The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Slim pickings for lunch. Himself surprised us by bringing home lunch from Kelly's Roast Beef. Roast beef sandwiches for the girlies, a scallop plate for Himself, and a fried clam plate for me.

2. A boring Sunday evening. We rented The Lego Movie. It turned out to be surprisingly funny. I watched it again the following day. Everything is awesome!

3. Sleep Number technicians removed the wheels, put legs on the bed and castor cups to protect the wood floor. The bed doesn't roll down the street anymore. Nice when a company takes pride in customer service.

4. We needed a new faucet. Himself installed it, and it works.

5. Went to the post office box to pick up mail. Junk, junk, bank statement, a postcard. What's this? The faux Star Ka'at stamp and faux cancellation mark I had admired on Finnbadger's mail art blog Envelope 100.
Thank you, Finn, the postcard made my day.

How was your week?

Throwback Thursday

One of the few pictures of me that I actually like. I was 11 years old. The photo was taken at Minuteman National Park. I was on a "date" with The Brother (age 17) and his girlfriend.

Dad took the bus to work and left his car so The Brother could drive back and forth to school. The Brother was only to drive to school and back home. No side trips. No floating around. I got to go along so I would keep my mouth shut and not tattle. To further sweeten the deal, they took me for an ice cream sundae.

Wordless Wednesday

Kimball's Farm

After soaking up art, Teague and I decided we needed an ice cream cone from Kimball's Farm in Lancaster, MA (there are actually 4 locations).
We browsed the shop and stood in line for ice cream. There were so many flavors of ice cream to choose from. I was going to order a small cone. Teague ordered a Peppermint Stick kiddie cone, and I nearly fell over at the size. Perched on top of the sugar cone was a pint of ice cream. Hand to Gawd, I kid you not, a pint of ice cream! I ordered a kiddie cone of Coconut Almond Chip. We sat at a picnic table shaded by trees to enjoy our ice cream, a sweet ending to a perfect day.

Fruitlands Museum

view of Mount Wachusett 

Teague and I took another jaunt to the Fruitlands Museum. Fruitllands was the name of a (failed) experimental Utopian society (1843) founded by Bronson Alcott (father of Louisa May Alcott) and Charles Lane. The museum was founded in 1914 by Clara Endicott Sears.

The museum is made up of small museums. A Shaker Museum which contains furniture, clothing, and items used by members of the 19th c. religious sect which believed in celibacy, communal living, and equality of the sexes. There is a Native American museum with objects from Native American tribes from New England, the Plains, Southwest, and Northwest. Outside the Native American museum, is a replica of a longhouse, dugout canoe (made by visitors to the museum with stone tools , and a garden planted with the Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash.). The Art Museum is home to a collection of Hudson River School Landscapes. Currently on view, are also abstract landscapes by Artist-In-Residence, Richard Kattman.

Besides the buildings and artwork, the museum offers spectacular views of the Nashoba Valley, Mount Wachusett in Massachusetts and the Monadnocks in New Hampshire. There are also trails to hike. After the art and walking up and down the rolling hills, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the outdoor cafe.

Linguine a la Vongola

I don't like going out for Italian food. It's never as good as what I ate every day at home. Most Italian restaurants serve up dishes from the northern provinces of Italy. Meats and macaroni covered in cream sauces or food overpowered by garlic an oregano. My father's expression was "not our food". (Actually that label was used to describe any food that Ma didn't cook.) 

Both sides of my family come from Avellino, a southern province in the Campagnia region of Italy, northeast of Naples. Sauces (called gravy in my family) from this region is tomato based. I miss Ma's cooking. Eggplant Parmigiana which graced our holiday and special occasion meals like Green Bean Casserole, her to die for home-made ravioli, and one of my favorites, Linguine a la Vongola (linguine with clams). Ma used canned clams.

There is one Italian restaurant in Worcester that I love. Leo's Ristorante. It's a small, neighborhood restaurant in the Italian section of the city. (where else!) The food is close to Ma's. We were at Leo's last week to celebrate The Young One's and my birthdays. 

Just look at that dish! It's such a beautiful presentation with the open clam shells. Heaven on a plate and so much better than Ma's. But, Shhhh, don't tell her.

The Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. On the way to get my car inspected, Himself and I stopped at IHOP for breakfast. Mmmm, fluffy, blueberry pancakes.

2. Sunday was a Law and Order marathon day. My favorite character is Lenny and his smart mouth.

3. My birthday

4. We had a birthday dinner (for myself and belated for the Young One) at Leo's Ristorante.

5. Teague and I had a trip to Fruitlands Museum and ice cream at Kimball's.

How was your week?