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Posts Tagged ‘home’

Happy Wednesday

Posted in Likes, tagged cats, home, Neko, photos, sleepy cat on February 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It was this or a picture of snow.
Neko

You’re welcome:)

Dear Down Under…

Posted in Other, tagged Air New Zealand, Australia, cold, holidays, home, New Zealand, snow, travel, vacation, weather maps, winter on January 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Dear Air New Zealand and Australia.com,

Please stop showing me perky web ads with weather maps of your fair region. I know that it is summer there when it is winter here, but you don’t have to rub my face in it. I know that my −24C is your +24C, but thinking about it makes me want to cry. I also know how lovely it is Down Under, how full of stunning vistas and sumptuous wines and delectable foodstuffs, and sigh as I peer over the wind-swept mounds of snow outside my window.

So please, please, Air New Zealand and Australia.com, stop rubbing it in. Have pity on a poor Northern Hemisphere-ite, and let me freeze in peace.

Yours in winter,

J.R. Johnson

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It Takes a Snow Plow

Posted in Likes, tagged home, o canada, public health, responsibility, snow, Thoughts, urban living, winter on January 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

A City truck is outside, parked next to the fire hydrant. The hydrant has a long arm attached to it, one that goes up every Fall and comes down in the Spring, so workers and fire fighters can find it even in snow. That’s not good enough, though, not up here where ploughs pile drifts that can be my height or more, and so this worker is outside in −25C weather, digging out the hydrant.

This is my neighborhood, it’s my house, and it’s my hydrant. If I have a fire, or one of my neighbors does, that’s the hydrant we’ll need to put it out. The City takes care of it, just as they take care of the sidewalks. Cute little plows buzz up and down the walkways after a storm, pushing aside snow and spraying ice melt as they go, keeping the pavement clear for pedestrians. I love that.

Every other place I’ve lived, clearing sidewalks is the homeowner’s responsibility. That’s all well and good except for the years I spent climbing over and sliding through other people’s lack thereof. Responsibility, I mean, snow was in abundance. The danger of twisted ankles, sprained wrists, shattered hips, all because someone didn’t do their shoveling. Here, keeping pedestrians healthy and on their feet is considered a public good, benefiting all, and as such is taken care of by the City.

My tax dollars at work, and I’m all for it.

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Everyday Brownies

Posted in Food and..., Likes, tagged baking, bribery, delicious, food, home, Motivation, recipes, yay on January 17, 2014| 2 Comments »

Just in time for the weekend, here is my favorite brownie recipe. It’s quick and delicious. It’s also in metric, because once you get a scale and get used to the routine, the weight method is indeed easier and more consistent. Making fewer dirty dishes is an added bonus. Also, cocoa powder means no waiting around to chop and melt chocolate bricks. I have a double boiler but yeah, no.

Brownies

Time: 30-40 minutes

142 grams butter
42 grams cocoa powder
200 grams sugar (I use brown sugar or half brown and half white for a nuttier flavor)
2 eggs
60 grams flour
Dash salt
½ t. vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Line an 8-inch square pan with parchment paper (or grease with butter, but parchment paper makes for fantastically easy clean up).

2. Melt butter in the microwave on low (30% works for me). Use a whisk to stir in cocoa powder until smooth, then add sugar, eggs, flour, salt and vanilla, mixing after each addition. The batter will resemble quicksand, only tastier.

3. Pour into the pan and bake 20 minutes, or until set in the middle.* Let cool and cut.

*Note: This recipe can be doubled with no trouble, use a 9×13-inch pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.

…

P.S. Upon reflection, I feel bad for those of you without a digital scale. Here you go:

10 T. butter
⅓ C. cocoa powder
1 C. sugar
2 eggs
½ C. flour
Dash salt
½ t. vanilla extract

Enjoy! I know I will:)

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Cold

Posted in Funny, tagged deep freeze, home, Ontario, shoveling, snow, Thoughts, winter on January 6, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a cold week here in Ontario, as it has for much of the continent. This is basically my world right now:

Yep, that’s a lot of snow, and that’s a shovel. ‘Nuff said. Oh, except that I have now had the fascinating experience of −40 degree weather. As cold as parts of Mars, which is spectacular, and so ridiculously frigid that I don’t have to specify Celsius or Fahrenheit… because it’s the same thing!

On that note, I leave you with a video I wish I’d thought to make:

Here’s hoping you are having a warm and happy New Year, wherever you are.

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Explosions!

Posted in Entertainment, tagged awesome, entertainment, home, knights of badassdom, movies, peter dinklage, ryan kwanten, sff, steve zahn, summer glau, yay on December 13, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Ok, not really, but between the two bits of news I have it’s a relatively apt title for this piece.

First, we had a gas leak this morning here at Chez J and now, three tech crews later, we are no longer at risk of blowing up. Yay.

Second, Knights of Badassdom will be released in February! Apparently it’s not the director’s cut and apparently it won’t get a full theatrical release and that seems ungood, but it will be out. Yay! Knights! Demons! Badassery! And I am certain that there will be explosions!

Also, that just about meets my recommended allowance of exclamation marks for the day. So, all good. Happy weekend, everyone!*

* RDA? check;)

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Death, and After

Posted in Writing, tagged creativity, death, home, inspiration, Motivation, Thoughts, work on September 25, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I’m back, the world is still turning, and suddenly it’s Fall.

Death, like so many of life’s difficulties, serves to highlight what can be accomplished in the meantime and the short span in which we have to do it.

Time to get back to work.

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A post shared by Department of the Interior (@usinterior)

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Welcome to the New Normal

Posted in Other, tagged climate change, home, ottawa, summer, tornado, weather on July 30, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Tornado touched down in Ottawa Monday…

A funnel cloud. In Ottawa. And it’s the, um, 10th Ontario tornado of the season, according to Environment Canada.

Yes, Dorothy, the climate does seem to be changing.

A critical question: If a tree falls in the woods… do you have insurance?

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Happy 4th of July!

Posted in Holidays, tagged Census Bureau, fun facts, happy birthday, home, independence day, july 4th, yay on July 4, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Happy Birthday, USA!

photo by Booyah Kasha on Flickr

After some brief reflection, I thought I’d add a selection of…

Fun Facts About the Fourth of July

(excerpted from this handy Census page, see it for more facts and references)

56: Number of signers to the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration. Jefferson, regarded as the strongest and most eloquent writer, wrote most of the document.

$218.2 million: The value of fireworks imported from China in 2012, representing the bulk of all U.S. fireworks imported ($227.3 million). U.S. exports of fireworks, by comparison, came to just $11.7 million in 2012, with Israel purchasing more than any other country ($2.5 million).

$3.8 million: In 2012, the dollar value of U.S. imports of American flags. The vast majority of this amount ($3.6 million) was for U.S. flags made in China.

Fifty-nine places contain the word “liberty” in the name. Pennsylvania, with 11, has more of these places than any other state. Of the 59 places nationwide containing “liberty” in the name, four are counties: Liberty County, Ga. (65,471), Liberty County, Fla. (8,276), Liberty County, Mont. (2,392) and Liberty County, Texas (76,571).

$109.8 billion: Dollar value of trade last year between the United States and the United Kingdom, making the British, our adversary in 1776, our sixth-leading trading partner today.

6: Number of states in which the value of broiler chicken production was estimated at $1 billion or greater between December 2011 and November 2012. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken.

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