A wise man, Fred, once said, "A guy's got to have projects."

And I of course agreed.  I knew all about projects. Jeanne provided me with what, over the years, seemed like an almost endless list of projects. I sometimes wondered when I'd find the time for my projects. Most of hers added value to our house and three acres. Mine improved our 130 acres of land. I built trails and five deer blinds; what could be better?     

Now that we live in a retirement community in New Zealand, the nature of my projects has changed considerably, but I'm still staying occupied.    

This blog of mine is a major project. I don't feel like going back right now and checking, but I think this post you're reading is roughly my 645th.  I started it back in 2014.  Since then, I've spent countless hours working on it and derived immeasurable pleasure in the process. I'd suggest that a blog ranks very high on the scale of satisfying activities. Some of you might want to consider starting one of your own.

Here is a tasty recent project of historical import.   

Jeanne and I visited Spain three times over the years.  On one occasion, I remember an especially good meal that we enjoyed one evening in an outdoor restaurant in Plaza de Mayor in Madrid. The restaurant we ate at claimed to have been in business for over 150 years, and one of their specialties was Callos Madrilenos. (Tripe cooked the Madrid way.) I loved it.

The waiter obviously identified us as Americans, but we gained in respect when Jeanne, using her Spanish, very expertly ordered a well-known Spanish wine to accompany the meal. When we had finished, he brought us a bottle of plum brandy and tiny fancy glasses, and left it on the table, allowing us to help ourselves. I'm sure he was angling for a big tip, especially since he called me 'patron' each time he checked on us. I'm sure we were generous with him

Anyway, I came across some very good looking tripe the other day at Mr. Meat and decided to try my hand at producing a pot of the real stuff.  I had been missing it all these years, after all. It did turn out very tasty. Besides the tripe, I used some chorizo sausage. I'm not a big fan of chick peas, which are traditional in callos, so I substituted white beans that I had cooked separately.  Jeanne was very pleased with the result. I'd make this again in a heartbeat.   

Another project. My sister Mary and I have been amusing ourselves for the last couple of years by writing drabbles and sending them to each other.  A drabble is a story of exactly 100 words. Not 99 and not 101.  One hundred.  

This is one of mine.

Mr. Herbert Tralley, President, hadn’t been to his bank all week. His wife had phoned, reporting that she hadn’t seen him since Monday morning. She seemed quite beside herself.   

The police became concerned when they learned that Mr. Tralley had recently doubled his life insurance, but Mrs. Tralley was such a sweet old woman, and grew such lovely flowers.    

Protocol however, required she be interviewed.   

She was in her garden as usual, and showed the detective around as they talked, especially proud of her expanded herb garden.  

After he left, she sighed with contentment, lovingly smoothing the deep, rich soil. 

Another story. I took the picture one morning on a cruise we took through Doubtful Sound, on the South Island of New Zealand. 

#29  The Land of Vertical Rivers

Come children; listen to my story about a faraway land of mountains, clouds, and sea. 

The mountains there stand straight and tall, and clouds cover their tops like a wooly blanket. The sea rocks itself all around. 

The clouds give of themselves to the mountains. They nourish small, wild, happy rivers, which rumble-tumble down the steeps to the sea, sometimes flinging themselves into the air in their joy. They carry with them offerings from the mountains, which nourish the sea. 

  

The sea accepts their gifts, and in its pleasure, sends the purest part of itself up to nourish the clouds. 

Today's final project. 

A friend gifted us recently with a bag of hot peppers.

I started by chopping them and letting them soak in salt for three days. Then came vinegar and

other spices.

Some of the peppers were also added to olive oil. It's got some kick now. I tried some of it just today

as I made a fried-bologna and fried-egg sandwich for lunch.

The other bottle you see has nothing to do with the peppers, but I was multi-tasking as I took the picture.

It is a version of Limoncello, using vodka as the base, but made with mandarins grown in our village

instead of lemons. Top notch. I think it's better than the Limoncello we made about a year ago.

Projects don't have to be huge undertakings to be good ones. I am enjoying the projects I now pursue.

See you next week. -djf