Friday, August 6th, 2021
Friday Five
TGIF!! I’m trying to remember what I wanted to share this week 
- Monday was my birthday. I had a really good day. I had coffee with Biker Witch (my sister), got gorgeous flowers from oldest son, and went to dinner with Wizard where I had chocolate cake I didn’t have to make And then talked so long to middle on the phone, my arm and shoulder locked up, LOL. It really was a good day. Lowkey but perfect for this year, if that makes sense.
- As I mentioned, the flowers are stunning. But…and this had never happened before…they aggravated my sinuses. I was NOT giving up these flowers. We finally realized it’s because the house has been literally closed up for at least 6 to 8 weeks with the heat, and the A/C is recycling everything. I put the flowers outside early one morning for a few hours, aired out the house, then brought the flowers in and found a great spot for them in the living room–away from the main living area. That solved it and I still get to enjoy the flowers.
- Wizard saw the spine surgeon yesterday–the same one that did my surgery. I’m hugely relieved by this. I know he’s methodical and good. He’s ordering more tests that will get him more specific information, then we’ll develop a treatment plan. Wizard is handling all this remarkably well.
- Here’s my practice cake for this week. It’s just a rather bland boxed cake, as I had 3 goals for this attempt (1) making a version of Swiss Meringue Buttercream for hotter climate, which means swapping out about 1/3 of the butter for vegetable shorting and putting in a little sifted powdered sugar. This version held up better. The original one tastes better, but even in A/C gets melty in my kitchen (2) practicing icing–I did better partly because of the amazing turntable Wizard got me. (3) doing a stripe technique. The small holes in the icing are from not rewhipping after the crumb coating and chilling. I didn’t care about that, I was working on technique For a first attempt at this, I was happy. Overall this cake taught me a lot.
- I’m not sure what the weekend will bring. Anything could happen!
That’s my 5 random things, now I’d love to hear yours! I hope everyone has a great weekend!
August 6th, 2021 at 7:44 am · Link
Happy Birthday! I’m so glad your day was awesome. Bummer about the flowers messing with your sinuses, but yay for finding a fix. Positive thoughts for Wizard’s spine. OMG, your cake is so pretty! Go you! Here’s hoping the anything for this weekend all turns out to be good!
1) The westcoast smoke is finally blowing out of here. Thank goodness because it was harshing my sinuses.
2) My one tiny tomato actually looks like a tomato now. It’s about golfball sized. Yay. And one of my ‘from the seed’ tomato plants is flowering. Finally.
3) I’ve been totally engrossed in the Olympics this time around. Seeing people doing positive things and all that. I needed this.
4) I’m up to like 23% on my editing notes now. Slow going, but I’m okay with that. Slow progress is better than no progress.
5) A large part of Wednesday was spent backing up my computer. The picture files took like 4 hours to download to thumb drive. Today the thumb goes to the safety deposit box.
August 6th, 2021 at 8:41 am · Link
Happy B-Day again! Yay for family time to celebrate AND flowers. Glad you figured out the filter thing. Sending good thoughts to Wiz, fingers crossed this is the road to recovery. Pretty cake! It reminds me of your lovely DiLs. 🥰 May your weekend be filled with fun! My five:
1. I’ve gotten a bit over 5K words on the WIP so far this week. Not huge progress but progress. My brain is finally settling into this…”format” (for lack of a better term/description).
2. The LED lights on Nessie went kaput. I decided to be cheap and get the rope lights instead of the strip lights. The ropes are soft white LEDs, the strip had been brilliant “daylight” LEDs. Ah well. Live and learn when and when not to be cheap.
3. I got out in the yard and trimmed back some of the wild wisteria vines and weeds. I have enough vines to make three large wreaths. After they dry, I’ll decorate them with the idea of donating to Stormy’s school auction. I have wreaths for all seasons/holidays for my door but I hate to see good vines go to waste.
4. Stormy was over a couple of times while Baseball Boy prepped for classes to start. He and his Big Daddy had fun. Yesterday, he learned to throw a spiral pass and catch the football (its a Nerf) while running. He’s coming all of next week because his school doesn’t start until the 18th. Fun times.
5. Thirty-eight years ago (give or take a couple of hours), LG and I hung out in my parents’ backyward with about 100 of our friends and family and did that whole “until death do us part” thing.
Golly, we still haven’t killed each other so we must be doing something right. We aren’t doing anything special since tomorrow is siren test and lunch at Alvarados with the Kids. That’s always special!
Have a great weekend, all!
August 6th, 2021 at 3:21 pm · Link
1. Very happy to hear that you had a Happy Birthday!
.
