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weekend in review
its getting to be where i’m just blogging about my weekends. my weekdays tend to be confidential. we just had a lovely heavy rain, a little hail, no harm done beyond the straight pipe to one of the rain barrels blew down. i had just put the finishing touches on my outside projects and thought the timing good. i was hot and sweaty and thought the rain would be cool when i went downtown. john’s yaris had a flat and it took me some time to figure it all out, the murphey’s rule about finding all the tools you need. i was going to ride my bike and deal with the tire on wednesday but it wasn’t in the garage so i assumed it was stolen as i also hadn’t been able to find the circular saw. when i called john on the yaris missing lug wrench he told me the bike was in the hallway to the crawlspace. i have vague memories of loaning out the circular saw. if i did i need it back, kevin wants to build some shelves in the garage.
downtown was very wet, it rained hard and there was some hail. i am becoming blase’ about hail since moving here. used to be a big deal. it was fun watching the people. extreme weather brings out the best in people and thins out the crowds. there was glee in people’s eyes or a fierce determination; a controlled hurry. i was soaked, my memories of being hot quickly replaced with soaked to the bone chilly. i got my beans, a pound of a single source columbian that’s better then the other which is kaldi’s passport selection and a pound of the papua new guinea i’ve been enjoying. it may be my last. john is bringing his roaster and picking up an order of beans from sweet marias and is going to teach me how to home roast. can’t wait.
when i walked from kaldi’s to el rancho for a steak burrito and horchata (yum) i was soaked enough to draw looks of concern from strangers. it was all good though, just put the heater on for the drive home. still had the energy to pick up the buns i needed for my burger grilling tomorrow.
in spite of the rain it was a pretty nice day. got a lot done. i planted one of the forsythia i got from henry. i split it in two and put the bigger of the two in my back yard hedgrow. i’m going to put one more in which will connect it with my witchhazel. someday i’ll mulch or plan to turn it into one big bed, its getting closer though. i put the other up by the northwest corner of the house by the other ones. involved me cutting out some shit bush growing by the house and just gave a little attention to the whole area. weeded the little lilacs and noted one of them was wilty, i bet the satellite dudes stepped on it when they were messing around the area. i’m hoping with a little tlc it’ll bounce back.
i pulled out the last lily i had there. it looked like it was starting to get a little web going so i was glad to be transplanting it. the lady who gave them to me told me to move them every year that they depleted a certain nutrient and its proven to be true. there were some little ones coming up near there so i let them be because they’re in a different spot. i trimmed up the other forsythia and its looking pretty good over there.
at that point i hit a wall, and dozed through the tiger game. the kid pitched 8 shut out innings and the tiges are back at .500. when i got up i planted the lily right in the dog run that goes through the strawberries. when i harvested them i had to work to not begrudge the losses to dog trampling. i had to remember i like Fido and i’m glad he has a friend and remember from the first strawberry of the season that every strawberry is a treasure. next year i’m doing fencing. the lily should help and i will put up the fence there if i leave him unsupervised with Olive. nonetheless i got probably a good pint and a half and have enough to make strawberry shortcake for Nance and Peg tomorrow.
i also put in two thai chile peppers i got from the thai lady at the market and i put in another herb whose name is escaping me, hmmm. its a relative of oregano, ah yeah marjoram. i put it in between the oregano and tarragon. i have some dill going there and i thought the established plants would help minimize dog trampling for the baby dills. they are looking good and if half make it i should have plenty for my uses and enough to let some go to seed. that whole plot is coming in nicely and i have been mixing in other stuff in the edges to bring out the bed into a straighter line.
all of the planting was aided by the fresh compost that i’m pulling out of the big wooden bin. its nice stuff, very earthy smelling, could be more finished though because smokey likes to try and eat it still. but there’s a ton of it and it made me nostalgic for dad, it was his last construction project. harry came over yesterday and i got an audible wow when he saw the backyard. its looking good, the tomatoes are coming along and the cabbages are really big. the broccoli has gone to flower which i think is bad but its awfully cool looking.
