Every year the produce from the garden seems to get a little better, and that includes the flowers.  This year we have had more variety than ever. It was been a treat to have fresh cut flowers in the house all summer and even into the fall.  We find that the Japanese vases that Joey made for us are especially good for displaying flowers of all shapes and sizes, and when you have limited flower arranging skills.   You can order these vases online from Joey's website Funkware Pottery.

Return of the Raspberries

We have been very pleased by the recovery of the raspberries which took a pretty serious beating from Hurricane Irene.  The vines were twisted and broken and many undeveloped raspberries littered the mulch floor of the fenced garden in the wake of Irene.  However several weeks we are seeing peak in production with approximately one basket per day.  We are enjoying them on cereal for breakfast and freezing the rest for a mid-winter treat.  Nature never ceases to amaze us.

Labor Day Weekend

We spent the second half of our weekend basking in the delight of water running from the taps and switches that activate lights, sound and motion.  This included restoring Command Central back into a working kitchen and doing several loads of laundry.   The fridge and freezer are now clean and free of UFO's (unidentified food objects) that have been lurking for years.  We had a celebratory dinner at  Mark and Jen's house on Saturday night, and were pleased we could arrive clean and dressed in clothing that was pulled not at random from a dark closet.

"Command Central" just before the power was restored

By Monday we were back to "normal" with Sheri working in the yard and Bruno returning to the downstairs bathroom renovation project.  Irene left a lot of limbs and branches in the yard,  the veggie garden required some damage control.  While Sheri was picking up sticks and re-staking tomatillos, Bruno installed the new IKEA bathroom vanity with help from Mark.  There was a lot of grumbling about actually doing labor on Labor Day.   However, the multitude of power tools that were used in a single day suggests there was SOME fun involved.  Once again, Mark's help was appreciated.  It is just too bad the tractor wasn't somehow involved.

Mark and Bruno tackle the IKEA vanity

(Note: We only allow Mark to work when he wears this shirt)

We are heading back to work this week and hope the rain from Tropical Storm Lee doesn't cause too much flooding locally and to our neighbors to the north.  

We got the Power...and water to make tea

Irene - part 9

Saturday has arrived (powerless of course) and we have the whole day to ourselves. What better way to start the day than with French toast and a little bacon cooked on the barbecue grill.

Lessons learned from Irene: fill your bath tub with water (sounds crazy, but it really works for flushing). And buy a good headlamp (just google 'Petzl headlamp'). This just could be the most important item in your emergency kit.

Maybe next time we will have a backup generator too.........

Irene - update #8

Friday night. Sixth day without water or power. Headed into the long weekend without sight of any utility crews. Hard to believe the press releases from the electric company. Had dinner at Bruna's Table in Westerly to take break from eating and doing dishes by flashlight. The drive home was very dark.

Irene Update #8: phone but no power

Progress is being made albeit a little slower than we hoped.   The trees have been cleared from our local neighborhood, but the wires hang loosely from poles in many places.  We do have a phone line now, but no way to charge the handsets!  We continue to eat well with fresh produce from the garden. We grilled some tomatillos last night and they were delicious.   The culinary creativity spurred from lack of power/water has been a good outcome!