SO IT'S TUESDAY

 I couldn't really think of anything to blog about today so here's a picture of our bird bath, ready and waiting for visitors.

Don't worry about that lazy cat, birdies, he's harmless.

It continues to be very dry and very windy and we remain in a Red Flag Warning here.

Which means conditions are rife for brush or forest fires.

The Crooks Fire, south of Prescott, is still burning but is 96 percent contained, according to the fire fighting authorities.

Thanks go out to all of those on the front lines.

There's another kind of fire burning in my kitchen right now.

Well, not really.

It's an electric stove.

But I have two loaves of my famous infamous English Muffin Bread baking.

When I put milk on my morning cereal today I noticed a slightly "off" taste but SWMBO has told me that sour milk is okay in my bread recipe and since she's the one that eats it she should know.

So I hied me to the kitchen bakery.

Unlike yesterday morning, I lazed in bed until nearly 8 this morning.

As I commented on another blog, the fresh bed linens must have worked for me.

Though I did wake about 3 a.m. with a severe cramp in one foot but I got rid of it by limping around the house in the dark for awhile.

SWMBO and I have been watching "Inventing Anna" on Netflix and quite enjoying it.

And that's about all the excitement around here.

It may be boring but at least I got a blog post out of it.

So it goes.

A SLOW START TO THE WEEK

 

I know how he feels.

While time seems at time to race, it simultaneously seems to creep.

I was up before 6, awake before 5 this morning.

By 10 I'd dined on the last scrap of a loaf of cheese bread, a slice of orange left over from a sweet potato dish SWMBO prepared, a handful of big red grapes, and consumed a couple of cups of coffee.

I'd done a small load of laundry and remade my bed.

I'd washed a tiny amount of dishes from the night before.

I'd read some from a recent Arizona Highways magazine.

I'd browsed the news on the Internet and read some emails.

I'd done my daily 10 minute bask in the sun.

I'd contemplated a necessary trip to the public library.

Maybe it's not such a slow start.

Maybe it's time for a nap.

(yawn)

NOT SO WILD KINGDOM!

 So I was out in the back yard a little bit ago, watering our honeysuckle vine.

Suddenly I spied a intruder visitor.

It fluttered closer and closer and came up to about a foot from me.

Amazingly it did not then dart away.

It stayed, perhaps getting some moisture from the spray from the hose.

And then it landed on a perch, again only about a foot from me and began to preen.

Cautiously I got my phone from my pocket and turned on the camera.

And here's what I got.

You can see from my shadow in the first couple of shots how close it was to me and it showed no fear or alarm.

As it sat on the twig and continued to preen, I cautiously switched the camera to video.

Let's see how that worked.

Now I know it's Mother's Day but does this look like the face of anyone's mother . . let alone a hummingbird's?

Happy Mothers' Day!

NO COMMENT

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 I know, I know, you keep wondering, you keep hoping.

Isn't he tired of this crap?

Won't he please quit?

Is he going to live forever?

I know.

The answer to all three questions is: Nope!

Wait a minute.

Change that answer to question number three.

Let's just get on with it, shall we?

Heh-heh, okay Gentle Readers and Stone Throwers, that's it for another week.

Try to be good to yourselves now and have a spectacular weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

5-5

 

CAKE

 Good old Trader Joe.

We were in his local outpost about a week ago and I saw and quickly whisked into my cart a Meyer Lemon Cake Mix with Lemon Icing!

This morning I made it.

I mean, a lemon cake with lemon icing.

What can go wrong?

What can BE wrong about that?

Nothin'!

JUST CHECKING

 SWMBO and I (mostly her) were out pulling some weeds in the yard the other day when this little rascal climbed up on the wall as if to see what we were up to.

He stayed there, not two feet away from me, long enough to pose for this picture.

He's just one of many such lizards that live on and about our property.

The boss says she's glad to see them because they eat bugs and maybe they'll keep the mosquito population down this summer.

I enjoy watching them as they scamper about and stop frequently to "do their push-ups."

OH, BABY!

 So SWMBO was sitting beside me at the computer as we completed an on-line grocery order and she noticed a recipe I had printed out.

She asked, "Could you make a Dutch Baby?"

"Yes, I could," said I.

"Would you make a Dutch Baby?" she clarified.

"Yes, I would," responded I.

Which was what had me in the kitchen this morning, putting together one of the easiest recipes ever proffered to man.

Here's my (nearly in focus) result, fresh from the oven:

It's a bit dark in spots and around the edges, which SWMBO suggested could be fixed by lowering the oven rack one notch.

She had sauteed some sliced apples and pineapple, which complemented the Netherlands Offspring, er, Dutch Baby just dandily.

(You can find recipes for Dutch Babies everywhere but if you want the one I used just Google "Dutch Baby, Florence Fabricant".)

Oh, and Happy May Day!

AGAINST ALL ODDS

 

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 OMG!

Google is wrought with growing pains.

Or something.

I hope you can read this because I've been going crazy changing my password and such.

Others have also said they're having magillahs with "The World's Finest Internet Service" today.

So, let's try for some lightness.

Let's try to get The Friday Funnies off the carpet.

That's it, folks.

There ain't no more.

Now let us all enjoy a fruitful weekend, full of feasting and fiestas.

And never forget to always keep mirthful.

That is, laughing!

Now to finalize this, I turn it over to Tommy Terrific and the Lovely Lana and their "family".

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Left to right: Hemingway, Miss Joy and Sunshine or Sunny.)

FIRE UPDATE

The Crooks Fire continues to burn and grow in timber and chaparral approximately 10 miles south of Prescott.

Winds from the south forecast to gust to 30 miles per hour today continue to make fighting the fire difficult.

Over 700 people are undertaking that task as the fire has now consumed over 8,000 acres.

Those southerly winds also mean smoke is blowing into our area.

That's the view from our driveway, across the flood plain toward the Bradshaw Mountains, where the fire is burning.

The smoke appears to be descending directly on the Prescott Valley business district.

That stop sign conveys a message from all of us: just stop these fires.

Oh how soon we grow to miss a day and a sky like this:

That photo was taken in North Prescott only a few days ago.

Now the skies over there are yellowish-brown with smoke and the foul air is contributing to an already bad allergy season.

The only good news from this fire is that apparently no homes or other buildings have yet been lost to the flames.

BACK IN THE BAKERY

 I tried a new recipe today, courtesy of Dorie Greenspan.

She calls it Cheesy, Herby Quick Bread.

I think I'd call mine Cheesy Shallot Quick Bread.

As she noted, the recipe is highly adaptable and adapt I did.

Rather than herbs or nuts, as in hers, mine had minced shallot and a dash or two or three each of Everything Bagle Spice and Cayenne Pepper.

It's good.

THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT

 For all of you foodies, or just plain old cake lovers, here's what my birthday cake looked like after the first tasting yesterday.

It's my favorite - carrot cake.

Judy's recipe includes some dried apricots and apple butter.

If it looks dense, it is.

Densely packed with delicious flavor.

I had two slices on my natal day.

CHANGES

 

Once upon a time I used to challenge myself, clambering around on rocks like these.

Here's the proof.

As Judy learned early and friends Timmer and the Beaner later, I liked to climb up and perch on rooftops.

Why?

The challenge perhaps or (in my mind) to improve the view.

But time wounds all heels, as the old expression is twisted.

Today I am more likely to be found in a posture reflected in this rare picture from my past.

More snoozing than scaling.

Challenging myself not on mountains or rocks or rooftops.

But at the table.

For today, I completed another voyage around the sun and reached the previously unthinkable age of 82.

Onward and upward!

ROAD TRIP