He doesn’t cook, he doesn’t do laundry, he doesn’t camp or hike,  he doesn’t tell me I’m pretty, he never buys me jewelry or flowers, and never pays bills on time (that’s my job).  Our tastes are very different and I often make us separate breakfasts.  He washes his own dishes and tries to minimize his laundry by wearing jeans several times before throwing them in the hamper.  He likes fine clothing but puts off buying anything for himself because he doesn’t want to upset the budget.  He easily goes over budget when buying clothing for the girls.  He holds me with his big arms in the evenings on the couch.  I love to press my cheek against his shoulder and feel the warmth of his skin through an old worn t-shirt.  He talks to me intelligently about the latest subject on his mind and gives me lecherous smiles when I bend over to pick something up.  He drives fast and with purpose, noting everything wrong the other drivers are doing.  He has a tumbler of scotch in the evening, and it’s a buzz I look forward to. He winds the children up with tickles and throwing them in the air until they demand for him to stop.  They adore him and climb on him constantly whenever they get the chance.  His blog is full of rants on things he hates or finds unjust.  He’s a strong believer in rights to privacy and refuses to join social networks because of it, despite spending copious amounts of time on the internet.  His goal is to bench-press 300 lbs this summer and he’s almost there.  He’s a man of unsettling past and uncertain future. He’s my man and I love him.

Cliff decided to try out some fancy old-man scotches, so when he came home with Caol Ila 12, we instantly knew we needed to pair it with something.  The flavor of the stuff is campfire smoky, for the most part, so we knew we needed something to compete.  I immediately thought of smoked tinned fish, and Irish cheddar.  Luckily, Edelweiss, a German deli, is right down the street and they have that stuff!  We also got crackers and a small jar of caviar… or rather, capelin roe.  It’s low budget caviar!   We scarfed down our dinner of baked salmon and whipped potatoes in about 10 minutes in anticipation of the tasting.  It’s best to not be hungry when you want to really experience the flavors, not full either… just receptive, I guess!  It was quite a “manly” tasting I must say.  The kids love congregating around and picking out strange foods to taste.  They mostly ate crackers and caviar and smoked sprats.  They love those little fish-shaped fish!

the spread

Other tastings we’ve done in the past are various cheeses with fruit  (grapes, figs) and nuts, and wine for the adults; oyster shooters; “greek plate;” and chocolate and strawberries.   It’s a nice way to experience a variety of flavors and feel really classy while not racking up a big tab or worrying about our rambunctious children.  I love being able to include the girls and the presentation makes them more willing to try new things.

The weather here has quite frankly sucked, and I’m sick of it!  We’ve had the occasional day or two of sun, but for the most part it’s been rain rain rain and more rain.  The first weekend of nice weather we had, way back in the middle of April, I started having dreams of a front yard bursting with flowers, herbs, and even some vegetables.  I sketched out a plan and set to work.  In May, I bought plants and summer blooming bulbs, and even planted seeds.  Everything sprouted nicely, and then was promptly gnawed off by slugs.  Now it’s June, and I’m feeling like giving up until we at least get a solid week of sunshine.  My hard work is drowning out there.  I plan on buying the biggest tomato plants I can find… probably in July, when they’re supposed to be forming fruit already.  I don’t know if we’ll even get a chance to start again with the beans.  Ever the optimistic determined gardener I am, I’ll probably try, and then mope in September when my spindly vines give us 5 bean pods.  My three year old red currant bush has a grand total of 2 berries.  2.  Pathetic.

Another thing that feels like Autumn is things coming to an end.  My laptop came to an end last month, and now I have a new one!  Which is cool, but I didn’t really want to have to spend that money right now.  And then my email client got corrupted today, adding my dwindling faith in Linux, something I’ve been happily using for the past 6 years.  And to top it off, my favorite makeup company, Aromaleigh, is steadily discontinuing many of my favorite products.  I’ve been a customer for about 5 years, and I see that ending very soon.  This is a company that I would happily represent, Mary Kay style, if the opportunity were there and I am not a salesperson!  And of course this comes at a time when I can’t afford to stock up on the discontinued products, even at sweet discounted prices.

I feel like I’m back in that stuck place of last fall.  I still can’t drive, I still have children climbing on me, can’t sew, can barely keep up with web work.  I’m a little better at staying on top of dishes and laundry, and you know what they say about that…