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Contact Info
I won't be returning to FJ.
If anyone would like to connect with me, my email is sunnygoldfinch at gmail dot com.
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Meet Mela's Fur-Babies! Gilda.
Gilda is our 2nd oldest female, after Lily. Gilda's loves are cardboard boxes, straws, plastic spoons, and potato chips. Fluffybutt loves her some potato chips. That's about the only people food she's ever touched. You could set a steak dinner in front of her and she would just look confused. Like Josie, she has her own language of sorts. She has a very soft and delicate meow that we only hear once in a while. She sort of grunts and gurgles in response to us - like she says 'err! err .' She also has a penchant for wanting to play with my nail art supplies and polish whenever it's out.
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Latest Entry
It's baseball playoff time...
So the MLB regular season has ended and the playoffs start tomorrow. Thanks to the Giants sweeping their series against the Dodgers this past weekend, my Cardinals are out of the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Because I love baseball, I'll watch anyway. Now I have to decide which team to root for.
The teams playing for it all are:
American League: Orioles, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers, Indians
National League: Cubs, Mets, Giants, Dodgers, Nationals
I'm a National League fan all the way; so by process of elimination, cross off the American League teams. I grew up watching the Cubs because my family, especially my dad, liked them. Watching those games led me to watch other National League teams. Besides that, I didn't like American League games because they used the designated hitter, which (to me) simplified the game and removed a level of strategy. (However, if I had to choose an American League team, I guess I'd choose the Blue Jays because I saw them in Toronto earlier this year and had fun, even if my poor arms fried to a crisp because some certain dummy *points at self* didn't bring or buy sunscreen that day.)
Re: the National League teams... (and I will probably root for whichever one of them makes it to the World Series)
Nationals: Nah. No attachment to them. I only know who a few of their players are and have no strong feelings about them either way.
Dodgers: Nah. See: Nationals, although I do like Clayton Kershaw. Also, if they'd won even one game against the Giants this weekend, the Cardinals would have at least played the Giants in a tiebreaker to determine who'd go to the Wild Card game. Thanks for nothing, Dodgers. That, and they didn't even give Vin Scully one last chance to broadcast a winning game this weekend. Nice sendoff...not.
Mets: Up until last year, I'd have said no way in Hades. There's a back story there I won't go into. Suffice it to say that the hate is gone and I could like them again. They're an interesting group and they've overcome A LOT of injuries to make it this far. If they make it to the World Series, I'll pull for them. Until then...probably not.
Giants: Normally I would pull for them. Normally I like them. But I'm feeling a bit not-fannish (yeah, I know, that's not a word) toward them after they went out and won every night the Cardinals won during that last week of the season. Couldn't they have lost even one game to give the Cardinals a chance? Besides that, even though I know it was in their best interest to cut Tim Lincecum loose after last season, dang it, I liked him! To me, they're not the same team without him. Maybe better, maybe worse...but to me, less interesting.
Cubs: Hmmm. Until about 4 years ago, they would have been my no-brainer choice. You see, I grew up a Cubs fan, as I said above. Dad was a Cubs fan and the family followed. Several times, we all hopped on the bus and the L and rode up to Wrigley Field to watch them play. Eventually (except for one year when my sister went with me instead), it was just Dad and I who went. Later, I went alone. In 1989, when they made the playoffs, I sat on the phone from Friday evening to late Sunday afternoon trying to get through to Ticketmaster to get tickets. I finally got through, got 4 single seats for Game 1, and then proceeded to watch them lose to the Giants 11-3. Yes, I was a diehard Cubs fan. But that love affair went sour along about 1997, when I worked for a creep who had bought season tickets along with a bunch of his business cronies. One afternoon, the jerk ordered me to go up to Wrigley and scalp his tickets for that game on the street near the ballpark. I was so ashamed and embarrassed. Another day, he invited me to take the afternoon out of the office and go to the game, only to leave after a few innings and return to the office, where he ripped into me so badly that I was catatonic the rest of the day and that weekend. I never went to another game until 2003, when I took my now ex-boyfriend to a game. (He is one guy I should have just stayed friend with and not gone any further. But I digress.) Eventually, I got fed up with their losing ways and what appeared to me to be apathy on ownership's part. Did they not care about the product they put on the field? Didn't look that way to me. Of course, I didn't realize what they were doing (intentionally gutting the roster and rebuilding from the bottom of the farm system on up to improve the team)...I had just had enough. I was done. I wanted to follow a team that I could tell knew what it was doing.
In the meantime, Dad passed on; my oldest sister and her family became Cardinals fans; my other sister followed her (my brother and other sister never showed much interest in baseball); and I moved away from the Chicago area and into Cardinals territory. I'd always liked the Cardinals, even though they and the Cubs were bitter rivals; so when I decided I'd had enough of the Cubs once and for all, it was obvious to me which team to follow. (Interesting story: one day, maybe Christmas 2013?, I announced to everyone that I was officially a Cardinals fan. My nephew ordered me to walk over to him; when I did, he swept me up in a big hug and said, "Welcome home.")
The Cubs and the Cardinals are bitter rivals. My sister used to go to Wrigley when the Cardinals played the Cubs there and says she, as a Cardinals fan, always got beer dumped on her. I turned my back on the Cubs. It wouldn't be right for me to decide to root for them now...that is called being a fair-weather fan and that's not right, not after I said I was through with them. Yes, they're interesting to watch. Yes, they seem to be having so much fun; and I have to admit, I've watched a few more games than I should have watched.
So...which team do I choose? I've got until Friday to decide. LOL
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My poor car is suffering a bit...
