Thursday, September 29, 2022

Social whirl and safety first

Yesterday just as I was putting a banana bread into the oven, I got a text from a local friend whose hermit tendencies even exceed mine, to say she is trying out a new tea, can she come over? I accused her of checking up on me, and said if she waited till 2.30, there would also be fresh banana bread..

So we spent a lovely afternoon catching up, testing the tea and diving into the bbread and saying we mustn't wait another year to do this again.

After she'd left, carrying a large bunch of sage, great cook, my local friend/neighbor/contractor came over to check on the grab bar I'd asked him about. 

It's right at the top of the stairs, where you turn a right angle corner and go up a step , and I had it installed for Handsome Partner when he was still able to do stairs, which I'd set up with bars available on both sides and at the corner at the top.

We installed it exactly where he needed it to be, to reliably find it going upstairs,  that being his blind  side. That meant anchored into hollow wall, missing the studs.Over the years it's loosened, and I wanted it reset higher, to suit me, also anchored into studs, safer.

So here he is, Man at Work, and job done.



He tightened up the other bars while he was at it. He also finally billed me, very reasonably, for the work he did on the deck ages ago. His bill had never reached me, from back in June, so I instantly wrote a check.

Then having exchanged news -- his daughter in Florida is fine, never lost power though rain is drenching down, my other friends ranged from never lost power to lost power, lanai torn away, but people and animals fine -- I picked him a bunch of sage and he gave me a great idea, took some banana bread, then left.

He's a terrific cook and here's the idea: saute a pan of sage leaves to crisp, serve on top of pumpkin butternut squash soup. Definitely going to try this.

Then met another neighbor out doing something in her front yard and we had a hilarious convo about our accidental gardening. 

She got a watermelon growing with edible sized fruit from a pit she'd tossed, and garden balsam, no idea where from, also zinnias from, she thinks, next door. I told her about my inadvertent crops. We both look like good gardeners this year!

All in all, a mad social whirl. I need to decompress now.

Happy day everyone, try to stay safe, dry and don't get all combustible over our various useless policymakers, applicable to practically every country of our readers, except maybe NZ where the sane  Jacinta holds office. 

Here we do have a sane president and veep, but an off the rails Congress, oh well.

Meanwhile in other serious news


I think I know quite a few people who could happily help destroy chocolate rabbits.





 

16 comments:

  1. Ok, the rabbit melt down is depressing. That image of rabbits are older than dirt.

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  2. You had a day of it! You are blessed with good people around you. Sage in brown butter is absolutely delicious. It will be wonderful in your soup. I make gnocchi with brown butter sage, so good. I believe the world has gone mad.

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  3. I volunteer to help destroy those chocolate bunnies too!

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  4. It’s lovely your being looked after by your friends and neighbours
    Banana bread is always the best fresh from the oven.
    I could help with destroying those pesky rabbits if needed. I’m a good person like that lol

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  5. Whew! I get tired just thinking of the people you have encountered today.

    Tomorrow I go to volunteer job where I lead a 5 person team, and help clients all day. By end of day I just want to hide in my bedroom.

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  6. The teaparty was yesterday. All the rest was today. I elided a bit -- Mike came over last evening to check what was needed. Then back today to do it.
    Not all in one day, that would have done me in.

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  7. I will be baking banana bread today. I shall add walnuts. I might also have to make a pot of pumpkin soup and see if I can find some sage. That sounds delicious.
    If I encountered that many people in one day I would hibernate for a week!

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  8. As I said, it wasn't one day. It was spread over two days.

    I usually put walnuts into banana bread but this time I left them out because some if it's going to the family next door, whose little boy is allergic to nuts.
    I like things like walnuts or cranberries or chocolate chips ir all of them included.

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  9. Good it was over two days. One would have finished us, too.

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  10. Sounds like a lovely social whirl. The kind I enjoy when they happen.

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  11. That is a lot of socializing for some of us. I hope you recover. 😀

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  12. Indeed, I would be first to volunteer.
    I made banana bread in Italy. Strange pan, strange oven, strange ingredient (gluten-free flour) but turned out remarkably well.

    What a kind and useful neighbour to have.

    And let's not think about the state of British politics.

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  13. The banana sounds yummy and with tea and a friend, nothing better!

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  14. Your planets must have been aligned to be conducive to social activity!
    But it all sounds nice. Good to get those railings up. I know that must give you some peace of mind.

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  15. Ah ha we should have read from the bottom up. Chocolate rabbits now understood. Our accidentall gardening turned up a calabash and we have no idea how that got there. Lovely soft furry leaves though.

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  16. We have grab bars in our bathroom that were there when we moved in. I wouldn't be without them now. Luckily we don't have stairs in the apartment but we do use the stairs when we go out and, if we're not carrying too much, when we return as well.
    Chocolate rabbits under fire, who knew!!!

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