Happy New Year!

As I sit here with my laptop in my, uh, lap, watching "That's Entertainment" (we're nearing the end, the American in Paris ballet with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron is playing), Miller, Bailey and Fred snoozing and occasionally snoring in the background, I have been checking out the polls over at Andrew Sullivan's The Daily Dish. I highly recommend viewing some of the finalists in the Mental Health Break of the Year. "My Dogs Greeting Me" is way ahead in the voting, and I do love that one, but I voted for "Our Wonderful Nature". It is hilarious. Also, "Hey Jude" is pretty great, too.

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/mentalhealthbreak.html

Enjoy and have a wonderful New Year!

Denise and the crew

Pizza stone good

We christened the pizza stone last night with two delicious 14 inch pizzas. Darryl did most of the work as he made the dough and was a one-man assembly line. I sauteed the mushrooms and sliced up the onions and red peppers. The first one wasn't the most beautiful pizza ever made: we had, how shall I say, technical difficulties getting the loaded down dough onto the stone. We figured out what we had to do for the second one, though. They were delicious, and as you can see, the second one really was pretty, too!

Bring it on!

Well, I am ready for the new year. It's not that I didn't have a good 2008 or anything. I made the big move up to the Adirondack Mountains and I am enjoying being up here so, so much. But with the coming inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the United States I feel renewed hope that we as a country can get back to the job of helping ourselves as well as the rest of the world. I hope that means an end to the war that has bled us dry of the funds that we so desperately need to fund research into disease and crippling medical conditions so that the future looks more like the future that we saw ahead before these last eight years of George Bush took away so much of the hope and promise of our country. It is like we are eight years behind in medical, other sciences and technological research. I like that we have a president-elect who is a self-professed geek. I think that bodes so well for all of us.

On the home front, Christmas was nice and we're celebrating the New Year a little early tonight with homemade pizza...and champagne, of course. We have had a significant snowmelt over the last few days. It was flurrying a few minutes ago, and now the sun is shining brilliantly. I've got to run Miller over to the vet for a check-up, so I've got to sign-off for now.

I hope everyone's Christmas was great, and Hannukah, too. Kwanzaa if that's what you celebrate. And have a great 2009! Cheers. Denise

The Holiday Meal

We're right close to the big Christmas holiday. I have just made the cranberry relish (an absolutely wonderful recipe with whole fresh cranberries, tangerines and their zest, onions, garlic, ginger and brown sugar that I got from the Food Network). I served this at Thanksgiving as well and it was a big hit...with everyone but Dana! Onions and cranberries together? The horror. After a break I will be making the stuffing. I don't actually stuff the turkey anymore since it just seems too mushy coming out of the bird. I like a little crunch with my stuffing, so I'm putting it in the oven early this time.

I do turkey for both the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. I'm not sure why. We used to do ham sometimes at Christmas, but I do like the turkey. Plus, I make ham and cabbage with potatoes several times through the year, so ham doesn't seem all that special, at least not to me.

Happy Christmas eve, everyone!

Denise

Snowshoeing!

Today Darryl and I headed out back again to do some snowshoeing. This was just my second time - my first time snowshoeing was yesterday! It's a wonderful, peaceful and beautiful way to get some exercise. Yesterday we met my neighbors Bob and Pam and their daughter Morgan along with their two Great Danes, Sapphire and Nitro. Great dogs! Our walks to the quarry in the summer and fall were nice - and in the wrong direction. Darryl found a shortcut when he explored with his snowshoes on his own when he first arrived to ride out this last snowstorm (he was able to drive down his driveway without a plow, just not back up!).

So here are a few shots of today's adventure.

First, the quarrry. That's me, waaaaaaay in the distance:

It's so cool out in the forest. Virgin snow, save for the occasional deer, fox, rabbit or other tracks of the creatures with which we share this land. The trees all have their unique footprint as well, especially after they've been doused with several inches of snow:

As we walked through the woods we came along some things that were now only vaguely familiar from when we'd passed them in the summertime. This shortcut that Darryl found to the quarry allows us to bypass one of my least favorite things about the other way to get there: the other shortcut, a steep, rocky way to get back to the path down at the bottom of the quarry (Darryl's new way gets us to the top of the quarry without all the harder climbing). That steep path is still steep, but you'd never know there were rocks there, too, with the blanket of snow now covering them.

This is the sky through the trees today after two days of snow:

And then we finished our snowshoeing and got back to the house. We took a stroll to the front to get another look at how pretty my house looks in the snow (I did spend time this afternoon shoveling snow off of the porch. It really wouldn't do for the front porch to crash under the weight of snow and ice!):






And then Darryl found my mailbox on the ground. This seemed to always happen in South Jersey whenever we had infrequent snowfalls. I attributed that to the fact that they got so little snow there that they would forget how to run the snowplows. I guess that wasn't the issue. I noticed that my neighbor down the street whose mailbox was even farther out to the street than mine didn't get hit. Dana and I are probably going to get a bunch of bungie cords and wrap them around the post in an inexpensive attempt to get the mailbox to last through the winter. What we'll do in the spring is the question.


