New vocabulary: pulse oximeter

Charlie is lying on his back on the bottom of the cage, holding his tail with his left foot and grooming the toes of the right one. This has happened many times, but I can't show you a picture. He always gets up first.

Aside: Maybe a bird imitating Mr. Wolf is a weagle?

Well, that lasted until the absolute reversal this morning.

None of us has dealt with a dementia patient before, except for the brother-in-law who saw Parkinson's Dementia in the months before his mother's death.

We all gonna be institutionalized before this is over.

You could have knocked both of us over with a canary wing. Lyman's sister and I took Girl to the assisted living center -- and she accepted it!

As we were leaving she said, "I've been scrubbing and cooking for all these years, and I think I am ready to sit my butt down and let other people do it for me. This will be like living in a plush hotel."

You go, Girl!

In e-mail:

A woman was walking along a deserted beach one day when she saw an old bottle.

She picked it up and while she was rubbing the sand off, smoke arose from it and a genie appeared. The amazed woman said, "Oh I know what this is all about I get three wishes!!!"

The genie said, "Nope, sorry, three-wish genies are a storybook myth. I'm a one wish genie. So...what'll it be?"

The woman did not hesitate. She said, "I want world peace. See this map? I want all these countries to stop fighting. This will bring world peace and harmony."

The genie looked at the map and exclaimed, "Lady, be reasonable. These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I'm out of shape after being in a bottle for five hundred years. I'm good but not THAT good! It's just not possible, make another wish and please be reasonable."

The woman thought for a minute and said, "Well, I've never been able to find the right man. You know, one that's considerate and fun, likes to cook and helps with the house cleaning, is great in bed, helps with the kids, and gets along with my family. Doesn't watch sports all the time, and is faithful. That is what I wish for ..... the perfect man."

The genie let out a sigh and said, "Let me see the f****** map."

Well, at least she isn't Lyman's mom.

(Thanks, Obscure Store.)

What a mess. I was telling Lyman's sister this morning that if I should ever remarry, I'll make sure the parents have already passed on. She laughed, as I meant her to.

We have a very ill elderly gentleman on our hands (thank goodness there are a number of them, the hands) and a cantankerous and demented (as in showing definite and repeated signs of senile dementia) 24 kt. gold magnolia. 24 kt. gold, you'll recall, isn't very stout.

She doesn't want any aides at her house, and she flips and cries at the idea of a nursing home. Fact is, she can't take care of him. She thinks she can still cook, but really can't anymore. Yikes, the salt alone could kill him. She can't remember medications. She needs supervision herself.

There's a third option here in Natchez, an assisted living facility where the two can be together, at least for a while. We're pursuing that.

UPDATE: This is the point (and the only point) where I'd like to have a huge house with a private wing where I could put them. Built to ADA standards. With housekeepers and cooks and nurses. I still have to repaint the doorframes in this one where the wheelchair knocked the paint off.

UPDATE II: It was Good Friday last year when I rode with Charles to his sojourn in Jackson.

Ahem. Another brother and his wife will be visiting this weekend. They won't be sleeping here, but I expect them to be in and out quite a bit, with dinner planned here for Friday night.

I am scrubbing my white-painted cabinets after, ah, considerable neglect.

So, how about a musical number?:

Lucy's video of her "desire dance" is running toward 3,000 views. A commenter there suggests that we go see Nisha playing basketball. Here we go:



And here's a nice one of Nisha doing a trick with her canine "siblings":

Well, by gosh, ain't that cool?

I pureed that pot of soup in about two minutes of interrupted use, washed the blade, don't see any melting or cracks in the plastic blade housing.

I couldn't have set the food processor up in that amount of time. I have to bring it from the pantry, take out the excess parts, set the proper blade, then start the puree process.

Gee, I might have a new kitchen buddy.

UPDATE: As for the cauliflower soup? It might be good with absolutely top-notch ingredients, but we'll leave it off. We used a boxed chicken stock and 18 buck a pound parmesan. The cauliflower tastes better roasted.

No more Dave Lieberman recipes. He was a private chef. He either had access to top-notch ingredients, or cooked for the sort of Northern toothless gentry who never gave a damn what they ate in the first place and possibly had poor digestion. Or both. Doesn't matter. He's fired here.

Those women, of course, like Helen Gurley Brown, barely eat at all. Maybe a portion of poached fish with a naked salad. (Yes, I know she's not proper gentry.)

