rest in peace

Today, in addition to being the first day of the rest of my life, marks the ending of the lifetime of the ceramic tiles in my kitchen. Now, I've written before of my dislike of this tile and its accompanying brown grout, but now that it's going away, I feel I need to point out its virtues. For 14 years, this tile has uncomplainingly accepted scorching hot pots on its surface. It has helped disguise the crumbs that I failed to wipe up, and even tried to camouflage errant sticky spots. It has borne up under heavy things dropped on it. All in all, it's been a pretty good support, which is why I've been loyal to it thus far. But it's ugly, and the grout was breaking down, and now its time has come. The End.

wordless wednesday

today

I don't normally do journal-style posts; it's never been an interest of mine to record day-to-day activities. But I was reading Lynne's blog and her ending comment, "Ok, I'm off to read how your day went!" and I thought, my goodness, she surely doesn't get much of the day-to-day report from reading mine! So Lynne, this one's for you! And anyone else who has both time and interest ...

I hate to start by complaining, but doggone it, I woke up at 3:30 this morning and could not go back to sleep! The alarm was set for 6, which is already way earlier than I like to get up (waking up naturally -- no alarm, please -- between 7:30 and 8:30 suits me just fine), so it was especially daunting to find myself awake so early. After an hour of closing eyes and trying to stop the spinning thing in my head that passes for a brain at that hour of the morning, I gave up and got up. It's amazing, at this time of the year, the sky is already starting to brighten at 4:30!

I'd set the alarm so early because I needed to prepare 7 lunches to take to a workshop that a colleague and I are giving (he's teaching it, I do the logistics), so I decided to get to work on those. It was a good choice of activity, not too stimulating, and it took long enough to do that I felt sleepy again when I was done. So I put on our overnight NPR news station at just the right sound level and let it lull me to sleep on the couch. Slept a little later than I'd have liked, till about 7:15, at which time I was in a merry rush trying to get everything together! Bake the scones, make the coffee, pack everything into a backpack and a rolling cooler, get it all into the car with a willing assist from The Huz, and off I went!

9 hours later, I'd learned a lot in the workshop, had a great time with the participants, talked with one about perhaps doing some consulting work for his company, served up snacks and lunch and gotten the remains into my car, and headed home to let Simba out and spend 30 minutes with him.

Then, off to rehearsal for two & a half hours. It was fun, and even though I still am not quite getting all these tap steps we have to know, I'm beginning to see that I'm not the only one ... although I still think I'm probably in the bottom 30%! The costume lady gave me a slinky dress to try on. Boy, I sure wish I didn't have that middle-aged spread! But the dress looked nice as long as I let go of the dream of being a size ten ... but I do ... but oh well. Welcome to the 50's. Anyway, I have nice long limbs that look good in jazzy poses, and I'm getting some very fun little vignettes as an extra, and I'm also making some new ... not friends, exactly, but recurring acquaintances to sort of gravitate toward when the entire chorus is told to "space yourselves out and walk across the stage in groups. Make up a story of who you are and why you're walking down the sidewalk and act it as you walk across the stage." So our little group becomes people who have conflicting destinations in mind but who want to stay together. Or minor Hollywood luminaries who are being interviewed and trying to upstage one another. Or whatever ... it's really fun!

Then off to pick up The Huz from work (would you believe two different trucks have died on him in the past month??), with a quick stop at MacDonald's ... I know, I know, I just complained about my middle, but hey, a gal's gotta eat, and I got the Happy Meal so it wasn't a lot of food! Picked up the Huz, went home, let Simba out & gave him about two minutes' attention, and then began unloading the contents of my lower kitchen cabinets in preparation for the arrival of big men with sledge hammers who are going to remove my countertops (see a picture of the current tiles about halfway down this post) in preparation for new granite ones! Which, by the way, I just found out Sunday night was going to happen this week, and I won't bother to list all the stuff that had to be arranged by Monday afternoon to make all of it fall into place. I think I must have had some supernatural help, it's been amazing how very many implausible things have happened to make this come together. Anyway, hold onto your hats, it's going to be a big mess and very noisy and then very inconvenient for a couple of weeks, but it's started and it's not going to stop and at the end will be ... smiles. Ooo's and Ahs. Lots of reasons to invite folks over. I love it!

So, that was my day. Tomorrow will be another one. And this reminds me why I usually don't do journal-type entries, because I do not have Lynne's knack for succinctness and somehow turning her short entries into something so meaningful. But I'm glad to have done it, anway, and now it's definitely bedtime. (I already read about all your days before starting this, that's how I read Lynne's comment that got me started ... and now stopped. G'night!)

simba! want a treat?

