Out with the Old . . .

It was like Christmas today here at the homestead. All kinds of boxes arrived.

Since I wasn't able to find mom's Merrill's during the holidays, I finally went to one of the department stores and ordered a pair. They came in today! Since her others were so dirty looking, I thought I'd get her the darker brown. She loves them! Yay!

(Old)

Also arriving by post was my new camera. I think I may have mentioned the hub and kid bought me this fancy shcmancy Nikon for Christmas when all I wanted was an updated version of my little Sony Cyber-shot. You know me, I hate spending money on things I won't use (and since I have probably at least three nice SLRs sitting in a cabinet somewhere collecting dust), I decided to send the Nikon back and get my little point-and-shoot.

I've done the focusing and shutter speed and film speed, etc. For me, after being so involved in photography for so many years with my family in the photo biz; I gave it up so I could enjoy photographing again. I would go on vacation and agonize and fret over getting the best shot ever. Then I would go into the darkroom and do the same. Not any more. I just point and shoot, print it up on the computer. Good enough for me.

(New)

Bottom line is I love photography again. My brother Jim had bought me my first Cyber-shot several years ago and I have been addicted to it ever since. I found the love, again. It's about the size of a credit card, but thicker, of course. I can just whip it out of my purse or pocket, slide the front cover and shoot. No one even has to know I'm doing so as it fits in the palm of my hand. At any rate, yadda yadda yadda, my new one is shooting the best photos ever! My old T1 was 5.0 megapixels while the new T100 is 8.1. There is a new model on the market, the T200; but it has a touch screen back which I don't think I would like too much. I don't even like the cell phones that have that touch screen. But, the older T100 has the old push buttons which I have become accustomed to. Let me tell you, I had some searching to do to find one since it's an older model. But, where there's a will, there's a way.

This is my first test on the camera of my dashboard. (Now you know why I never answer my cell phone friends--this is where it sits, 24/7.) My "Superman" tag fell off my key chain the day Johnny was put in the hospital, unbeknownst to me--strange.

Look how great the close ups are! (You can click on photo to get full size.) Mind you, my old one did pretty darn well. I was amazed at my little silver charms in the sand a couple of posts back; but this is amazing. I did a little walkabout the house and took a couple of test shots. I am loving it! Wasn't sure I would. I'm the type that hates change. Guess we all do. But, I was certainly ready to send this one back too if I didn't like it. Grin.


I went to the tea shop down the street this morning to see if they had any little yixing cups. They had an entire set, cheap! Now I have another pot for a different type of tea. They say not to mix the teas as the flavor is absorbed in the pottery.

Speaking of tea, I think I had a little too much yesterday. I was buzzing all night, even after my head hit the pillow. Then I started worrying about everything as you do when you mind begins to run rampant. No more tea for me after 5! lol. Notice the pretty demitasse? This is from Raphael's grandfather in France. I purchased a lot of his things that were up for auction a couple of years ago. It is the perfect size cup for almost a pot of tea.

Since I couldn't turn my brain off last night, I started thinking (worrying) about Johnny in the hospital. I finally just got up and wrote his nurse an email about 2 a.m. I kept forgetting to ask if he had been put on a "liquidized" bed in order to prevent him from getting pressure sores. In years' past, you had to ask for one and then it had to be ordered. It took forever. If the nurses weren't turning the person every couple of hours, the skin could begin to break down. And let me tell you, nurses do not have the time to be turning a patient every couple of hours and some plainly chose not to. I can't help but feel that Christopher Reeve's accident and subsequent campaigning for better health care for spinal cord injury patients has helped in educating not only the lay person but the medical community as well. Bless him. Any way, sigh, my brother's nurse sent me a note back this morning that he was indeed in the right bed and reassured me that he was doing better and that he may even be off the ventilator next week! PTL! That's when I will probably make a jaunt up to DC and swoop in on him. I've even thought about taking mom up with me. But, after our last episode when I took her away from home, I think I best leave things well enough alone. God bless her.

