PRE-PORCH SEASON

The St. Paddy's Day dinner actually took place on Friday, the day after the holiday. It was a lovely, warm day in this area, so Andy and Teri inaugurated the pre-porch season. We had drinks on the porch before dinner...

... and Andy modeled his holiday tie.

ST. PADDY'S DAY WITH THE MURPHY'S

It turns out that Andy & Teri celebrate St. Paddy's Day every year by cooking a full corned beef and cabbage dinner. This year they invited me over to join in the feast. The table was beautiful with festive shamrock-decorated placemats.

The dinner was delicious, with my favorite turnips in addition to the potatoes, cabbage, and carrots, and, of course, corned beef. I think I hadn't ever seen a whole corned beef before. It doesn't just come sliced in sandwiches! Andy made Irish soda bread, too, which was the piece de resistance.

The candles and lamplight emphasized the good cheer in the room.

DAY AT THE PARK

Nicholas' school was closed for several days around the Presidents' Day holiday for conferences. Heather had to teach that week, and I babysat one of the days. The weather was gorgeous, so Nicholas and I went to Clemyjontri Park. We took our lunch with us and ate at one of the kiddy-sized picnic benches.

Then we played for another hour or so, with Nicholas having a great time climbing, running, swinging, and jumping on the wonderful and creative equipment at the park. I was just trying to keep up with him and be in the same area that he had darted off to - which was no mean feat. The park was extra crowded that day because all of the schools were closed. I had lots of company with parents, grandparents, and nannies all trying to see where their little charges had run.

BAT!

One evening my neighbor discovered a bat hanging from the limb of a bush outside her door. My pictures are bad because I didn't want to get too close to it. I had never seen one just hanging before. In fact, the only live ones I had ever seen before were the ones that used to swoop down over the pool at sunset in Northfield to get a drink. As the spoof pest control commercial that I sometimes hear on Pandora's country station says, "Bats are vampirical by nature!"