Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Well it has been a year since Mother died. For a long time I did not think about it, put it out of my mind. Little by little this stopped working. And then Buddy Dog died. I couldn't keep hiding the feelings.
So I've had a pretty severe depression. I've been lucky in that that certain someone has been there for me. At times I just feel so sad and miserable. I miss my mother. I miss the sometimes ridiculous phone calls where I could not get a word in. I miss having her at my house and cooking meals for her. I miss taking her to Safeway and the library and the other places she used to go. I wish she was around to see little Ruby and disapprove of her naughtiness.
Speaking of Ruby... she is so weird. Decides to not poop for two whole days because there are so many more interesting things to do than go poop. The other day she must have pooped in her sleep because there it was in the bed. Not nice. Same with peeing, usually three times a day. Yesterday it was once. She gets so excited by random dogs barking, people on bicycles, and gross things on the ground that she doesn't want to go.
I've been finishing up a project- short biographies of all of the men who died during World War II from my home county in Michigan. There are about 90 or 95. A handful are listed on the monument back there, but I cannot locate any information on them. Hopefully when I go back the last week in June I will be able to look through the newspapers that are not online and find them. I have also been putting together some puzzles including a 1,500 piece one that Doug gave me for Holiday. I never look at the picture while doing so, it is harder and more of a surprise that way.
So I've had a pretty severe depression. I've been lucky in that that certain someone has been there for me. At times I just feel so sad and miserable. I miss my mother. I miss the sometimes ridiculous phone calls where I could not get a word in. I miss having her at my house and cooking meals for her. I miss taking her to Safeway and the library and the other places she used to go. I wish she was around to see little Ruby and disapprove of her naughtiness.
Speaking of Ruby... she is so weird. Decides to not poop for two whole days because there are so many more interesting things to do than go poop. The other day she must have pooped in her sleep because there it was in the bed. Not nice. Same with peeing, usually three times a day. Yesterday it was once. She gets so excited by random dogs barking, people on bicycles, and gross things on the ground that she doesn't want to go.
I've been finishing up a project- short biographies of all of the men who died during World War II from my home county in Michigan. There are about 90 or 95. A handful are listed on the monument back there, but I cannot locate any information on them. Hopefully when I go back the last week in June I will be able to look through the newspapers that are not online and find them. I have also been putting together some puzzles including a 1,500 piece one that Doug gave me for Holiday. I never look at the picture while doing so, it is harder and more of a surprise that way.
Thursday, May 09, 2019
For my non-profit's annual meeting I made desserts. Several reasons. I like baking. I have a new-used stove that has a working thermostat. And Homer-made desserts saves the non-profit hundreds of dollars.
I started around noon on Saturday with the cakes. Matt bought me a fancy bundt pan so I made a lemon bundt cake. It came out beautifully and was delicious (have to find that recipe again).
Lemon bundt.
I made the chocolate mayonnaise cake. t had two layers of cranberry filling and one with vanilla cream cheese frosting. It was also delicious.
Another volunteer liked the coconut cream pie I made last year, so I made it again. And then she didn't come to the meeting. This one was not popular.
I started around noon on Saturday with the cakes. Matt bought me a fancy bundt pan so I made a lemon bundt cake. It came out beautifully and was delicious (have to find that recipe again).
I made the chocolate mayonnaise cake. t had two layers of cranberry filling and one with vanilla cream cheese frosting. It was also delicious.
Chocolate mayonnaise cake with cranberry filling.
I made two smaller pineapple upsidedown cake. I put maraschino cherries in the center and mango salsa in other spots. I took one to work the next day.
Pineapple upside-down cake.
I saw rhubarb at Safeway and bought some. Found a recipe online for rhubarb cake with a cinnamon sugar topping. This one was mostly left alone. I admit, it was not attractive. But it did taste good and I ate most of it the next few days.
Rhubarb cake.
One of my volunteers has celiac disease, so I made a gluten-free spice cake mix and added carrots, raisins, and walnuts.
Gluten-free carrot cake.
Coconut cream pie.
Made something new- a vanilla wafer, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, and banana trifle. It was really good and was very popular.
Banana, vanilla wafer, whipped cream, and vanilla pudding trifle.
Lastly, I made a lemon meringue pie.
Lemon meringue.
The annual meeting went well and people really enjoyed the desserts. I'm moving to be vice-president after being president for four years.
The new stove worked well. I have discovered that the top heats up much more than the old stove, so I cannot have anything sitting on it when the oven is on.
Wednesday, May 01, 2019
I've been looking at estate sales listed on a website. Most are the type where you go and fight the crowds hoping to get what you want. A smaller number are actual auctions- which is how I obtained my new/old secretary and the two bird paintings.
Anyways, from an archaeological/anthropological viewpoint the sales tell me a lot about late 20th and early 21st century Arizonans. It seems that most people, especially those in retirement communities, get rid of everything but a handful of family heirlooms when they move to Arizona. They then proceed to decorate in "Southwest." Pastel fabrics, often striped. The same three or four prints (roadrunner, Native American woman sitting down, etc.). They purchase modern Native American pottery and Mexican crafts. I guess it would be comforting to visit your next door neighbor and see the same junk that you have in your own home. I wonder how many of these immigrants to Arizona who decorate in "Mexican" (of course bought in Tucson or Tubac) voted for Trump?
You also see the stuff the kids don't want. Complete sets of china. Fancy glassware. All of those "Southwest" and "Mexican" art pieces. The "collectibles"- Franklin mint plates, Hummel figurines, Lladro figurines, dolls. Plus the usual books, Christmas ornaments, garden pots and decorations, and travel souvenirs. Sometimes you learn something about the people whose house contents are being sold. This one liked to sew quilts. This one collected stamps. This one did wood-working.
Towards the end of the photos you see the grim reality of why estate sales are held. The walkers, wheelchairs, potty chairs, and unopened packages of adult diapers.
Of course when I die off some day whoever gets to go through my house will probably have an estate sale because, honestly, who would want the stuff I have? One of my nephews might want some of the family heirlooms, but the rest of the stuff will be pawed over by people, some of whom will probably talk about what a bunch of junk I had.
Anyways, from an archaeological/anthropological viewpoint the sales tell me a lot about late 20th and early 21st century Arizonans. It seems that most people, especially those in retirement communities, get rid of everything but a handful of family heirlooms when they move to Arizona. They then proceed to decorate in "Southwest." Pastel fabrics, often striped. The same three or four prints (roadrunner, Native American woman sitting down, etc.). They purchase modern Native American pottery and Mexican crafts. I guess it would be comforting to visit your next door neighbor and see the same junk that you have in your own home. I wonder how many of these immigrants to Arizona who decorate in "Mexican" (of course bought in Tucson or Tubac) voted for Trump?
You also see the stuff the kids don't want. Complete sets of china. Fancy glassware. All of those "Southwest" and "Mexican" art pieces. The "collectibles"- Franklin mint plates, Hummel figurines, Lladro figurines, dolls. Plus the usual books, Christmas ornaments, garden pots and decorations, and travel souvenirs. Sometimes you learn something about the people whose house contents are being sold. This one liked to sew quilts. This one collected stamps. This one did wood-working.
Towards the end of the photos you see the grim reality of why estate sales are held. The walkers, wheelchairs, potty chairs, and unopened packages of adult diapers.
Of course when I die off some day whoever gets to go through my house will probably have an estate sale because, honestly, who would want the stuff I have? One of my nephews might want some of the family heirlooms, but the rest of the stuff will be pawed over by people, some of whom will probably talk about what a bunch of junk I had.
