First Rain of the Season

It's that time of year. Sunset time of year. And I really like that shade of orange with the black. Reminds me of Halloween.

Christmas Morning

After we open the presents while drinking a sparkling beverage, The Mister was a sweetheart and made bacon and eggs. That's my new coffee cup. I think it's a "J" for joy, but I'll take "J" for Judy.

See Si licking his lips? Bacon stealer!

The theme this year is Yellow Submarine! We all live in a yellow submarine!

The Mister's stash.

The Mister's Yellow Submarine.

My stash.

Little green man.

That's an inside joke.

Sandy, our neighbor's cat, lonely and forgotten. We decided to save him this Christmas from the rain and wind, so The Mister put up the old pup tent we used to use for our indoor felines, you know for fun.

And it looks like he likes it!

So probably out of some guilt he buys Si an indoor pup tent for Christmas. Awwwww.

Silas really liked his fishy mat, although he smelled himself and subsequently sprayed the mat at a later time.

Look a solar power welcome kitty.

Merry Christmas!

Autumnal Sunset

Thanksgiving went rather traditional this year. The standard fare was tasty and plentiful. We opened some local Petite Sirah and had black tongue the next day, which was handy as it was Black Friday.

A local winery was offering up some good wine for $100 a case on Black Friday, so we hustled up the hill to stake a claim, and now we have plenty of wine and plenty of turkey sandwiches.

I hope your T-day was a happy one. Onward to Christmas!

Welcome September & Happy Labor Day!

Betsy Ross is my hero, whether or not she made this flag for General Washington.

I just processed a boat-load of tomatoes. I blanched them, then chilled them in ice water to remove the skins. I will freeze them now for a tomato sauce in the future. It's an easy process in theory, but these are mini Roma style tomatoes that I'm growing this year. It's takes about six of them to equal one regular sized Roma.

So I've been peeling little effin tomatoes for the last hour. I'm making buns for dinner too. I put some wheat and a some honey in the dough, so I guess I can call them honey wheat buns - well, honey wheat slider buns. We're having sliders for din din. Yay!

I suppose all this should be over at foodie judy's blog with photos instead of here. I wonder why I have three blogs. (Actually I have more but some are not active.) I am so hesitant to give up on Foodie Judy. 

My Bento blog has a niche, so it's not going anywhere, and I've just started the "Bento of the Day" gig. We'll see how that goes. I started a Flickr group called "Bento of the Day." I post the bento on Flickr, Pinterest, and Twitter, as well as blog it. I'm trying to uncover bento bloggers I'm missing because we aren't on the same highway, so to speak. 

What I'm uncovering is that Pinterest is winning the hearts and minds and time of folks like us. 

I still like to read blogs. I still use Flickr even if the new and improved layout is a little annoying. I wish Twitter was funner. And every once in a while I am amazed at Tumblr. I mean the talent and creativity of some those I follow is awesome. Facebook is a love/hate relationship. My email is clogged with a lot of stuff I don't care about. 

And that's my status of social networking to the people who might read this. 

Tell me where do you think all of this interaction will lead? Would you like a free gift? 

Everybody likes a free gift. I've had give-aways before, and some people will follow you - my guess thinking their odds are better to win, then unfollow you when they don't. It kind of stings. 

But in order for them to find you, you have to put "give away" in the title. And I didn't, but I might edit this again, but I probably should move on.

Happy Veterans Day

My father was a Navy man. He served in the Submarine Service during WWII as a radio specialist, where he built radars. His radar on the USS Hackleback found the Yamato.

After he left the service, he went to MIT and studied engineering, and basically spent his whole life building radars with JPL/NASA. He was a pioneer in space exploration, and his radars were used in the mapping of the Moon and Venus.

However one of the biggest surprises was using his radar to find the ancient Mayan canals in Guatemala. He told me that not a week would go by without a call or two from someone who was interested in this research - even 20 years later!

My father was a very patriotic man. He flew a flag 24 hours a day, illuminated at night. He even planted his front lawn red, white, and blue! He replanted the delphiniums this spring. He would sit by that big front window and look out to his flower garden.

He put in a gas lamp in front of his house.

Dad passed away in July. He was 87 years old. 

One of my favorites pictures. Circa 1985

He was always the most happy working.

Year of the Dragon

Winston

I guess Winston would be a more appropriate Fire Dragon, but that's okay. I'll pull him out for a viewing every 12 or so years if I can. At least I got the left over right on his robe correct.

Happy Chinese New Year!

All gussied up

My Christmas tree for 2011. 

In The Corner

The tree is in position and ready to be decorated.

Christmas Tree Time

Currently it is really really windy here. I'm sure that is why the Christmas tree place ties these large trees to this merry-go-round device.

