Tag: food

Last day in Minneapolis *sniff*

Well, best laid plans & all that. Yesterday (Tuesday) I had written up my final Minneapolis LJ post with every intention of posting it when I had a free Internet connection. And then never got a Round Tuit… So below I present my post from yesterday.

Yesterday [Monday], as my title indicates, was my last (full) day in Minneapolis with the girls. After some discussion & discovering that the first restaurant choice was closed on Mondays, we decided to walk to Maria’s Cafe for breakfast. It was a little over a two mile walk, so we were grateful to arrive.

The girls ordered corn pancakes (which they let me try – very sweet & tasty, with or without cheese) while I ordered Pablo’s omelet. This was a 3-egg omelet with rice, refried beans, cheese, and grilled tomatoes & onions in it. Very tasty. I had a hot chocolate with it, too.

As it was a fairly long walk and starting to warm up, plus we all were feeling adventurous, we decided to hire Nice Ride bikes to ride toward home which would cut the trip in half. This was a first for me & Rachel. It was a bit expensive, but the bikes were pretty nice to ride for the distance we did. And the rest of the walk home was improved by being cut in half.

Along the walk home, Amy showed us her favorite garden along the route. It put my Secret Garden to shame. And the funny thing was, we passed by several gardens wherein we asked “Is this the one?” The girls are fortunate to have such a lovely neighborhood to walk & bike in.

Once we were back home, it was naptime. I spent the time finishing my book (Ben Aaronovitch’s latest Peter Grant book: Whispers Under Ground). Then around 2pm, Rachel had an appointment at N2Living, a strength training place that she had a free trial to check out. She invited us to join her and it was quite fascinating to see the various machines (designed by the Nautilus dude) designed to work on a specific muscle group.

The young people who walked Rachel through the routine were very friendly. The lady who owned the joint, OTOH, was late to the meeting. Still, the neck “stretching” machine was nifty as it connected to a PC (with a VERY old DOS system, it looked like!) and showed the angle of movement etc.

After the meeting, we headed off in search of lupper at a new pub the girls hadn’t been around to try yet. Only to discover upon arriving that they were closed that day for an employee event. *sad face*

Still in the mood for pub grub/beer food, we had one destination in mind, when suddently both girls were inspired to pop into another for their Happy Hour. We arrived at Blackbird with 10 minutes to spare and had a lovely lupper of slider burgers, fries with rosemary aoli, and walleye/crawfish potstickers. I had a pear cider from Ace which Rachel rightly described as “a pear Jolly Rancher.” Not one of the better ciders I tried this weekend, but it was drinkable.

Once we were back home, it was time for CHORES. I worked on getting Rachel’s laptop de-Nortoned and Comodo Internet Security installed instead. Then I helped Amy (she did the hard stuff. I handed her the tools) install a new mirror (purchased back in November) at the top of their stairs. Finally we retired to the basement to try out a few video formats and uploading a trial video to YouTube. And then it was time for Olympics & snacks.

I drank the last of the ciders which I bought from the Four Firkins and had some sesame sticks. (There’s enough left for Amy to have atop a salad some evening.) And then succumbed to the lure of cookies & cream ice cream (Alden, did you know you had an organic ice cream for sale in Minnesota?)

This morning, since we never did get to try out Butter, a bakery/coffee shop/eatery on my trip, we all got up super early in order to partake of their goods. Sadly, they don’t have the breakfast grill open until after 8am, but they had quiches for warming and plenty of baked goods. So I had a ham, broccoli, and swiss quiche, blueberry scone, and vanilla steamer for breakfast. All were very yummy.

Rachel then rode her bike on toward her work and Amy drove me to the airport. Gonna miss those girls! Was lovely for them to host me for the long weekend!

Now I am seated at O’Hare (though I refuse to pay for Wi-Fi so I won’t be publishing this until later) having just had a nice salad with walnuts, raisins, apple slices, bleu cheese, and raspberry vinaigrette. Tasty and not any more expensive than I’d probably get at a hoity toity place. Next flight in less than an hour and then I’m home again. Woo!

When I arrived in Dayton, the folks were there to pick me up. Then mom talked me into swimming (didn’t take much of an effort). After pool time, I headed home, with two stops – groceries and Chinese Fud. (Shamefully, after my nice & healthy lunch, I had to ruin it with General Tso’s and crab rangoon.)

