Ghosts and Goblins Oh My!

10/31/2014

Halloween has changed a great deal from my childhood days.  Perhaps yours too.  Mom allowed us kids to go out and get as much candy as our bags could carry.  The earliest Halloween I remember was when Mom made my brother and I King and Queen costumes out of crepe paper.  I believe my costume was made from purple crepe paper and while my brother and I were out that night, it rained.  No big deal you're thinking, but you'd be wrong.  The crepe paper bled and by the time I got home I was a lovely shade of lavender!

When we lived in France, my brother and I and our friends were allowed to go door to door again by ourselves.  The now constant worry about razor blades in apples or things like that didn't exist in the 50's.  You knocked on the door, and costume or not, you got candy.  Delightful.

The next place we lived was on an Air Force base which was closed to only authorized visitors.  Again, we hit the streets.  In those days, my brother and I would indulge our sweet tooth(s) by eating candy from our bag.  Today?  Not so much.

When our boys were old enough to go trick or treating, either Jeff or I stayed home while the other one pulled a wagon with one or both of the boys inside, along with one or both costumes and their candy.  Pulling the boys, even though they were young, definitely qualified as aerobic exercise!

A difference between the days when my brother and I and eventually my sister went out on Halloween was that the boys were not supposed to eat any candy until they got home.  Now I wasn't born yesterday, so I'm pretty sure that was followed to the "T", but I tried.

We followed the same deal with the boys as my parents had, which was that all the candy collected that night was dumped on the dining room table to "share" (more or less). I always threw away unwrapped candy as well as homemade popcorn balls and caramel apples. I appreciated the time and effort it took to make these goodies, but while I was never paranoid, I just didn't feel comfortable with those items.  I always wanted the Smarties candy as well as candy corn.  Disclaimer: as an adult I still like both of these!

Jeff and I live on a court at the top of the hill.  Our street which back when we first moved in was filled with the sounds of children's laughter, now is much quieter.  There are only a few homes left on our street that still have children at home.  The rest of us are either retired or have children in college.  We bought one bag of candy, which should be enough since the decision to either walk up and down our hill for perhaps a few houses handing out candy, is an easy one for most kids to make.  Even I don't like to walk up the hill - that's why they invented cars!

Tonight be sure to get your sugar fix!

P



 

Profiting from Somebody's Misfortune

10/30/2014

Our son has a neighbor who lives across the street that is going financially out backwards.  His house has been repossessed and was sold at auction.  For the last five days, his house has been open to anybody with dollars in their pockets.

On the first day of selling, he had some super nice things - a Harley, grand piano, beautiful wood furniture, china, books and anything else you could think of, he had.  At one time he owned an antique store, and he has been or is still selling on Ebay.   Jeff, the boys and a neighbor of one of the boys went to his house last weekend and because the prices were fair, beautiful high end wood furniture was bought and a small trailer, among other things.

Each day since last weekend, this man has been selling whats left in his house, which is a lot.  Jeff and I went with Andrew yesterday to look at what was still unsold.  I have a love of old books. I love how they look. I love how they smell and the older the better.  These are not books that I particularly intend to read, I just want them.  I bought several books, one of which was published in 1919 and is yellow with age - excellent!

Each room we went into was a potential trip hazard.  There was stuff all over the floor and some of the rooms didn't have overhead lights.  He had several old manual typewriters that would have been fun to own, but I didn't bother to ask him the price, because I was pretty sure it would be high.

I came away with some old books, two pretty salad plates and a figurine of a grandmother and grandson sewing together.  Nothing that I bought was going to change this man's finances.  A dollar here, a dollar there type of things.

What bothered Jeff and I then and continues to do so today,  is that walking into his house made us feel a bit queer.  It felt as if we were walking over a grave - figuratively speaking.  It seemed wrong on so many levels that this man's treasures were now being sold, at a rapid rate, for way less than they were worth.  

If memory serves me correct, he has to be out of the house today.  He is leaving with only what will fit in his pick-up truck, which isn't much.  I don't know if the Sheriff comes and has the contents of the house thrown out into the street or whether some charity group will be the recipient of everything that is left.  

What will remain with me forever is that no matter how high you climb, it's a very short slide back down.

P

Blowing in the Wind

10/29/2014

Today is a Winnie the Pooh day, which is to say, a blustery day.  Our oak tree is dropping leaves faster than we can pick them up. It would be lovely if there was just one massive leaf drop, but apparently Mother Nature doesn't work that way.  

