Sump’n

Everybody gets Sump’n.

Gosh, Linda, I laughed when I read this;

“I was going to write this post this afternoon but instead I took a three hour vacation nap. It was badly needed – that’s all I can say in my defense.”

I laughed because we, as women, feel we must apologize for taking time off and napping. Today I’m happy, HAPPY it’s cold and rainy just because I want to take a day off.

I’m 62,  work part-time in a grocery store either in the bakery or on cash, I look after my house by myself inside and out and still feel guilty when I want to do nothing.  No matter how much I really do deserve it, there’s still a voice in the back of my head whispering, “Lazy….”

If it was nice outside I would be compelled to do something. Some trimming, some weeding. I have to do at least a couple of hours to deserve a nap.

I call it “being horizontal”. That’s what I say to myself late at night; “it’s time to get horizontal”. I LOVE to be horizontal on my couch, watching TV.  There I’ve said it. No shame. (but there is some, I can’t help it; I’m a woman.)

The only thing that could be better about a cold and rainy day on my day off would be if I had some Downton Abby left to watch. Or if season 4 magically came on Netflix today. I just discovered it a few months ago and blew through all three seasons in a couple of weeks. I Googled when season 4 is and found out it just ran on PBS months before.

But I have lots to watch. I’ve started ‘Orange is the New Black” and I have some movies on my PVR. Oh, I love technology.

I think my Stream of Conciousness just ran out. Maybe I’ll make a third coffee. Here’s what came into my head when I read the prompt;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=0b5EE3yIF_M

http://lindaghill.com/2015/06/26/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-2715/

Cakes, cakes and more cakes

I wasn’t going to write this post; it’s already 9:18 and I don’t want to get tied to my computer on such a beautiful day. I slept in until 7:45 which is great because I worked all weekend.

Summer has begun in Grand Bend: a beach tourist town, for those who don’t live around here. We made up as many cakes as our trays would hold in preparation for a busy weekend but those only lasted a few hours. The main cake decorator was swamped with orders for the weekend she valiantly tried to finish on Friday but apparently ran out screaming at 6:30.

I came in at 8:00 Saturday morning and my boss was finishing off the orders: he was not in a good mood. I started preparing and icing them and he would decorate. (he’s very fast). Meanwhile all of our regular cakes, Snickers, Chocolate Fudge, etc., were flying off the shelves. I started on those. We were constantly being interrupted by customers wanting bread sliced or “would we write on this cake?”  I was supposed to work until 1:00: I stayed until 3:30.

I was on cakes alone Sunday, Father’s Day. There were cakes we were completely out of again and no birthday cakes out. People wanted pastries from the chilled display and some of them needed to be baked or filled. That was all between the birthday/Father’s day cakes going as fast as I could make them up. As I went out with a vanilla the chocolate would be taken away.  I’d just get back to my other cakes when someone would come with the cake I just put out. (Each one requires roses, leaves and sprinkles then packaged with candles taped on and the labeled.)

“Could you write ‘Happy Father’s Day Mike, Mel, and John’ on this small cake?”

“Could you get Happy Fathers Day ___ and Happy Birthday ____ on here?”

“Sure I can!”

After a few hours I had to write down the name because I had so many in my head. By the time I opened the plastic container it comes in and wrote ‘Happy whatever…‘, I would forget the name!

It started to die down by 2:00 and I got 3 trays of bar cakes done. I started to lose my mind about 4:00. I was so tired I would go into the freezer or cooler and forget what I needed. If someone was even looking in the direction of the birthday cakes I would turn away and pretend I didn’t see them. They would have to interrupt me: “Excuse me, could you write something on this cake?”

“ok”

When I got home I stripped down in the laundry room and went straight into the shower. My arms and face were sticky. How did I get icing on top my hat?

But today I’m satisfied I did a good job and got some good hours in for my next pay cheque. All I have to do is mow my lawn and its a beautiful day. (and I have a rider mower)

And I can say TGIM!  (Thank God its Monday!)

