Thoughts from Crow Cottage (My Main Blog.)
crowbelle's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! I'm not exactly sure just which anniversary it is, but it's been either 63, 64 or 65 years of wedded bliss that my beautiful mother and father-in-law have been married today. Since their first-born, my Paul, was born in 1945, I'm guessing they were married 2, 3 or 4 years before that happy occasion. But whatever the real number is (and I'd have it for you, but I didn't want to hang up my webtv phone line to call them to find out definitively!) it's been a good long time, and I am here to say Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad! Being married to the same person for well over 60 years is a feat. But for them, it didn't seem hard at all. They are like two peas in a pod. They go everywhere together. They've been retired now for about 25 years so since that time, it's been both of them all the time going thru life as if "joined at the hip." I'm not sure I could do it as graciously and lovingly as they are doing it. I like my independence - my personal space - my down time from the world. But Mom & Dad Crowell are such special people, and they are an inspiration to all who know them. Emma and Whitby are growing much closer now as "sisters" at Crow Cottage. Whitby doesn't seem to be as jealous of Emma as she was at first. And Emma is feeling more at home every day. Just today, she discovered "Squirrel Nutkin" who regularly frequents the back deck when there are goodies out there for him. Paul's folks (who from here on out I will refer to as Mom and Dad, since they are the only parents I have anymore) had given us some of their strawberry plant, a few rootings, and I planted it in a large pot on the back deck. We've had so much rain lately that I haven't really tended to it out there, figuring I didn't need to water it at all. Well, there are quite a few strawberries growing on it now, and Mr. Squirrel Nutkin has only just discovered it today! He had fresh strawberries for lunch, and Emma was plastered up against the sliding glass door watching attentively. Paul has been fishing almost every day lately, but is planning on having the boat hauled out either tomorrow or the next day for his annual bottom work. Now that he has a fiberglass boat, the annual maintenance only takes a day or two at the most, and back in the water it goes. In the old days, when he had a wooden lobster boat, it was out of the water for weeks on end getting repairs made, sometimes extensive repairs that had gone undetected whilst sitting in the ocean. But fiberglass boats are a lot less maintenance-intensive! I finally have learned how to make real English Fish 'n Chips! The recipe came to me from my friend Bill D. who lives in Yorkshire. Out of the blue, he sent me by e-mail a recipe for his Auntie Bessie's Batter - for fish. I went to the store and got the ingredients yesterday as I had some fish to fry that Paul had caught, and I made up a batch of fish 'n chips last night that were just about perfection! I've been trying to do this for years and years! Thanks, Bill! I guess he won't mind if I share the recipe here with my readers, so here it is. Auntie Bessie's Batter for Fish Then, I was making some steak-fries (chips in England) in the oven - these were the frozen kind (McCain's) and I thought, hmmm, I wonder if they would be better fried in the oil since it was all hot anyway... so I tried it, and dumped them all in the oil, and after about 10 minutes in there, they came out, were drained off, and they were the best chips (fries) we've ever tasted! Wow, I can't believe I now know how to make authentic British Fish 'N Chips! Once again, thank you, Bill! Better go now. Dogs are late getting their din-dins, and they are starting to nudge me in that direction. Catch you all later on. Cheers, Bex 3:28 pm - 27 June 2006 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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