So as I mentioned the other week, I'm moving. TOMORROW, in fact. I've been a bit sad to move out of my little flat - it's in a rough area but I haven't had any issues - at least until today when I noticed some douchebag had KEYED MY CAR.
Seriously? My second-to-last day of parking here and someone decides to key it. Luckily, it's not too bad - i managed to rub the surface off and it's not as bad as it looked initially. Just to make matters worse though - I didn't even notice until the man who'd come to fix my windscreen pointed it out. Yep, in the space of a week my windscreen cracked and my car got keyed. LOL. What the hell.
I'm doing okay, though. It will be expensive to fix and I'm pretty protective of my car, but at the end of the day - it's a hunk of metal and I'm not hurt. Things could always be worse.
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I need to buy me some new shoes
This week I have accomplished something great, HUGE even:
I have finally found shoes that don't make my little toes feel like they somehow missed their amputation appointment.
Color - check
Ease of purchase - check
Ability to reorder 1000000 pairs at once - near check (I actually want to wear them a bit more first to make sure they'll hold up ok).
No attack of the allergies while shopping - check
NO squished painful toes! - CHECK!You have no idea how happy I am about this. YEARS and MANY shoes of attempted this made me wonder if it might be impossible without emptying my bank account. Apparently it IS possible. YAY! I'm so happy. I once found a pair of shoes when I was really desperate that were good, except they were something like 5 times my budget at the time which wasn't really possible.
So, long live internet shopping and long may I be able to purchase shoes with free return, and no import taxes.
(and may internet shopping greatly improve. I got my feet scanned so I could find out what shoes would fit best and the damn thing won't even tell me that. I have to look at each individual shoe *sigh* At least the scan did inform me that I have WIDE feet, and thus I'm not imagining that
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The search for work/formal shoes/boots continues. I ordered some 'wide' ankle boots online. People complained in the reviews that they were too wide. I try them on and was so terribly terribly saddened. I'm not sure how much foot binding those reviewers did in their youth, but those boots made me want to get rid of 2 full toes spread over 3 toes, on each foot. They were NOT wide enough. I guess the bonus was I could actually squeeze my feet into the boots. There have been times in the last five years and the 100s or possibly 1000s of shoes/boots tried on, where it just wasn't possible to do that.
And I guess while I talk about footwear, it's time I got some new gardening shoes. I don't know what I want, or how to find cheap enough footwear that'll fit, is sturdy enough and won't get full of dirt every time I step outside (ok ok, today it was manure and dirt)
Then I might need some gumboots , and I'll be sorted for the next 20 years. One may dream right?
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Latest Entry
Introductions
Why put this all online instead of talking to my friends? I’ve always been the listener in my friend group, but when it comes to talking about my own life I tend to feel like I’m wasting their time. Plus, almost all of them are married now, and have children. They've long since left this stage of life in the dust.
Why one more year? Because dating is exhausting and I’m tired of the cycle of crushing to crushed and back again. Because if I continue waiting for the one, I’m afraid the rest of life will pass me by.
A little background about me – I’m in my early thirties and I’ve never been in love. Growing up I was always the shy, ugly girl that no guys paid attention to. However, I have had one boyfriend in the recent past. It was not a match made in heaven.
Here are the current key people:
The Ex – Twenty-five years my senior. Half of the time he is one of the most generous guys you’d ever meet. The other half, he’s an emotionally abusive, unapologetic a**hole. He’s a workaholic who hasn’t taken a day off in over a year. To complicate matters, we still work together and are still friends.
The Brit – My current crush. He lives in England. I do not. He’s cute and has that oh-so-sexy accent. We frequent the same forum and belong to a group chat on Skype. We have a lot in common but he might have his eye on someone else.
Muscle Man – Met through a mutual friend. He really likes to work out. Me? Not so much. We used to go to school together but never had any of the same classes. Our mutual friend claims he’s interested, but he took three months to get in contact. Not sure we have much in common but I’m willing to get to know him.
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Ok then...
So I finally caved in after struggling with combs and bristle brushes and bought a Furminator at the recommendation of a couple of websites and the woman at the Pet Barn (who clearly had no ulterior motive in selling me a stupidly expensive cat grooming item). I was skeptical and for $Aus56 I was crossing my fingers (and everything else) that it would be worth it.
And then this happened.......
This is thing is FREAKING AMAZING. Both of them sat for ages purring away and loving every second of it. Oh, and that bottom photo? That all came out of Alfie's tail.
However I am feeling like a bad cat parent because I clearly haven't been doing much good with my previous combs and brushes
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Family Vacation, Day 1
As I may have mentioned before, I am not a morning person. As the kids' summer break from school has gone on, they and I have been going to sleep a bit later and yet later than we should.
Our travel plans wisely took this into account.
So, day 1 of our trip did not start early. We got up at about our usual time, and I packed for myself and the 2 kids while my DH swiftly packed for himself. We then travelled about 30 minutes and then stopped for a meal and a full tank of gas. (This is also the first trip that we've taken as a family when I have done the majority of the driving. My only requirement of my husband was that he do all the "big city" driving.)
On the plus side, we only had a 4 to 5 hour drive to our hotel in the beautiful Wallowa Valley (Oregon). On the minus side, the only picture I got that day was at a rest area:
By the time we got to Wallowa Lake, it was dark, all the lovely scenery was not visible, and the hotel registration desk was closed. (We did see a deer by the side of the road in the dark. Fortunately, it stayed on the side of the highway.) On a different plus side, the hotel staff were trusting enough to leave our room key where we could get it and have a nice night's sleep. Thus ended day 1 of the WWJCD family trip. (royal flourish) - 12
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Life sucks a lot
Today I talked to someone who doesn't believe in God about why I do believe. It's funny because I'm feeling hopeless right now, feeling like if there is a God, he might not like me at all. I believe in him, I guess. I find peace in praying and trusting in him but sometimes life hits me really hard that I can't assure his existence anymore. When I get these feelings of loneliness I start to question everything about my life.
