People have all sorts of thoughts going through their heads that I’m sure we know nothing about. We simply don’t.
Yesterday I had leftover grilled onions on my plate as part of the Leftovers Sunday Smorgasbord. These had been marinated in tumeric/lemon juice/soy & tabasco sauce, grilled, and served with Tunisian Chicken and Rice, which is soooo good. It SMELLS absolutely delicious too.
I was joining in the conversation, enjoying fellowship, & interacting with others, but at the same time I was thinking: “You know, I think that if you cut an earthworm with a fork, it might feel exactly like this onion feels as I’m cutting it right now.”
I started contemplating writing a blog article about it.
I convinced myself even more.
I almost made myself sick.
I had to stop eating the onions.
If there are any leftovers LEFT, they’re getting tossed out TODAY.
I couldn’t resist the meme Old Hat has over at his website, so here it is (*with a few questions added myself)!
What is the most exciting thing you did this weekend? We had our 6th annual Pemberley Promenade last night. I taught the workshop two nights beforehand, and then was the Dance Mistress for the event (which included setup as well). This year was Masquerade (Jane Austen style). I went as Red Riding Hood.
What is the oddest chore you have done this week? I ironed cloaks, dresses, pinafores, breeches, and neckties (from supposedly the 19th century).
*What is the hardest thing you have done this week? Because each English Country Dance has music that matches the dance (for example, the music Row Well, Ye Mariners has a dance written for it that is called “Row Well, Ye Mariners”) I have to use music from CDs for the balls. But store-bought music doesn’t play long enough for what we need, and so I use the computer to copy and paste bits of each to make them long enough. For some reason, I had a terrible time getting The Rakes of Rochester to work.
What is the most ridiculous thing you attempted this week?
This week I made Regency trousers, complete with buttonholes and plackets below the knee and what I call “the peeing flap.”
*What gave you the most worries this week? I was worried about whether or not it would be too difficult for the dancers to learn some of the new dances I was going to introduce this weekend. Also, my Younger Son had a terrible migraine headache this week. I hope you can guess which of these worries REALLY worried me the most.
What is on your project list? I need to make more soap (in 40-bar batches), as people like to buy it at Christmas time, and it takes 6 weeks to cure.
What are you reading for fun? Sci-fi short stories.
What are you reading to improve your mind? Um…do magazines like Time, U.S. News & World Report, Reader’s Digest, and Scientific American count? I don’t really like to read many non-fiction books.
What is nearby and making you smile? The trees are incredible this weekend, and today there is sunshine to make them a huge blur of yellow outside the window.
What should you be doing instead of this? Changing out of my Sunday church clothes.
What are you doing right now to soothe your soul? When I read this question, I stopped working on this meme and changed my clothes in preparation for taking a long walk outside. But before I reached the door, sleep overcame me like a mist, and I took a nap instead.
What kind of sunglasses do you wear? I’m embarrassed to say I don’t wear them. I just got new eyeglasses and I need to purchase something that fits on them.
What is your current favorite song? Does this mean my favorite song–or the current one going through my head ? I finally got rid of Numa Numa, which stayed in there for at least 2 months (there’s always the fear that simply typing the words “Numa Numa” will put it right back in there), and then a couple of weeks ago I picked up Doo, doo, doo, Lookin’ Out My Back Door. Of course this week it’s been nothing but English Country Dance tunes–today it is Row Well, Ye Mariners. Here’s a video of our folks dancing it:
How is your iPod (or other music player) organized? Well, I have one of those things, but I can’t figure out how to use it. It has some good sermons on it, but sometimes I just have to listen to one I’ve already listened to–because I don’t know how to find the other ones!
What have you not had time for lately, that you miss? Long walks outside.
What is the strangest thing on your desk? This is a windup toy I bought at a yard sale. I wind it up every once in a while.
What would you be blogging about right now if you had the time and/or brain power? I often would like to talk about some of my thoughts about relationships, particularly between mother and children or adults and their aging parents. But since they read my blog, that makes it difficult. Not that I would say mean things about them; it just would be awkward.
What do you have in your pocket that is not usually there? I rarely use pockets. Quite often I don’t HAVE pockets. It would be nice to have a big ol’ pocket in my Regency-era ballgown so I wouldn’t have to hold the wireless microphone box in my hand, but there you have it. Me all dressed up, with a black mike on my cheek, a black box in my hand, and a black wire running in-between.
*What great food have you eaten lately? This weekend I made a batch of meatballs in the large crockpot for gluten-eating folks at the ball AND a regular crockpot of gluten-free meatballs for us. It’s so easy and so good. For a regular-sized crockpot, mix together one jar of apricot or peach jam with 18 oz. of barbecue sauce and pour it on top of 2 lbs. of frozen Aldi meatballs. Cook on LOW all day.
Gluten-free: Make your own meatballs, use Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, and gluten free jam.
This past spring, I had leftover flower seeds and a leftover flower pot from the previous year. Why not just throw some seeds in there and see what happens? This was the result:
It became so top-heavy that every time the wind blew, it would fall over.
Our first snow didn’t seem to faze it a bit.
This week it finally came to an end, with the frost.
Recently I came up with the strong desire to own something I can’t afford right now: a charging valet.
This fantastic little piece of furniture lets you put all the items you need to recharge in one place, with the cords hidden inside.
I had never heard of these, but when I saw one in a catalog, I became absolutely convinced it would solve all my life’s problems (well, maybe one of them, anyhow).
Who has $40-50 to buy one of these? I do not. So I came up with a wacky idea of making my own, and I’m SURE you will want to make one too! Disclaimer: the images below are a prototype; you may want to make yours more aesthetic than mine.
1. Choose a shoebox that is big enough to hold a power strip. Paint the box or cover it with contact paper or giftwrap.
2. Cut a hole down low in the side of it so that when the power strip is inside the box, its cord can come out.
3. On the top of the box, cut at least 3 of these little door flaps. I put a V notch in them in the hopes that they would keep the cords in place better.
4. Put the power strip inside the box and plug your rechargeables into it.
5. Thread the rechargeable cords up through the little door flaps.
6. Now you have a safe and consistent place in which to plug your cell phone, recharge batteries, etc. etc.!
The Chickadee Feeder 