Reconnecting with a love

Long time no blog.  

And I miss it. 
I myself am not reading blogs so much any more but, I miss writing this one. 
I have a dialogue with you, running in my head so much of the time. I've thought about posting and then overthink it and don't. 
But I think tonight, I will start again, because I read that someone had checked to see if we were still writing. 
Sometimes in life, I say this as a 68 years old wisenheimer, you just have to do what feels right.  And, gull darn it, this just feels good. 

Life is tripping me out currently. My husband has 2 different cancers and my 95 year old father is unable to get the words in his mind to his tongue. This funnels down to looking at my own aging and how I will possibly deal with a potential life changing disease or having to eat non-organic food, without a glass of wine, in the dining room of assisted living, with a multitude of other old people at various degrees of physical and mental abilities. 

But enough of the heavy thinking. I like this blogging thing and will continue it.  I was recently reading one of my journals from 2004, and I was reflecting on marriage. The entry was on our 36th wedding anniversary. My question to myself was "How do you stay married to the same person for 36 years?". This is what I wrote:

"I don't know for sure, but perhaps you:

Appreciate the balance the other person creates in your life.

Give up competing with your spouse. (Except, of course, when you play Scrabble.)

Know your partner very well before marriage, --well, at least their good points. (At the beginning of a life-time relationship, you are blind to any defect). Knowing the other's positive traits will be very useful. At times of conflict, being able to draw on the positive, reinforces your commitment.

Decrease your expectations. Don't make so many plans. Let nature take its course. 

Bring children into your life.

Continue to have mutual goals and dreams.

Discover new places and new things together. Near or far.

Keep surprising each other.

Be thoughtful."

When I read this, I thought "I'd like to blog that", and so I have.  Thank you for your interest and encouragement. 

t.t.f.n.
~Carol 

Stove cleaning haiku

Easy, Effective.

Bag, Sun, Time, Wash, Like-new Clean.

Stinky Ammonia.

Before.

During.

After. 

Cheap, very effective, and no sweat.

My kind of cleaning.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

flat bread pizza.... or, on making dinner with what you have

posted by:  jennifer

we had a summer shindig on saturday night.   good company, good vibes, and a good time.

while we didn't have tons of leftovers, we did have among other things two pieces of lavash. so when it came time to figure out dinner on monday this is what i came up with.  flat bread pizza using the lavash.  it turned out wonderful.  

two of the items i used on the pizza came from the day after the party.  you see, neither my husband or myself ate any of the tandoori chicken and veg skewers, or the chicken shawarma wraps on saturday night.  by the time we got to the food table, they were gone. 
 which is good... it means that they were good.  and it also meant that i went and got more chicken shawarma from our local mediterranean market on sunday.   thus, we recreated a bit of our party menu for sunday dinner.   i also made more tandoori marinade, and skewered up some chicken, onions and bell peppers. that took care of sunday's dinner.

monday took advantage of what ever leftovers i had from both saturday and sunday.  and this is what was born.

on the first pizza i used:
  -chicken shawarma
  -greek feta
  -fresh mozzerella
  -onions and garlic sauteed gently in olive oil


on the second pizza:
  -pesto
  -sliced meatballs
  -fresh mozzerella
  -chopped bell peppers and onions (leftover from the grilled skewers)

here is the bread i used.

here are the onions and garlic in olive oil ready to be added.  

i baked the pizza at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until done.  they need to be watched however, because the lavash will start to brown fairly quickly.

happy pizza making!

and cheers!

the penny wall

posted by: jennifer


the penny wall is complete.

you might remember that on a weekend getaway trip last year my husband and i went to santa barbara.  while on this trip were inspired by a penny wall. or i should say a penny covered building.   it was finally time to jump into this project a couple of months ago.

it took about $250 worth of pennies, give or take a few rolls.  this amounted to much explaining down at ye old credit union.  

we decided to use all kinds of pennies.  the only ones that got put off to the side were the ones that looked like someone had taken a file to.  but oh my, the variation in pennies.
so beautiful and cool.  we put our favorite side up.  sometimes heads, sometimes tails. pennies that had been painted on, pennies that appeared to have spent time at the bottom of the sea, pennies that hailed from canada, pennies that we couldn't help but wonder how many hands, what interesting people might have handled.

and we did share all the cool pennies with each other.  my husband and i.  for the first 3/4 of the wall at least.  it did get to the point where we were done with the sharing...  our eyes were on the prize of getting the last row done.  

we used construction grade adhesive to put each penny up individually.  we then grouted, using sanded grout in charcoal gray.  i told my husband that it is a good thing that we are both messy people, because the amount of grout that rained down on the cement below would make a weaker spouse blanch.  

we added a light from barn light electric , and spray painted the vent with hammered copper spray paint.  we found pennies from each of our birth years, and inset them in the trim along the bottom. we took down the scaffolding, and now we can't stop staring.  and smiling.  we are so happy with  how it turned out.   and proud.  

