Weather forecast from yesterday February 28th to Sunday, March 8th, 2026. The weather is getting warmer.
From Sunday to Thursday I didn't write anything down. The weather was dreadful, icy wet snow overnight that fortunately didn't stick and rainy the other days. Our favorite walkabout places would have been a soggy mess.
And talking about soggy messes...
someone put the yogurt right on the edge of the top shelf, and someone else opened the fridge door and let's just say, I won't do that again. What a mess! Gregg was a really good sport about it and insisted on cleaning up. I offered advice from afar, no, not really.
Ah well, these things happen.
This old photo popped up yesterday and it caused a blast to the past conversation with hubby, chatting about each of them. We were all good friends. This is before he and I met and was taken 53 years ago. (They are the ones I went off to Austria for skiing holidays. We saved all year for those vacations and they were cheap back in those days. The hotel was great and had its own all night dance floor with a live band, and a coffee bar. So, we used to dance all night and then roll into the coffee bar without even having to go outside, from après-skito expresso, a couple of hours sleep and then it was off to the slopes for skiing lessons. Gosh, I wish I had that energy now.)
I'm the girl top right at the back in the red and blue flowered shirt. I can't remember who took it. They chopped it off a bit at the top, but I was very happy to find this photo again. My hair always looked like I had ironed it flat but I hadn’t. I envied my friends with curlier hair. The giant hair rollers I used to endure as I slept in them, good grief they were painful. I eventually gave up on those and wore it long, flat as a poker and almost to my waist. Hippy days says I with a smile. Back then Gregg used to think yogurt was hippy food so there was already a connection, ha! We had a few laughs at our younger selves, and the stories we told each other later especially. He enjoys eating yogurt now.
Getting on about the week, we ate out a couple of times, always can remember going out to eat, nothing fancy but once to our Bahn Mi favorite for a meatball sub, which is a 40-minute drive away (good job it's not around the corner or we would be in trouble). We have one about every three months. I have mentioned them before on here.
Friday, 2-27-26 at 7:45 p.m: the other to McDonalds today, a little closer to home and that's a once-a-week thing, unless it is to another fast-food stop, like the chicken place.
Son came over last Wednesday night as he had dropped our dear d-in-l off at work. The weather was iffy so he drove her. That was a nice surprise and an extra treat one evening. He had already been over for his usual morning the previous Sunday.
Driving out of the neighborhood, we had paused a little longer at the stop sign as we thought one of these ladies was going to walk across. They didn't and continued shouting across to each other, so of course I got a photo op. They were walking their dogs and probably wanted to keep them apart.
Someone arrived this evening. I had fed the birds earlier and apart from a couple of doves that turned up in the early part of the evening, there has been silence at the bird feeder. Then about half an hour ago I heard a noise and lo and behold I looked outside and there was our little raccoon. They don't usually show up until late night time and haven't been around for a few months. This was my first sighting. The temperatures have risen and I guess this one was hungry. They, as everyone probably knows, are opportunists.
Saturday, February 28th, 2026: we got a call from our son and d-in-l. After a busy morning in Annapolis (Maryland), they had brunch at a restaurant called Miss Shirley's Cafe and sent these photos of their meal. They enjoy sharing photos too, happy to say. If you are on Facebook, you can see photos from their menu at this link. Those drinks are Bloody Marys and look like a meal. I can see from back to front, an okra, orange slice followed by a section of lime, celery stick, a green olive, a wedge of a green tomato with two slices of bacon hanging over the rim! Heck, you could just order your cocktail and that would be your meal! However, bottom left is son’s Shrimp and Grits, and bottom right is our sweet d-in-l’s Coconut Crème Stuffed French Toast with strawberries. I have just decided where my birthday meal is going to be in a few months. My conversation with waiter, “Excuse me dear, all I need is a Bloody Mary, could you throw in a slice of sweet potato?”
Gregg and I had chats with family overseas and here this week also.