So that is today's post. Stay warm - it seems the whole country has been hit with some of this cold. I don't mind it, but I've had complaints from a lot of people who are not enjoying their winter weather. I don't have much sympathy, but then again, I like all this snow! Ciao.

Winter Wonderland

What a day. See?

I cannot express how pleased I am to see all of this snow. I love it. I truly do live in a winter wonderland. I spent about an hour shoveling and clearing my driveway and making paths for the dogs to get out into the yard to do their business. Fred felt it was his special job for the day to make sure that all the paths were passable - at light speed! He was adorable running around and trying out each way to go. Once he zoomed past a new way to go and I swear I heard the "screech" sound in the air, and I think I may have seen smoke when he stopped, and then made his way as fast as he could down a new path. He is such a cutie-pie. And Bailey and Miller had fun in the snow, too.

Joyful times in Willsboro.

Also today, I made beef stew in my slow cooker. I used an Ina Garten (of Barefoot Contessa fame) recipe from her chef at her restaurant. Her recipe isn't for use in a slow cooker, but I made it that way anyway. It starts with placing the beef in wine, garlic and bay leaves and marinating overnight. It has other wonderful things as well - sundried tomatoes, rosemary, Worcestershire sauce. Very savory, rich beef stew. We didn't eat it today - I made it for tomorrow. Well, okay, I taste-tested it. It's excellent. You can find the recipe on the Food Network listed as Parker's Beef Stew/Ina Garten. Yum.

Good cheer

I took a ride down to see my sister Deb's elite choir perform a holiday concert. What a lovely evening and a wonderfully talented group they are. I always marvel at how excellent these kids are and have to forever remind myself that these young people are still only in high school. Deb manages to get a beautiful sound from these young voices, excellent singing with great passion and emotion. I really never tire of listening to her choirs (my beat up old CDs are proof positive of this), and even drove all the way back to southern New Jersey just to hear them. I picked up my friends Tom and Dolores on the way down and we delivered four dozen decorated Christmas cookies for the refreshments part of the evening. They were a big hit. If you want to impress, check out the internet for Martha Stewart's Royal Icing recipe and its accompanying cookie recipe. Delicious. Of course, including some Collies, Dachshunds, Scotties and Westies decorated with their Christmas colored collars along with the trees, bells and other holiday-themed cookies goes a long way in spreading Christmas cheer. I also got to drive through that crazy ice wonderland through the Saratoga Springs area. Wow. Just beautiful, in spite of the danger the ice was to the trees and the power outages left in the ice storm's wake. And the stay overnight at Tom and Dolores' - their million dollar view of Manhattan from Guttenberg - was thrilling, as it always is. It's truly breathtaking walking into their place, every time. Thanks for the hospitality, friends.

Let it snow

The bad news is that it's kind of a dark day. It started out relatively warm, but it's gotten colder as the morning has gone on. The good news is that turning the lights on on the Christmas tree and watching the pretty snowfall behind it outside the picture window makes you totally not care that it's overcast. It doesn't feel dark or dreary but bright and cheery. I love the snow. I just brought the dogs in from a walk and it had rained steadily earlier, wiping out all evidence of yesterday's snow. I suspect this snow could make the roads messy, but I'm in for the day. I have two things I must do today: 1) prepare the dough for the cookies Dana and I are making for Deb's concert on Saturday (it needs to chill before it can be spread out for the cookie cutters tonight), and 2) bake an apple cake for my Christmas gathering Friday morning with the Master Gardeners group. Seems like a good day for baking.

Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything. Had family for the Thanksgiving holiday, then Christmas decorations that HAD to get up ASAP as I like to enjoy a nice, long Christmas season.

Today Darryl came over to replace two ugly wall sconces with the two new ones that I purchased a while back. There is a wonderful lighting store up in Plattsburgh. I'm not allowed to go there anymore, as I am always tempted by their great variety of nice sconces and, therefore, I don't buy the cheaper stuff at Lowe's. I have two more sconces to replace, and I assure you, they will be from Lowe's or Home Depot.

So, in exchange for Darryl replacing these sconces, I made him lunch: cous-cous with olive oil infused with garlic topped by sauteed vegetables. I used what I had in the fridge: leeks, carrots, celery, heirloom cherry tomatoes sauteed in garlic, some onion and olive oil, finished with fresh thyme. Oh, baby. It was a very nice lunch.

