Dinner & a Movie

Dinner tonight:

Chicken in the crockpot with onions, lemon and olives. This makes real tender chicken, and it works well with skinless, boneless chicken breast. If I'm in a hurry (like tonight) I cut each breast into 4 chunks. Sauté in olive oil until browned. In the meantime, warm the crockpot up. I usually run warm water into it and let it sit a few minutes so the ceramic will warm all the way through. (Never put hot food into a cold crockpot---it could crack). Then I dump out the water, reserving about 2 cups warm water, and plug it in.

Back to the pan of chicken. Add a chopped onion to the pan and sauté but not all the way done, just about halfway---when you see some brown and some slight clearness but not all the way wilted.

Add half the chicken to the crockpot to make one layer. Add some onion and dump in a handful of green olives. Add some thinly sliced lemon and some pepper. I usually don't add salt because the olives are salty. Add the rest of the chicken, onions another bunch of olives, lemon and pepper. It's not rocket science, no measuring needed, but the lemon can be strong, so distribute a few slices, maybe 4 or 5 max. Add a little water just to barely cover but not quite.

Cook on high if time is short, or on low if you are giving it several hours (4 maybe). Serve with basmati rice on the side (the cooking juice is yummy on the rice) and a vegetable. If you don't like green olives, just discard them.

Move---Cats & Dogs. I haven't seen it yet.

Rain

We've been getting lots of spring rain this weekend. Thankfully no severe weather like they had down south. Dinner was roast chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, veggies and cranberry sauce. Yummy.

We have tomato and pepper plants started from seed. Nothing beats home-grown tomatoes!

Last night we watched the remake of "The Day The Earth Stood Still". We didn't much care for it. It seemed to turn into an environmental statement, and it was plagued by inconsistencies and scenes that, well---were just dumb.

That's about all the news for today

Stuff

It was explained to me that the uproar is because the country can't afford it and something about it's against the law to force everyone to buy insurance. The thing is, in order for the insurance companies to afford to pay out on the sick people is to have all the well people sign up and pay into it too. How are you going to get them to do that without incentive? Apparently Indiana has decided to join with the states that are trying to sue the government.

I bought seeds today. Tomato, peppers, cucumber, dill, radish, basil. Life is what happens when you're busy making plans. I don't think we'll be moving this year.

We watched Public Enemies the other night. It was pretty good. It was neat seeing Crown Point in the movie. Dad put the ductwork in there when it was being renovated years ago. I will have to ask him for more details. It's too bad the beautiful First National Bank in East Chicago (that Dillinger robbed) was demolished. I thought the movie started out a little slow, but it picked up momentum.

Star Trek

We watched the new Star Trek movie. For an old Star Trek fan like me it was a real adventure, although I couldn't quite wrap my head around the baby-faced young Spock. Well, Nimoy as Spock was always my favorite, so I guess I'm being a little extra critical. But it was good, and packed with action. And Nimoy does make an appearance!

Someone posted a picture of the old and new cast here:
http://www.rollanet.org/~vbeydler/van/3dreview/star-trek-old-new.jpg

Dinner and a Movie

I did install the igniter in the oven the other day, so we were able to have homemade pizza tonight. The movie was Julia and Julia. It was ok but I have to say Julia Child was far more interesting that the other Julia.

Before starting the movie, dad turned the on TV and the end of Titanic was on. I can't seem to get through the end of that movie without sobbing, which was rather comical as I was trying to hide the fact from dad AND roll out pizza dough. Had to run to the bathroom a couple times before I could complete the pizza.

Other than that, not much going on. It is windy tonight, nearly 45, and the snow is melting.

Eye Opening

Tonight we watched the "Holy Grail in America" on the History Channel. Now I've never been one to blindly believe everything I hear or read but I am open minded. Give me some new information and back it up with enough evidence and I'm interested. And I do mean interested. This program was amazing! It's controversial, but I'm approaching it with an open mind. Dad and I both enjoyed it immensely.

First of all, I had no idea there are ancient runestones in America. The story progresses in more and more eye-opening ways, all backed up with examples and scientific study. Well, some of it is theory of course, because we don't know everything, but the clues are unmistakably there.

