I think at the end there, she realized, "Hey! This isn't ice cream!"
7/14/10
7/9/10
What I Did On My Staycation
Someone at work said staycations are "out," but I beg to differ. I took a few days off prior to the 4th, so with the holiday weekend thrown in, I enjoyed 6.5 glorious days at home to do, for the most part, whatever the hell I wanted. It was the perfect mix of relaxing, accomplishing, playing, doing chores and visiting. After years of traveling, it was nice to spend so much time at home with my only agenda a to-do list that I (and I alone) created.
Lenore couldn't play too much on account of her recovering from the "permanent accessory" installation (i.e., she got her boobs), but she joined in on few activities. Not totally in order, the majority of "ing" things accomplished included:
Also, we munched the summer's first sweet corn (corm!) and we made pancakes in the crockpot (!!). Seriously -- here's proof. Comes out like a giant scone! (This was an organic, whole grain/birdseed mix, but I think you could use any mix or recipe -- just grease your crock and "bake" for 2-3 hours on high.)
A few notes on the list above:
The days leading up to the 4th were cool and not humid, so I broke out the bread-baking supplies and made a few whole grain, no-knead loaves of bread. I had gotten a "new" covered Pyrex casserole dish at a rummage sale, so I had to try it out (it works great!). (Note, if you watch the video from the hyperlink, I don't bother with the steam, I just use a covered dish instead.) We froze and food savored the loaves for subsequent hot days.
Also, I have to summarize my many berry picking excursions. I found a great spot, but since it's on a well-traveled road, I think other poachers were visiting it. There was one lady who actually had the GALL to make a move toward picking berries RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! Hello? I had an overwhelming urge to pee on the bushes. But I didn't, and luckily, she moved on. My next ploy, however, was to enthusiastically talk to her about accepting Jesus as her personal savior. I know that'd make *me* move along.
Luckily, I found an even better spot, somewhat more secluded, and with bigger, sweeter berries (no, I'm not telling!). However, one couple did happen along, and the woman commented to her beau that they "should come back and pick some berries!" Again, I refrained from marking my territory, but I did comment lightly, "Yeah, they're good, you just have to watch out for snakes..." Then she was all, "OMG, snakes! I'm not going in there!" Heh heh. It's not like I was lying -- you should always be on the lookout for snakes, shouldn't you? Lenore says I'm going to hell.
The Chicago Bandits game (dad went too) was a hoot, because once again we had entertaining fans in front of us. This time it was an extended family of young parents and their sunburned offspring, all with sun bleached hair and nonstop activity. One of the kids discovered that the ticket stubs entitled the bearer to THREE free items from the concession stand. I cannot begin to describe the excitement that rippled through this family, but suffice it to say, as my dad observed, "These guys are like a hoard of locusts! There's not going to be anything left!" As it turns out, that special deal was supposed to be for people in the VIP section (who paid a lot more for their tickets than us'ns in the cheap seats), but nobody bothered to tell the kids working the concession stand. Oops. If that weren't enough, these industrious chilluns also discovered they could win two-for-one passes by pitching a ball through a hoop behind the bleachers, so they spent a good deal of time rotating through that line numerous times. Impressed, I considered hiring one to win me a pass, or perhaps adopting one or two of them.
Later that same weekend, we attended a "Death by Chocolate" Fourth of July party, to which we brought special-order "Bite Me" cookies from my high school friend Pattie. She made special chocolate sugar cookies for me and gave me a deal, since it was her first time making chocolate. Are they not divine? My co workers enjoyed leftovers.
Since the name is "bite me," I had to prove that I could follow directions.
Steph and Jane were hosts, and since Steph is village president of Sleepy Hollow (the only town that even had fireworks in Dundee Township this year, despite the fact that they have virtually no sales tax income -- now that's how you set priorities!), we got ringside seats. Steph also made the most wonderful lemon zest beer ... fantastic!
Speaking of eating (and aren't we always?), I bought some *really* expensive rosemary olive oil at the market, which I'm putting on just about everything (in keeping with our attempt to follow a more Mediterranean diet), Lenore and I lunched with mom at Diamond Jim's, where Lenore had a fantastic Tallgrass Beef burger, and we also visited one of our favorite eateries, ReMark's Cafe. We had not been in around Lenore's birthday, so Renee made sure Lenore got a belated treat (not on the M. diet, but also not bad, as it's a lemon "pound" cake made with yogurt).
As part of my depot board duties, I helped design and procure some reusable shopping bags for the farmer's market. They turned out really cute -- only $2 each, so everyone should prolly get one in each color, don't you think? A gal should always match her shoes with her bag...
