green afterglow

 Everyone pitched in to make yesterday a huge success. This morning I will put away the dishes and take a nap or two. Now I will make my notes for next year ~ I made a mistake or three and did a few things just right and all that will be recorded. I need to tell you also that I have a tenant in Emma's Room ~ I have not met him yet but I will do so at some point today. Life, she be strange, right?

ready, set, shamrock

 

We are prepared for dinner at 1pm today. I think. Hee is the Irish poem that Annabelle and I selected:

The Lake Isle of Innisfree   

WB Yeats

I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,

And a small cabin build there, of clay and wattles made;

Nine bean rows will I have there, a hive for the honey bee,

And live alone in the bee-loud glade.

And I shall have some peace there, for peace comes dropping slow,

Dropping from the veils of the morning to where the cricket sings;

There midnight’s all a glimmer, and noon a purple glow,

And evening full of the linnet’s wings.

I will arise and go now, for always night and day

I hear lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore;

While I stand on the roadway, or on the pavements gray,

I hear it in the deep heart’s core. 

prep work

 I introduced Heidi to Robert's Corned Beef yesterday and she was, of course, impressed. Annabelle needs no introduction to table hopping, but she is locked out today. Thankfully it is cooler as I bustle about checking off To Do''s and worrying about silly details. 

belated, but that's ok

 I'm "doing" St. Pat's dinner here on Sunday. It is still hot and there is NO air conditioning in my tiny oven-like home. Getting lots of help, thankfully. Today Heidi and I buy the corned beef at Robert's. And bring up the extra table and sit in between. More later...

Paddy Party = success!

 Everyone had a great time yesterday, even the hostess. Especially the hostess? The guests pitched in to help with EVERYTHING and you can see Doug carving the brisket in the top photo. Neti was a huge help with last minute chopping and warming. Sorry the photos don't do this justice, but we all had a super fun day. And this year I hired two young women to come in and clean and do all those dishes, so that was very expensive and VERY smart. Yay! 

waiting, waiting...

 Annabelle, being a female, is nothing if not persistent. Then we have the corned beef and I'll drop that in the boiling water in an hour or so. I had a productive get-organized day yesterday and am ready for a joyful gathering today. 

Is Annabelle Irish?

 She must be because I am having problems keeping the kitty off the table that has been lovingly pre-set for tomorrow's celebration. Today I have a LOT to do, but everything was purchased yesterday and so today is up and down stairs a billion times and fretting just a bit, as is my wont.

connections and conversations and FOOD

 Despite Dodger Doug's 0% Irish button, we all were all a little bit Irish last night for our fun celebration with corned beef and all the trimmings. Guests brought food and helped me clean up and today I just put stuff back where it belongs and maybe nap a bit after a neighborhood walk. 

Tonight's the night

 Robert's is still a cash-only little hole in the wall on Bryant Street where we buy our corned beef. Their main business is restaurants and fire houses, but Husbando used to enjoy talking to the butchers and the place is filled with memories for me. Tonight there will be eight people here (gulp), but I have all the notes and I think everything will be a-ok. Plus how difficult is it to boil a bunch of stuff? Stay tuned...

Seven plus three from afar

Well, my assistant (bottom photo) and I have some clean-up/put-away work to do today, but we had a very successful belated St. Pat's celebration last night. Neti was a huge help because my timing isn't perfect and she took charge of the big pot to make sure things were cooked properly. One of the guests took my iPhone home but Alexa (!) called and all is well now. Feeling the after glow this morning.

 

St. Patrick's ~ delayed

 I'm having a small (to some, not to me) dinner party next week. Our gather dates were messy so it will be a week after the actual holiday. A good chance to thoroughly clean my small house and start the set-up as seen in the top photo. Then I saw this flag on my afternoon walk. Very cool.

back to St. Pat's (as promised)

 

a two table Wednesday

 Details and more photos tomorrow. I'm not used to the social ramble anymore. First was our book club at Patty's home and then St. Patrick's Dinner over at Neti's. My sweet friend insisted that I decorate the table and this made me very happy. A full non-pandemic kind of day. Whooosh.

The Three Widows

 Neti, Pat and I are planning to celebrate St. Pat's Day this year. We will all have received our vaccinations by then and I can taste that corned beef now. Yes, normal life will happen again. In the meantime, we are so very pleased that this is tRump's final destructive day in office. Good riddance. 

poetry and a platterfull

poet, artist, publisher and founder of City Lights

Neti's kitchen

My plate ~ delicious

SF poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti will be 100 years old. One of the reasons
I love this city is because it was SRO yesterday at the Main Library
auditorium as poets gathered to read their work and tell their favorite
Ferlinghetti stories. It was a delightful two hour event as we all
soaked in the words. As I clean out Bill's office I run into poems he
saved including a few from Lawrence. I will post some in the future.
This poet so loves our city too despite the fact that people nowadays are
"arriving with bags of money and no manners."

Then to Neti's for St. Pat's corned beef and cabbage prepared by
another Pat, another widow. Excellent. I made Bill's white sauce and
brought a mint ice cream cake from Mitchell's. A fine evening on
this holiday that Husbando loved ~ for the food, of course.

it's starting to look a lot like...

...St. Patrick's Day. We did just a little green last night, but we did enjoy
the corned beef and cabbage with The Great Plotniks and Rob/Sarah. Last
March we had to miss our traditional celebration because Husbando wasn't
feeling up to snuff. Friday we trotted off to Roberts for the brisket. I had
been lazy salad-wise (I love the Costco kits) for about 3 weeks so last
night I went ALL out and saved this marriage. Lovely evening and only
six months or so until the next Irish celebration. Yes, it is the Jewish
New Year. So there.

it's strange this year...

...not to have the traditional corned beef and cabbage. Husbando is
having "a procedure" tomorrow and neither of us is really up to the
usual green shenanigans. We spend quality time with doctors and
we have been isolating and although we are both optimists, these
medical things are no fun. I'll report in tomorrow, post hospital.
However, enjoy the Paddy Day, dear readers.

on Mission Street

I snapped this huge motorcycle a few weeks ago and haven't seen it since.
Miraculously, I remembered it just in time for today's St. Pat's post. Do
wear your green and drive with care today and tonight.

belated, understated and quite nice

Because of Spring Training we could not have our traditional O'bash for
St. Pat, so we celebrated last night wih the O'Plotties and we had a truly
lovely evening. In a way it was better because we had time for some
catch-up and less running around trying to be the perfectionists that
we definitely are not in everyday life. Today I meet the x-FAM females
for lunch and news (which just might border on gossip).

how green is our table?

We had a lovely corned beef and cabbage celebration yesterday ~ lots
of laughter and so nice to be with friends for this Irish feast. Special
thanks to the three who sat at the grandchild table down at the end, a
tight squeeze in this small house. Casa Verde is getting back into shape
now, preparing for a Friday night party and then we rest until the
winter holidays.