Amber & Wish You Were Here (I Was There)

Remember when I was at the River House?

I officially start counting down until next year right... now.

Amber & A Penny Saved

How can you tell I am on a savings plan?  Because I bought this face wash for $4.99 at Trader Joe's instead of my usual product for seven times the price.

Yes, I did also buy a pack of heirloom tomatoes and some artisnal bread, but that was probably cheaper than a burrito or whatever else lunch delivery I often get.

What am I saving up for?  Emergencies?  More vet bills?  Why, I am saving for a Wee House.

I am $27 closer (well, $26 because I also did buy a blue eyeshadow in the clearance bin at Duane Reade today) to owning my very own River House.  Of course, that still leaves me quite a way and a plot of land away.  But, baby steps.

Amber & Hello, My Name is Bloody Mary

With a Wisconsin-style beer chaser.

Amber & Four Updates

1.  Pickles Update

When we visited the little guy last night, he was pretty sad.  He had yanked out his own catheter, so they had us try to get him to eat.  He waited until the vet tech was out of the room and then gobbled down some wet food.  Then, they gave him a sedative and he fell asleep in my arms.

Last night, though, he still wasn't peeing on his own so they put him back on the catheter.  My poor, poor curly fellow.  Please continue to think healthy thoughts for him?

2.  Losses in the War Against the Insects
I have been eaten alive by mosquitos.  See, for example, the back of my neck in the above photo.

3.  Yesterday's Tray

Chips, salsa, leftover steak*, stuffed and cracked olives, assorted crackers, roasted peppers, one mozzerella, and tappenade.

*Steak was grilled on Saturday night.

4.  Grilling
Steak was grilled on Saturday night.  It was delicious, as was the grilled farm share bok choy and accompanying salad.

We did not eat the citronella candle.  But, I wish we had burned it.  See #2 above.

Amber & Looking Up

Sigh.

Amber & All In A Day's Vacation

Hammock time.

Amber & Light Tray

After heavy morning snacking, our Tray is lighter today.

Bread share ciabatta slices with bruschetta, open-faced rosemary toasts with farm share basil and sliced tomatoes (plus marinated mozzerella on mine, roasted red peppers on Nick's), stuffed olives, sliced pickles, cous cous salad with green beans, apples, plum, cukes and sundried tomatoes, and sliced watermelon.

Amber & River Visitors

A highlight of River Time is the arrival of visitors.  It's a long-standing tradition to share the beauty of the River with friends.

Sometimes, those friends come riding on bicycles just in time for group yoga practice.

Sometimes, those friends land on your hand in the middle of your work and remind you to stop and take in your wondrous natural surroundings.

Amber & Fungus Among Us

I missed the giant fungus at the end of the road while it was still attached to the tree.  Now, it has fallen to the ground under its own weight.

Amber & Same Tray, Different Mushrooms

Rosemary bread, chips and salsa, salami, tapenade, stuffed and cracked olives, marinated mushrooms and mozzerella.  Nick.

Amber & River Nights

This is apparently what Woody and I look like at night when we are sleeping at the River.

I wonder if we look like this almost every night, only people don't feel compelled to photodocument it.

Do you see his paw on my head?  I am so in love with him.

Amber & Pepper Poppers

One of the major highlights of River House for me is the availability of Pepper Poppers from Fretta's.

I know that doesn't look terribly appetizing, but it is a slightly spicy marinated pepper, stuffed with prosciutto and provolone cheese.  I am not a spicy-eater, but the spicy from the pepper so perfectly balances with the cheese and oily marinade that these are my absolute favorite thing.

In fact, you will note there are no Pepper Poppers on today's Tray.  That is because I ate the rest of them as my mid-morning snack.  I couldn't wait the extra hour.

Amber & El Tray de Wednesday

Chips and salsa (olé!), salami, stuffed and cracked olives, prosciutto bread, Rosemary bread, crackers, celery stuffed with peanut butter, bruschetta, olive tapenade.

Amber & Kitty Update

The cats all seem to be enjoying the River House just as much as their human companions.  Although we are still facing some adjustment issues (mostly manifest in Woody's paw in my face right before dawn and then pretty much straight through until I get out of bed, or in Pickles catching--but not killing--three mice, including one he brought and released in the bed last night), they have settled in and are enjoying the indoor features of our vacation retreat.  Key among these boons is the double-sized couch.

Although just yesterday, Beth, Nick and I were discussing how we would modify the couch to take up less of the living room, the cats seem pleased that the sofa is large enough that all four can comfortably lay on it with lots of space between them.  Or, with no space between them.

Togetherness is a key component of River Time for both people and cats.  See, for example, Beth and Nick's inner tube time yesterday.

Amber & Mystery Solved

We were wondering about what was across the River from us.  In certain spots, you can sort of see clearing through the trees.

Answer: farm land.  Thank you, Google Maps.

Amber & Tuesday Tray

Today's tray features...

...leftover couscous salad (with green beans, plums, sundried tomatoes, cukes and herbs), assorted crackers, apple slices, sliced salted cukes, peanut butter-stuffed celeries, salami rolls, bruschetta and sun-dried tomatoes, assorted stuffed olives, roasted red peppers and a sliced pickle.

Amber & The Art of Tray

River House is a long-standing tradition, spanning multiple actual houses, guests, hosts and kitty companions.  But one thing has remained constant: the necessity of Making a Tray.  A Tray can be featured for lunch, a light dinner, or for an appetizer course served while grilling dinner.  Beth, our first 2010 River Guest and an excellent start to the season, is seen here with a lunch tray, featuring garlic- and prosciutto-stuffed olives, cracked green olives, roasted red peppers, marinated sun-dried tomatoes, a baguette, multi-grain chips, genoa salami, marinated mozzarella, sliced pickle, sauteed zucchini slices, and prosciutto bread.

What all Trays do have in common are: a variety of tasty items for picking at, olives or other Italian specialities, some kind of bread or crackers, leftovers from the prior night's dinner which can be eaten on aforementioned bread or crackers, some kind of cheese, and accompanying cocktails.  The quintessence of Tray is really variety, tastiness, and savoriness.  And, ease.  Tray is all about easy deliciousness.  And fellowship.

Diana has raised the Tray game and made it more about antipasto.  And that is fine because it is still about variety, tastiness and savoriness.  And fellowship.

Also, it is about River.

Sorry, Ginger.  Tray is for people only.

Amber & Fred Flinstoning It

Remember how the pterodactyl would squawk (because the boss pulled its tail) and the Fred Flinstone would Yabba Dabba Do It home from work?



Working from the River may not have clear cut spacial distinctions (the table where I am working is also where I will eating my dinner) or pterodactyls, but there are clear social signifiers of the end of the work day.

Yabba Dabba Yuengling!

Amber & Contentment

Oh hai.

I iz working remotely from the woods.  How crazy is wireless Internet?

Amber & Somewhere, In There

We're actually amazingly hard to find on the Google Maps.  If you type in our road address, Google finds us at that address, but in the town with the same name in New Jersey.  That is not where we are.

We are definitely somewhere in this image.

We are in the trees on the River bank,across from the very edge of that little island.  You can't see us waving because it is raining and we are inside on the screen porch having a tray.