Razzmatazlady

Category: Random Thoughts

  • Sara Paretsky and My Squidoo Lens and Rainy Day Notes

    Jack and I both like to read. We read every single night before we turn out the light. Sometimes for just a few minutes and sometimes for hours. Anyway, we read all sorts of books but right now we’re on a “crime novel” jag and the author of choice is Sara Paretsky.

    Her heroine is a lady private eye named V.I. Warshawski. The stories take place in Chicago. Part of the reason I enjoy them is because we lived there for five years and can follow her travels throughout Chicagoland easily.

    This is my favorite V.I. quote: “Never underestimate a man’s ability to underestimate a woman”. Ha! I love it. Isn’t that just rich????

    I recently did a Squidoo page on Sara Paretsky but it was kind of lacking on content and pictures. I sent a message via her official website to ask permission to use some of the pictures and content in my Squidoo page.

    WELL, I got a personal message from Sara Paretsky, herself, giving me permission to use anything from the website as long as I attribute it to the website! I was SO excited!

    So I’ve redone the page and I think it’s pretty complete. I have to add an RSS feed to it – maybe from her website. If I understand it right (and it’s entirely possible that I’m totally wrong), an RSS feed is basically a link to something that is automatically updated when new content is added. Like news from her website. I’m still learning about feeds so I haven’t finished that part but otherwise I think it’s pretty nifty. Please take a look and tell me what you think. Here’s the link: http://www.squidoo.com/SaraParetsky. You can also get there by clicking on the link in the right hand column. I hope.

    Update on the weather here: It’s raining. There are two good things about that…we need the rain and it’ll probably help the ice go out on the lake. But it makes for another indoor day. Well, there’s lots to do indoors, anyway.

    Hope it’s sunny where you are…

  • Earth Day

    Tibetan Prayer Flags in the Sonoran Desert

    Today is Earth Day. It’s a day to be as kind to the earth as we possibly can. On purpose.
    Of course, we should be as kind to the earth as we possibly can every day, but we usually aren’t.
    The closest that I get, probably, is that I am aware of when I’m not being kind to the earth and I have the decency to feel guilty. And I actually have made a few good habits that help.
    I took this photo of the prayer flags while we were housesitting in the Tucson area. Why do I have a picture of Tibetan Prayer Flags in this post? Well, here’s a bit of information about them from Wikipedia:
    Traditionally, prayer flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom.
    There are five of them and they’re each a different color representing the five elements of the earth. Blue symbolizes the sky or space, White is the air or wind, Red (symbolizing fire), Green sympolizes water and Yellow is the color of the earth.

    Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras will be blown by the wind to spread the good will and compassion into all pervading space. Therefore, prayer flags are thought to bring benefit to all.
    What better symbol could there be for Earth Day. I think they’re just beautiful.

  • I’m Squidooing Like Mad

    Today is supposed to be a beautiful warm day and the weatherman says it’s going to hit 54 degrees – woo hoo!! I’m thinkin’ positive! Soon as this snow melts, we’re outside. Still haven’t finished the organizing that I said we were going to do. I’d better get crackin’…today, for sure, I’ll accomplish something. What have I been up to?
    Well, I spent almost the entire weekend on the computer! I’m really into this stuff and I am working on another blog. Not ready for prime time, yet, however. Also, I’ve completed six Squidoo lenses and am working on a few more!

    Jack is going to leave me if I keep this up, though, I think. But this is all part of my search for that “niche” that I talked about a long time ago and if I’m not getting any younger! Gotta get my fifteen minutes of fame. So, hopefully he’ll be patient a little longer.

    I really am looking forward to getting out in the gardens, though. Two of my Squidoos are on gardening – one on lakescaping and one on rain gardens. It’ll be so good to get out there and get our hands dirty, again.

    There’s nothing quite like seeing those wildflowers and grasses go from little tiny things in the spring to full grown a couple of months later. Plus the perennial garden in the front is my baby. My friend Diane shared dozens of her perennials with me and it’s just beautiful now. Well, not this very minute, of course, because it’s covered with snow – ha! But it will be!

    By the way – if any of you get a wild hair to join Squidoo, would you please click the “create a lens” (or whatever it says) button from one of my lenses? That way, I’ll get credit!!

