One year ago today: February 18, 2018, music, birdfeeders, etc.
Five years ago today: February 18, 2014, the Florida Navy.
Nine years ago today: February 18, 2010, the hospital menu.
Random years ago today: February 18, 2011, because she cut me off.
Here’s your promised treat and top story of the week. Chicken pot pie, but not those weakling single serve frozen thingees made of corn starch and outdated stock. All fresh ingredients and the thickening agent is wheat flour. So “feast” your eyes on this. It’s as close as you get. The trick is to precook the sauce thick enough that when baked, it sets up enough to allow clean slices from the still hot pie, as shown in the last panel. This array of photos is already making the rounds. My herbivorous cohort has already asked, so I admit that is a cup of butter melting in the pan. One must occasionally indulge.
This is a different type of compound picture than I’m working on for e-mails and other distribution. This is not a series of stills from a video, but a mix of single photos. So this is not the type of illustration I am working to perfect. Here, perfect is the aroma in the kitchen six hours later and the melt-in-your mouth flavor. Unlike my usual taste for spiced foods, this one has no salt, only pepper, garlic, and a mounded teaspoon of Italian seasoning, the brand with prominent thyme. And for salt lovers, this is one dish you should taste before adding any. The pie dish on the left, just a smidgeon deeper than usual, is my favorite. This was last evening, because by 8:00 PM the pies were still on the cooling rack.
I used the cooling time to set the guest room up for a final coat of paint. I still have not finished the corner trim and molding, mainly because I’m not sure if I should duplicate the original plain 1x1” kind of bead around the whole place or something a touch more ornate. The room still suffers the off-square items from the floor being leveled.
Here’s a view of the chop saw that will do for most of the trim I’m planning, and below is a shot of a representative bad match between the paneling and the window trim. Where I’m pointing with the stick shows this corner is a good inch away from flush. This is not consistent, so each piece of filler has to be custom cut. You can see how the drywall has cracked slightly, this is the building adjusting itself. The window casing in this case has simply changed shape somehow over the years. The lumber is original and the outside casing is flush.
It is still early, but if all goes as planned the final paint coat will be drying by now. I saw a type of molding called bullnose, with a rounded corner, that might look okay in this room. Where as I can make the 1x1”, I would have to buy the bullnose. The corners are pretty uneven, really. Check later for my decision. In yard news, the red cardinals are back and I think another family is on the way. Good, that makes them more organized than I am. I wanted some heart-healthy oatmeal as a snack and discovered I haven’t any. But I found eight pounds of grits. Say, would you like some grits? I made plenty. With real cheese, not “processed” cheese. Has anyone ever found out exactly what “processed” means in this instance? If it is real cheese, then how come it won’t really melt until the bread is over-grilled?
A nd another food mystery. I lost another great recipe. I had only enough crystals for half a jug of water, so I poured in a half jar of artificial vanilla and squeezed in all the limes I had in the fridge. I think. I put it back in to cool and didn’t get to it until today. Wow, sweet and sour, but I can’t remember all I put in there. No calories and it is a winner. Do I detect a hint of watermelon, or is it pomegranate?
Ferrari V-12
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Meanwhile, here’s a picture from around 2008 that I can’t recall if it was ever published. I think not, because the file was many times larger than I normally post. This is a staged photo, called “Computer Music”, this, ladies, is one excellent picture of my upper right arm. Notice the model admiring same. I recall she kept mumbling she was shocked over something or other because I “had such small hands”. Ah, women, who knows what they are thinking?
What? You want to see her naked? Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. Come back tomorrow and I’ll show you a picture of this lady in the nude. Shake? You bet I’m soliciting readership and I’ll tell you why. Never, in the history of this blog, with over 5,000 posts, has there ever been a day when I got zero hits. But that one day I was late last week? My clicks dropped to 39. That's a disgrace.
That is so close to zero I don’t want to think about it. C’mon people, work with me here. I spare no expense to bring you the best in contemporary glimpses of daily American life, such as the exciting spider tale in the addendum today. I could very well be the on American you’ll ever know who doesn’t watch television. Have you considered that? I’ve just been informed to stop whining because other blogs are lucky to get 39 hits total. Okay, you win. You are right, blogs get what they deserve. But hey, I was merely late, not delinquent. Step back and take a side-to-side at the big picture. This advertisement-free blog is unique in scope and content, and from the latest stats, highly rated in Europe.
What? You say what? Well, I meant ad-free except for the pretty woman. It’s not like she’s selling blue bikinis. Consider it less of an advertisement and more of a spiritual encounter. Ah, now it's coming back to me, she repeatedly asked me what was on my mind. She likes me and I can tell by they way she’s looking at you, well, do I have to spell it out? She isn’t going to undress herself, you know.
No A/C in the car, and the days are hot enough to hurt already. The repair is warranty work, but that means I must wait my turn. The shop is booked up for the next week. Remind me while I’m there to have them check that transmission leak and run the diagnostic why the car sometimes won’t idle right when started after sitting a day. It sputters, then catches, but it’s symptomatic.
I was at the Thrift and found a booklet by that guy on TV who says play the piano instantly. The one who says just improvise to the chord symbols put there for guitarists, particularly bad guitarists like myself. I figure if it can change my chording, that’s good enough. I’ve had the classical lessons he deplores so a change is as welcome as an improvement. I’ll report back what the guy has to say and whether the technique is viable. Make a note to listen for an accident report. On the south end of town around 3:00PM there must have been a terrible collision. Thank goodness I know the back roads home. I passed ambulance after ambulance racing in from Bartow and Lakeland, ten miles away. It’s that intersection Highway 17 where it crosses SR 540.
ADDENDUM
The beard attack of y’day remains an unknown. Close inspection shows no rash, no redness, but in areas around my beard-line, an out break of mild psoriasis, which I’ve had for life. Yes, I need another motorcycle trip around the countryside. When skin conditions make the blog, it is time for an injection of real excitement. I did get a few things accomplished, like taking the measurements of the air-conditioning cut-out and the blonde lady. Mentally, I meant. Right, the spider tale. This is another mystery, they just stack up around here.
In front of my kitchen stove, there is a persistent spider who keeps making a web. I can’t find her and I don’t allow insecticides in that room. I keep walking into the web, which is yucky especially at night. I then sweep it down but in a day or two, usually, it’s back. I didn’t know spiders were regular that way. Dang little critter, and right in front of the oven.
Last mystery for today, I get the strangest e-mail. The mystery is I can’t tell you what it was about. I think it is good news, but I won’t know for another 18 days. You’ll have to keep coming back, I guess.
