Uhh...snow.

Yup there's more snow a comin'. I just got back from the market. Yes I got the bread and milk but I went to go to an actual bakery for the bread. This bakery is legendary around here. From when I was a little kid, after church my dad and I would stop by LaCascias Bakery. I worked there in the 70's. I didn't make much money but we sure ate well.
None of these pictures here are mine. They are from the web.

My favorite type of bread is the Scali which I believe means stairs. The dough is rolled out like you are making a French bread then it is laid out in a series of S'es, they are pressed together so the S shape are squished together and you run a knife down the middle.
It ends up looking like this.

   
I worked behind this counter from1975 to 1980. Those are the same slicing machines that I used in the 70's.

 

 

So I have taken care of my Italian bread fix. The last time I went to the supermarket I bought a loaf of traditional American bread, the supermarket brand. It really doesn't hold up compared to actual bakery bread. Now I buy it once in a while for a change of pace and there's nothing wrong with it if you buy a well known brand such as Wonder Bread and I'm know there are many regional brands. However this particular supermarket brand had four slices left and it seemed that if I looked at it too hard it would disintegrate. I grew up with the above breads, particularly the two loves in the center of the above picture. I like bread with a crust. Ok enough about my bread addiction.

So we are getting more snow. We could get up to another ten inches. At least it won't last too long as it is getting warmer. It's above freezing as I write this a 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. About 36 degrees. I just hope that it will start snowing long after the sun goes down. I really don't want to go out and shovel tonight. I don't want to do it tomorrow either but I can only hope that it will snow overnight and I can postpone the inevitable till tomorrow. 

Another bread photo from LaCascias. I've had over a sixty year love affair with this place. 

 I can't forget the cookies, pastries and cakes.

 

 

 

But I have once again digressed. Arlene and I hadn't been out for quite a while so we went out to our favorite local restaurants,  Raso's.

 

Now I like a good steak as much as the next guy but I don't have them very often, maybe twice a year and I stopped making them at home. Now I don't often spend $29.00 on a meal but it was time and they didn't disappoint me. It was a delicious sirloin steak. This is not my picture but from their website.

 

Arlene had what they called "Noni's (granny's) Pork Chops. These two pork chops were the size of your head! All that for $17.00!

 

 



Needless to say the food was wonderful. The drinks were wonderful as well. I admit that I had a martini when we first got there and then with my meal I ordered a glass of wine. I showed what a silver tongued devil I am by ordering a glass of "camembert" instead of a glass of cabernet. I'm sure that comes from 46 years of working with the imported cheeses in the deli department. By the way I don't miss working in the slightest but I am grateful that I worked for a wonderful company for all those years.

Ok time to put this to bed. As of 6:30 p.m. It is not snowing yet. It is snowing in New York though.

OK Happy Spring everyone!

I'm outta here.  

 

A title? Snow. Heavy, wet snow.Why do I have to shovel?

Oh yeah! Because I have to. To tell the truth despite me hating every minute of shoveling out my car, the sidewalk, the front walk and most of the driveway, I could not live in a warm weather climate. The only exception would be around San Francisco. Their weather is more even keeled. It's much colder here in the winter and much hotter here in the summer. The city is about the same size of Boston and I just like it. Still this is my home and though Massachusetts is the butt of many jokes it's actually a very nice place to live.



Western Massachusetts.

 

Yup western Mass. is nothing like where I live. I had only been through the western part of the state several times, once on a family trip to Toronto and another time to go to a concert at Madison Square Garden back in 2005 and of course the times Arlene and I went out for the day just because it was there. It's just another world. Quite rural, quite lovely especially during the fall.

I took a ride around and the roads were in good shape at least as far as snow removal is concerned. Massachusetts is highly respected in many areas but the conditions of the roads is not one of them. In fact it's among the worst. The winter in particular does the most damage. Water enters cracks in the pavement, it freezes and expands the crack and so on. I believe a particularly deep pot hole (I've never actually found any pot in those holes but I have once again digressed), anyway I hit particularly deep one and within a day I had to have a the front axel and drive shaft replaced. As much as I hated spending all that money I really can't complain about my car. It's ten years old and runs like a top.