I've never had emotional stability or feel less lonely. I'm just here waiting for the moment when everything will go downhill because that's the way my life works. Something good then everything goes horribly. Life was going great, now i'm having the worst day I've had in a long time. It's like I can't even enjoy happiness or joy anymore because I know what's coming next. It sucks so much seeing everyone being loved one way or another, and here I am alone as always, feeling like my mother should have aborted me because maybe the world would be better and I wouldn't be suffering this much. I know I shouldn't feel that way but I can't help it. I have SO MUCH love to give, and heck! I give so much love! I'm such a loyal and sweet person, I don't know why things go this way and I'm not good enough, not even for my family.
Maybe I'm just destined to be abandoned or alone and that's it. Everyone I know can get their happiness but me. And I try to be completely stoked about my career that's moving forward but I guess my career won't hug me at night. Can I just get a break? From life?
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It grieves us to share that long time poster and helpmeet @Arete has passed due to complications from cancer.
Arete joined FJ in 2012 and described herself as "I'm in my early 40s, live in the Northeast US, and work as an ebil scientist. Born and raised Greek Orthodox Christian, and still am, got to have my smells and bells in congregational prayer. Politically liberal."
She was glad to provide information about her church, her experiences in gardening, and her Greek family traditions.
In respect for her family's privacy, we won't be sharing any additional details, but we know you will join us in honoring the memory of a graceful woman.
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The times they are a changing
So it's been a while since I have updated.
Motel Dad and I have been going back and forth with how we wish to proceed in the next few years.
The motel isn't doing too well. Built in the 70's (that's 1970) when things were a little simpler where accommodation was concerned. 40 odd years ago, being out of the main shopping district was a bonus especially with the river across the street. A beautiful bit of river it is too.Spoiler
The golf club is 2 mins by car away and we are up the other end of the street from the show grounds/racing club. People drove after drinking all day (not that that is a good thing) let their kids wonder around by themselves and kids entertained themselves with very little adult supervision.
Now we get complaints that the 5 minute drive into the main street means we are too far out of town. People want to be able to walk (mind you it's only a 20 min walk to the main street) to get dinner so they can have a drink and as one women told me "enjoy the shopping district" she must have meant window shopping as even though we are a tourist town, our shops are all shut by 5:00 unless you want to "enjoy" the supermarket. We built a wonderful uncover BBQ area in the hopes that this would help with the problem. With a custom made table to seat 16 people, the BBQ is free, there is a mushroom heater for winter with cafe blinds to keep you toasty warm. In summer the fan keeps away the flies and keeps you cool as well. We provid everything but the food, as well as mozzie repellents and mozzie coils. I planted a herb garden for guests to help themselves to, we have a small orchard that guests can also utilise however nobody hardly uses it. We also put in a fire pit area last year, but again about 3 people have used it. The guests love how clean it is and also compliment us on the decor and little touches we have in the room, but, there is always a but, we are too far out of town. We do have some guests that have been coming for 20 odd years but they can't come every weekend and one group came this year but cancelled the previous 2 years leaving us empty on a long weekend.
It's also time to do a refit of the soft furnishing and some of the carpet will need replacing, especially room 5 where the guest dropped the iron and burn it. Mind you according to them they don't remember doing that (and the implied tone was good luck proving it!) so any decisions needs to be made now. Time to stop dithering. So Monday morning at 10:00 am we will close the doors and cease to operate as a motel.As you may know we are off for 8 weeks to look after my in-laws (MD's older brother ...and I do mean older he is about 22 years his senior) sheep station while they go on a much deserved holiday. My BIL is not in the best of health and a few years ago we thought that MD might have had to pack up and move out there and help out until they could sell the station. Luckily BIL rallied and was able to continue on but it was very much on the cards. The in-laws would like to retire in about 2 years ( as long as health will allow) but they would like to stay on the property as they love it so have asked if we would like to come and take over the running and become partners. We can't afford the 3 or so million to purchase outright and we would have to borrow some money to invest in the stock but it is doable. So if we think after those 8 weeks that this is something we can do we have a plan, if we hate it we also have a plan. We are going to convert the motel into 3 non serviced holiday houses / or 1 holiday house and 1 double block property for us.
I was out in the carpark with MD after cleaning the rooms yesterday (he had an RDO) and thinking that fuck only 3 more sleeps and it's over. I then remembered standing in the carpark on our first day of ownership and being in awe over the fact that this was all ours and that we were going to be so happy! That was back when I still liked people
Fingers crossed for us folks, hopefully all goes well out there.P.S had a giggle picking a tag, never had to do that before. I think "walking through" could have worked too
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June 2nd - Festa della Repubblica Italiana
Today here it's a day of Festa Nazionale or as you say a bank holiday. That must be the reason my daughter felt the compelling need to wake me up at 6am
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Anyway this year's Festa della Repubblica is particularly felt because it marks 70 years since we got rid of the Savoia, elected a committee to write our Constitution and Italian women finally perused their right to vote. With this voting sheet we closed forever a chapter of our history not many are proud of. It was bilingual to accommodate Südtiroler German speaking citizens.
