NOT JUST YET

 Easter Sunday morning - 5:30 a.m. - Prescott Valley, Arizona

Old Man Winter refuses to leave us alone!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

Here we go again.

Another holiday is looming.

This time it's Baked Ham Day.

Otherwise known as Easter.

But let's get all of our eggs in a row and let this ham show you some of his collection.

The first one is old but as one of my comedy contributors said when it was sent to me . . . "It's traditional!"

That's it, my friends, that's all the humor/humour this hard working lazy retiree could summon forth from the Humor/Humour Bank/Banque this week.

Now please have a Happy or a Blessed Easter.

Or both.

But always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . ohhhhh, so sneaky . . . )

B-B-B-BIG!

 

Brioche Buns from Bruce's Bakery

O.K., BACK TO SPRING

The sun is back.

The snow is gone.

Here's another ornamental pear tree to brighten your "safe way".

To explain that last sentence, the tree is directly in front of my local Safeway grocery store.

I couldn't resist.

I'm sorry.

Now here's a thought for the day, sent the other day from Comical Carol with a heading saying "Why I've Given Up Watching the News."

I think many of us have that same thought.

TESTING, TESTING

 After two days of posts about our lovely ornamental fruit tree blossoms here in the foothills of Arizona, what to our wondering eyes should we see last night?

This!

That, my dear friends, is not a meteor shower.

Or an alien invasion.

It was this!

SNOW, falling from the sky once again.

We have had snowstorms in March before, as I have warned in previous posts, but this one came as a surprise even though yesterday was cold and windy.

A little later, just about the time it was ending, our shrub had a distinctly white shawl.

I imagined I heard "False Spring" laughing as it moved on out.

But this morning . . .

. . . la monja and the Blue Cat did not appear amused.

MORE BLOOMS

 The ornamental pear trees are beautiful at a distance, especially as they contrast with the plum trees (lower left).

Up close, their white blossoms are not as showy.

Still, a nice harbinger of Spring.

BLOOMS

 By the looks of things around my neighborhood, Spring is truly making an effort to arrive.

A couple of ornamental plum trees.

A little closer . . .

And *really* close.

The ornamental pear trees are also blooming.

I'll try to post some pictures of them tomorrow.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Well, what a week it's been, eh?

Rain, sunshine, cool days, warm days.

Springtime in the Rock....well, not quite the Rockies, but fairly close.

Some baking, then a mention of Rumpole brought my housemate to prominence and the adoration came from all over.

So it's been a somewhat satisfying week.

Now let's bring it to a resounding finish with . . . well, you know.

I think I'm beginning to understand why that gang never made it back to Earth.

They weren't *allowed* to return!

Well, since you Gentle Readers are already here, let me teleport you into an excruciatingly wonderful weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

HER ROYAL HIGHNESS

 When I asked SWMBO what she'd thought of my blog post yesterday she had a fitting comment.

And since I *always* let her have the last word . . . here it is.

"And I've got the mug to prove it!"

THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMIN'

 My wife, the all-knowing SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), keeps telling me "Oh. give it a break, willya, your readers don't need to know about all the food that gets eaten in our house!"

But, although I usually obey her orders, on my food-blogging I tend to go my own way.

However, you can echo her if you like and tell me to stop.

But until you (all) do, here's the latest from the Taylor Family Bakery.

The recipe, from Genevieve Ko in the New York Times, says they're called Chunky Chocolate Cookies and incorporate chocolate chips and mini pretzels into an already rich chocolate dough.

I didn't have any mini pretzels so I chopped up some walnuts and substituted them.

And SWMBO can't keep her hands off of them.

They're rich, they're sweet, they're good.

Now to skew things slightly, I'm not sure I've ever explained where I came up with the name She Who Must Be Obeyed for my lovely wife.

It dates back a number of decades when we became fans of a British television series that was aired on our local PBS station in Arizona.

It was "Rumpole of the Bailey" and it featured the late actor Leo McKern as a blustering British barrister (attorney) named Horace Rumpole.

But at home, he was ruled by his wife, Hilda, played by the late actress Marion Mathie.

When she would get after him about one thing or another, Rumpole would mutter under his breath "She who must be obeyed."

We would both laugh but Judy never suspected that one day in the future I would brand her with that sobriquet.

So now you know where it came from and know also that it's used with loving kindness and a twinkle in my eye.

Sort of like Rumpole.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE

 

This is NOT a cow pie!

It's actually a loaf of Brown Irish Soda Bread I made the other day to go with Judy's Corned Beef Hash and Cabbage.

It WAS St. Patrick's Day, you know.

TO THE IRISH EVERYWHERE

 

SPICE BUNDT CAKE

 I tried a new recipe yesterday and it was only a partial success.

It's a Spice Bundt Cake.

I didn't do a good job of preparing my bundt pan so I had a dickens of a time getting it out, even after it was completely cool.

Some of the top and sides came off but the glaze would cover that , right?

Except that I didn't get the glaze thin enough and instead of running artfully down the sides of the cake, it just kind of glopped onto the top.

I took this next picture with the flash on my camera so you could better see the consistency of the interior of the cake.

'Course then you can see the glaze (more like frosting) piled on the top.

As you can see, artful it ain't.

But it tastes pretty darned good, especially this morning after resting and mellowing a bit during the night.

Every time I do something in the kitchen I learn a little bit more.

Now if I can just live to 150!

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Yesterday was PI Day.

You know, 3.14 yada, yada, yada.

I read somewhere that a man in India memorized Pi through 70,000 decimal points.

I'd say he had too much time on his hands.

But then, of course, I read it on the Interwebs and you know you can't believe anything there.

At any rate, we finished Judy's delicious Lemon Sponge Pie the night before last so I didn't even get any pie on Pi Day.

Oh well, Sunday is St. Patrick's Day and I'm holding onto a recipe for Guiness Cake but I'm not sure if I'll make it.

All of these holidays can get wearing, you know, especially for we retirees.

I mean we don't even get a day off!

So, it's back to work to present to you this week's drollery.

And that's all I can do to improve your moods, Gentle Readers.

Now venture forth (or stay in your recliner) and try your darndest to have a mind-numbingly fine weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .