My sister Jennifer came to visit this weekend. She met us at the Troy Farmers Market and had a great time strolling through the market and shops. She made some purchases and was happy she could support the farmers and small business owners.
She got to see us in action at the spätzle booth giving out the spätzle spiel to people who didn’t know what we were selling. I think she could have given the spiel herself by the end of the day.
We made some grilled pizzas with a watermelon feta salad on Saturday night and ate outdoors on our back deck. The weather was perfect; we couldn’t have asked for a nicer evening for Alfresco dining.
Marty didn’t think we had enough seating, so he sold our 4 seat-high-top outdoor set on Facebook Marketplace a few weeks ago and purchased 6 “used” brand new Telescope chairs.
He found a table that went well with the chairs and we picked up an umbrella at The Christmas Tree Shoppes when we were in Albany a couple of weeks ago. He had to redo our party lights from a zig-zag pattern to square to make way for the umbrella.
Our deck with the “new” outdoor dining furniture still doesn’t feel like we are on our deck. We typically wouldn’t have chosen bright blue and white, but we like how fresh and clean it looks.
I kid about when the server will come around and either bring me another drink or clear the table. That’s how much it doesn’t feel like our space yet. We love it and are glad we went outside our comfort zone.
We had coffee on the front porch Sunday morning, and Jennifer said, “This is like a resort.” We laughed and agreed how lucky we were to have a lovely front porch in a beautiful vacation destination.
We prepped our dinner and headed out to the pool. We set ourselves up on the pool deck and sat there until it was too hot and needed to cool off.
We floated around for an hour or more on our pool noodles and chatted. The water was 85 degrees and lovely. Besides reapplying sunscreen, we did nothing but relax.
This felt wonderful for me since we have been working so much lately. It was a vacation for Jen since her kids were away down the Jersey shore with her ex. She has a busy schedule and rarely gets time just for herself.
We went back and forth from the deck to the water, and Jennifer said, “This really is like a resort.” I had to agree with her looking through her eyes and realizing the same thing myself.
After almost 4 hours, we moved up to the back deck and sat under the umbrella, trying to hydrate ourselves with water. This was when Jennifer said, looking at the mountains in the background, “It feels like a hotel.” Not being used to the furniture, I said it did.
Marty and Sam were out for the day, so we had the “resort” to ourselves. When the guys came home, we made homemade corn tortillas on the flattop grill and grilled some shrimp on the bbq in the outdoor kitchen—some toppings for the tacos and a Mexican street corn salad made for a delicious summer meal.
After dinner, I was the one who said, “When is that server going to come by and clear the table and bring me another glass of white wine?”
After dinner, we went to our next-door neighbors, Arthur & David’s house, for a small get-together. They are always so considerate with their dessert, cheese, and fruit buffets.
There were two delicious cakes from a local confectionery shop in Manchester, an assortment of cheeses, and GF crackers. This makes us feel like we are regular guests. I don’t think they know how special this is to us.
Jen packed up early this morning and was on the road by 6 am. She hit zero traffic going back to NJ. She made a mistake last year leaving later; the 3-hour ride took 5. Ugh! What a way to kill a relaxing weekend for sure. She was home by 8:50 am!
Today, Marty and I are taking a holiday off and will spend the day at the tiny resort. Simple grilled chicken with a bruschetta topping will be an easy breezy dinner. We are joining the neighbors for a campfire tonight and looking at the sky for nearby fireworks. 🎆
Marty is on-call with the rescue squad tonight, and Sam is working the overnight shift in the ER; hopefully, they won’t have too many patients with their thumbs blown off! It happens. Yikes!
Happy Fourth of July!🇺🇸
***Before I finished writing this, Marty had a chainsaw and started cutting down tree branches. That man just doesn’t know how to relax!