A BEAUTIFUL MORNING

 

Some light clouds in the sky gave a painter's palette to the sky as the sun rose this morning.

It seems to give hope for a pleasant day.

Yesterday was pleasant for my wife as she continues to make progress from her knee replacement surgery a little more than two months ago.

Most people who have had the same operation say it takes about six months to fully recover from the trauma imposed on the patient.

Her visit to her surgeon was a bit of a surprise.

He said he was pleased with her progress and that she can bend her leg more than he had expected.

As for the straightening of the leg that one of his nurses had been warning Judy about, he said she needed to work on that but she was only about 2 degrees off.

I know Judy was also pleased to go to her appointment using only a cane for the first time!

When we went to lunch with relatives on Saturday was the first time she had tried that outside the house.

So, we're happy and perhaps more confident as the sun painted a congratulatory sky for us this morning.

Now about that meal yesterday, using a dried Thai chili.

I heated a frozen meal of Coconut Chicken Curry with Mango from Costco and sprinkled over it the chili which I had chopped up.

Montana Mike had suggested that and so did David (Laughing Horse Blogger of the Year for 2023) in the comments yesterday.

I am happy to report that it added a touch of spice to the meal and SWMBO and I scarfed it down with no problems.

Maybe all these years of eating Mexican food have made us immune.

Oh and we accompanied it with Seeds of Change (a brown rice and quinoa mix).

Seems to me like the variety and flavors of "instant" foods available these days is getting better.

So my Great Dried Thai Chili experiment turned out well.

At least I didn't make *this* mistake.

WHAT'S HOT?

Okay, here's the thing.

The other day I saw a post from my friend who I call Montana Mike.

You know him on this blog as Mike from Should Fish More.

He was celebrating his 78th birthday with a homemade chicken soup to which he added a portion of a Thai Pepper that he had thawed out from his freezer.

He said it was good and cleared his sinuses for a few hours.

But he was a little early because today is, wait for it . . .

International Hot and Spicy Food Day.

(Photo by Emy)

Now I don't know who decides these things but I don't care either because it gives me something to blog about.

Anyway, getting back to Mike, I told SWMBO about his birthday dinner and she said "I have a jar of dried Thai chilis!"

And, in fact, she did and produced it from the pantry.

They looked pretty harmless to me, in spite of that word "HOT", so I pulled a few out to take a look.

I thought today might be the day to see what they're like since today is my friend Timmer's birthday and Timmer has always been a bit leery of any food other than true blue American and especially if there's a tad of heat to it.

I used to be a bit nervous about hot and spicy food too but my taste buds have either changed or died over the years and now I like a bit of heat in my cuisine.

Mexican, Indian, Thai, Szechuan . . . bring it on!

So I'm thinking that I should celebrate International Hot and Spicy Food day with something hot and spicy, perhaps using these Dried Thai Chilis.

But I don't have a recipe and the head cook here couldn't remember why she had them.

Stir-fry maybe?

So anybody got a dish for me?

MLK DAY

 

Love, not hate.

WHO'S GETTING OLD??!!!

 We had a great visit today with a nephew, his daughter and her husband.

I'm ashamed to say that I had never met Misha, our Great Grand Niece.

We had a nice lunch (thanks, Larry) and caught up on some family history.

I had meant to take pictures but, typical of this senile Senior Citizen, I forgot.

When I remembered we had parted company and were back home.

So I sent a message to Misha asking for a photo of the three of them.

Amazingly fast, I got this back.

They didn't even get out of the car!

I hope they pulled over!

Left to right, our nephew Larry, his daughter Misha, her husband Dan.

At our lunch, I told Misha I had asked the Almighty Google if she was a grand niece or a great niece.

A.G. told me either one was proper.

But I said I thought I would refer to her as my Great Grand Niece.

She's a great person but after all, as I told my wife, she IS from North Dakota.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 Last night, as we were going to bed, my wife said to me "I thought it was Friday all day. Now I'm going to have to gear up for another Friday!"

WHAT?

Gear up for another Friday?

What could be better?

It's the day I bring you joy and laughter and inane cheerfulness!

It's the day for The Friday Funnies!

So before I begin, let me introduce you to a new contributor, a new Elf, someone who was led to me as someone who is a big fan of The Friday Funnies.

Her name is Carla and she will henceforth be known here as Carla the Cut-Up.

And she has provided (almost) all of the humor for this week.

So let's welcome her with a big round of applause and let her show you "her stuff".

So that's it.

Thank you, Carla, you have earned your stripes as a Humor Elf!

Oh, I know the rest of you are saying, "Wait a minute, what about the Trekkies?"

Well, you didn't think they'd quit on you, did you?

Okay, let's all get together in a big circle, howl like maniacs and have a fantastic weekend, shall we?

(Watch out for the cops!)

Oh, and never forget to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . ummmm . . )

A LAZY DAY

 

The reason for that, you might ask?

Because yesterday I watched SWMBO, aka The Master Cook, make a big pan of Scalloped Potatoes with four cheeses and chunks of ham.

We ate half of it for dinner and we'll have the other half today.

So no cooking duties . . just reheating and re-eating.

BUT, she just told me she was digging around in the refrigerator and pulled out a foil-wrapped chunk of left-over pork roast.

That, she said, will be shredded and barbecue sauce added to make barbecued pulled pork!

For another day!

So the dining is good at the International Headquarters of Oddball Observations.

Another reason to take it easy today is what I discovered when I first looked out the window this morning.

The snow is back!

After what fell the other day melted off, more snow showers began sometime during the night.

And our sunny sky is gone, at least until mid-day.

Nothing but gray up there right now and the snow is still falling, although lightly.

Ho-hum.

A lazy day, indeed.

