short holiday

... but so worth it! some very dear friends, ms. chak-a-khan and the hippie, invited me to join them on a portion of their vacation. jackie rented a beach house on the north carolina coast.


the drive down was much better than i anticipated (i don't like to drive. i'd much rather have a driver. no, i am not 70 yrs. old. i just don't like to drive). i drove down on sunday, and the traffic was light (for an interstate that connects both coasts), and the smaller highway was 4 lanes altogether.

i had wavered on the trip because of the time to get there and back, and the amount of time i could spend there.

i have this little "rule" ... don't spend more time getting to and from a place than you spend at the place .....

even if i had spent less time there than travel time, it still would had been worth the trip.

i was SO relaxed!

who can pass up on this?!








the last photo is of dinner preparation. jackie is (of course) a southern fried cook. at somepoint (whether there or not) we've had a discussion about this. she is southern. i am not. i was born and raised in the south, but i was not raised by a southern woman. that makes all the difference. seriously.

the food! holy crap, the food! when at the beach, it is only proper to eat beach critters, ie: shrimp, crab, grouper, tuna, ham/egg/cheese sandwiches (?) ....!

here's my thing. i am not a great cook. i am better than i use to be. and when i go somewhere i love, at the very least i can bring the "food" back home with me. when i came back from mexico, i was eating lots of mexican fare and avocados. and now, returning from the beach, i want the same foods i had there (sandwiches, seafood, quiche). the joke is, whatever i eat on sunday, it will be cooked again (by me, solo ... or with 'tech support') by tuesday. sigh. it's true.






last pictures? from the beach .... what's down time w/o knitting?! i was able to finish a sock, and mostly finish a blanket started ages ago. and stuart? he likes being wherever i am.

man, i had an excellent 2 days. 2 days. wow. i wish i could go back and finish up the week there, but i cannot. damn.

in the kitchen!

apparently, i can bake. and perhaps the measure is a certain recipe vs. the results. perhaps some recipes have a bit of leeway ....

and perhaps, i used the most fool proof recipe on the face of the earth!


but, it worked. i was amazed that it worked. my dough was quite gooey. it never made into a proper "ball". i even plopped it into my stock pot seam side down. so, lots of things working against this loaf.

but still, it worked.

and it was delicious. fresh from the oven, i went over to a friend's house, where we spent the afternoon in great company, filling ourselves on bread, butter, and wine.

and the weather couldn't had been better ... it was all drizzle and rain, and cool blustery breezes .....

perhaps fall is coming? and perhaps, next week, or so, the news will be all about the indian summer (as if it doesn't happen every year!).

communication

my parents crack me up. they send each other little messages based on how the toys on their bed are arranged.




... notice how goofy (dad) is falling off the bed .... hmmm .....

(yawn)

i am tired! so tired. and wired. and i hate that combo. it happens sometimes ... when i've had a(n) (extra) long day (a polite way of saying today 'sucked ass').

i need to get into bed so tomorrow doesn't suck as well. (yawn ... again)

police convention

just another day in the neighborhood. when i first noticed, they had a guy cuffed across the street. but then, they uncuffed and walked with him back to the house next door. i guess it's "shoot first, ask questions later" ?

of course, this brings on all kinds of onlookers. including myself. but, i have a very clear view from my upstairs apartment, right next door to the house that's always involved with the action.

wonder what was going on to bring out 5 cars including k-9? ... must be a slow day .....

overdue art

when i was in the domenican republic last december, on my next to last day i was in santo domingo. i spent the day wandering around, looking for my souvenier. funny thing was, my souvenier was the first thing i had spotted when i got to my hotel earlier ... but across the street.

on the other side of the street was an artist with a tiny tiny studio space. he had lots of drawings and paintings, some on display outside, most in stacks inside.

after wandering around the city all day, i went back to him to negotiate for the painting i loved. i think we worked something out to please us both.



i've had this since december. people ask me "what is it?" ... hmmm ... to me, it's two robots riding unicycles. to me, it's the experience of an artist doing his thing every day, in a small small space, hoping tourists will like his work. and to me, it's a bookmark in my life.

leanne was instrumental in me getting this up on the wall. the canvas had been removed from the stretcher to get it home. i had no idea it was a standard size (16x20") until leanne said, "i bet that's ____". and she was right. we bought a cheap canvas at a craft store, stripped off the cheapie stuff and used the frame to stretch mine over it.

and today, i put the hardware on the back to hang. it's up, above my desk.

dios mios!

so, apparently when i am gone for an extended trip, my home becomes a mousie playhouse. i have found evidence, in places not expected (ie: bedside nightstand?!).

i posted on ravelry a shout out asking for advice as to what to do regarding exterminating. i quickly received some excellent advice and shared experiences.

i chose to go the traditional route, though, i fear the "clean up". ick ....


holy crap, look at the size difference between the mouse and rat traps!


... baited with some yummy peanut butter !


if traditional traps don't work, i will get one of these and electrocute the little bastards.

light house day

the day before our departure from cozumel, my family rented a car and drove around the southern half of the island. one of the destinations was the lighthouse at the southern tip. it was skinny ! but the view from the top was spectacular!

sigh

... so tired, and i want to update. but, soooo tired! finally, i am going to bed.

bundt cake!!!

i made a mad dash to the mall today to pick up one of these ...


i have this strange fascination with bundt cakes. i don't even remember if i've had a bundt cake, ever. but, something about their history and style is so appealing to me. plus, their recipes can be either sweet or savory, and of course, i prefer the savory.

while i was trying to figure out which pan to purchase (and where i could get it locally w/o having to have it shipped), i ran across a link to martha stewart. there is/was a martha stewart episode where her guest is one of the co-founders of nordic ware, and this woman, Dorothy Dalquist, made this fabulous sweet potato bourbon bundt cake.

i'm going to make it. i got all the stuff today. but today, with it being so late, the best i can do tonight is to go ahead and cook the sweet potatoes, so they'll be ready to roll tomorrow.

and the next time i go to the mall, i'm picking up one of these too ... holy crap! SO CUTE !!!!



$34 to make bug cakes !!!! got. to. have. it.

details on buggy pan over here.