Things that make you go AAAAAAHHHH

I've been away for a few days because I've been under the weather.
I went to the doc for allergy medicine. The medicine I took ended up burning my esophagus, "AAAAAAHHHHHH! The pain!" I ended up in the ER where I drank a flurry of pain killers that, for a short while, eased the pain which eventually came back. So, I was fasting, not sleeping, and praying for some healing. Right now I feel great and I think it is nothing short of a miracle to have gone from such debilitating pain to a measure of normalcy in such a short amount of time. As a result, of my medical drama, I am behind in my preparations for school. However, I'm not going to put too much pressure on myself. It will all come together.

This next story is dedicated to Spencer who I have feeling would really enjoy it.



So, I'm walking in the door and I hear an anxious Randy calling me from the basement,
"Your going to have to identify this spider for me," he says. "Oh! It's a wolf spider! Wow! The largest one I've ever seen! They are so cool! They make funnel webs," I inform him. I speak like a researcher with admiration not fear for the spider.
While I ran off for the camera Randy got a big stick to push the curtain back so I could get a better shot, but the spider freaked out and attacked us like we were in some crazy monster thriller from the 50's. The spider jumped and raced towards us. I lost all the my cool science babe composure and started screaming, "AAAAAAHHHHH!"
Randy whacked it with the stick.
I think it might rain . . . A LOT!
Anyway, I wished there was some way to catch and release the critter, but we're chicken shits. I'm sorry. I'm an accomplice.
Wolfy
A victim of involuntary spider slaughter
died on August 30, 2007.
He was a marvel among spiders for his great size which was slightly larger then a milk cap. Family members have not been identified (but we're pretty sure there's a lot of them). Memorials can be sent to the Spider Catch and Release Program, or The Society for Spider Tolerence.

Things that make you go MMMMM

After a long absence I finally went to Killarney. The little lake was always the perfect place to go and take my kids, and/or meet my friends and their kids. I don't visit the lake much anymore. My friends and I have become too busy and my kids are grown and moving on and away.
Kadie and some of her friends showed up, but I ended up taking the trip to the lake on my own. I could have been doing many other things, and with the cost of gas, snacks and fees, my money really should be spent on other things . . . . but I needed to see Killarney.
My head started filling with happy memories, and I got a little too sentimental for days gone by so that my heart got an ache. I wish there was a way to bring all of my kids together again for a beach day.
As is always the case when you go to the Killarney, it's hard to leave. If there was only a way to make the time go by sloooooowwly.
One of day's the highlights was hearing little Annie's first words. It was pointed out to me that the first "true words" express emotion rather then just name an object. After tasting watermelon for the first time Annie said, "mmmmmm" many times so that we knew she meant it! We all agreed that the watermelon was "mmmmm" good.
"A good time was had by all. Wished you were there."
A day at Killarney really is priceless. mmmmmmm

Eating Carry In

Every year in August Randy and I do Meals on Wheels. This year we were assigned a particularly hard route, hard physically and emotionally. I was so glad I wasn't doing it alone. It was definitely a two person operation.
Meals on Wheels provides me with a reality check. It's easy for me to isolate and insulate myself from people who are struggling like the . . . poor, addicted, blind, deaf, confused, obese, sick and dying, depressed, cognitively impaired, lonely, amputees. All these were on our route.
I kept asking myself, "Who are these people?"
I know there are those that think we get what we deserve, we get what we earn, we are solely responsible for our own destinies BLAH BLAH BLAH. I'm telling you that no one in their right mind would dare to sign on for the lives these people live.
I understand that we all need to take responsibility for own destinies, but only part of it. We have a duty to self and others. We live in societies not in isolation (though sometimes we like to think we can). We need to help everyone be their best self. We need to bless ourselves by blessing others, although no amount of good deeds is protection from disaster.
I kept thinking . . . "I'm one catastrophe away from this kind of life. Thank-you God. Help me God."
The good news is that the meals are pretty good. One lady asked me to put the food in her frig. It was nearly empty except for some bottles of Ensure. So I suppose if you have to wait for someone to bring you food, and the food that is delivered is halfway decent, then that is one less burden of worry you have to carry. "No Mam, Thank you for allowing us to help."

