Archeology

 No, not digging for mummies in Egypt.  Not looking for gold in Peru.  No pottery shards and arrowheads in the desert.  

I was in my sewing room closet.  This is a storage area for all my crafting, plus other stuff.  Every few years, it gets so disorganized that I have to go in and tidy it up.  That generally means pulling everything out and dusting it and putting it back again.  This time, I didn't really sort through fabric.  I've done that and have space to store what survived.  It just needed re-stacking.  

I had several boxes of memory stuff; pictures, things from high school, momentos, acknowledgements, stuff like that.  I got a little bogged down in the photos and probably spent more time there than I should have, but I was in the mood and gave myself some time to reflect.  Saturday was my Mom's birthday and while it wasn't my intent to be nostalgic, it worked out that way.  I had a medium sized moving box full of framed photos.  I have no sentimental attachment to the frames, so I pulled out all the pictures and boxed up the frames for donating.  And, I sorted pictures into large groupings.  Family, vacations, events, people.  There was an envelope of pics of old beaus that was fun.  I enjoyed laughing at myself for the lengths I was willing to go to try to make some of those relationships work.  And, of course, there were a couple I couldn't get away from fast enough.  I'm not sure if there was a camera I owned that took dark pictures or if they've darkened with age, but there were a lot of photos I couldn't tell what was going on.  Those went to the trash.  Blurry, dark, duplicates, unflattering pictures, people I didn't know, all of that went into the trash.  All the rest got grouped and boxed for me to go through again later.  There's one box of family photos, including some that are really old.  I'd like to get them labeled with the people's names while I can still remember some of them.  Some of the names I've already forgotten and others I never knew.  

I found these and wanted to post them.  These are pictures from a Christmas in the 80's.  At some point, my Mom decided she wanted to host Christmas, so instead of everyone going to my Grandmother's house like they had forever, they came to our house.  When I tell people that the men ate before the women in a very old tradition, they look at me like I'm crazy.  How sexist.  But, it was so practical.  The women got everything ready and they fed the men and the children.  They also washed all the dishes and put them away and they made some things fresh for their table so they weren't just getting leftovers.  Then, while the men visited and the kids played outside, the women had a very relaxed and peaceful lunch.  By the time I was an adult, my Dad and a couple of my uncles and me and some cousins were doing the dishes while the women ate so they could enjoy their afternoon more.    

This was the way.

And, I remember it being some of the best food I ever ate.  

Anyway, I only took out about 2/3 of what was in the closet and it covered every bit of available space in two rooms.  They looked like this.  The open spaces are where I was sitting to go through it.  It's all cleaned up now except a couple boxes that need to be moved and a couple things that I just wasn't up to dealing with that went back in the closet on the floor.  They're small things that I won't have trouble putting away later, but I wanted to sort through before I put them away.  

There were hundreds of greeting cards and I kept thinking who are these people that sent me all these cards.  I would have liked to get distracted by sorting through them, but I never would have finished if I'd tried.  The pictures were enough.  There was also a stack of letters that I'd like to go through as well and a lot of very bleak poetry that I wrote when I was young and trying to figure out what my heart felt and for whom.  Not sure I ever want to go through that and considered tossing it, but it survived, for this go-round anyway.  

I did something a little different this time.  Usually, I empty it from left to right and then put it back in an organized way.  But I end up with things at the end that have no place and get separated from the things they belong with.  This time, I emptied by category; knitting, quilting, paper, memories and went through everything in that category before putting it back in.  I ended up with similar things together, so all the knitting is in one place and all the sewing in another and all the shirt making in another.  

The closet ended up looking like this.  It's still full, but at least I can walk in and find things again.  

Couple pictures of flowers.  This is the turk's cap.  The red flowers draw hummingbirds.  There's a clump near the house and one further away.  Sometimes, I see the leaves shimmering...just a little movement and a flutter.  If I watch long enough, I'll see the little hummingbird in there trying to hit every flower.  

And, a little cinco de mayo rose.  I love that these are pink and orange and red and yellow, all at the same time even though the camera only caught the red this time.  

I've had to put the shade cloth up in half the greenhouse.  After we had trees cut, the sun is too much in there in the afternoons.  The plants that were suffering in too much sun are starting to perk up.  It makes a huge difference and there's plenty of morning sun that comes in on the other side.  

I'm interviewing today for the first time in at least 20 years.  I used to be a really good interviewer with a high success rate (people I interviewed and recommended did well and stayed long).  Over the next two weeks, I'll be helping interview 7 people for a job in my job group.  It's exciting to be part of the future of my job, even though I hope to be out of it by time these people have made names for themselves.  

