Friday evening thoughts...

such a simple thing...

I'm starting this post Friday evening as I await our Chicken Tetrazzini warming up for supper.  I have no idea what I'm going to talk about here. But that's never stopped me before. 

I love that simple saying above. Reminds me of the time I was at a wedding shower years ago and they asked us all to write some words of wisdom in this little book for the bride and groom. People had all kinds of advice... but all I could think of was "just love each other". Seems like that should cover it.

Blueberry custard pie

This is a picture of the Blueberry Custard pie I made last week. Tom of Sightings over Sixty asked for a pic, so here it is. I love custard pie and if fresh blueberries are in season... or fresh peaches, I just add them in. 

This next pic I'm going to share with you is a new recipe that I also made last week. I found it on Pinterest and it seemed a good alternative to regular lasagna. I'm not supposed to have tomato sauce - so that's why regular lasagna is not on my menu.

What can I say? It was very good and I will make it again... just not too soon as it is loaded with heavy cream, bacon, and cheese. I call it the possible heart stopper recipe... and as long as one doesn't eat too much of it... or too often, it is delicious.

OK... enough on food.  What's a good subject? Since I was taught to stay away from religion and politics - which are big in the news these days, it cuts the subject matter down to the weather (which has always been a safe subject until global warming and climate change took precedence).  Now even the weather is controversial. 
  
How about books and TV shows?  Game of Thrones has been on everyone's minds recently... with the season finale just past. DH loves that show (as well as tons of people from what I hear). I did read the first 2 books (way before the TV series came out), but the show itself was a bit too "war- ing" (probably not a word)... let's just say a bit more violent than I choose to watch. But I have to admit that some of the dragon scenes I saw were fantastic.

Now The Big Bang is more my speed. I loved that show from the get go... and am very sorry to see it end.  But I do understand that sometimes there's no place else to go with a story... so end it must.

Well, guess it's time to close this. But before I do,  I will mention something that irks me. Maybe you could tell me what you feel about it and how you think things got this way?  Why is it that people are so easily offended these days? No one can say anything or even make a joke that doesn't offend someone somehow somewhere. I know that things have gotten to the point that issues have become very sensitive... but really. Sometimes things that are taken as offensive were not meant to be taken that way. I think it's a sorry state of affairs... and just wonder if sensitivity has been taken to an extreme.

Signing off!
Hugs,
Rian

a hodge-podge of thoughts...

Weather report on iPhone

This is what we woke up to this morning...  Tornado Watch alerts on phone, weather radio, and TV.  Not unusual for this time of year and to be honest, I've always liked the rain and stormy weather. We  grew up with Hurricanes in Louisiana and as a child, they were accepted as part of life. Nowadays... guess it's age (isn't it always?) but stormy weather (especially tornadoes) unnerve me a bit. 

I have done a few things around the house... made coffee, cleaned the kitchen, took out some ingredients to make a blueberry custard pie, and made sure that what needs to be in the 'tornado safe middle bathroom' is there in case the Watch turns into a Warning, etc.

But I can't 'settle'.... so I decided to write this. It's probably going to be a hodge-podge of stuff since I've nothing special in mind.  Suppose we start with one of the little fish mobiles I finished. Here's a pic.  

This one was done with a Potter's Choice Glaze called blue rutile. 
Another was made with PC Glaze called seaweed. These are not windchimes, but mobiles that swing loosely with wire between the pieces. I'm hoping the outside ferals might enjoy having them hanging in the trees.

Also you may already know this, but I came across this poster on Pinterest and thought that I'd post it as some may not be familiar with this process. One of our ferals is marked like this.  We call him 'square ear'.... but it's obvious he's been notched. Most of the ones that come by our yard are well behaved  -  but occasionally we get a mean one that likes to fight. We have one now that luckily isn't around much... he's a long-legged skinny black feral that likes to cause trouble. When he shows up, DH tries to run him off.

Another recent visitor to our yard :

snail

This little guy was 'trucking it' across the front walk the other day. Snails are known to be 'slow'... but this little one was really moving along.  I took his pic for my youngest grand daughter who is attuned to all creatures and would be fascinated with him.

This next poster I came across reminded me so much of her with the expression on the kid's face that I had to send it off to my son.

Well, I guess that's enough rambling for now. Maybe I'll get back to making my blueberry custard pie. 

