Depression Cooking with Clara

I heard about these videoes on Good Morning America...Depression Cooking with Clara. Clara is a 90+ yr old woman who learned how to cook from her mother during the depression. I've watched just one video... Poorman's Meal. I have actually made this meal when my kids were young. Go figure.

Clara also talks a little about her life when she was young. Check it out... there are many videoes each with a different dish.

Another Wednesday

 Putting art up here sure helps one get a more objective look at it. Sigh. At least I did something. (from a magazine photo)

Its rainy around here and it might even snow tomorrow... although it will be too warm for it to last. If it happens at all.

Wanda has got my taste buds all set for meat loaf and scalloped potatoes so when I went shopping today I got the necessary supplies. I've got some sweet teriyaki to use in it...yummmm.

What a sad little life. The only thing I can think of to talk about is dinner. I'll probably be going to bed around 3pm at this rate. But not to give the wrong impression... I'll take a "sad little life" over life's drama any time!!

This is my second try at posting something today. I hope it works. If it doesn't, I'll just try again later.

How Did He Do That?

The two grandsons came over and spent the night. There is absolutely nothing for them to do around here, so I let them 'pretend' to do the dishes. I wanted to show you what Vyron was wearing... rubber boots. Rubber boots with hooks on them to pull them up. I'm betting 'mom' couldn't find his shoes and she was in a hurry to get rid of him. I mean, send him on his way to my place. Been there. Done that.

 

Earlier today we were outside. "Run, boys, Run...get rid of all that energy!!" They each took a turn playing with a raggedy umbrella I had. I had been watching Vryon open and close the umbrella (can't get any more exciting than that!) and then I turned my attention towards Darius for a moment. A small whine bought my attention back to Vyron. Somehow he had gotten an umbrella spoke laced thru the loops on his rubber boots. And not just one boot, but both of them!

 

 

How'd he do that? In a blink of an eye. I thought it was funny so I laughed to show my appreciation. The two boys didn't think it was funny and Darius told me to stop laughing. "Its not funny, gramma!" Like he knows what funny is.

As Seen on TV

I had a moment of weakness. A moment of weakness is not bad, in and of itself, but couple it with a few bucks in the pocket and BAM! Sucker. (that would be me.)

I was checking out Walgreens for something and saw the ShamWow. I've been curious about it and before I realized what was going on I was shelling out $19.99 for a box of ShamWow.

 

All it seems to be is some felt cloth. I don't know squat about fabrics, but it looks like its just a little thicker than your run-of-the-mill felt. (for a minute I felt I should be putting cut out figures up to tell the story of Noah's Ark or something. Remember those storyboards in church?) That's it. That's all it is. I don't think it could be more than two yards of material, if that.

 

Four "larger" squares and four small squares. That's it.... that's all of it. I would have been better off going to a fabric store and buying the felt there.

Now, in all fairness, I haven't yet tried it for sopping up liquids, but I'm sure I will have an opportunity soon. If I don't spill something, then surely when the grandsons come over and they take a bath... I'll have LOTS OF LIQUID to get up.

All I can say is WAY OVER PRICED. WAY.

This is the second time I fell victim to late-night advertisements. The other thing I bought some times ago was one of those little sound enhancers to help one hear better. ohmygawd, What a ripoff that is. The only thing I could ever hear from it was the rustle of the cord against my clothes and the beat of my own heart.

I'm just sharing this as a warning. And I won't be buying anything 'as seen on tv' again, unless I've had a chance to try it first or if someone I know can vouch for it. Just know that I've done my bit to help the economy get back on its feet. I do what I can.

This and That

I finally got around to getting some of those reusable canvas-like tote bags for grocery shopping. They work pretty good, especially when you remember to take them, but its too easy to fill them up. Then you end up with a bag too heavy to tote. I got three and I will definitely need more.

