Eyes on the Prize

Many Saturdays involve a trip to a coffee spot called the Brickyard. We load Saylor in the back of my Jetta wagon and off we go. It's dog-friendly and they have good cinammon rolls and decaf coffee (now that I'm off the leaded stuff). In this picture, Saylor is putting the Vulcan (Labradorian) Mind Meld on the roll. You will come to me. You will!

Being Thankful for My Life

For probably close to a year now, before I go to sleep I say a prayer that begins with, "Dear God, thank you for my life." It goes on from there. I should clarify that as a Catholic in my younger years, and more of a naturalist for lack of a better term to describe my spiritual self now, I feel a reverence and respect for a higher power. Sometimes I really feel that God is watching over me; the traditional God. Other times I feel that I'm in the flow of the universe and that the good thoughts I put out there affect what comes back. Lately, I've been focused on gratitude in its many forms. I found these quotes which I share below:

Melodie Beattie:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity.... It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.

Albert Schweitzer:

At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.

Albert Schweitzer:

To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.

Eric Hoffer:

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.

H. U. Westermayer:

The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.

Henry Ward Beecher:

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

John F. Kennedy:

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

Leroy [Satchel] Paige:

[D]on't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

New York Post, October 4, 1959

Marcel Proust:

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

Margaret Cousins:

Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.

William James:

The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.

Enough Already

More than 300,000 seals will be cruelly killed (clubbed to death) this year. 98% of the seals killed in the past 2 years were between 2 weeks and 3 months old.
Some seals are killed with a blow to the head using a wooden club or hakapik. The sealers stun as many baby seals as they can before going back to kill them. Some seals try to get away, but they are clumsy on the ice, heaving their fat little bodies with an uncoordinated flipper shuffle. Other seals are shot from a distance and then dragged from the ice onto boats using steel hooks.

The IFAW is trying to put an end to this insanity. They have led the fight to stop the cruel slaughter of seal pups since the 1960's, resulting in the import ban of newborn whitecoat seal pelts in 1985. Today, they have offices in 15 countries - they are the world's leading animal welfare organization fighting to save seals both on the ice and through vital scientific and market research.
If you go to the IFAW site, you can click the button that says Take Action and fill in a few fields of information to send a letter to Canada's prime minister, apparently the person who can make this nightmare go away. Why not do it now? Here's the link.

Favorite Recent Photos

The first photo is of an orchid tree in the park across from the Brickyard coffee house. The second one is of a vase of rununculus I had on the dining room table. I'm in love with my camera--a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7.

Baked Pasta w/Roasted Vegetables

One of J's favorite meals is baked pasta. I made this dish recently when our friends Doug and DeDe from Tallahassee came to dinner. I had not seen them in 14 years, and James actually was just meeting them for the first time. It was a really fun night. So, here's how you make it:
First roast the vegetables. I used portabello mushroom, red onion, red pepper, scallions, and asparagus. Just lay the veggies on a baking sheet and cover with a mixture of 3 tablespoons lemon juice,3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season with sea salt, herbs de provence, lemon pepper, and a sprig of fresh thyme. Roast the concoction at about 300 degrees for an hour.
Next, mix it all up: once the veggies are roasted (and your house is smelling great!), mix them in with the cooked pasta (enough to serve however many folks are eating!). Add about 4 ounces of goat cheese broken up and mixed into the pasta. Cut up fresh mozzarella and mix half of it in with the pasta and reserve half to lay across the top once everything is combined. Mix in a can or good marinara sauce. Sorry I'm not providing quantities, but it really depends on how much you are making. Glad I don't write recipes for a living! To add some juiciness, add about a 1/2 cup of half and half. Mix everything together well, then lay the second half of your mozzarella across the top.
Last, it's time to bake: In it goes for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees or until you see that the top layer of mozzarella is nice and melted on top. That's it! I served this with a green olive foccacia bread and an arugula salad and it was a hit.

Chicken a la Steve

While IMing with my buddy Steve today, he told me about this recipe he makes, and I tried it for dinner. It was delicious. Here's how you make it: In a glass baking dish, add about 6 or 7 skinless/boneless chicken thighs. Add potatoes (I used a small varietal type) and carrots. Pour over about a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and a big, giant tablespoon of apricot preserves, and mix. I used peach instead, but Steve recommends apricot. I also dashed on some lemon pepper and salt. Into the oven at 350 degrees it went for 1 hour. The result: a flavorful, sweet and slightly tangy, very tender dish. I made a green salad on the side and dinner was served. Yum!

Mr. McFluffersons Goes from Bath to Bed

And why was this Saturday so exciting for Oreo (and me?)? Well, could it be that the Hairy Tales truck pulled up in front of our house, and after grooming the neighbors two dogs, Bailey and Cooper, then our dog, Saylor, that my boy here was summoned for his hour of beauty? Earlier in the week, it crossed my mind that Oreo may have had a potential agenda conflict until I realized his anaesthesia-free teeth cleaning is actually not until this Saturday. Whew! Can you imagine that phone call? Um, Pucho? Yes, well, Oreo somehow double-booked his spa services today--can we reschedule? Yes, the owner of Hairy Tales is none other than a fellow named Pucho! A very nice person, too. I insisted on accompanying my boy through his beauty bath, since he is 17 and let's face it - a TO-TAL momma's boy (and that's the way I like it!). If only I'd had the camera in there with me. Right after the hair drying was finished he was fluffed up bigger than a puffer fish. He had been brushed and blown into such a round ball of furriness that I was pretty much squealing (poor Pucho!), "Gee! I think I need to enter him in a cat show!!!" So sad, the delights of older women w/o kids when their kitty cat does something amazing. But, c'mon! It was so darn cute!! The following pictures I just took tonight, 2 days post-bath. He's still looking quite handsome if I may say so.

