Dog Daze in Darien

The Boys and Granny and Banana Cream pies

Slow Cooked Citrus Fresh Ham

Consuelo with Her Citrus and Avocado Salad

The Albarrans and Evie

Lettie's puppies, Bella and Greta

Tyler, Our Little Grandson

Up around 6:30 at  my daughter Beth's house, and it's just me and Beth's mother in law, Consuelo Albarran, up for the week from Florida.  Lettie, her daughter, who lives in NYC, is also here with her two dogs, so we have quite a family of canines in the morning.  It looks nice enough out side, though cold, perhaps some clouds but quite a change from the slush and drizzle on Tuesday in Bristow.  It's just about 30º outside, high of 39 later in the day, 24º in Chautauqua, with some snow.

We were fortunate, yesterday, to have a easy drive from Bristow to Darien, no rain, no snow, just a bit of wind, and hardly any traffic till we got close to the Tappan Zee Bridge, where it always gets crowded.  It took us about six and a half hours,  just about what I expected, and we arrived around 3:00.  Beth and the girls were out walking, and when their dog Cody saw me, he ran to the car to greet me...dogs like me for some reason.  Perhaps because I walk them.

Consuelo had made her special dinner for us, which we have always loved, a slow cooked fresh ham, falling apart at the bones, cooked in citrus juices.  It's great with any one of her three home made salsas, so different from store bought, along with warmed red cabbage with sugar and spices, and an avocado citrus salad.  We devoured it all, but will still have enough pork left for carnitas tonight, another family favorite.  For dessert, Tyler, Beth's oldest son, had made two banana cream pies so we feasted on them as well.  O, I forgot, the kids wanted Evie's cinnamon crescent rolls, so they put them together before dinner, so we had them along with the pork.  I could hardly move after dinner.

Rami, Evie and I and the boys watched Arbitrage, a movie about Wall Street, with Richard Gere till about 10:30, a decent movie with a great performance by Gere, then we all went to bed, tired from our trip and the day.

Both Consuelo and Lettie head back to their homes today, so it will be just Evie and I and the Albarrans for the next couple of days.  We are both ready to relax for a few days, catch up on our sleep.