Poor Mason had a very down-played Birthday party here last night. Instead of cooking dinner, we voted on Door Dash. No cake, no problem, we stuck a candle in a brownie square and sang as loud and proud as we could. We gave her presents, some wrapped, some not. And then to be the cherry on top of the already crappy birthday, my big present did not work. We immediately ordered another from Amazon but I was less than happy as was Mason.
She didn't seem to take offense. She had had a big birthday sleep-over the night before where they had a lot of fun.
But that does not make me feel any better about my lack of effort. I can't muster the energy right now.
Mason understands. Everyone gets it. But it does not take the "shame" away.
Today we are to carve pumpkins. Usually we would have had 10 pumpkins carved and lit on the front steps every night. But not this year. Considering it all, it will be okay.
I slept really deeply last night. Woke up dazed and confused about what day, month, year it was. I tried my Emergen-ZZZZZZ. I think it worked.
Who knew how amazing this little bundle of joy would be! It is such a privilege to be Mason's grandmother.
Murphy did not settle down until around 2:30 am! He slept on top of me for
about an hour, then finally moved to the sofa that I put many blankets on. I
forgot how much he sheds!
I also forgot what a mess he makes when he drinks water. I give him a huge
bowl for his water and put a tray underneath to save my wooden floors in the
kitchen (good luck with that). This morning I fed him soft food mixed with
kibble. He eats so quickly it scares me so I end up feeding him by hand
every time! Then when he drinks he water, he leaves a pool of water and
drool all around the tray, plus he splashes the water all of the furniture
and walls, no matter how far away the bowl is from the walls. It is
incredible. But he is such an innocent sweetheart.
I set myself up to get attack by the right-wing nutters last night on
Facebook. Why do I do it? I don't know. I get so upset, I simply can't help
myself. Many of them attacked my age, which I thinks just makes me look smarter LOL
One of my attackers was even a priest. LOL I posted this on FB last
night in my hour of tears. But this morning I listen to Obama this morning in Michigan and felt a
little better. There is no hate more vile than Christian hate!
When I was trying to find the screenshot I has taken, all of his Facebook info had disappeared! He either closed his FB or blocked me. He wasn't very proud of what he has said to me or he had a change of politics in an hour. If you can't stand by the hate you spew ... then think twice before you start typing it!
"Fr. Jerry Thompson is a retired Roman Catholic Priest from the Archdiocese of Los Angeles."
I have been so depressed today, crying, reflecting on the last disturbing
6 years. Now pelosi’s attack and the right’s reaction, everything from
saying it was staged to accusing him of getting caught doing something
sexual because he was in his underwear during the attack. Not one
republican has spoken up against the attack. Then musk and Twitter. I just
want to leave Twitter and Facebook. Me getting verbally attacked by a
right wing priest of all things! No hate like Christian hate. When I was
like this and wanted to stand down and ignore the craziness going on,
David would encourage me to keep fighting the propaganda, the hate, the
craziness. I am really missing him being my cheerleader. I just don’t
think I stay on Twitter. But then I just saw on Twitter that many are
feeling as hopeless as I am feeling today. I guess that makes me feel less
insane for having cried all day. I think our country is forever broken.
Historian, Jon Meacham said today. “One of the marks of the end of a
republic is the normalization of political violence.’
I cooked an artichoke last night and ate it this morning for brunch.
Who do you think was the first person that decided an artichoke could be eaten? And how would they go about it? Who sucked the meat off the end of the leaves, then cut all of those hairs away and thought, the bottom part should taste good? I think about that every time I eat one.
I always put a bay leaf and lots of peppercorns only because that is how my mom always did it.
Artichoke origins dates back to the time of the Greek philosopher and naturalist, Theophrastus (371-287 B.C.), who wrote of them being grown in Italy and Sicily.
Pedanius Dioscorides (40-90 A.D.), a 1st century A.D. Greek physician of Anazarbus, Cilicia, wrote about artichokes at the time of Christ. While traveling as a surgeon with the Roman army of Emperor Nero, he collected information on the remedies of the period and wrote a work on The Greek Herbal of Dioscorides. Originally written in Greek, Dioscorides’ herbal was later translated into Latin as De Materia Medica. It remained the authority in medicinal plants for over 1500 years.
Ancient Greeks and Romans considered artichokes a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. In Ancient Greece, the artichoke was attributed to being effective in securing the birth of boys.
In 77 A.D., the Roman naturalist Caius Plinius Secundus, called Pliny the Elder (23–79 A.D.), called the choke “one of the earth’s monstrosities.” Evidently he and his colleagues continued to enjoy eating them. Wealthy Romans enjoyed artichokes prepared in honey and vinegar, seasoned with cumin, so that the treat would be available year round.
Beginning about 800 A.D., North African Moors begin cultivating artichokes in the area of Granada, Spain, and another Arab group, the Saracens, became identified with chokes in Sicily. This may explain why the English word artichoke is derived from the Arab, “al’qarshuf” rather than from the Latin, “cynara.” Between 800 and 1500, it’s probable that the artichoke was improved and transformed, perhaps in monastery gardens, into the plant we would recognize today.
