Good morning! It’s nice to see you. I hope you had a great week.
I don’t normally comment on the issue number of this newsletter, but 386 jumped out at me as fairly meaningful. I think our first computer at my house growing up was what we called a 386. I’m only now learning that number refers to the name of it’s microprocessor. Thank you, Wikipedia.
I didn’t care too much about processor speeds when we unpacked our 386. I just cared that it could play Civilization, which, to this day, is likely the game I’ve dedicated the most amount of time to in my life. Gosh, I loved that game.
Anyway! We’ve got a newsletter to write. Let’s get to it.
Grab a mug. Tea’s on the counter.
Let’s catch up.
Found recipe
It was raining pretty hard one morning this week when I went to do the paper route, so Erin offered to come along for the ride, and we’d drive it. When she ran back into the van after one delivery, she had in her hand a piece of paper she’d picked up from the ground.
The page was so wet, it adhered to the dashboard in front of her, which was as good a place for it to dry as I can imagine.
She’d picked it up because it had writing on it. This house tends to love scraps of found writing, if only for the glimpse it offers into other people’s every day lives. Shopping lists are particularly telling. People buy weird stuff.
This particular paper had a recipe for a cranberry sour cream coffee cake, which sounds so rich and decadent, we have to make it. A cup and a half of sour cream AND a full cup of butter.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Other found objects
Oh, we’re in prime season for finding spikes on the ground. I’m unsure of the what the top right item is, and if anyone has an idea, I’d love to hear it. The bottom right photo was submitted by friend of the Quack Martin. Thanks, Martin! This is a movement.
Strong by Nature
Last month, I told you about a program Erin is developing for the PEI Wild Child folks called Strong by Nature. She’s getting closer to launching to the public, which I’ll be sure to tell you about when it happens.
Strong by Nature is for adults of all ages and abilities, and it keeps us strong and active through outdoor play. It’s also ridiculously fun. Erin hosted a demo class for 14 people yesterday. It was wonderful to see this group of people who — for the most part — didn’t know each other at the beginning coming together to just play. By the end, everyone was laughing and having a blast, and everyone stuck around for tea and cookies.
Erin has one more demo class this week. If you’re interested in learning more, drop me a line and I’ll connect you with Erin.
Press button. Receive bacon.
Before Erin’s class began in Victoria Park, I ran to the nearby baseball diamonds to make sure the bathroom was open for anyone to use. Inside, I noticed the hand driers are the old style, which have been around for decades.
I saw the visual instructions on the drier and remembered a long-forgotten meme which featured the first two images.
“Press button. Receive bacon.”
Still makes me laugh.
Merci, Québec
I enjoyed a couple of experiences this week, thanks to the cultural gifts of our neighbours in Québec.
First, at last evening’s game night at our friends house, I joined in a game of Tock, which is a favourite in that province, I’m told. If you think the board looks a lot like Aggravation or Sorry!, you’re not wrong. They’re very similar, but played with a regular deck of cards instead of dice (tho we have a very old version of Sorry! which has a custom printed deck of cards which function fairly similar to this).
The other major difference I could discern: once you free a marble from your home area, you can leave it in the start position. Doing so blocks every other player from passing that point on the game board.
This sounds like a fairly minor difference, but I found it added a level of spiteful strategy that I absolutely adored.
My second gift from Québec this week: our neighbour brought home some surplus items from his job at the grocery store and shared with us. In the box was a tub of a white substance I could not immediately identify.
“I think old people put it on toast,” said my neighbour.
I’m not sure how I never came across cretons before this. It’s a cold pork pâté, typically served on hot toast for breakfast, often spiced with warm spices like nutmeg or cloves.
I read a few articles on it to ensure I was consuming it properly. I made myself a slice of my homemade sourdough toast. I buttered it fresh from the toaster and added a thin layer of cretons.
It’s nice! I can see why this would be a comforting favourite, especially if you grew up with it. I might not buy it again specifically, as I’m not particularly looking for extra reasons to eat meat for breakfast. I will probably remember it years from now and attempt to make a homemade version, which I suspect is a little nicer than this fairly mild tub.
Dunnock Bay
Darryl the taxi driver is up early this morning for a shuttle run to the ferry terminal. This morning, he had his own private snow squall. I hope you enjoy.
Hey, we made it to the end. Good job, us!
I hope you have a fantastic week. Take care of each other.
Cretons is the best but I only have it in Québec with family! Very decadent.