70 years ago started the process that in 1948 gave us a new Constitution, a new government and a new National symbol: the Star of Italy, a symbol strictly linked to our Risorgimento, the olive branch symbol of peace, the oak branch symbol of the unity of Italian people and the gearwheel symbol of the work of the people that is the foundation of our State as explicated by the first article of the Constitution.
Honestly I am not much of a patriot, for many reasons, but I think that that day of 70 years ago our people did something right. I am quite proud of the first part of our Constitution, that deals with the principles of our State. And I am proud that five women were very vocal members of the Constitutional Committee, their names: Maria Federici, Angela Gotelli, Nilde Jotti, Teresa Noce, Lina Merlin, are probably unknown internationally but are easily recognisable to Italian citizens because of some very important laws that were named after the women who proposed them and in particular Nilde Jotti was the first woman President of the Camera dei Deputati the third highest rank in our State, position currently held by Laura Boldrini. Sadly it's still the highest position ever held by women in our Establishment.
Reading FJ made me research more about USA Constitution and history. Today I wanted to reciprocate the pleasure for whoever may be interested. Here is the original writing of Italian Constitution as was approved by the Constitutional Committee in 1947 translated in English. It's under spoiler because it's composed by screenshots.
SpoilerChanges have been made over time ie Military Service isn't compulsory anymore. But the parts I am proud of are still unaltered. This is only the first part of the document as you can see from the Table of Contents. The second part designs the structure, the power balance and the functions of the different parts of the State. It was crafted carefully doing everything to prevent the possibility of another dictatorship in the future. Unfortunately this requirement makes for an extremely bureaucratic State that in hindsight is the principal cause of the political mess and stagnation of the last 70 years. But that's another very very long story for another day.
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The Long Dark -- 1
The Long Dark is a first-person survival simulation video game by a Canadian company called Hinterland. It's currently in alpha release (available on Steam for both PC and X box platforms), so there are constant changes, updates, and tweaking. The game is frequently updated with new areas, new mechanics,and new looks/feels.
The setting is the frozen far-north Canadian wilderness after some kind of freak global disaster (currently not much info is yet available about that). So, there's no electricity or anyone else around (which they capture really well with an isolated/desolate feel to the game--you're on your own!), and you have to scavenge food, water, clothing, and other resources that will keep you alive all while protecting yourself from the elements.
Oh, and the wolves. And did I mention the bears? Yeah, those godless killing machines, too.
Currently, there are only 2 modes available:
- "Sandbox"--you have the freedom to explore the world as you wish, with the goal being to survive as long as you can. And when you die, it's perma-death. No saves for you! (This perma-death/no save feature really pissed me off when the game glitched out on my longest survival run yet--529 in-game days, which put me on the leaderboard on Steam in the 42nd place).
- "Challenge"--you can choose two pre-set challenges and try to beat the clock to accomplish the set goals (Oh, and watch out for that bear on "The Hunted, Part 1," because it's a bitch).
There will eventually be a "Story" mode that will provide an RPG-type experience (and will allow saving, from what I understand), but that is still in development. I think the first chapter is due to be released sometime in the next month or couple of months.
Let's take a look at just a few visuals, because the game is pretty visually stunning.
Here's a gorgeous sunset over a frozen lake in an area called "Mystery Lake." There's a lot of walking, climbing, running, hiding (and falling and starving and freezing and dying) through these beautiful landscapes.
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A more typical snowscape, with a peach-tinged sunrise in the background.
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Here, I was trying to make it to a safe location in the dead of night, and turned around to catch the moon rising in between some stark trees.
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Here's a typical shelter that provides refuge from the cold (and usually food, drink, and supplies). Actually, this is one of the swank digs in the game. A lot of the time you're kickin' it in a quonset hut, a little shack, or even a cave. Hell, I've been caught up in blizzards when out running for supplies and had to make due with a hollowed out tree. Oh, and there are also some "prepper caches" hidden in two of the maps, so you can luck out and find some really good stores of supplies.
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There are currently 5 well-developed play areas (Coastal Highway, Mystery Lake, Pleasant Valley, Desolation Point, and Timberwolf Mountain), with more (from what I know) still in development. You can do fun (or terrifyingly dangerous, depending on your level of adrenaline junkiness) things like rappel down mountains, climb up mountains, ice fish (there are some cool little ice fishing huts on the frozen lakes), or try to find the wreckage of your airplane to scavenge for supplies.
You can also trap rabbits, hunt wolves (usually *they're* hunting *you*, though), or hunt bears, and their skins can be made into useful clothing that can mean the difference between freezing to death and being toasty warm as you explore the landscape.
I have been greatly enjoying it, and even though it's still only in alpha release and Sandbox mode is the most in-depth game play mode right now, I haven't yet gotten tired of it. Well, not *too* tired of it. They just recently did an update, so that's made me a pretty happy camper.
I plan to post more (I've got some more interesting screenshots and will probably post a couple "Day in the Life Of" type posts), but here's a video of the most recent update, which will give you a feel for what the game looks like in action:
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Bullying HURTS
The years of bullying took their toll. All these years later I can stil hear the words, I can still feel the blows. What was so wrong with me that I was singled out for that? The words spoken over that young girl all those years ago broke her. Abused in the same way at home, her spirit was killed and left her a hollow shell unable to feel anything besides anger, rage and fear. Where others found passion, she found pain. She carried a knife for protection but wanted to use it on herself. All these years later she still feels alone and scared of people...just knowing that they will hurt her at the first opportunity. She makes jokes on herself, cutting herself down so no one else will. The words that were said killed me just as surely as if someone had shot me. Everything I could have been, should have been died then. The drugs, booze and men didn't revive her, the family she dearly wanted but didn't have just drove more nails in the coffin of my life. The neverending sense of loss is the dirt over my grave, where nothing grows.
