In Search of My Own Glinda…

You may recall that she is the good witch in the Land of Oz…so early Wednesday morning I headed out on the yellow brick road to Oz (or Aus. if you prefer). Cheri had headed Down Under a couple weeks previously and now it was my time to search for her.

The first leg of the trip was a six-hour flight from Boston to San Francisco. I was then able to take advantage of an almost 8 hour layover to explore the finer points of the San Francisco airport. Finally I boarded a 747 for the almost 16 hour flight from San Francisco to Sydney.

As arduous as a 16 hour flight may seem, I was able to get over five hours of sleep, watch a couple of movies, and walk around a little to keep the blood flow and the interest up. Clearing customs went smoothly and quickly, and I was soon being welcomed to Sydney.

 
Similar to the route Cheri had taken earlier, I made a reservation with an express bus service to travel between Sydney and Canberra. It was a three hour ride that gave me an opportunity to see some of the countryside (it reminds me a little of the hill country of Texas…pictures later from a time when I am not flying by on a bus).

As I took a quick shower and then a brief nap, Cheri and Sarah began working on dinner…we seem to be settling in nicely.

Sarah and Glinda…I mean Cheri…met me at the Central Bus Station in Canberra. It sure is great to see Sarah in person after eighteen months (also pretty nice to see Cheri again after a couple of weeks). We stopped on the way to Sarah and Andrew’s house to pick up some meat pies (a staple food product here in Oz) for lunch and some wine (another staple) for dinner.

 
We are all safely here…so let the Adventure in Oz begin…

Still in Kansas…

Just a short blurb this time…it's not the adventures stopped happening…it's just that they seem slower when Cheri isn't here. Although it won't be long before I'm caught up in a tornado of activities getting ready to head for Oz and join Cheri on another adventure.

I checked with my doctor about biking or any form of lifting, and was told to wait a few more weeks. But, that didn't keep me from at least going out for a walk on Saturday morning (being an early riser made for a pleasant outing along the roadways).

Fortunately I put my camera in my pocket, and it is surprising what you see when you slow down and walk a little. Over the last seven years I have run and biked along these roads many times; this early morning some items jumped out at me that I haven't seen before.

Here are some of the early morning photos from the short loop near our house:

 

Next thing you know…I’ll be following the Yellow Brick Road to my next Adventure!  More to follow soon...

The Dawn of Renaissance

If we are coming out of the Dark Ages then this must be the Renaissance Era. Colder shorter days are behind us as we enter into Spring. With the longer days...here is a short update

To help us reach this point between the Dark Ages and today, the Adventures had to just keep on going. First off, I was able to go to a Celtics game as a part of an auction item from one of our fundraisers.

Next, Cheri and I were able to enjoy an Elton John concert in Worcester, which took us back over 30 years, and he was just as good as ever (we had gone to see him in Boston when we were dating in high school).

March Madness likewise helped fill in the time (although my experience and expertise in bracket-tology is somewhat lacking...it seems everyone’s is this year), and it became another excuse for some good food and wine.

Several of our wives took off for Vermont to spend a weekend away. That meant we guys could get together as well, cook up a little beef, and enjoy some time together as well; all with college basketball going on in the background.


While all this was happening my wrist continued, somewhat, on the mend. Although we initially thought that a closed reduction (having the bones set without having surgery) would work to correct the wrist it turned out that the bones settled out of alignment after three weeks...then open reduction (surgery) was required.

After surgery I now have a plate and some pins holding the bones together. The wrist is still a little stiff, but the scar isn't too bad and with massaging and stretching it seems to be getting better (I won’t both you with pictures of the scar)..

Cheri is off to Australia to visit Sarah and I had to join them in a couple weeks. Meanwhile new growth in the yard lets us know that the Renaissance of Spring is happening.