    O.K., I’m off to sort and organize. Well, I’ll have a cup of coffee and read the paper, first, and THEN I’ll sort and organize!

  • We’re Snug As A Bug In A Rug

    I think I’m coming to terms with the fact that spring is NOT here. It’s just around the corner, though. Word is that by Monday it’s going to be in the 60 degree range. Be interesting to see if that really happens.

    In any case, it’s toasty and warm in the house and we’re having fun planning the kitchen redo. The guy from Home Depot (who was scheduled to come out this morning to measure) called and cancelled. Our street hasn’t been plowed and Jack says he’s not going to clear the driveway…we’re not planning to go anywhere and it should all melt in a day or so. “Should” is the operative word, here.

    Remember my “dream job” aspirations? Well, I’m getting back on that. I’ve been having a great time with the Squidoo lenses (pages) and am learning a LOT! It’s fun and there’s a real possibility for some income if I play my cards right. I’m thinking about creating another blog, too. Maybe on WordPress instead of Blogger. I haven’t shelved the plans for a website, either. Really, you just have to stick with it – no matter what your goals are, don’t quit. It makes life so much more interesting.

    So that’s the scoop from here. Nothing too exciting but, hey, that’s life.

  • Spring Fever

    It’s sunny but cold, today. So what’s new?

    I hear it’s not going to warm up until next week so we’ve decided that we’re going to spend these yukky days inside cleaning out closets and getting rid of a bunch of stuff that we either don’t want or don’t need. Or both. Seems like this is a never ending situation.

    First things first – we’ll make a list and then start checking off the things that we actually do. “Actually do” is the operative phrase, here. Since we’re putting in new kitchen cabinets and countertops we might as well jazz up the rest of the house, too. We do have an estimate for the kitchen from Home Depot and a guy is going to come out here on Friday to do some measuring. I think we’ll get a couple of other estimates, too. Don’t want to spend a fortune because we’ll probably want to sell this property and move to a warmer climate at some point.

    So we’ll start by clearing out all the extra things we don’t need, we’ll remodel the kitchen and freshen up the rest of the house with paint. We’ll give ourselves plenty of time – a couple of months, probably. Sort of a Mega Spring Cleaning. Then , by the time spring actually does arrive, we’ll be able to spend time in the gardens. That’s a whole other project…

    It’s a good plan. More later.

  • Mea Culpa

    O.K., I give up. Here’s a shot of the last piece of the famous German Chocolate Birthday Cake. And I want you to know that I took about a dozen pictures of it. This is the least fuzzy.

    On another note, it’s a balmy 33 degrees here, today, and it snowed again, last night! At this rate it’ll be June before the ice goes out on the lake. I’m wearing a turtleneck and a sweatshirt and my nose is cold. Grrrrrrr…..

  • Birthday Cake Bummer


    Today is Jack’s birthday and I asked him what sort of cake he would like. He said he’d like a German Chocolate Cake. No problemo. Happy to do it. I like to bake/cook and, if at all possible, I prefer to do it “from scratch”.

    So I dug out my old Betty Crocker cookbook and looked up a recipe. It looked a little time-consuming but, hey, it’s Jack…he deserves a birthday cake that is a little time-consuming.

    Man, it was actually fun putting it together! Beating the egg whites separately, melting the chocolate, yadda, yadda, yadda…and the frosting took about 20 minutes to cook, too. Wow – what a good wife I am.

    Well, I didn’t have the right sizes of cake pans. I needed three nine-inch round cake pans and I didn’t have them. So I got on the internet to see how to substitute. O.K., so I could use a bundt pan because it holds 12 cups of batter and three nine-inch pans hold 4 cups, each.

    Long story short – the bundt pan was not the way to go…the batter, when it started to rise, bubbled all over the oven. “Well, that’s o.k.”, I thought. So it’s not going to be as tall as I’d like. It’s a bundt pan and I’ll just turn the cake over onto the cake plate and nobody will know. (Unless you were in the kitchen, that is, and could smell the burning batter.)

