good friends, good food, good times . . .

made an early morning run to panera's for bread for Souper Sunday at robin's tonight.  food.  oh my gosh, coming from all directions . . . food.  there was cheese fondue and home made pretzels, two kinds of soup, mac and cheese, deviled eggs, andouille sausage, olives, chips, chocolate covered strawberries, cheese cake, spinach and cheese.  slurp!!!!  so good.  and wine.  

so much fun with the usual suspects.

gallivanting . . .

joanie and i did our three mile hike and then i conked out and went gallivanting with lee looking for a wreath for her condo door.  she wanted me to help her make one.  if i did that, i knew we'd end up boarding the ship like siamese twins after working the glue gun.

here's her final project.  it came with other goodies but she added her own shells.
looking good.  of course after we found it at michael's we had to run the aisle gauntlet at bed, bath and beyond and then total wine.  of course the wine store.  where else.

two little hens at the state college chomping down the goods . . .

it's called cafe 101 and the food is cooked and served by students for degree credits.  fixed price for lunch is $11.00.  slurp.

the menu:

lee and i are not exploratory.  we ate the exact same thing.  check out our appetizers:

those scallops were amazing.  i want another bowl, please.

entree:

blackened ribeye anyone?

the sweet potatoes were wonderful.  kale is for cows.  the cow was a little chewy but seasoned well.

dessert:

coffee mocha mousse.  topped with a chocolate coffee bean.  burp.

their luncheons are so popular, we booked our meal back in november.  true story.

where was the third hen?  playing with her new mini at the speedway.  but she posted a picture of my next new car:

yup, i could putter around town in that bad boy.

eight, ten, try it again . . .

went to the mall and came home with three identical pairs of crops . . . except colors that is.  i tried on the khaki and just grabbed the white and black.  i know better.  a woman in the business told me years ago that fabric for, say pants, are layered on a table in stacks of six or eight layers, and then cut all at once.  the pieces are not all exactly the same size due to the slippage.  moral being, if one size 10 doesn't fit, try another from the exact same rack.

got home.  the khakis of course fit, as did the white.  the black, not so much.  they go back tomorrow for another size 10. why do i not listen to myself.

i'm stocking up on new clothes for our expedition in may . . . to accommodate my burgeoning bod.
whatever happened to move more, eat less?

another throw back image . . .

peej, max, pam and i were 18 and had just graduated when we took a road trip to provincetown on the cape. 

here we are jumping down the dunes.  we did it over and over again because you could bury yourself up to your knees in sand:

i had no idea pam had taken photos until she posted these.  fun times.  1967.

big plans for next week.  we are going glamping again and doing some kayaking.  i cannot wait.  good times, good friends, good food.  yes, arabella, that's what i'm talking about.

bits and pieces . . .

seems i'm not the only one with old photos to share in our little reunion group.  this is fourteen year old me in the dorm, in my pj's:
it reminded me that every week, we received one clean sheet.  the current top sheet then went on the bottom and the new sheet went on the top.  curiouser and curiouser.

and i finally pulled out a tutorial i had stashed away several months ago on how to color a vintage black and white photo.  since i had no idea what color elaine's outfit was, i made it up:

ok, i'm fairly sure she wasn't wearing a blue shirt.  snort.

it's still coolish and so the crock pot yielded chicken and rice smothered in gravy.  tomorrow there is a cooking moratorium.  leftovers are on the menu.

i need a leash . . .

i was trying to tag people on facebook in old photos.  all i managed to do was tag one of my old roommates as Dr. Who.  bah-haha!!!  i need help.


it's been fun though catching up with friends from fifty years ago. 

another cold day. another warm meal:  pot roast.

another urinating cat in ninji's bed.

nancy brought over, hot out of the oven, oatmeal cookies.  slurp!!!!

i'm going to stick my nose in a book and slither under the sheet.

in the manner of feeding cats . . .

there are those that don't care as long as you slap some food into a bowl and leave them be.  and then, there are mine.

