Merry Christmas

The Christmas gathering with mom, stepfather, hubby, and myself was actually yesterday.  Here is a picture of the food before it disappeared.  Except for the really big batch of chicken soup, there were only enough leftovers to give mom and stepfather so they had something to eat today when restaurants are mostly closed.

Chloe sulked below the table hoping someone would drop a treat her way.  That is why the carrots, apples, relish plate, and green beans held strategic locations as buffer zones to protect the crackers, cheese, shrimp, and beef tenderloins.  She had been given a rawhide, but she quickly figured out it was a bribe and that we still had the best stuff on the table.

At the end of the meal mom repeatedly asked the question

"Are there any cookies?"

To which she received the answer

"No..., because you should't eat cookies,

(even my special radio cutout cookies).

Here have some sugar free chocolates;

but don't eat too many at once or you'll get the trots

from the artificial sweetener."

I should still make a few batches of cookies to send to niece, nephews, and relatives who aren't diabetic.  We'll see if there is time.

I contemplated getting a real tree this year, but the electrical work has been extended to running diagnostics on the entire circuit to which the bathroom was connected.  That prompted a decision to replace some light fixtures, more switches, buy more electrical tape in pretty colors of black, red, and white.  That beeping sound you might hear is not a censor bleeping my words, it will be the DMM (digital multimeter) running continuity checks to figure out which cables run where.  That electrician was entirely too fond of daisy chains.  Once that is sorted, hopefully it will be possible to connect things back together correctly without having to rip open walls.

Wishing you a Christmas that is Merry and Bright

with celebration of the birth of Christ.

Figures

Why is it that on the darkest day of the year the bathroom lights just happen to go on the fritz?  For more weekend fun and enjoyment, let's roll out the fridge and run an extension cord to a different circuit for it; then run another extension cord and work-light to said bathroom and plunge half of the upstairs of the house into darkness when the breaker is flipped.  The electrician who "dreamed up" that load calculation (bathroom lights & outlet, kitchen lights and wall & countertop outlets, and dining room outlets all on one 15A, 120V circuit) has probably already died of old age, otherwise I might be tempted to punish him.  As a very lazy remedy to this comedy, a single 20A outlet all alone on its own circuit was run to one end of the kitchen counter.  It keeps the breaker from blowing whenever someone runs the microwave and the toaster at the same time, but is less than ideal.

Oh my dear friend, the electrical tool box - you and I have a date for this evening, hopefully not a hot one.  It's time to put the batteries in the DMM and get to diagnosing the trouble.  Hopefully, replacing the wall switch and the guts of the wall sconces will suffice.  Of course the meter will be used to check the wiring in between things as well.

Please let it be the fixtures!

Otherwise the next sound you will hear is of a crowbar ripping up attic floorboards, then a shop vac, a roto-zip, and me cursing as I cut holes in the 1" thick plaster and drywall in the kitchen and closet walls adjoining the bathroom to run new wiring.

Please let it be the fixtures!

Without Excuse

So no more excuses.  The filters on the vacuum cleaners were changed yesterday.  Since dust bunnies are not appropriate menu selections for Christmas Eve dinner, I must vacuum this big, old, dirty house.  Hope you have a wonderful Saturday.

Why Can't People

just hibernate in the winter?  Why do we have to go outside when it is cold and icky?

I took mom to a doctor's appointment this afternoon, which went extremely well.  (Owing to a change in her medication, her a1c actually improved in spite of all attempts on her part to ignore her diet.)

After the appointment, all real ambition quickly left the building and rather than just sitting watching tv like a lazy bum, I opted to do some mending.  Another pair of hubby's well worn and favorite comfy jeans has once again been mended.  In previous years I tried doing this with the sewing machine, but found that hand stitching was less frustrating, safer, and less destructive to my supply of sewing machine needles.  It is always a bit disconcerting when a sewing machine needle shatters and you can't find all the pieces.  That is when you start checking all appendages to make sure they aren't skewered.  The patches on this pair of jeans total 7.  Four patches are already a few years old.  They are at the tops of the pockets, which had tried to rip out because at his previous job hubby used to carry a plasic hammer around by shoving the hammer end in his back pocket.  This was a simple case of the load exceeding the structural integrity of the fabric.  Hubby was given the Mr. Scott speech of "Captain I'm not a miracle worker...and this repair will not make it possible for you to defy the laws of physics".  Thankfully, hubby promised not to carry hammers in his back pockets anymore.  The three new patches are from more normal wear and tear.  The jeans have a double thickness of denim from mid thigh to just below the knees, but unfortunately they tend to rip out right where the double layer starts.  The final patch moves the jeans in the category of "Dear, you're not going to wear those to the store, restaurant, or anywhere outside the boundaries of our yard, are you?"  If you guessed that the final patch is on the bum, you are correct.

