Goings-On In October 2013

US Journal

Tuesday, October 27, 2013

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FIRST VISITORS IN OUR NEW TOWNHOME!

We were so excited that our first visitors in our new Decatur Townhome were the Gunns. I was walking in to town (8 min. walk!) to pick us up some lunch, when a car drove by me, and I heard someone yell, “Colleeeeeen!” and an arm came out of the window summoning me to come to the car. Brandi, Richie and Vivian had come to welcome us to Decatur, and they were our very first visitors! We felt honored that they had come. We gave them a proper tour, and they all agreed this is a great place for us! We hope for many more visits from you Gunns! And, thanks for the decorating tips, Vivian!

JILLIAN ON THE PLAYGROUND!

I stole Jillian from her parents after our church brunch on Sunday, and we had a great time playing all over the playground. That little one is very curious and has a great time outdoors. Let’s do that again soon, Jillian. Thanks for sharing her, Julie and John!

SLOW FOOD COMMITTEE

Peter and I are both officially on the Slow Food Atlanta Board now, and we are having sooooooo much fun. At our first Board meeting, we were given the opportunity to volunteer for jobs we wanted to do. I am working with Emily to train table volunteers at the events and organizing with Peter and Julie our December 10^th Terra Madre Day Potluck Supper. Peter is also working on the technological and organizational side of a mammoth membership drive consisting of lots and lots of potluck suppers in the early months of 2014. We are looking forward to working with all of you on the Board. Thanks for inviting us to join you!

MAGGIE RULES!

Is there a reason that we have to leave the Massey’s resort before we have all of our renovations completed on the new house and are moved in? Well, we all agreed, even sweet Maggie, that the answer is, “NO!” Plus, we are still helping with staging efforts, which seem to be paying off. A couple came by on Sunday to see the house and said they loved it. As my mother would say, “We’ll see what happens!” Thanks again, Masseys, for taking us in! We’re looking forward to being in our new house, but in the meantime, we are thoroughly enjoying staying with you!

Colleen

WELCOME HOME!

US Journal

Friday, October 25, 2013

WELCOME HOME!!!

Well, we finally closed on our new Decatur townhome this morning. Now the fun begins.

We went from closing straight to the storage unit to retrieve some tools for projects we want to do, and a chair. We also brought some kitchen boxes. Anything we can do today while we wait for workers will be helpful. Then, we celebrated with a fine yummy lunch at Emory’s The General Muir.

The U-Verse worker is already here to install our internet connection so I could send this to you. The painter will come on the 28^th.  The hardwood flooring will be dropped off by Mario tomorrow to be installed on the 30th. Billy will repair the back deck, roof and front porch on the 30^th. The heat and air people will call us back asap to do a service call. We still need to choose the carpet and tile and arrange for their installation on the stairwells and basement. Peter will put new linoleum on the washroom floor. The movers will probably get their turn to move the rest of our stuff from the storage unit around Nov. 4…plenty of time for Thanksgiving!

As I write, I am “home” with John the U-Verse worker, and Peter has gone to Lowe’s with a long list of things…shelf paper, Venetian blinds, curtain rods, toilet tissue holder, new locks, etc, that we will work on in between hired workers being here.

Peter offered to carry me over the threshold of our new Decatur townhome, but I opted to be driven into the garage instead! It already seems like home to us. The traffic on the street outside the front door actually seems friendly, like everyone is welcoming us to Decatur on their way home on a Friday afternoon. We’re looking forward to welcoming friends and family to our home, too.

Our new address is:

110 S. Columbia Dr. SE

#A7

Decatur, GA 30030

It is in Winona Park Place Townhomes and faces E. College Avenue just 2 blocks to the left as you are facing the main campus of Agnes Scott College.

As we like to say in Georgia, “Y’all come on down now, ya hear?!”

Colleen

BUILDING THE MORICHS' STORAGE SHED!

