All posts by verily sherrilee

Directionally challenged, crafty, reading mother of young adult
2026, crops, Food, gardening, Seasons

Cherry Tomato Delight

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Saturday night was the first downpour we’ve had in a while.  So it didn’t surprise me when my tomatoes, which are really tall for the first week of July, were sagging over, taking their tomato cages with them.  I don’t usually have to shore up tomatoes this early in the season, but …. gotta do what you gotta do.   As I was pushing my stakes in, I found two ripe cherry tomatoes.  Two.  On the 5th of July.  I have never ever had ripe tomatoes this early.

I usually pull out the cookbooks looking for tomato recipes in late July, early August.  But I have the perfect recipe for these two darlings.

First of the Season Cherry Tomato Delight
Ingredients
Two perfect cherry tomatoes
Salt (optional)

Instructions
After harvesting the two cherry tomatoes, rinse thoroughly
Pat tomatoes dry
Open mouth
Pop the first tomato in
Chew
Repeat

Serves just one

What summer produce are you looking forward to the most?

 

 

 

2026, Art, books, Fantasy, Mysteries

Fire Drill

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Last week when I stopped at the library to pick up a couple of things, there was signage at the entrance that at 2 p.m., there was a schedule fire drill.  I asked one of the librarians what was involved and she said “the drill rings, everybody goes outside and stands around until the bell rings to indicate they can come back in.”  She said that they are usually very low-key.

But it made me think about what would happen if it were a real drill and the library was on fire.  It reminded me of the ending scene of Legal Eagles, a wildly improbable film from the mid 80s.  The bad guy sets a fire in a swanky art gallery in New York (where they just happen to be having a memorial service for one of the owners).  As the funeral goers are rushing to get out, there is a quick shot of some folks trying to take some of the art with them:

So, here’s the drill.  You’re in the library when the bells go off, somebody yells “smoke, smoke”.  You have just enough time to save five books.  What books will they be?  I’ll get us started.

  • Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  • Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
  • The Martian by Andy Weir
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Us by Heather McGee.

Go.  (elaborate if desired)

2026, animals, Automotive, Computers, Family, Mysteries, Nature, Technology, Travel, Uncategorized

YA in Charge

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We went to Columbus because I love the television show “Secrets of the Zoo”.  It ran for five seasons beginning in 2018 and spawned “Secrets of the Zoo Tampa”, “Secrets of the Zoo North Carolina” and “Secrets of the Zoo Down Under”.  Down Under was resurrected a couple of years ago for an additional season and depending on what you’re willing to believe on the internet, there MAY be a Season 8.  I was (am?) addicted to these shows – loved seeing the animals and the folks who cared for them.  I’ve definitely seen all the episodes of all the show and most of them more than once. 

The original Secrets explored the behind the scenes lives of the animals, the zoo keepers and the zoo vets.  They also shared each episode with The Wilds, a safari park and conservation area about 90 minutes from Columbus.  It looked as fascinating as the zoo.

When Guinevere passed away, YA and I were suddenly free to travel together – something that hadn’t happened for about 5 years.  We decided that going to Columbus to see the Zoo and the Wilds would be perfect. 

As is my norm, I immediately got a binder out and made tabs for air, hotel, rental car, cat boarding, zoo, Wilds and miscellaneous. 

YA used her work “points” for the rental car, spent some On the Fly cards for the air and got a smokin’ hot rate at a hotel using her Iatan status.  Turns out we even got Comfort + seating because she’s got a gazillion Delta miles.  I asked her for confirming emails for everything so I could print them out – she begrudgingly did this commenting that it wasn’t necessary since she had all the info on her phone.  Even the kitty boarding place sent everything via text and email.  But not to be outdone, I dragged the binder with us to Columbus.

Because we were leaving at an ungodly hour from Minneapolis, YA set up Lyft transfers (cheaper than the off-site lots at the airport).  Once we got to Columbus, she did all the driving because it would have cost extra every day to add a driver.  So I let her choose the car.  I didn’t even know what hotel we were going to before we drove up.  She had handled that as well, including making sure it was a double/double configuration. 

