Boots and Books

I seem to a have a fascination with shoes on this blog. When these boots arrived at my door on Friday evening, this shot with hairy legs and shorts was too much to pass up. Yes, these are the legs and feet of the BF arriving to pick up DD. He said he has sneakers in the car. The temperature was in the 80s. So, while women suffer in heels, do guys wear workboots?

Knitting is fun again, and Maureen and I had a lovely jaunt to Uniquities on Saturday. I currently have three projects in the works (of various ripe ages) and bought yarn for a new top that I don't really expect to finish until Summer 2010. Maureen selected yarn for three projects and I dissuaded her from the fourth as it is much more fun to go to the yarn store without so much time in between. I may spend more time on Ravelry again soon.

Various Reads: Did I mention that I finished About Face (Donna Leon)? Not her best, but a nice trip through Venice once again. Then onto some ChikLit (hey, it's summer!): two of Anne Rivers Siddons beach books (Up Island, set on Martha's Vineyard, and Low Country, set in South Carolina) and plus Barbara Taylor Bradford's Being Elizabeth. Plus there have been three books on CD for roadtrips: Donna Leon's Blood from a Stone, and two Meg Cabots (teenage fun): All-American Girl and How to be Popular. Currently moving along: The Stone Budoir: Travels through the Hidden Villages of Sicily (Maggio).

Reunions...

Summers are filled with reunions and this one has been no different. (We're already making plans for next summer!)

The first photo shows cousins Cate and Katie on Sunday, and the group photos is of the CHS Class of 1978, 30th reunion. I'm proud to say that as one of the shortest classmates, I'm still in the front row.

There's been slow knitting progress and I'll take pictures soon.

I'm currently reading Jeff Alt's, A Walk for Sunshine, about his journey on the Appalachian Trail. We enjoy hiking segments of the trail in Shenandoah National Park, and live vicariously through writers such as Alt and Bryson. recently read Priest by Ken Bruen, set in Galway. Bruen's mystery is a bit rough, but it was nice to be back in Galway. Other recent reads: Monster of Florence (that deserves its own blog entry!), Cape Wind, and Donna Leon's Fatal Remedies, and Barbara Delinsky's, The Secret Between Us.

"Hell Week" begins as we enter the last week of summer -- the week with erratic schedules, no camps, many forms, and a long to-do list!

The Valentine's Day Snow Day

Two Wednesdays in a row! It's almost like being a kid in Upstate/Central NY. That said, I wouldn't mind being up there for the historic snowfall, reminiscent of the Blizzard of '66 and the snow of 1993. It's getting there that's the problem. For the fun of it, I keep checking the Syracuse.com website, and occassionally, even the forum for Cortland County.

Guess who turned 15 since the last update? Carly! She's off to a good start on her 3rd quarter grades, which is a good thing. We're looking forward to lacrosse tryouts, eventhough she broke a piece of Hardiplank siding last weekend with her lacrosse skills. She's signed up for a field hockey camp at William and Mary this summer.

We had a few friends over for dinner last Saturday night, and once again, we included an Olive Oil Tasting--all extra virgin from Olio2go, of course. The tasting table featured: Gourmet Sardinia Fruttato, Titone DOP, Vittorio Cassini Classico, Olio Beato, and Santisi Novello 2006. Our guests could appreciate the freshness of Santisi, the smoothness of Cassini, and the intensity of Fruttato. Titone was the overall favorite, and I used that for the field greens salad--along with splashes of white balsamic vinegar and red wine vinegar--one clove of garlic.

Our appetizers included a selection of olives (thanks to Wegman's olive bar), marinated mozarella balls (my own creation), peppery cheeses, bread and crackers.

The salad was served as a separate course along with bread from Wegman's and one of their gourmet/European/restaurant butters.

The main course was Tom's specialty --an unnamed pasta dish with chicken, red and yellow bell peppers, and mushrooms in a reduced red pepper cream sauce. Yum.

For dessert, we had another tasting, although unintended it turned out to be fun. I had two chocolate desserts from Trader Joe's the Chocolate Ganache and the Chocolate Decadence. It turned out that everyone wanted a small slice of each, for comparison tasting! I'm not sure we had a clear winner, as both were devoured.

In the world of olive oil, we've had a challenging learning experience in the process of importing. It's been a long journey and the arrival of San Macario Novello continues to be ....imminent. We've had a very helpful customs agent, been held up by Homeland Security, and continue to wait. It left the port in La Spezia, Italy on January 9th. Our pallet arrived at the port of NY on January 25 (I think), and there's been a long wait for release due to the extra inspections. We'll never know what in the container caused the VACIS exam or the complete unpacking of the container.

I hope to spend part of this snow day working on the Constant Contact announcement for the arrival of San Macario, and also working on pages for Olio2go's new web site. Launching soon!

There hasn't been much time for knitting lately, although I finished a scarf on Tuesday morning and wore it the same day. I bought the yarn when Maureen and I journeyed to Uniquities in Vienna on December 30.

Send me an email if you want to know about H e a d L i c e , attitudes about lice, facts about lice, and how to use olive oil to treat lice. Good readings: the Harvard School of Public Health guidance, the American Academy of Pediatrics position, and Virginia School Health Guidelines. It's always helpful to know your own school district's policy. I hope I don't have to speak with any of you on this topic again!

The books: I keep scaning the travel books and am ready for a return to Italy. I'm also continuing to read the Donna Leon mysteries set in Venice. The current book on my nightstand is Death at La Fenice. Before that, I finished Dressed for Death.

It's a good day to bake bread.....and read!

Happy Snow! Happy Valentine's Day... L.