That's about it for now. I'm looking forward to some sunny, warm-ish days soon.
Hope you've all had a great week out there, and I'll wish you a great one ahead.
I am writing this the evening of December 29th. It's very windy now and our electricity has been going on and off for the last three hours. I expect a lot of branches have been falling onto power lines. It is 32 degrees F. (2 degrees C). We have more blessed pinecones on the deck. I thought there surely couldn't be any left after all that had dropped off our tree the last couple of months, but there are at least three or four dozen out on the deck, with more falling, and they are even larger than before. We can hear them as they hit the deck. Our pine tree sure is shaking her skirts today. When Gregg picked up the trash bin, it had blown all the way down the street.
On a whim we decided to go out for breakfast, though it was nearer lunch. It was 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13 degrees Celsius) a nice sunny day and too good to waste being stuck indoors.
The place was hopping but we managed to get a table in the far back. A change of scenery from our usual spot. Wall to wall books, floor to ceiling here.
The tables are tiny and a little more crowded next to each other, but we were happy to get a spot on the end of the wall. The table next to us was vacant but the threesome two tables over might as well have been sitting in our laps. They were squeezed in on the same sized table we had, two sitting at the back having dragged an extra chair over, two ladies and a gentleman. One lady was very animated, and we heard all about her family gathering over the holidays. It didn't sound like it was a happy experience, but at least she was getting things off her chest. Not long afterwards two young ladies sat in between us, giving us a bit of a buffer, and the lady telling her friends all her woes, brought her decibels down a bit. Good to have friends to get the angst out of the way. The conversation returned to normal, not that I was being a nosy parker, but it was difficult not to hear everything that was being said. We can't complain, we knew it would be busy during the lunch hour and took a chance on getting a parking spot (we only had to circle once) and were lucky to get this table. There are a lot of college kids who make use of the cafe, and I see laptops and books on several tables. I think there is a 2-hour limit from the time anyone sits down. Next time we'll go in the off-hours which we usually do.
Above you can see Gregg's choice. He always gets the Cheese Danish and coke. Mine was an individual quiche, which was a change from my usually pastry, quite tasty. Shocked to say I am very tired of sweet things after the holiday. Even my vanilla latte was too sweet. We are going back to our every-once-in-a-while treat. I will be having my one cup of black coffee in the morning and tea for the rest of the day, along with a bowl of oatmeal, dried cranberries and blueberries or a banana for breakfast, or at least my good intentions tell me. Fortunately, it is one of my favorite breakfasts.
I had a chuckle at the next photo as we drove by the house. It's trash day as you can see, a much bigger one after the holidays. Yes, she even takes photos of trash, what can I say? My first thought was I bet somebody's mom is happy the old drum set had been put out to pasture and can give their ears a rest. My second thought was maybe a new, much bigger set had been acquired, maybe he is in a school band. This looked in pretty good shape. I hope somewhere here and between the trash place there will be a lucky child who will get a newish drum set.
The rest of this post will be from Christmas Day.
A lovely ceramic Christmas Tree is a gift from our son and daughter-in-law, with a close-up of the tiny glowing cardinals below.
They also gave me this adorable glass teddy bear.
The snowman is last year's gift from them. You may have something like it as it is on a timer and comes on in the evening and shuts off before going to bed. It gives off a lovely warm glow, with little sparkly things floating around inside.
Son is a fun selfie taker. We usually take a lot more but dinner was ready and waiting and everyone had their appetite, but first....
this is us trying to sort out the Yorkshire Pudding. What can I say, I've been having trouble the last few Christmases and I was keeping my fingers crossed.
Let's just say it wasn’t a complete disaster…
but it didn't rise as nicely as last year when it sprang so high it had a fight with the top heating element. A nice thick pancake anyone? It actually tasted pretty good, but I think I have a mental block about Yorkshire Pudding now. Big mistake this time was my anxiety about burning the dang thing, and I not only lowered the rack - which was a good thing - but also lowered the heat during the process - bad thing - plus we may have opened up the door too early. C'est la vie! I intend to get a lot of practice before next year's Christmas Dinner. Any tips out there will be gratefully appreciated.