Gosh, I had kind of procrastinated posting this recap, because I thought it would be difficult to summarize, but I guess I'm done. After such an active break, I kind of hated going back to my sedentary desk job. Kind of confirms, though, that I cannot wait for retirement!
Lenore couldn't play too much on account of her recovering from the "permanent accessory" installation (i.e., she got her boobs), but she joined in on few activities. Not totally in order, the majority of "ing" things accomplished included:
Farmer's marketing (2 different markets!)
Kayaking
Biking
Black raspberry picking (lots!)
Bread baking
Gardening (weeding, planting, edging, mulching...)
Bush trimming (with dad's help)
Facebooking
Reading
Napping
Hoops snuggling
Mowing
Food savoring (with the food saver thingee)
Bandidts watching
Eating
Fireworks watching
Menards browsing
Also, we munched the summer's first sweet corn (corm!) and we made pancakes in the crockpot (!!). Seriously -- here's proof. Comes out like a giant scone! (This was an organic, whole grain/birdseed mix, but I think you could use any mix or recipe -- just grease your crock and "bake" for 2-3 hours on high.)
A few notes on the list above:
The days leading up to the 4th were cool and not humid, so I broke out the bread-baking supplies and made a few whole grain, no-knead loaves of bread. I had gotten a "new" covered Pyrex casserole dish at a rummage sale, so I had to try it out (it works great!). (Note, if you watch the video from the hyperlink, I don't bother with the steam, I just use a covered dish instead.) We froze and food savored the loaves for subsequent hot days.
Also, I have to summarize my many berry picking excursions. I found a great spot, but since it's on a well-traveled road, I think other poachers were visiting it. There was one lady who actually had the GALL to make a move toward picking berries RIGHT NEXT TO ME!! Hello? I had an overwhelming urge to pee on the bushes. But I didn't, and luckily, she moved on. My next ploy, however, was to enthusiastically talk to her about accepting Jesus as her personal savior. I know that'd make *me* move along.
Luckily, I found an even better spot, somewhat more secluded, and with bigger, sweeter berries (no, I'm not telling!). However, one couple did happen along, and the woman commented to her beau that they "should come back and pick some berries!" Again, I refrained from marking my territory, but I did comment lightly, "Yeah, they're good, you just have to watch out for snakes..." Then she was all, "OMG, snakes! I'm not going in there!" Heh heh. It's not like I was lying -- you should always be on the lookout for snakes, shouldn't you? Lenore says I'm going to hell.
The Chicago Bandits game (dad went too) was a hoot, because once again we had entertaining fans in front of us. This time it was an extended family of young parents and their sunburned offspring, all with sun bleached hair and nonstop activity. One of the kids discovered that the ticket stubs entitled the bearer to THREE free items from the concession stand. I cannot begin to describe the excitement that rippled through this family, but suffice it to say, as my dad observed, "These guys are like a hoard of locusts! There's not going to be anything left!" As it turns out, that special deal was supposed to be for people in the VIP section (who paid a lot more for their tickets than us'ns in the cheap seats), but nobody bothered to tell the kids working the concession stand. Oops. If that weren't enough, these industrious chilluns also discovered they could win two-for-one passes by pitching a ball through a hoop behind the bleachers, so they spent a good deal of time rotating through that line numerous times. Impressed, I considered hiring one to win me a pass, or perhaps adopting one or two of them.
Later that same weekend, we attended a "Death by Chocolate" Fourth of July party, to which we brought special-order "Bite Me" cookies from my high school friend Pattie. She made special chocolate sugar cookies for me and gave me a deal, since it was her first time making chocolate. Are they not divine? My co workers enjoyed leftovers.
Since the name is "bite me," I had to prove that I could follow directions.
Steph and Jane were hosts, and since Steph is village president of Sleepy Hollow (the only town that even had fireworks in Dundee Township this year, despite the fact that they have virtually no sales tax income -- now that's how you set priorities!), we got ringside seats. Steph also made the most wonderful lemon zest beer ... fantastic!
Speaking of eating (and aren't we always?), I bought some *really* expensive rosemary olive oil at the market, which I'm putting on just about everything (in keeping with our attempt to follow a more Mediterranean diet), Lenore and I lunched with mom at Diamond Jim's, where Lenore had a fantastic Tallgrass Beef burger, and we also visited one of our favorite eateries, ReMark's Cafe. We had not been in around Lenore's birthday, so Renee made sure Lenore got a belated treat (not on the M. diet, but also not bad, as it's a lemon "pound" cake made with yogurt).