The grocery store was very crowded. If I go too early in the morning (or in the middle of the night-open 24/7) the isles are filled with boxes for restocking the shelves. If I go a little later in the morning, then its way crowded. We just have too many people. And speaking of too many people.... the woman who now has 14 kids all under the age of 8, is crazy. Completely out of her mind. And I fully understand why the woman's mother (the kids' grandmother) would want to run away. All I can say is "Run... Run as fast and as far as you can!!"

Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow.

Snow.... Again!

 I can't believe its snowing... again today. What's up with this, anyway? It was suppose to be only a dusting this morning and then gone in a couple of hours. That worked out okay, but now its snowing again. Crazy weather mumble mumble.

I haven't been doing much of anything. I visited my friend on Saturday. (Now that was a beautiful day... total sunshine!) We got two games in... Upwords and Word Yahteeze. (sp?) I somehow managed to win both of them. Go me!!

So... how's it going?

 This is a face I saw in the swirl of wood that I call a door. Once I had drawn it, the face faded and I couldn't find it again. Go figure.


This is a print (I think its a print) I got at Goodwill for $2.99. I wanted something for the bathroom and since this came with a protective covering (which made it hard to photograph without a reflection even though I didn't use a flash) I got it. Its by Peter Greaver and is called Fairy Light 2.
 

I'm feeling discouraged today. I know the mood will change, since they always do (even the good moods) but today I'm a little ticked. I'm ticked at the people who create viruses and I'm ticked at the people who create anti virus software that doesn't work. I won't share the curses I've been flailing about, but rest assured.... they have been cursed royally.

I fixed a small pot of split peas this morning. Afterwards I read the nutrient content. Not much to them. A tiny bit of sodium, a very small amount of carbs, and 44% dietary fiber. Tomorrow should be interesting.

I'm curious is this will post. Its the first time trying to post something from Picassa. If it doesn't post, you won't know about it. If it does post... well, you know. Shall we find out? Here goes.....

Hi

Hi everyone. I just wanted to say I'm still here. So far the technical problems seem to still be with me, but at least I can sporadically stay on for a while. And when I can, I try to catch up reading everyone rather than post a blog entry.

I've been checking easy things first (trying to fix my situation) and so far, nothing has done anything, but there have been a couple of things that better than before. And I've been online for 30 minutes now and it hasn't gone down yet. Cross your fingers for me, because I believe in miracles... no matter how large or how small.

Being gone for so long, you'd think I might have something to say, but I'm getting a blank. And I want to post this while I can. If I stay up, I'll be back. If not today, then tomorrow.

It Is Done!

We have a fresh and true leader for our country. For this we can all be grateful.

Problems

I'm having technical problems. My pc seems to be going belly up. I hope I can get this posted. Reports are saying its a hardware problem PLUS I've got some malware on it and I can't get through a scan to fix it. The machine crashes like someone unplugged it. I just wanted to say I may be a little scarce for a while.

Noodle Doodling

I tried to copy the technique of someone I follow on youtube, but its not happening. But I don't care. It is what it is and I have no shame. If nothing else, I did something. You know the old saying... "Do something! Anything!!" So I did.

 

 

Below is how I would like to leave things until I'm ready to use them again. Only on a much longer table. One not made of glass, too.

 

But alas... I must put at least some of the stuff away.

A Day in the Life of....

 I don't know how people manage to go a whole day without doing anything. Yet, somehow I manage.

Sunday Morning

 A drizzily Sunday morning. The small table lamp creates an intimate, cozy feeling in the room as its warm light brightens the corner. A perfect time to have a great cup of coffee and relish the day. Except I didn't have any coffee.

Oh, sure... I had the remains of the emergency stash of cheap, industrialized coffee that I kept in the refrigerator but I had already been forced to use it the past two days. Enough punishment. I wanted decent fake coffee that comes in a bag... not a can.

