The Academy Awards was on tonight. The only thing I wanted to see was the opening bit with the hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. But I missed it, so I didn't watch the show. Anyway, out of the 10 movies that were up for an Oscar, the husband and I saw one. Up. That's the animated movie about an old man and a Boy Scout who were swept away to South America in the old man's house that was tied to 100s of helium balloons. It was a wonderful heartwarming story told with humor and honesty. Just the kind of story I like to watch. Up makes my list of favorite movies that are about people who rise out of their depressions, indignities, or other darknesses currently in their lives. Here are three other movies at the top of my list. Danny Deckchair is a tale of another man who flies far away by helium balloons, but his balloons are attached to his deck chair. The story is set in Australia. Danny is unhappy. He and his girlfriend don't see eye-to-eye about life. Danny

Yep, more nature photos. It's a bright, but chilly, day outside right now. Just right for a stroll to somewhere. In our case, it will be down to the photocopy center. The husband and I have our 1,000+ page copyedited manuscript to send back to the editor. That was a lot of  sitting at the desk. Glad it's over. Now it'll be a lot of standing at the copier for a bit. Knock on wood, the machine menehunes keep the photocopying running smoothly for us. I've been wanting to post memories of our walk through a mustard field a few weeks back. It was full of bees. The noise you hear on the video is that of the bizzzzy bees hard at work.

Kalua Pork is a Hawaiian Luau dish that you can make easily and cheaply. It is one of my comfort foods. How comforting? I froze 4 to 5 meals worth of it last week. Traditionally, Kalua Pork is a whole pig that's wrapped in taro leaves and then cooked slowly in an underground pit. That's what kalua means. Not to worry, you can make your own version of this delish pork that falls off the fork and melts in your mouth without bothering to dig a hole in your backyard.  You also don't need to buy a whole pig. A pork butt (with or without the bone) is just fine. And, if you don't have taro leaves, that's okay too. In my recipe I substitute chard. Making Kalua Pork does requires slooow cooking. Some people use a crockpot. I use the oven. Just like almost any other dish, there is no standard way to make Kalua Pork. My recipe is heavy on the herbs to compensate for not using salt due to the husband's diet.  Here 'tis. Ingredients 5 pound boneless pork butt 1 bulb of g

I now sweep the kitchen floor after dinner while the husband washes the dishes. I used to do it in the morning. That is when I remembered. Most mornings, I didn't. Until recently I rarely swept the kitchen floor in the evening because I was taught to not do that unless something bad happened such as a glass broke on the floor.  So, what changed? I read an article about 10 good cleaning habits to have, of which one was sweeping the kitchen floor after dinner. Made sense. No stepping on crumbs or unpopped popcorn first thing in the morning. The other evening the mama caught me sweeping the kitchen floor. Just as I thought she would, she said, "It's bad luck to sweep at night." "Why?" I asked. She didn't respond. She just left the kitchen. I doubt she has an answer for that or any of her  superstitions.  I think grownups taught her superstitions when she was a kid as a way of getting her to obey. I also think that she made up her own to control my actions m

I woke up to the sounds of doves cooing outside and the husband snoring next to me. Signs of a blooming bright day? Sure. Why not? Happy Valentine's Day, Dear Gentle Readers!