The story starts with a large runestone in Minnesota, called the Kensington Runestone. Many archaeologists think it's fake because the writing doesn't fully match what they normally see on runestone. They think it's a modern fake. But new scientific evidence debunks the debunker's. The story hops back and forth from Europe to Scotland to Nova Scotia and then the US. Ha! That's cool. My dad's great grandparents came from Scotland to Nova Scotia and then to Massachusetts. Not that my family is any way connected. None of them were Templar Knights. There is an ancient stone tower in Rhone Island that aligns astronomically. Wait...what? Templar Knights? Yup. They are in the story, too. Did I tell you this story is Amazing!! I found the author's website. I think the book would be an interesting read. The website, The Hooked X, has links to the book, the film, the author (he's a scientist) and other links.

More links:
A bit about runestones in America - here
A blog with a good collection of pictures, including the Newport Tower in Rhode Island - here

Cool Site

Take a look at the ancient gold http://www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk/ on this website!

Not much to write about tonight. We watched a good movie, Cadillac Records. We enjoyed it, even though the IMDB review isn't so great. Apparently it isn't fully historically correct, but so many movies aren't. But we enjoyed it.

Dinner tonight was breaded fried sole. I like sole because it doesn't taste fishy.

Plug into the Borg

Microsoft is sounding more and more like plugging into the Borg Collective. The big push toward Cloud Computing (computing without walls they say) just reminds me that resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

As much as I disliked Windows 7 (past tense---it's deleted) I even more so hated Windows Live Mail that wanted me to login to receive something better than not being logged in, whatever that was, I don't know, because I never logged in. It never sent my test email and there is no Send button! I downloaded Thunderbird, which works fine, of course.

If you are wondering what Cloud Computing is, The Cloud is a metaphor for the Internet, and instead of buying software to run on your own computer, you subscribe to online services that are managed by others.

Some time ago I read that Microsoft was planning a shift from purchasing rights to run software on a computer (you never "own" Microsoft software, silly, you just buy a product key to unlock it so it runs on one, maybe two computers) to online subscription services that are constantly updated so you always have the newest version ($$ ka-ching $$).

Which also leaves me wondering---who are the "others" who are running the clouds you log into? What country(ies) are they located in?

Ok, so maybe you think I'm old-fashioned, but I'm just not "into" the online-everything concept. Which is why my next desktop computer will be Ubuntu. Ubuntu Linux is far from old-fashioned. It's just unfamiliar, and not in the public eye as much as Windows is. No wonder---try searching for an Open Source machine. And because of that, some manufacturers don't bother offering Linux drivers for their hardware. That leaves some people feeling that Linux doesn't work, because there are no Linux drivers for certain Windows-based hardware. However, the Linux community is growing, and hardware support is growing with it.

Dinner tonight---homemade pizza. The movie---most of the way through "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". Good movie, long, will finish tomorrow.

*******Where were you 8 years ago on September 11?*******

Movies

I have neglected to mention some of the movies we have enjoyed lately.

The Great Buck Howard (a story based on the Amazing Kreskin)
Frozen River (upstate New York Indian Reservation & smuggling, good story)
Bait Shop (Bill Engvall--funny of course)
New In Town (Renee Zellweger)
Outsourced (takes place in India--a realistic look at life there, touching yet funny. Truly well done and worth watching.)
Hotel For Dogs (family-orientated movie, fun to watch)

Nice day.....finally!

After days of cooler near the lake we are finally back to spring! Got more of the garden planted. It seems late for that but it's been so darn cold at night, in the lower 40's at times. It's nice to have the house open today, but it's going to be chilly again tonight. Dried more clothes on the line, went shopping and cleared out another box of old papers and files. Yay!

Chinese carryout tonight an a movie, "Outsourced". Better than I thought it would be. Fun and enjoyable. Might watch it again.

Cooler Near the Lake

Ugh. Every spring. You can count on it.

In other news, the garden is nearly planted. Radishes are coming up, squash, both summer and winter are planted and the zucchini is up already. We bought heirloom tomato seeds when we were at the Lost River Co-op in Paoli. They are called Yellow Pear. We also have cherry tomatoes, bell peppers and banana peppers.

In case you're wondering why we're planting a garden when we're moving---well, we figure it will be awhile before we move. Besides, we still have extra seeds for next year.