This desire caused me to venture out in the drizzle to snap up whatever bagged coffee might be on sale. If there were any on sale... and luck and timing was on my side. There were fake sale tags below the shelves of fake bagged coffee. I kept searching for decaf and couldn't find any. WTH? (I may like caffine in my coffee, but my body doesn't and it lets me know!) Then I saw the Dunkin Donut coffee. And it was on sale as well. I've been wanting to give it a try, but I gotta say, their advertisement has over sold the product. (I'll make it stronger the next time to see if that helps.)

That lamp-in-the-corner paragraph kind of makes a pretty picture, doesn't it. What it fails to do is to point out that there are used dishes in the sink and a small pile of debris sits next to the broom waiting to be picked up and discarded. I have issues. I don't finish things. There... I've said it. My name is Crusty Crone and I'm an unfinisher.

I get all the way to the end with only one step left to do... and I leave it. Unfinished. What is up with that? I don't know why I do that. Do you leave things unfinished? Do you sweep the kitchen floor and have the dust and dirt neatly placed in a pile and then set the broom down in a way as though to protect the pile... and walk away? Like I said, issues.

12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women

I stumbled across this book blogging site which is just getting started tomorrow. It sounds very interesting. I'm putting this here just in case you might be interested in it... or if not interesting in joining the group, you may be interested in getting the book. (I didn't see anything about cost, so I'm thinking "kewl", ya know. Free soul coaching. I still need to nose around a bit more.)

If you scroll down to the first post, it explains what is going on.

A Leader... We Finally Have a Leader!!!

I'm speaking of Obama, of course, and his speech he made this morning. His 'state of the union', if you will. If you missed it, I hope you get a chance to see it via the web.

God blessed us with a leader. A real one!!

On another note, I couldn't sleep last night so I watched a PBS program. It was about Katrina results. What a gawd awful mess the government left. Local as well as national government. And what a joke... a cruel joke it was. The incompentency of it all. The companies hired to provide various services or distribute help did very very well... more bonuses for the execs, etc. The people, nothing. Bush promising to help and then denying it at the last minute. Its just too big to put words to it.

I've got to put my mind to something else. I'm getting angry all over again.

Things That Make You Go "hmmmmmm"

I caught part of the Oprah show today. Did you see it?

I was flabbergasted when she shared that she had been seen by four different doctors for her physical symptoms and not one of them performed a thyroid function test. Not one of them!

That doesn't really have me going "hmmmmm" ... It has me going "WTF?!?!"

If Oprah can't even get a THOROUGH exam, where does that leave the common person. Up shit creek, that's where. I certainly hope those so called doctors are embarrassed.

(My mother use to get very frustrated and angry because the doctors wouldn't listen to her. They would brush her off, discount what she was trying to share with them. They couldn't even let her just talk it out... because you know, time is money. However, even Oprah's money didn't get her excellent care. She had to be the sleuth.)

Doctors who think they know it all make me very concerned.

Pencil Drawing

 

I used an ad in a magazine as a reference. I'm thinking of next doing a stylized version in watercolor. But anything shiny... or dull... could distract me.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow... NOT!!

 
 Just a couple of pictures of our last snow fall a few days ago. Prior to this most of the "serious" snow had finally melted then we got a couple of hours of the white stuff and everything was covered once again. Fortunately, in the middle of the night it warmed a little and started raining. This melted everything. From there it just kept raining and raining and raining. We're on a flood watch for now.

Old Crone

 I watched a youtube video of this older woman and thought the scene would make a good painting. I liked it. I had to use my memory and imagination, however. It doesn't look like the woman except she was sitting down, she had a scarf wrapped artistically around her head, and there was a vase with flowers behind her. But I got something done, so there's always that.

I've been feeling a bit blah so I decided to try some shopping therapy. I went to the dollar store. I don't think cheap therapy works as well as the more expensive kind. I mean if I went out and bought a new car, I bet my mood would be better. Buying soap just didn't thrill me the way it sometimes can.

Come on Spring!!

Second try

The first photo was blurry (post below)... I hope this one is clearer.