Reports are that Occupy Sandy is doing a good job providing volunteer relief to Staten Island and other hard-hit locations in the region of NYC.

Weather.com will match donations to the American Red Cross for relief for Sandy victims up to $1 million.

See the link at the upper right of this page.

We are continuing the conversation at RadarLOve.

Tasty Bits, a South Louisiana boy, offers these tips to hurricane victims:

If you know anybody who has been affected, here are a few tips to pass along:

1) GET FLOOD INSURANCE. (for everybody)
2) Have somebody help them go through their things, and keep them from tossing everything. Five years later, they will wish they still had some of the things they tossed.
3) Warped, splitting, cracked wood can be repaired. Dry it as best as possible, and get a furniture restorer later.
4) American made sofas cannot be replaced, but they can be re-covered.
5) Reputable contractors will have a waiting list, and they will be more expensive. Make temporary repairs, and wait for a reputable contractor. A local contractor should have been in a previous year’s phone book.
6) Get the roof repaired as fast as possible, but use an established roofer. Wait for a reputable roofer.
7) A carpenter is not a contractor. A butcher and a surgeon cut muscle, but a butcher is not a surgeon.
 The place will be crawling with scammers. Scammers will promise twice much as a reputable contractor. The scammer will purchase the building material in the day, and the materials will be stolen that night.
9) The Insurance Company is not your friend. The settlement will seem high, but everything will cost twice as much. They will also include cheaper materials – stain-grade fir vs. paint-grade pine.
10) The government is not your friend. Once you get into and understand the system, it is a lot easier, but it takes time and patience. Also, the people who cheat have much less to lose. Do not take their advice.
11) People will need 6’ long tables with the plastic tops. The more surface space the better. Folding chairs are helpful also.
12) Plastic totes work better than boxes, and you can use them for years afterwards.
13) A used sofa is better than nothing, and a $250.00 Big Lots sofa works great.

All right, dammit! Since the proprietors of Outside the Beltway can't see fit to put up a post inviting commenters to report in, do it right here.

Are you in the Sandy corridor? How have you fared? Are your families okay? Will you be able to work today?

Janis at 50

These kids honestly thought they'd tangle with her.

Michael took the picture. Didn't he see the shoes? Sharp-toed, black patent leather with sharp spike heels. Etienne Aigners. So very unobservant.

You'll find me now at RadarLOve.

This blog will remain. I might write here once in a while.
.

New Rocker, old stuff

Here's where I'm going. Design-wise.

New rocker

Re-caning of the seat is complete. The chair itself was $59. Re-caning was costly.

New Shades

This room is done except for finish labor and finials for the lamps. Maybe a fold-up luggage stand.

Eventually, I want ceiling fans in all three bedrooms.

This house is now fit to receive guests. Beat it over here, I need some help.

Soon, there will be another queen-sized bed available. I'm talking two weeks. Pilgrimage is coming up. Lots of fine houses will be open.You have to buy and make your own damned breakfast, but I'm a hospitable woman.

I need a handyman. Lyman was my handy man. In so many ways. Ahem.

I have some things to hang and some furniture to move, and I'm just too darned worn out to do it myself after running around like a lunatic for three months. There's a big, heavy mirror that I can't hang alone.

Lyman was so capable and smart and funny and good-looking and sexy. What'll I do?

I have just about been crawling the past couple of days. This being "strong" crap is highly overrated.

I have to work on it a bit, but I'm starting  a new blog called "RadarLOve".

I'll let you know. The address is RadarLOve

This blog has retired now.

Cheap furnishings

The guest room needed a little something else, so I found this rug for $40, and the table for $42.

Don't need to be rocking a chair on a hardwood floor, so I found this rug for $70:

Exuberant spirit

Lana, who is disabled, came with her husband to deliver this painting today. It will stay where it is.

I bartered 8 hours of hard housecleaning for it.

She and her husband both delight me.

Marvin Gaye

Buffalo Springfield

War

The Five Blind Boys of Alabama

1873 Heywood rocker

Since the kids think I'm off my rocker, I bought two.

Very smooth action to this one.

The other is out for recaning on the seat.

Leona Helmsley

Idiot twits.

I picked up six 33-gallon bags of clothes OFF THE FLOOR in the room Michael was using.

This is how we live in MY house, you jerk.

Spend $300 on a hotel room, don't pick up your own damned mess.

Last Date

This is the last song Lyman and I ever danced to.

Iron hand

Dire Straits

Return from service

Lyman's parents just days after his return from the war.

I'm deleting photos from the card.

Charles Gore

Bird's eye view

Coastal sky

Good grief, when did I ever take a photo that good?

