shrimpin' season

Photo by SFD

Lately my creativity has taken interesting forms. We’ve been renovating the bathroom, and everything from bathroom (including the sink and toilet) has been mashed into my study. I couldn’t get to my paints right now if I tried. Instead, I’ve been rubbing grout into tiles, and smoothing the ragged edges of the old 1810 boards that form our walls. I’ve been approaching the monotony of renovation with an attitude of calm- grouting has turned out to be very meditative in that respect.

Today we finally put the toilet back in, and have reached a point where we can focus on other things besides finishing key stages of construction. PK went down to the beach and bought 50 pounds of native shrimp from a local fisherman. We just finished our last bag of shrimp last week, so the timing of the new harvest is impeccable. PK is cleaning and prepping them for the freezer, and I’m cooking the shells and heads into a shrimp stock that I’ll use for bouillabaisse and chowders over the next few weeks. I’m winging it with the recipe, and right now the air is thick with the smells of simmering shrimp, garlic and wine. Soon both broth and shrimp will be safely tucked into the freezer, and we’ll settle in to a quiet evening of listening to the frozen rain beat against the windows.

Photo by SFD

PK stopped by the beach with the pup before picking up the shrimp...he took these photos before the rain started...