I'm Moving to WordPress

Hi all,

Blogger changed my whole layout, colors, pictures, everything! Even the header photo was removed! So bye-bye blogger!

As a result I just bopped over to WordPress and signed up. It'll take a while to get this up and running but please check back often! I'll miss you all for the time being!

The new site is GreyHouseJournal.wordpress.com! Just so you know, I was having a little hissy-fit today so not much of WordPress sunk in. Will be working on it over the next few days.

Anyone who uses this...are you happy with the layouts/design/flexibility? Thanks so much for your input!

Christine

greyhouse09@gmail.com

"I'm So Excited, I Just Can't Hide It" Post

Visited Miss B's blog, Besotted Brand blog yesterday and was delighted by her photo of an old cemetery in Georgia where she recently traveled. It reminded me of all the month-long trips taken each summer by car as a child. My younger brother loved old cemeteries, so whenever we saw a really interesting old one, we stopped and investigated.

Photo Source (Besotted Brand Blog)

There was something that fascinated him about them. Personally, I found them terrifically peaceful and calming. Walking into one, it felt like you had entered a patch of space where time stood still. All cares, worries and such fell away. All that was left was peace.

I've visited many cemeteries here and in other countries during my travels in life and I never felt any distress, fear or discomfort from the inhabitants residing there. Maybe a twinge of sadness on occasion, but that was it. Even in the wistfully crumbling ones where trees had turned to skeletons and Spanish moss drifted down , waving silently in a soft breeze. There was always a special peace.

In our travels we found mausoleums (sometimes unlocked), sarcophagi and old, open cement vaults used to house the coffin, empty and laying in the grass above ground. Did the family move the interred to a new grave site? Was the grave looted? So many ideas for fertile little imaginations to dwell on. Endless possibilities.

Yes, as usual, I veered off course (and in the very first sentence of this post, yikes...oh well, back to my original reason for this post).

Photo Source

Had to share this news! Miss B. is offering the Souvenir Foto Class again and I signed up! So excited! Been into photography since grade school and have six film cameras (SLR, twin lens reflex, rangefinder and Polaroids) plus two digital point and shoots. Used to be the yearbook and newspaper photographer in high school and almost majored in photography in college.

Problem is, the gap between using a film camera and digital camera has me stymied. I really (wish, wish, wish) want a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) but can't afford it. Especially 'cuz I'd want a wide angle lens and a macro on top of the standard lens.

Also I haven't done any styling or art direction (my jobs in a former life) for ages so I'm hoping to be refreshed by this class. She offered it once before however I only found out about it the day before it started and it was full. As you can see from my so-so photos on this blog I need some inspiration.

After reading Andrea Paulin's experience over the five week class on her blog Under a Blue Moon, I really hoped it would be offered again. And it is! Yay! Starts April 1 and I'm really looking forward to it. You can find more info at the Besotted Brand blog right here.

Speaking of 'shrooms Post

The mushrooms/fungi pictured look a little too scary to cook with, lol!

A few years ago I came across an exhibition of the Los Angeles Mycological Society (forgot where) and was fascinated! The group's exhibition was so intriguing. Most of the live mushrooms and fungi on display were found in the environs of LA or thereabouts! Who knew so many specimens would hail from this area?

Because of my post the other day showing some new fungal additions to the yard, this group suddenly popped into my head, so I went online to find their website and voila, there it was! Sadly, I had just missed one of their exhibitions in February which was just a few miles away.

So I looked up how to contact them. One had several options so I picked the most likely and inquired if I could send photos in an email. The person responded via email the next day and said just a photo wouldn't be enough. But I was invited to their next meeting on Mar. 19 at 7:30 p.m., where members (who are non-professional hobbyists) would be happy to give it a try!

Unfortunately, the meeting venue is the Times-Mirror Meeting Room at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. Too far for me to venture at night with the shape my knee's in, so I'll have to wait for their next exhibition. Darn!

Yeah, I know it sounds like a boring hobby, but for some reason I find it fascinating especially given the recent discoveries of healing properties of fungi. Seriously, look at all those weird shapes above!

For now, it'll all have to wait till I figure out what to do about my knee. C'est la vie. (Hey, that rhymed!) Thank goodness, I have some dried porcini (cepes), morels, golden chanterelles and shitakes for cooking!

Digitizing the Past

Mom, Gram and me

Over the last year, I've really wanted to post some "old" non-digital photos but since I don't have a scanner and don't want to spend the money buying one right now, I've been stymied, as well as annoyed and frustrated. Especially in light of the recent stories I've been writing about my parents. Suddenly, it hit me...what about Kinko's? (Though I guess it's now called FedEx office services.)

