Staycation

I am nearing the end of my Tuesday and Wednesday staycation -- a vacation at home. Originally, I had thought of going to the ocean (two or more hours away) but it rained all morning yesterday. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought I could just remember the ocean without having to drive four or five hours!

But I am having a grand time. I finished my landscape quilt called "Palm Springs Night."

The tape measure is because I'm thinking of having a frame made. (The colors are still too light in this photo because of the Noon time sun outside.)

What do you think of barn board for the frame?

I didn't think my neighbor would appreciate my driving nails in his fence to take a picture, so that's me holding it up.

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I threw in a wash and did some cooking. I made roasted curried cauliflower, sauteed pork chops. I also made the casserole below as I baked low carbohydrate biscuits. (I had biscuits and gravy for lunch yesterday.) The biscuits were made with almond flour and they tasted good but next time I will omit the salt. 

A Really  Nifty Casserole

One small eggplant, peeled and sliced in scant 1/4 inch thick rounds

One large zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds

1 Large onion (optional) cut into slices

1 C. shredded cheese

4 to 6 ounces linguica sliced into rounds (or sausage or no meat)

Spray a casserole dish with oil and cover the bottom with eggplant. Keep layering all of the ingredients (except the meat), using half the cheese for one layer. Top with cheese and linguica.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or so until cooked.

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Phyllis had brought me some fresh garden vegetables (the zucchini was one). The tomatoes she brought were so good that I munched on them with cheese for supper yesterday. I still have little onions and yellow squash to cook and I think there are a couple of cute carrots in there. It's so wonderful to come home to a bag of veggies! Thank you, Phyllis!! 

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I now have my umbrella table and chairs on the deck. You guessed it, it looks like rain. I had to struggle too much -- that umbrella is heavy! -- to bring it in for rain. It will have to dry out if it rains. Which reminds me that I have to buy detergent to wash the green off my yellow house. And I have to use the hedge clippers in the back ... guess I'll be staying home this weekend ...

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One of my particular pleasures has been to watch the Murdoch Mysteries on Netflix. It's set in Toronto, Canada and it takes place after 1899, which is the year the police station was built. They have a female pathologist which was very unusual for those times and William Murcdoch is a Roman Catholic who is looked down upon because he is "a Papist." Of course, there's a murder in every episode, but there is also a mini morality play. They discuss the 'new' science, including the new moving picture machine. Harry Houdini makes an appearance as does the dissolute Queen's grandson. One of my favorites so far is when Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show comes into town, complete with Annie Oakley (my heroine).

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Many of you know that Red Rose is my favorite tea. It is particularly well suited to making "sun tea." I did this the night before Emily's nail wrap party and I had splendid tea for icing the next day. Today it has only taken a couple of hours starting with cold water. No, I didn't put it in the sun. It's really yummy if you add 0 calorie peach drink. :)

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Diggity Dig Dog

"I love the way it follows him around like a puppy."

"What?"

That was Cathy being her usual cryptic self. She was talking about the drill shown below. We had 3 holes bored in back of the Library to determine the soil for the future expansion. I'm told they went down 30 feet.

In the center of this flatbed is the digger. The guy's hat is the back end and the front is 3 red and white markers to the left.

It turns out, it's a big remote controlled toy. Nobody "drives" the drill; the operator has a remote control unit and he walks slowly and carefully in front of it guiding it to where he wants it to go. I was fascinated watching him get the tank-like treads onto little ramps. Can you see the water bottle on the ground behind him? There was one on the other side. I'm thinking it's a bit more subtle than if, "You hit the water bottle and you're screwed," but it did seem to be a way for him to measure how to get the drill onto the truck.

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Deb and I met for lunch at the wonderful Met Grill which is in the Natick Mall. After lunch, we strolled around the Mall. I felt like the Country Mouse -- there are so many stores, so many sights, so much bling! I enjoyed it thoroughly!

This is one of three crystal columns in the Swarvoski Crystal store. It reminded me of a waterfall.

I cannot eat cupcakes, but nobody says I can't look at them!

How about the fish below? Yup, it's made all from recycled plastic containers such as Wisk liquid laundry detergent, Folger's coffee can, Era containers, etc. (There were many fish in this store window.) The artist is from Quincy and I think her name is Sara Allesandro -- I took a picture and cut off her name. Darn!

