journals

This being the last day of the month, I finished up the journal I've been working on since May 1. This was a SwapBot swap and will be sent to a woman in Pennsylvania.  

I had a good time working on this.  I typed it and pasted the entries into a notebook, decorating the pages with stickers. I'm so used to doing journals now that it's disappointing that I don't have another one scheduled until July.

I've had three nights of really good sleep.  Going to sleep at 10, waking up around 12 or 1, up for about half an hour and then back to sleep again, waking up for a bathroom trip and then back to sleep until 6 or 7.  This is amazing.  It was so nice that it happened 3 nights in a row that I thought I had figured out how to actually sleep through the night, but was up all night last night after my first two hours.

I've not been watching TV or listening to podcasts, but after several hours, I finally put on a Jeopardy podcast, which was fascinating -- the story of Ken Jennings from his childhood, where he was a Jeopardy fan,  through winning 74 Jeopardy games.  I finally fell asleep listening to another podcasts and got another hour or two of sleep.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

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The Paul Picnic

 What fun we had at the Paul Picnic.

There weren't as many people as we usually have; this being Memorial Day weekend, a lot of people were traveling to other places (including Amsterdam!) so weren't able to come, but we had a good time with those who did come.  Kag got the BBQ ready for us to cook our main dishes.

This was Bubba's first time out in public and even without a leash he was such a good dog.  It was fun bringing him with us.

Because there were so few people, there wasn't much music, but Ned and Joe still brought their guitars. The bongo and percussion instruments went unused.

Accustomed to all the people (and kids) who usually come, I made a double batch of banana bread and lots of stuffed eggs and we had lots to bring home.  

It was so nice being with everyone.  I look forward to next year's picnic!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

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Today

 

Sunday Stealing

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves

Stolen from Kwizgiver

1. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive through?
If I'm by myself, I prefer to drive through.  If I'm with others, go in.  I haven't been to a fast food place in a long time, though, probably not since our last trip to Santa Barbara a year ago.

2. Have you ever lost anything down a toilet? 
Probably, but I can't think of anything important.

3. Do you have a dog?
We had Ned's dog, Bouncer, put to sleep a couple of week ago so we only have Bubba, the lapdog, right now.

4.  Ever go camping? 
Many times before we were married and when the kids were young.  Haven't been camping in years, tho. My body could definitely not take sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag!

5. Have you met anyone famous? 
Lots of people.  The most famous, though, would be Judy Garland.  And I went to a bridal shower at Michelle Phillips' (The Mamas and the Papas) house

6. Any plans today?
I have to find and post a few more Sunday Stealings, to get me through the month of June.  And there are still letters to be answered.

7. Are you happy? 
Sure.  Or at least content.

8. Where are you right now? 
Sitting at my desk in my office.

9. Biggest annoyance in your life right now? 
In my personal life there is nothing particularly annoying, but in the country the debate about the debt ceiling and whether or not we are going to throw the whole world into financial crisis is a bit annoying.

10. Last song listened to? 
I listened to Ned's radio show this week and heard a lot of songs that I never knew before.

11. Last movie you saw? 
The last movie I saw in a theater was 80 for Brady, which we saw on my 80th birthday.

12. Are you allergic to anything? 
I can't take statins, but that means I can eat grapefruit!

13. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time?
These days I rarely leave the house and wear slippers al the time.  Outside I usually wear Birkenstocks.

14. What do you think of when you think of Australia?
Watching  the wild kangaroos in Western Australia when I was there in 2003.  I'm thinking about Australia a lot today, though, because I watched a wonderful documentary, Almost Australian, with Miriam Margolyes yesterday. I was not familiar with her before (apparently she was in one of the Harry Potters)  She's 80, fat and lesbian and lets you know that outright.  i found her a delight and I loved learning about different parts of Australia.  Sad that she never made it to Western Australia, which was the only state I visited.

15. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
I use smiley faces.  Not sure I use  them a lot.

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Bubba and Bouncer

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Saturday 9

 

 Welcome to Saturday 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

Saturday 9: Some Gave All (1992)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

Memorial Day is the federal holiday designated to honor American service people who died in battle.

1) Here at Saturday 9, we regard everyone who served -- veterans and active military -- as heroes. Have you, or has anyone in your family, worn the uniform of our armed forces? We want to hear about them.
My father was 4F and I have no brothers, so nobody that I knew well, though two uncles were in service and both were in prison camps.

