Tasty Olive Oil Taste Test

I couldn't eat lunch yesterday.

That was because we taste-tested at least a dozen extra virgin olive oils! With spoons! The most exciting was a new oil from Puglia named Mosto! It's unfiltered, as "olive" as you could imagine, and it deserves strong words like gutsy and zesty. I really like Ravida as well, which is a good thing since I bought a case of it on Tuesday. (If you are on my Christmas list, you might want to forget that tidbit). When we were done, I brought home five bottles for the ever-expanding pantry. Titone is very appealing, Frantoio de Sommaia has a wine-bottle style label and is assertive with a nice bit of pepper in the finish. And, I brought home a 3-pack soon to be listed on the Olio2Go site. The gift pack includes three Frantoio Franci Extra Virgin Olive Oils, ranging from fruity to spicy: Seggianese, Villa Magra Dei Franci, and Le Trebbiane. This is a nice gift pack!

The other tested oils included Badia a Coltibuono, Pelliccia, Merlano (very flavorful and unique, now on sale!), and Olio Beato. It was quite fun--especially the search for the corkscrew. It's not often that a broadcast email is sent through a company in search of a corkscrew.

Knitting. It's been a slow week with a very few rows knitted. When working on the Donegal Tweed at a Field Hockey game, I completely failed to move a traveling cable, which meant I lost an hour of knitting and spent Saturday's second soccer game (of three) fixing the stitches. This week I fell in love with the Sherwood sweater on the Knitty site. It's in kids' sizes, but I could make one of the larger sizes for me.

I only made it to one of the three soccer games as I met with the architect and contractor, while DH took DD2 to her morning game, and as a Board Member was helping set up the neighborhood picnic while DH took DD2 to the second game. In between, we all went to DD1's soccer game. (And there are two Field Hockey games this week, with the second tonight. They won on Tuesday!)

The architect is planning to provide the final plans today! We're on our way to a fine porch and deck for parties and relaxation. I'll post photos when we have something interesting. As long as someone else walks those plans through the permits, I'll be thrilled.

All this talk of home construction brings another current topic: the house across the street. Yes, the market is slow, and the house is priced $150,000 less than the last home sold in June. It's even larger than that house. Unfortunately, it is the story of the failure to update the house. A very nice older couple has lived their 30 years, and although she was in real estate at one time, they didn't keep the house up. It has the original kitchen, the shrubs, garden, and front walk impair the curb appeal, and I can only imagine the stale basement. It might have sold quickly and for a good price in last year's market. The failure-to-update has had a truly negative impact.

I do wonder what the right amount is to spend each year on home updating. Should it be a percentage of the home's value? How does one estimate the right amount for a roof, carpet, kitchens and baths over time...? The real key is not to fall behind.

The beginning of the end is done. The Back to School Nights are over! I'm ever so glad. Now I just have to ask about homework (daily). ...I'd better get to the shower, the bus stop, and back to Olive Oil! I need to be home in time to meet the plumber!