Beverages, Photo Challenge

I love beverages!  Beverages of all kinds!

Unlike Georgia, I don't own any fancy china!  So, I can't show off any pretty cups, but I did have my coffee today in my birthday mug.  The candles on this mug light up when you pour hot water in it!  You know how I love birthdays!  And my black coffee!  Yum.

My brother Phil and I both seem to have a soda addiction.  At least it's diet soda!  I am the good one, the Diet Pepsi.  Phil is the Diet Dr. Pepper.  Heaven forbid we run out.

Last is our "happy cupboard".  Every one needs a happy cupboard!

Beverages.  Gotta love them!

Don't forget to go and check out Lisa and Georgia and see what kind of beverages they are drinking.

Black and White, Photo Challenge

Black and white.  I have to tell you, this is becoming a new passion of mine.  I have been taking a lot of black and white photos lately, even if I haven't been posting any.  It really is a fun and new way to look at things.

First a busy day checking out at the library.  I told you, I love my library!  It's a good place to watch the people.

One of my new favorite places to take pictures, Elmwood Cemetery.  I thought this was the perfect place for some black and white shots.

Another fun place to take pictures is by the pond behind where I work.  I've gotten some great shots back here on nice sunny days, but this was my first try on black and whites.  I was very happy with some of the shots!

I am learning SO much with our photo challenges.  This has really been such a fun exercise!  Black and whites I think are going to be a new favorite, right up there with the macro challenges!

Hard, Photo Challenge

Hard.   You can look at this challenge a few different ways.  Here was my interpretation on "hard".

First, an afghan I have been trying to finish for awhile.  The way you crochet this pattern is that you crochet the pattern INTO the afghan as you're going.  That means that right now there are 26 balls of yarn hanging from the afghan.  I work one color, drop it when the color changes, pick up the new color, etc etc etc.  This take some concentration to do and with two cats running around, dangling yarn is NOT a good idea.  So, it's hard to get back into crocheting like I used to.  I need to get this afghan done already!

It is hard to try to keep the house clean with two grown men living here.  Yeah, this is hard.

It's extremely hard to leave Hemingway outside. This is my outside cat of over a year and I want him to be an inside cat. I tried again today as he was covered with snow to come in.  He comes in fine but as soon as the door shuts behind him, he freaks out.  Today he tried to jump out the window of the door to get back outside.  It's hard watching him deal with the elements out there instead of safe and warm in here.

Life ain't easy.  If this is what is hard in my life, I should consider myself lucky.

Nature, Photo Challenge

Well Mother Nature sure has made sure that it was difficult the last few days to get out and take pictures!  So, I don't have much for today.  But, here is what I came up with.

Another shot of angry water at Hot Waters.

Here is a squirrel, making sure the coast is clear before he comes out of the tree!  Pay no attention to the crazy woman with a camera.  I am mostly harmless!

And now hitting the archives, here is a shot from the last time I was at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland.  This is one of the walking paths and it's truly a very beautiful and peaceful piece of nature.

We could sure use some better weather around here.  Or at least weather suitable for going out and taking some pictures!

Favorite Place, Photo Challenge

I struggled with this one:  favorite places.  Where is my favorite place?  I'm from Erie PA and to be honest, some of my favorite places are back there.  Presque Isle, or as we called it, The Peninsula, was always a favorite place for me.  I spent many an hour there, trying to find peace.  That was sure a good place to do it.

I had to dip into the archives, but this nice quiet spot is Perry's Monument.

Here is another favorite spot in Erie, the channel.  This is the channel from Lake Erie into the bay.  My girlfriend and I used to go down here maybe 3 days a week and walk up and down the channel at lunch.   Well, in the nice weather anyway!  This was not a winter time activity.  I'm not an idiot!

But I'm no longer in Erie.  Even after 10 years, I'm trying to make Lorain my home and most days it feels like it.  You have to find favorites in your new city to feel like it's home.  One favorite you need to find is a favorite restaurant.

