today we made several stops in addition to the Shakespeare stop. We stopped at a very scenic river location and an old covered bridge and also at a lake. All of them featured beautiful foliage. We all took bunches of photos. These stops are never for very long...maybe 15 minutes or so. We have to keep on schedule or we might miss a meal!

Our lunch today was at the White Mountain Resort, which had beautiful views all around. We had a really good lunch. I asked our bus driver, Mike, what he would suggest and it turned out to be lobster rolls. We had butternut squash soup, lobster rolls with homestyle french fries and slaw, and a delicious bread pudding for dessert.

We were in New Hampshire by then, I think. And we are in New Hampshire tonight at the beautiful Omni Mount Washington Resort.

We got drinks and sat in a huge room with a rotunda type ceiling and a big fireplace, which was lit. There were fabulous views all around. The top picture above was taken in that room. We barely had time to do anything other than finish our drinks and go to our rooms to freshen up before dinner.

Maybe I'll get back to the dinner (which included a fabulous lobster and creamed asparagus soup) in a different post. I keep falling asleep while I'm trying to type this and we have to follow the same procedure tomorrow morning as we did this morning...that is, have the bags ready by 7, depart at 8. I hope I have something really special to post next time!

Coastal Maine Botanical Garden

After our stop for shopping, sailing and lunch at Boothbay, Maine, we drove just a little further to visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden. Our stop was scheduled to be only about an hour so we couldn't do the whole tour

We did tour all of the Children's Garden, which was just a delight with so many whimsical touches, such as the "yellow brick road" with large figures of Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. If you look closely in the above photo (which I hope is there), you might recognize me poking my head through the Cowardly Lion's face.

There was a boat with a pirate in it by a small pond. The boat was aground and there was a yellow slicker in it for children to wear if they wanted to climb in the boat and be photographed.

There was a playhouse and a treehouse and granite whale figures which spouted a fine mist of water from their blowholes. There was much, much more, but I can't remember it all.

It was beautifully planted with a great variety of flowers, grasses, shrubs and trees, carefully selected and planted to carry on the various themes. It was enchanting!

Children visiting can build fairy houses. I'm sure they are encouraged to do so.

We did walk through some other areas which were beautiful, but had to miss some of the gardens due to time constraints.

Boothbay Harbor

We left the Harraseeket Inn this morning and headed for Boothbay Harbor where our visit included shopping, sailing and lunch.

We did some shopping while half the group went sailing. I found Wayne a warm cap that looks pretty goofy, but will be really warm. I have a photo of me wearing the hat, but I've already used the picture of me and Carole with the bear. We look like we are helping an invalid down the road.

After shopping, it was our turn to board the schooner. The captain and his wife built the East Wind themselves and first launched it about ten years ago. It was about the sixth boat they've built.

We motored out a little way and then got under sail. I'm trying to sound nautical...bear with me. We sailed out toward a lighthouse and then came about and headed back in. Herb and Doris provided slickers for everyone...it was a bit cool and overcast when we left the dock, but then it suddenly cleared up and we had sunshine and blue skies for the first time since we left Texas!

After the sail, you can probably guess what we did next. What else? We had a wonderful lunch including, you guessed it...lobster!

Then it was back to the motor coach and on to our next stop...the botanical garden.

A Disclaimer

The way I've been doing the posts while on our trip is mobile posting. Which means I send an email to myself at a special email address assigned by Blogger. I am able to (usually) send a picture using that method. I go to the picture in my phone, select email, then type my post in the email and send it. Then I go to my blog and find the email I just sent in the "Drafts" area. I finish it and publish it. It is not as simple or as easy as posting from a computer, but, at least I can keep up with it while I'm on this trip.

Now, here's the disclaimer: I try to watch out for typos, but don't always notice them when I'm typing. A scant inch is visible to me. The rest is taken up by the keyboard. It's usually very late when I have the time to post. After a large meal and wine and/or beer. I try to proofread before publishing, but get tired of it and finally just "Publish."

Then I look at the published post, which is now on the blog. And that's when it's easiest to see spelling I need to correct, wording I need to change and other improvements I could make.

Alas! Since my posts are usually longish, I am finding that the edit screen for the already published post only lets me correct the first part of the post and I can't scroll down past a certain area. So, you might see some strange words, because my phone sometimes changes words that are what I want to use to words that it thinks I meant to use.