Surely Lyman took it. The man could see like an eagle.

New bracelet

Let's hear it for fun junk jewelry.

I bought it for Lyman's birthday, September 12.

Lyman's dad WWII

This is the best I can do without taking the photo out of the frame.

Travis S. Gore, Italy, WWII

UPDATE: Ahem. Look at that neck and throat, those hands -- my heart throbs. Lyman was like his father in that.

$60 quilt

I try not to brag, but Girls, I found this embroidered quilt yesterday at Walmart for $60, Better Homes & Gardens label.

The shams were $15 apiece, but really, I think it was a steal.

The ensemble fits both the bed and the style of the room perfectly.

I win! Again.

UPDATE: The tapestry above the bed appealed to Lyman's dad for some reason when he was a young soldier in WWII. He toted this one and another of a leopard all over Europe for three years before he was able to bring them home.

Pierrette and Pierrot.

Ain't No Sunshine by The Temptations.

Compare that to Mavis Staples' "I'm Coming Home."

Psychedelic Shack

Geez, Diane. Look at these quilts.

The Temptations' Ol' Man River

The Impressions

Law of the Land

Zoom

Papa Was A Rolling Stone

The Temptations

Give A Damn

Amen

Big Mac

Be What You Are by the Staples

I'm Coming Home by the Staples Singers

The Staples Singers

Lucy really got into the Wilbury Twist yesterday. Both birds and I were dancing, but Lucy was the one with perfect rhythm.

She wouldn't let me take a picture. Too much Baptist influence around these parts.

Handle with Care

I always thought George Harrison was the best looking of The Beatles. No wonder Olivia beat off a home intruder with a table lamp.

Roy Orbison

The Traveling Wilburys

All right, now. The carpet in that room has been cleaned with the extraction machine. We're on easy street from here out.

So, I'm at Family Dollar this afternoon in a quandary over carpet freshener. Buy the one for "tough odors, including smoke" or the one for "pet odors"?

Decisions, decisions.

Janis at 21

We're all 20-21 here, I guess.

Karen, on the right, was a friend from elementary school. We met Donna, on the left, at Skyline in Dallas.

Donna went into communications, biology for me (center, journalism came later), Romance languages for Karen.

Good times.

UPDATE: 21. 1978. I'd already been in the car accident, April of  '78. See the raised left eyebrow?

Man, going through this closet in Michael's room is like going shopping. I'd forgotten I had those shoes and purses, I haven't seen them in so long (about 7 years).

UPDATE: Whoa! There's a photo of Donna and Karen and me. We can't be over 21. I'll scan and post that later.

Charles Gore likes Ann Wilson and Heart. He whistles (not in tune) while she sings.

Let me tell you, emotional drama wears me down and bores the hell out of me.

It's a terrible waste of energy.

Heart

All that stuff was gone from the carport when I went for coffee with my brother this morning.

I've been washing windows and miniblinds today.

It's a beautiful Sunday morning. Let's listen to The Ventures.

Ray Wiley Hubbard:  "And the days when my gratitude is higher than my expectations, I have really good days"

American Sheraton

What kind of trashy snotwad dares damage Sheraton?

Louts and boors.

Granted this is reproduction stuff from the '30's, but isn't the prettiness of it enough to give you pause?

Hell ain't hard enough. I am vibrating with anger.

UPDATE: We call him MLG, 44, Natchez, MS. Don't let him spend the night.

Yes, we are talking my inner Leona Helmsley. "The Queen of Mean."

Countdown begins. The garbage truck runs on Monday morning. It's not a far walk to the curb, and liquor boxes are never too heavy.

What's your choice, boys?

UPDATE: Hate to tell you, but your judgement of whether I'm a bitch or not is not relevant.

Why is it that when you speak perfect common sense to these ninnies, they think you've lost your mind?

I'm packing up all the other crap these should-be men have left here the past seven years.

Retrieve your shit from the carport or it goes to the dump.

This was a clean, pretty house until the snotwads showed up.

Time to lay down the law here.

UPDATE: Oops, now I've made them both mad. Tough shit.
Shivering me timbers, they are.

Yes, that is Janis, laundering filthy lucre.

This change is too dirty to roll.

My sister-in-law sent along this great video of restoring a bald eagle's beak.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but I have a lot of clothes."

"Damn sure I've noticed. They're all over the f***in' floor."

That little snotwad asked, "When have you ever moved?"

Oh, I don't know, maybe the time I moved to Portland, Oregon (four addresses), or New York City (two addresses), or Austin, Texas or the four addresses in Oak Lawn or the two in Highland Park, or Lancaster, Texas or Mississippi or Louisiana. Which one you askin' about, punk?