I went out this morning for a few minutes of leaf round-up, which reminded me of trying to spit into the wind (and you know what happens when you try that).  I couldn't sweep up the leaves fast enough into a pile, get the dustpan (I know it's an unusual tool for the task, but it works) and scoop up a pile of leaves before another wind gust blew them away.  It's bad enough if you have to pick up the leaves in your pile once, but to have to do so twice is just plain cruel. 

I raked up two small piles, managed to get them into the bag, and feeling quite smug with my work, decided that picking up some leaves was better than picking up none.  I don't know about you, but I personally hate the recycling lawn bags. Why?  Because when you first open up the bag, it's pretty darn hard to get the stupid bag to stand up.  There is nothing more frustrating than to have a handful of leaves and turn around and find that the bag has fallen over and can't get back up!  I understand the need for recycling, but I wish the manufacturers could come up with a stiff bottom or something.  I'm sure that the manufacturers are working on this problem right now -  not!

Our house is at the top of the street, so if I don't rustle up my leaves, they just blow down the hill into somebody elses' yard.  This bothers me some, but assuredly doesn't keep me awake at night.  

The folks who mow our lawn offer leaf pick-up services.  Once pick-up is $165!  That seems steep to me since all they do is blow the leaves into a tarp, grab up the ends and throw the whole bundle into the back of their truck.  Leaf duty does give me some exercise, but as I've said before, exercise is over-rated!  

Tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to rake up leaves - or not!

P

Produce Facts

10/28/2014

First a disclaimer: with the exception of peas, corn and green beans, I don't like vegetables.  Oh and don't bother to write and tell me how good they are for you, I already know that!  Growing up, Mom must not have liked vegetables either because I don't remember her cooking any "exotic" veggies like eggplant, turnips or Brussels sprouts.  

With the amount of vegetables available to us today, there really is no excuse for not eating them - other than the reason above.  I generally buy frozen vegetables in large bags which I can use for several meals.  Almost all of my casseroles have some kind of vegetable, as well as salsa, thrown into the pot.

I don't have much luck in using fresh vegetables up fast enough before they end up over ripe, soggy or just plain icky.  Luckily for you and me, the paper had a nice article about the storing of vegetables.

I didn't know, for instance, that you could take pantyhose, add onions to each leg, tying knots between each one.  Potatoes need a dark cool place and it's better to store them in a paper bag.  For Asparagus you should trim a half-inch off the end of the stalks and then stand them up in a small amount of water (covered loosely with a plastic bag) in the refrigerator. They will stay fresh for four days. Carrots should also be trimmed and left unpeeled in the crisper drawer and should last for about two weeks. To keep Celery crisp, wrap it tightly in aluminum foil and re-wrap tightly after each use. Celery, like carrot sticks, should be submerged in water in a tightly-covered container.  

And last but not least we come to two vegetables that I have trouble keeping fresh: tomatoes and bananas.  Do you store tomatoes stem up or down, refrigerate or counter? Apparently according to those in the know, it doesn't matter whether the tomato is up or down, but do keep it out of the fridge.

I have a love/hate relationship with bananas.  I don't want a green banana, but I also don't want a mushy one.  I only buy 2 or 3 bananas at a time, hoping that I will eat them fast enough to prevent the bananas from becoming soft and riddled with spots.  If you wrap each stem in plastic wrap that will help the banana ripen more slowly.

So there you have it, a primer on veggies.  But be aware that if you come to my house for dinner, peas and corn are still my go to favorites!

P

Men and Their Tools

10/27/2014

Andrew has a neighbor, who is going out backward financially, and needs to sell, give away or toss pretty much everything in his house by Wednesday.  His house was foreclosed on and was sold at auction, and though I've never been inside the house, from the outside it looks very nice.

In our house, for all the years we've been married, there is an unstated rule for no calls before 10:00 am or after 10:00 pm - unless there is an emergency.  Yesterday, Andrew called us way before 10:00 in the morning to let Jeff know about the sale at this guy's house. He had already been over and bought a table saw and some other "man necessary" tools!  

Once Jeff got off the phone with Andrew, he called Scott.  The key word for Scott was tools and he got in his car and zipped up to our house.  Apparently, once all of my men were in one place, they decided that the furniture in the house was so good, that Scott called his neighbor and they came up for a look-see, which ended up being a buying spree.  

Jeff bought one thing, for the good of the family!, a trailer that we can pull with our truck and take the trailer back and forth from Andrew and Scott's house.  Luckily, Scott has plenty of land to store the trailer, so it's not going to end up in my garage!  The trailer will be very useful and the price was fair.  So we are now a family with the "OX", which is our big truck and now a trailer - we can haul just about anything. I think I'll name the trailer "Babe", which is a good fit for the OX.

