maison rustique

Had such a nice day yesterday that I knew it couldn't last. Discovered wet wall in my office in the Liberty house. Will call the roofer to come check it out as there is no plumbing in that area. I swear there are water demons in this place!

Having a nice few days, weather-wise. My sis & BIL came in from Topeka yesterday to help me with some chores. I'd gotten very nervous about my garage door at the Gladstone house. Since I bought it, I had all the locks changed but did not change the code on the garage opener. Several times I've gone there and the cover on the keypad was open as if someone had tried to get in. I am also getting a ring camera and light for that area since the doorbell doesn't reach that far. I had ordered a couple of new remotes since one of the originals had stopped working. Took us a bit to figure out how to do it (manuals suck), but we got the code changed and programmed the new remotes (a 2 person job). I now have 3 working remotes and all is good. We put some weatherstripping around the basement doors, packed and moved a bit of stuff. Consulted on a few other projects I want to get done. A productive day and lunch, too!! Went to a Vietnamese place that has been around for quite a while, but we just hadn't made our way there, yet. It was delicious and is only a mile or so from the new house. Broken Rice

MF has a calendar?

These videos are just precious. I could watch them all day. Moolala and Pip Feed the Forest

With the weather so crappy (More snow and temps headed to below zero), I am ignoring all the healthy food I bought to cook. Threw together a handful of biscuits and pulled sausage gravy out of the freezer. Just needed comfort food.

Hard to find anything to be cheerful about in this godawful weather. This is as close as I can come right now.

I did it again. Shatto Home Delivery milkman had a new Italian pizza that I needed to try. It arrived today and no room in the freezer meant I had to cook it tonight. The toppings were skimpy. I couldn't see much sauce or cheese. I added onion and capers and tons of cheese. It was actually pretty good but no sauce to speak of. I will try either an oil based dipping sauce or open the jar of pizza sauce I have in the pantry when I have the leftovers.

We had it yesterday and then about 1/4 inch of snow overnight. But wicked cold. Only 13 right now and not expected to get any warmer despite some sun. Tonight and tomorrow morning will be worse. Single digits. How the heck did I ever live in Boston and walk all over the city? Of course, I was 40+ years younger then.

Swiss steak with rice and buttered spinach. Meh. I need to re-learn to cook.

I really hate winter, but we have had some wonderful sunsets lately. I seldom take pix of them because when they occur, I generally have about a dozen cardinals on the deck, but I disrupted them for a few seconds to snap this last night.

I bought everything to make Swiss steak, but then realized late afternoon that it was too late to get it going. I knew the thin pork chops I'd gotten would cook quickly, so went with that and some pantry lemon & thyme stuffing.

Took the words right outta my mouth.

"There's something happening here What it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there A-telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop Children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down There's battle lines being drawn Nobody's right if everybody's wrong Young people speaking their minds Are getting so much resistance from behind Time we stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down What a field-day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and a-carrying signs Mostly say hooray for our side It's time we stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid Step out of line, the man come and take you away We better stop Hey, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down"

I have a wonderful primary care doctor. He got bumped way up in the St. Luke's system about 3 years ago and is now Chief Medical Officer or something like that, so only sees patients 1 1/2 days a week now. BUT, he doesn't take on new patients and since it was initially difficult to get an appointment with him, many of his patients switched to a different doctor. If I send a message to him through the St. Luke's system, he will even answer on a Sunday. He calls. He is wonderful. But he is not a Spring chicken. Every time I see a St. Luke's envelope in the mail, I cringe and think it will be notice that he is retiring. (His wife is also a physician, but she retired about 10 years ago.)

I have no idea how mine will turn out. This was the first year since RG began that I did not have their black eyed peas to cook. I had to make do with supermarket beans. And couldn't get mustard greens--have collards and turnip greens. And we didn't have ham for Xmas, so I had to buy some and was not happy with it. I tried Penzey Ozark blend in it this year, too. A total experiment.

You made me nervous. These are the only skinks I know!

On my husband's last Father's day his daughters sent a lovely plant arrangement. He never really understood what it was and kept carrying it out of his room and putting it in other places in the facility. The staff would bring it back but it sort of got neglected in terms of watering. At the time he died, there was one straggly plant left alive. My sister took it and I completely forgot about it. She potted it and nursed it and it is now huge and gorgeous. She recently brought it to me.

Two Bluebird couples came to celebrate the Solstice this morning. Pardon the winter grunge on the windows and deck.

Found some BBQ Rancho Gordo beans in the freezer from earlier this year. Heated them up with a couple of my ribs from the other day.

Pork tenderloin, apples, onion, Brussels sprouts with butter, white wine and seasonings.

@Wilfrid I was not familiar with pounti, so just looked up recipes. I'll be making this--will try your almond flour idea!

Here in the mid-west it has been ping-ponging between brutally cold and unseasonably mild. Craziest winter ever.

Unbelievable. I thought I was dreaming when I heard it this morning.

This made me so sad. I can't imagine growing up without knowing the joy of losing myself in a book.

I'm saying cheerful, but it is bittersweet. The auction folks came and picked up my militaria and related collections yesterday. It seems so empty. I had such fun collecting over the years--all the vets and families I met, dealers, fellow collectors. Had a ton of fun. I really enjoyed them. But I do feel lighter. One story... I've had a full mannequin dressed in a WWI uniform in my house for about 30 years now. This particular mannequin had a very pretty face so I called him Klinger. One time in California, I had a police officer at my house to file a report on behalf of 3rd Bn 5th Marines (my adopted guys). He walked in and saw Klinger standing by the window and did a double take. He said it was an excellent burglar deterrent because from outside it just looked like a big guy standing there. So, Klinger took up residence here in Liberty when we moved--by the window. Klinger is now gone. At least for now, he'll be residing in Cape Girardeau, MO. Have fun, Klinger--thanks for your protection!!