Update - December 30 to January 5, 2019
-- Switch from Holiday Decor to Winter Decor
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| The winter village scene includes a tavern and a church |
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| Old Sloan Tavern |
Patti is always very determined to break down the holiday decorations right after Christmas. Within days she has taken down decorations, the tree, and the accessories, such as hand towels with a holiday theme. She asked me to be in charge of taking down the Salvation Army carolers and replacing them with a "winter" scene not tied to the holiday on the living room fireplace mantle. That meant the stockings (originally hung with care) had to come down as did all the holly, wreaths, and other decorations. For this vignette, I elected to use a mix of Currier and Ives buildings and some others we had on hand. I have created a street scene where the tavern is prominent center-left front row and the church is on the edge of town to the right. There is also a chapel on the high hill in the back row. Snow is prominent on the foreground buildings and also on the trees and fences. I think it presents well as a typical New England small town winter setting.
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-- Patio and Deck Furniture Need Protection from Winter
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| Save the furniture |
Not so imaginary or fanciful as the village scene on our mantle is Patti assigning me the task of protecting our outdoor furniture from real snow and ice. Some of the furniture we bring inside for storage and others we leave outside with a tarp or other covering. I made the effort to get some new tarps and finally found what we needed at Home Depot. I wrapped everything up tight and I hope we can rely on them to keep them safe over the winter. I also got a new cover for the air conditioning condenser which is in the backyard. The one from last winter blew away and we didn't retrieve it.
-- Fish Tacos at Red Heat for Lunch
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| Drove the lunch wagon. |
Patti and I were shopping and decided to barge in on Corinne at her office to see if she wanted to join us for lunch. Luckily she hadn't had lunch yet, so we walked next door to Red Heat in Westborough. We have been meaning to visit Read Heat but this was our first opportunity. The place is where the old Outback used to be; a place that we never got to either. I guess that means we don't go near this spot too often. Anyway, the kitchen is open, the big central bar was friendly looking and they offer high tables, booths and regular tables near the kitchen. We chose the table style as Patti sometimes is uncomfortable at the high tops.
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| Pulled Pork Mac 'N |
I have always enjoyed fish and since I first went to Texas in the 1960s I have also been a fan of tacos. But, the "fish" taco phenomenon is not something I anticipated. In four decades of eating tacos and fish, I had never had them together. Now, it's my favorite item. This day, Patti went for the pulled pork Mac 'N Cheese. It was huge. So huge, that I ate the leftovers the next day. Corinne went for the pretzel appetizer, which is apparently something she has often. I would rate the Red Heat as very good and the prices were good too. The waiter explained that he didn't add too much ice to my Johnnie Walker Red, and I thanked him for understanding that too much ice is really a bad thing.
-- BJ's Always Has the Largest Size; Even When We Don't Need It
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| Welcome to BJ's |
Patti likes to buy things at BJ's. It's not for the oversize packages that we go there, but apparently, she has determined that certain products are much better here than other grocery outlets. I wouldn't know for sure, but I don't mind shopping at BJ's. I like to check out the discount book section. They had two great bargains that I took advantage of today. The first one was "
Code Warriors," by Stephen Budiansky. It's about the NSA's code breakers and the secret intelligence war against the USSR. I can relate to this book as I spent my years in the US Air Force spying on the Russians. When I got to Turkey in the early 1970's it was a big concern to the United States as to what missile, bomber, and fighter jet capabilities the Soviets were testing in southern Russia. Turkey provided the perfect place for us to monitor their activities and to report back to the NSA. The second book was a memoir by Burt Reynolds, "
But Enough About Me," which I'm sure Patti will enjoy too. I'll let you know how both books turn out later.
-- O'Connor's Became a Backup to Our Attempt to Visit Finder's Pub
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| Patti at O'Connor's |
For some reason,
Finder's Pub in West Boylston was not open for lunch the day we drove up. So, we rolled further up the road to O'Connor's. I have always enjoyed O'Connor's, although Patti has not. We took a chance this time and Patti seemed pleased with the ambiance and the food, so that worked out okay. Did I mention I like fish tacos? I had some here and they were great.
The menu described them as
Baja Style Fish Tacos with mango-pineapple black bean salsa, and cilantro aioli. It's not what you expect to find at an Irish Pub style restaurant, but O'Connor's really goes past the usual pub food on its menu.
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| SR-71 Blackbird |
Reading Update: Not too long ago I read a book written by an SR-71 pilot, which I mentioned in this blog. At that time I discovered he wrote two other books, so I went out of my way to get both. I just finished the first of those two books, "SR-71 Blackbird, Stories, Tales, and Legends, Edited by retired USAF Colonel Richard H. Graham. The book is a collection of essays written by 20 pilots and crew, who were part of the operational phase of the SR-71 from the early 1960s through the 1990s.
As with most things, a successful spy overflight of Cuba may be exciting, but not fiery enough for an essay. It's the near-crashes, the actual crashes, and the dodging of enemy missiles that make the best reading. There is no comparison to any novel about make-believe characters that can hold up to the real-life tales of these heroic pilots, RSO's, and crew members. The underlying theme to the various articles turns out to be tragic for our country as the USAF made a determination (truly unwise in my opinion) to shelf the SR-71 just at a time in our country's history when we may need it more than ever. Knucklehead Trump will be too self-absorbed to do anything about it in the short run so we can hope that clearer heads will prevail in the future.