Have a wonderful week-end. I do appreciate your visits and giving me the opportunity to get my mind off of the weather this morning.  

Hugs,
Rian

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

Happy Mother's Day Mom!

This is my favorite picture of my mom. It was taken from a snapshot of her and my dad when they came to visit us here in Texas many years ago.  I loved my mom.  She was a wonderful person. However, we were very different. 

Mom was friendly (would talk to anyone about anything), sociable, and loved to dress up. She believed things were black and white - no in-between. We differed. While I'm not unfriendly, I tend to be quiet (more like my British dad), could care less about the social aspects of things, and really don't care to dress up. And when it came to black and white issues - IMO, everything is gray.

My mom was a good cook. Her signature dish (if one wants to call it that since we all requested it annually) was her oyster pie. We always had oyster pie (not oyster patties as is the norm in N.O.) on Thanksgiving and Christmas. She also made wonderful oyster stuffing. But I don't think mom liked to cook as such. She could cook, but it wasn't her favorite thing to do. And she kept an immaculate house. We used to call the front room 'the museum' when I was growing up. Of course in the 50's and 60's we had formal living rooms... which were only used for company. Mama was the typical 60's house-wife - always dressed well and had dinner on the table for my dad when he came home from work. 

Growing up in New Orleans in the 50's and 60's was good. We weren't rich, but dad had a good job and we didn't go without. Life was different then. Integration and segregation was an issue. We lived with it, but being children, we weren't totally aware. Looking back, it's sad how unaware we were. I don't recall mom (or dad) ever commenting on the issue - at least not in front of me. 

But no matter our differences,  I do miss her. She moved in with us here in Texas when she was 80... and lived with us until she was 93. The last few years were difficult as mama was diagnosed with Alzheimer's (which explained a lot in retrospect) and since I was working, eventually went into a 'memory care' unit at at really nice nursing home nearby. However, I regret to this day that I didn't just quit my job and keep her at home with me. Hindsight. I'd visit every day and we'd have tea on the porch. But she was never happy there. Don't think she'd have been even at home, but still... 

Happy Mother's Day Mama! 

weekend report...

feral sitting on front porch in early morning sunlight - taken by our nest camera

Hi everyone! It's Saturday and I should be at the pottery studio. However, I awoke this morning a bit dizzy and headachy... so I plan to go in later this afternoon. We need to bring the cats for their annual vacs around noon, so hopefully I will feel up to going in to the studio later.

Took my blood pressure to see if maybe that had anything to do with how I felt. It was low... but low normal (124/59).  I also took a Tylenol x-strength. Feeling a little better, but not quite up to par. 

Getting older definitely brings on strange ailments... more inconvenient than serious.  I wake up with backache and joints aching on occasion, and have a chronic cough (for the last 19 years since breast cancer radiation) that seems to be getting a bit worse (I cough a lot in the morning and right after eating or drinking). But nothing I haven't been able to handle. 

We've had a lot of rain and severe weather recently... but this weekend looks like it might be sunny. I hope so. DH and I took our youngest grand daughter to the park last Sunday. It was muddy from all the rain, but we had a nice walk and she got to play on the playground for a bit.

6 year old grand daughter

Now it's Sunday morning and I'm in the process of making some home-made nutty granola for our daughter who just had a birthday last week.  Sending two of her favorites, granola and coffee shortbread cookies to have with her coffee. Usually these don't make it home from her work as she tends to share with office mates.

And yes, I do feel better today. Don't know what it was yesterday, but whatever it was hung around the whole day...  I'm attributing it to the strange happenings of 'age'.  But I never did make it to the pottery studio yesterday - only one session left this spring season anyway and summer sessions start in June.

Oh... wanted to mention this. My daughter introduced me to 'pop sockets'?  I didn't know what this was... but now have one on my iPhone and bought one for my friend's. It's pretty convenient - not only for holding your phone in your hand, but also for mounting it and easily seeing the screen from any angle. I have it sitting here beside the computer now. If you don't know what they are... just google it. They run from $4.99 - $9.99. (And it allows your phone to lie flat or be mounted up as needed) 

Now... back to my granola.  Have a great Sunday and thanks for dropping by!

Hugs,
Rian

Tux packing himself into my luggage last week