Precious silence in the house this morning.

Jason was dawdling so in this moving business that I threw him out of the house last night.

"MAN UP! You're 37 years old!"

He blew $500 worth of rent last month, and came whining about needing a $200 deposit to install cable.

"You'll get cable when you can afford it!"

DO NOT make me angry. I cleaned up after him when I was 36. I won't f***ing clean up after him at 56.

When I lived in New York City, I lived across the courtyard from an elementary teacher. This song would sing across it some mornings.

I wound up looking after her apartment during a vacation. And Shadow cat would visit her.

Quilt top

I want to finish this quilt this year.

I think something belongs on that lower heavy branch to the right.

What do you think?

I'm considering a blue butterfly just overlapping heading SSE.

Gardening calls for reading the LSU ag center's newsletter.

I've lost a couple of weeks' rentals at the condo from our Kentucky crowd. I need the money. So I'm offering a special rate for the weeks of September 15-22 and October 27-November 3. $650 per week. That includes taxes, cleaning fee and one parking pass. Additional parking passes are $15 each.

See details here. That blue sofa against the wall has been replaced with this one.

Contact me at the phone number listed at the website or at janisgore@gmail.com.

I always prefer the beach when the crowds are gone. The clubhouse features a heated salt-water pool if swimming is on your agenda.

And we ask that you treat it kindly.

Carole King

Steely Dan

I can't find any Fall tomato plants. I plan to tidy up the far left bed, and fertilize such plants as are left, and clean up the other beds for other fall plants. I'll actually work on labor day.

Lots of Peter Green

Dustin' slippers

With all this music in the house, I plan to dance my way to clean.

I haven't watched this for a long time. Listen:



And that's how you teach a bird phrases.

Isaac Damage

Outdoors, anyway.

Well, maybe not. I just broke a molar on a humidified lemon drop. It wasn't that hard.

Mama always said candy would rot your teeth.

She who laughs last laughs best. That wasn't a power surge. The generator is running for real now.

Damned sure should, at that price.

Son of a bitch. The Generac generator worked perfectly fine until this morning.

Repeated power surges burnt out the utility coil, the limit switch, and the relay.

$240 worth of power surges. City power is on. Don't that beat all?

Pantone's Color Report for Fall 2012.

(Thanks, Carolyn, at eebeads.)

Bonnie Raitt

Lets see, 8 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. That's not so bad.

The kitchen floor could use a good cleaning. Hmm. All that rain coming.

UPDATE: Yahoo. I was able to go back to sleep until 6:30.

Hurricane Isaac is hitting Orange Beach, where the condo is, and home. I feel so special. I am hunkered down with all necessary supplies for days.

Jerry Jeff Walker

Oh, well, what the hell. Might as well clean the office.

Lots of Waylon Jennings.

Of course, now we have Isaac coming this way. Gustav took limbs out of one of our oaks.

I guess it's time to watch some TV, hunh? I haven't had it on for three months.

Oh, no. I just thought I was screwed last night. Here it's 9 p.m. and I just woke from a long nap.

A lot of Irma Thomas.

My schedule is so screwed. I had already cleaned a bathroom by 5:15 this morning.

The Neville Brothers belong in this set.

I just laid away a 4-piece black wool Armani suit (a jacket, 2 trousers and a skirt) for $400 at The Consignment Shop on Franklin in Natchez. It will need some alterations, but there are some highly skilled seamstresses around here.

An absolute steal. Hey, y'all said to treat myself well.



I can mourn in style.

Bangles

I have gone bonkers for bangles.

And Bingo Starr at the Carriage House. Today's Blue Plate was oyster and artichoke soup, a fried green tomato slice, oyster dressing with Bearnaise, and shrimp remoulade. $12. The soup was divine.

I'm going to Graceland, the boys can come with me if they want:

Jason also brings me this:

Jason brings me Morning 40 Federation:

Ronan Hardiman

Oh, yikes! I just found Gaelic Storm:

It's time to do some serious housecleaning here, as soon as Jason packs up the rest of his stuff and goes off to live in his dream pad.

With that in mind, I bought three La Bottine Souriante CDs (so I can use them in the car) and one Bob Seger's Greatest Hits today. Maybe he'll light a fire down below when I'm scrubbing kitchen drawers.

DSCN0674

Smart-mouthed kids.

Janis at Jericho

Sort of like being married to Lyman. Sort of like now.

Jordan Valley

One of the few photos of Lyman and I together. I don't like photographs of myself.

His mother, his sister, his father, and his sister's daughter

Sally was at the coffee shop this morning. She's a refugee from the tornado in Joplin, Missouri. She looks like this. And a mighty sweet girl she is.

