I just have to laugh. A few weeks ago while reading the Sunday paper I saw an ad for a new development that is being built not too far away from us. Now mind you, the housing market in this area has tanked. We have a relatively new home (built in 2004) that we kept lowering the price on and were unable to sell. I thought we were reasonable, and by looking at some of the home prices on our street, I still think we were “in the zone.” So anyway, I was really curious about the new development and what the homes would cost. Apparently they start at… $799,000! Yeah, right. Good luck finding mortgage lenders in this day and age who are going to loan out that kind of money (I don’t think these are mansions or anything). We’ll see if the price goes down at all. I kind of have to imagine it will.
Month: August 2008
CSA Share #11
Guess how much eggplant we were supposed to take this week? Five! Five eggplants! Is that crazy or what? I guess this year the eggplant harvest is a wee bit out of control, LOL. Though I only took three. I supposed I could have taken two more for my neighbor. (She always has the neighborhood gossip on everything from foreclosures to speeding tickets.) At any rate, here’s the rundown:
1 head of lettuce
3 leeks
1 lb. carrots
2 cucumbers
2 lbs. onions
5 cherry tomatoes
2 tomatoes
1 zucchini
1 squash
3 eggplants (though our share was 5 — FIVE!)
2 green peppers
1 garlic clove
1 watermelon
1 cantalope
dill, basil, cilantro
20 stems of flowers
I accidentally picked a couple sunflowers and was promptly scolded by some mean old lady down the row. There was a very sweet old lady near me who made me laugh because she waved her hand at Mrs. Meanie and told me just to cover them up, LOL…
I still have last week’s leeks so I think tomorrow I’m going to make a double batch of potato-leek soup and freeze it. (Next month is September after all.) Drew’s going to make a sauce using the garlic, onion, and basil. Eggplant… sigh, I’ll figure out something. Fennel… I’ve never, ever cooked with it before, so I have to look up some recipes. Otherwise, it’s straightforward salad veggies, really. We’ll see what I come up with.
Brusha, brusha…
As if going to the doctor isn’t bad enough, this year I really need to make a dentist appointment. I haven’t gone in a few years and this year Drew took out dental insurance so we all could go. It’s such a pain finding someone, though. I might as well be looking for a Charlotte North Carolina dentist, since I’m so unfamiliar with the ones around here. Though ultimately our insurance does dictate who we see since there are only a few choices. I don’t even know why I have anxiety about going — I’ve never had a cavity in my life! But yeah, that’s one more thing I have to do soon!
West Point
Last winter my parents got a new snowblower and graciously gave us their old one, which is much more powerful than the one we had and much better suited for our driveway. As a way to thank them, we had arranged to take them on an overnight to the Thayer Hotel and to visit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. It might seem like a strange place to visit, but Drew and I had gone before (nearly two years ago), and it really is a great place to go. It’s absolutely beautiful, and as you can imagine it has a rich history as well. And my dad was in the Army in the early 70s (he was drafted), so he was really looking forward to going.
My parents got here early on Sunday morning and we put their luggage in our car and left soon after Drew’s mom and aunt arrived (they stayed over and watched the boys). We headed to the Thayer for their amazing brunch. We sat out on the terrace overlooking the Hudson River and enjoyed the beautiful weather while eating way too much 😉 After that we drove over to the Woodbury Common outlets and walked around a bit before going back to the hotel for dinner. The next morning we took a one-hour tour of West Point, which was very interesting. If you have the chance, I would say go for it because you learn a lot of really interesting facts about the school and former cadets. I think my parents really enjoyed themselves — they deserved some time off!