US Journal

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Building a Storage Shed at the Morichs

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What fun we had! When we arrived at Victoria’s and Kyle’s, there was a leveled out place in the backyard behind the carport, which had a floor on it. There were all sorts of building materials all over the carport and tools on the ground around the floor. Victoria had a set of plans in her hand and was handily giving orders to the rest of us.

Most of my work included throwing away trash, fetching tools, folding up huge boxes for the garbage bin, and holding the ladder for Kyle to keep the roof shingles in place while Peter and Victoria screwed them in place. The others just listened for Victoria to read out the next directions, with Kyle’s occasional assistance in interpretation. She was a pro at understanding and giving directions. I called her “Boss.”

Peter said he felt like he was back in Italy putting together the IKEA “toys” that we got for use while we were there. I’m sure he misses those days!  J

We got all the walls, doors and roof in place before it got too dark to work. They thought they could finish the rest of the work by themselves tomorrow, so we went in to enjoy the chicken, quinoa, vegetable salads dinner we brought, and Victoria topped it off with a delightful chocolate cake. It was perfect payment for the fun of working together on a worthwhile project with family.

Thanks for sharing your task with us, Kyle and Victoria. And, thank you for all you’ve done for us in our recent homelessness!

Love, Colleen

CARDAMON HILL

US Journal

Friday, October 18, 2013

CARDAMON HILL RESTAURANT

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I never thought I would hear myself say, “I LOVE this Indian food! This is the best restaurant ever!” However, tonight, I couldn’t say enough good about Cardamon Hill and Chef Asha, who happens to be on the Slow Food Board with us!

When our server Hunter learned that we were eating there for the first time, he started our exquisite dining experience in a perfect way, assuring us that most people who come to this restaurant have a preconceived notion about Indian food that is not too positive. He congratulated us for stepping out of our comfort zone and continued by explaining that Chef Asha’s restaurant was different from almost all of the Indian restaurants in the U.S. Chef/Owner Asha learned to cook Indian food in the south of India, where trade routes historically provided spices and foods from all over the world. We knew we were in good hands when I said, “Hunter, I need to confess that I really am not good with spicy foods!” His response was calm and assuring, “Not to worry! You have lots of options here that are not spicy or can still be made deliciously without the spicy ingredients.”  He couldn’t have been more on target there!

Peter proceeded to start with a shared appetizer  (sorry, no picture) of pickled catfish/radish slices/purple cabbage, with watermelon to finish and take the heat away! Absolutely delectable…a little too spicy for me, but a taste of watermelon after my fork full of the pickled catfish subdued the spiciness in a surprisingly perfect way.

Our entrees were both deliciously splendid! Peter had pan-roasted Red Snapper with rice and yams, and my vegetable plate just hit the spot for me. I particularly liked the rice dish that was prepared with yams and other vegetables. There was also a stew with onions and sticks of carrots and potatoes.  Although the vegetables were not too spicy for me, one of the vegetables was stewed young, whole okra with yogurt on top…to subside any spicy tastes. It was an amazing combination of vegetables.

Chef Asha sent us some of her famous Chai Tea and a biscotti after our meal, and we also very much enjoyed some bread pudding with fruit and mango sauce…YUM!

I told Peter after this terrific meal, ”We’re going to have to waddle out of here!” He immediately replied, “Yes, but it was for a great cause!” How true! How true!

Thank you, Chef Asha, server Hunter, as well as Alise and the rest of the kitchen crew. You have made our first truly Indian meal an experience we will always cherish! (And thank you for our take home treats for tomorrow, Asha.…so thoughtful!) Brava, Chef Asha!

Colleen

Maggie, Are You Hungry?

US Journal

October 11, 2013

Maggie! Do you want to eat?

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We may be homeless, but this is the highest homeless living I’ve ever heard of. We’re living in the Masseys house while they are on vacation in Mexico. Everybody we know refers to their house as the “Resort,” and for good reason. It’s a great house, with lots of amenities; and the neighborhood has wonderful, strenuous hills for walking and getting the best exercise. Plus, their house is for sale, so Peter has his ears all perked up to help them stage it for selling. They have a new real estate agent as of tomorrow, and we are doing what we can to get it ready to sell before we leave here in 3 days…stranger things have happened, you know!

