I don’t spend much time looking at “the best things to buy” kinds of online ads, but yesterday afternoon, while lazing around watching re-runs of Columbo, I clicked on a “Unusual Items that Everybody Wants” lists. Not sure what I was thinking.
The first item that made my jaw drop was a wristband that you use when you wash your face… to catch any water drips before they run down your arm. Not sure why this is needed in life unless everybody washes their face differently than I do.
The next items that stopped me in my track was the “purse organizer” (above). My very first thought was “who has 8 purses”? Silly question since I sleep in a room next to someone who most likely have more than 8. I’m sure she’s not alone. Me? One purse for everyday use and one fabric “State Fair” bag with a turtle on it that is the perfect size for what we need to take to the fair (money holder, coupon booklet, collapsible cookie holder, aspirin, address labels…). If we weren’t State Fair aficionados, I would just have one purse.
My second thought was how in heaven’s name would you explain either of these items to someone living in the Middle Ages? This was followed by a huge number of things that I can’t imagine trying to explain. If you are suddenly transported to the year 1435, you probably shouldn’t mention ANYTHING about the times in which we live. It’s a perfect way to end up on the 1435 version of the loony bin. It never goes well in any time travel book I’ve ever read.
What would be the hardest thing to explain about our world to King Henry VI?
We took a long weekend last week. Daughter has been saying we needed to take a vacation, and we fully agreed with her. But May through July is Kelly’s busiest time, and of course spring is bad for me, and, well, we can always come up with an excuse NOT to go somewhere. Spur of the moment, we decided, let’s just take a weekend. We asked daughter what she thought we should do; I mean are we renting a cabin on a lake or are we going to a hotel. Well, she wanted swimming, and rides at Mall of America. OK, sounds like we do the Embassy Suites, which has been a family favorite over the few years because they do complimentary breakfast really well. They set the standard for hotel breakfasts! Fruit, yogurt, Sausages, bacon, eggs (not as good as ours of course), hashbrowns, bagels, made to order omelets, cereal, drinks: milk, juice, coffee.
We got there late evening Thursday and had supper at the hotel restaurant. Friday we all slept in and took naps and didn’t leave the room until 3:00 PM. Over to “THE” mall and had lunch, then walked around a bit and bought some ride tickets. We waited in line for an hour so we could all do the log flume ride. Because there was some bad weather in the area, the rides were going at half capacity, so the wait was longer than it should have been. Boy, if we didn’t get covid waiting in that line. Then daughter and I did a crazy spinning loop de loop roller coaster and I think I learned I might be too old for those rides. Woo boy. A couple times I had to just put my head back and close my eyes and I’d think, “DON’T CLOSE YOUR EYES!” There was a young boy about 8 years old who was on the ride with us; he said he had two little sisters and mom had to stay with them. After the first spinning loop he said “That was unexpected!” Yep, sure was! When it was over, I told him I had no idea what had happened in the last 40 seconds.
Even daughter, who’s a daredevil, was a little shook up after that. We all went to the Ferris wheel from there. And then Daughter and I went on our favorite roller coaster from 10 years ago; the one that goes straight up, then straight down. And upside down and right side down and over this way and around and back upside that way. Aye aye aye. Whew. That was easier last time I did that. Kelly and daughter did the carousel and we decided that was enough. I saw a sign that read, ‘Barking Lot stroller parking’, and I thought it said ‘Barfing lot’ which I thought was really appropriate.
I bought the 30 point arm bands, but no one put them on our arms, so I’d just show them to the ride operator. The first ride scanned them all. The second person was talking and looking away and only scanned one, and the third ride just put us on without even scanning the tickets. We gave them to a young couple and told them to have fun.
Daughter also wanted Red Robin for supper. We don’t have one of them in Rochester. At some point in her brief past, she had a shake at a Red Robin she really liked and wanted another. Supper was really good there and my vanilla malt was yummy. I don’t know about hers.
Saturday, we got the swimming in and had the pool to ourselves for an hour. We saw the Barbie movie, (and got a free icy drink), and had supper at Giordano’s pizza with a hostess named Joy who was super helpful and sent us back to the hotel with plates, drinks, and plastic ware.
Sunday, we stopped to see our son and daughter in law. When we got home, the dogs were glad to see us, (our neighbors took care of the dogs and chickens while we were gone) and Humphrey just had to stay outside for a couple nights. Once in the house, he had a big drink of soft water, and slept for several hours on his pillow.
Everyone survived on the farm, and Monday morning, daughter said she wasn’t ready to go back to her program. None of us are kid, none of us are.
We called this our ‘practice vacation’ to remember what works and what doesn’t when travelling together.
The soybeans are looking good, you know, for 6 weeks behind. They’ve finally started to canopy and, to add insult to injury, the weeds are coming too. A few buttonweed, lambsquarter, and ragweed are towering over the soybeans. Plus, a lot of volunteer corn. Which doesn’t really hurt anything, it just looks bad in a nice field of soybeans.
