Hucko sighting!

For the old-timers hereabouts...

I was sitting in my favorite neighborhood cafe a few days ago, enjoying a bit of mid-morning calm with my latte and croissant, when I hear, "Jeff, hello!". I looked up and there was Hucko, big as life. I vaguely recall that he has a relative in Brooklyn who he visits from time to time, and, I guess, this is one of those times. We chatted for just a few minutes, the most interesting moment of which was to say our favorite wines of the year (so far). He reminisced about a 1995 Valentini Trebbiano and a 1996 Bollinger "Grand Annee" (which he had purchased on release and thus has big QPR value now). Then, he and the missus got their baked goods and flew like the down of a thistle.

[Jenise]

Ah so you met Linda. She's great, and SO good for him. It's cool that he recognized you--there are a lot of places to hide in NYC and you could be on the same block with your dearest friend and never see them.

Actually, I met Linda and their son several years ago... that's how Bob knew me on sight: They came to my house for dinner just shortly after we moved in. They knew a Chinese take-out place in the neighborhood and we didn't know where anything was yet!

Isn't it fun to physically meet up with people you meet on websites? For years I made greeting cards using rubber stamps, and all sorts of embellishments. I had this hobby for twelve years and had a collection of over 15,000 rubber stamps and an entire room dedicated to my hobby. I met so many wonderful ladies during those years. Gene and I took a road trip back east to visit our daughter and all along the way I had arrangements to meet some of the gals I had met on stamping websites. I recall one lady in the Midwest we had a lunch date with. She brought me a basket of various homemade breads, and jams all indigenous from her area. Another brought a list of sites for us to see along our way to Ohio. Even though I no longer make cards, I still see and have contact with some of the gals. It is also how I met Linda Stradley and Peggy Bucholz, from a cooking website called Gail's Recipe Swap. I've received seeds, onion sets, and a few other things from a couple of gardening sites I visit. One lady, who was in Canada used to send me jars of spices I could not get here. The sharing of product, garden seeds, recipes, ideas is what I treasured the most, and getting to meet up with new friends.