TeamReedBlog.2020

 I don't remember the origin of the Bickel Family Cookbook, and I don't remember how some members of my Bunco family got copies of it, but they did. Last night at a socially distanced gathering in my garage and back porch, Amy brought newly printed copies of the booklet to distribute because, according to her, some disenfranchised Bunconians had groused that they didn't have copies.  I have my original one, but I flipped through the photo-copies just to be sure it was what I was thinking, and just based on who contributed, I'm certain my cousin Lori had to be the impetus. I have no recipes in it, so maybe they were trying to coax me into cooking? Lyn sent me a note asking if my mom was a baker, based on the fact that 2/3 of the recipes are desserts. She wasn't, so much, but the contents of the recipe book is definitely a clue about the origin of my fat cells. They took root many years ago and have resisted my many attempts to evict them. In addition to softening my...

 We've been having some fun as fall settles in, giving us glorious warm weather an excuse to be silly. This particular project is the result of me complaining for years - literally - about three scrubby evergreen bushes that were taking up space in one of the window boxes that frame our front porch. I chopped off the limbs and then tried to rip out the remaining stubs but found they were more deeply rooted than I'd expected. Jeff spent some time with them and a shovel and we finally got them out, then created this seasonal masterpiece, which he used to post a review of a Halloween-themed beer on his beer nerd app. I'm itching to go buy more decorations. I may not have a little one to entertain, but we have been continuing our Lido Deck gathering at the end of the work day, so it's kind of a home improvement project, right?  In other fun news, Bob and Kathy Johnson introduced us to pickle ball and we've been playing a bit, both as a couple and me with some girlfriend...