Horse. Dinner. Bread. Oh, My.

My first born, Tempered Steele (Remington Steele x LF Diamond Rose) otherwise known as Babe. She was perhaps three in the photo. She is now 32 and chugging right along. She produced some very nice foals, including one halter champion.

And then a bright, simple dinner of leftover pork loin, leftover sweet potato and some nice green broccoli. We do have meals which do not contain pasta. Pasta is just so darn versatile. Just don't break the spaghetti! 

This is a recipe I got from Denise a couple of years ago. Irish soda bread. I make it often, sans raisins. It's so simple and very good. She added a good one to my bread repertoire. 

I also made a batch of sandwich rolls from the same recipe. They look a little rough but I didn't want to handle the dough too much. They still taste good. I make some larger for Mark and smaller for me.

We are having a dreary, on/off rainy day. I still have some soup I made a couple of days ago and today is a perfect day for soup at lunch. That's it. Have a perfectly wonderful Saturday.

Mama Mia

A little profanity

 Do not break the pasta. Seriously.

It's a written in stone rule.

A Year Spent

Nothing much is happening on the old homestead so I have been going through my computer to clear out photos. I came upon these taken in 2020 by the realtor's photographer. This is where I lived from age seven, when we returned from San Diego, until I was twenty.

I spent 8 months emptying, cleaning and refreshing the house. Matthew helped me the final two months. I started at the beginning of May, finished and sold it at the end of December.

This was the last block to be developed, during the 1950s. This house was the model home, which my parents bought when development was finished. The rest of the neighborhood was 1940s, mostly bungalows. We were on the Eastside of St. Paul, a 20 minute bus ride to downtown.

The time I spent there that year was cathartic. I enjoyed giving the home a new life. It felt like I was lifting sixty years of weight from both the house and me. I could feel the lightness as I went along. Being alone most of the time was also helpful. I went along, going through memories, both good and not so good. Matthew and I realized it was our therapy.

Checking In

It is now official. I am an old cat lady.

I'm not feeling chatty at the moment. I'm not going to go on about the why. I will say I caught the last 45 minutes of the 1 1/2 hour press conference yesterday and leave it there. We were 23 degrees F this morning. There is a warmup this week. We just follow the bouncing ball. I look forward to getting out in the gardens and play with some dirt.

 

Worth a read 

Gatto knows how to make the world go away.

I know how to warm the kitchen on a chilly day.

The next three days will be snow, then rain and then snow. We do need the moisture but couldn't the weather gods just pick one? Silly question.

Monday, What Can I Say

Yes, I have the humor of a ten-year-old boy.

 

We the People

My hometown.

Bruce Springsteen was here, but he didn't sing that song.

 

When Do We Hit the Bottom of the Rabbit Hole?

To the Moon 

So. Now the plan is to spend 20 billion dollars to build a livable structure on the moon and send astronauts there every six months. To what end? In the meantime, insurance subsidies have been pulled, housing is in short supply and outrageously expensive. We are spending billions on an unauthorized war we started, with the help of Israel, eying Cuba as the next place to show our superiority and turning longtime allies into foes. The cost of living has become unlivable, for many, truly. Yet, fly me to the moon. Yep. That's a solid plan. Hey, are we great yet? Cause I think if we were mediocre before I'd rather that.

Another Monday

Matthew spent decades in the back of a closet. I brought him out yesterday, deciding Mark should have him gracing his office. I was a stickler for having professional photos done. I believe he would have been about eight. What hair he has left is very dark brown, looks black. Odd it can change like that. He will be fifty-two next month.

I've spent the last couple of days helping Mark set up a new computer. I guess I'm the tech guy. Today he'll call the tax software company to get help downloading the tax files and then he should be done. Leave it an accountant to wait until tax season to do this, as the computer was purchased in February. I have been a Mac person from day one, so working with this system was not my bailiwick. 

My other accomplishment was getting the anti-glare film on the south facing windows of his office. Since the large tree that shaded this area of the house had to be felled the sun, even with the blind drawn, has been too much. You don't know how necessary a large tree is until it's gone. I guess that can be said about a lot of things.

I threw together another leftovers meal yesterday. Leftover faro and pork loin with broccoli, tomatoes, onion and garlic. Took all of about ten minutes. Tops. 

Today my excitement is laundry. I know, you wish you had my exotic life.