The ones who tormented me never knew the damage they did, they just went on with their lives. They don't remember the girl they killed. They don't know that their torment still affects her now, 35 years later, and 35 years later, she is still waiting to die. What was so wrong with me that I was singled out?
I have tried to forgive and go on, but the words still ring in my ears.
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Read Harder Challegen 2016 Master List
Read a horror book:
Read a nonfiction book about science:
Read a collection of essays:
Read a book out loud to someone else:
Read a middle grade novel:
Read a biography (not a memoir or autobiography):
Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel:
Read a book originally published in the decade you were bron:
Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award:
Read a book over 500 pages long:
Read a book under 100 pages long:
Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender:
Read a book that is set in the Middle East:
Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia:
Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900:
Read the first book in a series by a person of color:
Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years:
Read a book that was adapted into a movie then watch the movie & debate which is better:
Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes:
Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction):
Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction):
Read a food memoir:
Read a play:
Read a book with a main charter that has mental illness:
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Gun Violence
About a week ago, a former classmate of mine's parents were murdered; shot to death by her brother in their own house.
The story was on the news, complete with his mugshot. (I'm not going to link to it here out of respect for her and her privacy)
What gets to me is this: the murderer was known to be severely mentally ill, had been convicted of stalking a woman before and drug dealing, and had apparently sent death threats to his parents.
And he had somehow gotten access to a firearm.
I'm just baffled at the ease with which the wrong people can get these KILLING MACHINES.
Honestly we are in dire need of stricter gun laws here.
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Did someone say... tapir?
Inspired by @Maggie Mae, whose blog post gave me the warm fuzzies and a reason to dig out some old photos.
I believe everyone has at least one fascinating relative... mine just happens to have several thousand acres partially apportioned to an animal preserve. A few years ago, I tagged along in the truck on a feed and took some photos. (I survived unscathed, despite a camel stampede and a 7-year-old with a BB-gun in the backseat).
I'll start with the tapirs, but some of the other ones were just too good to resist.
Apologies in advance for any inevitable misidentifications.
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Cousin D is popular with his critters.Spoiler
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Friendly neighborhood Watusi cattleSpoiler
Cute water buffalo family.Spoiler
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Mom wants to know why we're looking at her calves.Spoiler
I think these are Przewalski's horses.Spoiler
Llama mama.
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I recommend avoiding herds of Bactrian camels if at all possible.Spoiler
This guy seemed to be in charge.Spoiler
A nice, normal dromedary camel hangs out with some muddy zebras.Spoiler
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Capybaras are the weirdest.Spoiler
Happy deer.Spoiler
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Boy Clothes vs. Girl Clothes
My first was a girl. It was easy to find cute clothes for her, and many times I had to use self-control to resist buying adorable outfits for her that she did not need. After having a boy, I have been a little frustrated with the lack of cute clothing options for him. Girls clothes seem to be so much cuter than boy clothes.
I wanted to get both of my children a cute outfit for Easter. It was easy to find an adorable dress for my daughter to pick out. Costco had lots of cute girls Easter dresses for a decent price, but no boy Easter clothes. I went shopping this week for an outfit for my son, and all of the stores I went to had limited options. The suits were too big for him and there were hardly any dressy outfit options. I found something that would work for this year, but I am still frustrated that there were so few options. Do people only want to dress up their girls for Easter?
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Hiss Hiss Motha Fucka!
Not added to the Colorists' page because of the profanity, but ... I'm really loving the Harry Potter coloring books
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In which I ruin dinner: Old-timey recipes
"Dreich" is what the weather is like. It's a Scots word that describes the grey misery of a miserable cold, rainy day, when you feel like the damp will just seep into your bones and stay there forever. And ever. You will never get warm, or fully dry again. The rain will always teeter on that fine line between mist and drizzle. Not enough to warrant opening an umbrella, enough to get you soaked and chilled regardless.
Since there is nothing I can do about the weather, I decided to cheer up our winter diet with a "Gratin Langedocien". Also known as the French version of an Italian Parmigiana. It was going to be a break from the endless rounds of cabbage that I feel compelled to cook in winter. Just a reminder that we will see the sun again, eventually.
It all sounded so good. After hours of reading through different recipes, making sure I had all the ingredients on hand, I did what I usually do: I ignored all measurements, combined the different steps in several recipes to make it as easy as possible, and set about it. It was beautiful, it smelled gorgeous, and when I lifted the dish out of the oven, my fingers found a threadbare bit of oven-mitt, and...splat. My lovingly crafted aubergine/eggplant casserole lay on the kitchen floor, and I jumped across it to cool my burnt finger.
In times past, this would have been a greater catastrophe. But back in the day, throwing away two days' worth of food was unthinkable. In the West, these days, we are quite used to throwing food out. It isn't a matter of life or death any longer, so I got the luxury of just feeling sorry for myself, rather than thinking "what am I going to feed everyone now?", and possibly scooping the whole mess back into the dish. The latter would have been horribly unsafe, since we are still battling a mouse. But in past centuries that was a luxury to consider.
Spices and sauces used to be a great way to hide spoiled food. And in an age before refrigeration, especially meat spoiled quickly. Daniel Defoe, the author of "Robinson Crusoe" and "Moll Flanders", complained in 17th century England that:
Quotein extreme hot weather, when meat will not keep from Saturday to Sunday, we throw, or cause to be thrown away, vast quantities of tainted meat, and have generally stinking dinners, because the butchers dare not sell a joint of meat on a Sunday morning.