The flowers Gregg gave me for our 50th Wedding Anniversary were still hanging in there, so I decided to keep them on display. The empty dishes will soon be filled with our meal. We had Roast Beef and Denise's new-style of flat, thick but tasty and what the heck pancake, Brown Gravy, Roasted Potatoes, asparagus and carrots.
Another of our traditions growing up was the Yule Log but on special occasions we usually serve pumpkin pie and cherry pie with vanilla ice-cream or whipped cream or both.
That taller snowman is in three parts, bottom two contain the salt and pepper shaker, the top hat is a hollow container for mustard. This time he's just there for decoration. The two smaller snowmen to his right are a regular salt and pepper set. A few nibbles beforehand in a dish I found more years ago than I can remember, and in the photo after this one, there is a small dish in the shape of a sunflower that I use for dips. It has a sunflower handle on the spoon. Another gift from my darlings for a birthday last year.
One more shot of the kitchen table which we used buffet style once dishes were filled and sorry to say I forgot to take photos of our meal because well, I was still thinking of the blessed Yorkshire Pud!
Here is the table from the other end.
One more of the table set up in the dining room. I'm glad several of you said that you liked it. I had a hard time finding matching sets. During that good tidy-up session earlier in the year, I had tidied things into oblivion. Moving along, since childhood, I have always had the tradition of Christmas Crackers at each place setting, and I carried this on after marriage. My son loved them as a child and he still indulges me now, as does our sweet daughter-in-law and husband of course. I think they actually enjoy them. So, we sit down, pull the tapes in each end and wear on our heads our paper 'crowns' that fall out of the cracker. Little trinkets scatter on the table, an actual mini grater, spoon, I forget what else, and we read the funny jokes/facts inserted in each one as we start our meal. You can read the history of Christmas Crackers at this link. There is also a website that shows you how to make your own here. Pulling the crackers is a little tame now. When I was young, with each cracker pull, there was a flash and a bang where you felt your fingers singe a little bit. In my memory of it all anyhow but I still remember the heat on my fingers.
The painting on the wall (a closer look can be seen below), is of a Tudor house I used to walk by while in Worcester (UK). My dear other half had put out to sea for six months. I often went home to visit my parents, sister and brother-in-law on these deployments. This is before our son joined us. My niece was born much later when they lived in Scandinavia. I had passed by the house for many years on previous visits, from the age of 18, and it fascinated me, always loving the Tudor style. I noticed a shop had opened across the street on this particular visit, with a painting of the same house in their window. In I went as though drawn by a siren song. The owner of the shop was a very nice gentleman. He was also the artist and very happy to get his painting out of the window display.
This is the last of the rambles and photos from Christmas.
Thanks for being such great friends throughout the past year, and if I am not able to visit before the end of this one, I would like to wish you all...
I have not thought about my Great-Aunt Gertrude in a long time. The last I ever saw her I was about seven, maybe eight. Funny how finding an old recipe will do that (this is another from my old blog). Naan bread of all things (in both bread and aunty, there was the connection). Her face popped into my head when at the store and on a whim and I picked up a packet of the bread. Story on Aunt Gertrude later, which will be written for our son as I don't think I have told him about her before. If I did it was a long time ago. And maybe you will find it interesting too. If you don't you can skip through of course.
I published this originally in 2008 and this is what I wrote:
So, here's brunch with my companion Great-Aunt Gertrude, at least in retelling the story to Gregg as we ate our lunch and repeating what my mother told me when I was young.
But first, no recipe link. I had seen enough of this type of thing online and tweaked it a bit to suit our own tastes.
