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Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Good to be Home

Being home after a week away sure takes a lot of catching up. Thanks, everyone, for the comments on earlier posts from NJ and the good wishes for a safe return. All were much appreciated.

Grenville prepared a wonderful (and delicious) welcome home dinner of Turkish Braised Lamb Shanks. And, he even did the dishes – now that’s a really great Welcome Back! And, the hugs and kisses were wonderful as well. Leaving was hard, but coming home was terrific.

Since my late Sunday return, I’ve been catching up on news reports of tornadoes striking in many states and parts of VA. Grenville and I hope that all our blog reading friends were fortunate not to have sustained any damages and are safe.

Also getting back to the regular routines: exercising at the YMCA, volunteering, and house cleaning. My computer time has been limited and I’m running behind on blog reading and posting. Internet access in my mom’s NJ neighborhood; online activity was limited to a short library trip and an hour of coffee and wi-fi (free) at a Panera Bread near her home.

Here are a few quick updates on recent topics and a new one that’s not so welcome, but very seasonal.
  • GAS – back in mid-March, regular gas was $3.39/gallon. Yesterday’s price was $3.75/gallon and climbing. Prices ranged from a low of $3.53 (NJ Turnpike) on 4/10 to $3.69 – $3.85 on 4/17.
  • TEMPS – at the end of February, temps signs boasted 70-degree temps. Today we were in the mid-80s.
  • FOOD – one of our favorite topics along with cooking. Both Grenville and I have tried a few more new recipes this week (in addition to the braised lamb shanks). We’ll be posting them shortly.
  • TRAVEL – this weekend we’ll be at an art festival on Chincoteague Island where Grenville will be exhibiting and (hopefully) selling his wood turnings. It’s a 45-minute drive each way, so we’re staying overnight at a local motel for a weekend adventure.

POLLEN – it’s here and depositing a yellow-green coating on everything outdoors – cars, porches, chairs, sidewalks. It’s indoors too as the windows were open and screens down earlier this week. The winds blew a fine coating on indoor surfaces; vacuuming will be a daily task for the next few weeks. We could use a good soaking ran to wash everything down. It’s in the weekend forecast.
pollen collage0420FUN – tomorrow's post will feature a mystery place from my NJ visit.

7 comments:

grammie g said...

HI Beartice...So glad to see your post ..I have been worried that you might have been near the tornado areas..whew!!
It is always hard to get back into your routine after being away!!
Looking forward to more post!!

Anvilcloud said...

Allergy sufferers must be in agony.

possum said...

Welcome back to Pollen Land! Glad you made it safely home.

Lois Evensen said...

Hi and Welcome Home. :) Sorry that pollen is a problem. :( We are fortunate that it isn't a problem for us because we love to walk among the flowers in the Spring.

MadSnapper said...

welcome home and back to blog land, enjoy your week end and i hope he sells all of what he shows. we were in the 90's yesterday afternoon, and needing rain. our gas is 3.81 or it was yesterday when we filled both trucks and went into sticker shock. POLLEN is HERE for sure bringing our allergies along with it

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Thanks Grammie G, no damages at my mom's home from any windy weather, but there was lots of rain - nearly 3 days with terrific downpours so good for indoor cleaning and reading too.

AC, tis so true and Grenville is one of those suffering and I sneeze more often too now.

Thanks Possum & Lois, it's always good to be home. Some rain this weekend should clear out some pollen - but it will surely return!

Ouch, Sandra on that gas price but it may well top that this weekend, which is why we're staying overnight vs. driving to and from the show on Fri and Sat. The motel cost was reasonable and probably equals a full tank of gas!

Connie said...

Gas was up to $3.99 here recently, but I think it has come back down some. Not sure where it is today.

Yikes, that pollen looks awful. We don't get it bad like that here.