Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

It's been an interesting week , not in a bad way , and not in a weird way ..just odd.

Bordering peculiar .

It's rained since last weekend and we need it , badly . Especially considering that the Fourth of July is a week away and I recall a couple of years ago when we had the drought and the fire ban  . I have enjoyed not having to water except for the shade plants that are up against the house on the deck but on the other hand  Gracie Marie aka Grayson McFuzzypants aka the Kid is really not happy about no real Mommy and me time on the deck. She .. ( damn it..I am going to continue to refer to her in that gender I don't care what anyone says , I am the mama..) hates to get her paws wet but happily drank from a puddle on the deck itself from cushions I failed to see were on the drip line of the patio cover.  And she is not at all happy about me having to hold her so her Daddy can gently cut off some of her lumpy bumpies ( matted hair masses on her bib from medicine splashing her when we had to burrito her 2x daily ) but she didn't really squirm and it was pretty funny to see that she was basically hanging with her head upside down .

And he has to work tomorrow most likely and then zip by his fathers...and Southside says that he is going to come over Sunday and of course he will because he just has to show off what he purchased legally in Colorado....meh . He did of course get pulled over on the Texas side for going over the speed limit by 6 miles but given his age ( +50 ) , he was able to get away with a warning about the speeding.

IDIOT !

But he's a grown man.

And I am still finding recipes to try out...if I can figure out the timey-wimey thing, because there is never enough.

Damn you  ,. sleeping  like a normal person, I am just too fond of you !

Have a great weekend.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Happy Friday ~ Bruce Of The Day ~ !

Happy happy joy joy.........it's finally Friday !

Huzzah !

Let the masses run amok.


Or not.


Even though it is technically the last day of Spring, it's 90 + degrees down here and a front is moving through. Grass pollen is up ..yeah ...and I have a blinding headache.

On a Friday for Chrissake.

Usually on any given Friday , I go home and do one of two things. I either sit on the deck and read or I sit and watch tv...or as I call it Brain Candy.

Mindless entertainment.

How mindless ?

Try " Say Yes To The Dress ."

Yep.

Well hell it beats any real housewife of any given city and I know that we have a lot on DVR but those are the shows that we actually follow and I want to be able to actually pay attention to them.


But not tonight.

And as luck would have it , Scott and Mindy are coming up for dinner tomorrow so I really want to get beyond the pick axe that is taking apart my brain right now. We haven't seen them in ages for a variety of reasons ( work, school, sports, life, schedule, vacation...) so I am super happy to get to hang with them for a bit.

I can do what ever needs to be done house wise tomorrow while he does the prep and thankfully they are more family than friends after 28 + years so they really are fine which ever way we roll.

Except..

Either the lawn gets mowed or I'm buying a small goat.

One of the REALLY cute ones.

Have a  wonderful Solstice and weekend.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Throw Back Thursday

 

 

As you may all recall, a number of years ago we discovered that Little Orphan Annie was actually an Andy and thus became Andy Panda Pants.

 

The folks at Banfield are idiots, pure and simple.

 

For years we thought this was a fluke, a funny family story , along the lines of " If you ask Aunty Pol and SU what the sex of any of their cats is, assume the opposite of their answer to be true."

 

And......................

 

 

The same damn situation occurred with Gracie Marie.

 

Now remember at first for whatever reason , my husband thought Gracie Marie was a girl...I haven't a clue why. When she first came up to the patio, I said " Come here little girl " ..I have no idea why but she trotted up. Mind you it was fall and getting colder, she probably would have run up just the same if I said " Come here dipshit."

 

 

We tool her to Banfield for a check up and presented her as a girl..which NO ONE challenged. In hindsight , it makes me wonder if they looked at her at all.

 

 

Fast forward to last month when she was at Dr.Tom's. Now , I really didn't think to much of it at the time because Dr. Simon has a very heavy accent..lovely but pronounced . And I was calling on my cell phone which kept dropping the call...actually we realized it was his cell...hah !

 

Anyhoo, he kept saying he and I kept saying she and so on.

 

It wasn't until Southside Johnny showed me what little could be seen since the cat is a long hair...

