All posts by verily sherrilee

Directionally challenged, crafty, reading mother of young adult
Fifty Words, Food, Stories

Unseasonable

56 Comments

I’m a cynic about weather – I’m always waiting for the other shoe to drop – but Sunday I threw caution to the wind. A friend and I walked from her house to Black Coffee & Waffle where I had the best waffle ever.

Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, granola, almond butter and whipped cream. No syrup needed.  Then we went over to the Conservatory and saw the beautiful reds, purples and pinks of the Sunken Garden. And my jacket?  Left it in the car!

 

What’s on your agenda for unseasonable weather?

Media, Stories

The Pallet

48 Comments

an artists pallet tells you quite a bit about his personality

the color choices and mixes and the way they are mixed on the pallet. the brush strokes on the pallet are as distinctive as they are on the canvas.

you can tell people by their shoes their hairdo their choices re telling . furniture, clothing choices, car, watch, you used to be able to tell a lot about a person by their hat, now its their baseball cap the writing on their shirt the shine or lack of it on their shoes. it is interesting how we all have our own way. i had a friend in the massage and body work business who knew patients by the way they moved. everyone moves differently and distinctly the way you like your eggs, your speech pattern. pick one. which one. how is it the same, how is it distinctive. how is it the same as everyone elses. is it different in minnesota than it is in austrailia or germany or north dakota?

what is your signature?

what was you moms?

Baboon Achievers, History, The Baboon Congress, The Future

Unpaved Trail

49 Comments

It’s official – the baboons are in control of the Trail. After years of writing and then maintaining the blog, our fearless leader has turned over the reins and switched us to our own domain!

It looks a little quiet right now as most of Dale’s followers haven’t found their way to us – my guess is that we’ll gain our own followers as we go on. If anybody is in contact with prior Trail members, give them a shout and invite them back.  In the meantime, we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing for almost a year – writing our pieces and asking our questions.

If you are listed in the Baboon Congress, then you have rights to go in and post a blog piece. If you are not listed, you can send it via email to Verily Sherrilee (shelikins at Hotmail).  Verily and Renee will be administering/publishing the posts: Renee on the even months (except February this year as we get up to speed) and Verily on odd months.  If you don’t have a picture, let us know.  if you have a picture but don’t know how to get it on the Trail, send it to us.  Jacque has volunteered to do back-up if needed and tim will remain our cheerleader and organizer!

Kitchen Congress and Blevins are still up and running – Verily is watching over those. Barbara in Rivertown has the Glossary’s back!

The one thing that we do need to do is come up with a new “About” page.  Right now it’s just a blank template.

What do we want to say about ourselves, our history, our raison d’etre?

Family

Backsplash

20 Comments

YA (Young Adult) has always had ideas about what our house needs: new cabinets, updated electrical sockets, new fence, a deck, new carpet on the front porch. You name a room, she can reel off several projects she thinks should be undertaken. I’m sure if we ever won the lottery, she would have half of it spent on home improvement before I could even cash the check!

So it didn’t surprise me last summer when she started talking about adding a tiled backsplash in the kitchen. Not wanting to take on a project like that, I resisted. Finally she suggested that SHE would do the backsplash.  I still resisted; as a single mom I’ve heard the “I’ll do everything myself” promise many times.

It took a few months, but she finally convinced me this was a good idea. She did all the research, had a list of supplies in-hand when we went to Home Depot, borrowed the requisite tools from our handyman neighbor, watched videos on Youtube and got all set up.  She did the whole job herself except for moving the electrical boxes out a bit to be flush with the new tile, which I handled.  She didn’t ask for help at any point along the way.

Now, heaven help me, she wants to paint the kitchen cabinets!

What household repair would you like to outsource?

The Baboon Congress

Aggravation!

43 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

I’m not sure exactly when my family got our first game of Aggravation. It’s like Parcheesi; six players move their pieces around the board to their safe home base. Until you are home safe, if any other player lands on your space, back to the beginning you go. My father didn’t care for it much; he said that since it was a dice game, it was just a game of chance so not very challenging. For a while my sister and my mom and I played against each other – each taking two colors of marbles. After a few years my sister slowly withdrew leaving Nonny and me squared off playing three colors each.

We’ve played Aggravation for decades now – whenever we visit one another, out comes the game and the marbles. My game board had duct tape on the bottom side holding it together and for many years at her house, we had one oddly-colored yellow marble. We each have a favorite die (although I do trade off every now and then). Having gone up against each other for so many years, I can honestly say that Nonny and I play exactly the same game. Aggressive right out of the chute, addicted to the center spot and wildly competitive. Very very rarely does either of us make a move that the other can’t predict.

My dad was right – it’s just the dice. Nonny agrees with this assessment. But we keep playing anyway and while we do win about the same number of games, the pattern is weird. Two years ago when she was here, she won 8 out of 9 games but this past Thanksgiving week I won 10 out of 11. The fact that both Nonny and I remember these stats should probably be disturbing.

What board game makes you competitive?