Trump.  Enough said.  The emperor truly is so out of touch that he may as well be naked.

Everybody have a great week!  Find something you enjoy and make it accessible again so you can enjoy it.  Maybe smile at a nice memory.  See if you can find a way to enjoy what life has to offer.  

Lane

Bucket

Boo-kay residence, lady of the house speaking.

It's spelled Bucket.

It's pronounced Boo-kay.

If you're not familiar with Hyacinth Bucket from Keeping Up Appearances, then you have truly missed out.  Poor Hyacinth wants so badly to be upper crust and everyone around her is common as dirt, making the pretense very difficult.  In many ways, she reminded me of my own Mother.  

Anyway, our front porch this week reminded me of that.  I needed a 5 gallon bucket for cleaning the grill and in its usual fashion, the universe paid off in spades.  Suddenly people were discarding 5 gallon buckets and I dragged them home and we became the bucket house.  And, I cleaned the grill, so the buckets came in handy.  

I used to clean my grill once a year, in spring.  I'd replace worn parts and give the inside a good cleaning.  It would take hours and made a huge mess.  Turns out that if you clean the grill more regularly, it's easier and takes less time and makes less mess.  Good thing, good thing and good thing.  I knew a guy once that cleaned his grill back to new condition after every use.  I thought he was an idiot.  We had identical grills.  Mine was a mess.  His looked like it just came out of the box.  I guess he was onto something.  

Last week was kind of crazy at work.  There was an in-office day on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I started setting up my new work laptop.  I'm glad to have a new work laptop because my old one was worn out.  Even though I hardly used the keyboard, the keys in the middle stuck...the ones I keep my fingers on, like I was taught in typing class.  If you press the L key, you're likely to get 14 of them before the next letter starts and I had to press the space bar firmly to get a space.  Now that's gone and I can start fresh with a new machine.  And, all those problematic settings I've accidentally activated over the last 5 years will be shipped back to the company headquarters.  

There was more organizing this weekend.  I cleaned up my tool area.  I used to keep my tools in a tool box, like my Dad did.  But, when. I needed a tool, I had to dig for it.  There were tools I forgot I had and had been borrowing from Rob.  No more.  I bought a $13 hanger for my screwdrivers and pliers and pulled some extra storage bins that I wasn't using in the house (never throw away storage.  It will come in handy later).  Add the label maker and I ended up with a nice, well organized tool storage area.  I can see and find my tools now.  Doesn't mean I'll use them more, but I can find them.  

We went shopping with a home organization shopping list on Saturday.  We got some new nonslip rugs and I got some bins to keep oil in the pantry.  I had stored my oil bottles in disposable aluminum baking pans for years, but I moved them and sometimes need to take them out to get to what is behind them, so I needed something more sturdy.  I got these bins really cheap and they're perfect!

I also got a new skillet.  My good teflon skillet had started to stick on one side and I'd been reading about how we needed to stop using teflon, so I bought a ceramic lined skillet.  I used it for the first time yesterday and it worked perfect.  I use small skillets a lot and if I keep liking this 10" one, I plan to replace my 8 and 12 inch skillets eventually.  

This week's egg casserole has a Mexican theme.  It's the same basic recipe that I shared last week, but instead of ham and Swiss, there's breakfast sausage and cheddar, and I added 3/4 cup of salsa to the egg mixture and increased the sour cream a little.  It should be delicious!

And, the complaining begins:

Google sucks.  They're probably okay if you devote your entire life to them, but if you just want to use some of their services, they suck donkey butts.  The last interaction I have with them is this blog.  And, it has gotten so difficult to blog that I've spent many Monday mornings thinking about just discontinuing the blog.  Right now, I'm thinking about moving it to a new service.  Just thinking about it for now, but if any of you have suggestions for other easy to use blog servicing apps, please share.  

I'm so proud of Democratic TX State Legislators.  It feels like they're running away and I'm sure some news services are presenting it that way, but in reality, they're playing the same dirty game that the pubes play and it's refreshing to see.  I'm so enjoying listening to the little pubes whine and cry about how they're not getting to be the only ones up to dirty tricks.  They're such spoiled little babies, thinking they're the only ones that get to misbehave.  And, when someone shows them what that looks like, they cry and wail about how unfair it is.  

It's funny how I've gone from swearing at them to laughing at them.  Maybe it's the new med.  Not sure.  Don't care.  Their beliefs are a joke.  Their politics of cruelty is a painful joke.  Their pretenses of doing what's good for the country is a joke.  Their ability to govern is a huge joke.  

