Cookies?

Yesterday D.W. mentioned that perhaps he should take something different (rather than his pistachio "salad") to today's potluck. Maybe some cookies.

That was approximately 1/4 hour before he left for work.

Luckily there were tubs of premixed cookie dough in the refrigerator; chocolate chip and sugar.

I should have taken a picture when they were finished. I forgot. It was the first time in over 20 years that I had made rolled sugar cookies. I went the whole way and decorated them!

Today D.W. is going to walk into work with 2 containers of sugary goodness, that aren't green.

Christmas Day 2011

We are in the midst of an extreme wind advisory until this evening. The trees are whipping around and our windmill is spinning so fast that the blades are merely a blur. They say we'll have gusts to mid 50's mph. All I know is that the big yard waste container was moved several feet forward before it was blown over. Luckily it made it all the way out from the garage and past my Nissan before it fell.

The cats finally decided that "maybe" it would be better to stay in.

D.W. and I exchanged gifts before he had to leave for work. Or at least we opened some gifts; both of us have things which have not yet arrived, hopefully by the end of this week. It was hard to find his as it was Sold Out at every store within 25 miles and most that were found on-line were trying to exploit that fact and that THE DAY was rapidly approaching by bumping up the price $100. Finally found one, he will probably blog about it (ClueMeter@blogspot.com) when it arrives. Toys, you know.

I received a pretty new range bag that is a leopard print. It is large enough to hold anything I would need to carry, and it includes 3 matching rugs. I'll post a picture as soon as my "smart"phone and Bloggr finish the registration.



I will also be posting a picture of the curio cabinet which we found!

Our holiday dinner will be tomorrow when we both have the day off.

Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday wish you use) to everyone; most especially our family, as spread out as we are.

I broke the rule.

It has been a firmly established rule in household Drang from the very beginning:

Birthday and Christmas gifts are to be personal - no appliances or household goods need apply.

This year I asked to break that rule/tradition, temporarily.
I said I want a curio cabinet. A definite piece of household furniture goods.
There are small things still in boxes from the move that need a permanent home.
We went shopping.

Now, I know that people still collect things. There are any number of "collectibles" available on-line, in catalogs, in local stores.

So why have stores stopped carrying curio cabinets? There are LOTS of hutches and break-fronts available. Apparently one is expected to believe that these are the same thing. So NOT.

We were told to try the (name withheld) factory outlet store. They did indeed have several. All of which had transport damage, which is why they were there, and were being sold "as is".

PASS

We looked through the Exchange web site. Found a few. I considered the price a bit exorbitant. Trepidations arose.

Next stop Factory Direct.

Too soon, too soon

December? 'M sooo not ready for this to be the end of the year. So far no snow, here. But it has been cold enough that Ratbane has been staying in; and when he does venture out it is for short periods of time not the hours he logs in summer.

Now we have a dark grey tabby trying to convince us that he lives with us. We started calling him Holler because of his vocalization - but I changed it to Stranger - just so that I can say "Howdy Stranger" when I leave the house. I know, that was bad of me but WTH. Anyone need a friendly male adult cat?

I have to make a confession. I am becoming addicted to those stupid games on facebook. Sigh. Just what I need, another way to waste time.

I think I may have a spinning (fiber) student. We had a meeting at the beginning of the week. She had just put her wheel (a new Kromski model) together, unfinished. We talked maintenance, learning to draw, keeping a steady momentum of wheel. I sent her home with a loaner drop spindle and some roving to practice "drawing". Told her to treadle while watching TV or talking with family/friends. She'll have to take her wheel apart again to apply whatever protective sealant she decides on; she says it is a real easy model to construct. We'll get together again in a couple weeks. Told her that if she doesn't want actual lessons but would like to just get together to spin that I was agreeable to that. Fewer lesson plans to prepare and materials to gather, but productive. Maybe I'll rejoin the NW Regional Spinners, and become a spinner klatcher. Gossip anyone?

D.W. hasn't told me yet what he wants for Xmas. (Boom?)
I broke the rule of gifts this year; told him what I want is a curio cabinet for the living room. I must be getting old. Dragons need a home.

I get to remove the Unna boot dressing from my ankle tomorrow. Really looking forward to taking a shower without having my lower leg sealed into a plastic sleeve to keep dressing from getting wet. Still haven't figured out what caused the ulcer/wound, had xrays taken to make sure it wasn't any metal left over from previous surgeries. Boy do I need a pedi.

Petals in the wind

Thought I would share a bit of observed "beauty":

Driving home from work, in our first windstorm of the season, taking care that one of the 50-ish mph gusts didn't push my low small car too close to any of the semis sharing the commute -

one gust hit a tree full of bright gold autumn foliage, predictably blowing a large quantity of them off the tree, laterally

it looked like a flock of canaries suddenly taking flight!

That is an image I hope to long remember.

Curiousity & Lolcats

If any reader looks at Icanhascheezburger -

there is a video of 2 Siamese kittens "trying to save their person from the shower"

I turned the volume up on my laptop and played it.

Ratbane and Sparrowhawk came walking over to see what the caterwauling was about.
Makes me wonder what those cats were saying.

Just sayin...

401K - 301K - 201K

So my 401K plan had finally recovered to the level it had been before the 2008 dive -

and now here comes deja vu

at least I have now discovered stop losses

talked with my $$ guy and told him that I'll be sitting on cash in my account for a while

Interesting T-shirt

Saw an interesting T-shirt on the bus.

A marshmallow warrior holding a chocolate shield and sword facing off against a golden Chinese style dragon winding its way out of a campfire.