She lives with a retired orthopedic surgeon who practiced for a while in Joplin.

Lyman in mid 30s

A little out of focus. The curls were natural. Likely mid 1980s.
Boy, could I have used him then. And he could have used a haircut.

Lyman and boy

Here's Lyman palling around with terrorists in Jerusalem, ca.1996.
We were married about two years then. He was about 48.

Lyman and fish

Here's Lyman in 1970, long before I knew him.
I was 13 at the time. He would be 23-24 here.

That's his brother in the background.

I learned three things about grief:

1) Pretty plants and flowers gladden the heavy spirit.
2) Sympathy cards count.
3) Photos are beyond value. After those last days in the hospital, I couldn't remember his face.

The shrine has been knocked down, but the cards are on file (there were many more). The basket of pictures is still out.

Oh, great. I was so tired after my day's work that I popped off into a deep sleep at 8 o'clock. Now it's 11 p.m. and I'm feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Maybe I'll plan my small dinner party. I want to have my brother Charles and a couple of his friends over for alligator scallopine and a nice salad.

Once upon a time, we could buy sliced mangoes in light syrup from the refrigerated produce section of the local markets. They make a fine summer dessert when paired with Blue Bell Vanilla Bean ice cream. It shouldn't be hard to make mangoes in simple syrup, should it Tony?

No, I have not been moping.

This morning at 8:30 I locked up the birds in their Lexan cages and dragged the wire ones out the door onto the patio for a good wash. Then I put the birds into the wire cages and gave them a good wash with the mister setting on our hose spray.

Left them outside to commune with nature, and came in and moved everything off the enclosed porch that didn't belong there, vacuumed windows, shelves and floors, mopped the floor, and made a bird room.

(Thanks, Dianne at Natchez Coffee Co.)

I'm putting this image up because it is the best photo I've ever taken, and it will give Icepick a laugh:

 

Maybe I'll open the windows and go all out Tennessee Williams.

Speaking of not costing a fortune, I just had grilled salmon, polenta, and vegetables, with a side of pickled beets that must have been divinely inspired for $16 at the Carriage House.

Bingo Starr is an unprepossessing man with an angel's touch when it comes to food. He is a gift to the area.

Look, people have been telling me to treat myself well, and I am. Doesn't have to cost a fortune.

Then if you'd like to do a double deal, Penney's has the lightest, softest, nicely detailed, innocent cotton nighties on sale for $12 apiece.

All right ladies, and gentlemen who like to touch ladies, listen up. Nivea Moisturizing Body Wash is on sale for $4 a bottle in our town, and my skin hasn't felt this silky in years.

Treat yourself, or someone else.

It's okay, it's okay. I've been to a doctor and have a brain scan scheduled tomorrow morning.

Oh, dear. I'm not quite the proper, distinguished Southern widow-woman, am I?

Jason's mother and I have been momming it up outfitting his new bachelor apartment. She's working from Michigan using Craigslist and her Penney's discount (her husband recently retired as a site engineer for the chain), while I'm doing what I can here on the ground.

I had forgotten a good-looking glass-topped table with four chairs that I bought many years ago from Pier One for our sun porch. It had been moved to one of the boys' mutual friends for a while. Sturdy and masculine, and just suitable for his sun porch.

The best food in town, though, is at the Carriage House, where the kitchen is run by Bingo Starr.

I'm a good cook, and it would take considerable practice for me to make food as good as his at home.

I've had lunch with my brother's group there twice. Good times, good times.

I have been spending time with my brother and his friends at the Natchez Coffee Co. on Franklin Street in downtown Natchez.

This morning we shared a bagel and lox for breakfast, served with cream cheese, capers and grape tomatoes. Can you imagine? Delicious bagels and lox in a cozy independent coffee house at the end of the Natchez Trace? I think I'm in love.

A side benefit is that I know many of the people who stop by to chat in the mornings, and I'm meeting new, interesting people every time I visit.

Children and babies are welcome. In fact, there's a quiet, comfortable chair for breastfeeding outside the restrooms and an antique changing table in the women's. Now, whether there's one in the men's, I don't know, but I'm sure the ladies would make way for a gent who wanted to change the baby there.

Far above average, healthy, tasty food at good prices. A real gem.

Now, I know there are better conductors than Andre Rieu, but his orchestra plays waltzes as dance music rather than pure compositions. Waltzes were party music, ballroom music. Music for the feet, not the brain.

I'm telling y'all that this bereavement business is a lotta damn work. I virtually ran a newspaper in Las Colinas. I don't remember being this busy.

I wasn't the only person who loved Lyman and his family.