Early in my career, I learned that you can't corral an angry group.  If you make people mad to get them to support your cause, they will eventually turn that anger back on you.  And, despite the whirlwind of crazy that trump spins to create distraction, I see that anger solidifying against him.  Not as fast as I wish it was, but solidifying nonetheless.  It's like they thought they'd be exempt from his cruelty, only to find that they're the actual victims of it.  

And, I don't feel sorry for them.  Not one bit.

Everybody have a great week!  Live, laugh, and love your way through the week.  Refusing to bend is resistance.  

Lane

A little of this, a little of that.

It was another busy week of work and pets and stuff needed doing.  My boss was on vacation, so I had plenty of time to catch up on things and focus on little problems that needed more time than they were worth to resolve, and I cleared out my to-do list.  

I spent all day Saturday in the kitchen, rearranging cabinets because I was tired of having to take something out to get to what I wanted.  How does it happen that the thing I want is never the thing on top of the stack???  This time, instead of organizing dishes by set, I have one cabinet with just plates, one with just bowls and one with the things we never use like cups/saucers and butter dishes...because when we collect something, we don't go half way.  That left me with a cabinet that looks like an antique store.  

Next up is the garage.  And, after that, my sewing room closet, which I had to work hard not to get distracted by this weekend.  

I got some nice pictures in the garden this week.  All the rain we've been getting has really made a difference.  There's still a lot of stuff burning up in the heat, but it's the stuff that's supposed to this time of year.  

Plumbago season is just starting.  I'll get these pretty blooms during the hottest part of the summer.  

The roses had a good week last week as well.  

This is a ginger that I had to move the other day.  After we had tress cut, it was getting too much sun so had to move it closer to the house.  The blooms have petals that are white, pink and a green tint.  It was an expensive, but good purchase.  

And, my Texas red star hibiscus that's in too much sun.  But, I saw another seedling and I think this bloom might have made seeds, so I'm hoping to find just the right place where this is happy.  

How about a recipe?  I make an egg casserole every Sunday.  I get a little of it and Rob takes the rest to work where he and a co-worker eat it for breakfast.  I started out making frittatas but potatoes don't heat up well in the microwave, so I've cut the potatoes out of it.  I have several versions of this and don't usually measure, it's hard to mess it up.  

Ham and swiss Egg casserole

3/4# diced ham

3/4 C chopped onion

1/3 C chopped bell pepper

1 clove garlic minced

1/2 C sliced fresh mushrooms

3/4 C shredded Swiss cheese 

sliced green onions

6 eggs

2/3 C bisquick

2/3 C small curd low fat cottage cheese

3/4 C milk

salt and pepper to taste

Saute the ham with the onion and bell pepper til the vegetables soften.  Add the garlic and mushrooms and let them soften.  Layer this mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.  Add the cheese and the green onion.  

Stir the eggs and bisquick until well combined.  Then add the cottage cheese and milk.  S&P to taste, but remember the ham is salty.  Pour the egg mixture over the meat, vegetables and cheese. 

Bake 350* until brown and firm on top, about 40 minutes.  

I used an 8x10 casserole and the small casserole that I'll keep for myself.  If you want to make this as a 13x9, increase everything by half.  Or, just increase the egg mixture ingredients.  

Subject change:

I heard once that you can't make a prize winning quilt on a Singer sewing machine.  What a snob.  A sewing machine is a tool.  Sure, a different tool may make the job easier, but it's still just a tool.  A few years ago, I bought a Singer because I needed a machine that would make a good blanket stitch.  It's the only thing my Bernina 930 won't do and this little machine does it very well.  I've pulled it out to blanket stitch the wedding ring quilt to the border.  I got started yesterday and got the stitch set right and was moving along, but decided I'd chosen the wrong thread and picked it all out again.  It's okay.  Anything worth doing is worth doing again and again and again until I get it right.  

The orange man that said he'd bring the price of groceries down, even though he didn't know what the word groceries meant should have been in the store yesterday when I paid $20 for a canister of Folgers coffee.  I'd a given him an earful!  But, they warned us and that's why there's 10# of coffee in my garage.  And, a few pounds of chocolate, too.  And, two small roasts in the freezer with some steaks.  I can hardly wait to remind one of his loyal followers that this is what they wanted.  This is what they voted for.  Turn the world upside down so they can feel free to be bigoted and racist.  They'll whine louder than anyone when they have to give up their cigarettes and lose their healthcare.  When there's no one left that will pick their lettuce.  And, when all the home health nurses have been deported.  

On that bleak note, it's time for me to go.  Everybody have a great week!  May your cup run over with peace and may you find joy in at least some of what you do.  We deserve it!  

Lane