Wednesday wins...

What day is this???  LOL

  It feels like a long day. I worked my tail off this morning around the house doing various and assorted chores. Some that didn 't get completely finished, like laundry, but will carry over to tomorrow. Some that worked out well, like the pork roast that I cooked for himself for his supper and then when I got home tonight took the leftovers and drowned them in homemade bbq sauce so the Irishman can have bbq for his lunch tomorrow.

  It was a pleasant enough day with MissB, for a change. Tomorrow might be another matter...it's the one year anniversary of her daughter's death. She has been very confused this past week, and she may not remember the significance. I suspect she will, on some level. Her daughter died at age 60, after having been handicapped from birth.  She was the caretaker her entire life.

I should be in bed and am getting ready to head that way. Last night I was in bed by 11:30 and slept until almost 8.  It was glorious...I was so tired.  Tonight I am a little revved up. ( Not from coffee, either).  I have been drinking kefir every day for about  a week now. It's been quite a deal...I'm noticing changes in my digestion as well as my energy levels.  I'm doing the low carb thing too, so it's hard to say what is what.  I am losing about 2 pounds a week. 

  It was a beautiful day today, with temps in the mid fifties. The sun shone brilliantly all day and the skies were blue and I wanted to sit outside all day. I did manage to get out there some...I have been walking MissB's little Pomeranian dog every day, not far, just up and down her street.
 It's been good for me too. He loves to go, and has started coming over and pawing at my leg if I wait to long to take him out. lol 

  Okay.  I am heading for bed.  Keep thinking good thoughts, praying for the world and especially the Japanese people.  Surround this planet with light....she's gonna need all the help she can get.



Namaste.

Technotard rides again...

 The walking onions are up and flourishing. I have chives too, that came up in last years patch.

  ON the other hand, I am having some troubles with the computer (nothing major)  and I feel like a real doofus.

 Why do I always judge myself by the things that DON'T go right instead of by the things that DO???


  Sigh...I have a headache and zero tolerance or patience tonight. With anything. lol  What?? You say this might NOT be the time to try to do technical stuff with the electronics????


  I watched Harry's Law tonight after I got home...I love Kathy Bates. It was particularly good, and there was a guy on there that used to be on ER...he was a jerk there and he is playing a jerk here. Watching him, I told the husband--that guy needs ritalin!!  lol    I feel like I need something tonight. Probably sleep.  I had a cup of coffee at about 6PM with MissB again...that is always a mistake. I need to have that tattooed on my forehead. NO COFFEE AFTER 5 PM !!!!


  I got a dozen plastic gallon jars today from a guy who was setting them out to be recycled. He gave them up gladly. They'll be perfect for storing flour, dried beans, etc in my pantry. They came from a church sausage supper where the german Lutherans had sauerkraut...he told me they served over 136 gallons of kraut.  (I was impressed).  He said he has more jars too, if I want them. I generally use glass jars and have quite  a few of them from my old restaurant days, but they are getting harder and harder to find.  They make great pantry storage.


  I think I felt an earthquake tremor this evening around 10:15.  I have had a stiff neck for several days too...and that concerns me. I have a sensitivity to quakes and can sometimes tell when they are coming. (Long story, just trust me on this. Someday I'll tell the unabridged version).  I have been out of sorts all day...

  Alright. It's 2 AM...I have got to go to bed.

Sweet dreams, y'all....


Namaste.

Silly Sunday...

   Lemon Meringue Pie...sure to please. This is a wonderful recipe I found in one of my old Farm Journal cookbooks...tweaked a little here and there, of course. I was thinking about making some of the filling for pudding...if I make it with Splenda, it can be okay for me to eat.  I'm agonna give it a whirl. Making meringue with my fresh fresh eggs is a delight...it's whips up so tall and stiff and beautiful !