Artichokes were first cultivated at Naples around the middle of the 15th century and gradually spread to other sections of Europe. After Rome fell, artichokes became scarce but re-emerged during the Renaissance in 1466 when the Strozzi family brought them from Florence to Naples.
The artichoke is a domesticated variety of the wild cardoon (Cynara cardunculus),[ which is native to the Mediterranean area. There was debate over whether the artichoke was a food among the ancient Greeks and Romans, or whether that cultivar was developed later, with Classical sources referring instead to the wild cardoon.The cardoon is mentioned as a garden plant in the eighth century BCE by Homer and Hesiod. Pliny the Elder mentioned growing of 'carduus' in Carthage and Cordoba. In North Africa, where it is still found in the wild state, the seeds of artichokes, probably cultivated, were found during the excavation of Roman-period Mons Claudianus in Egypt. Varieties of artichokes were cultivated in Sicily beginning in the classical period of the ancient Greeks; the Greeks calling them kaktos. In that period, the Greeks ate the leaves and flower heads, which cultivation had already improved from the wild form. The Romans called the vegetable carduus (hence the name cardoon). Further improvement in the cultivated form appears to have taken place in the medieval period in Muslim Spain and the Maghreb, although the evidence is inferential only. By the twelfth century, it was being mentioned in the compendious guide to farming composed by Ibn al-'Awwam in Seville (though it does not appear in earlier major Andalusian Arabic works on agriculture), and in Germany by Hildegard von Bingen.
Le Roy Ladurie, in his book Les Paysans de Languedoc, has documented the spread of artichoke cultivation in Italy and southern France in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, when the artichoke appeared as a new arrival with a new name, which may be taken to indicate an arrival of an improved cultivated variety:
The blossom of the thistle, improved by the Arabs, passed from Naples to Florence in 1466, carried by Philippo Strozzi. Towards 1480 it is noticed in Venice, as a curiosity. But very soon veers towards the northwest ... Artichoke beds are mentioned in Avignon by the notaries from 1532 onward; from the principal towns they spread into the hinterlands ... appearing as carchofas at Cavaillon in 1541, at Chateauneuf du Pape in 1553, at Orange in 1554. The local name remains carchofas, from the Italian carciofo ... They are very small, the size of a hen's egg ... and are still considered a luxury, a vaguely aphrodisiac tidbit that one preserved in sugar syrup.
The Dutch introduced artichokes to England, where they grew in Henry VIII's garden at Newhall in 1530. From the mid-17th century artichokes 'enjoyed a vogue' in European courts. The hearts were considered luxury ingredients in the new court cookery as recorded by writers such as François Pierre La Varenne, the author of Le Cuisinier François (1651). It was also claimed, in this period, that artichokes had aphrodisiac properties. They were taken to the United States in the nineteenth century—to Louisiana by French immigrants and to California by Spanish immigrants.
Two days ago David's cell phone rang. I try to keep up with who is calling, Dr. appts, work-related, I ignore scam ... but yesterday I just happened to answer a number I was not familiar with.
"May I speak to David"
"He isn't available right now, can you leave with me a message, this is his wife"
"I have three ducks ready for him but his email keeps popping back to me"
I explained his untimely death and we have a brief chat about that.
I gave him my email and said send me the amount owed here.
He said "David always sent certified checks but I keep telling him he can pay me though the Bank"
"Can you also send me your address, I only have his work address. That is where I have been sending the ducks"
At this point, I started laughing. I told him that David would send those to his work, sneak those in the house. When I said, is that a new duck, he would say it had been here forever. I found ducks hidden in the most ridiculous hiding places.
I also told him I threatened to divorce him if he didn't quit buying ducks. Not that I did not love them, I often picked out my favorite ducks for him to purchase. But because we did not have ONE MORE inch of space for them.
We laughed. And I sent him his payment.
I will wrap them from David to Kim, as a Santa present to me ;)
He said he has been selling David ducks for 20 years.
Just a few of our ducks.
I am starting small in cleaning department. Doing dishes, wiping down vent, washing off counter, throwing away fruit that the fruit flies have taken up residency in.
I am working my way up to the toilet and cleaning the bathroom.
I am babysitting Murphy tonight while Mason has a house full of friends for a birthday party. "Baby" is the word. He is miserable without his "people" but I have been feeding him treats to keep him happy.
I am really trying NOT to cry right now. But I feel like I am about the drown in a pool of depression.
David always propped me up with I felt down like this. He would tell me, you have to stay on Twitter and Facebook to fight back against the hate and propaganda. So I wouldn't log off to those platforms permanently and soldier on, believing I was serving a purpose.
But now with musk confirmed purchase of Twitter. I see the writing on the wall. It feels like the bad guys are winning. Well, it has felt like that for awhile ... I see the most vile comments on Facebook as well.
The sane people are losing the battle. This is twitter just today ... musk JUST moved into CEO office. :(
I am so afraid about the upcoming elections. If we lose, it is going to be a big, mad circus of impeaching Biden and Kamala, they will start up "Jan 6th didn't happen" investigating committee. God knows, what else. Marge will be given more power and her craziness will be more amplified.
