All posts by verily sherrilee

Directionally challenged, crafty, reading mother of young adult
2024, Food, home, Mysteries

To Meat or Not to Meat

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I’ve been a vegetarian for 51 years.  At that time there was a company in California called Loma Linda who made a handful of meat analogs; here in the Midwest you could find them in the occasional health food store.  I only tried one of their products once.  Too much money and the taste didn’t appeal too much.  It looks like they are still in business but I haven’t seen their products around here for a few decades. 

Meat alternatives have never been a big draw for me.  We do some vegetarian sausages regularly and occasionally a veggie hot dog or veggie bacon, but that’s about it.  I’m not interested in fake tuna or fake corn dogs or fake chicken filets. There are TONS more vegetarian/fake meats out there these days but I don’t pay too much attention. 

Last week Trader Joe’s featured “Vegan Pepperoni” in their monthly flyer and it caught my eye so I stopped by when I was out and about and picked up a package.  Also got some herbed pizza dough while I was there (pizza dough is in the refrigerated section right beneath the pepperoni – coincidence?

I made the pizza the next day – tomato sauce, pepperonis, green olives, black olives, provolone, shaved parmesan/romano, mozzarella.  It was quite yummy.

There is a half package of the vegan pepperonis left – I will probably make another pizza in the next couple of days.  I’m pretty sure that the pepperonis won’t ben a regular purchase for us.  While they were OK, they certainly didn’t make the pizza stand out.  There are so many good things that can go on a pizza; pepperonis just aren’t necessary in my book.  I’m not sorry I got them, just not looking forward to getting them again.

Have you tried anything new recently?

2024, Business, Farming Update, Seasons

LIFE!!!

72 Comments

The weekend Farm Report comes to us from Ben.

This weather! AC one day, heat the next. We had the windows open Monday and the wellhouse heater on Wednesday night.

Sigh. Lately… Every single thing is just a pain. I’m on the struggle bus. Software upgrades before I can proceed, mandatory password changes that take a while to implement, slow drivers, red lights, carwash lines… all very first world problems, but man, it’s exhausting. 

Monday my friend Jason and I spent the afternoon on the roof of the Rep Theater hanging over the edge, mounting a metal strip into which, a line of ‘LED’ lights will go. It’s the usual flat, tar roof, and we got a little dirty. And I have a tender spot by my underarm on both arms…

It’s gonna be really cool when done and working. I’ll have pictures when we get to that point.

I have done several stupid things this week. Fixing all the dumb things I’ve done keeps me occupied.

We have this new heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system (HVAC) at the Rep Theater. It all got turned on last Thursday. Then Tuesday I was doing stuff and out in the lobby I stopped to look at something. I was carrying a piece of gel; A red piece of plastic that goes in front of the lights to give them a color. I had removed a ‘return air’ vent cover on the wall, because we were repainting the wall. I laid the piece of gel in the hole of the vent and walked into another room to check something in there. And of course, that’s when the furnace started back up. And the piece of gel was gone. “Great”, I thought, “you’ve had this for 3 days and already sucked a piece of gel into it.” But I figured, it’s plastic, what could it really hurt? I checked the big air exchange unit, and it wasn’t in there. Oh well.

That night I realized I should check the filter at the bottom of the furnace. Yep, there it is, inside there… but that slot is only an inch wide. I poked at it with a stick until I managed to shove it further up inside the duct. Twenty minutes later, after removing two shields off the furnace, I could get my arm in there and retrieve the gel. Whew.

As part of this whole HVAC project, we removed all the suspended ceiling tiles upstairs. Which exposed all the old telephone lines, old thermostat lines, and the plethora of internet wires the former tenants had used.

Most of which can be removed now. I have tracked down the actual internet line we ARE using for the phones and computers, so I know which one that is. While working on lighting for Hamlet, I cut a couple old phone lines I knew we’re not using so I could get them out of the way.

And then the general manager asked me why the fire alarm panel was beeping. Sigh. Crap. “Communication Error Line 2”. Took me a while to realize even though the phone system is using an internet provider, I still need a regular phone line between the modem and the fire alarm panel. Sigh. Of course I cut three lines; two of them had 4 wires in each of them and one was the size of your pinky finger and had 48 wires in it. Guess which one goes to the fire panel?

Yep, the big one. Phones are low voltage and they are wired using ‘pairs’ of wires. This was all coming back to me as I worked on it. The blue wire with white spots, and the white wire with blue spots are generally the first pair. Then it’s the Green and white pair, then orange and white pair third. Another trip to Menards for phone wire connectors and 40 minutes on a ladder with a flashlight in my mouth and I had that working again.

