It Was So Good, but...

No pictures of the chili,
so here's one of a young Theo.

Theo likes to cook. Partly because he likes to eat good food but partly because he enjoys the science and creativity of cooking. So for Christmas, we got him a gift certificate for a session at a cooking school - the real thing with big-time chefs, good equipment, and helpers. He recently went to a class for one-pot meals. I'm not sure if that's what he wanted to learn about the most from the wide variety of classes, but that's the one that fit into his work schedule. He said he learned a few things and had other things that reinforced what he knew, like the importance of layering flavors. They made three dishes: Morrocan chicken, mushroom risotto, and southwest chili. 

He came home and said he'd like to try making the chili for us. That required a trip to the grocery store and five hours of his time. He roasted peppers, he chopped peppers, he ground peppers. Five kinds of peppers in all. He roasted a whole head of garlic in olive oil. He chopped, he browned, he braised. And the end result was delicious. There are almost as many ways to make chili as there are cooks, and I've tasted many of them. This batch may have ranked at the top. But was it worth the effort? We all agreed that it wasn't. None of us have enough time in our schedules to cook this way, even with the excellent results it provided. Theo said that he would be looking at ways to streamline the process and still maintain the rich blend of flavors.

I hope he didn't get too discouraged by his efforts because I'm looking forward to some Moroccan chicken. Not sure exactly what that is, but I hope I get to find out soon. :)

Nothing to Say :)

 

Source?

My life is just going along with the ups and downs of everyday life, and I am enjoying every minute of this relatively routine, calm time.

Well, I'm not really enjoying every minute of it because it's not my nature to go without complaining for any extended period of time. Complaint of the minute. My eyes cause me a lot of problems with constant itching and burning. I have worked on this problem for years with various doctors with measured success. Besides the annoyance of it all, it affects my vision, and sometimes it's better than others. This makes it hard to get a prescription for glasses because what I can see one day clearly may be blurry the next. Nevertheless, I have new glasses, and I can see better. Yay! Now I just need to get past the breaking-in period. They're still giving me a bit of a headache, but past experience has shown me that this will pass. Enough complaining for now. That is what I've tried to learn to do over the years - not spend too long in a negative mood. Mixed results on that one, too. But practice makes progress.

We have yet to have any accumulation of snow this Winter. February is our big snow month, but we usually have at least a few snows before now. In place of the really cold weather, we've been having a lot of dreary, rainy weather with temps in the 30s and 40s. Not conducive to much outdoor activity (at least for me), so I've been spending most of my time indoors. 

While indoors, I've been working on my Storyworth stories. I have another month or so before they publish the book with the stories in it. I find the editing and formatting of their program limited and slow to work with. Also, I've been spending time trying to find pictures to add to some of the stories searching among scrapbooks and boxes of pictures that extend back to my grandmothers. I have found a few treasures, but it's taking a long time to find some pictures I was sure I had. It's faster to go through pictures on the computer than through old boxes. But I think I will be happy with my effort and the finished product when it's done. 

Me at 5 mo. I didn't remember seeing this picture before.

And back to the topic of winter and snow, my storytime theme this week at the library is Winter. At the end, we're going to pretend it's snowing with bubbles from a bubble machine while a winter song plays. I think it will be a lot of fun. I also put together a scavenger hunt in the library for Lunar New Year that the kids seem to be enjoying. And I would say that I am enjoying my job, too. If only I had more time. It keeps me hopping.

Computer time is up for now. Next on the list is cleaning the litter boxes.

Until next time...

Directions

This is not the sign I wanted to see.

I am directionally challenged. Turn me around in a hallway, and I'm confused. If I get lost in a neighborhood and eventually find my way out, I don't know which way to go next time because it all looks familiar. I have to really concentrate and notice landmarks to remember where I parked. Years ago, when I was doing an IQ test with a psychologist, there was one part where I had to build blocks to match a diagram. I thought I was putting them together well. Then when we discussed the results, he said, "You really had a problem with the block part, didn't you?" meaning that spatial reasoning is not my strength. That test proved what I already knew -  that I'm not naturally gifted in knowing where I am in space. 

Also, I think being left-handed has not helped with my directionally-challenged tendencies. Even though I was not forced to switch the hand that I wrote with like they did in the past, all of the instructions in school were given for right-handers, with teachers even saying, "Using your right hand..." In fact, one of my left-handed classmates didn't know her left hand wasn't her right hand until she was in third grade because of this. I know which is my right hand and which is my left hand, but if you ask me to hold up my right hand, there is a 50-50 chance that I will get it correct unless I think about it. 

Ward is the exact opposite. He has excellent spatial reasoning, and he always knows which direction he is going. He uses some external clues, like where the sun is in the sky, but he also just has a sense. So it's great when we travel together. I can relax and not worry too much about getting lost. But I'm not always with him, so I was thrilled when I got a GPS several years ago for my car. What a difference that made in my life. But occasionally, it will lead me astray, too. When that happens, I just hope that I have enough gas in my car to be able to find my way back to where I want to go. Or that Ward is with me. :)

Until next time...