The window goes with a tee shirt store, but there were lots of local artists' offerings as well. When we got there, there was a fellow about to play an acoustic guitar. He was about 7 feet tall (hyperbole, he probably was only 6'6") with black eyeliner, black clothing and black hair -- except where it was green. He had an entourage of people who were also goth. When he began to play, I had to swallow laughter. He was playing lilting folk noodling.

As Deb said dryly, "That's not the type of music that I expected to hear from him."

Birch trees are my favorite trees and the trunks of these trees caught my eye.  It turns out, they are not real, they are art. When we got closer, I realized that I did not care for the leaves (which are pieces of metal), but the tree trunks are masterful. 

And here is the roof on the top floor. I like the natural light and for some reason, I felt as if I were on a ship.

I had never seen this in a mall food court. Those are sushi on the round plates on a conveyor belt. You are charged by the number of plates you have on your table. I had first seen this when YaoYao took me to a sushi place in Hawaii.

I was fascinated by the barn board on this store's facade. It really seemed to be real reclaimed wood -- not made to look old.

After we relaxed in my hotel room (across from the mall), Deb and I went for supper at Ken's Steak House.  Yes, it is the one and only as in Ken's Steak House Salad Dressing. I don't know if it's only a local salad dressing brand, but it has been around here for years.  As we drove up, Deb said she expected to see mob types ... what we did see was many senior citizens (she lowered the age in the place a lot!). Can you believe the dark paneling? There were many stained glass windows -- of ducks! I don't know if Ken was a duck hunter or just liked ducks.

The food was delicious! I don't know why the place wasn't packed. In fact, the prime rib and Deb's steak were better than any I have had elsewhere.

They also had a singer in the lounge who was playing a very nice, mellow, acoustic guitar. I wondered if it were the goth guy from the tee shirt place who had removed his wig and makeup. A quick change into polyester slacks and !voila! lounge singer at night!

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Today, Sunday, I met YaoYao and her mother, Mary, at a "diner" that she had picked in Framingham. It turns out that it was only 4 minutes from my hotel room which was great. When I got there, there was a line out the door of people waiting. In fact, the wait was around 35 minutes. I say "diner" because it's a little hole in the wall in a small strip mall. It's not a separate diner and there's no aluminum colored siding. 

The breakfast/brunch was fantastic. I think my omelette had 4 eggs -- it was huge. YaoYao had banana pancakes that were each about a half inch high and large dinner plate size. She will be eating those for two days!  Of course we had to get pictures because YaoYao is leaving Boston on Friday. She will be living in Georgia.

 YaoYao's baby boy is due around the end of September. She looks great! I was/am suffering from very puffy eyes and sinus pain. Maybe I'll take an antihistamine.

By the way, the Chinese don't say, "Say cheese!" when they take pictures. They say, "Say eggplant!" That word in Chinese makes them smile. (The stranger who nicely took our picture said, "Say cheese!")

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As I was sitting in traffic on the Mass. Turnpike (stop and go for about 3 miles or so), I glanced and saw a very welcome text -- Lisa invited me to go to her pool. Ever the ready, I had my swim suit in the car, so I had a wonderful afternoon dip and chat with Lisa. 

She had had a wonderful weekend in NYC. Her daughter, Abby, played with her band (Potty Mouth) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden. Lisa sent us a picture and behind Abby was a huge glass wall (on the Museum) which reflected skyscrapers. Lisa and her husband stayed at the Warwick which is very close to the MOMA.

I can't begin to describe how beautiful Lisa and Chip's gardens are, so I brought a picture of one of her many gorgeous lilies. Of course, yellow is my favorite color.

Now it's off to work tomorrow (Monday). Have a great week!

Monday Night Musings

While washing dishes tonight, with blueberry muffins baking, I had time to think.  

Earlier, I had been horrified to read that a 15 year old boy who was drunk went looking for a friend (at Noon time) and knocked on the door of the wrong house. Somehow, he broke a pane of glass on the door, so the resident (not his friend) shot him dead.

This happened in Chicopee -- 20 minutes from here. What on earth would make that man so fearful that he would shoot through a door killing someone? Did he really think that someone at noontime was going to hurt/rob him? He must have thought that -- why else would someone use deadly force if not in fear for his life?

And this is where we are in America today. We are all afraid of our neighbors. This morning I had to usher out a man who didn't know the Library was closed until 1 p.m. on Mondays. When I told him the Library was closed, he just looked at me intently. At that point, I didn't know if he had mental health issues or if he was hostile. I got an urgent vibe from him. At that moment, my adrenaline started running and I said, "You need to leave now," and crowded him with my bulk, herding him toward the door. He was bigger than I am, but adrenaline makes you do weird things and I got him to leave without incident. (The book delivery guy had let him in.) 