  Yesterday I squeezed some lemons and then zested the rinds. They were all dried out nicely by tonight and I bagged them up for future use. I never have lemons on hand anytime I need lemon zest for a recipe, it seems. (That is about to change! lol)  My little local market had a good price on some pretty lemons, so I went for it. I used the juice all up too. The pudding recipe for this pie actually called for lemon zest too, but I skipped it, since I didn't have it.


  It snowed about 2 inches just south of here yesterday, but the snow didn't make it's way here much. By morning, it was all gone. Now that's snow I can handle!  Todays temps made it up to the mid forties and tomorrow should be around 50. Tolerable spring weather.  I'm reading in some blogs about folks getting seedlings started and planning and scheming about their gardens. I need to try to get out there and start cleaning things up. I'm having a bit of a crisis about how much of what I need to plant. First things will be to get things inventoried and see what I have lots of and what I have nothing of. lol  I hope I can get edamame again this year, or have enough left from last year to plant again. We really fell in love with that stuff, and like an idiot, I didn't save any seed.  I'd like to be more knowledgable about seed saving, but I'm not.  Probably something I should get on the stick about...there are several books I've seen in Countryside magazine about it, as well as on Amazon.


   My sister may be coming from Florida for a visit next month. I say "may" because she often makes plans and cancels and never bothers to tell you until after the fact. She called and said "We're coming..." and I thought, I'll believe it when I see the whites of your eyes. I'm a little cynical...  It'll only be a quickie visit...I haven't seen her in a couple of years...so it goes. She is apparently calling all of us and making appointments to spend a little time with everyone.  lol


   My nephew and his wife have a baby on the way...they find out the sex this week, I think.  One of my other nephews just bought his own first home...very proud of that 23 year old !!!  A great-nephew just made the National Honor Society. All of our kids are doing well. What a blessing, having had parents like us!  *grin


  Life is a big wheel that turns and turns.  Thinking today about the love and the loss and the tragedies and the miracles that make up a persons life. It's all really quite incredible, if you think about it. The perfect life, I guess, has just the right mix and balance of all those things. When all is said and done, I guess we can only hope to stand before our maker (as Erma Bombeck so aptly put it) and say "God, I used up EVERYTHING You gave me."  All the laughter, all the tears, all the wisdom and all the mistakes. All the love, all the hate, all the fear and all the faith. 

   Every last drop.




Namaste.

Friday ...a snowy spring

  Woke up this morning to an inch of snow. It snowed for most of the morning, turning to rain as the day went on. Most of it is gone now, and as a matter of fact it's warmer now (after midnight) than it has been all day. Goofy...happy spring!

 
  I took advantage of the fact that the Irishman took his truck in to have the brakes worked on to stay home and clean and do a little laundry and cook. He called me in a panic...the truck needs another $400-$500 of work done, in addition to the $400. they did today.  They did the initial stuff and it is road safe, but we'll have to get the other stuff done early next month. Sigh...grateful we have the money to do it.

  At any rate, today I cooked an Indian feast for our supper. I made Chicken Tikka Masala...which is a yogurt and spice marinated chicken that you grill and then place in a tomato and heavy cream sauce.  I made jasmine rice to serve it over, as well as a cucumber and yogurt and cilantro salad type of thing called raita..I guess it's a condiment more than a salad.  It was delicious.  I fixed roasted cauliflower and chickpeas...mixed up the raw florets and the drained beans with a jar of home canned tomatoes and okra, used garam masala spice, salt and olive oil to coat and then toss in the oven. Oh. My. God. It was amazing.  I also made naan...but it turned out more like a flatbread than the stuff you get in Indian restaurants. It is a yeast and flour bread mixture, and after it rises, you knead in minced garlic. It was great, even though it was puffier and soft. As it cooks on a grill, you brush it with melted butter. Patrick helped me with the naan cooking--definitely a 2 person job.  He was blown away by the food quality and had second helpings of everything.  I have to admit...I was pretty impressed myself. lol