I started working on the shop again and started getting 2×4’s put on the walls and removed from the work bench an old radial arm saw that I haven’t used in I-don’t-know-how-many years. Back on Amazon Prime day I ordered one of those 360 degree green laser levels. It is pretty cool!
Remember a few months ago I showed a bunch of eggs under the deck? Well, the chicken hatched out 13 baby chicks the other day. She’s a good momma and moved them down to the main pen and she’s keeping a good eye on them. Thirteen chicks?? Don’t hold your breath for all of them. The other chickens seem jealous: ‘How come YOU got chicks!??’
My brother came out and we unloaded the last load of straw into the barn. 600+ bales in there again. Coming up, planting winter rye as a cover crop! Deep roots good for the soil, but it will over winter so it will have to be killed off in the spring before planting corn.
And back at the college, all my computer stuff is working this week! Yay!
Daughter came up with an interesting proposal for a winter family gathering this year. She thinks that we should go to Hawaii with her, her brother, and his wife, and all take a class being offered there in November to become Certified Barbeque Competition Judges. I don’t know how much call there is for Barbecue Judges, or how rigorous the one day training is. I suppose we could fine other things to do as long as were there. I would rather go to Paris and work with a master baguette maker.
Ever since I lived in Canada I giggle whenever I hear that something or someone is certified, as it has a different meaning in Canada and England than it does in the States. Those who we call Certified Public Accountants are called Chartered Public Accountants in Canada, as being “certified” there can mean that you have been declared seriously mentally ill, and may have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital. Perhaps one would have to be a little crazy, though, to become a barbeque judge.
What would you like to become certified as? What are your experiences with judges or being a judge?
I know I’ve talked about this topic before, but it’s fascinating when I see glimpses of myself in YA. She is in Dublin for two+ weeks for work and the morning of her flight, I found the clipboard (in the photo above) sitting on the counter downstairs. In an interesting twist on the apple-not-falling-far-from-the-tree, I note that she has used three colors of highlighters. I am a one-highlighter gal when it comes to my lists; it looks like the yellow highlighter is for her backpack but I’m not sure about the fuchsia or even the dots.
My list-making has evolved in the past couple of months. My weekly spreadsheet went by the wayside around the holidays last year; it was a gradual decline but I realized it wasn’t doing it for me any longer. I actually went “list-less” for several months with the occasional list of errands on a post-it or groceries on my phone’s note app.
Then a few weeks ago, after I re-retired, I wrote out a list of things for the next day. Just on a pad of paper I had laying around and only a few items, nothing that is part of my regular routine. It felt nice to take a highlighter to the list at the end of the day so I did another list for the next day. Again – just written by hand and just a few items. It’s become my new routine — for the most part. There have been a few days with no list and I survived!
YA doesn’t do daily lists (that I ever see anyway) but it’s nice to have evidence that every now and then she’s takes a page from my playbook.
Would you rather have a pet dragon or a pet unicorn?
I didn’t mean to come home from Madison with a cauliflower the size of my head.
But there it was – gloriously purple and calling to me. Never mind that I know full well that YA is going to be gone for two weeks. Never mind that we still had the entire capitol to walk around with this monster in my bag. Never mind that I only brought my smaller cooler for dragging stuff home and I had already bought 4 loaves of Stella’s Chili Cheese Bread. I had to have it.
It’s ways too big for just one recipe of anything (I put the can of water next to it for the photo so you can see how big it is). The first thing I’m making is Savory Cauliflower Salad from Twelves Months of Monastery Salads by Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-Latourrette.
Salad
Vinaigrette
1 good-sized head cauliflower, cut into florets
¼ c. olive oil
3 hard-boiled eggs, peeled, coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp. hazelnut oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
3 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. capers, drained
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. chopped fresh or dried tarragon
Salt & pepper to taste
To make the salad, put the florets in the top of a double boiler set over simmering water, cover, and steam until tender, 15-20 minutes, o cook in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain and allow them to cool.
2. Put the cauliflower in a good-sized salad bowl and add the eggs, shallots and capers. Toss gently to combine.
3. Whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together in a measuring cup or small bowl until thickened. Pour over the salad and toss gently to coat evenly.
Not sure what I’ll do with the other half of this giant. Maybe a Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower. Maybe a soup.
What was your last impulsive purchase/acquisition?
When I was packing for a long weekend in Madison, I noticed Henrietta watching me from her spot on my little dresser. Since Henrietta was a gift from my Madison friend, I thought I would take her along. She seemed excited to be on the move.
It was overall a very lazy and relaxing weekend – we spent a lot of time sitting and reading but we did have a few outings so Henrietta could get some fresh air!