So, food did get thrown out, but apparently only when it had rotted so badly that it was past salvaging. Or dressing up with sauces, like this:
QuoteBeef à la mode
Cut some buttock-beef a quarter of an inch thick, and lard it with bacon, having hackt it before a little with the back of your knife, then stew it in a pipkin, with some gravy, claret-wine, and strong broth, cloves, mace, pepper, cinnamon and salt; being tender stewed, serving it on French bread snippets.
Besides sauces, there was advice for how to make your tainted meat smell less. You had to bury it, over night. That would take away the smell. While the advice is to wrap the meat up before burying, I doubt that even that would pass any modern "Health and Safety" check.
As for fresh ingredients, well, peas were quite the thing in the 17th century. They were a fad food, made popular by the French King Louis XIV. Vegetables were plentiful, but expensive, in 17th century London. And salads were usually a boiled dish.
QuoteTo make boiled sallads
Boil some carrots very tender, and scrape them to pieces like the pulp of an apple; season them with cinnamon, ginger and sugar, put in currans, a little vinegar, and a piece of sweet butter, stew these in a dish, and when they begin to dry, put in more butter and a little salt, so serve them to the table; thus you may do lettuce, spinage or beets.
Londoners who could not afford expensive ingredients, would eat fish. The sea-fish was usually already dried, salted or pickled. Fresh fish was expensive, since it had to be kept alive in water-tanks or carts, as the fishwives went around town hawking their wares. Or in the case of fish-tanks, stood around Billingsgate market. Apparently, Billingsgate market was infamous for the foul-mouthed fishwives, who would curse and swear at their customers during haggling. It was not a place for delicate ears.
Or as Defoe said:
QuoteNot only strumpets, but labouring women, who keep our markets, and vend things about the street, swear and curse at a most hideous rate.
Personally, I quite like the image of working women, who shocked Defoe's sensibilities. After all, they weren't there to pander to his imagination, but to make a living. And their customers had families to feed, and meals to cook. For someone who wrote a rather sympathetic book about "Moll Flanders", he really didn't seem to know much about the realities with which women lived. On the other hand, "Moll Flanders" is very sensationalistic, so he probably had a romanticised idea, imagined all hardships that life could throw at a woman, and ignored the most obvious ones. Like, trying to make ends meet. But, I digress.
After all, this is about food, and one very popular and cheap food were oysters. They were plentiful and very cheap. Here's a recipe:
QuoteOyster Pies
Parboil your oysters in their own liquor. then take them out and wash them in warm water, dry them, and season them with pepper, nutmeg, yolks of hard eggs and salt; the pye being made, put a few currans in the bottom, and lay on the oysters with some sliced dates in halfs, some large mace, sliced lemmon, barberries and butter, close it up, and bake it, then liquor it with white wine, sugar and butter.
Not only rather rich, but the ingredients in this, like in the other recipes, speak to a wealthy household. Pepper? Nutmeg? Just using the yolks? Salt? Mace? Lemons?
Those ingredients were luxuries in 17th century London. If you were poor, your oyster pie consisted of oysters and greasy bacon. If you could afford that. If you were poor, your bread consisted of more chalk than flour. Chalk made bread look whiter, which was more desirable. If you were poor, your wine was likely stretched with lead - to make it sweeter. If you were poor in 17th century London, you were falling down a bottomless hole. The few charitable societies were never going to catch everyone, especially not women, who had children out of wedlock.
If an unmarried woman had a child, the parish was responsible for the upkeep of said child. What did parishes do? They drove pregnant women across their borders, so someone else would have to deal with them. Or, they made you and your children beg, by handing out licenses to beg. You had to have a licence, otherwise you were a criminal, and gaol cost dearly. You got charged for board in gaol. By being poor, you could work up a real debt and stay in gaol indefinitely. Or, you could go for prostitution. The Bridewell gaol in London, a women's prison, charged 2 shillings to visitors, to pick any woman that caught their fancy. The two shillings went to the turnkeys, mind you. But you could earn a little on the side. If you made it tip-worthy for your rapist.
Let's not even go into all the punishments you could get for being pregnant out of wedlock, in the first place. Suffice to say that if you were a poor woman and set one foot wrong, trying to dress up rotted meat with a sauce was the least of your problems. So, what did poor people in London eat? Difficult to tell, since they weren't the ones bothering to write down their recipes. As mentioned, oysters were cheap. Kippers as well. And the undesirable cuts of meat, or offal. In the absence of the potato, which was not very popular in London back then, I'd also guess pulses and whatever grain was cheap.
"Dreich" is too harmless a word to describe what things used to be like, in the good old days in Western Europe. Before Health and Safety. before women's rights, before human rights. In the spirit of the Billingsgate fishwives, I got to shout a few obscenities as I dropped that dish, but neither was there a Daniel Defoe around to complain, nor was it a cause for devastation. I just went to the shops and re-did the whole thing. It was indeed the perfect antidote to the dreich weather. And I was glad that I don't live in those times. So, in the grand scheme of things, all is well that ends well.
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Completely off topic
I've been lacking on my posts, and this is completely off topic from essentially anything on this forum, but I am completely obsessed with watching plane landings at the Maho Beach via EarthCam (mahobeachcam.com). I like watching planes lane (as established in the great duggar aviation thread 2015/16 RIP) but watching these planes land in a tropical paradise with the beach noises from the webcam is like heaven compared to the 4 inches of snow we have falling outside. Best of all, it only costs your internet connection. I've been to Sint Maartin, but never made it to this beach-- If I ever go again, I will have to go there in person!
The other cams have cruise ships coming and going, but not as frequently, so they can get a little boring. When a cruise ship is actually leaving port though and you are able to catch it, it's pretty cool to watch!