The kitties were glad to see me. In particular, Lucy braved the fan of the den to hang out with me most of the evening. Apparently, I am fascinating to watch when I’m playing World of Warcrack. Who knew? 🙂

Biking to Sea Salt

Yesterday was the nicest weather day of my trip. We started the morning with a quick drive to pick up donuts from A Baker’s Wife and then had breakfast on the girls’ back porch (Amy also made scrambled eggs).

Our main goal for the day was to ride bikes to Sea Salt, a restaurant near Minnehaha Falls. My butt was still sore from yesterday, but I took Advil an hour or so before we departed and I think that it helped.

The girls had contacted another friend of theirs to see if she’d meet us at Sea Salt and she was game. So when Rachel had returned from checking in on Winter (the needy kitty), we biked on towards the restaurant. Their friend was saving us a place in the LONG line and we joined her.

I bought a Crispin’s hard cider (with maple syrup flavoring too) which turned out to be a huge bottle (so I shared some of it). I ordered fried calamari as an appetizer and a crab cake sandwich for lunch. Then Rachel got me a salted cashew ice cream (recommended by their friend) to eat while we waited for the food. Everything that I had there was excellent – probably the best calamari I’d ever had.

We wandered a little bit around the falls whereupon my sister bumped into the fellow she just hired (and his family) – fun coincidence. We had decided to ride over to the Riverview theater to see Snow White and the Huntsman and their friend joined us.

Although I wouldn’t say it was the best movie ever, I enjoyed seeing Ian McShane, Bob Hoskins, and Toby Jones playing dwarves. And for $2, I felt I had gotten my money’s worth.

We parted company with their friend and then headed home on the bikes. And since we’d been too full to partake of Riverview’s real buttered popcorn, the girls decided to pop & butter some at home. So we sat on the porch eating popcorn and peanuts in the shell. I had a cider. Then for the second round, we had sesame sticks (which Amy bought specifically for my visit) and chocolate chips (and I had a second cider).

We finished the evening watching Olympics in their basement (after Amy showed me a short film she had worked on and is going to put online soon). Another fun day with the girls!

Trina & her sore bum

Yesterday, we started off the morning with leftover pizza. Turns out there were 3 slices of the Pizza Athena left, one without olives (mine!) so it worked out perfectly.

Eventually, we made our way to the Midtown Farmer’s Market. Now I often go to the two farmer’s markets in Troy and they’re awfully small affairs. Midtown was much bigger & livelier. We wandered around looking for produce and lunch. We got some nifty striated eggplants to grill and some brats (including wild rice brats) as well.

Lunch was at the Hola Arepa truck and I tried my first arepa. I had the slow roasted pork arepa with guacamole. Very tasty. I drank their strawberry ginger lemonade along with it.

Next, we went out to the house where Amy & Rachel’s coop co-op is housed. It was Rachel’s day to clean the coop and check on the chickens. They have 11 chickens at the moment and they all seemed eager to see Rachel. Amy and I sat & read while Rachel worked.

We returned home for a short break (and to drop off the food we’d gotten at the market) and then we headed off to check on Winter, the cat that Rachel is cat-sitting. Winter was pleased for the company. She is a very loving kitty.

Next was the trip to Microcenter to get a new battery for Rachel’s laptop. The last time I was at Microcenter, I exclaimed to Amy that I was in Nerdvana. 🙂 Across the street was The Four Firkins, a beer store that was small but loaded with beers, ciders, meads, etc. I picked out 4 hard ciders to try and the girls got several beers to check out.

After we came home, we headed off on a bike ride around Lake Nokomis. We got most of the way around the lake before my bum told me it was just too sore. So we paused a bit, then headed on to the Grand Ole Creamery for some ice cream. I had pistachio ice cream and vanilla malt custard. The frozen custard was particularly fine. I survived the ride back and then we got the place ready for guests.

A couple of friends of Amy (the folks who own the house where the chicken coop resides) were joining us for grilled brats. While Amy got the veggies & other things ready, Rachel and I cleaned the kitchen and then made a blueberry galette. Rachel made the pie crust and I did the innards.

Amy had grilled some corn on the cob, zucchini, summer squash, striated eggplant, onion, and brats. She also made salt potatoes. It was all very yummy, and I really liked the wild rice brats. We sat out on their back porch and ate, then retired inside for dessert. The galette was very tasty. And once again, I met friends of the girls who are very nice people.