We did the farmer’s market at the capital. Henrietta enjoyed meeting some of the vendors and smelling all the good smells. We stopped at the library to pick up a couple of books and then had to have ice cream from Sassy Cow, a great creamery close to my friend’s house. Henrietta met two little girls there who petted and hugged her.
My friend is seriously considering buying a Tesla so we had a loaner for the weekend. Henrietta enjoyed the view but didn’t get to drive because she couldn’t reach the pedals. We drove up to Lake Merrimac and took the ferry across and back. Henrietta appointed herself “authorized personnel” but since the ferry ride is only four minutes, she didn’t get to flex that authority!
All in all a great trip although Henrietta is not a great conversationalist so the drive to and from Madison was a little quiet!
When I graduated from high school my parents gave me luggage as a graduation gift. Matching luggage. This was a few years before all black luggage became all the rage. Two suitcases, one over the shoulder tote and a make-up case (although very in-aptly name in my case, since I wore next to no make-up, even back then). I doubt my folks were predicting my eventual career in travel; back then luggage was a common gift at graduation or wedding – something you needed as you were launching yourself out into the world. My mother also bought me a sewing machine and a few lessons to go with it.
Obviously after all these years, none of that luggage has survived. I now have a rag-tag assortment of suitcases and bags, many of which I got as gifts from clients (leftovers from programs). Mostly black.
YA has purchased two suitcases since she started traveling for work – and black is apparently not the color or choice these days. Her big bag, which she uses the most, is a blue pattern thing with wheels that go in all directions, a handle and a plug in for charging her phone. Fancy dancy. I don’t have any problem with her suitcase EXCEPT when she gets home from a trip. She empties it out fast enough, but then she tends to roll it out into the hallway. Where it sits.
Now I’m not the fastest “put your bag back in the attic” gal, so I tend to be lenient. I also know that YA doesn’t tend to drop anything to attend to a request from her mother. But after the last trip, the suitcase sat in the hallway for two weeks and at least three requests to put it away. Being raised by the Queen of Passive/Aggressive, three days ago I pushed the suitcase right into the middle of YA’s doorway. It was in the attic within an hour.
Passive/Aggressive isn’t my favorite mode but sometimes it’s better than nagging. At least that’s what I’m telling myself at this point!
Do you prefer hard-sided or soft-sided luggage? Check or carry-on?
We are incredibly spoiled, and order six pounds of coffee beans every six weeks or so from this coffee place in Brookings, SD. The beans are dark roasted. I place the order on-line, and they arrive, freshly roasted, sometimes the next day via Speedee Delivery. They are Carmen Pampas/San Ignacio blend beans from Bolivia/Peru, and for every pound we order the coffee place makes a donation to destitute schools in Bolivia. The coffee tastes heavenly. We like it strong. We only drink it in the morning. The box of beans is redolent of coffee aroma, even before we open it.
I really don’t know how the coffee place and Speedee Delivery manage to get the beans to us so quickly. It is 500 miles from there to here. We only drink coffee we brew at home, and never go to coffee places in town. I like my coffee with half and half and sugar. Husband needs heavy cream and sugar in his coffee. We use a Bodum French press pot to brew our coffee.
The other day I was able to greet the Speedee Delivery guy when he delivered our coffee order. He told me he couldn’t stand the smell of coffee, and it was really hard when he had to go into coffee shops and got all these boxes of coffee beans to deliver. I sure hope he didn’t have to drive 500 miles to deliver ours! Poor guy!
How do you take your coffee?What cooking smells can’t you abide? What comestibles are you fussy about?
We are back from our trip to South Dakota, happy but weary. I noticed as we drove our Honda van East out of Bismarck on Thursday that the odometer passed 153,000 miles. It wasn’t too long ago we were thrilled to get a vehicle past 100,000 miles. What happened?
We have two vehicles- a 2011 Honda van and a 2014 Toyota Tacoma pickup. I am unsure how many miles I should expect to get on the Honda, I really don’t want to think about getting a new vehicle just yet. I need to rethink the need for a van if we have a pickup. They are all so expensive, and I come from a father who never in his life bought a used vehicle. It was unthinkable in his opinion.
What vehicle did you get the most miles on? If you got a different vehicle, would it be new or used? What is your most memorable means of transportation?
We drove to Brookings, SD yesterday, a 500 mile trip. There was lots of road construction. I also noticed a few electronic message boards that the various Departments of Transportation entities had installed. The SD message boards won the prize for cuteness with “Be a thinker. Use your blinker”. I was greatly amused last winter to hear a rather conservative member of the ND Legislature wonder if the ND DOT was sending subliminal messages to citizens on the boards. He was quickly shut down.
Son found some messages on-line that I liked:
Get your head out of your apps.
OMG are you texting? I can’t even.
100 is the temperature, not the speed limit.
Visiting in-laws? Slow down, get there late.
Texting and driving? Say it: I am the problem. It’s me!
What would you like to see on electronic highway message boards?
Trail Baboon 