2013/06/24

TJH: Inspire – Lemon Squares, Yum!

Da Goddess @ 14:28

This is what I did yesterday.

Made from scratch. Yes, indeedy. And they are delicious!

lemon squares

lemon squares II

lemon squares III

lemon squares IV

Make Me Smile

Da Goddess @ 04:21

I totally dig this song. Hope it makes your day a happy, bouncy one.

2013/06/22

The Nightingale

Da Goddess @ 14:18

The Nightingale

It’s just not Ren Faire without a young lady sitting in a tree and singing to the masses.

Beautifully Stated

Da Goddess @ 13:24

Thanks to for posting this video

The man speaks an eloquent truth.

2013/06/17

Front Porch Blogger

Da Goddess @ 09:07

Since we got the wifi situation straightened out, I occasionally bring the laptop out to the porch with me. When it’s cool and overcast, that is. It’s kind of nice to be able to sit out in the fresh air, my feet up on the extra chair, and just watch the world go by as I type. It’s relaxing. It’s pleasant.

This morning, I’m watching the neighbor sweep his driveway and his porch. Sometimes I see people walking in pairs, walking alone, or walking their dogs. In the evening, I spy an older man on roller blades with a hockey stick whoosh by. Mostly, I watch the birds and the trains (at the end of the one road in front of us are the train tracks).

Today the birds are relatively quiet. I’m sunburned from yesterday’s trek out to the Long Beach Flea Market. I feel the heat of the redness on my shoulders and my back. I feel the slight sting of my clothes as they rub against the sunburn. We just unloaded to stained glass panels (42 x 20 inches) from the van — gingerly, as they are wobbly from the lack of frames. King Arthur got two panes for $45. I see the brass cross I found for him here on the porch (we’re looking for a place for it to call home on the walls). Inside, we have a couple cherubs to hang. He also picked up a table base, a few pins for faire, two pewter shot glasses, and there’s a Humpty Dumpty pewter child’s cup I got for a steal for his collection. Additionally, we found two model tall ships to add to his collection. Three bucks. For the pair. Can’t beat that, can you?

We each had $60 to spend as we wandered about. I walked out of the flea market with $27 and he had nothing left. No matter, I gave him the money leftover and we had a fantastic supper at Claim Jumper.

We argued back and forth about sewing machine drawers and wooden boxes for between our recliners. He wants the sewing machine drawers; I wanted the wooden boxes that were of beautiful wood and were a third less in price than the drawers, which would need to be cut in half to fit. My boxes would stack on top of each other without a single cut. We continue to grumble about our finds. The final decision will be made this week at some point. I’m arguing my case with vigor.

Now it’s time to go back inside. I’ll call in my prescription refills. I’ll do a little cleaning, during which time I shall be reminded constantly about my sunburn. As bothersome as it is, I rather like having the reminder of a fantastic day spent looking for treasures and I’ll smile frequently. I do that a lot these days.

With any luck, I’ll be back outside in a bit, thinking about my next post or perhaps looking up online a few of the vendors we met yesterday. There are still a few items I wished we bought. But…there’s always the next flea market and more treasures waiting to be discovered.

More Bacon!! II

Da Goddess @ 08:22

And this is yet another reason I say bacon should be its own food group.

Jim Gaffigan on Bacon

Here’s a really funny video clip of comedian Jim Gaffigan doing a bit about bacon on Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Transcript below.

“I just had some bacon. Anybody ever had bacon before? It’s good. Oh, my greasy lover, bacon. It’s the best!

You wanna know how good bacon is? To improve other food, they wrap it in bacon. If it weren’t for bacon, we wouldn’t even know what a water chestnut is. “Thank you bacon. Sincerely, Water Chestnut III.”

And bits of bacon, bits of bacon are like the fairy dust of the food community. “You don’t want this baked potato? Brrring! Now it’s your favorite part of the meal. Not interested in the salad? Bibbity bobbity BACON. I just turned it into an entree.”

