Happy Groundhogs Day, Happy Feast of St Brigid, Happy Imbolec...

AND...

  Happy Birthday to my dad...he would have been 87 years old today. (For some reason all of the photos of him that I have in my files seem to be missing or not showing up right...this is fuzzy...)

  The Irishman has a birthday too, on the 8th. Both Aquarius'.  I will plan a birthday/Valentine's Day celebration for him.

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  Feeling better in some ways, not so much in others. It was a beautiful 60 degrees here today, so I opened up the house and blew out the cooties again. (Supposed to have a mild front coming in, bringing us some rain) I also did laundry and hung my bed linens all outside on the line. They smell so good...my comforter too, although I had to finish it off in the dryer, because by dark, it was still a tiny bit damp.  I did a little housekeeping and cooked some supper and that was about it. But tonight I'm coughing more than I was yesterday...I actually went to bed last night with no cough medicine and was fine, after a bit of initial mild coughing. Tonight, I have been coughing since supper. yuck.

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  Nothing much new around here...my son is coming in the morning to do some outside work for me..he needs the money and I need the work done. I'm going to have him do some pruning (lilac, rose of sharons, and roses) and he's going to start moving that giant pile of mulch for me too. I'm going to have him mulch all across the top of the rock wall, and down at the base of it too, where the irises all grow.  Also along the west side of the house where I planted irises. I  want to use that mulch in the aisles of the garden beds...it will make a nice walking path.   It'll be good for him to do some hard physical labor and work off some steam, and good for me to NOT do it. lol  Win/Win.

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  Just wanted to stop in and say hello. I can't stand to read any more of the political crap--it's driving me crazy. I need to go to bed and get some sleep and it's already after 1 AM...but on the bright side, all the laundry is done (I just folded the last load) and the floors are vacuumed and the bed I'm getting ready to climb into has clean clean sheets.  Supper dishes are done too...

  Going to try to get out and go to a movie tomorrow night...hopefully One For The Money...hope you all have a great Friday....

 Namaste.

Post Birthday Bliss...

 I just want to know one thing.  If there can be 12 days of Christmas...why can't there be 12 days of birthday?

  I'm here to tell you..THERE CAN BE !!!!!

  And today is Day 2. (or 3, if I start the day before my birthday) Doesn't matter. Once again, it's something I'm going to do until I don't want to do it anymore. (The story of my life).  lol

  It was a wonderful Epiphany. I got up and the Irishman made my breakfast. Then he drove me to town for my 10:30 massage appointment. After I was completely rubbed and squeezed into ecstatic submission, I wandered down the stairs to find him at the desk, chatting up my masseuse.  Turns out he had not only paid for my massage, but paid for the next one too. What a guy, huh?

  Afterwards we went to the Dead Lobster (my affectionate nickname for the restaurant)  for a shrimp-y lunch, which we enjoyed immensely.  Then it was back home to rest up and get ready to make the pilgrimage to the veterinarians office. The Honey Badger had to get her post-bite exam and be micro chipped and we also used the opportunity to get Miss Caylee rustled in for a rabies shot.  This is no mean feat. She HATES riding in the car and was terrified, but the Irishman was able to manage her and we got there and back and everything was fine. Thing is, every time she gets in the car it's because of trauma and so she has connected those two things. We try and try to get her in the car to go to the park like the other dogs love to do, but he will not.  Anyway, it's over for another year.

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  now then.  Dear Kristen, from Jilli Java, has sweetly awarded me an award.

 I am supposed to award it to 3 people whose blogs I read and then tell you 7 obscure facts about myself.  I want to acknowledge Jozien  at Keeper of Wild Places, for always giving me another magnificent way to look at the world around us. Her writing, her art...she is wonderful.   Then there is Linda at Hello,It's Me.  She's really something--talented, intuitve and inspires me more than she'll ever know.  And last, but not least, is the ubiquitous Rubye Jack (aka Linda) at Blue Skies, Sunny Days. We are sisters under the skin and she opens new doors for me every time I read her blog.  I am blessed by all 3 of these women...as well as many more, but I only get to pick 3 here.  LOL

  Okay. 7 obscure facts about me.  (This could be harder than it sounds, as my life is an open book). (Which only means I am a blabbermouth).   lol

  1)  I am an earthquake "sensitive".  Preceding earthquakes (sometimes for up to a week before, depending on the magnitude)  I experience physical symptoms: frozen neck muscles, headaches,stiff neck and a low hum in my ears. 

