Weekend Recap 29/52

A mixed bag weekend for us - a little bit of work, a little bit of play, a lot of sitting either in the air-conditioned house or truck because it's too hot to actually be outside doing anything.

The truth is that I have been counting the days until Fall since before summer even started...but we've already had about four wicked heat waves and even JP is now counting the days until you can go outside and breathe properly again...and he isn't a summer-hater like me.

He had several outside projects on his to-do list but it was too hot to do them so we poured some cocktails and sat inside where we could look out the door at the patio we can't use because it's too hot to be out on it 😄  Yay, summer!

On Saturday, after he gave up trying to accomplish any yard work but before the above-mentioned  cocktails, we went for a ride to a place I've been wanting to check out since we moved to Delaware in April:  Ole Vintage Finds which is just a few miles from home. Lucky for us it was their open house event - which we didn't even know until we got there - but it just made our visit that much more special.

And let me tell you, this place really is special! It's in an old Southern States building which is the perfect setting for all the old and wonderful stuff crammed inside. My entire house is furnished and decorated with antiques and vintage items so this place will be a regular stop for me and they will no doubt wind up with a good deal of my money. 
Did I mention how nice everyone there was? I had a strong sense of deja vu when I was there as it took me right back to my North Carolina days and the southern hospitality and kindness that was everywhere you went. What a relief to find that there are still places with that vibe. It's just one more thing to love about Delaware.
(If you go, please take note of the wonky wooden floors which I found to be very endearing)

I forgot to mention that we also got a free gift with our puchase. How sweet is this cup?

 

I made a really nice dinner on Saturday night but I've decided to make that its own post.
I've been giving some thought to posting recipes that work for me as someone who is anosmic and I spent some time this weekend jotting some notes about how I'd like to do this.   

Anosmic/anosmia means I can't smell a single thing and can no longer taste flavors since I lost my sense of smell in 2009. 
Becoming anosmic has changed my life so dramatically, it's difficult to put into words, and goes WELL beyond simply not being able to smell. I want to write more about this on this site...not only to help myself as I maneuver life with this massive loss but to maybe help others who are anosmic. Especially those who might be new to it since anosmia became a more mainstream thing thanks to stupid Covid.

I'd like to post the recipes that I come up with that allow me to get some semblance of enjoyment from food.  Maybe I'll even give them a 1-10 rating in different categories. 
You would be surprised to know that I still can cook well and that the food I cook for others is highly regarded. Thank God for still having that.

Anyway, Saturday night's meal was grilled chicken over egg noodles with a creamy lemon garlic sauce.

That will be my first recipe post upcoming some time this week.

It was a low-key weekend overall but this, friends, was the absolute highlight:

We were out on the deck and this little guy was flying around.  I put out my hand and told JP to watch..."I have a way with dragonflies", I said.

He is used to me and my weird proclamations but, man, you should have seen his face when this beauty came right over and landed on my hand!

He flew off (dragonfly, not JP) and then came back a minute later. Again, I held out my hand and again, he landed right on my finger. JP couldn't believe his eyes! 
Little dragonlfly stayed sitting on my finger long enough for JP to run into the house and grab his phone so he could take this picture and then watch as I held a long conversation with it, my face just inches from his little blue/green face as his little head went from side to side as I talked to him.

I love when magic happens, don't you?!

Crop Dusting & Helicopters

I woke up way too early this morning and after packing JP's breakfast & lunch (yes, I do that almost every day; he works hard, it's the least I can do) I decided that the best way to get through this day and the inferno that it is outside (we are in yet another heat wave), is to spend the day in bed.
My bedroom has black shades and is as dark and cool as a cave - you literally cannot tell if it is day or night in there - which makes it the perfect place to hibernate until November the current heat wave we're having subsides.

There I was languishing luxuriously in bed, just started to drift back to slumber and blissful ignorance of the outside temperature and the incessant, oppressive sunlight when, from a distance, I could hear a buzzing consistent with that of an airplane. 

If, let's say, the airplane was headed straight toward your house.

Here is where I will segue into the story about when I was younger and wintering in Miami Beach and I decided to go out and get the Sunday paper for my parents who were still sleeping.

Every year just after Christmas we packed up and headed out of New Jersey to Miami Beach where we spent the next couple of months avoiding cold weather and living la vida loca*.  We always rented a place on Collins Avenue which was the place to be if you were a yankee snowbird. 

If you are not familiar with Collins Avenue, here is what it mostly looked like although there were more high-rise buildings that had been built where some of the iconic motels once stood:

So there I was, walking along Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, while my parents were back in our hotel sound asleep having no idea that I was off on a solo Sunday morning adventure**.