Update
Last Friday's CSA had: ca. 2 lb. small new red potatoes, 2 very small green cabbages, basil, 4 small onions, garlic, 6 peaches, and 1 small summer squash.
I made basil potato salad with part of the basil and all the potatoes; braised cabbage; put sauteed onions into my breakfast casserole instead of green onions; and used more onions and the squash for chicken kebabs (the Middle Eastern variation this time). SO ate 4 of the peaches before he left, also (I'm not a big peach eater, but will eat the remaining 2).
So that leaves me with a couple of onions, several heads of garlic, a few bay leaves, and a few radishes still. Not bad. I will pick up one more bag this Friday, then there will be three weeks off since I leave for France the following Friday and will be gone just over 2 weeks. Have to remember to email our farmer as well as mentioning it to her again when I see her Friday.
Friday's going to be busy! I have a workshop at another university most of the day, then I pick up the CSA, then I'm going to a baseball game (the reschedule of the one that we didn't get to see because of the tornadoes on May 31); going with one of my staff since SO has already departed for the east coast to visit his mom for a week.
I was social last weekend, too; first time attending a book club to which I was invited by one of our neighbors. We read Mildred Pierce by James Cain; I have checked out the Joan Crawford film but haven't seen it yet. The book was worth reading although I can't say I really liked it as it was hard to be really sympathetic toward any of the characters, even Mildred. We had a good discussion of it, I thought, and I think I will enjoy participating with this group (about 6 or 7 women of various ages). Our next meeting is the day after I get back from France, so I will buy that book (We Sinners by Hanna Pylväinen) to put on my Kindle so I can read it while I'm over there.
I'm slowly getting various pre-trip chores done. Some things just may not happen, but I have a prioritized to-do list as well as a things-to-take list (detailed down to which shirts I will take and what colors of socks). The toughest things the next week and a half will be making sure all goes smoothly re: bathroom reno, and coping with both dogs. We still don't trust Tain with the run of the house solo (having Juno there doesn't count) so they either have to be outside, or I have to shut Tain into the kitchen/breakfast room area and take the garbage bin out of there since she has knocked that over at least twice now.
I still need to twiddle with the little bits of video I have taken of the dogs, and pull those off the video camera. I did buy some memory cards and an extra battery for that, as although I'm not generally much of a picture-taker I might manage to be a little better on this trip. We'll see. I do expect to be totally offline for the duration.
My dad quite unexpectedly called a couple of nights ago to say that he was sending me a check for us all to go out to a nice dinner in Paris. *vbg* That should be fun! Hopefully the niece and nephew will appreciate it; I know all the adults will.
Having just hired a staff member this spring, I had another one resign last week. Not totally unexpected but oh boy, now we have to do it again. At least I will get to replace this person promptly! If we're really lucky all the paperwork will go through and the job will be advertised by about the time I leave, and we'll have a few applicants by the time I get back. Realistically the soonest we can get someone else into the position is probably September 1. The other position we're searching for, the librarian position, is still unfilled; our first two candidates both turned us down, sadly, so we are bringing another to campus next week for in-person interviewing. Here's hoping this one looks good enough to make an offer to after that, and that if an offer is made it is accepted. We are down 2 people from this time last year and only replacing 1; being down 1 is manageable, being down 2 is pretty hard since we get spread awfully thin covering reference, liaising with faculty, and so forth. Not to mention that we're lacking some important skill sets!
The bathroom remodel progresses, but it will definitely not be finished before my departure. Sigh. They started later than initially intended, and then there's the cement piers which have to be fully cured before the support beams can be put in down there. But the plumber was there for the basic in-wall piping yesterday, and the electrician came this morning, and I have now actually met the overall manager of the project myself, so that's all good. Plus SO got one of our neighbors who is an erstwhile architect to come over and take a look a couple of times this week and next, so there will be a more knowledgeable eye than mine on what's happening. It'll be awfully nice once it's all done though, everything new except the porcelain part of the sink (new faucets) and the toilet (which was replaced when we moved in, and there's no reason to replace it again, it's perfectly fine).
