Sunday, May 28, 2017

Casserole en el Piso

Today I had a wonderful brunch with Tomi and Dave at Essalon in Hadley. The best thing was the conversation. It was so nice to talk with sentient adults with no agenda other than fun conversation. (Of course, no politics to speak of. We all know where we stand and we wanted it to be happy talk.)

After that, it was my Aldi's stop. I still love that store! Eggs were $0.55/dozen!!

Once I got laundry going, and much of the groceries stowed away, I loaded up the oven with: stuffed jalapenos, chicken thighs "breaded" in pork rind dust, chicken thighs in buffalo hot sauce, a crustless quiche, and roasted radishes. I divided hard salami rounds into serving sizes and put them into individual packages. Having determined that I need better portion control, I will be measuring out mixed nuts into single portion sizes so I don't overeat. My morning snack will be quiche and salami. My afternoon snack will be nuts. Sometimes I forget my morning snack and either eat it at lunch or in the afternoon. 

At that point, I figured I had better eat lunch because it was 2 p.m. and I didn't want to eat my evening meal too late. I "created" a nice casserole with pre-cooked cauliflower on the bottom, pre-cooked ground beef, some fresh mushrooms, and some leftover Alfredo sauce from a jar. I zapped it in the microwave, added fresh ground pepper and salt. I reached for my coffee and my elbow hit my dish of casserole which did a two and a half gainer off the counter before it hit the floor. (Yes, "en el piso" means "on the floor" in Spanish.) Oh, but wait -- there's more. At least half of the casserole fell into my open purse which was on the floor.  Yep, on my phone, my sunglasses, my diabetes test kit ... well, you get the idea. I not only have to wash the floor, I have to clean my (huge) purse! Darn.

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Cyndi hosted an art show with student art from Kanegasaki, Japan. Most of the students were ages 14 and 15 years old. I helped her set up. There were 26 water color paintings based on Emily Dickinson's poetry; I've only given you a couple of pictures here. You can see more at the FaceBook group called Kanegasaki Sister City and Friends.


Cyndi before guests arrived



Roses in Emily's Garden


"I like a look of agony ..."

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Got a load of clothes washed and hung up. Am drying the second load, washing the third load. Emptied the dehumidifier, once again proving that water is heavy. It no longer drains through the hose that empties into the sump pump. And I have to kick it to restart it. Really. The dishwasher is chugging away washing dishes.

The asparagus is cooked and looks very festive next to the radishes in my lunches. I'm pretty sure I bought some broccoli, but that can wait a bit. I have to do some serious re-arranging in the fridge. I'm thinking that will entail making salad or at least cutting up the lettuce.

Since we have Memorial Day off, I don't have to put the trash and recycling at the curb tonight because the pick up is delayed until Tuesday. That's a good thing because it will give me more time to get the recycling together. We alternate weeks and this week is paper and cardboard. I haven't put most of it outside (in the open bucket) because it has been raining off and on for two weeks. Ever since I bought a silver sun screen for my car, it has been raining.

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I have found a new show on Netflix: The Ranch. It's a comedy with a laugh track which I hate, a slow start with only mildly amusing jokes, which I don't like. They use the F word liberally, which is o.k. with me (but not Mom). There are two words that are the whole reason that I watch the show. Sam Elliott. Need I say more? Ashton Kutchner and Deborah Winger are also in it and the jokes (and writing) do get better after the first couple of episodes. Bo Bennett (the father, Sam E.) is a rancher in Colorado with two sons and an estranged wife. 

I have to tell you one joke -- Bo (the father) is telling the sons that times are tight and they have to economize and only buy what they really need. And he looks at a carton and says, "What the F... is almond milk?? I never saw a teat on an almond!"  Those ranchers. So earthy.