As part of my depot board duties, I helped design and procure some reusable shopping bags for the farmer's market. They turned out really cute -- only $2 each, so everyone should prolly get one in each color, don't you think? A gal should always match her shoes with her bag...
Gosh, I had kind of procrastinated posting this recap, because I thought it would be difficult to summarize, but I guess I'm done. After such an active break, I kind of hated going back to my sedentary desk job. Kind of confirms, though, that I cannot wait for retirement!
6/22/10
Better Homes and Smoothies
Lenore and I went on a mini shopping spree the other night at Kohl's (I know -- do we live large or WHAT?). They had all their placemats and what not 50% off, so I got some new placemats, napkins and napkin rings, PLUS a dainty clock for my bathroom and some stylin' jewelry on clearance. It was almost as fun as dollar bag day at a rummage sale.
I thought these green placemats would coordinate nicely with my green dining room, (which they do!) but my delight was compounded when I noticed how nicely my smoothie coordinated with the whole ensemble. !!!! The secret ingredient? Frozen spinach.
Sunday I went kayaking w/Roland and Amy and got to try out their new spare kayak. It's nice and glidey.
Roland kayaking with his iTouch. Crazy!
We had a relaxing trip, stopping along the way to take about 97 pictures of blooming water lilies and admire the egrets, herons and a turtle. Also, a deer was drinking from the shore and then a fish jumped...it was like a freaking Hamm's Beer commercial! Here are some water lilies.
Post kayaking, I made a mad dash home in time to rinse off the river and sunscreen and head to mom and dad's for Father's Day ham and a Chicago Bandits game with Lenore and Dad.
It was the season opener, and they lost (sigh). But a guy gave us three tickets for free, and we were entertained most of the game by the fans in section 107, which included a girls' softball team and a gaggle of frothing teenage boys who seemed to all be in love with the Bandits' center fielder, Vicky Galindo. She's no Stacy May, but she's got game.
It was kind of cute -- they cheered madly no matter what she did, and their "catcalls" consisted of "I love you!" and "Are you on Facebook?!"
Here they are all lined up along the railing singing to her, "Oh Vicky you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Vicky!" (You know, to that Mickey song by Toni Basil.)
After she got switched to 2nd base (sympathetic coach perhaps), they were sad and yelled, "We miss you Vicky!" I think she was a little appalled, but we could see her shoulders shaking from laughter too. One kid yelled, "How old are you?!" and then his wise-ass friend yelled, "That was my dad, sorry!" Somebody's mom finally said, "You boys stop distracting her!" Then somebody's dad announced to the softball girls, "See, when boys act like that, don't encourage them, you have to ignore them!"
Also entertaining was this fan's sock monkey, which, my dad pointed out, looked rather obscene. I think he's right. Also, why does a grown man walk around with a sock monkey strapped to his backpack?
I thought these green placemats would coordinate nicely with my green dining room, (which they do!) but my delight was compounded when I noticed how nicely my smoothie coordinated with the whole ensemble. !!!! The secret ingredient? Frozen spinach.
Sunday I went kayaking w/Roland and Amy and got to try out their new spare kayak. It's nice and glidey.
Roland kayaking with his iTouch. Crazy!
We had a relaxing trip, stopping along the way to take about 97 pictures of blooming water lilies and admire the egrets, herons and a turtle. Also, a deer was drinking from the shore and then a fish jumped...it was like a freaking Hamm's Beer commercial! Here are some water lilies.
Post kayaking, I made a mad dash home in time to rinse off the river and sunscreen and head to mom and dad's for Father's Day ham and a Chicago Bandits game with Lenore and Dad.
It was the season opener, and they lost (sigh). But a guy gave us three tickets for free, and we were entertained most of the game by the fans in section 107, which included a girls' softball team and a gaggle of frothing teenage boys who seemed to all be in love with the Bandits' center fielder, Vicky Galindo. She's no Stacy May, but she's got game.
It was kind of cute -- they cheered madly no matter what she did, and their "catcalls" consisted of "I love you!" and "Are you on Facebook?!"
Here they are all lined up along the railing singing to her, "Oh Vicky you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind, hey Vicky!" (You know, to that Mickey song by Toni Basil.)
