The Ciel Show

By Ciel - About Me - E-mail this page - Add to My Favorites - Add to Blog List - See other blogs in Journal

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Where have all the mountains gone...?

The hills of the Front Range and Ramparts are almost lost in the smoke today. People with sensitive eyes and lungs can feel it. There is even a slight but noticeable haze looking at the houses across the street. And there is no rain in the forecast until next week. The smoke map shows it's worse just east of here, and still worse farther east and north. Yesterday I swung by a little curbside library I know of, with a bag of donations, and found one I have lately been wanting to read again: James... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 2:45 PM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, August 21, 2020

Miss Jean

Last night I switched off the AMAZING RACE re-runs--good word for them!--and watched a film that I've heard of for years (it came out in 1969), and first noticed probably because of the Rod McKuen theme song, wistful and romantic... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJZQz5U0el0 THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE was nothing like what I expected. It is wistful, it is devastating to watch the story unfold, and realize that it is not a romance so much as a study of a particular kind of authoritarian/cult... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 8:11 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Surprise!

A cool morning before a hot afternoon... But the sky is clearer than it has been for days. There is a great deal of room for improvement there. There was a knock on the door late this morning: Rob, who is one of Charlie's housemates next door. He brought me a present! It's a calendar/planner that runs Sept 2020 through 2021, and has dog cartoons and quotes all through. They are all from a series called Thoughts of Dog by Matt Nelson. Very cute! And very cool, to get an unexpected gift before... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 11:30 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Monday, August 17, 2020

And here we go again...

Yep, it's Monday. So far, cool and clear in the springs with only a slight wildfire haze drifting in from almost 100 miles to the northwest. It will be hot later, but with a vague promise of possible scattered thunderstorms. The fridge has been subtly hinting for some time now that it would like a clearing-out and a cleaning-up. I got some of the first done, and found some cloves of garlic with viable roots--so into the garden they went! We'll see how they do. It has been very dry out lately,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 9:09 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Smoke gets in your eyes... and up your nose...

The sun is coming up this morning like a great hot peach, and the light all around is filtered to that dull orange you get when it's coming through smoke. According to this morning's smoke map, the Springs is in the smoke plumes of at least four fires. Sensitive noses will likely be smelling smoke in the air. Still, it isn't like Seattle a few years ago, when ash was falling like a light grey snow. https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=38.84592810412549&lng=-104.83012868939343&zoom=10# Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:52 AM | add or view comments (4) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Thursday, August 13, 2020

Another home Thursday

Another hot day shut outside. The morning started with cooking. At Trader Joe's, I bought a piece of pre-cooked pork belly, and decided to try it, which meant crisping up the outside of it. Most of it is fat, after all. I ended up cutting it into smaller pieces so more of the fat was rendered. In the end, it was basically Super Bacon. At the same time, I put artichokes in the oven. I cut them in half and wrap them in foil, then bake for a while, until a leaf pulls away easily. On this keto diet,... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 3:13 PM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Going down...!

I've been eating keto-style for 4 days now... and down about 4 lbs from where the diet began. Okay. It's a start. Considering how long I was on the 180s plateau, this is encouraging, to be down to 176 lbs. Really, I'm not so much over-weight, as under-tall. Heat has returned to the days here, topping out in the 90s, and with no refreshing storms. There is not so much cloud-cover as smoke from a big wildfire on the other side of Colorado. This one has closed I-70 indefinitely near Glenwood... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 8:25 AM | add or view comments (6) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Sunday, August 9, 2020

Sunday at home, traveling

Hot, hot, hot! And no rain in the forecast for the rest of the week. One of my favorite things is the way I feel after a shower on a hot afternoon, feeling refreshed all over, and especially while my head is wet. The weather has dried up the nasturtiums that looked so promising up to this last week. Sunflowers are blooming, and so are some of the lettuce plants. One has a strange stalk with a flower that looks like chickory. The morning glories are blooming, all so far the beautiful purple ones.... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:58 PM | add or view comments (7) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Friday, August 7, 2020

Changing plans

The truck a/c now blows at the levels it's meant to, and my so-kind mechanic also filled the shpritzer reservoir, and cleaned the inside of the windshield, which my relatively short arms find very difficult to do. However, Charlie was stuffed up and sneezy yesterday when we'd planned to go get some errands done, and while he was pretty certain it was allergies acting up, we decided to postpone. So, today's the day. But not until after noon, most likely. He went to bed around 4 am--he gets much... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 6:57 AM | add or view comments (10) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Midweekly on-goings

While the truck is in the shop--a/c problems being fixed this time, hopefully--and the lightweight stick-vacuum I ordered a couple of weeks ago arrived yesterday, Wednesday begins with getting some cleaning up done at home. The little vac is indeed very lightweight, and it will be easier to clean the stairs below the bird cage of scattered seed and husks. But it isn't very good at snatching up bits of down that cling to carpets. Okay, I have wide grey tape for that. The worries of the times are... Sign in to see full entry.

posted by Ciel at 8:22 AM | add or view comments (8) | leave calling card | link to this | view only this entry

April 2026
SMTWTFS
2930311234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728293012
3456789
Mar | Newest | May
About this Blog

I'm doubtful the events of my life will be of great general interest, but I'd like to share a little more of me to the several of you on Blogit I've come to feel are real friends, and the many I imagine are potentially real friends. We'll see how it works out. ______________________ all my words and images posted on Blogit are copyright 2005-present, all rights reserved.

Recent Entries
People
Blogs

Headlines (What is this?)