In the meantime, this wonderfully cute doggie has appeared on the scene and stolen our hearts. Sara Alison’s boyfriend Jon’s dog Maggie is a sweetheart. You’ll see by the pictures that when it’s her suppertime, she goes to great lengths to make the food appear in her bowl. I laughed out loud when she came to me, and with a little bark at me, she ran to her bowl, put each front paw on either side of her bowl, went down on her elbows with her hips up in the air and talked to her bowl as if it would understand her. It was sooooo funny.

We have enjoyed getting to know Maggie, and now we are enjoying getting to know her owner Jon, too. He joined Sara Alison and us for supper Wednesday then came back for leftovers on Thursday for lunch. He’s delightful as well. They make a great couple. We hope he will join us for supper on Monday, too.

Thanks for sharing your home with us, Masseys. Thelma went to her new home in Delaware while you were gone. The house was shown once, with no other news, and we’re on GO to close on our Decatur townhouse on Oct. 25^th. Being homeless is  good when you’re us.

Colleen

THE FIRST ATLANTA CHEESE FESTIVAL

US Journal

October 11, 2013

Atlanta Cheese Festival

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“EAT CHEESE!” the sign said, so we did! There were about 40 vendors, and we had all sorts of cheeses in all sorts of recipes and from farms from all over the world. It was fantastic. Several of the people there knew of or had been to Bra, Italy, to its Slow Food Cheese.

We claimed a table behind the booth of Gabe and Mallory from Sweet Grass Dairy. They were super friendly and gave us tastings of their cheese, paired with the next door neighbor’s honeycomb! Wow!

The Cheese Shop that won the best cheese sandwich had a delicious cheese sandwich, served with a tiny cup of hot tomato bisque! Ahhhhh, delicious!

As it was getting dark, Amanda and Nick joined us. It was the beginning of his birthday! It was a great way to start the celebration leading up to October 23^rd. Happy Birthday, Nick! Glad you two could join us.

Love, Mom

Buon Viaggi, Thelma!

US Journal

October 12, 2013

Goodbye, Thelma!

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It was a sad day yesterday when Jessie, the son of the buyer of Peter’s Porsche Thelma, flew into Atlanta from Delaware to pick up Thelma and drive her back to her new owner in Delaware. Jessie had some trouble on the airlines because of weather, so he was about 5 hours later arriving here than he had planned. That worked fine for us because we were going to the Atlanta Cheese Festival afterwards, and we could just go directly there instead of going back and forth to Marietta.

I followed in Bluebell as Peter drove Thelma to the airport. As you will see in the pictures, his license tag says it all. Peter says, “I waited 40 years from the time I first fell in love with that car until I could pay cash for it!” I asked Peter how he was doing as we waited for Jessie’s plane in the cell phone lot at the airport. He showed me a thumbs-down sign and said, “It’s not very often that you have your lifelong dream shattered!” I told him that his tour business in Italy better be really great in her honor, since his main reason for selling her now was to get the start-up money for the tour business! Of course, he did reply to that by saying that he hoped we could buy another Porsche in a few years, after the tour business is doing well. As my mother would say, “We’ll see!”

Buon viaggi, Thelma! We’ll miss you!

Colleen

Monica's Caprese Torta, Julie Shaffer's dinner, Sunday Supper at Love is Love Farm

US Journal     

September 29, 2013

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MONICA’s CAPRESE TORTA

How will we ever get used to Monica’s being in India with her college for 2 MONTHS?! Her Caprese Torta (Chocolate  and hazelnut cake) will be missed, but she’s already asked if she can stay with us in Decatur for a while when she returns home…to get to know the head of Sustainability at Agnes Scott better…and to make us a Caprese Torta! Hot diggity!

DINNER WITH JULIE SHAFFER AND HUSBAND MIKE

What a special dinner we had with Julie Shaffer, the former President of Slow Food Atlanta, and her husband Mike. I think if Peter and she spend very much time together, they will have the Atlanta Slow Food Movement headed in a dynamic direction.