I need a vacation I think.
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Hi, all.
I'm a long-time lurker here on Free Jinger and an even-longer-time insomniac. So while I stayed up late last night, yet again scrolling through 'Quiver Full of Snark' and stifling my snorts and chuckles to avoid waking my sleeping boyfriend, I realized that I had yet to comment or use any of the new site features (including the option to create this blog). Honestly, I have to admit I've been a bit intimidated by the daunting number of in-jokes, acronyms, fundie-knowledge and general awesomeness I've only observed from a distance (self-admitted creepery, right there) . I know that's what 'SOTDRT' is for, but I guess my super-strength social anxiety can carry over to the Internet, too. Here we go...
First, about the blog name: Fort Tryon Park is easily my favorite place on the planet and also where I spend a lot of my free time. It's stunningly beautiful in any season and home to the Cloisters Museum, which houses the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Medieval Art collection including the famed Unicorn Tapestries and painted reliquary busts of female saints. Access to the park and the Cloisters grounds is also 100% free (which makes it the perfect place for a broke twenty-something like myself to hang out) and just two blocks over from the shoeboxed-sized one bedroom apartment I share with my boyfriend, our cat, and our two ferrets. Plus, with the Met's "pick-your-price" donation policy, you can pay as little as $1 entry fee for the Cloisters. If you're ever in New York, make sure to take the A train uptown all the way to 191st Street to check out this totally underrated cultural gem.
Speaking of reliquary busts, the Catholic Church has a long history of peddling the body parts of dead saints. Having been raised in an extremely religious Irish and French Canadian Catholic family, I'm no stranger to the bizarre and frankly kind of icky practice of venerating relics. My mom gave me the middle name "Thérèse" as a tribute to one of her favorite saints, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, aka "the Little Flower of Jesus." The devotion to this particular saint was apparently inspired by her visit to the Carmel De Lisieux, the site of Thérèse's tomb and the Carmelite cloistered convent (say that ten times fast!) in Lisieux, Normandy where she made her claim to fame by basically being a model nun from the age of tender age of fifteen until her untimely death in 1897 from tuberculosis. She was 24 years-old when she died, which also happens to be my current age. #Goals.
So, my largely Irish-and-Italian-American hometown had a designated boutique for Catholic knick-knacks right in the middle of a prime commercial real estate zone on Long Island, NY. It closed about six years ago, probably due in large part to the recession, and because all of the enthusiastic Catholic consumers have since retired and moved down to Florida. Pretty much everyone I went to Catholic school with has either lapsed in their faith or is a full-on Atheist. Unlike its neo-Evangelical counterparts, Catholicism isn't exactly hip. Over the past few years, Catholic Church closings have been commonplace in dioceses throughout the Northeastern and Midwestern United States.
Although, it is pretty amusing to imagine Catholic goods stores blowing up on Yelp: Hipsters raving about growlers of filtered, ionized holy water and the energizing properties of the signature tea blend made from powdered remains of the Canonized. "The house blend StigMatcha red-green tea is literally the ONLY way I can start my day." and "Saint Boneventure's Bone Broth™ has been nothing short of miraculous in helping to cure my leaky gut syndrome!"
Anyway, whenever someone we knew received a sacrament, my mom would run out to the Catholic store to get the appropriate gift for that occasion. At least for a Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confirmation, (First) Reconciliation, or Marriage... Anointing of the Sick gifties would be too morbid even for an Irish Catholic, and all of the family friends who took Holy Orders did so after the Catholic store had already closed. (Thank God for Online Shopping, am I right, ma?) So, for my first communion my mom handed me this delicately wrapped box from the local Catholic store. Inside was pair of rosary beads with a portrait of my middle-namesake in the center. When I turned it over, I noticed a small, reddish-brown dot coated with a clear lacquer. I naively asked my mom what the spot was, and she proudly explained to her stunned seven year-old daughter that it was a drop of St Thérèse's actual blood. Apparently, the addition of this hundred-year-old bodily fluid made it extremely special and holy.
Looking back, few things illustrate the total incompatibility of my mother's and my world views quite like the fact that she fully expected me to be thrilled, and not, you know, totally horrified. I've since spent a good chunk of time playing the Elder Scrolls series, and can confidently say those rosary beads bordered on some straight-up fantasy RPG necromancy shit. But this is par for the course with the Catholic Church. Europe is littered with cathedrals, monasteries, and other pilgrimage sites where devoted Catholics gather to gaze upon the airtight glass displays showcasing the remains of "incorruptible" saints. While I'm no longer one of the Faithful, I still very much enjoyed visiting several of these sites, especially St. Denis’ Basilica just outside Paris.
Between assigned course reading of Peter Brown and finally having the option of NOT attending Mass on Sundays, I have finally begun to appreciate these wonderfully weird relics for what they really are: a source of fascination, intellectual curiosity, and yes, even abject horror.
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Latest Entry
If you believe
Some of you may have noticed I have been on an REM kick lately. For the past week, versions of the REM classic Man on the Moon have been swirling through my head and I didn't know where to share it so I am sharing it here. The second verse is not what I was going for, but nothing in life is perfect, right?
I have thought about starting a blog before, but never did. Not sure if this will be it or if I will continue. Anyway, if you start the video (scroll to bottom) and then sing these lyrics real loud, you will drown out the original
Miley Cyrus and some Cards AH yeah yeah yeah yeah
Joshley Madison on the internet yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Adultery, illicit fun, cheating, and smut yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The Prodigal Son in a big ass mess yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Let's play Rehab, let's play Sin yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I'll see you heaven if you make the list yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Now, Joshley did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in RU?