Regardless, I called the branch that's about a mile from my rental and voila! Problem solved! There are three ways to process them into digital format. The first, cheapest and easiest is a kiosk in the store. For about $5.00 one can scan up to 99 photos! Since I have photo software, I can then just adjust each as I need.

They can't digitize slides or negatives, but at least it's a start! Now I just have to round them all up since I want to get my money's worth, lol!

I know...all of you probably already are aware of this. Once again, I'm late to the digital party in life. Oh well, I'm still excited about it!

Just the other day, I found several cd's with assorted images on them. Most I had, but one contained some images of old photos I'd scanned about seven years ago. I love surprises like that! 

Tomato Greenies Canning Post

Back on 12/31/11, I commented on beginning my search for pickled green tomato recipes. Unlike the last four years of pulling out the tomato plants in February or March when the fruits have stopped ripening and the green horn tomato worms have taken over, I decided to pickle the greenies rather than just giving up on them! So I added canning jars to my grocery/errand list that I'll tackle over the next week or so, errand running not pickling that is.

In cleaning up my blog posts, I realized that I'd never posted my findings! So here are a few recipe links for pickling greenies:

1. Amazing Ribs has a quick recipe for refrigerator version (my preferred method BTW, since it's not as involved as the hot bath method).

2. CD Kitchen has another refrigerator version. What I like is that it only takes five tomatoes so I wouldn't be stuck with tons of pickled tomatoes! Plus there's the added bonus of canning as the fruit gets to size.

3. Michael Ruhlman's blog lists a recipe using the hot bath and fermentation method.

4. Home Sick Texan has yet another which list both the refrigerator and hot bath techniques. I like the combo of flavorings in this one, except of course, the jalapeno.

5. Of course "Martha's" site had a slew of canning recipes. If you go to slide #2 you'll find refrigerator pickles. Slide #10 had pickled vegetables in general. Slide #16 had Bread and Butter Pickled Green Tomatoes. All in all, plenty of pickling to keep one busy.

6. About.com Southern Food has yet another recipe though this uses the boiling water bath method.

7. Closet Cooking also has a recipe using the heat sterilization bath. I listed it because even though I don't want to bother getting all involved with the hot bath method, I really liked the ingredients.
8. Organic Garden is a wonderful site with a wealth of information including a list of blogs. In fact for those who may have more than one plant and are up to their eyeballs in greenies, that link will take you to a recipe and this lovely photo. Organic Gardening is being added to my favs!

Photo Source

9. A Way to Garden had one that uses cukes, tomatoes or peppers that's from his mother.

10. This site has a ton of pickled green tomatoes photos, most of which, when clicked on lead to a recipe or site about them!

Well that should provide a plethora of ideas on how to use greenies of all sizes, as well as plenty of related advice based on experience. One last site I'll mention is on salt. It's here, at Smitten kitchen it's well written and clearly defines the differences in the assortment of salts available today.

My pickling will be limited to small batches using the refrigerator technique. Will definitely post pictures when I finally decide on which to make! Have fun searching these sites, I found them enjoyable and enlightening (even though I still haven't found any recipes for senf gherkins).

P.S. To readers in Europe, especially Eastern Europe, I hope you're all safe and recovering from what was reported by the media here, as record-breaking blizzards and snowfall!

2/17/12 Note from author:  After reading Joanne's comment and writing mine, I wanted to suggest that readers look at the finished results in the links. Some are bright green like the photo above and some look a bit discolored or brownish like results from a hot bath method. So do compare notes between them.

It's gotten cooler here, so my tomatoes should finally stop ripening (sorry to those in cold climes I don't wish to be insensitive...remember, I did live where the wind chill could get down to -30F (-34.4 C)...).

As soon as I have six or so fat greenies, I'll try one of the recipes and post my results. I'm also going to try a recipe that accommodates all the tiny greenies I'll get in March. Can't wait for my results! If you try any, please print the link for your results in the comments, or email me and I'll post them for you! My email is in my profile. Thanks!

Happy canning! 

Recipe Land Post

If it hasn't become crystal clear to everyone who stops by my little blog, I love food and food blogs. But I'm also picky about which ones I frequent. Having searched the internet to find such sites as the 100 best food blogs which is put out once a year (by Time I think...?) I've found that a number of the sites mentioned are either the same old "popular" ones that I'm already aware of, or ones that have died off.