2. That’s strange how the flowers bothered you. My allergies have been awful this year too.
3. Poor Wizard. It’s good to know that he is seeing your surgeon.
4. I love your cake!
5. I hope the weekend brings nothing but goodness
1a. I’m getting my hair done tomorrow. Can’t wait. I think I’ll have her take an inch off. It’s very long.
2a. Sunday is Spunks’s birthday and he got his first card today (from my mom). He loved sniffing it and playing.
3a. I actually spoke to my best friend on the phone yesterday. We both agreed that texting just wasn’t doing it and we needed to hear one another.
4a. I finally was able to make reservations at a nice place for my birthday next Saturday. It will be 6 of us (no Harrison and family) and our first time to a really NICE place since Nov 2019.
5a. My day with middle on Tuesday was so nice. We went to the oldest functioning general store in the country which is only 40 minutes from here. The Amish are running it. We picked up some good eats. We also went to the White House Chocolates, a local hand made chocolate place 30 mins away. Yes, we both over bought :). We had lunch and drove around in the country. A very nice day.
I hope you are having a great day and have a wonderful weekend!
August 6th, 2021 at 3:57 pm · Link
I’m so glad you got a cake you didn’t have to bake!
I’m going to use you air out the house tip for flowers. I used to get cut flowers every week, but they started making my nose run. I sure miss them.
And pretty cake. Hope it tasted as good as it looked.
August 6th, 2021 at 4:50 pm · Link
B.E., thanks! Okay now for you:
1) Smoke like that is really hard on sinuses. Glad it’s better now. The fires have been ugly.
2) Great news on your tomato plants! Your patience is paying off.
3) Anything positive is a win. Seriously.
4) Yay for progress!
5) It’s very savvy of you to back up your photos and put them in a safe place. I don’t do that, and a lot of of pics are not on cloud backup. So I’m admiring your wisdom and follow through.
Hope you have a great weekend!
August 6th, 2021 at 5:02 pm · Link
Silver, thanks, we are hopeful for Wizard. Just need to strap on our patience.
1) I know what you mean by format. I got that when you were describing the characters and how all the couples seemed to have vital roles…we do write complicated books sometimes. Yay for progress!
2) I regret my impulse to go cheap so many times. I’m trying to learn. But I’m lost on Nessie…I tried to figure it out by context, but I’m blank. It has to be something you string lights on…a patio cover? Gazebo? A hunky romance cover model? Probably not a Christmas tree…not a car…probably not a live animal…I’m stumped.
3) Well color me impressed…yard work and you repurpose the cuttings into wreaths for the school to make money off of. That’s way ambitious and thoughtful!
4) Stormy the sports star! He’s growing up so fast!
5) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! You and LG have built an amazing life and family together. Wishing you both many more years of happiness!!!
Have a great weekend!
August 6th, 2021 at 5:09 pm · Link
Viki, thanks on all. I’m relieved he was able to get into my surgeon just to get a clearer picture even though I know that will take time.
1) I always feel “refreshed” after I get my hair done and hope you do too.
So glad you both had such an enjoyable day!
2) Happy Birthday to Spunk! That’s so cute that your mom sent him a card and he’s having fun with it.
3) It’s true, it’s so much more personal to talk on the phone, and you can go more in depth.
4) Yay for finding a nice place for your birthday, and I’ll keep my fingers crossed nothing gets in the way of a lovely celebration!
5) It sounds like a great day with middle! I’d overbuy at a chocolate shop too
Hope you have a super good weekend!
August 6th, 2021 at 5:16 pm · Link
Marianne, I laughed when I read your comment about the cake on FB. I definitely didn’t have to bake my own.
This was the first time I’ve reacted to flowers. These are the most gorgeous bouquet I’ve even had and the scent of the roses in the arrangement was/is strong. I think setting them out in the early morning and airing out the house helped a lot. It probably wouldn’t if I was highly allergic through. Hope it helps you with your cut flowers!
Thanks on the cake. I’m happy to learn some new skills, but mine aren’t even in the same ballpark as your daughter’s baking/decorating skills. She’s amazing! But I’m just having fun so it’s all good.
Hope you have a great weekend!
August 7th, 2021 at 7:49 am · Link
Nessie is the concrete lawn “sculputure” out in the driveway island. And yes, it IS the Loch Ness monster. We put lights on her one Christmas and just keep replacing them when they burn out after a few years. Let’s see if your blog will accept a link to my FB album…
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10218506561160135&set=pb.1378388809.-2207520000..&type=3
August 7th, 2021 at 10:28 am · Link
Silver that is freaking awesome!!!! I love Nessie! Also, the name totally makes sense now