i made strawberry pancakes for harry yesterday, best i ever made. i couldn’t find the bisquik so i riffed off of an internet recipe from scratch. i whisked 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup brown rice flower, 3 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tbsp sugar, pinch of xantham gum. made a pool in the center and added 3/4 cup i think of milk, a local egg and 3 tbsp melted butter. i melted it in the cast iron skillet and kept it hot for the cakes. i whisked that together and then added as many strawberry pieces as it could hold. fried those puppies up with served with real maple syrup, honey butter & a couple of eggs over easy. a of course a press pot of kaldi’s brazillian. most excellent.
it must have been a day for cooking because i also grilled out a stuffed pork loin and candied root vegetables. the pork loin i sliced open like a swiss cake roll, not bad for my first attempt. i had made the stuffing early and let the flavors merged. i put in a red apple, celery, fresh sage and fennel, sweet onion, couple cloves of garlic in a plain yogurt. after i cut up the loin i seared the outside after patting it with flour in olive oil and more garlic. then i stuffed it and wrapped it with cotton string and wrapped with foil. the vegies were these little white heirloom turnips and baby carrots i did with lots of fresh grated ginger, some sesame oil and local honey. i put a lot of soaked hickory chips on the fire and slow roasted them about 50 minutes, an hour would have been better. kick ass if i do say so myself. also did an all local salad with mixed greens, spinach, radish, thin sliced zucchini, and greenhouse tomato. i made the dressing too which also rocked: tahini, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, an inch of fresh grated horseradish, and a splash of braggs.
all in all a good weekend. i could’ve mowed the lawn before it rained, walked the dogs a second time and perhaps cleaned the bathrooms but there will always some things i didn’t get too. i am learning to be ok with that. i am learning to be ok with just about anything.
chilly saturday
it was a pretty good saturday, rainy and cool, but after a taste of the heat and humidity it was kind of welcome. we’ve had an extra dog for a few days, a short term fostering kind of thing. he’s a scottie that we’ve been calling Gitmo. he’s uncut and pushy so he was running the pack for a couple of days, then they all started calling his bluff. shadow (my brother john’s aussie) kicked his ass john reports. even fido isn’t intimidated now and smoky has been pulling back her lips and snapping her jaws at him. he’s mellowed out now that he’s settled in. we were worried how he’d do with max the uncut old pit next door with only a dilapidated chain link fence between them but they got along fine. max is mellow. Gitmo likes to fetch and with smokey and fido in chase it gets pretty chaotic. fun though.
got out early to run errands and go to the market. saw an old client walking in the rain and gave him a bit of a ride. he was taking a bicycle riding class to earn a free bike. gotta love columbia. it was drizzling a bit but stopped before i made it to the market. stocked up on my local food stuffs. had to go up to a quart on the honey so i could get it in a glass jar. hard to eat a quart of honey before it stiffens, but we’ll do our best. listened to an older lady rave about bee pollen and the suburban type lady standing next to me asked if she ought to get a jar as well. i just shrugged. he had some literature out, “nature’s most perfect food” that i’d seen as place mats a truck stops of my childhood looking largely unchanged. the honey guy, a german immigrant by accent, talked about the vagaries of pollen collection its variance based on flower availability and some years the bees only make enough for themselves.
noticed chicken and beef up substantially, probably following the prices in the grocery store. got some ground round and whole chickens. going to bake one of the latter today. planning on stuffing it with lemon and apple wedges and sage, oregano, tarragon, & wild onions from the back yard. maybe some little pats of butter under the skin. throw in some red potatoes and cauliflower the side. also unfroze some extra pumpkin i froze and baking a pie.
and of course i got my spring veggies, chard, lettuce mix, asparagus, bean sprouts plus eggs. also trying marjoram again, going to ameliorate the soil a lot more. don’t want to pay $3.00 every year. i learned marjoram is kin to oregano and almost bought a cross between the two, but i have more oregano then i can eat already and put it in damn near everything.
after my errands i made chili. nothing better on a wet and cool day. i forgot to soak beans so i had quick soaked some pintos (boil for one minute, let set and hour or so, drain out liquid [less gassy]). i put them on to cook with some red curry powder, salt and cayenne and made john and me some poached eggs and cleaned up some of the strawberry seconds ($2 quart best deal ever) i got for desert.