So when I came upon a button on "Frieda Loves Bread" (which is a very good recipe blog BTW) stating she was listed on the site "Very Good Recipes" I had to check it out. The author, Stephane did an incredible job with his site! One of the headings is "BIG list of food blogs". Holy cow! Jackpot! Not just a measly 100 sites, but over 100 pages of lists of blogs. My mind began singing a little ditty of "a-hunting we will go..." and I was off and running. As a challenge, I started with the last page, #113. 

Are you ready? Sitting down? I'm serious...there are 100 per page. This equals 11,300 sites!! Can you believe that? And I found it totally by accident! Such a happy accident. Not only that but he posts newly added blogs in the right column of his main page.

 

You can submit your food blog to be listed on the site. Here's how. You can also receive a crown depending on how many recipes you post per "kingdom". There are kingdoms for "each ingredient, dish, region or country". More how-to here. 

There's also a tab "World map of food blogs". Right now, 162 are listed on the world map which is updated every 20 minutes. He's also been working on a list of food blogs in French. The main page has recipes and links to that blog with a pic of the dish. These are not just itsy little fingernail size, but large postage stamp shapes. This is a very dedicated person.

So this winter, when you're snowbound or have cabin-fever, do yourself a favor and "get out of the house" via Very Good Recipes. You'll be happy you did!

BellaKarma Post

Oh sure, just when I "kind of" talk myself out of the ripple afghan, Jill over at the BellaKarma blog posts pictures of even more colorful afghan goodness that she's working on...sigh.

Good grief, how totally CUTE and colorful!

Can't wait till she finishes it! She said she'd post the details plus how to handle all those pesky strands left when switching colors. They're such a pain. I have my own way or two but am always open to new and easier ideas! I really like her blog, there's a lot there to read, she's been writing since 2005 I seem to recall seeing somewhere (actually longer, I looked it up). She also has posts listed by category. (And she also dislikes Halloween...a woman after my own heart.)

Photo of her neighborhood, from her blog.

She lives in a totally different part of LA which sounds really wonderful. It's an old historic district near Disneyland. Love old neighborhoods that survive with new ones! It's amazing how "huge" LA is when you actually see where people live vs. you! So MANY different neighborhoods, each with its own "vibe".

 A finished Afghan being "claimed".

Do you have any yarn projects just begging you to start them? Or maybe a stash waiting to be re-assigned to something new? Go and check: www.ravelry.com.......you'll be happy you did! So very, very many ideas!!

Of course, saying this made me realize I hadn't checked on Ravelry lately, so I went over there and found that BellaKarma had "friended" me, so I wrote back and from there promptly got lost in the crochet patterns for an hour. I didn't dare check out knitting patterns!

Afterwards, I went back to working on my blog. But I noticed The Daily Corgi had a new post, so I popped in to see what was up and segued over to Facebook to vote for a Corgi, Bosco running for a spokespet contest. Do I know a spokespet for what? No, doesn't matter, it's a Corgi! Lol!

Needless to say, I got lost on Facebook for a while. Just joined a while back and still trying to figure out the whole point of it....

Hmm, would seem I lost my way in this post and meandered quite a bit this afternoon. Didn't mean to leave you dangling. Jill's blog, BellaKarma, is a delight, not only to read, but visually. The other thing is that it's not just about yarn, crochet or knitting, she blogs about a wide range things plus her kitters, Kali is such a cutie! She's a very engaging writer and may just have snagged me back into doing something with yarn :D Seriously, take a look at her blog, I think you'll enjoy it!

Added later:  Bosco, the Corgi won!

Beyond the Pumpkin Post

After my post about being "pumpkin-ed out" before we even got to Halloween, I did find some nice new (to me) food blogs as well as some combo (food and life) sites that I thought you might enjoy. Karen at the Soup Addict has some wonderful posts and recipes. Being a soup lover and one of my favorite things to make, I was drawn in by the name of her blog. She has other recipes too, not just soups.

For example, I found a solution to my quandary about making pies or cobblers for my neighbors as a thank you. A whole pie just seemed a bit over the top, plus, I wanted some of it too. A missing slice out of a pie would be too noticeable. Her "Tiny Pies" are the perfect solution! I'll just substitute my peach filling for the one in her recipe. What a perfect idea.

Her photos are also beautiful. I also liked her recipe for Egg Pouches. They're so cute...poached eggs that look like Chinese dumplings!

