Shopping for house and larder

I'm gearing up for a major bout of work--both theoretical and hands-on. Inspired by the visit of Dustin yesterday, I have been digging back into last year's records--and was shocked (well, perhaps not shocked, maybe disappointed is more accurate) to see that although I had some ragged notes from last June and July when I was working around the clock with a constantly shifting cast of characters, I'd never gotten them into any coherent order, nor had I posted most of the pictures recording that extraordinary effort.  The picture part is what is holding me up because my memory has a very difficult time remembering the many systems I've used for transferring, retrieving and displaying photos--oh the things we expect to do effortlessly these days....

I spent the morning working to clarify the historical record.

This afternoon, in anticipation of arrival of Sarah and Sam this evening, and Jackie and Andre tomorrow, I did a round of shopping.  First stop--Lowe's where I purchased curly light bulbs and a runner for the front porch.

Then to Weiss's for cucumbers (I'm made chicken soup last night--and an excellent use for the broth would be cold cucumber soup) and other food items--and then because of Sam's lament that there was no soda in the house (when was there ever soda in my house?) stopped at Wal-mart where they often give cases of soda away for free (this is something I learned last year).  As I wandered the wide aisles, I became woozy and light-headed--was this the Wal-mart effect?  hunger? dehyrdration?  I was not terribly alarmed--it didn't feel like a dreadful symptom--still it was not clear if I'd be able to proceed on my appointed rounds.

Deciding I needed a blast of sugar, I picked up an eight-pack of Reese's peanut butter cups (excellent buy for one dollar)  and quickly ate two.  Better--but not completely...should I eat three?   Would that be excessive?  To avoid such indulgence, I plucked a box of Kashi Golean off the shelf--it sounds like an outer space science fiction word--but it is really a lo-fat description, as in go lean-- not very delicious--but as I read on the back cover later--each fistful contained enough protein for a major league athlete--so it did the trick.  I did have to explain to the cashier why I was not concerned that I was buying an opened half empty box of cereal (plenty of shoppers, I imagine, munch on Reese's peanut butter cup--fewer on cereal).

Runner in sun and shade

All dangers of passing out averted, I drove to Ideal farms for some farm produce, then the Post Office, where my New Yorker was the first occupant in my new PO Box--then home to put down the new runner and devote myself to cleaning and cooking.  I made the cucumber soup using the recipe from my own collection of my own old recipes that Sarah had posted in what I call my cookbook blog--not exactly a blog as it just sits there--no new entries--but I made so many changes to the recipe--using chicken soup, tripling quantities, etc., I might have to go back for a major rewrite.  But--for the original version from long ago--just go to: Cold Cucumber Soup.  Knowing a soup course alone wouldn't fill the bill, I also made farfalle with a tomato sauce with spicy Italian turkey sausage and cannelini beans.

The long awaited thunder storm hit with a vengeance--not much thunder and lightning--but lots of rain.  Sam and Sarah had made a first stop at Build it Green NYC--a warehouse in Astoria that sells salvaged items of all sorts--looking for appliances, toilets, cabinets, etc. for house.  They called from the GW bridge--but due to rain and traffic did not arrive until well after 7.  Luckily dinner was ready to go.  It was enthusiastically devoured--the kithen cleaned, then early to bed as we're meeting with George to discuss construction plans first thing in the morning.