The husband and I stopped into an antique shop the other day and when he asked the cashier where the rest room was located? She neglected to mention the all seeing eye.
.
.
From far away this piece of art does indeed look like an eye.
.
.
Though when you see it from the side?
.
.
You realize the artist probably has a cellar filled with junk like ours.
The husband and I recently celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary and to be honest, at this point it’s hard to remember a time when we weren’t married. Although looking back at the first ever picture of us together… you know, during those 6 long days of dating before we wed …
.
.
It’s even harder to remember being that young.
Our 39th started out with the delivery of a giant basket of flowers and the exchange of cards.
.
.
We planned to spend the day doing something fun and end with a nice meal. Unfortunately it was the beginning of the week and thanks to post Covid understaffing and the slow winter season in Maine, everywhere I wanted to go was closed. After wasting a few hours driving along the coast….
.
.
We opted for lunch at the Dockside Grill.
.
.
Planning on a larger meal for dinner, we chose light fare. Chicken Caesar salad for me, French onion soup for the spouse.
.
.
One cocktail for me, one beer for the spouse… with tip? $86. For soup and salad! This is getting ridiculous.
By then it was early afternoon and we were still searching for something fun to do… so we sat with our phones Googling like mad. I opted for a museum, but the ones we haven’t already visited were hours away. I did find a quirky cabinet of curiosities worth seeing, but after reading there was no heat in the building? My desire to go quickly waned.
Fun be damned, we ended up antiquing instead. At least the husband was happy.
.
.
I saw these clever mussel shell Christmas trees on sale and thought about getting one, but they were so delicate I didn’t see it traveling or storing well.
As usual, there were some unexplainable items for sale. Most notably, this…
.
.
Made entirely of glass, I can’t imagine anyone wanting that gracing their coffee table.
After a few antique stores, we were back on Google checking our favorite special occasion dinner spots. Par for the course? Every single one of them was closed. By then I was thoroughly disgusted and ready to go home and make a sandwich but the husband wanted another piece of fabulous cheesecake so we ended the day at the same restaurant where I was served crab balls instead of cakes a while back.
I won’t bore you with food photos but the mussels were good and made more interesting by being served with polenta frittes.
.
.
Crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside. Dipped in the white wine garlic sauce? A meal in itself.
I went downstairs to check the progress of the husband’s basement project yesterday and it was not going well.
.
.
Nope. Not well at all.
.
.
I stood unnoticed, chortling while I watched him attempt to wrangle trifold insulation into a corner by himself. It was quite amusing, but I took pity on the poor guy after a few minutes and lent a hand.
.
.
You’ll notice he bought a new toy. After the first low velocity hammer tool wasn’t strong enough.. he upgraded.
.
.
This thing is basically a small gun that fires explosive rounds to propel nails into hard surfaces. In this case, concrete.
.
.
And while my husband is (we never say was) a Marine and familiar with weapons, his usage of this tool made me a little nervous.
.
.
The video doesn’t do justice to the noise. But trust me, that thing is loud.
.
.
And best observed from a safe distance.
.
.
I have to laugh that our entire cellar is a junk filled mess except for this one little corner. But he’s determined to put a ceiling, insulation and shelves throughout so I’m not complaining.
I gave my husband a set of handy dandy pool cue cleaners for Xmas and upon further inspection, I believe English is not the manufacturer’s first language.
.
.
Things are getting serious with the cellar project downstairs. How do I know this?
.
.
Low velocity tools have been purchased and I have to admit…. I’m a little scared.
Upstairs in the office –
.
.
A seemingly appropriate calendar has been placed on my desk.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
.
.
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 –
.
.
I don’t care for cheesecake, but it did sound divine.
.
.
He said it was literally the best cheesecake he’s ever had… and that’s saying something because he loves the stuff.
.
.
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..
🥺
.
Where there's only one step from the sublime to the ridiculous.
