Home Again

Hello Readers! The last two weeks have been hectic with travel preparations, unexpected emergency vet visits (I wrote the previous blog in the vet parking lot; fortunately, the pups are now OK), and the actual trip. We had a wonderful visit with family in Omaha, but as always, it’s good to be back home.

We were blessed to have a family member, Doug, stay at our home to care for our dogs, Plato and Paris. Especially since they recently had a long weekend at the kennel. We enjoyed time with our son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughters. The girls are ten and twelve and growing up fast.

One morning we attended an Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony with an informative server. She flame-roasted fresh beans, ground them, and steeped them in a traditional clay Ethiopian pot. 

She poured the coffee into small cups over sprigs of rue (note the herbs floating in the cups) and served the drink with raw brown sugar. We each received three pours, every pour was a bit different in flavor than the previous. 

Later in the day, as we perused the small shops in the Old Market, we came across Ethiopian coffee, which we had to buy.

Of course, travel must include some drinking and dining. One special lunch consisted of a smoked Blood Orange old-fashioned, a rare lamb burger, and greens with a poppyseed dressing. Yum!

My wife and I are avid readers, so we tracked down the local bookstore, Jackson Street Booksellers. The shop specializes in used books. I found six treasures, and so did Bobi.

A farewell dinner with our son was at M’s Pub in the Old Market. Another delicious experience…


… and great cocktail.

En route, we carried on our bags for convenience. After our shopping purchases, it was not an option. When we zipped open the expandable sides, they definitely would not fit in the overhead bin. So off to checked baggage, they went.

We returned home to a bountiful crop of blueberries. This year we covered the bushes with a crop cage.

We had a great harvest since we obtained the berries BEFORE the birds. The blueberries were sweet and juicy.

Now the Heat Dome weather phenomenon is approaching, so I have chosen to prepare dinner in the Crock Pot, a southern meal-ham, green beans, and potatoes. An easy-peasy recipe: one pound of each, moisten with 1–2 cups of chicken broth, add an onion, and three garlic cloves, and season with rosemary, thyme, paprika, salt, and pepper.

Time to go put the Cornbread in the toaster oven and serve with KerryGold butter.

Do you have a vacation this summer, do you have one planned, or did you have a staycation? Regardless, I hope it was fun.

You can follow the Author on her Website to see her updated publication list or on Twitter (now X) for her day-to-day posts.

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