THIS SUMMER WAS FOR THE BIRDS !!

Yes this summer was for the birds !! As I am self employed I spend most of my time at home. Fortunately I have a small chunk of land and birds. LOTS of birds. Having  a small herd of terribly inbred chickens I also have local birds that appreciate the free food and ample water .
  
  The most amazing thing happened this summer. Yes that's a hummingbird nest and Yes it is on an extension cord and Yes this happened right outside my kitchen window.

  It was fascinating watching the process. It seemed like she built nest , layed eggs, and hatched them in about a week.  Three weeks later this was the result . It made doing the dishes bearable.

 One day there was only one little bird left. He sat on the cord for at least 3 days. I was sure the other one was a kitty snack. It broke my heart. I can honestly say I felt a bit of loss . For a couple weeks I would stare at the poor broken little nest wondering what happened to the babies.

  Early one morning I went out to water and out of the corner of my eye I saw something dart by. Then another something. It was 2 hummingbirds playing a game of chase. They would fly way above the house and dive to about 5 feet above the ground. There was no doubt in my mind who these birds were.

    

 I had less chicks this year. We culled alot of the flock  last year so that didn't surprise me. What was surprising is that out of a clutch of 5 chicks to hatch all 5 survived. My evil nemesis the Red Tailed Hawk has moved out of his tree because  the old Farm House across the street burned down.

 One day I looked out my magic kitchen window and saw this. The most amazing part of this picture is that is not the mama chicken. It is a rooster. Yes a rooster. At about this size Mama chicken dumps the teenage babies and starts laying all over again. Well I have never seen this before but Papa took over. Believe it or not he has a least 4 chicks under him. He took care of those chicks for weeks afterward. And for this loving kind act he has spared himself from the Rooster culling soon to occur.



Some birds need to be discouraged. This would be Pierre's job.

One Saturday morning I looked out to see

20 crows in the neighbors backyard. One by one they would fly over the yard and circle the garden. It then occurred  to me that Pierre was hard at work. Those crows were just waiting for him to leave the yard. When I told my husband he said in a surprised voice, "Oh!!! Thats why they call them scarecrows! What a city boy he is!



Im Baaaaack!

 Yes I have decided to come back to the blog. At least try to. These things are so easy to put aside.

 I have come to the conclusion that someday I will write that book. In the meantime I need to practice writing. Plus with my daughter at college it is a good way to keep up with her and of course family and friends far away.  it is a wonderful way to journal.

  The picture above is of my garden. It has been an excellent  summer hobby. For some reason this year it has taken on a new life. I have experimented with a variety of garden techniques . Every time I try a new one I have been motivated to blog but alas I have not. Today I promised myself I would Kick off with a short blog .

   I went out today to prepare for my winter garden. Something that has never worked for me in the past but quitters never win and winners never quit or something like that. Maybe this will be my year. Anyways my garden has slowed but still popping out food. Looks like Pierre the Scarecrow is still working hard.

  Just a note to my newly emptynester friends , gardening is a wonderful way to funnel all of that maternal instinct. As my daughter has been away for 3 years now  I find myself fighting the over parenting from afar. Now is the time for her to learn to be an adult and yes my pepper plants appreciate the extra love. Actually my green bean and cucumber tee pee was my crowning joy. Yes Erin , you are in competition with my plants. You are still in first place but who knows ?

  This is what happens when your sister makes you buy a 6 pack of Jalapeno plants in March. What the hell do you do with a Jalapeno  pepper? My experience with Jalapenos consists of those squishy little round things that go on Nachos and maybe a hot dog if you are feeling adventurous. Fortunately my Jalapenos did very well . This is my attempt at Jalapeno Jelly. I burned 2 fingers , cut three and  my stove screamed  in pain when it over boiled all over the burners . Note to self and other adventurous souls who attempt jelly, use a pot way bigger than the ingredients.    

  Well everyone is welcome to join me on my life journey. I definitely need to address my Smashed Pennies, just acquired quite a few on our recent Canada cruise, travels and of course my Ebay adventures. Shout out to Gloria Dee.  You are on the adventure  of a lifetime . I want to see some blogging. You are a personal hero and ! hope to do what you are doing some day.

