Small Talk

My husband loves this song. It always makes me feel sad.

 

Pupper, thanks for posting those lyrics. It brought back wonderful memories of my grandma, who was a big Andy Williams fan. As I read the words, I sure did long to live those days with her again.

Marta, you're right. It does no harm to have the Christmas decorations in the stores in August. In fact, I may go to Hobby Lobby and buy something. I'll feel like I got a jump start on the holidays. I'm always rushing around at the last minute to get everything done. People like me should take advantage of the opportunity to plan and buy early.

Melc, you should have a wonderful supply of tomatoes to last you through the long winter. It's a lot of work, but with a big reward. There's a tomato soup recipe in the kitchen section here that is delicious. I had never used marjoram before and it makes the house smell awesome as the soup simmers. Sometimes I add small pieces of chicken breast just before the rice is done. I've also made it with tiny meatballs and sometimes add a pint of half and half or heavy cream at the end. That soup has become a favorite around here.

School started here one day last week and we've already had our first Friday night football game. That's a sure sign of fall.

Have fun in the Rockies. Sounds so peaceful.

 

I'm a grinch!

I had a delightful surprise yesterday. While I was just cleaning up the kitchen and getting ready to have a cuppa out on the deck the doorbell rang. When I opened the door there stood one of the elderly ladies who is a member of my friend's quilt guild. She must have gotten my address from my friend.

She's must be 85 if she's a day. She was aware that I had been doing some work on the guild's donation quilts for awhile before I decided to do my own donation effort.

This wonderful lady had two huge bags of batting scraps. The quilts I make are small for preemies so with a little effort I can zig zag the pieces together to make a batting just the right size! She asked if I wanted fabric scraps, too. I said sure as it can get pricey buying it.

I asked her why she wasn't giving this stuff to her guild. She gave me a wicked grin and a wink and said she had purloined it from the guild's bigger project with me in mind.

She made my day!

I have more tomatoes to deal with today, Chery. I'm going to try the soup recipe, but I need to go find some marjoram.

Have a great day, everyone.

 

come on gimmie small talk
uh-huh
gimmie gimmie gimmie
small talk
uh-huh

I just wrote that song in everyone's honor.

 

What is the tune?

 

Melc,

How nice of the lady to think of you and bring you the batting. It should be fun to see the fabric scraps she shows up with.

Are you still dealing with tomatoes? I think we are close to picking the last of ours. We usually are still picking at the end of September and beyond, but due to the drought, the plants started turning yellow awhile ago. Now they're pretty much brown and look like they've been through a hard frost.

I was thinking about you and your upcoming trip to Banff, so I looked at some pictures on the internet. Absolutely gorgeous. Breathtaking. Almost no words to describe it. You will surely feel renewed and refreshed when you return from being in the midst of all that beauty.

Pupper,

Thanks for the song. Short and sweet. Quite a talent you have.

Marta,

Hope you are continuing to be well. Are your clothes still fitting after your long holiday and all that ice cream? Are you back to work after this weekend? I'm thinking your heart is still back home with your family, as it's always sad to leave them. Thinking of you.

 

This is a conversation I've never, and will never, have with anyone.

 

What, Pupper? You don't sew?

 

Pupper there are lots of men who enjoy needle work.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/other-hobbies-rosey-grier-loves-his-needlepoint/


http://mansewing.com

There's also Ricky Tims and Patrick Lose.

Pupper do you have a hobby?

 

To answer that I'll just pretend I never got MM. I like to play tennis, golf, and hiking. Collecting pretty fishing lures for my fishing hats. Going to the roller rink. Watching the San Francisco Giants baseball team. Grilling. Taking trips to new "artisan" burger joints to see if they have a clue about burgers. Taking trips up & down the California coast to visit old used bookstores, but they're almost all gone. Organizing the crap out of things. When I was a kid my favorite pastime was organizing my mom's jumbled up jewelry drawers. Only to have her re-jumble them a week later. Tossing football and baseball with someone and just BS'ing. Badminton. I love going to bars. Collecting old wind-up watches. And big modern flashy ones too. The one below is what I wear most every day (he's not me).

