The BRD sent a couple of photos from a road trip she and a friend are taking to New Mexico.
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Sunday, December 4, 2022
WET & FOGGY
With a weather front that moved in overnight, Sunday dawned unusually wet, gray and foggy in my town.
Friday, December 2, 2022
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.
Thursday, December 1, 2022
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.
Wednesday, November 30, 2022
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.
Tuesday, November 29, 2022
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, November 28, 2022
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.
Sunday, November 27, 2022
IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK . . .
I noticed Christmas decorations up on light poles around the Civic Center, the Police Station, and the Public Library yesterday.
Those candy canes look a little the worse for wear but the spirit of Christmas is still there.
Saturday, November 26, 2022
TEA FOR TWO (or three?)
Christmas baking season has begun at the vaunted Taylor Bakery & Experimental (and sometimes hazardous) Kitchen Laboratory.
Here's today's result.
Lemon Berry Tartlets
A puff pastry shell with the center pushed down to make a hollow for some lemon curd, topped with a blackberry and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar.
A little fussy but de-lish-us!
Let the holidays begin!
Friday, November 25, 2022
THE FRIDAY FUNNIES
Y'know, after a feasting day things kind of slow down so I'm a little late with this edition of comedy and fun'n'games.
So how did your big meals go yesterday?
Here's a photo of our Thanksgiving turkey.
Thursday, November 24, 2022
FEASTING DAY
All joking aside, we'd like you to have a great day wherever you are in the world, whether it's Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving or just another normal old Thursday.
Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
THE WAGES OF SIN
When one is a young lad, in one's teens and twenties and even, perhaps, in one's thirties, one can be sure of one thing: he is immortal.
Nothing can touch him, right?
But then, much later, as old age works on him, the sins of his youth begin to catch up with him.
One of my sins was spending too much time in the sun without any kind of sun screen.
Back in the day we called it sun tan lotion and it didn't really offer any protection from El Sol.
Especially not for a pale-skinned youth of Norwegian ancestry.
So here is the older rascal paying for the indiscretions of his youth.
This photo was taken this morning after my latest surgery to remove a skin cancer.
This one came out of the tip of my nose.
Previous surgeries have eliminated them from over one eyebrow, from the top of one ear and from the back of one arm.
All of them have been the relatively harmless type called squamous cell carcinomas.
But one feels, as the years go on and more of these pesky things are discovered, that one's exoderm is slowly just being whittled away.
To the youth of today I can only offer the same advice I ignored back when I was "immortal": wear sun screen and avoid over-exposure.
Like that advice will be heeded.
Monday, November 21, 2022
BIRDS ON A WIRE
Sunday, November 20, 2022
BLUE SKIES
I wandered out to the driveway a little while ago to take advantage of some of the voluptuous bright sunshine today.
It's a balmy Arizona day - the thermometer registers 54 degrees F - 12 degrees C.
And to those of you who think all of Arizona is the desert with winters in the 70's and 80's, this is typical Thanksgiving week weather for where in the state I live.
As I've explained many times previously, we are 80 miles from Phoenix and in the low mountain range at approximately a mile high.
That compares with the Phoenix Valley at around 900 feet elevation.
So anyway, there I was in the driveway and the coolish sunshine and I thought I'd snap a picture of our beautiful blue sky.
Pretty pristine, huh?
Not a bird in the sky to disturb my reverie.
But wait!
What's that droning sound?
Aha!
There's someone else out to enjoy the day.
I'll zoom in.
Yup.
Seems like there's always an airplane in the neighborhood.
Oh well, at least this one is high enough that I can barely hear his engine(s).
What's you neighborhood look like today?
Friday, November 18, 2022
THE FRIDAY FUNNIES
(Update to the below. After changing the battery in the remote opener, watching a short video on Google and employing their tips, the garage door opener is now working properly and remotely.)
So we waited two months for a repairman to come and fix our garage door.
He was here yesterday and got it all done and working again.
All except the remote, which he said is probably worn out and can't be repaired.
So we still have to get out of the car and go inside the house to push the button that raises or lowers the door.
But I'm not giving up.
Today I'm going to search the Google Empire for a possible solution.
In the meantime, to turn my (and yours, perhaps) frown upside down I have another installment of the goofy stuff, beginning with our friends the turkeys.
Now, don't let your frustrations get the best of you at this pleasant shopping time of year.
Relax this weekend and have an enjoyable two days off.
But always remember to keep laughing!
Here, kitty-kitty . . .
(. . . aha, just as I thought . . .)