ROAD TRIP

 The BRD sent a couple of photos from a road trip she and a friend are taking to New Mexico.

She said the Margaritas at Flora in Santa Fe are tasty.

And the food was great too!

I can remember her as a teenager many a few years ago.

Like her mother, she just gets more beautiful every day.

WET & FOGGY

 With a weather front that moved in overnight, Sunday dawned unusually wet, gray and foggy in my town.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 It's finally (or too soon?) December.

So y'all can officially start decorating your homes for Christmas, if you do such a thing.

SWMBO (alias the Grinch) doesn't put out decorations until around the middle of the month and gets rid of 'em a week or so after the holiday.

Still, she came home from the store with some miniature colored lights yesterday.

Why is everything in this house a miniature size, I wonder?

Except us.

But never mind that.

Let's see what other folk are doing.

Okay, you've had your fun for the week, now get back to work on your decorating.

And in spite of what angst that may conjure up, try to have yourselves a wonderful weekend.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

(Oooooooooohhhh)

MORE GOODIES

 After making Lemon Blackberry Tartlets I found I still had some Lemon Curd and some Blackberries left over.

SWMBO said she had a frozen pie crust so let's use it all up.

So she baked some pie crust shells and I adorned them with most of the remaining Lemon Curd and Blackberries and Shazam!

Lemon Blackberry Pielets.

CATALYST, THE (not so) HANDYMAN

 When we moved into our new abode 2-1/2 months ago, we were told we had to have smoke detectors and that there were none in the duplex apartment.

Well, upon looking around we found that not only did it have smoke detectors but that were three of them.

So one early morning . .  it's always early in the morning isn't it . . one of them began chirping.

We've learned that that means the battery is going down.

So we replaced the batteries in all three of them and they still chirped.

So we found a guy who does all kind of work and he came and did a couple of projects and then we asked him to take a look at the smoke detectors.

He couldn't stop them from chirping and said since they had probably been installed when the house was built . . twenty-some years ago . . they had outlived their usefulness.

He said they can just quit working after ten years or so.

And he had a good solution: new smoke detectors of a type that just stick on the wall or ceiling with some kind of adhesive.

Easy-peasy.

So I ordered three of them from a local store and then picked them up.

Today I ripped open one of the packages and found that they did not have some kind of adhesive backing.

What they had was a detailed instruction sheet and two rather long screws.

Well, I have fixed things over the years and I have a plethora of tools, a number of which I gathered to take on this project.

What I didn't have was one of those handy-dandy battery operated power screwdrivers, which would have either made this job a lot easier or have caused enough damage that a wall would have had to be replaced.

So I hammered and screwed (don't get ahead of yourselves) and eventually the new smoke detector was mounted to the wall just a foot or so from the ceiling-mounted old machine.

I still have two more to go but, as SWMBO said, quoting Miss Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day".

(For you younger folk: Scarlett O'Hara was a character in a famous movie from back in the Dark Ages called "Gone With the Wind". You should watch it.)

WHAT'S THE USE?

 My loving wife Judy, aka SWMBO (She Who Must Be Obeyed), unexpectedly dusted and vacuumed the house today.

I complimented her, told her it looked so clean it just sparkled.

But then . . .

MONDAY MEXICAN

 For a mid-afternoon comida a visit to a neighborhood favorite, the much heralded Mexican restaurant Casa Perez.

SWMBO, aka Judy, enjoys a bowl of Chili Verde, one of her favorites.

The menu description: Lean chunks of pork simmered in green tomatillo sauce with bell peppers and onions. Served with rice, beans, pico de gallo, and tortillas.

I had Chili Relleno de Camarones: A Mexican poblano pepper stuffed with prawns, mushrooms, pepper and a cream sauce. Served over green sauce and sour cream with rice, pico de gallo and tortillas.

(Sorry, no photo. My appetite superseded one.)

We each prefaced our meals with one of the delicious House Margaritas and accompanied them with Negra Modelo cervezas (beers).

It's a great restaurant but don't tell anyone.