2) Memorial Day has its own flag etiquette. In the morning, the American flag should be flown at half staff in memory of those we have lost. Then, at noon, it should be raised briskly to full staff, in honor of all who have served. Where is the nearest flag flying from where you sit right now?
I'm not sure.  Our next door neighbors always have a flag flying, but since the husband died I don't know if the wife still flies the flag.  If not, it would be at the high school, which is 2 blocks away.

3) Since 1988, motorcycle riders have participated in Rolling Thunder. In events all over the country, including Washington DC, bikers "Roll Together" to draw attention to service members still missing and raise awareness of mental health issues our veterans cope with each day. When have you most recently ridden a motorcycle? A scooter? A bicycle?
I rode a motorcycle once, in high school, when I was visiting my cousin and her boyfriend's friend had one.  I've never ridden a scooter, and the last time I rode a bike was in 2003, when I had my bike accident.

4) This week's song is the title track of Billy Ray Cyrus' best-selling album. Named for this patriotic song, the album also included Billy Ray's signature song, "Achy Breaky Heart." "Achy Breaky Heart" is a popular choice on karaoke nights. Do you know it well enough to sing along?
Nope.

5) Sandy Kane, the hero of "Some Gave All," is based on a real Vietnam vet Billy Ray Cyrus met and spoke to about his sacrifice for his country. Can you think of another song based on a real person?
"Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond was written about Caroline Kennedy.

6) Memorial Day is the traditional kick off of the summer season. Have you packed away your winter clothes yet?
I don't have winter and summer clothes.  Pretty much wear the same thing all year.

7) As you answer these questions, is there a fan or an air conditioner cooling your room?
In my room? no.  We have air conditioning for the house and it's always on because if it's not on, it gets to be much too hot upstairs for Ned and Marta.

8) Memorial Day is also a holiday for retailers. Ads promise great prices on everything from grills to lawn decorations to high tech gear and gadgets. Will you be shopping any sales this weekend?
Nope.

9) Random question: When is the last time you felt like a kid?
Good Lord.  I haven't a clue.  Definitely not in the last 60 years.

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Ned got a new puzzle for us to work on.

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20/25

 Well, Miriam Margolyes never got to Perth and I didn't see any kangaroos in her trip around Australia, but I still enjoyed the documentary a lot.

So today I had an eye appointment.  I forgot how long it's been since my last appointment.  I used to have an exam every year, but stopped when COVID came along and I stayed in the house.  But I know my eyes have deteriorated significantly. It is amazing how much I miss things printed on the television.  The vision loss was proven when the doctor tested my eyes.  My glasses, when I got them, allowed me to have 20/20 vision in my left (good) eye.  I never think about my right eye because it's always been my bad eye.  When the doctor tested my good eye with my glasses today, it was 20/40.  No wonder I've been reading most of the stuff on my phone with a magnifying glass!

Ned went with me to the appointment and helped me pick out new frames.  They are pretty much like the frames I've had for years, but with a bigger lens, which I think I'll like.  He tells me this is the brand Tom Cruz wore in Top Gun but I think my eyesight, even with trifocals, won't let me fly jet planes.

🔱🔱🔱🔱

Monday is the annual Paul Picnic, here in Davis.  I'll be doing stuffed eggs and banana bread to bring (using up all the overripe bananas we have in the kitchen!).  It's been so long since I've actually baked anything, I wonder if I'll remember.

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Ned got a new puzzle for us to work on.

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Almost Australian

I am so dumb.  I ordered a whole bunch of volleyball stickers to share with granddaughter Lacie and then wrote her a letter yesterday including a bunch of  them.  I woke up this morning realizing that she plays soccer, not volleyball.  she must think I"m nuts.  (I am!)

I've been watching Miriam and Alan Lost in Scotland, which is such a fun show of the two performers, Alan Cumming and Miriam Margolyes, driving around Scotland.

Last night when I couldn't sleep, I checked out Netflix and saw Almost Australian, with Miriam Margolyes driving east to west in Australia.  I watched two episodes.  She hasn't reached Western Australia yet, but I have one more episode to go.

I had not heard of Miriam Margolyes before the Scotland show but she is an absolute delight.  I guess people know her from Harry Potter, but I don't.  She has such a big personality and wants to learn about everybody.  I love that she is old (80+), lesbian, and fat and makes no apologies for anything.

I particularly enjoyed her discussions with Aboriginal people.  The only thing I ever heard about Aboriginals was from Peggy, who hated them.  She worked in a hospital where she had encounters with a lot of not very good people and I remember being in downtown Perth where  there was an Aboriginal man sleeping in a park area, probably drunk, and she pointed him out to me as why she hates Aboriginals.