Nice Day for Ducks

nnnneeee, nnneeee……. That’s the sound mosquitoes make. Not buzzing. Bees buzz; a relaxed buzz if checking out flowers, higher in pitch if disturbed.  But mosquitoes have an annoying, high-pitched little noise like a tiny banshee.

About 15 minutes ago I stepped outside with just one leg to see how cold/warm it is when they arose from the grass and around the rain barrel.  “Nnneeeee! Nnneee! I smell blood!”

I quickly closed the door just as two dark flashes went by. I ran over to my bedroom window and it was a pair of mallard ducks that landed on my lawn. (oh, the green on the male’s head is so beautiful!) I watched them walk around the lawn over to the part that hasn’t been mowed and look for slugs or whatever.

How can they walk in that wet grass and not be bothered by mosquitoes? was all I could think. They went behind my woodshed…… I’ve been around the house and can’t see them anymore.

Today would be so good for working outside because it’s not hot but it’s cloudy. The grass is wet….. it will take a full arsenal of spray, clip-on OFF! and a mosquito net/ hat.

OR….. I can stay inside all day, putter and laze. I can puff for my own buzz.

Oh, Stream of Conciousness Saturday…… now I can’t go back and change all the sentences that start with ‘I’!

Ppppfffffttt! so what?

http://lindaghill.com/2015/06/12/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-1315/

Paneer

Why don’t people use paneer? This is a staple, people! It’s an un-ripened cheese made from milk. I used to make my own but for a few years I’ve been able to buy it at Wal-Mart and SuperStore. Now it’s gone. Gone because nobody eats it!

Years ago, in my old life, I lived near a couple who ran an organic farm and kept milking cows. I would get a glass gallon jar of fresh, unpasteurized organic milk and make my own. I might take off a little thick cream that raised to the top but most of it I stirred back in for better flavour…… that was the best paneer ever.

(Heat milk until it’s just starting to boil, take it off the heat and add lemon juice. Wait a while until it curdles then strain it and press it. Voila! a versatile and tasty source of protein.)

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it, made by Nanak foods, in the SuperStore.  I would buy two blocks for the same price it would cost me to make it. A block could be cut up into 4 portions and frozen. I would get two meals out of one portion so it lasted me for a couple of months.

Start to caramalize onions (sautee if you’re in a hurry) and when they are half way done add cubed paneer. It needs onion and salt.  I use it in stir-frys with rice or with any Italian dish. It’s even delicious in a toasted sandwich…… as long as it has onions.

But now they stopped selling it. At first I was hoping it was just a missed order from Nanak foods but I’ve been to Sarnia and London twice and no paneer. I’m so sad. I’ve gotten so used to having it.

I bought some tofu last week because I need the protein in my stir-frys. What a let-down: I’ve been spoiled by paneer. Tofu has no flavour, you have to add flavour…… I suspect it robs other foods of their flavour it’s so flavourless.

Now it’s asparagus season. One of my favourite meals is paneer (sautéed with onions) and asparagus in a pita. Last night I made it with mozzarella. It was OK.

I have to find a store in London that sells Indian foods and that means driving downtown….. curses!

Tofu is so mainstream now….. I used to have to go to Chinatown to get it and they called it bean curd if you weren’t Chinese. Now everyone knows what tofu is, meat-eaters even use it sometimes, but nobody knows what paneer is!

Canadians; go to your SuperStore or Wal-Mart and demand Nanak paneer! Please.

 

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Ingredients.”

Little Leaf Lilacs…. wafting

Another Prompt has hit my fancy; Smell the Roses.

I have been doing just that except they are Little Leaf Lilacs or Syringa Microphylla if you’re Latin.

I’ve been feeling a bit down lately but the last couple of days these have been in bloom right under my living-room window. The loveliest smell is wafting into the room and I can look out onto deep blue Japanese Iris blooming beside the budding peonies. Beyond is flowering chives with Thalictrum gracefully bending over them.

I can enjoy them right there on the couch…. protected by screen from the mosquitoes.