Today will be another biking adventure. The weather is perfect (mid 70s F predicted for the high) and my bum is still sore, but I shall see if some Advil will help out today.

I am a Horrible Person

It’s official, I am a Horrible Person. As you shall read in this post, if you dare!

But before I had this fact confirmed, I had a lovely day with Amy & Rachel. Breakfast was cereal and 1/3 of the 3 types of cupcakes from the night before. Then Rachel had a couple of appointments and Amy had to work. So I watched Olympic events on my phone and worked on Rachel’s laptop.

For lunch, Amy made us Caprese sandwiches (fresh mozarella, tomatoes, basil, olive oil on a baguette) and we sat outside on their back porch eating lunch. It was a little warm, but pleasant nonetheless.

When Amy was done with work, the two of us took a walk to her library and around the neighboring area. Then we three rode bikes to Pizza Lucé where we met up with two friends of the girls. We had artichoke dip (very tangy and yummy with a little bit of heat) and bread followed by two pizzas – the Ruby Rae and the Pizza Athena. I also had two Angry Orchard hard ciders while the girls shared two pitchers of Summit Oktoberfest (hey, it’s August already!)

Before I left on this trip, dad had given me some Bad Girl money, so I thought our Pizza Lucé “beer & pizza” night was a perfect Bad Girl time. So thanks dad for last night’s wonderful supper (and today’s breakfast).

We then rode to Crema, a coffee and ice cream shop just a few blocks away. I tasted their sweet corn ice cream (yup, tasted of sweet corn!) and mint truffle ice cream (wrong type of mint for me) and then settled on their ultimate chocolate ice cream and their homemade caramel ice cream. Very yummy.

It was dark when we left, so I stuck close to Amy on the bike ride back, with a red flashing light attached to my backside. A&R’s friends were waiting for us when we got there (they had driven) and we chatted while we waited for Rachel to return from checking on the kitty she’s looking in on this weekend for a friend.

Once Rachel had returned, we start playing the game that I bought A&R for their anniversary (which is still almost 2 weeks away): Cards Against Humanity (a party game for horrible people). This game had been recommended on Twitter and I loved the premise. I figured the girls would love it, so I sent it to them before my arrival so I could play too.

So the five of us played the game and laughed throughout the whole process. It was so funny and so horrible. And when the game was done, I had won – I was the most horrible person in the room! 🙂 So now you know!

Vacationing in Minneapolis

Although I am a small town girl at heart, it is lovely having friends and relatives who live in Big Cities so that I can visit. And this weekend, I’m visiting my sister and her partner (and their cat, Curtis).

I flew in yesterday (via O’Hare) and Amy picked me up. It was lunch time, so she took us to a Pupusaria near her place. I’d never had pupusas before, so I loved getting to try something new. In the simplest description, they’re like stuffed corn tortillas. I had one stuffed with pork & cheese and the other beans & cheese. These were served with a pickled cabbage known as curtido along with their own salsa. They were very yummy!

Poor Amy still had to work that day, so when we returned, she worked from home for awhile and I goofed off, watching Olympics on my phone, for the most part. (Currently watching Britain’s women volleyball team battling Dominican Republic. Go Britain!)

When it was nearing 5pm, we walked to the Midtown Global Market to meet up with Rachel. She was trying on a shirt at Global Mama’s and wound up buying it. It looked great on her. Then we wandered around the Market looking for where we wanted to eat. We all settled on The Left-Handed Cook.

It’s a newer place at the Market and the girls hadn’t tried it yet. So we started with their appetizer “Truffle Truffle Parm Parm” which is really fun to say. It was French fries with Parmesan cheese and truffle oil. They were tasty. I ordered the spare rib rice bowl with poached egg & kimchee. Amy got a soft crab & avocado sandwich and Rachel the porky cake (a polenta & pork dish). Everything we tried was lovely. I also had a Minnesotan cream soda (forget the brand) as my beverage.

We finished at the Market at Salty Tart where we picked up a baguette and some cupcakes. Then we returned home. We watched Olympics (NBC’s rather poor coverage), the girls folded laundry, and then we had cupcakes. Peach & vanilla with buttercream, Surly Furious chocolate (Surly Furious is a beer), and flourless chocolate and almond. All were very tasty – and since we got 2 of each, we had some for breakfast too!