when the beans were mostly done, chopped up some stew meat smaller and browned with vidalia onion and celery. added some canned tomatoes of various types, a can of kidney beans, chili powder, cumin, jalapeno, some smoked hot peppers, smallish onions with green tops (from the market they’re getting bigger every week), and a little agave nectar to soften the bitterness of the tomatoes. set that to simmer all day, came out good.
hung my clothes on the line even though it was cloudy and cool once i saw the rain was likely done. they’re still out they’re, i’ll bring them in after the wind blows out the morning dew. sarah and trevor came over and we drank a little champagne with strawberries (cleaned up the rest of my seconds and added a cup of my own, more then i expected for only the second pass). after chili and cornbread (thanks kevin, excellent) we went on a field trip to an abandoned mobile home park trevor had eye balled from the highway. the dogs enjoyed the excursion as well. we took a roundabout way home and it reminded me of explorations of childhood.
3rd best drinking water in the world
its been a really beautiful saturday. started it with a really good papua new guinea light roast from Kaldis. very yummy and read the paper, such as it is in this brave new world. kevin and i went to the market and got lots of great stuff: spinach, mixed salad greens [has little baby bok choy], asparagus, arugula (a smaller package a little goes a long way), and some other salad stuff. also got a pack of orange marigolds for the tomato patch and a Patric chocolate bar. hit them up for info on slave labor in the harvest of cocoa and they said only on the Ivory Coast and they don’t buy from there. i got a frequent buyers card in case they’re good. also got some apple butter.
stopped by nancy’s garage sale fundraiser and it was nice seeing everyone gathered for a good cause, got some books (mostly for work), some lavender dryer sachets, and wrapping paper. made steal cut oats in the rice cooker with some raisins. john was unimpressed so i’ll probably work them out of the rotation for the foreseeable future as kevin’s not much of a breakfast guy. though he is into the local bacon i also got at the market this morning and am going to make up tomorrow with some grits and eggs over medium.
it was beautiful weather wise and got two loads of laundry done on the line and managed to finish digging out the bed by east side of the house. i’m out of finished compost so i just added coffee grounds. the dirt there was pretty decent so they’ve had some stuff there before but its been a minimum of 6 years since it was worked. there was a lot of maple tree roots i had to dig out. i dug up the lilies i move every year out of the front yard and planted them around the perimeter and then put in 8 brusel sprouts [thanks erica who sprouted them from seed and even delivered] . i think they should look cool together and i am hoping to use the lilies to keep the dogs out. i’ve got a couple more brussel sprouts i am going to weave into where the strawberries fade out buttressed by more lillies. gonna put in the rest of the lillies inaround the most dog trampled strawberries. speaking of one of them is pretty red so i should have my first one in a few days or so. can’t wait. i almost bought a $6 pint of them at the market but decided to wait for my own. got many gallons last year and there are more so i am optimistic.
my neighbor henry flagged me down while digging up lillies and gave me a couple of forsythia bushes and lopped for me. after seeing the ungainly clump that i put in the ground a few years ago from him he must’ve figured he’d better just do it for me. his yard is looking amazing, really coming along. i’ve got a fair chunk of stuff to get in the ground, wouldn’t mind mowing my lawn but will probably wait on that.
john has all three rain barrels operational now, hopefully. he added a washer and it seems like we’ve got it now. we walked through the garage and talked about an organizational plan. john has been knocking out the projects. he got a dog waste compost set up in the back corner of the yard that is really great. buried a garbage can surrounded by rocks with holes in the bottom. add poo until there’s enough and then added 1/3 of a package of septic tank conditioner. “i’ve never bought a bottle of bacteria before”, john said. has a lid. might move the hydrangia out into the new dirt pile by the composter to make room for the second of mom’s rose bushes. it will be nice to get them in the ground on mother’s day.
be kind to our one big mother, you know the one with oceans and stuff.
then i cooked dinner. parboiled crocker apple brats also from the market in Flat Branch brown ale, made red potato packets with red onion, and asparagus packet with baby garlic, green onion, a little tomato, lemon juice and a little olive oil. also did a nice salad and kevin got brat buns which were very festive. i served it with my first batch of sun tea with green tea and a bag of ginger.
