All of a sudden I was hearing cowbells. No moooo. None at all. It had to be one of the chimes on the other side of the backyard. I looked over to see what may be swaying in the wind. Ha! The Husband stood outside the patio door, clanging on the triangle. "Come and get it," he called. "Coffee and pancakes." Whooo-hooo! We've had some tasty breakfasts the last several mornings because, one, we finally went to the grocery store and, two, we were without peanut butter, our breakfast staple. The other day I made strawberry brie biscuits, which looked more like scones. Biscuits or scones, they were delicious. You can't go wrong with brie or strawberries.  We happened to have frozen organic strawberries from last summer. Very flavorful, they were. My concoction began with a mixture of 2 cups of flour and about 1 teaspoon of baking powder and a couple of dashes of baking soda. (I added the latter because I ran out of the former.) To that, I cut in

Day's End.  That was how it looked yesterday at sunset.  Disaster Rose.  What do you think of that for a protagonist's nickname? David.  I've always liked that name. Solid, cheerful, thoughtful. Dave. Davey.  The Husband's surname means son of David.  Debonair.  Cary Grant. George Clooney. The Husband. Humor is part of my definition of debonair. Dig it.   Can you dig it? Hands, please, who said this once upon a time, with a straight face. I do like to dig in the yard, and I do a decent job of digging, I like to think. Meet John Doe.   Recently the Husband and I watched Meet John Doe , a 1941 Frank Capra film starring Gary Cooper and Barbara Stanwyck with Walter Brennan. Good trembles into arms of Evil so it may survive, but eventually Good realizes it is not Evil and scrambles back onto the path of light. The name John Doe doesn't make sense to me. I understand that it refers to a male with an unknown identity. Shouldn't it be John Bu

coffee.   This morning the Husband and I shared a chocolate old-fashioned doughnut to enjoy with our cups of black coffee. Happy smiles all around. Cable.  I want us to get rid of our cable subscription. The Husband agrees it's too expensive for the few channels we watch. Will we? you ask. We will, I'm sure we will. The bigger question: When will we? Procrastinators are us. ceramics.  When I was 19, my big dream was to own a bookstore with a ceramics workshop in the back.  Cute.  The Husband says I'm cute. I tell him it's because he loves me. He says, "It's because you are cute." chicken.  There are times when I think our representatives at the local, state, or national level of government are too chicken to make a stand one way or the other. Bwak, bwak cooking.   I do that once a day, at least, most days. I like when it's a some day. Coast-co.  "We're going to Costco," I would say to Mama. "Where?" she w

  The Husband says I am predictable with my choice of music, which is why he made a bet with me yesterday afternoon. "What do you think I'm going to play?" asked I, as I headed towards the Bose player with a CD in my hand. "Da da dah da da dah....." The Husband sang the first notes of "Baroque and Blue" performed by Claude Bolling and Jean-Pierre Rampal.  Our small music collection consists of CDs of our favorite albums of yore, and I do like to play one of two Bolling CDs on a sunny afternoon. "Want to bet ten bucks on that?" The Husband doesn't bet unless it's a sure thing that he is right. "Sure." he said to my surprise. But, then, according to him, I am predictable. "OK!" I inserted the CD. Santana! Ha! "You owe me $10!" "What?" "You lost the bet." The Husband groaned. "I'll put it on your tab." It isn't often that I catch the Husband of

"Joy, joy, joy." is one of the things that Cu'Pie, our once-upon-a-time dear yellow parakeet, liked to say. Frequently. A wonderful thing to say, I say. And, I wish much joy, joy, joy to you all! I first saw the above joyful sight of a hillside on Thanksgiving Day. It caught my breath in such a way that I made Eliza Does-alot do a wicked swerve onto the road to which I turned that nearly all of the fried lumpia fell from the back seat onto the floor. Fortunately, most fell onto folders and envelopes so none of Filipino eggrolls were tainted. Thank goodness. They were our contribution to a dinner. A couple of weeks later I took the above shot that I painted today with Photoshop art filters. That day I made a somewhat gentle right turn, but came to a halting stop, in the grey rental car, which the Husband and I named Sedgwick. No lumpia sat on the back seat, but Good Friends J & T were. They, the Husband, and I quickly unbuckled our seat belts and tumbled out of

Hey, ya. Hi, ya. How ya? Imagine a Lilo smile (Lilo, as in Lilo and Stitch , a 2002 Disney movie).  That is how I'm feeling. Also a bit foggy brained and weary boned from all the week-long fun of turning 65! years old. That, dear blogging friends, is why I have been quiet in my corner of the world. For my birthday gift, the Husband and I rented a car to travel beyond 25-year-old Eliza Does-alot's comfort radius, as well as drive after sunset, if need be. Eliza's headlights do not compete with today's head beams, which blind me into a panic. The Husband doesn't even try driving at night, thank goodness. We drove the rental, a silver 2019 (oh my!) Nissan Sentra we called Sedgwick, on narrow mountain roads, unpaved back roads, smooth freeways, and bumpy highways. And, I was able to drive home at night, without using my high beams. I felt like a younger self. Spontaneity. Go with the flow. I discovered that I can still do both. Hurrah! We spent my birthday

