And Then the Bagpiper Showed Up

Hi all,

Spanakopita: a greek dish using filo dough to sandwich layers of spinach, garlic, fetal cheese, spices and egg. Sounds delicious, no? Granted, I was going to use swiss chard today instead of spinach, and also going to add leeks and mushrooms. I saw was because after the morning of a co-op run and vegetable prep, the power decided to go out. Well, technically a power line went down because of a run-in with a tree, but the end result was the same. We couldn't get the oven lit. We got the stove top no problem, but literally took the oven apart trying to find the pilot. We eventually decided (as we couldn't get a gas smell either) that there was probably a safety mechanism that prevented the actual oven from being used during a power outage. Stumped, the only thing that came to mind was soup. Luckily, housemom decided that ordering pizza was a much better idea, and who am I to disagree?

Though I knew I would (and did) get crap from Sam about what I'd done all morning.

We also had a visitor for lunch, and so it wasn't much of a "home cooked meal" for him. He was a good sport about it anyway. The kicker was, the power came on at about 11:45. Just late enough to have ordered the pizza, and not really be able to cook anything else anyway in time for lunch.

After a short rest hour, we got together for orientation and set off to the new project site - an elder care community. It's still in the fund-raising stage, but could start as early as this summer. At any rate, we got a little tour and saw the plans and then started to scrape paint off of the huge deck. Actually, the girls did. We were short quite a few tools, and so all the guys decided that they'd play soccer. The entire time. The leader didn't say anything, which is kind of annoying, and I had a good time with Schmee, but it still kinda pissed me off. We could've gotten a lot more done if we'd had fresh hands working in shifts - but they obviously didn't care. It was in pretty poor form, and I was disappointed in them.

Dinner was a mushroom/leek/veggie soup (shocking, right?), and was pretty good. We were down 3 people, and so it was a pretty quiet meal as well. Afterward, as I was upstairs, I suddenly heard bagpipes. Maria had mentioned something about it earlier, but we all hadn't heard anything. Sure enough, "The Bluebells of Scotland" notes were wafting through the window. I told housemom, and after a minute, was able to see a procession (?!) following a lone bagpiper near the border of the woods in the neighborhood. It took me a few minutes (and a trip outside) to figure out it was one of the neighbor co-worker's father, who is visiting this week. Still, a bagpiper?!?

Have to admit, he sounded pretty darn good too!

Anyhow, I have a chocolate cake to bake tomorrow ("Death by Chocolate" - as promised to Flo to celebrate his birthday!), and that'll keep me busy in the morning.

Hope all is well,
Steph

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH

Hi all,

Unfortunately (for my sanity, at any rate), work was canceled not only this morning, but this afternoon as well. This meant that everyone was home while I was trying to plan out lunch. I did have to make a co-op run, although it was slightly treacherous. Trees were cracking and losing limbs left and right. More daunting, however, was the “dumping”. The trees were reaching maximum weight and if one clump of snow managed to slip off, all the rest would immediately follow with a:

“WHOOSH!!”

The only warning was the first little dropping and a vague rustling sound. At times it seemed to be following me. 20 feet behind, then 10…then 5…the RUN! I discovered at least one person at the co-op who’d had the misfortune to be dumped upon, although he said it was a bracing and rather exhilarating experience. The paths weren’t cleared very well due to the downed branches and fast accumulation. I got what I needed, but Ross mentioned he needed onions. When I discovered he had cilantro, we decided to swap ingredients, as I’d been planning on a “Mexican Millet”. I trekked back home, got the onions and set off for our meeting place. I heard a beeping from the bakery, and fearing that a power outage had done something to the machinery, I went to investigate. I found out that the power had gone out and it was the attention alarm. I found out that the house Ross is at (with Bean) also had no power, except some back-up lights.

When I got back home I found mild chaos. The children have been quite whiney and cross lately, and this didn’t bring out the best in them. Plus, I kept having to shepherd people out of the kitchen. However, eventually the food was cooked and pronounced delicious and “Better than last time!” (oh, non-English-as-a-first-language-speakers…).

We had our neighborhood meeting (uneventful, but as hilariously quirky as usual) and then I found out about afternoon work being canceled as well. Luckily, housemom let me come with her and the children (very cranky…) into town to get to the library and to pick up a birthday present. The shop we needed was closed, but we went to another shop, a café and the library.

Dinner went fine, and the evening was stretching on until the power went off. I found myself with one girl in my arms, another latched to my side –both screaming- while in search for the candles. After about 45 minutes, power was restored; as it turns out they were only shutting it down to repair elsewhere. Thanks for the warning…idiots.

Bean came over tonight (also needing refuge after a too-long and trapped day) and we spent almost 2 hours chatting. I find it hilarious that she also says “Meh”, “W00T”, and “anywho” – it’s one of those “We just have to be friends” harbingers. Although, I must say that MA is a novel state in which “padiddle” is a stripping game…

Hope all is well,

Steph