This recipe is in the Cuisinart SmartStick reviews at Amazon. I'll store it here.

Garlic Soup

Into a covered skillet place:
one head of garlic unpeeled
10 baby carrots diced
one potato diced
5 pieces of cauliflower
Put plenty of EVOO over all the veggies and the garlic.
Put in oven at 300 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove from oven -let cool- squeeze garlic out of paper skins and discard skins.
Put all into a 2 quart boiler with 2 cups chicken or beef broth and simmer 10 minutes. Using your stick blender reduce everything to a pureed soup. Note if you want a thicker soup reduce the amount of broth or add a cup of cooked rice and puree. Add salt and pepper---Enjoy!Optional:1/2 tsp cumin and 1/2 tsp cayenne.

Let's talk about kitchen stuff.

First, the circuit board on the Jenn-Air double oven has gone out again and the right hinge on the top oven needs repair. It's not ten years old and cost over two grand back in 2000. Now circuit boards I can understand, but I've never heard of a hinge going bad on any oven except from my brother, who had the same problem with the narrower version of the same oven. We (Lyman, myself and my brother) plan to never buy Jenn-Air anything again. This was supposed to a one-shot deal that would see us through decades.

The two Forschner Fibrox knives that we bought in November, this 7" santoku and this 10" chef, are pleasures to use. They sharpen nicely, and their light feel is a real plus for me. I put up my Calphalon and never reach for the comparable Henckels anymore.

Yesterday we caved and bought an immersion blender because we want to try this recipe. I'd like to look into more cream soups, too.

We've considered one time and again but finally jumped. I read hundreds of reviews and wound up buying this one because it was the only one on the shelf at Walmart or Kmart. I didn't want to pay the price at Belk's for something that I want to try out. So we'll see.

UPDATE: A note on these immersion blenders -- parents love them for making baby food, and one pet owner uses his to make a wet food for a cat who has lost his teeth.

Then there's the poor soul with the wired jaw. And soapmakers. Who knew there were so many soapmakers?

"Eagle, weagle."

Some people can talk their greys into an "eagle" stance, with the wings spread and the head lowered as befits a large predatory bird.

We aren't making much progress here. But Charles Gore can say "eagle."

Many times. Everyday.

We made this recipe, and it is the blandest thing that has come out of our kitchen in ages. How you can use so many spices and come up with something so dreary beats me.

But I love this 4-star review:

Okay, the reviews alarmed me, but with a few changes, this recipe is delicious. I used 1 tablespoon curry, 1 tablespoon garam masala, a rounded 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne, and I nixed the rest of the spices. I used about 2 cups whole milk yogurt, but no half and half. I added 2 large tomatoes (pretty!), seeded and chopped. I finished it with a bunch of chopped cilantro and served it over brown rice. So good.

Laurie, hon, that's a different recipe.

We made it in concert with another recipe on the cooking show and never looked at the reviews. It was panned.

I've found that I'm not crazy about cream-based Indian food except for some soups. Give me my vindaloo anyday.

UPDATE: And that $15 liter of olive oil that I bought in Jackson today? Rancid. Down the drain.

And the old gentleman, my father-in-law? In swift decline. Death is not imminent, but coming.

I washed and pressed that dress to take to Girl so it might distract her some.

Her 89-year-old husband of 67 years marriage is in the hospital in Jackson with heart problems that the doctors can't do much more for than medicate.

All done.

Need more fabric.

This particular fabric dries quickly on a rack. I was waiting for the household dryer, and it half dried in the half-hour I was waiting. It was completely dry in ten minutes in the dryer.

How is that dress coming?

The sleeves are in and the placket and facing are done. Now I need to gather the neckline (remembering to measure properly), attach the bias band round the neck, attach the snaps, add the pockets and hem.

I'd say machine sewing the bias over the gathers is the hardest thing left. It's easy to overlap those gathers in the stitching.

Then, of course, there's matching up those snaps.

UPDATE: I bought a SnapSetter, known at my house as "Whack-a-Snap," and find the plier ("gripper snapper") from Dritz more convenient.

I ran into some problems on the last snap, and think it must have had to do with the snaps themselves. Both tools left two sharp prongs on the perimeter of the bottom part. Three tries past, a set of parts from a different batch worked fine.

It's to be a rainy, cool weekend, so I'm planning to sew Girl's next duster.

