is there any more pie?

cars and covid

Posted on November 17, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Last month Banjo Man decided he needed a reliable off-road vehicle with which to haul a trailer full of building supplies up the mountain to his beloved cabin. The summer of 2021 is going to be the Year of the Cabin and my husband has big plans.

This car/truck would have to be in good shape, as we would be driving it across country in the spring. Oh, the joy of another road trip! Especially after Covid. Just the thought of packing our “new” car and heading west fills us with joyous anticipation.

So we had to decide what kind of car we needed, which required lots of research on my part. And I love research, so this was not a chore.

We narrowed it down to one car: a heavy-duty, towing powerhouse, the Toyota Sequoia.

Last week we thought we had found the perfect used Sequoia. The condition, the price, the fancy extras? All so enticing. But–and this is a big “but”–the car was at a dealer in Vermont. And the day before Vermont had closed its borders to nonessential visitors. It was a four-hour drive, another issue. We would have to spend the night in New Hampshire, which was easy enough unless they decided to close the state also. But was I ready to drive three and a half hours home? I’m a lot stronger than I was a few months ago, but that was a stretch.

Friends offered to make the trip, but we refused. Why should anyone take risks just so we could buy a car? No way.

I also pointed out that we had never sat in or driven a Sequoia. What if it was too big? Or uncomfortable?

The new Toyota Sequoia is unveiled during the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, 14 November 2007. AFP PHOTO/GABRIEL BOUYS (Photo credit should read GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP via Getty Images)

We expanded the car search to include the Toyota 4Runner and the Honda Ridgeline.

Once again, we had never sat in or driven a Honda Ridgeline.

Clearly we needed to look at these cars closer to home and decide which was best for us before I continued to comb Cargurus and Cars.com and Autotrader for used vehicles (90% of them were in Connecticut and Massachusetts, not RI), but here’s where Covid comes in. How do you go to a local dealer and safely look at cars? Some dealers require appointments, which naturally discourages casual shopping.

And “casual shopping” and Covid do not go together, especially now as Rhode Island is surging with the virus and the governor is on the verge of ordering another shutdown.

So our car shopping has been temporarily discontinued. We will stay home and dream of 2021…and life on the road.

Posted in rhode island, shopping | Leave a comment

what was that?

Posted on November 9, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Yesterday morning I was looking out my bathroom window and admiring Banjo Man’s latest leaf-blowing efforts when a roaring noise began and the house trembled.

It lasted long enough for me to wonder if something huge was sliding off our roof. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening.

When it stopped I ran out to the living room as Banjo Man ran up the stairs, who shouted, “I think that was an earthquake!”

An earthquake? In Rhode Island? Before I’d had my first cup of coffee?

According to the news, we experienced a 3.6 earthquake at 9:10 am, originating in Buzzard’s Bay in Massachusetts.

And if that wasn’t enough, at noon an alert screamed from our cell phones to announce…more earthquakes, safety info, ?? Nope. It was the governor’s latest Covid edicts. Curfews (we all need to be home by 10 pm), wearing masks inside our homes if we have company (??!!!), smaller numbers of people in stores, and more restrictions on those youth sporting events that are still allowed to happen.

Sigh.

I can’t wait for 2021.

Posted in rhode island | 4 Comments

wake me when it’s over

Posted on November 3, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Yesterday I had one of those procedures where you have to “prep” the day before (i.e. live in the bathroom). Because of issues the last time I had this lovely thing done, it was decided that a stronger anesthesia would be administered.

Thank you, doctor.

The anesthesiologist was a lovely woman and, after a minute or two of chit chat, I dropped into unconsciousness.

It was heavenly.

The next thing I heard was a nurse demanding, “WAKE UP!”

No, I don’t think so. I was in the middle of the best nap I’d ever had in my life. I was cozy under two warmed blankets. Life was good.

“WAKE UP! IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP!”

She sounded irritated but I didn’t care. No one could make me open my eyes.

“I’M GOING TO CALL YOUR HUSBAND TO PICK YOU UP!!! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP NOW!”