 This is what they look like on the inside.

 And this is what the patches look like on the outside.

So, how did I do?  If you didn't know where the patches were, would you be able to find them at a glance? 

5 Spice Chicken

5 Spice Shake 'N' Bake Chicken

that is

I am always a bit disappointed with the local Chinese restaurant's chicken wings, because they don't seem to have much flavor.
Since frying is really messy and greasy, let's try the shake 'n' bake route.

Ingredients:

1 chicken, cut up or whatever parts you prefer

  (or perhaps find in the manager's special section of your local

   grocery store)

Marinate the chicken pieces for 15 min. in the following:

1/8 C Soy Sauce

1/8 C Rice Wine

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

Coating, mix well in a large zipper bag:

3 C Panko crumbs

3 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs Five Spice Powder

1/2 tsp dried, ground ginger

1-2 tsp Bitter Orange Adobo seasoning

  (found in the Hispanic foods aisle at some grocery stores

   A close substitute might a mixture of finely grated orange peel,

   garlic powder, onion powder, and salt)

Spray Canola oil, if needed during baking

Marinate the chicken.  Remove from the marinate one piece at a time and coat thoroughly with crumb mixture.  Bake on a lightly oiled cookie sheet at 375 deg. F for 40 minutes or until inside temperature registers 165 deg. F.  If near the end of baking, the top of the chicken pieces look like the coating is trying to flake off, take the pan out of the oven briefly and spray the chicken lightly with the canola oil spray.  Return the chicken to the oven and bake till done.

Torn

Oh the choices

Chloe is torn between.

 Will she spend all day resting, licking things, and playing with toys?

 Will she beg for some peanut butter cookies,

or just surreptitiously get underfoot while mom is carrying a plate of them so that she drops a few on the floor?

Or will she dutifully guard the upstairs against all enemies,

both feline and domestic?

 Guess it is the latter,

at least until she gets bored and sleepy.

Dogs must have at least 12 hours of sleep a day.

How else would they manage to be friendly enough to be called man's best friend?

It is a Universal Truth

that all good watch dogs must bark at the UPS truck if it stops within four houses of one's own home.  Chloe is now part of the club.  She is usually really quiet, but when she saw the UPS truck stopped at the neighbors house two doors down this afternoon, she just had to sound the alarm.  It must be the slamming truck door and the stranger in the brown uniform that attracts dogs' attention.  So why does UPS make their drivers dress up in clothes the color of things dogs like to eat, items like jerkey dog treats, steak, biscuits, etc?

Supper Was

Pizza.

And I am still thankful that it did not taste like turkey.
(In case you hadn't guessed, I'm not a big fan of turkey.
It probably has something to do with mom sticking turkey drumsticks in a crockpot and stewing them until even the bones were soft.  We didn't starve, but it wasn't fun or tasty either.
Crockpots are not big on my list of favorite appliances either.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't know about you, but I am turkey'd out.

It is the curse of having divorced parents.

In order to have peace on our corner of the earth,

holiday celebrations are kept separate whenever possible.

So, Tuesday evening was dinner with dad & his lady.

Wednesday was leftovers.

Today was dinner with mom and stepfather at a nice restaurant with an all you could possibly try to eat buffet.

It was a truly interesting turkey filled marathon when hubby's folks were still alive and residing in the area as well.

I am thankful for so many things;

they would be very difficult to list.

For today though, I am thankful that mom didn't pitch a fit when we did not get her any desert at the restaurant.

I am thankful for the occasional funniness of Alzheimers.

Mom and I had a bit of a laugh at stepfather at lunch today.

He thinks he only went back for seconds, but we know he had three platefuls of turkey and sides, followed by three trips to the desert table as well.  Mom is a really slow eater, and he is really skinny so it doesn't matter if he just keeps eating until she finishes.  In that regard, they are made for each other.

Most of all I am thankful that we will NOT be eating turkey tomorrow!

Canine Existentialism

(A guest appearance from the neighbor dog Benelli or Nellie for short)

I bark and sing along with fire trucks,

because I can.

I wag,

because I'm happy,

I guess.

Why was I wagging again?

Yes, I'm blond and I don't care if you think I'm dumb,

because I'm cute and stinky too.

Is that a green bean in your hand?

Mmm I love those!

I itch,

therefore dad must scratch my head.

Dad please protect me from mom,

she has the ear cleaning solution out again!

I barf in inconvenient places,

because it's not like I can plan these things.

