Straight Outta Refinery Town

Went on a walk yesterday with the Rev, out near the old place. It was lovely. We saw ruby crowned kinglets, and cats sleeping in the sun in the grass next to the trail. We saw a mountain pooping out a cloud. 

And we had some great views of the refinery near where I used to live. Which reminded me that I wanted to share a photo of a painting done by one of my former neighbors -- a pastiche of the area surrounding the refinery and old downtown where we all lived. The view reminds me of the view from a different neighbor's rooftop apartment over the former shoe store where the artists all had their studios. You could sit on her roof and look out to the other rooftops, and see the refinery on the hill, and hear the pool balls breaking at the bar across the street. On Sunday mornings you could hear the choir singing in the church that had once been a punk nightclub, and a movie theater before that.

Another former resident of that town and I visited later in the day, unmasked. Why I didn't put my mask on immediately when she said her son was working in a restaurant, I don't know. Her phone rang, and she picked up. It was her husband. Where were their rapid tests? Son's chef has COVID. She bolted out of my house. Son tested positive, she tested negative, and I'm not leaving the house for a while.

I really have to be more careful, even though I really am.

Seiko S-282

 

Some Thoughts on 2022

I like cooking, and have made some dishes in 2021 that I'd contemplated making for years.

In the upcoming year I'd like to go through my recipe binder, which mostly contains recipes I have collected and *never* made, and to give some of them the old test drive. I already started with these two -- Minnie's Morsels for Mature Cats and Pumpkin Koftas in Creamed Spinach Sauce. And here's my review:

Minnie's Morsels? Hard thumbs down! I made it as a Christmas gift for a friend and they simply fell apart. Boo!

Koftas? Insanely delicious. I didn't find kale at the Pan-Asian grocery, but they had something called Chinese Spinach. And I had bought some chrysanthemum greens. And had some frozen spinach on hand. All of that and the herbs specified in the recipe made for a delicious and delicately herbal puree. And I think I will make more purees in the future. Love a new concept to add to my bag of tricks.

PS This recipe was made with my free pumpkin. I finally finished off the pumpkin by making another batch of soup. 

Holiday 2021 -- Xmas

On Christmas we did the same thing. Woke up in the morning, came back to our place, and had a nephew and family in for coffee and pastries.

They stayed a LOT longer than I thought they would, and it was really fun. The mama was totally zonked from the day before, and oldest neph cuddled her for two hours while she dozed and we all chatted.

Then came the part that mrguy likens to trying to get a cat out of the carrier at the vet -- it was time to take her home. We waited until halftime (she is a huuuuge basketball fan) and tried to dash. But she wanted to make every excuse to stay. "Who's going to clean that up?" she exclaimed, pointing to the coffee cups and plates. Then there was the trip to the bathroom (what takes her so long?) and finally the trip home.

Once we got there, she was agitated because she couldn't hear well. Then I changed her hearing aid batteries and she screamed at me because it was too loud, and she was worried that they'd confiscate her television because everybody down the street could hear. Let us leave all the other unpleasantness aside and praise Mary Berry and the Downton Abbey movie, which eventually settled her down completely.

Please remember to support your local public broadcasting station.