Santa Rampage 09

Mrs. Claus, you've been very naughty! Actually, guys and gals responded strongly to me, to the point I was getting hugged and petted and patted. I told the girls they'd get lingerie for being naughty... Oh. My. Goodness. They ALL proceeded to show me how naughty they could get. Wowza. Larry and Nate were so jealous!!!

Kitchen remodel

Finally after 10 years, I get the countertops I wanted! I did the tile backsplash myself. Larry will put in shelves under the overhang later. White, of course. We also need to refinish the face of the pull out cutting board.

Many more pictures on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2029652&id=1192536713&l=c52ee5c26a

The Amazing Brocade Pirate Coat

On me, the sleeves are too long, I didn't adjust them. I'm quite round, so it only closes under the bust; however, from the pattern, it is designed to hang open. Now it is a toss-up whether MyLarry will wear the coat or me. No matter, I like it. All it needs are decorative buttons on the cuffs, I have bid on purple glass flower buttons, vintage and glimmering.

Oh, and it isn't even for Halloween, it is playawear.

River of rocks

I'm just hanging out today, doing minimal chores. Larry went to work at 4:30 in the morning, but was back by ten-thirty. He'd done all his work too fast! He was shuttling steel loads in Salt Lake Valley down to a work site in Provo. He got too many done each day, so this morning there was only one load left. He makes the other drivers look like slackers.

Now he's headed up to the ranch with Desi and her sister to pick up rocks. There's a mountain cliff which kicks off a river of flat rocks, the type which are used by decorators and landscapers. Since it is Desi's family ranch, she can go get rock anytime she likes. They took our Trailblazer and trailer, the ranch has dirt roads leading up to it, and bumpier dirt roads inside it. Who says our SUV is not used the way it was intended? Anyway, the ranch is way up in Grouse Creek in the north-eastern mountains of Utah. They have to take a shotgun in case of mountain lions! They shoot at the coyotes too, so the dogs don't get snatched. Smoky is fierce, but small, Heidi is small and dumb.

Desi needs rocks for her garden, Larry wants a few to bridge the patio and storage areas under the eastern side of the maple tree. He's thinned the branches of the maple up into a column, we can have our firepit under that and sit near the patio rather than at the bottom of the yard. The bottom of the yard is great in summer, but once the snow flies, we;d like to sit up out of the deep snow.

I didn't go because my knees are killing me today, wouldn't be wise hiking in the rough terrain.

Fallen

Summer had been hanging on, warm days and cool nights. Perfection Last night we had wind, windy wind, which blew leaves all over the neighborhood. Even green leaves came down. Our maple shed a few, but she's the last tree on the block to drop her leaves, and she has a mighty stash above our heads. A few red and orange and yellow, but the old gal is still green and lush.

After the wind we had hail. Not big ones, but fast and hard. And then it rained. Today is dreary and dull and damp. MyLarry has already had the fireplace going this year. A good thing he has a double stack of firewood as long as the garage, and up to the eaves.

I put up the Halloween decorations, and the lights in the windows. I didn't do the front room, just not into it this year. I haven't even brought up the Buckys from the basement. And I need fresh porch pumpkins! The kitchen is another place I don't think I'll get done as I still have my art studio on the table. I want to paint a couple scenes to display at Decompression in November. That means no setting the table with the haunted castle cookie jar and the pumpkin tablecloth! I'm such a slacker.

My arthritis knows it is autumn. Random pain in the feet and knees, grrrrrr.

Semi-wild Almost Hogs

MyLarry got a 1980 Suzuki 450 for his birthday, fixed the minor flaws right up. We went down and got me a half-helmet (on sale, natch)... matte black with dark flames. Cool.

We rode up Ogden Canyon this afternoon. Sadly, between five years of slow weight gain and my post-surgical landscape changes, my Willy G no longer fits properly. Larry's spare leather jacket is cut for a guy, too narrow in the hip and long of sleeve. My leather coat may have a kick pleat, but no riding split like a duster, besides, it buttons. Sigh. I wore my letterman jacket from Kinnick, the one with Super Sub on the back. I almost looked like Nicholson in Easy Rider with my Waygfarers on!

Riding up the canyon, I could feel the temperature fall and rise as we rode in and out of the shadows of the mountain, as we rode by the resevoir or near the river. I could see so much more than from a car! The leaves were beautiful, but what caught my attention the most were all the scents of fall. I could smell pine trees and oaks, the river, hay near the farms, whiffs of woodsmoke from the cabins. Amazing.

