Tuesday, April 28, 2009

ABC Wednesday - O is for Olive Oil


And olives outdoors on the porch on one of the first beautiful days of Spring! We had other things, too...prosciutto and sundried tomatoes....

Bread from a heavenly bakery up the road, Bantam Bread. We chose a French baguette and Olive bread for the occasion. And of course -

A bottle of our new favorite wine - an Argentinian Malbec. This one was an Agua de Piedra Malbec Reserva - delicious! We're looking forward to many more meals al fresco as the weather warms up and the light lingers longer.
Buon appetito!



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Tuesday, April 21, 2009

ABC Wednesday - N is for New York City


I love New York! Fortunately for me, my daughter lives there so I can go visit anytime I want to! It's not the shopping or the restaurants that I love. I love the people, the energy and the enormous-ness of it all.

Annie lives in Chelsea and that allows us to go East side, West side, all around the town with relative ease. And there's always something interesting to do and see...

I can't wait til the next time...


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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

ABC Wednesday - M is for Maia

This is Maia, our mostly new cat. I've written about her before because she's just so darn fun to have around. We suspect that she is part Maine Coon Cat and not because we adopted her from a shelter in Maine, but because she has many of that breed's characteristics. Except for being huge - she's not big at all.
We named her for the patron saint of my husband's town in Italy, Muro Lucano. The patron saint is St. Gerard and his feast day is October 16th - and that's the day we spent an hour and a half in the shelter trying to find the perfect match in a cat for us. We did. She's been the best cat ever - except when she pulls the stunt above: sleeping in the flower box hanging over the railing two stories up from the ground!

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Tuesday, April 7, 2009

ABC Wednesday - L is for Launch


My sister Susan ( I call her Susie) had her book launch on Sunday April 6th. She is a poet and her inaugural book is a slim volume of poems called Down by the Riverside Ways. A small gathering of friends and family listened as she read some of her "old favorites" and she performed, as always, with humor and panache. Her voice has always been best expressed through her poetry and it was wonderful and amazing to see her in the spotlight.

The launch was held at The Buttonwood Tree, the arts center that grew out of Susie's first business venture - Ibis Books. For twenty years Susie and her husband Stephan have fiercely fought for and supported the arts in Middletown, Conn. Sunday's launch was a dollop of icing on the cake for her work, an acknowledgment of not only her advocacy but her own supreme talent.


And afterwards, as always - because the term "starving artist" isn't just a dramatic bohemian pose - there was food. Brie and wine, pretzels and juice boxes, chips and beer. The only thing more abundant than the food was praise for Susie's work. It was a proud day for our whole family. This is the place to find out more about Susie's work.

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Wednesday, April 1, 2009

ABC Wednesday - K is for Knowing


This is a picture of the shells on the beach at Venice, Florida's Nokomis Beach in January. If everyone takes a pocketfull of shells when they visit the beach, will all the shells disappear? I don't know that they will, but just in case, I took a picture, instead. If you "know better" how does that impact the rest of your decisions? Usually I just post a picture and a little description - and it's usually about my home or my family! - but this week's post is actually a link to my other web site Writing Out Loud and my current essay on "Knowing". There are always a lot of sites to visit on ABC Wednesday, but I hope you get a chance to read it. And then, let me know what you think!

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