But once you put bacon in a salad, it’s no longer a salad. It just becomes a game of ‘find the bacon in the lettuce’. It’s like you’re panning for gold. Eureka!

There is something dishonest though about putting bacon in a salad – it’s kind of like smoking while you jog. “I want the BLT, but I’ll just get a salad with bacon and tomato. Can you put it between two pieces of toast and stick a toothpick through it? That’d be great…”

It’s amazing the shrinkage that occurs with bacon. You start with a pound, you end up with a bookmark.

I never feel like I get enough bacon, at breakfast it’s like they’re rationing it. “Here’s your two strips of bacon.” “I want more, more bacon!”

Whenever I’m at a brunch buffet and they have that big metal tray filled with the 4000 pieces of bacon, I always think, “If I was here by myself…I would eat only bacon. I would steal this tray, go lay down, and eat bacon all day.”

But you can’t eat bacon all day, cause it’s horrible for you. You know bacon’s bad when a healthier choice is a donut. And we’ve known bacon is bad for thousands of years. It’s literally a restriction on entering certain religious. “Our rules: No Killing, No Cheating on Your Wife, No Bacon.” “Oooh, what was that last one?” “No Bacon.” “Aaah, I’m in the wrong line.”

“How many bacon jokes is he gonna do? It’s like, come on!”

But bacon is that good. I bet if you put bits of bacon on a strip of bacon, you could travel back in time. It’s like a tasty vortex.

And fat back, supposedly fat back is like bacon on steroids, you know. I’ve never tried fat back, probably because it’s called ‘fat back’. I don’t know what creeps me out more – fat or back. Why don’t they just throw in hairy while they’re at it? “That’s some good hairy fat back. That reminds me, your mother called.”

“That’s gotta be the end of the bacon jokes…”

I even like the name Bacon. You can’t tell me the success of Kevin Bacon isn’t somehow tied to his name. You’re not going out to see a Kevin Hot Dog movie. “Who’s in this movie?” “Kevin Bacon.” “Sounds good.”

Thank you very much. You’ve been like bacon.

2013/06/16

TJH: Inspire – God Save the Queen!

Da Goddess @ 04:08

She’s a lovely, happy, and active queen. Makes faire fun and exciting!

God save the Queen

2013/06/14

TJH: Inspire – Dread Pirate Kidd

Da Goddess @ 04:23

Dread Pirate Kidd

My favorite kid from all of Faire.

2013/06/13

The Haircut and the Flowers and the Crows

Da Goddess @ 22:31

Today started early, was busy, and now it’s wonderfully quiet and calm.

King Arthur and I went out to get orchid food for the orchids we have in our bathroom (we threw out the bamboo that was dying very rapidly [without reason, I might add]) and thus Home Depot seemed like a good place to get it. We walked out of Home Depot with orchid food, 4 tubes of caulk, a bottle of pest spray, a flat of lobelia, a big pot of cannas, a medium sized pot of blue salvia, a big pot of red Mandevilla, and a free cutting of some sort of bromeliad. Oh, and a huge bag of potting soil.

Tomorrow is planting day. Hip hip HUZZAH!

We ran our purchases home, unloaded, and then the King dropped me off to get my hair cut. I had the gal take three inches off. Still plenty of hair left on my head and it’ll grow back quickly enough…now that the dead ends aren’t dragging the rest down.

From there, we hit Walmart to pick up baking supplies. Yeah, I’m gonna be doing some baking this weekend. King’s mother and sister and cousin are going to be coming over this weekend for dinner, so I need to contribute something. I’m making lemon squares. And a blueberry pie.

