On A Scale of 1-10, Nine!

Until Tim buys our next car - some beautiful convertible that will seat 4-6 people, we are limited to who we can invite from the city for the weekend. The reason we are limited is because of the size of the back cab of our pick-up. Whoever we invite must either be a contortionist, or very petite and definitely a good sport. Thank God, my friend D is all of the above. She squeezed into the jump seat of our truck and we drove up on Friday night without a hitch. It was almost a perfect weekend.

Saturday, Tim made Cloud pancakes for breakfast and then we took off for the day. It was gorgeous out. We stopped at Fisk House in Bovina. There was a barn tag sale on HWY 28 and I bought an armchair frame. We flung it in the back of our much maligned truck. We hit a couple of antique stores in downtown Delhi and I picked up two sets of vintage Pyrex bowls. On the way to Walton, we picked up water plants and herbs at Green Thumb nursery. Tim had seen this tiered herb garden on Martha Stewart and wanted to recreate it. Tim worships Martha Stewart. I believe she has endless issues and can't stand the way she butchers the word herb - (pronounced Herb). In Walton, we shopped used books and had lunch. We picked up fish for the pond. We shopped groceries, drove home and Tim started cooking. Neighbors of ours stopped by and we had cocktails. Tim made a special sangria for the occasion. Tim made grilled lamb chops with lemon chutney, grilled sweet potatoes with a scallion and maple glaze, red cabbage salad and an apple and pear galette. Everything was delicious. We all passed out watching the movie - "Nine." It was our second time trying to watch it.

D sleeps late. I don't. I got up and made a pot of coffee, washed dishes and sat by the pond and watched the tadpoles. I tried to find the fish that we had put in the pond on Saturday. Tim made an egg strata and we sat watching "Nine" again. How could they ruin this play? Tim wants to be Kate Hudson. We drove to Andes and we wanted to shop my favorite store, Delaware, but it was closed along with several other stores. They didn't get the memo that we were in the mood to shop and to please be open for our friend. We drove to Margaretville and shopped Home Goods where I found a great grill pan and another pyrex casserole dish. A new used bookstore opened up - I could spend hours and hours at used bookstores. We shopped furniture and a yarn store where Tim got attacked by a laughing cockatoo. I nearly peed my pants when it jumped on his shoulder. We spent the afternoon sunning, planting herbs and worrying about the fish. Weekends like this, give us the opportunity to enjoy our home and learn more about the community that we have adopted. We also get to share it with our friends.

D emailed me monday to let me know that frogs eat fish and basically we had fed the frogs and tadpoles a gourmet meal. Poor fish.