super sunday

Posted on February 4, 2018 by is there any more pie?

superbowl

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone!

Now I know most of you out there are not rooting for the New England Patriots (according to an article I read yesterday only 16% of the viewing audience will be screaming, “Go Pats!” at their television sets), but here in the Northeast we’re pretty excited.

And yes, tv ratings are expected to be down 10% from last year.  So if you’re not cheering for the Patriots to win or screaming for the Patriots to lose, you are probably watching bowling.

It is going to be the coldest Super Bowl day in history up there in Minnesota.  (Is that a surprise to anyone???)

Pink has the flu, so no one knows who will be singing the National Anthem.

I know nothing about Justin Timberlake, except I think he used to be in a boy band.  And even that is a guess.  He is friends with Tom Brady?  Maybe.  Will I watch the half time show?  Yes, I think I will, if nothing else but to further my musical education.

We are staying home this year, as our Super Bowl Party friends are on vacation.  I think they deserve it, after hosting the party for the last ten or twenty or thirty years.  We are content to spend the evening on the Giant Couch, in front of Banjo Man’s Giant Television.  Daughter Nancy might drop by to join us for tequila and snacks.

Banjo Man is making chicken fingers, with bleu cheese dip.  There will be a vegetable platter and two pieces of defrosted pineapple cake.  We are taking a break from our stringent winter eating plan and eating POTATO CHIPS.   We’ve propped the Lay’s bag on the kitchen counter and have talked often about how great it’s going to be to eat POTATO CHIPS on Sunday.   We have not agreed on what time we will open the highly-anticipated bag, as the game doesn’t start until 6.

The excitement builds.

I do admit that after three weeks of the Atkins Diet (phase 1, meaning eating nothing but protein and greens) I care more about the potato chips than the Super Bowl.

I have three quilts all set for stitching (I fold the binding over the edge of the quilt and stitch it down by hand) as I watch the game.  That’s approximately 960″ of stitches, which will keep me occupied throughout a gazillion commercials and instant replays.

Banjo Man has prepared the couch with extra pillows, so he plans to be horizontal for most of the evening.

(What else is new?)

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Where are you going to watch the game?  And what are your favorite football snacks?

 

 

 

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snow day

Posted on January 30, 2018 by is there any more pie?

We’re having a little storm today.  Maybe 6″ or so.  No wind, so the power will stay on and it will be just a typical winter day.

The Big Blue Bug Solution man just called to cancel his visit this morning.  What’s the Big Blue Bug Solution, you ask?  It’s a nuclear weapon in my War Against Mice.  Since we hired professionals, the noise in the attic has stopped.

It’s a Big Blue Miracle.

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We fight mice in our attic.  We fight mice in our cars.  My  mother’s car is now a battlefield.  Yesterday I took it to the local gas station and, quarters in hand, used their vacuum cleaner to clean the mice “evidence” from the inside of the Camry.   I bought more peppermint oil and sprinkled it all over the floor mats.  Now I will see if any of the little b*****ds return.

They hate peppermint oil.  And while driving my mother’s car is like zipping down the road in the middle of a candy cane, it could be worse.

I even have a special mice-repellent spray for the engine.

Every Saturday morning I listen to the local radio station’s Big Blue Bug Solution’s program.  Tony DeJesus answers questions on mice, bugs, squirrels, etc.  Every time there’s a mouse question I hang on every word.  Sometimes I take notes.

Knowledge is power.

The New England Patriots–yes, I know everyone outside of New England hates them–have their own channel on cable tv for the week.  It’s called “Not Done Yet” and it is 9 AM to midnight coverage of the goings on in Minnesota, plus play off games from years past, all week.

Yesterday I watched the team leave the stadium, ride on six buses to our Rhode Island airport and board their brand new giant plane.

While all of this was going on, I made a Mexican chicken soup in the crock pot, which would turn out to be inedible and disgusting.  Banjo Man doctored it up with two cans of beans and pronounced it “sort of okay”.

