COVID CAPERS...A NOTE FROM HOME

 

We're enjoying our new house colors and new roof. We're doing our part to keep the economy rolling, it seems. We had the house resided and painted just after the big fire in the Rogue Valley which took out two towns. It's still a mess down there in the south end of the valley. The roof was completed on December 29th...

THE COVID UPDATE is that Jack has completed his vaccinations, thanks to the VA, which evidently got plenty of Moderna early on. 

Me? I just yesterday... after 3 weeks of trying... secured an appointment at the local Albertson's grocery/pharmacy for next week...Moderna again...

 I ordered three of these daylilies from Oakes Daylilies in Tennessee. It's called Dynamite Returns (returns meaning that it is a rebloomer throughout the summer).

I also ordered a chaise lounge...something I've always wanted for the garden. 

This one is resin so it will be fine out under the maple tree. 

SO HERE'S MY QUESTION OF THE WEEK: 

WHY WOULD YOU GO TO ALL THE TROUBLE TO ADD AN AMENDMENT TO THE COVID RELIEF BILL AND THEN VOTE AGAINST THE BILL, LISA MERKOWSKI? 

STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Meanwhile, we wear our custom made masks by Terry (these new ones are triple layered). Mine is Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jack's is airplanes.  

 

MASKED MARAUDERS

We're sporting our custom made masks...Jack's daughter is mass producing masks instead of quilts these days. We're staying home as much as possible...no dentists, doctors, hair stylists, hardware stores, garden centers...

MAPLED!

 I didn't start out to be a collector of maples...Japanese maples to be exact...but somehow over the years...I've added several...and these aren't all of them. According to garden rules, 3 to 5 of a particular kind of plant makes you an enthusiast...more than five and you're a collector! Oye! Besides these, I think I have at least five more in the yard, including three vine maples. So enjoy!

 Just a couple of nice looking tulips...

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU STAY HOME

 Refrigerator clean out! Has to happen before our next load of groceries is delivered! Yes, we are paying to have them delivered now because the local Fred Meyer is over loaded with folks wanting to pick up their groceries. We pay $9.95 plus a 5% tip...so naturally I try to order more than if I was going to the store every few days.  

What I've noticed is that every successive refrigerator that I've owned is harder to clean. This relatively new GE is a true pain! Lots of little nooks and crannys for crumbs to collect. And I haven't even done the bottom freezer yet. Oh joy!

STAY THE FUCK HOME!

 This is what you can do with a bag of frozen wild blueberries from Trader Joe's, sugar, cornstarch and some pie crust mix... on a VERY QUIET weekend.

 Oh, and did I mention the Tillamook French Vanilla ice cream? Takes the sting out of not being able to go to the Grange and buy plants!   SORT OF!

It feels like someone stuck their foot out and stopped my world from spinning...but the daffs do remind me that NATURE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT HUMAN PROBLEMS...it just keeps on keeping on and blooming away!  

TUTEUR OR NOT TO TEUR...

This free-standing trellis with a mushroom shaped top is called a TUTEUR. When we had our new fence built, we gained about 2' of additional space so the Campsis radicans (Yellow Trumpet Creeper) that had been growing on the fence was now 2' away from it. What to do? I spied this trellis in the Gardener's Supply catalog and figured it would let me keep the Trumpet Creeper and perhaps a morning glory or two. 

It's very naked right now in March, but we hope for lots of blooms this summer that attract pollinators to the garden.

DRAGONFLY ADDITION TO THE GARDEN CORNER

My daughter in law Susan found this great dragon fly at the MADE IN CHICO store. It really compliments my "garden corner" of the dining area. We secured it with an anchor bolt. 

SHANTY TOWN FENCE...MILLER PAINT TO THE RESCUE!

 Our neighbor's "new" fence along our driveway. 

The original blew down during a big windstorm this winter and they rebuilt it using new posts and the original 40 year old cedar boards. IDIOTS ABOUND, IT SEEMS. It looked like HELL, and we decided its only hope was to paint it and give it some uniformity.
 Before we painted, we had to saw off the boards that were sticking out beyond the posts on our side. The neighbor heard the saw and came out saying, "I wanted those boards that way! Shame shame shame," he said for not asking my permission to cut them! We told him, "Go fuck yourself! It's our side of the fence and it looks like HELL!"
 

It took $200, 5.5 gallons of Miller Storm in "boxwood" color, and a week long  sacrificing of our bodies. We painted all 19 panels and the gate. Worth every penny, don't you think? 