  A friend gave me some kefir grains to make my own kefir with. Today I made the second batch of smoothies with it...every time you use it, you replenish it with milk and put it back in the dark pantry to grow again.  In fact, I need to look at it and see how it's doing. It needs a little rocking every so often.  It is a very healthful foodstuff, originating in the Slavic countries. It was originally made with yak milk probably, and the culturing was a method of food preservation in a time with no refrigeration available.  Turns out--SURPRISE!!-- it is full of probiotics and all kinds of healthy vitamins and minerals.  If you've never had kefir, try it. It is pleasantly tangy like yogurt and lends itself well to fruit mixtures.  I'm happy to have been given the grains by my friend Lynne!! (Thanks, girlfriend!!)


  An interesting thing happened to me today...I got a request to teach a one day class on canning in the fall at the community gardens. And also a winter soup class after that. I was most honored and hope I can do a good job. It was really a boost to my old self esteem.  lol  Exciting!



  Just checked the kefir grains. They are looking good...they're in a wide mouth pint mason jar with one of my sprout jar lids on it.  The curds form and all rise to the top...they look a little like cauliflower, lol.  So in the 24 hours that you are culturing the milk and forming whey, you rock the jar a little to mix the culture back into the milk. It's all quite fascinating and I've read a lot of stuff online and keep finding more. Lots of people are doing this now it seems. Hurray!

  Alright. Time for bed.  It has been a wonderful day here at Honeysuckle Hill...hope yours was too.


Namaste.

What happened to spring?????

I swear...yesterday was in the 70's. This morning it is 40.  The cats are highly upset.  lol

  There is some cold weather coming back in, with possible snow flurries on Saturday. All over the place, the magnolia trees have been in fuill bloom, the daffodills and crocuses spreading their cheer along yards and driveways. I have 2 small trees at the end of my drive that are full of small white flowers. And all the big trees are budding...hope this doesn't hurt my fruit trees.

   One more day and then I have my day off.  In a month or so, I am going to start having 2 off, I think. I'll need the time to garden.  My yards still look likie a war zone from all the winter storms, and with only one day off, it's hard to use that working outside...when my house needs attention and I need rest. Oh, well. I am, grateful to have what I have.

  I am slowly but surely getting used to the new computer/keyboard.  Yippee!!


   A friend gave me a small jar of kefir grains. It's in the closet and needs to be separated this morning. You put organic milk into the grains, shake and put in a dark place to ferment for 24-48 hours. If you have ever had kefir, you either love it or hate it. I started drinking it back in the late 70's, after being introduced to it by my friend Randy, when I first moved to California. . I loved the peach kefir and the raspberry kefir the best. I am going to use it to make smoothies for us...it's chock-full of probiotics (as are most fermented foods), and really expensive in the stores. I think it runs about 4 dollars a quart, or more. So, it will be a fun experiment and we'll see how it goes. You can also use it like a sourdough starter in breads and paqncakes...buit as we all know...I am not eating carbs right now, or at least keeping them at a minimum.  Eating the fruit smoothies will be close to a problem, but the adantages of the probiotics will outweigh the disadvantage. I am trying really hard to eat a sensible low carb diet...and am losing about 2.5 pounds per week.  So far it's going okay, and I don't feel deprived or hungry. Wish me luck. I am eating a huge salad every day, no sugar and am feeling pretty good, actually.


   I am off to town this morning to buy some cardamom seeds and some fresh nutmeg if I can find it. I also need a half gallon of organic milk.  It's only about a 17 mile derive to the health food store....but I need to get back home to have time to do all the stuff I need to do.  lol  (It's a old story....)


  Prayers for my friend Andrew who had shoulder surgery yesterday. I may try to call him today, later, to see how it went. Or I may give him another day before I bug him.  That rotater cuff surgery is a bear...I have several friends who have had it.  Love you, buddy....hope all is well.


  Have a grand day, all.


Namaste.

Mad as a March hare...