Now, about the crows…

Two days ago, King and I watched from the porch as two crows flew in, one landing in the street and the other landing on the roof of the house in front of us. The crow on the ground quickly hopped over to some rocks and plucked himself a tasty snack of a lizard. The roof bird noticed this and hopped down to the ground. Whenever lizard bird would be messing with the lizard, roof bird would hop closer, stealthily. When lizard bird would stop and turn around to see what the other bird was doing, roof bird would look away all non-chalant-like. And then the games would start up again. This went on for a good ten minutes (with us narrating the events, laughing our asses off) before lizard bird decided he’d had enough and flew off.

So much for our entertainment that evening.

Much like tonight. We’ll probably head out to watch the planes as they fly in to land at various airports. We missed, however, our regular entertainment of fireworks at Disneyland. We’re close enough to hear them, but just slightly too far away to see them. Sigh. But I close my eyes and imagine them and enjoy myself nevertheless.

2013/06/08

…And Then Some

Da Goddess @ 13:16

I love having a teenager who will text me, “I love you to infinity and beyond…and then some.”

I would say that to the kids when they were mere babes in the woods.

That LD still says it to me (text or otherwise), is truly a wonder and makes me happier than one could imagine. I consider it proof that the next generation of leaders will have a great capacity for compassion and whimsy.

2013/06/05

Spoiled Brat

Da Goddess @ 04:45

King Arthur is spoiling me rotten.

One of my big birthday gifts was a beautiful leather bodice that is unlike anything else on earth. The artist who created the design apparently only did one with dragonflies. And I got it. There’s a slight knife cut across one piece, but it’s otherwise perfect in every other way.

It’s a five piece bodice comprised of a center “stomacher”, two side panels that lace in back, and two epaulettes.

center panel

center connected to side panels

epaulettes

Thus we have the true centerpiece of my Ren Faire attire.

bodice on

While I was trying things on, the gal who was fitting me kept suggesting I go down a size. I didn’t believe her. XL seemed right. And then she put me in a large and it suddenly felt like I’d found my home. It’s a good reminder to work on my weight and when I lose more, I won’t need to buy something new. Smart lady, she was. Plus, Faire is always a time when you sweat your balls off anyway, so it stands to reason I’ll need to cinch in tighter and tighter each day. With the extra large, I was already as tight as I could go. Motivation to keep on track.

Now that I think about it, it’s like an extra birthday gift: a bodice and MOTIVATION!

Those of you who know me well know I’ve never really been spoiled (with the exception of ONE MAN who remains nameless to this day; he knows who he is and that’s all that matters), so this is all very new to me. King Arthur is truly a special guy. NOT because he spoils me with gifts, but because we just click on all levels. The things he buys me aren’t the rule, they are the exception, but they’re also exceptional in that they are things I need, things he wants me to have, and things that matter to the two of us. Like all relationships, there is give and take; there are moments of grumbling; we’re not always in sync. But there is love. Lots and lots of it. Our goals are common goals. We make decisions together. We actively find ways to make each other smile (it happens often without effort, but taking the extra time to leave each other notes or little surprises is fun). To be spoiled with love heaped and heaped on me is extraordinary and unexpected. And I’m still getting used to it. I’m surprised at every turn. These gifts? Icing on the sweetest cake ever and I don’t expect — I cherish them.

2013/06/04

In the Kitchen

Da Goddess @ 04:25

Last night was a bit of a cooking marathon. Figured I’d take advantage of the cool weather we had for the day and get meals made for the week.

I seasoned some pork loin chops and popped them in the small oven (toaster/convection combo). Then I cleaned some potatoes, chopped ’em up, and set them on the stove to boil before I started on the next item: making meatloaf. Chopped some onion. Diced garlic. Put a piece of bread in a bowl to soak up some milk. Added bread crumbs and seasoning. Grabbed a couple eggs to mix them in, followed by the ground beef and sausage. Put the mixture in a loaf pan on top of a piece of bread (King Arthur’s suggestion to soak up the fat). Popped all that into the big oven while he started some gravy.

Next up, I cleaned zucchini. In a medium-sized Corning Ware bowl, I added about an eighth cup of water and layered the zucchini slices in a circle. Seasoned them with a little garlic pepper, stretched some plastic wrap over them, and into the microwave for 3 minutes and 21 seconds. (I’m weird like that.)