Do you remember the old tv show Tool Time with Tim Allen?  On that show Tim Allen had never met a power tool that he didn't want/need.  And, as an added bonus, he "tinkered" with a lot of the tools to make them run faster, or more powerful.  It was a guy's show and all of the men in my house loved it.

I know that Jeff and the boys had a wonderful time yesterday, it was Tool Time for them in real time.  Both Andrew and Scott are still building up their personal stash of tools and so this man's sale was mecca for both of them.  Jeff had (notice the word had) a lot of tools, power or otherwise, and over the course of the boys moving out and into their own houses, some of those tools have been borrowed - indefinitely it seems!  Both boys have building projects they are going to undertake at their new homes, with Dad's help!  Jeff and I are not planning on any kind of construction or destruction at our house - we like it just the way it is.

Here's what I know for sure: my boys/men had a wonderful time yesterday.  They enjoyed each others company and were stoked about the treasures that they found.

P


 

Physical Therapy or Med-evil Torture?

10/26/2014

Those of you who know me well, also know that for oh let's say the past 10+ years I have whined about my left hip and my ability (or lack thereof) for walking and/or standing for long periods of time. I am now seeing a new orthopedic surgeon, who may or may not be 12 years old, wants to revisit therapy, weight loss, epidurals (yuck) to see if any or some combination thereof brings me some relief.  I think that hoping I'll be cured is a stretch, it's osteoarthritis in my hip after all.

I want to be a model patient, which might be a first for me, and though he suggested seeing somebody about weight loss, I have opted to not pay a professional to tell me how to lose weight.  I, like everybody else, knows the secret: put less food in your mouth!  It's really as simple as that.  And, I need to eat a lot less sugar, my personal downfall!

The doctor also ordered physical therapy three times a week for the next six weeks.  I found a small physical therapy office close to the house and my therapist is very nice and has no qualms about putting my legs in positions that they just aren't meant to be in! Of course that's just my opinion.  The act of bending my right leg over my knee and then pressing down really gets my left hip's attention!  After being tortured I do get to rest on a heating pad which is lovely particularly at this time of year.  

I am not looking for a miracle cure, I just want to be able to put my shoes and socks on without grimacing.  I don't think that's asking for too much.  Oh and be able to put my recliner in the upright position without ending up just kicking the footstool portion of the chair down to the floor!

I haven't received exercises to do at home, but I'm sure that sometime next week I'll be given "homework".  I don't enjoy exercise and never had.  "Glowing", i.e., sweating, doesn't seem ladylike!  And, I'm always a lady - at least I think so!

For my exercise today, I'm going to go out into the yard and sweep (yes you read that right) up the leaves in the front yard.  The broom works just as good as a rake, and when you have a pile I simply grab a dustpan and "sweep" the leaves into the standard issued brown bag.

P
 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Cirrus Plane Crash in Maryland

10/25/2014

This wasn't what I was going to blog about today, but since the crash between a Cirrus plane (like ours) and a helicopter made the news, I thought I should put everyone's mind at rest.  The Cirrus involved in the crash wasn't ours.  We do rent the plane out, which helps us with plane expenses, and luckily for us, our plane was sitting in it's parking place at the airport.

Jeff had been out for the day playing "Farmer John" on Scott's "estate" and while he was gone a friend of ours called to see if Jeff was okay.  I thought the call was a bit odd, but assured him that Jeff was on the ground.

Apparently, Andy was at the hospital with Stacey and Benjamin to get a few stitches, who had an encounter with cement, which the cement won.  Andy called Jeff to tell him about the crash and wanted to make sure that he/we were safe.

I was enjoying my usual round-up of cheesy shows, all of which were recorded, earlier in the day and knew nothing about the plane crash, until Jeff came home later that night.  Any kind of aviation accident, particularly involving a Cirrus plane, gives us both pause.  The pilot of the plane did deploy the parachute and he and his passenger left the scene with some minor cuts and bruises.  

For any naysayers out there, when the parachute is used, people walk away, all in one piece.  That bit (a large bit to be sure) of nylon that sits ever ready, should we need to use it, makes me feel safer flying in our plane.  Anytime someone can walk away from a plane crash, it's a good thing.

The parachute pulls on Cirrus' planes, has saved many lives and this week two more people are alive thanks to the on board parachute.

P