Once I learn how to eat on my new diet, I'm hoping I can go back to Mutt & Jeff's!  I'm sure I can find something on their menu that I can eat!  Right now, it's just hard figuring it all out.   But that's another post.

Even on a dreary day like today, you gotta head to the shore some days to put yourself back into kilter.  Just being at the shores of Lake Erie would make me happy.  I really don't like being ON the water, but get me BY it and I'm happy.  This is at Lakeview Park.

Even a dreary day by Lake Erie can be a good day.  On the other side of the park is another favorite place that we don't get to often enough in the summer.  The bocce court!  Ron and I took up bocce a few years ago and we love it!  We've played in our yard, but it's not the same.  We call it "yard rules" with all of the funky hills, valleys and funny rolls we get on the balls.  That's why I like this park better.

And, another favorite place of mine here in Lorain - the library.  Some days you just need to get out of your head and escape reality.  You can't do that any easier than going to your library and finding a great book to take you away.  You can do some light reading

and follow the adventures of Kinsey Milhone as she goes about her job as a private investigator.  Or, if you need more serious reading, John Sandford never disappoints.

These are about the good guys versus the bad guys and the good guys win.  Some days that's just what you need to get you out of your own head and to a better place.  The good guy needs to come out on top.

And these are just a few of my favorite places.  I hope that I still have more favorite places just to discover.

Up Close, Photo Challenge

Up close!  Anyone that knows me knows I love the macro setting on my camera!  One of the few settings I know how to use!!

Let's see what I saw in my camera today.  A place in need of some paint.

I don't understand why the cats like it.  If I had to eat this, I'd be really skinny!

My clock in the bathroom.

Now my personal favorite - a gerber daisy that is sitting on my desk!  Ron sent them to me last week and they are still going strong!

I love close up!  We should do this more often!

Road Signs, Photo Challenge

I'll be honest, I chose this particular challenge.  I chose it because I saw a specific road sign that I thought needed to be on the blog!  Unfortunately, once we got the list settled and this topic made the cut, I can't for the LIFE of me remember what in the heck inspired me to call this challenge!  So I had to wing it.  I've been driving around town for a week trying to get re-inspired.  Here is what I came up with.

I was driving aimlessly around, and the Five Man Electrical Band song going through my head:

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind.

Which means you have to start with a "do not enter" sign!

These signs crack me up.  I have junk, you want some??  I did erase part of their phone number though.  No free advertising from me!

No wonder I can't find my way around town!  Who's turning the signs upside down, totally changing the Route number??  For real, people.  You can't mess with me like this!

Lastly, welcome to the craziness that is the City of Lorain!  Gotta love her!

Here's hoping the road signs are all in your favor and help you find your way home.

Share and Relish

We are starting a new feature here.  Post a simple but tasty recipe, only once or twice a month.  The recipes must contain simple items that can be found in the United States as well as in Germany, especially since this is Georgia's brain child!

This should be a recipe that you actually make and eat, not just something you found in a magazine.  With the new diet, I am going to try to make my recipes a little healthy.  Well, maybe after this first one!  Right now, it's only me and Georgia that has signed up for this project.  Any and all are welcome!  Let me know if you'd like to play and we'll include your name and link you up. 

For my first recipe, I made my Mom's navy bean soup on Sunday.  Beans are high in protein but they are also high in carbs.  I'm not into my diet enough yet to know if this is really good or really bad for me, but it sure did taste good!  And, this is definitely a comfort food from growing up.  Being good Catholics, we always had meatless suppers on Fridays.  Bean soup was a staple in the winter for us. 

If you know how to cook, please don't point out all the errors in what we do!  This is how my Mom made it, so this is still how I make it!

I know how to make this in my dutch oven size pot.  You will have to adjust the recipe up or down depending on the size of your pot.

You will need:

1 to 1-1/2 lbs of navy beans
1 large onion
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 stick of butter
small sized pasta

I start by cooking the pasta according to the directions on the box.  Rinse, drain and put in a container in the refrigerator.