ninji needs to fed in the nest created between the bathroom door being open and the bathroom wall.  her bowl needs to be tucked in that angular corner with her body blocking any intruders until said bowl is completely consumed.  nothing else will do.

bear noses his bowl into his preferred feeding location.  this is usually dead center of the door sill of the other bathroom door.  you know, so you trip over it nine times a day.  his logic being that possibly one of those trips will urge you to feed him extra.  i, of course, kick it out of my way, knowing it will be back in place at the proper time. 

bear and ninji would both like to be self feeders.  and they were.  and they were balloons.  puffed rice on four legs.  now they are limited to specialized food for fatties. 

pippin on the other hand gets pretty much anything her little heart desires.  it has nothing to do with the fact that she will let me sleep in rather than stomp on all parts of my body or gently paw at my hair.  i'll let you guess who the stomper is.  neither does she urinate inappropriately to show you how truly hungry and empty her tummy is.

nope, she gets a huge bowl of gluten free goodies.  all the extra treats her little stomach can hold and an entire can of whipped goodness that smells like one of the great garbage dumps on the new jersey turnpike mid summer.  she eats and eats and is not picky but still, she weighs only seven pounds.  ah, to harness the energy of that little ball of fluff.

and so, there are rules to be followed and rules to be broken.  they eat between six and seven depending on who puts there wet snoot on mine first.  they eat again at eight p.m.  well, they did eat at eight, then daylight savings time pushed it up to seven.  and then they demanded to dine at six.  they are currently pushing for four.  i have dug my heels in at 4:30.  and yes, it gives me perverse pleasure if i don't make it home until six on the occasional afternoon.  the welcome reception varies from bear's stink eye, to ninji's pitiful demeanor to pippin jumping up and down hollering "mommy's home." 

i love them all, my piggish furballs. 

cold weather . . .

no problem.  corned beef and cabbage on the menu tonight. if the belly is warm, the monsters are at bay.  add a fire and the soul soars.  thank you mother nature.

oh yes, someone did . . .

this from a senior citizen enclave.  i will find my tribe.

two old broads in a bucket . . .

plans are firming up.  getting in my rowboat and paddling around the adriatic this spring.  color me giddy. lee is coming to make sure i don't get into trouble.

Bah ha ha ha ha.

color me klutzy . . .

it's hard to get my five nine body into my miata when the door can't open all the way . . . say as if it were sitting in the garage.  but i tried.  and missed.

the window was up and somehow, i smacked my chin on the window, throwing me off balance which caused the back of my head to slam into the car frame.  gah!!!  stars and stripes.  at least i fell perfectly into the seat. 

and earlier in the week, pippin sneaked out into the garage.  i held chase.  until my minion slippers lost traction and down i went onto the painted floor.  did pippin bother to come see if i was alright?  nope, she wanted to play some more.  gah!!!

good thing my old bones are hardy.  really good thing.

just a normal day in sunny florida . . .

joanie and i went for our tuesday walk. it was 36•.  we were bundled in layers with gloves.  she sported a purple jacket with a hood and baseball cap.  my ears were hidden under my mouse ear warmer headband.  it was burrrry, burrrry cold out. 
the end.  chatter.  chatter.

into the wayback machine, sherman . . .

i was leafing through a very old scrapbook and this picture fell out:

talk about ancient.  that is me on my mother's lap.  my sister to the right next to my dad.  my aunt janet on the far right.  on the left were my second parents, our next door neighbors, e and mr. e.  the other little girl is their daughter, elaine.  apparently, i couldn't wrap my tongue around Engle, so the e stuck.  we did it, mr. peabody!!!!

i should be out cleaning the gutters . . .

but it's a much better day for honking around in photoshop and making a big 'ol pot of beef stew!

a day late . . .

the hens had a late lunch.  24 hours late.  we got rained out yesterday.  it was so wild and wooly outside.  today we picked up hen lee and headed to down under for fishes.  i love grouper fingers and i may have had a basket of onion rings.  slurp.

and a little view out the inter coastal.

yep, i might eat worms to sit with this view.

but then someone startled the neighbors and i thought alfred hitchcock was coming to dinner:

i got nervous so i decided to make nice with the neighbors while hen joanie clicked away:

 apparently, jalapeño hush puppies are very popular:

 i made lots of buds.

and then we went to visit lee's new aerie. don't look down:

 she's 20 stories up.

hello down there.  

and so it was that the three little hens were happily fed and went to bed in their respective little nests. the end.

got turned on to this yesterday . . .