i got a little too much sun but it was probably good to try to adjust to the coming heat. spring has been wonderful but summer temps are rolling in.
maydayeve
what a beautiful day and oh how i love spring. it was just gorgeous today, mostly sunny and low 70s with some rain in the future so i was pushing to get stuff in the ground. i have been doing a bit of gardening most days and had finally gotten all my memorial plants in the ground. as the tulips go post-peak i have been pleased with some other stuff stepping up its game. the gerber daisies are going to dominate the grave area with a lot of lower stuff when i cut back the tulips. in the shade bed all kinds of things are going on in violet; spiderwort, wild sweet william, violets, jacob’s ladder, and another one, plus columbine, some lilies are still going, ragwort’s coming on, and the irises are getting ready, plus the annuals i put in.
this morning i worked in the bulbs left over from a tulip, dafodil, fresia arrangement into the herb garden so i gave a good cultivate and feed to the tarragon, oregano, and connected some sage that had spread out into the lawn into a new larger bed. i put them in close to the herbs figuring that in early spring they’ll all still be little and i can get the flowers without using any space. i wanted to have the fresia by front window so the scent could waft in the front window but i had tulips in the mix and i wanted them on this side of the fence so the dogs could defend them from the squirrels. although stubby, the bob-tailed squirrel and notorious eater of tulips got hit last year so maybe i’ll try front lawn tulips some day. while i was messing in the herb garden i found more parsley and i planted dill and cosmos up there as well.
in the afternoon i pulled off the plastic from the tomatoes and basil and planted a six pack of cabbages i got at the market this morning. nice market by the way, my first this year, with leaf lettuce, kale, green onions, radishes, green house tomato, cucumber (one of those long asian ones but young and tender, yumm) [my salad tonight with goddess dressing] and little tender asparagus [cooked in a packet with the baby garlic i also got, thinly sliced red peppers, and redwine vinegar; nailed the sweet and tangy thing i was going for] and grass fed ground round [added chopped oregano, basil, and garlic and grilled over hickory chips].
the cabbages i mostly ran in a row in my second bed east of the tomatoes. i planted one up close to the lettuce, figuring it’ll finish and allow the cabbage to extend into its space. this part of the bed was still pretty clayey below 14″ so i added three inches of compost to the bottom layer and and two inches to the top which wiped me out on the home made stuff. the big compost is 2-4 weeks away from being done so i’ll have to either go without and just fertilize (i got some fish stuff on clearance last year and stepping up my nitrogen game. the garlic i blasted doubled in size in 4 days and is twice as big as the control group which i blasted today) but compost also changes the character of the soil which my clay yard needs.
i planted rows of radishes on each side of the cabbage because double digging all that space is hard work and the cabbage will grow into the space when the radishes are done, goddess willing. i planted the other two around the lettuce, which at least one more head will be done this week. i left last year’s okra stalks up as a dog deterrent. i also cultivated the basil (thanks jane), broccoli, tomatoes (thanks eric), and lettuce. i put up the little fence and hit everything but the new stuff (it got plenty of compost)and the lettuce (hope to eat soon) in that bed with fish juice. the dogs were definitely intrigued pushing the fence in a bit (descented my ass).
i also got some laundry on the clothesline and cooked out on the grill. perfect spring day. tomorrow house cleaning and i’m gonna re-mow the back yard if it doesn’t rain. please rain, i’ve been a little under the weather but felt good to push myself a bit anyway.
memorial hill
well what used to be called myrtle’s grave is taking on added significance as i prepare to sprinkle a small amount of my father’s cremated ashes there. he loved that little dog and spoke of her fondly with some of his last words. buzzed on the morphine he told me “i want to marry myrtle. so he’ll largely be buried with my mom in the erie cemetery (yes its true) but a little bit will stay here in columbia where he spent some pleasant years. Gabriel Garcia Marquez says a place doesn’t really become home until you bury your dead there. i want columbia to be home at least a little bit.