The boys are leaving for NY tonight, heading up for Ukie Christmas (Southern style--always late). I'm going to miss all the festivities. The teenager is bellyaching, of course. Geesh, enjoy the flight up, enjoy the different scenery and enjoy seeing your grandparents! Kids! I think I will begin taking down the Christmas stuff. Yep, it's all still up. This is one of my Christmas Ukrainian egg ornaments I made many moons ago. I only have two left! Maybe I should make some more next year. Ya think?

Would You Like a Storm with That Tea?

The hub made it home safely from China last night with more Chinese gifts in tow. The Chinese seem to be the most generous people. He and his coworker were given these beautiful tea trays and yixling tea pot. (If you click on the link where the tray is from, you will be able to listen to some soothing Chinese music but won't be able to get the English translation. It's worth clicking!) This tray has a slide underneath where all the access water goes. Too cool.

I have been looking around the internet trying to learn this new way of serving tea. It's absolutely fascinating. From what I gather, the "style" or custom with the yixling tea pots is called Kung Fu. While I did have my "tea" this morning, I only had it about half right. Still, it was really fun and the tea is amazing. The hub found a nice box of oolong that contains these tiny little packages.

Since I didn't have any small cups, I used my demitasse that I picked up in Bremen, Germany last year. It was perfect. I had several pots all by my lonesome and when the kid arrived home, I even made him a pot.

While surfing, I even found a video. While this video washes and washes and washes the cups and pot, more sites say to only wash the pot and cups with the boiling water once, then add the tea and rinse the tea and cups and then you are set to drink the third pot. Isn't it captivating?

This is what the leaves look like after they have brewed several pots! Wow!

After about my third pot (mind you, these are tiny pots), we had some terrible storms roll through. I even took the cats to the basement while mom and I sat in her living room (that is all underground) for about an hour. The kids were in lock-down mode at dismissal time and they had to wait an extra 45 minutes until they released them. We had tornado warnings for about an hour all around us. Thank goodness, I don't think any actually touched down; but the rain was torrential. These pictures are taken about half an hour after the storms came through. (Sorry about the blurr at the top. Bet you don't miss this Dianne!) The ponds were completely overflowing as were the streets!

My brother Johnny continues to make a little more progress. His blood pressure was better today; and although he still had a temperature, it was mild. His nurse says he is still asleep 99% of the time but acknowledges her when she says his name. I keep thinking about going up but think I will wait until he is alert and perhaps I can help him along at that point. I am playing it by ear day by day. I have coverage set up for mom in case I need to fly up this weekend as the hub and boys are heading North for Ukrainian Christmas. I am staying home to watch over mom. As I've said before, I don't I feel comfortable leaving her alone overnight any longer.

Again, thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers. It's working!!

Thank You

You are all angels in my book. I know all your thoughts and prayers have been heard.

Johnny is doing a little better. While he is still in ICU and still on a respirator, the oxygen level intake was lowered this morning which is a very good sign. He had a fever this morning but it is now lower. His lungs are clearing so it doesn't look like pneumonia has set in.

Thank you all so very much, from the bottom of my heart.

Brother John

My brother Johnny is in the hospital and is very ill. He's a quadriplegic so there are always many factors involved when he comes down with an illness. The doctors don't know quite what is going on and are running a multitude of tests. It all started with a fever and his becoming disoriented, which is normally a sign of infection. He had to be put on a respirator Sunday morning in order for him to breath. His nurse says I don't need to come up, yet. I'm just praying that he will turn around tomorrow for the better.

Please say a prayer or send him well wishes if you can.

Mom's New Year Photo

Is she not the most beautiful? Yep, she is!