I pour out all of the beans on the counter, and go through them all by hand.  It's not unusual to find a small rock in the bag. 

I will throw out anything that is not a bean, or any bean that looks "funny" to me.

Put the beans in the dutch oven, cover with cold water and swish around to rinse.  Throw out the rinse water and fill the dutch oven about 3/4 full with water and salt liberally.  Personally, I think beans need a lot of salt.  But, salt to your taste.

Once the water comes to a boil, put a lid on, turn the heat down to low and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  After 45 minutes, add the can of tomatoes.

Put the lid back on and cook for another 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Check to see if the beans are done.  If not, keep cooking until they are!  You can tell if the beans are done by taking a few of them out of the water on a spoon and gently blowing on them.  If they are done, you will see the skin on the bean peal right back when you blow on them, like this:

I learned that little trick from my sister-in-law!  When the beans are done, take a sauce pan and saute a large onion, chopped up, in the butter.  As you can see, I only had about 1/2 of an onion so I just used what I had.  I love a lot of onion.  Once the onion is soft and translucent, add enough flour to the pan to make like a paste.

To this same pan, now add cool water until this paste is creamy.

Slowly pour this creamy concoction into the soup, stirring constantly until incorporated.  Once this is all mixed together, let cook about another 10 minutes to thicken. 

Now it's time to enjoy!!  Take the pasta from the fridge, and put a dollop in your bowl.  How big of a dollop is personal taste.

Ladle the soup over the pasta.

Enjoy!  If my Dad were here, he'd add a BIG dollop of ketchup to this bowl, but that was my Dad!  The man thought ketchup was a necessity in any soup.

Go check out Georgia's first recipe, pepper soup.  It looks great!

This soup was mighty tasty.  And it came out just like Mom would have made it!

Warm, Photo Challenge

Warm.  With this crazy weather we've been having, I am having a hard time getting into the spirit of this one.  Originally, I thought of my favorite down coverlet.  That is warm!  Or my Snuggie!  And yes, I do own one and I love it!  But, I digress.

Warm.  I was cooking dinner and I realized if you stand too close to the stove, you do get warm!  Gotta love a gas burner!

Note to self:  Watch how close you get your camera to an open flame.  This is NOT a macro opportunity!  Ouch!

Then, this is how me and Penelope are every morning and every evening.  She is better than a warm blanket on my lap, I'm telling you!

You ever try blogging with a cat on your lap who thinks one of your hands should always be petting her?  Good thing I love her!

Garage Door Update

Well, at least it's in.

As I mentioned in a prior post, this had not been all rainbows and sunshine to get this door in.   Home Depot was horrible to work with on this, as their staff from the door department to the girl in customer service who cashed me out, had little knowledge about what they were doing.  They could also use a refresher course in "customer service".

J&S Door Co. was the subcontractor that Home Depot hired to install this door.   Bill from J&S Door Co. is another one that I will make sure I don't do business with again.  Here is what happened.

The paperwork from Home Depot states that the installer will be calling me in one to two business days to set up an appointment to measure for the door.  After four days, I ended up calling Dave, the manager of Home Depot to find out why I haven't gotten a call.  I tried to tell Dave how this order has been a mess since the beginning but he didn't want to hear it.

He did call J&S Door though, and lit a fire under their butts to call me.  The office at J&S Door did end up trying to call that afternoon.  They called the wrong number, but they did call me.  They ended up calling Ron's phone, which I had told Home Depot was NOT the number to call and to take it off of the account.  Ron let me know they left a message on his phone, so I called them back and left a message on Thursday evening with the correct number.  Friday morning, we finally spoke.

I told the office that I wanted to be there for the site inspection and she hemmed and hawed and said it would just be a quick inspection and measurement.  I explained that it's MY money being spent and I want to BE there when he comes over.  We arranged for the inspection to be done last Monday at 5:00 pm.

I get a call from Bill the installer at J&S Door just before 2:00 in the afternoon telling me he just got done with the inspection and everything is fine.  I said it's NOT fine as he was supposed to be there at 5:00!  He actually asked me "well, why do you think YOU need to be here for this?"  Um, I don't know, because it's MY MONEY??

