Weekending, Nov 14th-16th, 2025

I had a very full weekend, with lots of socializing. You know that’s not my norm and I have to admit, I’m feeling a little drained this Monday morning. But it was good stuff that I did and I’ll be recharged soon, I’m sure.

On Friday night we hosted a soupfest at our house. We decided to have a small cohort of friends from our Pergola Thursdays gather once a month throughout the fall, winter, and spring, and we thought it would also be fun to have themes to our gatherings. We had 4 delicious homemade soups this time, I made sourdough bread – including a big loaf of plain sourdough and four mini loaves with mixins – and there were terrific desserts, too. It was a joyful gathering and I’m annoyed that I didn’t take any photos.

On Saturday, Jo-Ann and I went to Medford to see Kamala Harris on her book tour. This was a ticketed event and it was my birthday present from Jo. I love an experience for a present and this was a wonderful one.

Security was tight and we waited in line for quite some time but it was worth it. There were 3 different outbursts from hecklers, which was annoying AF, but they were removed quickly and Kamala took it all in stride. Heather Cox Richardson was the moderator and it was so good to be surrounded by like minded individuals. The only downside of the whole thing was the underlying sadness of thinking about what could have been, ya know?

Saturday was also the day my town voted on whether or not to build a new elementary school. I’m on this building committee and we’ve have 40 meetings over the last 2 years to get us to this point. It’s been a lot of work and I’m positively giddy to tell you that it passed! Dale and Jo-Ann and I went over to the middle school (we live next door) to be there when the counts were read and several other committee members were also there. There will be lots more work to come our way now, but at least we know it’s going to happen and I’m really glad the town stepped up to do this for our kids.

On Sunday I made us a big breakfast of corned beef hash with poached eggs and sourdough toast. It was delicious and gave us the fuel we needed to tackle digging up the dahlias.

It’s always so cool to dig them out of the dirt and see how one single tuber that I planted last May turned into a giant bundle of multiple tubers to work with and store until next year. I dug and labeled them, Dale washed them off, and now they are hanging out upstairs in our guest room. We’ve drawn the shade on the skylight and turned off the heat and it will be a good environment for them to be in while they toughen up a bit before I divide them and tuck them away.

Finally, on Sunday, a new restaurant in our town had a soft opening. I was invited to attend as a member of the Select Board, and I’m not ashamed to say that’s flattering. My cousin Len was also there as he’s friends with the owner, and we had a great meal together. Dale and I sat at the bar after dinner and had a beer and I’m so happy to have this new place to go. It’s unlike anything else in town – we have great sushi, a good Italian place, a good Mexican restaurant, and a Dunkin Donuts and sub shop on every corner – but nowhere to go for good American style food like burgers, steaks, and salads. I plan to be a frequent flyer.

Whew. That was a LOT of weekending.