I'm liking it because the third season of Bloodline was such a downer, I needed relief. Yes, I did binge watch Bloodline, and I should know better. But what can I say? It keeps me out of bars and taverns.
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By the way, the temperature has gone from rainy in the 50s to rainy and 74 F. It's HUMID. As we say, 'You can cut the air with a knife.' Combined with seasonal allergies, I'm huffing and puffing. I finally broke down last week and take an Allegra in the morning before work. (My face is so puffy in the a.m., I look like a drunk.) And then, as if a gong goes off, at Noon the Allegra gives up the ghost and I'm all snarfly again. I haven't been taking another pill in the afternoon, but I might have to give in: two sides of my office are covered with lilac blossoms. A woman stopped in on Friday and wanted to know the variety because these are still blooming when all other lilacs have stopped. I wanted to say, "Really Smelly Lilaculus!" but I didn't think that would be appropriate. I did say that Reference could probably help her ... (Anyone else would have broken off a bit and brought it to the Hadley Garden Center for identification, but ... )

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I "met" a really lovely pup at Aldi's. I thought it might be a mastiff but it's a really big (grey) pit bull. They said he's still young but his father weighed 110 pounds. This was a snuggle bunny and he wanted/allowed me to pat him. I'm glad I don't have to feed that dog! I'm guessing he goes through a fair amount of kibble.


Monday, May 22, 2017

Heat Wave and Aftermath

Who knew that two days in a row of 90 F. heat was a heatwave? Or maybe it's only a heat wave when it's May before Memorial Day. It was beastly at work -- 86 + in my office. Ugh.

One of my friends was bragging that his tomatoes are three feet tall. HA! My weeds are taller than that. (He lives in Maryland and if he asks me one more time if all of the snow has melted, I'm going to mail him a snowball. With yellow snow.

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Monday, May 22

It's back to rainy and 50s. That's o.k. I have been remiss, so here are "old" pictures I was saving for you.




The top three pictures are from a couple of weeks ago when it was spring (and not a heat wave).

  


This year, I only have single white lilacs. In the past, I have also had double lavender lilacs -- but they appear to have left ...

Below is the panda that Emily brought me all the way from California (from Mom). He holds my cell phone. Do you see Roxanne's cut work on my window? It's truly amazing. She does it all free hand (design and cutting).



And above is the Mother's Day bouquet that Emily sent me. This picture was taken yesterday and it's still blooming like crazy. It's very cheerful.
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So yesterday was a pilgrimage to Costco to buy BIG FOOD. I already had veggies, luckily, but I ended up cooking:

beef and mushrooms in the crockpot
curry roasted cauliflower
steamed cauliflower
roasted brussels sprouts with bacon fat
bacon (baked -- pre-cooked)
quiche with pancetta on the bottom (crustless)
ribs with cajun seasoning.

I did not make the mushroom soup, but maybe I'll do that on Wednesday. The fridge is a bit over stocked ...

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Cyndy and I went to see A Quiet Passion with Keith Carradine and Cynthia Nixon. Some of it was filmed in Amherst at the Emily Dickinson House. We were not impressed. Cyndi told me all about   the historical bloopers and I thought it was slow. Really slow. So slow, in fact, that if a cat had strolled across the screen that would have been the height of action.

I was tickled to see Barry Roberts as the driver of Emily's father's hearse. He is the local owner of draft horses, but these were regular horses. (Not huge, normal sized.)

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I saw Bette Midler on CBS' Sunday Morning and she's 71 years young and appearing on Broadway. She spoke of women 'of a certain age,' and I had heard that phrase before. I don't really know what that means because a much younger friend had used it about herself. Does it mean when the woman is certain about her life? Does it mean after menopause? Does it mean 'old enough to know better'? 

So I asked Google and I got:  "A lady of a 'certain age,' which means Certainly aged." ... The phrase was repopularized in a 1979 book by the psychotherapist Lillian B. Rubin, "Women of a Certain Age: The Midlife Search for Self," in which midlife spanned 35 to 54."

"Urban Dictionary has a far more specific term: "Ironically polite term for a woman who does not want her actual age known, e.g. one who is close to or just over the menopause."

So does that mean I am "a lady of an uncertain age"? Or just "incredibly vibrant and sexy, but old"? Maybe I should replace old with wise. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Personally, I don't mind telling my age -- I did a lot of living to get here and I don't regret one day. Well, maybe I regret a couple of days when I really should have told someone to fly off and I didn't, but that's another story.

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I am happy to report that my swishy palazzo pants came out great although I may have made the elastic in the waistband too loose. (Lautrec) I have a top that I'm making to go with them, but I didn't get a chance to work on it this weekend. Maybe tonight. I'm doing the boring parts like finishing raw edges. And then I have more fabric for one more top. I'm really impressed with myself that I can design and make something that I would actually wear. I'll report on progress later.

Have a great week! :)