FRIDAY FUNNIES

Ah Gentle Readers you have come through for the old Catalyst once again, providing him with lots of good content for these weekly shenanigans.

Thank you all but especially this week to my buddy Timmer, who sent a plethora of today's contributions plus more for later.

I just wish when he writes to tell me about his hired leaf gatherer, John, that he wouldn't call me Dear.

Be that as it may, let us proceed.

All right, Gentle Readers, that's enough for this week.

Now listen up.

I want you to go out there and have yourselves a scrumptious weekend and always remember to keep laughing.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

SEASONAL TRANSITION

As autumn becomes late autumn and heads toward winter, the temperature and the leaves drop.

What was once a beautiful sight . . .

. . . becomes a mess and a chore.

SWMBO and I spent yesterday morning raking and gathering the leaves from our red maple tree.

They are beautiful when freshly fallen.

But all that raking and bagging I could do without.

We filled five large bags and it did make a difference.

But the wind has come up and we know we'll have more work to do before the season ends.

There are other trees of a different variety and they all shed their leaves on their own schedule.

When I was a kid we used to enjoy raking and piling the leaves in the street just off the curb and then burning them.

The smoky fires left a smell in the air that lingers in my mind as a memory of a simpler era.

We're not allowed to burn leaves now so they fill bags which in turn fill dumpsters which in their turn are hauled away by the garbage trucks.

And the wind blows and the leaves fall and the transitions continue.

THE FRENCH CONNECTION

As I promised yesterday, I'm going to show you some of what SWMBO does to make an excellent Beef Bourguignon.

It is basically a beef stew with the meat braised in red wine and beef broth as well as vegetables.

It originated in the Burgundy region of France.

The beginning involves a lot of knifework on beef, carrots, white onions, green onions and garlic.

The mushroom preparation comes later.

The counter next to the stove holds some other ingredients, including a can of beef broth and two cups of red wine.

The afore-mentioned mushrooms have now been cut up and are ready for the saute pan . . .

. . . which is heating a couple of tablespoons of butter.

Butter melted, the mushrooms go in to be wilted down and browned.

In the old days this would all have been done in a big black iron pot but today's crockpots make the cooking a snap.

The dining was delicious and your scribe, in his French personification, expressed his pleasure.

Wait, Frenchy, how good was it?

(I'm looking a bit rough these days as my winter beard is growing.)

TUESDAY TRAVELS

The intrepid blogger Catalyst did something rare last night.

He ventured outside after dark.

With camera in hand he ventured into the darkness looking for signs of life.

He found only an eerie night at first.

But then.

"What light through yonder window breaks?  It is the east, and Juliet is the sun."

Bet you weren't expecting Shakespeare, were you?

Well, it wasn't the sun, nor Juliet.

It was the Supermoon appearing in the night sky.

It came up a peach colored orb and it truly was an amazing and wonderful sight.

Unfortunately my tiny camera was not up to the job.

This was about the best I could do.

So the Supermoon has come and gone and I scurried back into my abode to Judy's delicious French onion soup.

It must be French week at the Catalyst's home.

Tomorrow I'll show you the preparation of her Beef Bourguignon.

P.S. If you want to see some spectacular shots of the moon, take a look at these from my blogger friend Judy.

BLUE MONDAY AND MOON MADNESS

I'm very much looking forward to tonight's supermoon viewing.

We've had clear skies recently and the moon, as it grew toward fullness, left our bedrooms very bright through the night.

It bothers Judy but I can sleep through anything, it seems.

Still when I woke for a bathroom break very early this morning before daylight I was initially startled by what appeared to be a light on in the hallway.

It was just moonlight.

I recently re-watched the great movie "Moonstruck" with a beautiful Cher, a funny Danny Aiello and a typically weird Nicholas Cage, as well as great performances from Vincent Gardenia and Olympia Dukakis.

It's a great "feel good" movie from 1987.

If you haven't seen it you should get it from Netflix.

If you have seen it, you should watch it again.

Perhaps on the Night of the Supermoon.

SUNDAY AT THE SPA

A DARK INVADER

Who is this behind my blinds?

He knows he's taking a chance because he's not normally allowed up there.

He's peeking out at me but also seems to be saying "I'm hiding.  You can't see me."

And then a short time later . . .

"Are you kidding?  I've been curled up asleep in your chair the whole time."

FRIDAY FUNNIES

Before we get to the humor(?) let me remind you that today is Veterans Day.

Say thank you to a vet today.

Now let me try to lift the miasma of gloom and despair prevailing, Gentle Readers, and give you a ray of sunshine.

Here's one more for you dog-lovers.

In spite of that, I'm still going to call for the kitty at the end of this.

But in the meantime, the old humor bank is running low so, Gentle Readers, if you have any good ones out there send 'em to me.

I appreciate it.

Now, this is an order: as has occurred in our house, turn off the t.v., stop reading the newspapers, get outside maybe and kick some leaves around and try to have yourselves a good weekend.

And always remember that laughter is the best medicine.

Now then.

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

THROWBACK THURSDAY

Does anyone remember what these are?

That's just a small part of my collection gathering dust.

Here's what is inside one of those plastic cases.

If you're old enough to remember cassette tapes, then this is familiar to you.

They came after LP's, which came after 45's, and before CD's.

You remember CD's, don't you?

Here's a sample of what you could have heard on that tape above.

And curiously, it's rather apt for Throwback Thursday.

RED

TUESDAY TRAVELS

THE EVE AND GOOD EATING

One more day of bomfoggery, flibberty-gibberty and gibble-glabbing.

Then we vote.

In the meantime, there is the inner man (and woman) to satisfy.

And satisfy she (SWMBO) did last night with this beautiful dish of onions and peppers and baby squash.

Seasoned and headed for the oven.

They accompanied this dish of slow-cooked spicy pork chops draped with barbecue sauce.

Gentle Readers, you shoulda been here.

That was some good eatin'.

THE END IS NEAR

Can you believe it?

Only two more days remain until this campaign flutters to an end.

Speaking of which . . .

I found the remains of this beautiful creature on the floor of my garage the other day.

I've often thought, as I watched the butterflies flitting around, why they were named that.

It seems a more apt name would have been flutter-bys.

SWEET SATURDAY

Only three more days, Gentle Readers.

Have faith and patience.

What might help?

How about a loaf of banana bread.

I baked this up the other day and I can tell you it makes everything else seem trivial.

Those white flecks imbedded in the loaf are shredded coconut.

The recipe comes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything cookbook and he calls the coconut his secret ingredient.