Always wondered what that meant...I should google it.  brb


Got it. apparently hares breed in the month of March and act all godawful crazy...much like humans. It's origins are in the UK (surprise!) from way back when. And that's all you really need to know.  LOL


LOOK!  Today is really the first day of spring and I can prove it...

The forsythia are blooming in the backyard!!!!

  Not only that,

But the lilies are coming up too!!  I was out walking around the back yard after feeding the chooks, and saw daffodills, crocuses and violets as well. Before long there'll be grass to mow and gardens to plant. I can't wait!  Our high today was 82. It's hot tonight too.


  I spent the better part of my morning doing all kinds of spring cleaning....even got the laundry done.  I hung rugs out over the porch rail to air out, vacuumed, dusted and generally had a darn productive day. Then I was off to MissB's at 2:30 and got home around 8:30.  I made granola bars for the irishman's lunches today and left them in the pan to cut when I got home. Big mistake. The waxed paper was practically welded to them. Sigh...Finally got them all wrapped and in the fridge and then cleaned up dishes and whatnot before retiring to my computer chair. (After watching Harry's Law)


  Once again I'm staying up later than I'd planned. The weather has all the animals crazy and nobody wants to come inside...arrgghhh....think I've got the majority of them in here. Maybe I can get moving towards my bed here in a minute.

  Got a call tonight from the husband of a friend...she's in jail, clearing up the wreckage of her past. He sounded terrible and asked if I'd write a letter.  Of course I will. She's been sober almost 3 years, and this little thing right now is over 5 years old.  Makes me grateful to be sober and to have gotten through that "phase of my developement" a long time ago. Not saying I don't still have to make amends for things...just different things than I used to have to. And for quite a few years now, they haven't involved any jail time. Prayers and blessings for R-


  Okay...I'm on my way to meet up with the Sandman...Catch you on the upswing....


Namaste.

Suddenly Sunday

 This is my sweet baboo,, a little long haired black and white kitty. She's adorable and extremely affectionate. The yellow cat is Frankie Figs. He's not crazy about any of the other cats.


  I finally got the photo program installed...had to uninstall it and then have another go at it. It is finally done and all I have to do now is take more pictures. lol  I also had to download the manual for the camera...turned out to be over 150 pages. Crikey. Nobody wants to give you an owners manual anymore...aaarrrggghhh.....


  Today was a very long and uncomfortable day at MissB's house. Altzheimers is a very cruel disease, and I'm relieved that my parents didn't live long enough to have to suffer with it. It is tragic.


  The weather was grand, with highs of around 79 degrees. It was sunny and glorious and I managed to get outside several times. This morning I made a trip to the county seat of these parts and did some shopping. Bought my customary supply of  Sumatran coffee at Starbucks...2 one pound bags of whole beans.  Then I went to the 
large market (Dierbergs) and bought a few things and looked in vain for the Garam masala spice mix.  When I came home, I googled it and found several recipes for making it myself. I have all the spices except the whole cardamom.Tomorrow I will try the health food store's bulk spices ...they might have it.  And then, I will be ready to make chicken tikka masala for the first time.

  Got an email from a friend who is going to give me some kefir grains.  Woohoo!  Then I will try making kefir at home.  I used to drink it all the time...and haven't had it in years. Exciting!

  I am very tired tonight and it's getting late, but I wanted to stop here and write...something, anything! I have started another writing project and am hammering away at it, a bit at a time.I think April is NaNoWriMo's scriptfrenzy month...I have never tried writing a script....

  The world is turned on it's ear: Japan is in trouble with nuclear radiation and the powers that be have started bombing Libya. I'm sure it's a delicate situation...and then we have elected officialos saying out loud and publicly that we should ..."Shoot the illegals coming across the border like feral hogs".  I am saddened and dismayed this week by the state of the world and the ugly side of humanity. Retreat into prayer is all I know. Love is the only answer...love and compassion and a strong heart.  Bless us everyone....


Namaste.