Blessings of friendship

Earlier this year, Whole Paycheck put lobster tails out as a loss leader and debgeisler picked some up, knowing I favor them. When I stayed over a few weeks ago, she sent a package home with me and tonight I discovered the wonders of beurre monté. Okay, butter-poached lobster tails are decadent beyond words. I fear what could happen now that I know not just that butter can do that, but how easy beurre monté is to make.

I looked at several recipes and followed this one.

Oh, yeah. That was worth the whisking and then some. Many thanks for my delicious, late-night dinner, Deb!

For lagniappe, I offer up this link to, as Marc Abrahams put it, a splendid old coloring book.

Mrs. fredcritter drove from MippleStipple to Erie, PA, today and is due here at Toad Woods sometime Tuesday afternoon. Gavi is in finals week. Both she and Susan will be here until the beginning of June when Gavi moved back to Smith for her summer digital humanities internship.

minnehaha K. arrives next Monday. I look forward to seeing the condo she and B. bought in Cambridge so they will have a homebase here as well as their primary home in Minneapolis. Then I look forward to introducing her to the wonders of Brimfield as she hunts for a dining table and chairs to suit their needs and space in Cambridge. Susan, Gavi, & K. will all be here as I celebrate 10 years at Toad Woods on May 14th.

Life is good. Life with friends is better. Far, far better.

Cardis = Repairable!

I received two email messages from Amanda at Westboro Toyota Tuesday afternoon:

2:31pm, fewer than 15 minutes after I'd sent email asking if there was any news yet: "I am on the phone with the body shop. The appraiser is running late today but should be out between 3-4pm. The owner of the body shop looked at it and thinks it is repairable but that is up to the appraiser at this point. They are telling me it is right on that thin line that it really could go either way. I will hopefully have an answer for you before I leave the office today."

3:17pm: "Just got the call!!!!! The insurance company said that your vehicle is able to be repaired!! They are going to begin working on it today. As soon as I have any new information on it I will be in touch right away!!

"Talk soon!"

I'm very glad I'll be getting the Cardis back, especially since it won't look like this when I do:




I remain exceptionally pleased with Westboro Toyota. Amanda also dropped me a note last Friday, even though I knew not to expect an answer one way or the other until this week. Much as I was mentally and emotionally prepared to like whichever answer I got (repairable or totaled), starting yesterday I found myself hoping that I wouldn't be buying a new car this week, that the Cardis and I would have the opportunity for a few more grand adventures together. And so we shall!