There is far more to share about our 10-day trip to London and Glasgow over Christmas than this, but it’s a good starter. While in London we took the necessary trip to Harrod’s — Frank had never seen its fabulous food hall. We also found the Information Man near one of the entrances, and Frank […]
Yesterday being January 1 was a day for red beans and rice, of course. Frank prepared it while I lay upstairs suffering with a cold. But we made sure we had it, for the traditional good luck that we hope will carry us through the new year. How I came to feel so strongly about […]
I anticipate that my trip to the store at noon today will produce nothing less than the dredges of Halloween candy. We have completely forgotten to stock up until now (and it’s Oct. 31 today). Poor kids who come our way …
After weeks of struggling to find any airfare less than $800, $900 or even $1000 and more to get to Glasgow for Christmas, we have settled on $594 fares on American between Boston and London-Heathrow for Dec 20-30. Two years ago we traveled for $670 between Bangor and Glasgow (with a nice 6-hour break […]
We are feeling very smug because St. Patrick’s Day has fallen on a Saturday. How perfect, because the Cassidys are hosting the Shannons for dinner. Corned beef and cabbage are on the menu. And we already have the Smithwick’s beer. We got to like it in Ireland in October 2005. Writing it that way reminds […]
Well, we all know how Frank likes to tell a good, long story. He got to do that Friday night at the college’s 19th annual Groundhog Day Show, which is a casually assembled display of various talents of faculty, staff and — in a quite welcomed way — their spouses.
I had volunteered Frank to pair […]
We enjoyed a nice celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. yesterday. Snow kept most people away, but there was a group of 20 who found their way to Gene Nichols’ music room at UMM. For two hours, with ukeleles and drums leading the way, we sang all the good songs: Blowing in the Wind; Magic […]
Frank didn’t know just how much he coveted an Oregon Scientific Wireless Rain Gauge until the moment he saw one — which happened to belong to someone else. The Stewarts gave him (us) one for Christmas after he had seen how it worked while we stayed with them for the few days at Christmas.
This gift […]
This is the fourth New Year’s Day that Frank and I have made red beans and rice — for good luck, of course. We use the Joy of Cooking recipe, which calls for pork hocks, celery, onion, green pepper and seasoning all stewing before the soaked beans go in. Then the kielbasa sausage is added, […]
Today we had Events, two of them. The morning event was coffee, juice and baked goodies at our house after the 8am Mass. We had announced this two weeks ago, saying that we would host the coffee hour rather than having the usual coffee hour in the St. Francis room at the church. Of course, […]
At least, I think that’s the name of the place in Vernon, Connecticut, which is wonderfully located about six hours from Potomac and eight hours from Machias. In all of our driving down for this or that, our trip home after Thanksgiving was the first time that passing the Vernon exit along Interstate 95 coincided […]
We live in a place small enough that local veterans are honored in very public ways. Take Thursday, for example, the day when each area high school held assemblies. At Machias Memorial High School, Frank was one of about 40 men and women who stood when their name was called (”Frank Cassidy, U.S. Navy, 1968-1972″). […]
Here it is, only Oct. 18, and someone has already broken into the Halloween candy. Frank is not among the suspects.
We have many, including the fact that out of 10 possible meals in Canada, only one of them took place at Tim Hortons, if you call that a meal (coffee and a donut?). What do you want? It was Labour Day morning and nothing else was open. Our observations will tumble forth into this blog […]
I sure hope that Frank learns the rest of the words to Canada’s anthem. He launches into it whenever we get into conversation about our neighbor to the north. But he stops there, and never goes beyond. Then he sings that part again.
For our Labor Day vacay we are heading north into New Brunswick and […]
Not my favorite holiday, not at all. In fact I’m a grump about the whole thing. I think that it’s entirely an outdoor event, with the sun beating down on my fair skin, keeps me from getting into it.
And — parades. Not my thing, either. You can have ‘em. Too many people, not anywhere close […]
Or, “how I spent my Memorial Day.” Not very memorably, I might say. That’s the trouble with not living near family (aside from Berta and Unc, who we see about once a week, at least). You have to make your own fun.
While Frank was off with his Civil War group, I went up to St. […]
Here I am, delivering the papers alone, while my husband goes off to do Civil War things. Alas, it’s Memorial Day, and even though it’s just 6:30am, I feel as if I am late with my duties on the homefront, including putting the flag out. I didn’t finish the papers until 6:20am — 30 minutes […]
We await our three guests for Easter dinner - it’s 1pm and Unc, Berta and Gladys have called to say they are on the way. We are having glazed spiral-cut ham, mashed potatoes, asparagus and salad. We are using the very old butter dish that we salvaged from the attic — maybe it belonged to […]
We have enjoyed corned beef the last three days in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. We had a big dinner Friday (March 17) at the Franklin Veterans Club (where we rarely get to anymore), then corned beef at Berta’s on Saturday; then a big dinner again last night, when the church scheduled its annual St. […]
The Chocolate Fling on Valentine’s Day has come and gone — and I mostly missed it. Frank was there for the duration, however, from setting up at 3pm to cleaning up at 10 pm. I think several board members were there that long, too — and all of them had already worked a full day […]
Frank has sewn himself another bow tie — this one a fanciful one with doodles of red valentines outlined in black against white. This is the newest addition to his holiday and seasonal collection. He also has shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day, American flags for the Fourth of July, and appropriate Christmas ties for Christmas. […]