Musings
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Wordless Wednesday
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Books on Tape*
Or, more accurately, audio books. I’ve never really liked the idea of listening to audio books, but many people that I know love them. Most of the people I know that love them listen on long car rides. I work from home, so don’t really have long car rides in my life. A few months ago, Maya and I were at our local Amazon bookstore, and as a Prime member, they said I was entitled to a free month with two audio books. OK, I thought, maybe I’ll use it. A few days later, I was talking to my stepmom, Julie, and she was telling me about an audiobook she…
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Another Meme
Another picture from our trip to France last year. Not positive who the artist is, but it looks like Van Gogh to me… Anyway, feeling lazy, but wanting to post SOMETHING just to make me think about blogging and perhaps encourage myself to blog more…so, here’s a meme, that I got from my friend Carla on Facebook. Just a list, and the answers must start with the FIRST letter of your LAST name. I’m not going to overthink it, just use the first one I come up with. Probably I could come up with funnier, more original answers if I tried. Animal…………………Antelope Girl’s name………….Alice Boy’s name………….Arthur Color……………………Aubergine Food…………………….Artichoke Drink……………………Absinthe Reason…
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Two Years
July 5th was 2 years since my Dad died unexpectedly, while hiking in Italy with my step-mom. In some ways it feels like yesterday, and in others it feels longer. It still hurts a lot. We spent the day at the Marin Headlands, with a short hike and views of the ocean. Loyal readers know that I met my Dad when I was 21, and have never lived in the same state at the same time, so of course, I have no childhood memories of him. My sisters do, though, and they said that one thing he used to cook for them is Quiche Lorraine. Ted and dairy don’t get…
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Lokma Chicken Sandwich
Back in May, Ted’s mom and I took a Friday off and went to San Francisco to see the Monet exhibit. I had seen it back in March, with Ted and Maya, but wanted to see it one more time before it left. It turns out that my MIL had been to Monet’s gardens once with Ted’s brother, several years ago, and she also loves Monet. Who knew? I love finding common cause. It’s especially nice to find out that you have more in common with someone you love than you thought. So, we went to the City and looked at beautiful art, then perused the gift shop, drove out…
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Chicken Tchakhokbelli (Chakhokbili)
My most recent visit with my Great Aunt included a lovely lunch with both my Great Aunt Flo and my Aunt Carolyn at Red Lobster, a trip down memory lane looking at photo albums, and of course, Aunt Flo giving me things. One of the things she gave me is this recipe, which apparently my Grandma used to make when they had company. I considered making it for Maya and Ted, but 1. It looks horrible, and 2. See number 1. They both said they would not eat it if I did make it, so why bother. One conversation that came up was about typing, and why the bottom of…
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Wordless Wednesday
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Throwback Thursday – Normandy
We stopped at Omaha Beach when we were in Normandy last June, a few days before the anniversary. Not the best pictures, to be sure, but they do capture a bit of what it is like there. The sculpture is ‘Les Braves’, by Anilore Banon. From NormandyWarGuide.com, it consists of three elements: The Wings of Hope So that the spirit which carried these men on June 6th 1944 continues to inspire us, reminding us that together it is always possible to change the future. Rise, Freedom! So that the example of those who rose against barbarity, helps us remain standing strong against all forms of inhumanity. The Wings of Fraternity…
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Allergy Boy
Last year, Mulder appeared to come down with allergies. He was losing hair at an alarming rate, and was very itchy. His fur felt dry and brittle. He has an undercoat, which is what he was losing, so you couldn’t really TELL that he was losing hair, except that the evidence was all over our house, we could see tufts of hair fly behind him when he walked, our clothes were covered with it, etc. His armpits went bald. It was worrisome, and when he was at the vet, she said it was not uncommon for dogs to develop allergies at about age 3. So, we tried giving him Benadryl,…
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Monday Randomness
Since finding the pomegranate in a bush last year, I have had my eyes out for pomegranate trees and bushes. There is one on the path of my daily walk, and I noticed the other day that it has both flowers and little pomegranate buds. Aren’t they cute? I will be interested to see how many large pomegranates the tree gets. I don’t know whether the people whose yard it is eat them, or if people take them, or perhaps squirrels and birds. We shall see what happens. I’ve lived here for almost 23 years, and this is the first year I’ve really paid attention to pomegranates in the area.…
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Only Kindness Matters…
So many gods, so many creeds;So many paths that wind and wind,While just the art of being kindIs all the sad world needs. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
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Hog Island Oyster Co – Napa
Ted and I decided to take advantage of the lovely weather here, and drive up to Napa today. The catalyst for this drive was that next Sunday is Easter, and we will be having Easter Brunch with his family. Last year, we had delicious Eggs Benedict with crab cakes in place of Canadian bacon, and it was a hit, so we decided that would be on the menu again. There is a small chain of bakeries in Napa County, Model Bakery, that has amazing English muffins, so we drove up to buy some, and while there, we had lunch at a neighboring restaurant, the Hog Island Oyster Company. They are…
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Happy Birthday Puppy Boy!
Mulder is 4 years old today! Happy Birthday Puppy Boy! We took him for a nice long walk, and I gave him a piece of bacon this morning. Ted just brushed his teeth and he had a carrot (his reward for teeth brushing or fur brushing), and later I am going to bake him some homemade peanut butter dog cookies. In case you are ever so inclined, here is the recipe. I once made him some from an Ina Garten recipe, but he likes these just as much, and they are fewer ingredients and easier to make, so I’ll go with these. Someone from the dog rescue where we got…
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First Day
In my last post, I mentioned that Maya was interviewing for jobs. I haven’t heard anything about the employment agency sending her anything, but she DID really like the law firm, and accepted a job offer there. Today is her first day. I’m thinking of her and hoping it turns out to be a good fit and that she excels there and makes friends and so on, all the things you wish for someone on their first day. She left to catch BART at the same time that Puppy Boy and I were leaving for our walk, and for some reason seeing her in her business clothes (skirt, hose, pumps,…
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Friday Randomness
Birthday, Part 2 Though my birthday was in December, tomorrow we are doing the things I wanted to do then, but couldn’t. After our vacation last summer in France, I was excited to see that one of our local art museums has an exhibit on Monet’s later years, a time when he was painting his garden, over and over again. Trouble was, the exhibit didn’t open until recently, so we couldn’t go in December. My stepmom, Julie, gave me money for my birthday, which I used to buy a membership to the fine arts museums in San Francisco, and I reserved tickets tomorrow to see the Monet exhibit. So excited!…