Good coffee is a thing of beauty

There's nothing like a good cup of coffee to start the day off and make me feel about as joyful as these kids.

My old coffeemaker died a couple of months ago and since I was still anticipating a possible major life change where I wouldn't need such a thing, I put off buying a new one and have used a single-cup cone filter. OK coffee, but variable from day to day.

I spent last week in California considering this major life change and, in the end, decided I was better off staying where I am. I had rather a whirlwind of a trip -- total of 6 days, including two days of driving -- but it was enough and while I could have stayed an extra day, I opted to drive on  home. I was ready. Pretty tiring trip for an old broad like me, though the body and mind handled it better than I expected. It's been almost two years since I'd made this trip, so I wasn't sure what to expect with all the fatigue and lack of energy I've had in recent months.

I vegetated for a few days afterwards -- recouping from the entire 6 days -- but since I had to do a bit of grocery shopping in order to eat, I also researched coffee makers and found one I wanted available at the local WalMart. Small drip coffeemaker. Nothing special, just small. After a few days of trial and error, how much coffee for my large mug, one or two filters, today I think I have found the perfect recipe.

Two filters, definitely. I learned this trick back in 2000 when I worked for the president and winemaker of a good Napa Valley winery. One morning I was making coffee and he came in and suggested I use two filters. In his lovely French accent and winemaker terminology, he explained that two filters gives the coffee more time to 'macerate'. This was a new concept to me, but he was right. The coffee and the water stay in contact longer, plus the two filters seem to create an end result that has less residue even though the coffee is strong. Perfect!

So, now that I'm apparently here to stay (and not at all sorry about that), I need to turn my attention to many other things that have been on hold for these months as the decision hovered over my life. It feels good.

Time out

She doesn't know it, but she's been given a reprieve from wearing the dreaded halter and traveling many hours in the car.

I decided to leave her here, with the neighbor across the hall (a cat lover) coming in to feed and play with her. I doubt she'll even miss me.

She was sick for a month or so and during that time came to refuse food she'd been happily eating for a long time. I think she somehow associated the smell of that food with illness. She often tossed it up after eating, though the problem wasn't with the food. But, she didn't know that and instinct probably took over. Now, she's gotten really fussy. I bought new brands and flavors of canned food. Open them up, she loves them for a day or so, then acts like it's poison. This is pricey cat food, and I'm about to just let her have a diet of all dry food. Tired of wasting money and effort.

She also just had her first 'time out' this morning, and it seems to have worked. She was having a hissy-fit for an hour or so after I gave her food she sniffed and didn't want. Doing things she knows are off-limits. Showing me who's boss. So I put her into her carrier for 5 minutes or so. First she was quiet, then she rattled the door trying to make it open. When she got quiet again, I let her out and she immediately followed me, seemed contrite, then hopped up on the bed for her usual morning nap.

Since today is Easter Sunday, and I'm a Buddhist, it seems appropriate to post a link to a BBC documentary entitled Jesus was a Buddhist. The evidence seems pretty convincing, really. But if it's not your thing, that's OK too. We each have to follow our own truth and conscience and I make no judgment about paths others walk.

Quiet morning at the ponds

The ponds can be especially beautiful in early mornings, any season. This is a photo from fall -- last year? Year before? Doesn't matter. It's timeless.

I didn't make it out quite this early today, but early enough that it was quiet, other than the geese flying around and honking. Many signs of spring out there. I hadn't planned a walk today -- the body is whining a bit because I've really pushed the yoga and stretches for a couple of weeks -- but a gentle stroll in nature is always a good thing. Plus, the day dawned without rain and the cold sunshine beckoned. There will be rain later, no doubt. It's that time of year.

Life goes well here. I still have some asthma brought on by exercise, after the bout of bronchitis, or whatever it was. It's getting better, though, and doesn't stop me from walking. Merely slows me down. I go years, decades without this making its presence known in my life, but it's always there, lurking, waiting for something to trigger it. But it also always goes away and I expect it'll do that this time as well. Just a matter of when.

Our crazy minds

So. I'm on the cusp of making a really big life decision. It's a decision that will bring major changes, including giving up most material possessions and foregoing entertainment. I can still keep my car, personal necessities, income, can use some kitchen stuff but not others.

I bring this up without further information because it's been really fascinating to watch my mind as I've been mulling this over, watching where resistances come in. Resistance to giving things up. I already knew I could deal with the big stuff, or I wouldn't even be contemplating the change. But I've had a giggle or two about some of the small stuff.

Like, my really nice burr coffee grinder. Probably too noisy to take with me. And my beloved heavy-duty KitchenAid mixer. Could take it, but not sure if it would be at all useful. That's actually where the resistance comes up the worst. That mixer. What do I do, give it to Goodwill? Doing that would certainly be good for me, in terms of learning to let go of material things that aren't useful. But I'd hate it. Fight it.