Another really good site is the Snippets of Thyme blog. Sarah's blog had me lost in it for over an hour with lots of recipes and gorgeous photos. Her family travels and has lived in many places, her blog is peppered with those tales a pictures and I have to say she's an engaging writer. Her post just before their trip to Ireland was for Irish Split Pea and Ham Soup which I now have on the brain with about 20 other things I want to make! Sigh.

Lastly, there's Rocky Mountain Woman. Her blog has a little of everything...recipes, woodsy photos and a house she's building in Utah. She even had the first Mac and Cheese recipe to ever entice me to contemplate making it! That's a big deal because I usually just blow by most M and C recipes. Of course, it could be I'm just hungry. Lol! Enjoy!

Charming Link

Okay, I think I've noted my odd (slightly warped) sense of humor in some former post or maybe it's just all in my mind.... The other day I found the Besotted Brand Blog and it's a hoot. Part visual inspiration with great links, part my kind of oddball humor involving dog-lets and part a great future online store that's in the works. Would have posted this sooner but did want to get approval to use the pics...not just "lift" them from her site. Tristan graciously agreed.

I just burst out laughing when I see this photo!

Hannibella

I know, I know, I should be saying "oh, poor sweet little dog" and not laughing but as I said, I have an oddball sense of humor. And laughter is so good for the soul!

Anyhow, you must check out Tristan and Bella's blog, the Besotted Brand Blog for a number of reasons. First, the sweetest little French Bulldog:

Birthday Girl:  The non-Hannibella look.

An assortment of cool Photoshop Actions available like this Apricot Glow:

And she's working on opening an online store. Here's just a sample of the type of items that it appears she'll be offering. Love the script!

Her packaging sense is wonderful, as is her photography. Enjoy!

Thank you Tristan, for letting me share your wonderful blog and pup-let! I'm sure more than a few visitors will be stopping by Besotted!

Rent and Drizzle Post

Again, there are days NOT to get out of bed, much less open the mail. The landlord has raised the rent on this little 800 square foot house by $205 per month. Just swell. Now I REALLY have to find a new place/state to live. Good grief, I could easily afford a mortgage on a decent house in almost any other state!

I almost entitled this "Rent Rape Post" but thought it too graphic, though it's how I feel. California is no longer welcoming in any way, shape or form...okay, in weather only. But for the $$$$$ I have to pay for EVERYTHING, it's no longer worth it. I could get the same elsewhere.....maybe with more weather but at least pay less than half! Enough whining for now. It is what it is.

If anyone really loves where they live, please let me know. I'm totally open to ideas!

Remember how I said I had a feeling I'd regret not doing my errands yesterday? Well, I now know why. It's actually raining today. Okay, from a Midwestern standpoint, it's just average drizzle, but for So Cal? My oh my!

Out of curiosity, I checked www.sigalert.com to see how traffic was doing. Here's a link for the history of SigAlerts. The freeway grid looked like a giant red spider or centipede at about 9:30 a.m. It's really pretty funny. Red, in most cases, means, that the speeds are down below 20 mph! It's only drizzle folks!

Though I'm not a native of California, after 30 or so years of living here, I am picking up some of the natives' weather habits which is not a good thing. Like today, I checked the forecast and supposedly no rain is predicted for tomorrow. I may wait and run my errands then...lol!

Have a great day wherever you are!

Added about an hour later...the softly dropping rain (heavy drizzle) is very hypnotic...I'm ready for a nap!

Added about four hours later...why do I feel the sudden urge for a mocha frappuccino when I'm freezing? The sun broke through at about 4 p.m. and now we have dappled white puffs of clouds in the sky. My neighbor P is apparently applying for "sainthood"...he once again brought my two trash cans in for me. What a sweet person.

The day has been spent working on posts and my soon to be etsy store while I've listened and cringed as I've heard many skids from cars whose drivers did not gauge the amount of distance for stopping on a rain covered street before the sign on the corner. Eeek! So far no crashes.

Hint of Autumn Post

There are those here in Southern California, who say they can't see the seasons. This little chickie can't be counted among them, because I see the seasons most distinctly. Like right now, today just screams autumn is well on it's way.

The light is different...less intense and moving south. The temperatures (knock on wood) are gentler. The deciduous trees like the liquid ambers are starting to show a bit of color. This could all change in a blink, but there it is, the season of fall is almost upon us. Of course there's always the possibility of an "Indian Summer" surprising us but that can happen no matter where you live.