  

get inspired.
act on that inspiration.
make a wish.
and cheers!

the fair

posted by: jennifer


a huge (nervous) smile on her face as she goes airborne
    -just for a bit on the goliath slide.

the sky ride
   a.k.a. the ski lift death trap.
   complete with a woman passed on our descent and her ascent, eyes shut, seemingly 
       saying hail marys.

stalking clowns.
   green hair
   screwdriver in his hands
   music box monkey watching.

seeing the backside of thing one and thing two as they race to the swing ride, 
   squealing as they run.

a vitamix demonstration (a la costco) in the exhibit hall.
  and in the same exhibit hall dozens of people laying on mattresses being sold.

hearing "hey mom" by game booth hecklers as they try to convince me to get swindled...
   er, i mean to play their game.

a 9-11 memorial 
  questions from post 9-11 born children on why mom is crying while looking at a pile of 
   metal debris.  a mom who was taken by surprise by said display.  who didn't think twice 
   when two seconds before she passed by a firefighter standing next to a NYFD uniform...
   and then as she looks at what she is really passing by is completely overwhelmed with 
   emotion.

   and as she is trying to explain her tears,   a group of 20- somethings
   pass behind one loudly announcing "single women.  hot stuff coming through"
   and when she finally turns her head, seeing one of the men from the group 
   carrying a man sized inflatable siracha sauce bottle, there is laughter mixed with the
   tears.

the ninja knife.

the del mar fair
  (san diego county fair officially)

a bunch of random shit.
thrown together.
wrapped in bacon.
deep fried.
served on a stick.


cheers!

July 4th dilly

What does this remind you of?

Aerial "peony" fireworks?

Instead of traditional red, white, and blue whatevers,

how about bringing these bursting "fireworks" to your buffet table

for the decorations?

A large bouquet for a fountain-effect centerpiece or several smaller vases

festooning the length of the table will bring the highlight of the day's festivities to mind.  Pyrotechnics!

This bouquet is made with dill.  This is one flower head. Arranging this couldn't be easier.  Cut one flower head and put it in your selected container, and then add a stem or two of contrasting leaves.

Dill is easy to grow and sometimes you find it growing wild.  

This dill was picked from my garden. 

It volunteered from a plant grown last year. 

Fourth of July or not, I think this is a nice way to bring a bit of the

outdoors inside, whenever dill is found.

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol

Just the facts, lady, just the facts

I love the tiny, amazing details of nature.

Nothing speaks to me of God as loudly 

as the brilliant design of every living thing.

Here are a few facts 

about solitary bees, Masons mostly, but others as well, that I found particularly irresistible. 

75% of bees are solitary.  Solitary means each bee tends to its own brood.

There is no Queen. There are no workers. They do not live in hives nor do solitary bees make honey. They do not swarm.  

They are harmless and non-aggressive.

Solitary bees are docile, gentle natives of the United States and Canada.

(I think John Lennon could have written song lyrics with this information.)

There are over 1,600 species of bees in California alone.

Over 4,000 species in the United States. The honeybee is not native to the United States. It was brought here from Europe, Asia, and Africa.

At night, male solitary bees will sleep on plant stems, under

leaves, or in flowers. Females may return to their nest to spend the 

night constructing new tunnels and brood chambers.

(A man may work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done!)

Individual pheromones help the bees identify their own nesting holes.

Female destined eggs are laid first, in the back of the nest/tube. The eggs closest to the entrance hole are males: thus the males are the first to emerge in the spring. 

Outside of the nest, the males wait for the females.  As the ladies

appear, the males mate with them.  The female mates only once, and then releases the stored sperm as she needs it. 

Bees encounter nest predation from birds, spiders, and other insects...wasps. If the nest is plundered, the larvae/pupae closest to the entrance will be eaten first. Females are more important to the reproduction of the species. Thus the males are a barrier protecting the females. This increases the survival and fitness of the species. 

Ground nesters need bare dirt. 60 -70% of native California bees dig tunnels into the soil and provision a series of nest cells.  We obstruct ground nesting bees with mulch or even worse, black plastic.

Bees need to warm up to 80 degrees for their wings to function. Mason bees' black bodies can soak up heat even when the air temperature is only 58 - 64 degrees.

One fast flying Mason bee is as efficient in pollinating as 100 honey bees!

The Mason bee has long antennae and black furry legs. They are small bees that don't look like "bees" as we normally think of them.  What cute antennae!

It's easy to enhance bee habitat on your property.
I suppose a good mantra would be
"Let it be."
(I've definitely got a Beatles songbook playing in my head today.) 
Don't be so fastidious in the garden.
Minimize lawn or mow less often.
Tolerate dandelions. (This is one that I need to work on.)

ALSO
A bee friendly yard has a lot purple, blue and yellow flowers.
These are the most attractive colors to bees.
Provide water and a mud source.
Plant a mix of flower shapes to accommodate 
different bee tongue lengths. Awww.
Plant native perennial plants.

Native bees.
Wild bees.
Solitary bees.
"All You Need Is Love".
Love is All You Need...

t.t.f.n. ~ Carol