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Reviews from Happy Hour with the Kids

In part, I feel like I'm getting ready to out an old friend and in a way, really, I am. But it needs to be said and so I'll be the one to step up and do it...

Yesterday I made plans for my 18 year old son to hang out with his little sister so that I could meet my hubby and the two 21+ children for happy hour. I really wanted some face time with my oldest son and some adult time, with adult conversation with my oldest daughter. I really just wanted Mark to be there because it would have been so much less fun if he couldn't gross the kids out by making sexual comments now and then.

So, we decided to meet up at Jerry's of Chesapeake. My daughter and I went in and ordered and the ladies who own the place had been so accommodating as to order Woodchuck Cider for us! We were pretty happy and set about drinking them and chatting away. The table where we sat was by the window and so dusty that Eli had to break a hanky out of her purse so that we could dust it. As we talked nachos or cheese pizza we started noticing the dead spiders, the dust bunnies and the window shades that were coated with old nicotine and sticky substances and dirt.

We couldn't do it. We have tried and tried to hang out at Jerry's, partly because it used to be a great, lively place where all the Indian River folks went to have a few or to really tie one on. But back then it was clean. I know. I worked there. Believe me when I tell you that I scrubbed walls, windows and the feet of the tables and chairs when business was slow. It seems apparent to me that no one does that now.

I love that little bar and one of the owners seems committed to good customer service but it's not enough. They need to break out the Spic and Span. Seriously.

Eli and I left our brews half full. I texted Randall a warning and we left. The guys were waiting in the parking lot. We decided to go to Wickers because it's close and clean and we like the owners and the crabs. As always, Wickers Patio was clean and neat and the service was quick and good. The crab pot has a great beverage selection, including enough good wines to keep me happy. It's a great little local spot, owned by local people who fish the local waters to provide the crabs they sell.

All of that is hard to beat. We ordered appetizers- jalapeno poppers (obviously not local!) and crab dip. I'm always just a little disappointed in the food when we eat there. Even the crab dip was just okay--a little too fishy, a little too soupy, supremely edible but not delicious.

The patio is great, the weather was breezy and not too hot, so we all chatted it up making snarky comments about anything we wanted to because there were no 8 year old ears soaking up every word. It was great. Eventually, Randall had to take off for a birthday party and the rest of us decided on downtown Norfolk.

It took some doing but we convinced Mark to go to The Boot, a local restaurant known for a commitment to feeding customers locally and ethically. Eli and I are all about that. Mark is all about meat. They have that there.

The service was excellent, our waitress was helpful and available and the food was delicious. I had soup, Eli had a salad of local tomatoes, basil and mozzarella which was colorful and delicious. Mark had Eastern Shore Little Neck clams in some sort of broth or sauce. I didn't pay much attention because clams get stuck in my teeth so I don't eat them.

The Boot had a draft beer special going on, so Eli ordered a Star Hill 'The Love' a Hefeweisen. Mark ordered Blue Mount Evil (here is a link to review), a dark and delicious number that made me regret my glass of house red.

As I got out my card to pay our bill, Mark was complaining about how he detests The Boot. I asked him why and all he could come up with was the pricy-ness...then he saw that the bill was $25.00 less than the bill at the crab pot and he decided that The Boot is a fine establishment after all.

We weren't quite ready to go home yet, so we moved on to The Taphouse. (I can't find a web page for them.) The Taphouse is a local legend and probably the best place for a pint in Norfolk. Eli gave us a brief tutorial on a few new Urban Dictionary definitions: chili dog and rusty trombone. Look them up if you're interested...

We each ordered a pint and we shared a plate of veggie frito pie. I don't think there were any Fritos in there though there were some chips. We sat on the deck and sipped our beers and talked smack and probably offended everyone within hearing range. Again, the service was excellent and the food decent. I'm hoping the kitchen is cleaner than the bathrooms, which looked clean but smelled strongly of urine. Certainly not the worst bar bathroom I've ever been in.

Of all of these places our favorite was The Taphouse. It got a we will definitely have to come back here from all three of us.

When Reality and Wants Collide

Recently someone said something to me to the effect of, "The more things you have, the more weighed down you are." No shit. The conversation was in regards to our house and pool as they relate to life in general.

We are lucky to have a pool, right? If you're reading this, you probably read the post about how the pool came to be and why we are in possession of a 38 year old gunnite beauty that holds 55,000 gallons of water. That's right, fifty five thousand gallons. And it has been leaking. A lot.