I guess it's the senseless violence that seems to be happening every other day that is putting us all on edge. Maybe it's the hate speech we hear coming from religious and political "leaders." There certainly is a rise of bullying in adults.

We have so-called adults in this Town who cannot understand the theory of 'agreeing to disagree.' Instead, they have made a career of questioning the professional credentials and integrity of the Library Director, our architects working on a design for an expanded Library fit for the 21st century, and the Board of Trustees. Nobody knows the finances, square footage, and needs of the Town better than these narrow minded bullies.

On to happier thoughts.

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"Let's take a picture of all three cats!" she said gaily.

I had wondered why Emily had laughed. Apparently, cats don't pose.

Yes, Jackson is in motion. They won't stop, I tell you!

Yes, Lily is being hypnotized by a kitty treat. Those things must be really good because she sat there for quite a while.

And here's Lola being her usual suspicious self. I am privileged (after all, I am her Grandma) to have Lola come out and see me. One cat sitter was not sure Lola existed because she always hid.

Emily and I had a fine time last Friday. After a rough week at work, I drove to Worcester because I needed my kid and grand kitties. Emily and I went to dinner and then to see Ghostbusters. It was a very funny movie and I enjoyed it thoroughly -- no reality for me!! It was a bit loud so I would advise bringing ear plugs. (The weapons that splat the ghosts are very loud.) The only harm that came to humans was in the form of green slime which seemed to be icky but did not create any lasting damage.

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The blueberry muffins are yummy, by the way. I used a low carbohydrate mix and added blueberries grown next door. Boy, are those blueberries good!! (I had to taste the muffins because I'm bringing them into work and I had to be sure they are good.)

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Last Wednesday night after work, I went to a small breakfast place in North Amherst for a "wine and painting" night. Iced tea worked well for me as we tried to imitate Georgia O'Keefe's Jimson Weed.

I'll never be mistaken for an artist, but I really did enjoy myself. I especially like the teacher, Teri Magner, who is a retired art teacher. She has a fool proof method to enable you to finish in two hours. I like it! 

By the way, that's the palette under the easel. It's a plasticized sheet which I imagine can be wiped off and used again. Of course, we used acryllics which dry quickly.

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I did a bit of cooking yesterday (Sunday).

That's wild caught salmon in front and a crustless quiche with ham and tomato in the back.

This is chicken soup with baby bok choy and other stuff. I cheated because the chicken is from a rotissiere chicken. I also made a pot roast in the crock pot and hard boiled eggs for my snacks at work. So now I have lunches for work and I just have to heat up suppers.

Although I miscalculated today and had a salad with steak pieces for lunch. That was good but I was ravenous at 4 p.m. I was really happy that my blood sugar was 95 (100 is good), but I was hungry. I think I'll have to figure out an afternoon snack!

Time for bed for me. Good night all.

Guess What I Did on Saturday

Why, yes, you are correct -- I went to the Amherst Farmers' Market! And I had a fine time.

Of course, I had to make picio pacio with fresh basil and tomatoes. I did use shiratake angel hair instead of pasta.

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On Friday night, Cyndi and I went to see Finding Dory. I enjoyed it immensely. The animation was great, the voices were great and it was a relaxing escape from the real world.

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Fireworks in Cape Charles, VA, were wonderful. So was the company. Emily drove (God bless her!) and we arrived a day before our hosts. When I called David, he said, 'Go into the back yard and look at my tomatoes!' 

You see that bush that's taller than the six foot fence? Yup, those are his tomatoes. I think they are planted over a plutonium dump ...

The next day, Emily and I decided to treat ourselves to supper at the marina. It's a very casual fisherman's bar and restaurant. When we were leaving, we saw this:

You can't really see it from my cell phone picture, but it was actually a double rainbow. I had never seen one of those in person before this.

After all of the crew had shown up at the beach house (8 people, 4 dogs), some of us zipped over to the marina to meet the crab men.

This is a bushel of crabs. (The basket comes with a lid.) I wonder if they recycle the basket -- I'll bet they do.