when myrtle died last year we buried her deep as you should a good and faithful companion, all things being equal. we planted greek myrtle (six of them on the grave) and they had pretty foliage and little white flowers. it died off over the winter and hadn’t really snapped back. last fall i had added 3 new and a bit more existent daylillies at the head and foot. later i put in some tulips and crocuses on the bird feeder side. nothing is blooming and while not bleak its not exactly much of a pick me up.
sarah and i had gone to menards to return tile and so i picked up everything that was flowering. i got a lobelia hanging basket for the front and moved the windchime to the backyard. i bought some larger perenials and a flat of annuals and really made the memorial area look sharp. annual wise i did violas, snap dragons, pansies, verbana, and a couple of others. I also did a good sized gerbera daisy. Perenials i did a lot of creeping phlox, some bellis, and a couple of candytuft (iberis-sempervirens). it looks sharp. i also have some other stuff in pots now, maybe i’ll get it in the ground in time in the beds along the neighbor’s privacy fence which will be the backdrop for the service. I’ve got some daffodils going on one side and some grape hyacinth on the other. the new stuff adds some flowering now to the beds which have at least greenery going.
overall its earlier then i would like, in a lot of ways but i am glad i decided to have a little bit going all the time rather than having stuff that all hits at once so i at least had something to build from. you don’t get to choose your time on these things.
The Boxer
Had an interesting experience walking Fido yesterday. First off I am loving the longer days. I was able to get home from work close to on time, get caught up with Dad and Egypt, read the paper and still get out on our walk before dark. We went down Garth because of the still snow covered sidewalks (shame). Its a little uncomfortable pushed out on the road. Most cars were slowing and/or moving over but one couple seemed to take a wicked glee in buzzing by me inches from my right elbow and of course the cel phone people have to be watched closely. “They’ll run us down like dogs”, I told the dog. With more than a little relief we made it to the temporary haven of a block of shoveled sidewalk in front of Parqaid School. As we were walking through the snow tunnel a big brown boxer looking dog ran up on us. Fido was nervous I was wary. The boxer ran up ahead and peed. As we passed it did it again and again. I didn’t see a collar, just a blue bandanna. He must have been out because then he started to leave some steaming piles. I’m not sure what pheromones he was putting out but Fido was ready to go. I think he was looking to get Fido to run off with him and Fido was ready to go. Doesn’t know where his bread is buttered, I told him. When we got to the end of the sidewalk I was in a quandary. I climbed over a big snow hill hoping to lose him and we cut back to Garth and started walking. Then the boxer ran after us running right down Garth. After a close call we cut back into the neighborhood so big dumb dog didn’t get run down. He kept buzzing by us and Fido would want to run with him. We started towards home working through the neighborhood up Bear Creek towards home. We were planning on making it home and putting the boxer in the back yard until we could call animal control. As we walked home I noticed Parqaid Park and Fido and I checked it out and found some cool snow drifts to play on. The boxer kind of circled the edge. Finally a car pulled over and asked if the boxer was mine. They then called him into their car. By this time Fido and I were out on the street. We thanked them for helping, thinking they were a neighbor or friend of the dog and the woman said “that’s just what I do”. So turns out we were rescued by some random do-gooder. Nice to know there are folks out there looking to do right. We need more of that.
January’s done
Hello faithful readers. Sorry I have not been posting. January was a challenging month and I continue to have some computer problems that I haven’t felt like dealing with. I also had my boss talk to me about a negative mood state I incidentally mentioned and that has had a chilling effect on what I want to post about. Now I see why more people don’t have an honest and revealing blog. Nonetheless this is a periodic blog and so regardless of the consequences I am going to periodically blog something. Today I am up early waiting for the snow to start. We are awaiting Columbia’s first blizzard warning. 18″ to 22″ by tomorrow noon. We have gotten a lot of snow this winter and I have been really enjoying it.
My New Year’s resolution was to work on getting in better shape this year. I started with weigh ins on most days and writing down everything I ate and all the exercise I did. A solid plan that started out nicely but as the month continued I started to get depressed and decided this was not the time for any volunteer upheaval in my life. I am stretched to meet the things I need to do. The only piece I kept was the exercise peace. If you know me at all I am not one for the gyms. I enjoy real physical activity that is purposeful and utilitarian, so mostly I walk. Almost every day. The weather really challenged that this year and I have risen to the occasion and gotten out there anyway. Its been really cool getting out on the bear creek trail and seeing no tracks but what fido and i laid down on our last walk.