I don't mind the sewing, but chasing my fingertips with the steam iron on folds always gives me pause.

Even on such a simple garment there are plenty of folds as I'm doing a "clean finish" on the seams.

UPDATE: Now where did all those pins go? I know I had enough pins in the cushion to pin down all the pattern pieces last time.

And, do they make the tiny drop-headed pins in metal anymore? I only see the round glass- or plastic-headed pins. Not a big matter, I have a box of flat-head pins.

Today I bought another pin cushion and a pair of small scissors for trimming threads to keep next to the machine. Last time, I was up, down and all around searching for one or the other.

"Pin cushion" -- that looks and sounds downright archaic.

NOTE: Cut the interfacing on left front to 1-1/8" 1-3/8", trim cloth facing, fold and stitch down.

My Valentine bouquet is late this year. How I love tulips.

If I were a trendy girl, I'd jump on this bag.

Did a quick turnaround to Jackson today to find out that the two spots on my brother's lungs are not malignant or otherwise threatening, and the Hodgkins appears to be in remission. He finished chemotherapy treatments in December. He'll undergo monthly monitoring for a while.

Finally, he can get on with cataract surgery. That was planned long before the major breakdown last year at this time, and has been put off. The steroids used in his treatment made them worse.

He's eager to be able to read and drive again.

Good grief.

If you're going to run a sequence of famous mother-daughter lookalikes, how can you exclude Laura and Jenna Bush?

Diana Ross and Tracee Ross don't necessarily even look related, except for the hair.

House of jewels. I like the Art Nouveau sense of this photograph.

Photo and plants are Lyman's son, Michael's, work.

I hate to think what will happen to these two. Young men, do not pull your guns during Mardi Gras.

That worked out so well, let's do it again. Again, $2 a yard at Walmart.

I want some larger, flashier prints. (And new patterns. I can set in a sleeve, I'm sure.) Something more "young and vibrant," as Girl has said. The texture of the Hawaiian poly/cottons is too "hard" for the purpose, much to my disappointment. They are 65% poly/35% cotton. The Walmart fabrics are 50/50, from India. Is there a technical problem?

Just because she'd like something soft and wrinkle-free doesn't mean that she's lost her senses of color and drama. She liked Elvis Presley and Paul Newman. And she's still alive.

Mercy, what has happened to us?

Do you know what my older sister got from her gentleman friend on Valentine's Day? A new helmet and leather gloves for riding the Harley.

And I'm sewing geriatric clothing.

But then, pleasing Girl might be the wilder ride.

The hem is not sewn in yet, but this blog needs some visual relief.

The pockets are used for tissues, so I stuck one in there because they disappear into the print. And this photo's tint is a little green on my monitor.

Compare to this one.

UPDATE: GOAL!

She does want the sleeves shortened a bit, but that's no trouble. And next time I'll draw that neckline just a little tighter, but it's not an alteration issue on this garment.

She loved the fabric and the colors. And something new.

Alrighty, then.

I've gathered and bound the neckline with a self-fabric tape (I hope, bias) -- forgetting, like the rusty sew-er I am, to measure the distance from front sleeve seams to back sleeve seams, and front sleeve seams to front. It's plain good luck that I'm only about 1/8 inch off, which is invisible in a garment like this. Not so in flat construction.

Now I have pockets, snaps and a hem to finish.

I bought a "gripper snapper" today. (I paid $8.22 at Wal-mart.)

It worked fine for me with a little practice, but I have small hands. Lyman would throw it across the room before a minute was up.

I do think that if this dress is successfully received, I will spring for the Snap Source snap setter. And just look at all the snaps!

I have a question, seamstresses.

Instead of using elastic in the neckline of the dress (view A), I'm doing stationary gathers, with a bias binding.

Shouldn't those gathers over the shoulders be a little looser than those on the front and back?

And, (I should have thought of this earlier) shouldn't I stitch the left front facing down an inch or so from the edge to help support the base of the snaps?

I spent a day oiling my sewing machine and adjusting tensions to accommodate that soft fabric.

I have one sleeve in, and the other ready to go. I'm not really having trouble, just flipping a bunch of switches in my memory to move this project along.

People sew wedding dresses faster than I am making this little ten-seamed thing.

Let's link here for this:



That might be something homeschoolers would like on President's Day.

