Yesterday was a steamy summer Saturday, a lazy-feeling day that makes you want to brew up a giant pot of iced tea and sip languidly in the hammock. On those sort of days, I envision the big front porches that lots of houses in New Orleans have, white with wicker furniture, huge ceiling fans, and cool pots of greenery. People don’t have those sort of porches in New England for a good reason---it’s only that hot one or two days a year. Matt did spend some time in the hammock, trying to coax Kidalou up with him. He’ll sit with you if you get in first and he can sit on your chest, but on his own, he hooks into the ropes with sharp talons since he can see the ground beneath. I guess it must be very confusing for a cat.
I ate my first Sungold tomato from the garden on Friday….so sweet and good! I wish the plant would hurry up and make more! I’ve been picking a small bowl of raspberries nearly every day. It’s only enough for my cereal in the morning—I dream about having enough to make jam and pie, and some left over to freeze for the fall. We’re also starting to get blueberries now, firm and juicy and untouched by the birds (thanks to plastic netting).
I realize that I didn’t say much about my birthday, and there are some things worth noting. Like an excellent dinner at Mezze down in Williamstown---Peekytoe crab salad with pea shoots, roast chicken with pea risotto, and a beautiful glass of Spanish Monastrell (yum—one of my current favorites), and then homemade dessert at home. Yes, my wonderful husband made my childhood birthday cake, a spice cake with caramel frosting. He even called my mom to get the right recipe! We gorged ourselves for the next two nights, and then I took it to work, where it was an empty plate by the end of the day. One advantage to working in an office---people eat anything that is sitting around.
Last night we went to Cambridge, NY to see a friend’s band, the Buckhill Ramblers. It was in a crunchy little bakery/café, and they made a good Sicilian pizza. We heard rumors about late-fourth fireworks, and sure enough, just down the street there was a small-town carnival, and people were set up to watch the display. My theory is that you can never have too many fireworks, so we patiently settled in to watch a decent show---very close and very low, which made for an exciting time. The fireworks were totally unexpected and made for a good end to the night.