OF LUCKY PENNIES AND NEW BLOGS!!!

Something wonderful happened yesterday!!! Yes I added a new Lucky Penny to the smashed penny collection. Granted it is not smashed but it is LUCKY and we could all use some of that. I do believe this is the oldest penny in my collection. It is an Indian Head 1901 penny from The Pan American Expo in Buffalo NY 1901. Last week I bought a lot of Military Patches and medals at auction and this was inside. Wonderful find. I know have 2 aluminum lucky pennies in the collection.

In other news we have started a blog for our record store Rock_o_bilia. I'm learning to link and Erin is helping me set up graphics etc. We started it not only for the store but my daughter Erin is a Journalism major at San Fransisco State University and most internships require blogging background. She has had a personal blog but we set this up to make it professional and of course less personal. please join us for the fun and frivolity's!!!!

OF LANYARDS , BEACHES , BOATS AND BEER!!!

Well this is a case of better late than never!!! In October My husband and I took my sister Laura (green purse) and her daughter Melissa (the cute one!!) on a Galveston Caribbean Cruise. This particular cruise was in honor of my 50th birthday and Laura's graduation from Beauty School. No Beauty school drop out here!!!! I'm proud of her. At 57 she went back to school to do something she loves. Truly an inspiration and proof that you are never too old for change!!!

We had a wonderful time!! The destinations were Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel Mexico. Loved them all. I do believe I had 3 of the best beach days ever. The waters were beyond blue and swimming in Jamaican waters was like taking a bath!!!

Thanks to the LanyardLady of Etsy we had "THE BEST" Lanyards on the boat!!! Erik thought something special was in order so I ordered 3 Lanyards to carry our room cards. When I received them I was stunned!!! Did not expect the quality and beauty. This lady knows her beads and creates a beautiful item. We were the belles of the boat. There were many inquiries on where we got them, plus a few jealous stares . My lanyard went into the passport pouch and I will be using it on future cruises.

Our special table on the boat. Many meals,beers, cups of tea, Uno and Yahtzee games were enjoyed here! Plus we had beautiful lanyards.


Of course we golfed with our lanyards!! I am still the queen of mini-golf. I have no idea why I'm so good at it. Even at 50 go figure.



Sampled the local "Caybrew" beer in Grand Cayman with of course our lanyards!
We even got swallowed by a shark in Mexico. We tickled his belly with our lanyards and he spit us out!!! We were saved by the Lanyard Lady's lanyards!!!

MAMA MIA !!!! SHES AT IT AGAIN!!!!!

I have been beyond busy lately. In my workaholic haze I decided to open ANOTHER Internet store on Etsy. Why you ask? "Just because " is my reply. Actually it is a fantastic market for many items I can no longer sell on Ebay. Believe it or not the smaller customer base and lack of intense competition from importers have allowed me to sell specialty items. Plus its kind of fun. A new challenge. I also have Charla, my record lister extraordinaire and sounding post. Every Wednesday like clockwork she comes in to help list the thousands of records we have recently acquired and listen to me bitch!!

It is definitely tomato season here!!!! Last year I planted 3 tomato plants and got a grand total of 5 tomatoes. This year I moved their spot and planted about 7 plants. I love tomatoes . I have tomatoes. Hundreds of tomatoes. All at once!!! I am not much of a cannier and have gotten food poisoning from tomato sauce so the thought of putting them up is not too enticing. I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Marinara . I definitely needed a small break from work and it sounded fun!

I started out with the ingredients of this tote plus a small eggplant I picked yesterday. I am proud of my garden this year. Lots of yummy vegetables. Bag on desk I hopped on the computer to find a Marinara recipe. What a joke!!! Most of the fresh tomato homemade recipes included a can of tomato paste. Now why would I need that ? You must know that until I was 30 years old all I knew about cooking was making broiled chicken and Minute Rice. I was a career girl. I printed out what I could find and went inside to consult the ladies.
Yes these ladies. Betty Crocker and Julia Childs. This is the sum total of my cookbooks. I have had the Betty Crocker book for 30 years .My Mom gave it to me when I got my first place. Betty has been my cooking mentor for years. I did not clean her up for the picture. The loose pages and filthy cover is what makes her my old friend. You should see my Mothers. Julia I got in a box of books at an auction. I kept her in hopes I might make gourmet food some day . I haven't.