My sister sent this today:



This little guy has "feather duster syndrome" and won't live long. The feathers don't stop growing and cause wasting. Poor cute birdie.

I don't get around much, you know, so I was fascinated by the moving electric candle flames in the chandeliers at the restaurant earlier this week. (Could be some other company, I didn't ask.)

Apparently, they jiggle in response to air currents. Realistic effect.

It's a little more staid than I wanted. The background is a little bluer than this picture shows, but in a large swath, like a dress, it will be cheerful enough.

I've spent the afternoon figuring out the proper size to cut the dress. (The pattern I have runs from 8 to 14 on different lines, I've settled on a 12 based on her bustline, which is at least two sizes up from any ready to wear that she would buy. For goodness' sake, don't tell. It's the way patterns go, and one of the reasons I don't have a clue how to sew anymore.) And just where I need extensions in the pattern, etc.

I'd warn neighbors to keep all young children at least a block away from this house for the next several days, or longer. Language restrictions apply.

Okay, then. Some people think I shouldn't shop at Wal-mart.

So I go online and check through hundreds of patterns of material looking for an appropriate poly/cotton print to make a woman's duster. From one place I receive five samples, and none will do.

So I trot over to the local fabric shop, and poly/cotton prints are thin on the ground.

I visit Wal-mart, and find about 10 possibilities, some as low a $2 a yard. So I buy a cheerful little blue print for two bucks a yard to practice my rusty skills, launder it, and have just the soft wash and wear fabric I wanted in the first place.

What's a girl to do?

Mmmm. Bacon and tomato sandwiches coming right up.

My favorite pose in the heart opening sequence was something like this, with the legs spread wider, the elbows on the ground, and the hands clasped together in front.

I "unwound my spine" from 5 to 7 last night. Did that ever feel good. Today I have an "absolute beginners" class from 12:30 to 2:30.

I think I'll nix the "slow deep stretches" this afternoon, opting instead for "heart openers" from 1 to 3 tomorrow. I tend to slouch at the computer. I always tend to slouch. I think those yoga postures would be more beneficial in the short run. The inside stride postures will help me balance in the long run, but that's not tomorrow.

UPDATE: Speaking of postures, how do you like the pigeon posture?

I like this fabric, but look at the size of the print! That little woman would be all eat up with birds. No go, but I like looking at it.

Do any readers have recommendations for shopping for fabric online? I'm looking for lightweight wash'nwear cotton/poly blends.

And what about these 97% cotton 3% lycra blends? I read that they resist wrinkles, but they don't qualify as washn'wear, do they?

UPDATE: This might be a good choice.

And I sort of like this one. A little cutesy, but not too childlike.

This one might look better made up than it does here. I do like the tiny white flowers. But lavendar gets on my nerves.

This one is cheerful. Though it might do better for kitchen curtains. I like the little blue morning glories.

There are tons of batik prints out there that would be fun, but they're almost all 100% cotton or rayon and would wrinkle too badly, I'd think.

And there are some Hawaiian fabrics. This one might be pretty for the purpose. I haven't even looked at their shipping costs.

UPDATE: I went shopping before thinking of sewing, and for her size, I could find this, and these. She has been bitching about the offerings in petite sizes for years, and with cause.

UPDATE: And I like this little group to no purpose at all.

I love these fifties styles.

How about a nice forties brunch coat?

Attention shoppers!

This is one of my MIL's dusters. A favorite. I just put the hem back in it. You can see how worn it is. She needs new ones.

Note the short raglan sleeves, the open neckline and the snap closure. The label on this one reads Smart Time. She doesn't like anything up around the neck, and has a hard time with buttons because of arthritis in her hands. Nothing that goes over the head. It might mess up her hair. I don't think I could sell her on a zipper, either.

But petites are hard to find (and I mean 4'10" here), I'd say a size eight. So if you have a clue, let me know. Please.

I'd like to find a pattern so I could sew them as needed. They'd be easy to stitch up and fun enough to make.

UPDATE: Could I adapt this blouse pattern?

And can I remember how to use what we called in my mother's house a "gripper snapper"?

How to sew a shirt placket.

She'll be 89 on March 5. She wears these at home. When she goes out, she's in full makeup, proper hair and street clothes.

Ahem, the tree posture. My balance needs work -- lots of work. (Not watching hard, I picked her out of a hundred models. Our body types are the same right down to those skinny ankles and long feet. So, it can be done.)