I should come up with something to cook today, but I’d rather be sewing.

Or killing mice.

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Posted in rhode island, television | 2 Comments

the death cleaning dilemma

Posted on January 29, 2018 by is there any more pie?

There’s a new book out:  THE GENTLE ART OF SWEDISH DEATH CLEANING, by Margareta Magnusson.

Margareta sounds like a lovely lady.  Thoughtful, kind and filled with the wisdom of the elderly, she writes that we should be considerate of our children who will not have the time (too busy with jobs) or energy (too tired from grieving our deaths) to clean out our stuff after we die.

So we should do it now.  To make things easier for our children after we’re dead.

(Really?  Is that supposed to be a priority?)

While cleaning out clutter and unwanted old stuff is always a good thing, the book advocates a truly minimalist lifestyle in our later years.  Like getting rid of everything except your mattress, coffee mug and walker.

Okay, I’m exaggerating.  Just a bit.  But those Swedes can be harsh when it comes to making open spaces on the bookshelves.

I’m a bit conflicted about this.  On one hand, I am always happy to reduce clutter.  God knows I have had enough of it, but I’m pretty darn good at getting rid of stuff, too.   Banjo Man and I have made a lot of progress in the basement over the last few years.  After all, I even convinced him that we were never going to use our ice skates again (you know you are getting old when you measure activities by their hip-breaking potential).

I broached the subject with my friend Barbara last week.  She and her husband recently retired and moved back to Rhode Island, so she is still unpacking boxes.  They did a pretty massive cleaning before the move, but nothing approaching the intensity of a death-cleaning.

She has inherited lots of family things–boxes of slides, quilts, furniture, trinkets– over the years and seems to find them fascinating.  So the concept of “death cleaning” was a bit…repellent.

And as far as making things easier for the kids, Banjo Man’s reaction was to shrug and point out that the kids would be inheriting a house and shouldn’t complain about having to empty it.

I thought that was a bit harsh.  I don’t want them to hate us for having to rent a dumpster.

One of Margareta’s pieces of advice is:  Don’t hang onto things that nobody seems to want.

So you ask the kids if they want certain stuff.  Sounds reasonable.  But I have one son who doesn’t want anything–he doesn’t care for clutter–and one son who lives in fear that we are going to get rid of something important.  I’m not sure about my daughter.  Maybe it’s time to get specific.

Or not.

I really don’t want to start a cleaning project because I am going to die.

Pardon me if that doesn’t sound like a fun way to spend February.

My sister-in-law told me a story of a delicate floral-print sugar and creamer set that she had found after her mother-in-law died.  She packed it in bubble-wrap and stored it carefully in a box in her basement.  Many years later she brought it out to give to a sister-in-law, assuming that she would want her mother’s carefully saved, precious sugar and creamer.

The sister-in-law unwrapped it and after a long moment said, “Uh, did you know this was plastic?”  And she had no memory of the sugar and creamer, no sentimental ties at all.

And neither woman wanted to keep them.  How hilarious is that!!!!

Also, according to the book, you can have your memories without “clinging” to your stuff.

Yes, I can see how that is true.  But I like my stuff.  Most of it, anyway.

What do you think????   Are you a dumpster-before-death or a dumpster-after-death person?

If you want to read more about the book, check it out here:  http://www.time.com/5063275/death-cleaning

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in a more pie opinion, books & music, family, rhode island | 2 Comments

cleaning out the quilt closet

Posted on January 24, 2018 by is there any more pie?
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The backing, pieced together from several chunks of fabric found on the bottom shelf of the closet.

It’s an excellent day.  The sun is shining, homemade soup simmers in the crock pot and I have taken over the kitchen island and dining room table as I wrestle with pin-basting yet another quilt top unearthed from the closet shelves.

Could life get any better?  Don’t think so!!