Darryl hung out and we worked out a way to keep the guest room from getting too hot (it's heat zones, shared thermostats, too much baseboard heat, blah, blah, blah), and also checked out a few other things in the basement. When Dana got home from work we all headed over to the Turtle Island Cafe for dinner. It was 5 degrees out. At 6:30 in the evening. In early December. Brrrrrr.

Dinner, by the way and as always, was superb. It is just crazy that one of the best restaurants in the Adirondacks happens to be in my little town of Willsboro.

That's it for now. Stay warm!

Pure genius

Listen to this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFPzYNrQigg&feature=related



Even if you don't like opera, you have to admit that this performance of "Di quella pira" from the opera "Il Trovatore" by Giuseppe Verdi is magnificent. Luciano Pavarotti was the great tenor of his time, and, for me, the great tenor of all time. His phrasing in Italian was absolutely gorgeous. His French was also pretty good (check out "Ah mes amis" from Donizetti's "La fille du regiment", also available on You Tube...see note below).



I adored Pavarotti. I only saw him in one opera, Puccini's "Tosca" in Philadelphia. Those of us who lived in the Philadelphia area during the height of Pavarotti's career were so lucky. He spent a lot of time in Philly; it's where his international voice competition was based. I saw him in recital many, many times. And I have to thank my Italian language teachers in high school, John Mazzotta and especially Cesarina DeCesero for their part in bringing opera into my life. It's certainly not the only music I listen to, it's not even what I listen to most these days, but I'm pretty sure I feel the most emotion when I put on a Pavarotti recording. Of course, when you do that you are often gifted with another great singer in the process: Joan Sutherland, Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, Marilyn Horne.



Beautiful stuff.

While you're at You Tube you might feel the need to check out the other performances of "Di quella pira" while you're there. Please do. Once you do, you will truly understand why this one is so very special. Also, I do recommend checking out this: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=c6NkMeR2Z0M. It's a little long, but this is the famous "La fille du regiment" aria with 9 high C's.

Watch your toolkit

No matter where you are it is important to keep an eye on your tools. The expensive ones often get stolen. Sometimes they get lost in space http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081120/ap_on_sc/space_shuttle. Other times, a little Beagle named Fred will go into your bag (he'd have gotten to it even if it had been zipped up) and slip out a screwdriver and gnaw that hard plastic handle to shreds. That's what he did the other day when Lee and Dutchie (not Deb's Dutch, the other Dutch) came to finish up a couple of things on the bathroom and the thermostat. Dutchie thought it was hysterical; of course, it wasn't his screwdriver. But Lee laughed, too. My dogs have grown accustomed to these fellas being here, and all of the guys have been so nice and patient with the dogs. They were well-behaved, but the guys working on the bathroom have had to be extra careful coming in and out of the house and ultra-aware of the things they leave laying about (much to Fred's chagrin). We're about done now. Bailey is going to miss hanging with the guys. If he was a 'real' boy he'd have helped them out every single day.

Goodness, there is so much good reading out there

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111802886.html

The article speaks for itself. Well said. But the Republicans won't listen.

Whew!

My pal Darryl's nightmare scenario will not come true. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for re-election to the U.S. Senate from Alaska. Darryl had posited that Stevens would win re-election and then be forced to leave the Senate once his appeals on his conviction on federal corruption charges were exhausted. At that point, Darryl had suggested the nightmare scenario that Sarah Palin would then appoint herself to complete the remaining 6 years of the term. The thought of that kind of visibility for this ultimate opportunist was too much to think about. Luckily, we can put that out of our heads; I still get shivers thinking about it. I figured she'd go back to Alaska and we wouldn't hear much from her again. Man, that voice could gag a maggot!

Bye Sarah. Don't let the door hit ya.

Of course, Stevens hasn't conceded yet, and there could be a recount. I shall not hold my breath on this one until the deed is truly done.

Here I go again!

My friends, you might think that with Barack Obama's victory over the Republicans I would be happy as a clam and ready to leave behind my criticisms of George Bush and his idiotic decision-making over these years. And I was happy to take that path, but this decision by the Bureau of Land Management to lease large portions of eastern Utah for oil and gas extraction has forced me into a u-turn.

Above is a photo that I took last year at Arches National Park. This is what the BLM under George Bush thinks is okay to jeopardize, dirtying up the landscape, marring the natural beauty and wonder of vast expanses of wilderness. I feel so lucky to have been able to make this trip; the west is a wonder and something every American should have the chance to see. That there are those who do not think that these are areas that need to be preserved for us and for posterity...I just don't understand this thinking. Don't we do enough marring the landscape in areas that we have to look at every day? I'd like to think we can leave it at that and not leave our smudges on every spot of beauty in this country.