Well, hell. Nurse Ratchet was really pissed. They probably needed my cubicle. Needed my gurney. Needed my blankets.

I slowly opened my eyes and prepared myself to give up on my nap and enter the world again. I sat up and blinked and yawned and clutched my warm blankets to my chest.

She took out my IV. I wish she would have left it in. I wish I could have half a dozen vials of that anesthesia in a bag. To go.

Because despite the perfection of my colon (doctor’s words), I don’t have the stomach for Election Day and almost certainly what will become Election Week.

Hook up the IV and wake me when it’s over.

Posted in personal female whining, rhode island | Leave a comment

an escape from the present

Posted on October 30, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Banjo Man and I are back in front of the television. That’s not exactly breaking news, but it’s how we are surviving 2020.

And surviving 2020 is the name of the game.

Here are some Amazon Prime shows you might like to watch, too:

From the Boston Herald: “…the so-named two-part EPIX documentary uses archival interviews and footage to tell how the rural enclave in the Hollywood Hills outside Los Angeles became home to a laundry list of some of the most influential and famous names of 1960s and ’70s music, among them the Eagles, the Doors, the Mamas & the Papas, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, the Byrds, Bonnie Raitt, The Monkees, Little Feat and Jackson Browne.”

This was great fun, with lots of background info and interviews from the musicians themselves.

Also on Amazon, this is a 4-part series about three historians who take on an 1850’s Victorian lifestyle for a year. Their experiences with livestock, plows, cooking and laundry are fascinating. Banjo Man has loved it, especially since he remembers his father using draft horses and the same equipment used in this documentary.

This is only two parts, but I hope they have more. It chronicles two British families trying hard to support the castles and estates they have inherited by renting rooms, serving tour groups, leasing land, etc. A glimpse into all the behind-the-scenes work.

And here is our favorite:

We loved this documentary. Lots of info about the Scotch whiskey business, plus the story of a man whose passion at 15 led to him being the most respected man in the business and a whiskey ambassador to the world.

Here’s the trailer:

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.

Let me know.

Posted in rhode island, television | Leave a comment

hey, it’s his birthday!

Posted on October 29, 2020 by is there any more pie?

The Funny Grandson turned 10 today! Does he look happy?

I think he does!

We wish we were there to celebrate with the family, but I sent an Early Birthday box of goodies–including a blueberry cake–three weeks ago.

Next year, when this Covid stuff is over, we’ll celebrate “Early Birthday” at the condo again, complete with breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe and root beer floats and balloons and bacon and walks along South Congress.

Until then, it’s good to be ten!

Posted in family, grandmother stuff, texas | Leave a comment

democracy in the rain

Posted on October 29, 2020 by is there any more pie?

I just returned from voting at my town hall. “Early voting” was a first for me, because I love the excitement of election day. Four years ago I was up before dawn, itching to get to the polling place and cast my vote.

But this year I had to be practical and forego the excitement. Why? Well, I’m not ready to stand in long lines for hours. Physically I have come a long way since last year, but I don’t look forward to testing my stamina outside with the wind from the ocean blasting towards me.

And then there’s Covid. The governor is getting ready to wind us back to Phase 2, maybe at tomorrow’s press conference. How will that affect voting? I have no idea, but I wasn’t going to take any chances.

I have no idea what the not-at-all-peaceful protestors/anarchists/Antifa have planned for election day. They’re quite active up in the city and I cannot imagine them coming down here to the country, but if they were demonstrating at our polling place I would not be able to control my temper.

So I stood in the rain. And oh, was it raining! But it was kind of fun after all, standing in line outside of the town hall waiting my turn to go inside and cast my vote. They’d converted a garage into a polling place, complete with voting booths and registration desk.

I was in and out in twelve minutes.

Now I am warming up with coffee and homemade potato soup. I plan on spending the afternoon staring at my fabric cupboard for inspiration, as it’s time to start creating something new. I have no idea what that will be, though. But it is time to get busy and accomplish something.