It occurred to me last year that I should start turning my quilt tops into actual quilts.  Otherwise years from now they will end up in charity shops hoping that a quilter will come along and scoop them up to finally finish them.

There is no one in my family who sews.  Not that I expect anyone to sew.  It’s just a fact.

As it is also a fact that I have a heck of a lot of quilt tops.

I finished one last week and was so proud of myself that I just had to do it again.

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So…what are you doing in January?  Starting projects?  Finishing projects?  Reading lovely thick books?  Snuggling in front of the television?  Learning a new song or skill?

Or looking out the window into the snowy landscape and counting the days until spring?

 

Posted in quilting, rhode island | 3 Comments

chicken mushroom soup, my easy version

Posted on January 22, 2018 by is there any more pie?

We ate this three nights in a row.  Is that a bad thing or a good thing?  Hey, when it’s hot and ready and in the crock pot, we’re all over it.

CREAMY CHICKEN MUSHROOM SOUP

2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized cubes (raw)
1/2 bag frozen chopped onions
1 bag of frozen chopped broccoli
1 large box of whole mushrooms, washed and sliced
10 cups of chicken broth (I used 4 cups–1 box–of Swanson chicken broth and 6 cups of bouillon made from Better Than Bouillon)
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tsp thyme
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup of heavy cream (more or less as needed)
instant potato flakes***

Put everything except the heavy cream in the slow cooker and cook on high for at least 4 hours, until chicken is cooked and tender.  I cooked it for 6 hours but that was because I was busy and forgot to check.

Half an hour before serving stir in the heavy cream.  By the way, due to its high fat content, heavy cream is much less likely to curdle than other milk products so it’s easier to use.

***if you prefer a thicker soup, add 1/4 cup at a time until you are happy with the texture

 

 

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a darn good saturday

Posted on January 21, 2018 by is there any more pie?

Yesterday there was this:

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A kaleidoscope quilt top made several years ago.  You layer 6 layers of fabric in exactly the same places on the design and cut wedges.  The wedges are sewn together to form different patterns.  This was made with one fabric and I am so happy to have moved it out of the closet and onto a work space.  Almost finished and all it took was one afternoon!

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The original fabric.

And while I was sewing away, here’s what blasted from the speakers:

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Christmas gifts from Son #2!  Joy!

And then for the evening?  Three more episodes of this insanely compelling mini-series set in British Columbia:

tin star

It’s so intense that most of the time we can only watch one episode per evening, but as it is racing towards the finish we find it hard to turn off.  It just gets better and better.  And the characters?

Oh. My. God.

Last night’s episode made me once gain want to learn how to shoot.  I periodically long to take lessons, but it’s more a fantasy than anything else.  But while safely tucked up on the couch last night I was once again reminded that it is crazy for a woman not to know how to defend herself.

So I need to get brave.

In the meantime, I think I’ll return to the sewing machine and finish this quilt.  I’m determined to dig out all those pieced quilt tops this year and turn them into quilts that someone can actually snuggle under.

Banjo Man is going to help me hang my guitars in my office today.  I’ve done some reshuffling in this small space in order to make room for all the music.  Almost done!

I’m learning this cheerful song this week…

Posted in books & music, quilting, rhode island, television | 4 Comments

the polka king

Posted on January 20, 2018 by is there any more pie?

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I didn’t know whether to recommend this movie or not.  Banjo Man and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but after reading a lot of horrible reviews I hesitated to tell you about it.

This Netflix movie is based on a true story, which is what is so fascinating about it.  Jack Black is terrific as Jan Lewan, a Pennsylvania Polka King who used his charisma and personality to swindle his fans out of their money in a Ponzi scheme.

For the first fifteen minutes or so I wondered why I was still watching.  Jan Lewan is just plain weird as he narrates his “story” in his point of view.  But we were comfy on the couch on a cold January night, so I figured what the heck, let’s see how this plays out.