We bought two trees this year - a live one that is little tabletop size, and a smaller than our usual living room size - a five footer. Both are Nordman firs. I haven't photographed the smaller one yet. I think I might try to bonsai it. Most live trees don't make around here. It's too hot and too dry and the soil is too clayey too. And you think you can alter some of those things, but in the end you just watch the poor plant suffer.

This aloe vera plant on the other hand loves this sunny window. 

Pay no attention to that cat in the background. 

This plant literally saved its own life. He was once in a different pot and sat on top of a six foot bookcase. Pretty much ignored, I dare say. He grew towards the light and one day became so heavy on the lit side that he fell out of his pot, roots and all.

I came home from work and saw all this dirt and plant on the floor. I asked The Mister just what the heck happened. He hadn't a clue, although he said he thought he heard something around noon.

Well, I repotted the aloe with fresh soil and a bigger pot and gave him the sunniest spot in the house. You can almost hear him say ahhhh!

Here's my Christmas tree at the lot. 

Clashy Colors and Expectations for T-day

This little pom is the only fruit my plant did bear this year. I picked it when I went out to catch the sunset. Same light but totally different colors. So clashy!

Today it is rainy and cold and I'm getting caught up on my blogging and my blog reading. Thanksgiving is this week and I still have not decided what I'm going to serve, if anything. Going out feels like fun this year. You know, a quiet little dinner in a nice restaurant without all the have to's and should's that an emotional holiday is saddled with.

The mister is not convinced however. Of course, his stomach is talking. I make a lot of very tasty dressing (My mother's recipe :D). And he thinks cooking at home is less expensive. But after one buys all the stuff one needs to make a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, one could have a very nice meal in a very nice venue without all the cooking and cleaning.

Not that I mind the cooking, I just want something different.

Cheers to the Five Year Mark!

A Nice Sauternes and Salad

Here's to Judy's Notebook, a five-year old blog about nothing in particular. Here's to everyone who has followed this blog, which I consider an anchor to my other blogs, which are many. Here's to everyone who has unfollowed this blog, just to prove I'm not spiteful, even though I am, traders. Here's to being a columnist to 25,000 people per week, then becoming a blogger to a few people per month, ouch. Here's to starting then stopping then starting then stopping then starting this blog. Here's to not dying along the way. Here's to all you crazy Snapple Rain affectionados. Here's to Googling Snapple Rain and seeing my photos in the number one and two spots on the Google images. Here's to my favorites bloggers, listed on the left side, the list may have changed over the years but I still love you all. Here's to trying new things right here like GoodReads or starting a book club or Twitter or Tumblr, which I still love, and thank you, you know who you are, for introducing me to these fun activities. Here's to my first post, not much really, but has totally reminded me of my wood rat, so sad, and how much work it was to live out at the ranch. And finally here's to Silas, who should probably have his own fan club, his own limo, and his own personal chef, oh wait, he does have his own chef, that would be me.

xoxo
Judy

Toast!

Vintage Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day!

My First Valentines Day Swap Card Arrives

I joined the second annual Valentines Day card swap hosted by crowandcanary.com. 

I thought it would be fun to make my own cards (this is encouraged over buying store bought) and then I proceeded to procrastinate. Finally with no more wiggle room, I sucked it up and made blank cards using my own art work, and I was tickled pink, as they said, that I plan to make more and try to sell them on etsy.com - I know that's crazy! (More on that soon!)

That was just the first good thing to happen to me with this creative spurt. The second was the actually swap and although I've only received this one thus far,

Anonymous from Portland OR

I feel a welling of generosity and good-will from a stranger who had only my blog to go on. The world isn't so bad after all. 

Shall We Do Some Resolutions

I strongly believe if you recognize that you have a "bad" habit, then you should break it. Don't wait to the new year. Just go ahead and stop it. And if you want to develop "good" habits, there is no time like now to start.

I suppose that is why I started The Classics Book Club back in September, and yes I'm still trudging along although tardy with the December read, Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. By the way, it is turning out to be a good one. A real woman's voice with a keen wit. After a couple of misses, at last I'm enjoying an old book.

Anyways I'm here to discuss some ideas on how I want to change for the better.

For the past couple of weeks I've been returning books to the library. I'm a real hoarder when it comes to books. I think "oh I'd like to read that" so then I check it out and renew renew renew. Now I haven't maxed out my card but even if I did, I have another one. Shh don't tell the librarian. Seriously this is something so insignificant to most people, yet I feel I must address my addiction to The Check Out.

So I've already started working on it by returning about half of my stash, thus far.

Another issue I need to work on is staying organized. Getting there is easy. Staying, not so. I discovered an empty surface has a half-life of 6 hours around me. I don't know why, but I need to pile things upon a clean table. And I have a ready available deluge of "things" to pile. So perhaps I need to get rid of the "things" to make this work. One of the "things" is library books (see above). So I'm working on that. Another "things" is catalogs sent in the mail. I don't often buy from catalogs, but I look at them, sometimes. Really when I look at how the catalogs can accumulate, especially during the holidays, I worry for all the trees. And you know all that ink just can't be good for any living thing.