    When I tested it to see if it was done, the knife came out nice and clean – great! So then you let it cool in the pan for about fifteen minutes before turning it onto the cake plate. I thought the top looked a little moist in one area so I tested that area with the knife….gooey. Rats! Obviously not baked all the way through in spots.

    But you can’t get a good Irishman down. We don’t give up easy…I’m off to the store for three nine-inch cake pans and I’m going make another…

    If it turns out as good as it should, I’ll let you know. And I’ll post the recipe. You can learn from the mistakes of others and I’m happy to oblige.

  • Old Man Winter…

    Well, I hate to say it but Old Man Winter is back. The past few days have been fairly decent – above freezing, if you can call that fairly decent – and the snow was really melting. You could actually see the earth, grass, leaves that didn’t get raked up last fall, shrubs, etc.

    Not any more. It started snowing early this morning and I think it’s getting heavier. Big fat flakes are drifting down and there seems to be no end in sight. It’s 30 degrees and our high is supposed to be 31.

    I saw a chipmunk scurry under our garage door so he’s obviously still looking for shelter. I just hope he doesn’t have a cozy nest with a wife and six little ones nesting in Jack’s workbench – ha!. I will step out there with caution. We should have put new weatherstripping on that garage door. Too late, now, I guess.

    So today will be an indoor day. I’ve got lots of projects that I could be working on and I think the first thing I’ll do is make a list of all of them and then choose one at a time.

    There was a posting for a housesitting assignment in San Diego next November. Looks like the first item on my list will be checking out that housesit.

  • Trivia and an Earth Hour Report

    First of all, I’d like to report that we had a terrific Earth Hour, last night. We didn’t have anyone over but I know of at least one couple (old friends of more than 30 years) who observed it at their own home. Jack and I lit some candles in the living room – it looked awesome. And we just sat and visited for an hour.

    We reminisced about our kids and our travels, mostly. We talked about all the places that we’ve lived and the friends that we made. It was a good time.

    The most important thing that happened, though, was that we’ve decided that we’ll have our own Earth Hour from time to time. Like sitting on a warm summer’s evening out on our porch with just a couple of candles and all the windows open. I can hardly wait!

    On a completely unrelated topic: Trivia

    Question: Do you know which of the continental US states extends farthest north?

    Answer: Minnesota. A small piece juts about thirty miles north of the rest of the state according to http://www.triviacafe.com/. I just happened to check out their website and it’s the Trivia Question of the Day.

    It’s called the Northwest Angle. We have good friends who own property up there and you have to drive into Canada in order to get over to the “Angle” as it’s called. That’s a picture of it from the air that I copied from a website. http://www.lakeofthewoodsresorts.com/index.html. Pretty cool.
    Here’s another good Trivia question:
    Question: In 1908 the Wright Brothers tried to sell their invention, the airplane, to which organization?
    Answer: The U.S. Military. I think that’s hilarious!
    Well, I’m off with a cup of coffee and my kitchen redesign magazines. Once we get going on this I’ll post some pictures. Could be awhile.

  • A Picture Post

    It’s 6:30 a.m. and I’ve been up since about 5:00. It’s 17 degrees outside. That’s cold. I just went outside, though, to get the morning newspaper and there’s no wind so it’s tolerable.

    I was looking at some of the photos I’ve taken during our travels and have decided to post a few that I really like. Just for fun. So here goes…

    The first three I took a couple of years ago during a visit to Northern California – wine country – Sonoma County, to be exact. The flower pots were at the Korbel Winery. The next is a view of San Francisco from Sausalito. The third photo I took driving through the Russian River Valley. It is so gorgeous there. If I could live anywhere in the world and money was no object, I would choose Northern California. I really would.

    The next four shots are from Arizona. The doorknocker is on the door of a house in the Tucson desert and the butterfly photo I took at the Arizona Desert Museum. What a great place to visit. I love the desert.

    The Indian sculpture is in the town of Sedona and the cool terra cotta lady is on the patio at Michael’s house in Mesa.

    The last picture is from my own perennial garden. A pretty daylily. I can hardly wait until it’s nice enough to be outside in the gardens. Jack, especially, is eager to get his hands dirty. He’s outside from dawn until dusk every summer.

    Doesn’t seem like summer will ever get here. It will, though. Gotta be patient.