Category Archives: LIFE WITH BOB
WHAT’S ON YOUR DESKTOP?
Well, after starting my spring yard work (as well as my spring cleaning), I decided it was time to change the desktop image on my iMac.
So off came …
Edward Hopper’s Night Hawks
And up went …
GARDEN VEGGIES Courtesy of Park Seed Co.
So, what’s on your desktop?
FROM DROUGHT TO DELUGE … RAINY DAYS AND SOGGY LAWNS!
Last summer the heartland of the country suffered from a drought. This year we are becoming totally waterlogged. Locally we are in the midst of a week or two of wet and rainy weather. Actually it has been raining non-stop for the past twelve hours. My home is West Walnut Manor is halfway up a block on a hill and the cross street at the foot of the hill is currently under standing water. No flooding problem … just too much water for the storm sewer system to more.
Notice the water flowing across the slope of my back yard. The soil is fully saturated from our spring snowstorms and all the rain in recent weeks. My lawn is zoysia grass and what you see now is the brown winter thatch. I won’t start greening up until the temp rise in May.
The grass in the back of the yard really suffered from the drought and basically dried up by summer’s end welcoming all sorts of nasty ground covers to take root. And they are currently growing like … weeds … which they are. The area is in dire need of a quick trim, which I can’t do until the rain stops and the ground becomes solid again. Which means Mlle. Renee had better get ready for a foot bath every time she comes in from a yard visit. Does anyone have a spare ARK?
DAILY CALENDAR CHALLENGE #062 – MARCH 3
#1 THE ORIGAMI CALENDAR CHALLENGE – SUNDAY SPECIAL
Well, since I mastered my weekend learning lesson on Saturday, I decided to use what I learned last week (Kite Base) to illustrate my Saturday afternoon visit to the opera via the Met’s Live In HD theater broadcast of Wagner’s Parsifal. Here’s the review I posted to my opera group.
Parsifal … loved the performers and their performances, but thought the tempi was a tad slow at times. (Sure, it only ran on for six hours.) However, I absolutely desisted the director-gone-rampant production. The post-apocalyptic scorched earth set with never-ending cloud projections was the dreariest I’ve seen since the new Tosca. And I won’t even go into the pool of blood covering the stage. And didn’t anyone else think the knights lumbering over the top of hill in act 3 resembled something out of Night Of The Living Dead. Attendance at my theater was down to about a fourth of the usual. After performance chatter was about 85% negative. 
Traditional setting of the opera.
Setting for the new production.
The pool of blood covering the stage.
And here is my origami visualization of the opera …
Swan swimming in the pool of blood.
#2 MENSA PUZZLE CALENDAR – SUNDAY PUZZLE MY SISTER’S DIARY
Well, since I never had a sister I never had to worry about getting into her diary. And if I did have a sister, I would advise her to make like Leonardo d.V. and use backwards writing (mirror writing) like I did. BTW, the guest chicken is named the Hubba Bubba Birdie.
#3 THE PAGE-A-DAY PUZZLE CALENDAR – WORD CROSS
OK, I’ll give you a clue on this one. A is the letter in the green box where the two words cross.
BEYOND THE WEEKLY CHALLENGE
Once again, I was faced with a conundrum when trying to select which photo I wanted to use for the WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: KISS.
In addition to the photo I ultimately selected, I had four other photos under consideration.
RENEE LOVES THE HERSHEY BOY!
I liked this photo of Mlle. Renee …
But I just used it yesterday in our anniversary post.
RENEE LOVES HER DOGGIE SNACKS
But then I’d also have to consider pictures of her liking buttered toast, cheese and bacon.
KISSING HAS NO AGE LIMIT
And in the case of slow-moving giant turtles, no time limit.
KISS WITH A STING
No comment needed. So I went with the AHH! photo.
STOLEN KISSES!
THE ROAD TO MADAGASCAR!
Yesterday, my longtime friend Bill and I went to the Missouri Botanical Garden’s 2013 Orchid Show which was themed MADAGASCAR. Madagascar is a tropical island country in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa, and many artifacts from that country were displayed among the exhibit of orchids. Enough for words, check the pictures. You can enlarge any picture by clicking on it.
It was really a fantastic exhibit!
HOME ALONE ON A SUNDAY WITH MLLE. RENEE AND A COLD
Considering the weather we’ve been having, it’s really not hard to be under the weather. And Mlle. Renee hasn’t learned how to say, “Aww, poor Robbie, does he have a tolb in his noeb and a fever in his head?”
So I get no sympathy at all around here. Well, that’s not true, because she did let me sleep in until ten this morning. And we also had a nap this afternoon on the sofa. But she couldn’t understand why I didn’t want to go outside and play with her. To humor her I did put on my coat to walk around the grounds and leave some seed for our winged friends. I also noticed that during our recent January thaw a number a plants thought it was spring and began sprouting. Stupid plants if they would have listened to the weather wizards they would have know that we’re headed for a near zero night and first part of the week.
Somehow I really don’t think those sunflower seed shells are going to do much to protect those little sprouts. So after leaving some seed for the birds (and Mr. Squiggly the squirrel), I convince Renee to go inside where it was warm.
Now, I sometimes have a problem with proverbs and old wives’ tales. Probably because I don’t have an old wife to nag me to death by reciting them all the time. So I really didn’t know if it is “Feed a cold, and starve a fever.” or “Starve a cold, and feed a fever.” But since I had both along with this horrific craving for baked goods, I went inside to mess up my recently cleaned oven by baking something.
