Another Debt of Gratitude to Georgette Heyer

I have discovered the one thing that helps me sleep on long plane journeys is Georgette Heyer.  I have tried many many other things, including music and ambient sound, ear plugs and eye masks, not to mention wine and vodka.  However, nothing really helps.  I remain too aware of being on a plane, listening to music/ waves crashing or rain in the woods etc. to sleep. 

However, it turns out that plugging my earphones into a Georgette Heyer audiobook- doesn't matter which one - puts me right to sleep.  It's not that they bore me - never never never think that.  I think it's a brain thing, that listening to words activates or distracts my brain in such a way that I can sleep.  And Georgette Heyer's words, in particular,  are so worn into my brain that I can travel smoothly down those tracks into deep sleep. When I wake for a moment and hear her words in my ears, I am reassured that all is right with the world and I move back into sleep. 

Thank-you once again, Georgette Heyer.  Her books have been my companions since I first discovered them in a store in Canada on a band trip at the age of 15.  I bought The Grand Sophy and Regency Buck the first day.  The second day I went back and bought The Corinthian and Friday's Child and Venetia.   I have never been far from one of herbooks ever since.  They are comfort food for my soul. 

Dawn Over The Irish Sea

The texture of the clouds was wonderful.

Thursday is Date Day

The COG and I 'date' on Thursdays when we can.  Last Thursday ,we went into Boston for lunch and the MFA.  Yesterday, we drove up to Kittery in Maine to the outlet stores.  We did not buy anything, but we had a lovely drive through peak fall colors and a nice lunch.

Kittery is a couple of miles of highway lined on either side with outlet malls that all look pretty much like this:

In other words, faux quaint New England themed temples to Mammon.  It could be any outlet mall in the US.

We had lunch at quite a nice place that fit right in with the general appearance of the place.  But there was one huge difference.  Once we sat down in the back of the restaurant we looked out the windows and saw amazing beauty.  After we ate, we walked around to the back of the restaurant and this was the view. Kittery adjoins Portsmouth - a big harbor since colonial times.  The whole area is full of tidal inlets like this one, but you just don't see them driving down the road looking at outlet shops. 

It was so beautiful.  Highlight of the day, for sure. Make sure you click on the picture to see the whole panorama.

Must Haves?

Spotted this odd display at Joann's.   Not really what I would have called 'Must Have, ' but I guess to each his own.

Then,  Daughter of and I took Miss A. and Miss T. apple picking.  There in the woods we saw some Halloween decorations and one of them featured 3 pretty much identical black birds on a branch stuck in the ground.  Apparently someone took the Joann's display to heart.

Still not really what I'd call a 'must have,' though.

Before and After

BEFORE: - a little cherry side table that we have misused shamefully.  This is why we can't have nice things:

AFTER - sanded and stained a darker color because I wasn't sure I could match the original color of the legs.  The strange V a the bottom is my hands taking the picture.  I've never sanded cherry before - the sawdust is bright orange and very fine. 

Foraging

Son of came home the other night with Chicken of the Wood fungus - one of only 4 absolutely safe fungi.  It's safe because nothing else looks like it, but still we used google to confirm that this was Chicken of the Wood.

We sliced it thinly and sauted it with some onion and some olive oil and some white wine.  It was delicious. And it went very well with our meal of Pepperonata Pasta.  Next, I might try Polenta and Mushrooms.  

Deer!

This morning about 11am, we had two deer sleeping in our backyard.   I disturbed them when I opened the door - I hadn't seen them.  They lifted their heads and stared at the house for a while, but didn't leave.

Nice that they feel safe here - even though having them in the yard puts us in the highest risk group for Lyme Disease.

Can you see them?