Sunday night, we can expect to see lots more canine hijinks over at Weekend Dog Blogging at Sweetnick's place. Head on over for head shots, tummy shots, jump shots and what nots!

the garden, again

Sorry if all these garden pics are a bit boring to you ... the changes from picture to picture aren't dramatic, I know. But the poppy season is brief, and I'm leaving town for a few days. They may be gone when I get home. This is the first year since I transplanted them a few years ago that they've given me more than one or two blooms, so I just had to capture it here so I can look back and enjoy them later, after they're gone.


Thanks for letting me indulge myself. Here's hoping your garden is enchanting you day-by-day too! And if you don't have one of your own, I hope there's one nearby.

wordless wednesday

The perennial garden today

click to see the garden larger, with labels

We haven't had a speck of sun in what seems like weeks, so excuse the muted coloration. Isn't it amazing what a garden can do with not much sun and lots of rain?

caption not-contest #4

What's he up to?

There's obviously something going on in Simba's mind ... can you help him express himself? Please leave your suggestions in the comments, and I'll do a roundup next week.

Previous caption not-contests:
#3 roundup
#2 roundup
#1 roundup

Sunday night, we can expect to see lots more canine hijinks over at Weekend Dog Blogging at Sweetnick's place. Head on over for head shots, tummy shots, jump shots and what nots!

my performance at dance rehearsal today:

wordless wednesday

what's for breakfast?

The ever-amiable Paz over at The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz asked me what I eat for breakfast. Seems she's looking for something quick and yummy to have for breakfast, to go along with the healthful meals she already eats for lunch and dinner. I have to say, she's one up on me with the healthful lunch & dinner meals, but I do have some favorite healthy breakfasts to share.

So, I turn to you, dear readers, for help! What sorts of healthful breakfasts do you eat and enjoy? We're not necessarily talking low cholesterol here, although those recommendations are welcome. Just nourishing, nutritious, not overly greasy breakfasts. What do you love? Paz will be checking back to hear what you have to say, so please leave a comment!

As for me, the quickest and easiest healthy breakfast is to have a big bowlful (oh, all right, sometimes two) of Shredded Spoonfuls from Barbara's Bakery, with Hood's Simply Smart 0% fat milk ... you can't call it skim milk, though, because they've waved a magic wand and made it taste like 1%. (They say on the label 2%, but IMNSHO it really tastes like 1%, which is good enough for me!) Shredded Spoonfuls are addicting. They're organic, crunchy, and sweetened with molasses. No need to add sugar. I picked them out because I saw someone else choose them from a long line of organic cereals at our local cooperative food store. I was always curious about organic cereals, but the ones I'd tried either had lousy texture or didn't taste all that good. These, I'm here to tell ya, taste GOOD!

Another favorite is plain yogurt sweetened with sugar or Splenda, topped with melon chunks and my favorite crunchy granola from our local diner, Lou's. I keep intending to try making granola myself; one of these days I'll do it!

And the third favorite is instant oatmeal topped with vanilla yogurt, toasted walnuts, and fruit topping, which I've blogged about here.

One final breakfast that is simple and quick, but does involve some actual cooking, is baked eggs. You grease a ramekin or two, drop a couple of tablespoons of cream or milk in, then an egg, and then some shredded cheese. Pop them into a 450 degree oven for ten minutes while you go get yourself ready for the day, come back, drop some toast in the toaster, and have a nice hot breakfast. The full recipe is here. Some people would say a breakfast that includes eggs, dairy, and cheese doesn't qualify as healthy, but I'm not one of them. If you're having salad for lunch and pasta for dinner, you need some protein and dairy items, in my opinion ... but there I go again with my NSHOs!

So, how about you? What's your favorite healthy breakfast?

theater: the good & the bad (no ugly so far!)

So! Having auditioned and been accepted into the ensemble for a local community theatre group's presentation of Singin In The Rain was really, really exciting. I've sat in the theater since forever, wishing I were up there and not in my seat.

The ensemble means you're in all the crowd scenes (of which there are quite a few), you sing with the chorus, and you sing and (gulp) dance in the big finale. I've been going to music rehearsals and dance rehearsals and doing my best to impress everyone with my upbeat personality and hard work. I even shelled out for some pretty fabulous tap shoes so I can do my Gene Kelly best! And everyone has been very nice. Especially the lovely and talented Ilsa, who spent an hour with me in her garage tapping, and helped me pick out my fabulous shoes.