Happy Ukrainian Christmas

Bellyaching

The appliance guy is here, again. The refrigerator's fancy electric shelf never has worked. I don't know how the salesperson talked me into buying this junk heap--probably only because it sat flush in with the cabinets. The shelf was broken when it arrived but "they" didn't discover it (conveniently) until after it was installed. They've been back three or four times trying to fix the thing. At Thanksgiving, when I put all my wonderful fresh milk from the farm on the top shelf and tried to adjust it, showing it off to my brother--eeeeerrrrrggggghhhhh. Grinding noise. When I called the store, the guy knew exactly what it was. Well, if he knew exactly what it was, why wasn't it fixed last time? Today, he was packing up ready to leave and (I've learned) I go to test it--eeerrrrgggghhhhhhhhhhhhh. Lord have mercy. So, he's still in there working on the thing. "Aw, to be stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again."

Last week, another set of "appliance" guys came in to replace a grate on the AGA that was defective (don't know why it took two guys). They brought the wrong grate, par for the course--and if that weren't enough, they chipped the middle grate somehow. Lord have mercy. They too were walking out the door when I went to put the old grate back and saw the chip. Weren't even going to tell me. I'm on to these kitchen people, let me tell you.

Ok, enough bellyaching about the kitchen. I am loving my kitchen. I still curse the "kitchen idiots" at times when I see something blatantly wrong; but I know that will eventually pass when the newness of the space passes. The flow is there and it fully functions unlike the kitchen of old. It is gorgeous, if I do say so myself. I again enjoy decorating it, changing a little something every day to make it look fresh like I used to do in my old kitchen in Virginia. It's a joy to work in, if only I could bake! I'm working on it though. I'm going to get that down this year if it kills me.

Yesterday, I took all these pictures of various things I was doing--cleaning up my potted plants, making vanilla sugar and finally cleaning up the kitchen and setting out a new little scene on the island. Poof! Gone! My computer jammed right at the end of downloading them and I always delete the pics from my camera so it's fresh and ready for my next burst of shots; and I lost everything! I had even taken pictures of the boys for the New Year's cards! Grrrrrr. Finally got those two together and dressed only to lose them. About 11 p.m. last night, I had to regroup them and get some more. They didn't look as good--guess everyone was tired at that point. I'm hoping it's not a "new" iPhoto deal. That wouldn't be nice. I have never lost pictures in a download before. I'm still hoping I can recover them from somewhere. In the meantime, I retook some for your viewing pleasure. (Look at the flour jar in the middle and see the difference between bleached and unbleached flour. There was just a tad of the bleached in the bottom of the jar when I refilled it. Amazing.)

These are what I put out on the island. I found these darling little bird cages in NYC at the American Folk Art Museum. The little gnomes were purchased from my last trip to Alabama at the World Market. They were 70% off meaning they were barely $1 each. I love their little sweaters. I wish I knitted, these would be fun to make out of, say, a wooden thread spool.

The weather has warmed here quite a bit. I think it's supposed to be in the 70s today. I'm taking mom out to get her hair cut since it is warmer. I'm still afraid to take her to get her B12 shot. I haven't taken her since before Christmas. With all this sickness running amuck, I'm afraid to take her to the melting pot of germs known as the doctor's office. I am doubling up on her B vitamins hoping that will suffice. She seems fine. One of my biggest fears is her coming down with something and it turning into pneumonia. I pretty much quarantine everyone if they come down with something which has done the trick. Better hush up before I jinx it.

Ok, looks like the shelf is fixed for now. And the sun just peeked out from a cloud. Time to hit the road! See ya!

Rosemary

What Rosemary Means

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself. You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

I've always loved these little quizzes. It's amazing how accurate (kinda) they come in. (I wouldn't say that first paragraph is me to a T, only kinda sorta, well in my own mind really. But, I am well rounded alright! lol)

Thanks Janet for always sharing these with us!

PS I have YET to make it to the kitchen. giggle. Can ya tell the hub is out of town? I sure can, fo sho.

