What is Better Than

One Rrraaahhh Kitty?Why, Two RrraaahhhKitties, of course!and, Little Rrraaahhh Kitty, you must have a ribbon too...yes, this is how collections get started...Thank Goodness :)

One of Life's Little Windfalls

So what is your knee jerk reaction when you get a nice little piece of unexpected pocket change?

Hang onto it for a while? Spend it on the family? Indulge in a Spa Day? Something nice for the garden? or for the wrist/ears/neckline? Buy a stack of BOOKS?! (yes, I keep a running list* jotted down on little bits of paper for just such occasions....those little bits of paper have a tendency to get lost in life's jumble but show back up from time to time...)

My knee jerk reaction was D) All of the Above but, unfortunately, $200 can spend like $20 when you're tryin' to cover all those bases! well, excepting covering the Spa Thing...I'm not a Spa Chick...I'd like to be, but I'm more comfortable digging around in the dirt & weeds and then climbing into our hammock than layin' butt naked** on a table with a stranger kneading my fat cells...it kind of ticks the fat off...and we don't like to get the fat angry...bad things happen...the fat will respond with a retaliatory counter-offensive and my butt will end up needing its own zip code...

Back to subject matter: It is time to make a list...I'll write down everything I'd like to do with my Happy Card, along with pricing, and then winnow out until I get the Very Best Things to Buy...

This is some really serious business...I mean, what if I buy Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage...and then I cannot stay awake through it? A Waste of My Happy Card! somehow, I don't think I will be bored with it because I'm fascinated by marriages...even wonky ones...but still, there is that possibility...

Or, what if I buy 2 urns for the garden that I've been eyeballing ? then comes our Mandatory Freakin' Hot Summer and I will have to spend a great deal of extra energy cursing them (and me) because I have to drag out the watering can twice a day and my plants still get fried?

Or, perhapsI treat the family to a very nice dinner out (and maybe still have enough for books and urns...heh heh...if we make if coffee and doughnuts I'd have the books and urns......although I could do that (the doughnuts and coffee) at home for much less...practically free...hey, family time is family time), and it turns out to be Crappy Night at the Restaurant...that would be HUGELY Disappointing...Plus, I'm not inclined to spend Windfall Money on food...here today, gone tomorrow if you know what I mean...

I could be making too much of a big deal about this...A list...yes, definitely, I need a list...okay, I'm off to find some paper & a pencil***



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*Current List Includes: Chernow's Washington, Mark Twain's autobiography, Franklin and Eleanor, a score of Home and Garden books...the OED...a little bit of fiction...I'm not much into fiction...

**I'm sorry, ya'll, but towels and/or sheets (unless at a Toga Party...and then a flat sheet in lieu of pants is only acceptable because of the vast amounts of alcohol to be consumed) do not constitute "Clothes" unless you're a baby wrapped in swaddlin' clothes...

***with a big eraser

When I Get on a Roll

I can be dangerous!!! at least that is what Fred is thinkin'...since he is one of the Resident Kitchen Monitors, Fred spends a lot of time in the kitchen when there is activity that needs, um, monitoring...that would be any activity where a food particle might hit the tile...We bought ourselves an early 21st Anniversary present*...a Kitchenaid 12-cup food processor... now, I'm not one much for a kitchen full of Specific Task items...my Food Saver taught me that lesson (once I realized how much the replacement rolls cost *Bam* into the cabinet where it sat until I dragged it off to Goodwill...what incredible waste of $ for me...now if you love yours, that is great but I just didn't get into it) and I have resisted getting a food processor ever since I managed to kill the 1970-era one DH brought to our marriage...there were words like "deliberate" and "malicious" tossed around that day...along with phrases like "piece of dilapidated crap" and "ancient piece of crap" (I know, but you gotta switch it up a little when havin' a self-righteous hissy fit)

(and here it is, the "but" you knew was comin') BUT after hearing a couple of good friends (visit Miss Char) keep on about how much they loved their food processors for this, that and the other, well, I finally yielded myself up to temptation...

On Sunday...or was it Saturday?...I forget...anyhoo, we had a veggie bin full of citrus from the holidays and then somebody gave us more...and neither of us really are all that into citrus (I bought wayyyyy too much for tour traditional ambrosia) so we decided to take the juicer out for a spin**... and this wasn't all of leavings! we have, count it, 1 full pitcher of juicegood grief...I never realized how many oranges must go into all that OJ sittin' on supermarket shelves! what do they do with all of the leftovers? now, I will make a batch of crystallized orange rind when I get in the mood but it just wasn't happening on Sunday (Saturday?) so into the compost spinny bin with it all...(yes, that is a banana peel, not some strange skinny citrus fruit rind...I had a snack)

then we made coleslaw...the outer leafy green part was aggravating to get into the mix but I do love how the rest of the cabbage chopped up all super-tiny...like the kind you get at Carey Hilliard's...we tossed in an onion and some carrots too...

didn't take a photo of that and I'm too lazy to get up, go to the fridge and then load more photos...and it is just cole slaw...

next, I realized there were some potatoes that were getting a little long in the tuber lurkin' in the other veggie bin...ya'll know what is comin' right? yep, potato photo... these little potato slices are very nice to have on hand to toss in the oven for a carby side dish with a dollop of fat free sour cream up on top....

I'm trying to decide what I'm going to "process" next...I am in possession of the egg whippy attachment so it might be meringues on Valentine's Day... *********************************************************
*I promise no arm twisting was involved...just a wry "you already ordered it, didn't you?"

**Time was runnin' out on the Return Window if "we" absolutely hated this thing so it was time to fire up the FP and take it for a spin...

I Do, I Do, I Do Love Christmas...

(hence the Christmas Tree still standing at #17) but I've come to realize as much as I anticipate and relish every moment of the the Holiday season that commences Thanksgiving Day Eve (hey, it is my world) and continues until the Epiphany, truly, January lays claim to the position of My Favourite Month... and while I no longer task myself with Resolutions that, I promise ya'll, will go Un-Resolution-Ed, or stayin' awake until Midnight to toast the New Year in as that glittering ball drops in Times Square*, I find great enjoyment in putting the house to rights and layin' down my thoughts for directions I hope I find my life takin' in the coming months. Like the bare branches of this Cleveland Pear tree, the stripped down days of January with no Big Holidays and a Deleted Bank Account allow me to see somewhat clearly what course to set...or at least what direction to face...most likely, that course will alter, over and over again, until it is no longer recognizable by the time Year End nears but that, as we all say, is life...all we can do is pray a little, plan a little and see what fills up our cups...Happy New Year, everybody! and may all of our cups over run with Love, Good Health and Good Fortune in this Year of 2011...

*************************************************************************** *I made it until 8 p.m. this New Year's Eve...we saved the champagne for another day... As a huge added bonus, January and February in Southeast Georgia are pretty much the only months where a gardener can have a Brief Respite from most of those crushing garden chores...havin' said this, I will own up to being outside in the icy rain today, shaking ice from the leaves and branches of my Little Gem Magnolia, my Tea Olive and a Nandina that was completely bowed down beneath the weight of ice...