Getting the hang of some of the complex sequences will take some time, too.

Peaceout.

UPDATE: Remind me take a thick towel or a small blanket next week. Yoga mats are thin, and I have the bony knees.

Let's store Ree's recipe for enchiladas here with a note that commenters 253 and 368 offer recipes for homemade enchilada sauce rather than canned.

I have not tried these. But I might soon.

The most expensive January tomatoes in the northern hemisphere. The Caruso variety.

Oh, dear. I've signed up for three yoga classes from the Culver City, CA, teacher that I mentioned before. And there is a Power Flow class at 9:30 a.m. that I can go to this Wednesday. This past Saturday's class was cancelled, too.

I'm looking forward, but how much of this can I put up with?

This is the worst Yoga mat that I have ever owned....the worst. Anytime I do updog or downdog the mat actually begins stretching beneath me. This is just terrible.

Lordy, lordy.

Sarah Palin's lovely campaign wardrobe is in garbage bags at RNC headquarters, according to that site.

Tell you what to do. Ship them to RNC headquarters in Dallas, TX. There are plenty of good-looking Republican women in Dallas or who can make their way to Dallas who'll be glad to contribute to charity and get a bargain on high dollar fashions. Have an auction.

Get Laura Bush involved. She'll be living there. One of her causes is the welfare of women in Afghanistan. Let her distribute the proceeds.

In the mail from Lyman's cousin Tommy:

One day my housework-challenged husband decided to wash his sweat-shirt. Seconds after he stepped into the laundry room, he shouted to me, "What setting do I use on the washing machine?"

"It depends," I replied. "What does it say on your shirt?"

He yelled back, "University of Oklahoma."

Pantone's color for 2009.

(Thanks, commenter at Deep Glamour.)

UPDATE: And there it is on a kitchen wall.

Oh, Ms. Obama. That ball gown is awful in a different way from the election day dress.

It puts thirty pounds on her and she's kicking the skirt away. What a frothy vanilla mess. She can't dance in it, and hates it.

Jason Wu, what did she do to make you so mad?

Here's an incomplete photo.

Full length.

I agree with the commenter at the LA Times blog:

Her gown tonight made her look too heavy and "fluffy." The main problem is that it was not functional. This was supposed to be a ball gown. HELLO -- you are supposed to be able to dance in a ball gown!

I'm an educator in fashion design, and I give it C-. Every single shot of the First Lady on television showed her fiddling with the dress. She shouldn't have to tug on it all night long. Form, function and fashion must work together.

Posted by: Diane | January 20, 2009 at 11:12 PM

Yikes! Look at that price.

Didn't I see those on sale at Payless for $12.99 at the end of the summer?

I bounced up, showered, and arrived ahead of time for the 8:30 yoga class to find it had been cancelled this week. Rats.

There won't be another until 6 a.m. Wednesday. I don't plan to leave my house before 6 a.m. on any morning unless it's burning.

However, a guest teacher is coming into town the weekend of February 6, and is offering five two-hour courses. I think I'll spring for the Absolute Beginners class, Unwind the Spine, and Backbends: Heart Openers. Or may be I'll opt for Hip Openers and Slow Deep Stretches.

Cultivate Strength is for more advanced practitioners.

I Like:

Freestyle Hi
by Reebok Lifestyle

My Reeboks! Oh, I have found you.

My first pair was on sale at Dillard's in Dallas for $38 in 1991. They trod the Great Wall, then wore out sometime in the late '90s, then the style went missing as far as I could see.

What a great city walking shoe it was, and not bad looking (or discreet, at least). I'm thrilled to find them again.

UPDATE: Lyman's son says these look like something that Pat Benatar wore with Spandex minidresses. I did not do that, skinny legs and all.

Yes, I know about the lousy light. And Lyman's sigh of satisfaction when he puts down his coffee cup.

But catching Lucy ringing the bell on tape is harder than you'd think.

One day when Charles was here, he had a chatty visitor, then Lyman's hard-of-hearing (thus loud-talking) parents stopped in, Charlie was whistling and whooping, and Lucy was ringing the bell nonstop for several minutes. It was a circus.

I left the room.

"Loose" for "lose" is the new culprit in sloppy Internet spelling.

Yoga. Yoga. Yoga.

I can't touch my palms to the floor anymore. My weight's the same, but I am stiffening up.