On a computer I can keep going back in to re-edit until it looks the way I like it...but not on the phone. So, please bear with me!

We've Invaded Maine!

We left Boston at 8:30 this morning. It was raining when we left, raining when we got to Salem, raining as we drove the 20 or 30 minutes it took us to get through New Hampshire, and raining and blowing even more when we stopped so that a few of us could get off the bus and take pictures of ourselves at the Nubble Lighthouse. If we hadn't made that stop we might have been in Portland, Maine ahead of whatever accident slowed traffic to a crawl. As it was, we were delayed by about an hour and a half.

During the drive the tour director told us we needed to stop at the desk and make dinner reservations as soon as we walked into the inn. He said that those in the front of the bus would probably get whatever time they wanted, while those further back would probably not. We were a few rows from the back. Always thinking about our next meal, we pulled out a cell phone, googled the Harraseeket Inn and dialed the number. We asked for a 7:00 reservation and the person we talked to confirmed it, but laughed as she said people generally checked in before they made their reservation. We finally got to the inn about 6:00, just in time to go to our lovely rooms and freshen up.

We got downstairs about ten minutes early, so we went to the bar where we enjoyed a glass of Gritty's Seasonal Ale, a nice dark, very flavorful beer. At 7 we were ushered into the Maine Dining Room and had an absolutely wonderful meal.

We ordered and shared two appetizers, Roasted Vegetable Turrine and Crispy Quail. Of course, there was a basket of wonderful freshly baked bread with an excellent airy butter to spread on it. We ordered a nice bottle of New Zealand white wine and waited very patiently for our entered. Wanda, Carole and I had fresh steamed lobster that just melted in our mouths. The accompanying vegetables were really good, too, but omigod...the lobster was superb! Dee ordered a filet mignon which she said was excellent. As if that wasn't enough, we decided to finish the meal properly and ordered Strawberry Crepes for two and also Chocolate Overdose for two. Both of those desserts are flambéed and prepared at the table. Oh my stars, it was incredible! We really thought it would be one plate of each dessert that we would all share...but, nooooo...there were two plates of each.

And, almost better than the food was how much we laughed! It was a fantastic meal, made all the better by the company and the surroundings. What a wonderful memory to pull out and savor!

The Official Start of the Tour

We visited the Museum of Natural Science at Harvard. The photo above is one of the exhibits in The Ware Collection of Glass Models of Plants.  All the many specimens are made entirely of glass.  There are nearly 4400 models. They were made from 1886 through 1936 by glass artisans Leopold and Rudolph Blashka to aid in the teaching of botany. It was really remarkable, although it didn't take me very long to lope through the exhibit. 

We (the entire tour group) boarded our coach this morning for a half day of being driven around Boston, while the tour director, Steve, gave us lessons and nuggets of information about the important events which occurred here at the time of the revolution. It made me wish I had listened and learned more in American History 50 years ago!  

The coach arrived back at the hotel about 1:30. We (Wanda, Carole, Dee and I) then took a taxi to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where we looked around for a while at the collection amassed by Mrs. Gardner.  The building which houses the eclectic collections was designed by Mrs. Gardner and she decided how the object that fill its galleries should be displayed.  She stipulated in her will that the general arrangement of the galleries cannot be altered.

We had checked in at the museum cafe as soon as we could find it and were told it would be about a 45 minute wait.  So, we wandered through the galleries until  the pager vibrated and then we scurried to the tiny cafe located near the gift shop where we enjoyed a truly outstanding lunch. 

After lunch we continued browsing through that museum until we'd had enough of it. 

We then walked the block or two to the Museum of Fine Arts.  Wanda was the most enthusiastic museum visitor among us by that time. She paid the $18 fee to enter the museum at 3:40. The rest of us parked ourselves in the lobby and waited until 4:00, when it was free. The museum closes at 4:45, so we scattered and took our time but hurried up, managing to see wonderful impressionists as well as many other truly beautiful works of art. It was amazing to me to see the vibrancy of works as much as 500 and  600 years old. 

After our whirlwind tour we called for another cab which took us back to the hotel where we had to make quick work of getting presentable. We had dinner reservations at Prezza, an Italian restaurant touted as the best Italian restaurant in Boston by the concierge.  We took another cab which got us to the restaurant right on time. And it was wonderful!  We shared four appetizers then we ordered pasta dishes and finally shared one dessert; a limoncello cheesecake slice with one scoop of pistachio gelato. We had a nice bottle of wine with our excellent meal. Such fun!  

