coffee

Day Thirty-Nine

April 21, 2020 at 9:24 am by Claudia

The day dawned with sunshine all around and now it’s cloudy. Apparently, we’re getting thunderstorms this afternoon. Darn it. I was all set to do some work outside. I did get out yesterday afternoon to clear some more garden beds. I have a long list of things to do out there. I’ll run outside after I post this to try to get some of it done before the rains come.

Then it will be puzzle time.

The flowering quince is in bloom.

And the lilac buds are coming along. Some sun would help! I can see the peony shoots coming out of the ground, as well. And the clematis is leafing out.

Spring – you’ve been very slow this year. You seem to be taking your own sweet time. I can’t wait to smell those lilacs!

I worked a lot on the puzzle yesterday. I started A Gentleman in Moscow. And what a sweet sigh of happiness it brings. It’s such a joy to read Amor Towle’s words again. I’m taking my time, savoring each and every page. Maybe I should just read it over and over until this pandemic is no more?

One of the vintage Penguins I ordered arrived yesterday – it took three weeks to get here from England – as well as a John Prine T-shirt that Don ordered, but both things are currently inside the red bench in the kitchen where all mail sits for 24 hours. It forces us to delay gratification. Let’s hope it’s character building.

We also had to order coffee directly from Peet’s because it was inevitably out of stock on our grocery orders and we couldn’t risk running out. That arrived via UPS late in the afternoon. We had to wipe it down, of course, and then wash and rewash our hands. I know it’s the new normal and most days, I’m fine with it. Yesterday was not one of those days.

Once again, we fell asleep while watching Cheers – that makes three nights in a row. Lately, it seems we can’t make it past 9:30 pm!

Stay safe. Stay home.

Happy Tuesday.

Day Twenty-Nine

April 11, 2020 at 10:04 am by Claudia

After well over 24 hours, the high winds have finally died down. This kind of wind, coupled with pollen, makes me feel quite ill so I was miserable yesterday. Thankfully, today is much better, the sun is out, though it’s cold, and I feel human again.

Actually, I’ve been dealing with sinus congestion and feeling ill off and on for a couple of weeks. I did worry a bit, but it was clear it wasn’t COVID-19. I’m fine now. I had none of the symptoms and, as I noted yesterday, life goes on and you can get sick with something other than this vile virus. I seem to always have problems at this time of year.

In the middle of it all yesterday, the wind changed directions and suddenly I was outside, rescuing all manner of things that blew off the front porch. It was insane out there.

I’m well into The Lost Pianos of Siberia. It’s truly excellent. Can’t recommend it enough. Since I was under the weather yesterday, I sat in the den with my laptop and watched three hour-long Monty Don specials about the gardens of France. They were wonderful. Next up? Italy. They make for a lovely way to pass the time during these days of lockdown. We watched Dinner at Eight last night (one of my favorite movies) but both of us fell asleep in the middle of it! Ah, well.

Egg cups:

These cups were a gift from my friend, Judy. Aren’t they adorable? She just sent me another egg cup!

A lusterware egg cup and an egg cup from Prague, hidden by the bunny egg cozies I knit a few years ago. I keep them out all year long because I love them so much. Mother and son.

In the midst of my yucky day yesterday I did manage to snag a delivery time for Tuesday afternoon. Don always finds a parking space – we say he has good ‘parking karma.’ I guess I have good ‘grocery delivery karma.’ I’m grateful. One less worry. I also ordered Peet’s French Roast directly from Peet’s, so that’s on the way. In the last grocery delivery, they substituted Peet’s House Blend for French Roast. Though I’m sure it’s good, it’s going in the pantry in case we need it in a pinch, because we’re serious about our coffee. If it is considered a vice, it is my only vice. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do, and have never done, drugs. But coffee? Bring it on.

Happy Saturday.

It Wasn’t Pretty

August 31, 2017 at 8:53 am by Claudia

You know I like my coffee. For a couple of years, we’ve been using the pour over method to make our coffee. I was introduced to this method a few years back when I was coaching in Wisconsin and my apartment mate, a costume designer, said that her rules for essentials on the road were: good music and good coffee. She had a collapsible filter holder that she used when away from home. Anyway, she convinced me to try it and danged if the coffee didn’t taste better.

I was sold.

When I came home, I persuaded Don to try it. He loved it. We dragged an old brown Melitta filter holder out of our pantry – I’m not sure why we had it, but for some reason, we did. Eventually, I bought a newer design, also Melitta, but orange in color, so that we would have two of them – one for each of us. Fast forward to this year when I realized we would both be on the road a lot and that we needed another orange version because the new design allowed one to peek at the coffee level in the cup when pouring, thus eliminating the otherwise inevitable over-pouring.

That brought us to 4 different versions of the filter holder. (I forgot to mention that I own a collapsible version, as well.)

Since I’ve been in Hartford, I’ve been packing my holder when I go home for the weekend and then bringing it back when I return to Hartford.

Yesterday morning, I woke up and stumbled into the kitchen to make coffee. Filled the kettle. Turned on the burner. Got my mug.

Crap. I’d forgotten to pack my filter holder. Near-panic ensued. What the heck was I going to do? I tried holding the paper filter while pouring water from the kettle. It immediately collapsed from the weight of the water, grounds all over the mug. I tried the Keurig. Couldn’t get it to work.

So there I was, at 6:15 am, walking the streets of Hartford – not a pretty sight. I remembered that Starbucks sold a heavy ceramic version of the filter holder, so I walked a couple of blocks to the store. Nothing. Maybe they weren’t selling them anymore. Starbucks coffee is too strong for me. (I know that’s hard to believe.) So I walked a few more blocks to Panera and bought two large coffees to go. Back to the apartment. Didn’t like the coffee a whole lot, but okay. Thought I’d try the Keurig again. I packed some Peets into the mesh filter and managed to make a cup, but the Keurig filter only holds half of the amount of coffee I use, so this ended up being tedious and messy, with me trying to retrieve grounds that were floating on the surface of the coffee. But I got my required amount of morning coffee. Thinking I would just have to ‘tough it out’ until I went home on Saturday, I chalked this one up to leaving home too early in the morning on Tuesday with Stella still in my head.

After rehearsal last night – around 6:00 – I decided to try the new Starbucks, which is connected to the new Barnes and Noble at UConn. What the heck, I thought.

Bingo. They had two of them in stock.

It weighs a ton! And it’s huge.

But it works.

I was a much happier camper this morning.

That makes 5 filter holders.

On my way back from Starbucks, I shot a few photos.

Hartford is a center for Insurance Companies and Travelers is right there in the downtown area. It flanks the Wadsworth Atheneum and is now a neighbor of the new UConn Campus.

The moon over the Wadsworth Atheneum. I can’t recommend this museum enough. It’s gorgeous.

One of the oldest churches in the city is getting a steeple makeover. Just down the street from the church is Bushnell Park.

We’re in the midst of our last few days in the rehearsal room. We had a run-through yesterday and we’ll have one today and tomorrow. Then the whole kit and caboodle moves onstage on Saturday. That’s why I can go back home for a few days. The first few days in the theater are about all things technical and I’m not really needed. I’ll come back either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on where they are in the process.

I made Don show me Stella when we were chatting on FaceTime last night. He even lit a burner for me! She’s sure purty!

Happy Thursday.

It Wasn’t Pretty

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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