Sidewalks have been my obsession. Most people don’t shovel here in Columbia, which offends my Michigan sensibilities where almost everyone does. It makes it a lot more challenging when you get pushed out into the road, especially with a small dog. The alternative is to push through deep snow on the sidewalks. Fido wears out pushing through chest deep snow on a steady pace the leash demands. He’s great off leash. He leaps and hops and catches his breath and continues the mad dash. He can run circles around me, literally, but can’t trudge. So when he is exhausted before the trail and we have to turn around and go home, probably walking down the road with car’s not slowing and some not even looking up from their texts it frankly pisses me off and has been a source of rancor all winter.
I want to approach McKnight plaza as a concerned neighbor. They have a lot of sidewalk and if they shoveled it would have a huge impact on the neighborhood. It would even be in their own interest and not just a community service. They are trying to lease a big chunk of it and if they shoveled it wouldn’t tip their hand that their isn’t a lot of foot traffic. If the sidewalks were cleared there might in fact be foot traffic. I would approach them as a faithful Itchy’s customer (awesome flea market) but I feel like a hypocrite with my work’s sidewalks unshoveled across the street. I almost shoveled them myself and looking back I wish i would have. Feeling a need to do something and not doing anything is not a good way to feel better about something. With the blizzard coming I don’t know when i’ll be able to get out with the little dog. After knocking out my driveway I might just walk down the street and knock it out at work. then i might give Mcknight a call.
Writing this I can see I’ve lost all perspective. little things can loom large in the narrowing of winter. Dad too has been down. Dennis’s birthday on the 15th has historically been a hard day. Less so over the years but this year seemed tough. With Mom’s b-day coming up on 1/31 i was a little concerned. Talking it over with a co-worker she suggested we do something special. So last night we went to Outback Steakhouse. On one of my folks’ few vacations they had gone to Branson and loved Outback. It made what could have been a tough day kind of festive and a time to celebrate. Not a bad recipe for most difficult things.
Holiday Letter 2010
Its been another event filled year here on Leslie Lane. Not all pleasant or easy but each day an opportunity to grow, learn, and be more engaged in the world around us.
We rung in the new year quietly at home. Began the trend of 2010 of not going to social events even if I had said I was going. Even planning in advance couldn’t get me out of the house to socialize this year. But when I got out of the house I got out of the house. In March John, Shadow & Smokey came through picked me up and we drove on down to FLA. We went all the way to the bottom camping at Big Cypress National Wildlife Refuge, moving on to the Everglades, and day tripping down into the Florida Keys. We hit some national forest in the north and some beach on the Florida Pan Handle. It was a great trip and made the oil spill more poignant having just seen the area. Again my biggest impression was the incredibly rich biodiverse Everglades with the near desert like monoculture of our present day agriculture. Night and day the incredible shrinking of life. We are all criminals and murderers. I still bought oranges.
I got home from vaca with a bit of a stiff neck which evolved into intense back and neck pain which was ultimately diagnosed as a pinched nerve from some bulging discs (C-4 & C-5 i think). Physical therapy adjustments seemed to do the trick and haven’t had too much problems with it. It was scary at the time, made me thankful to have two arms that work.
Work-wise the beginning of the year was fruitful. I enjoyed my role of trying to foster a Dual Recovery Anonymous meeting. I also continued working with the Missouri Cadre for Co-Occurring Excellence and enjoyed a strategic planning retreat at a really cool resort. Saw a bluebird thanks to the new license plates (they’re our state bird). Ultimately resigned my leadership position with the Cadre, too much happening at the agency.
In May we celebrated the end of Lost. Until then we had a house full every Tuesday to watch, same as last year. We didn’t do costumes, theme food, or Dharma stuff because we did all that for the season premiere party. We just watched TV together. In retrospect I thought Lost ended pretty good, not perfect but good enough.
