WEDNESDAY

Once upon a time I tried to learn French.  I was a complete failure.  I was stumped by the Gallic way of spelling words with miles of vowels and consonants but only pronouncing a few of them.  What's up with that?

Then I moved to Mexico for five years and endeavored to learn Spanish.  I think it's a much easier language to learn, perhaps the easiest.  But I was living with mostly U.S. and Canadian ex-pats  and most of them didn't bother learning Spanish.  They just raised their voices as they continued speaking English, apparently surmising that volume would make them understood.

I had my vocabulary of a couple of hundred words which enabled me to fill my car with gasoline, order in restaurants and shop in grocery stores.  But if, for example, the water heater broke - I was lost again.  Once something did happen to our water system and a couple of big guys from the city were about to turn off our supply because we were "using too much".  I made them understand that they should wait a moment while I ran down the block to a neighborhood market and return with my Mexican friend who was fluent in both English and Spanish.

All of this confessional venting comes about because I was looking at the title of this post:  WEDNESDAY.  Now think about it.  Shouldn't that be spelled Whensday?  Or even Wensday?  That's how we pronounce it.  Not Wed-ness-day.

And don't even get me started on FEBRUARY!

A RECOMMENDATION

Aha!  Whilst using SWMBO's laptop (yes, my pc is ailing again) I discovered the blog of one Natalie Darbeloff of London, England.  (Or U.K. if you prefer)  It is called Blaugustine and it reveals a woman of inventiveness - a writer and illustrator and general experimenter.  I shall add it to the blog roll on the right and invite you to investigate the workings of her mind.

Thank you, Lucy, revealing her to me.

TUESDAY

MEMORIAL DAY 2013

Always remember "the boys".

I hung the flag at our new front entrance in Phoenix this morning.

A VERY HAPPY THURSDAY

SWMBO and I visited the Arizona Science Center yesterday afternoon specifically to see the traveling exhibit "DaVinci - the Genius."  It was well worth it.  

There were huge reproductions of pages from DaVinci's drawings - anatomical and mechanical.  His skill is an artist was unequaled.  But his creative mind must have been constantly busy.

Many of his ideas predicted inventions that would be made hundreds of years into the future.  This is a forerunner of today's helicopter.  Many of his ideas never worked in his lifetime but the science that was involved came into play and was developed much later.

And then there was one of his most famous paintings.

The Mona Lisa.  This, of course, is a reproduction.  We saw the real thing at the Louvre in Paris back in the 1980's.  I don't think we knew though that a photographer was given exclusive permission to photograph the painting, unframed, some years back and used today's technology, including infrared photography to determine the actual pigments and oils used by DaVinci to create the masterpiece.  Fascinating display with many different views of the Mona Lisa.

That took up much of the afternoon and since this is Arizona Restaurant Week featuring prix fixe meals at dozens of restaurants, we had made a reservation at one of our favorites - Tomaso's.  Dinner began with some crusty bread, garlic butter and/or a Balsamic Vinegar and Olive oil dip.

Accompanied, of course, by wine - an Argentine Malbec for the lady, a Tuscan blend for me.

Then - the appetizers.  Mine was an Italian pasta selection with an incredible parmesan cheese sauce.  SWMBO chose a delicious crab cake and a Portobello mushroom.  Mine disappeared before I remembered the camera and I've somehow lost a shot I took of hers.

But I DID get pictures of her humongous butterflied pork chop with pasta and my plate, which included lamb, petite filet and sausage over risotto.

She brought perhaps better than half of hers home.  I, typically, ate all of mine!

But there's more!  This was a three course dinner and desserts were the finishing touch, accompanied by tiny cups of espresso.

Mine was a foamy-stuffed profiterole drowned in chocolate with a couple of strawberry wedges on the side.  (And, by the way, I wasn't sloppy - the kitchen had painted the serving plate with chocolate!)

But just to prove that Mother Knows Best, SWMBO finished her meal with a delicious pistachio gelato.

Everything was delicious and it was a fantastic day!

YUMMY MUSHROOMS & SHADE SCREENS

I made Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms for our dinner last night.  They were pretty darned good.  The recipe comes from Gourmet but I found it at good old Smitten Kitchen's website.  You can find a link to Deb's webpage on the right side of my page and you'll find lots of great recipes there.

The BRD was here yesterday to hang two sun blinds on our patio for us.  We drafted her because she has similar blinds on her own patio that she hung herself.  She did a great job and the blinds should help keep the heat down in the house as the living room windows face southwest.  Hopefully it will help keep the electric bill down some, too.

Trust me, these 100 degree days can heat up the house, even with air conditioning.

And it's only May!

OKLAHOMA

There's some irony there in that line about "...the wind comes sweepin' down the plain..."