By the time I’d done all that, the pork was ready and I turned off the heat, covering the chops and keeping them in the oven. I mashed the taters with milk, butter, and a little sour cream. Within a few minutes it was all done, except for the meatloaf.

The king’s gravy on the pork was perfect. The potatoes were a little too thin for the man’s liking (again), but I think that was due to how long they cooked. Still and all, it was a delicious dinner. Dishes went quickly, followed by a trip down to the garbage, watching the end of Ellen, and not long after, the meatloaf was done.

Enough food for the week is now packed in the fridge so there are no excuses when it comes time to eat. We won’t be heating the house when it’s hot outside and we won’t need to knock ourselves out after a day thrifting or a trip to the doc.

I love having everything done.

Of course, tomorrow is cleaning day and I just noticed cobwebs on the ledge between the kitchen and living room. Ugh. I may wait until Friday for that project so that King Arthur is home to help me and I don’t end up falling off a step stool or something. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

2013/06/03

TJH: Inspire – Palette Cleanser

Da Goddess @ 14:02

Life is just a bowl of cherries

After frightening you with my mismatched body parts, I figured you deserved something refreshing and sweet.

Life is sweet

Short(s) People

Da Goddess @ 12:59

I have just rejoined the world of people who wear shorts. It’s been almost 5 years since I’ve put a pair of shorts on (which happened when I had my last surgery). And while I’ve had my share of time in the sun, it’s been a few years. As a result, my legs are very pale; bordering on translucent. Wearing shorts when you’re that pale? Uh, no. But you have to start somewhere, right?

Since King Arthur and I have been together, we’ve done a couple Ren Faires and have basically been outdoors a good amount. This means I’ve had sun exposure. Which translates into tan. But only on my upper body. We won’t discuss the very odd tan lines I have on my chest from being in a bodice at Faire. No. We won’t discuss that. Okay, we will. Let’s just say that the girls have been pushed up and smooshed up and the tan extends dangerously close to the nippular region. And then nothing. Translucence yet again. Of course, my arms and face are also tanned, but there’s a huge void of color from mid-chest on down.

And I’m wearing shorts.

We’ll let that sink in for a moment.

If I put my hand on my leg, one would think it belongs on a completely different body; such is the drastic contrast of skin color. So, while my upper half is a healthy caramel hue, my searingly white lower half is almost ethereal and ghostly.

King Arthur insisted I get shorts. I balked. I stalled. I attempted to distract him. I begged him not to torture me so. Then I got an ad from Lane Bryant via email. They had shorts on sale. I mentioned it to him, hoping he’d forget about it or say we’d go look for shorts at the thrift store and THEN forget about it. But, nooooooooo.

Friday morning, we got up early and he said we needed to get all our grocery shopping done before it got too warm out. Did I want to go along? Sure. I like to pick out fruit and veggies. I like to have a say in menu planning. Then we ended up at the mall. Not only did I end up with shorts (4 pairs), but also several shirts, a couple new bras, and underwear that doesn’t look as though it’s been through a shredder. Yes, I’ve been wearing holey (as opposed to holy) underwear. And my bras are all so old the underwire is snapping. As well, King Arthur’s reasoning for the new clothes is “well, you needed clothes that aren’t covered in paint and falling apart. You deserve clothes that don’t look like you’re an unemployed house painter.”

The man is a saint.

So, part of my birthday gift was new clothing. Including shorts. A pair of which are neon green.

Again, I will allow you a moment to contemplate.

Neon green shorts on ultra pale legs.

And I love them.

I still can’t believe I am wearing shorts again. After all these years, I actually have on shorts. I’m wearing clothing that isn’t falling apart. I’m blinding all who dare look in my direction. And I’m embracing the experience.

Just to be certain you get the picture:

Such contrasts

Rather scary, eh?