I choose a new "level of discomfort"

When I broke my right navicular bone I was told to wear orthotics or resign myself to gradually becoming crippled. So I have shoe inserts.

When I pulverized my left ankle I was told, after I learned to walk again, to choose a level of discomfort that I could live with because joints are unforgiving and that it would always hurt to the level I allowed. And it might even predict weather.

After years of living with a constant ache, enough stiffness that I can't wear most shoes, and recurring swelling after all but the mildest activity - I have finally had ENOUGH!

I'm tired of taking ibuprofen and having it do little or no good. And Seattle is finally having some summer weather and I want to be able to wear sandals. So off I went to see the Dr.

He looked at it, felt it, put me through a series of range of motion exercises - and prescribed an anti-inflammatory horse pill that actually works. He said 2 twice a day for a 2-3 weeks and then taper it back to 1 twice a day.

Immediate improvement. Twinges when climbing stairs but no pain and reduced stiffness. He also gave me a new brace to use if I manage to over-do and need to apply compression. It has soft pads on sides and over Achilles and tension is adjusted by dials not laces. More complicated than pulling on a compression sock but a whole lot less bulky than using a wrap.

Updates

Oak Park, MI has withdrawn the suit against the homeowner who dares to grow her own vegetables. But they apparently are leaving the case open. Now they are going after her for licensing her 2 dogs; her lawyer says he has the documentation showing she licensed them in June 2011. Bureaucrats, what else need be said.

D.W. has posted pictures that he took at the Guest Chef event on his blog, ClueMeter.blogspot.com.

Yum, Yum! and for a Good Cause

On Wednesday, July 13th, D.W. and I went to dinner.

So what?, you ask. Everybody does that at some time or other.

This dinner was the "2011 Guest Chef On The Waterfront" event to celebrate Washington Chefs and for the purpose of raising money for FareStart, http://farestart.org. More later.

There were 23 restaurants or caterers, 17 wineries, 4 breweries, and 6 other vendors (coffee, water, soda, produce) represented. Everything from appetizers to desserts. All presented in a "taste of" style, and a pretty even distribution of meat, seafood, cheeses and desserts [the cutest dessert were the thumb sized ice cream cones]. It started at 6PM and went until 9PM.

Several tables ran out of their goodies before time as word of mouth spread the "that was S-O good", i.e. Starry Nights "Irish Cake Bombs: Chocolate Cake Balls with Guinness and Jameson Caramel (I know, how not?!) They still had their Cherry Cake Bombs with Brandied Cherries to tide them through the evening.
The gentlemen at Roxy's Diner/The Backdoor at Roxy's told me that they FORGOT to bring the Kale Chips which were to accompany their Hot Pastrami on Rye. The pastrami was quite good.

I think my personal favorites were: the Cold Smoked Columbia River Sturgeon, on Yakima Corn Pancake, with Horseradish-Lemon Cream Cheese, and Caviar Creme Fraiche presented by Chef Jay Bartleson and the catering department of the Bell Harbor Int'l. Conference Center, and the Fess Parker Winery 2008 red blend Big Easy [who me prejudiced? just because I'm a member of their wine club?] They grow good grapes in Santa Barbara County.

D.W. didn't say what his favorites were. I'm thinking the Irish Cake Bombs or the Barking Frog at Willows Lodge offering of Jivara Cremeux, Peanut Butter Powder, Caramel Mousse, Fleur De Sel had to be up there at the top someplace.

Back to THE CAUSE

FareStart has been around for nearly 2 decades but they are not nearly well enough known outside of the food industry environs. [I learned about them first through a women's help shelter that my company works with.]

Their missions statement is to "provide a community that transforms lives by empowering homeless men, women, and families to achieve self-sufficiency through life skills, job training, and employment in the food service industry."

They have provided millions of meals to those in need. So we went out and spent more than we would have at Shari's but less than we would have at Palisades and supported a good work in the process. Do we pat our backs or rub our tummies?

Where do you grow YOUR vegetables?

Last week, July 8th, D.W. had a blog link regarding Oak Park, MI and their response to a citizen turning their front yard into a raised bed vegetable garden. That city says it is going to sue for "unsuitable use" of the front yard.

Here I am going to ignore my own rule about not talking politics.

Today I emailed the named councilcritter a piece of information about an event planned for Seattle.

The event is called "Grow Veggies In Your Parking Strip".

Think he will read it?

Editorial note about what I will write

I grew up being told "do not talk politics or religion"; and that meant everyone, most especially family and friends.

So I am going to let my XY-half (the Song in my Heart) deal with those issues. Besides which he is SO much better with a quip and/or caustic remark than I am.

From me you will hear about goings on in & about the house: if a recipe comes out particularly well, how the 4-leggeds (meow) are doing, if I have managed to grow something.

You will also hear about beauty discovered on vacation, social outings, probably a bit about crafty stuff. Life. Just me sending memories into the vapor.

I hope you enjoy it.

Bearcat rejoins the world

Hello!

On my last post I said that I would be gone for a few days.
That obviously stretched into a l-o-n-g time. Over a year.
But I have rejoined the world at large and am slowly becoming a social creature once more.

I dealt with settling my Dad's estate.
We remodeled the house that I inherited - new doors, windows, updated/upgraded kitchen and bathrooms. We moved in. Still need to buy new draperies.
I learned a new commuting routine. Y-a-w-n, it starts way early.

The cats like the new yard, but are not so sure about the traffic. They are used to a street running in front of the house. Now they have a corner lot with 2 streets; one of which leads directly to a school so we get buses. Big noise.

I'll be talking to you. :)