Today I’ve been watching/listening to Olympics (see above) on my phone and working on Rachel’s laptop computer. She has a nice external drive, but the backup software kept failing. So I think I’ve found something else that works – the drive has no issues with accepting files and Winders saw no faults with it.

Rachel is back, so it’s time for lunch! Amy has made us sandwiches even though she’s “at work.”

What has Trina been up to?

My summer has been a nice and lazy one. I find myself in my library reading, sometimes with a cat, sometimes without (like right now – come on Lucy, get in here!) and that’s been lovely. I must remember how nice that is when things get crazy during the school year. 🙂

In between the reading (and the gaming), I have done some other things too. Like last Monday when mom and I went to a cooking class to learn some summer fruit desserts. Best $5 I’ve spent in a long time, I told mom. We learned how to make galettes (which are very easy with prefab pie dough), peach ice cream, chocolate mousse (made with ricotta cheese), and crepes (filled with lemon curd) with blueberry sauce. Everything was easy and delicious.

The next day, mom and I ventured out again, this time to watch my young cousin Sydney perform in a juvenile production of Annie. She was playing Miss Hannigan (alternating with another girl – the bigger parts were played by multiple people). It was a cute production – the kids did a nice job, though it was often hard to hear them, speaking or singing. Syd did a very nice job, IMHO.

Then on Wednesday, I had surprise guests – the parental units! They had popped in since mom had just had her hair done (her stylist is in my town, not hers) and wanted to see my ceiling fans. I gave them a tour and they liked ’em. They were going off to Trophy Nuts in Tipp to buy nuts (fancy that!) and I finagled my way to the Grand Adventure.

I bought a nice assortment of nuts from Trophy Nuts and my favorite preserves, too (hot pepper & peach preserves, if you want to know). Then we went to Harrison’s for lunch (and $.99 margaritas). I had finagled my way by offering my services as the DD. Heh. So I drove the folks home (to my place) and we chatted awhile until dad felt he was able to drive them home.

Friday evening was a meeting of our “Supper Club” at mom & dad’s. Normally, we go out with some friends (all now retired, except me) once or twice a month to a local restaurant. This time, however, mom suggested their hosting it. Dad has perfected pork chops with their new grill, so mom wanted to have that, cooler corn, and dad’s world famous slaw. The day of, 1 of the couples called to cancel – she had bronchitis, alas, and he was going to stay home & look after her. But the other two showed. Mom and I made a peach galette (since the missing couple was going to bring dessert) which turned out very yummy.

The evening was a success. The pork chops were perfect. The corn was wonderfully sweet. The slaw, popular. And the galette was also a hit. And the evening culminated with searches through annuals looking at photos of other former co-workers from way back when. (One of our guests couldn’t remember when she had started working at Newton, so we searched through the 80s to find her.) Those were a lot of fun for reminiscing.

Then, on Saturday morning, mom and I tried out our crepe-making skills for breakfast. Well, mom made the crepes, and I made the blueberry sauce. We also used lemon curd (mom got it from Trophy Nut) as the filling. We did a fab job, IMO. Dad agreed – it was a good second breakfast for him. (He gets up earlier than we do on Saturdays!)

Anyhoo, this week will be another lazy one, I suspect. I’m going to enjoy the hell out of these lazy days while I’m allowed them!

A Grand Adventure (in Cheese)

My family has a tradition of going on a Grand Adventure from time to time. Basically, we have a vague goal in mind and a vague destination, and there ya go: A Grand Adventure! So yesterday, the folks and I went on a Grand Adventure to Bellefontaine.

It all started with a Groupon coupon that my mother had bought for Blue Jacket Dairy (BJD). BJD shows up regularly at one of the Farmer’s Markets we frequent, so we were familiar with their cheese. The Groupon, OTOH, is only valid at their store, which is in Bellefontaine. The Groupon was going to expire soon, so we finally planned our Grand Adventure.

We packed a cooler w/ ice pack and headed north and east. We found the Dairy with only one turn-around (we do tend to travel by limits – think calculus) and entered the tiny storefront. It had to be the noisiest room I’d ever been in. Poor dad couldn’t hear a word that anyone was saying. Turns out they had sold out of a lot of their cheese just the day before, but they had my favorite (houtz – a hard goat cheese) and quite a few things that I wanted to try. The folks found some stuff they wanted as well.