Let the Adventures continue…

The Migration of Pain

Being a little injured means we need to find other ways to do some simple tasks. Having my left hand in a cast and unable to roll the wrist, means I have had fine another way to type. So I am using Dragon naturally speaking software to dictate and type

It is a little odd speaking and then having the words show up on the screen. I do have to to do some corrections, but overall it seems fairly accurate… Although it does make me a little self-conscious. I also wonder if I am speaking in the same style that I would write… time and blogging will tell.

Regardless of my injury the Dark Ages continue with more snow followed by rain followed by freezing rain and roller coaster temperatures. To help combat the humdrum feelings of this season Cheri and I decided to have a spontaneous (flash) Bunco party. So although it looked dreary outside we were able to bring the party inside.

The room was set...

People gathered...

Food and wine was set out...

Let the Games Begin!



After all the festivities we gave out awards.

With the most wins, Rick received a bottle of wine and a ribbon indicating that he is a winner.

With the most losses, Carolyn received a gift with shamrocks on it (keeping a March theme in mind) and a ribbon indicating that she at least participated in the events.

Then we had the highlight of the evening, the crowning of a new Bunco Queen. Mark graciously passed on his crown to Jim along with a new Orb. Obviously a good time was had by all!

We also took the opportunity to get a photo of the former  (and still aspiring) Queens that graced  the games with their presence.

Wrist Up-Date
Originally my wrist was doing okay… not great, not bad, but okay. I certainly wanted to keep myself from being limited by having a cast on, but Cheri kept me well in line (as usual). However well her intentions and actions they did not keep the bones from settling back…and not in the correct alignment. The results is the need for outpatient surgery on my wrist next Monday. A relatively simple procedure but one that will make sure everything is lined up correctly and keeps arthritis from setting in in the future.

So the pain which originally started in my wrist has now migrated much further south to being a pain in the butt.


Here is your moment of Zen...

Feast d’ Le Mare (Italian Feast of the Sea)

Almost as soon it ended last year the men started planning the annual Valentines’ Day Dinner. We originally thought about a theme around baseball…after all pitchers and catchers are reporting to Spring Training in a week…but we decided that such a theme may not be fully appreciated by the dinner honorees.

Fortunately, a few weeks ago Dan came upon a new theme for this year and we planned for the Feast d' Le Mare. James pointed out this would be well appreciated by the honorees as long as it didn't turn into a Feast d' le Merde--what would you expect from a PhD with the moniker of Dr. Sludge.

The internet was scoured, Food & Wine magazine reviewed, Todd English cookbooks poured over, and a menu came together. A week earlier I spent some time with the pasta maker and one of the entrees started to come together...but that's foreshadowing...first things first.

This year's event was at the Manz Estate on Pleasant Valley Road in Underhill, VT. So we headed out early afternoon on Friday, making our way north to an even colder, but not necessarily snowier environment. It was early evening when we turned off Pleasant Valley Road and into the Manz' driveway; the Morris vehicle pulled into the yard a few minutes after us.

Friday evening on these weekends has become an event of its own...specializing in beef. First we got our ladies settled in with some cocktails and then Dan went to work on the entree--some nice pieces of tenderloin. What a great way to begin the weekend's activities.

On arrival we were greeted by ice candles lining the walkway. Not only did it feel festive, it looked festive.

It was a pleasant evening of visiting and catching up. Then Dan and I decided that prior to going to bed we should try out my new snowshoes with a little trek part way up the ridge behind their house. I had brought my headlamp for just such a possibility...so off we went. We didn't travel too far, but we did get a couple of hundred feet higher than the house.

It was quiet, moonlit and beautiful. When we turned around to head back I had Dan stop so I could try and get a picture with house lights below us. Not really clear, but you get some of the feeling.

Saturday morning we had to start getting a little more serious about the upcoming meal...but not before we all headed out for some daytime snowshoeing. We all bundled up, got Zoe (the yellow Lab) her favorite stick, and headed out. It looked much different by daylight, but still beautiful and quiet.