  2)  I am a conspiracy theorist, and instead of getting better, I only get worse, as the world gets smaller.

  3)  I have a good singing voice, even though my regular voice sounds like one of those old lady gin-voices.

  4)  I have an amazing ability to BS my way into, out of and through almost anything.

  5)  I have never had an earache. In my whole life.

  6)  I have an ultra-keen sense of smell.

  7)  I was in South America when the Jim Jones Massacre happened. Whatever year that was. I was in a     

       drunken, drug crazed  whirlwind and it's a miracle I lived long enough to get clean and sober.

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  So, there you have it.

  I have some things to do before it suddenly turns into noon (half an hour from now)  and I'd better get crackin' !!

  Later, Taters...

Namaste.

Adventures in life

Awww...no I'm not.  LOL

************  I need to go check Linda's blog about the post on kimchi.

 Yesterday, I chopped Napa Cabbage, kale, garlic, ginger, carrots and grated turnip. Covered it with a brine of salt and water, and am getting ready now to go drain the brine and get the spices into it.  I'm very excited about this endeavor.

 Today I cut corn off the cob that I had frozen whole in 2010 and it's in the dehydrator now. I needed the freezer space for the 20 pound turkey I brought home on Friday.  It's all about the juggling, baby....lol

 So I have been staying busy and trying to get my house readied for the onslaught of family that will arrive Thursday morning. I have kitchen cabinets all done, a new kitchen faucet installed (and no more leaks!!!!).  I have the ceiling lights all sparkly and the ceiling fans cleaned. Tomorrow I will work on my bedroom and the big closet. It was on my list for Wednesday, but...oh, well. I am flexible if I'm anything.  :)   Whatever gets done will get done and whatever doesn't will probably not even be noticed by anyone but me.  lol

  I sent an email to my new hero Sharon Astyk tonight. I am as giddy as a schoolgirl.  Just asking a question about something.  I really think she will reply./\../\

   Went to a birthday breakfast for my now 15 year old grandson this morning. Can't believe he will be driving next year.  It was nice. He wanted Pizza Hut gift cards, so that's what he got. 40 bucks worth of pizza.  lol

He was bedazzled.

   The weather has been seesawing back and forth here. It was very chilly this morning, but by the time the wind stopped tonight it was back at 59 degrees. Might get rain, but it's warming back up. We had a couple of good frosty mornings where the temps were down in the high 20's. But now it's warmed up again.

  I made a lovely tofu stir-fry last night for supper...lots of garden stuff in it like kale and turnips and carrots and asparagus..and ginger and garlic and red onion...and green beans and snow peas. Life is good when you get to eat things you've planted and nurtured and harvested with your own two hands.

  I'm gonna go get that kimchi drained and spiced and into the jars. I'll make sure to take a picture of it's prettiness...

  

  Oooooo...ain't it purty????   It really smells good too...we'll see how I feel after the fermentation starts. lol  I ate a bite and the cabbage was nice and crispy.  I'm going to use Linda's recipe next time.  I also need to find some Korean red pepper flakes, as I used a potent cayenne this time.

  Alrighty then...I am pooped and it's 1 AM here in the breadbasket. Time for sweet dreams and some good rest. 

Namaste.

This friend thing is harder than you think...

  I spent the day at the birthday party of an 8 year old and some of her friends.  I have never heard so much racket in  my life...surely I was never this kind of a little girl...all screechy and laugh-y....lol

The fun part was watching them all interact. Some were cousins, some were school friends.  All of them at different times were hugging and whispering and holding hands. (When they weren't shrieking like banshees).

  They all helped her with her presents, helped her bust the pinata, and helped her eat ice cream and cake. They all oohh'd and ahhh'd over all the birthday presents, especially the clothes and the new bike. They were there, supporting her all the way. Just the way friends should. Of course, it's easy to support your friend at a party. Or when things are all going well.  Or when life is rosy. Not so easy when times are tough, or awful things are happening, or you just don't feel good yourself. That's when the true nature of friendship shows itself...when you know that you have to push past your own frailties and your own limitations and be there for someone else, regardless of how you're feeling. And when you can put your own stuff on the shelf for now, and be there 100%.