"Be impeccable with your word."

"Don't take anything personally."

"Don't make assumptions."

"Always do your best."

these are the four agreements by don miguel ruiz.  there is obviously more to his book than these four subtitles but look at them and open your mind to the possibilities. 

be 'impeccable with your word.'  this one just amazes and blows me away.  how nice to be someone who people can trust and have faith in.  how amazing to hold sacred the validity of your word.

just think on that for a bit.  i have to take a nap.

the grinch and the who . . .

kidlet and i decided to hit carrabba's for an early dinner tonight.  there's something about feasting on fried calamari, minestrone, polo rosa maria and their version of death by chocolate.  slurp.  oh and a little vino, but i was happily distracted by the waiter with the man-bun.  he wasn't our waiter, but he kept wandering by and i was fascinated with his hair.  it was all close cropped except for a rectangular patch on the top that was long enough to be held by an elastic and then looped over and held again and still had a little tail left over.  he was a who.  i swear.

i can't say that i would be a hipster lover.  man buns apparently do nothing for me, but  as a who, he was wonderful.  but then to my utter delight, the grinch walked in.  a female grinch.  with grinch colored hair.  i am not making this up.  bright green hair. so they sat the grinch and her party in the who's section.

i wanted so badly to whip out my phone and start taking shots of the grinch and the who but i felt even the occupants of whoville need some peace and quiet while eating.

food glorious food . . .

out to lunch with the kidlet.  we headed to cracker barrel because she likes their breakfasts.  veggie of the day:  boiled cabbage.  color me happy and dancing on the table top.  two sides of cabbage and one of mac and cheese.  warm tummy.  warm heart.  happy.  happy.

back to ace hardware for a new fire extinguisher and a new hardwired fire alarm.  they were out of the hardwired so i'm going to have to go elsewhere for that but he was my 'helpful hardware man' and showed me how the change them out when i find one.  yay. 

back in the cave.  before i start dinner of chicken and wild mushrooms over linguini.  slurp.  i'm going to start sketching.  been a long time and i need something new on the horizon.

just in case there was any question, i still miss my 9TS.

i was in ace hardware running errands after lunch and an aisle sign read:  fire extinguishers.  hum, thought i, mine must be thirty years old.  maybe i should pick up a new one.  i asked one of the employees and he referred me to the fire department saying they used to exchange them for new tanks.  it was worth a try. 

the very sweet captain, meghan, took a look at my extinguisher.  it wasn't dead but it wasn't exactly lively either.  she suggested i buy a new one and keep this one as a back up.  since i had the poor girl cornered, i asked her about smoke detectors.  she offered to have someone come out and look.  thinking they had enough to do, i declined.  she, having already taken my address, appeared on my doorstep a couple of hours later.  wow.  talk about service.  she changed the battery in the one that was dead.  the other one needs to be replaced as it is hard wired and the guts are missing.  she said to take a picture of it and take it to the store to make sure i get the right one.  i tried to give her a twenty and told her to buy herself lunch, but she declined in the nicest of ways.  i need to call her boss.  kudos to you meghan.

waiting patiently for dinner.  i'm craving a greek salad with some garlic bread.  slurp.

up and at em . . .

this morning.  had to go grocery shopping to replace some of the goodies lost in the great thaw of 2016.  really not much.  i'll take a chance on the rest.  i'm not wasting good gravy.  baked ziti on tap tonight.  this week's menu is very hale and hardy . . . beef stew, chicken and wild mushrooms over linguini, grilled swordfish, grilled cheese sammies, a trip to carrabba's for polo rosa maria.

but first, stops to the pharmacy and the health food store for good for your body and before that a morning walk.

