Tuesday, November 28, 2017

Thanksgiving in Philadelphia

Our Thanksgiving  was wondrous. I trust yours was too.



Too Much Turkey
Harry
Holly

The turkey was a labor of love from our daughter to her dad. Like myself, my daughter and son-in-law are vegetarians and handling meat truly is a labor.


And speaking of turkey.....Our *@!*# dog decided to do a reenactment of the Bumpus' Hounds--on Christmas Story--Thanksgiving Day while at the boarder's.  Luckily the turkey was wrapped in aluminum foil and retrieved before serious damage was done.



Want to try the pate? Here's the recipe link: Exotic Mushroom Pate

And....
They had a portable projector so we watched movies on the wall, just like the big screens at the theaters:)

Monday, November 27, 2017

Boonsboro Inn

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, blessed with family, friends and good food.
Spoiler alert: Long Blog
We spent a lovely Thanksgiving in Philly with my daughter and son-in-law.
On the way up we stayed at Nora Robert’s Boonsboro Inn. Let me just say, it surpassed all expectations. 
The Inn had plenty of spots for relaxing including balconies, a courtyard and a television niche with a loaded refrigerator nearby. My favorite  place to hang out was, of course, the library.  Beside plenty of books to read--yes, lots of Norah and J.D. Robb--there was a fireplace; Keurig with pods that included coffee, cider, hot chocolate or tea; and a decanter of whiskey.  This is the room we had our wine and cheese in. Very cozy and relaxing. 

Breakfast was amazing.   A choice of juice and coffee was served in carafes. The meal began with a baked apple with toppings.  After that the main course was served: pancakes with candied pecans, scrambled eggs cooked to perfection and a meat/nonmeat entree.  When I registered online, I listed vegetarian under special requests. When my plate arrived and I saw the sausage I started to pass it off to the HH before I was assured it was vegetarian sausage.  To the meat eaters out there this may not seem like a big deal but for a vegetarian it was awesome.  Often, the meat item is just left off with no faux  substitutions.
The food was delicious.
The dining room where scones and cookies were available twenty-four seven


There are eight guest rooms at the Inn.  All named for famous romantic couples. We chose the Eve and Roarke room. 

The bedroom was nice but the bathroom was astounding.  The J.D. Robb fans out there will truly appreciate this room since the futuristic shower is frequently mentioned in the series.  The shower in our room had a huge shower head, six or eight inches square, that came straight down…plus a handheld shower head…plus jets that came straight out of the wall.  You could choose one or all. I was playing with the nozzles trying to figure out which was which when I turned the knob for the water that came straight out instead of down.  I let out a screech and hastily moved to the next nozzle. 
The coup de gras was the bidet toilet. The seat went up automatically when you walked anywhere near it.  It had the cleaning applications. But best of all…the seat was heated. If I ever make even a tenth of Nora's earning power I want a heated toilet.
The bathroom also had a heated towel rack and heated floor, but I never figured out how to heat the floor.
It was obvious that much time and thought went into the furnishings and the comfort of its guests. All in all the experience was a delight.  If you are ever near Boonsboro, Maryland I highly recommend it.
I had to have a J.D. Robb/NR mug sold at the gift shop/bookstore across the street.

*While there I did find out the answer to the age old question, which came first the Inn or the Inn at Boonsboro Trilogy. Do you know?



The answer: The inn.

Monday, November 20, 2017

I'm Back and Happy Thanksgiving

THANK YOU ALL for your support and well wishes. When my brother-in-law passed he was seventy-four, which by today's standards is still young, but he truly had a wonderful life and no regrets. Each day was full and counted. He was loved, respected and had a career he was passionate about. I have no doubts that at this very moment he is enjoying his next cycle of life and figuring out what he can do to help someone else.  I'm not going to wish him Rest In Peace because he was much too exuberant and full of life for that so I'll just say Godspeed, Don.

Since this is Thanksgiving week, I'm going offline again to spend time with family.
I hope yours is safe, happy and filled with love.




Monday, November 6, 2017

I'm Back

I'm back home.  The surgery was a success, which was a huge relief. He came through it with flying colors. Thank you all so much for your kind thoughts, prayers and positive energy that you sent our way.

While the surgery was going on, we took care of his sister and the critters. On one of our outings, this is what we saw:

Did anyone else see it?  This picture really doesn't do it justice. It was like a chunk of the rainbow or a piece of a prism. I've never seen anything like it. Has anyone else?

We also took 'Ariel' Trick R Treating which was a hoot.  The whole neighborhood was definitely in Halloween mode. It was like a big block party. There were many witches and goblins, standing on elaborately tricked out porches in the middle of spookily decorated yards, handing out candy. Trick or Treating Families abounded. One family was dressed as the Adams' Family. Someone had a Golden Retriever dressed as a lion with them.  Everyone was enjoying themselves from babies to grandparents. 
Pixabay. Not a neighborhood shot.


But enough about my corner of the world.  What have you been doing, friends, while I've been gone?




A VERY belated

To Andrew

That's all folks.