Did I mention the wind grabbed the side door and broke the door closer linkage? A mile up the road is a door place. Lukas is my buddy in there. I’m a regular. They had the part. Didn’t take too long to replace that, but it was just another thing.

I remember Dale and JimEd talking one morning and JimEd said he needed a sign: “WARNING! TWENTY FOOT CIRLCE OF EXASPERATION!” That’s me lately. Placating myself with chocolate covered peanuts isn’t the best solution, but it’s a yummy one.

Give us a telephone memory. First phone? Favorite phone? Childhood phone number?

2024, Family, home, Music, Mysteries

Endorphins

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Yesterday afternoon, after doing a boatload of errands, I came home feeling… joyous.  I’m not exactly sure why – it’s not my normal go-to reaction to doing errands.  The only think I could think was that yesterday, I finally handled two issues that have been on my back-burner for months.  Neither of the issues is the biggest deal, so it’s been easy to put them off.

The main reason that I addressed both these issues is because this meme has popped up a couple of time the last two weeks:

It’s funny because it’s true of a lot of us, especially me.  But seeing it multiple times felt like an omen that needed addressing.

Anyway, when I got home in my great mood, I asked Alexa to play “Sugar, Sugar” by the Archies.  I’m not putting the song up here because if you have any liking for it at all, you remember it.  And if you don’t like it, I don’t want to torture you.  But it’s a happy tune and it’s great to dance to in the kitchen while you’re putting away groceries.  Alexa then went on to play a lot more bubblegum rock – more good boogie music.  Gave the dog and cat some extra afternoon treats.  Texted YA that I love her. 

It makes me wish I had more things I’ve been putting off; wondering if I can recreate this mood at will by playing a silly song by a made-up cartoon group?

Do you ever dance in the kitchen?  Sing in the car?  Or the shower?

2024, Baboon Achievers, The Baboon Congress

Budget Surplus

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For the first time ever, we ended up with a budget surplus on the Trail!  THANK YOU.  

It’s not enough that I will be sending everybody a check for two dollars and sorry but I don’t want to set the money aside and remember to deal with it next year.  No Verily Bank of Minnesota.

So I decided to donate the money.  Took a couple of days to think about it and decided to send it to Project for Awesome 2024.  P4A is the brainchild of John and Hank Green, aka The Vlog Brothers.  It started as a YouTube kind of stunt – people were encouraged to make and upload videos for charity over a 48-hour period to see if they could overwhelm the algorithm and pop to the top. 

It works like this.  P4A runs for 48 hours (noon on Friday to Noon on Sunday) once a year.  Various YouTube creators take turns “entertaining” on a livestream to collect the money.  Hundreds of folks upload videos that advocate for their favorite charities and these videos run throughout the 48 hours and are voted on.  Fifty percent of the money is split between Save the Children and Partners in Health (both favorite organizations of the Green brothers).  The other fifty percent is split between the 30 videos that garner the most votes.  This is serious money – it’s the 17th year for P4A and this year they raised $3.5 million dollars.  All the perks are donated by the various creators and the parent company of P4A (The Foundation to Decrease World Suck) covers the shipping so there are hardly any administrative costs.

I’ve been following John and Hank since 2007 and have donated personally many of those years as well, so I feel comfortable that the project represents the kinds of things that we espouse on the Trail.  I thought about throwing it open for suggestions but then we’d have to have a run-off election because it wasn’t enough money to be able to give some to all of our choices!

If I HAD asked for suggestions, what charity would you choose as a favorite?

2024, Art, Nature, Seasons

Neither Snow Nor Rain….

35 Comments

One of my holiday projects is a handmade calendar in a 6 x 6 format; I make four of them every year.  You may think that it’s a little early to start worrying about this but 3 layers of paper per month times 12 months times 4 versions comes out to 144 pieces of paper.  One of my rules is that I can’t purchase anything but the paper to make these calendars.  All the stamps, die cuts and assorted accessories have to come from my stash.  But 144 pieces of paper is still a chunk of change so I do have to keep an eye on cardstock sales and since I almost always get the paper at Joanns (they have the best selection), I start watching the sales early on.

The best sales are the 50% off sales but this year Joann’s went all out for President’s Day and offered 10 sheets for $3 on all the open cardstock (normally .79 to .99).  Even though it’s only February, I haven’t seen a price this good before so I didn’t want to let it go by.  I kept the sales mailer on the dresser waiting for the first day of the sale.  It was listed as a Doorbuster, which sometimes means the sale price is only good for the first morning, so my plan was to be there Thursday morning at 9 a.m., when they open.