Naw, I'm not cowering in a fetal position. I'll never replace the man, but I ain't dead yet.

I was with the ladies who lunch at The Castle today, celebrating a close friend's 76th birthday. Our driver, about the best Bridge player around, ordered a dirty martini straight up for lunch. The woman be serious. She drives an outdated Lincoln in pristine condition. (Good Lord, that woman is 81 years old, I just learned. You wouldn't know it by sight.)

Great fun. All five of us loved Lyman. Three of us were widows. Three of us were the babies in families of seven children.

Lyman and I used to go to the birthday girl's house on Christmas Eves to help assemble toys for the grandkids.

Y'all are likely too young to remember that Fleetwood Mac wasn't always fronted by Stevie Nicks.

For you, Chef Tony.

Was that bass player with Roxy Music?

Here's the more beautiful long version.

Charles Gore just asked, "Are you okay, Sweet Baby?" We're going to be fine, you big ol' handsome boy.

That went off pretty well.

My sister asked me to read the following tribute yesterday. It was well received:

In memory of Lyman

For many years, I was a stressed out single working mother, pinching pennies, and dealing with seemingly endless days of misbehaving children. When I could scrape up enough gas money, one of my favorite things to do was visit Lyman and Janis. I always relished these trips. For me, it was sort of like checking into a 4 star hotel with somebody else being responsible and in-charge of life, if only for a few days. Life always seems much simpler here – slower, kinder and more honest. Worries are about the weather, the latest crop of tomatoes, and the breakfast talk is about what’s for dinner.

While everybody was asleep, one of my favorite treats was getting up early and taking a walk on the Mississippi and watching the sun come up. There really isn’t anything to compare to that beauty. Then it was back to the house for a shower and hot coffee. Lyman’s dad, Travis aka Big Daddy, would start popping in and he too was always wondering what was for dinner. I began to think that dinner here was the only thing that really mattered.

And then I began to understand…It was all about Lyman’s cooking. Lyman had that easy breezy confident cooking style that only many years of passion, knowledge, and experience can bring. I think the key word here would be passion because that is the difference between a good cook and a great cook. Lyman was a great cook. He would entertain with a story or an observation about life while going about tending to the big simmering pots on the stove. Travis and Girl or various friends would join us and we would feast on that wonderful food until you just absolutely had no where else to put it.

When it was time to return home, it was with a bag of tomatoes, and a Styrofoam cooler filled with frozen zip lock bags of gumbo and other wonderful food prepared by Lyman. I knew that I would be eating well for the next week.

Life is better now. The kids are grown and I found new love. I’ll still make my trips to Louisiana and it will still make me happy. I’ll still have that wonderful food as Janis has become a wonderful cook under Lyman’s tutelage, but I will miss Lyman very much. He was always such a part of my trips to Louisiana.

Lyman loved his children, his wife, his family, his tomatoes and cooking. I’m not necessarily sure of that order because he really really loved his tomatoes. He was smart, kind, witty, and full of good humor. Lyman was a gentleman and a gentle man. Thank you for so many wonderful memories and adding just a bit more to my life. I will miss you.

Patricia

Lyman and tomatoes

Lyman hated funerals. He declined to be a pallbearer at his best friend's.

 So here we are: Lyman's obituary.

 If you so desire, donate to your local food pantry. He was all about food, among other things.

Lyman died this morning at 4:17.

Lyman is lying up in bed, with a pretty blonde nurse and good drugs. Healthy men pay good money for that stuff. I told him so.

When did Chrissie Hynde need a full orchestra?

 Albatross always makes me smile.

Don't take this grimly. I just like Roxy Music.

Rockin' steady, baby.

Lyman's brother was waiting at the door to ICU when I arrived at 5 pm. He hasn't seen him since he's been sick. He was shocked and frightened and nearly frantic to do anything to help him. Lyman does look like the last survivor of a famine.

He calmed down after he spoke to Lyman's sister's husband. The husband is a veterinarian and understands medicine.

Lyman has a low potassium level that they're trying to correct, which undermines his muscle functions in his heart and lungs. A cardiologist/nephrologist has been called in to consult.

His gut and the colostomy are working. If they can get his nutrition level up, I think it will help. He's receiving nutrition through a thin nasogastric tube.

Lyman's been trying to tell me something for two days. With the ventilator, I can't make it out. He's gonna give me an earful when he can speak.

He's been in the hospital nearly two weeks.

Lyman looks like death warmed over.

But, the surgeon says the pathology report came back. The tumor was malignant, but there is no evidence of metastasis. The prognosis there is good. There are some other fixable issues, and he should be turning the corner soon.

He told me to be patient.

Lyman is stable today. Awaiting test results from yesterday.