When growing up in Wisconsin, it was a very real expectation. How else could the universe further torment a high school full of teenage girls already forced into the ugliest navy blue wool gaberdine uniform ever imagined? Today, I still hate the color blue, yes, hate...that's the evil color emblazoned in my teenage mind...forever.

Envision a classroom full of 30 girls (in various stages of discovering deodorant) after gym class and you have a pretty good picture of torment. Despite the image of young women "properly" attired with peter-pan shirt collars, short little wool bolero vests, and a skirt with a pleat right over one's stomach, which just highlighted one's baby fat (thank you so much uniform selection committee), the stench overwhelmed the image. Add to that the disaster visited upon all those pert and teased little hair-dos held in place with lacquer spray, after an hour of sweat in the sun for gym class, and you have a bunch of sad looking little dishrags.

We won't even go near the subject of the gym romper uniform...just thinking of it makes me close my eyes, and shake my head while cringing.... Yeah, it was that bad. And they were red! What were they thinking...sticking red outfits on Nordic blondes who had ruddy cheeks even before exercise?

But (as usual) I digress...the seasons is the subject I was on. As I said, the seasons are very clear to me and the one I'm seeing today is so far quite pleasant.

On a totally different topic, in my strolls through the blogosphere (is that even a word?) I ran across a contest on babble for the top food blogs. Now I'm not a big fan of "mom" blogs since I really don't relate to all the talk of babies and toddlers. But food is food, so this caught my eye.

Found my way there via Snippets of Thyme which is a food blog (for the most part) with wonderful photography, like this post with the swans...gorgeous! Really, go check out her photos of the swans right now but then come back. Anyhow, I thought I'd share this with you since it lists 100 food blogs and who can't use a new recipe now and then?

Oh, and I found this recipe for Grilled Tuna and Cheese Sandwiches which looks delicious! Planning to make this real soon! Just need some sandwich bread. Yeah, my thoughts of a Paleo or gluten-free diet get side-tracked real easy!

Rogue's Gallery Post

As with all injuries, they seem to get worse before they get better. No idea why this is, but lately have had a number of chances to prove it to myself. As promised, we have the "rogue's gallery" of the shiner's shifting colors.

First up is the shot when it just looked like I had eyeliner and super heavy eye shadow.

Good grief, this is an unattractive pic! Lol!

Note the slow, barely visible color drift to the bag under my eye.

Next is today's shot of what looks like a shadow from the puffy bag under my eye, but is actually not a shadow but more color. Since I have no idea how to "draw" an arrow on a photo, I taped a paper one to my face...I'm just soooo creative. :D Note the array of colors now visible.

I know this is terribly blurry, but taking a photo of a small target and then cropping it, seems to bring out the worst in my photography.

Funny, observing the progress of a black eye is kind of like watching molten lava flow in very slow motion. Lol! Oh, and just so you have something to compare the small disaster to, here's a pic of my normal eye.

No I'm not lash-less or brow-less just blonde.

No photo of it, but I've added an extra large lump highlighted by a nice purple bruise to my chin so it looks like a huge double chin. So attractive...not. Assorted other bruises and kinks have surfaced in various places. Not to be indelicate, but there's even a very painful bruise on my boob! This is what happens when you fall without a double armload of laundry to cushion you like I did the last time. Still, I'm so very thankful for not breaking anything.

Paleo/Gluten Post

Lettuce Wraps

In my baby-step attempt to be less of a hermit, I called a friend the other day whom I hadn't seen or spoken to in months. Her husband had some health issues this summer and I hoped he was better. Turns out they've changed their eating habits. Back in November, she'd joined Weight Watchers and lost 15 pounds but it took a long time. When her husband landed in the hospital, she researched all kinds of diets  to improve one's health and stumbled on the Paleo diet. As a result, she's 35 pounds lighter, two sizes smaller and he's much improved.

The Paleo diet is one that excludes wheat products and is based on the hunter/gatherer type of eating. This quote is from Time: "Believers say that only by returning to a diet of wild game and fresh produce, eliminating grains and dairy, and exercising in short, intense bursts, can we thrive in a world of escalators and cheese fries."

When I googled Paleo diet, there were plenty of sites to check out. My friend also emailed the following links to me:
Mark's Daily Apple
The Food Lovers Primal Palate
Simply Sugar and Gluten Free
Robb Wolf Blog
Primal Kitchen Blog
Everyday Paleo
Fat Head

The fact that about five weeks ago my arms broke out in some crazy rash and hives that itch like mad has me wondering. It's very similar to the psoriasis that broke out on my legs at the beginning of the divorce which I attributed to stress as it started covering my body. Currently, it's only noticeable on my lower calves thank goodness.