Then on Monday the forecast said we would get a dusting on Wednesday.  Then on Tuesday, the snow jumped up to a possible inch.  By Wednesday afternoon they were talking 3-5 inches.  Yikes!  By bedtime on Wednesday it was snowing but now they were only predicting 1-3.   Woke up to about 4 inches and a big pile at the bottom of the driveway.  I waffled for about an hour about how much I really needed cheap paper and then headed out.  Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night can stay me from a good paper sale!

What will you brave the elements for to get your hands on?

2024, Art, Fantasy, Games, Mysteries

Dragon Forge

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I just finished the Dragon Forge puzzle.  1000 pieces.  And I promise, this is not a blog about how I succumbed to temptation (repeatedly) to sit for hours at the table working on this thing.

I chose this puzzle from the fantasy section of the Puzzle Warehouse in St. Louis, a fascinating place I discovered on a visit to Nonny right before pandemic.  It’s a huge warehouse with puzzles sorted all kinds of ways – mostly by the company that produced the puzzle but also in theme areas including my favorite.  Fantasy. 

My first big plunge into science fiction/fantasy was Star Wars, which I saw at the Grand Theater in Northfield.  Four nights in a row.  Then came the reading of The Hobbit when I was 20.  This was followed immediately by all three volumes of Lord of the Rings.  The barn door was open – the horse was not going back in! 

I’m usually more drawn to fantasy than science fiction and it’s almost exclusively due to dragons.  Sure, wizards, witches, fairies are great but dragons are the draw.  I’ve been known to search the library website using “dragon” as the keyword.  There are amazing numbers of books out there with “dragon” in the title.  I prefer sympathetic dragons, dragons who can communicate, smart dragons, dragons with magic but I can handle the dark side as well. 

Nobody that I know is into dragons like I am.  This is where my problem is this week.  I love the artwork on this puzzle and I’d love to know that the next home that it travels to will have someone who appreciates it as much as I do.  I’ve thought about keeping it and maybe putting in in a frame but I don’t really have any wall space and I’m pretty sure that YA would object anyway if it went in any communal space. 

I know that there are occasional puzzles swaps around the Twin Cities but I’ve never gone to one.  A friend said that they are opening a permanent spot in a Hennepin County Library for jigsaw puzzles; I haven’t found any information on it yet.  Hopefully I can find a good swap or location for Dragon Forge, so that it goes to a good home where dragons are appreciated!

Where do you like to get rid of your excess stuff?

2024, Family, Health, home, Mysteries, TV

Verily’s Pity Party

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The last time I said “I think I’m the only person left in America who hasn’t had covid” I should have knocked on wood.

Went to a party on a Saturday night 10 days ago and had a great time, met up with some current and former neighbors for a 70th birthday celebration for a friend.  Good food, drink, company.  Had a wonderful time.

On Tuesday morning as I was starting to get ready to go to the art museum, one of my Saturday night friends texted a group of us saying that she had covid and was pretty sick.  Even though I felt fine I thought it would be the responsible thing to do to test before I went on a tour at the museum.  And there it was… a big pink “T” line.  I’ve taken a lot of tests since the beginning of pandemic and I’ve never gotten the “T” line before.  Shocking.  The good news is that I am still asymptomatic so all those jabs did pay off.

The bad news is that I’m feeling sorry for myself – although I’m not sure why.  Except for cancelling my museum tour with my friend at the last minute, I haven’t really done anything differently the last week.  Thank goodness for the Target pick-up, the Aldis pick-up, the post office drive through and the library drop box.  I did send YA to the library to pick up a book for me on Friday so I wouldn’t have to go in.  YA is avoiding me like… dare I say “the plague” and seems fine so far.  I’ve done stuff around the house, read a lot, worked in my studio, labored on a 1000-piece jigsaw of a dragon in a “dragon forge cave” (it’s a doozy) and binge-watched the Colombo marathon on Sunday.  I’m not sure why I’m feeling weird about this… but it does feel like the first couple of weeks of pandemic when I remember feeling trapped in the house.

As of yesterday, still positive but the “T” line was very faint so I expect in the next 48 hours I’ll be clear and free to break out and roam the neighborhood again.  I’ll have to shut the pity party down.

Ridiculous, right?