BULLETIN BULLETIN BULLETIN!!! It is now almost two weeks since I started the entry and as I write right now (3/13/2018) it's snowing. 

Ok this is becoming a diary. It is now 3/15/2018. I have to say anybody involved with snow removal did a great job. I'm not sure how much snow we received around here locally, about 18 inches. Here are three pictures from around the house taken on the 14th.

  
Just a very quick video.

     Today I went to finish this blog entry and realized that I had published it already. I guess I'm a little punchy. The 14th was a long tedious day. I first shoveled at about 10 a.m. and really didn't finish up until 8 p.m. when a plow driver arrived. You had to go out every few hours just to say ahead of it. Ya know I hear there's the potential for another storm next week. Just two or so weeks ago there were two days in a row when it hit 70 degrees. As they say, "If you don't like the weather wait a minute."

Alrighty then it's time to put this Frankenstein blog to bed and start fresh in a day or two.
I'm outta here.  

March

So on Tuesday I accompanied Arlene to her heart doctor. He is pleased with her progress. She has lost 15-20 pounds of fluid and she has about the same amounts to go. She is certainly in a better frame of mind. It would break my heart t hear her say, "I just want to feel better."
At least she is feeling better. After the medical visit we had some lunch at a little place not very far from where we live. It's a family run restaurant. They are from Nepal. They feature breakfast all day. Italian food, sandwiches, sea food dishes, including an omelet with fresh tuna. I'm not inclined to try that though I have had grilled tuna steak and it was quite good by I digress. There seemed to be no hint of food from Nepal. Not that I have any idea what that would be like. But they are very nice people and I hope they succeed. It's really what makes America great.

Lets see apart from much rain and wind there wasn't much damage around here. The same can't be said along the northeast coast. A couple of cities over from here, Watertown, we had this scene. The next two pictures aren't mine. I got them from the web.

  Below is a shot from Scituate Ma. south of Boston. 

I guess you have to accept the possibility that you could lose your home when you live on the coast.


Old Ship Street.This is a couple streets over from mine. Back in the late 1700's through the 1800's ship building was prominent around here. This street led to the river.

This is from someplace in Maine.

A shot from Boston.

The Zakim Bridge..

The U.S.S. Constitution.

Fenway Park.

 

This is a park that I remember my mother bringing me to when I was quite young. Royall Park named after the man, Isaac Royall, and family who lived in the blue house behind the park in the 1700's. The blue building to left of the house are the slave quarters. 



 

 

 

 

Well I'm running out of gas. I guess I'll close it out by saying.

I'm outta here.

Rain, wind, nasty weather...Hey I have a beer!

As I begin to write this the wind is gusting to roughly 50 mph and it's raining steady and heavy. On the one hand I had no plans for today as I have had a busy week, well busy for someone who is still adjusting to retired life. Arlene is still recovering from the flu. I'm not sure which doctor to believe. I have been with her for most of her doctor visits. A couple of tests. Long story short. She finally saw the nurse at her primary doctors office this morning. She's the person who knows Arlene the longest and the best. She was surprised that the other medical people let things get to this point. So anyway she has another appointment Monday morning. I think the toughest thing for Arlene has been staying a good frame of mind.

So yes indeed I do have a beer and I am enjoying it as I try to compose this blog entry. Sometimes I have an idea for a blog other times I more or less make it up as I go along over the course of a few days then read it and realize it made no sense. I have some more pictures odds and ends.

The four below are from you know where. We've gone there fourteen times since 2010 and I have accumulated many many, did I say many? Many pictures from there.

Below are two local fall shots from 2007 or 08

By the Mystic river about ten years ago.

 

 

 

 

Below New Hampshire ten or eleven years ago.

Alright, the wind is still a howlin' and the rain is still a fallin'. From what I see on television there's quite a bit of flooding around the Boston area.  This is suppose to go on through tomorrow. I suppose the worst  could be coming yet.
I sure wish I had another beer.
I mean the liquor store is quite near.
It wouldn't take too long from here.
Uhhh...E-I-E-I Oh.
I'm outta here.