Robert Redford posted an opinion that says better than I could my feeling on this subject. And as he notes, there is hope, as Obama has expressed his desire to reverse these leases once he takes office. I will be hoping this can happen. Meanwhile, if you can, schedule yourself a trip out to see some of the majesty that this country has to offer. In our lifetimes, ersosion, and hopefully dumb ideas like this, won't have a chance to change the beautiful land that awaits you on your roadtrip.

Happy trails!

Oops! I meant to include the link to Redford's opinion piece. Here it is :http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-redford/americans-rejected-drill_b_144499.html

Ramblings on the week ahead

For someone who is currently not working I sure do manage to pack in a full week on occasion. This morning I am awaiting the arrival of Larry my bathroom contractor. The expansion of the half bath to a guest suite with a full bath is complete and now I have to pay for it. Ugh. :-( But that's okay, I knew it was coming. A long time coming. But it's done and it's lovely and it's particularly lovely to not have to share a bathroom with my sister, when I don't have guests, of course.

This afternoon I take Miller to the groomer. While he's being groomed so will I; I am overdue for a haircut.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) is my last class in the Cornell University Essex and Clinton County's Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener Volunteer program (boy is THAT a mouthful). :-( I LOVE this class and don't want it to end. I spent yesterday afternoon with two of my compadres in the class, sisters who live in Crown Point near the Champlain Bridge. They are two of SIXTEEN children. Yikes! I stopped at Flo's place first to tour the family farm (and visit with her husband and son and beautiful Collie Sparky) and then we went over to Jeannette's to have lunch with her family. We three have been commiserating (re: griping) about the fact that the gardening class had to end. But we have a year's worth of volunteering coming up, including monthly meetings, so that will be cool.

Wednesday will be Bailey and Fred's turn at the groomer. I can't do all three of them together - that would surely drive me to drink (more). And they are overdue for their grooming, especially their nails, so I fit them in as soon as I could. Separately, thank you very much.

I may or may not have an evening event for MoveOn.org members in my area this Thursday. There are active groups over in Burlington, VT but none over on this side of the lake, so, if I get any RSVPs, we'll have a gathering. We'll probably have some champagne in celebration of the elections. Champagne has been an ongoing theme at my house since the election, as those who are in the know might already have surmised.

I think Friday is open.

Prop 8, Gay Marriage, and Why Can't People Mind Their Own Business?

I just spent a little time over at Andrew Sullivan's blog, looking at all the photos and reports coming in from the hundreds of protests organized throughout the country in protest of the passage of Prop 8 in California and other restrictions against gay and lesbian freedoms in other states.

I have always had what I think is a very simple and straightforward question about this: Why is it my business if someone wants to get married? Isn't that something that really is only the business of the two people engaging in marriage? Okay, maybe their families and closest friends can have some impact - though no real say, because, like, it's none of their business, either - but really, this is a private issue. Gays and lesbians marrying has absolutely nothing to do with how YOU (or I) choose to lead your life, get married in your own right, have or adopt and then raise your children. I will never understand why anyone thinks they have the right to tell me what to do. You can have an opinion...it is, after all, a free country. But what a gay or lesbian couple does has zero impact on YOUR life. Why should it?

The inaugural post

You see, for those of you who know me, you're probably thinking one of two things with the title of this post:

1) Jeez, here she goes with the Obama inaugural stuff already (requisite eye roll)

- or -

2) It's about time she started a blog.


But also, as those of you who know me well already know, I am usually late to the technical revolution. Yes, I understand how odd that sounds coming from a former software consultant. But it is what it is. And I say former software consultant as in "not currently consulting". I leave that option open for the future, but it is a back-burner reality for now.

I don't have all that much to say for my first blog post. Don't let that worry you, though. I am sure to have more to say as life goes on. I usually do. And I reserve the right to comment on whatever tickles my funny bone, or not so "humerus" bone, depending on the day.

I also haven't got a feel yet for how often I'll be posting here. I reckon often, but I'm new to this whole blogging thing, and I'm still working on the page itself, which is a totally fun thing to do. What should I link to that represents me and my interests? I've started with a few: The Daily Puppy, of course. Andrew Sullivan's blog, for now. There will be others. And I have a link here to my friend Darryl's blog over in Jay, NY. He's the one what got me started on my blog, so many thanks to Darryl, aka Dutch, aka my sister Deb's boyfriend. My posts will definitely reflect my location here in the tiny Adirondack/Champlain Valley town of Willsboro; Dutch's perspective is some 45 minutes closer to Lake Placid.

So, for those of you who find the blog? Enjoy! I hope to present more interesting and response-worthy posts in the future.

Oh, and you might be wondering about the fellas at the top of the screen. They would be my boys, from left to right: Fred, Miller, Boo and Bailey. Boo is no longer with us, but is definitely still with us in spirit. The winter is approaching fast and with the first significant snowfall we will all be thinking about how much he would have loved living up here. He was born to live in snow country.

Peace.