After she got switched to 2nd base (sympathetic coach perhaps), they were sad and yelled, "We miss you Vicky!" I think she was a little appalled, but we could see her shoulders shaking from laughter too. One kid yelled, "How old are you?!" and then his wise-ass friend yelled, "That was my dad, sorry!" Somebody's mom finally said, "You boys stop distracting her!" Then somebody's dad announced to the softball girls, "See, when boys act like that, don't encourage them, you have to ignore them!"
Also entertaining was this fan's sock monkey, which, my dad pointed out, looked rather obscene. I think he's right. Also, why does a grown man walk around with a sock monkey strapped to his backpack?
6/17/10
They Don't Make Them Like They Used To
Why do I have FOUR old manual pencil sharpeners? It's kind of a long story, so I'll try and synopsize. Ebay. That's why.
We had one of these pencil sharpeners when I was a kid, and I've never been able to find one that works better. The little clampy jaws thing slides out and holds your pencil while you grind merrily away, making a fine point and a nice pencil shaving smell to boot. The sound it makes is most satisfying. Truth be told, it's one of the few things that served as incentive to do my times tables and other tedious math homework. If I wrote enough, I'd get to use the pencil sharpener. I know...I probably needed to get out more. Anyhoo...I found one at an estate sale for about a buck and happily snatched it up. Score! Fast forward a couple years to me wondering, "Gosh, what will I ever do if my pencil sharpener breaks?!" So I went on ebay and, of course, there are many for sale, but not for a buck. More like $15-$45.
This is where it gets murky, but I think I bid on one, maybe two, and forgot, and then bid on another one or two...so, long story short, I "won" three (one of these is my original estate sale one), so if anyone needs a pencil sharpened, I'm running a special. Fun aside: One of the sellers sent along a large fistful of pencils. I guess he's eschewing all traditional writing methods from here on out.
I had a personal day to use up, so took it yesterday and enjoyed a marathon of outdoorness that started with poaching a huge bowl of black raspberries that may or may not be on private property (but I was *standing* on public property, so that's legit, right?), a bike ride, more berry picking, kayaking (thank you to the dad shuttle service), and, finally, as the sun was setting, the grass cutting and weeding that I originally took the day off to do. A gal's gotta have priorities. Though I always keep a container in my bike bag this time of year for just such discoveries, I can report that bike shorts and a t-shirt are not the ideal attire in which to pick raspberries. I actually went home after the first container was full and changed into long pants and a long sleeved denim shirt. The second bout of berry picking entailed a few more raspberries found along the bike trail (sadly, the county seems to have clear cut all the wild raspberry bushes in their attempt to tidy up the trail) and a bountiful crop of service berries (a.k.a. June berries?), also along the bike trail.
I ate a couple service berries (the animals were eating them, so...) and found them to be amazingly sweet and delectable. But I wasn't sure what they were, just had a hunch. I googled these when I got home to make sure they're edible, and they are, so now I'm gonna freeze most of them for smoothies. I like the idea that my berries were free and organic if one discounts fallout from the local chemical plant and possible bail money if I get arrested for trespassing. I'll be eating the rest of the evidence shortly.
In other news, this little guy/gal was in the bushes next door. I like to sit in there when I don't want to be noticed too.
I also found out who's been mucking up the birdbath. A mom raccoon and her, count 'em, SIX babies.
I left my motion-detector light on last night and caught them foraging in the yard. I made a noise and they scuttled, very slowly (not fast scuttlers, baby raccoons), back up the tree and sat up there in the crook staring at me. Then, figuring I was no threat, they made their way back down, so I tapped on the house and they scuttled slowly back up again. This went on for some time 'til the mother decided the game had gone on long enough and waddled over toward the bird bath, at which time I threw a rock at the fence (to make a loud noise, not hit her -- I'd use a shot gun for that), and they all disappeared into the hostas. Another evening in the wild kingdom.
6/7/10
Frankensnail and other Birdbath News
A snail barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world's first bionic snail. Mr. Snail will be that snail. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster. ... OK, maybe not faster. But still...
Alert readers may recall the sweet snail fountain my dad made for Lenore's birdbath. Unfortunately, Mr. Snail met an untimely death by raccoon and ended up in many, many pieces. It was so sad. We found most of the bits (except for the eyeballs!), and, unlike all the king's horses and all the king's men (inept!), I glued him back together again. Now he's a little uneven about the shell, but seems happy enough. I made some new eyeballs out of some clay from the ceramics class, and the teacher did not bat an eye when I asked him if he could fire my snail eyeballs in the kiln. A little paint, a little varnish, good as new.
Speaking of birdbaths, I got a cute cement pond for the birds at the farmer's market for 22 bucks! Score! I'm not sure if I'll leave the turtle on there or not. I'm in the market for a cement statue of some kind, but the turtle will do for now.