Girls Gone Wilderness

Five of us made the trek to cold country last week - me, Sheena, Cheek, and two other women of the wilds. I had a great flight from San Diego -- just 3 hours and I was in Atlanta. This first pic is through my window just as we were descending to land. I love the sliver of sunset off the wing.
So, the weekend had a bit of a theme and it kept us going, and um, laughing the whole time. It resulted in a copious list of nicknames, all ending with ASH. Depending on what you did, laughed about, or got laughed at for, you were given a name. It was the East coast version of our Spice weekend in NM years ago where I was TrooperSpice and EcoSpice for driving and eating organic food.
This weekend included 12 bottles of wine of which we returned with perhaps one? Jessica read our Tarot cards, from the Shapeshifter deck, which was really fun and interesting. The cabin in Blueridge, GA, was awesome, and accommodated our group really well. Before going to the cabin, me, Sheena, and Cheek enjoyed dinner at Trader Vic's and it was daaaah-licious. This is a pic of a section of the groovy menu.

Living Outdoors

The renovation of the outside of our house is essentially complete. Can I get an "Amen!"? The fence is up along the front, thanks to many painstaking weeks of work with redwood by carpenter-pirate Howard Hawley. The grass is planted, and the other plants are in, including the olive tree in front and the huge agave from James' parents. Everything is still small. Of course, Saylor accompanied me around the yard to take pics. She loves her new yard. I especially love the shot of the Brazilian pepper with the Italian cypress in the background from across the canyon. It's such a pretty tree. It's really a peaceful design which was one of the goals.

A Good Book and Some Hot Yoga

I'm reading an inspiring book that my good friends John and Ross gave me for Christmas. It's called "The Right Words at the Right Time." I read most of the stories last night. The idea is that each person recounts a time when someone gave them a tidbit of wisdom that they found useful either at that time, or throughout their life. I identified with many of the stories, especially Gwyneth Paltrow's and Jen Anniston's. Yes, the authors are mostly celebrities or well-known people, but I guess we wouldn't probably buy a book full of stories by, like, Joe the cabbie. Well, I probably would, but that's another post. Anyway, if anyone is looking for a little inspiration, this is pretty good. Of course, as I'm reading I'm thinking of what my own personal story would be and then I'm cracking up about less-than-appropriate things people have said to me, and wondering how that would fit into Marlo's book. Maybe her other book, "Stuff to Smack People For."

But on another note, this Monday was my 3rd Monday of doing Bikram Yoga. For those not in the know, it's a 1.5 hour yoga class taught in a 110-degree room. Can you say hot? My friend Jenni, the pet-sitter, went for 2 years almost every day. She said it was cult-like, but that it positively changed her body. You do get a real sense of accomplishment just by staying in the darn room for that long, and even more so because you did 90 minutes of these 26 rigorous yoga postures. It burns 800 calories in one class. That I like. It's very cleansing, and it completely clears your mind. I think it's because you're so focused on surviving you just can't worry about picayune crap that might seem important before you step into this hotbox of a workout. Despite my protestations, I'm diggin' it.

Where Have I Been?

Happy New Year to those loyal few who check back to my blog and prod me ever so kindly to update the damn thing already. Okay, so I'm not sure why I haven't except that work has had me chained to my desk. But I know I went to the Koreshan State Park and took this picture in one of their little historic buildings. Nice tablescape, don't you think? I could have just moved into one of their little buildings. Might have been a tad lonely though, it being a State Park and all.

House Renovations on Steroids

Today is a big day. We are demolishing all of the walkways in the front of the house as well as the very long brick wall that ran along the front of the property. Tapia's Construction is here in full force. James and I bet on how long it would take: I said 1 day, he said 3. I believe I'm going to win (as the guys have confirmed) because they brought a Bobcat! The little devil is using all its hydraulic power to 'git it done' as they say. It's kinda neat, although the floor of the house is vibrating like an earthquake. The cat and dog are sequestered in the bedroom while the work is done. (more photos to be added later - Blogger not cooperating)

Sunporch Redeaux

We just started our first major structural renovation -- the sunporch. (Inside is almost completely remodeled.) The second pic shows it in its original glory, slanted steps and all. You can also see the many trees that we have since yanked out -- too tropical, we like mediterranean and native plants. So...the little room that could is to be reborn, bigger and better than before. We'll have a proper dining room soon enough! As you can see in pic#1, the walls are gone and the workers are hard at it (posing for their picture). What? Didn't you hire Jerry Garcia to do your room remodel? At first he reminded me a little of Santa, but now I think it's definitely Jerry G. back from the last great trip in the sky. We love both these guys. They work hard, fast, and at a reasonable price. I hear them during the day from my home office out there sawing and talking and laughing. They're having far too much fun. All of this remodeling is sooooo exciting. Our house is going to be such a little jewelbox once it's finished.