Imagine my surprise when I could not find a Marinara recipe in either one!!!! My stress level began to build. I decided to tackle the one project I knew needed to be done . Peeling the tomatoes. The thought of peeling tomatoes did overwhelm me. Yes I have peeled Green Chiles, but tomatoes ? I dove right in. I was amazed. Tomato peeling proved to be extremely easy and lots of fun. I do need to get a life. I missed you Erin you would have loved peeling tomatoes too.

Then came time to deseed the tomatoes. Can we say Ragu? At this point I was having a grand old time but an understanding of why people buy Ragu started to grow. I was beginning to make peace with my lack of perfect Marinara recipe. Maybe it was so simple you kind of needed to wing it. Wing it I did.

As I was chopping my wonderful bounty I began to fantasize about being self sustaining. The process of making my way in a modern world on my little 1/2 acre was enticing. I could Blog about all that I had learned and endured. My husband loves End of the world Sci Fi fantasy books . Maybe he could join in and we could do this life changing process together. I fantasize alot. I guess that's why I like to blog. Sometimes the thoughts just need to leave my head. It gets crowded in there. Anyways back to my Marinara.

So I stuck it all in a pot together and just let it simmer, and simmer, and simmer. Cant you just smell it thru the computer? I can. My house had the most delicious smell .

Viola!!! Marinara and Penne Pasta!!!! I will say it was the best marinara I have ever tasted. I was beyond proud of my self. Even have enough to freeze some for later. Hmmm maybe this self sustaining thing could be done..... That's when my Husband came home with a surprise for my homemade Marinara dinner....

Screw self sustainability !!!!

ROCK_O_BILIAS LATEST BUYING VENTURE!!!

Went on a great record buying expedition last weekend. We purchase our records many different ways. Perusing $1 record store bins is our most expensive way but is always a great family outing. Yes most families go to theme parks , ballgames or play board games. Not us. We drag Erin to dusty dirty record stores in search of vinyl gold. I don't think she minds it though. It was "HER" idea to start this store at the ripe old age of 15. Now shes off to college at San Francisco State leaving "ME" to run the wretched business. Honestly I have a love/hate relationship with Rock_o_Bilia. I do love working with the records but sometimes between my other store Dageland_curios and Rock_o_bilia I get overwhelmed. Its times like these however I realize I could still be working for the Man. This is much better.

Our first stop was Amoeba Records. This is a wonderful chain of 3 stores in California. They are in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Berkeley California. We have been to them all and each has their own eclectic flavor. The Los Angeles store is HUGE!!!! there are always a mix of hipsters, pre- post punkers, hip-hop etc etc etc. Great place for people watching and they have it all!!!! Vinyl, CDs, cassettes ( yes Melissa they have cassettes!), posters ,Dvds you name it. The San Francisco store is in the Haite -Ashbury area. Lots of street kids outside and a much more laid back crowd. The store is much smaller but does have great deals. Berkeley is much smaller and decidedly more collegy (is that a word?) . All of them also have guest appearances on a regular basis. Elija Woods was guest DJ last Sunday. Who knew he did that?

Very impressed with the Los Angeles Amoeba store last weekend. We purchased over 200 $1 albums and in the mess of checking our order they forgot to include Erin's $13.00 "Jawbreaker" album in our boxes. They not only shipped out the album in 2 days ,as we are an hours drive away, they also included 3 shirts and a bag!!! SCORE!!!! Talk about great customer service.

Plus they have the coolest elevator ever!!!!!

The next record store was Counterpoint Records in a tony part of Hollywood across from a Gelsons Grocery store. More interesting people watching. This store , also a used book store, was a wonderful shopping experience. Not alot of records but all of them were very clean and the store has a great ambiance. Something about shopping in a store packed with old books and records listening to Jazz made it the perfect wind down after the frenetic exuberance of the Amoeba Records. Their $1 section was quite small but it did not disappoint. We bought approximately 50 records in the best shape ever!!! Most were near mint. Not an experience found in most $1 record store bins.