This is the first cooked batch of three. David has perfected his steaming method to ensure even cooking. He only cooks 1/3 at a time. Emily fished the clawing crabs out of the basket and put them into the cooking strainer. My job was to spread the hot crabs out on the table so they would cool a bit. We covered a whole large picnic style table with crabs. And we sat crab picking for a couple of hours. I was trying to be neat, but I smelled like a giant crab. And Alec, was like a crab picking machine. He ended up with about 2 pounds of crab meat -- which Alex turned into wonderful crab cakes the next day. No wonder crab meat is so expensive!! It's hard work picking crabs!

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While at Cape Charles, Emily treated Jane (our hostess) and me to nail wraps. It was fun -- as long as Emily was applying them!

These remind me of Delft. They are called "Amsterdam."

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Got some new sandals.

They are fun, but I learned the hard way that if I wear them too long, the soles of my feet hurt. They have little raised dots that are supposed to massage your feet (I guess), but after a while, it hurts me.

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Who knew? Who knew that a "sirloin steak" from Aldis is a bunch of layers of thin beef? I should have known because the package said, "Great for fajitas!" So to fill the crockpot, I cut it into chunks, added a tiny bottle of red wine (individual glass sized bottle), mushrooms and onions and I got a wonderful beef soup! I then added shiratake "rice" and it's yummy!

I also made a veggie casserole with queso fresco. I used onions, green beans, zucchini, black beans (canned) and a bit of low carb tomato sauce.  Oh, yeah, when the casserole was in the oven, I also roasted some brussels sprouts. I did some more cooking for the week, but I don't want to bore you with it. I'm bringing lunch every day and I just heat up for supper so this method of cooking works well

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I got a new deck! Well, sort of. We were able to keep the stairs and the flooring, but all of the spindles and the top railings had to be replaced. I know I should have taken "before" pictures but it looked so awful -- unstained and very warped -- that I didn't. I'm very happy with it now. JB from across the street did it and today he refurbished my tired air conditioner in the kitchen. Yay!

I have been dying to put my umbrella table on the deck -- and it has been raining off and all weekend. I don't really want to encourage mildew on the umbrella so I will wait. It's a little deck, but it's what I could afford way back when and it's still a good size now. Neat but not gaudy!

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I worked some more on my landscape quilt tonight. I need to used several different colors of thread and it's a pain in the neck winding a bobbin for each color. At the same time, I was watching, "Dancing on the Edge" and "Endeavor" on PBS. I'm liking both series.

Oh, yes, I discovered "Marcella" on Netflix. It has six episodes. It's about a British detective who returns to work after a Mommy hiatus. It's not for the faint of heart! There is a serial killer murdering people by putting a plastic bag over their head and watching them die. Ugh, ugh, ugh. But I liked the rest of the drama. The last episode had one scary part that had me scream and leap out of my chair. 

On a brighter side, I have been watching "Transparent" on Amazon Prime (thanks to Emily). It's quite good with an ensemble cast. Jeffrey Tambor is an older actor who plays a dad who has finally decided to live his life as a woman. I've only watched three episodes, but he is struggling with telling his three adult children. His divorced wife is Judith Light (from "Who's the Boss?") and she plays a great Jewish grandma (aka Bubbe).

Time Flies

As we all know, time flies when you're having fun! So I'll start with tonight and work backward (what else is new?).

I know, I know, no good deed goes unpunished. So I'm motoring down Rte. 91 heading to Costco to pick up lunch for 50 people. I offered to pick up the food for our union meeting tomorrow.

My phone rings and I can't hear a thing. It rings again and I can't hear anything. Meanwhile, I had already realized that if I dialed voice mail, I couldn't hear it. So my phone's fubar.

I get to Costco with my flyer which proclaims, "Get a $10 gift card from Costco if you re-up your membership before July 3." (See, Mom, I can remember some things -- I remembered to bring the coupon!) Mary takes my brand spanking new Costco Citi card which was activated yesterday.

"Oh! Your card has a stolen number."
"What? How can that be? Someone must have hacked into your system, I have never used this card before."
"You must have come here and reported your card stolen."
"No, I didn't."  

I'll spare you a bunch of frustrating dialogue, and say that I finally figured out that Mary was saying (without using words) that the Citi card people had put the wrong Costco account number on my new Costco charge card (they dropped Amex so we all had to change to this card).

After much button pushing and muttering, Mary tells me I have to call "them" to get them to fix the number. When I asked how come I had to call them when Costco had made the mistake she said,
"We don't talk to them. They made the mistake. You came in here and reported the card lost or stolen."