  A friend of mine is facing one of the biggest challenges of her life. My job is to stand there and keep my mouth shut and let her say and do the things she needs to do right now. It isn't easy. But I know she'd do the same for me, and I know that when she is ready for advice or help, she'll let me know. Because that's how we operate. We have learned the dance of trust and love that enables us to communicate on a higher level than many. I know, as does she, that our friendship is a lifeline for us both and that we can be especially grateful to have that. It has stood the test of time, good weather and bad.  Hurt feelings and joys.  In sickness and in health. I know her like no one else does and she knows me as well...knows things that even my husband doesn't know. This substantial knowledge connects us in a way that nothing else can. It is an incredible blessing.

  Watching these little girls today, I was reminded of my 2 best friends in grade school, Joan and Randi. We were the Three Musketeers. Inseparable. All for one and one for all. I wonder where they are and what they're doing now....sometimes the friendships we think will last forever don't. People move, people die...people just outgrow each other. There are a million paths we can take, and if we're lucky, we take that path with at least one good friend in tow.

Namaste.

Holidays

 Independence Day weekend. Interesting to look back now, in light of what we [think] we know about things like tyrants and dictators and apartheid and the murder and torture of  citizens around this present day world...and realize how ridiculously giddy we get in this country, celebrating our independence from Britain, for godssakes. I am a bit jaded on all this nationalistic, patriotic stuff, I know.  And it isn't that I don't appreciate a LOT of things about the country of my birth. I guess I'm just a little cranky today. But--I did put the flag out.  lol

 My little town, Bunker Hill, IL  puts on a huge brouhaha  every year for all these kinds of holidays..the 4th of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day. Even as I type, there is a huge parade making its way down the main street--floats and firetrucks and tractors and horse and buggies...Shriners, Boy Scouts and VFWs, children with balloons, politicians hugging babies and dumping loads of propaganda everywhere in the form of flyers and ballcaps and frisbees printed with their names on them.  There will be big doins' all day...baseball and picnics and horseshoe tournaments and it will end with a big fireworks display out at the Reservoir tonight.

  I just finished a batch of granola bars. Rather plain this time, since the Irishman apparently ate all the rest of the dried fruit in his oatmeal this morning. lol.  So, they got oats and peanuts and sunflower kernels and flax seed and sesame seed and raisins.  I need to make bread today too, but am also thinking of a pasta dish for supper with homemade Italian bread.

  Yesterday was my sons 39th birthday. The fam came over for a supper of bbq'd ribs and chicken, potato salad, devilled eggs and a big green salad.  I made a blackberry cobbler with ice cream for dessert, as it's his favorite. It's noon, and I'm still in my jammies.               

  Having a hard time getting going today.  Maybe if I jump up and get dressed I won't feel so blah....Home alone, with the kitties. The pups are all outside and the weather is beautiful again today.  NO reason for being like I am....all mopey and blue. Maybe I need to take a trip out of the neighborhood....I've been staying close to home the past week....

Namaste...

Happy 50th, Honey

                  

 I am always glad to see pictures like this. Good to know I'm not the only person in the world who has cats sleeping in the most inappropriate  places....

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   I spent a good part of the day cooking. My knee is feeling it too...too much standing.  But by the time the Irishman got home from work, I had his favorite meal cooked, the house all lit with candles, and some soft jazz playing. I oven roasted a Boston Butt pork roast, with onions, carrots,  potatoes and celery all cooked with it.  I served a simple salad of mixed greens and pistachios, topped with a  home made mustard vinaigrette and gorgonzola bits crumbled on top. I made yeast rolls served hot with butter and a peach cobbler made with peaches from our own trees and a soft sweet biscuit topping for dessert.  It was delightful, and he was very impressed.  He's my biggest fan when it comes to cooking, and I am blessed to have a man who will try anything once. He's not a picky eater...rather adventurous, actually.  I love cooking and he loves eating...it's a match made in heaven! lol

   The snow started first thing this morning and then stopped, just to tease us I guess. At about 8 PM, it started again, in earnest this time.  They're predicting 4-6 inches and there must be 3 out there already.  I don't care. I have nowhere to go.  The kerosene heater is in place in case the power goes out, and I have hurricane lamps and candles.  I have books to read,  batteries for the radio, and am charging the cell phone even as we speak.I have a gas stove, so I can always cook and heat water for tea.or coffee. I have the equipment to make coffee without electricity if I have to. It's cold enough in the mudroom that if the power goes out for an extended time, I can store foodstuffs out there from the fridge so they won't spoil.  My big freezers are in my unheated garage, so they'll be okay too.  Bring it on, Mother Nature...I'm ready!