I covered the bread with grated Cheddar cheese, and on top of the cheese, next came sautéed onions. These I had done in a little olive oil until transparent. I sliced tomatoes, which I didn't precook, and those went over the onions. (Next time I will add additional grated cheese over everything.) It went under the broiler until the cheese had melted and was golden, and the bread toasty.
At the same time, I cooked the poached eggs, placing them carefully into low-simmering water. The last step was to place them on the loaded naan bread. I timed everything so that they were ready at the same time.
Our naan breads were large enough for two people. I cut one in half and it made a very satisfying breakfast for both of us.
I am also adding the following since publishing my post, as I have a keen interest on the history of food. I looked it up on Google and this is what popped up.
“The term “naan” comes from Persia, and ancient bread-making on hot pebbles (sangak) in Persia likely influenced its development.
It arrived in the Indian subcontinent with the Delhi Sultans and Mughals, who introduced the tandoor door oven method.
During the Mughal era (1520s onwards), naan was a special breakfast for the elite, served with keema or kebabs.
The first recorded mention in India is from 1300 AD by Indo-Persian poet Amir Khusrau, who described light (naan-e-tunuk) and heavy (naan-e-tanuri) versions cooked in tandoors.
Through trade, conquest and migration, naan spread from Central Asia and Iran to Afghanistan, Myanmar and eventually the West, becoming a universal favorite.”
If you have a question about this, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.
Now for the story of my Great Aunt. I asked AI to put together a watercolor of a photograph I remember my mother showing me many times. The photo was very old even back then. It has long since been lost. I have no idea where it went but it gave me some comfort and another connection to recompose it in a watercolor-style. The likenesses were off obviously, but it is darned near close to what I could remember of the setting.
So, this is a story to honor my Great-Aunt Gertude and two little boys whom she grew to love as if they were her own sons.
She was my mother's aunt, her mother's sister. She passed away when I was in my early teens, and my memories of her are of a very nice lady who always had a ready smile for my sister and me, and always a kind word for my mother. Mother in fact loved her. Great-Aunt was a widow, husband long gone, who had no children of her own.
She and her husband spent many years in India. His work was something to do with the railroads. I vividly remember this fabulous old photograph of my mother's aunt. Mum pulled it out of a large box quite often when looking through old photos. Her aunt was sitting in one of those wickerwork peacock chairs, tropical palms in the background and two young Indian boys on each side of her. There was the most contented smile on her face and lovely smiles on those handsome young children. This I noticed when I was a little girl, and the thought stays with me still. The photo is long gone, and I have always wondered where it disappeared to as I would love to have it now, but my memory will be my photo. The idea for this 'watercolor' came to me as a curiosity to see what could be created more than anything.
My Mother told me a little of Great-Aunt Gertrude's story, and it was that she loved these little boys dearly, as if they were her own sons. She wanted to adopt them and bring them back to England when it was time for them to leave, but this was never meant to be and she was broken-hearted when she left them behind. I know nothing more about their time in India.
Years later, when Mum thought me old enough to know of such things, she told me that Great-Aunt Gertrude's husband, before I was born, had been murdered. I remember being very shocked and there are a few details I won't go into here, but I remember feeling sad for her all over again. They never did find the culprit.
On our visits to see my nanny (mother's mother), nanny's sister would invariably be there, ready with a piece of toffee to give me. She had a gentle touch, a quiet voice and a sweet smile. That's all I can remember about my Great Aunt Gertrude.
Thanks for 'listening' and for visiting. I hope your week is an excellent one.
Firstly, I wanted to thank you my very dear blogging friends, for all your very sweet comments, and those from family and friends here and across the pond, on our 50th Anniversary. Gregg and I appreciated that more than we can put into words. It added to a very special day for us. Gregg was needed out of town for a few days and I didn't expect him home, but thanks to two very special people, they made sure we could spend most of the day together. Those very special people also sent us some beautiful flowers which I will share when they bloom. Heart is full at their kindness.
