The microwave arrived and (thanks mostly to the very handy Mr. Man) is now installed and working beautifully!
Sure, it’s got a different look and beeps funny, but it heats things, hooray!
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Posts Tagged ‘home’
A Little Pre-Holiday Thankfulness
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, home on November 24, 2021| 1 Comment »
Lunchtime, With Kitty
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, home, Tuesdays on November 23, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Oh look, time for lunch. That means it’s also time to show you what happened when Mr. Man made lunch over the weekend.
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The Sweet Taste of Adventure
Posted in Likes, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #adventure, hobbit is as hobbit does, home, Thoughts on November 22, 2021| Leave a Comment »
We had to run over to Montreal this morning. We left in the dark with rain and snow coming down. Miserable weather and some sketchy traffic, but I’ve always loved a road trip. Leaving the known and heading out into the world, who wouldn’t feel like a hobbit on an adventure?
(Also, it’s been ages since I’ve gone anywhere at all, so I’ll take my fun where I can get it:)
We made it into the city and picked up breakfast at a Moroccan bakery. Then our errand, then driving home on mostly rural roads lit by bright sunshine. Fall is a lovely season.
And lucky me, it turns out adventure tastes like chocolate croissants!
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Appliance Rodeo
Posted in Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, fixing things, home, Thoughts on November 20, 2021| 4 Comments »
The microwave crapped out on us last night, again. Fortunately, it looks like it’s the same problem as last time, which means we still have extra spare parts from last time. So I’ll be assisting Mr. Man in another great Appliance Disassembly Rodeo!
Fun, right?
Brief aside: I really dislike throwing away mostly ok items and think the right-to-repair movement is a fine idea. Progress is being made on that front, but there’s still a gap between having the right to fix a thing and having the knowledge and equipment to fix a thing. Mr. Man is mechanically-minded and experienced, and also has pretty much all the tools a person could need (allll the tools!). A lot of people don’t. If you’re one of them, check out online sites for manuals or search for local tool lending libraries. Or make friends with a handy neighbor! (I recommend a smile, beer and/or brownies.)
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(update)
I wrote this yesterday. Since then, we pulled the microwave off the wall and took it apart. It was not, in fact, the same problem as last time. Sadly.
(cut to two hours later)
We have procured what may very well be the last microwave of its kind in Eastern Canada. The floods out West have done absolutely nothing good for already challenged supply chains, so we’re counting ourselves very lucky. It should arrive Thursday.
Fingers crossed!
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Love and Memory
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, cynarin, family, food, history, home, memory, Thoughts on November 19, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Here is a thing that I love, and the one item I requested from my grandmother’s estate: an artichoke plate.
Artichokes are thorny, tough and difficult to pair with wine. They were at the heart (hehe) of a racketeering scheme in New York in the 1920s and ’30s, which led to a temporary ban and a dramatic upswing in knowledge about, and orders for, the vegetable. They also taste great.
The back of the plate is marked “E & R 0136” but that’s the only information I have. Where was it made, when, and did it come from Ebeling & Reuss or another manufacturer? I don’t know, but I love it anyway.
Disassembling an artichoke flower bud is a messy job, and this plate is the perfect canvas on which to do it. I prefer to serve mine with lemon butter sauce, but there’s also mayonnaise. If you must.
I doubt the dish is valuable from anything other than an emotional standpoint but that’s fine, I won’t be selling it. I have a lot of great memories about artichokes and about my grandmother, and this plate helps me remember both.
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Not/Great
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #stupidpandemic, cats, friends, home, Thoughts on October 29, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Things we no longer need:
- hangers on doorknobs so the cat isn’t trapped in a room
- the scratching post in my office
- the cat tree in the living room
- the cardboard boxes strategically positioned in all the best kitty spots
- the blanket on the cedar chest at the foot of the bed
- the half-empty bottle of anti-inflammatories
- the half-empty bag of food
- to make sure we close the laundry room door
- the chair by the best people-watching window
- to worry if I drop a bit of the brownies I made for the vet and don’t immediately pick it up
- to mute the TV any time a crying baby appears
- the cat bed by the fire
It’s sad not to have the cat here. That’s not so great.