I'd begun to wonder if it was something in the prepared salads that was affecting me. It flared up after a few weeks of eating the salads. Now I'm curious if it could be a wheat allergy. Last night I bought a rotisserie chicken and that was my dinner with plenty left for this evening. I had little to no itching last night.

This morning I made a small sandwich and within three hours the rash went wild. I applied an ice pack to the areas affected which helped a little. As I write this, I alternate between typing and scratching. Yes, I know, I shouldn't give in, but the itching is rabid. I've tried the topical medicine that helps my legs but it does nothing for my arms. Even the new cream prescribed last week has little effect. So I'm inclined to re-think what I consume.

This will be more of an elimination method than an actual diet. I'll be starting with the prepackaged salads. The rash started shortly after I started eating them exclusively for dinner. Instead, I'll have chicken or wild-caught fish with a cooked (ideally organic) vegetable for dinner. This means I'll have to cook which is a pain, but if it stops the itching, I'll do it. Amazing what can motivate us.

Rather than eat sandwiches made with bread, I'll make lettuce wraps. Just Google lettuce wraps or paleo lettuce wraps and you find a plethora of ideas. I will wash the lettuce in a 10 to 1 solution of water to vinegar to get rid of any bacteria. (That's another whole topic in itself, but I'll save that for another day.)

Another wrap I'm going to look into is a copycat recipe for P.F.Chang's. If you haven't tried their wraps you're really missing a treat! I even found a video for them.

Anyways, I'll be posting the results. Who knows? I do know the property manager for this rental cut out all glutens over a year ago and says she feels great. Her psoriasis, arthritis and cholesterol levels have greatly improved. And she even lost some weight. Can't complain about that.

P.S. This may be easier said/written, than done....

Reading List Post

As promised, today's post is a reading list. It's not a long list. I don't read tons of books so when I do, I want something that grabs hold of me, wrapping me in it's story so that I never want it to end. The books listed all go beyond that to the rarified realm of "I'm going to read that again". Something that not many books accomplish.

One of my favorite authors is Isabel Allende. Her biography is impressive. She was born in Peru, grew up in Chile and now lives in the U.S. The timeline of her life is remarkable, she's done so much in her 69 years. I've read most of her books but my two favorites are "Daughter of Fortune" (click on the link for a summary) and "Portrait in Sepia"(click on the link for a summary).

Next is "The Eight" by Katherine Neville. It "features two intertwined storylines set centuries apart. The first takes place in 1972 and follows American computer expert Catherine “Cat” Velis as she is sent to Algeria for a special assignment. The second is set in 1790 and revolves around Mireille, a novice nun at Montglane Abbey. The fates of both characters are intertwined as they try to unravel the mystery behind the Montglane Service, a chess set that holds the key to a game of unlimited power".

Lastly we have "The Mists of Avalon" by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A refreshing version of Arthur's court. It's novel since it's "the Arthurian legends written from a woman's point of view".

All are stories based on history and involve strong women, I think that's why I liked them. Enjoy!

Trollup, Bee, Men and Personal Happiness Post

Just talked to a friend in the Midwest who I've known since I was ten years old. We've stayed in contact off and on over the years. She's been struggling with a cheating husband over the last year. She really loves him and doesn't want to get divorced.

He says he still really loves her but doesn't understand why they "can't all just get along". Funny (not really) but that's exactly what doltoid said to me about the trollop he was "seeing" while still married to me. What is it with men? How dense can they get? Apparently, pretty darn dense.

She said the worst part is at night when her mind is filled with all the bad things that could happen. I told her I'd email a poem I had since grade school that got me through a lot of difficult times in my life. I've come to view it as sort of a code for living, surviving and happiness. It's called Desiderata by Max Ehrman. It was written in 1927. I told her my favorite line was "But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness." This is so, so true.

After reading through it a few times, I decided to share the poem with you. Hope it gives you some comfort when and if needed. It has me.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Isn't that a remarkable piece of writing? She also told me she'd recently read two books that she felt were good but depressing. One was Little Bee:  A Novel, written by Chris Cleave. After listening to her and reading a few reviews of the book, I decided she needed a "better reading list" at this point in time. I'll share that list with you tomorrow. Hope this post finds all of you in a place of peace and happiness. Thank you for reading.

Block Party Post

First, I want to ask my readers, especially those of you who live outside the U.S. if you have "block parties" or anything like them in your country. Several people I met today said they'd never been to a block party or had one where they lived. Have you? I'd love to hear about it! Just leave any info or links in the comments section. Thank you!

