Summer is flying by too quickly!

I don’t usually like posting pictures of myself, but I’ve always wanted a picture of Wolf and me…and Dave caught this one last night

He is so darn cute!!!

Friday: The weekend started off with a lobster dinner…they were $3.99/pound at Market Basket and wth! Lobster cheaper than steak, we’ll take a few!

Saturday: Didn’t hear Dave get up at 6 to go to his daughter’s house to get Ralphy. He hung out there awhile so I could have some quiet before the storm (that is Ralphy lol).

I did two loads of laundry, walked and fed the dog, relaxed with a combo of FB, email & the book I’m reading (Two Coots in a Canoe) and fixed myself a breakfast of leftovers (cold corn off the cob, bbq chicken, cherry tomatoes, radishes with a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar & salt). Just as I sat down to eat it, Dave & Ralphy came home. Dave asked me to fix Ralphy something to eat (my turn now lol) but he said “he had food at home and didn’t want anything (this was a theme all day). I had boiled some eggs that morning and noticed one of them had not only cracked but the end of the shell had popped off. I showed it to Ralphy, he giggled and I had him touch it which made him giggle even more. Then he asked if he could taste it, sure! He liked it, so that was his breakfast (with ketchup on top, of course). Funny how those things work out!

Then Ralphy and I went to my boss’s house, she was having a yard sale (Dave went to practice with his brother and some other guys…turned out they had a great time and stayed for almost 5 hours, the brat LOL). Ralphy had the time of his life at her house…her grandson was there, whom Ralphy had met once before at a local park. They played with remote control cars, ran through a sprinkler, and shot baskets (both of them are obsessed with basketball).

While I was there, I got stung by a yellow jacket (there is a nest in the siding of my boss’s house, I am to remind her to CALL THE EXTERMINATOR on Monday). This ruined my string of only getting stung once in my life (I was 3 the first time, I loved grasshoppers and ooh look, there’s one on the stairs, let’s play with it…OUCH! Wrong bug…it was a wasp.) My screams of terror at this yellow jacket on my foot alarmed, then amused the kids. My boss, after apologizing all over the place, laughed and said she’d never seen me move so fast Anyway, we were there for about 4 hours and I was on my feet for a good portion of that time helping the kids shoot baskets.

Came home and fed the snapping turtles down by the slowly dwindling pond.

After that, we crashed for a bit in the AC watching a nature show.

Dave’s older grandson called, he’d just come home from bagging at the local grocery store and said he was bored (when he said that, I could hear my Nana’s voice in my head, telling me, when I once told her I was bored, if you’re bored, you’re boring, and I kept it in my head), so I picked him up and we hung out a bit more til Dave got home, then we descended upon my friend Michelle and went to dinner at a diner near her home and had a great time.

Poor Ralphy had the poops twice (post dinner pre-and during ice cream eating) (he didn’t have ice cream. I did. Ever try to wipe a kid’s butt holding a cone in one hand in a port-a-potty? YUCK!!!) (too much apple juice was the cause, Melissa said). After the second time he said that poop was REALLY loud and I laughed to myself

not poop, but a yummy coffee soft serve

When Dave dropped me off at home, then left to take the kids home, I hopped in bed, read for exactly a millisecond, then I was OUT til 630 the next morning.

Sunday: Same as Saturday, except I had two boiled eggs and watermelon for breakfast.

Dave brought Ralphy over, we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for a iced coffee and a couple munchkins for Ralphy, who was surprised to see there was jelly in the middle!

Then we headed to a nearby lake and did some kayaking, some paddle boating, some fishing (Dave) and more reading (me).

Both of us were tired after that, so we stopped at McDonald’s (don’t judge lol) on the way home and got takeout which we ate at a local water park/playground, so Ralphy could have some more fun. I gotta say, he was a good boy and ate his whole meal, watching the kids play in the water and giggling excitedly from time to time. Adorable! Saw a shiba at the park, too.

How was your weekend?

Last Monday, I had the pleasure of finally meeting Mrs. G., her lovely daughter Caitie and another long time blog friend, Erin! Also got to see Erika again and that was a pleasant surprise! I was happy to meet some new derfs folks, one of whom, Deb, lives less than 5 miles away from me and at whose lovely home we all met. She put on quite an amazing spread and her children (in their late teens or early 20s, I believe) helped her by doing most of the cooking, serving, and cleaning up! It was a magical night, truly. Lots of laughter, good food and drink and some new friendships made. Thank you, Deb, for opening up your home!

We started off with some drinks

and hors d’oeuvres (Deb said that peanut butter and horseradish on a ritz was a snack her grandfather enjoyed very much and let me tell you, it was VERY good!)

Derfs and food

more Derfs and food (notice who’s lurking in the corner)

Mrs. G., finally!

Here, Deb’s kids are serving us dinner…they were so amazing, seriously! Deb, at the head of the table, looks so proud of them, as well she should be!

Deb made this delicious pavlova, too! Wow, it was so light and airy, I loved it!

Whoopie pies, made by Deb, and quite delicious! She did well on the New England theme (whoopie pies are said to have been invented in Maine, although there is a debate about that … since some folks say they were invented in and around Lancaster, PA)

Mrs. G. and me, holding the goddesses Debbie made for us and sent all the way from Japan! Mrs. G.’s was for her trip, mine was sent a couple years ago when I was fighting cancer. Thanks, Debbie!!!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but Dave is quite the fisherman! Trout is his thing and he’s pretty damn good at it. In fact, he’s so good that we have a freezerful of fish and we’re constantly giving some away. Just last weekend, we gave my cousin 10 trout (rainbow & browns, I think, or was it brookies), which she promply put into her freezer.

Anyway, last night he defrosted a few and made them for dinner. Did you know he’s an amazing cook, too? In fact, during the week, since he gets home much earlier than me, he usually has dinner ready. Yup, I’m lucky!

He stuffed them (he cleans them as he catches them, and leaves the head on) with lemon and herbs and pan fried them in butter using my grandmother’s cast iron pan.

Sides were rice pilaf and steamed asparagus. Wolf got to share some of the fish, including the skin. All three of us thought it was delicious!

Then Dave and I (Wolf’s still on restricted activity til the end of the month) went for a walk along the boulevard where we ran into his niece and nephew-in-law and had a nice chat with them. Stopped for a kiddie cone (finally, a place that makes them with one small scoop!!!) in the middle of the walk and at the end I made him asked him nicely to pose for this picture.

I kind of really like this guy