Speed blogging

A snowy owl. A craft suggestion from Wally
that we put together over the holidays.

I am gonna try something different-speed blogging. I'm giving myself 14 minutes to do a post and what you get is what you get. 14 minutes is the standard amount I set on a timer to make myself concentrate to get something done. Sometimes, I'll do 14 minutes at a sit-down job and then 14 minutes of an active job. I change whether or not I have completed what I'm doing. I just keep rotating until I tire of the whole thing. Then somehow, the iPad ends up in my hands, and a cat settles down on my lap. And sometimes, I just sit down and let the cat on my lap to stop its incessant meowing (which may be partially due to cat dementia). Both of our cats, litter mates, are 19 years old and get babied a bit. Let me correct that they get babied a lot. And I will have to admit, I usually welcome a purring cat on my lap. Except when I trying to do something like pay bills where I need my full attention focused on the task at hand.

So what have I been up to? I can't remember. But I do remember what we had for supper because we just finished. We had chicken, roasted potatoes, and a green salad with a few Hershey's kisses for dessert. We are almost done with the last of the Christmas candy and that's good. Neither Ward or I have much self control when there is chocolate in the house.

Tomorrow, the library is closed so I'm having a few friends over for lunch. It should be fun and not too stressful because everyone is bringing something. I'm making a vegetable plate with dip, Mexican casserole, brownies, and drinks. This is the first time several of us have seen each other since the pandemic started and we are looking forward to it. The weather is supposed to reach the low 50's, so we may be able to spend some time outside on the porch.

 Also, it will be the first time for most of the people to see the remodeling we've done in the house. That means that I should pick up more than just the couple of rooms we will be meeting in. We'll see how much time I have. So far, I have run the Roomba and dusted the laundry room (like anyone is going to check out how dusty the laundry room is). However, soon there will be enough pressure that I will gear up and do some last-minute panic cleaning. 

Probably with a 14 minute timer which is beeping right now.

Until next time.

The Year in Review - 2022, Part 2

 Here's a review of the second six months of last year, according to what I posted on this blog - meaning I only included things I posted about.

July, 9 posts

The summer flowers were in full bloom.

July found us still very appreciative that the kitchen construction was done, and I showed some additional features from there. The garden produced giant squash, and I made a cherry pie with cherries from our tree for a 4th of July cookout. But the best thing I found growing was our first ripe tomato. We took a staycation in the middle of the month, where we rode a train, visited museums, and hiked early in the morning to avoid the heat. 

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August, 5 posts

The pears were beginning to ripen this month.

I had a new phone that I practiced taking pictures at a kinetic sculpture garden. More practice was needed. Our little fig tree took off and was getting quite tall (relatively speaking), and we were getting our first ripe figs. I did two posts about parenting styles I had seen during some programs at the library. One I agreed with, and one I didn't.

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September, 4 posts

We explored a new park close to where Wally lives.

At the beginning of the month, we visited a craft festival in West Virginia, and at the middle of the month, fall arrived with a cold front and a beautiful sunrise. The fig tree continued to grow and produce more figs than it ever had. I won a blue ribbon with my figs at the local community fair. I did a post where I harumphed about the phrase making memories.

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October, 8 posts

Robert Treman State Park in New York

Ward, Wally, Theo, and I went on a vacation to the Finger Lakes Region of New York, where we did a lot of hiking and enjoyed the nice weather. Both Ward and I got COVID this month. However, we had mild cases, which we attributed to having a full suite of vaccinations. When we were feeling better, we visited Gathland State Park, a former farm and site of an important Civil War battle. Fall was in all of its glory, with brightly colored leaves along with some fall flowers blooming. 

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November, 5 posts

This was the 1st of 4 boxes from our final harvest of the year.

I posted about how I was annoyed with biased questioning at an early polling place where we went to find a trailhead for a hike we wanted to take. I also posted about how I was learning to cope with the tragedies that were happening around the world. We spent Thanksgiving with Ward's family, and I was thankful for the cooperation my family showed while we were getting ready. Another day, we met Wally near his place for a hike in an old chrome mine.

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December, 5 posts

Curious Annie

I did two Thankful Sunday posts this month where I was thankful for the neighbors' playful dogs, neighborhood children caroling, and my curious kitties when we brought out the Christmas decorations. We celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip to a bed and breakfast where we stayed in a turret suite complete with a round sitting room. At the end of the month, I did a Christmas wrap-up along with a rerun of Wally's recipe for potato ham soup.

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So there you have it -2022. We took a few little vacations, went on several hikes, and enjoyed the changing of the seasons and the various things we harvested. Not too much excitement here, and that's the way we like it. :)