BULLYS, BULLYS, BULLYS

AS WE SUSPECTED, TRUMP ONLY HIRES BULLYS...MIKE POMPEO IS A CASE IN POINT.

HE BULLIED AN NPR REPORTER AFTER SHE DARED ASK HIM ABOUT UKRAINE AND THE FIRED AMBASSADOR. TOOK HER INTO A PRIVATE ROOM AND SWORE AT HER, CALLED HER A LIAR. WHAT AN ASSHOLE HE IS! A COMPLETE JERK! 

WHEN IT SNOWS...

 I get antsy to clean out closets and cupboards!  Should have thought to snap a photo of the before but who'd believe it? This is the closet we call Fibber MacGee's closet. "don't open that closet door, MacGee!" his wife Molly would call out to him before  you heard the crash. Yes, heard...it was a radio show.

Okay so no one remembers radio any more...but being an audio learner, I loved radio. Anyway, here I've done my best to reorganize everything from towels, tissue, bum fodder, cleaning products, pest spray, first aid  and bandaids, toothpaste, soap and supplements. Oh, and bags of birdseed. Good times!!!

UPDATES AROUND HERE

 UPDATE on the conspicuous consumption department: I did manage 6 meals for two out of this big, luscious hunk of meat, plus sandwiches...too much for us!

 UPDATE ON SILVER HAIR. I'm finally growing it out to a real hairstyle. And I had to replace much of my hair product with different stuff. I now have healthy, non-color treated hair, so a cleanout of hair old products was required.   

 UPDATE on threatened cosmetic drawer clean out...I started with the lipsticks and got it down to almost the basics, eliminating about 50% of them. I separated them by color: PINKS< NUDES
It's amazing how many of these I have collected through several years. It was obvious when I went silver, that some of the very warmest colors were not going to work for me, due to a more neutral skin tone. Mr. A painted numbers on these Estee Lauder lipstick tops with only one round body, non EL left. 

NEXT UP? FIBBER MACGEE'S CLOSET...THE SO-CALLED LINEN CLOSET WHICH IS MY CATCH-ALL, COSTCO CLOSET...AND YES, I HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO KEEP A FEW TOWELS IN IT FROM TIME TO TIME... 

PRIMED FOR CHRISTMAS LUNCH

 I threw caution to the wind and went to Cartwright's meat counter and ordered a 2-bone prime rib...a true PRIME grade, 3 pound roast. What I got when I picked it up a few days later was a 4 pound roast...$75 worth of prime meat. Oye!  
Christmas Day: I took the beast out of the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for 2 hours.  

I didn't have the required roasting pan so I just plunked it down into my heavy pot and skewered in the big thermometer. I elected NOT to salt it much...a bit of Trader Joe's onion salt sprinkled on the top fat.
I heated my big oven (which I hadn't used in over a year) since getting a big toaster oven. 
The stove oven smelled dusty as it heated up to 450 degrees. 
I discovered that there are as many prime rib recipes as there are turkey recipes, with recommended roasting temperatures from 325 to 550!  

What to do? I heated the oven to 450 and set in the roast on one of the lower racks. I let it cook for 15 minutes and then lowered the temp to 350. I checked the thermometer periodically at first waiting for the thermometer needle to move. Finally after about 45 minutes, it headed towards the bottom of the meter...still no temp markings, but it was getting warm. I set the timer for 10 minutes, over and over and checked it, over and over. At about 1.75 hours, it finally read almost 140 degrees, rare or medium rare...depending on whose recipe I read.   

I pulled it out and let it set in the pan for about 15 minutes. The temp did climb to 140 degrees. I used my good German meat knife and undid the strings that held the ribs to the bottom of the roast. I sliced off the end piece and cut it in half, giving each of us an outer section of dark and then I split a slice of rare.  It was fork tender!

Bon, bon appetite! Served with a baked potato...baked in the pan with the roast and some Italian green beans from the garden, via the freezer. 

Since we have over 2 lbs of leftover beef, we'll be having this again on the weekend. I also used the bones on Boxing Day to make broth for the minestrone.  

BOMBO WHAT?

 IT'S BOMBOGENESIS...OR BOMB CYCLONE...when the barometer drops dramatically in a short period of time, creating a low pressure system with hurricane force winds. 106 mph at the Oregon coast, and 58 mph here in the Rogue Valley. Our neighbor's side fence that borders our long uphill driveway to the street was a victim. Our newly constructed fence (our side fence, their back fence, seen here from their backyard (the natural wood fence) did fine. No issues. Our house is fine (the snow covered roof beyond the wood fence.)