The leak has been around for years, growing worse each year and costing more in dollars, water and environmental damage. At start up my big plan was to switch it over to a salt water system and dump all our dollars in that hole but it quickly became obvious that we had another hole that needed to be found and filled, the one the water was leaking out of.

For those of you who don't live in Chesapeake, VA, let it be known that our municipal water fees are astronomical. We run several buildings off of our meter: our home; our barn; a rental maintenance shop; my nephew's home. Still? We shouldn't have to pay $400 for each bi-monthly bill to keep all of us clean, the toilets flushed and the horses watered. Seriously. But we do.

Would you want to add filling a pool as large as ours which is leaking out about 3" of water per day? No? Me either. So we dumped our dollars into that hole and the holes in the concrete patio around the pool which had delaminated and was dangerous to walk on, not to mention ugly.

Sadly, we only realized how bad the leak was AFTER the concrete work had begun. It has taken us weeks to get to the bottom (heh) of the leak problem but I'm hopeful that we have plugged it as of today.

We had a kid with what amounts to a gigantic stethoscope wander all around the pool and tell us that someone was singing opera close by. (Travis? Shhhhh! ;-) He couldn't find anything. Then we wait, wait, wait for another company recommended by the young man with the giant stethoscope. They come and tell us there's not enough water in the pool for them to dive and that they don't care that we can't run the pump with so little water in there, it has to be cleaned and filled to mid-tile before they can do their work. Fine.

So we, and by we I mean Mark and the kids but mostly Mark, cleaned and filled the pool. Today they came out and dove. We had a hole the size of a quarter in one of the bottom returns and a leak in a skimmer, both of which the lovely, lovely men from American Leak Detection repaired. We are hopeful that this is the end of the leak and that we can now enjoy the chlorine-infested waters for the rest of the summer with no further drama.

We'll retile and make 'er salty next year, when have money again.

Note: I highly recommend American Leak Detection's local store. Despite my whining about how long we waited, in reality it was only a couple of days. They were professional, competent and johnny-on-the-spot.

Somtimes Writing About It Makes It Seem Better

The players:

The dogs, Jasmine and Thunder.

Me.

Two unknown women and their tiny little doggies.

The location:

Our driveway.

The story:

This morning I woke up and went to let the dogs out. There were two women walking their dogs down my driveway. That driveway up there in the picture. It leads to our backyard which is surrounded by river and marsh and the rest of our yard. 

Looking at the picture perhaps it seems obvious that it is a driveway and not a road leading traffic 3' outside our bedroom window. But people walk down our driveway all of the time. They end up in our backyard or herb garden tromping around.

So why do I feel like an inhospitable bitch when I ask them to leave so that I can let my own dogs out in my yard to run and potty at 7:00 am?

Sweet Tomato Salad Dressing

No pic, sorry, but this was too good to forget when I tossed it together a few nights ago. It was perfect on our salad fresh from the garden.

1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp maple syrup
3/4 cup olive oil
salt
pepper
a handful of chopped basil
a squeeze of one entire lemon

Whisk it all together in a bowl and serve over a green salad or as a condiment for grilled chicken.

Reno's Continue

We spent the weekend mysteriously without kitchen lights. It was okay because it's midsummer and the light doesn't leave until late.

The bathroom floor has been replaced (and the piers and joists) and now the boys are framing in the closet, formerly known as The Alcove. This will mean less light in the kitchen but I'm willing to sacrifice in order to have a closet in my bedroom. Seriously, we didn't have one before.

I'm going to miss the old lathes in the walls. In fact, I wish I could find some old fashioned lathe men to come and redo the walls the way they were with plaster, which will hold a nail and not with drywall, which will barely hold itself. Things don't work out that way unfortunately, mainly because we can't afford for them to and so drywall it is.

What are we doing to 'green' our reno? Reusing the toilet and sink and fixtures. Reusing the light fixtures. When the boys tore out my grandmother's old cedar closet from the bathroom, they saved most of the wood and Travis made a sweet trunk out of it. I'm cruising Craig's list for used bath tubs and shower stalls but finding used items that fit our exact specs is proving difficult, so we will probably end up buying new. The biggest thing we're doing is making sure to take care of every problem spot we run into so that the house can be around for the next 4 generations of our family to live in.

Father's Day

Who knew the pool lounger came complete with THE GIRL!?