   Went out to read the electric meter (we belong to a rural  electric cooperative , and we read our own meters.), because hubby read it on the first (I was laid up, post surgery) and when I was paying bills this morning, I looked at the numbers he wrote down and thought--That doesn't look right.  Out I go, and the meter was sitting dead still. AND, the numbers had rolled back from last months final reading of 00595 to before the month befores reading of 99768.  IT read 99742. I watched it for a minute and realized that it was not running at all. I came in and called them and they said they would come here and change out the meter, that this stuff happens, and for me to make a note on my bill receipt saying I had called in the problem..  So, I guess I'll be getting a shiny new meter any day now....hopefully it will be easier to read than the current one.  lol

   The furnace has not worked for several days, I tried and tried to get it running but the pilot would not ignite. This morning I asked for some help and it started the first time I tried. It has been running just fine all day.  I went to town and picked up our taxes. We are getting money back from state and Federal-yippee. Not an exorbitant amount or anything, but it will be enough to pay for furnace repairs and a few other things we need.  Mostly I am dancing because last year we had to pay the state some money, and that hurts me.  lol  

 After supper tonight we watched The Milagro Beanfield War.  If you haven't seen this gem, do.  It's charming and funny and a  wonderful. Thanks, Robert Redford. It was made way back when...1988...his directing debut, I think.  (Guess I should check that fact...)  Stars Ruben Blades, Sonja Braga, John Heard and Christopher Walken  Big time thumbs up~!

  Time for me to consider  hitting the hay. It's late and I am tired in a really good way. The dishes are done, the floors are clean, and not enough sleep can make me mean.  (Hey! I'm a poet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)*snork

  On that note, I'm outta here.......

Namaste.

Think good thoughts.

  I had a terrible time shooting this picture...no matter where I put it, it was one thing or another.  But, I think it really is good rules for all.

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    It's been a quiet day here on the old homestead. The Irishman woke up not feeling good, all sinusey and scratchy throat.  My stomach is still a bit queasy. All in all, we were a couple of low key characters today. As you can see, we wound up deciding not to go to the concert. Just way too late a starting time and not feeling at the top of the game, made driving into the city on a snowy night not all that appealing. We wouldn't have gotten back home until about 3 AM.

   We sat around reading a lot. The Irishman did a clean and conditioning job on his work boots with mink oil, or Saddle soap first, I guess, then the oil.  I made bread and cooked a lovely supper of plain chicken breasts with leftover roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli.  We watched a Brad Pitt movie called The Mexican, with Julia Roberts and Gene Hackman and Tony Soprano. (LOL--I can't for the life of me think of the actors name, and I know it as well as my own. I must be tired.)  Later we watched Finding Nemo.  Now I am finishing up here and getting ready for bed. I am tired and we have a big day tomorrow. (Well...not really big.  But you know, lol)  A 10 Am meeting and then we'll go to lunch and to a movie to celebrate the Irishman's birthday. It's not til Monday, and he doesn't know that I'm throwing a surprise party for him next Saturday, combo  BD/Valentine's Day. It's been very last miniute, but I wasn't sure if I'd really be up to doing it....

   Carol--I checked the settings on Dragon Woman's Kitchen  and sure enough, somehow the access setting got changed. When I read your comment about not getting into it without an invite, I was confused, because it has never been like that before. So...I fixed it.  Thanks for letting me know.  I got the post written and had some trouble with the pictures and spacing...this is a problem I have always had with blogspot.  Don't know why it has to be so difficult...all I want to do is post a picture and write under it. lol

   My phone has been strangely silent today.  Been kinda nice, for a change.  I think I had maybe 3 phone calls all day. Is this how normal people live???  lol

   It's really beautiful out there. We got maybe 4 inches, a little less. It was a sight to see....

   Okay, fatigue is winning out. I will skittle on outta here and wish you all a good night. 

 Namaste.

January 4, 2010

Brilliant clear cold skies can only mean one thing around here...the eagles are back! From late December until May, the bald eagles come back this way to nest and raise young 'uns all along the Mississippi River. If you have never seen an eagles nest, it's a sight to behold. About the size of a Volkswagen, made with branches and limbs of trees. I could stand up in one and you'd barely see the top of my head. They average about 7 ft across too...it's a trip, I'm telling you. All day long you can watch them soaring and diving, hunting and just making beautiful choreographed poetry across the skies here. I could sit for hours and watch them.


