Pets, Photography

Saturday Dogblogging

Shelly

IMG_3304

It’s Saturday, which means it’s laundry day, which means that Miss Brown made herself comfortable on the just-changed sheets.

In other news, it’s Little 500 weekend, so I’m trying not to leave the house unless I absolutely have to. The only exception is that I’m cat sitting, but it’s northeast of town, so there shouldn’t be too much extra traffic.

I’ve been sitting for this client for a couple of years now. One of their cats has been in kidney failure nearly the whole time. She suddenly went downhill and was put to sleep last weekend. I didn’t think it would bother me much, but it did. Mostly, I think it was upsetting to see the remaining cat all by himself. He’s an awfully affectionate and gregarious boy, and the owners plan to get a second cat as soon as they feel up to it, so hopefully he won’t be alone for long. For now, though, he is full of pathetic sadcakes.

Uncategorized

Quorn Acquired

Shelly

I went ahead and joined Bloomingfoods last night. On my little shopping list, in addition to Quorn (two packages), were oatmeal, milk, and farina. I was irritated with myself for forgetting oatmeal when I went grocery shopping on Friday, but now I’m glad I did. Target quick oats are fine, but they really do not taste as good as Irish oatmeal. With milk and brown sugar. Yum.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been in Bloomingfoods, and I’d forgotten just how hippie-granola the place is. It was a very nice change from Kroger.

Crankypantsing

I Am a Bad Person

Shelly

I’ve been waffling back and forth about calling the office to complain about the neighbors in No. 5. I’m really irritated by their complete disregard for other people, but at the same time, I’m not okay with being vindictive. I figure the folks in No. 5 have enough problems without me adding to them. I finally had enough on Friday, though. Every morning last week, the wife’s minivan was parked in the fire lane, and several nights in a row, the husband woke me up with his car stereo. I’m telling ya’, people, it’s all fun and games, until someone wakes me up!

So I called the office and tried to explain the problem. It’s kind of complicated, which is one of the reasons I’ve been waffling. The husband lost his license a couple of years ago, and so his car has been unregistered since then. It doesn’t even have plates anymore, so they park it right in front of their apartment, facing out. That way, you can’t tell it’s unregistered. Our lease says that all cars must be registered, and that you can only park one car in the front sections. If you’ve got more than one car, the second car must be parked in the middle section, so that you don’t hog all the good spots. So far, so good, except that the wife thinks she needs to park her car close to the apartment. And who can blame her? I prefer to park close, too! The difference is that, when all the front spaces are taken, I park in the middle, NOT IN THE FIRE LANE!

The easy solution would be to move the husband’s car to the center section, leaving a spot open for the wife’s minivan. They can’t do that, though, because then people will notice that the husband’s car is not registered. Oopsie! Even worse, the wife’s minivan has a handicapped hang-tag. I assume the management company would gladly give her a dedicated handicapped spot (they’ve done so for other tenants), only, they’d use the space the husband’s unregistered car is parked in. Oopsie again!

So, I tried to explain all of that to the office worker when I called on Friday. The property manager was on vacation, but she’s supposed to be back in the office today. It’ll be interesting to see this evening if the husband’s car has been tagged for towing.

Uncategorized

Bloomingfoods

Shelly

We have a local food co-op in town, with three storefront locations, one of which is just a few blocks from my house. I’ve been intending to join, but I assumed (stupid me) that it was kind of pricey. Their website says membership is $90, and that it can be split up into monthly or quarterly payments. Okayfine. But what it doesn’t make clear is that that’s a lifetime membership fee, not a yearly membership fee, so it’s just a one-time $90 investment (or $7.50/month).

I R dum. Also, I R joining tout de friggin’ suite.

Mmmm… Quorn…

Photography

Ginger Cookies

Shelly

IMG_3299

These are chewy right out of the oven. After they cool, they harden around the edges, but they should retain a bit of chewiness in the center.

2 C flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger (The recipe called for 1 tsp, but the ginger smelled so good that I wanted to use more; I think it was a good choice.)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 C soft butter
1 C brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 C dark molasses (I used mild molasses, which suited me; use darker if that’s what you like.)
1 tsp vinegar

In the first bowl, combine first four ingredients (the recipe calls for sifting, but I just used a whisk to make sure any lumps were broken up). In the second bowl, cream butter until shiny. Add sugar and cream until thoroughly incorporated. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Add molasses, stir, then add vinegar and stir. Add half the dry mix to the wet mix, combine, then add the second half and stir until thoroughly incorporated. The batter should be fairly stiff.

Preheat oven to 374F. Grease cookie sheet with butter, then with buttery hands, roll dough into walnut-sized balls. Place on cookie sheet, about 2-3 inches apart (it will depend on how large you make them, but I fit 16 cookies on a 14 x 15 inch cookie sheet). Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove from oven and let set for about a minute, then move to a cooling rack or paper towels.

(Recipe adapted from Meta Given’s Modern Encyclopedia of Cooking, 1955, volume 1, p. 476-477.)

Photography

Finished

Shelly

IMG_3296

I finished flipping the living room around this morning. It feels twice as big now, with the bookshelves up off the floor.

Next weekend, I plan on (finally!) tackling the studio. It’s an unholy mess in there now, because I dumped a bunch of stuff from the living room in there.

And this afternoon, if I can find the motivation, I’m going to make ginger molasses cookies. I have no idea why, because I don’t like ginger or molasses, but I’ve been craving them for weeks—badly enough that I made a second trip to the grocery store to get molasses, after I’d forgotten it the first time.

Photography

Seventeen

Shelly

IMG_3280

IMG_3278
Bluebells

Shelves, that is. And that’s all that’s going to fit on that wall, because I have to leave room for the TV to sit under the middle section of shelves. I managed to not only get all but one small bookcase of books to fit on that wall, but also all my CDs and DVDs, too. If any of those shelves fall, it’ll be a humongous mess!

I don’t think I’m going to get the TV moved today, though, because it means moving the modem and flipping the living room furniture around, which sounds like more work than I want to do. I think I’ll wait until tomorrow. Now, it’s time to make supper, have an adult beverage, and watch some television.

And now, random bluebells. (As for why there is a big chunk of concrete in the middle of the woods, I am mystified.)

Uncategorized

Cute New Tool

Shelly

I went to the hardware store this morning, to get shelf brackets. I’m sick and tired of having shelving taking up valuable floor space. While I was there, I thought I’d better pick up a stud finder, too. The last one I had didn’t work very well. They had a battery-operated one, but they also had a magnetic one. Neat-o! No batteries! I bet a super strong, generic magnet would work just as well.

I also picked up a canvas, outdoor table cloth. I think I’m going to just move the ugly maple table out onto the patio, instead of Freecycling it. A) It weighs about a ton, so won’t blow away like the cheap-assed resin table I’ve got, and B) I’ve already got it in my possession, so it’s free.

And now, back to hanging shelves.

Oh, and I also picked up a bucket of mojito mix. It should be done freezing about the same time I’m done hanging shelves, so I’m going have myself a well-earned adult beverage.