Well, it got better and better.

Because it is a true story.  We couldn’t believe what the Polka King got away with and how he made himself into a larger than life entertainer.  It was truly fascinating.

When it was over, with the credits rolling, the real Jan Lewan was shown singing his songs, along with the actual newspaper headlines of the various events.  Clearly the screenwriters didn’t have to make this stuff up.

It was all there.

Solidly entertaining.

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the christmas gift

Posted on January 19, 2018 by is there any more pie?

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Last December I had something happen to me in a grocery store that had never happened to me before.  Or to anyone I know, for that matter.

It was just a few days before Christmas and Banjo Man and I were at the local HEB several blocks away from the condo.  I had a very long list, so Banjo Man and I had separate carts and agreed to meet up eventually, somehow, when we were both finished with shopping.

By the time I was about 2/3 done, my cart was piled high with chicken, sausage, cheese, vegetables, milk, eggs, etc.  If you looked at my cart you would understand that here was a woman who cooked from scratch–for a lot of people–and also needed a lot of paper towels.

I had just pushed my cart through a crowded health food aisle when a young woman called after me, “Ma’am!  Ma’am?”

I stopped and turned around.  My first thought was that I had done something wrong when picking up peppermint oil (enclosed in a steal-proof plastic case, to be opened at the register).

She didn’t confiscate my oil.  Instead she gestured towards a tall young man standing about ten feet away in the midst of shoppers jockeying for spots at the crowded registers.  “My husband and I would like to buy your groceries today.”

“Excuse me?”  I looked at my overflowing cart and then back to her.

“We’d like to buy your groceries today,” she repeated, pushing a folded bill into my hand.  “Merry Christmas!”

I was stunned.  All I could say was, “Thank you so much.”  And “Merry Christmas.”  They waved joyously and wandered off, clearly looking for other shoppers who might need some extra cash.

I unfolded the bill:  one hundred dollars.  I honestly didn’t know what to do.  If I gave the money back to them, explaining I didn’t especially need help buying groceries and they should pick someone else, that would be rude.  I would embarrass them.  Better to let them enjoy their morning of gift-giving surprise?

I still don’t know.

Had I looked poor?  Was that their criteria?  I was dressed neatly enough–not that anyone in Austin ever cares what anyone wears.  I wore makeup.  And maybe even lipstick, but maybe not.

I know I looked happy–unlike my usual grocery-shopping persona.  I was thoroughly enjoying getting the ingredients for all of the meals I was going to cook for my family.  I’d had an organized list and a pretty good idea where everything was located.  The store was crowded, but it almost always is.  I imagine I looked like I was having a good time, because I was.  My family was going to be together around the dinner table.  Joy!

Had that been their criteria?  Find someone who looked happy about making a lot of meals?

I’ll never know.  Just like I’ll never really know what I should have done.

Once I’d connected with Banjo Man and ended up at the register, I made a donation to the Salvation Army.  But to be honest, I would have done that anyway.  It’s my tradition, a way to honor my World War II veteran father who always donated to them at Christmas and always became choked up with tears when he did.

The hundred dollar bill is still in my purse, tucked safely in a zipper compartment.  I take it out and look at it once in a while.  A reminder that people find joy in giving?  That life still has surprises, even in the grocery store?

I’ll keep the money safe for now.  One of these days there will be a moment when I’ll know what to do with it, when to pass it on, the perfect time to share the gift.

What I think the sweet couple in the grocery store would have wanted.

 

Posted in austin, shopping, texas | 4 Comments

the frozen dead

Posted on January 18, 2018 by is there any more pie?

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Here’s a new mystery series on Netflix.  It’s in French, with English subtitles, and set in the French Pyrenees.

We liked almost all of the episodes–good characters and lots of mysterious happenings–but the last episode left us…cold.  It ended with a cliffhanger and set up a future Season 2.   Lots of shows do this (Broadchurch, The Killing, The Fall) but I much prefer real endings.  C’mon, writers!

