altivo

Useful work accomplished this weekend: zero.

Successes at satisfying others: several.

Cooking and chauffeuring accomplished. Choral premier performance attended, and it was quite nice. A traditional mass in Latin and English, the usual nine segments, for mixed choir, organ, and violoncello. The cellist was superb, the organist (also the composer) outdid himself, and the choir was not bad either, especially considering that they had only six rehearsals and none were professionals.

Made pasta casserole last night with whole wheat mostaccioli and our own home made hot Italian sausage. This morning, fresh blueberry muffins using our own frozen blueberries from last year, and tonight I served corned beef and cabbage in honor of St. Paddy's, with potatoes, carrots, asparagus, applesauce, and Gary's home made rye bread. That made a hit. The beef, carrots, and potatoes were cooked for 11 hours in a slow cooker, using beer for liquid. Fork tender, fragrant, and tasty.

Finished up a novel I was reading, The Darling Buds of May by H. E. Bates (1958.) Alex said my writing reminded him of this, though he was more likely thinking of the television serial that was based on the original books. However, I enjoyed the book and I more or less agree with his point. Bates' story of a cheerful and overly friendly English country family surrounded by eccentric neighbors does have something in common with my own domestic style, though I'd say this author is more prone to slapstick humor and less likely to be as subtle and layered as I at least try to be in my own writing. It's certainly funny and very English, and I recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a leisurely stroll through the "medder" with pauses to smell the buttercups and listen to the cuckoos and nightingales, punctuated by incredibly heavy drinking, eating (with lots of ketchup,) moderately sublimated sexuality, learning to "use your loaf," and a cast of characters who are, for the most part, extreme caricatures.