Above you can see part of a bouquet that Gregg had in hand when he walked through the door. I told him that Peruvian Lilies were in the first bouquet he ever bought home after we were married. I had never seen them before and have loved them ever since. He said, "Of course, I remembered that! Well, let's just say I remembered that." We had a chuckle of course. 50 years is a long time to remember such things, but I did and yes, another chuckle, as he often says where my emotions are concerned, I have a memory like a laser. True! I just read him this paragraph, "100 percent true!" he said with emphasis, and with yet another chuckle. Personally I believe it's a girl thing.
Our son and daughter-in-law were coming over to keep me company that evening, and when they found that Dad was coming home early and would be with us, we told them to go ahead with what we had originally planned. They treated us to a wonderful selection of Empanadas from one of their local eateries. I was asked if I would like to try them as it was a new food to me. I've heard of them and was not disappointed. The above photo he sent me to let me know they were on their way. The empanadas were wonderful, and we had such a fun time.
So that was our 50th Wedding Anniversary. The following photos are what we took on the 18th, when we were out and about. And here you go, my first doggy fix of the week!
As we were driving along, Gregg said to me, "Get your phone ready!" I wondered what was up. He had seen this little cutie a few cars ahead of us, changed lanes (no traffic coming up behind us) so that I would get a good view. As we went by, I was able to take a photo. We were just starting off on our journey heading out to run some errands and, lo and behold, when we were driving home, and as we turned left at the traffic light, who should pass us as they headed straight, was this little dog again, still with its head out the window. An hour had gone by since we had first seen cutie here. How about that for the strangest coincidence? I didn't get a photo that time but cropped the one from above for a closer look.
We stopped at the drive-thru coffee shop and this mysteriously made its way into my hand. He may be making another appearance in a day or so.
Next a photo taken while driving home through the neighborhood.
I am finishing off with two photos Gregg just found while on his iPad. These popped up and I asked him to send them to me so that I could share them again. This blog is getting so old that I seem to keep doing that, don't I? The photo was taken about 10 years ago (just guessing but it seems a long time ago). We were on vacation, and I had it put on an ornament.
The last one is of an old-fashioned Santa that I cut out of wood with my bandsaw (a birthday gift from husband I kid you not, and actually asked for). We used to joke that other people were asking their husbands for jewelry and there I was, asking for a bandsaw and a sander, and other things that I needed. In my craft show days, I used to buy several sheets of balsa wood and have the wood company cut them into 1-foot squares, so that I could more easily trace designs on them and cut them out.
As I got older Gregg asked me to get rid of it, and the sander, which was on a stand. My hands and especially my fingers were not as steady as they used to be and cramped easily, and he feared for my fingers, lol! (I was also having difficulty holding a paintbrush.) In all those years I had never had any mishaps but he saw the writing on the wall.
I had quite a cottage industry going for about 15 years. To add to the fun I took painting lessons and met lots of good people. It was a fun time selling all my ornaments at the many craft shows I participated in, not just ornaments but things like four-foot Santas and Angels on stands. The painting was my favorite part, seeing them come together, but I didn't mind cutting and sanding either.
I had grown up with my Dad who was a hobbyist carpenter. His full-time job could be very stressful at times, and this was a great way for him to destress. I think wood dust was in my veins from an early age as I used to help Dad a lot, and I have always loved things made out of wood. His were things like tables and chairs, and when they bought a caravan for visits up to the Midlands to visit with relatives, he built bunk beds for it.
One of his favorite things he made for family and friends were bird houses on a stand. He used to give those away as gifts. We knew a lot of people who were birders before we knew what the term meant. Us too as we were always checking to see which feathered friend landed in our garden. Living near the ocean as we did, we would get a lot of gulls by the dozens flying in.