We've got our luggage ready to put on the motor coach in the morning. We leave here at 8:30 in the morning to start Day 3. We are going to Salem where we'll tour the area, then separate briefly for lunch. After that we continue on, ultimately arriving at Freeport, Maine where we will spend two nights at the Harraseeket Inn. But, more about that next time...maybe.  

Day One in Boston

Dee and I arrived at Logan Airport in Boston late yesterday afternoon. There was a limo (not a stretch) waiting for us and we were driven right to the beautiful Langham Hotel on Franklin Street, which is just blocks away from Boston Harbor.

Carole had arrived at the airport just minutes ahead of us, but not on the same airline, so she was in a different limo. She was to have flown out of San Antonio to DFW where she and Wanda (who flew out of Austin) would fly to Boston together. But Carole's plane was delayed out of San Antonio and she missed the connecting flight, arriving at the gate just after it was closed. So, her flight left Dallas about the same time ours left Houston.

We all met up in the lobby of the Langham and then went to dinner in one of the hotel restaurants, where we caught up and planned what we would do today (Monday). The tour actually starts with dinner this evening at the Langham. We will get our marching orders at that time and get to meet our traveling partners for the next 11 days.

We will spend tonight and tomorrow night in Boston. And then we will board the bus, heading for Salem, Wednesday morning.

Today we four met in the lobby at 8:30. We walked to Quincy Market where we enjoyed a very nice breakfast. We then set out to walk the Freedom Trail, seeing so many historic places.

We went into the Old North Church, the oldest church in Boston. It was in that steeple that two lanterns were hung, giving warning to the American revolutionaries that the British were approaching by sea.

We shared a wonderful lunch at an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, then we decided to start our walk back toward the hotel. We wanted to go to the Cheers bar and did our best to follow maps and phone apps. We circled around the Old State House and went inside there to look around before we continued our search for Cheers.

Finally, we were told it was just on the other side of a blue tent looking structure. We got to the other side and there it was...no more than 10 feet from the entrance to the restroom that each of us had visited following our first stop of the day. We looked in the door, decided it didn't look like we wanted it to and headed back to the hotel to rest briefly and prepare for the get-acquainted dinner.

We met many nice people there. But, I think I'll have to end this and continue another time...or not. It's about 11 and we need to be up early enough in the morning to eat breakfast and be at the bus before 9.

The photo...if it shows up is at Quincy Market where we had breakfast this morning.

I'm having to type this on my phone, so please excuse all typos, etc.

Almost Ready!

Saturday, 11 AM

I actually got to bed a little before 3 last night and then watched a 30 minute sitcom I had recorded.  Can't remember which one it was, though.  Guess I was a little tired.  I set my timer (I don't use an alarm clock...I use a kitchen timer) for 5 hours, but woke up about 15 minutes before the timer was to alert me.  I figured I would be wishing I had those 15 minutes later on, so I got up, showered and washed my hair.

Then I turned on the computer. I checked email and blogs before I dried my hair.  Then I went down for my nice sausage and scrambled egg breakfast.  I love a good breakfast..  I intended to eat the last 1/2 cup helping of the Breakfast Oatmeal Pudding recipe I got from Cousin J.  I was surprised (and disappointed) to find that I had eaten it yesterday.  I made it a couple of weeks ago and really like it.  It makes an 8 x 8 dish full, so after keeping it in the fridge until I had eaten about half of it, I put the rest in 1/2 cup servings in ziplocks and froze them.  Thawed, reheated and with a 1/2 container of H-E-B Pina Colada yogurt, it's almost a good as it was coming out of the oven.

Here's the recipe from Cousin J's Mommy Hungry blog: 

Breakfast Oatmeal Pudding

2 1/4 cup quick cooking oats or 2 3/4 old-fashioned oats, uncooked

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

3 1/2 cups skim milk

4 egg whites, lightly beaten, or 1/2 cup egg substitute (or 3 whole eggs)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon vanilla

3/4 cup sunflower seeds or nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc) optional

skim milk or nonfat yogurt and fruit (optional)

Heat oven to 350F. Spray 8" square pan with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl combine oats, brown sugar, raisins/cranberries, nuts, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine milk, egg whites, oil and vanilla; mix well. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake in preheated 350F oven for 45-60 minutes or until center is set and firm to the touch.