But of course the people with whom Margolyes talks are wonderful and I learned a lot about their history. They are like our country's native Americans who get angry when we celebrate Columbus Day because of what the arrival of Columbus did to their culture.  Aboriginals feel the same way about Australia Day, since that was the day that their culture began to be destroyed.  She met with some wonderful women who spend a day each week with children teaching them their native language and the customs of the Aboriginal tribes.

There is a lot of discussion about "mateship" and what it means.  Apparently in the book she received when she was studying to get her Australian citizenship, there is a bit about mateship and the importance of it to Australians.  It's a term I don't remember hearing when I was there.

The show hasn't discovered any kangaroos yet, which is why I will be interested to see what she sees in Western Australia (the country's largest state).  One thing I remember very clearly about Western Australia is that when you are driving, if you come across road kill -- like we would see rabbits of skunks or other such animals here -- it is usually kangaroos.  I also loved finding them in the cemetery, eating flowers on the graves, and on a soccer field, forcing a game to be postponed, and wandering around the grounds of a motel where we spent the night.

I am looking forward to watching the rest of this documentary.

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Ancestors

I've been looking through some stuff on Ancestry.com.  Fascinating site, but oh my word is it confusing!

I got my DNA tested recently, and no surprise that it was 38% Irish and 35% Scottish with a little bit of "European" (my great grandfather was born in Germany).  

The DNA testing is also supposed to let you know how many other people on Ancestry.com share your DNA.  I expected to find other relatives, but there were only two, both first cousins whom I know.   

But the thing that is frustrating me is that my cousin Peach did extensive work on the family tree and I can't find it.  I did stumble across a link to it when I found a photo she had uploaded, but it does not take me to her family tree.  And I'm not sure how I can see her tree without her permission, which would be a bit difficult, since she's dead.

I did find the names of my great-great-great grandparents on my father's side.  Surprised to learn they were from Ireland, since these were related to my grandmother, not my grandfather (I knew that his relatives came from Ireland).  I also found a female who is supposedly the child of my grandmother's mother, but I never heard of a girl in the family and I only saw her once and not on any other pages.

It's also frustrating that when I do find something interesting, it sends me to another site that I have to pay to join (I have not).

I have a book of Ancestry.com for Dummies which might help me begin to sort out some of this stuff, but I have a feeling that the "dummies" it was written for are smarter than I am. 

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I'd love to live here!

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The News

 I'm going to have to stop watching the news, though it has become impossible to do.  But my goodness what is happening in this country?

An 18 year old with automatic guns, of course, and Nazi insignia rammed into the gate of the White House with the idea that he was going to kill Biden and take over as president.  Said the Nazis had the right ideas.

A couple of 12 year olds have killed people with guns...I don't remember where.  it seems like every day there is a mini or mass killing and it's difficult to keep them all straight.  Maybe we are all just becoming inured to the violence.  Republicans certainly are inured...they keep sending prayers and condolences for all the good that does.

DeSantis says the problem is not guns, it is mental health...and then he cuts funding to mental health programs.

Some state--I can't remember which one now--says that if school librarians give a banned book to a student they can go to jail for 8 years on a federal offense.

And is it Arkansas that wants to lift the segregation laws so that schools can be segregated again.  Didn't we do this in the 50s?

I swear, it's just so depressing to hear the news...and then to hear  that Republicans are willing to cause major financial damage to the whole world rather than lift the debt ceiling, which is so high already because their god spent so much money while he was in office.

I think I need a nap.

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Somehow this seems appropriate today.

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Getting creative

 My desk is always a mess, but the past few days it's gotten worse than ever, with piles of papers, postcards, boxes of stickers, and just uncategorized junk, as well as lots of clips of paper on the floor.

I had gone looking for something that Ned had neatly stashed somewhere when he organized my office while I was in the hospital.  Usually I can find what I'm looking for, but I couldn't and so started going through many boxes and finding wonderful things I'd forgotten I had, most of which inspired me to make new pages for the magpie journal that I'm currently working on.

Somewhere I found this quote t hat I saved years ago and I made a decorated page out of it

I loved finding a lot of descriptions about pretzels

I found a book of sticky paper that I have been looking for literally years.  I knew I had it, but didn't have a clue where it was...it's all colored paper that has a sticky back, so you don't have to glue it and can use it as the background for some stickers.

Finding bookmarks and stickers gave me the idea for this book page

When I found this mini air mailer, it gave me and idea for doing a snail mail display.

I found some books I used many years ago to send pages to the granddaughters (who are now reading adult books and wouldn't be interested in these).  It made a fun page.