Had a chiropractor appointment this morning. I don't know...I am really a fan of the trade, but I don't know if this is helping me or making me worse. I woke up feeling off kilter to begin with, and by the time he was finished, my head hurt and I was disoriented a little. Maybe disoriented is too strong a word...but I wasn't right. I thought it would pass, but it never did. I called my sponsor and canceled our lunch date, and went straight home and to bed with a heating pad, and I slept for about 3 hours. I have had a headache all day. Picked up the husbandman and we drove to my friends house to pick up their little car that they are so graciously giving me to use while they're gone. I won't have to get up at 5 am anymore to keep the car, at least not for the next few months. How blessed am I to have such friends?? Such generous spirits...it boggles the mind...


Chatted with both my sisters today. The local one wanting to take me to lunch for my birthday on Wednesday, the other recruiting me to help convince the entire family up here to go down south next October for a wedding, saying everyone could stay at her two houses (yes, that's what I said...2 houses) there and wouldn't it be nice for all of us to be there together? And it would mean so much to the bride to be to have all the family there...and of course I'm thinking 2 things: 1) That's a year from now and does anybody really make plans that far in advance? Anything could be happening by then...and 2) If it was meaning so much to her to have all the family there, she would be having it up here where all the family IS, instead of on an Island in Floridas waters...her parents are here, for crying out loud...and none of us are rich. But...I didn't say any of that. I just uh-huh 'd and hmmmm'd.


I am totally digging the Barbara Kingsolver book I bought myself as a reward for finishing Nano...Called The Lacuna. I'm about halfway through it now. I still need a copy of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. It's one I haven't read yet. Also a nonfiction she wrote called Holding the Line: Women in the Great Arizona Mine Strike of 1983. I have read a lot of the essays she has written that have been in the sustainability books we've used for classes too. Love love love her.


Okay...even with the 3 hour nap, I'm thinking of going to bed soon. Time to wrap this up and leave you with a sweet thought by Somerset Maugham:

"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it."


Namaste.

Saturday January 2, 2010

Can you imagine....fencing in the goddesses like this??? lol

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It's after midnight and I should be abed. The temperature right now is 5 degrees, with a minus 7 wind chill. I have a feeling that this is going to be a brutal winter around these parts...it's certainly off to a good start. We spent part of the day weatherizing the windows with plastic sheeting and I put up a heavy curtain over the kitchen window as well, on top of the plastic, because you can feel the draft coming in there. It's snug as a bug now. Husbandman finished the cleaning and checking of the kerosene heater, you have to burn the wick down (or something) every year, and check it all out to make sure it's ready to go if we should need it. We have a lot of power outages here, so many trees and lots of wide open spaces. The pantry needs checking and fine tuning, and otherwise, we're as ready as we'll ever be for the long dark winter. lol

Want to shout out a "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!" to KristinH over at Jilli Java...hope it was grand, girlie! I love birthdays of all kinds. Got a call from my little niece down south, informing me that her birthday party would be on the 11th and I needed to make sure to come, because she loves me. I have a nephew that shares my birthday next Wednesday, his wife is the 4th, his daughter is the5th and we are the 6th. Then Skyler is the 11th. It's a busy month in my family...lol


We watched the movie Usual Suspects tonight, as we hadn't seen it in a while. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollack, Chaz Palmeintiere(sp)...a magnificent cast and a great story. Had leftovers for dinner, and had made a nice tuna salad for lunch, all trimmed up with hard boiled egg and artichoke hearts and pickled green beans and black olives. It was yummy...and healthy too. Supper was a refreshed spaghetti sauce with meatballs and pasta. Using up leftovers...The only thing left was 3 meatballs that I will feed that man for lunch tomorrow as a sub. Just about got the fridge cleaned out...still have a counter full of cookies though.


I'm feeling very blessed today for a lot of reasons. I like feeling this way. Went to a good meeting last night and got to see my pal who's leaving for the islands on Tuesday. Got to see my sponsor and make a lunch date for Monday with her. We talked about that psychic change...wow. When I look back at what it used to be like, there's no doubt in my mind that I have experienced that shift. I'm so grateful to be sober, that I can't find the words.


Time for me to go off to bed. I'm overtired and feeling a little goofy. Sweet dreams, all y'all...


Namaste.


PS--(((Chris: ACIM is A Course In Miracles!!!!)))