let's chat about the walk.  8:15, i look at my phone.  41 degrees.  i check the internet.  43 degrees.  i call joanie to see what she thinks.  tells me it is 50+ degrees.  ok, i'm a sucker, i believe her and head out in crops, one of the 9TS's long sleeve tees, and an undershirt.  yup, i can still wear undershirts.  they are good for the soul. 

it is freakin' cold out.  i glare at her.  she says it was 50 something on her porch.  her porch which is protected from the elements.  brrrrrr.  and, i couldn't find my ear warming head band.  double brrrr.  i pull my sleeves down so i can wrap my hands in the ends.  i start walking faster.  i chatter.  i kvetch.  i whine. 

i come home like the popsicle that i am and hop in the shower before i run my errands.  warm and comfy, i search high and low for my ear muffs.  finally they are found dragged under the bed.  hello pippin.

home from errands with groceries put away, i stoke the fire and create a warm nest where i happily stay entrenched until winter is over.

this day . . .

has not started out well.

at 6:47 bear decided he was hungry.  getting no response from me, he relieved himself in ninji's bed.  gah.  i threw it in the washing machine and went back to bed.

at 11:47 i decided it was time for granola with walnuts and milk.  trouble was there was a huge puddle on my kitchen floor.  the door to the freezer was not shut all the way and the temperature had risen to over 32•.  everything is thawed or melted.  and because the bottom freezer was not cold, the top had warmed seven degrees.  gah.

may i please have a do-over.

                           ***************************************************

update:  the freezer is at 15 heading back to zero.  the fridge is at 38 and headed to 37.  hopefully some stuff is salvageable.  and since my cup is half full, i decided it would be a good time to finally hang the starfish in the guest bedroom.  think nautically or seafaring or a mishap of designer judgement.

 

 i found the starfish in a little shop above flagler.  you don't need to hear about me and my first time   using a glue gun . . .

the fishing poles are the 9TS's father's.  he used to fish off the beach most mornings.

the glass container was a thrift shop find and filled with goodies lee finds on the beach on her morning walks.

and the windows are open!!!!  another glorious day in paradise!  namaste.

fun stuff . . .

i cannot help but love this:

there were others on the same site but this one just reeks of pippin getting tangled up in the wood blinds . . . an often occurrence.

took this this morning.  i love this app:

the flowers were gorgeous but run it through waterlogue and poof, instant faded glory.

finally i've been at my desk working on a journal for our may shenanigans.  i've missed sticky, inky fingers.  and paper tape and tabs and stitches, punches and rub-ons and  . . .

rut roh . . .

i borrowed joanie's phone today at lunch once i discovered i did not have mine with me.  i wanted to call kidlet to make sure it was at home and not in the pocket of some guy who has ten thousand long winded relatives in australia.  she nicely hands me her phone and i immediately type in my passcode and can't figure out why it doesn't work.  gah.  i was not in the right line in the brains department.

had to get the rest of my errands done after lunch.  i needed some cord for a project, a squirt gun to deter pippin from eating the wood for the fireplace, flood lights to replace a burnt out ones, some 100 watt bulbs and some pads to replace those on my kitchen cabinets that have become sticky and yucky and hence block entrance to said cabinets. 

done. done. done.  feeling accomplished and full of mexican food.  burp.

finished this day before yesterday and forgot to post it.  probably because it needs some tweaking but that can wait:

i have super duper pooper scooper envy . . .

last week i was cat sitting for my neighbor joanie.  her cats are rather well behaved compared to my monster cats but like all felines, they need their litter cleaned.  joanie has this monster super duper pooper scooper of which, i tend to make fun.  it is huge . . . as in one scoop and the box is poop free.  it is an unwieldy thing of grand proportion.  it makes me giggle.

but while doing our box one day, which is really an under-the-bed storage unit, i realized my short comings in ridiculing her industrial strength mechanism . . . particularly when you note that mine is really a re-purposed kitchen utensil . 

mine:

 hers:

 side by side:

see?  the competition was too stiff.  actually the one on the right is really my new super duper pooper scooper.  envy forced me to keep up with the neighbors.  sigh.  don't tell joanie but mine has more horse power and a newer paint job.  ha!

