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?