This morning I read about the growing war in Sudan and what life is like there.   I promise I will never complain about my life again.

https://theywalkthenight.wordpress.com/2015/06/06/writing-prompt-140/

Selling information

Today Stream of Conciousness prompt is ‘information’; something that has been on my mind lately. It is blog-worthy but a good post would require a lot of editing so I apologize in advance if I seem to be rambling….. because I am.

People and businesses are making money selling our information. Our e-mail addresses, phone numbers, street addresses and even where our car is at any given moment.

You’ve all seen those things on Facebook that lure us to answer questions such as; “Name a city without the letter ‘A’. I bet you can’t!”  Well, of course thousands of people can and do type a city with the letter ‘A’.

How about “can you read this?”  jumbled letters or upside down. You can? That’s amazing but so can thousands of others.

How about “Find the secret meaning of your name” or your “hippy name”. or your better qualities. Ever notice they are all good?  “I’m caring and creative!”  “I have the brains of a Ph.D!” No one ever gets bad things.  “You are moody and impossible to live with” “Your hippy name is Skid Mark”

In March and April there was a huge push toward Air Miles from the Corporation that runs Sobeys. Foodland, IGA and others were a part of it. We wore Air Miles T-shirts (think of the millions of Air Miles T-shirts for all those employees across Canada) and pressured everyone to GET THEIR AIR MILES CARD!  You get rewards! You want rewards, don’t you?   I kept wondering, “What’s in it for them? Why all this money spent just to give us points?”  Because now they can track you and your purchases and information is money.

How many of you got one of those things on your car that tracks every move you make and what time you do it?  I got one but was reluctant to put it on. I got two e-mails saying “We don’t see you yet…. put on the tracker and save 5%!”  I did it. The insurance company wants to keep track of you for your safety and information. You might save some money in the future!

The police have to have a warrant to put something on your car to track you but since we’ve allowed the insurance company to put it on, there’s no need to. They can track us through our insurance company who can sell information. They can track where you are shopping or worshipping or being entertained.

Recently I tried get off satellite TV but they got a super sales person to make me a deal I couldn’t refuse. (you should try it; they cut my costs drastically)  But what scared me is that the sales person had so much information about me. She looked up my internet use….. as in how much I used my internet…… and this is a totally different corporation. I asked her how she had that information and she said “HA! you wouldn’t believe……” something along those lines.

There’s not much we can do about it. Don’t click onto things. I good tip is when you ever get questions on your income….always check off the lowest. If you are poor they can’t sell you anything.

Although I really don’t like it, I’m not too worried about it. My life is pretty boring and I’ve got nothing to hide. But its a creepy feeling to think that everything you do can be tracked. The question is “Is anyone watching?”

http://lindaghill.com/2015/06/05/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-615/

“Fairy Tales Can Come True…

It can happen to you when you’re Young At Heart”

Today’s Prompt is; “And they lived happily ever after.” Think about this line for a few minutes. Are you living happily ever after? If not, what will it take for you to get there?

Come on. Fairy Tales end in “……happily ever after” when they get married. Yeah….. that was the big goal in the olden days: get married. Look good, be witty but compliant and you’ll get a good husband. And live happily ever after.

I got married and stay married for 28 years before I finally realized I couldn’t be happy with him (happiness was not allowed) and had to make a go of ‘being happy’ on my own. I am happier than I was but I could use a lot more happiness in my life.

Love makes people happy…. let’s face it. When it comes down to it that’s what we all want: Love.

It doesn’t have to be Prince Charming: it can be family or friends or an altruistic endeavor for humanity. It can be a deep spiritual love although, with that, some human companionship is missed. Even people who find a great love in God or Jesus wish they had another person to share that love with.

I have love of family. Yesterday I was at the beach with my sister, niece, nephew and their kids. I felt very loved and happy to be a part of them. It was my grandniece’s 7th birthday and she wanted to go the beach so they took her and her sister out of school and came to Grand Bend. My niece and her 2 1/2 year-old came, too. It raised my spirits from around my ankles up to my head. I’m so lucky to have them.