So this past year I started Sake Sunday, which combines my love of Japanese food and drink with a sneaky once-a-week organizing trick. That is, every Sunday I clear off the dining room table to serve a small meal with hot sake. And I sometimes take photos of the event and blog them at Foodie Judy.

This was sort of working. At least I was semi-dealing with the table build up problem, but by the next day, shiny clean surfaces had new piles. This how I know about the half-life.

Anyway, I read that if you have basket (for your table), then you put "things" into the basket, and when you want a clear table you remove the basket. But I've lost a lot of important "things" doing this method than I care to say. So I'm still searching for way to keep my surfaces clear.

Another quirk I have is I'm obsessed with calendars. And I'm not going to change either. So the first of the year is a huge day for me. To put up brand new calendars in every room. "Superb Day!" I'll write in my engagement calendar because most years I keep an engagement calendar (book-style) where I write a couple of sentences about what happened on that day like the weather, a conversation, a plumbing problem, what was for dinner, and so forth.

This past year I also kept another engagement calendar (a "My Neighbor Totoro" from Japan. So cute!) where I would write only good things that happened on any given day. This has been great to review what I considered fun for any given month. "Played with Si." "Beatles night." "Stuffing!!!" This little calendar also verified that I was indeed happy whenever I pursued a sewing project or worked on a drawing, and that reconnecting with an old friend was the highlight of the year.

So if I am to build on my successes this year (and that is The Plan), I will gab more on the phone, eat lots of stuffing, draw silly pictures, and of course, play everyday with my Si.

Merry Christmas!

May the spirit of the holiday season

infuse your heart 

like the love of a furry creature.

Happy Birthday Old Man!

I was up at dawn laying out the presents - one propeller replica that is 7 feet tall, hand blown glass ice cubes, a laminated poster of the Beaufort scale, a fancy stopwatch 60 second sweep analog style, and this hand painted card.

Then I went back to bed. He got up, made coffee, and opened up the card. Shortly thereafter I woke up and he opened up the presents. The propeller he knew about because I wanted to get him one from Restoration Hardware. Pictured here. But ended up with something made of darker wood.

The stopwatch he sort of knew too, but I was like swimming in possibilities and finally told him - well it went down like this.

Me: "Now, what EXACTLY do you want?"
Him: "Not a digital. I want an old-fashioned stopwatch."
Me: "OK but here's the deal. There are these two stemmed, 30 second sweep, 15 min timers aplenty. Does that sound like what you want?"
Him: "Huh?"
Me: "You know, the tick tock goes around in 30 seconds."
Him: "What?"
Me: "You do know what a stopwatch is, right?"
Him: "My coach wore one ... like (the TV show) 60 minutes."
Me: "Oh."
Me: "So you want a 60 second sweep?"
Him: "Ummm."

One week later.
Me: "Dude, you're on your own with the stopwatch."
Him: "Okay."

But of course I kept on looking, and I found something too. Really sweet!

It is connected with Voice Over and that is something I've been wanting to try forever. So I bought the stopwatch and secretly, well not really, have been wanting to keep it for myself. But I didn't.

He's been timing everything too. More on that later.

Happy Mother's Day!

This picture was taken by a camera salesman in a place called Fedco (which was like a precursor to Costco but for federal employees). He was trying to sell my Dad a brand new Polaroid camera.

We were a dubious threesome. Can you tell?

I remember the incident so well. We had come in from the rain, kind of raggedy, and the salesman just sprang it on us. My mom was upset with the way her hair looked. My dad was skeptical with this new technology, and I didn't want my picture taken. (My father is holding me there by my jacket. (btw, I loved that jacket!))

When I look at this photo now, I could kiss that salesman on the lips for capturing us all on film in that weird moment, especially my beautiful mother.

Fly Me To The Moon

The challenge is to LOOK UP this month of May at NaBloPoMo, and I have been interpreting this as "things are looking up" as in "it's not my birthday month anymore." But not today. Because today is ....

Sink-O de Mayo(nnaise). Happy Happy to All !!!

I think it was about 87 degrees when I left work today, so Sun Roof Open.

LOOK UP!

Five things I didn't accomplish on my vacation

1. The mess that is my office/craft/sewing room is still a mess.
2. The books that need to be sorted and separated were not.
3. I didn't go to the desert. I was all to set to go. I wanted to stay here for a few nights, but a little stripy kitty was not allowed, and I couldn't bear to leave him behind.
4. I didn't go to Salmon Creek Falls on my birthday as suggested by Mrs. Oz - who won my birthday contest. But it is an adventure for the future.
5. I didn't really relax. Why are vacations like that? I look forward to them with great anticipation, then in the mist of it all, the countdown to return to work begins.