 

 

Yep !

 

Now it's not like I pick up the business end of a cat and go " Let Mama see."

 

Um..hell no.

 

So now we have the name issue.

 

 

I had to fight to get her a middle name..this is the south after all.

 

 

Grace.

 

Gracie Marie

 

Grayson

 

Grayson Matthew .

 

Grayson Mathias .

 

Grayson McFuzzypants ( I am actually leaning towards this...it makes me smile.)

 

Gray .

 

Baby Dude .

 

Dude .

 

The Dudester .

 

Dingbat..now that my transgendered cat will answer to .

 

 

Her/His attitude ?

 

Call me whatever, just don't call me late to dinner.

 

Here we  go again.

 

Happy Friday Eve.

 

Ciao,

Aunty Pol

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If It's Monday ~ It's John Barrowman Time ~ !

I'd forgotten about this .

I was going through some old posts and saw this title. Why did I stop ?

Beats me.

It always perked my Mondays to cobble together something and post a picture of Capt. Jack Harkness.

I chose this one because he is rarely photographed with his glasses on.



It was a busy wekend and a sad one. The sad part is not really my story to share per say....so I will only say that another lovely gal lost her fight with cancer . Much as I hate them , I will be going to this family funeral, it's just a matter of respect after all.

On the busy front..geeze Louise.

He had to work which is fine and I got some stuff done before the paws and claws bit . I should have done more laundry that I had, thankfully SU had done some when he  took the day off to go to the Doctors..thank you dear, it did help.

While he was spending the day with his father, I sorta lost my mind. I can't seem to do things in a simple manner , it's always balls to the wall or so it seems.

I made a double batch of hotdish for the weeks lunches , did my scrambled eggs for my b'fast tacos from home, also fried the bacon for said taco's , 3 loads of laundry washed, dried and put away , cupcakes for Cindy's birthday , de-cluttered the main living area ( sort of ) ..ran dishwasher 2 x's , hoovered, watered plants on the decj...dinner....yeah ..

Started at about noon because ..I am not a morning person...

Anyhoo....we masy get more rain so I guess I'd better grab the stereo off the deck bookcase..just in case .

Which means it won't rain...lol.


Ciao,
Aunty Pol

For SU and The Moron

Love ya guys.

The Wife

It's Official ! ~ I Am Going to Have To Start A Group .

" Hello , my name is Aunty Pol and I am an addict. I am addicted to anything orange flavored , creamsicle flavored or baked in a Bundt pan."

" Who wants cake ?"


I was reading some of the blogs that I follow and when I get curious sometimes I will look at their blog list and pop over to see what looks interesting on sites they follow. .

It's like 7 degrees of Kevin Bacon and when  the acid some of us who went to college in the 70's may or may not have dropped kicks in.

Its interesting.

But being grown up and all, now it mostly involves baking...and creamsicles and the ever present " DO I really need that Bundt pan debate ?" that  I have with myself.


Check out Mr. Linky .

http://www.abakershouse.com/2013/06/orange-creamsicle-bundt-cake-for-bundtamonth-june.html


Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Look Who Turned Two Today !

My Sweet Pea turns 2 today !

My baby's not a baby anymore.

I'll see you soon sweetie.



XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Aunt Jane

I Doubt My Mother Knew She Was This Ahead Of The Curve ~ Sorry Mom .

I was reading a bit on line that I suspect was a tongue in cheek piece about food trends, one of the newest being " Artisan Toast ".


TOAST .


Freaking TOAST.


Bread that is still good but too dried out for a sammich but still perfect for mopping up a soft boiled egg.

Yeah ...that toast.

I figured that my head would explode if I actually read the article because I have one of those nasty throbbing weather front change headaches where you basically have an invisible spike driven through the front of your skull where women of a certain age start worrying about the " Elevenses " wrinkle..you know where that is.

Anyhoo, later on as I was reading some food blogs because hey, why not, I started seeing a trend popping up about wedge salads. Now since I hadn't had lunch at that point and was really feeling peckish , I thought.." Ummmm...salad...good."

