12/30/2018

Weekly Update 12/30/2018

I spent a nice, quiet Christmas Eve at DH. They do Holly Jolly Tours for the entire month of December, and the last ones were on Christmas eve. I wasn’t there until very late, and it was a nice way for me to do what I enjoy – acting as if I’m smart and knowledgeable – instead of being home and eating cookies. Christmas Day was likewise, quiet. I didn’t even open my front door, but just stayed in and watched tv, read, and played computer games (which is exactly what I do every day, holiday or not). I did, however, cook. Amazing! I had bought a huge ribeye steak, a baking potato, and vegies. It was different than my normal Lean Cuisine, and I could easily get used to this, if it just wasn’t for that nasty clean up stuff.

at my table, stuffing myself

The day after Christmas, I went out in search of sales, but wasn’t very successful. I really don’t need any more decorations, and what I’d really wanted was the gingerbread house kits to put away until next year in case I feel like doing one then. The only thing I did buy were some cards, and more yarn. It seems that AC Moore is going out of business and everything was on sale. I couldn’t resist.

I saw two movies this week. I went to see Vice (which I liked but it did not show Dick Cheney in a very good light – perhaps that what I liked about it) and Welcome to Marwen (which both Kay and I thought was better than the bad reviews it got). That’s more movies than I’ve been to in a very long time.

And I ate out twice. I met Kay at the Crystal Beer Parlor on Thursday, and the lunch bunch had a breakfast date at Two Cracked Eggs. Neither meal was a disappointment. And now I’m hoping that with all the holidays and parties and dining out, I can get back to my Lean Cuisine routine.

Bowl of Soul, at the CBP - grits, pimento cheese, pulled pork, collards and onion rings with a side of corn bread! oh my!

lunch bunch group

Since I had time to waste between the Lunch Bunch and DH on Friday, I spent some time walking around on Broughton Street. As I was leisurely wandering, looking in shop windows, I heard a loud BANG. Everything stopped. The tourists and traffic all came to a halt, wondering what was going on. Apparently it was nothing, and most people realized that it was not a gunshot, and went on their ways. But how distressing is that? You hear a loud noise on a busy pedestrian sidewalk on a Friday at noon in a downtown crowded area and the first thought is – GUN!

And in other sad news, there was a fire at the Old Pink House Restaurant. Only a small part of the building was damaged, but it will be closed while they renovate and wait for approval to begin serving dinners again. This house was built in 1771 and has survived several city-wide fires and hurricanes. It was done in by a Christmas tree that caught fine in the ball room.

in happier times

fire damage

12/23/2018

Weekly Update 12/23/2018

Merry Christmas and Happy 2019

I was able to get out and walk every day except Friday this week. Once, because I had to be downtown at DH for a lecture, I parked at Forsyth Park and walked from there, but the other times were just at the Y.

Jane and I went to the Mighty Eighth Museum on Thursday. They were having special tours because of the book, A Higher Call. It tells the story of a bomber that was damaged in an air raid over Germany in WWII, and was limping back to Great Britain. A German fighter pilot spotted the wounded aircraft, but instead of scoring a “kill” helped guide the plane and the crew of 10 safely out of German airspace. Forty years later, the two pilots (Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler, you can google them) met. It was an interesting story, and added a personal story into the war. Jane had never been to this museum before, and she really liked it. We walked around all the other exhibits after the Higher Call tour. And we ate lunch.

a painting of the disabled Allied bomber being escorted by the Nazi plane

the two pilots, when they met, and during WWII

That same evening, there was a party because many of the ladies in the Newcomers Group (how did I get involved with group? I don’t belong to the Newcomers) celebrate birthdays in December. We got together and had take out Chinese, and it was fun. And something other than Christmas, which is what it’s all about this time of year.

Linda (blue shirt), Sylvia (next to Linda) and Donna (far right) all have December birthdays

Saturday, I drove out to Tybee for a matinee at the wonderful Tybee Post Theater. I saw Green Book. I enjoyed it very much. There are a couple of others I’d like to see as well, but don’t know if I’ll get a chance. I was happy it worked out that I could see this one.

  

Sunday evening, I went to a great Christmas concert at Christ Church. There were songs by an opera singer, the Savannah Children’s choir, the church brass ensemble. But I think my favorite was when everyone sang familiar carols, with the trumpets and timpani, and the church choir singing in a descant harmony. That was wonderful.

Christ Church on Johnson Square

the Children's Choir

I had to sneak out of the concert early because I’d been invited to another holiday party. This was at the very lovely home a friend who lives on Jones Street in the historic district. Her home is lovely, and I was happy to be included. The food was great, too.

And, so the holiday season is almost over. I will be glad to see it gone. Holidays are never good times for me, and Christmas sometimes seems to go on and on.

I wish you all a very happy season, and all the best in 2019.