This past week I’ve cleaned drawers and shelves in my office (and I have the huge stuffed black garbage bag to prove it!) and made another pass at my pantry shelves (and donated a load of glassware to the thrift store). I bought a new “stick” vacuum cleaner. And I cleaned out the freezer.

Now it’s time to hunker down with my sewing machine on a rainy day.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

There are a lot of future quilts in here.

Posted in rhode island | 4 Comments

cabin joy

Posted on October 15, 2020 by is there any more pie?

Banjo Man has a cabin. And he loves it very much.

Many of you reading this already know that.

This fall the cabin got a new roof, a new porch, new screens, new supports and–ta da!–a floor. The excitement of the floor cannot be sufficiently described. Let’s just say that joy = pine tongue and groove.

Banjo Man loves sweeping it.

Son Will and Banjo Man spent several weeks assisting with all of these improvements, while our Montana contractor friend headed the crew and gave advice and instructions and worked alongside of the less-experienced members of my family.

Here’s an older photo of the view of the lake from the cabin. A lot of those trees are gone now and the view is more dramatic.

Oh, how Banjo Man loves it up there in the mountains! He’s owned the land since he was a young man, long before I came along. He is now shopping for a 4Runner to drive up there next summer. And he is making plans for a new outhouse.

I think there is a wood cookstove and maybe a propane refrigerator in our future. It’s off-the-grid, folks, and very primitive.

Which is part of its charm. According to my husband.

Posted in family, lake | 5 Comments

it’s pumpkin time in rhode island

Posted on October 12, 2020 by is there any more pie?

I drove down to Home Goods on Saturday hoping to find a white twin-sized fleece blanket. Oddly there were very few blankets. But there was a pumpkin pillow!

Banjo Man hauled my bins of velvet pumpkins and fall decorations up from the basement in the morning, so I am slowly placing pumpkins around the house. Later today I will finish decorating the mantle and organizing the decorations for the Thanksgiving tablescapes.

Let there be pumpkins!

On Sunday I went to the local pumpkin patch, where they were giving hay rides through the pumpkin fields. I should have bought a ticket and gone for a ride.

Can you see all the different pumpkins? Dark green, lemon yellow, pink, striped and the oh-so-popular butterscotch warty ones. The place was packed with people hauling pumpkins around on little wagons. Lots of excited children, too.

I bought a small striped one, having never seen them before. It reminded me of candy corn (note to self: must buy a bag). I would have bought more, but we live in the country at the end of a long driveway and there is no one to appreciate a decorated porch or smile at warty pumpkins.

And then it was time to move on to a farm stand on a beach road to buy a pot of mums for the dining room table. October in New England is a time of bright colored leaves, pumpkins, gourds, huge pots of mums and sunshine.

What color pumpkins are on your porch?

Posted in just for fun, rhode island, shopping | Leave a comment

the man above the mountains

Posted on October 11, 2020 by is there any more pie?

His neck is on fire. He is not wearing a mask.

This was the view from the plane as we flew over Colorado last Wednesday afternoon.

The sudden onset of smoke was startling. Such a filthy sight after many miles of blue skies and fluffy white clouds!

Our trip back East was uneventful. We flew with Will to Denver and we separated in the plane so each one of us had a window seat. At Southwest the middle seats are still left open, which is lovely.

FYI: Everyone–and I mean everyone–wore masks. At the Spokane, Denver and Baltimore airports, every single person I saw was masked. As they were on all the flights. 100% compliance.

The airline industry wants you to feel safe. And we did.

Denver’s airport was packed with people, but the three of us found a restaurant where we had our last meal together and talked about our favorite moments of the summer. Then there were hugs goodbye and final waves and we went in different directions for the next flights.

Banjo Man and I landed in Baltimore at midnight, so that airport was much quieter. We spent the night in Baltimore and then flew out the next morning to arrive in Providence at 10:20 AM.

And yes, once again everyone was masked.

And now we are home. The leaves are turning color and falling to the ground. I am going to a pumpkin patch this morning to admire pumpkins and buy a little pot of mums. After a couple of weeks of cleaning the lake house in preparation of leaving it, we are now cleaning again.

Make it stop.

We had one last campfire the night before we left the lake.