A light bulb goes on in my head, "I heard you the first time when you said that. I did not come here and report my Costco card stolen. A few months ago, I reported my Amex card stolen."
"That's when they put the wrong Costco number on your card. It will work on the register, don't worry."

She gives me the new number and I toddle off looking for pre-made sandwiches for 50.  You guessed it: they only had one kind of roll up that didn't look too fresh or sandwiches made with croissants. (I had those in Boston and they were awful.) So now I have to go look for the cold cuts and bread. I wouldn't have minded so much, but I had to get to the Library before they closed in order to put the food in the fridge there. Those potato salad buckets are BIG and would not have fit in my fridge.

I finally get to the register. The card does not work. I tell Nick my story. He's confused as to what he should do. I give him the correct "new" number. He punches a lot of buttons and gets the card to work. 

I zip to the Library and get there 4 minutes before 8 p.m. They close the lower level at 8. Jose, bless him, lets me use the elevator. I open the "recently" cleaned fridge to find rotting watermelon in a bowl on the top shelf and the whole bottom level is covered with seltzer and apple juice. Luckily, I fit everything on the top shelf, minus the watermelon.

Leaving, I see an old friend and chat a bit about mysteries before leaving, thinking, "I still have to get mustard and mayo so maybe I should stop at Home Depot and return the garage door opener that doesn't work. Oh, wait, Verizon is right there, I'll go there first and see if they will fix my phone."

I tool down to Verizon and happily begin to cruise into a parking space. For grins, I read the hours on the door. They close at 8 p.m. It was 8:20 p.m.

I cross the street to Home Depot and go to the returns desk. I see Bruce heading away from the desk and the other person is tied up with a complicated something. So I wait, patiently.

Bruce strolls back to the register.
"I'd like to return this garage door opener." Meanwhile, I look at the receipt inwardly gulping because I had no idea that I had paid $33!

"Is there something wrong with it?"
"It doesn't work." He gives me a "how dumb are you?" look.
"Is there something wrong with it or does it not open only your door."
"I don't know. I didn't try to open anybody else's door."

He must have realized how the conversation was going because he said, 'See, if it's broken I have to give it a code.' He not only gave it a code, but he also gave it a green sticker!

By now, I'm a bit weary. After work, I had come home and put on shorts but didn't eat a real supper. Anyway, as I cruise around the Home Depot lot (apparently, it's too simplistic to put a sign that says THIS WAY OUT), I'm thinking, "I'll go to Whole Foods and get mayo and mustard for tomorrow. Oh, wait. Do they actually HAVE mayo? As in made with eggs and oil and preservatives.  We're talking rank and file tastes here.

Then it dawns on me: Walmart is even closer! And while we don't have one with a supermarket, they do have some necessities such as cookies and chips. (Give me a break -- it's the Five College area.) I'll bet they have mayo and mustard!

I grab mayo (Hellman's no less) and two kinds of mustard. I got little jars but I couldn't just buy yellow mustard (which I don't like at all) so the second kind is Polish spicy brown mustard. And I walk rapidly to the register where a young couple is putting about 15 items on the register conveyor belt.

"New apartment?" I asked. "Sort of." They are both RAs at Umass and they have a shared kitchen.  Holly rings everything up and then the female says, "I have a tax exempt credit card." 

Holly looks like she is about to cry and begins to stutter saying, "I should have put that number in first and then rung the items up." She looks so distressed as if she is about to faint that I said, "Breathe. It will be o.k."

So she calmed down and figured she could get Bill to fix it. She calls him on the phone and we wait for him to come to the register. And we wait. And we wait. By the way, Holly is the ONLY cashier. And we wait some more. Unfortunately, Bill cannot make it all better and Holly will have to re-ring the items.

Luckily, Bill takes me and the people behind me at another register. I hand him my American Express that I was not going to use, but that's where the Home Depot guy had put my credit. The card was declined. Yes, the card that just happily took a $33 credit was declined. The card with a zero balance (I paid it off two days ago) was declined. I whipped out another card and all was well. I'm thinking that I need to dig out the new Amex card I got -- but it doesn't have my picture on it ... 

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Last weekend, I had the privilege of being a delegate to the Massachusetts United Church of Christ Annual Meeting. It was exhilarating and tiring and I loved it. We voted on some policy issues and the budget, we had some preaching, and an actual church service with communion (for about 200 people). 