He is being sedated for occasional agitation and combativeness. Which I understand, as I've learned that the gastro is visiting. I need to see if I can do something about that. I'd be combative, too, if that asshole were within 100 feet of me.

Lyman's back on the ventilator. My sweet boy. His breathing has been dodgy the past couple of days.

I have to say that the surgeon is a top-notch guy -- great bedside manner, highly respected locally, very acute. And handsome.

He removed a tumor that he thinks is cancerous from Lyman's lower colon. He didn't see any other traces of cancer and removed all of that one.

Lyman will have a colostomy for several months, but otherwise he is doing well, they say.

Surgery was Thursday, and he's still in ICU. He wasn't able to take in much nutrition during the past few weeks. We'll have a haul ahead of us.

 Thanks for the good wishes. Don't put off your colonoscopies.

I'll tell you what. The local gastroenterologist has spent entirely too much time around assholes. But the surgeon is a champ.

The Miralax-Gatorade preparation for the scopes landed Lyman in the hospital. Rather than it working as desired, he began vomiting the solution a couple of hours after he finished the half-gallon mixture.

He's currently being pumped with a nasogastric tube, and the scopes will be done in the hospital. This hospital is in Natchez, about 8 minutes away.

We're still in diagnostics here. Monday at 6:30 am Lyman is due for a full scope.

In the interim, the nurse-practitioner suggested old-fashioned enemas. Not the cute, prebottled little squirts, but protracted hot water bottle style.

He is dreadfully embarassed, and they are momentarily uncomfortable.

Boy should get over it. I've handled worse than that. Those mothers will say, with truth, that they have.

Criminy. Lyman needs to be scoped, but he can't see a gastroenterologist until next Friday. He's doing okay, but that's a long wait.

My poor Lyman. He looks like someone stuck a spout up his nether parts and pumped him full of air.

This came up more than a week ago, but he's gone to the doctors and had an ultrasound and a ct scan. He should have some results tomorrow.

There's an obstruction in his gut. From what I read, could be impacted feces. Hard to think so, since he went from viable one day to incapacitated the next. Couldn't do that on a Greek salad, could you?

Anyway, I'm a pretty good nurse if it comes to it. I just need to know what to do.

One of our long-term renters at the condo has complained about the sofa for a while, so I put in an order for a new one today.

Without the time to shop at the beach for a month, we went looking locally. Unless you want an antique, there's not a lot here. So we went with a La-Z-Boy sofa-sleeper in this style and color. It will be be a push with the lime love seat, but we'll work it out.

It will get along with the art, the blue chair, and the wicker.

It's been six years since we bought furniture at the coast. Furniture wears quickly.

Speaking of squash, we had collected quite a bit and needed to dispose of some of it.

I tried Emeril's zucchini and summer squash casserole last night to go along with some barbecued country ribs.

It was a pleasing, light, healthy side dish, and reduced our stash by four pounds. (Lyman didn't like it at all. He likes crisper, more highly seasoned squash dishes.)

Unusually, the thyme and oregano we planted in the garden are surviving, along with the basil.

The gardens are running riot this year.

I spent an hour and a half picking and pruning the Kentucky Wonder beans:

Here are the squash that ate Vidalia:

It's time to leave good enough alone.

Ahem. The side-by-side refrigerator indoors went out. The seal system has a leak. It was purchased in November 2002. I understand that's a pretty good run these days.

Yesterday we went to the local hardware and purchased a new French-door model. We went with a Samsung because it fit the enclosure in the kitchen. It has plenty of complaints. So do Whirlpool, GE, Frigidaire, Kenmore and Maytag. Wouldn't you think that a company named "Frigidaire" could make a reliable refrigerator?

New refrigerators come with one-year warranties. The old Hotpoint that Girl selected for this house lasted for over 30 years. Then we had a Whirlpool that just outlasted it's five-year warranty. Then a Kenmore that lasted for close to ten.

Buying appliances is a crapshoot these days. Yes, we purchased a three-year extended warranty. The seal system will go out in four.

We were finishing the bar when we brought Lucy home in November 2001.

Consequently, I don't remember a thing I did at the time. A lot of water under the bridge both literally and figuratively. The previous job left a nearly perfectly smooth surface. Using a brush this time, I'm running into marks.

I surfed around until I came to a skateboard forum. The guy uses Polycrylic on all his boards. Up to 25 coats with sanding and buffing in between. He recommends cheap foam brushes.

Now I have a passel of those on hand. Another day or two.

The sanding and filling went fine. The cheap Black & Decker Random Orbit Sander is doing a fine job so far.