These, as you can see, are great memories for me. Something I think more and more about these days. I can almost see my Dad smiling as I joined him in the garage. He was always grateful for the interest and help with his projects, and I used to get him things he needed, plus a very important cup of tea when Mum shouted she had put the kettle on and yelled that it was ready through the window. To this day, I still enjoy watching YouTube videos of how things are made out of wood, from log cabins to the smallest of projects. Dad started it all and I believe his father was the same.
This has turned into another ramble. I will end by saying I hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for dropping by and sticking with me through to the end of my waffling.
"People who think life must get boring with age, clearly have not experienced the joy of watching the bird feeder while taking that first sip of coffee in the morning"
My imaginary cats agree with me.
I hope this gave you a smile too.
I added the cats because I love cats, though I have not had one since childhood, and there are none in the house. Hubs is a dog person (I love them too) but at this stage of the game, that won't be happening either. He sees me hobbling around and says, "Nuh-uh" and words to that effect. He gets a scrunched-up nose and eyes rolled to the ceiling from me (hello Dad), but he's right and I content myself with doggy fixes when we are out and about.
In the picture I gave myself a pair of dangly earrings because I love earrings and dangly ones especially, since teen-hood. My father couldn't stand mine, he thought they weren't ladylike (this is going back 60 plus years). He was an old lovable post-era Victorian man, what can I say? But could that man laugh, he would laugh until he had us all laughing with one of his funny stories, and tears ran down our cheeks, salt of the earth. Mum didn't like dangly ones either, but I used to ogle the Indian shop window on my way home from school and look at all that exotic jewelry on display in the window. Absolutely loved what I saw but never could afford as the price was way above what I could save with my pocket money. Hints for Christmas were ignored, and I continued to get my Bunty and Judy annuals, and I think Rupert the Bear was in there somewhere, another book I favored. No, I'm not knocking books, as they were my all-time favorite Christmas gifts and reading them on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, after our festivities had ended, was a real treat and I always looked forward to them.
We were talking about earrings weren't we? The saga continues! At the age of 50 mum finally had her ears pierced, also my sister. They went to a jeweler to get them done, not at the same time. I think mother saw sister's newly pierced ears and followed soon after. My dad was not a happy man. I can still see him scrunching up his nose in disgust and rolling his eyes to the ceiling. No, I don't have pierced ears. Whether it was my dad's influence or not, the infections both my sister and mother had from theirs (sorry for that image) put me right off! They did all the right things, but they had a terrible time. I couldn't stand the thought of having holes in my ears after that. And as for dad I think there was a 'told you so' in there somewhere, and he and I nodded at each other sagely as we scrunched our noses and rolled our eyes up to the ceiling. He put up with my dangly earrings after that.
So, the birds and feeder are a given and when I saw the saying online, I thought it was perfect. I added the flower myself and I love hearts, so that had to go on the flowerpot.
Coffee is my favorite drink first thing in the morning. I drink green tea in the afternoon, with a cup of chamomile infused with vanilla and honey in the evening (no caffeine that late in the day). I haven't had a proper cuppa in a while, it's overdue. Maybe tomorrow!
The birds are slowly coming back and so have the squirrels (and chipmunks). One of those naughty squirrels has been eating the leaves off my mums (flowers), but they are looking a bit past it now the colder weather is arriving at night. I have truly enjoyed them though.
Enough of the blathering, as I wanted to tell you I am taking a blog break. Nothing too exciting, just things I have to take care of. I am not sure how long for, a few days, a week or two, I'm not really sure. I know I am going to miss you all, but I need to make a clean break. I'll be catching up with you when I get back.
For those of you who are having life challenges, whether it's a loved one's health or your own, know that you are never very far from my thoughts and I am sending all the prayers I can muster. I love you all and am sending hugs.
Thanks for always being there for me,
and have a continued outstanding October.
(The graphic was a request from me done in BingAI, plus graphics from pixabay.com, a royalty free graphic program, which I put on the original request picture using Paint Shop Pro, a program I have had for many, many years. I found the phrase online. I believe it fits many of us).