When we entered the main auditorium (at UMass Campus Center), there was a huge Scrabble board with the word BOLD on it. I'm talking about ten feet by ten feet. Each letter might have been 8 inches tall. Toward the beginning, they had a video on a big screen that consisted of frame by frame shots of Scrabble tiles moving to form words. (It got really annoying after three minutes and it seemed to go on forever.) After each section of the conference, they added words to the giant Scrabble board.  

I loved the networking lunch where I met people from all over the state. Our table's topic was integrating new members with long time members.

We had a special guest preacher from Chicago -- the Reverend Moss III. He was funny when he thanked us for inviting him to the Annual Meeting and Scrabble Convention.

And there were 4 rooms (your room corresponded to a section of the alphabet which contained the first letter of your last name, although I'm sure if you used the last letter of your first name, no one would have been the wiser) and each room had people who would speak and tell their story. 

The first story I heard was from a gay man from Uganda. Did you know that gay people are put to death in Uganda? I didn't. His story was compelling and horrible. It included his being tossed into jail and tortured and raped. He got out somehow to find out that his house had been burned down, killing his partner. He finally made his way to Worcester, MA where a UCC church took him in. They have sponsored 130 such refugees from many foreign places. 

There were many more stories in keeping with the theme of "Be Bold." I think what they were really getting at is, 'Be bold and take risks to help others, spread love and the love of Christ.' 

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The Wednesday before last weekend, Cyndi and I ate a lovely dinner at Johnny's Tavern in Amherst. 20% of the sales that night were given to the Senior Center.

After that I drove and we went to the West Whately Watermelon Wednesdays. (Try saying THAT fast!) Cyndi had copied the directions from their web site. We were on Route 91 north only for a few minutes and we drove and drove through the forest primevil, up a mountain, around curves, over bridges, on unpaved roads which ended up being paved ... and then, before we had run out of directions, poof! the little chapel with 50 wooden seats appeared and we were there. We said hello to the cows across the two lane road and went in to hear a masterful cellist.

During intermission, a long table with a watermelon cloth had been set outside on the grass. Running down the middle was a zillion wedges of juicy watermelon. There were pitchers with spigots for water. It was quite lovely. 

When the concert finally ended around 9:30 p.m. the stars were out, but the prettiest part of the evening was the plethora of lightning bugs. They were everywhere looking beautiful against the black night. (There were no artificial lights until the car headlights came on.)

It was a lovely evening and I'd go back in a minute. But I would definitely have to bring a pillow as those in the know did. Two hours on a wooden chair is very hard on the bones! 

We Have Seen the Enemy and They Is Us! -- Pogo

Yes, it's Sunday and I'm supposed to be out in the garden doing more weeding. I did some yesterday and almost couldn't move in the afternoon. It's, believe it or not, 62 degrees and windy which means CHILLY!

Anyway, Emily and I had a grand time yesterday.  Lunch (below):

Needless to say, the above burgers are before cooking. Each is a quarter pound of hamburger with shredded cheese in the middle bound by a strip of bacon with a peppered top on the bacon. 

We went to see "The Nice Guys" at the movies and I thought it was an instant cult classic of rollicking good fun. (I didn't like the violence, but even that became very campy.) Emily didn't like it and in fact said, "That was an awful movie!" She said she didn't understand it -- probably because it was set in 1977. There were references to Laurel and Hardy, references to Miami Vice, and a lot of pop culture that I remember but is just weird to 30 somethings.

Another scene from my unwritten movie: Emily and I sit at the bar at the Texas Roadhouse in Hadley. I order a tequila shot (Patron of course) and the very noisy bar goes silent. What really happened was the 30 something on my left said, "Really? You go, Girl!" Emily had to say, 'Oh, she sips it.' So I asked Emily what the big deal is when I order a shot and she informed me because everyone thinks I'm going to knock it back. In my opinion, the only reason people do that is to get drunk and I like to taste the tequila and not get drunk. (Besides, who can afford to get drunk in a bar any more? That one shot was $7.50! Maybe there should be senior citizen discounts for shots because we need it more and we know how to drink.)

We picked up a few things and Home Depot and I now have LED lights in the living room. A while back I let some young bright eyed kid install energy saving lights. I haven't been able to see anything since. Hopefully, this will be better. Shortly after installing the new bulbs, I was cleaning the papers off my kitchen counter in order to recycle them. Yeah, yeah, it took me over an hour and I still have a pile to go through. I think bills should be like the beginning of mission impossible: after you read them, they go poof! and disappear.