Today's "block party" was a success with about 100 attendees, though more would have shown up if it hadn't been so freakishly hot. The dark street asphalt really absorbs/reflects the heat from the sun, so neighbors were taking refuge under any tree they could find. The huge Live Oak in my front yard was a popular spot because of the vast amount of heavy shade it provided.

The street was blocked off from cars by barricades at each end. Several restaurants were supposed to set up tents in the street and offer tastings. For some unknown reason, they didn't show up. Oh well.

There was a kiddy pool set up filled with ice, water and marbles. The idea was for the kids to try to find and pick up the marbles with their toes. It was very popular, even with the adults.

A DJ played music and several pop-up tents were set up for different organizations like Relay for Life, the local food bank that had bags of canned goods for any who needed help and the neighborhood watch group. There also was a table for pot luck dishes to nibble on and plenty of cold water.

It was interesting meeting the people surrounding me, especially those from the houses and apartments behind the front houses on the street. Most of the properties in this area have two units or more on them so that's a lot of people. I even met the city's mayor!

The temperature was at least 105F (45.5C) in the shade with little to no breeze. I lasted about 40 minutes and suddenly could feel myself getting a little woozy, so back into the air conditioned house I went. A bit later I went out, this time with Blue. He had a good time meeting people and they were quite happy to indulge him with tummy rubs when he shamelessly rolled onto his back. He'd been beside himself since he couldn't see what was going on and so he was barking and grumping. I think getting out, helped him.

After about 30 minutes, I retreated into the house. Timing was just right since the party was over and clean up had begun.

My poor little window air conditioner is trying so hard, but it can only manage to keep the living room coolish. I dread seeing my electricity bill. It's going to be painful, I just know.

Anyhow, that was our block party in a nutshell! 

Even More Refrigerator Dillies Post

Yes, I do have pickles on the brain. Nice, crispy, icy dills. A simple old-fashioned pickle. It's got to be the heat. Summer has been kind to us up until yesterday. Now we're in the 100's (37.7C's) and110's (43.3C's). So here are more easy cold process dill pickle recipes. Some of the recipes even claim they last as long as 6 months in the fridge (if you can resist them for that long).

From Foodie with Family there is the Homemade Claussen Knock Off recipe. Food.com has several Claussen copies like this one and this one for Claussen Clones. I also found Claussen-Like Refrigerator Pickles and Claussen Dill Pickles (Refrigerator). There are even more on this site and all the ones I've listed  had a 5 star rating.

It appears from another site, idigmygarden.com, that adding heat ruins the crunchiness of the pickles. Lots of pickle info here. At recipesecrets.net/forums you'll find even more info and copycat recipes. Frankly, if you just Google "claussen dill pickle recipe" you will be overwhelmed by the abundance and variety of copycat recipes for these delicious greenies. Some with garlic (a "must" in my opinion) and some without. As well as recipes for those who like some heat in their pickles and variations that are tamer.

I may just have to pay a visit to a nearby farmers market tomorrow morning despite the 106+F (41+C) heat. Then again, maybe I'll wait for a cool spell.

Tomorrow we'll be talkin' tomatoes.

P.S. Will I never ever remember??? Ran out to buy a rotisserie chicken for dinner and while at the store spotted Virginia ham for $2.00 off/lb. which is perfect for sandwiches. So I bought a pound (.5K). Got home, put the groceries on the porch, ran into the house to let the dog out (I'd been gone to the Dr. and store for three hours) and saw my neighbor in the house behind me was out in the backyard. I walked back there to let him know about the "block party" on Sunday and we talked. Suddenly I heard the unmistakable sound of shredding plastic followed by deadly silence. I ran for the gate which wouldn't open. When I finally got the gate open and ran to the porch, there it was, the chewed up plastic bag with no sign of ham and the evil little beastie was starting in on the hard plastic covered roast chicken. A whole pound of ham!!! Guess who'll be getting no din-din tonight. As I've said before, I was very spoiled by my dear Siberian, Frost and her good behavior plus it's a darn good thing Blue's as cute as he is!

Insomnia Post

If you ever have trouble falling asleep at night, I have found the perfect solution. Read the instruction book for your camera without having access to your camera. You'll be out in no time flat. I know because it just happened to me, right now, in the middle of the day! I read about 10 pages and as you know, there's not all that much text, mostly drawings of all the assorted digital symbols used to control the camera. If I had the camera here, I may not have nodded off so soon because I'd be going between the book and camera settings trying things out.