Yay! My Graham Thomas rose has bloomed! Of all the yellow roses grown GT is one of the most beautiful.
The dead maple tree in front of the house was finally chopped down. I asked the tree removal guy if he would also cut down the shoes hanging from one of the wires. I think the shoes bring bad CHI to the neighborhood. Shoes hanging in air . . . tied up . . . going no where. Shoes are meant for walking and taking people places. Tree removal man claimed it was out of his jurisdiction so there they hang. It's like a science experiment . . how many days does it take for a pair of shoes to . . . These shoes have been hanging there for two years (maybe more). Under normal conditions the shoe laces would have decayed and broke, but OH NO not these laces and their bad CHI. They're hanging around filling up with rain, snow, leaves,and ice waiting for the perfect day to snap and go crashing down on my windshield so my pants will fill up with liquid, solids, and gas. Oh how the Fates love to torture me.
Anyway, we experienced bad weather too. Of course my family goes outside to get a better look. We evaluate the temperature, darkness of the sky, wind velocity, and if there is any lightening and thunder. Generally we like thunder storms. That may all change if one of us gets electrocuted or our house (mostly the computer)is destroyed.
Anyway, Elizabeth gave me a turkey feather tree. I had been toying around with doing some holiday trees in the classroom because I have a hard time getting enthusiastic about the holidays. Holidays BAA Humbug! However, I found a Halloween tree and now I have a Valentine's Day tree. I whipped up the little tree shirt for it. It's cute enough I think.

Garden Art

This is for Marlene (my sister)who wants to see pictures of some art I've made for the garden.
A bicycle trellis and a fountain, the front of which is a mosaic of glass shards and pottery.
Also, for Marlene, brother Dave and all you other eggplant lovers I am submitting a fantastic recipe.
Eggplant Pancakes
1 large egg beaten
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 lb Japanese eggplant (Japanese ONLY!)
2 scallions, white part only, sliced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Pierce the eggplant with a knife and roast under the broiler on both sides. The skin will buckle when ready. Remove eggplant and place it in a paper sack to steam.
When cool remove skin and seeds. Chop the eggplant flesh and add it to all the other ingredients mixing until well blended. On a hot skillet, sprayed with a little cooking oil, drop batter in silver dollar sized mounds. Cover the pan to create an oven so that the interior of the pancakes will cook through. The pancakes should be brown on both sides.
Serve with salt & pepper and more sour cream. Yummy!

Cosmic Candy

In Pentwater is the amazing Cosmic Candy Company.
In addition to nostalgic candies, they sell newer more daring candies.
Also, one may buy sugared almonds, cashews, or pecans, cotton candy, flavored popcorn, slushies, and a variety of taffies.
I found the long sought after zots and some pumpkin seeds that were really good.
There was a display unit of test tubes filled with a sweet tart liquid sure to pucker the sourest person. Also, there was a dispenser filled with a large variety of flavored powders to make a giant sized pixy stix.
Sorry for some of the fuzzy images; I got really excited. Even without consuming it candy can make one excitable.
The whole Cosmic Candy store event made me giggle inside because last year my gal pals and I went looking for this "super" candy store which turned out to be a creepy, dark, and dusty front for illegal "treats."

Where the hell is Pentwater?

The rain prevented us from leaving on Sunday, but feeling daring on Monday we (Randy, Kadie, and I) picked up our friend Katherine and went to Pentwater. Just loved it! The cutest place I've been to in a really long time. Don't tell anyone about this place because we don't want it to get too crowded.
The state campground has small sandy sites, however the beach is beautiful and easy to get to, and the grounds are within walking distance of the charming little resort town of Pentwater. We are definitely going back for a longer stay.
We found a kayak livery (folks from Hudson were running the place) and paddled our way down Pentwater river into PW lake.
A local sailor offers lessons, and it made me nostalgic for the times when my dad and I went sailing. "Turnabout!" I'd love to give sailing a try on another visit.
The boys and girls from the PW high school were running for cross-country. Seeing them made me want to run too, but I didn't bring any gear.
At a local restaurant we had a great breakfast which included Swedish Pancakes which were heavenly.
On our way back home we stopped off at Grand Haven which is cute, but populated and busy. It didn't provide the slower pace we were graving. However, I had another remarkable meal. In fact I sent a message to the chef via my waiter, "Tell him I'm in love with him."
My meal (I shared it with Randy and the girls) . . .
Sweet honey teriyaki chicken wings
Red pepper soup with roasted sweet corn
BBQ pork with mango salsa and Gouda cheese
homemade onion rings
Mad hatter beer with orange slices
and a Pizzookie which is a cookie fresh baked in a small pizza pan, topped with homemade ice cream and chocolate syrup.
I know my life doesn't seem "large" or "electric," and I know that there are parts that are "disjointed" and out of "whack," but I'd be wrong to deny that at the moment there is some sweet and pleasant magic sparking about me. It's just so obvious that something nice is going on. I can't explain it, but I am happy for it.