Anyway, among the detrius I find an envelope from the electric company. I have to say I HATE, not dislike, HATE these missives. It's the one where 'the perfect electricity customer' uses X amount of kw hours, you use this amount, and your neighbors use this amount. I hate being compared to my neighbors! I don't give a flying f ... well, you know ... what my neighbors use. Do they take into consideration that my neighbors don't read? Do they factor in the neighbors who are too snooty to own a TV? Huh, huh, huh? 

I have been catching up on Scandal on Netflix. It's supposedly outrageous, but there have been so many Presidents with mistresses (starting with Eisenhower in my memory), that it's not really all that outrageous. Poor Melly -- the First Lady -- has to embody all of the bad traits and misery of all of the previous First Ladies. (She lost a child, she drinks, she goes a little crazy, etc.)

Well, I'm off to make shimp fettucine alfredo. If anything happens before 60 Minutes, I'll let you know!


https://www.facebook.com/CBSBoston/videos/10154250504017010/

Gilty Pleasures

Yes, I spelled that correctly. I spent 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. gilding a hand made frame. Bill Myers and his assistant, Tatiana, milled and built the frames. (It's about 9.5 inches wide and about 11.5 inches tall.) Each was a bit different and mine was less ornate than some which was fine with me. However, this gilded frame seems to call out for an icon or at least a painting of someone with a halo!

The frame is really too shiny, even though I kind of like the bling. It needs to be burnished and then sealed with something so that it doesn't tarnish. It's not 24 carat gold, it's gold foil which is a combination of copper and gold.

The workshop was paid for by the Friends of the Jones Library so I got everything for FREE! (The packets of gold foil are about $50.) We used brushes to tap the gold into the crevices. There had been two steps before we saw the frames with gesso and "Nice," which is something tacky that the gold adheres to. I can't wait for my email of directions and products that I need to finish this!

Thank you, Cyndi, for arranging the whole wonderful workshop!

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Yup, I'm loving my "as seen on TV" bacon cooker. This is after 8 minutes in the microwave.

Can you say, "Yummy!"?

So, of course, that got me in the mood for supper.

I fried some mushrooms and onions in some of the bacon fat -- to go with a steak! I really am suffering on this WOE (way of eating) -- not! The only real carbohydrates are in the onions and it was my first of the day. 

Yes, the mushrooms are huge! I got them at Costco where everything is BIG. I may go to Aldi's tomorrow and get some ground beef and stuff the mushrooms.

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The Saga of the Mini Blinds -- or How I Am Losing My Mind

I'll try to make this a bit shorter. It was hot. Neither of the two blinds in my bedroom would stay up. I had to lash them to my bureau knobs.

Went to Walmart the next day after measuring the existing blinds and bought two new ones. Both were too small.

Went back to Walmart the next day, exchanged for the right size and added a bathroom mini blind. That one only stays at a 60 degree angle.

Got home and realized it had 2 in the package for the bathroom. Went back to Walmart. No, they were two inch, not two in a package. I didn't want them because they are faux wood and heavy, so I just exchanged them for a credit. That was last night.

Tonight I went to put up the first mini blind in my bedroom. It will not open up. I pull on the cord and nothing happens. The blind stays in the shape of the box (about 4 inches). Somebody is trying to tell me something. I'm sure the first part is, "Put in the hose to the stand alone a.c. unit and forget about mini blinds. But the second part is a mystery. 

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Speaking of yesterday, Cyndi and I went to see "Love and Friendship" which is the movie based on Jane Austen's novella, Lady Susan.  It was pretty funny in spots but there wasn't really any plot. Some of the language did not seem right for the period -- it was set in 1871 and the characters seem to speak to frankly about many subjects, particularly affairs of the heart.

But it was colorful and a fun romp. We saw it at the Amherst Cinema and I think there were only 50 seats -- if that -- in the theater. 

They had a really nice filmed promo telling us why they are raising funds to go solar. It was very well produced. But they didn't have another to tell people to turn off their cell phones. I heard at least 3 cell phones go off during the movie. Now I understand being forgetful -- I am the Queen of Forgetful, but geez! Both Cyndi and I had left our phones in our cars. That way you don't need to worry about turning it off. Just about all of the audience seemed to be senior citizens except for Cyndi and 4 young people doing a 'pick your seat' dance. That kind of cell phone oblivion gives us all a bad name.