Tuesday, May 14, 2019

Chipmunk Love?

It's kinda like "Muskrat Love" without the unseemly overtones. (That scene from Arrested Development still makes me laugh my patootie off.

In all seriousness, it was an eventful morning. I attended the initial meeting for getting food stamps (Quest/FoodShare...call it what you want...food stamps is easier to remember) and job training. After I got back, I puttered in my balcony garden. I was just wrapping up to come inside, hit the potty, and eat something when Barty chased a trapped chipmunk into my tiny kitchen. After trying to coax the poor dear into a tea box from the recycling bag nearby to get it back outside (and not getting bitten in the bargain), I locked B. in the bathroom (nearest spot w/ a closing door...thanks, open floor plan! ;)) and scurried back, only to discover that Miss Saffy had taken care of the situation. Pretty sure she broke its back in her jaws, but maybe it was only in shock. Dunno. I took it outside and deposited it in one of the protected flower beds. Oof. That's enough excitement of that particular nature of excitement for today.

Going to plant some more stuff that chipmunks—and mosquitoes, and other critters—don't like to try to avoid another episode.

Friday, May 10, 2019

Real Kitchens

I was going to take a photo of my maddeningly cluttered kitchen counter top for this snapshot/post, but I gave up. This speaks to a larger issue in my life. I've tired of putting things away (laundry, dishes) and documenting every bloody thing with images, videos, and text (that is, blogging, as we know it). Those activities, in and of themselves, are not cumbersome or annoying or time-consuming; when it comes to messing around with putting away schtuff or taking time to find the perfect filter or light for an image, you've lost me. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but words are, and always have been, powerful. I'm going back to getting words on the page. Period.

Close your eyes. Imagine what a real (amateur/"self-taught") cook's kitchen, with very limited counter space, looks like. You're there.

Failure: Roasted Green Tomatoes

This soup was an utter failure.  I roasted a bunch of green tomatoes, thinking I could salvage them from the fall garden. I'd make roast...