Snowberry Clearwing . . .

One of the best arguments for having a garden is its ability to surprise. My garden satisfies my hunger for evidence of magic. What I love about nature is its strength, tenacity, and defiance against humanities fabricated designs. Today, while holding the beautiful dozing baby girl, a Snowberry Clearwing Hummingbird Moth visited my butterfly bush just as a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird was looking for a drink.
Another sweet and surprising moment . . . and I was there to enjoy it.

Amazing Ice cream

I stopped off at the Dairyette for a small cone. I asked what flavors they had and a very kind young man showed me a list of amazing soft serve flavors. Vanilla soft serve was squirted into a cup, flavorings were added to the iced cream and put under a mixer where it was swirled until combined. Then it was squished through another ice cream squeezer thingy into my wafer cone (I love wafer cones!). I got the Maple nut and it was oh so delicious.
I am still learning to be more "on the ready" in regards to taking photos that may end up in my blog. A picture of each step in the flavored soft serve process would have been really nice.
End Note: In case it's not obvious, I love creating this daily record of my life in photos and words. I wish I was recording more of my art, but I'm in bit of a slump right now. My mind has been on other matters and I'm also trying to shift gears and get ready for school. So for right now the blog is my sole creative outlet and a good one too.

Her Royal Highness Spot

To say that our home and yard is Spot's territory is an understatement. It's more like a kingdom where she can be her authentic queenly self. She can be a cold blooded killer of birds and rodents, a glutonous sloth given to long napping sessions, she will wage war against intruding alley cats, or hold court wooing all with her regal beauty.
I know there are some who will say that her pedigree makes her unworthy of such high praise. I know that the Holstein family of cat is under appreciated, but I'm quite sure that HRH Spot likes being underestimated only slightly less then showing everyone that she is BOSS.

Saturdays are Dreamy

I had a great day (with the exception of neck pain).
Randy and I went to the farmer's market. We bought hot peppers, crocheted and knitted gifts, peaches, and flowers. Big Tim's flowers are so pretty. I love going to the market and seeing all the colors. I mostly love getting the little two dollar tussie mussies lovingly tied with butcher's string. I also love getting a one dollar sunflower stem.
This week I dug out some vases I hadn't used in awhile. An old carnival glass vase,
and an antique snail vase I originally bought as a gift but couldn't part with.
When I see the sunflower towering over the snail I smile.
Then E, Clairrie and I traveled to Briggie's. We went to the nicest rose farm. Even with the worse pain in my neck I was loving this farm. The owner, Lynn, was so kind. She helped me find two David Austin Roses: Abraham Darby, Grahm Thomas, and one Damask rose: Autumn Damask. Brig didn't buy any roses, but Elizabeth, Clair, and I were swooning over the selections. I was caught up in this romantic ether of colors, French names, and fragrances. But I think (and it makes me cry a little), my favorite part was listening to Clair speak from her maiden heart all these words that comes from one smitten by roses, "I want a red one, and ... but ... what about . . ." Too cute.
Every girl should be let loose at a rose farm just once.
Then, under the recommendation of Lynn, we went to the Pickle Barrel for crazy good food. Specialties included fried pickles (excellent!), sweet potato french fries with honey mustard sauce, turkey apple provolone sandwich, Greek chicken wrap, and the "two fister." *sigh* I feel dreamy.

Snapshots of my life

Kadie said she wants to do "big girl things." I do have limits on those sorts of activities, but learning how to make scrambled eggs with creamed cheese and chives will be a valuable life skill sure to give any "big girl" at least 2 degrees of confidence.
I found the cutest Italian made shoes at the resale shop. I feel pretty just looking at them. They originally retailed for $300.00.
I got more eggs from Elizabeth. Aren't they so pretty? I used one to make a peach cream pie. I took it to Briggie's for lunch on Tuesday, but since then I made one more pie which was even better. I've been fussing with this recipe for a few years now and I hope at last that it has been perfected. Randy's mouth waters when he knows I'm making Peach cream pie, yours will too by then end of this post.