I use dad's lap as a pillow,

 because on his days off work he needs to sit and rest until I decide he's done.

 I sleep on your bed,

when you're not using it and it is oh so comfy.

Only in Wisconsin

will you find Polka, Polka, Polka as one of the longest running Sunday morning TV shows.  The Polka must have been invented by a naughty man.  Who else would invent a dance that involves quickly and repeatedly hopping from one foot to the other, all while being in close proximity to a lady whose girls are working on a serious case of harmonic oscillation that could be just as destructive to her brassiere as winds were to the Takoma narrows bridge?

Only in Wisconsin
will you find people not being utterly shocked and calling the police when folks drive their pickup trucks and SUV's with blood dripping from the bumpers the week of Thanksgiving.  It is gun deer season again after all.  Unfortunately hubby was not among the lucky hunters yesterday on opening day, but he has a few more days to hunt.  Hopefully, all the deer have not run and hidden in the swamp yet.

Only in Wisconsin
will you find the streets devoid of traffic when the Packer game is on TV.  Go Pack Go!

Winter Traditons

Even our pets have some.  With the frigid weather comes the need to turn on the pellet stove.  Once the temperatures drop below 20 deg. F, we have to open the stairwell door to the downstairs to let the heat up and put Chloe on the tabasco flavored leash so that she can't go downstairs and annihilate the cat.  Of course that doesn't stop the cat from playing a little game of cat and dog.  Tigger the cat seems to know when Chloe is napping, and she sneaks up the stairs when I fix supper and begs for meat scraps.

 On alert, is that mean doggy still sleeping?

Why yes, she is.
When Chloe awoke from her nap, she smelled that her space had been invaded.  She paced around and sat guarding the stairwell the rest of the evening.

Farewell Ma-in-Law

From your beginnings - way back when in the great snowy north.

To your persistence in having to graduate from two nursing schools, just because the first one didn't offer a Bachelor of Science degree.

To marrying Bruce and having some children,

perhaps in quicker succession than originally intended.

You were the glue that held it all together.

Once the children finally left home,

you and Bruce ran away down south so that you wouldn't have to shovel snow anymore.

We enjoyed your visits, when you ventured north occasionally.

Your diagnosis with alzheimer's disease was heartbreaking.

Thankfully, you were spared the worst of it.

We love you and you will be missed.

Judy

1934-2014

Chilly?

"Ma, it's cold in here.

Can you put some of my hair back on?

This is about as tight as I can curl, but it isn't working.

Could you tuck me in please?"

Halloween recap

We had our first hard freeze last night.

The wind was blowing a stiff gale from the north.

In spite of that the trick-or-treaters were out in force

gathering sweets to sustain them through the cold, cold night.

The evening began with a very large bowl full to the brim.

It ended with only two handfuls left.

Mortaring

is a bit like frosting a really big, heavy, ugly, gritty cake.

When this stuff starts to set, it is way worse than an over-beaten ganache.  It ain't pretty, but hopefully the patches will hold mom's front steps together for another year.  Or until I can draw up a plan for a new porch/deck with a built in wheelchair ramp and gather some quotes from contractors.

A Lovely Saturday Afternoon

Fresh Air, ooh the smells.

Pretty Sights

Somebody is a serious Chevy fan.

Love the smells but holding up my nose is just too much work.

Is your dog this lazy?

Oh look, the turkeys flew to town for hunting season.

Chloe was vibrating with excitement when she saw them.

A yummy end to a beautiful day - some fresh apples from the orchard with potato waffles and apple sauce.

Back to the Orchard

It's a beautiful, sunny day.

It is time for a drive out to the orchard

to get some more apples and cider.

They have really nice apples this year.

At least someone does.

Unfortunately, my trees did not do well this year.
Due to heavy rains,
I did not manage to spray them at all this summer,
which caused quite a few of lost apples to bugs.
But that does not explain the branches on the winesap tree just dying for no good reason.  I have had to remove at least four main branches already and this summer's growth is really quite pitiful.  The only explanation is that the utility crews who ran the new gas mains under the sidewalk using directional boring had something really nasty in their boring solution, and it has poisoned my apple tree.

So this summer we had the misfortune to pay $3,550 for a new road, new water and sewer mains, etc.  Plus we paid them to attempt to murder our trees, and we have to water the grass seed on the city's terrace.  No, they are not giving us a discount on the water bill for us watering their grass. 

I'm going for a drive in the country.

Hopefully, the blue skies, beautiful scenery and winding roads will be therapeutic.

Colors

Enjoy them while they last!

 Because unfortunately, snowbanks only come in white.