SUNDAY SUPPER AT LOVE IS LOVE FARM

The only thing we missed in our Sunday Suppers in Italy last year was being on site at a farm when we ate! On Sunday, we went to an event at Love Is Love Farm where our host and the farmer there, Joe took everybody for a guided tour through the farm. Then we sat down to a Sunday Supper in the middle of the farming fields, made by local chefs from several restaurants. The whole event was FABULOUS! We’re looking forward to the Slow Food Sunday Supper they have planned for November 10^th! Sounds like fun to me!

Colleen

SERENBE, MOVING GINA AND WILL AND CELEBRATING GINA’S PARENTS’ 40TH ANNIVERSARY!

US Journal

September 29, 2013

SERENBE, MOVING GINA AND WILL AND CELEBRATING GINA’S PARENTS’ 40^TH ANNIVERSARY!

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Wheehoo!

What a busy weekend! We helped Gina and Will with their move out of their house and into their new, GORGEOUS farm house starting on Thursday. It was nice to be able to work together with Gina, Will, Gina’s parent and a family friend to get everything ready for the movers after closing on Friday. Peter took charge of feeding the whole group, and that worked out very well, too.

As the weekend progressed, Serenbe called Peter to let him know that his reservation was confirmed for the weekend to stay in one of the units behind the Blue-Eyed Daisy. After all, it was his birthday weekend, so that was a great way to celebrate!

On Saturday evening, we surprised Kim and Cheryl (Gina’s parents) by meeting all of them at The Hil Restaurant in Serenbe for their 40^th wedding anniversary dinner. That was great fun, too. We learned that Chef Hilary and her husband and mother live less than ¼ mile from the farm that Gina and Will just bought. They were all delighted to meet each other. In all, it was a wonderful time with the usual delicious fare at The Hil.

Thanks for letting us join all of your fun this weekend, Gina and Will.

We’ll be homeless after Oct. 2^nd, so you may have company in your new house soon!! Hint! Hint!

Love to all,

Colleen

HOMELESS IN CHARLESTON WITH NIKKI AND MICAH

US Journal

Saturday, October 4, 2013

HOMELESS IN CHARLESTON WITH NIKKI AND MICAH

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What a great time we had on our recent visit to Charleston. We stayed with our nephew Micah and his wonderful wife Nikki, AND their 2 Shitzus Martin and Stuart. All of them were delightful to be around. We got a lot of exercise taking “the boys” around the block several times a day! They are soooooo cute! Peter and I also got some good exercise without the puppies on their Greenbelt that is a walking/biking paved path around the city. That was great fun, too!

Peter and Micah enjoyed feeding us delicious Italian food. Micah even threw in some delicious Southern Buttermilk Biscuits that he made under my tutelage. Perfectly scrumptious biscuits on the first try, Micah! Bravo! My daddy would have been proud of your mashing your “sorghum” with butter to spread on top, too. He loved that as much as you do.

We learned that Nikki is a puzzle hound. She and I worked on a 500-piece puzzle with every colored flower in it off and on the whole time we were there. She made good progress…”And I helped!” She told me that she and her sisters have closets full of puzzles that they swap off with each other. It’s very calming for her, like Peter’s cooking is for him.

Micah and I enjoyed digging through 2 more boxes from my basement that had pictures and albums from my mother. We were delighted with what we found. I’m sure you will enjoy looking at Micah’s family blog for a long time! I so appreciate your interest in doing this, Micah. Thanks a bunch! I’m sure I’ll find that last box when we move all of our stuff out of our storage unit in Decatur!

We so appreciated Nikki and Micah taking some time off from work on Friday afternoon, and we went with them on a walking tour around Charleston’s downtown, ending in a delightful bakery stop with irresistible goodies that just weren’t meant for us to resist!

Thanks for a lovely visit, Nikki and Micah. Homelessness has never been so much fun!

Love to all of you!

Aunt Colleen