Speaking of France…

 

If you’re looking for a story of grief and love and new beginnings, the Kindle edition of this book is available on Amazon now for only $1.99.

And speaking of books…

This Netflix series is adapted from a Harlan Coben novel, THE FIVE.  We’ve watched three episodes and we’re absolutely riveted.

From Netflix:  “A mystery series created by author Harlan Coben.  Jesse, a five year old boy goes missing, 20 years later his DNA shows up at a crime scene.”

The Five

Other television notes:

THE BACHELOR has returned to ABC on Monday nights.  Be still my heart.

THE AMAZING RACE has returned!  Lots of good racing teams this season, and the tasks and challenges are difficult.  Good tv on Wednesday nights!

And one of my favorites, HUNTING HITLER, is back for its third season on Tuesday nights on the History  Channel.  I’ve finally convinced Banjo Man that it’s worth watching and he is now a fan.  If you can find the first two seasons on Hulu or the History Channel app, it’s an education on what went on during the last weeks of World War II in Berlin and Germany.  One of the world’s biggest mysteries is what happened to Hitler, and this team–and these guys are the real deal–is determined to find out.

Let me know what you think!!

 

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that sinking feeling

Posted on January 17, 2018 by is there any more pie?

We’ve had a leak under our kitchen sink.  I’m not going to tell you how long it’s been going on, because that would be embarrassing.

Very embarrassing.

Last spring we were determined to Solve The Problem.  First stop?  A kitchen-and-bath store in Westerly.  I did a little pre-shopping research and decided that another stainless steel sink was the most practical choice.

And here it was:

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Ours won’t have the stainless front.

We decided upon a faucet, too.  A pretty, swoopy one.   And then realized that by the time we found a plumber, ordered the sink and had things ready to be installed, it would be too late.  Summer was a-comin’ and time had run out.

Plus…we had spent too much time toying with the idea of putting in a new counter.  Only we couldn’t decide what we wanted.  Quartz and granite and marble were all too expensive.  Formica was affordable, but after collecting dozens of sample chips from three different stores I was no closer to finding the perfect shade and texture of cream-ivory-white-beige.

We talked about it again this fall, but once again…we ran out of time before Christmas vacation.

As of Saturday we were still reminding each other, “We should get this done before summer,” and “As soon as we’re feeling better we should make some decisions, find a plumber, get this fixed.”

Yep.  We’d agree we really should do something and then get back on the couch, with our blankets and remote controls.

Our dishwasher died over a month ago.  Not exactly tragic, but inconvenient.  I actually wondered if we could do without it, but after a month of doing dishes by hand Banjo Man was DONE.  We’d shared the chore, but we never seemed able to keep up with it.

Saturday we bundled up in our warmest clothes, stuffed extra tissues into our jacket pockets and headed to the dump, then to town.  We bought a Maytag dishwasher in record time (10 year warranty, go Maytag!!) and then tried a new fast-food Mexican place.  It was like a Subway for tacos–you line up and tell the taco maker what you want her to put into your taco as you study bins and bins of toppings and fillings.   They even had a salsa bar.

Yesterday the installer came with the new dishwasher.  It turned out he has his own handyman business and said he could fix our sink.  Or install a new one, along with the faucet.  Banjo Man was trying not to do a happy dance right there in the kitchen.

After the guy left, we made an instant decision to forget about installing new counter tops.  I don’t know why the idea of making decisions about counters and back splashes and paint seems so overwhelming to me, but it does.

The ugly truth?  I might be too old for remodeling projects.

Later that day we returned to the store where we’d seen the perfect sink and ordered it.  Eight months after our first shopping trip we’ll have a new sink, new faucet and new dishwasher.

And that’s enough for 2018.

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I kind of love this.

 

Posted in rhode island, shopping | 2 Comments