My first craving was for some fresh whole wheat bread to go with the jar of strawberry jam in the fridge.
So I whipped up this crusty cob loaf of bread.
Then I had a craving for something chocolate …
So I whipped up some deep dark double chocolate muffin dough which I spread in shallow pan and topped with dollops of dark chocolate cream cheese and flaked coconut before baking. It baked up into a rich, chocolate confection that resembled a super moist brownie that was to die for.
Then I just heated a can of vegetable beef barley soup for dinner. You have to eat some veggies.
So now I have enough muffins, brownies and whole wheat bread to last for two weeks. Mlle. Renee just reminded me she can’t eat chocolate, and why didn’t I use carob. Poor dog, she doesn’t know the medicinal qualities of real chocolate.
ON THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS …
WE FINALLY GOT THE WHITE!
Shortly after sunset the snow started arriving today. The flash from the camera was able to catch the falling flakes in front of the cedar trees in the back yard.
Two hours later Mlle. Renee and I were able to make tracks on the deck off the sun porch.
And the cedar trees were completely frocked …
And in case you’re wondering who made the snow tracks in front of the trees …
Meet Renee The Snow Dog!
Surprisingly, we’re on the northern-western edge of the snowstorm and we might get as much as an inch.
I say … if the weather outside is frosty …
“Let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW!”
NOTE: In case you’re wondering about the red glow behind the cedars, that’s caused by the lights from I-70 that passes at the top of the hill three blocks to the south.
TIME TO PUSH THE INSPIRATIONAL BUTTONS
A friend of mine sent me a set of six magnetic BE buttons to inspire me each day. Which one should I feature today?
CHILI TODAY … AND WINTER STARTS TOMORROW!
Woke up this morning and the temp was 57〫…
But from one look at the rose bushes in the front of the house it was obvious that winter was fast approaching.
Though a few seeds from some foolhardy spring and summer plants under the roses had not only sprouted, but were preparing to open tiny blossoms. Plants rank really low on the intelligence scale.
Little did they realize that the temps would begin rapidly dropping within minutes, thanks to a 67-mile an hour wind that was also dumping leaves from blocks away in my laboriously de-leafed back yard. By noon it started snowing! And while it looked like a blizzard, very few flakes survived the impact with the earth. So I went back into the kitchen and finished baking my Christmas cookies.
Chocolate topped with crushed candy cane pieces …
Snicker-doodles that ended up looking like pancakes …
And Triple Decadent Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies!
I checked out side and while it was still …
Nothing was sticking on the ground which was now littered with windblown branches from neighboring trees that failed to survive the summer drought.
So I went back to the kitchen to clean up my cookie baking mess … which led to the necessity of cleaning out the cupboards where the baking supplies reside … which led me to throwing out a couple of pots and pans that were past their usable age … plus a half-dozen pot lids that had no matching pots … which led me to discover my mother’s old mini-rolling-pin she used for crushing corn flakes and crackers for crumbs … which led me to realize that I would never use the old rolling pin … which led me to throw it into the trash bag … which led Mlle. Renee to rescue it and decide to defend it with her life.
About that time I realized that a hot bowl of chili would be great for dinner. So I gathered up the fixings … and soon …
I was eating a savory bowl of my version of the hearty food of the Mayans. So, I should be taking chances? Now, I’m ready for winter to begin! Which actually, just happened … and it is now 28°F!
TIME TO GIVE THANKS!
NOT FOR SHOPPING!
If retailers have their way, next year the Black Friday sales will probably start on Wednesday afternoon. Sorry, it’s just a bit of excess commercialism that has piqued my holiday ire this year. Actually I have never gone shopping on Black Friday, just like I never go shopping on the day after Christmas.
Which is rather strange, since I always celebrate Thanksgiving with my brother and his family on the day before Thanksgiving. He does this so my nephews and nieces can celebrate Thanksgiving with their in-laws.
So yesterday afternoon I headed west and spent the afternoon on the other side of the Missouri River. I was a fun afternoon since I had the chance to meet the new great-nephew and reacquaint my self with the almost new great-niece who can now crawl around the floor faster than a cockroach. She has no vocalization skills yet, but she’s actually learning sign language.
We also had a great turkey dinner …
That quickly left plates looking like this …
What that all their was … ?
That’s apple pie, chocolate cheese cake, pumpkin pie, chocolate cream pie, pumpkin tarts, decorated brownies, and acorn cookies. I had a sliver of pumpkin pie.
As I was leaving my sister-in-law handed me a package for Mlle. Renee … gizzard, liver, heart and neck of the day’s bird of honor!
So, today I made turkey soup for Renee. After slicing the giblets, I cooked the meat off of the neck, removed the bones and added rice, carrots and green beans and served up a bowl to the lady of the house.
After she licked the bowl clean, she gave me that Oliver Twist twist … “Please, Sir, may I have some more?”
And just in case you’re thinking about sneaking out to the malls for the pre-Black Friday sales …
The angry turkey police will be picketing stores and watching out for eat and run offending shoppers.
... a somewhat unknown or perhaps imaginary actor, writer, director, producer, photographer, friend, brother, uncle and all round good fellow that you really should get to know because he lives with that most glamorous fourpaw Mademoiselle Renee. (Mlle. Renee for short)
