Years ago I had a wonderful little purse size green bottle of perfume with a funky top. It was a lightly herbal, somewhat floral refreshing scent. Naturally I couldn’t remember the name of it, but I knew it wasn’t expensive so I went shopping on Amazon just on the off chance I’d see it.
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Green, funky top, inexpensive…needing a new small bottle for my purse, I thought that could be it and ordered one.
I was wrong.
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So very wrong. The stupid thing towers above every other bottle I own and is most definitely not purse sized.
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Here it is next to a bottle of Chanel for scale. I’m sure it’s my fault for not noting the size when I bought it, but damn. Now I’m stuck with what seems like a gallon.
A miracle is currently taking place below Casa River. And though I never thought I’d say it… I’m now glad my bored by retirement husband is fully engaged in a project.
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After insulating the walls and putting an unnecessary ceiling in my small section of the cellar, he moved on to the cluttered with useless crap main section of the nightmare that is our basement, and this is where the miracle happened.
Look!
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Bare basement floor! I haven’t seen that since we moved to this house two decades ago.
And what used to look like this:
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Now looks like this.
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Be still my heart.
His plan is to insulate all the exterior walls and put a ceiling throughout the whole cellar, which is a massive undertaking considering there’s nearly 40 years worth of accumulated junk in the way. Will he get rid of any? He says he wants to have a yard sale… which is a start. But if nothing else, things will be cleaned and hopefully a bit more organized.
Also good…
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The husband built a large shelf in my section for my numerous tubs of holiday decorations.
The bad….
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I couldn’t get down there to photograph it before he cluttered it up with his mess from the section of floor he cleared in the other room.
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Anyone need a 600 pound waffle iron or a Snoopy lunch box?
Also bad…
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See the end of that long dark tunnel? The one you can only access by bending over double and ducking under the sewage pipe? That’s where the husband put all my wrapping paper, bows and from what I can see… Halloween decorations.
😠
And finally, there’s the really ugly. Because under an old moldy blanket?
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There’s an equally old and moldy stereo cabinet from some long lost era. It shouldn’t surprise you to know that I was unaware he even owned this beast. The husband has a habit of sneaking purchases down to the cellar when I’m not home.
The art of throwing a very drunken extravagent party with a plethora of friends. Whoever is throwing the palooza usually adds their name as a prefix to the word …
So when I saw this advertisement the other day? I called foul.
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There’s simply no room for a plethora of anything between those little strings.
I am not, nor have I ever been… a Sylvester Stallone fan.
Rocky was cheesy.
Rambo? Please…
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But since I discovered Yellowstone (and binged frantically to catch up) and since I love Yellowstone (and wanted to watch the prequels) I started streaming Paramount Plus which is where I found this –
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Premise. Dwight “The General” Manfredi is a New York Mafia capo who’s just finished serving a 25-year prison sentence. Upon release, his boss sends him to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to establish criminal operations there. Not knowing anyone in the area, The General seeks a new crew to help establish his empire.
Sly is older, greying and not nearly as annoying as he was years ago. His character is out of touch, baffled by new technology, and a veritable New Yawk fish out of water in cowboy country. I hate to say it, but he plays the part to perfection.
This show is funny… he extorts the hippie owner of a weed shop for income and sleeps with a slightly disgraced ATF officer.
It’s dramatic…. Dwight is estranged from his family, loses a brother and tries to rebuild a relationship with his daughter.
And oh yeah, it’s violent. Mafia. Drugs. Gun running biker gangs. Need I say more?
For the first time in my life I’m looking toward to watching Sylvester Stallone. And if that’s not a miracle? I’ll eat kale.
The husband and I went out for a booze filled leisurely lunch the other day at a place I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It’s the sister restaurant to one of our favorites so I had high expectations.
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Right across the street from LL Beans in the busy village of Freeport…the Tuscan Brick Oven Bistro is always packed with a long wait to be seated. We thought showing up at 2:00 in the afternoon would afford us some elbow room, but no. There was a 45 minute wait for a table which made my husband take a direct route to the bar.
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My husband does not wait well. Or at all to be honest.
No matter, I started with a lovely cranberry sage margarita which though tasty, was served in a disappointingly small old fashioned glass.
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And if I ever wondered why I was having a hard time finding vintage beer, wine or whisky crates… one look behind this bar provided the answer.
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A spiced pear margarita was round two…. and was served alongside my crab “cake” appetizer. I ask you – how can a tiny round lump of crab ever be considered a cake? These balls were delicious, but at $23 were a bit of a pricey nibble.
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Lunch was a wonderful 4 mushroom funghi pizza for me and a shrimp scampi for the husband. His lunch portion contained 4 shrimp for $29. I’d hate to see the dinner.
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For me the best part was cocktail #3.
APPLE OF MY EYE apple infused captain morgan white rum lime juice * cinnamon simple * white cranberry juice
Ooh la la! It might sound like a weird combination but it was alcoholic apple pie in a glass. Be still my heart!
For the husband this was the kicker –
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I don’t care for cheesecake, but it did sound divine.
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He said it was literally the best cheesecake he’s ever had… and that’s saying something because he loves the stuff.
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With tip, a $218 lunch.
Christ. That’s what I used to pay for two weeks worth of groceries when we got married. How times change..
🥺
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Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
River's world..... 