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Everyone here calls it Autumn, but saying that makes me feel a bit highfalutin. I enjoy the Fall. Brisk days, the extra hour of sleep we'll get when we set the clocks back, the colors, the impending holidays - all of it. I even like it getting dark earlier (I know, I know - I'll be singing a different tune in February). Living and walking around in this city has its own perk as well: I get to steer toward the collected leaves on the sidewalk and rustle through them. It's like jumping in a puddle. I don't care who ya are, rustling through ankle-deep leaves brings an internal smile to the spirit.
But, there is a downside: Kenz is sick. There appears to be a stomach bug making its way around London at the moment. Owen was in bed for five days this week, the longest (he says) he's been laid up in decades. Kenz fell off yesterday. I'm counting on my superhuman immune system to keep me out of the weeds. Fingers crossed.
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Kenz had her friends, Annie and Jerome, over last Friday night. We wound up teaching them how to play Spades. We felt old, like we were teaching them how to play bridge. The fact that I forced Jerome to eat dinner while there didn't help the situation too much. We're like the Camberwell College of Art grandparents. I considered it a warm-up for Friendsgiving.
The weekend was uneventful, the two of us knackered from a busy week. We finished on Sunday evening with some homemade banoffee pie at La Luna.
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| My new fav. |
Patti mailed us a surprise care package. In it were a few AmeriTreats we've been missing this month.
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| The best caramel and cheddar popcorn known to man (note the mac'n'cheese for Kenz) |
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| The Rolls Royce of peelers. I'd mentioned how much better Patti's was than mine while visiting. |
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| A second bag of popcorn, hidden in the pantry! |
Kenz and I take different approaches when it comes to AmeriTreats. I get so scared of running out that I hardly eat anything at all. I still have a few items in the pantry that are nearly a year old. Kenz, on the other hand, goes berserk for days in a row as soon as a package arrives. She's eaten nothing but mac'n'cheese and brownies for the past three days.
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| This was made and consumed last night. By her. Exclusively. Then she had it for breakfast. |
In her defense, she
was sick last night so some comfort food was in order. She tried making tea, but it's so cold here that the viscosity of the honey was too thick to pour. She stared, miserable, into the sink, for way too long.
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| Waiting for the proverbial pot to boil. |
****
Random Photo Dismount:
As has been stated before, Kenz is the queen of condiments. She often orders food that require a condiment specifically
because of the accompanying dips and sauces. Her most recent habit is to pick up a variety of pates, chutneys, sauces, etc. from Borough Market (along with a loaf of olive bread) on a Saturday and spend the rest of the week snacking out on them.
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| Each Saturday. Rinse. Repeat. |
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| ...we didn't make it out to the show. |
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| Deptford High Street |
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| Hot coffee |
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| London's gearing up for the latest Thor movie. Portman's looking gaunt, no? |
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| The BMX park is getting lots of action |
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| Darren was spotted working at his bar in Atlanta by a few folks who liked his Bill Murray tattoo (L to R: Peter Farrelly, Jim Carrey, Darren, Woody Harrelson, and some photobombing random dude). These are the friends I keep. |
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| Neighborhood cat, pt. 1 |
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| Neighborhood cat, pt. 2 |
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| Burgess Park |
That's it for this week. Thanks for reading. Enjoy your weekend.
