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2009 celebratory drinking
Wednesday, December 31 2008
Down at the greenhouse, I was delighted to find that temperatures inside were above freezing even though it was about 19 degrees Fahrenheit (and snowing) outside.
My main greenhouse project today was an especially messy one. I decided to begin removing the soil from the bedrock in the eastern two-thirds of greenhouse floor. During the past few days of melting snow and elevated ground water, this part of the floor has turned into a bog of mud and artesian wells. It seems best to just get rid of the soil and replace it with stone that will allow the water to reach the drain without causing unpleasant footings along the way. To get rid of the soil, I used a small hand trowel to shovel it into a five gallon bucket, which I'd carry outside to dump. I dumped a good dozen or so such buckets, though I'd guess I only removed about a quarter of the soil, which (I should mention) is mixed up with lots of old plastic from disintegrated concrete bags. The result of all this excavation was to place a shallow pond directly in front of the greenhouse door. It also lowered the floor near the door so much that I had to deploy the little step unit I'd originally built to help me get into and out of the greenhouse foundation hole well before there was any foundation at all.
This evening Gretchen and I planned to host a little New Years Eve dinner party at our house for Deborah, Penny, and David (though Deborah would bail). First, though, we went to a little pre-dinner party in Woodstock at the office of Kris Carr and her husband Brian (they're best known for the movie they put together about veganism and surviving cancer called Crazy Sexy Cancer). We brought our dogs, and Eleanor had a great time playing with Lola, delightful energetic puppy with a rubbery body and an unusual speckly coat. Later what seemed like the rest of greater Woodstock's under-50 vegan scene showed up, much wine was drunk, many finger foods were consumed, and much laughing was heard. While the ladies seemed to have much to chuckle about, I mostly hung out with the boys (Doug, Chris, and Brian), talking about carpentry, welding, and other mid-range engineering subjects. The great thing about guys at Woodstock functions is that no one ever asks, "How about those [name of athletic team]?"
I'd been sucking on a piece of candy that I'd found in one of my Christmas stockings. It had resembled a lightbulb and was even supposed to light up. But the illumination feature had never worked and I wondered if it contained an LED and a dead battery. But after much sucking I discovered that the technology was more chemoluminescent, like that of a raver's trippy glow stick.
While the others all went off to the Garden Café, Gretchen and I returned home and prepared for company. For me, this mostly meant bringing the fire back from the dead.
Gretchen outdid herself on dinner tonight, making an unexpectedly bitter salad featuring watercress and lemony dressing. There was an equally-tangy soup containing tiny star-shaped pasta units, and the main course was a layer cake of polenta and various delicious vegan glurps. Penny and David had brought over much alcohol (a $50 bottle of red wine and, for 2009 celebratory drinking, prosecco). I could tell I'd drunk a bit too much by the time they'd left.
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