There are at least three programs in Natchez, and I'm starting on one Saturday morning.

This won't do.

Did a little housekeeping in the blogroll. Kim and Paul Palubicki have gone missing. News of the Weird has been incorporated into the Weird Universe site.

Carol Ferensak's home page for NPS was closed down in October when AOL closed all Hometown sites. She'll look for another host when she has free time.

Poor bird.

My brother came by to pick up oxtail stew for tomorrow, and greens and peas for today.

He'd found a serious ding in the doorframe above the driver's side window in his car.

Unless someone walked up and whacked it hard with a small ball-peen hammer, it's a bet that a bullet from one of those New Year's Eve shots into the air hit it.

I doubt that Longfellow would approve. Especially if it hit his car, or lamb.

I picked this recipe off of a Southern Living message board. This is as good a place as any to store it.

Oven Baked Beef Stew

1 Tbsp. oil
2 lb. stew meat, cut in 1½" cubes
1/3 c. flour or 1/4 c. cornstarch
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. marjoram
12 oz. can diced tomatoes, undrained
10 oz. beef or vegetable broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups cube peeled potatoes
1 cup sliced celery
4 medium carrots, sliced
3 small onions, quartered
1/4 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 325º. Heat oil in 4 quart Dutch oven over medium. Brown beef cubes in oil. Add flour, salt, garlic powder, marjoram and pepper. Stir in tomatoes, broth and wine; mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Add remaining ingredients, mix well. Cover; bake for 2 hours or until meat is tender, stirring twice during baking.

I usually add fresh green beans during the last hour of baking, and frozen corn if I have it. I love my stew loaded with veggies. -30-

(Thanks, luvmyhunny.)

Happy New Year to you and yours!

To steal a quote from a commenter I read today, "May your burdens be light even if they aren't few."

The black-eyed peas are soaking, and I'll strip the collard greens soon, to have with a platter of hot water cornbread and grilled chicken.

The menu follows southern tradition.

Hoppin John I will not cook. I tried that many years ago and had a miserable year afterward. Leave that to the Carolinians.

When I was growing up in Texas, my mother's menu always included black-eyed peas, cabbage and corn.

Do you have a New Year's tradition?

What a glossy, rich gravy makes from this oxtail recipe.

I'm leaving out the sugar snap peas, and dropping in a handful of frozen English peas. Less sweet.

If the coming year is anything like the last, best to have a sturdy beginning.

Ain't that cool.

The daughter of the boys' friend wheeled up this afternoon on a Triton (with her dad right behind her.) Grandma and Granddad popped for one for each of two cousins.

I want a big one.

I'm listening to Christmas music on AOL.radio where you can pick your genre.

Classical, for now.

Maybe I can find some Cajun music for dinner, which will be fried catfish today. Yes, Lyman's dad is coming and that's his request.

Merry Christmas, y'all.

I have one stuffed animal that was given to me by an aunt when I was hit by a car 49 years ago, and I want no more.

But I've enjoyed looking at the toys from Fiesta, brought to my attention over at Possumblog.

How about this cutie?

I like the owls, too, and the kiwi.

Today, the part from Sears should arrive, which is remarkable since I just ordered on Sunday and asked for standard shipping. I'll call that a gift.

To you, a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah, or whatever you choose.

In bird news, Lucy has an egg today. When I sing "We wish you a merry Christmas" to Charles Gore, he responds with "oom papa papa papa oom mau." He's never sensed a need for a second "mau."

$12.42 from Sears' online parts.

The front support for the vegetable crisper in the fridge is defunct.

We just changed cell phone plans. We were with Cingular, which was sucked into AT&T.

Lyman's son told us about a "seeing eye phone" available from Centennial for seniors over 55 (Lyman is 62 -- I'm a young, vibrant 51), which has a larger screen and large keys, but doesn't do pictures or the Internet, or other excess uses for which we have no need. $29.95 a month, for which we will have excess minutes.

We had more than 4,000 rollover minutes from AT&T. I asked if we could donate those minutes to the military. No, AT&T does not participate in such a program.

I got nothing, so here's a sweet picture of Niamh (Neeve) from Kate in the snowlands.

We put together the Christmas luncheon for the folks yesterday. This year's menu was shrimp cocktail, turtle soup, Caesar salad, fried shrimp and oysters with french fries (Lyman's dad's request -- he's growing older and weaker, and is trying to cram as much fried seafood as he can get into his last times) and sweet potato bread pudding with rum sauce and whipped cream.

