Puzzles

Ward loves to work puzzles. When the weather turns cold, the puzzles come out--several a week if other responsibilities don't interfere.The reason he likes to work them so much is that he's good at them. The rest of the family can put a few pieces in after studying a puzzle for a while, but Ward can put pieces in almost as fast as he can pick them up.

And the cats can take them out almost as fast as he can put them in. You see, the cats love puzzles too. Puzzles provide lots of "toys" for them to play with. The cats bat loose pieces off the table. They pick them up with their mouths and carry them to the floor. They take their paws and remove pieces that have already been put in. And the list goes on with many possibilities. So much fun for our feline friends.

And so frustrating for Ward. Fortunately, he's good at reworking puzzles too.

One of our feline friends (Leo) at work.

Food Waste Friday--January 27, 2012

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money. 

Here it goes for this week.

We didn't have any current waste* this week. However, it's been about six months since I have carefully investigated the condiments on my refrigerator door. Here's are some of things I found when I gave it a look.

Two jars of strawberry preserves. I combined these into the smaller jar.

Six jars of hot sauce. My son seems to think that we need another one every time we go to the store. I'm going to remind him to look in the refrigerator before we buy any more.

2/3 of a jar of tahini. We got this to make hummus. However, there's a lot more here than we need for our hummus making. Does anyone have any good suggestions for using tahini other than hummus?
I would like to use it up before it goes bad.

This mayonnaise was just too old, so it went down the drain. I can never seem to use up a jar even when I buy the small ones.










*Current waste--I use current waste to mean no leftovers or produce or food that we fixed went bad this week.

A Second Look--January 25, 2012

This week, we had weather that made the outside pretty to see but miserable to visit. Therefore, I stayed mostly inside and watched the world through our windows. One of the things I discovered while doing this is that the tufted titmouse can raise and lower its tuft just like a cardinal can. I saw both a tufted titmouse and a male cardinal with smooth heads at our feeder this week.

Recently, I have been enjoying a Second Look (even from the inside) because I am learning such interesting things about birds. Without the Second Look, I'm not sure I would have spent long enough watching the feeder to notice the subtle differences I am seeing.

Here's What I Saw This Week

Snow and ice in the upper backyard.

Chickadees

Pieris japonica

Squirrel enjoying a treat on icy ground

Something opened the door and ate the entire suet cake. See above picture for prime suspect.

Female and male cardinals. Notice the male cardinal's crest is down.

Tufted titmouse--one smooth and one tufted. It can raise and lower its tuft like a cardinal.

This week's pictures were taken through my windows because it was too cold for me outside. Also, I didn't want to slip on the ice. Gotta protect my new camera, you know.

"Cutting for Stone"--a book club discussion

 This month my book club read Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. The book is a sweeping saga about identical twin boys who were raised in Ethiopia during a time of political strife to adoptive parents after their mother (a nun) died in childbirth and their father abandoned them. (How's that for a one sentence summary of a long and complex book?) Medicine dominates the book as all of the main characters are doctors, and details of medical procedures, diseases, and patient treatment are woven into every part of the story. The book is well loved by critics and the public alike. It came out in 2009 and is in its second year on the New York Times best seller list.

Without giving too much away, here's what my book club thought about Cutting for Stone.

(Ward says that I am being too careful about not revealing the plot of the book. Go here if you want to know  more.)

--We agreed that the book was rich with detail especially on the medical front. Most thought this made for interesting reading especially the two medical professionals that we have in the group. However, some thought the detail made the book too long and tedious to read at times.

--Generally we thought that the characters were well developed and you could understand the motivations behind their actions. Although, some thought the book seemed contrived at times.

--Most thought the book was well written even if they didn't like all parts of the story.

--We wondered what could be left to be explored in Verghese's second novel since this book has so many things happening in it.

Besides talking about how the book was written, the story led to general discussions about:

--The doctor-patient relationship, and the pros and cons of advancement in medical technology.

--The similarities and differences between identical twins.

--Treatment of animals today and 40 years ago.

--Which books have translated well into movies and which ones haven't

--Trends in teenage fashion and hair. Oh wait, we were sidetracked on this one.

What do I personally say?

Read this book. It is a powerful moving story. Aunt Martha recommends it also. However, be forewarned that there is a lot of explicit medical detail that you will be exposed to.

 

Food Waste Friday--January 20, 2011

It's time for Food Waste Friday, when the Frugalgirl encourages us to post pictures from the previous week of wasted food from our household. This accountability hopefully will help us to be more careful with our food and maybe save some money.

Here it goes for this week. 

I didn't have any waste this week unless you count the stuff that I didn't count. Confused? That means we did well enough with the big stuff that I thought I'd see how much waste we had that was so small I wouldn't normally count it. What did that include?

Squished cherry tomato

1/2 of a baby carrot that was rotten

2 potato ends that were going bad
I actually consider these part of a success. I put the rest of the carrots and potatoes into a shepard's pie before they went bad too.

1 squished cherry tomato--This one rolled off the counter and I stepped on it when I was looking for it to pick up.

6 kernels of popcorn--These fell on the floor when the hard-to-open bag of popcorn "popped" open. 

My conclusion from this experiment, "Don't sweat the small stuff."