I like wandering the back roads of our area. I like looking at the clock and seeing that it's not even 11:00 a.m. and I've accomplished a lot and if I want to accomplish more, I can. I like moving things around in a room to find the sweet flow to it. The Husband and Molly the Cat, not so much. The Husband doesn't care for all the lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling. I tell him it's exercise. Missy Girl simply dislikes the change, at first. I wish I could do all the moving with my mind. Isn't there a term for that? Yesterday I decided to move my sewing stuff to the other side of L Studio, and, in so doing, I discovered the fabric for my tunic that I've been wanting to sew for two years, but couldn't because, yeah, I had no idea where the material had gone. Hee-hee. DRUMMER DUDE I like the all-of-a-sudden, off-the-top-of-our heads, impromptu moments with the Husband. The other day I was throwing stuff in the green organic waste can 

I felt like an old lady as I climbed the stairs a few hours ago. Old lady, pooped, that is, because of my busy morning playing in the yard, starting with a new plant called Kangaroo Paw. Don't you just love that name, Kangaroo Paw? The Husband and I bought it yesterday, along with Jupiter's Beard, Sedum Album, and Wonga-Wonga Vine. Don't those names simply appeal to your silliness?  Jupiter's Beard. Kangaroo Paw. Sedum Album. Wonga-Wonga Vine.  They ought to be featured in a poem or song. Anyone want to try? I'm being distracted by what's coming out of the Husband's computer: the King Earl Boogie Band performing "... I've got my Plastic Jesus riding on the dashboard of my car..."  The Mama kept a plastic Jesus-on-the cross on Eliza Do-alot's dashboard, which we think still rests in Eliza's glove compartment. Drats. Where was I? We're supposed to have a few more days of rain, starting tomorrow, which is why I spent the mo

1. The Husband made pancakes. They were the big Y, a.k.a YummY! 2. Molly the Cat kept the Husband company while he cooked. They were so darn cute. 3. Instead of strictly following the instructions on the box, the Husband used 1 cup of water instead of half-a-cup. He liked that the pancakes were less dense. I added, "And more!" 4.  Whenever we talk about his functional cooking skills, The Husband likes to say that he can make tasty scrambled eggs. I'm still waiting after 23 years. In the meanwhile, I'm very happy with his pancakes. Mmmm. 5. I cut several big branches off the Messy Tree, formerly known as the Miracle Tree. Long story short, I was afraid certain branches might fall on the roof should the wind pick up. 6. We've been having a steady rain the last 24 hours or so, from sweet and gentle plops to fast and furious patter. I love it all! 7. What shall I do after I publish this post? Bring in all the boxes marked XMAS Decorations in t

Good news! The ophthalmologist saw the back of the Husband's eyeball this morning. His eyeball is long and elongated, probably so much so that first the optometrist and then his regular ophthalmologist couldn't see anything because they have older machines. Imagine being seen by physicians who have state-of-the-art technology at their fingers to help them diagnose and treat you, no financial strings attached. Now, that's a utopia for you. Have you ever wondered if utopia could exist in a country or another organization with millions and millions of members? While sitting in the waiting room, we met a man undergoing kidney dialysis three days a week. As part of telling his story, without prompting, he showed us his wounds. Oh my gosh, embedded in his forearm was something that looked like a cow's hoof under his skin. It's called a bovine carotid artery graft (I looked it up when I got home.) that helps with the dialysis process. If I showed horror when he fi

I didn't make it out the front door today. When four o'clock swung around, I tossed my hand in the air. Tomorrow. I'll definitely do my errands; I don't care for the consequences if I don't. So, what did I so today? Paint stuff. Plant stuff. Help the Husband sort through boxes of his parents stuff. It was tough, but it is time to figure out what to do with all of their stuff, the Mama's stuff, the Husband's stuff, my stuff, and the Husband's and my stuff. Have I said this before? The boxes today mostly held stuff that belonged to Betty, the Husband's mom. Oh my gosh! We came across her graduation gown and cap when she earned her master's degree in her early 40s, her art work from her days as a school librarian, and letters from Betty to Jim while he was overseas serving in World War II. Two cigar boxes and shoe box full of letters!  Years ago we discovered Jim's correspondence to Betty. Oh my gosh, imagine, if they were put tog

Today is Our World Tuesday , where I'm participating. Here's the link . Thank you, OWT administrators.

The Husband and I finished and installed a fun project on Friday. Some of you may remember I talked about the work-in-progress fence project last Sunday. Amazingly it only took us six days from creating the first fence panel to the installation of seven panels weaved with branches from the backyard trees. That's a short time, considering who we are. It was lots of fun working with the Husband on it. He agreed. We love the final result. We don't know about the neighbors, who I hope simply think of us as those old hippies doing their thing. Hmmm. Maybe that's not a good idea. The Daddy warned me not to end up being a hippie, which to this day I have no idea what he considered made up a hippie. I can only hope I did not disappoint him. lol This morning the Husband showed me how to tie Boy Scout knots. One knot reminded me of the stitch the Mama taught me for hemming. Another knot had me thinking of knitting, and still another of crochet. I didn't do so well re