It is also 95 degrees here in H town today so a salad sounded good.

So..I started to read some  salad posts , noticing that the majority were about this " Wedge Salad " and it hit me.

WHEN DID FRIGGAN ICEBERG LETTUCE BECOME CHI CHI ?

Ice Berg Lettuce.


The kind that I used to clean by the case at the restaurant I ran in Walla Walla.


The only kind of lettuce my mother EVER bought.

The only kind I thought there was  for the longest time.

I'm like that by the way in case y'all hadn't noticed.

And now it's a thing ?

My mother was a good cook considering her mid west back round and the fact that until she made in in 1968 , her parents had never, ever had spaghetti.

Of course they came over from Sweden so it didn't seem that unusual at the time tho Grandpa did tell Mom he really liked the " Tomato sauce and noodle hotdish."


In Minnesota it should be noted, if something even remotely resembles a casserole , it is simply called Hotdish.

Yes, the movie " Fargo " got that bit and actually a lot more completely correct.

But back to the salad issue.

We had salads growing up, nothing fancy, basic lettuce, cuke, tomato, carrot  , croutons  and Bacos if we had them salads.

Italian or Thousand Island dressing. Ranch had not become available but would have been in the rotation had it been around.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

And now it's a thing ?

Somewhere my late mother has a very smug grin on her face, I just know it.

I can hear it in my head.


UFDA.

Carry On..

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

You Named It What ? Is That The Best You Could Think Up ?

Every once and a while , I run across a recipe that is stooopy easy.

I mean , stooopy easy .

But then I really had to sit and ponder the title of this recipe.

" Dutch Babies ".

Um....err.....why ?

I may or may not want to google this .

Anyhoo , without further delay, grab your cast iron skillet kids.


Dutch Babies .

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

2 Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 Pinch Ground Nutmeg
1 Pinch Salt
2 Tablespoons Butter
2 Tablespoons Confectioners Sugar  for dusting.

Directions :

1. Place 1 10 inch skillet inside oven and preheat to 475 degrees F...YES ...475

2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs with a whisk until light, add milk and stir .Gradually whisk in flour, nutmeg and salt.

3. Carefully remove skillet from oven and reduce the oven temp to 425 degrees F.

4. Melt butter in hot skillet making sure that the inside of the skillet in completely covered in butter .

5. Pour all the batter into the skillet and return skillet to the oven.

6. Bake until puffed and lightly browned , about 12 minutes .

7. Remove promptly and dust with confectioners sugar.

Now personally, I might replace the powdered sugar with some heated marmalade or some thinned out Biscoff on the side as a dipping sauce..but that's just me .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

When In Doubt Wednesday

When in doubt , buy shoes .

I was putzing ...err....doing research on the web  today and I ran across these in Navy Blue..in my size.

So , of course I had to buy them.

In Navy.

In White

In Black

In Geranium which is actually a bright pink.

Yes dear, the same color as the purse.


I was talking to a couple of co-conspirators and once they heard the word Navy..all three blurted out on cue.... "  Buy THEM ...NOW ! "

Amateurs !


I have been looking for summer sandals that I can wear to the office and these fit  the ticket. I have resigned myself to a lower heel or a wedge for safety's sake  but I have to draw the line somewhere. I am after all the woman who posted a picture of the only Tevas I would consider actually wearing and they had a heel.

Of course they had a heel.

Now these bad boys..cute and arch support...winner winner chicken dinner..

I hate to admit it but I am at the stage of my life where comfort is more important than a 4 inch heel with a 1 inch platform. When I take a step and there is no feeling in my left ankle or leg for that matter, rationally I know the reason and I know that it won't last very long, but as the panic attack takes over , I give in to reality inch by bloody inch.

Besides, shoe shopping took  my mind off the anvil sized sinus headache that has plagued me since about 3 am

Some folks Bayer.

I buy shoes .


Huzzah, the economy is safe for yet another day .

Carry on.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Can Someone Explain This To Me ?

I saw this on the local NBC news program this morning and almost died laughing .

In what world is this appropriate ?

Gentlemen, bless your lil itty bitty hearts.

