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We hope everyone is staying well... This Thursday was my ninth day working straight before our 3-day weekend together. A care package from my brother also arrived, including a couple of Japanese travel guide books to help our trip there in May... although we already knew the trip may not actually happen. Still, it's not a crime to be slightly hopeful....
Well, next morning we woke up to a blizzard (as predicted) AND the government's international travel advisory increase to Level 4 (hit me like a bullet). Snow stopped mid afternoon, but I knew too well that this pandemic will only get worse without an end in sight. At the end of the day we had to get away, so we got out of our house and drove out to watch the crushing waves. It was too cold to get out of our car, but watching the powerful force of nature reminded us how small we are. We caught the tail end of sunset, too.
Next day was sunny and calm, though still chilly. The blasting sprays from yesterday's wave action coated branches and rocks along the lakeshore with thick ice, like in a magical world.
We took a nice long leisurely walk in the snow-covered wood, encountering more deer than people. We are very fortunate to be living in a place where social distancing is relatively easy.
We are also fortunate that our daily routines have had few compromises so far, compared to so many others across the world. We have much to be grateful for.
A meatless Friday during lent doesn't have to suck. I made sushi rolls and veggie tempura last Friday, festive enough for special sake. Perfect for an early celebration for Japan's Girl's Day (March 3rd). Spring time... which is coming... slowly but surely up here.
We also hope everyone is staying healthy.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. After 0 degree weather earlier in the week, we are enjoying this 40 degrees sunny weekend, even better off work plus off call. Also we won't be able to go out on Fat Tuesday, we celebrate it early with a tasty brunch at our favorite Cajun restaurant. No beads thrown... but very satisfying.
Still, not quite a beach weather.... We also needed to burn our big brunch, so we tried a new trail not far from town.
The bright sunlight, pure Vitamin D, was as much a treat as what followed afterwards.
We ended at a new NOLA inspired cocktail bar the Courtyards, owned by our good friends from Lagniappe.
Happy belated Valentine's Day to all. It was also my day off after 7 days of work. We had a few days of frigid weather and didn't even want to go out grocery shopping. So we challenged ourselves to prepare our Valentine's Day dinner with what we had. Steak and shrimp from our freezer, roasted potatoes, and curried carrot soup.
For dessert I had made Bailey's Irish Cream brownies... again with all ingredients I had in my kitchen. Not too shabby.
Saturday morning we took Joe's mom to our favorite French bakery (we just needed a good excuse ourselves to go there) and later went out on a rib dinner date with our good friends. In between we did take a walk outdoors... though it was pretty chilly with wind, I forgot to take pictures.
I happened to have this Super Bowl Sunday off... not that it mattered. Rather glad we wouldn't have to grind our teeth watching Packers play. We had a relaxing Sunday to enjoy. First, we took a leisurely walk outdoors. For a change it was not windy, around 35 degrees, with a few snowflakes in the air. A perfect day to enjoy the winter beauty.
Then we had our lunch at Blackrocks. No sandwich this time. Just liquid.
At home we threw together a quick Super Bowl party spread with what we had. Low key, but fun way to watch the game, or half watch and half nap. Hope everyone got to enjoy the Super Bowl Sunday one way or the other.
Almost forgot to post our first sushi rolls of the year... now a week ago. Since I started to feel ill on the New Year's Day Eve, I didn't even touch the special sake Joe opened for the occasion. Good to be healthy again to be able to enjoy tasty things in life.
Then, another snow storm last weekend brought us over a foot of snow. At least it wasn't as gusty, and snow was nice and fluffy.
This week after work Joe removed snow off the roofs again... I only wish we didn't have to go to work and could play in snow all day! Despite the fact that it warmed up to the 30's and switched to a mix of sleet and wet snow today, we are hoping to enjoy our 3-day weekend.
There are certain things that need to happen to welcome a new year... A proper pint at Blackrocks is one of them for sure. Saturday night we were invited to an annual New Year party Japanese style... probably continuing 10 years or so. And on Sunday we paid our belated Christmas visits to Joe's aunt and uncles.
Then, we took a short but FRIGID walk near the lakeshore to say hi to the big lake. Oh, that east wind!! This stretch of the shore is where we used to pick rocks on sandy beaches... but no more after a couple of bad storms. These trees are frozen at the edge of the road. We hurriedly admired a few big waves before seeking a shelter at our favorite brewery for the first time this year. Packers winning later in the evening completed our good Sunday off.