(I had an 8:00 to 1:00 shift in the bakery.  They all met at 1:30 just down the road from where I work. With all the Mercury in retrograde crap that’s going down  I can’t believe I got the right shift for it!)

At 62 years old I don’t expect to live happily ever after. Life just isn’t like that…. ever…… to anyone.

I still would really like to meet Prince Charming: I’m young at heart.  Someone who thinks I’m just wonderful and wants to make me happy by doing home renovations and taking me to restaurants.

But until I meet someone with those qualifications; I can be happy enough by myself.

 

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Happily Ever After.”

On and on

One foot in front of the other. Stiff upper lip, carry on and all that. You know the routine; I’m grateful for my health and I have job, my bills are paid……. I keep telling myself all that.

It’s Mercury in Retrograde and I’m having the usual troubles. My internet has been going in and out for over a week now. I call them and unplug the modem, plug in the modem and it goes on. The last call they told me to change all the lines one by one. I’ve done all that except for the special connector that splits the phone and computer. I know its OK. Should I drive to their office to get another one and waste my morning?  It’s in a town on the way to nowhere else.

For now the internet is on….. until I post this most likely.

Little things sabotage my attempts at joy; like mosquitoes. It was so nice out yesterday but the previous hot, rainy days brought out mosquitoes in droves. I used spray, much as I hate it, it’s necessary here. I wore a hat but they still buzzed around my face and ears, finding spots that I can’t spray.

I started my electric trimmer and got about 20 feet done when the last of the cord whipped out. It was really hard getting the cap off and extra irritating with mosquitoes buzzing around my face. Sure enough, an empty spool.

There are a few annuals left to put in pots by the door so I turn to them for a little joy. A nice little spot;

 

filled with mosquitoes. This is where I gave up and ran inside, crazed.

I soaked all my bites with AfterBite and had a nap. I don’t feel guilty about napping. It feels like defiance now; ‘I can have a nap if I want to, so there!’

I dragged my ass to Zumba even though I didn’t feel like it, hoping for a lift. Only two other people showed up and they weren’t any more enthusiastic than I was. No joy there.

This would seem like a great day compared to my sister’s. She spent yesterday with our aunt who is back I her ‘independent’ living apartment but shouldn’t be.  Only for the grace of her private nurse is she there. She had to wait for CCAC to officially say ‘yes, she needs to be in a nursing home’. There is paper work that has to be done but her health card was lost on the last visit to the hospital and that has to be renewed first.  The office is on the other side of London. It’s going to be a long haul with daily worries. Every morning I wish to hear she passed peacefully in her sleep.

I see my internet has gone in and out two times while I’ve been writing.

Oh, this post completely disappeared for a few minutes…. I guess I better ‘publish’ while everything is on.

Tonight I’m working 4:00 to 10:00. (groan) I gotta get me some joy.

****************************************************************

I wrote this yesterday but couldn’t post it because my internet went off long enough to give up waiting so I went to town, bought a mosquito net, a clip-on OFF!, some coils you burn and a spool for my trimmer. A spool with a number different than the many numbers listed on that brands spools. of course. It looks to be the same size and popped in but I didn’t want to bother getting out the extension cord.

The net, clip-on and coil was a success; planted some herbs and flowers in the pots (need more).  Had a short nap and went to work; a six-hour shift from 4:00 to 10:00. It’s such a drag going in; it puts a pall on your day. But I prepared buns, made cakes while baking pies before cleaning everything and got done 15 minutes early. It was a ‘thumbs up’ night.

Coming home is so much more pleasurable than if I was home all night and having a day off is more rewarding than if I was home everyday.

The internet connection keep showing me an exclamation mark every once in a while but it’s on now. Maybe if I keep juggling wires and swearing it will stay on. I’m curious to see the if that spool will work on my trimmer.

Tomorrow I’m back in the bakery on a day shift: starting at 8:00 a.m. Be careful what you wish for….. you just might get it.

I get off at 1:00 and I’m going to the beach with the whole family; niece, nephew, grandnieces and grandnephew for a grandniece’s birthday party. SWEET! There’s a load of joy coming!

(awww… no internet…….)