today, i got nada . . .

no words of wisdom.
no photos.
no new recipes.
no quips or fables.

zip. 

tomorrow will be betterer.

fire, fire, burning bright . . .

these are my days.

i started another facebook group.  this one is for the group of girls i graduated high school with.  we were boarders for three or four years depending on when we started.  next year it will be 50 years since we were together in school.  woot!  woot!  since i just started it day before yesterday, with five of us, i am hoping between us we can find the other nine or so.  it's tough when we don't, in some cases, know married names.  some don't appear to be on facebook at all. 

of course we were not local when we started school or we wouldn't have been boarders but now we are really scattered.  one is on hilo.  another in edinburgh. one in western canada.  one is still in jersey and three of us are in florida.  one is in montana but spending the next three months in new zealand.  we wandered far and wide.

each of us has a story.  even in the sixties, it was not the norm to be shuffled off to boarding school.  i can't speak for the rest but as i've mentioned before, my mother died when i was 13, my sister and after finishing high school, was headed to college.  my father wasn't sure he 'could do me justice', so off i went. 

i loved the old tutor dorm sitting on the backside of campus.  the rooms all tucked away on the second floor with transom doors, humped metal beds, window seats and one desk with two cubicles facing each other.  those were the days.

and down in the great hall, was a huge fireplace.  went it was used, it was marvelous.  i don't think i will ever outgrow my penchant for wood burning fireplaces.

snort . . .

the temps are finally in the 40's and the fire is roaring.  color me extremely happy.  giddy actually.  supremely smug. 

got up early to walk with joanie but set the fire for kidlet before i left.  so nice to come home to a toasty fire.  and and alarm guy.  yep, she said, with her bony fingers crossed.  the system is back up and armed.  guess i'll have to shove the blunderbuss balefully, back under the bed. bagnabit.

so i was sitting there, enjoying the warmth in my jeans, sweatshirt and minion slippers, sipping suisse mocha coffee when kidlet yells from her room, 'may i borrow your crops'.  'i'm not sure they're clean', says i 'or, maybe i have them on.'  'stand up' comes the command.  next thing i know, she is handing me a pair of full length jeans and she is stealing my crops.  is there no justice in this world.

i don't believe in new year's resolutions but if the kid is going to be pilfering my haberdashery because we wear the same size, i'm going on a diet and throwing a lock on my closet.  thankfully, there is not much in my drawers that would interest a 27 year old.  whew!

waiting patiently for dinner.  since she who steals pants, is working until 9:00, i tossed a tater in the oven, along with some asparagus for roasting and will finish it off with some left over pork and a glass of something, something.

mighty fine world, brer rabbit.  mighty fine.

addiction . . .

9, 212, 753 free fonts on the net and what am i hooked on?  designer made fonts.  the one that cost money.  there are some just glorious ones out there.  creativemarket.com is chock full of hand made delectable goodies and if that weren't enough, sometimes they come with extras like swirly tails that can be added to the first and last letters of each word, and color styles that made them look like water colors and foils.  don't get me started on foils.  letters written in gold and silver . . . swoon.  and if that isn't enough, they sometimes come with watercolor paper textured backgrounds.  one kit in particular also came with 500 vectors to recolor and play with.  oh, and 11 additional fonts.  my cup overflowth with great happiness.

so now i haunt various sites for freebies and deals.  i feel like the little old lady wearing her ancient floor length mink with worn out slippers who won't buy anything unless she has a coupon in her purse. it's an addiction.  truly.

so if i am missing, tell kidlet i am probably hiding in a closet with my laptop and my stash of fonts discovered while pilfering through the garbage cans of each foundry.

what a wonderful way to go!!!!!

aarrgghh . . .

about a week ago, kidlet waltzed out the front door and the alarm system lost its cool.  since the panel has been looking like and old movie marquee with half of its lights blown, the alarm company sent a guy out on new years eve day.  he fixed the sensor issue and changed out some old batteries for me.  yay.