Myrtle died this year. That was sad as hell. We dug her a deep hole and planted some Greek Myrtle. She was a beautiful dog, quite a character for her only three years. Dad took some solace in Oni, but to be frank she was a piss poor primary dog. slept all day, pissed on the furniture. mostly my bed and the couch. one night she pissed my bed pretty good and i was headed to bed late and suddenly had to go sleep on the futon in the living room where dad was trying to watch a movie. i grumped some and he took her to the humane society. We followed her on the internet she was in foster care with second chance. Just looked for her and couldn’t find her picture, hope she got adopted.
June was interesting because I seized an opportunity when the agency burned through its contract prior to the end of the fiscal year (huge huge budget cuts once the federal support to state stimulus was used up) and i was granted a few weeks off without pay at my request. gardened up a storm and did some ozark adventure. went to johnson’s shut ins, elephant rocks, all that stuff. had some nice camping with Oni.
2010 was also a year for making new friends in far off places. We had some exchange students from Taiwan who were observing the batterer intervention program i worked at my part time job over for a couple of barbecues. Took them to the Devil’s Ice Box (a local cave) and down to the Lake of the Ozarks for outlet mall shopping with John when he was visiting (saw a lot of John in 2010). They’re enthusiasm was infectious. Also spent a lot of time with Amy’s friend Belen who visited for the summer from Spain. Took her to Jefferson City to see the monuments and we broke into a Catholic Church. Very cool seeing the familiar from fresh perspectives and breaking things down to communicate with very smart women but whom English is a second language. Learned a lot about myself and my world.
Speaking of Amy, I was flattered to be asked to officiate she and Michael’s wedding. It went very well and was a charming affair. The only down side was the AC was on the fritz and I sweated like a pig. Drenched my shirt clean through.
Dad had some health issues early in the year. A lot of unexplained weight loss. Turned out to be celiac disease forcing us to go gluten free. We’ve made a lot of adjustment. Bread is probably the thing Dad misses the most. There’s just no adequate substitute. Corn tortillas come the closest. For me its been good. We eat a lot less processed food. Buy stuff a lot more in its natural condition. No more hamburger helper.
In July work picked up when I switched from doing the co-occurring stuff to being the senior counselor. With state cut backs its been a bit of a mad scramble. We’re trying to make some changes and it seems to be getting doable. Very engaging overall, love my education groups, love being a part of people making good changes in their lives. Not a hint of boredom yet.
Myrtle’s death and Oni’s eviction left a dog shaped hole but only for a couple few weeks. Dad saw an add in the free classifieds and picked Fido up at 4 months. He’s half Bichon Frise (the little teddy bear looking poodle dogs) and half Cocker Spaniel or Cockechon, although he was advertised in the paper as a Cockapoo and that is what Dad will tell you the dog is.
Fido’s first road trip was back to the homeland to meet everyone at the family reunion. He got a little car sick but enjoyed meeting all the people and dogs. He’s continued to liven up the house and we like to walk the piece of the Bear Creek Trail by us.
The Big Muddy was high most of the summer so didn’t float a lot. Did float at the flooded out Overton Bottoms and enjoyed the heck out of canoeing through the woods. Whoop, the brownies need checking…… Not too bad for gluten free.
The Fall was pretty uneventful. Brought a bigger and homemade compost bin on line, thanks Dad and ended up with a pretty decent garden harvest. Brenda, Heather, and John made it out for Thanksgiving which we did up right with all local made from scratch dishes including our pasture raised bird. Ended up using a lot of my holiday energy to pull that off so we are taking a minimalist approach to Christmas. It will be our first Christmas at Leslie Lane breaking the last five or six years of spending the holiday camping or in a hotel.
On Christmas Eve we are going to Outback and perhaps go see True Grit. Christmas morning I’m working. I got permission to show A Charlie Brown Christmas for my ed group and I plan talking about cultivating our inner Linus. Dad is making a ham for the big day and I’m having a former homeless guy over for dinner. Its his birthday and he doesn’t have anyone and a guest will make it all the more festive. Boxing Day we plan on spending with Amy and Michael for more ham and such. Bought a Norfolk Pine and decked it out as the holiday tree as part of my adding more houseplants to the mix. Also picked up a nice Christmas cactus.