That's probably enough for now...
I made basil potato salad with part of the basil and all the potatoes; braised cabbage; put sauteed onions into my breakfast casserole instead of green onions; and used more onions and the squash for chicken kebabs (the Middle Eastern variation this time). SO ate 4 of the peaches before he left, also (I'm not a big peach eater, but will eat the remaining 2).
So that leaves me with a couple of onions, several heads of garlic, a few bay leaves, and a few radishes still. Not bad. I will pick up one more bag this Friday, then there will be three weeks off since I leave for France the following Friday and will be gone just over 2 weeks. Have to remember to email our farmer as well as mentioning it to her again when I see her Friday.
Friday's going to be busy! I have a workshop at another university most of the day, then I pick up the CSA, then I'm going to a baseball game (the reschedule of the one that we didn't get to see because of the tornadoes on May 31); going with one of my staff since SO has already departed for the east coast to visit his mom for a week.
I was social last weekend, too; first time attending a book club to which I was invited by one of our neighbors. We read Mildred Pierce by James Cain; I have checked out the Joan Crawford film but haven't seen it yet. The book was worth reading although I can't say I really liked it as it was hard to be really sympathetic toward any of the characters, even Mildred. We had a good discussion of it, I thought, and I think I will enjoy participating with this group (about 6 or 7 women of various ages). Our next meeting is the day after I get back from France, so I will buy that book (We Sinners by Hanna Pylväinen) to put on my Kindle so I can read it while I'm over there.
I'm slowly getting various pre-trip chores done. Some things just may not happen, but I have a prioritized to-do list as well as a things-to-take list (detailed down to which shirts I will take and what colors of socks). The toughest things the next week and a half will be making sure all goes smoothly re: bathroom reno, and coping with both dogs. We still don't trust Tain with the run of the house solo (having Juno there doesn't count) so they either have to be outside, or I have to shut Tain into the kitchen/breakfast room area and take the garbage bin out of there since she has knocked that over at least twice now.
I still need to twiddle with the little bits of video I have taken of the dogs, and pull those off the video camera. I did buy some memory cards and an extra battery for that, as although I'm not generally much of a picture-taker I might manage to be a little better on this trip. We'll see. I do expect to be totally offline for the duration.
My dad quite unexpectedly called a couple of nights ago to say that he was sending me a check for us all to go out to a nice dinner in Paris. *vbg* That should be fun! Hopefully the niece and nephew will appreciate it; I know all the adults will.
Having just hired a staff member this spring, I had another one resign last week. Not totally unexpected but oh boy, now we have to do it again. At least I will get to replace this person promptly! If we're really lucky all the paperwork will go through and the job will be advertised by about the time I leave, and we'll have a few applicants by the time I get back. Realistically the soonest we can get someone else into the position is probably September 1. The other position we're searching for, the librarian position, is still unfilled; our first two candidates both turned us down, sadly, so we are bringing another to campus next week for in-person interviewing. Here's hoping this one looks good enough to make an offer to after that, and that if an offer is made it is accepted. We are down 2 people from this time last year and only replacing 1; being down 1 is manageable, being down 2 is pretty hard since we get spread awfully thin covering reference, liaising with faculty, and so forth. Not to mention that we're lacking some important skill sets!
The bathroom remodel progresses, but it will definitely not be finished before my departure. Sigh. They started later than initially intended, and then there's the cement piers which have to be fully cured before the support beams can be put in down there. But the plumber was there for the basic in-wall piping yesterday, and the electrician came this morning, and I have now actually met the overall manager of the project myself, so that's all good. Plus SO got one of our neighbors who is an erstwhile architect to come over and take a look a couple of times this week and next, so there will be a more knowledgeable eye than mine on what's happening. It'll be awfully nice once it's all done though, everything new except the porcelain part of the sink (new faucets) and the toilet (which was replaced when we moved in, and there's no reason to replace it again, it's perfectly fine).
That's probably enough for now...