He claims the office never told him to be there at 5:00 but the office swears it was on the paperwork.  One of them is a bold faced liar, and at this point, I don't care which one it was.  He's telling me that no one needs to be there for the inspection since he was able to get everything he needed just by looking in the windows.  Well, I'd like to know then, why after he hung up with me did he rattle the man door trying to get in to the garage and then knock on the house door.  Just curious.

He came on Friday to install the door and here is the door.

When I ordered the door, I asked for a handle on the outside of the door, no lock, just the handle, in case I have to manhandle the door up some day.  Do you see a handle?  Oh yeah!  Bill decided that I didn't need one on the outside where I wanted it, so he put it on the inside!  He thought it was better this way.  Yeah, Bill.  Here is another reason that had I been there for the inspection, perhaps you would have learned what I wanted and expected and PAID for.  Just sayin'.

So, I'm not happy.  I have already heard that I'm just being a bitch and it's fine the way it is.  I don't agree.  Well, maybe I AM being a bitch about it, but it's not fine the way it is.  It's not the way I ordered it or paid for it.  But, whatever.  Bill liked this way better.

Through out the entire process, I was made to feel like my breasts and ovaries automatically discounted me as a customer who deserved respect.  Just another stupid woman trying to do a man's job of ordering the garage door.  What could this stupid woman know. 

What this stupid woman knows is that I would not use Home Depot again.  

What this stupid woman knows is that I would NEVER recommend anyone using J&S Door Co.

What this stupid woman does know is how to blog.   Home Depot and J&S Door Co. - think twice before hiring either one of them.

Birds, Photo Challenge

Birds!  I bird sat years ago for one of my aunts.  The longest two weeks but two of the best weeks of my life!  I didn't kill the birds, but I came close with one of them.  That will be a story for another day!

The photo challenge today is birds.  Here is what I came up with:

First were some geese enjoying some sunshine.  Today was a good day for that!

Some seagulls trying to find shelter inside of the break wall.

No bird post would be complete for me without a shot of my brother Mike's finches!  His pair had babies!  Gotta love baby birds!

Lastly, a stone eagle, from a monument downtown.

Birds. 

Comfortable, Photo Challenge

Some of our challenge topics are harder than others, and this is one of the harder ones.

Since I really don't like any of my furniture, I can't really show me as comfortable.  I have a hard time getting comfortable anywhere in this house!  Luckily, my cats seem to have no problem finding comfort.

Here is Benny.  This pillow is one of the most comfortable things in the house and this pillow holds my head when I'm sleeping on the couch.  As you can see, Benny likes to share the couch and the pillow!  He does look comfy!

And then there is my Penelope.  This was her yesterday morning in one of her favorite places, the recliner.  For whatever reason, it's also THAT corner of the chair that she will lay in.  I have never seen her on the other side of the chair.  That really is her spot!

As long as my cats are comfy, I'm happy!

Good Food, Photo Challenge

Good food!  This is definitely something different for everyone.  My brother eats fish eyes.  Yeah, I would NEVER include that in a good food category, but whatever!  So, here is what I think is good food.

This is a family favorite that we grew up on.  Cut up a head of cabbage, throw some butter in a cast iron skillet, liberal amount of salt, and fry that cabbage until it's caramelized!  YUM!  We usually add this cabbage to some cooked noodles, or halushki or macaroni or whatever.  OMG, it's just about the best thing ever!

Phil got me a new George Foreman grill last week.  I used it over the weekend to grill up some steaks!

This was a George Foreman grilled strip steak, grilled portabella mushroom and onions and a baked potato.  Winner winner!  I love my George!

Then, one of the best things ever that I will probably miss the most.

Blueberry pancakes from Pete's Restaurant on West Erie Avenue!

I'm telling you, these are filled with blueberries, and tasty as tasty can be!  I am at Pete's every weekend for my blueberry pancake fix!

I love good food.  I'm gonna miss it.