Cats are such weird critters

Don't get me wrong, I'm a cat lover from way back, but they are still lovably weird critters.

I've written before about my cat's tendency to put her toys in either her food or water dish, or both. And that a little research told me that for cats, particularly cats who have lived on the streets as this one did for awhile, their food and water are the most important things going. The dishes are 'safe places' so they tend to put their toys there so they won't be lost.

I didn't really have a problem with this, other than soft things in the water which sometimes made a mess. But in recent weeks/months I've noticed that for the most part, there are only these two toys in the food dish and they are there all the time. She takes them out to play with, or sometimes so she can reach her food, but they always show up right back in the dish. These, apparently, are the ones she really loves the most. Kind of fascinating, really. Especially since she has 10-15 of those milk jug rings in different colors, but keeps this one in the dish.

That indestinguishable white blob used to be a mouse, tail and all. Awhile back the seam came apart, baring the box inside that makes it rattle. But, the box wasn't coming out, so I ignored it for awhile until it became so apparent how much she really loves this little blob.  So I sewed the seam up again so it lives awhile longer. She has a black one that came together with the white one, but has never played with it like she does this one.

There's a guy up on the roof blowing leaves from the gutters and the noise plus the leaves falling past the window really have her attention. She can't see the guy on the roof, but loves the movement.

Cold, wet day here. Winter's coming.

Skillet roasted lemon chicken

So, this is how it is, peeps. You don't hear from me for weeks, and now twice in one day. What can I say.

I've been itching to try a new recipe from one of my favorite TV chefs, Ina Garten and I decided today was the day to do it.

Ina would never steer me wrong, and this was another winner.

She, of course, touts that it's 'so easy'. And in a sense, it is. Ina, of course, has the money and connections and assistant chefs and whatever else it takes to make it look easy on TV. Unlike me.

Hers was already spatchcocked, butterflied, whatever you want to call it. Mine was not. This was my second ever attempt at doing this myself, and it was certainly a lot more successful than the first. I recently scored some cheap kitchen shears at Goodwill, and that helped.

This is what the bird looked like, backbone and ribs removed along with wingtips. Naked and ready for Ina's magic.





First, some fresh thyme from my garden, some fennel seed, salt and pepper hit the grinder and then some olive oil to soak and let those flavors meld together.


Slathered that bird on both sides and under the skin here and there with the oil mixture, then laid it atop some sliced lemons, onions and garlic in the pan.

Into a 450 oven, added white wine at 30 minutes, out at 45 minutes, let it sit another 15 minutes covered in foil.

I thought the onions and lemons could have used a little more cooking, and the sauce was a little thin, so after I ate I reduced it all over high heat and now it's lovely and thick, for future use.

But all in all I have to say, once again, Ina did not steer me wrong.

She never does.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I've been MIA -- all is well, just not feeling to much into writing lately, and not much to write about. I mean really, do you want to hear the details of my cat's trip to the vet to get rid of tapeworms? I didn't think so.

Thus -- thought I'd take a moment to wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving.  And reduce that wine in any way you choose!

Small steps

Surprise! I'm still here. Just been a busy time.

For anyone on any spiritual path, doubting whether small steps can make a difference, I post this. There's a saying in Buddhism about 'drop by drop the bucket (of wisdom) is filled'. Look at what was accomplished below in 5 months of steady effort, and realize that your own steady effort to fill the bucket of wisdom can be just as effective. We just don't have photos to show our inner progress.

I've been watching the reconstruction of this spillway on the live cam pretty much daily, from the beginning. The progress has been astonishing. Today is their deadline to be finished with phase 1, and as of this morning, they are finishing the last bits and pieces. Next year, they'll replace some of the upper spillway and probably those barriers at the bottom, which they judged to be in good enough condition to wait. And also finish the entire spillway with more layers of enriched concrete, as I understand it. That entire middle section is lower than the upper section, for example, and I believe it's a different level from the bottom section as well. But it's deemed strong enough to take large amounts of overflow for the upcoming rainy season.

Another fun graphic from yesterday.

This roller-compacted concrete was only used in the middle section, where the deep washout is shown above. The upper and lower sections used poured concrete with huge rebar grids. I've really learned a lot watching this, and the drone flyover videos they post on twitter once or twice a week.

What's hard to grasp in the photo of the entire spillway is the sheer size of this job. The drone flyovers get down close and show just how wide, how deep, and how big a job it really was.

So that's most of what's on my mind today. What's on your mind?