Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Found among comments in Facebook: Well to be perfectly honest, in my humble opinion, of course without offending anyone who thinks differently from my point of view, but also by looking into this matter in a different perspective and without being condemning of one's view's and by trying to make it objectified, and by considering each and every one's valid opinion, I honestly believe that I completely forgot what I was going to say. But I do love bacon! Sign in to see full entry.
lyophilizing continues...
This morning I put in a load of mixed sweet onion and peppers--yellow and orange--and some huge grapes sliced in half, some sugar snap peas, and a pan of beaten raw eggs. The grapes are iffy--high sugar content. But slicing them open gives them a chance. The skin is designed to protect the insides from stuff like this, also a problem with blueberries, but those little guys are more of a problem to slice. I read that highly flavored foods should go at the top of the machine, but that... Sign in to see full entry.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Lyophilization
So that's the proper term for 'freeze-drying.' Which makes the device a 'lyophilzer' or maybe a 'lyophilator' if you want to take it in a steampunk direction... or are thinking of dinosaurs. Whatever you call it, we have now lyophilized a variety of 8 fruits, 7 vegies, and 22 meats. That's counting the packets, some of which are single serving sized, some are double servings, so that's a good week's supply of emergency or travel food. Next batch is going in later today. It will be strips of red,... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, February 11, 2019
Suddenly, Seattle!
Saturday I will be flying out to Seattle for a week, to hang out with my daughter and her daughter while husband/daddy is away. I found a reasonably good fare yesterday, and went for it, and it said something about my trip 'in six days.' Wow, I rarely get a ticket so close to the actual trip! It startled me into getting started on my packing. It will be simpler as United now offers basic economy fares. This means not even a carry-on other than the one personal item to stuff under the seat in... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, February 10, 2019
And it's Sunday again...
I am sitting here watching a series called World War II in Colour which has colorized hours of archival footage of World War II. It is quite comprehensive, and should be watched by current generation who aren't even sure this happened. Meanwhile, on the home front, we have just packaged up another load of freeze-dried foods for future use. This time it's spiral-cut butternut squash, cauliflower, sliced turkey and sliced chicken/apple sausages. The next batch will be mushroom risotto, japanese... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Only Thursday...?
...And now, it's cold again. 0 F with a wind chill to make it feel like -12. It may get into the 20s today, and then the temps will slowly begin to rise over the next week. It seems that 40s are the new 60s. Yesterday was near 60 during the day, and the doves are confused. On warm days, I hear that frisky male who-hooing away, and yesterday I spotted one of the doves on the nest on the light fixture on the deck--where they have raised 3 broods in the past couple of years. (If you want to see the... Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
The Sales Pitch What Strikes At Twilight
Yesterday evening, before true dark but in the definite twilight, a cute little Girl Scout showed up ringing my doorbell, and I bet you know already what she asked me, when I opened the door: "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout Cookies?" She asked in a small, shy voice--I heard a mother's voice unseen--there was our big tree blocking her from view--"Use your big voice!" I used to like GS cookies, back when I was the little girl selling them. But now they are not as good as they used to be,... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, February 3, 2019
Going to bed
A happy, proud announcement from my Seattle daughter this morning: Well, we've done it. At 2 years, and 1month, Elsa is now quite happy to put herself to sleep. She herself never had trouble putting herself to sleep, but her elder sister I had to walk to sleep for months, then had to hang over her bed, then had to sit across the room, and finally could leave the room but the door had to stay wide open... It was months that seemed forever before she would go to bed on his own without loud... Sign in to see full entry.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Mission accomplished
I have intended doing this for quite a long time now, and this past week it finally got done: I have gone through computer files and flash drives and all, and printed out all the Middle-earth poems and bits of prose I've written over the years, and compiled them into a single loose-leaf notebook. The pages aren't numbered for a couple of reasons. First, they are not all in a single computer file to be paginated, and second, I can't remember how to paginate a document any more. So I don't... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, February 1, 2019
Friday!
The visas arrived this morning. They are pasted into our passports and look very nice... good for 10 years! That will make future trips easier and cheaper! The cost of two visas was a bit more than another seat on the airplane would have been. Charlie had a good phone interview with the Toronto job, and is waiting to hear back if they want to fly him up for a face-to-face. The guy said he would have to also check with their lawyers regarding hiring someone from the US. The house he spotted turns... Sign in to see full entry.