Really the only thing I was in charge of was the Zoo and the Wilds.  Even those were handling with QR codes (used our MN Zoo membership to get a discount) and getting emails with links and receipts.  Just had to flash my phone at the entrance of both. 

Suffice it to say, YA was mostly in charge of everything during the trip and I didn’t open my binder one single time.  It felt kind of freeing but sigh… the times they are a changin’.

How has travel changed for you over the years?  For the good or for the bad?

2026, Family, home, pets, Travel, Uncategorized

Meet Freya

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First off, no we did not go get her in Columbus. 

We officially started our dog search about a month ago.  It went quite quickly – adoption application, meet and greet at the foster’s home, a virtual home visit (which we passed with flying colors), more paper work.  Took our Columbus trip, got home last Monday and picked her up on Wednesday!

She is one of five siblings who were “breeder release” dogs from Missouri.  There are a couple of scenarios for this.  Some BR dogs have been over-bred and the breeders don’t want them anymore.  Then apparently many breeders quickly get in over their heads, especially if they get too many puppies around the same time or they just have other issues that keep them from getting their dogs adopted out.  We think she is this latter category of “overwhelmed” as she clearly has not had puppies.  The rescue organization (which is actually in Wisconsin) goes to breeder release events and purchases dogs which they then adopt out.

She came up as “Olga” on the rescue website.  The foster mom said that they just make up the names – theses siblings came with just twine around their necks and little hand written tags.  Olga’s said “37”.  That was it.  Apparently most of her 18 months have been spent in a kennel.

On the way to the meet & greet, YA and I decided we did NOT want Olga as a name so we came up with a short list.  Isolde and Jorinda were completely shot down by YA immediately.  We also added Arwen and Galadriel from Lord of the Rings.  YA wasn’t crazy about these either but she didn’t rule them out.   This lead me to Freya, Norse goddess of love. YA grudgingly thought this was OK. 

As we entered the house to meet the dog, the foster mom said “she responds better to Freya than to Olga”.  YA and I looked at each other and smiled – was there ever a better omen?

She is about average height for a female Sammy, although she is skinny at this point.  Hard to tell with all that fur.  She is extremely skittish and shy but she adapts well.  After the first couple of airplanes overhead, she is now ignoring them although low-flyers that cast a shadow still bug her).  She is very very curious and has already shown a passion for standing on her back legs and looking out the windows.  The cat has decided she isn’t a threat but Freya doesn’t feel that way about the cat yet.  She loves other dogs, so in a few more days, we may introduce her to some of the other canines in the neighborhood.

The rescue organization has some strict rules about adoption; they prefer to still have “ownership” of the dogs until their medical exams and spay/neuters happen.  So right now we as “fostering to adopt” and the adoption will be finalized three days after the spay, which will most likely be towards the end of July. 

We are ecstatic – she is very sweet and we already adore her.  Now the race is on to find an Irish Setter to complete our little household!

What happens after it rains cats and dogs?

2026, books, Business, Mysteries

Grade-B Titles?

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I just finished The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny (5 stars).  The main character has a tense relationship with her mom and early in the book came this:  “My mother loves a monster.  Now there’s the title of a Grade-B movie.”

It made me laugh and lead me to thinking about some other funny titles that I’ve read over the years.

  • Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Philip Dick)
  • The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat (Oliver Sachs)
  • How to Tell if Your Cat is Plotting to Kill You (Matthew Inman)
  • The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating (Elisabeth Bailey)
  • The 100–Year Old Man Who Climbed Out a Window and Disappeared (Jonas Jonasson)
  • Everyone Poops (Taro Gomi)
  • Another Bullshit Night in Suck City (Nick Flynn)

Of course, there are a LOT of funny titles out there; I suppose authors think it will hook readers into picking up their books.  It certainly works on me.

