Yesterday’s adventures included a trip on the ferry from Plymouth to Provincetown. I couldn’t resist a picture of Dale’s beer – Cape Cod Red – and my mojito at lunch. You don’t get a better view than that!

Monday’s activities including a drive to Gloucester and Rockport. While in Rockport we met commenter extraordinaire, Mary K. She let us park at her house (a huge deal since parking spaces in Rockport are very hard to come by) and we had a great little visit with her. We also walked around and admired the shops and the scenery. The day ended with fried clams at Farnam’s.

I love being on vacation.

This week’s topic is near and dear to my heart. 10 Reasons to Love Bacon. And really, who doesn’t love bacon? Frankly, I’ll tell you who – Hannah. Can you believe it? So today’s post is all about great ways to eat bacon in the hopes that it will change my baby girl’s mind.

1. Bacon and eggs. The original and why mess with it?
2. Bacon Jalapeno thingies. They disappear faster than I can make them.
3. Scallops wrapped in bacon. This hors d’oeuvres was an essential back in the 80s when I worked for a chi-chi caterer.
4. Pasta Carbonara. Basically it’s bacon and eggs with pasta. Mmmm.
5. Bacon Cheeseburgers. Dale likes his without the cheese. Go figure.
6. Bacon and Chocolate. You think I’m kidding? Try a Mo’s Bacon Bar and you will see the beauty of this combination.
7. Hot bacon dressing. Pour it over a spinach salad and bacon is almost healthy. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
8. Bacon dip. There are many variations of this but I like mine with ranch dressing and cream cheese.
9. Bacon wrapped venison bites. These are a special treat around here at Christmas time. So delicious and tender.
10. Finally, a BLT Sandwich. Turkey club sandwich. Cheeseburger club sandwich. There are so many variations on this theme for a very good reason. It’s simple and delicious.

Let’s all go have some bacon!

My 2 week vacation officially starts today. We’ll be home this week and then going to the Cape next week and we’re all very happy about resting and relaxing, visiting and sightseeing, hanging out and playing games.

I’ll still be blogging this week but it will be blogging of the lighter variety. A picture and a few words or something of that nature.

For today:

A picture of last Friday’s visit to Easton’s Beach in Newport. After a busy afternoon of walking around Newport, a visit to the beach was the perfect way to end the day.

Come to think of it, that’s the perfect way to end any day.

An approaching thunderstorm on Thursday afternoon made great light for capturing the red gerbera daisy on the deck.

Have a great weekend!

The other night I found myself home alone (Dale was working with the band and Hannah was out with friends) and hungry. I wanted something delicious but I didn’t feel like going out for take out.

I scanned the fridge and found some summer squash and zucchini.

I searched the cupboards and found a box of penne pasta and a packet of Knorr’s 4 Cheese pasta sauce.

I put on a pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta. Then I started the cheese sauce. While that was cooking I used my mandoline to julienne the squashes. I sauteed the squash as the pasta boiled and when it was all done I tossed it all together in a big bowl.

I served it on a pretty plate with lots of fresh cracked pepper and parmesan cheese.

In just 15 minutes I had a delicious home-cooked meal with enough leftovers for lunch for the next couple of days.

It was way better than take out, too!

As part of our goal to soak up as much summer as possible, we went to a Rox game Monday night. It was hot and sticky, perfect baseball weather.

Although, from the number of empty seats, apparently other people don’t agree. Seriously, I don’t know why the stadium isn’t more full. It’s reasonably priced, the baseball is pretty good, and it’s a beautiful arena. Plus, the beer is cheap and plentiful. I really think the people of Brockton and the surrounding communities need to step up to the plate (get it? step up to the plate? hahaha) and support this place in a much more tangible way.

But I digress and I didn’t mean to rant.

Instead, let’s look at the cute ball players.

And the local Correction’s Officers who carried the flags onto the field for the National Anthem. Speaking of that, it was sung Monday night by the daughter of a friend of my brother’s. I sort of wanted to go speak to him but I was afraid he wouldn’t remember me. My brother’s been gone for 13 years and I’m sure I haven’t seen this guy since then so I chickened out.

And again I digress.

Let me get back on topic (sort of) by showing you a photo of Brockton High School, my alma mater.  This is the view from far right field. Yes, it’s a very big school. I graduated with 1100 way back in 1983. You need a big facility to support that many students. And this is a good one, complete with a swimming pool and excellent science labs, a beautiful fine arts building and not one but two terrific auditoriums. I was lucky to go here.

There’s a lot of digressions in this post, did you notice?

As a final way of getting back on track, let’s look at those cute ball players again.

I love baseball.

I know we just did 10 Things to Bring on a Camping Trip and some might say that this week’s topic, 10 Things To Bring on Vacation, is similar but this is the chance for all those people who didn’t want to go camping to write a vacation list. Here we go:

10 Things To Bring on Vacation

1. Beach Stuff. I like to vacation at the beach so that means I need a bathing suit and sunscreen and a beach towel and a comfortable chair.
2. Knitting. I can’t leave the house to go anywhere without my knitting so of course I bring it on vacation.
3. Spinning Wheel. This is a toss up. I usually bring my wheel and it usually sits in the corner of the living room of the beach house. But I feel better knowing it’s there – just in case I want to spin.
4. Camera. You have to be able to capture all those great vacation moments!
5. iPhone. There’s no internet at the beach house we rent so the iPhone is a must. I try not to check my email but I usually can’t help myself.
6. Dog and Cat. One of the main reasons we love the house we rent is because we get to bring Mason and Dixie. I can’t imagine leaving them for a week!
7. Games. We really try to keep the TV watching to a minimum so games are a must. A great family game is Apples to Apples.
8. Kindle. Load it up with books and it’s ready for a week or more.
9. Booze. Seriously, a martini on the deck after a day at the beach – it doesn’t get better than that.
10. Yummy Food. We like to eat out some and eat in some so when we do eat in we treat ourselves to things like steamers and lobster, steak, special hors d’oeuvres and other yummy stuff.  No dieting on vacation!

Writing this list has really made me excited about my upcoming vacation. 12 more sleeps!

You remember my bike, right? She’s a beauty and her name is Betty. I named her Betty because the name makes me think of the 50s and also because it was my grandmother’s name. Well, her name was actually Elizabeth but everyone called her Betty. She was Swedish and I loved her dearly.

Anyway, I bought Dale a bike for his birthday. He’s an Electra Cruiser, too, and his name is Oscar. Dale named him Oscar for his grandfather, Oscar Julius, a professional bicycle racer. Oscar was Swedish, too, and Dale and I are both very proud of our Swedish heritage.

Last Friday we brought Oscar and Betty to the Cape Cod Canal for their first ride together.

It was a beautiful day with very blue sky and a few puffy clouds. The canal was bustling with activity, boats going by in the water, families out biking and walking, people fishing and reading and enjoying the outdoors.

We treated ourselves to ice cream from the store at the Bourne Scenic Park and rested our legs while we ate. It was a great spot for some photos of Oscar, too.

I think we’re going to really enjoy riding these bikes together.  So long as Oscar remembers his place. He’s almost as pretty as Betty. But not quite.

Cape Cod. 2 more weeks. Ahhh.

Have a great weekend!