Speaking of moving, I finally got rid of three boxes of old magazines my boss brought over a couple years ago. "I have a box of old magazines in my mom's basement, do you think you can sell them on ebay?" he asked. I agreed, and then he brought THREE big boxes and none of it would sell. I mean it wasn't just me, all the other hundreds of the same magazines were not selling either. So I freecycled them, snapped up in a day LOL!!

I've pared my violet collection down and I'm sending out a couple more. Of course leaves and starts are coming back here---can't win! Well, actually it's my hobby so I love it.

Might be raining tomorrow, if so we might look at the old Grundig radio in the living room to see what it might sell for. Figured it was a good rainy day project. Don't want to take it with us. Not sure what to do with the Temple radio. It's big and really heavy.

Tacos for dinner, homemade of course. Movie--on TV, "I Walk the Line"--about Johnny Cash and June Carter. We watched it before.

Dinner & a movie

Chinese takeout and a Chinese movie, Up the Yangtze, a moving and well-done documentary about the effect the building of the Three Gorges Dam had on the two million people that were displaced by it. I was surprised that China allowed the suffering to be publicized. I was surprised to see the people speak about their pain, instead of just saying what the government wants them to say. It was also interesting to see the training of the young Chinese hired onto the new cruise ships that course the waters. I highly recommend this compassionate documentary. It plays out more like a movie and is worth watching.

There is another documentary worth watching. I don't think it's being broadcast right now, but you can visit the website, FRONTLINE: young & restless in China. I never look at Chinese-made goods the same anymore. China is a country of "haves" and "have-nots", and most of the people are the "nots". They toil endlessly, many times in conditions that harm their health, to eek out a living. I cannot pick up an imported item in a dollar store without wondering what woman or child is getting paid next to nothing to make hundreds of them. On the other hand, some of the lucky ones are making lots of money. It's interesting to learn their attitudes.

Happy Easter!

We didn't want to cook our family tradition of ham (sometimes I react to the nitrites and nitrates) so we had roast chicken, dressing, veggie, mashed spuds and cranberry sauce. We invited our neighbor to eat with us. It was yummy and I'm stuffed.

Last night we watched the Changeling. What a great period movie! It takes place in 1938 and it is based on actual shocking events. Besides the fascinating yet sad story (I'm trying not to spoil it) I really enjoyed the details in the background. The house, the furnishings, even the ornate wooden screen door, it was wonderful. My mom was 17 in 1938 and her mom had passed away several years before, but I still felt like I was seeing a house and furnishings as she may have seen it. I have pictures of the house her dad built and it seems of that period.

Tomorrow will be a busy day. Dad is taking the car for an oil change and an alignment. I have shipping to prepare, and I need to tend to all of my plants, and start packing. Wednesday we are heading down to southern Indiana again! This time the search is more serious.

Trixie wanted her picture taken

And here's a neat one of Macey

What I've been doing---here's the mess in the equipment room

And here it is now - mostly cleaned

Last but not least, we have a Robin nesting in the pine tree

Here's a close up

Winter again

The wind and rain were lashing against the windows last night and this morning there was an inch of wet snow. At least it was only an inch!! The gloomy, wintery weather put me in a blue mood for part of the day. Well, I think I was mostly just tired because I couldn't get to sleep, maybe because of the wind. Anyway, Friday dad asked me to cut his hair---the spring cut, he calls it, which is a crew cut. So now that winter has returned I need to pull his stocking cap out of the drawer. Not to mention the poor dog with her new "do". She has an old blanket to snuggle in.

A couple weeks ago I took my mom's sprouter out of the closet and ordered some organic sprouting seeds. Last night I used two of the three tiers. Mung Beans are on the top one and Alfalfa sprouts are on the bottom. Yummy!

It's going to be sunny tomorrow. Yay!! I need to finish my taxes so I can get them paid. Blaaaa. So we can plan our spring trip to southern Indiana. Can't wait. This time we're spending time in town, hope to meet some people, get a feel for the area.

Last night we has homemade pizza and a movie. We watched Islander. It was good.