We passed a trailer park up the South Fork canyon; it is tidy and set back in the trees with a fence and swathes of green grass out front. Four deer were grazing there, raising their heads to watch us pass. Smart deer, this is the first weekend of hunting season. You aren't supposed to shoot deer so near the road.

We stopped at Red Cliff cafe near the turnoff to Causey Dam. We were just going to grab a coke, but instead decided on supper. Buffalo burgers, handmade and yummy! Saturday night, so there was live music. One guy with a guitar in the corner, he was very good. We need to go up as a group and have some beers.

The ride home was chilly; the sun had dropped behind the mountains. The curves at the mouth of the canyon made me nervous; on one side was oncoming traffic, on the other were the K-rails along the river. Larry is a good driver though, and my hips and back remembered the passenger swivel and lean with no trouble at all. Muscle memory down to the bone.

Yeah. Like that. A Harley next year once we get a few bills paid this year.

Hawk!

Last night we had a hawk sitting in the grass in the backyard. He was holding his wing funny and just hopped under our bushes when we entered the yard. We called the wildlife people, but they couldn't find their raptor tech. Eventually the hawk hopped out and sat on a log behind my herb garden. We sat and waited for a call, about an hour, there are neighborhood cats dumb enough to try that bird as a snack. Big as a cat himself! He watched us, and we watched him. We called the raptor rehab, but they don't have the resources to come do a capture. So the lady said she'd walk Larry through catching the hawk. Larry was game, he has experience catching wild owls (long story). He shooed the bird out from behind the flowerbed... hop hop hop and suddenly he flew into the pine trees behind us. The first wildlife gal said sometimes they eat too much and can't fly, but we think he flew into something like our cables and stunned himself or wrenched a wing and needed to rest. Cool that he is okay, but I couldn't get good pictures; I didn't want to get too close in case I spooked him.

Cancer Sucks.

So I had a great time at Burning Man. I wish I could escape back to that dusty utopia, and soon.

My SIL in WV went into surgery on the Friday we drove to the desert. Ovarian cancer, stage three or four. She is home now and will begin chemo soon. She was healthy six months ago. Crap, huh? Not good news. That's a slow death sentence in most cases.

When we came back, there was an email saying my friend who ran the local freecycle group had died of pancreatic cancer. Crap. I knew she'd been in chemo, but she'd told us all things were going well. They may have been. Not well enough.

Just last night, I found out my dad has some type of cancer, found through blood and bone tests. I don't know what stage, much less what type as yet. The SIL will go with him to the doctor on Friday to get the full scoop. I will post then. Maybe. I'm raw from all the cancer in my loved ones. I just lost my favorite brother in Decemeber, toss mom's death in from 2005 (heart disease) and my oldest brother in 2001 from colon cancer, and well, I'm tired of it. No wonder my 86 year old father isn't going to put up with much in the way of treatment. He has lost too many too fast and simply wants to join mom.

Ironiclly, I just had a mammogram and go in a week from Friday for my last oncology visit. If my mammo is clear, I am a five year survivor. I won the cancer lottery. I am living in fear of what my own body may try to kill me with next.

Crap, cancer sucks the big one, sucks it hard. Fuck cancer.

Wayward Art and a costume

Almost Home. Pardon the poor quality pics, I was shooting in low light.

Raspberry Barvarian and Zucchini Fritters ...

... and Ginger-Orange-Oatmeal cookies. Needed more crystallized ginger, but chopping it up is a pain.



While I normally don't "do" fried foods, the neighbor's gift of giant zucchini meant I couldn't steam them. The big ones are ... weird when steamed. I suck at making zucchini bread, so I went with fritters. Couldn't find my coarse grater, had to whip out the Japanese cleaver and do a LOT of fine slicing. yes, they were delicious with poppyseed dip. Yes, that's a combo of olive and canola oils. Tasty, MyLarry really enjoyed them.

In this summer heat, the raspberries go over-ripe on a hurry. You have to cook with them, so I gave a Bavarian a shot. I made mistakes. I should have set aside a little whipped cream for garnish. I don't care, it is a tasty beast. I even grew the strawberries!

And don't look at my kitchen too closely, the camera adds ten pounds ... of dirt!

The wheels on the bus...

At 100 degrees and the swamp cooler laboring, I find it too hot to write much. So you get pictures of the wheels of the happy Hippie bus.