Cool slightly. Serve with milk or yogurt and fruit, if desired. Store leftover pudding covered in fridge.

Note: To reheat, place single serving in microwave-safe bowl and cook on high for about 30 seconds. Great warmed and then with yogurt on top!

I used Craisins (dried cranberries and chopped pecans).

After breakfast I actually started packing.  That was about 9:30.  I'm about finished now.  

A little sidebar here.  For some reason, every once in a while while I'm typing, the cursor suddenly jumps to an entirely different spot in the text and inserts what I'm typing there.  I usually notice it right away and have to go to the new spot and delete the inappropriate letters and then put them where they were supposed to go.  It happened just a bit ago and I didn't see where the cursor went.  So, if you see an errant period somewhere above this, we'll just assume that was the one that was supposed to end the previous paragraph.  It's a very curious thing.  It never happened on my old computer.  Don't know what causes it. 

During my packing, I panicked that I was going to look like I came from the boonies when we were in Boston.  I figured I would fit right in the other states...c'mon...Maine?  So, I had to try on some things that I had in another closet.  One was a pant suit that has always been just a little big.  Oops!  It's a bit snug now, in the heinie.  Not a problem, the jacket is long and would cover that problem, but the chubby thighs have made the length just a bit shorter than I would like.  But, it would be wearable...except for the big, padded Joan Crawford shoulders.  Once I got a gander of that, it was back to the closet for that outfit.  

I ended up taking a pair of slacks that I may or may not wear.  Dee and I are stopping at Coldwater Creek so I can return something that I purchased to take but then decided I didn't like enough to pay that much for it.  Maybe I'll find something else while we're there.

We dashed into Cato Fashions for about 20 to 30 minutes a couple of days ago, where I found the "casual elegant" outfit that the tour literature suggests would be appropriate for dinner.  I also got a couple of those long scarves that are "in" right now, and a couple of necklaces.  Altogether, I think it was about the same amount as the one item I'm returning at Coldwater Creek.  

I need to get my makeup on and finish my hair and then pack those things so I can weigh my suitcase.  I think I'm going to weigh it on the Wii balance board.  I'll create a Mii for it and...well, really I need to close this down and finish up.  I'm sure my kids are thinking (if they are reading this) "Mom, you're such a dork!"

I'll try to post every once in a while from my iphone.  We'll see how that goes.

11:30:  Cheerio!

Slacker

Dee and I are heading to Houston tomorrow where we'll be spending the night at a hotel near the airport.  Then we fly out of Intercontinental on Sunday, arriving in Boston by late afternoon.  We'll meet up with Carole and Wanda either at Logan Airport or at the hotel.  And then we'll be doing a Fall Foliage tour until October 14.

We booked this trip early in March.  So, I should be ready...right?

Instead, here it is, 10 PM and I'm watching television, entering credit card receipts in Quicken, drinking decaf and eating malted milk balls.  My suitcase has nothing in it, although there are a few items nearby.  I have a way to go to be ready to zip up the luggage.  And I just remembered that I was going to do a load of laundry.  So, I guess I'd better go get it started.

11 PM:  Okay, got the laundry going and took the labels off some socks I bought at Walgreen's this morning.  Interesting how many things I had to take off socks that I'm pretty sure were not very costly.  So, I'm back in the recliner, watching The Mentalist.  I keep having to rewind it.  Whoops!  I just remembered I turned on the iron to press out some creases in some tops I'm taking.  Seems silly to iron them and then fold...or roll them up and put them in the suitcase, doesn't it?  Still nothing in the suitcase.

11:30:  Tops ironed.  Still don't know why I did it.  I guess so my roomie will think the wrinkles are from being packed, not because they're brand new and not laundered.  You never know what will happen in the wash and they look (and fit) really nice now.  More stuff near the suitcase...nothing in it yet.  I'm actually bringing a small container of mustard.  I figure with the excess walking I'll be doing...in new Skechers...yes!  I did buy some new stuff...I'm bound to get some leg cramps and mustard is a quick cure for that.  You swallow it...about a teaspoon.  If the cramp doesn't go away within 10 seconds, you might need another teaspoonful.  It works!

11:45:  I can probably go put the clothes in the dryer now.  Moving right along!

2:24 AM:  I'll just have to get up and pack in the morning.  We're not leaving until about 1:00.  No problemo!  Geez...I'm really a slacker.