Joshley are you goofing on porn stars? Hey, baby
Are we losing touch?
If you believe they'll put Josh back on TV
Back on TV
If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve
Then nothing is cool
Gothard went walking like he owned everyone yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The Board got nailed by his victims good yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Duggers were troubled by the horrible press yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The FOIA had the gall to ask yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Now, Joshley did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in RU?
Joshley are you goofing on porn stars? Hey, baby
Are you having fun?
If you believe they'll put Josh back on TV
Back on TV
If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve
Then nothing is cool
Here's a little agit for the fundie believer yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a little lie for the offering yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Here's a new series instead of Saint Peter's yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Mister Joshley Madison's gone repenting yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Now, Joshley did you hear about this one?
Tell me, are you locked in RU?
Joshley are you goofing on porn stars? Hey, baby
Are you having fun?
If you believe they'll put Josh back on TV
Back on TV
If you believe there's nothing up their sleeve
Then nothing is cool [repeat to end]
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I did not eat an entire X at once!
So, as I have mentioned in some threads about fundies and such that restrict food or go for a certain ideal, thin, look, that I have a complicated relationship with food. Mainly, the thing is, due to my parents' restricting food, especially junk, growing up, plus severe money issues in 2015 that created food security problems for my spouse and I, my mindset with snacks that taste remotely good is "Eat it all now so you can get enough/while you have it/before someone takes it." This, of course, is a problem when one buys anything larger than snack-sized! But, it's more cost-effective not to, and anyway, some snacks only come in bags with multiple servings.
But, lately, although I usually still eat all the snack within 2 or 3 days (I seriously don't understand someone who can buy a treat and then leave it in the kitchen for several days/weeks?), I am no longer eating the entire bag/box and then hating myself. Yay?
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Because I love baseball, I'll watch anyway. Now I have to decide which team to root for.
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Our travel plans wisely took this into account.
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postscript 41,236
I get the impression the Bontrager marriages are semi-arranged. Marlin and the other patriarch decide two of their kids would be a good match, tell the kids to pray about each other as potential mates, and start planning the wedding. I don’t think Marlin would force his kids to marry anyone they didn’t get along with, but he sees parental approval as more important than romantic love.
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QuiverFullofBooks 41,926
10 minutes ago, 4boysmum said:Vba3c births (vaginal birth after 3 c-sections) are not common in the USA, but my doctor and I are pretty confident that it was a good choice for my situation.
Michelle Duggar is very pro-VBAC (having had C-sections with the two sets of twins) and it worked well for her.
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4boysmum 602
I (not a medical professional, but have had 6 children and spent a fair amount of time chatting with OBs) was told that 3 c-sections is a tipping point where, after that, future pregnancies will have higher risk of placental complications. I understood it as more scar tissue = less favorable places for a placenta to implant in subsequent pregnancies and if it attaches to scar tissue it can cause serious problems. I know some other posters here work in the field so maybe you can explain it better.
With that said, I have had 3 c-sections and nobody told me to avoid pregnancy after the last one. When I did get pregnant again I was all set to have a 4th c-section and no one seemed terribly concerned other than they did look at placenta placement carefully on ultrasound and said it was fine. If it had not been fine they said I would have been transferred to Boston (which is fortunately just 45 minutes away) as a higher risk patient. If a woman gets pregnant the baby has to come out one way or another. It's not like they can force it to stay in forever because you already used up your allowed 3 surgeries, and the doctor said she had operated on women having at least 5 c-sections.
I did not have the 4th c-section. I changed doctors and pushed hard for a chance to vbac. I have gone the vba3c route twice now, in an excellent hospital in Boston with an amazing doctor. Vba3c births (vaginal birth after 3 c-sections) are not common in the USA, but my doctor and I are pretty confident that it was a good choice for my situation.
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Dutch_girl 776
14 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:
No Abby, your children are not constantly running everywhere.. You on the other hand.. *cough* New York, Canada, Europe *cough*
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JermajestyDuggar 441,866
12 hours ago, CaptainFunderpants said:So now we have track Brad Pitt in Nick Symmonds and fundie Brad Pitt in Christian Bowers.
All three succeed in both being attractive AND really off-putting.
Liz had a thing with Carver a few years ago (to the point that Carver was pictured sitting next to Marlin at several meals, Liz and Carver always had to have a sibling between them in photos, and Carver openly posted creeper pics of Liz on instagram), and IIRC it lasted months. No idea how that would add to the dynamic of her and Christian. It probably wouldn't matter.
The other factor is it appears Marlin and Becky want their daughters to get married on the later side, which is why Carver and Liz likely didn't go anywhere... Liz is still only 21, while Chelsy and Allison were both on the later side of 26, which is another factor.
I think they would be fine with her marrying earlier. But girls have to wait until some fundie guy is interested. Marlin pushed his boys to get married to the Bowers girls. But it was hard for him to push the girls because they have to sit and wait patiently for a Prince Charming to come along.
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bea
I joined FJ when I was pregnant with my oldest.· 2 replies
She turns 17 at the end of this month and I am feeling VERY OLD.
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Kiki03910
https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-team-says-goodbye· 0 replies
I'M NOT CRYING.
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Kiki03910
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/nasas-dragonfly-rotorcraft-mission-to-saturns-moon-titan-confirmed/ar-BB1lNYYV· 0 replies
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Kiki03910
Wishing I had a dollar for every time I burped on my back porch after dark and set off a neighbor's dog. The best part is that I'm sure everyone think it's my BF and not me, because it's surely not possible such a huge noise could come out of my body.· 0 replies
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