Our next stage of the Grand Adventure was lunch. We drove around Bellefontaine looking for a nice lunch place and were disappointed. Their downtown was lacking shops and restaurants. We then looked for the ice cream shop associated with BJD, but there was no place to park and only outdoor seating. So we headed south to West Liberty.

There were some nifty shops to peruse here in the downtown area and one of the shopkeepers recommended Liberty Gathering Place for lunch. (West Liberty > Bellefontaine, even though it’s much smaller.) So we ate lunch there (I had a nice turkey club with fries & slaw, followed by a very yummy peach crumble pie a la mode) and then backtracked a little to Marie’s Candies for some chocolate.

As soon as we entered the store, they gave us all a sample. Then when we were perusing their various choices, the attendant asked what sorts of candies we liked, so she gave us samples of their equivalent. (Well, I’d started off by saying that we were from Winans country and here for the first time and I think she wanted to show us Marie’s was just as good, if not better, than Winans.) So I got $9 worth of chocolate candies (most with nuts but a couple of mints too).

The cooler, it turned out, was great for holding not only the cheese, but also the chocolate. Our Grand Adventure now over, we headed back south & west to home where mom & I went out to be Swimmin’ Wimmin. 🙂

Small Plates Day

Yesterday, I flew to Chicago to visit judiang. Though we arrived on time, the train to Roosevelt took forever. And since Judi had misplaced her cell phone, there wasn’t a way to tell her when I’d arrived (though it wasn’t long before she showed up in the lobby).

We then raced to the Indian place she liked, though the bus also took forever (slow day for public transport) and we arrived 15 minutes before the buffet shut down. So we filled our plates and got our kheer (rice pudding) and had a leisure lunch while the restaurant cleared up the lunch buffet. (We weren’t even the last to arrive – Vernon Dursley and his wife showed up with friends… Well, I thought it looked like him.)

We returned to Judi’s flat to veg & nap. And when Judi awoke, she had a brilliant idea. Ice cream followed by fireworks. Hell yeah! Then I improved upon by recommending the Navy Pier Death March. So we did just that. We took our time walking in the 140% humidity (no, really!) to Navy Pier, then went to Haagen Dazs for shakes (she got strawberry, I got caramel). We then waited for the fireworks.

While waiting, several yachts were mooching about near the pier, several covered in drunk people. On one, a big fat bastard took his shirt off for us on the pier, then turned around, pulled his pants down and mooned us. Um, no thanks. Judi, thankfully, was oblivious and I didn’t draw her attention to it.

Fireworks were excellent (and this is something they do ever Saturday and Wednesday at Navy Pier in the summer). We wound up with a great spot (apart from the terrestrial moon). Sure, we had pondered going on one of the night boat tours, but they were sold out of up top seating. I recommended Judi return to Navy Pier in a week and get on said tour.

We took the bus back. I noticed that we could have walked the way back in less time and for less money, but we got to sit in air conditioning.

elsaf was originally going to join us today, but had to delay her departure indefinitely. So Judi and I opted for Dim Sum for brunch. Mmmm, Chinese tapas! We also stopped over at Target to pick up a few odds & ends, and managed to walk home before the Big Storm hit. (Having had one of these in Ohio recently, I’m beginning to think they are following me.)

We had another relaxation/nap time whereupon I discovered Elsa had texted me a couple of times to say she was able to come along later today. Woo! So she’s on the road to join us after all. *big cheer*

Judi’s next brilliant idea (she’s been full of them this trip) was time at the pool. I wasn’t too sure at first – the storm had cooled things off a little – but we went and had a lovely time. And her next idea was a topper to that. How about we walk to the Spanish tapas place, Valencia?

This we did. We had a lovely variety of Spanish dim sum, including the duck confit which is ambrosia, and the crepe rellena (crepe with goat cheese, spinach, apples, and pine nuts) which is vegetarian ambrosia. We both had the spicy mango margarita, which I didn’t think was all that strong, but Judi did. And then having finished mine, realized that maybe I’d drunk mine too fast. But I followed it with a mojito anyhoo. And I think I’m nicely drunk now. Oh, dessert was their crema con chocolate (creme brulee with bittersweet chocolate).

I am full and happy. And, apparently, drunk.

Puny Poultry Days

After the lovely flowers of the Lost Creek show and the enormity of the Yellow Springs Street Fair, the Versailles Poultry Days was a bit of a wash. 🙂

It was hotter’n hell today (and summer’s not even here yet!) so that might have reflected a little on our attitude. We were mostly there for the food (like you do).