Ann Althouse is having some fun today.

She's expanded on a post by Orin Kerr about Lawrence Welk shows.

For my part, the costumes in the original clip put up by Mr. Kerr are cheesy, but the routine appears to be standard ballroom dance fare. (Though that little leap to the shoulder at the end nearly took them both down.)

And I'm with Ms. Althouse, that roomful of musicians had probably forgotten more about "toking" than Brewer and Shipley had learned yet.

Peg Britton's husband and best friend has died.

Rest in peace, Mr. Britton.

(Thanks, Diane.)

We're not the only ones who know what a female Soloman Island Eclectus looks like.

Needs work on the beak.

(Thanks, Ms. Althouse.)

That little boy has beets on his plate.

(I love pickled beets, and I never think to buy them. Both my grandmothers canned them.)

I wonder if Batman won that battle, too?

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

Since I'm all butch, let's talk about my new kitchen knife.

I now have one of these, on Chef Tony's recommendation, supplemented by good opinions from Cook's Illustrated.

Mine came from Amazon, at just below $22, last week.

It's a light knife for its size, but with a sharper blade out of the box than the expensive Henckels set we bought years ago. The Calphalon was a good looking knife, and sharpened all right, but was some heavy over time.

If you'd like to try a large knife, it's a good way to go.

And as I'm so masculine, I used the Dremel to widen the the upper portion of the slot in our wooden knife block to accommodate its width.

Yeah, yeah, I'm gnarly.

I've been picking up books by Ed Gorman at the library.

The ones I've read are in the mystery/crime genre. His books are unapologetically short, good reads.

But I bring him up because his blog offers plenty of recommendations of television shows, films and books by other authors that he likes.

The political novel, Sleeping Dogs, on the home page of his site intrigues me.

Now that's interesting.

How did they ever come up with that analysis?

(Thanks, Tim Blair, who comes up 73% female.)

UPDATE: Maybe I was stuck in a time warp. Now they're saying my blog has a 58% probability of being written by a woman. That sounds about right. If you hadn't seen this before, it was estimated at 93% male written.

For the bird watchers who come here:

Bird Dance-Off videos from birdchannel.com

A little off-color Christmas humor from Mostly Cajun.

I am still a member of the Nail-Patella Syndrome message board. Amidst a lot of serious talk about DIY dialysis and surgeries to help children walk, a young woman was inquiring about a cosmetic fix for her legs. She doesn't like having ugly legs. Who does?

But it brought to mind this old song, which I posted to the board:



Lyman said he doesn't remember it. I said I do, because I've always had skinny legs.

He says I'm paranoid.

The maker told me some people use these as placecard holders for holiday parties, then "happies" for the guests when they leave.

Silly turkeys. Kids would love them.

Happy Halloween!

Our very own Phil Spector done dark.

The treat is oyster Rockefeller soup from Artist's Palate.

Dummy.

I looked at this headline and thought, well, Lousiana has the Sugar Bowl, and Florida has the Orange Bowl, and Dallas has the Cotton Bowl, so what does El Paso, Texas, have to do with spaghetti?

This.

Let's talk glamour.

Yesterday Lyman disconnected the toilet seat in the master bath and took it to LCR.

The old American Standard seat is available, but we need to match "1962 beige." We dashed back over with 15 minutes to spare to pick a color.

While they have plenty of options, beige is a booger to match.

"Boo."

Sometimes Louisiana Amendments just look a little weird. We have a whole list for every major election.

Scroll down to number 6 and tell me someone isn't looking for some favors.

That's beyond weird. That's ugly. Or "explain me different."

For a little entertainment, how about some upside-down dogs?

Is anything too silly for the Internet?

(Thanks, Big Arm Woman.)

If Sarah Palin does have to give all her clothes back after the election, concerned citizens should take up a collection to keep that red suit and those boots for her. (See picture 10.)

Five thousand women are going to buy that ensemble and not come near looking as good as she does in it.

The recipe for eggless Caesar dressing that we served last night came from a little magazine called "Diabetes & You" from Walgreen's pharmacy. None of us is diabetic, but the dressing is plenty tasty:

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 anchovy fillets, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Whisk together lemon juice, anchovies, garlic and mustard in a large bowl; slowly whisk in oil. Stir in cheese and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add lettuce, toss and serve.

