The Ciel Show

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Tuesday, April 10, 2018

At the end of the day...

It has been a productive day! My daughter and her husband have been in Seattle again since last August, and living in rental homes provided first by his employer, then by themselves. They had to wait on the sale of two houses in England before they could buy here. Finally, both houses are sold--or at least in the processes of being sold which seems more complicated there than over here. And they had an offer accepted on a house in the Seattle area, and have to hand over money on Friday to lock... Sign in to see full entry.

Saturday, April 7, 2018

Saturday home day

It's back to cold out there, and a hoar-frosty morning, when the spring dew makes all the trees and surfaces white. I wake to the sound--it takes a moment or two of consciousness to recognize it--of someone out on the street scraping frost off their windshield. Days like this, how I wish I had a nice deep garden tub one of those wide oval bathtubs for a long hot soak! Yesterday I was looking, trying to tempt myself with pretty spring flowers, but there are still hard freezes in the overnight... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018

about those Easter eggs...

The ones I tried coloring with all-natural dyes...? https://www.flickr.com/gp/therovingeye/186Zi1 Turmeric for yellow, blueberries for that sort of greyish blue, and beets for the reds--then some mixin' and matchin' around... Well, they don't look appetizing, do they? Just as well since I forgot I was dealing with hard-boiled eggs where I usually paint blown-out shells, and left these out way too long, so they are probably not fit for actual consumption. Sign in to see full entry.

addendum...

I stopped at Starbuck's for coffee and a sandwich after dropping Charlie at work, and was not too pleased that all four of the cushy seats and all the low tables were occupied. I don't like the high tables and chairs--always unsteady on those! So I took my coffee and sandwich to the car and opened the laptop. Another new thing: you now have to commit name and email to receiving Starbuck's junk email, to go online there at all. So I am home with coffee and sandwich and laptop. I just also met... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday already?!

Monday was one of those never-quite-awake days. Tuesday started with grocery shopping and then segued into other projects out of the house. And both days I spent watching the two seasons of MARCO POLO, a lavish production with jaw-dropping authentic scenery, sets, costuming... and Benedict Wong, a mild-voiced kid from Manchester, UK, as Kublai Khan. The history was drama, to be sure, and now historians are pretty sure Marco Polo never existed... For reasons beyond art and beauty and no doubt all... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

big fat snow

The flakes are whipping across the air, the big soft flakes of warm snow. The temperature is a few degrees above freezing, and even if it stacks up a bit tonight, it won't last through tomorrow. Meanwhile, I am roasting peppers and artichokes and some green onions. They will go in a long brioche roll with some roasted eggplant, black olives (from the deli, not a can), and a dash of spaghetti sauce. And then there is another project for the kitchen: I am going to make some naturally dyed eggs... Sign in to see full entry.

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Tuesday morning with snow

Big fluffy snow this morning, but the streets are nearly dry, not even snow let alone ice. So Charlie didn't have to bus to work this morning. When he got there, he discovered that his manager has suddenly been replaced. What this portends we don't have a clue. He got along very well with her, with his odd schedule that has always been very flexible. So far, though, he says the new manager seems content to let him do what he does. We are due a few more below-freezing days this week, but the... Sign in to see full entry.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Super Potato Salad and Puppets

I still had two smallish 'taters left, but had been thinking of an actual salad with chopped greens, getting my mouth set for that. Here's what happened: diced potatoes into ~1/2 inch chunks and tossed them in a bowl added leftover chicken breast cut to a similar size added chopped salad mixed up with dill and mayonaise ate Pretty tasty! Last night Charlie performed his puppetry at the Puppet Slam in Denver. It was a very entertaining evening! There were several acts, every one very different,... Sign in to see full entry.

Friday, March 23, 2018

Cookery Day

This sunny, very windy day started with baking a bagful of potatoes, the Yukon Golds that are firm, pale yellow, and a bit higher in protein than russets. They will last through the weekend, possibly, being fried up for breakfast hash, being smothered in one sort of sauce or another, or as potato salad with celery, onion, and real mayonaise, and maybe some hard-boiled egg, too. There was a package of three chicken breasts in the fridge on the last day of their use-by date, and I wasn't sure... Sign in to see full entry.

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

For the birds...

There was a sort of regular thumping sound from somewhere... thought maybe the new neighbor was playing ball against the fence between us, but no. My landlord was up a ladder on the flicker side of the house stapeling up chicken wire across the area where that pesky bird commonly tries to nest. Frank covered the existing holes with metal patches painted to match the siding, and then started with the chicken wire as per a suggestion I made last year. Actually, I thought hardware cloth might be... Sign in to see full entry.

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