Giving up watching college football is also something I'm struggling with. I can/will do it, of course, but I haven't missed an Oregon game in years, and don't look forward to starting this year. I can always follow the news and know how they're doing, of course, but not the same as watching. I especially get a giggle over this resistance. The strength of it.

Everything else is just stuff. Most of it came from Goodwill anyway.

No real decision will be made for a couple of months, or maybe more, as I sit with this and mull it over every possible way. Sorry to leave you in limbo until then. 😼

Merry Christmas or..... whatever

The view from my desk chair this morning. Sun just beginning to break through the fog. Damp outside, but above freezing, which is good. Had a little freezing rain yesterday morning, which I had to scrape from my windshields in order to visit the grocery for a little comfort food. Did not want to see it continue and have another big ice storm like last winter!

Whatever you celebrate today, or if you are in the Bah Humbug! category (like me), have a wonderful day, filled with kindness and love and peace.

Progress!

Hallelujah! Tonight the new white mouse made it to favored status in the food dish, along with a couple of plastic milk jug rings and the beloved blankie.

This is real progress. Prior to now, she's been fairly indifferent to this mouse. But tonight after a friend left I dug it out of the pile and tossed it for her. She immediately acted as if she loved it.

Didn't  play with it, just mouthed a couple of times, picked it up in her mouth and headed for the kitchen (where I found it shortly thereafter) then came back and settled into her chair for a nap.

This is a big deal in her world, and consequently in mine. Perhaps there will be peace now.

The blankie, incidentally, made it to the dish before my friend left and we laughed watching her drag this blanket by a very strange gait, keeping her feet from stepping on it as she dragged it behind her. I've seen this before, but the first time for my buddy.

Maybe she'll stop staring at me now.

Dead mousie

Remember this bedraggled little white mouse toy? Well, it's been the source of a lot of frustration, begging and general trauma for Kat over the last two days.

And for me as a side effect.

It all started yesterday morning. I was meditating, heard Kat and the rattle of this toy as she batted it into the room and near where I was seated. Once my time was up, I noticed an unfamiliar dark object nearby, where Kat had been playing with the mouse. Picked it up and it was the 'innards' of the toy. A vaguely mouse-shaped plastic shape with a rattle inside it.

So I thought, OK, maybe now she'll use the identical replacement I bought for her last week, that's mostly been ignored.

Not a chance.

As the day went on yesterday the begging and pleading got worse and worse. I looked everywhere for the fuzzy remnants of the mouse, thinking I'd sew it back together. But I still haven't found it. And she's still been  begging and pleading and crying pitifully all day again today. She's clearly begging me to do something, also keeps pawing at the space under the fridge where I often have to dig toys out for her. But I keep looking, and there's nothing there. I can't imagine anything else that she'd be wanting me to fix.

I've tried to offer the new one, but she sniffs and walks away. Tonight, I tried her tactics. Dipped it in her water dish and blotted it mostly dry. She sniffed with some interest, but eventually walked away. I rubbed it on the carpet inside her carrier, where she sleeps a lot, rubbed it in her food dish and left it there. Trying to make it smell familiar, like her instead of whatever it smells like when new. Have I succeeded? Only time will tell. She gave up and took a nap.

Life in the middle of the night

1:30am. Tired of not sleeping, staying in bed because 'it's night and time to sleep so I need to stay here even if I'm not sleeping'. Screw that!

So -- got up, closed the windows that are open a crack to keep the place cool enough to sleep (it's 25F outside). Turned on the heat and, finally, the light. Kat comes into bedroom stretching and murmuring sounds that can only mean 'what's going on?' in a sleepy way only a cat can manage quite so well.

She's confused as hell, and giving me a good laugh in the process. What else is there to do in the middle of the night? Coffee is brewing. The computer is on and bringing news (nothing good, but news anyway).

I could go and binge-watch the new season of The Crown on Netflix that was released yesterday, but that would require getting out my 'old' bluetooth headphones and re-synching them with the TV, so I don't disturb neighbors, and I'm just not into that at the moment. The 'new' ones I bought a couple of months ago, that are so much more comfortable to wear, never worked properly, but to their credit Woot! refunded my $$ with no quarrels and told me to not bother returning them.

I could read, and probably will. I have a book on my Kindle that is going to disappear tomorrow, I think it is, and I'm only barely halfway through  it.

I can watch the cat pondering the issue of whether or not it's time for her breakfast, regardless of what time it is, since I'm up. The little sounds are increasing in volume and frequency, so I think she's decided that breakfast needs to be in the offing. Such a spoiled little brat, but a sweet one.

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.