WAY-BACK WEDNESDAY

 From time to time, I have taken the time to look back at a time in my past.

That has passed.

And I am often aghast.

Okay, I'll stop with the word games.

But anyway, I decided today was a good day to see where I was and what I was doing a few years ago.

So I turned the calendar pages back ten years ago and guess what I found?

We were preparing to make yet another move.

This time from Phoenix, where we had just spent a little less than ten months, back to Prescott Valley, where we had lived for nearly 20 years before.

We found in our ever-more-Senior years that Phoenix was just too hot and too expensive for us.

That was three moves ago.

Three in ten years and we're hoping the one that got us here was our last.

I had thought I'd turn back the calendar 20 years but I found that this blog only started in 2008, nearly 16 years ago.

But I did find an interesting if rather long post from that year and I thought I'd post it again.

After all, not all of you were with me back in that time.

LETTER FROM A FARM KID

(NOW AT Camp Lejeune NC . MARINE CORPS RECRUIT TRAINING.)

Dear Ma and Pa,

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before all of the places are filled.

I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m. but I am getting so I like to sleep late.

Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot, and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire to lay. Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there's warm water.

Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you til noon when you get fed again. It's no wonder these city boys can't walk much.

We go on 'route marches,' which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it's not my place to tell him different. A 'route march' is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The country is nice but awful flat.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Captain is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don't bother you none.

This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don't know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don't move, and it ain't shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don't even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to-hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain't like fighting with that ole bull at home. I'm about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I'm only 5'6' and 130 pounds and he's 6'8' and near 300 pounds dry.

Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,
Carol

BRRR!!!

 Mid-day Tuesday.

Prescott Valley, Arizona.

Temperature: 41° Fahrenheit,  5° Celsius.

WHAT???

Now that's in Phoenix or Tucson or Yuma.

But I live up here at around 5,000 feet elevation in the Central Highlands.

It gets colder here.

I said to my eye doctor the other day when the wind was howling and the temperature was about like this or colder "I did not move to Arizona for this!"

(He was born in Montreal and went to school in Toronto before moving to the U.S. of A.)

He said, "I forget, where did you move from?"

I said, "North Dakota.  About 50 miles south of your country.  Saskatchewan."

He chuckled and said "Now that's REAL Canada!"

But I know that this too shall pass.

Once again it will be balmy.

And, after all, we handle it better than the folks in the South.

MERRY MONDAY

 Remember our snowfall yesterday?

Almost all gone today as the storm moved east.

'Course it got some help from this fella.

And how does that make me feel?

But let me tell you, even though the sun is shining brightly, it's c-o-l-d out there.

30°F/-1°C at 11 o'clock as I'm writing this.

It's only supposed to top out at 34 today but tomorrow 45 so we can all go out and sunbathe.

Ha!  As if!

But there's one more thing that put a smile on my face this morning so I'll share it with you.

Have a great day!

SNOW JOB

This time the Weather Gods got it right.

Our first snowfall of this winter arrived early this morning.

It's not much, probably less than an inch so far.

But at least it made the ground white.

And it may be slippery for morning drivers.

Up the hill a ways, toward Prescott, there's a bit more of an accumulation, as you can see in this photo from an EarthCam camera.

Meanwhile, back at the International Headquarters of Oddball Observations, the Monja and the Blue Cat both look like they've been in one of those Three Stooges comedies that culminated in a cream pie fight.

THE FRIDAY FUNNIES

 As the Laughing Horse might say "Hee-Haw, it's Friday once again."

On reading the biography the professor at Yorkshire Pudding printed in his announcement of my award, it is obvious that The Friday Funnies were the main reason behind it.

Oh, yes, he mentioned my wife (SWMBO) and my late pal, John Wayne, and my cooking adventures.

But he can't fool me.

It's The Friday Funnies that stand out to him.

And to YOU, judging by the rave comments they get each week.

So let me delay the inevitable no longer.

For the first time this year, here goes!

So that's our voyage beyond our galaxy, into a different universe, a universe of humor.

Now let's all have a universally fine weekend, even though it's only two days this week.

I know, I know, you're spoiled.

But suck it up.

And always remember to keep laughing!

Here, kitty-kitty . . .

( . . . uh, oh . . . )

WINTER

 

We had snow in our forecast for yesterday evening.

This wasn't it but I just wanted you all to know that it does snow in Arizona.

This picture was taken some years ago of our back yard when we lived in StoneRidge, a development in Prescott Valley that is somewhat higher in elevation from where we now live.

The daughter, who lives in Prescott, about 10 miles to the southwest of our town, reported she did have snow about 7 o'clock last night.

We only got rain.

But I was just outside and it is c-o-l-d.

It's almost 11 in the morning and the temperature shows at 36F/2C.

And with our usual Prescott Valley breezes, it feels colder than that.

The extended forecast has snow showers predicted once again for Sunday.

We'll just see about that.

MORNING SUNSHINE

I was in my room doing what I usually do in the early morning (and the rest of the day), reading "stuff" (on my computer), working puzzles (on my computer), posting to my blog (on my computer) and writing to friends (on my computer), when my boss (SWMBO) said "Come here and bring your camera."

I asked my other boss (my computer) if it would be okay if I could leave for a minute.

It seemed to be a bit snarly but granted me permission.

When I went to the living room my wife pointed at the coffee table and ordered me to take a picture of what the morning sun she had just admitted through the front window was doing.

So I did.

The sun was brightening a bouquet of flowers I had brought her a few days before but with three newly-opened lilies.

And her beloved crystal ball, which our daughter has been pining after for years.

She has many of her own now but still yearns for this one and knows she'll get it some day.

In the meantime, it glows in our house when the morning sunshine strikes it.