They really have the food lines down pat. We purchased a ticket for the chicken meal at one booth, then stood in line for the chicken meal. It was a very short wait. You get 1/2 a chicken barbecued with the Miss Chick marinade, a small bag of Mike-sells Potato Chips, a single serve apple sauce, and orange drink (so-named for the color, not the fruit, I suspect. Contained 0% fruit juice. It said so on the label!)

After the yummy lunch, I bought a lemonade shake-up that was inexpensive, large, but not sweet enough. It was refreshing, however, and did contain actual lemon! We cruised the craft tents, but nothing really appealed (except the booth selling kettle corn – mom and I each bought a large bag). I think we were probably there just over an hour. Quite a contrast from the other festivals of the weekend. Dad figures we need to get to at least 2 more festivals to make up for the non-event that this one was. Still, the chicken was very tasty.

Before the fun and excitement of the Poultry Days, I took my bike for a ride this morning to buy donuts for the folks and I. It was only about 10 minutes there and 10 minutes back and I didn’t squish the donuts – woo!

I was riding my new Cannondale Adventure 4. My original plan was to buy one of Trek’s women specific design comfort bikes, but while at the Family Bike Shop of Troy, I tried out a nifty green bike by Cannondale. I did some research and read good stuff about Cannondale and the Adventure 4 (a 2010 model), returned to the shop for another test ride, and wound up buying the bike. They had it built for me the next day (Friday) and I’ve been riding it ever since. Did I mention it was GREEN? 🙂

This bike will remain at my folks’ place since they are near the bike trails that go all over the place. I’ll keep my old bike at my place for P. Hill rides. My first big ride will be on Wednesday with friends – woo!

Festivals & Fairs: Summer has begun!

Last weekend was the Troy Strawberry Festival. To me, it signifies the beginning of festival season (with Oktoberfest in Minster signalling the end). Since the Adams Street bridge is out (they started construction right after last year’s festival), they couldn’t really hold the festival on the levy like usual, so they held it in downtown Troy.

It was nice, although a bit smaller than usual. My favorite vendors were there, however. I got my strawberry lemon shake-up from the usual lot, and lunch wound up being, for the third year running, a pork chop sandwich (bone-in). Damn good pork chops. I also sampled a strawberry pizza (not a good one, alas), strawberry empanada (tasty and not too sweet), strawberry smoothie (yummy), and strawberries on cheesecake (very nice).

Yesterday was the start of the Lost Creek Garden & Antique Show and mom wanted to get there early to have a good selection of flowers to choose from. Went to her favorite vendor first and she picked out 4 things (which the deer will probably eat, alas!) At another vendor, I bought a hypertufa filled with hardy succulents, which I shall endeavor to not kill. We also had supper there (chicken salad sammich, doritos, cookie, water) and sat on logs to eat.

Today’s Grand Adventure (TM) was visiting the Yellow Springs Street Fair. Usually when we attend it, we can park in Yellow Springs. This year, I think just under 4 billion people were there, and they brought their 3 billion cars with them. Thankfully, there was a shuttle service from Young’s Dairy, so, after going through town & back again, we parked at the shuttle lot & took a blue school bus to the Street Fair.

Despite the crowd, we were able to see most of the booths at the festival. We wound up having lunch from Jeet India‘s booth at the festival. Jeet is where I get my Indian Fud when I go to Fairborn for my Doctor Who Magazines at the Bookery Fantasy. Mom and I had saag paneer, dad had chicken tikka masala, and we all had vegetable samosas and naan with our meals. Very yummy. Once again, we sat on (or near) the ground. (We did this at the Strawberry Festival too – we’re getting good at getting up off of the ground.)

After we returned home, mom and I spent some time at the pool. (We were also there yesterday, before we went to the Garden show.) I used my snorkel and snorkel goggles – woo! I bought them as a birthday gift for me this year, but today was my first time to use ’em. It took awhile of breathing through the mouthpiece to get over my initial panic, but I spent several minutes swimming underwater – twice! I shall have fun practicing this over the summer.

Tomorrow’s Grand Adventure (TM) is the Poultry Days Festival in Versailles (pronounced ver-sales). So I suspect we’ll be having fun and food again tomorrow. Oh, and maybe tomorrow I’ll post about my new bicycle!