A Fun Day Not Blogging

I am pleased to report that either Durwood and I are less messy than in times past or we have severely lowered our standards because it only took a couple hours to tidy the living room, swish out the bathroom, and decrappify the kitchen table area.  That last part takes the longest because as it gets harder and harder for Durwood to get around to retrieve things, he's made a sort of easy-reach nest there.  It's not my favorite use of the space but I will confess that I am guilty of piling magazines, etc. on my end of the table and the chair seat beside me so I have very little room to criticize.

Our friends arrived in the early afternoon so we had lots of visiting time.  The ribs in the crockpot made the house smell great and that was enhanced by the slightest whiff of the cherry crisp I made in the morning.  I used an oldie but a goodie recipe that is so simple a child could make it.  

Preheat oven to 325.  Take a can of your favorite pie filling (I used Festival's store brand cherry because it was $1 cheaper than the Comstock name brand stuff) and spread it into a 9 x 9 baking pan.  Sprinkle a package of Jiffy White or Yellow DRY cake mix over the filling, using a fork or spatula to even it out. (I've always used Yellow, don't know why)  Melt 1 stick of butter or margarine and drizzle it over the dry cake mix.  Sprinkle on chopped walnuts or pecans if desired.  Bake for 1 - 1 1/4 hrs.  Serve warm or cold with ice cream, whipped cream, or untopped.  (pro tip:  try not to eat the whole pan before the guests arrive)

This morning I decided that the time was right to fill in the hole in the garage floor and the cracks in the porch.  I'm sad to say that the 2-part stuff I bought didn't get "pourable" as shown on the package nor was it self-leveling.  I thought maybe I wasn't mixing it correctly so I took the second package back to Home Depot to see if a stronger hand would have better luck mixing it.  It didn't, in fact I think that I got it mixed more thoroughly than the guy did.  Anyway, I hurried home (so it didn't set before it came out of the package) and got it heaped and smooshed in the hole.  I ended up adding a little water to it to see if that didn't help and it did but I suspect it won't be very durable on the porch.  I have visions of snow shoveling it up the first time winter comes in precipitation form.  But the garage floor hole is filled in so that tripping hazard is removed, even if only temporarily. 


 
Speaking of shoveling snow, I caught sight of a harbinger of winter this morning.  Looking toward the garden I saw a few juncos hopping and pecking around over there.  *sigh*  Juncos spend their summers in the Arctic and their winters in Wisconsin where it's warm.  Ha.  Not.  What do birds know?  At least they're cute birds and hawks like them so I don't mind seeing them.  I guess. 

 
The mums I planted a couple weeks ago have settled in nicely.  My assistant and I will continue to give them weekly drinks to keep them happy and to, hopefully, help them survive the winter.







October 18--Odoardo Borani, The Seamstresses of the Red Shirts.  "Do they all have to be the same?" Louise asked.  "Yes," said Claire, "they're uniforms.  They have to be uniform."  Louisa sighed and tucked the yellow embroidery floss back into her sewing basket.  Her fingers itched to put a curlicue on a cuff or a rising sun's rays on a pocket flap, just something to relieve the monotony of making endless red shirts all the same.  Esther crumpled up the fabric she held on her lap.  She disliked sitting indoors on such a fine day.  She tried to convince the others to at least sit outside on the porch or in the garden if they had to sew.  "Oh, no," Louisa said, "think of the sun, how it will ruin our skin."  She sniffed.  "We would look... common, and the season is coming up."

We're meeting some of our diving friends for burgers tonight--in a gas station.  I can't get over the fact that we can get really decent hamburgers and Tater Tots (if I can convince Durwood we need Tots instead of fries--fingers crossed) for not too much money in a sit-down cafe in a gas station.  But we can and have.  I've even turned some of my Clearing writing pals onto the joys of lunch at the Hilltop Cafe in the BP station on Bay Settlement Road.  They used to have "buck burger" night but I suspect their proximity to UWGB made it a money losing proposition.  Now we have to pay full price for a burger--less than $3.  A bargain.  Time to go pick up the dry cleaning.  (winter coats *sigh*--there was a coupon)
--Barbara