Trying to figure out just what path to take right now.
But in the meantime, I have a memorial to plan, catering to figure out, papers to sign, a house to get ready for quest, hard to figure out what to do with.
More immediate, I am babysitting Murphy today while Mason has a big birthday night with lots of friends spending the night.
I let two Daikon radishes and a jalapeno die in the vegetable drawer ... BUT I had one more and some carrots and make Pickled Carrots and Daikon Radish. I cut my in larger sticks. I had so much I had to double the recipe.
Trying to clean out vegetable drawer. I think something with olive oil leak and made a big mess in there.
While I was cooking I listen to Kayne West on this interview. He is crazy. Period. He thinkd he is GOD, he had made that statement. He talk mumbo-jumbo and his followers call him a genius. He talks like a bi-polar person off his meds, which is exactly what he is. He is a dangerous idiot put on a pedastal because of his wealth, his connection with that other disgusting family.
So, if what he is saying about his relationships with Balenciaga, then he is NOT a very good business man.
It all makes me sick that this is what is the topic of our country, what kids are looking up to.
And I feel like they are bringing the entire country right into Dante's Hell! I can't help but to watch this insanity, it we don't watch it, we don't really know what they are thinking over in MAGA world.
I remember when I was a kid sitting in front of the TV listening to the National Anthem, watching a waving flag, knowing entertainment was over for the night. I hated that moment. It felt so empty.
I watched Bewitched and Andy Griffin every afternoon while I was cleaning our apartment and folding clothes. I use to tell Matt - Do you know how much work you can get done during the commercials? I did it everyday, cleaned and watched all of my shows.
I watched black and white Dracula movies in my mom's bed on rainy weekends. That was so delicious. The TV was probably black and white. But I felt like the queen of the world with mystery movies, in bed with blankets.
In Scotland, they also had a mid-nightish sign off in the late 70's. It is such a lonely feeling to have the TV go off.
I had lunch with an old work mate the other day and we were talking about all the great stuff on TV these days. And they we can watch it literally anytime, any day we want. I mean, we are just spoiled! I even hate to watch any series weekly because I lose the plot. So I will wait until it has all aired then watch it.
Tonight I finally started The Lord of The Rings, The Rings of Power.
I am just thankful that when I wake up at all hours of the night, I have something to turn on and watch.
I bought an artichoke the other day and was so excited to eat it. I boiled it and boiled it and it just didn't seem to soften up. I always do the same thing because I saw my mom do it, put a bay leaf and lots of pepper corns in the water. There was no meat on the leaves. I did get a little of the heart but I was so disappointed. I went to the store tonight for another but there were none.
The cheapest butter at QFC was almost $5.00. I am going to have to stop shopping there and go WinCo or Fred Meyer instead. I honestly don't know how a big family is surviving right now. I love the Republicans blame Biden but never mention how corporate profits are at an all time high.
If I hear the right-wing say Fauci deserves to go to jail one more time, I might lose it.
So it feels like we had two days of fall and went straight to a rainy, cold winter.
I spent all afternoon on our bank site trying to cancel David's subscription to different websites for work. You know, $20 here, $17.00 there, $8.00 there ... it all adds up. Then discovered that he was hacked, so spent many more hours trying to figure that out. It is funny how many sites we subscribed to without thinking about the total expense. Dropbox, Hightail, Dreamstime, New York Times, WP, not to mention all the magazines we subscribed to. I am going to check my subscription next. Eventually, I will get through it all.
I found a quilting blogger who lives in this state on Wednesday's Child this morning. I love to find new bloggers. You know when you think you have seen every blog, every website, nothing new then you find one. It is exciting. I mean, I know I have seen "every website" but it just feels like it sometimes. Anyway, from there, I found a bunch of other quilting sites that got me all excited. Recalculating is a quilting, artist, blogger,.
I sure wish my M-I-L, Peggy, was still around so I could buy her some of these quilting patterns from Whole Circle Studio for Christmas. She was such a great quilter! Technical, organized, a mathematician. I am just a hack when I tried to quilt. I mean that didn't mean I loved it any less but my quilts are more rough folk art than technical works of art. When she would visit we could go to all the local quilting stores. She made us some beautiful quilted pieces and I treasure them.
When she moved out of her home into assisted living. David, his sister and brother went to Kansas to help her pack up and clear out. It literally broke my heart to think of her having to get rid of all of her fabrics and quilting supplies. I put myself in her shoes and just cried.
But guess what? David brought boxes and boxes and boxes of treasures home. Once when she moved and the second time when she passed away. Most of those boxes are unopened in the basement. We never got around to opening them with the kids here and all the stuff going one. I saw those boxes the other day.
It might be time to get Mason involved in some sewing and quilting fabric hoarding ... you know, pass it on to the younger generation. When I get the table cleaned off, I am going to set up two sewing machines, dig through all of those boxes and Mason and I are going to get busy making our own Gee's Bend type of quilts!
I look for the beauty in nature, patterns, the ordinary. This is my place where I save wonderful discoveries since 2004. Please contact me at kimberlycarney AT hotmail DOTCOM.