Dinner and a movie

Today was sunny and warm enough to crack open a couple windows. I got a lot of cleaning done in the spare room. I also took some neat pictures of my violet flowers. Might put some up in the other blog. We had tacos for dinner and watched Wall-E. It was good! Has a good message too. Hope you get the chance to watch it.

Resting

I still have a sore throat. Chest is a bit congested, so I'm switching back to the albuterol CFC, just in case. I think it's a cold, but not sure. Still didn't open the Asti. Watched a good movie on TV, "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington. It was good. I think I saw part of it before but it's one of those you need to really pay close attention to because of all the weird stuff that happens. Dinner was a yummy pot roast.

Bummer

Dad bought me a bottle of Asti and I'm too sick to drink it. Well, not terribly sick, a cold with a sore throat. So we're saving the bottle for when I feel better. Then on top of that I bought a room purifier and I don't like it. It smells like plastic and it's noisy. I'm suppose the plastic smell would go away but the fan rattles for cryin' out loud and it wasn't cheap. I expected a fan noise, as in a whooshing sound of air moving, but not an actual rattle. On top of that is makes a faint growling noise that reminds me of the cheap timers I use to run my plant lights. So back it goes.

So now I'm trying to find room air purifier reviews. I don't want one of those ozone machines. I thought this one would be good because it has a lot of bells and whistles. It has a UV light that you can turn on or off, plus an ionizer that you can turn on or off, and 12 fan speeds. Even on the lowest speed I hear the fan rattle and the faint grumble growl thing. If we were using it in the living room or something it would be ok but it's too noisy for the bedroom.

Dinner was going to be fish but we decided on chicken soup because of my cold. The movie we watched was The Red Violin, which I think we need to watch again because when you click "play" there are no captions and most of the movie is in other languages. There must be another option that gives you captions. Oh well, we probably won't bother because we figured it out even without captions. It was a pretty good movie and I do recall seeing parts of it before on TV some time ago.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

Ever once in awhile we get lucky and rent one of those surprisingly unforgettable movies, totally unexpected, yet so touching and so well done that you wonder how long before you can enjoy another movie that much. Tonight's movie was filmed in South Australia around Adelaide, and is also a true story, Rabbit-Proof Fence.

While we are on the subject of truly well-done and touching movies, another little-known gem is I Am David. And yes, I cried buckets at the end of both of these!

Today was a beautiful day, got up to 61 degrees!! It's nice to have a break after all the cold. Dinner was homemade pizza.

Ice, Fog and Rain

The street in front of our house looked like a frozen stream this morning. I thought we had upgraded to waterfront property! The entire region was pretty much shut down. 500 cars spun into the ditches along the Indiana Toll Road, so they closed it. The expressway next to our house was closed, as well as several other main roads. Side roads were like glass. Even the birds couldn't walk on the ground without fluttering their wings. It's now 48 degrees and all the snow is melting. We have pea soup fog and they are predicting up to 3 inches of rain and thunderstorms tonight. Because of ice jams and the frozen ground the Kankakee River is flooding in some areas. Other rivers and low areas may flood as well from the combination of rain and melting snow. What a weekend!!!

Dinner was baked salmon and homemade potato wedges. The movie wasn't much worth watching, "Rails & Ties" with Kevin Bacon. I was a bit surprised that the movie was that bland. It was a sad melodrama with a rather weak script. No tears from me, though. I rate it "zero tears".

Gumdrop Tree

Here is the gumdrop tree! Since we weren't wrapping presents I decided to give dad his present a day early. Now doesn't that look yummy?

I bought myself an earlier edition of the AVSA Master List. A few months ago I bought issue number 4, but it became apparent that most of the unregistered violets I was trying to look up would be in number 3, if they were listed at all. After searching for months (they are out of print), I happened upon it accidentally on the Alibris website.

We spent a relaxing day going through old recipes. Now I have a small box packed, some junk thrown away and my old recipes all in one place. I even found some I want to cook!

We had a warm up today with everything turning to slush. All the ice came down out of the trees in a hail of tinkling the other night. Now it's back down to 9 and it's like glass out there. Not many salt trucks going around, either.

Ice in the trees

Dinner tonight was homemade pizza. The movie (on TV) was "It's a Wonderful Life". Oddly I had never watched it before. We enjoyed watching it.

Stay safe everyone and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!