Food, The Baboon Congress

Cookie Marathons

60 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

My mom doesn’t like to bake. Heck, she doesn’t even like to cook that much. So it was interesting that she decided on cookies as a great holiday gift for teachers, ministers, postmen, etc. We would make eight to ten kinds of cookies during the weeks before the holidays, all of them going into the freezer. Nothing fancy, just the basics: chocolate chip, oatmeal, snickerdoodles, peanut blossoms, sour cream with almonds, frosted sugar, brownies. Then one afternoon we would put all the cookies out on the dining room table, each take a box and walk around the table, loading up the box w/ an assortment of cookies until it was full and then we start again with a new box. We were still doing this each holiday when I was in high school.

marathon2Without even meaning to, she handed down a baking tradition that I cling to, to this day. I don’t do as many cookie gifts as when I was in school, but I still do plates for my vet, my hardware store guys, my library and my milkman. Most of the cookies, however, end up being taken to various parties throughout the season, or brought out for visitors. And eaten with hot chocolate while watching holiday movies.

marathon1Nonny doesn’t bake anymore, although she does help out when she visits around Thanksgiving. She won’t measure, pour, stir or any job that requires that she get her hands dirty. However, she LOVES to clean so we are a perfect pair. I mix and measure and every time I’m done with a cup or a spoon, she whisks it away and washes it. On the years that she isn’t visiting when I cook, I really miss that!

This year we did 13 kinds of cookies in three days. Peanut Blossoms, Chocolate Chip, Vanilla Crescents, Peanut Butter Bon Bons, Oatmeal Scotchies, Chocolate Crinkles, White Chocolate Ting-a-Lings, Frosted Shortbread Sticks, Red Velvet Shortbread, Ginger w/ Caramel Filling, Spritz and 2 kinds of fudge.

Do you have a favorite holiday cookie?

The Baboon Congress

`Tis the Season

78 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

I like to think that I’m above marketing and advertising. Whoever invented the Mute button on the remote control should be canonized and when YA was younger I would routinely tell her that if you see it on TV it’s probably a lie.

But I never reckoned on seasonal marketing. When I was a kid, M&Ms were the same color all year round. Oreos were filled with white stuffing no matter the month and Ivory Soap was always in the same wrapper even on holidays. Not now!

So many products jump on the seasonal bandwagon: pasta, paper towels, soap dispenser, beer, pop, candy of all kinds and, of course, Oreos. I never even used to buy Oreos at all (I’m a Hydrox gal) but now I can’t keep away from them when they show up in stores with spring filling or green or the holiday red. Easter M&Ms, pasta in the shape of pumpkins or flags, Ritz crackers in the shapes of snowflakes, red and green tortilla chips, paper towels with bunnies and chicks or ghosts and goblins– I just can’t resist.

So I’ve finally succumbed to the realization that seasonal marketing has me licked and I don’t try to fight it. Yesterday alone I bought Hershey’s kisses in red & green foil, paper towels with snowmen and snowflakes, pasta in holiday shapes and snowflake crackers. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

Do you have any seasonal favorites?

The Baboon Congress

Bags of Time

49 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

Right now I’m feeling pressed for time – I’m almost done with holiday prep and Nonny is coming next week. I have two separate lists and there’s not much time for sitting around. I read this Billy Collins poem last night and love the idea of having bags of time.

It seems like so much more than just my regular old time; I could get boatloads more done!

What would you do with bags of time?

The Baboon Congress, Weather

Toes `til it Snows

60 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

Last week I decided to go to the gym on my way to work. To save time I threw on shorts and a t-shirt and packed my work clothes into my gym bag, slipped on my Birkenstock sandals and headed out. I needed to do a quick stop at the library to return a book before it went overdue; luckily the library is right on my way.

As I walked from the car to the library drop box, another woman pulled up behind me and got out to return her book. She had on a hat, jacket, gloves, long pants, shoes and socks. And there I was in my shorts, t-shirt and sandals. That’s when I realized that I have Minnesota’s weather in my blood.

I did chose Minneapolis based partly on the weather here. As a child, my family spent some of each summer and winter vacation in northern Wisconsin. Winter up here compared to winter in my home town is like those proverbial apples and oranges; I knew even as a 10-year old that I preferred cold and snow to mostly cold and mostly rainy. At the end of high school, I only looked at colleges in Wisconsin and Minnesota and after my wasband finished graduate school, we headed straight for Minneapolis without looking back.

I’ve been here ever since.

This year we’ve had such a nice protracted autumn that I still haven’t put away my summer clothing or brought out any of my long-sleeved items. I’m still wearing my Birkenstocks every day. A couple of days ago a friend of mind looked at my feet and said “Toes `til it snows?” My official new motto.

How to YOU prepare for the winter?

The Baboon Congress, Weather

Fall Gardening – A Love/Hate Relationship

44 Comments

Today’s post comes from Verily Sherrilee

As most of you already know, I love my yard and my gardens. My long-range plan (no grass, all flowers) is coming to fruition in the front and in the back I’m enjoying planting in my bales and along edges until I’m out of dogs.

fallgarden1But as much as I love gardening in the spring and throughout the summer, I just run out of gardening steam in the fall. Right about the time the grass stops growing is when I quit wanting to garden. I always say I’m going to plant some more bulbs or move this patch of lilies to another spot or some other fall garden activity, but it never happens.  I only go out and finally bring in the hoses and do some yard clean up when the weather gets below freezing at night on a regular basis.  I even outsource the leaf raking to the Young Adult (for dog-sitting time).

fallgarden3Occasionally I’ll be forced into action. Last year before tim moved I ended up with about 18 big hostas from his yard. When I got home from his place, I took my gloves and shovel out immediately without even going in the house.  Got everything transplanted within a half hour because I was worried that if I went in the house and sat down I might not go back out. Same with items I got from Edith a couple of weeks ago.  But that’s the limit of my fall gardening energy.

So my autumn yard looks like a brown and rust version of my summer garden and my bales are breaking down. Every year I try to lengthen my “caring season” but so far I haven’t found a motivation that keeps me really engaged past the middle of September!

What makes you drag your feet?