I had such a good time just "finding" stuff and figuring out how to use it creatively.  I still have 10 pages left in the book I'm filling before I can mail it.  I'm having such fun

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What's cavatelli in burrata?

 I was taken by an article about eating in restaurants that started like this:

It’s extremely rare I can pony up for a meal at one of San Francisco’s illustrious Michelin-starred restaurants. Not only because it’s tough to get a reservation, but with tasting menus ranging from $375 at Benu to $475 at Atelier Crenn, they’re more prohibitively expensive than ever. 

 I can't imagine anything (not even Dungeness crab) that I would be willing to pay $375-$475 for.  But then I am so out of it where it comes to food that most of this article was like reading a foreign language (and I suppose given the names of some of the foods, it probably was.

The author goes on to talk about the one Michelin starred restaurant in the city that is affordable, only $74 for a 4-course tasting menu.

Marlena may be several degrees cheaper than many of San Francisco’s other Michelin-starred restaurants, but the service is certainly on par. It’s the kind of attentiveness I’ve only ever seen at restaurants like Californios, which has 2 Michelin stars: fresh plates and silverware in between each course, your napkin neatly folded on the table for you the second you get up to use the restroom, not to mention very friendly and knowledgeable servers. 

But then it talks about the food to be served for starters and it lost me.  I didn't have a clue what most of  this is.

the farro verde, its toothsome grains served with sliced asparagus and chives and smothered in a surprisingly light ramps hollandaise; and the Hokkaido scallops, served raw with a chilled Coachella corn sauce, jalapeño granita and sea grapes.  

I was also lost when he talked about the pasta course.

The Provençal white asparagus risotto with green strawberry, sunflower sprout and nasturtium felt a little repetitive after the farro asparagus starter, although the addition of strawberries was a welcome twist. I preferred the more deeply flavored charcoal cavatelli, with little hot dog bun-shaped pasta pieces swimming in a smoky burrata sauce with apricot and spring onion. 

Reading about this restaurant, though,  reminded me of one of the most memorable restaurants that Walt and I ate in a gazillion years ago.  Robert Charles was French and I don't remember the cost--probably expensive for us, but nothing in the rank of $375 or even $75 each.   The first thing I noticed was that there were no prices on the menus for women (today that would be an offense, I suppose) since I guess that women are supposed to order whatever they want without worrying about how much their partner is going to spend.

The restaurant was full, but the tables were spaced so far apart that you never were bothered by the conversation at another table.  Also, every table seemed to have its own waiter, who was not at all intrusive, like at the Olive Garden, where my friend Kathleen and I used  to lunch once a month.  The waiters came to the table at least every 5 minutes to ask if everything was OK and if you wanted anything else.  It got to be extremely annoying.

But at this place in San Francisco the waiters were close enough and attentive enough that if you wanted something or needed something, they were right there, but never interrupted you otherwise.

The one strange thing is that when I left the table to go to the restroom, the waiter accompanied me to and from.

Oh yea--and the food was wonderful.

I'm not sure why it shut down eventually, but Robert Charls opened a less formal place at Lake Tahoe.  We never went there, but they probably didn't have waiters escorting women to the restroom 

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Joycie was my "big sister" when I was a freshman in

high school in 1956.  We have remained friends

all these years...though I haven't seen her in forever.

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Sunday Stealing

 

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. This feature originated and published on WTIT: The Blog. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves

Stolen from The Book of Questions

1. When you tell a story, do you often exaggerate?
sometimes.  

2. If a friend were almost always late, would you resent it or simply allow for it?

II had to make that decision when Walt and I were dating.  He was ALWAYS late and I remember standing on the street, furious, thinking about his lateness and deciding I had to simply ignore it or break up with him.  Obviously I decided to ignore it.  He's much better now, 58 years later.

3. Can you be counted on to be on time?
Yes. I suppose it's being the daughter of a train man.  Even when I get lost going somewhere by myself, I always arrive within 5 minutes one way or the other of when I was expected.

4. When did you last yell at someone?  Why?

Hmmm...I don't remember yelling in the recent past.

5. If you could have free, unlimited service for five years from an extremely good cook, chauffeur, housekeeper, masseuse, or personal secretary, which would you choose?

Well, I would say "cook" but I have an extremely good cook, since my son Ned decided to take over the cooking for me a year or so ago.  

6. Would you be willing to go to a slaughterhouse and kill a cow?  Do you eat meat?

No and Yes.  And I feel guilty about eating meat, when I think of the slaughter.  I don't eat veal any more, though.  Can't think of the baby calves being slaughtered.