We had spare cheese to grate over and the pepper mill at the ready for anyone who wanted more.

This will go onto the Christmas brunch menu, along with the sweet potato bread pudding. This bread pudding is much lighter than many, more like a custard.

Big birthday celebration today -- my brother turned 64.

Tonight's menu: Osso Buco Milanese, linguine marinara, Caesar salad, and sweet potato bread pudding with rum sauce.

At his last weigh-in in Jackson, Charles was up to 169.2 pounds, up from 140 when he was released from the nursing home in June.

He walks with a cane. He signed a lease for a different house today, one that doesn't have such a long flight of steps to the entry, and will resume his own life on November 1.

My Dustbuster died.

So on to the Internet for some research. After reading about a thousand reviews, I decided on one of these, based mainly on information here.

I bought it at Sears, where the price was $59.99. KMart has the Shark SV736 at $39.99, but carpet and upholstery are not the main culprits around here. Bird area and bathrooms, the office and kitchen are the places that need the frequent quick swipe.

The main complaint I'm reading about hand-held vacs now is that the batteries don't last long. After a year or so, the batteries won't recharge. This B&D has a two year warranty, so wish me luck.

Just testing this morning. Will it suck up mosquitos and fruitflies?

Trying something new this evening.

Great aroma.

UPDATE: That's a keeper in our household. We found it in a sample issue of the magazine Cuisine at home.

What does Tom Wolfe have to say about the current meltdown?

The boys and girls are just fine.

All right, already.

But who called the margin? Where, particularly, did the liquidity fail?

Someones, somewhere, called in the debt. Who did it?

Teach me.

UPDATE: What exactly was it that tripped the trigger in the last month? Quarterly reports?

Something happened to pitch everyone into a panic. I've been watching this at the New York Times and no one says right off what set things off. Something did.

UPDATE: Four quarterly losses, I think I'm reading.

Paulson and Lockhart unveiled a four-part plan to come to the aid of the agencies, which have sustained combined losses of $14 billion in the past four quarters.

Fendi for Spring.

Look at that hair. I can do that!

Can't think of a better time to repost this cartoon.

(Thanks, Tim Blair, for such a repeatedly useful bit.)

I have a question.

Lyman's younger son called to ask "Is there a word for the overcooked rice at the bottom of the pan?" He was with a group of friends, and one thought there was such a word, and that it might begin with a "p".

I said that I thought I'd heard of at least one, but I couldn't recall.

I've been researching today. Iranian cookery has the term "tahdeeg," but that is an intentional effect, as is "socarrat" in paella cookery.

Seems Louisiana or South Carolina, the states where cooks used rice in recipes before the advent of Asian or Latin influence, should have a term or terms.

Do you know anything about such a thing, regardless of origin?

I always liked the chewy stuff.

UPDATE: Chef Mojo here offers "pegao" from Puerto Rico. A reader there offers "okoge" from Japan.

I found "concon" from the Dominican Republic.

UPDATE: Ah, Mostly Cajun says "gratin" for the Cajuns.

What about the Carolinas?

UPDATE: I'm still missing anything from the Carolinas. It's there somewhere, I'm convinced.

So I've e-mailed the Culinary Institute of Charleston.

What's the harm? So they might ignore me.

Sorry, we've been to Jackson for a bone marrow aspiration.

So, catching a greasy hog by the tail, Charles asks, "Where is Miss Piggy on the lipstick issue?"

Lyman's son, Michael, has always thought he'd like to run a food establishment.

He's working with a man who's on contract to Cleco electic. They're in Alexandria now. He's waking in the morning to feed 600-800 people breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I was a waitress in food establishments and learned that wouldn't be my career.

He showed up yesterday for a day off. His clothes stank, his feet hurt, and he was appalled by theft and waste.

Welcome to the big world.

The big oak was walloped by Gustav.

But nothing else was damaged.

Read the Louisiana links at left to find worse.

Family friends with a three-week-old baby are at the coastal condo for an electric fix. They aren't expecting electricity in their area of Baton Rouge for a couple of weeks.

Here is a report on what we might expect locally from Gustav. The hurricane has degraded to a Cat 2, though, and effects might be lighter than previously expected.

It's fair to expect that we'll lose power for a short while. Ms. Alexander used to complain that we'd lose power anytime a cloud came over.