12/16/2018

Weekly Update 12/16/2018

There was a lot going on this week!

On Monday, The Lunch Bunch group met for happy hour at the Pacci bar at The Brice Hotel. It was nice, and I was surprised that a new couple in the group live in Building 5 at MP.

some of the group at the Pacci bar

Tuesday, I went to an open house at Summer Breeze, which is the senior facility I’m looking into. It was nice to see it as they celebrated a holiday (I doubt its as festive on the day to day basis). And then I went downtown to the Owens-Thomas House because they were hosting a small concert of Christmas carols by high school singers and a cup of hot Wassail in the garden. It was so pleasant to be outside there and enjoy the music while imbibing.

carolers on the back porch at the Owens Tomas House

Wednesday, I met Connie for lunch at Two Cracked Eggs, a place neither of had been to before and we were both impressed – the biscuits were so big, they almost didn’t fit in the take out containers we asked for! Then we took the water taxi to the Westin Hotel for the annual Gingerbread House display. It seems as if this is getting smaller and smaller every year, but some of the houses were amazing.

gingerbread Owens Thomas

gingerbread DH

gingerbread church

Santa's workshop

Connie & me

Thursday evening, Barbara and I drove out to the Botanical Gardens. They have their gardens lit with thousands of Christmas lights. I’d heard from others that it is wonderful, but had never been myself. I was not disappointed. It didn’t really compare to the one I remember in Hershey Park about 25 years ago, but it was quite impressive. And, unlike Hershey, there was no snow, but I saw pink Flamingos and orange trees.

lights everywhere

flamingos

an orange tree

a gazebo

Barbara & me

Friday after DH, I went to The 90. Not unusual, you might be thinking, but every holiday season, they host a free buffet for the “regulars”. Since I’m there every Friday, I’m a regular, and I didn’t want to miss this buffet. It was grand!

Saturday, Jane and I had tickets to The Journey, a pageant that Compassion Christian Church puts on every other year. I’ve been in other years, and have always been impressed. All participants become Jewish travelers, going to Bethlehem to pay taxes. But this year, they canceled because it was raining. I was not too disappointed to have no place to go Saturday night.    

I had a wonderful surprise when I went to the post office to pick up a package. Lisa and Dave had sent me a Spurs nutcrackers! It’s such a wonderful addition to my collection (and the Spurs had one tie and one win this week; good-bye Buffalo, hello Tottenham!) I’m beginning to think I might be carrying this nutcracker thing too far - I bought myself a pair of boxer shorts!

Eriksen

why can't my legs be as slim as the nutcracker?

Who died and left me Miss Congeniality? I had three parties on Sunday! I began with the BHS Board party at the lovely home of one of the Board members. Next, Barbara hosted a nice food fest at her condo for her friends, many of whom live at MP. And, lastly, there was a party downtown at a lovely Inn, owned by friends. All this partying meant I had to miss the Bills win. Luckily, I was home to watch the end of the Patriots’ game!

the BHS Board

at Barbara's

the Green Palm Inn

  

12/9/2018

 Weekly Update 12/9/2018

I did not have a busy schedule this week, so I decided on Monday that I would work at loading my holiday playlist onto my phone so I could listen as I walked. It took a long time, but I finally got it! Too bad I didn’t know that I should have deleted the Steve and Edie song, but it's one of my favorites (that's what a playlist is!), so it’s still there.

I have not been to the library book club in several months. I haven’t read the books, so didn’t feel that I would have anything to add. This month, however, I did read it, so I wandered over on Monday for the discussion. I’m now reading A Redbird Christmas, which I try to read every December.

On Saturday, the Lunch Bunch had a holiday tea. In past years, we’ve done an ugly sweater luncheon, but one of the members of this group has just opened a tea house in the Starland district of Savannah. It was delightful! And no ugly sweaters were there. We got gussied up (which for me means that I don’t wear jeans and a t-shirt) and fancy hats. The tea treats were fabulous. I will have to go here again! We ate on the porch, and in spite of the fact that there were portable heaters, it was cold. But, that gave the ladies who own fur coats a chance to wear them.

Barbara, me, Linda and Jan

La Petite Abeilles teahouse

the dining room, but we ate on the porches as a baby shower was going to be hosted here that afternoon

On Sunday, I had double tours. A special group was coming to DH in the morning, and they asked for help for the tours. The presentation began in the pharmacy behind the house with a lecture by the director, and the tourists needed to walk from that building to the museum. It was pouring, and there were many deep puddles in the lane. It was not pleasant. In the afternoon, I had my regular BC tour. Although the rain had stopped, it was very cold. I know that when I moved here, I laughed at the locals who thought the winters were cold, and vowed that I would never be one of those who complained. But I have complained! Its been unseasonably cold, and it doesn’t seem to be going away. Those still living in the North will have little sympathy for me.