Piglet would fit on there nicely, but I like him with Pooh in the herb garden.
The rock garden is still relatively tame, as is what I call "the wild side" of the yard. I know both areas will be completely out of hand within a month though. But it's a happy place for all manner of insects, so I'm gonna let it be.
Here's the last of the party flowers.
Tomorrow Sam the cat and I will be driving to work together. Since he likes to swing, I'm hoping a car ride will be no big deal. His new mom and dad will pick him up and hopefully live happily ever after. I'm going to miss him visiting me for snuggles. I asked Hoops why she couldn't be more affectionate, and she was all, "Shouldn't you be fetching me a treat, human?"
This weekend it's all about karma. I'm volunteering at a golf outing (even though I think golf is dumb), and Lenore and I are staffing a rest stop with Bill and Joules during the annual Pedal Across the Prairie bike ride. We get paid in pasta and granola bars, PLUS a turtle t-shirt.
Funny quote of the day:
"I love finding new restaurants and drinking a little vodka."
-- Health and Human Performance instructor on proposing we do lunch. I'm totally up for it.
Alert readers may recall the sweet snail fountain my dad made for Lenore's birdbath. Unfortunately, Mr. Snail met an untimely death by raccoon and ended up in many, many pieces. It was so sad. We found most of the bits (except for the eyeballs!), and, unlike all the king's horses and all the king's men (inept!), I glued him back together again. Now he's a little uneven about the shell, but seems happy enough. I made some new eyeballs out of some clay from the ceramics class, and the teacher did not bat an eye when I asked him if he could fire my snail eyeballs in the kiln. A little paint, a little varnish, good as new.
Speaking of birdbaths, I got a cute cement pond for the birds at the farmer's market for 22 bucks! Score! I'm not sure if I'll leave the turtle on there or not. I'm in the market for a cement statue of some kind, but the turtle will do for now.
Piglet would fit on there nicely, but I like him with Pooh in the herb garden.
The rock garden is still relatively tame, as is what I call "the wild side" of the yard. I know both areas will be completely out of hand within a month though. But it's a happy place for all manner of insects, so I'm gonna let it be.
Here's the last of the party flowers.
Tomorrow Sam the cat and I will be driving to work together. Since he likes to swing, I'm hoping a car ride will be no big deal. His new mom and dad will pick him up and hopefully live happily ever after. I'm going to miss him visiting me for snuggles. I asked Hoops why she couldn't be more affectionate, and she was all, "Shouldn't you be fetching me a treat, human?"
This weekend it's all about karma. I'm volunteering at a golf outing (even though I think golf is dumb), and Lenore and I are staffing a rest stop with Bill and Joules during the annual Pedal Across the Prairie bike ride. We get paid in pasta and granola bars, PLUS a turtle t-shirt.
Funny quote of the day:
"I love finding new restaurants and drinking a little vodka."
-- Health and Human Performance instructor on proposing we do lunch. I'm totally up for it.
6/4/10
6/1/10
New BFF
(click photos to enlarge)I was getting regular visits by a skittish grey tabby cat that I thought was maybe a stray. He was always cautious about getting too close, but he looked so hopeful at the same time, so finally last weekend I gave him a little smackeral and some water, which flipped the affection switch, because now he's all about the lovin'.
Apparently a little dish of Purina was enough to prove my worthiness as a BFF, because he quickly claimed me and proceeded to climb up into my lap and purrr his approval. Hoops was not amused. He kept trying to approach the screen, but she'd have none of it. He'd just sit there looking in with this passive look on his face while she hissed and growled her disapproval.
So he contented himself with padding around the back yard with me as I gardened, occasionally taking breaks (him, not me) to snack and lounge on the swing (he likes to swing). He also buddied up to Lenore and my neighbor Julie.
He's been visiting regularly since, though we did find out he lives behind me. The lady is housing him for her daughter, who lives in Korea, so I think he's really lonely. The neighbor has a couple of obnoxious yappy dogs (there's 2 or 3 -- they don't stay still long enough to get an accurate count), and she lets him out all day while she's at work.
The latest word is he may be shelter bound if we can't find a home for him, so if you know of anyone who loves cats, he's a keeper. I think he's the most affectionate cat I've ever met. Don't get me wrong, I love Hoops and her little attitude, but this guy, he's just so gentle and sweet. He even let me clip his nails. His name is Sam. My other neighbor, Lucy, is also working on finding him a better home. Stay tuned!
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