An even more effective method (at least for me) is to download the manual to your computer and read it on the computer screen. Holy Cow! It'll put you out like a light bulb. In fact, I'm going to go take a nap right now, I can't even keep  my eyes open.

My, that was a nice little one hour nap, with vivid dreams and all. So there you have it, the cure for insomnia. Don't bother reading books, they may pique your interest, keeping you awake reading to see what happens. No, go straight to a technical manual, particularly one you've avoided reading because it looks so long, boring and complicated...it's perfect! Currently I have several choices, my camera, dvd player, phone and printer manuals. So if you're having trouble sleeping, give it a try, you never know. You may also find out where the white balance settings are, so when you wake up the next morning you can also solve a problem that's been bugging you for a while. Double win!

Knitting and Hades Post

Yesterday the temps topped out in the mid 90's (32C). Starting today, they're going into the high 90's (32C) with Sunday predicted to hit 100F (37+C). They're expected to stay that way for at least 7 days. Sadly the nighttime temps will follow them and be in the low 80's vs. 60's (15C) where they should be. I suppose this is par for the crazy weather on this planet. We've lucked out here in So Cal with really temperate weather, so it seems like this is going to be the summer from Hades where the weather gets even with us.

Thus the fingerless gloves I'd begun working on (starting on Christmas presents early) will be going on hold. The pattern is "Fetching" from Ravelry. An easy and enjoyable project. I've posted this before, but it's really a good picture, courtesy of Ravelry.

  

In getting this photo, I checked into my Ravelry account and discovered three messages waiting for me! One as far back as Valentine's Day! I'll have to stop in there a bit more often. While at Ravelry I found another pattern for fingerless gloves called Owlings by Kerrie. It's a free pattern and they may be next on my needles if it gets a bit cooler. I tried to download a photo but can't so follow the link.

I can't believe I'm writing about knitting in July!

Sourdough and Heat

Between recovering from my pneumonia relapse of last week and trying to stay cool in this uninsulated and newly un-shaded house while temps climb into the upper 90's in this valley, I was avoiding all form of physical activity and surfing the web. Frankly, if the air-conditioning in my car worked, I'd go for a drive but after yesterday's sweat-filled errand run, I'm staying put.

Remember how I mentioned that a number of my favorite blogs had stopped posting anything due to burnout or boredom? Well, I went searching for new ones today and by way of An Oregon Cottage, found some great recipes and was sucked into the world of sourdough bread baking. Not that I'll be turning on the oven till at least November, but between the research into the no-knead-bread craze and the sourdough info, I should find a way to make some bread on the grill outside. Just need a cast iron dutch oven or a enameled dutch oven that I don't mind "sacrificing". Craigslist here I come.

I picked up a good deal of information on sourdough making from Jami's blog as well as some great links including Gnowfglins e courses (if you go here you'll see a video on starting a starter), Heavenly Homemakers blog, MnLakesCam site which has a downloadable three-part e book on sourdough making, and $5 Dinners blog (which while not a sourdough site, has some great recipes and ideas.

It all started at One Perfect Bites blog when I noticed she had a list of blogs from Oregon and Washington in her sidebar. Since I'm contemplating moving to Oregon, I thought it'd be good to check them out.

After Jami's blog, I went over to Fresh from Oregon's blog which has lots of yummy sounding recipes and unlike me, has lots of pics of food prep in progress. There's a particularly good looking salmon in pastry recipe there. I'm guessing that she's occupied with summer activities since she has no June posts. It's still nice to visit. Next I tried Wives with Knives blog which has gorgeous photos. There's a recipe for Smoked Salmon and Asparagas Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Dressing that looks delicious.

From there I moved onto My Own Sweet Thyme blog which also has tons of recipes and photos (just note that it takes a while to load). Next I went to Banana Wonder  blog which has mostly vegetarian based recipes which actually look interesting. Usually I'm not that into all veggie meals. Here are two  more to check out:  For the Love of Cooking and Zupan's Markets.

Well, that was an afternoon in the heat well spent. Tomorrow I will be braving the heat (supposedly 95+F or 35+C) and running a few more errands, although I'm going to try and get out of the house before 10 a.m. since the car is sans air conditioning. Thank heavens LA doesn't have a lot of humidity or it'd be really, and I mean REALLY ugly! Seriously. Hope you enjoy the links and sorry for not so many photos...being house-bound kind of limits the variety of things to photograph.