Hi-Fi Time

It's time to turn the music on and get this place rockin'! My kitchen is a disaster. Well, not quite a disaster, but it's not "new kitchen" up-to-par, so to speak. I have dishes to put away, pans to clean (by hand--my brother won't let me put them in the dishwasher any more) and just straighten up and tidying. So much to do and I don't feel like doing a darn thing. I have little piles everywhere and a big ol' junk heap in the office upstairs. Someone told me once in a comment they litterally had a walk way to the desk and everywhere else was junk. Hello (hand raised), that's what's beginning to happen there. Why is it that we always have a catch all, whether it be a closet, a desk or an entire room? When will I learn to just deal with it as it comes and put it in it's proper place? Probably never. New Year's resolution? Naaa.

The hub is back in the Far East (do they call it that any longer?). I've been playing nerd (and lazy housewife) in his absence. Before his leaving, I finally opened the laser jet printer I received for Christmas and started in on printing some photos I've been meaning to send out. I had gone out and spent umpteen bucks on laser paper for photos, labels and misc. other types of papers I use in my artwork. When I printed the photos, they were absolutely hideous. Now, mind you, I am (was) a professional photographer at one point in my life, so I expect photographs to look like, well, photographs. It wasn't even a good copy. If you turned it sideways, you could see the colors mucked together. Oooooof. I switched photo papers. Still no good. Daig. The hub and I packed it all up and took it right back and got me a fancy schmancy ink jet for the same price. Go figure. And the photographs---Italian finger kiss--she's beautiful! I don't think these laser jets are all they are cracked up to be. I'm sticking to ink jets from now on. Yes, they are slower; but the quality print is there. That's what I'm talking about. I'm sure there's a car engine on this this baby and if you push a button, wheels will pop out and you can drive it around the block. Perhaps another button that seals it and pushes the propeller out to cruise around the river in? It's da bomb, baby.

Okay, I did say I'm playing geek, right? Of course, sigh, I couldn't get the printer to print from the computer to the photo paper tray. Had to call Hewlett Packard, of course. And, long story short, my iPhoto wasn't up to date, of course. And so I had to go to Mac Authority and buy, yes buy iLifeO8. What happened to the day when iPhoto was upgraded for free? Lordy dordy. I just hate it when I have a new toy and then there's something that is just not quite right. Grrr. My life story. I'm really liking the new iPhoto though (after all that complainin'). A little bit to learn after using the same old program for over five years. Nothing like the Photoshop learning curve though, thank goodness!! That was last year this time. Phew! I have to admit, this is the very first piece of software I have ever personally purchased. Proud? (I bet the hub is. Wait 'til he hears.)

I have all my New Year's cards to send out. Haven't broken the seals on the boxes yet though. I am putting off taking pictures of mom and the boys. I just can't seem to get everyone together. The teenager is working most of the time, the kid is out running with his friends and mom needs a haircut (but it's just been way too cold to get her out). So, maybe this year, there won't be any pictures. We'll see how far I get. (But I am dying to use my printer--hehe.)

Ok ok, enough procrastinating. Let's get it started in here.

(Poor hub, just called. 3 a.m. Beijing time. Wondered if we just called him. Nope, I finally know what time it is over there. Got my Beijing clock widget going baby. No more waking him up at 3 a.m. to chat.) Who doesn't love a good widget?

Ok ok, I'm really going now. Two in the afternoon. Yep, about time to get moving. (Although, I think Bella has the right idea curled up on her kitty carpet. PS She's the only one who doesn't have hairballs. Princess.)

No Title Needed

I'm afraid I'm going to have to buy a couple of these signs. I suppose since it's winter and the cats aren't going out as much as in the warmer months, they are leaving the most disgusting puddles about the house. Every time I turn around I find one, either fresh or one that has already dried. I prefer finding the dried ones truthfully.

I've already switched them over to hairball remedy food and I lock them in the laundry room for at least a half an hour after eating (Dave is bulimic). But they are still hacking up little cocoons. That's what I call them. The cocoons I can deal with. It's what I sat in last night on the sofa (YES, MY favorite comfy sofa) that just about made me throw up myself and then throw them all out into the freezing cold. How disgusting is that? Pretty darn disgusting. Thank goodness I have some of that enzyme fighting spray that eats away the bacteria. EW. Yes, again, I'll say EW.