12/2/2018

Weekly Update 12/2/2018

My cousin, Dawn, from Buffalo NY, visited me this week. It was her first visit to Savannah, but I’m hoping it won’t be her last. Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperative, and it was cold and windy. In fact, one morning, as we checked the yahoo weather, the temperature here was slightly colder than western NY! The difference is, however, that this will change for me, while up north it’s just the beginning.

Since she had not been before, we did many of the tourist-y things: Massie School, Owens Thomas house, DH (of course). We also did a few of the lesser known, but very interesting places: First African Baptist and Temple Mickve Israel. She was quite interested in the Civil War, so we took a walking tour of sites in the downtown area (Green-Meldrim House was closed, however, as it nearly always is), and we went out to Fort Pulaski. She was very easy to entertain, and I enjoyed getting caught up with what all her family members are doing. I lost a close game of Scrabble, but in my defense, she plays every week, where I’m a Rummikub kind of girl.

me and Dawn, ready for our Civil War walking tour

Dawn left early Friday morning, and I went to DH. But after that, instead of going to The 90, I went to Publix and got most of the rest of what I needed for my holiday entertainment. I went home to clean the house and start the cooking and baking. I still needed to get up very early Saturday morning to get bagels and Starbucks coffee carafes. I rarely entertain, but I owe many friends for kind invitations for many events and holiday gatherings. I have often hosted breakfast buffets at Christmas in the past, and it’s really an easy way for me to entertain. I decided I’d do that this year. I made a couple of casseroles (one of the usual breakfast ones with bacon, eggs, cheese and hash browns and one that was almost like a bread pudding but made with frozen blueberry pancakes and fresh blueberries; both received many compliments), some biscuits with deli ham and pimento cheese, fruit, kuchens, and pumpkin muffins. Also I had the coffee, mimosas and Bloody Marys. If anyone left hungry, it was their own fault. This is all I’ll have to do for the whole holiday season, and it feels pretty good to have it over.

I don’t know why I continue to torture myself, but Sunday found me going to Coach’s to watch the game. It was awful. I left after the punt return team couldn’t even get out of the way of the ball and that led to a Miami TD. It was a rainy, nasty day, so I guess I had nothing better to do, but this year has really been bad. In the evening, DH had it’s annual holiday get together for staff, volunteers and friends. I’ve been eating so much for two weeks, I really did not need to go. All the goodies looked wonderful! I’m afraid if I don’t get back to my walking routine and eating better, I’m not going to fit into the dress I have for The Wedding.  

11/25/2018

Weekly Update 11/25/2018

I had many kind offers to join friends for thanksgiving, but declined them all in order to stay home, eat deli turkey, and watch the football games. If I’d known how terrible the games were going to be, I may have decided to go out, but I had hopes of some good sports watching. It was not to be. But I also had a chance to get the condo ready for Christmas as I won’t have much time to do that next week. 

YUM -a home cooked thanksgiving feast of deli turkey, frozen peas and a microwaved yam

On Friday, I was up early to drive to Kay’s house. I left my car there and she drove to St Augustine where we met Lisa and Dave. The Besties together again! The Augustine Inn was ok, but Kay and I had to share a bed, and the large jacuzzi tub took up most of the room. We weren’t in the room too much, and other parts of the b&b were wonderful - it was close to everything so we didn’t need to get in the car all weekend, the courtyard was private and comfortable so we enjoyed fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and champagne every afternoon as well as bottles of wine and laughter in the evenings, and the breakfasts were great. We took the trolley tour and that was a wonderful way to see and learn a lot of the city history. We didn’t do many museums, but did get to the Castillo. Connie and Jim drove down on Saturday, so we all went out for drinks and dinner that evening. The time flew by, and I can’t believe it’ll a long time before we can see Lisa and Dave again.

The Augustin Inn, our B&B

breakfast in the courtyard

Spanish soldiers at the Castillo

dinner at the pub

the "girls", just before splitting up to travel to our homes

Driving home on Sunday afternoon I had to “watch” the game on my NFL app on the phone. It would have been a great game to watch. But, when it comes down to it, I would rather be with Lisa, Dave and Kay than at Coach’s watching a game any day!

And, while my new addition to my collection is not technically a nutcracker (it’s a bobblehead), I do have something new this year. It’s Harry Kane, the Tottenham Hotspur star. He came all the way from UK!  

my newest addition

and quite a collection it is!

11/18/2018

Weekly Update 11/18/2018

Last week I had almost nothing to write. And that made this week look like a whirl wind of activity. I didn’t even go to The 90 ON Friday night, so that’s an indication of how little I did all week.

Sunday, however, I was invited to Barbara's condo for a pre-Thanksgiving Day holiday feast. That was delightful. As always, I offered to bring wine, so I wouldn’t have to cook anything, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have enough to eat!

there was plenty of really good food

Barbara carving her turkey

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day!