I know that it's summer. I know it's hotter than beejeebers as my spouse often comments.Unfortunately , unlike we ladies, you have to suffer through long pants when you are in a professional environment. I know it sucks.........a lot.

Unlike you, most professional females ( wink..I am being very generous here ) have forgone pantyhose. Hopefully they have embraced Ms Pedicure and leg hair management.

Boys , boys, boys....I hate to break it to you but " Skinny Legs N All " just has no place in the modern business world .

Even if you work out and have calves of steel..

NO !

This has been a public service announcement on behalf of women everywhere.

" If you want to ever get lucky again..get dressed."

Carry On.

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

A Tidy Cat Is A Happy Cat .

We have a new experiment at the Casa.


It;s another Gracie Marie story so you have been warned.

Aw..what the hell.


Anyone who reads this knows me to varying degrees at this point and what I write about. And lately is been food or the cat....I need to get out more or pin less.

We are uber aware of her bodily functions right now with the aftermath of " Oh Hell Noes You Aren't Gonna Throw That Crap Down My Throat."..and lets face it , after a couple of years of living with an incontinent cat , it's second nature.

Monday when we came home as I went down the hall, there was a present in out bedroom, a small dry stool deposit. My first reaction was not to get mad per se but rather pleased that the plumbing so to speak was operational . I did look in the guest bathroom tub where we keep the box and saw again, another dry stool in the tub. She had pee'd in the box as usual and there was no mess , just 2 areas that were out of character for her . Of course I asked her Daddy if he had cleaned her box and he said yes so I thought about it.


There may be a smell she senses in the box that she associates with her illness that makes her not want to poop there . We scrubbed the box out when she became the last Mohican so that she would not associate the box any longer with those who had gone to the Bridge..we'd done our homework and had not had any problem since we'd lost Boshi. In the greater scheme of things , Gracie has calmed down a lot since there is no sense of competition anymore, she is a rarity, a cat happily flying solo through life.

I'm hoping that a new box helps her sort it all out...saving that , I hope the accident was a fluke.

None of us want her to have to go back to the Vet any time soon.


Happy Friday Eve.


Ciao,
Aunty Pol

RIP Mary Stewart. - May 15, 2014 .

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/15/mary-stewart

How is the hell did I miss this ?

Most folks who know me know that I am a trivia junkie and a "self " medicating Bookaholic. I used to say that if you can't find me in the mall , check shoe stores and book stores. You will save yourself a lot of time by just starting at the closest bookstore and zeroing in on the Science Fiction /Fantasy section.

Long before I first read any of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series or Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders Of Pern , I discovered Mary Stewart and the Crystal Cave series.

It was and is brilliant .

I guess I was maybe 14 at the time and it made a lasting impression on me because of the depth of her writing. It wasn't overblown or coated in sugar the way some fables and fairy tales can be so I found myself responding to the music of her words and became a life long reader.

I will read almost anything that catches my attention and so I have waded through many disappointments ( I WILL finish this idiotic insert name here book ) ..but along with many beloved and now deceased authors, she is in my arsenal of friends to revisit again and again.

If you haven't read anything of hers, go to your favorite data source whether it be Google, Amazon or Wikipedia and check her out.


Happy Reading !

Ciao,
Aunty Pol

Rocky Road For $400.00 Alex.

Quesetion: " What is Aunty Pols Favorite Ice Cream ? "

Anyone who knows me knows I love and miss Baskin Robbins Rocky Road Ice Cream. Thankfully for my sanity, there aren't a lot of BR/'s around here and I'm sorry folks. Pillory me if you need to but Blue Bell ROcky Rod just isn't good enough.

But since I can't scream for ice cream..I can make truffles.

Since today is National Rocky Rod Day, here is the link for Miss Janet's post on her blog " Dying For Chocolate."

http://dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com/2014/06/rocky-road-truffles-national-rocky-road.html

Inhale.

Enjoy.

Repeat as needed.

If Mr. Linky decides to get all pissy, just go to : www.dyingforchocolate.blogspot.com to access the post .

Ciao,
Aunty Pol