7. Do you feel ill at ease going alone to either diner or a movie?  What about going on a vacation by yourself?

I have absolutely no problem going alone to a diner or a movie and have done so many times. I would prefer not to go on a vacation by myself,  You need someone you can say "oooo...look at that!" to.

8. Would you like to be famous?  In what way?

definitely not Hollywood famous, but I wouldn't mind being a famous writer, since nobody would ever recognize you on the street.

9. Would you rather play a game with someone more or less talented than you?

More talented, unless it's a child.

10. Is there something you've dreamed of doing for a long time?  Why haven't you done it?

I've wanted two trips -- to Africa for a photo safari, but Walt isn't interested (and now my body couldn't take it) and the inland passage to Alaska.  We almost did that once, but our friends Char and Mike invited us to join them on a cruise to Russia and we did that instead.

11. If you were at a friend's house for Thanksgiving dinner and found a dead cockroach in your salad, what would you do?

Cover it over with a piece of lettuce and not eat the salad. If it was a very good friend, I would let her know, privately, what I'd found.

12. Would you accept $10,000 to shave your head and continue your normal activities sans hat or wig without explaining the reason for your haircut?

Well, I kind of did that when I had my head shaved to raise money for children's cancer research.  But nobody paid me $10,000

13. If you were able to wake up tomorrow in the body of someone else, would you do so?  Whom would you pick?

I have enough difficulty in THIS body, rather than learning to live an someone else's body.

14. If you could change anything about the way you were raised, what would it be?

I'd like to have lived in a house in a residential area instead of a flat where there were so few other kids (my father refused to buy a house because his mother told him it was a bad investment.  The house he could have bought for $2,000 in the 1940s now sells for over $1 million!).  I'd also like to have a father who wasn't bipolar (they didn't have that diagnosis then, but looking back, it's obvious that he was)

15. What, if anything, is  too serious to be joked about?

Humor is helpful in pretty much most serious areas, even death.  But it depends on the person you are talking with.  I would not joke about a child's death to his/her parents, though our family certainly joked a lot, between tears, about the deaths of both David and Paul.

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Cup I had made for Char

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Saturday 9

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

Saturday 9: Mirrors (2013)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune?  Hear it here.

1) Is there a mirror in the room you're in now?

Yes; a small hand mirror.

 

2) In this song, Justin Timberlake tells his lover he just can't wait till they're together. What are you eagerly looking forward to today?\

Nothing, really.  I'm always looking forward to the mail, but it was already delivered.

 

3) Justin Timberlake is known as a sharp dresser who is always on trend. What item have you recently added to your wardrobe?

A warm shirt that says "Yes; I'm cold" on it.  

4) Justin was an accomplished child performer who appeared on the entertainment competition show Star Search when he was just 11. When Crazy Sam was 11, her only job was loading and unloading the dishwasher, for which she received an allowance from her dad. Did you have chores when you were a kid?

Doing the dishes; dusting.  That's about it.

 

5) He says he tries never to miss breakfast, even on the road, and his favorite is peanut butter banana pancakes. Given the choice, do you prefer pancakes, french toast, or waffles?

It's a toss-up between pancakes and waffles, though Marta made a delicious French toast for Mother's Day.

6) When they were still in their teens, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were sweethearts. Obviously it's been easy for him to keep up with her successes and problems over the years. Do you wonder what one of your exes is up to?

I've always wondered about my co-star in a play, whom I dated for a year.  He wanted to be an actor and was in a couple of movies when I dated him (as an extra), but I've never been able to find him since.  Of course it doesn't help that his last name was Jones.

 

7) In 2013, when this song was popular, Pope Benedict resigned. Thinking of your working life, have you felt greater stress on your first day at a job, or your last?

I was office manager for an ob/gyn office that was being sold to a bigger health group.  There was a lot of pressure for the office managers of all the offices to conform to the desires of the health group, which were not the desires of the office for which I worked.  They let me know that my services were no longer required (though they didn't fire me)  I ended up resigning and on the last day, when they expected me to break in the new person, we all had lunch together and I went out to the kitchen, supposedly to get a second piece of pizza, and snuck out without anybody, except one friend knowing. (It took them 4 tries before they found a replacement that worked out for them; one hire didn't even make it through orientation.)

8) Also in 2013, the NHL owners reached an agreement with the players union and avoided a strike. Have you ever belonged to a union?

No.

9) Random question: When was one of the first times when you felt like an adult?

I was living in my own apartment and got the flu.  It was when I realized there was nobody to take care of me, bring me orange juice, take my temperature, etc that I realized I really was an adult.

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                                                   PHOTO OF THE DAY

Cup I had made for Char

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