How Time Flies

We have lived here on the farm since 1975-- that's 47 years. I tend to forget till I seen the girth of these trees I planted--the weeping willow behind the blue bench or the river birches in the front yard. They were all skinny little saplings no bigger around than my thumb and look at them now!

 

An Embarrassment of Riches

A friend came to lunch and brought copies of the New York Review of Books and The London ditto. What fun! Paging through them kinda reminded me of back when I was first introduced to The Whole Earth Catalog--so much information out there and all within my reach!

Well, theoretically in my reach. There's no way I could read even a tiny percentage of all the books that look interesting to me. (Cuban ballet! Werewolves in the ancient world! A guide to the Florida Keys!' A history of humanity!)

I was pleased to find a review of Matrix which I talked about a few days ago. (The reviewer had a lot of nits to pick with the novel--things that didn't bother me when I read it.)

I must admit though that I really love reading the personals. Whether it's a slim (they're almost always slim) NYC f seeking a m social worker to share affection or a successful retired exec looking for someone to share his waterfront lifestyle or a pair of unrepentant queers (one pansexual Asian punk femme and one curly-haired nonbinary flaneur) seeking a third, my imagination is challenged. Are these people really slim? Really successful? 

Not to mention the international rentals. An apartment in an antique palazzo in Florence, a 17th century courtyard apartment in Paris's Marais district . . .

I'm not looking for a change in my situation, let me hasten to add. But it's fun to imagine other lives. 

 

Evening Skies

 

February Flowers

 

Recent Reads

Talk about a misleading cover/title! I figured this was a bit of sci-fi. Wrong--it's about an Twelth Century nun-- an abbess, therefore mother to the nuns of her convent. (Matrix from the Latin - mater=mother)

The book is the imagined biography of Marie de France, author of a collection of Breton lays and possibly the author of other works. Very little is known about her--she may not even have been a nun.  She is presumed to have been at court, to have known the redoubtable Eleanor of Acquitaine. She was obviously well educated. She may have been the bastard of the Plantagenet king and therefore the descendent of the fairy Melusine who could change into a serpent in her bath.

But with so little (almost nothing) that is absolute fact, Groff is set free to imagine--and imagine she does, in rich prose, the life of a woman consigned against her will to a nunnery, chafing at the lot of women in general, and devoting herself to creating a self-sufficient sanctuary from the world.

I found it a fascinating read. And will likely read it again, just to enjoy the lovely prose.

The Searcher was another good read.  A Chicago cop retires to a rural part of Ireland and is slowly drawn into a boy's search for his missing brother. It's a quiet read--lots of nice description as he rehabilitates the old house he's bought and gets to know the local folks. The characters are fully realized, and the suspense builds slowly but surely. Very enjoyable.

Both these books, as well as Squeeze Me and Klara and the Sun, were part of a book drop from my friendly local book pusher. I have a few more to go . . .

 

Legitimate Political Discourse (R)

Only in the bizarro/Trump world inhabited by the magahats and the Republican National Committee would these images be considered "legitimate political discourse." 

It is the shame of our nation that so many of its citizens are happy to ignore or whitewash the traitorous events of January 6.

 

Josie's Valentine Workshop

Yesterday I made Valentines for all the kids and teachers at my school. It was a lot!

Meema helped. She cut out hearts and then I painted them. I put roses on some. 

While the paint was drying, I ate a giant pancake leftover from breakfast. Meema always makes some extra pancakes for me to sneak.

The paint still wasn't dry, so I played in The Room. Dolly was acting up. She would Not take a nap and then she wanted to climb the tree. And when I gave her a bath, she splashed all the water out. I told her That's It and put her under the covers to think about it. 

After lunch the paint was dry. I told Meema what to write on the backs of the valentines. Then I glued buttons to the front for decorations. 

I think they look very good, and I think the kids will like them. We will have a party at school on Valentine's Day and I will give out the valentines. There are some for the teachers too and for my family. It was a lot of work but it was fun too.

 

Otter's Play Date

 The playdate ended badly for Ricky Rat.

Taking a Break

 

Klara and the Sun

 I really loved this book--raced through it because I'd gotten so invested in the fate of Klara. That's Ishiguro's magic--he can bring to life an Artificial Friend, an android companion and make us care about her--more, indeed, than we care about the sick girl she is companion to.

The story is told by Klara and it's a fascinating exercise in imaging how an artificial intelligence would see and react to the world--a world not far removed from our present day, no flying cars or transporters but much like today: a world still full of inequality, a world in which love is fickle. Highly recommended.

(I haven't read Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go which is about human clones but now I'm eager to.)

Promises

 

Pup Playdate

 

A Superlative Brownie--No, Really

Double chocolate brownie with lemon curd. This redefines brownie for me, lifting an ordinary kids' favorite into the stratosphere.

I had some leftover lemon curd from a pie I made f0r Justin and Claui's birthday dinner. (Pie crust with chocolate chips melted in it during last minutes of baking, filled with lemon curd, and topped with whipped cream--a family favorite.)

Lemon curd, or lemon cheese as the recipe (Southern Junior League Cookbook) below calls it, is easy to make.

As are these brownies. 

 I used the simple recipe I've used for almost fifty years and added a handful of chocolate chips because why not. I put half or a little more in the greased pan then spread that leftover lemon curd (you won't need the full recipe) on top, covered it with the rest of the brownie mixture and baked as usual.

This is incredibly rich and cries out for an accompaniment of black coffee. I'll be making this again.