But also? We had a friend over for lunch for the first time since the pandemic began. It was a fantastic festival of vaccinated friendship and exactly what we needed today.
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One Final Gift
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #notyay, #sadsadsad, cats, home, kitty, Neko, Thoughts on October 28, 2021| 3 Comments »
One fine summer day in 2006 Mr. Man came home from work and showed me a picture of an adorably tiny grey and white kitten.
“You remember K, who lives on a farm?”
I did.
“Their neighbor has a cat she hasn’t spayed, and a dog that likes to eat kittens.”
Well, that’s awful. What can we do?
“They’re forcing the neighbor to fix the cat so it won’t be a problem in the future, but she needs to find homes for a litter of kittens.”
I was pretty sure I knew where this was going. Mr. Man batted his eyelashes at me.
“Look at that sweet face.”
He was right, the kitten was adorable, bright, charming and full of energy.
“Tintin could use some company, don’t you think?”
We brought her home a few days later. Tintin was not quite as happy about the company as we had hoped, but we were right about her energy and intelligence.
Neko was a catch-and-release hunter who never met a mourning dove she didn’t want to bring home to play, a fierce protector who growled at unexpected visitors, and while never a cuddler, she always wanted to be close.
Was she smart? Oh yes. She led us to problems like leaking basement pipes and trained us to open the patio door on command, to build cardboard palaces, and to carry her up and down the stairs when they got to be too much for her to manage.
Last month we learned she had lung cancer, along with a rare complication called lung-digit syndrome that made it hard to walk as well as breathe. We consulted an oncologist, got new meds, gave her treats, and generally did what we could to keep her comfortable. We watched her energy and appetite wane. She lost weight. Stairs became a draining once-a-day event. Two days ago she stopped taking her meds.
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For fifteen years we made her hunting blinds so comfortable she couldn’t be bothered to actually hunt, decorated rooms with blankets and fleece beds, and made sure we fed the birds year round so that there was always something entertaining out the windows. Whatever we could to make her life better.
Sometimes the only thing left is to make the end as painless as possible.
So today, we did that too.
This Part’s No Fun
Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #alittlesadtoday, adulting, cats, home, pets, Thoughts on October 20, 2021| Leave a Comment »
Let’s be honest, a lot of adulting is actually pretty ok.
Example:
Mr. Man: “Hey honey, want to have breakfast for dinner tonight followed by ice cream?”
Me: “Yes, yes I do.”
But other parts are not as much fun.
Example:
Dr. Vet: “I’m so sorry, but it looks like your cat has about two months to live.”
oof
Time to make sure those two months are as close to breakfast for dinner as possible.
Because that’s something else adults can do.
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Tea Time
Posted in Food and..., tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, #distraction, #ThingsILike, home, inspiration, tea, Thoughts, writing on October 9, 2021| Leave a Comment »
This is a nice combination: Green yaupon + peppermint lemongrass tea* = pretty very good. Maple syrup takes it over the top, because it’s awesome in everything.
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* No Camellia sinensis was harmed in the making of this beverage.
Shining on the Inside
Posted in Food and..., Writing, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2021, creativity, home, Thoughts, writing on October 3, 2021| Leave a Comment »
You know those days when hoped-for sun never arrives and the design project that should have taken half an hour takes three and the pears you thought would be perfect in a fruit torte are rock hard and the bananas you need today aren’t anywhere near ripe, even after you bake them in a 300F oven for an hour?
It’s that kind of day.
So, ok, not great. But then I came up with not one but two solutions to the design issue and turned the pears into slow-cooked lemon, cinnamon and cardamom pear butter and made blueberry Grand Marnier tortes and I can work around the banana problem, I probably didn’t need the extra sugar anyway.
And you know what? It’s fine if the sun doesn’t come out today.
I’m shining on the inside.
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