I love the gown Laura Bush wore for her White House portrait. I have a dress closely akin to it in khaki. Mid calf, shorter sleeved, epaulettes, but the shirtwaist style with a belt and dropped gathered skirt is right on.

It's been a while since we've undertaken a project. Here we're refinishing the much-used bar in the kitchen.

Stripped with Citristrip, now we're sanding. Then I'll be filling some cracks and finishing with Minwax Polycrylic. Another couple of days, at least.

Oh, for goodness' sake. When Lyman's dad died, I didn't celebrate. But I did breathe a sigh of relief. No longer would putting up summer corn be an issue.

HA! Here I am now shuckin' and jivin' 'til I get this bushel of Silver King put into the freezer tonight.

A chip off the ole block, his boy. Charles Gore, the parrot, is just as bad. "Corn corn, corn."

And we went to Joe Patti's in Pensacola, Florida.

All these years, and this is the first visit I've made. Last trip Lyman made his first. Now it's a must. Tons of fish and shellfish of all kinds at good prices. Excellent breads. Desserts, deli salads, cheeses, pates, spices and sauces of all kinds. Wine and beer.

Highly recommended. Don't miss it.

Yeah, we went to beautiful Orange Beach a couple of days. No pictures. It looks the same.

We did have a spectacular lightning storm Monday night with great glaring bolts blazing down the sky while we were tucked into Grazie restaurant eating fried calamari and spinach salad.

A short bombshell of a bleached blond was seated in a window booth while we were there. She had a tiny little waist with flaring hips and double D's crammed into a low cut bright pink spandex sheath. She spent the first few minutes at the table settling her boobs to their best advantage. Must be new.

'Twould have been a miracle of nature to have grown those on that little frame. Girl gave Dolly Parton competition.

No, I didn't have a camera.

Lyman said later, "That girl looked like trouble with a capital T. She'll cost a man more than a little piece of his heart."

(I'm not a particularly censorious type. It was fussing about the decolletage that caught my eye. That, and I do like to sleep on my stomach sometimes.)

Aha! Finally. I found the next set of sheets that I'll buy.

I have looked all day for something like these

This morning I've been ridding this computer of the Scour search redirect virus. Where it came from, I don't know. Should it come to you, I used the instructions at PCHell. I seem to be okay for now.

Southern comfort in a bowl.

 Lyman made this a few weeks ago and I ate myself silly. He left out the sugar. We don't do sugar with greens in this house.

Needs a little tweaking, but I find the new template refreshing, and it carries the title theme well. The drives around here look much like the background.

All righty, I have downloaded an xml file from Echo which I should be able to import into Blogger to restore older comments.

When I try to import, I receive a bX-lyly16 server error.

Umm, does anyone know anything about that, or should I report it to Blogger?

I've Googled the problem and see some answers, but the heads don't go directly to the questions in Blogger support. They go to a page of categories where there are thousands of topics. How annoying and worthless.

Hmm. Looks like I need to adopt a new template to import comments and sort out issues. Maybe it's time.

And how do I insert a space between the "posted by" and the time-stamp?

So, what's with this new interface? Let's try an edit.

 If you'd care to watch penguins milling about, try the Penguin Cam. The webcam will operate through April.

Yikes!

I hope my brother and sister and their families are safe.

UPDATE: Affirmed.

I fell off the wagon there for a while, but I'm back to at least three days a week with yoga tapes. While I like yoga classes, my, ah, personal schedule doesn't really accommodate the offered times. It's embarassing to break wind in a gently flowing ladies' class with delicate and soothing music in the background.

And I find that it quiets Charles Gore down of a morning. He likes the music and finds my contortions amusing. I practice on the living room floor.

I do not have a tape of the sun salutation, which is basic practice. I have real problems bringing my feet back and forward in those movements into and out of the lunge pose, and I need to develop the rhythm for the various poses.

Lucy had a bath an hour ago:

Sunday, on an afternoon:

At the back of the lot the other Michael is running over the dirt track for the remote-controlled cars with his daughter's four-wheeler. Libby, our next-door-neighbor's Labrador has decided to follow.

Our son is practicing his electric guitar with his friend in the cabana.

Lyman and I are laying down weed-guard between rows of sturdy Roma tomato plants.

Mostly Cajun has put up a Spelling Test.

I ran across the Fashion-Incubator blog earlier today through Marginal Revolution and can't stop reading. Kathleen Fasanella is in the fashion industry.

Here's a sample.

Here's Kathleen on "monobutt" jeans.

The satsuma trees are blooming and the bees are buzzing busily.

It just crossed my mind.

My stepson has asked me about how to blog. So this is what we're doing.

I'm horrified. The freezer in the storage room went out, and behind it is a skeletonized cat corpse.