Peach Cream Pie
Crust for one 9 inch pie (Never buy frozen, either make your own or use an all ready type)
3/4 c. sugar
4 Tablespoons flour
6-8 Red Haven Peaches (get them from the local grower) skins removed and cut into halves or quarters
1 egg yolk (from the egg of one of Elizabeth's chicken's if possible)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated
cinnamon powder
foil

Grate the ginger and put it in a cup with the cream. Let this sit while you fix the rest of the pie.
Pre-heat the oven to 450.
Prepare the pie crust. Use a glass or ceramic pie plate if possible. Poke the pie crust with a fork and place it in the hot pre-heated oven for five minutes.
Peel and slice the peaches. In a bowl gently toss the peaches with the the flour and sugar.
Remove the crust from the oven and pour the peach mixture into the pie shell.
Strain the grated ginger from the cream. Add the egg yolk to the cream and beat until the yolk is well combined. Pour the cream mixture over the peaches and sprinkle the pie with cinnamon.
Wrap the crust edge with strips of foil (don't cover the whole pie!). Bake the pie for ten minutes at 450. Reduce the heat and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes. Insert a knife into a section of the cream. If the knife comes out clean your pie is done.
Cool then chill the pie. I like my pie cold, on a hot summer day. Others like it a room temperature, refrigerate the leftovers (if there are any)
It's really a very easy pie to make. And, honestly, it is my personal recipe. One of my own invention because I investigated several recipes and created my own. Enjoy!

Making the money

Jeff won a 1,500 dollar scholarship for college yesterday. It is an art scholarship that requires he take one art class per-semester. His work had to be evaluated. The advisor was impressed, congratulated him on his award with a hand shake.
Jeff got a really big smile. The award will be applied to his loans. I'm sure he feels relieved.

Ironic Icon-it fixes broken things . . ..

Ironic Icon-it fixes broken things . . .
humph!
San Judas is supposed to be the patron saint of lost causes. Well, after my last post my archive moved to my side bar. I thought I'd never get my sidebar restored, but (using your best Charlton Heston portraying Moses voice) "LO and BEHOLD!" the side bar is partially restored.
So now I'm wondering what other magical things will happen to me this week? On occasion unexplained miraculous things do happen to me. I'm never really surprised, but I do get really excited about it. I love those moments of unexplained wonder. There is a soothing quality in knowing I am under the care of stronger, kinder, gentler forces.
Speaking of FORCES check out the BBC news
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070806/sc_afp/britainsciencelevitation_070806132733
to read up on the latest research on levitation. It makes me smile smugly because I know that Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon is based in truth- well at least the levitating part is.

San Judas

Can you see the San Judas in the Santos? No this isn't Judas Iscariot the patron saint of double crossers, this is either Jude (also Thaddeus) the apostle, or Judas Cyriacus a dude who took a pilgrimage.

Living a poem

I've been hanging with friends, eating fried ice cream at El Champs, making paper mache pulp, adoring a baby in a cool Bumbo chair see . . .
http://www.bumbobabyseat.com/
I've been giggling and puzzling over Santos figurines (these can be found in vending machines next to Homies and Trailer Park figures- NO kidding!), and I've been enjoying some pleasant things like . . . Hector stopped by after church with his mom, they had fresh baked cheese cake so I bought one. Good thing too, cause we had all the kids home dinner (Jake & Brandy and the kids, Jeff, and Kadie), Lance stopped by too. We sat around in the dark playing neighborhood pranks (no details), laughing, and enjoying the party lights. The cheese cake transaction was mostly done in Spanish with Hector translating. It was all so fun to me.
About Hector's mom, she is so cute. I can taste the love and care she puts into each cheese cake. And about Hector, his English is suave. He has has the rhythm of charming French man. I've never heard a Spanish speaker talk in such a way. I honestly believe his voice could make him rich.
So, I have an egg man & woman (Elizabeth brings the prettiest eggs over once in a while), an occasional steak man, an now a cheese cake lady. It's really cool to be me sometimes.
I think I have learned what it means to live a poem.

May the Force be with you

Things are good. My potted Jasmin is covered in flowers, the pink Magic Lilies are blooming, the Black-Eyed Susan's, and cosmos are popping.
I'm eating good- yumm for blueberries and peaches.
I think there hasn't been much fan fair regarding the 30 year release of Star Wars.
As Yoda would say, "Much you have to learn of the Force." So go to . . .
http://starwars.yahoo.com/
to see a trailer for the Force Unleashed Video game.
Go to
http://www.uspsjedimaster.com/main/splash.html
to see the USPS Star Wars Stamps
I wish I would have had some of those stamps, and a letter, when we saw this R2D2 mail box in NY City.
Go to
http://starwars.lego.com/en-us//funandgames/play.aspx
to play a free Lego version Star Wars video game.

May the Force be with you.
Pray for comfort and healing for the victims of the bridge collapse.