2024, Business, Family, Fantasy, Technology

Cyber Highway

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Yesterday YA had to leave her car at the dealership for a recall of some sort so I picked her up there and delivered her to the office.  When we pulled up, the front parking area was blocked off on both sides.  This, in and of itself, isn’t too extraordinary.  The building in which the travel division resides is also the “client building” and occasionally the front will be blocked off for a client arrival (which is usually accompanied by the cheering throngs).  But it soon became clear that something else was up as there were just a few parked cars on the side of the building and a couple of people were lounging about their parked vehicles. 

Turns out the company internet was down.  There were a handful of times that the internet was done in the past twenty years, the most notorious being when a squirrel committed suicide on a power line on top to Building 3.   A few times the power went with the internet which always led to flocks of folks at Caribou down the street, colloquially known as Building 7.  Most of the time though we just muddled on, working on documents, jumping into quick meetings or making phone calls until cyberspace was clear.

But these days it’s a different story.  EVERYTHING is tied to “the cloud”.  The phone is through the internet, document storage is on the cloud, the meeting platforms are online.  If the internet is down, there is no point in even going into the building.  So YA and I headed back home, with a quick stop at the Dunkin drive-through, and she quickly got her laptop fired up on the dining room table.  Luckily her using our home wifi for work doesn’t increase the cost.  And it was a shorter drive to take her to the dealership later in the day than to pick her up at the office.  Win-win!

If the internet were a real person, would they be a friend of yours?

2024, Fantasy, Food, holidays, Mysteries

Let Them Eat King Cake

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I saw a funny story online yesterday about a thief who stole seven King cakes from a bakery in New Orleans.  Cash and a case of vodka were also taken.  That’s a heck of a party someone is planning.

Growing up, while I had heard of Mardi Gras, I had never heard of a king cake.  Even working in bakeries for four years after I got married, I still never heard of it.  It was the travel industry that finally introduced this pastry to me – every year a king cake was delivered to the travel division from a supplier in New Orleans. 

The Bittersweet Confections king cake must be fabulous.  While the green, purple and yellow colors are bright and it’s fun to see who ends up with the plastic baby that is often baked into the cake, I’ve never thought king cake was the best use of butter, sugar and flour.  A little too sweet and sticky for my taste.  But a staple of the holiday it is and I suppose if I lived in New Orleans, or celebrated Mardi Gras, I would learn to make them.  Maybe I could make a version I like a little better??

Suppose you’re breaking into a bakery?  What would you take?

2024, Family, Gatherings, Mysteries

Family Fuel

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Back to the macaroni gathering.

I’m sure you’ve all heard me say “why spoil a perfectly good holiday by spending it with my family”.  Sounds harsh but when my whole family is together, it gets weird fast.  The last time we were all together before my father’s death we were asked not to return to an Embers.  An Embers!

I wasn’t looking forward to the macaroni gathering but it’s one thing to `dis your family for decades behind their backs and another thing entirely to `dis them to their faces.  So Nonny and I got the condo ready; Nonny made her salad and I heated up the macaroni. 

The group included both my middle sister and her husband, my little sister, my niece, my niece’s partner, two nephews, one nephew’s partner and two boys. Oh, and Nonny and me.  It started out a little strained.  Even the St. Louis group doesn’t gather all that often and I know that my two sisters don’t approve all that much of the other one’s choices. 

At one point my middle sister starting telling a story about baby possums that had gotten into their house and how they had to catch to them release them outside.  My youngest nephew is all about animal rescue, trap/neuter/release and knows quite a bit about wild animal relocation.  He was horrified by my sister’s story, jumping in to express indignation and to educate us all about how most people handle relocation incorrectly.  My brother-in-law (let’s call him David) is a very nice man but in the dictionary, out in the margin next to the phrase “pours gas on the fire” is David’s picture.  As soon as he realized he had a captive audience, he was off and running.  There was an outrageous story about trapping possums under a trash can followed by his exhortation that you can’t keep possums in the house because when they grow up, then there is “possum mating”.  This was accompanied by him stamping his feet and slapping his hands together to illustrate how this mating would keep you up at night.  It was the funniest thing ever; it was a good thing I was sitting on the floor at the time because I would have fallen off my chair laughing. 

Unfortunately the one person in the room who did not get the joke and wasn’t laughing was my nephew.  He looked horrified.  I had to ask him if he understood the phrase “yanking your chain”.  Even once I explained it, you could tell he wasn’t too thrilled to join in the hilarity.  But the gas on the fire did the trick and loosened some of the tension.  Not perfect, but we did manage to spend another hour together without any incidents!

My middle sister is already asking when I think I’ll be visiting next year so we can do it again!  Oops.

Do you have any “gas on the fire” friends or relatives?  Or “gas on the fire” stories?