I hope I didn't ruin any one's dinner.

A Funny

Thanks Dianne for the laugh!

Sweet Nothings

It's the little things that mean so much.

Last night when I crawled into bed, I looked over and the hub had filled my humidifier up with water. It was absolutely delightful not having to lug the container to the bath, fill it up and lug it back filled with ten pounds of water at 2 a.m.! Thank you hub.

Now, see if you can come up with a sweet nothing for the ones you love.

A New Year's Day--Delayed

We arrived home from Riverside yesterday afternoon. It was a fast drive, until we hit the mountains of Tennessee. Then it started snowing, and the wind picked up. I was driving the last leg and let me tell you, the hub's Honda Element (the Road Trip Warrior) was getting pushed around like a feather in the wind. It scared me to death! And then, as if that weren't bad enough, it started snowing! Although it was a lovely sight, it did scare me driving in it through the zigs and the zags, the ups and the downs and all the time the wind pushing the "box" around the roads! I was glad it was just a short burst of a snow storm! Phew. I tell you, a hot flash hit me like a ball of fire after we came through it! lol. Of course, there was hardly any when we arrived home. Just the dusting on the front porch which I immediately took advantage of with a quick photo! (Pitiful, I know.) Burr. It sure did get cold from our days at Riverside. (But, a little birdy told me that it's in the 20s (f) now.

Today, after visiting my good blogging buddy Tammy and seeing her Southern spread for New Year's, it put me right in the mood to get my New Year's dinner going. And that was just what I did.
I made my black eye-peas (Hoppin' John) from the recipe in my America's Test Kitchen cookbook. It was a good one. I think the key was the four strips of bacon and some ham. Very, very tasty, indeed.

I bought a Honey Baked ham, which we haven't had in years. And then, I tried my hand at cornbread. Now, my mom used to always make cornbread at Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I never cared for it much. I think my Northerner comes out when it comes to cornbread. I like mine on the sweeter side with corn in it. Oh well. To each their own. Anyhoo, I had to try the recipe in the ATK book. My momma would be proud.

Of course, I used one of her ancient iron skillets that is perfectly seasoned, which is so important. I think the key was, get this, bacon grease. It called for four tablespoons of bacon grease, which you pour into the skillet. Put the skillet in an oven and set it at 450 (yep, that hot) and let it heat with the oven. When the oven is hot, you bring the pan out, pour the grease into the cornbread batter, mix it up and then pour it back into the skillet and cook it for about 2o minutes. You can see above the edges instantly beginning to cook which makes the crust so crunchy and delish. I guess because I made it, I liked it. ha. It tasted very similar to my mom's family recipe, but it wasn't as dry. It came out a little thin; and I don't know if I used too large of a skillet or what. Hmmm. You know me and baking! (You're gonna hear a lot of "my baking" this year, as this is the year I am going to sharpen my skills in that department. That is my New Year's resolution, and I'm sticking to it!) So far, so good!

While shopping at our farmer's market in Fairhope, we found Satsuma oranges. (They are related to the Mandarin orange.) I had never heard of them until my friend Linda, who spent time in Japan, told me what they were while visiting Riverside this summer. I didn't even know they grew in Alabama until I found them there this weekend. (There's even a town named for them, Satsuma, AL!) I bought a big ol' bag and brought them back home with us, along with some fresh pecans from this season. They are so tender and small. I didn't know what to expect. YUM. They are not too sweet and not too bitter. They are just the perfect little oranges. Oh, and the best part is that they're seedless. You can just pop one right in the mouth! Perfect for after what we just ate! Too cute!

Well folks, another New Year's Day comes and goes. I wish you all the happiest and healthiest of days ahead in this new year of 2008!

Happy Happy!

Cheers!