Here are a few others I found online…

  • No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You Blew It Cauze Bill Bailey Ain’t Never Coming Home Again (Edgardo Vega Yunque)
  • And To My Nephew Albert I Leave The Island What I Won Off Fatty Hagan in a Poker Game (David Forrest)
  • The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (Aimee Bender)
  • Shit My History Teacher Did Not Tell Me (Karl Wiggins)
  • Everything I Know About Women I Learned From My Tractor (Roger Welsch)

Of course, now I’ll have to read these too!

Any funny titles on your reading list lately?

 

 

2026, animals, Business, Family, Food, History, Mysteries, Travel

Where in the World Are VS & YA?

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It’s been a few years since YA and I traveled together.  This is a four-day weekend trip that we’ve talked about for a few years now.  Here are some interesting facts about our location:

  • Nearly half the residents of the US live near here
  • The gate to hell is hiding underneath North Street
  • Part of the Berlin Wall can be found here
  • Woody Harrelson was arrested in this city in 1982 before hitting it big in Hollywood
  • The Anthony Thomas Company makes 50,000 pounds of chocolate here daily, including their famous candy named after a state tree
  • The NFL was headquartered here from 1927 until 1938
  • Jack Hanna is Director Emeritus to one of the largest attractions of its kind in North America here.

Where in the world are we?  (Bonus points if you can say WHY we’re here!)

 

 

2026, Business, Fantasy, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Cereal Ploy

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I saw a funny meme on Facebook last week:

It made me laugh at the time but now I’m thinking that this has to be on purpose.  Cereals have been in non-resealable bags for decades now.  I can’t think of one single good reason except that not being able to re-seal the bags means the cereal gets stale faster and then we toss the stale stuff and buy new.   YA and I have quite a collection of clips that we use for cereal, veggie sausages, pasta, marshmallows – all items that aren’t re-sealable.  YA likes to sort these clips by colors on the hood of our oven.

Thinking about this of course led me to thinking about shampoo bottles.  According to the internet, shampoo companies began to use the phrase “lather, rinse and repeat” in the direction sections of their bottles.  I can’t find anything that specifies which company’s marketing department came up with it first but I’m guessing all the other companies jumped on that bandwagon as fast as their little feet would carry them.  I don’t know when consumers caught on and probably caused an uproar, but in checking the shampoo in our bathroom currently, one kind (baby shampoo) doesn’t say anything about repeating.  The Prell and the Head & Shoulders both now say “repeat if desired”.

So what will it take to get re-sealable cereal bags?  Another consumer revolution?

Anything you wish came in different packaging?

2026, Business, Computers, Technology, TV

Don’t Bug Me

37 Comments

To say I have a love/hate relationship with my cable company is to overstate half of that equation.  After many many years of being disappointed by them (service, price, communications), I pretty much approach any interaction with them with trepidation. 

A couple of weeks ago I got an e-mail and then a couple of texts about upgrading my gateway.  Since I wasn’t even sure what that was, I ignored the texts.  Then a few days later, I got two more texts.  These day, I hardly click on any links that are sent to me…. way too many scammers… so last Thursday, I made a quick appointment and headed over to their store.  I wanted a straight answer about what this was, was it really necessary and the most important, if there was a cost attached.  I wanted a live person to look me in the face to give me the facts and then hand me their business card so I had their name. 

Turned about to be fairly easy.  Although they’re calling it an upgrade for me, it was clear that they are trying to get everybody on the same platform with the same connections/software so it will be easier/cheaper for them.  But since it wasn’t going to cost me anything, I said “OK”.  But before he went to get the new modem, he launched into a pitch for getting my mobile phone service.  This isn’t the first time I’ve encountered this so I fended him off pretty swiftly.  I got the new modem, went home and set it up.  It went better than I expected.