The next joint activity was to try our hand at piksjitte, a Dutch (Friesian) game played on ice. James had learned of this game from one of his Dutch friends and was able to get a copy of the rules (along with a translation) sent to him. Since we were playing on the Manz' homemade skating rink instead of a frozen canal and we didn't have a pikhout (the item slid along the ice) we improvised and still had fun playing a version of the game.

The basics are to have a small block of wood (about a 7 inch long piece of 1x4) which is placed on its side on the ice. Ten pennies are then placed on the top edge...all tails up. This setup is all done at one end of the rink and you start sliding the pikhout from the other end of the ice...trying to hit the block of wood and knocking the pennies off. Any coins that end up as heads go to the thrower and then the bock is reset and play continues from roughly where the block and the pikhout end up.  Play rotates between players until all of the pennies are gone and you add up the count over several rounds. Our improvising began with the pikhout...since we didn't have an official weighted slider we used a can of cat food (this was a suggested substitute by James' Dutch friend). Then since the game is usually played over 30 - 40 yards we instead handicapped ourselves by having to use a curved hockey stick. We were fairly liberal in our interpretation of the scoring rule as well...but we had a ball.

Finally we had to settle down to preparing our feast for later in the evening. We got the ladies to head out for the rest of the day; planning to have us all back together for cocktails and appetizers at 6 pm. We then got out our secret folders and checklists; comparing notes and supplies before heading out for the final touches shopping and errands.

While out and about we did stop at the Chef's Corner for lunch. Our mutual friend Gail Tuscany often works there, but not this Saturday. But we did see her picture up on the wall--a staff group shot...not for employee of the month. Sorry we missed you Gail.

Once we got back to the house we began preparations in earnest. Our feast was to include a fish chowder that Dan began making from scratch. I separated and took the meat out of a 2 lb lobster and made a béchamel sauce to mix together in making lobster thermador. James began decorating the dining room and threading gummy fish onto hooks.



The pre work was just about completed when our ladies returned from their own activities...sporting new, very warm mittens from the Johnson Woolen Mill.
 

The dining room was set, hors d'ouvers put out, we all put on dinner attire (blue blazers, blue shirts, red pocket squares and khakis for the men...we asked the ladies to dress in business casual), and began the feast.

James finished putting caviar into heart shapes on cream cheese and crackers, we took some group and couples photos, and our wives gave us each a gift of scotch (thanks to Thomas for his assistance in helping them with selections).





  

The "Nibbles of Fishes" menu was prepared to be tapas-like with many items to be shared in small portions:

Appetizers

Red Caviar on cream cheese and crackers
Shrimp with Cocktail Sauce
Alaskan Smoked Salmon (thanks to Bessie, Dan's mother) with capers and cream cheese
Selected Cheeses an Olives

Insalada

Baby Spinach accompanied by Herring and Anchovies, drizzled with a balsamic dressing

Soup

Fish Chowder featuring Haddock

Amuse Bouche

Frozen Red Grapes drizzled with Champagne

Entrees

Ravioli stuffed with Crabmeat, Red Pepper Cream Sauce on the side
Lobster Thermador
Lemon Baked Scrod
Asparagus steamed with lemon

Dessert

Quartered Bosch Pears carmelized in their own juices
Ginger and Port Reduction Drizzle

It was an outstanding meal only made better by the company we keep. We finished off the evening with a little ice wine and a testing of one of our new scotches. It was another wonderful event.

Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast together before James and Stephanie packed up to head home to Maine. Cheri and I stayed around a little longer to put on some skates and thoroughly christen the Manz skating Rink. It wasn't that it hadn't been skated on...it just hadn't had an injury.



So after skating around for a while, and taking some spills, I skated to the entrance area and was just about to say I'd had enough and that I was going to sit by the fire pit when my feet slid out and I fell backwards. Fortunately I didn't hit my head and although I landed on my bum I didn't hurt myself there. However, I did put my left hand out to break my fall...and ended up breaking my wrist in the process.



Brought to you one-handed, because the interested public deserves no less…

Let the Adventures continue!