 Had we not replaced their back fence (our side fence) this fall, it would surely be down, just like this one.  That section toward the camera is laying right in our gravel driveway going up to the street. You can see many more leaning sections of fence. 

 We're not even sure that they realize the fence is down. They may have left for work this morning in the dark and not even seen it! I'm sure that the deer will see it and take advantage of some new area to browse!  

Happily, our fence (our side of their back fence shown here in the fall) is well made and can withstand gale force winds.

OVER 70 AND STILL STYLIN'

 Most of the styling blogs I follow are created by women in their 60's...the true "baby boomers" born in the 1950's. While I enjoy their fashions, I really feel that I'm beyond them not only in age but in what I know that they don't know...what comes in their 70's. So here's my one off attempt at OVER 70 AND STILL STYLIN'. 

So we'll start with TRUE CONFESSIONS! As you hit your 70's, your body will change...things will fit differently...and you may feel disappointed at that...but it's still your only body and you'll be happier if you accept that and learn to style it.  

 For me, tops that are a bit looser and a bit longer smooth out the torso.

Also for me, I haven't worn skirts in years, except for dancing. Most skirts have too much fabric around the middle or are too short. So I've looked for the rare midi skirt (hits at mid calf) and so far have found a very few that are A-line. The one above is from Eileen Fisher and comes in black or chocolate. Yeah, more than I wanted to pay but it is good quality and easy to pull on. I tried wearing it with booties...the "look" these days, but frankly it made my legs look like gate posts! So I use a loafer or a wedge heeled shoe. 

 As for SHOES, they can be cute as well as comfortable..and useful to draw the eye away from other locations...these are well padded cushy loafers from Clarks. I've had some foot "issues" from all my years of dancing and these keep me free from pain.  

 FUN WITH JACKETS: There's nothing like a special jacket to perk up a basic color. This one is 100% cotton by "Parsley & Sage. I've been wearing the crap out of it this fall as it goes with all colors and is just the right weight for chilly mornings in our valley. 

 GOING SILVER: Yep, after 30 years of being a redhead, I dared to grow out my "real" hair. What a shock! I have more silver than I knew and some nice big streaks in the front. Luckily I had a very supportive stylist who kept my locks short but sassy during the year of grow out. Now I can afford to go to the salon every month for a cut and it only takes about 45 minutes out of my day instead of 2+ hours of getting my roots done! 
 I also discovered that my makeup had to change...seems that while you hair is going silver, your skin is going neutral. Who knew? So I went from a mid tone warm foundation to a mid tone neutral one. I also changed my eye shadow colors to neutrals as well. AND I've been happy to wear silver jewelry. These earrings and pendant are thanks to my daughter-in-law Susan who got me started with BRIGHTON jewelry. I love their stuff because while it's silver plated, it's also coated so it won't tarnish. 

 A NEW LEAF? Why not? I vowed during the hair growout NOT to look like the frizzy haired women I met at the garden club! You REALLY DON'T have to look like a bag lady just because you have silver hair! It was time for me to pay more attention to upkeep and style!  

 SLOWING DOWN: This is my garden turtle Herkemer who has faded over the years but still looks good. I debated repainting him but the more natural look suits him. And more natural look suits me! We've all seen women who, as I put it, turn into "cartoons" of themselves with too much makeup and jewelry or styles meant for teenagers. I call it "trying too hard." I slowed down and took a look at me... 

 MILES: So no matter how many you have on your odometer, nobody knows but YOU! Adjust your outlook and it will help turn back your attitude! Oh, and SMILING IS GOOD!

That's it for me in this first blog...I'll keep trying to look MY BEST by keeping my daily routine of wearing makeup, a bit of jewelry and a well-fitting pair of pants. I'd love to hear from you.   

FALL IN THE AIR, IN THE GARDEN AND OUT OF THE CLOSET...

 I've spent the week dumping, washing and storing pots...fitting out a new pot storage area against our new side fence.

 We installed a tarp over the whole pot storage shelves to keep the rain and snow off. It's better for the pots and the spiders like it too!

 Our Parthenocissus is doing its thing and turning lovely shades of gold, orange and burgundy.

 Fall colors come out of the closet...a dark brown skirt with a new top and an "artsy-fartsy" new jacket that will go with just about anything casual...which is all the style I wear these days... 

 "Airing out" the cashmere and cotton sweaters

 Enjoying the last of the geraniums...

And Sally Holmes is our official "Last Rose of Summer."