But lately, your question puts me in mind of the Thin Lizzy song, "Whisky in the Jar".

Now some men like the fishin', and some men like the fowlin'
And some men like ta hear a cannon ball a roarin'
Me I like sleepin', specially in my Molly's chamber
But here I am in prison, here I am with a ball and chain yeah


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izGg1Va5inE

 

Pupper ,

You have a ferric cross section of interests and hobbies. Here's hoping that your upcoming VNS is going to make all those activities and interest possible again soon. That's a very interesting watch. It looks heavy.

Cheryl,

The tomato soup recipe from here was a hit. I made mini meatballs to go with it. For sure that will become a regular.

I was going to pass on doing tomatoes today, but somebody picked a whole pail full. I wanted to make something different. I was googling for recipes when I came upon one that made me think of our trip to Italy a while back.

When we were in Rome some of the people in our group had a pasta dish that they raved about. It look like pasta with canned tomato soup on it. I wasn't convinced it was anything great just from looking at. Near the end of our tour we were in Ravenna to see the mosaics. Part of the tour that day was lunch in a quaint little restaurant. We had no choice of meal. They served fresh pasta with the same Campbell's soup looking sauce. No herbs, just that sauce and a bit of freshly grated Parmesan. It was delicious. It did not taste one bit like Campbells soup, thankfully but it sure looked like it. The ladies who made it would not give us their secret.

Lo and behold today, I found the recipe totally by accident

28 ounces chopped tomatoes canned ( I'm using blanched and skinned fresh)
5 tablespoons butter
1/2 raw onion
Salt to taste I used 1/2 teaspoon.

Simmer all ingredients for an hour. Stir once in awhile, smash the tomatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon. Take out the stewed onion. Serve with pasta and grated Parmesan. It's really good without the cheese, too.

It's sooo good. I have three batches in a giant po simmering away.

 

Melc It sound delicious. And the fact that you are going to make it out of fresh tomatoes ,home grown ones!, sounds even more exciting. What is important for me is the fact that the recepie seems to be simple and the dish is easy to make. I might try making it one day.

 

We're back from our trip to the Rockies. It was eerie to not be able to see the usually spectacular mountains due to the smoke from the wildfires in BC. The mountains look ghostly instead of majestic.

Now the fires in Montana are raging. I feel so sorry for those people who are being affected . Our national park on the border of Montana has been evacuated and fire departments from all over are on duty in an attempt to save the historic Prince of Wales Hotel.

Our youngest son's wedding was in Watertown and the reception was held in that hotel. I sure hope they can save it.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/calgary-firefighters-guard-landmark-hotel-in-waterton

 

I am so sorry to hear that. Poor people who are suffering because of the fire.
The North America is experiacing devastating weather. What is going on?
I am glad you are safe Melc.

 

Mountains have many moods. Particularly peaks above 8000m, or 26,247 ft.

Experiencing the Rocky Mountains in this eerie & ghostly state as it lies blanketed in smoke, only increases your intimate knowledge & deepens any relationship you may have with said mountain range.

I've been bewitched by mountains for decades. From all perspectives: geographically, emotionally, climatically, all the way to methodologically from a mountaineering point of view.

Recently I finished reading Maurice Herzog's wonderful 1951 book Annapurna, for instance. If interested in mountains & the effect their majesty have on many people, I highly recommend it. It's a superb, timeless book.

 

Nathan, thanks for the book recommend . I'll be checking for it at the library.

 

You'll have to spice it up, Cheryl. Apparently mine is riviting. It's being studied for more than 20 minutes right now.

 

You'd think you have naughty pictures there or something.

Sarah, would you be so kind as to explain why the profiles of a few members are so fascinating?

 

Probably because after half an hour of viewing my profile the same member reported a topic to the moderator.

Uh oh! Now it's your turn, Cheryl. Bizarre!