The new years is then upon us and i am gearing up for a major new resolution. Details TBA. Hope your holidays are filled with peace and joy light and love.
Camping in the Rolla District
Finally got our Fall camping trip in. It was a little on the cool side Dad likes the lows in the 50s but was also pretty motivated to get Fido out in the woods so he said it would be a go with an expected low of 49. We drove down Saturday in typical Dad fashion about 45 minutes before we had planned to leave. That way I still got to go to the market. We had decided to get dinner in Rolla so we wouldn’t have to cook but I grabbed some hot dogs from the local beef guy and we’ve been sitting on a bag of marshmallows for a while.
We drove down to Rolla got on 44 West and got off at the J exit. We also stopped at a tourist trap because we weren’t hungry enough for dinner so I could get some hot dog buns and I grabbed a jar of Amish style pickled eggs, which turned out to be really good. We took J down to M and then left on forest service road 1208. We followed it the required two miles from blacktop for dispersed camping. There was a spot where the road turns to trail that would have worked but it wasn’t an existing spot. We ended up driving back about a half mile where there was a cleared area by the road where they had done some logging and we camped there. Built a fire pit in a low spot. Since no one had ever camped there but they had logged there there was ample wood extremely close.
Took Fido for a hike and we found a sandy area where wild turkeys wallowed in the sand. We also saw lots of asters mostly the purple but some blue ones too. Fido enjoyed being free in the woods quite a bit. He did not want to get back in the truck when we left on Sunday. Can’t say I blame him.
We roasted weenies and I toasted some marshmallows and we sat around the campfire. I slept out by the fire to enjoy the stars. When the wind it would whistle through the pines. When it was softer it would rattle the dry leaves much like Aspen. There was some Fall color but peek seems a couple weeks back. We hope to get back then if the lows stay high.
It was a nice spot for Fall camping. Its low and tends toward wet. Oh and I forgot to mention the chiggers. Got et up pretty good, probably from sleeping on the ground though it was in the dirt and not in the grass. But they mostly got my legs and they like stretchy waste bands and stuff and i only had my thermal long johns on at night.
weeding and wild onion pottage
It was a beautiful sunday here in como. What I love most about fall here is how spring like it becomes with little delicate shoots coming up that this yankee always associates with spring. its a bit of hope as the days get shorter and the nights get colder. My lettuce is doing surprisingly well considering how dog trampled it is. One of Fido’s set piece runs goes right through the middle of all three rows. One of the two surviving chards looks like its going to do something protected by the okra, which continues to produce. I wish I would have thrown plastic over the main bed its gonna be cold tonight. Mom’s ficus is outside too, Dad talked me down from rearranging the living room and bringing it in today. Its gonna warm up tomorrow night he says. I had other things to do and didn’t get in the garden until late. the sunny part was in the beds along the privacy fence. my best find was about 10 little coreopsis coming up in a place i’ve never gotten anything to grow. the daylillies i planted are doing well, the ones that came with a place have boomed back and i think i am going to split a clump maybe two and move into a sunnier spot, maybe by myrtle’s myrtle. a hillside of lillies seems lovely. the ragwort continues to spread and i dead headed the rose tulips the only thing blooming in the backyard besides the rose of sharon flanking the hidden gate. I had seriously turned the compost yesterday so it cleaned it up to get a nice tier of plant stuff and had a bit of a mix of green and brown. considered raking but will wait until the redbud completely loses it. Outfront a couple of asters are booming the periwinkle blue ones and a vibrant purple one. I’m gonna move the purple one in the spring it was crowded got weedy and fell over. Its a crazy purple clump hanging over the corner of my driveway. quirky but not what i was going for. while i was weeding i noted the wild onions which i thought (correctly) would be excellent for pottage. I took most of a cup of lentils, 1/3 cup white rice, 2/3 cup brown rice, 1/2 cup of olive oil, 1/3 tsp salt, and almost 3 cups water, plus a couple of bay leaves from the mom’s tree of the guy at MO Wildflowers Nursery and maybe 3 tbsp wild onion greens. did it in the rice cooker, very good but a bit el dente for dad i think. He was mute on the meal but ate it. Next time 3 1/2 cups water and i think it will be it.
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