But even better, last night the stage manager, Jen, called to tell me that they've given me a line to speak! One line, four words, but hey! It's more than I expected!

But wait, there's more! There's also a scene where the Gene Kelly character is telling about his high-class upbringing and training for the theatre, while in the background the TRUE story is shown. One of the truths is that he and the Donald O'Connor character played burlesque shows doing a very slapstick clown routine. And I'm going to play one of the clowns! Rubber chickens, exploding cigars, etc ... what fun!

Ok, that's the good. Here's the bad: my dancing. Pee-yoo! I'm a stinker! I haven't a clue about this tap stuff! The rehearsals have been very discouraging. Everyone else seems to be picking it up but me. Of course, many of them have tapped before. I'm going to have to ask for individual help .. and/or stand in the back & remove the taps from my shoes so I don't make tap noises at the wrong times. I hope I don't have to do that!

But, never fear, I will persevere. There's still weeks left to practice, and there's nothing like a little fear to make you work hard. People talk about "muscle memory" like, it seems like a lot to learn, but with enough practice your muscles just start to "remember" what to do, and then it's just a matter of tuning up around the edges. I sure hope so!

Back step, ball change, back step, ball change, flap, flap, step, ball change. Back step, ball change, back step ... gotta go practice, see ya later!

soft eyes

I love the soft expression on Simba's face in this picture. We were outside on a sunny day earlier this spring, before the bugs had gotten lively and while the garden was just greening up. You can see the daffodils in the front corner of the pic. I brought my camera out to record the state of various plants in the garden, but the little guy was so sweet-looking that I just couldn't resist taking dozens of shots till I got this one, and a few others that will show up for my Weekend Dog Blogging entries over the next weeks.

I'm afraid my posts have gotten long on pictures and short on words of late. There's so much going on, and I miss having time to sit down and think about what I'd like to share with you each day. There are two major events going on that are taking my time: preparing for the Ruby on Rails course friend Brian and I are arranging, and rehearsing for the play. The course will be over by the end of this month, and the play will be over mid-July. Till then, I'll have precious little time to blog properly. But I hope you'll keep stopping by to see the little mementoes of my days that I do manage to share, and I look forward to a fuller dialogue with you at some later date!


This is my submission for Sweetnick's Weekend Dog Blogging. If you love dogs, you will enjoy checking out her blog Sunday night to see the lineup of much-loved canines in all their doggie glory!

wildlife report

Wednesday morning I was surprised to see a small turkey in the high grass not ten feet off my back deck. Turkeys in the yard aren't uncommon, since we keep bird feeders, but they're usually under the bird feeders, vacuuming up sunflower seeds, shells & all.

So I was surprised to see it up the hill, pecking away at the tips of things. Of course I carefully backed away from the window and got my camera. When I returned, it spotted me and started making its way away, but it was moving slowly and I got quite a few good shots.

If you ignore the scrawny neck and head, turkeys are really beautiful birds. Their feathers sport a shiny iridescence that's surprising to people who may have only seen them in pictures, and there are striking patterns where their wings meet their back.

Later, after it had gotten out of sight, I let Simba out to chase a squirrel. Soon I heard an alarmed turkey sounding off up the hill a bit, but it didn't sound like Simba was chasing him (much loud flapping of very large wings would have signalled that) so I didn't immediately call him to come back. But then I heard some rustling in the grass. I had never heard that exact sound before, so I looked out the window and saw ... baby turkeys! Making their way to mama. She was sounding off to say, "Come to me! Danger!"

I immediately began calling Simba loudly to come in. He's never shown much interest in birds other than to flush them out of his way en route to more interesting four-legged prey, but these little guys couldn't fly away and I wasn't sure what he would do. Fortunately, he came running out of the woods from another direction, just happy to know that coming when called gets him a special treat. Whew!
Later, when I looked at the photos, I wondered if the little birds would show up in any of them. Sure enough! Here's the same picture from above, enlarged. They're a little hard to spot, but I found two little ones! Awwww! Click the photo to see it larger. There's a better picture of a baby turkey here.

(It'll be interesting to see what sorts of hits I get from search engines, with a title like "wildlife!")

directions to big fatty's in hartford, vermont

If you're looking for directions to Big Fatty's, please see my updated post here.

And then, not to do a bait & switch or anything, I invite you to come see what else I'm blogging about here!