Paints, Canvas and a Day Off

It's my birthday, so it is hard for work to deny me the day off. For that matter, hard for me to deny me the day off. Weekends are usually eaten up laundry, grocery shopping, housecleaning and other mundane chores. It is hard to make time for what you really would like to do with your scarce free time off. I can tick off a list at any time of things I would like to do just for the sake of trying it; some because I have a feeling I would be really good at, others...just a desire to get my hands in it. I want to play with clay, I want to hand finish a piece of wood that I have made into something, I want to make little garden areas that each make you want to stop and rest awhile, I want to wander down to a stream and throw a fly line...the list is endless. But usually the list of things that have to be done overshadows the fun stuff. So for my free time today, I will will not rake leaves (what I should be doing, but really...who are they hurting?), I won't mop the kitchen floor, (no 5 second rule for awhile) and I won't even get out of my pajamas (why waste an outfit). Instead, I will paint. It's not a new activity for me, but it still is a break from the "sit at a desk day" I usually endure during the week. I suspect if I had to earn my living as an artist, I would begin to dream of days in an office, lunches out with coworkers, and being surrounded by thinking people. It's all part of that learning to be happy with what you have, and grateful that we can take a day off on our birthday.

Thank A Vet

Ok, ok....I didn't take the picture. I can't even pretend to have taken it as I have never seen the memorial. The photo is emotional in itself; I can not imagine the real thing...the coldness of the marble, the endless columns of names, the haunted veterans who visit it and are forced to remember. Take a few moments this Veterans Day to remember those fallen soldiers who served our country. And for those who made it home or served in times of peace.....we should all thank them for protecting what we take for granted.

credit: I stole the photo from a news source. Sorry.

A Hallmark Moment

When my birthday rolls around, which it will later this month; I am fairly happy ignoring it and just trying to have a nice day. As the years pile on, the desire to celebrate pales; it just becomes another day and another number to hopefully forget. But today is the birthday of my best friend. He is full of hope, he is kind, honest, funny, and extremely devout in his faith. He never has to think about doing and saying the right thing, there is no alternative in his mind. He accepts his circumstance and steps up to his mistakes. He loves his children and his family and he sacrifices for those he loves. Although I only met him two years ago, I have known him in my head for my whole life. I will have him in my heart forever. I celebrate this day, his day, his life.

Our Daily Bread

I will rise to the challenge for most things, so I thought why not ? Everyone else seems to be all about the no-knead bread; so why not give it a try? I love, love good bread anyway; and it looked like a fun, season appropriate thing to do. I would have taken pictures as I progressed, but there are so many bizillion posts and videos already regarding Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread...I won't further bore you. Suffice it to say it was lots of fun, easy and really good despite a few mishaps. I did alter it a bit which is really stupid considering I have never made bread in
my life. I substituted 1/4 c beer, increased the
salt and threw in a tiny pinch of herbs de


provence. I also think I undercooked it a little bit. But regardless of all the things I didn't do right....it was so exciting to cut into that warm loaf, and it was so good slathered with butter;
that I forgot to take pictures of the inside!!!
Trust me, trial and error aside...it was good and easy and apparently is no fail. If you haven't tried it yet, check out this link; it is my favorite of all the demonstrations. It proves the point "so easy a 4 year old can do it" !
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/09/10/no-knead-bread-revisited/