Poor baby must have found a warm place to die. It happened during the past eight years. The only mewling I've heard is from these pampered boys.

So, Lyman looked up the recipes and I baked a Devil's food cake with fudge icing, I went to the raised bed and picked six perfect coral tulips, and celebrated my mother-in-law's 92nd birthday. 

I shall have to delete the photo of the nutria in the last post. Nenad Druzic (Neno) sold the photo.

Pierre C. Shadeaux did not see his shadow this morning. South Louisiana will have a long spring.

Had he seen it, summer would come early and hot.

I met Chet the dog yesterday. He's the narrator of Spencer Quinn's The Dog Who Knew Too Much.

Chet's a K-9 reject with an excellent nose and perfect loyalty to Bernie Little. Together they are the Little Detective Agency. Here they find themselves searching for a lost boy, which leads them into all sorts of trouble with crooked lawmen and meth camps.

Chet's a charmer with keen storytelling ability, with the occasional lapse of attention when, say, there's bacon nearby, or a swimming hole.

The book was fun. Probably even better for dog lovers.

And here is Peter Abrahams' website, creator of Spencer Quinn and Chet.

Ahem. Lyman began cleaning out our storage room and found a new set of hinges for the oven. Apparently, a repairman talked us into them in the past.

So he replaced them, but didn't pull the oven out "about six inches" to do the receptacles. So the hinges work, but the oven still didn't close properly.

He bought a ceramic magnet to pull the door closed. It's usable.

I haven't had a period this month. I'm full on menopausal. Temper, temper. No wonder the nutria hides his eyes. That's his forecast for this year.

Probably best to leave the critters out of this. Hard to do when Charles Gore is screeching while I drink my coffee.

Poor Pierre C. Shadeaux is under terrible pressure this year. First the LSU Tigers lost the BCS Championship, then the New Orleans Saints fell out of the playoffs.

Neno has another couple of nice shots of an iguana:

Portrait
Full-length

He looks content.

Great nutria pic.

UPDATE: The photographer, Nenad Druzic of Zagreb, Croatia, has generously given permission for me to use this photo for this year's card.

Nice nutria pic. It's time for Cajun Groundhog Day shortly.

Good thing I'm not superstitious. Today, Friday the 13th, is our 18th wedding anniversary.

We don't have any plans for the day so far. Maybe we should let it slide until next week. Son2 has a birthday on the 18th. We could all celebrate together.

I did talk to the director of the senior swimming program in Natchez. What I didn't know is that the program is available for citizens 50 and up. I've been missing out. She is quite direct and expects me there Monday morning at 8. I'm game.

And this is my email response from Jenn-Air:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Gore:

Thank you for taking the time to contact Jenn-Air. We appreciate hearing from you.

We sincerely apologize for the trouble you have encountered with your Jenn-Air wall oven. As consumers ourselves we can certainly understand your frustration regarding this concern. Unfortunately, due to the age of the unit we are unable to offer any assistance with the impending repair. We will document your comments in our files which are available for review should the need arise.

You are a valued Jenn-Air customer and we apologize for any inconvenience this concern may have caused.

We invite you to contact Jenn-Air again either by calling (800) 536-6247 between 8:00am to 8:00pm (EST) Monday-Friday, or by emailing whenever the need arises. When calling please press the available option or stay on the line to reach a representative.

Sincerely,

Amanda C.
Jenn-Air Senior Specialist
Jenn-Air Customer eXperience Center

I'm still thinking about how to reply. We asked for a set of hinges. Not installation, just the hinges. Maybe I'll just rip it out of the wall and send it back to them. The Viking stovetop bought at the same time works fine. My mother could make a mean pan cornbread on the stove.

I gave them a chance. Repairs to this oven have cost $983.81 to date. Lyman propped the drain stopper for the garbage disposal in the gap between the door and the light punch button so the light doesn't break, too.

The drain is clear.

After our mechanical failures we went the chemical route. Not knowing whether we would need to call a plumber, I started with Roto-Rooter's Build-Up Remover, which is a non-toxic enzyme-based formula. That went a good distance toward speeding things up. Then we went with Liquid Plumber Gel, which knocked the rest of the clog out.

Better, better. Lyman can shave in our bathroom now.

And it was warm enough yesterday to clean a couple more windows.

The season is way too short around here to condense it all into "Spring Cleaning."

That's it. I'm hospitalitied out. My brother came for a plate of ham, corn, black-eye peas, cabbage and hot-water cornbread -- traditional good-luck southern fare.

The holiday season is over, our delightful snowbirds are comfortably ensconced in their winter home at Orange Beach, and I am FREE!