that night in the wee hours, i could hear and intermittent beep and knew it was the system going wonky again but managed to turn over and go back to sleep.  in the morning, the read-out on the key pad was rolling through all the numbers to each individual sensor and some i didn't even have.  i really didn't think anything about it until i went to arm it last night around 6:00.  it wouldn't arm.

so i called the company and they walked me through powering down the system since it had lost almost all if its power.  the problem is, the pad is in the laundry room but the box with the guts is in the attic behind my bedroom.

call #1:  the girl walks me through taking out the battery and my phone dies.  i am not a fan of that attic space.  it is unfinished and covered in mouse droppings.  ok, we don't have mice, but it feels like we do.  and the floor of the attic is two feet lower than the bedroom floor.  don't ask.  just let me out.

call #2:  i am still using the house phone and quickly realize it is going to cut off again since the system is tied into the phone line.

call #3:  this time from my cell since i am finally catching on and am apparently a slow learner.  the guy wants me to tell him the read-out on the key pad.  i run downstairs.  now he wants me back up in the attic.  i run upstairs. i reconnect the battery and he wants me back downstairs.  huff.  puff. i am barefoot and covered in mouse poop (see note above.)  he wants me back upstairs and tells me to unplug the box from the power cord.  there is no plug to the box.  'yes, there is,' he yells.  no there isn't i cry and then i explain to him every freaking wire coming from the box.  there is no plug to the box.  he says, there is and it must be in the bedroom, in an outlet and will be the size of my fist.  i tell him i have lived here for twenty years.  it ain't so.  he gives up and tells me to disconnect wire number one.  there are only 7,952 wires in the box.  i ask him, 'how do i tell'.  he says, it is labeled number 1. OK, i have on the wrong glasses for standing in a hole two feet below an average height box with a single swinging light bulb.  grrrr.  i get it disconnected.  he wants me back downstairs to see what the keypad says.  nada.  he wants me to run back upstairs and reconnect the wire.  i try to do that and it arcs at me.  i am not happy.  he says, "be happy."  again, i am in a darkly lit mouse poop infested hole in the wall attic trying to connect a wire that obviously hates me.  it works and the system comes back up.  yay.  i go to bed.

at 2:55 i wake up and can't get back to sleep for an hour.  finally, sound asleep, the alarm goes off at five something o'clock in the morning.  i go back downstairs and turn it off and it is channelling though the numbers again.  no call from the alarm company.  hum . . . they always call.

call #4:  me: my alarm system is shot and no one called.  nice lady: because it showed as maintenance and not a break-in.  me: how am i supposed to know the difference.  earliest appointment is july 12, 2035 between 12 and 5.  i pull the little old widow lady routine and she sends off emails to her bosses for an early appointment.  p.s.  my unit is hardwired in, there is no plug says the nice lady with a giggle.  

i crawl back into bed for a bit.  finally i get dressed to walk and it is raining.  i give up!!!

why am i telling you this story?  because is makes this, all the better:

and it will be.  i love the power of positive thinking.  it works.  the temperature has finally dropped, i am sitting in front of a roaring fire sipping iced tea, having had a really nice lunch with my hens.  

life is good, damn it.  enjoy it.

it's raining paper . . .

i spent the afternoon sitting on the floor shredding enough paperwork to fill three industrial sized garbage bags.  ok, so they were tall kitchen bags but it felt like more.  not my favorite thing to do which is why my cup overflowth.  i still am not done but my impetus for the shredding was solved.  the rest can wait another five years.

so what was i hunting so frantically for?  my passport.  i found my expired one but my new one was mia. it took a powder.  at first i thought, no problem.  it's just in the clutter but as the clutter dwindled, so did my hopes of finding my golden ticket to all ports east and west.

where was that little puppy you ask?  well, duh, in it's leather passport folder where it is not supposed to be.  that would be way to logical.

my poor shredder started complaining about 90% of the way through and finally threw a hissy fit, overheated and refused to chomp down any more wood pulp.  after a cocktail and a massage, it revived enough to finish the job.

wishing you and yours a new year full of grace, health, sanity and mischief.