Next morning, I had to take the old modem back; I got to the store at 10, their opening time.  A different young man waited on me.  I told him I wanted a receipt, since I don’t have much faith in their ability to keep track of whether I’ve returned equipment (previous bad experience).  He looked me up to get the receipt and then promptly headed down the mobile phone service path.  I cut him off and said I wasn’t interested and I had told my salesperson just yesterday that I wasn’t interested in “putting all my eggs in *_____*’s basket”.  He kept going so I had to amp up a bit.  I said “we’re still paying down our phones (not true) but even if we were not, I STILL wouldn’t give you all my mobile business.”  He did stop at that point.  Sigh.

In a perfect world, I won’t have to confront the dragon again for about a year but I’m thinking that I’ll wear a namebadge that says “Please don’t ask me about my mobile service.”

Have you had to handle any pushy salesfolks lately?

2026, Automotive, History, Mysteries

Fading….

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I was out and about yesterday – a whole bunch of quick errands.  Enough errands that I wrote them down and numbered them.  Then, of course, I went in a different order, based on how fast I could get from one to the next.  Typical.

This strategy led me on some back streets that while not foreign to me are not my usual routes around town.  As I was coming up to a stop sign, the bicyclist ahead of me stuck out his left arm, but instead of straight to the side or straight down, sort of mid-way between.  He did slow down a bit but then turned left onto another street.  For a minute I thought maybe it was a “I’m slowing down before I turn left” arm signal but then just dismissed it as a lazy turn signal.  But it stayed with me so you know I eventually looked it up on the computer and while there are several more than I was ever taught, there isn’t one for slowing on a left turn. 

It also occurred to me that these days I don’t actually see many bicyclists using arm signals when they are in traffic.  Are these not a thing any longer?  Then I started a mental list of some of the things that have disappeared from the world during my lifetime:  pay phones, rotary dial phones, maybe typewriters, encyclopedias, busy signals.  There are probably a lot more that I’m either not remembering or still around but getting rarer as the days go by (typewriters should probably be in this category). 

Things changing/evolving doesn’t bother me too much but I do think bicyclists would be safer if they kept up the arm signals when they are on streets with cars/trucks?

Are you still holding onto anything that is starting to disappear?

2026, Art, Business, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Postal Joy

44 Comments

I’ve done the math before about how many cards I send out so I won ‘t bore you with the numbers again.  The biggest category is birthday cards – that averages to about 14 cards per month. 

For quite a few years, all birthday cards got the same postage stamp:

The post office also did a “Celebrate” stamp but I used those for anniversary cards and other momentous occasion cards.  Then five years ago, the postal service broke my heart when they announced they were discontinuing both those stamps.  Aarrgghhhh. 

I had a nice supply on hand and I bought a bunch of the Happy Birthday before USPS ran out.  A close friend of mine also gifted me with three sheets of them as well.  I began to use them a little more sparingly.  Six cards a month go to folks in one of my stamping groups – they got moved to the non-HB stamps right away.  Then “outer-ring” folks stopped getting my special stash.  Then the next ring in went to “regular” postage.   I limped along like this for FIVE YEARS.  I used the last one the first week in May.

So I was ripe for the on-line voting that USPS instituted last fall.  They said they were going to bring back some older stamps and let the general public vote.  The site did not have any limits about how many votes you got… .not even any limits on how many times a day you could vote; you gotta love a good loophole. I spent the entire month of September going online every morning and voting for the Happy Birthday option 20-30 times; it only took about 10 minutes a day. 

My persistence paid off.  They made the announcement the first of the year that my favorite stamp would be returning.  They released it on April 18 although the pre-sale went up in March.  The big surprise is that they did a completely new design – it’s in the header photo.  I’m not sure why – it probably cost them more, first for the design itself and then for whatever it takes to produce a new stamp.  Maybe after five years, the old design specs didn’t work anymore.  Who knows.  But no matter – the new design is fine by me.  Technically I like the old look better but I’ll take what I can get.

We won’t talk about how many of them I’ve already purchased.

When was the last time you actually went to a post office?