1. Is Copper slowly adjusting to life in our home with Gibbs? Well, today, he spent most of the day in the basement, nesting in a cupboard. When Debbie, Gibbs, and I went to Carol and Paul's for family dinner, at some point Copper came out of the basement and lay under a chair in the Vizio room. That's where he stayed for the rest of the evening until he bravely dashed from the Vizio room to the bedroom when I started getting ready to go to bed.
As I write this post on Tuesday morning, Debbie and Gibbs are upstairs and for the first time since we arrived back home, Copper is exploring the living room and relaxing in one of his favorite spots. Is this a sign that he is getting some of his nerve back? That he's slowly accepting the change in our house? We'll see. My guess is that once Debbie and Gibbs come downstairs, Copper will dash to one of his spots out of sight where he feels more at ease.
2. Family dinner was superb tonight. We now have dinner on Monday rather than Sunday so that Molly R. can join us and Carol and Paul can take care of things they've decided to accomplish on Sunday.
We arrived and Debbie broke out the sweet potato hummus she made with thin baked slices of ciabatta bread and baby carrots and zucchini slices to scoop hummus with. Carol made a delicious cocktail: a Cranberry Whiskey Sour with a sprig of rosemary. We gabbed together in the living room and then paraded to the dining table for an autumn dinner.
Christy assembled a superb Autumn Chopped Salad, a perfect blend of fresh apple and pear, greens, dried cranberries, sweet walnuts, a perfect apple cider dressing, and other tasty ingredients. For me, it was like having a dinner and dessert dish at the same time and had this salad been our entire meal, I would have been happy!
But, I was also happy to have other food for dinner! Carol made an intriguing and very delicious main dish called Squash au Vin. It featured a broth made of white wine and miso (genius!) in support of baked pieces of squash and a perfect quantity of barley all in a bowl. I loved the sour notes of fermentation in the broth and the hearty girth of the squash slices and barley.
As a side dish, Molly served baked soy and maple tofu. I love tofu and this way of cooking it was really, really tasty and the tofu's texture was not squishy, not crunchy, but almost meaty and heavenly to eat.
After such a bracing and delectable meal, I didn't have dessert, but Carol served apple slices to dip into Cajeta Goat's Milk Caramel, a product made by the proprietor of the getaway spot Christy went to in Montana at the end of September.
Fun and scintillating conversation continued throughout the evening and having Molly be able to join us moved us into areas of discussion that were new and stimulating. I welcomed the change to eating on Monday night and the fact that it makes it possible for Molly to join us will enhance the pleasure of our weekly get togethers.
3. I took advantage of the clear sunny October day and went on a walk, my first real walk in several weeks. So that I'd have a reason beyond exercising to take this walk, I dropped off a couple of pieces of mail at the mailbox at the "Stein's" building and then walked to Yoke's and bought a half a gallon of milk. I've been getting too easily winded walking up the stairs from the basement recently and I thought this walk might also leave me short of breath, but it didn't.
It felt really good to get moving again and even a short-ish walk like I took today helps my appetite, sleep, and my overall sense of well-being.
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