I have saved the best for last. The Dages absolutely loved Record Surplus in a seedier part of L.A. The day we were there a homeless man was asleep on the sidewalk. It was one of those situations where you want to go up and poke him to see if he was alive but were afraid. I did see him move however so that made me feel better. Don't be surprised though if you see us on one of those hidden camera shows ignoring the poor homeless man.

Record Surplus touts themselves as "the last record store" . Although they are not as Los Angeles is full of record stores , they still are our favorite. It is just a HUGE open space full of mostly used vinyl. Very , very, good prices. they have an upstairs attic type space for 90 cent records. Not $1 but 90 cents. They also have special 3/90 cents weekend sales. We will definitely be there!!!

Here is Erik wearing his Ramones shirt perusing the soundtracks. That shirt has travelled the United states, Canada and Mexico.

This is the only record store with listening stations .They even have them in the attic.

Well that's it for our latest venture. All in all we aquired over 500 rock records for your buying experience. I will be sure to share other ventures with you later.

GREEN CHILE ROASTING TIME!!!!

Its green Chile roasting time!!! I do believe that no one ,with the exception of my daughter Erin , loves green Chile's more than I do. My father in law lives in Las Cruces New Mexico. It was there that I truly learned Green Chili appreciation. Growing up in California I have learned to appreciate good Mexican food. It is abundant here. The Green Chili however is not a big part of the cuisine. Sure we have Chili Rellenos and Green Chili sauce but they tend to be bland and somewhat slimy.

Not in New Mexico though. They put Green Chili's in or on everything. Eggs, hamburgers , hot dogs ,you name it Green Chili's go on it. Once you have eaten a freshly roasted Green Chili your hooked!!!! I started out buying Big bags of Green Chili's when we would visit New Mexico . I would bring them home and roast them. They freeze quite well.

I always shop at the Mexican Grocery store for my vegetables. Great prices and they are fresh, fresh, fresh. One day I noticed they carry Green Chili's. Honestly I'm not sure if the regular Grocery store carries them or not but I do buy them regularly and roast them .

This year while shopping for plants for my vegetable garden I got quite the wild hair. Not only did I purchase Eggplant and Artichokes, stories in their own right, I purchased peppers ,peppers and more peppers. All kinds of Peppers. Green Peppers, Red Peppers, Yellow Peppers, and of course the Anaheim Green Chili. To my amazement the Green Chili's took off. All of them have taken off.

Following is a tutorial on how to roast Green Chili's for my niece Melissa the self proclaimed foodie. But you can roast Green Chili's too !!! Its fun and self satisfying. Great thing to do with kids. My daughter Erin enjoyed helping me and shes 18!!

First you start out with firm fresh Green Chili's . Get your propane or gas barbecue nice and hot. Put your chili's on the grate and shut the top. In about 3 to five minutes you will hear a sissing and some pops . This is the Chili's starting to pop. Once the skin browns on one side and you can easily stick a fork in it turn the Green Chili's on their other side and let that side brown. Don't be afraid of burnt skin. This is a sign they are done .

This is what the Chili's should look like. The skins will start to peel off. They should still be firm enough to hold a shape and let a fork pierce easily. You need to let them cool a bit. You don't want to wait too long as they peel much better while they are warm.

This is how the skin should peel off. The Chili underneath should be pliable yet firm. Too mushy and you have roasted it too long. I don't recommend starting off with a large quantity as the roasting process is a learned one.

This is your end product. At this point you need to make a decision. As all the heat of a pepper is in the seeds, you can cut them open and get rid of the seeds or you can keep them in. The Green Chili flesh is a wonderful mild pepper .I keep the seeds in. After they defrost I can choose to keep the seeds or dispose of them depending on my heat preference.

I them will pop 2 chili's in a baggie and freeze them. As it is just my husband and I this is the perfect portion of Green Chili. If I need more for a recipe I will defrost more bags. Now all you have to do is take them out of the freezer pop them into the nuker for about 20 seconds and you have fresh roasted chili's. Perfect for eggs, quiche, hamburger topping ,Chili you name it!!! Erin and I have decided I need to take the next step. Chili Rellenos here I come. Wish me luck........